It was getting colder. The winter in the south was mild when compared to the ones Aurelius was used to, though. It snowed a little on some days, but not enough to even cover the ground fully.

It was Aurelius' 153rd day in the Thropes. More importantly than that, though, was that a new year had begun and Aurelius had become 17 years old. And, as per tradition, he spent the whole day writing.

He listed the things he had done, highlighting the parts he was proud of and the parts that brought him shame. Usually, those two were balanced, and so were they this year as well.

He had killed a man, but he had learned about motionless magic and now had a firm grasp on it. He had stolen a fortune from a man he didn't know, but he had made new friends, and he thought he'd had a positive effect on Balgair. Furthermore, he had also left his mother without a word, but he had started a plan that would eventually help millions.

He didn't want to do anything bad, but it was the price he had to pay. He could do no good deeds if he was too afraid of doing some bad. That was what he had learned. No more being depressed over stupid stuff. He had to be efficient. In order to help, he had to sacrifice parts of himself. But that was what being a hero meant.

Aurelius sat in the air on a light blue ethereal box that blocked out wind. And gave him calm. No sound made it through. It was that soundproof feature that the cursed beast had used against him. Cade had said it was possible to let sound through if one was a good enough manipulator. You really could do anything with materialization.

Aurelius closed his eyes and concentrated. Then reinforcement snapped on. Next, he put his focus on muscular enhancement. Then his senses.

He opened his eyes with reinforcement, double enhancement, and materialization all at the same time. He could feel the box shaking. He could maintain it all for maybe 30 seconds if he stayed still and concentrated. If he pushed through that amount of time, it would all fall apart, and he may fall without managing to reinforce in time. The fact that Cade could do all of it while fighting and keep it up for multiple minutes was beyond amazing.

She really was something.

Aurelius smiled and exhaled before relaxing. In the same, reinforcement and both enhancements ended their functions.

Motionless magic still felt foreign. He had been using setups for years, but now they were wholly irrelevant. It was like an accessory had been stolen. Like a part of his life was gone.

But another part had come to replace it. He had to remember that. A new part of his life had begun. That fact had finally sunk in. He no longer had family around him. Only his companions. He wasn't bound to them by blood. In a sense, he was the most alone he had ever been. But that didn't have to be a bad thing. He could develop much faster alone. And that is what he would do.

He would evolve.

***

The 180th day had come, and Aurelius left the Thropes. He would probably not return to the Thropes again for a long time.

On his travels, he wore a piece of black cloth wrapped around his head and a straw hat on top of it, which he traded for one silver coin. It was a good deal, in his opinion.

It took him longer than expected to find Aleyah's home by himself. He wasn't the best at reading maps or taking directional instructions, so he was used to kind of just following Cade around. She always seemed to know where she was going.

When he finally found Aleyah's house, he walked up to it and was about to knock when the door opened and Cade showed herself. Her hair was long. It went all the way to her shoulders, and those short, clipped hairs on her forehead somehow seemed to accentuate her soft features.

Balgair hadn't changed a bit, though. He poked his head from behind Cade before she got a word out and practically yelled, "You see that, Goldilocks? Boy-looking girl is girl-looking girl now. She actually looks good, too. I wouldn't believe it if she wasn't standing right in front of me."

Cade's eyes narrowed. "You're late." It seemed she hadn't enjoyed her time alone with Balgair.

Aurelius adjusted his hat with a wide smile. "It's good to see you, Cade." He put a hand up and looked at Balgair. "And you, Balgair." Cade didn't move out of the way. "Can I come in?"

Cade sighed and walked away from the door, heading straight to the kitchen. "There's food."

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"What food?" Aurelius asked as he removed his shoes.

"Potatoes and steak."

"What steak?"

"I don't know," Cade said exasperatedly. "Eat or don't eat. I don't care."

Aurelius looked at Balgair with a worried look. This wasn't just Cade's regular attitude. Something was wrong. Was she mad that he didn't take her with him?

He took off the cloth wrapped around his head, prompting a stifled laugh from Balgair. "You really need a haircut, man."

"That's kind of hard these days," Aurelius said, his face twisted with a hint of comedy.

"I can cut it if you want to," Balgair offered with a hand out. "I cut my own hair."

"Ah, thanks," Aurelius said with a brief smile before turning to go into the kitchen.

"Oh, about her." Balgair leaned on the handrail next to the stairs and nodded towards the kitchen. "She's mad you didn't tell her who you are."

"Who I am? What..."

Balgair's eyebrows went up as he nodded. "Uh huh. We both know you're the son of Ares."

Aurelius face dropped. "How long—"

"—have we known?" Balgair finished for him. "Me?" He pointed at himself. "I realized on the day we met." Then he pointed to the kitchen. "Slowpoke over there realized while you were gone."

Aurelius rubbed his forehead and walked into the kitchen. He sat down on the kitchen table, where Cade was shoveling food into her mouth. "Cade, I'm sorry. When I was young, Gabriel told me I shouldn't tell anyone. It was better if nobody knew."

Cade looked up with a mouth full of food and chewed for a good half a minute before saying, "I'm not mad you didn't tell me." He looked at Balgair who stood, leaning on the wall of the kitchen entrance. "I'm mad I didn't realize it when this prick did."

Aurelius looked at both of them before bursting into laughter.

"You're as lively as ever," Cade remarked.

"Sorry," Aurelius said, wiping at his nose. "I just missed you guys."

***

They shared a meal while sharing their experiences. Aurelius told them about his discoveries, like half-motionless magic and other advancements of his. Cade talked about how she spread the gold to poor communities all over Mircrest in untraceable amounts. Apparently, she had done it under the name Deity. When asked about the name, Cade just rambled on about some stuff Aurelius didn't quite comprehend. The main point was that they needed a mythical presence that the people would cling on to. That was how they could make their existence known to the powers in Mircrest that were against Numen. Such was the way they intended on altering the power balance of the entire country.

Balgair didn't seem to be impressed.

Then it was his turn to share. The room got more serious.

"You know the Boeria branch's location?" Aurelius asked.

Balgair nodded. "Yeah, it's hidden in a nightclub."

"How will we get there unnoticed?" Cade asked.

"We could just kick a wall down. Or then we go in at daytime because, you know... it's a nightclub."

Cade scratched her cheek. "You sure we'll get that to work?"

Balgair waved a hand. "Just trust me. I'll get it to work. My ass is on the line the same as yours."

Cade gave a mini-shrug mixed with a nod and shifted the topic of conversation. "So about the gang of criminals, you figured out their current patterns and made up a plan."

Balgair leaned his head back slightly. "I've got things figured out; don't worry."

"How will we do it?" Aurelius asked, despite Balgair's notion.

Balgair sighed. "The gang takes hostages once in a while, so a few of them stay behind to guard them during nights. We'll have to wait for a chance that way."

"Can't we just grab them in the streets?" Cade asked. "A lot easier that way."

"Well, if we do it like that, we'll leave more evidence or witnesses that could nullify our framing efforts." Balgair raised a finger. "But if we do it in their base, there will be no one to see, and they will erase the evidence for us."

"Alright," Cade said, putting her hand on the table before standing up. "That's enough detail for now. Let's all go to sleep now. We depart tomorrow morning."

Aurelius smiled, happy to sleep in a familiar bed again and excited at the prospect of getting the bounty off his head.

Balgair, on the other hand, had a grin on his face as he twirled and looked at his glass, his eyes shaded. Then he raised the glass and said, "To Wescaster."