“Give him back his crystals,” I said.

“I grabbed the hudau–”

“Not that one,” I cut the thief off. “The recording crystals you stole. Stealing someone’s musical collection just because they’re rich and can afford to replace it? That’s just rude. It isn’t some grand statement of rebellion, it’s just petty.”

The thief blinked.

“So you’ll let me take the actually valuable stuff, but you’re going to make me return his music collection?”

“As well as anything personal in his ring,” I said. “Sell off the valuable stuff, but I don’t know what he has in there. If he has something like… Pictures with his mom… return those.”

“Fine,” the thief said. “Then… What now?”

“You should run,” I said. “I’ll fly back to the auction, and tell them you fled. I’ll report where this is, and it’ll get checked out for sure.”

I pushed a hand through my hair.

“I’m going to have a hard enough time explaining how I caught up to you, but that works in my favor. I’m exhausted. But know that I will be checking up on your donations.”

The thief nodded, then turned and teleported away in several short hops. I drew out my broom from Dusk’s realm and lifted off into the air. As we flew off, Dusk asked me if I thought I’d done the right thing, and I scratched my chin.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I think so, but… On one hand, I don’t think Kamal deserved to be stolen from just because he’s rich, but it’s not like anyone gets absurdly rich from effort. It’s… Complicated. I don’t know.”

Dusk then clambered up onto my shoulder and slapped my face.

“Hey!” I said. She let out an annoyed waterfall sound and yelled at me that I’d been really stupid, and that I’d put way too much strain on my body. I’d been dehydrated to a dangerous level, and if she hadn’t fixed it…

“I would have had to use Burn Future to keep myself stable, then flee into your realm,” I said grimly. Dusk sighed and nodded.

“I get your concern, I really do,” I said. “It was a risk, but calculated. If he’d been too much to handle, I would have run, I promise. I’m not entirely stupid.”

Dusk sighed, and we trucked along the flight. I was getting a little tired of how slow my broom was. It had been a great investment when I’d first made it, but I’d kind of outgrown it. The thief could teleport seven leagues in a single moment, once his spell was complete, and it took my broom forty-five minutes for me to do the same.

When I did land outside the auction hall again, I was immediately wamped by Kene and Octavian, both of whom started talking immediately.

“Slow down!” I said. “I can’t understand you two, you’re both talking at once.”

“What happened?” Kene asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “I followed the thief, but my method burnt out all my mana. When he saw I’d managed to follow him, though, he fled.”

“Kamal is chasing him, but he had no idea where to go,” Octavian said. “Did you see where?”

“Yeah,” I said, then pointed the direction I came. “Seven leagues that way, almost exactly. He has a teleport circle set up in a camp.”

I snapped my fingers.

“Oh, Octavian, you guys have prison cells, right?”

“On the other side, why?”

“An assassin,” I said. “Also we have a trial we’d love you to complete with us.”

Octavian blinked and started playing with Roh between two fingers.

“What?” he finally asked.

So I told him, best I could, about everything that had happened with the assassin.

“And you thought of telling me this now… Why?” he asked, nose scrunching and head tilted to one side.

“Well, the thief did crime,” I said. “And it involved you all. And the assassin did crime, and I thought it was wise to involve you all.”

Kene and Octavian both stared at me, then Octavian started laughing and Kene shook his head.

“Are you safe?” Kene asked, and I nodded.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Really tired,” I said, “but fine.”

Kene cast a few quick spells on me, then pulled me in for a hud and a swift kiss. After they pulled away, Octavian smiled mysteriously.

“So… As repayment for your gift, I got each of you something. Kene’s already taken theirs, but here’s yours and Dusk’s.”

He produced a strange looking piece of metal with natural magic pulsing throughout.

“A matter-core,” he said as he handed it to Dusk. “If my guesses about you, or at least, what you may become, are right, then this will be perfect for you. It allows you to more directly flow your mana and energy into the physical world for shaping-type spells. Not a ton, but even a small advantage is worth it, and it will add up.”

He then turned to me and pulled out a vial of a golden liquid. For a moment, I thought that it was destiny mana, but it gave off far too strong of an impression of death mana for that to be entirely correct.

“I noticed that you have several linked things,” he said. “Or at least, you will. You’re linked strongly to Dusk, and you’re planning to try and get a growth item, and you’re trying to get a Beastgate mark as well, if Kene’s to be believed.”

“Yeah,” I said, a touch confused.

“There’s a reason that people typically only have one, maybe two, growth items,” Kene said. “The soul can only take so many links before it becomes dangerous. Spellbonds being the exception. You’re probably going to get a bit more leeway, with the fact you’re pulling your soul and body into a more linked form, so the stress will be partially physical, but it’s still a bit of a concern.”

I did remember something about that, but so much had happened since then that I wasn’t entirely sure on the details.

“This is called a golden soul elixir,” Octavian said. “It’s advised to only take one of these every year or so, but they strengthen the soul quite a bit. With your spells, I’m not sure of the effect, but either way, it should help you maintain your multiple bonds, and give at least a small boost to your overall mana recovery and density.”

“That’s way too much,” I said, and Octavian rolled his eyes.

“It’s not,” he said shortly. “My mother makes these.”

I looked at Kene.

“My grandmother made me one,” they said uncertainly. “I’m not too sure on their value.”

“I gave you all arcanist treasures in exchange for an arcanist treasure and an invite to a trial site,” Octavian said. “Seems fair to me.”

With some reluctance, I took the potion from him, then glanced at Kene.

“I got a sealspark,” he said. “It went right into my tattoo.”

I glanced at Octavian, wondering how he’d figured it out, but I didn’t press, instead just downing the soul potion.

Power coursed through my mana garden, through my body, then… deeper. It spun out into the world around me, then pulled in, then flooded back through my mana-garden. The soil in the center of my mana, the ungated portion, compacted, crushing down. A moment later, it rippled into my first gate, then into my second.

When my second gate mana compacted, the giant fungus that was my Beast Mage’s Soul spell shivered, its mycelial network sinking deeper. There was a tear as it burst out into my spirit, spores spreading across the air of my mana-garden. My giant tree began to produce pollen then, the air filling with the mix of the two. It began to blend out, then swirl into strange formations in the air.

Formations that resembled spell forms…,

Then I felt the formation of the biological arrays that would be filled with energy.

But… that wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t just energy that filled them. It was a blend of mana and energy, fusing together like a dragon’s or other magical beasts.

Then it flowed backwards, out of my mana-garden, and into my body. My body, which was just energy, flooded with mana, and as the pool of energy that was my body and the pool that was my spirit mingled together, I stopped being able to distinguish where one was different from the other.

Oh, on the far end, I could still feel the difference. I could feel the energy settled in my bones, and the mana in my spirit. But the spare power, what was able to be called into my spells? That was where it became hard to tell one apart from the other.

When the mana flooded my body, I felt myself change. My chest shrank ever so slightly, and the sports bra I’d been wearing was actually a bit loose on me. My shoulders broadened, just enough that I could feel the seams on my suit were not quite correct anymore.

To my annoyance, I didn’t grow taller. Not even a tiny amount!

There was a discomfort in my eyes as they shifted a bit, though I couldn’t tell what exactly was going on.

But even as my second gate completed, the potion passed onto my third gate. It was a strange, strange sensation, feeling the gates that I didn’t have. I distinctly felt them compact, but it wasn’t quite the same, like what I imagined the feeling of a phantom limb would be like. From the third it rippled out to the fourth, then the fifth. It diminished a massive amount overcoming that barrier, but continued, diminishing again at the seventh gate, before dissolving away.

My eyes snapped open and I sucked in a deep breath. Kene looked at me curiously, then their eyebrows shot up.

“Your eyes!” they said.

“Oh no,” I responded. “What’s wrong with my eyes?”

Kene pulled a compact from his ring and passed it to me, and I opened it to examine it.

My eyes had always been a rather vibrant green – they were one of the few physical features I could take some pride in, actually.

But now they were truly strange. My pupils were a shimmering, shifting, prismatic mix, and the green of my eyes had gotten far brighter, to the point they were almost glowing. And scattered throughout the glowing green were dots of white light, with bands running through them. Spell arrays, so faint and small that they were almost impossible to make out.

I closed the compact and passed it over to them.

“Well, I had been warned there would be physical changes,” I said. “I guess this qualifies.”

“I think it looks cool,” Octavian said. “It reminds me of Araceli’s eyes when she’s using magic.”

“Of course you got dragon eyes,” Kene teased, and I flushed some.

“Shut up,” I told them, then looked at Octavian. “Was everyone alright? I meant to ask.”

“No fatalities, and most of the injuries were simple enough to patch,” he said. “Things have mostly settled down now. We should still be good to head out to the dragon’s den in the morning.”

“Great,” I said, smiling at him, then laced my fingers hand in hand with Kene. “See you then?”

“Course!” Octavian said.

Once we were a ways away, and were able to enter Dusk’s realm, she took in the matter-core, and I turned to Kene.

“Ready to ascend?” I asked them.

“Now?” they asked, and I shrugged.

“Why not? There’s plenty of plants to recharge and overflow your gates, and you can drain the sunset marigolds and spiritbalm for the solar mana.”

Dusk cheered out for Kene to do it, and they thought for a second, but nodded.

“It’s probably best to do it tonight, so the plants can regain power over the night. Alright then, I’ll do it.”