-My, my! That was fast. Much faster than that time in the forest. You learn by watching, don’t you?

-What, regretting showing me your tricks?

-Not at all. That was the point! I dared to hope, but even still, reality far surpassed my expectation.

-Why are you mocking me?

-You misunderstand. Your growth is, as I said, the whole point. That you need yet rely on that wonderful lady’s gifts to track me, however, is an indication that you have yet some measure to grow. Pray, do not be disheartened. Lindblum was not built in a day. Nor Bruska, for that matter.

-Stop with that incessant good-boy-scholar attitude, already! Why are you gathering all this Entropy aether?

He sighed.

-Oh, yeah. That. Nasty business, none of which is very avoidable, I’m afraid. You’d forgive me if you knew.

-Knew what? That you enjoy killing people? You must be crazier than I thought.

-Ouch. No, none of that. But you’re free to think whatever you like, if it maintains within you this same impetus. It will be necessary.

Morgen’s mixture of colloquial and formal language brought his intentions even further into question, when it came to Freya’s perception. Suwi stood puzzled, choosing not to interfere, but whispering to her companion: “He’s still drawing it in.”

-Aren’t you gonna leave? Or fight me?

-No. Not yet, anyway. I’d be downright shameful to leave all this aether behind. It’s my last batch for this region.

-You’re not going anywhere else.

-That’s quite an advancement. The princess I met would be too scared to threaten me like that. Is it the anger?

Within a split-second, Freya wove her carefully-maintained spells into new shapes. Drawing her spear with staggering agility, she thrust forward into her enemy’s center-mass. The clash between the tip of her spear and a nepenthe-sized greatsword sent a ringing noise throughout the area. In that same instant, it seemed, Morgen drew that crystalline sword and protected his body with its side.

-Oh, wow! That’s much faster and stronger than that jump of yours. Speaking of which, you really ought to name that move. It was surprisingly original.

-Stop with the bullshit, asshole!

-“Freya’s High Jump”. Simple but effective, don’tcha think?

The two began to exchange blows. Or rather, Freya did - the nepenthe seemed to be on the defensive. Both of their movements were almost too fast for Suwi to keep up, even while enhancing her senses.

-Do you know how many people you killed? You act so carefree - do you even goddamn care?

-Of course I do. I’m a genuine man, after all!

-Genuinely trying to piss me off!

Pushing off one of Freya’s blows, Morgen gripped his greatsword close to his face. She braced, expecting a powerful long-distance attack. Instead, the sword changed shape as he gripped it, splitting apart as if a liquid and becoming a crystalline sword-and-shield combo. She struggled to understand that feat of transmutation even as she witnessed it. Never before had she considered that crystalline matter might be handled as such, even by experienced hands. Morgen beckoned her, which sent the princess into a rage, screaming at the top of her lungs as she put all her might into her next set of blows, handily parried and blocked as if in an attempt to teach. Realizing this enraged Freya even more.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

-Alright, I get it, asshole! You’re better than me in every possible way, so what?! You better kill me, because I’m not gonna stop coming after you!

-Good! That’s what I wanted to hear.

The nepenthe’s arms were converted into the familiar staff by another feat of transmutation as he began to perform a dance worthy of the most alluring chromi bladedancers. Freya knew not how to react to this sudden shift in behavior. A masculine voice from behind her warned: “He’s casting something big!” Diedrich had just arrived, soon enough to witness that shift in attitude. His companions had not a single notion of how the nebelian had come to that conclusion, but regardless, they heeded his warning, bracing themselves by preparing defensive spells.

For a moment, Freya considered the thought of striking to break the man’s concentration, but considering how ineffective her attempts at aggression had been thus far, she resolved to watch and see.

And witness she did - a cascade of now-visible flourishing energies, strong enough to push each of them back a step. Suwi’s eyes grew wide as she alone could witness the full effect of what the man intended with his actions. White aether rushed into his body ever more rapidly, cascading in and out of his pores in hauntingly beautiful patterns. Meanwhile, the other two saw only that dance, noticing only a slight shift in the hue of his skin, growing somehow more pale than it had been in the past.

With one last beautiful movement the man flung himself upwards, then downwards once more, thrusting his violet crystalline staff into the ground. He took a step back from it, posing himself as if to dance with a partner. His next steps were a different type of dance, as if beckoning his staff to join him. What onlookers failed to predict, however, was that the staff itself began to branch off in the direction of the nepenthe, creating a structure not unlike itself, but in a glowing shade of silver that reminisced Entropy aether in its purest form.

The last step to that elaborate dance involved Morgen approaching the white branch and grasping it gently with one hand, breaking it off the main structure. He let it slide down his palm until the base of the shaft touched the ground, then cradled it between his arm and forearm, observing it with a proud look. “Only this much, huh…?” He talked to himself, out loud. “It’s rather regrettable, isn’t it?”

The trio looked on, puzzled by the strange event. In their accumulated experience, none of them had witnessed something of the sort - Suwi’s mind, however, raced with a thousand possibilities. She had to ask.

-How did you create it?

-By understanding myself, young lady.

-Were you expecting something else?

Morgen sighed deeply, a sorrowful look growing ever more apparent in his pale visage.

-Unfortunately, yes. A throne and base structure, perhaps? Our offering was far too feeble.

-“Our” offering? You certainly don’t mean we’re involved.

-Of course not, dear. You merely observed. I mean all those many souls who unfortunately gave their lives so we might come this far, and hopefully much further.

A glimpse of understanding blessed Suwi, who backed off while Freya interjected, enraged by impatience. “You’re gonna stop this right now. You’ve already gone too far!” She yelled, tears welling up in her eyes, memories of the piles of corpses she’d witnessed thus far flooding her mind. “Do you have any idea how many people died in Lindblum? Or in Madain Nym?”

His expression grew heavier. “Unfortunately, I do. I feel the weight of their lost possibilities on my arm as we speak.” Morgen stared longingly at the staff he still cradled with his arm.

-Though I find it important to say, in no way was that beast from the depths summoned by me. Had I known it would come and wreak such havoc, I would have stayed to collect what came of its appearance. At least, then, it would have meant something.

-All those deaths mean nothing to you? - She grasped her chest, breathing heavily.

-Not as much as they do to you, I reckon. Do not cast blame on yourself for it, starlight. Your brilliance would burn some, eventually. You could not help but shine.

Freya grasped her spear more heavily than before, ready to strike that man down for his callous words. She felt Suwi’s hand touch hers before she could move, however, shaking her head sideways with a somber expression. The silent words were very well heard: ‘let him go’.

Morgen observed the trio once more, then his former staff, stuck to the ground. “Take care of Exile for me, will you? It will serve you well.” He said longingly as his body began to defy gravity in a most unnatural fashion. “We shan’t meet again so soon.” Sighing once more, Morgen whispered the words “Boatman’s Ferry” which was followed by his entire frame being swallowed by the mouth of an eldritch beast with far too many teeth, disappearing along with the nepenthe in a split-second.