Xopil ate in silence.  All the women present stared at him, raising his annoyance.  "Aren't you hungry? Why don't you eat?"

Xopil shook his head when they continued to stare at him and robotically moved food into their mouths.  "Do I have something on my face?"

"Not exactly no..." Xiara started, "but you do look different from before."

"So what, am I suddenly attractive?"

"It's never been just your looks, but it feels as though you are the center of the universe, it's a bizarre feeling." Felicyta answered him.

"That..." Xiara blinked, took a harder look at Xopil and her words got caught in her throat.

"So what, I'm not human any more?"

"Oh you are, and so much more."  Xopil watched them warily as they all looked ready to pounce on him.

"Calm down, I don't want to hurt any of you."  Xopil thought about binding them to their seats for a moment.  The atmosphere in the room changed instantly.  Xopil blinked, and he was now looking at the six women bound by their chairs.

"...well, that's certainly dangerous." Xopil commented as he dismissed the thought and the chairs returned to normal, releasing them.

"What... what just happened?" Beda was clearly shaken.

"I had a thought of restraining you, to protect myself... and it rather ran away with itself." Xopil answered.

"Your magic is now connected to your thoughts and whims?" Xiara asked, "also..."

"Seems so." Xopil shrugged, not exactly happy with this turn of events.

"You just bound us with a thought?  Isn't that a bit broken?" Beda asked.

"I won't deny that.  I'm not happy about this either."

"This... is from the 'gift'?" asked Calypso.

"What?" Xopil asked.

"While you were out, we had a bit of a conversation with your true self, said he was going to bestow you with a gift, also said 'good luck solving this puzzle, you're going to need it'." stated Felicyta.

"Xopil..." Xiara said softly.

"Well, if that was due to the 'gift', and the change in my magic... so my true self felt this task was far above and beyond my old self huh?"

"He also said he modified your timer for this puzzle, adding quite a few years before it expires." Felicyta added.

"I'm not sure if I should be happy or worried about all this."

"Take it as a necessary step forward." Xiara commented.

"...The ability to warp reality by thinking about it is a bit disconcerting as a 'step forward'." countered Xopil.

"You've been using magic all this time and this bothers you?" Xiara couldn't help but chuckle.

"That I can activate magic as naturally as breathing, even accidently just by thinking about something? Yes, that bothers me."

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Xiara shrugged and shook her head, "You have a point I suppose.  Even this won't guarantee you can solve this puzzle... and this level of mastery is pretty close to what your true self can use."

"What's beyond using magic by thinking about it?" asked Calypso.

"Using magic without thinking about it..." Xiara replied the obvious answer, "going a step further would be... the ability to use magic in your sleep."

"Wait a minute." Winter interrupted, her hand wrapped around her chin in thought.  "I feel like we're missing something important about magic."

"And what would that be?" asked Felicyta thoughtfully.

"There's balance in all things, and the scales are always in equilibrium right?  So what is the counterbalance for magic?"

"You're quite right." Xopil stated, "There is indeed an anti-magic force, and it's always working against magic."

"Can we utilize that somehow?" Calypso asked.

"You already do," Xiara replied.

"What?" Calypso was shocked.

"Think about it.  Every time you dispel any magic you've used, how would you get rid of it if not for anti-magic?" Xopil explained.  "You're only using a small part of it, but you are still exerting some control over it."

"Magic is boundless potential, but there's an equally powerful force applied to it that keeps it in check." Xiara added, "Otherwise, magical energy would run rampant on its own.  When it comes to using and manifesting magic, you're essentially weakening the limiter enough to allow the magic to happen."

"That doesn't make sense... wouldn't we be strengthening the 'magic' to overcome the limiter?"

"In either case, you're still causing an imbalance... I'd wager none of you actually know if you're manipulating magic or the limiter.  It's not something clear unless you have an incredibly deep understanding of the two forces." Xiara explained, "Xopil just recently entered that realm of understanding... and not by his choice I might add."

"This isn't something anyone should understand..." Xopil waved his hand dismissively, "I can feel the very fabric of magic coursing in this world, and the tight grip of its limiter.  And on a whim, I can bend both of these forces to my will."

"That's... a godlike level of understanding." Felicyta gazed at him wide-eyed.

"...Not quite, but it's getting there." Xiara corrected.

"I wonder how Boris is doing..." Xopil said under his breath.  The next moment, a whirlwind erupted from nothing in the middle of the room, tearing the fabric of time and space, a black orb appeared in center of the distortion.  The orb gradually brightened until it was sky blue in color.  The surface of the orb glossed over, and displayed an image of a cloaked man walking through a dense forested area.  His steps were slow and heavy, a trail of blood behind him as he marched on.

"Boris?!" Xiara exclaimed.

"He looks like he's had a rough time..." Xopil commented as he sent his hand towards the distortion.  His hand pierced into the distortion, and made contact with Boris.  He closed his hand, grabbing the now distorted vision of Boris.  Xopil retracted his hand, pulling Boris into the room.  The distortion closed immediately afterwards.

"What in the...?  The inn?" Boris asked as he slumped to the ground. "That sensation though... I watched as thousands of miles passed before my eyes in a matter of seconds."

Xopil frowned, "Sorry about that Boris... still getting the hang of this."

"Wait what?  You just used me as an experiment?  You damned fool, what if you killed me in the process?" Boris fired off questions like a shotgun.

"It's not like I don't have the necessary control, I just need to get used to it." Xopil shrugged, "Anyways.  It's good to see you."

Xopil waved his hand at Boris, all his wounds closed over as his natural healing was sped up using time magic.

The 5 women looked on in awe, "He's like a god..."

"He IS the servant of many gods, just well... not presently.  It's complicated."  Xiara shrugged as she made the explanation worse.

Boris cast a wary eye at Xopil, "You shouldn't be able to do any of this, the hell's going on here?"

"The true Xopil woke up... shit happened and here we are." Xiara gave him an abridged version.

"..." Boris stood slackjawed.

"We can go over that later, what do you know about this world puzzle?" Xopil asked, "I'm not thrilled with my existence here and want this over with."

Boris took a deep breath, "I'm afraid I know less than you do at this point.  My knowledge of this world was nearly wiped clean after we exposed too much information to you."

"...That's worse than disappointing." Xopil frowned.  His eyes unfocused as he looked at the invisible fabric of magic.  "There's not much I can do about it now, it's all but finished.  Rewinding it wouldn't be wise at this point."

"Go get something to eat and get some rest Boris, we have a lot of work to do, and we're starting tomorrow." Xopil declared as he waved his hand over the table.  All the plates, dishes, and silverware vanished instantly, only to be replaced with clean counterparts.  Another wave, and a veritable feast appeared on the table.

Everyone, other than Xopil, watched the whole process while stupefied.  It was only when the aroma from the table hit them that they came back to their senses.