My first few days as a Mist felt remarkable. I tested the rest of my spells and found that each had shot forward in potency. Mana Bolt, even hastily cast, drilled a hole through solid stone. I suspected I could kill two, maybe even three, people with a single attack if they stood in front of one another.

Force Step, meanwhile, shot me forward several dozen feet with a single casting at such speeds that the world blurred. It was so fast and forceful that it became dangerous, and my first test left me with a faintly injured ankle. I moved up mobility magic on my list of priorities if only to spare myself a broken leg in the future.

Despite those successes, I also realized something as I slowly acclimated to my strength. It went unsaid at first but soon became unavoidable.

I had run out of things to do within the mining city.

While my body and magic had grown noticeably, many of those improvements would slow. Sure, the Aether water could push me further, possibly to Fog or even Cloud within the next few years, and I was positive I could learn more from the pool given time, but were those worth it? Was raw power and the temptation of the pool worth staying here?

It was not a tricky question to answer.

When I abandoned my formal education, I made a choice, and that choice came with consequences. If I wanted to keep growing, I could not rely on what I already knew. After all, I had already started approaching the limits of my existing magical knowledge.

If I wanted to continue improving, I would need to study magic in the world and the skills of other mages, learning and adapting from those experiences. And the best time to leave and seek out those opportunities was now rather than in six months when my growth had stagnated entirely.

But beyond that, beyond any logical reasoning, was something else, a feeling that had crept in almost unnoticed but inexorable. It had taken me days to realize what it was, and it was possibly the largest reason why I had to leave.

I was looking forward to training with the guards, not to get better with a shield but to interact with them as friends. At some point, I had begun eating dinner with Rowen, Nick, and a few others, not to learn more about the mines but for fun. It was not often, but I started to anticipate the jokes and barbs or the stories and rumors they would share, and I laughed right along with them.

I was growing comfortable, and I could not let myself do that. Apathy and contentment were the death knell to a mage, and I could not afford to slow down. I had to leave.

Several weeks after reaching Mist, I rose before sunrise and got ready to depart. It took me a half-hour to clean myself off, get dressed, and pack my bag before walking outside to the camp.

The ground outside had turned icy and frost-covered, with sparse snow here and there. Although it was mid-autumn, Aresford was northern enough that it might as well be winter.

I pulled my cloak tighter to brace against the harsh wind, then shook my head and chuckled. After so long saving mana to practice my strengthening magic, I had almost forgotten that I was a mage and all mages had a spell or two designed for comfort, not combat.

Traveler's Cloak sprung into existence, and the sharp edge of winter vanished, blunted underneath the weak shield. My skill had improved enough that I could maintain such a spell for hours, but I still moved quickly.

Rowen was already in his office when I got there, hard at work even though it was barely past sunrise. He glanced up at me from a stack of papers atop his desk, smiling and nodding in my direction.

"Morning, Vayne. How can I help you?" Rowen's smile turned sly, "You're not planning to change jobs again, are you? You've already got a reputation for not sticking to anything, though the guards keep asking when you'll join them officially."

"Depends on the pay," I joked, returning his smile.

"For a mage?" Rowen made a show of thinking on it, "Could be worse, I guess. Now, what are you actually here for? No offense, but you wouldn't visit me so early just to be friendly."

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I took the comment in stride and decided not to waste our time, "We—Cat and I, are leaving Aresford. I wanted to let you know and thank you for your assistance these last few months.""

"Leaving?" Rowen blinked, "Now? Sick of the mines already?"

I smiled, "Not so much. We have to move on to our next destination, and I would rather get on the road as soon as possible."

"Shame. Sure you don't want to settle in through the winter?" Rowen asked, his smile returning, "Get a little more work outta you first?"

"I almost miss when you treated me like a noble," I remarked, folding my arms over my chest.

"Really?"

"No," I shook my head and smiled, "It always felt dishonest."

Rowen laughed, "Usually is when you're afraid the other person will light you on fire if you say the wrong thing."

I almost commented that I could not like him on fire, but decided it might come across as threatening. Instead, I remained silent.

After a few seconds, Rowen continued, "So, you two are leaving. When?"

"Whenever we finish our conversation," I replied.

Rowen snorted, shaking his head as he responded, "Not wasting any time, eh? You sure you don't want to at least wait til tomorrow? The others will wanna see you off. We can grab a few drinks, and maybe you'll finally show us some of that magic. What do you say?"

They had asked me several times to demonstrate my magic, and I had refused each time, mostly to avoid drawing the ire of Lord Entwood or another noble within the city. Still, it had not stopped them from doing their best to convince me.

I wanted to accept but recognized it was an impulse driven by that same creeping feeling of comfort. So, I shook my head with an apologetic smile.

"Thank you, but no," I said, "It is best we leave today. The weather is fair, and I think we can reach our next destination before winter settles onto the kingdom."

"Can't blame me for trying," Rowen walked around his desk and held out one hand, "Good luck, kid. Come visit soon."

I nodded and took his hand into mine. The foreman did his best to crush my fingers, and I glanced down, almost pulling onto my Aether to empower myself before deciding to match him with my natural strength. I failed, of course, but it was not quite as stark a loss as it might have been just months prior.

A short cart ride back to Aresford proper later, and we were on the road heading south. I had filled my pack to bursting with dozens of glass vials, each filled with Aether-infused water, knowing it was critical to my future growth. Though my feline friend and I would likely eat through my reserves in less than a year, it should be enough to get me a good way to Fog and keep Cat fed for months.

Once we hit that point, my new gathering technique would hopefully be polished enough for regular use. I would still use the water for as long as it remained useful, but I knew it would become more trouble than it was worth sooner rather than later. It might be an Aether-aligned elixir, but it did not carry enough power to bridge the liquid ranks.

I walked down the road heading southward, at a loss for where to go next. Much like last time, the issue was not a lack of options but a lack of appealing ones. I was in a strange middle ground where almost all of them would help bolster my magic, but I felt ill-prepared to leverage any to their fullest extent.

The Everforge was near the top of my list. It was a legendary place, an artifact crafted by one of the Founders and manned by some of the greatest living Forgemasters. These mages formed a loose collection which the Academy granted a degree of autonomy, and they famously tutored any student who drew their eyes.

I hoped they could help further my skills and solve my shortcomings. The changes I planned to incorporate into my magic required surpassing talent in Forging, and I had plenty left to learn. Besides, it was another piece of our long, storied magical history and something any prospective Forgemaster had to visit as a rite of passage.

Another strong possibility was a reclusive spatial mage, a scholar who was said to instruct anyone, regardless of their origin or reputation. She was brilliant and powerful but infamously mercurial and prone to taking on and abandoning mages on a whim.

Beyond that, there were mages who spent their time hunting down monsters and Duelists seeking out worthy proteges to pass down their secrets. A healer along the southwestern coast freely gave away her knowledge to anyone who sought her out, and there were rumors of enchanters near the southern border who ventured into Tinkerer land to capture their automatons to try and steal their secrets.

All sounded viable, but the greatest problem remained.

Time.

Traveling to any one of those places would take weeks, if not months, during the spring or summer. I did not much look forward to crisscrossing Ferris in the depths of winter. Worse, it was not like I could train properly to pass the time. There were a few things I could practice, but every day on the road was a day taken away from honing my skills.

I tried to avoid dwelling on my friends and the path not walked, but my mind wandered again to them. Their presence would not magically fix all of these issues, but at least I would not be alone. Did they regret not accepting my invitation? And why should I care? I had known Amelia and Simon for less than a year, while the Esttons were more like strangers than anything.

Cat meowed, breaking my thoughts and I glanced over my shoulder at the feline. His growth had slowed after reaching ordinary housecat size, but his mana signature deepened with each passing day. I would still not call him powerful. Hell, I had killed things as a Vapor that felt more dangerous, but that might change in time.

A familiar bond might be a way to jump ahead in power, but it felt like it was not worth the time or energy. I had no idea what abilities the beast might grant me, as he had shown none. His mana signature was stronger, and he seemed to have a talent for disappearing, but that struck me as an innate feline talent rather than anything arcane.

Of course, I also had no idea how to create a familiar bond and no one to show me, so it was ultimately a moot point.

Just then, an obvious idea occurred to me. I turned it over in my head for a few minutes, then smiled and nodded.

I needed a city where I could hunker down to avoid the worst of a Ferren winter and where ambitious, often half-drunk mages tended to congregate in the winter. And lucky me, we had already visited just the place.