"Can I help you?" I asked.

"We need to talk," Leon replied, his voice hard as stone.

I stared for a few seconds, then nodded and stepped to one side, "Yes, I suppose we do."

Leon walked into my room, glancing over at the animal who had taken over my bed before turning back to me, "We have not spoken about Colkirk yet."

"What is there to say?"

"Plenty," Leon sighed, "But I want an answer to something first. If you had not known me- if I was a stranger rather than a friend, would you have done the same thing?

I had not expected that question, but the answer came to me without much pause.

"No," I shook my head, "I doubt it. In all likelihood, I would not have noticed Wallace's cheating in the first place. Even if I had, I would have erred on the side of caution."

Leon went to speak, but I carried on, "However, I do not regret my actions. I regret that it might reflect poorly on you and others. I regret that it has damaged our relationship. But Wallace did a bad thing, and I could do something about it. So, I did."

"Morals aren't worth much if you only ever find them for yourself and your friends," Leon remarked after a few seconds, "Are you willing to let innocent people suffer or die because they are strangers?"

I met his eyes and replied, "Morals are worth less to a dead man. I would not say 'willing,' but this is not some carefree sparring match or a quiet, safe classroom. This is a battle against a beast fully capable of killing all of us."

"I'm well aware, but I already told you a week ago. I represent my father, my family name, and the nobility as a whole," Leon shot back, "And we have failed these people. You said if we can do something, we should, yes?"

I folded my arms over my chest, "We could die. Are you prepared for that?"

Leon chuckled, "I'd rather live, obviously. That's why I need your help. You're my advisor, Vayne, and I want you by my side."

I stared into Leon's eyes, saw the determination there, and found myself hating him. He was going to try to help with or without my help. His damned sense of honor had him turning the other cheek to a man while running headfirst into battle against a monster.

He did not grasp that he could die. Not really. What did it say about me if I allowed him to risk his life and did nothing to try and help?

"We cannot kill a drake," I said slowly. Leon's face hardened, but I continued, "Not without a plan."

Leon relaxed, and he smiled, "You'll help then? Fantastic. I was worried I'd have to make it a command, not a request."

I could not help but ask, "Would you have? Commanded it?"

"I'd rather it never come to that," Leon replied, placing a hand on my shoulder. I tried and failed not to notice the unspoken implication.

Rather than dwell on it, I pushed on, "What do you need from me?"

"You know our abilities better than anyone," Leon replied, "You're the best choice to think of a plan to kill the beast."

I nodded, and Leon continued, "In the meantime, I have to convince the others to help."

"Do you think they will?"

Leon shrugged and chuckled, "I'm not sure. But honestly, I thought you'd be the hardest to convince. So, fingers crossed."

He left without another word, leaving me to my task.

The following day, we packed into Leon's room to discuss my plan—or rather, plans. Leon had asked me to devise one, but I was never fond of doing as little as possible if my life depended on it. That, and I needed something to break up the monotony of late-night magic practice.

"Drakes are strong," I said, standing before the others, "Their scales are tough enough to deflect spears, swords, and arrows. One tail swipe can crush a ribcage or shatter a spine. But they are dumb. Predictable. And that predictability is our greatest weapon against it. We cannot kill a drake in a fair fight, so we will fight an unfair one. And we will do so through exploiting three things."

I held up one finger, "First, drakes are scavengers above all else. They will hunt if needed, but they prefer wounded prey and carrion. As a result, they have poor eyesight. However, their sense of smell? Much keener, particularly when smelling blood."

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No one said anything, so I raised a second finger and continued, "Second, drakes are heavy and slow, unsuited for climbing hills or inclines. They can do it, but it takes longer than it would for another creature such as a bear or wolf."

I looked between them and noticed that they all were listening attentively. Even Sophia, who had seemed more interested in staring at the floor, had turned her attention to me.

"And third," I said as I extended a third finger, "They are too dumb to avoid a trap."

Amelia shifted in her seat, and I nodded towards her. She straightened, asking, "So, your plan is to trap it?"

"In a manner of speaking," I nodded, "My first plan is to lure it into a pit with spikes set into the bottom. Drake scales are tough, but the beast's weight and gravity should be enough to punch through them. Ideally, this will puncture something vital, killing it outright."

"And if it doesn't work?" Amelia pressed.

"If it does not work, we go to my backup plan."

"Which is?" Leon asked.

I smiled and gestured towards his sister, "Sophia."

The lightning mage raised one eyebrow, and I continued, "Your magic is the most destructive of the five of us. The moment the drake falls into that pit, I want you to start casting the lightning spell you showed me at the start of our trip. Push as much mana into it as possible without losing control and throw it the moment the beast pokes its head out."

"Is that enough?" Sophia asked with the slightest downturn of her mouth.

I debated lying, but this situation called for the uncomfortable truth, "Honestly? I do not know. I do not know much about drakes, and although I can estimate this one is somewhere in the mid to high gaseous stages, we are taking a risk."

"What if your plan doesn't work?" Simon asked, his voice hitching a little. He had agreed to help, and I had to admire his courage.

"We run," I said bluntly, "If these two plans do not work, we cannot kill the drake. So, we retreat and hope it is wounded badly enough that time will finish the job."

No one said anything else, so I turned to Leon and continued, "I have come up with tasks that each of us needs to accomplish to make these plans work. This will take some time, though."

Leon raised an eyebrow, "How long is 'some time'?"

"How long can we spare?"

***

Five days.

In the end, we decided on five days in which to prepare to kill a drake. It was a fraction of how long I would like, but it was the best Leon could promise. Any longer, and we would have to leave the town behind. For all his noble desires to help these people, Leon refused to put their well-being above his duties to his family.

I hesitated to point out that risking his life was putting them above his family for two reasons. The first was obvious, as I doubted it would sway him. And the second was another, more selfish reason.

Ever since I had decided to leave the Academy, I had an idea. The slightest flicker of one, but an idea nonetheless. If I helped Leon and the others slay an impossible foe, one that even our masters would claim is outside our reach, what would that say? What would it prove?

What might it inspire?

I wanted to reach the pinnacle of magic...but who said I had to do so alone?

With a plan set, we jumped into our preparations.

Leon was in charge of speaking with the mayor, the hunters, and the guards within the town, getting their assistance in slaying the beast. We needed hands to carve wooden spikes, dig a pit large enough to trap a twenty-foot-long monster and hide it well enough to fool the beast.

It was a tricky job, and Leon confided in me that most reacted with barely-hidden disdain at his request. They felt we had failed them, and I could see that the noble agreed.

Amelia had to get the bait, which came in the form of animal blood and some corpses. While she received some uncomfortable looks for her trouble, the one butcher within the town was more than happy to provide when she explained the reason.

Sophia's sole task was to get her spell as strong as possible. I did not want to give too firm a push in any direction, though, so I quietly recommended she focus on mana control exercises. Those would reduce waste and improve efficiency, something she could apply to any magic while also helping bolster this particular spell.

Finally, Simon had possibly the most crucial job of all. I needed him to figure out a way to ensure any wounds the drake acquired would prove fatal.

The budding alchemist had taken over a corner of the inn, converting a collection of tables into a makeshift alchemy lab. I had expected Kara's mother to be irritated at the request, but if anything, she was a little too eager to help. Part of me wondered if she still worried Leon would lash out for Kara's casual interactions with us.

Simon and I stood beside this lab, looking over a mess of herbs, roots, flowers, and leaves. I recognized only a handful and wondered how he had acquired so much variety in a border town like this.

"These," Simon said, "Are every type of plant I could find in this town that I recognized. Most are used in low-grade healing ointments or non-alchemic medical treatments, and none are effective enough on their own to do what we need."

"Do you think you can make something out of them to kill a drake?" I asked.

Simon exhaled, and his gaze drifted from one ingredient to the other. But then, I saw a spark in his eyes and the flicker of a grin at the corner of his mouth.

"Maybe," Simon murmured, then looked up at me and nodded once, "Yeah, I think so."

"Perfect, how can I help?" I asked, glancing around for a seat.

Simon coughed, "No offense, but I'm not sure how much help you'll be. I need to do some testing, and I think too many people might-"

"Simon," I interrupted, "You will never have to apologize for wanting to work on your own to me. Trust me."

We shared a small laugh, and I left him to his task.

Outside of the inn, I had the strangest realization. In my haste to assign jobs to everyone else, I mistakenly left myself without one.

I could always help the hunters and guards dig the trap, but much like with Simon, there was a certain point where more hands slowed the work rather than sped it up.

So, I did what I always did when I had spare time. I worked on my magic.

The odds of the battle against the drake descending into an out-and-out fight were slim. But not non-existent. I had run out of water from the Aether pool between my gradual imbibements and supplementing my pet's diet to continue his growth. We had both seen benefits, and I could just glimpse the peak of Haze even if I had a few months at least to go before reaching Mist.

I almost wanted to improve my Traveler's Shield again. The next step in my intended path was layering, creating multiple 'plates' over critical spots on my body, much like actual armor. But the demand on my reserves still seemed too high to warrant such a change.

Instead, I focused on mana gathering. If it came down to a real fight, I needed stamina above all else. And when that grew too dull, I moved to shrouding or forging, preferring fundamental skills over haphazard new magic.

Days passed as we worked tirelessly. Leon and Amelia finished their tasks within the first day, though the former spent time helping prepare the pit trap. Rather than rest, they joined me in training and we worked from dawn to dusk, trying to eke out as much progress as possible.

Leon worked to strengthen his arrows, launching them with ever greater force as he mastered that strange wind shroud around the projectiles. Amelia's icy aura grew wider and colder with every casting as she created it over and over until her channels were too strained to try again. Even Simon occasionally joined us, though his practice was limited to forming and controlling two water tendrils.

This pace bore fruit. Even though it was only five days, bouncing ideas and pushing one another allowed us to noticeably improve. For some, this improvement went further than for others.

Amelia reached Haze on the fourth day. We had stayed behind for a sparring match, having grown lazy with our staff practice, but when we finished, she settled onto the grassy fields. I was unsure about her plans until she closed her eyes and began reshaping her mana.

I seized the chance to observe the process from the outside. She was faster than me, likely thanks to her greater control and minimal instability in her core. I noted the minute differences in how she moved her mana, how it reacted, and the strange breadth of her signature that had to be due to her specific techniques.

When Amelia finished, we tested her mana's new strength to it. And I was once more reminded that ice mages were terrifying. She cast her preferred spell, an icy aura that spread out in every direction, leaving my skin red and numb within seconds.

If she could do that to me now, I shuddered to think what it would look like when she reached the liquid ranks.

Finally, the day of our hunt came, and we set off, not to kill a drake but to help protect a town.