Ted and Cara met up with Gramok, and returned to Tolabar to say their goodbyes. They tried one last time to recruit more aid. Might as well not have bothered for all the good it did. Even knowing what was at stake, the wood elves couldn’t bring themselves to go up against the Empire, and, unlike Gramok, weren’t up for an adventure along the way.

Stupid System.

With that out of the way, they teleported to Valbort. Once there, Gramok went to procure maps to the Divine Empire, and Cara headed off to train dwarven archers. Ted, meanwhile, took the opportunity to search Valbort’s extensive archives for information about the Hub.

For once, the search proved fruitful. The Hub was a sprawling compound, mostly underground, where all new Heroes began their journey. Reading between the lines, only Heroes and their Companions could enter the Hub itself. NPCs could approach, but not cross the threshold, and monsters didn’t come anywhere near the place.

Devoid of anything much more dangerous than an enraged hare, it provided a small haven of tranquility and safety for new adventurers, other Heroes aside. The archives described frequent fights occurring there, with Heroes even more reckless than usual, dying over and over to each other without the slightest concern.

The exception was the Grand Arena. Matches in the Grand Arena were televised—or some magical version of it, anyway—across the entire continent. Two contestants entered, an impenetrable barrier sealed them in, and only one left. The loser was completely reset—their skills gone, their experience wiped, and their level returned to zero.

Ouch. A little knot in Ted’s stomach formed at the thought. He’d had no idea such a forcible reset was possible. Then again, he’d had no idea that maximum HP could be reduced, either. The others assured him that it would come back with rest, but what more unknown unknowns were out there?

Research complete, he returned to the portal lobby to practice Illusion magic while dwarven guards, clad in armor from head to toe, looked on. He tried not to imagine what was going through their heads, as they watched him cast Illusion on himself over and over, testing it out and learning its limits and capabilities.

The Illusion effect drew the intended illusion from the caster’s mind and then attempted to apply that upon the target or targets’ perception of reality. The more complex or unusual the illusion, the more potency he found he needed to make it stick.

Something simple and innocuous like the image of a wooden crate in the corner of the room was easy enough, while creating the illusion of a person for more than a moment proved impossible, at least under these conditions. With higher skill and an unaware target with lower Mental Resistance, Ted suspected anything could be possible, but it would need a lot of potency.

Taking what he learned from the Illusion spell, and how it drew intentions from the caster, he managed to modify Deafen to affect either physical or magical sounds. While doing that, he had an idea: What if he took the Deafen effect, broke it down, and swapped out the sound segment for the light segment from the Farsight spell?

It proved harder than it sounded. Segments were still incredibly tricky to work with, and a direct transposition severed several key connections. Nonetheless, after half an hour of experimentation, he had a working Blind effect.

Satisfied with his progress, and with his Telepathy skills rising to 5, Ted felt confident enough to spend his new talent points.

Stability (0/5): Increases stability of Telepathy magic by 20% per level.

Power (2/5): Increases potency of Telepathy magic by 20% per level.

Quick Cast (0/5): Increases casting speed of Telepathy magic by 20% per level.

Critical Chance (0/5): Increases critical chance of Telepathy magic by 20% per level.

Critical Severity (0/5): Increases critical severity of Telepathy magic by 20% per level.

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Cast in Motion (0/5): Decreases the accuracy and movement speed penalty from casting Telepathy magic while moving by 20% per level.

Given that his main use of the spell would be keeping a Continuous Illusion up on himself, Ted maxed out the Power talent. Either he’d have a better illusion, or one that taxed his mana regeneration less.

“Hey!” came Cara’s voice.

Ted spun around to see her standing there, smiling, her hands idly fidgeting with the handles of her daggers. “Hey,” he said, stilling the pounding in his chest.

“So, Illusion Master, ready to show me what you’ve got?”

A knot tightened in Ted’s stomach, and he shook his head. “I’m not going to mess with your head.” Not if I can help it.

She advanced on him, wearing that ridiculous expression she had when trying to be stern. “You need practice doing it, I need practice resisting it. Time to do what needs to be done.”

Unable to fault the logic, Ted knocked out a theatrical salute. “Yes, Keeper.” He coaxed out a sliver of mana and cast a Telepathy/Target/Illusion spell, using only mental and verbal components.

Cara crossed her arms and glowered at him. “They haven’t all moved out of Tolabar, yet. Besides, I’m voting you as keeper.”

“Nope!” The spell went off without a hitch, devoid of any outward signs thanks to the Target form.

“Tough—as ranking prowler, I’ll get the casting vote.”

“Fine. My first act as Keeper will be to appoint you Keeper.”

She threw up her arms. “Ugh! You’re ridiculous!”

“Thank you.”

“Whatever.” She spun around, took two steps toward the exit, and froze. After letting out a growl, she turned back and stared at Ted through narrowed eyes. “The door’s gone.”

He smiled innocently back at her. “Guess you’ll have to stay, then.”

“You want to play?” She sauntered toward him. “Alright, let’s make it interesting—if I can catch you, you have to learn to sing an Orcish round with me and Gramok.”

“And if you lose?”

She laughed. “Won’t happen!”

“Fine, but if it does… You have to say thank you for bringing you that armor you’re wearing.”

Cara pouted, her whole demeanor shifting to sullen. “Meanie.”

“You’re going to win, though, right?”

Her smile came back, and she bounced from side to side. “Right. Of course I am. Ready?”

“Ready to whoop your ass.” He double-stepped backward and began casting Blind.

She smirked at him, giving him a moment’s head start before pouncing.

“Za-enshka!” He hit her with the spell’s purple bolt and dodged to the side, only just evading her lunge.

Cara froze up for a moment, looking around pointlessly. “Blind? That’s new.”

Ted backed up and circled around, casting a Deafen spell to seal the deal.

She lunged straight at him.

He dodged back, left, right, only barely evading her gasps before finishing the spell and ripping away another of her senses. “Za-doshka!”

“Unfair!”

Ted took the opportunity to back away, and cast a Communicate spell upon her. Who said anything about fair?

She growled and lunged in completely the wrong direction. “Kalkarka!”

“I accept your admission of defeat,” Ted said, recasting the Blind spell, hoping that her Mental Resistance wouldn’t shrug it off just yet.

Cara shook her head. “You’re the only one talking about defeat.” She stared straight at him and charged.

He sealed the spell.

She grabbed his hands, pushing them up.

Shit! “Za-enshka!” The spell fired up, hitting a murder hole in the ceiling.

Cara grabbed him, shoved him to the floor, and pinned him down. “I win!”

Ted struggled as best he could, but with his hands pinned above his head and Cara straddling him, Ted wasn’t in a position to argue. Not that he wanted to. “It better not be one of Gramok’s stupid drinking songs.”

“The kind that sounds like rock being dragged across stone?”

Heat flared in Ted’s chest, not giving a damn that of course she’d pick the song he’d hate the most. “Yeah.”

Cara leaned down until her lips were almost upon his. “It is.”

Heart racing, he stared up into those wide, emerald eyes of hers, resisting temptation with all his might. “Do you enjoy making my life hell?”

“Maybe. What are you going to do about it?”

Ted swallowed hard. She was right there, pressed up against him, her eyes begging him to give in to the excitement quivering through him. “You’re the winner, you tell me.”

Her chin trembled, and the gentle whisper of her breath was all Ted could hear.

It wasn’t too late to back out. Too late to run away. Too late to give in to that fear that none of this was real.

Her warm breath tingled against his skin, while her scent washed over him, enticing him to madness.

No. He couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Not without knowing for sure.

She gazed down at him and wet her lips, her wide emerald eyes pleading for him to take the next step. “I want this.”

His quivering heart begged him to believe her. To stop worrying if it was right and live in the moment.

She closed her eyes. Her lips pressed together; her head tilted to the side.

Air fled his lungs. Didn’t he deserve a little happiness?

The gap between their lips narrowed.

And Ted kissed her.