(Gavin)

Beck is staring at Kivuli. I told him what happened last night, after I heard Tyler sneaking out, but apparently, seeing Kivuli in person is a different matter from hearing it.

After a brief morning discussion that only irritates me further, due to the noble not releasing the fairies, saying he still needs to do stuff before he can make a final decision, I have Beck meet me in my room.

"What did you want?" He asks.

"For you to knock your attitude off, before I do it for you."

He starts to say something, then stops, huffing.

"I set you free," I say. "Your allies will be freed, regardless of what the people imprisoning them want. Cut the damn attitude with me. Once everyone is able to leave, we'll be returning to your kingdom."

"That doesn't mean I have to like you," he snaps.

"I never said you did," I counter. "Now cut the attitude, because it's pointless. There is no benefit to snapping at me over every little thing."

"What do you want?"

"For you to lose the attitude."

He huffs, lets out a small scream of irritation, then storms toward the door. I flick my hand, holding it closed with a gentle manipulation of air. He glares at me, then a gateway appears beside the door, which he begins to step through.

I'm a fair bit more powerful than that, dumbass.

A flick of my wrist, and he's pulled toward me, landing on his ass by my bed.

"Undo the gate," I tell him. "I have to put up with your shit, you need to put up with me. I just have a couple of questions for you."

He relents, the gate disappearing, but he's still clearly unhappy.

"The first question is," I say. "You were using two different Resources during our match, weren't you? One for your nature magics, the other for the manifestations, such as that gate and the meteor, right?"

I know the nature magics was Aether, but the other one stumps me. He as good as confirmed it was Aether yesterday, when I said the same thing. Well, that, and his Class's description.

"Why are you so questioning?" He asks. "Why do you want to know my secrets? And how the hell do you even know about Aether, in the first place?"

"I've unlocked it, in the past," I say. "But a Rift Wolf sealed it up, as I'd unlocked all Affinities, and that was too much power for my weaker self to handle. As it is right now, it might not be a good idea for me to unlock it again, since Nies unlocked my Blood Affinity during our fight and gave me that spell, so that I could destroy your Meteor."

"Nies?"

"The God of Blood Oaths," I explain. "I'm his Hero. Well, and the only non-Divine who knows of his existence and actually pays him any heed. He knew I was low on Mana, and that your Meteor would probably kill me, and so unlocked Blood Affinity and bestowed upon me the Blood Smite Skill, so that I could destroy your Meteor and survive.

"I am," I sit down on my bed, and gesture for him to sit on the chair from the desk, which I move over with a small nudge of manipulated air. "Just curious about how you were able to do that Meteor, along with the other manifestations. I know you used Aether, so you can't hide that from me."

"What Affinities do you know of?" He sits down.

"How many do you know of?" I ask. "If you're trying to find out whether or not I know of it, I have a Title for having unlocked all Affinities."

I make Master of Pools public long enough for him to read and process it, then make my Title invisible and back to First Dragonslayer.

"You could just be a master of swimming pools."

"Huh?" I'm confused. "How would you swim in a Resource? You swim in ponds and rivers and lakes and stuff."

"No," he says. "You-never mind. I have three Resources. Spirit, as all Fairies do, Aether, as you somehow know about and figured out, and another one that starts with the same letter as Aether."

"Arcane."

"So you do know about it."

"Yes, because I was totally lying," I say. "Hey, big, ugly Rift Wolf? Are you around to prove my point?"

Beck starts to say something, then snaps his head to the side, likely sensing the shift in Aether that signals the opening of a Rift. Probably gained Rift Sense, too, if he didn't already have it.

"I'm not ugly," the Rift Wolf pokes his head into the room through a Rift that formed exactly where Beck was staring. "I'm also not available to summon on-command."

"You're here, aren't you?"

"I happened to be observing you when you requested, and I have nothing better to do right now."

"Have you tried licking your balls?" I ask.

"I'm not a dog."

"Ah, right," I say. "You're a wolf. Have you tried being silent?"

"I'm still debating on if I'm going to eat you or not."

"In case you didn't catch it," I say. "Nies locked my ability to gain Experience until I complete the Blood Quest, as well as my ability to gain LIF until an equal amount of time as it takes to complete the Blood Quest after I complete it, in exchange for not having a time limit."

"I know."

"So the whole thing about the next level of Thick Mana," I say. "Still restricted until after I complete the Blood Quest?"

"No, since you aren't bound by the time constraints anymore. It was a matter of not having time to deal with how long you'd be out, and the fact that your idiot ass would probably go after the third tier of that Title immediately after."

"Alright," I say. "Also, since I unlocked Blood Affinity, would it be bad for me to unlock Aether and Arcane again?"

"Seriously, Gavin? You can't just keep to the four you have? You had the First Fairy reunlock your Spirit Affinity, and then just yesterday, your damn patron god reunlocked your Blood Affinity, and you want more?"

"Just wondering."

"As long as you don't go train-happy, yeah," he answers. "But the Fog of Power will affect you if you start increasing those rapidly as well. No thickening more than one, and be moderate about it! I can't believe you went after Spirit like you did! What are you, an idiot?"

"What are you, a giant doggy?"

"It's bad enough someone else is calling us that," he says. "We don't need you doing it, too."

"How difficult would they be for me to unlock?" I ask.

"Last time, they weren't locked, merely hidden," he says. "This time, they're actually locked, so it would probably take years of meditation and studying, or sheer luck."

"For a normal person, I mean."

"You could probably manage in a month for Arcane, a year for Aether."

"Can you just unlock Aether for me?"

"No."

"You do know that if I promise Nies some extra food when I finally make it to an altar, he'd probably unlock it for me, right?"

"Dammit. You had to befriend one of the handful of gods that can actually do something to us Rift Wolves. Alright, I'll-"

"So which would you recommend?" I ask. "Arcane or Aether? Or should I focus on upping my current Resources' abilities?"

"You're just trying to agitate me, aren't you?"

"Me?" I put a hand to my chest, faking being offended. "Agitate a being that even gods would be hard-pressed to do something against? Agitate a being akin to Dragons?"

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"Aether is that which all stems from," the Rift Wolf says. "It is very potent, and what allows one to open or close Rifts. Arcane is the power to manifest desires into reality. Or rather, bring one's wishes into reality. Both Resources are powerful, but using them comes with a great cost to each. Even their most basic and simplest of spells and techniques cost a great deal. For you, Arcane would be the better of the two, for now."

"For now?"

"Yes, Gavin," the Rift Wolf says, sarcasm dripping in its tone, for whatever reason. "For now, because your fragile little mind would probably explode the moment it tried to shape aether."

Beck stares between us, clearly confused by this conversation.

"So do Aether, then."

"I seriously recommend Arcane first, if you had to do one of them," the Rift Wolf says. "Aether would take a lot of time and practice for you to begin to wield. The Fairies, unlike you, have a natural affinity for it, as evidenced by their power to summon a Zierna."

"That strange marks Oberon took when he attacked me?" I ask. "And the marks on Warren and Kivu's faces?"

"Yes," he nods. "They're a physical manifestation of Aether upon the wielder, infusing the very power of any magic they perform with the power that all existence stems from. Those with the Zerina, the marks always on their bodies, have much greater power. Kivu and Warren are both immensely dangerous, should they ever attempt to harness their powers of Aether."

"Okay," I say. "Bye."

"Are you really trying to dismiss a Rift Wolf?"

"Are you going to comply?"

"Hush."

The Rift Wolf pulls its head back into the Rift, which then seals up, and Beck slowly turns his head to stare at me.

"That was a Rift Wolf."

"Is that all you processed?" I ask, and his mouth opens and closes several times.

"He just chatted with you, as if it were nothing!"

"He sealed up my Affinities," I explain. "After I unlocked them all at once. It was too dangerous for me to harness them that soon against each other, especially with my state of mind at the time. I would've destroyed myself instead of boosted myself.

"Can you explain Arcane a bit better?"

He stares at me, thinking.

"I think," he finally says. "The best way to describe it would be to say that it's manifesting one's desires into reality. The stronger the desire, the less Arcane you'll need to use, and the more powerful it can be. That Meteor last night was actually hollow – I didn't have enough Arcane left to make it full. Had I, your Blood Smite probably wouldn't have done as much damage as it did to it."

Oddly, my Blood never increased after it restored. I would've expected a couple of points, due to my absurd growth when it comes to affinities.

Oh, right, Nies says in my head. I was so lazy, I only bothered partially unlocking it. There. Now you can increase it.

His presence fades.

"That sounds like regular magic," I say.

"Aether will, too," he says. "Except anything done by Aether is more powerful than regular magic, because Aether comes straight from the source of all existence, unlike magic, which is just converted Mana, in a sense. That makes a spell of similar power more difficult to counter, and it requires Aether magics to nullify.

"For Arcane," he says. "Its major difference is that you can take the desires of someone else and make them reality. A Djinni uses Arcane to manifest its elemental desires into reality, while a Genie, a similar species, uses Arcane to manifest the desires of others into reality.

"And sorry," he says. "But neither is something I can teach you. Both are instinctual to me, and I can't explain how it works. Aether itself is instinctual to us fairies, and I'm not sure of any species that would be able to harness it in a way where they could actually explain it."

"That's fine," I say. "I have a book on learning Aether, and I'm sure I'll eventually find the version that teaches basic Aether, instead of the advanced stuff."

"A book?"

"A Grimoire of an old magician named Tristian."

"Ah, one of his."

"Yeah," I nod, summoning both of mine out. "One for advanced Aether magics, and one for advanced Mana magics. I'm not sure where their counterparts are for the other Resources, or where the Grimoires for the weaker magics for those are. I'd be willing to exchange some of the magics given in the Advanced Aether Grimoire, in exchange for knowledge on Arcane magics."

He opens his mouth to say something, and a bell begins to toll. He snaps his head to the side, listening.

"People are panicking," I say, and he looks at me. "What's that bell?"

"It's an alarm," he says. "You can hear people panicking?"

"And sense it," I stand. "Something's going on. An alarm?"

"Attack," he nods, and the door flies opens.

"Dragon attack!" The guard yells. "It'll be here in maybe ten minutes! Everyone needs to get down to the cellars!"

"He said-"

"I can speak it," I say. "Just hiding it, for now."

"You've killed one before, right?"

"I killed a baby Dragon," I say. "An adult Dragon is beyond my power. As it is, I might be able to drive it away and minimize the damage."

I turn to the window, and Beck tells the guard to tell them that we're going to drive the Dragon away as I fly out.

The Fairy follows me out, and I scan the surroundings, spotting the Dragon and flying towards it, forming as many Spears of Frozen Lightning as I can, then launching them once we're over the plains, halfway to the Dragon.

It breathes fire, the flames dissolving my magic. I trigger a Blood Smite, and the Dragon does the same thing. Beck attacks furiously with his own magics, and I continue to attack with the Spears of Frozen Lightning.

The Dragon stops to fight us, and on the occasion something does hit, it seems to get more and more annoyed. Anytime one of my Spears hits, that violet ice explodes out, forming, a massive sphere of jagged ice.

Yet that doesn't stop the Dragon, which simply burns it away with its fire. Beck and I have to constantly dodge that, too, and its roars are ear-shattering.

So damn painful, and this fucker does not want to go away.

As my Mana starts to drop low, I realize it's less of burning away my magic, and more making it vanish. The power of a Dragon's breath, combining multiple Resources into one. It's using Void to erase our magic.

And the Resources I can sense, we've barely put a dent in. What little it's been forced to expend on us, it regenerates within moments.

Not only that, but it slowly drove us back to the city, and has destroyed part of the wall and outer sector. We can't let it keep going, it needs to be driven off.

Chief always said that a Dragon just needs to face a powerful enough threat for long enough, and it'll fly away. If people weaker than me could do that, then why am I pretty much just ignored? My mix of Spear of Frozen Lightning and Blood Smites should be enough to drive it away, yet it's not.

"Cover me!" I yell, and Beck looks at me curiously, but flies forward.

Closing my eyes, I still my heart and mind, and time feels as if it's slowed as I reach within me, the sounds of the battle slowing, dulling, the powerful winds blowing today feeling like a lazy breeze against my body.

If the Dragon will consume my magic, then I will consume its.

"Wake," I say, my voice echoing through the air as I open my eyes. "O Void within my heart, and consume that which opposes you."

Putting my hands together, I then draw them apart, a sphere of nothingness forming between them. The Dragon locks its gaze on me as Beck stares at me, then quickly flies out of the way, sensing the danger of the magic I'm holding.

Void Affinity Unlocked!

VDA valued at 127

New Skill!

Summon Void: The ability to summon a sphere of the Void, an orb of nothingness that consumes all which comes into contact with it

I pull my hands apart, the sphere of the Void growing to the size of a grapefruit before I can no longer sustain it, and I thrust my hands forward. The sphere zips through the air at the Dragon, which exhales more flames, which draw into the Void I created, the two Voids clashing, then fading away into nothing.

The Dragon stares at me.

"You want some of this?" I yell at it. "Then come on! I'll rip you to shreds, you bloody flying lizard! I can do it, too!"

The Dragon roars, flying at me at a high speed. My Resources are at nil, now, but that doesn't matter to me.

The endless void in my heart ignores RRN. Even if I can only hold up to a certain amount, more simply replenishes what I lose when I lose it. Sure, I can't exceed the power of what I can hold, but that doesn't mean I can't attack with a lot of them.

The only bad part is the annoyingly long cast time needed to summon that tiny of a Void.

But I can still dodge the Dragon. I need practically no Mana to manipulate the air that little.

Our Voids clash several times, then the Dragon lets out a screech that causes me to lose all focus and drop, my vision turning black.

The next thing I know, I'm on the ground, a group of people surrounding me, including Beck, whose face is right over mine, and Tyler, who's kneeling beside me, Kivu crouching beside him.

"Dragon?" I sit up, Beck leaning back.

"Left after you dropped," Beck responds. "You do realize that you're the first person in our history to have ever chased a Dragon off, right?"

"Your history, maybe," I rub the back of my head. It doesn't hurt, despite my drop. I'm one tough bastard. "But back home, I'd heard stories of it, and if regular people could, then I definitely could."

"What was that?" He asks. "That magic you used? I've never heard a language like it before, and it felt almost as terrifying as the Dragon's breaths."

"A magic to consume," I answer, feeling dizzy and light-headed. "I need food."

They help me to the noble's manor, and I briefly notice that he was in the crowd, too. Once there, the chefs start preparing food, and I get a little bit of starters.

"How are the people?" I ask in Jozan. "Casualties?"

"None," Tyler answers. "You delayed the Dragon long enough that we were able to clear that part of the city underground, so no civilian casualties are known."

No civilian casualties, huh? I'll pretend I didn't catch that slip, Your Majesty.

"That's good," I say. "How are you? Alright?"

"I'm fine," he nods. "They evacuated me underground as soon as the bells began to toll and word reached us that a Dragon was on the way. Not much to do when that happens, except for hide and wait. When word reached us that you and Beck went to fight the Dragon, I honestly thought you'd gone crazy, since you said you could only handle a baby Dragon, and that was if it wasn't using certain parts of its powers."

"Specifically," I say. "A power I now possess," I look at Beck, switching to Ygdris. "As it will be somewhat important for me to learn Void, in case another Dragon comes, I won't need to learn Arcane, as that would only make a third new Resource for me to manage.'

"Alright," he says.

"Tyler," the noble says, and my King looks to him. "Because of your magician, no civilians were harmed by the Dragon, and the damage to our city was minimal. I am agreeing to his terms."

"Well," Tyler says in Jozan, looking back to me. "I guess you got your way, after all."

I have a tendency to do that.

"Speaking of having one's way," I say. "There's a way you could easily advance your Royal Class to the next Tier."

"That's not possible," he says. "Leadership Classes are among the most difficult to gain Experience for, as they need stuff relating to it to gain Experience, and don't gain any combat Experience. You can't-"

"Forgive my interruption, Your Majesty," I say. "But there is. Remember how I mentioned Warren and Gavin were at the Grind Arenas? They give a static amount of Experience to all Classes. It likely works for Leadership Classes as well, or Michael would have mentioned that, when he was telling me how they worked."

He tends to be a bit scatterbrained and hyperactive, but he does still give any relevant information.

"Beck," I turn to the Fairy. "After your friends are freed, I'd suggest heading straight back to the Kingdom."

"Thought you wanted my father to teach you?" He asks.

"I need to drop His Majesty off somewhere," I tell him. "Then do something else. I'm not sure how long it will take me, so could you inform your father that I'll return to request his mentorship once more once I've finished?"

"Okay," he looks like he wants to ask me what it is, but decides against it. "I'll let him know."

"Thank you."