“Write it down again!” Rakesh demands, tapping the open notebook with a mana pen. “That doesn’t look right.”

“How do you know? You weren’t there,” I say, staring at him with my best impression of Ezio.

Rakesh frowns and points to a knot of intersecting lines. “You’re not paying attention to the rules of formalism. That’s neither a link nor a crossing.”

I furrow my brow and rub my forehead, fending off a pounding headache. Stifling a sigh, I comply with Rakesh’s wishes and write down the rune that’s giving me the most trouble. Or, at least, I sketch out the general shape of the rune that I vaguely remember from my brief glance at the [Headmistress]’s artifact.

It looks lopsided and ugly.

We’re back at our [Sanctuary of Glass] on the evening of the first half of our operation. My favorite [Secretarial Researcher] is helping me reconstruct the arrays I saw etched into the Azure Rod, but progress has ground to a halt. The more complex runes become, the more they occupy extra space. They’re not actually four- or five-dimensional, but they feel like it.

I grind my teeth, wishing that I had a better description of the soft whorls and intricate, geometric fractal edges. I don’t have a dedicated memory Skill. Maybe I should work on that for the future since I’m spending more and more time with complicated runes these days.

“Pushing mana into that abomination is more likely to kill me than heal Lionel,” I say with a snort. My self-deprecating joke earns a brief laugh from Rakesh, who’s becoming something of a connoisseur of acerbic humor.

“Keep trying, Nuri,” Melina says, but her encouraging smile looks more brittle than usual. Purple bags hang heavy under her eyes. She’s leafing through our hand-written runic dictionary, looking through common shapes to try to identify some overlap with runes we already know, but our combined efforts aren’t bearing much fruit.

After she returned from the hot shop at the Orpheus, along with a small glass golem tucked into her tunic pocket to broadcast my mana signature, she and Rakesh immediately got out notes and started on the next phase of the project.

Hours later, she hasn’t gotten as far as she’d hoped. Rakesh’s two bread and butter Research Skills, [Pattern Matching: Overlooked Commonalities] and the slightly more nebulous [Epiphany of the Scholar], are working overtime to analyze what I can remember.

They’re our only hope at this point. I can’t seem to concentrate on the runes. Holding the strange shapes in my mind gives me a headache; the longer I focus on them, the more they fall out of my memory. It’s like trying to grab a handful of smoke and shadow.

Meanwhile, Mikko and Avelina are sitting quietly in the corner, deep in conversation. I don’t expect them to have any input on runes, but their earnest whispers are distracting me. I wouldn’t mind on a normal day. Right now, my head is killing me and they won’t stop talking.

“Nuri? You with us?”

My head jerks up, and a lie forms at the tip of my tongue before I swallow my words and shake my head. “Sorry, Mel. I need a break.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” she says softly. “You’ve worked yourself to the bone lately to make this all happen.”

My shoulders slump. I shove the notebook away. “All for nothing. The [Headmistress] is practically a corpse herself.”

“You’ll crack the code,” Avelina says, finally breaking away from her sweet nothings to join the conversation. “Rakesh is meticulous. And my sister’s a genius.”

The twins share a brief, brilliant smile. Melina brightens, seeming to regain some energy. “Thanks, Ava.”

I stand up and stretch, yawning so hard that my jaw cracks. “Still. We’re not any closer to fixing things than we were before. All we did was kick a hornet’s nest.”

“We haven’t reached our goal yet. That’s true. But we’ve got every tool we need at our disposal. Get some rest. We’ll reconvene in the morning with fresh eyes and sharper minds,” Rakesh says, nodding sagely.

I comb my fingers through my beard, trying unsuccessfully to tame my unruly curls. “Fair enough. I’m worried that we don’t have much time. The entire city is on high alert.”

“That’s the best time to take a break. Just lay low and let things blow over,” Mikko offers from where he’s lounging against the wall, propped up on a stool in the corner. He’s relaxed, a small smile on his face, and I envy how peaceful he looks.

“Mikko’s got a point,” Rakesh says.

“Well, yeah. He’s obviously the smarter brother,” Avelina teases.

I laugh despite my frayed nerves. “Oh, yeah, he’s always been a real voice of reason.”

“Thanks for recognizing my talents,” Mikko replies, his eyes glinting in amusement.

“All right, all right. I get it. We’ll come back to things tomorrow. I’m too stressed to think properly, anyway,” I say.

“You’ll get there bro.”

I nod in thanks toward my brother. Honestly, the admission that I’m struggling lifts a great weight off my shoulders. I don’t have to solve this puzzle tonight. I don’t have to bear up the weight of the entire world all by myself.

It’s a lesson that I keep having to re-learn on our travels. I guess everyone grows up at different rates. Some people just seem to “get” life instantly. Some people see mistakes and consequences and learn from other’s mistakes. Me? I learn through painful experiences—and making the same mistakes multiple times over. I’m slow. Stubborn. But I’m trying.

I hope that’s what counts in the end, I tell myself as I get ready for bed and bid my friends good night. Everything will look brighter in the morning.

=+=

Despite my exhaustion, my nerves keep me up. I sleep hard when I finally pass out, but I’m up with the dawn. The [Sanctuary] isn’t transparent like window glass, but a little light still filters through. The intensity of yesterday’s caper feels like a distant dream, although I’m sore and my thoughts aren't flowing as smoothly and quickly as usual.

When I shuffle into the kitchen area, I find Melina exactly where I left her, poring over the notes I made and scribbling away furiously in her own notebook.

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“You’re up early. Sleep is for the weak, huh?” I say in greeting.

She doesn’t look up from her notes. “I found a partial match for the subsections of five new runes,” she crows. The triumphant gleam in her eyes makes me swallow my snarky retort.

I take a seat next to her and stifle a yawn. “Nice work. Anything unusual?”

“No. They’re all within expectations. Healing and enhanced connection between the user and the target. I don’t know all the details, but I should be able to decipher the full runes if I can piece together the underlying radicals once Rakesh is up.”

I glance at her notes, scratching my nose while my thoughts churn. Processing all of the information is slow today. “Huh. That doesn’t look like my drawing. I might not be much of an artist, but I didn’t think I was that far off.”

“You weren’t off at all,” Melina assures me with a chuckle. “I didn’t understand the runes at first, so I cut out the shapes and rotated them in space until I recognized something. Oh! Also, I had to slide some of the connecting lines to the side so I could see the vertices more clearly, but things started coming together once I got a better view.”

I nod along, my eyes glazing over. It’s too early for scholarly discourse. I give her a bright smile anyway. I don’t really follow the process, but I fully trust Melina when it comes to spatial manipulation. She’s had the most practice of any of us thanks to [Object Manipulation], not to mention her years of practicing meta-magic with her time dilation Skill.

Moving the slow and fast bubbles for [In the Blink of an Eye] requires incredible acuity. Translating the Skill’s anchors through space is way more demanding than simply adjusting hot and cold like I used to do. So if she claims she’s made a breakthrough by moving the runes until they make sense, then I believe her.

“Whoa. That’s awesome. Definitely sounds like you’re on to something,” I say.

“Thanks! I do some of my best work when it’s just me and my thoughts all night,” Melina says. Her stomach growls, and she giggles. “Guess it’s time to eat. Studying makes me hungry.”

I grab two bright purple fruits from the basket, tossing one to Melina. I lift the other to my mouth, but hesitate before I sink my teeth into the sweet flesh. I should eat something savory first, and leave the sweet flavors to linger while I walk to work for the day.

“You know, I never considered that the runes might not have been written from the perspective of a supplicant. Nice going,” I say as I rummage around for more food.

I end up cooking a quick double-serving for the two of us. Breakfast is a rice porridge with a single boiled egg on top of each bowl. We wash it down with ice water thanks to the cold box that Mikko made with his budding enchanting skills, and I wish her good luck with the rest of the runes—once I make her promise to get some sleep first.

I enjoy the juicy fruit on my way out the door. It’s the perfect early-morning snack. My steps are lighter than ever as I sneak out of her hidden lot and head to the Orpheus, and I hum while I walk. I’m happy things are finally coming together.

When I arrive at the Orpheus House, a squad of city watch [Enforcers] and [Guards] are waiting for me. Ugh! I gotta stop constantly testing fate, I growl at myself. Whenever I think life is swimming along, everything goes sideways.

A gigantic man, a handbreadth taller than Mikko and even more thickly-built, with streaks of gray in his short-cropped hair, steps in front of me. A scowl twists his face as he bellows for all to hear: “Halt!”

I play dumb at first, turning to look over my shoulder as though I’m certain they’re talking to someone else. Determination and frustration roll off the city watch [Enforcer] as he strides toward me with a hand on his enchanted stun baton. “Nuri Shahi? You’re under arrest.”

I grimace but don’t make any threatening moves. Although I’ve dealt with a lot of pain over the past couple years, I’m not keen on feeling the electric bite of his weapon if he feels like I’m resisting.

“Arrest? On what charges?” I finally ask, meeting his eyes and projecting confidence.

When the big [Enforcer] realizes that I’m speaking in a reasonable tone and not looking to fight, he relaxes slightly, although there’s still a sense of wariness about him, like a panther poised to pounce. I can’t recall ever seeing someone so muscular or with such well-condensed mana looking quite so nervous. Who does he think I am?

He unfurls a scroll tucked into his belt and, keeping one eye locked on me, reads the list of charges on the warrant for my arrest:

Inciting public unrest

Extreme verbal harassment

Inflicting intense fear and suffering

Unauthorized use of magic

Destruction of property

Unregistered Second Threshold [Mage]

“Hold up,” I interrupt, chuckling. “I’m not in the Second Threshold. Nor am I a [Mage]. Well, not really. You sure you got the right guy?”

“That’s your objection?” he asks, his craggy demeanor lightening up for a moment as he snorts in amusement. “So, you don’t deny the other allegations?”

“We’ll sort that out in the court of law,” I reply, rolling my eyes. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to in the building behind you.”

“Not a chance. You’re coming with us,” the [Enforcer] says, loosening his stun baton in its leather holster.

The other [Guards] fan out, holding up shields that buzz with enchantments. A barrier leaps into existence, connecting the members of the watch and boxing us in—though I suspect it’s not intended to lock me down as much as it is to prevent collateral damage in the case of stray pulses of magic.

I lick my lips, suddenly unsure of what to say. I’m not keen on going to prison, but this is a fight I don’t want. Without the insidious, insistent whisper of violence in the back of my mind, I don’t feel very confident that I can take them and walk away unscathed.

Just as I’m about to tap into my Domain and flatten them anyway, Ozana intervenes.

“How good of you to visit the Orpheus, [Enforcer] Rueger! What brings you to our fine establishment today? Are you trying to steal my best glassmaker away from me? Sly devil! I always knew you had an eye for talent.”

Rueger hesitates. He glances back and forth between us, then gestures angrily for the other [Guards] to stand down. “He really works for you?”

“Of course. He’s the artistic genius behind all the imbued items we sell. Want one?”

Ozana’s blatant bribery makes my heart skip a few beats. Is she trying to get me into worse trouble?

“You’ll pay bail?” Rueger asks in a calculated voice. He twirls his baton, which appears in his hand too fast for me to follow. Probably a weapons Skill at play. He spins it between his fingers, causing tiny arcs of white lightning to crackle around him in agitation as he speaks.

I gulp. He’s definitely stronger than I am. Without my Domain, I don’t want to fight him in close quarters.

“On my honor.”

“I prefer gold,” he says in a wary voice. “He still has to stand trial, you know. Don’t ship him off and think we’ll forget about it.”

“He won’t leave the Orpheus House until this is resolved,” Ozana promises. “You could call it House arrest, I suppose!”

[Enforcer] Rueger groans. “Fine. I’ll remand him into your care. After his stunt yesterday, he’s banned from the Menders. Keep that in mind. You paying his repair fines, too?”

“Naturally. How about a watch discount?”

“Abyss take me. Fine! Let’s get the paperwork done,” Rueger agrees, scowling harder than ever. His shoulders sag in defeat, and he mutters under his breath as he herds me toward the auction house.

Curiously, not a hint of greed wafts off him, only deep resignation. Maybe he’s not just doing it for the money. Ozana must have an odd reputation.

All the while, I barely repress my laughter at the thought of Ozana paying for repairs that I performed. I wonder if she realized yet that I was on Jabal’s crew, albeit temporarily.

In the end, we strike a deal that lets me avoid jail in exchange for house arrest. Ozana bails me out and pays my fine, on the condition that I’ll put my stay at the Orpheus to good use and create more glass masterworks to pay her back. Rueger departs looking like he swallowed an entire bag of lemons, much to Ozana’s amusement.

I watch him go, then chuckle and head to the hot shop to get to work. Ozana might own my days now, but at night I’ll put my efforts toward making my version of the Azure Rod. Melina and Rakesh will have to crack the code without me. Luckily, they’re perfect for the job. I have the best team in the world.