The rain continued to pour down from the overcast sky.

The Mossy Highlands were as they described, rolling hills of dark green moss. There was nary a tree, bush or shrub in sight. The sun was a rarity in the wet climate, and as such, the highlands were dominated by the spongy, carpet-like moss that they had been named after.

Large, round boulders of varying size were relatively commonplace, a few scattered about each hilltop. Whatever civilisation had once lived here and arranged the boulders in such a fashion had been lost to history.

The expanse of moss and stone continued far to the north, east and south.

To the north, the land succumbed to the freezing temperatures of the higher latitudes.

To the south was Wraith’s ravine and the main road between Sarigold and Ellenia. The Antalaya Plains stretched from there to the east, eventually giving way to sandy Sarigold City, built on the shores of the Shimmering Sea.

That was the extent to which Kari knew the landscape. He planned to pick up new maps in Sarigold City to continue his journey, now that…

Elwin and Blue were gone.

Kari had known the risks he was taking, so he couldn’t say that he was surprised with the outcome. Yet, he could not help but feel disappointed. He did not pry deeper into what he was specifically disappointed in, such was the fragility of his ego.

Kari felt the water drip down his face.

I really am pitiful, aren’t I? He thought to himself.

But merely feeling the shame of this thought brought the young man back to himself.

He steeled his resolve once more and got to his feet. Wallowing in his own misery is not what had allowed him to progress this far.

I have wasted enough time. Kari decided.

Water flew off him in an instant, like an explosion. His frigid rain-soaked hair and clothes had been dried in an instant.

A hardness entered Kari’s eyes. He would not let himself falter again until he had got the justice that he deserved.

The hydro-hand checked his map and his bearings against the nearest landmarks and the position of the hidden sun, as best as he could given the bad weather.

The nearest population centre of Sarigold City was still a few days’ journey. But without Elwin and Blue to slow him down, he would get there much sooner. Especially so if the wet weather conditions persisted.

Before he set off, Kari took out the book from a secret pocket in his tunic.

If one were to look upon the man now, they would see the expression he wore was just the same as a starving man might wear, as they considered their last scrap of rotten, worm-infested food. Conflicted, but resigned.

The book was tainted, Kari had come to realise. The problems began soon after he had lifted it from the corpse of that Wright in Kajesh. On each occasion that Rhaspalaka had confronted him, he had asked for the book. And in the distant past, the Wright that attacked the Academy had asked for a book too. Despite remembering the scene through the foggy mists of distant memory, the words that Rhaspalaka had spoken back then rang in Kari’s mind as clear as a bell.

Kari was unsure of exactly how, but the Wrights appeared to have some sort of connection to the books, enabling them to be accurately tracked down. This small, leather-bound codex in Kari’s hands was simultaneously the key to unlocking the secret of the Wrights and the key to Kari’s own destruction.

What was he to do about all this?

Kari returned the book to its hiding place.

He set off on a course to Sarigold, still turning the facts over in his mind, hoping that some new revelation would come to light. Rather than take the path of polished round stones like Blue and Elwin had, Kari took a more direct bearing.

He used his Gift and froze the mossy field before him. When his right foot bore down, he sculpted the ice and prevented it from melting, allowing him to kick forward. Meanwhile, he kept the ice path beneath his left foot intact. The increase in pressure melted the immediate surface of the ice, creating a low-friction area. By alternating this technique, Kari ‘skated’ across what would ordinarily be treacherous, slippery ground at high speed.

After reaching his top speed, Kari’s breakneck pace was comparable to that of an unladen horse.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

As he travelled, Kari mulled over the problem of the Book.

The two obvious courses of action were simply to dispose of it or keep it.

If he threw it away, Rhaspalaka would have less reason to come after him, but he would lose his biggest lead. P’tira had called Rhaspalaka the term ‘Wright’. It seemed that the elder fairy had some greater knowledge about Rhas and his organisation. Knowing the names of his enemies was undeniably a huge benefit to getting his revenge, but was it enough on its own?

If Kari kept the book, he would inevitably come face-to-face with Rhaspalaka again, for better or for worse. But in a way, that was what Kari wanted. He just needed some plan to guarantee his victory. Outside Ellenia, Rhaspalaka had gotten the upper hand, and in the swamp, Kari had no idea what might have happened had P’tira not intervened.

Kari knew that he had the potential to be among the greatest Gift-users in all of Apolaphia. His time being studied and adored by his adoptive family of Carderock Academy had assured him of that.

Still, the gap between those who stood at the top and those who simply had potential was too great. Kari had trained his Gift and studied techniques all his life, and yet he knew that the gap between his old mentor Benson and himself was immeasurably large. Despite his expertise, Benson had only managed to drive the Wright at Carderock away, sacrificing himself in the process. If Kari was to exact his justice and survive, he would need to be a lot better.

There was a great issue, however. Kari was caught at a painfully irritating juncture where additional knowledge alone was of no help. He had already memorised the Book of Water. He knew all about water molecules and how to manipulate them. Phase changes, the chemical reactions that could produce water, and useful reactions that water could enable. All the different ways that water behaved differently under different temperatures and pressures, he understood with an intimacy that only the greatest Gift-users could truly appreciate.

No, the issue Kari had was a lack of experience, focus, and inspiration. He knew that hydromancy specifically had great potential among gifts. The technique that Benson had used in his final moments was something that Kari knew existed for a long time. It was a way to summon unbelievable explosive power from water. Far more powerful than simple pressurisation or temperature increase would allow. Kari knew that with that much power, nothing would be able to stand in his way. Not even the Wrights.

But how was he to surpass his current limits?

The technique involved breaking apart the very water molecules that Kari manipulated. It was something that Kari had never experienced before. Something that Kari even struggled to imagine, much less execute. It was like being told that one could use their fingers not only to push, pull, or twist, but also to sing. Or being told that one’s eyes could see a shade of colour known as quassion. It would be impossible to describe it, it would be impossible to imagine it, even knowing it was real or where it could be found. One would have to see it with their own eyes to truly understand.

Kari trained his focus every single day, every single spare moment he had, but he felt only minor improvements if any. He needed a breakthrough. But it didn’t come to Kari as a surprise. After all, Benson, who was far a more accomplished hydrohand than Kari, only managed to execute the explosive technique on the verge of death. As far as Kari remembered, Benson had never managed it before that fateful moment.

While pondering all these things, a third option came to Kari’s mind, one besides abandoning the book or continuing to hold it as it was. If he could somehow disable whatever connected the Wrights to the book, perhaps he could safely make use of it.

Kari’s knowledge of magic was limited, though he at least knew the basic rules. Namely, how the ‘meaning’ of reagents determined the effect. Because the book was enchanted, its meaning had to play some part in the spell itself. If the book could be altered so that it no longer had the intended ‘meaning’ at the time the spell was cast, then perhaps it could be broken.

Unfortunately, copying the book’s contents was out of the question, as its glyphs morphed and changed unpredictably with every passing moment. Just looking at its pages was enough to give Kari a headache.

With his mind thusly made up, Kari took the book out once again. While still skating, he placed his hands on the pages and tried to tear them; But as soon as Kari started, he felt a terrible, indescribable pain. Something was being horribly damaged in his hands.

Startled, Kari dropped the book and slowed himself to a stop.

He thought he felt the skin of his hands tearing, but clutching at his palms, the sensation was clearly different. That pain… it was unlike anything Kari had ever experienced. A new type of pain, like how a pinprick hurt differently from a burn, or from a broken bone. The pain lingered, rather than just be a pure momentary sensation… did that mean something was being damaged?

Kari cautiously approached the fallen codex. He felt sick to his stomach, covered in a sudden sheen of sweat.

The book was nestled innocently amidst a cushion of thick green moss.

Kari steeled himself, manifesting a spear made of ice. He tentatively poked the book.

A loud crack emanated from the spear as it was damaged by some magical reaction.

A jolt of pain ran up Kari’s arm.

Kari flinched, his eyebrows bearing a cross expression.

Inspecting his spear, he found that a large, unnatural crack had formed.

Inspecting the book, Kari saw no apparent change.

“What in the Seven Abberations…?”

Kari repaired his spear in an instant with his Gift. This time he held it up high with his mind.

He paused.

What if the pain manifested directly in his Gift? Kari shuddered to consider it.

If so, then it would be safer to drop the spear from a height rather than guide it all the way down.

Kari steeled himself.

Give up? Don’t be ridiculous. He thought.

He would drop it, Kari decided. He grew ailerons at the tail end of the spear to guide its path. He paused for a moment and shrunk the spear to a third of its original size.

Then, he let it fall.

And…

The spear shattered as soon as it made contact, much like a dropped glass onto a solid stone floor. Sharp shards flew suspiciously close to Kari, which he reflexively turned to harmless vapour with his Gift.

But otherwise, there was no retaliation.

Kari breathed a sigh of relief. But upon seeing the book completely unblemished, he could not help a mounting sense of frustration.

He would have to come up with something else.

The clock was ticking; Rhaspalaka was undoubtedly in hot pursuit once more.