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“Following the Yama Accords, ‘Mortal’ shall be defined as ‘Human, Dwarf, Elf, [Animal] Person, Mixed Races, and [Afflicted]’”

— Fifth Age Edition of ‘Treatise on Magic’

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—Ki—

The air was so fresh.

The difference between the Mugen Mori and the rest of the world was immediately obvious upon exiting: muscles relaxed, breathing became deeper, and the constant whispers of danger finally quieted.

After over half a day in the dungeon, Ki felt like she’d finally pulled herself from the sea onto dry land. She could hardly believe there was a time when she had spent a year in that place. She looked for a vehicle of some kind—a horse, a bicycle, anything to take the stress off her body.

Aidan noticed and said, “We didn’t get any transportation. We had a taxi get as close as possible without mana interference, and then we ran the rest of the way.”

He softened his tone. “There’s someone close by that can help. The adrenaline comedown will be especially bad for you and Kossetsu.”

Ki grimaced. I guess it’s deserved. Even if I didn’t ask for it, I put them through a lot.

They had a bit further to walk before they reached any kind of civilization, but well-traveled walking paths made the journey easier. Aidan led them past several campsites, away from the first paved road, and into a wooded area. Ki thought it was a curious turn; she had figured that they would stop at a campsite, adventurer hostel, or even a motel. She couldn’t explain it, but something was telling her this place wasn’t worth checking out.

Trying to shake the fatigue from her mind, Ki said to Aidan, “I was almost convinced you had fixed your navigation issues. No way this gets us to Trivia.”

Aidan failed to hide a smirk. “Think I’m lost, huh? Heh, wanna bet?”

At least his poker face still sucks.

“Alright, I get it—show-off.”

After following a stream and clambering down an incline, they continued through brush until Aidan was proven correct. It appeared to be some kind of fort or homestead, but a ten-foot log stockade surrounded the area and prevented them from seeing what was inside. Its entrance was an open archway, but most notable was the haze that prevented anyone from seeing inside.

At the entrance of the gate, Kossetsu said, “Could you guys please not say anything to my sister about the fight? She’s over-protective and I don’t want her to go overboard.”

No one brought up any objections. Meanwhile, Ki looked up at the top of the archway, noticing the glow of an orange ‘Adventure Welcome’ sign.

“Adventure Welcome?” She asked.

Cassie sighed. “The ‘r’ and ‘s’ in ‘adventurers’ doesn't light up anymore, but he refuses to fix it. Said it was even better.”

Before Ki could ask who ‘he’ was, Cassie put her right hand on the haze inside the archway. Upon contact, it rippled like water and blood-red lines started tracing along the back of her hand. The outline of an ancient-looking key formed first, followed by a circle inside the head of the key. Two interlocking rings appeared inside the circle, with indecipherable symbols covering their bands. Next, a diamond surrounded the rings, followed by another diamond, creating a seven-pointed star.

Cassie tilted her head. “What? We all have it.”

It made sense in a vacuum—everyone in the party had survived in the Mugen Mori, but it still felt so unreal to Ki. She looked at Aidan and Kossetsu: Aidan’s was fire-red and placed on his neck, while Kossetsu had hints of a purple glow coming from his covered back.

Ki’s hands shook with excitement as she looked down.

She had one too.

The Crest of the Rule Breaker. The indicator that she could be an adventurer. The indicator that she could make use of magic.

The indicator she could finally be a part of something bigger.

Cassie motioned with her thumb towards the gate. “You need at least one person in your group to have one to open this gate. It’s fine, we can go in.”

While everyone entered, Ki stayed behind, staring at the icy blue key drawn on the back of her hand.

“What’s up?” Kossetsu asked, turning around.

“I… I never had one, until now,” Ki murmured.

Kossetsu’s eyes widened. “How did you survive in there?”

“AHEM.”

A woman’s stern voice interrupted their conversation. They turned and were met by a stunningly beautiful Night Elf. She was tall, with an hourglass figure, elegant posture, and wore a long-sleeved summer dress that complimented her dark purple skin.

The elf woman pulled her braided, jet-black hair over her shoulder and placed her hands on her hips.

Kossetsu tried to straighten himself out. “Ah—um. Myrah this is Ki, the person I told you about that helped me out a while ago,” he turned to Ki, “Ki, this is my sister, Myrah.”

Ki reached out to shake her hand, but suddenly lost her footing.

The surprisingly strong woman caught her.

“Are you okay??” The stern voice had turned to silk.

Ki was far too tired to be embarrassed. Or so she thought. “I-it’s a whole thing…”

She didn’t remember much after that interaction, except for a brief look around an inn-like building, meeting a concerned man, and laying down in a cozy room.

———

Ki awoke to the sound of clinking glass. She opened her heavy eyelids, turning her attention to the sudden noise. A gray haired man was at a nearby desk, portioning green liquid into a vial. Ki tried to push herself upright against the wall, but her muscles appeared to be on strike.

She was struck by the man’s oddly familiar visage. He had a regal, angular face that only showed limited signs of aging, slicked back hair, and circular glasses with a golden tint. He wore a loose robe tied at the waist and a green overcoat, hinting at his role as an alchemist.

“I’m glad to see you’re awake—your friends were worried about you. Even my granddaughter tried extra hard to pretend not to care,” The man propped an extra pillow behind Ki and put a green vial to her mouth.

She didn’t have the emotional or physical capital to worry, so she drank it without complaint. Thankfully, it tasted like green tea with a flowery aftertaste.

No way they’d leave me with someone untrustworthy—

“Granddaughter?” She asked.

The man moved to the desk, transferring various alchemical supplies into a leather bag.

“Cassandra. Didn’t she provide you with further information, like her full name?”

“Um, you haven’t given me your name,” Ki said, just managing to bring herself upright.

“Oh, You’re right. Benjamin. Benjamin Orthos. Ben is just fine,” He turned and gave her a smile.

Ki noticed he was trying to avoid pressuring her, so she took the initiative and reached out for a handshake.

His hand was calloused and warm. The warmth prompted her to say, “Ah—I’m sorry I should have checked my temperature first.”

Benjamin put up a hand. “You’re just fine. Your magic is under control, for now. If anything, it feels like a normal person with a slightly unusual body temperature.”

Ki sighed in relief, then suddenly stopped her breathing.

Benjamin.

Benjamin Orthos.

The Benjamin Orthos. Former guild master of Horizon? The conquerors of the 5th Realm? Once home to the strongest adventurer in history?

“Excuse me, are you…?”

He finished putting his supplies into the bag and leaned against the desk. “I am. I’m surprised someone recognized me—I was usually fairly anonymous, even back then.”

This is the greatest day ever—well, possibly two days. Still.

“Are you kidding me? Without you, the greatest guild in the world never forms! The way you organized and trained—”

Ki noticed a pained smile across Benjamin’s face.

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…Former guild master of Horizon. A guild no longer home to anyone because they left to form Cipher Dawn. Think about his feelings!

She tried to regain her composure. “Oh, sorry, Mr. Orthos. I didn’t think before speaking. I’m sure half the stuff I’ve read isn’t even close to true.”

“Just Ben, please. It’s okay, but thank you for your concern,” he finished packing his supplies and turned to leave, “feel free to come down when you are able, there’s plenty to eat and drink. I’ll say you went back to sleep so you can come down on your own time.”

Once he left, a polite cough from the corner of the room drew Ki’s attention. Turning, she realized Myrah had apparently been sitting quietly in the corner, absorbed with a black leather notebook.

Myrah wrapped a ribbon around the notebook. “Apologies, it was my shift and I didn't want to interrupt. You didn’t remember meeting Ben, but do you remember me?”

“O-of course! Myrah, right? Kossetsu’s big sister,” Ki said, trying to fix her messy hair.

Myrah smiled. “That’s right. You took an awfully bad beating—how are you feeling?”

“Really sore. That green stuff got rid of the brain fog and muscle stiffness, though. Ben really is an incredible alchemist.”

Ki looked down, squeezing the blanket covers with her hands. “I should have been more considerate. After the Third Gate fell, things went downhill and Horizon disbanded.”

“Don’t blame yourself, you didn’t mean anything by it. Why don’t you take a shower?” Myrah nodded over to the attached bathroom. “He uses some fascinating crystal magic to get this running in the middle of nowhere.”

Myrah offered her hand, helping Ki off the bed and to the bathroom. It was compact, but it had all the required amenities and well-placed lights that kept the room from feeling like a closet.

Myrah stepped out and drew the curtain separating the two rooms. “Are you OK if I stay around to make sure you don’t slip or fall? I won’t peek, promise.”

Ki was thankful Myrah couldn’t see her blush. “Yep, no problem!”

Ki tried to take her clothes off slowly, not wanting to make too much noise. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. What are you doing? Girl, you’re in a different room. Stop being a useless lesbian and hurry up.

The reflection stared back at her.

Ki whispered to it, “… Good point, that being my first retort is great progress.

“Did you say something?” Myrah’s voice called.

“Oh, nothing, sorry!”

She stepped into the shower and noticed a glowing red stone on the wall. Must be the crystal she was talking about. I didn’t think people had this anymore. Actually, didn’t this become pretty rare after the Third Age?

She put her hand on the stone, causing water to cascade out of the shower head. Ki waited for the initial burst of cold water, but nothing came. In fact, as long as she was close to the stone, the water temperature was exactly what she wanted.

Is that a ‘me’ thing or a ‘crystal’ thing? Ah, I should turn the fan on. She opened the shower curtain, but realized there was no switch to be found. Instead, she saw a blue crystal on the ceiling that was absorbing the steam from the shower.

Isn’t this way better than electricity?

Despite the existence of magic being documented for thousands of years, the exact mechanics behind it were still not well-known. Both the Mages’ Council and Adventuring Association were not forthcoming with exact details, only saying that those with special crests had an ‘inner spirit’ that created and used ‘mana particles’, also known as ‘mana’.

Throughout history, most people were fine with the limited information provided. The important thing to the public was that magic helped keep them safe from monsters and powered mortal advancement. When the Fourth Age began with an industrial revolution, more began to find it elitist—even a threat. Despite this, the focus remained on the ‘indomitable mortal spirit’ that came with creating ‘non-magical’ sources of power, like electricity. Until the adventurer shortage during the Great war, most glossed over the fact that magical essence from dungeons often supplemented energy generation.

I’ve spent so much time looking into adventuring and adventurers. Why didn’t that bother me more before…? She shook her head. Let’s finish up here so Myrah isn’t waiting on me.

————

Ki put her hair up in a towel and finished changing. She was grateful for how prepared, and generous, Myrah was. Before Ki could even ask, Myrah had already left her a change of clothes and a makeup kit. Myrah was taller than her, but the skirt was long and flowing enough that it didn’t make a major difference. The blouse and underwear were fancier than she was used to, but they were mostly the same size.

She looked in the mirror again. Ok, listen up, Ki. In one day you’ve now met and talked with a real life tomboy-slash-athletic woman and could now befriend a mature, elegant woman, too. Do NOT waste this opportunity.

She patted her cheeks, nodded to herself, then stepped out of the bathroom. Myrah looked up from her notebook and put her hands together. “You look great!”

Oh my god. Oh my god.

Ki took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Um, yeah, thanks. I really appreciate you helping me out and waiting around. You mentioned something about it being your shift? I hope they paid you overtime.”

Myrah laughed and waved her hand back and forth. “Nothing like that—Aidan insisted someone he trusts be with you at all times when he wasn’t around. It was a little rude to Ben, but I get it. New place and new people. Kossetsu did get annoyed when Aidan said I didn’t count. I suppose Kossetsu earned his trust; Aidan eventually caved.”

She looked at Ki’s wrapped hair. “You know, I actually have a great way to dry it. One second.”

She came back with the red crystal from the bathroom.

Ki looked at her in shock. “Did you just pull that out? I can’t afford a fine.”

Myrah motioned towards the towel. “It’s fine! I’m something of a mage myself. I’m sure I can get it back in there.”

Ki gave in and moved over to the stool. She desperately tried to slow her heart rate down, but her focus kept falling on the warmth of Myrah using the stone like a makeshift hair dryer. It was still calming in its own way, though. Much like the shower, the heat was a consistent and comfortable temperature. They sat in a relaxed (besides Ki’s heart rate) silence for a few minutes.

Myrah said, “You’ve got some tangles, I can work through those if you'd like.”

“S-sure.”

Am…am I in my popular phase? She cringed. Oh no. Don’t start talking like that just because you fought a comic-book bad guy.

“How did you and Kossetsu meet?” Myrah asked. “He told me you helped him out, but didn’t want to give me any details. I know he thinks I worry too much.”

Ki chewed on her lower lip. What should I even say? I don’t want to sell him out.

A cartoon devil appeared on her shoulder. “Yes, but would Kossetsu ever wash your hair and give you his clothes? Checkmate.”

I mean, I dunno. Oh. Oh wow, I’m going crazy from basic touch. Excellent.

Myrah played the part of the angel.

“You’re not betraying him. Please remember, he is sixteen and constantly in way over his head.” She sighed. “Though, I suppose it’s not fair of me to ask out of the blue without telling you about myself.”

Ki didn’t say anything as Myrah continued to work through her hair.

“In case it wasn’t obvious, we aren’t blood related, not that he is any less my family. Our family moved from Srerabro to Yama—I guess they wanted to get away from the craziness of night elves. Some…stuff happened and when I was around twenty—ten years ago—he and I ended up in Taitale.”

She's providing half details, even in the abridged story. That and her tone—it's very practiced. Makes sense, she's only inviting me to share too right now.

Ki spoke when Myrah and the comb stopped at the same time.“You don’t need to go into details, I wasn’t trying to hold out to get information from you or anything.”

“It’s okay. My point is we’ve traveled far and been through a lot. I deeply care about him and I’ve worked hard to make sure he’s safe, but he keeps going out of his way to put himself in danger.”

Myrah finished working cream through Ki’s hair. “Do you want me to braid it?”

“Definitely, I really like yours… I appreciate how hard you’ve fought for your family. I guess I never stopped to think that he’s really just a kid,” as Myrah began to braid her hair, Ki continued, “I met Kossetsu by chance, really. It was six months ago, I think? He was, uh, at a fighting ring—but he wasn’t the one doing the fighting! Just offering some healing.”

“How legal was this ring?” Myrah asked, maintaining her melodic voice while mixing in a stern overtone.

“Hm. Maybe legal? I guess we all just assumed the gym had a license. Either way, Xandria doesn’t really have the resources to care.”

“And were you fighting in this maybe-legal fighting ring?” Myrah asked.

“No, just watching. I had my own reasons for being there. After one of the fights, I saw a fighter being rough with him, so I told him off. Later, we took the same exit out to an alleyway and ran into that fighter, plus two of his friends.”

Wonder if she would believe me if I said it wasn’t the first time this had happened to me. Seriously, like random encounters in a game or something.

“They threatened me and said Kossetsu needed to give free healing. Kossetsu agreed on the condition that I could leave right away. I had emasculated the guy earlier, so I was surprised when they let me go. But you know how he is.”

“He’s quite adept at standing up for others, I just wish he’d do it more for himself.” Myrah remarked.

Collateral damage, ouch.

“When I got behind them, they moved their focus to Kossetsu. After he started to heal the fighter guy, I hit one of the lackeys as hard as I could with a pipe to the back.”

“You what??” Ki felt Myrah’s hands jump in surprise.

“Maybe that was crazy? It seemed like the right thing to do. I had planned to use my…”

“…Stun gun on the next guy, but he was faster than I thought. The next minute I was on the ground holding my eye and Kossetsu was shocking the fighter. Then, we somehow managed together to take care of the one that hit me.”

Ki realized she had been speaking casually about a back-alley brawl. You’re blowing it! She shook her head, causing Myrah to pull her hair.

“Sorry about that!” Myrah said.

“N-nope my bad.” Too late now to make her think you’re really sophisticated and mysterious, just keep doing what you’re doing.

“Kossetsu said they would be fine-ish. We ran for a bit, then ended up getting a burger and chatting. We exchanged numbers and I didn't see him again, until now.”

Myrah finished Ki’s braid with a blue ribbon. “Why the pipe first?”

“What?”

Myrah tilted her head. “Why the pipe first? Did your stun gun not have enough charge? The emotional shock would have had a great effect on the other two before even touching them.”

Ki straightened her back and tried to add weight to her words. “I wanted to keep them in close quarters; I thought the stun gun would cause them to back up and get too much space. And, if I was going to do something, I wasn’t going to waste time with a plan that involved hoping they’d care about their friend or would negotiate.”

Ki saw something like approval on Myrah’s face. “I’m impressed you thought that far ahead. Thank you for protecting my brother—I don’t see anything wrong with what you did.”

Myrah took a seat at the edge of the bed. “May I ask what happened to get you in such rough shape?”

Fuck. Why didn’t you think of anything ahead of time, brain? Why couldn’t my magic be intelligence—

“—ther not say. Nothing to do with Kossetsu.” Ki found herself finishing a sentence she didn’t remember starting.

Myrah helped Ki stand. “That’s okay, as long as everyone is safe. Why don’t we go downstairs?”

As they left, Myrah offered a smile that made Ki feel like she was drinking hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day.

“It was really nice to speak with you, Ki.”

“It was really nice to speak with you as well!”

Ki silently pumped her fist. Well done, no stutter.

Screw it, even though it’s a little late, maybe you ARE ready for your popular phase.