~~~Stanley~~~

"We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful..."

"Would you please, for the love of god, stop singing that fucking song!" Eve yelled. Again.

Stanley grinned and started over. A chorus of other voices joined in, including Zeke. Her brother's participation made her threats of murder less... threatening. Besides, it was her own fault. They would have stopped singing ages ago if she hadn't made such a stink about it at the start.

When Nate said he wanted to see the wizards, Stanley hadn't expected everyone else to come along. Of course, Nate hadn't wanted to leave Zeke alone. Not in the tower or back at camp. Which made some sense. Might as well keep him near the two strongest people.

Technically, back at the tower with Walter and everyone else, it was probably the safest place Zeke had ever been in his life. But this was a close second, since Adrian and Daryl had come along as well.

Stanley still wasn't sure what Daryl's actual powers were, but he seemed on par with or better than Adrian. Him and Princess.

There were obviously some kinds of illusions at play among man and fox, but he could also heal with fire, just like his partner. Weird, but powerful, and all the better to bring them along.

Hell, he was half hoping the wizards would start shit so he could see what the duo were capable of, because apparently, Adrian could actually burn people with his fire as easily as he healed them. An ability Stanley had yet to witness, but one that might make him even more powerful than Zeke.

As before, he saw no souls in the area. Only this time he was on the lookout and spotted more than a few people ducking out of sight or slipping through doors at their approach.

"Harvard!?" Nate exclaimed out of nowhere. "I knew I should have checked this place."

Eve had a different, screaming reaction. A verbally silent one where only her soul screamed... Following her gaze, it took Stanley a few moments to recognize the field in the distance.

It was where he'd first met the siblings. Where he'd tried and failed to kill their mom... and where other bad things probably happened after he left.

Zeke hadn't noticed yet, or hadn't looked in the right direction, given his complete lack of reaction. Either way, Stanley took them down, out of sight from the field, and into what was apparently... Harvard? The building looked fancy enough, with big pillars out front and kind of old-fashioned... "It looks fancy, but shouldn't Harvard be bigger?"

Daryl burst out laughing, like Stanley had just cracked the greatest joke ever. "Oh, I wish those stuck up..."

Magical light bloomed right before they reached the ground, shining out from a number of arcane-looking symbols glowing from each pillar at the front of the building. At the same time, a voice shouted, "Halt! Who goes there?"

"Seriously?" Eve muttered. "Who fucking talks like that?"

Stanley laughed. "Right?"

He wasn't as amused by the magic snaking out from the symbols and trying to latch onto him.

Debuff Resisted: [Gravity Restraint]

While it slid off him, no one else escaped from the magic. Eve, of course, immediately started cursing as she strained against the numerous gray bands of light dragging her to the ground and wrapping her up into immobility.

Lots of magic sprang up on their side in response, and Stanley was about to cut down the pillars when Nate strode ahead of the group despite the same magic attempting but apparently failing to restrain him.

It wasn't as effortless as he made it look, at least going by his soul, though Stanley had a feeling Nate was still holding back.

"Is this really necessary?" Nate said it casually. "We obviously didn't come to fight."

Stanley held off attacking the people or their building, but also stayed back with Zeke. Just in case. A solid reason for this group not to have helped before would be if they were all traitors working with the invaders. This could all be a trap. One they would regret...

Whatever magic prevented him from sensing their souls did nothing to stop him from touching them with his mind, and touch them he did. Stanley repeated his trick from the day before and lightly shoved everything in range. Including inside the building.

Spots of higher resistance betrayed every single... human? He couldn't know that for certain. Person? Living and/or potentially unliving? Whatever they were, he found them. A lot of them... mostly inside. Though none of what he'd pushed against felt particularly resistant, so that was promising if it turned into a fight.

Adrain was now on fire, and Daryl stood calmly beside him, untouched by the restraining magic... except he wasn't calm. He was straining against... Oh, it was an illusion. Both he and Princess were only pretending to be free.

Stanley had already reached into the ground below them, his first instinct when the magic dragged everyone down, but he found nothing there—only dirt and rocks.

Nate stopped advancing at the foot of the steps. "I'm Nate. We came to see the council? I was under the impression you knew about me?"

Nate glanced back questioningly, and Stanley shrugged. It was a lot harder to tell who's who when they hid their souls. Plus, they were all hiding behind the pillars. "I don't care if any of you know who we are," Stanley said in a not quite shout. "But if you don't cancel that spell, then I'm going to start breaking things."

Someone laughed. "I'd like to see..."

"I'm turning it off!" another voice yelled, then hissed, presumably at the first man. "Shut up, you idiot! That's the guy with the beast lord! He's not bluffing!"

Moments later, the gray, glowing symbols faded from the pillars, and the restraints vanished from Stanley's party.

"We already alerted the council!" the first speaker yelled, his voice a much higher pitch this time. "Y... you'd better not try anything!"

"No one came here for a fight," Nate said reassuringly. "We just want to talk."

"Speak for yourself," Eve muttered darkly while fondling her rifle. It was all bluster. Stanley could feel her fear and see her gaze darting around nervously. A gaze that kept returning to her brother beside her. That glimpse of her past was definitely still haunting her but... she was worrying for nothing.

Probably. Even if someone tried something, she and Zeke were inside his domain, along with Adrian and Daryl. For all that she seemed to hate being near him, she and her brother were as safe as can be.

Stanley nudged at the second speaker, pushing him a stumbling step out from behind the pillar.

"It's you. You were the guy who did the backflip yesterday, right?" His gray robe no longer had scorch marks on it, but Stanley was pretty sure it was the same guy. If slightly more terrified looking. "Where are your friends?"

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Th... this is the graviturgy house. Th... they have their own..." His friend hissed something, and Gray-robe said, "School! They have their own schools!"

"Is this like a dungeons and dragons thing?" Adrian asked, now no longer on fire. "You guys went all in on the wizard thing?"

"We... you should direct all questions toward the council. We don't know anything important!"

"Understood," Nate said. "We don't mind waiting. What's your name?"

"Gregory!" Stanley blurted. "Your name's... Gregory." Everyone was looking at him. "What? I remembered his name..." He was usually so bad at that. Maybe all those intelligence attributes were finally kicking in?

Nate chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Gregory. I hope Stanley didn't give you too much trouble yesterday. I know he can be... a lot."

"He... made a spell blow up in my face. I just don't know how he did it..."

"If you need healing, we've got two of the best right here."

"N... no. It wasn't that bad. I still have half of a po..."

"Dude, shut up!" his friend hissed, still hiding behind his own pillar. "You're going to get us in trouble!"

Stanley didn't like it. He could see the guy. Could see his face. But it felt like looking at a blank wall without the feeling of a soul to go with the face. How the hell was he supposed to know what was going on in there? The voices sounded... worried? Which fit with the hiding, but what was that about getting in trouble? In trouble with who?

Another man in a gray robe chose that moment to drop out of the sky, and also with no whisper from his soul—the damn cheater. He shot downward and only slowed abruptly a few feet above the ground... before touching down gently. "What is this?"

"The... they..."

Gregory started stammering, but it felt like the clearly older newcomer ignored him as his gaze locked onto Stanley's. "It's you."

"What the hell!" Stanley exclaimed. First, these... people? First they cheated by hiding their souls; now they were flying left and right... That was his thing! They were stealing his gimmick! Plus, "How the hell do all of you know me?"

"You've been watching us," Adrian said when no one else answered. "Divination wizards?" That sounded familiar. Wasn't it something like spying on people? Or was it a prophecy thing?

"God," Daryl whispered, poking a finger in Adrian's ribs. "You are such a nerd!"

Stanley thought he saw another reaction from all three wizards at the mention of divination, but once again, he couldn't tell a damn thing when they kept hiding their fucking souls! It was getting more and more tempting to tell the lot of them to stop doing whatever that was or die!

"Are you part of the council we were told to expect?" Nate asked before Stanley could start handing out ultimatums.

"I am," the man said. "Theodore Echeart. Master of the School of Graviturgy." He nodded toward the two younger men. "You've met my apprentices... and scared the piss out of them, I see."

"Entirely unintentional, I assure you. I would have been happy to go about this meeting with whatever protocols you'd prefer. Unfortunately, I only learned of your existence here this morning." Oh, Nate was pissed, but he was trying to hide it.

Theodore's eyelid twitched. Did he know Nate was upset? Was he upset? Was he plotting something? God damned...

Caffeine stopped straining to escape and turned to lick Stanley's nose instead. "Good boy," Stanley whispered. "Good boy."

Nate had his intuition. Maybe it would still work here? He could deal with this bullshit and Stanley could just take everyone else off to...

"I am to bring you to the rest of the council," Theodore said. "If you would like to go now?"

Stanley looked at Nate questioningly. "Think its a trap?"

Nate eyed the rest of the group, particularly Zeke, and asked, "Still nothing?"

Obviously, he'd told Nate about their bullshit soul blocking magic, but maybe if he cut them in half, he'd be able to get a peek inside? Theo kept his mouth shut and just watched them. Suspiciously.

Stanley shrugged. "I could take everyone else back now if you want to deal with this? If you don't come back, then I start breaking stuff?"

"How romantic," Eve said. "Looking out for your boyfriend?" She was the only one amused by her attempt at a joke, and the following silence grew deafening as it stretched.

As much as Stanley enjoyed her embarrassment and wanted to let her stew in it, he couldn't stay quiet. "Fuck no! I don't want to get stuck babysitting all of you morons if Nate kicks off!"

"I too would like to avoid that," Neal said, and unlike Eve, he earned a round of chuckles for his comment. Plenty of wholehearted agreement as well.

"Let's stay together," Nate said, earning surprised reactions from some of them. "We're a team. Hell, I'd like to think we're more than that."

"Hear, hear!" Matthew shouted while throwing his arms around Zeke and Eve's shoulders. Or trying to anyway. He got Zeke, but Eve planted an elbow in his ribs for the effort. "Let's hear it for team... Oof!"

"Touch me again, and you're going to be giving Zeke a lot more practice with his healing!"

That comment earned her a laugh, though Stanley wasn't really sure why. Neither was she. Probably nerves. Especially after the cockroach lair.

Stanley picked everyone up while they were distracted and flew closer to Theo, almost looming over him. "If you lead us into a trap, I'll kill you first."

The gray-robed man rolled his eyes as he floated off the ground under his own power. "Noted."

He was acting nonchalant, but Stanley was now close enough for his domain to notice the sweat beading beneath those robes and to feel the pulse in his neck step up a beat. It was telling, and another way to gauge reactions without Soul Sight... except he had no clue what that shit meant!

Was he actually planning a trap? Or just nervous because he apparently knew something about Stanley? Maybe he knew the threat wasn't an idle one... and wasn't confident in his own power with... graviturgy? "What is graviturgy?"

"Follow me," Theo said, ignoring the question and flying higher. "The council operates out of memorial hall, deeper into the main campus."

It sounded like gravity magic, which explained the flying. Also the trap that dragged everyone down. But what else could he do? Make black holes? Gravity strong enough to crush people?

Stanley followed behind the other man while trying to stay ready for an attack he might not feel coming. Of course, he still had the Premonition skill, a skill that wasn't getting much use these days. He'd simply become so powerful that the skill never triggered anymore. What a shame...

Neglecting the skill was definitely a mistake. He should be practicing with it every day... Maybe sparring with Nate some more? But no, his domain made any close-range fights too trivial.

Of course, Eve had that fancy new gun... he could let her take shots at him with his eyes closed. Assuming she wouldn't go for a headshot... She wouldn't go that far, would she? Though maybe he'd wait for a day when she was less angry, just in case.

There was another great reason to work on leveling the skill. It might upgrade or evolve into something better than it currently was.

Right now, it only warned him through pain that he was about to suffer damage. But what if he could see the future around him instead of only inside? If he could see what someone else was about to do... especially if the foresight was longer into the future.

Not that he'd need much. His mind could definitely process information faster at E-grade, most notably with Still Mind active. There was no telling how much faster D-grade would make his thoughts. A fraction of a second might be an eternity. Eventually.

To that end, Stanley focused some of his attention on his premonition skill. More specifically, on trying to use the skill actively rather than however he'd done it before. That was only some of his attention, though, because Theo was landing in front of a very cathedral-looking building. Lots of red brickwork, with stained-glass towering above wide wooden doors. It even had something written in Latin above that.

All in all, it was very pretentious looking.

Nate only glanced at him once before following Theo through the doors, still with no indications of danger or a trap. It was frustrating as hell to be relying on only his intuition... and the feeling was magnified when they were led into a small theater that was absolutely jam-packed with people.

All of them were wearing robes. In every color of the rainbow. Though some were clearly fancier than others... especially when it came to the group on the stage.

They sat in a half-circle facing what would have been the audience and while sitting in ridiculously over the top chairs. Almost thrones.

Of course, Theo led them to the foot of the stage, where those above could look down at them... Not really an issue when you could fly.

Stanley already hated their silent souls, their stupid chairs, and the way they wanted to sit above him like that, but he really, truly hated the invisible wall that prevented his mental touch from reaching past the edge of the stage to where they sat. From any direction. To hell with this!

He reached out into the surrounding walls instead, ready to...

Daryl's soul lit up with recognition, disbelief, and then venom that spoke of not only a history but one that ended very badly as he spat out one word, "Dale."