“She’s an Unmarked,” the boy muttered the last word like a curse.

Relia lowered her head, letting a curtain of red hair cover her pale face.

Another of the Cadrian boys knelt down and tried to brush the curtain aside.

Hell no, Akari thought. A crowd had already gathered around, but no one else had heard his accusation. Best to keep it that way. They’d passed a few Apprentices on the lower deck, and she and Relia might never escape if this turned into a serious fight.

“Hey!” Akari shoved the Gold in the chest, and he fell back on the wooden deck. “Quit groping my friend.”

She’d learned this trick back home. Crowds sided with Golds by default, but they had a weakness for protecting a young girl’s purity. The upper ranks got away with a lot on Arkala, but not that.

It was an outrageous lie in this case, but this was war.

“Easy, shoka.” The boy staggered to his feet, brushing some invisible dust from his jacket. “Just checking her—”

“Piss off.” Akari jabbed a finger in his direction. “Won’t tell you twice.” She had to keep things heated. If they had a reasonable talk, the others might convince the crowd what they’d seen. Better to let them see a private dispute between kids.

“No.” He stepped forward, eyes narrow. “You’re hiding something.”

Akari forced herself not to shake as his friends stepped closer. The Silver on his left was built like a tank, and he probably outweighed Akari by a hundred pounds. The girl on his right wore the sides of her head shaved with a row of gold piercings on her bottom lip. She could have been the middle boy’s twin for all she knew.

Shit. Her last real fight had been that Grevandi in the bar, and she’d barely scratched him. No way she could take on two Golds and a Silver by herself.

On the bright side, they probably wouldn’t kill her. As long as they didn’t get a closer look at Relia.

“You want to apologize?” Akari fell into a combat stance. “Or you want to fight?”

All three started cycling their mana. Even without her Silver Sight, Akari saw the bright glow beneath their dark skin.

For a second, the boy on the left seemed to laugh her off. “We’d knock you out, shokita.”

Akari glared at him, raising her fists. “Come and try.”

He shrugged. “You asked for it.”

Lightning mana crackled in his palms. Akari barely had time to react before his Missiles shot forward. Akari's own Missiles flew free at the same time. Then her instincts kicked in, and she pulled them back, flattening each one into a Construct.

Light flashed between them as their mana collided in midair.

Talek. That felt good. She hadn’t expected her Constructs to be combat-ready in a week, but somehow her body knew what to do.

Akari gathered more mana in her palm just in time to block two more lightning techniques. The impact forced her back, but she held her ground with a solid stance.

Movement flashed at the edge of her vision. Akari ducked her head, barely avoiding a punch from Piercing Girl.

The girl’s extension left her stance weak, and Akari swept out with her leg, knocking her to the deck. Akari lashed out with a Missile next, but the girl countered with an invisible blast that sent her flying.

Akari twisted her body in midair, passing over two rows of seats and landing on her feet.

What the hell was that? Air mana? Force mana?

The crowd parted as she landed, but no one intervened. At least that part of the plan had worked.

Several more attacks passed between them. Akari conjured a wide shield with her left hand, absorbing the Lightning Artist’s Missiles. She also pressed her back against a nearby wall. This prevented the Force Artist from throwing her off the boat.

Her instincts screamed at her to look left, but no one was there. Akari activated her Silver Sight and spotted the mana from a human soul. Piercing Girl’s twin brother. Apparently, he was invisible now?

The boy wasn’t wearing Shadow Artist’s armor, and he was too weak to have a Cloak technique. Probably a panther mana potion.

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Akari kept her eyes straight ahead. The boy didn’t know she’d seen him. Best to keep it that way for now.

Both opponents struck Akari’s shield in a joint attack, slamming her hard against the wall. Akari forced more mana into the Construct, but her channels strained from the effort. Talek. Why were Constructs so expensive? Her soul must be half-empty by now.

Still no sign of Relia, either. Time to stop playing defense.

Akari dropped her shield and lashed out with two Missiles. At the same time, she sprinted forward and took cover behind the row of seats. Her reduced center of gravity sent the Missiles up and over her opponents.

She retrieved them a heartbeat later, and one struck Lightning Boy in the back.

The Shadow Artist chose that same moment to strike, but Akari saw him coming in her Silver Sight. He threw a punch with his right arm, and she dodged to the side, causing him to overextend.

The boy’s invisibility faded just as Akari hurled her own Missile into his solar plexus. She swung up with her other hand, landing a solid punch to his windpipe.

No sooner had Shadow Boy fallen than a lightning Missile struck Akari’s chest. Her hoodie absorbed the first blow, but the next one took her in the stomach.

The world went white as she fell back, and pain surged through her. It felt like that time she’d stuck her finger in a light socket. But instead of her finger, it was her entire body that was shaking and burning.

The world slowed as the Lightning Artist stepped closer. Akari still struggled to move as she lay on the ferry’s wooden deck, staring up at the evening sky. Something was smoking, and it was probably her clothes.

Her opponent loomed above her. He didn’t attack, but the sight of him dragged older memories to the surface of her mind—memories of being helpless and weak.

Akari still couldn’t feel her limbs, but she cycled her mana. Then her body moved on its own, led by some primal part of her mind.

Her Missile took the Lightning Artist in the knee, and he staggered forward.

The Force Artist struck Akari with another wave of mana, but Lightning Boy got caught in the blast, and they both flew across the deck.

Akari grabbed the boy’s jacket as they soared. Lightning mana sparked around them, but she didn’t feel the pain this time. Instead, she hurled her own mana into his ribs, and they cracked beneath the impact.

They crashed into the side of the boat, and Piercing Girl ran to her friend’s rescue.

Shit. Akari tried to conjure another Missile, but her mana was dry. Instead, she drew the Martial dagger from the small of her back.

Another wave of force mana closed in. Akari dropped to her stomach and let the rush of air pass over her.

A third blast followed. She saw it her Silver Sight, dodging right as she closed the distance.

The girl retreated, but Akari leapt over a row of chairs to block her path.

“Akari!” Relia sprang from the other aisle, landing between her and her opponent.

At first, Akari tried to dodge past the other girl, but Relia grabbed the wrist that held the dagger.

“It’s okay,” Relia said. “You can put the knife away.”

Akari furrowed her brow in confusion, trying to pry her wrist free from Relia’s vice grip. Then she stared at the blade in her hand, seeing it for the first time. Her eyes moved to her opponent—a girl who was barely older than her, cowering in the corner behind Relia.

Talek. And she’d been about to slit her throat.

Her gaze flickered to the two boys who still hadn’t gotten up, then to the surrounding crowd. Most had retreated to the lower deck, but the rest stared at Akari with the same look of shock.

“It’s okay,” Relia repeated as she released Akari’s wrist. “We’re safe.”

Akari met her friend’s eyes. She seemed as lively as ever, and even her forehead mark was back.

Then, feeling suddenly cold, Akari tried to return the dagger to its sheath. Her strength left her before she could, and the blade clattered to the deck.

Talek. That wasn’t her. That was Dream Akari. The lightning had messed with her brain … her past self had taken over.

But no … it wasn’t just the lightning. She’d had that same ruthlessness when she’d killed the Artisan in Costa Liberta, and the Martials back on Arkala. But those had been real battles against stronger opponents. Here, she’d been the stronger one for once in her life.

Relia sent a burst of life mana into the Shadow Artist. Then she healed the Lightning Artist with the broken ribs.

“I forgive you for earlier,” she said with a cheerful voice. “Hope the rest of your day goes better!”

With that, she retrieved both backpacks from the bench, grabbed Akari by the hand, and led them off the ship.

The next few minutes passed in a blur as they hurried out of Unida territory and through the familiar underground passage. Relia gave her some life mana, but it didn’t help.

“You did the right thing,” Relia said as they walked through the dark tunnel. “We’d be screwed if they kept talking.”

Akari gave a heavy nod. “Minus the part where I almost killed that girl?”

Her grin faded. “I get it. You’ve been through some tough stuff.”

“So have you.”

“Yeah, but I have years of training. No one ever taught you when to hold back. You’ve probably never had to before.”

That was true, and it made way more sense than her theory about her past self taking over. Still, she shivered at the thought of becoming that ruthless.

Then again, what if Relia hadn’t gotten back up? What if her mark hadn’t returned when it did? Obviously, killing wasn’t the answer here, but what was? The others would have exposed them if they’d lost, and Unida’s military would have swarmed them at the dock. Actually, that still might happen if they tried to use the ferry again.

We never should have split up, she realized. Kalden was right about that.

Splitting up had been Akari’s stupid idea. But this was Relia’s fault, too. Akari had tried asking about her condition, but she’d always dodged the questions. Then she’d brought it up with Kalden, and he’d muttered some bullshit about not prying into other people’s medical issues.

For Talek’s sake, Relia wasn’t some stranger anymore. They were a team, and this affected all three of them.

Akari took a deep breath and turned to face the other girl. “Your mark faded on the boat. The same time you collapsed.”

“Yeah,” Relia bit her lip and looked away. “Sorry. I didn’t know that would happen. My mana got blocked. I guess it’s obvious in hindsight, huh?”

Relia’s tone was still too cheerful, and that rubbed Akari like a stone in her shoe. She’d apologized, but she still didn’t explain what was wrong, or how she’d stop it from happening again.

“We need to talk,” Akari said. “You, me, and Kalden. No more excuses this time.”