Not many predators around the area were motivated enough to face a Quillhusk’s spikes or bother cracking its shell. It probably didn’t taste good anyway. And so, it had learned to fear nothing. Except humans.

The Quillhusk stopped eating as Elian neared. Given its size, it was old for its kind. It should know that the odd bipedal creatures occasionally wandering in the forest were dangerous.

Elian crouched low as he shielded the front of his body with the steel of his armguards, peering over them as he moved. A helmet protected his head. Ninety-nine percent sure the Quillhusk couldn’t penetrate his skin, but it was prudent to be cautious—he shouldn’t forget that no matter how tanky he’d get. If the Quillhusk’s spikes did puncture his flesh and inject toxins into his bloodstream, he’d be paralyzed for hours. A giant bug wasn’t getting the better of him.

Clouds swirled, hastening the darkness as he prepared to call for a Tribulation.

He stopped. There was that eerie sensation again. Someone was looking at him. A predator?

“Where—?”

The Quillhusk sauntered forward and lowered its front legs to level its spikes at Elian. It fired with a forward wave of its back. Elian charged into the blanket of spikes, bowing his head to make his profile smaller. Most spikes dinged off his armguards and helmet; others hit his legs, poking holes in his pants but not piercing his skin. They fell off as he continued to run.

“Chocolate ice cream Tribulation!” Elian grabbed the Quillhusk’s head from below, propped it on his shoulder, and pushed up the front half of the giant bug above him. Heavier than a sack of potatoes. He didn’t have anything boosting his strength.

Blue flash. A tremendous slam. The impact was noticeably stronger than yesterday.

He felt the roof of his helmet cave down on his head. His pose wasn’t stable, leaning too far forward. The Tribulation forced him to his hands and knees as the Quillhusk fell on him. His joints and muscles complained. The sharp edges of the Quillhusk’s exoskeleton dug into his back. Cracking shells popped like gunshots.

And the second Tribulation descended.

Elian was more stable on all fours. He clenched his teeth and tensed his body as he got hammered by the heavens. More cracks above him. Add in wet pops this time. He felt warm liquid cover his back—the soft inside of the Quillhusk burst out of its destroyed exoskeleton and oozed all over him.

“A level up,” Elian said, spitting out the purple goo covering his head. The options for the reward were in front of him. It was almost second nature to choose Attack Power and Health. “I’m going to smell awful when I—”

A scream. A woman’s voice.

The hell? Elian scrambled out of the Quillhusk’s organic wreckage and scanned the trees. Who was that? There was no one.

A slight movement to his left. Moving grass. He scooped some goop stuck on him and threw it that way.

The handful of disgustingness stopped midair with a splat. It hit something invisible.

“Ugh, gross!” The voice again. Branches and blades of grass bent aside as the invisible woman continued to flee. The goop was falling. No, she was wiping it off.

Elian ran after her, catapulting more squished remains of the Quillhusk. She yelped as she got hit a couple more times. The floating globs of flesh went down; the invisible woman must’ve stumbled. Elian found an area of depressed grass, a mini-crop circle with a humanoid outline.

“I’m sorry for spying on you, Elian,” said a voice that he recognized. “Don’t hurt me. I swear not to speak of anything I saw. In truth, I didn’t see anything because I had my eyes closed the entire—”

“Jadewell? Is that you?”

Jadewell shimmered into view, wearing a black cloak that matched her long black hair, accented by Quillhusk purple sludge. She held up a ring. “A ring of invisibility my family gave me for my protection. Very useless if I give myself away.”

“You’re certainly not using it for your protection,” Elian said, speculating various reasons why she was tailing him. She had seen his double-strike Tribulation. Did she understand its significance? “Why did you scream?”

“Because I thought you died from the Tribulation.” Jade sat on the ground, scowling while she wiped goops off her clothes with clumps of grass. “It was also horrifying seeing the Quillhusk squished on top of you.”

“And why did you run away?”

“What was I supposed to do if you died? I don’t want to stay here and be mistaken as your murderer.”

“No one’s going to think that. If I died, it’d be obvious a Tribulation was the cause. What if I was injured? You weren’t going to help me? Or if I really died, would you have reported it to—?”

“Why so many questions? You’re alive, and you’re fine, and you’re smelly. There’s no problem except that last part.” Jade got on her feet and regarded him with large defiant eyes with dark irises. Too dark. It was hard to take her very serious face seriously because she was more than a foot shorter than him and had a slight frame. She gave up on her tough expression soon enough, wrinkling her nose and stepping back as she gagged. The Quillhusk did smell awful.

Elian nonchalantly brushed bits of the giant bug off his crumpled helmet and flicked them away. He had endured much worse smells. Passing through a several-day-old battlefield, the stench of death and decay was incomparable. And that wasn’t a one-time thing.

“I have a question that you should answer—why were you following me?” Elian asked. “Must’ve been you I sensed in town. I thought I was going to get robbed.”

“No, you should answer that question.” Jadewell poked his chest. “Why are you following me?”

“Huh? Flipping the story on me?”

“I know you’re hiding your Aether magic abilities, Elian Ward of Gilders, if that’s truly your name and origin.”

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“What are you talking about?” Even if Elian was given a thousand guesses on how his day would go, he wouldn’t have picked this. Could be hallucinations from too many Tribulations.

“Spare me your innocence play. I saw you achieve Aethersense before me.” Elian was about to speak but Jadewell held up a finger. “Ah, no excuses! On our first day, I took a break from meditating inside the Eyoneir Maghindr and checked to see how far along you and Thorren were. Imagine my surprise when I saw you controlling the Aether in your vat. You must be a prodigy or, likelier, you must have Aethersense in the first place.”

“I didn’t have—”

“Why would someone hide their Aethersense? Why would such a person travel to the Temples of Tribulation if the ideal course was to enroll in an actual Aether Magic school? Say, Stoneholde Academy. Or maybe… they were a student of such a school and were ordered to follow a certain someone to spy on them.”

Elian jolted. This was the reason she was tailing him? “You can’t be seriously thinking that.”

Jadewell placed her hands on her hips. “You showed up on the same day I did. Claiming a coincidence, are you? Save your words. Tell my family I’m set on not returning even though I’ve gained Aethersense. I understand their worries, but this is the path I chose.”

“What are you saying?” Elian blinked, recalling the backstory Jadewell shared during class introductions. “All that talk about making your family’s school famous and following your grandfather’s footsteps was a lie?”

Jadewell pursed her lips as she examined his eyes. Several seconds of silence. Her shoulders dropped. “Clouds of the Storm God… you’re not a spy sent by my family?”

Elian shook his head.

“I was wasting my time all along?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Elian stopped himself from laughing because Jadewell looked so pitiful.

She slapped both her cheeks. “Supremely dumb. I always left class early because I thought you’d nab me and drag me back to Stoneholde. I could’ve made friends. I was supposed to make friends to start my new life.”

“Sorry for—wait, I’m not apologizing. This is all your fault.”

“I know, I know.” She sniffed her robes. “Can we find somewhere to clean up before talking more?”

It was fortunate there was a small lake nearby. From its shape, it was likely a crater left behind by a particularly strong Tribulation long ago. There might be a shattered skeleton somewhere at the bottom. Through centuries or even millennia, it was filled with water and became a lake. Elian couldn’t help but marvel at the many odd things he kept finding on Fellenyr despite living so long here.

And beside him was another odd thing.

Jadewell removed her cloak. The darkish emerald dress she wore underneath was of Northern Raelyon style, mostly hugging her petite body other than for puffed shoulders and flared sleeves. Around her waist was a huge belt, reminiscent of those wrestling title belts on Earth. Here, it had a dual purpose for women—a sort of corset to taper the torso and a place to slot in gems. Though Jadewell didn’t display jewelry, the quality of her clothes hinted at her wealthy background. That ring of invisibility should cost a hefty bag of coins too.

She tied her hair up and coiled it into a bun, exposing her sharp cheeks. A dark jagged patch of skin, stark against her paleness, ran from her left cheek to under her ear and down her neck.

“A scar caused by Aether flames,” Jadewell explained, noticing Elian’s gaze. She knelt at the side of the lake. With her hair out of the way, she bent down to wash her cloak. “Overly curious seven-year-old me meddled with my brother’s experiment. My burns were more severe then. This was the only part the Healers couldn’t fully restore. The traumatic experience became a mental block of sorts, preventing me from sensing Aether no matter how hard I tried.”

“But you managed to do it in our school within a day. Just several hours, actually.” Elian removed his helmet and undid his armguards and leather vest. Casimir had patched up the tear made by the faeboar. Elian then took off his tunic to wash it. He had a light shirt underneath so Jadewell hopefully wouldn’t find his actions threatening.

“I was seething in my vat,” Jadewell said. “Anger filled my thoughts at the audacity of my family sending someone after me. I channeled the swirling rage into concentration, broke through the wall of fear holding me back for years, and… succeeded in awakening Aethersense. I can’t concretely explain what happened. It just did. My gratitude for your inadvertent help and sincerest apologies for thinking ill of you.”

“And for following me around while invisible. I was prepared to fend off a robber.”

“Sorry for that as well.” She grinned while giving him a sidelong glance. “You must have a keen sense to notice me. May I ask why you hid your skills and delayed claiming you have achieved Aethersense?”

“Ah, that. I wanted you to be first because…” Elian’s brain used all its power to formulate an explanation without sounding condescending, patronizing, or creepy. But he didn’t need to. Jadewell’s face already turned sour.

“Keep your pity to yourself,” Jadewell said, her words coated in ice. “I didn’t ask for it.”

“I was trying to be nice. And you weren’t supposed to know. Thinking about it, I should’ve just lied.”

“I appreciate you didn’t. But I’ll still resent you for what you did. My success is now tarnished by…” She shook her head. A few strands of her hair fell off her bun and strayed down her cheek. “It’s all in the past. I wouldn’t have awakened Aethersense without you. I suppose this is the time we agree to keep each other’s secrets?”

“What secrets?” Elian guardedly asked. “That you ran away from your family?”

“I respectfully expressed my intent to leave and didn’t let anything they said stop me. Then I walked out with my belongings and went on my way. There was no running involved. You keep this a secret and I’ll keep your bizarre Tribulation a secret.”

“What are you—?”

Jadewell had a sly smile. “I thought we were past the point of playing dumb? Two strikes occurred, Elian Ward. You can’t fool my eyes and ears. I may be a beginner Penitent—I haven’t moved past my third Tribulation yet—but I have witnessed many others call for it on the Stage of Devotion. Only one strike. All of them. Why is yours two? That is what I’d like to know… but I also don’t want you to ask me about—”

“This is the Magistrate’s Curse.” Elian raised his bare arms. Sharp scale tattoos surfaced on his skin.

He couldn’t keep all his secrets to himself. As a test, he’d share them with Jadewell and see how it’d go. Wouldn’t know if she was a possible ally unless he tried. For one, she wasn’t a devoted Penitent and would most likely not make a big deal out of the Curse. He also knew of her secrets. She’d value keeping a lid on those rather than exposing his Curse for whatever reason.

Jadewell gathered her wet cloak and shifted to the side. “Why were you punished by the Hundred-Armed Magistrate?”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Elian said. “The Magistrate doesn’t require passing a test for its Boon, right? Just ask and it shall give the Boon. I tried asking for a Curse, and it granted my request.”

“You absolutely did wrong!” Jadewell’s face contorted into utter confusion as she tried to process how someone could be so stupid. “The Magistrate’s Boon has killed many people. Its Curse should be several times worse!”

“It is. On top of hitting twice, I also have to do it every day or else it’ll hit harder by midnight even if I don’t call for it.”

“What!” Jadewell almost stumbled back. “You’re marching towards death, you crazy… yo-you… We should ask help from the priests to remove it. There must be others Cursed by the Magistrate before. The priests will have records of them.”

“I don’t want it removed. This is according to plan. Well, my revised plan.”

“Plan to emulate a flatbread with your body? Why did you ask for such a dangerous bestowal?”

Elian took a deep breath. “The true reason will take some serious explaining. Jadewell Khaero of Stoneholde, do you have time for an insane story? You probably won’t believe it. I wouldn’t either, if I were in your shoes. But I’m going to tell you this and hope you see the truth in my crazy words. I am from the future.”

Her shocked eyes turned deadpan. “The double Tribulations have hit your head too hard.”