The next two days passed unbearably slowly for Alex. With Sam using magic constantly and in larger quantities, several packs of monsters were drawn toward their hiding spot. Those few instances were small enough for Alex and the spinners to take care of them with relative ease and preparation.

Not wanting to add to the amount of mana-drawing creatures to their location, Alex practiced his magic very little, a drastic change from the previous weeks. Downtime was filled with scouting the surrounding area or working with Sarah on her training and game planning for her role on the team. It took two full days to awaken Maelis by sending small amounts of mana into the amulet while he was sure no monsters were around.

Can’t you just show me the overlay like you did in practice?

“No, brat. And I thought more of you than that. For your first one, you need to do it on your own. If you want to go by the System’s rules, you’re not a Journeyman until you complete your first full warding system.”

Didn’t I technically create one on that wooden barrier this morning?

Maelis’s deep voice grumbled expletives in Alex’s mind. “You know the answer to this. It’s the same as enchanting. One and two-link runes do not make a ward any more than they make an enchantment. It’s not a ward until you create your first warding net.”

Alex sighed and laid back down on his side at the entrance to the cave. He rolled his shoulder to get into a more comfortable position and let his threads of mana form back into the proper shape on the wall, creating a railing against the face of the stone.

Well, while I’m stuck here etching this rock with a smaller rock… You might as well tell me what else you know about the Planetary Title.

“I told you that I’d tell you when you either created your first enchantment or your first ward. You’re not there yet… and if you don’t fix the bottom side of that anchor, you’re not going to get there.”

Alex paused and looked at his rails of mana and saw the small section that Maelis was referring to.

Alex coughed.

Okay, that’s fair. Fine, what about the next runes then?

“Shouldn’t you be focusing on what you’re doing?”

He rolled his eyes as his hands continued to work, scraping the jagged black stone in his hand against the dark brown opening to the cave.

You know that I can let the other part of my mind focus on it. Come on, we need to keep the learning going.

Maelis grunted. “You’re only saying that because you can’t use your mana to train right now and want something to do.”

Well, maybe that’s part of it… But I also feel like we need to use this time. We weren’t able to charge the amulet nearly as much as it was when I siphoned the wards, so the charge won’t last that long. I really just don’t… I don’t want to keep thinking about what’s happening in the cave.

There was a pause. “What runes did you decide on?”

Well, I picked two that I think I could use in a lot of different ways. I want a Wind Rune and a Gravity Rune–

“Kid–”

Wait, wait, wait. Let me finish!

Alex couldn’t keep the grin off his face. He’d expected Maelis to get a bit worked up at the way he chose to word the request, which is why he’d done it.

I know that both of those are huge concepts. Especially gravity, but there has to be something of a connected, or lesser concept I could use, right? I mean, I’m not using a lightning rune right now, I’m using a spark rune.

“Good. At least you’re using that brain of yours. Yes, there are many lesser concepts for both of those. What do you plan to do with them? If you tell me your purpose, or the intent you think you might use when setting the rune, I’ll suggest one that your tiny Intelligence might handle.”

Ignoring the jab, Alex started with the rune he was most excited for.

One of the rituals that I’ve used the most, and since the beginning of the integration, has been the weight-increasing or weight-decreasing ritual. But each of those takes reagents to be placed in the ritual. In combat, that can be really challenging. If I can get something like that to use as an effect within my spell circle, it would be perfect.

“Hmm,” Maelis gave it some thought. “I don’t think you’re going to get both of those effects with a lesser concept. You will likely need to pick one or the other.”

Really? Why?

Their conversation was interrupted as Sarah walked from the cave. “Hey,” she said.

Alex half sat up, propping himself on an elbow to better look at her from around the corner of the cave entrance. “Hey.”

She stopped and crouched to get closer to his level. “Val is asking for a mana stone and started pouting when I offered him an E rank stone.” She gave him an apologetic smile, but accepted the purple stone that Alex held out for her.

“Tell him no more until tomorrow,” he said.

“Are you running low?”

“No, there are plenty. But I’m worried that he’s going to start going through a huge growth period again, like he did last time we were here. As he gained levels, he wanted more and more stones, and then had a huge growth spurt.”

Sarah's eyes grew wide as they both thought of a larger Valtherion.

“Once, I asked him how big he’d get,” Alex whispered, making sure that his companion wouldn’t overhear, “and in response, he sent me a mental image of a skyscraper. He only grew a few feet before his last evolution, but I have a feeling it will be a lot more this time around…”

“Well… I’ll be sure to let him know this is the last one for the day,” she answered with a shaky nod.

He lowered himself back to the ground and continued to scratch the rune into the left side of the cave entrance. Both the ones on the right side had been done, along with the higher one on the left.

Maelis picked up their conversation as he started working again. “As I was saying… Those rituals must be quite different, so it wouldn’t likely get the same effects from a single rune. Even if you focus on a certain intent.”

I guess that makes sense. The rituals are similar, but the catalysts that are used in them are very different. I’ve used them both a decent amount, but I’ve probably used the weight-increasing one the most. Since [Feather Step] naturally reduces my weight, I don’t use the weight-decreasing one on myself, and only occasionally use it to catch opponents off guard.

“Then I recommend you learn the anchor rune. This could have a similar effect to how I’ve seen you use and train with the weight increasing ritual. It has the added benefit of being used frequently in warding systems.”

That sounds perfect.

“What’s the other one? Wind?”

Well, my thought was to start learning another element. Wind seemed like it would be really useful and already fits with some of the rest of my kit.

“Hmm, I’ll at least give you a bit of credit for not choosing fire like most air-headed, young enchanters. I’ve never understood the appeal of wands or staves that shoot fire.”

Alex gave a soft snort, which shifted some dirt on the ground near his shoulder.

I see wind giving me the option to knock people off balance, change directions with my [Feather Step], and some potential to work well with the Spark Rune I’ve been using.

“Yes, I agree. These are two choices I can agree to.”

Well, what do you suggest instead of wind?

“Wind’s a powerful element. There aren’t many lesser concepts associated with it. The one that I think would fit your purpose the most would be the Breeze Rune.” Maelis said with confidence.

Alex felt his excitement building at the spirit's approval of his choices. With two runes decided on, it was only a matter of time before he could begin to craft new spell circles and expand his available spell options.

He let the conversation die down and focused on finishing the final rune in the ward setup. When he was complete, he sat up and let out a breath.

“All right, I think I’m ready to activate it.” He slid his butt across the ground to cross the threshold and sat Infront of the control stone anchor he’d etched into the stone floor. Leaning down, he blew any dirt remnants from it and looked at the rune.

“No, you’re not.” The spirit's gravelly voice stopped him.

He paused. “What do you mean I’m not?”

“I mean, you’re not ready. If you activate it like this, it would likely backfire. Either an explosion or, at the very least, a mana wave would be caused to disperse the power.”

Explosion?!

Alex switched to thinking the conversation to avoid causing Sarah or Sam any panic.

What do you mean, explosion? I thought you said that runes don’t explode!

“No, I said enchantments don’t normally explode. But warding is very different. Since they take more power to set and activate, they tend to respond more dramatically to faulty setups.”

Stolen story; please report.

Alex groaned and put his head in his hands.

Fine… at least show me where I went wrong?

Maelis didn’t respond, but various blue and red lines appeared in Alex’s vision. His eyes roamed over them and noted very small discrepancies in the runes. All of his mistakes dealt with the depth or angle of the runes as they were carved into the surface. He tried to give himself some grace, as he’d only spent time so far writing the runes in the air with his threads, not creating them in a three-dimensional space.

“You don’t seem disappointed. Failure should bother you more,” Maelis grumbled.

I’m only disappointed you’re making me wait to learn more about the planetary title. I don’t mind working on this. Each time I fail, I’m only going to get closer. It’s only a matter of time before I get it.

“Humph. More young brats should have that attitude. Anyway, you don’t need to know about it right now. It’s not meant to be used this early anyway.”

The tidbits of information he had gotten from the spirit only drove him to want to know more. Pushing the thoughts from his mind, Alex focused instead on the warding structure.

Other than the structure of the runes, how is the placement? Would it form a ward netting across the opening like this?

“Barely,” he said simply.

It was enough confirmation for Alex to know he was on the right track. “Okay, well, I’ll keep working on the depth of these and try again soon. For now, I want to check on Sam. Can you work with my other mind to learn the new runes' patterns?”

When the less-grumpy spirit agreed, Alex pushed himself up and stretched. He scanned the surrounding landscape before heading back into the cave.

Sam sat in the same position he’d been in for over a day. His crossed legs, straight back, and outstretched hands made him look like a meditating monk. If someone could see mana like Alex could, they’d see him surrounded in mana and controlling it expertly. There was a verdant circle of mana around him and streams of green mana that constantly swirled around the hands he held over his patients. However, the largest change to Alex’s mana sight was the gradually solidifying hexagonal shapes that formed over the healer like a dome. It took Alex some time to realize that it must be an aspect of the turtle spirit manifesting around Sam, resembling a shell.

To anyone seeing these things, Alex was sure that Sam would appear to be a benevolent, wise, and powerful mage. Only his dirty appearance, scuffed green hoodie, and ruffled hair grounded him in reality.

He walked to the left side of the cave, where a small, ash-filled fire pit had been created, and several bedrolls had been laid out. Sarah sat beside hers, writing in a notebook with Valtherion in her lap.

“Hey, how’s he doing?” Alex asked quietly.

“Good,” she said while looking up. “I replaced the stones an hour ago, and Val gave him his mana too.”

Looking at Sam again, Alex’s eyes drifted to Olivia and Mark before closing his eyes. “How’s your training going?”

“It’s going,” she answered. “Just taking some more notes. You should probably do the same.”

He nodded, knowing why she said it. “Yeah, I probably should.”

“At least it’ll help take your mind off things.”

Letting the empty leather book drop into his hand, he sat beside her and opened it to a fresh page. They gave each other tired smiles before returning to their projects. Alex spent time ordering his thoughts and trying to record what he knew about his creation and the use of spell circles.

Hours passed as he tried to explain how each of the three major components played into its creation. He tried to stress the importance of his high Willpower stat without letting them know how high it truly was, and expressed his worry that others likely wouldn’t be able to repeat the magic system for some time.

It wasn’t until he heard a weak cough from his left that his pen jerked to a stop. His head came up, and he stowed his materials in a heartbeat before rushing to Olivia’s side.

“I’m done,” Sam said.

His voice sounded hoarse and exhausted. Alex gave him a waterskin, checked on him, and helped him walk to the bedroll they’d prepared for him. Sam smiled up at Alex and shared a System screen with him. The healer’s sleepy smile stayed on his face even as he fell asleep so fast that Alex worried he’d passed out.

“He must be exhausted,” Sarah said as she gently touched his forehead with the back of her hand. “He did it though…” There was a sense of awe and respect in her voice as she brushed a bit of sweaty, blonde hair from his forehead.

Alex scanned him and saw that Sam had leveled again. “The ritual was giving him mana, so I don’t think it’s mana fatigue. He must just need sleep.”

They both moved back over to their injured friends as they began to stir. Mark was the first to sit up, wincing and looking down at his now-healed leg.

“Man, I had the craziest dreams.”

Something about the simple statement and Mark’s classic delivery caused tension to flood from Alex’s body. He and Sarah looked at each other before laughing and helping him sit up and lean against the wall.

“Oh, hey. I leveled up. And I got a passive? Jesus, what happened while I was asleep?” He looked progressively more confused with each realization.

Olivia came to a bit slower. She blinked and moved her head slowly before the rest of her body. Nox nuzzled her twice, and Alex saw the first bit of recognizable body language from the shadowy feline. He leaned over her and rubbed his forehead against her own before licking it several times.

It was this that finally made her move and react. She lifted both hands to gently push the bond away before wiping her face with her torn sleeve.

“Liv,” he said as he gripped her triceps, helping her sit up.

Olivia looked around the cave, taking in the environment. She looked at Nox, and then at each of them in turn. There was a long pause as everyone looked at her and let her process. Her chin quivered, and Alex saw the tears forming in her eyes before they began to fall.

He leaned in and hugged her, wrapping both arms around her shoulders as she leaned into him and cried. Sarah made eye contact with him over her back and gave him a small smile.

Neither of them could guess how Olivia might react to them finding her. Especially given her state, they weren’t sure if she’d be frustrated or shaken.

“H–How did you find me?” she asked between breaths.

“The spinners, they helped track you down over the last week,” Alex said as he ran his hands over her hair. It was matted with dried blood and dirt, but he didn’t care.

“I didn’t think you’d come. Or wouldn’t be able to catch up.”

“Of course we’d come. If I’d known I’d find you like this, I would have left even sooner.”

Valtherion flew over, excitedly flying around Olivia. He slowly crept closer, less wary of Nox than he was before.

“Liv, what happened? How did you get all the way out here?”

“I… I got greedy.” She lowered her head into his shoulder again, refusing to meet his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you mind if I get some food? I ran out a while back, and I’m not sure I can starve to death anymore, but I constantly feel hungry.”

He raised an eyebrow at the first part of the statement, but agreed nonetheless. Helping her over to the bedrolls, he pulled out a few things to begin preparing a warm meal.

“Here, eat this while he prepares something.” Sarah handed her a protein bar.

“Hey, nothing for me?” Mark said from where he sat, propped against the wall. He looked at the bar with wide eyes.

Sarah snorted. “You’ve got your pouch. I know how much food you put in there. No way it’s empty.”

Some time passed as they sat together, tensions easing from the long two days of flight and healing. Alex filled Olivia and Mark in on what had happened since their injuries. Mark was impressed with the plan to rank up, saying he didn’t remember any of the fight or even using his [Taunt] skill.

After a while, Sarah moved with Mark to a different section of the cave to give Alex time to catch up with Olivia.

“Tell me what happened?” He asked.

Olivia nodded, but didn’t say anything until she turned and sat between his legs. She leaned back into him and took several deep breaths. He was unsure if she wanted to sit this way to be closer to him or to avoid making eye contact with him as she told the story.

“When we first came into the Rift, I saw the massive changes since the last time I came. I still decided to head for Tianluo, hoping for some answers on Nox and if the Celestial magic might be able to fight against the Sun magic. When I got there, it was almost completely empty. Only a few dozen survivors lived in the ruins of the city, and they were less than friendly. I tried to get information from them about Eura, but they were tight-lipped and said several cryptic things about Elders taking his heart to the capital.”

“His heart?” Alex stirred at the disturbing thought.

“I think it was a metaphor for something. They kept using terms I’d never heard of, and seriously weren’t that helpful. Nox caught the scent of some really powerful Night magic in the city, so we followed it. When we did, we found a huge creature of the Night trying to eat Eura’s body.”

“Wait, you were the other footprints?”

“Huh?”

“Oh, we found Eura. I saw other footprints in the dust when we went down the stairs. I had worried that someone else had gone there to take the inheritance.”

“The chest was an inheritance? No, I saw it, but his hands were tight around it and wouldn’t budge. But the monster was some sort of ooze creature, and it was enormous. It covered most of the dais that Eura sat on, and was trying to cover his crossed legs. Nox tried to communicate with it, but the reaction was pretty drastic.

I don’t know if it was because he’s bound to me or the sun magic in his body, but the aspect tried to kill him. The fight was rough, but between Nox and me, we got the kill… but–but something happened when we killed it. Nox changed.”

Alex glanced at the large beast that had begun to doze next to them. “What changed?”

“Well, he got an ability… But the biggest change was that he got a lot smarter. I mean, he was already smart, but he gained something from the aspect. He’s able to communicate with me through our bond now, and he had information on the aspects that he said he’d ‘consumed.’”

“I saw that skill on your most-used list,” Alex said, looking over her shoulder. “That’s the skill he got?”

She nodded. “Yes. I also got the skill offered by the System. I don’t know if it’s because I helped in the kill or because Nox got it and we’re bound. There’s just so much I don’t know. I really wish this stupid System gave us more information.”

Maelis laughed at the statement from within Alex’s mind.

“What did Nox learn? He didn’t seem like he could communicate with me, so maybe it is just you?”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s part of the bond. But Nox said that the consume skill worked different than the mana drain that he could do before. It genuinely consumes part of the creature that he uses it on, and after one or two kills, he was sure that it was pushing back the sun elf curse.”

“Really? So you have a way to fight it off?” Alex asked.

“We thought so… but it doesn’t seem to do more than suppress it. It’s like a balance scale; the sun’s magic in his body has been growing larger and larger. As long as he keeps consuming the other Night creatures, the balance leans more toward his natural state, but… but I don’t think the sun magic will go away. The balance will just go more toward the Night, and over time the curse will begin to spread again, leading to the same imbalance. We already saw that happen in the last two weeks, which is why we’re so far out here.”

“Fighting more of the Night?”

“That’s part of it,” she let out a breath and inhaled shakily. “Nox thinks that if we are able to kill one of the other aspects, he might get another ability. One that could fix the problem for good.”

Alex’s brows drew together. “Okay, that sounds like a decent plan. What’s the problem?”

“I just thought we could do it alone and prevent you all from putting yourselves in danger.” More tears spilled down her cheeks, and she pulled her knees closer to her chest. “I know it was stupid. I shouldn’t have done it… While we pushed deeper, Nox consumed enough of the Night to stall the curse for a few more weeks, I just… I just really wanted to be done with all of this. I wanted him to be better, and for all of us to get back together.”

Alex didn’t say anything, deciding to just hold her close and let her process her feelings. She rambled for a bit, apologizing to him and the rest of the group, even though only he could hear.

He’d never seen her be so vulnerable or admit she was out of her depth.

Is there an easy way to tell her we’re all out of our depth?

“You’re doing a damn decent job so far, kid.”

The corner of his mouth turned up at the spirit’s rare compliment, and he leaned his head down to rest his cheek on Olivia’s head.

A half-hour passed, and she fell asleep on his chest. As happy as he was to have her back, he couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose at the way she smelled. He whispered over to Sarah and asked for a clean set of clothes for when Olivia woke up.

Not willing to waste the amulet’s charge, Alex canceled his [Parallel Mind] skill and took over the conversation and lesson with Maelis while she slept.

I knew I should have asked to learn the Clean Rune.

“It’s a helpful one. It would have been a frivolous choice, though.”

Wait, there is actually a rune for cleaning?

Alex perked up at the thought.

“There are runes for almost anything. I’d say Cleanse is one that you could learn eventually, and it would have the benefit of being used to cleanse poisons or disease at its higher concepts.”

Wow, that does sound useful.

Excitement filled him again, and with the stress of his friends' lives no longer hanging over his head, Alex reviewed the information that Maelis had been teaching the other half of his mind over the last hour.

I want to start trying to form this anchor rune. Coach me through the setting pattern a few times?

“Sure, not like I have anything better to do.”

Alex smiled and had to stop himself from laughing so that he didn’t cause Olivia’s head to bounce up and down on his chest. After their weeks apart, stressing, and pushing the entire group hard to make progress and catch up, he felt like things were falling back into place.

Whatever the issue was with Nox, Alex knew that they’d find a solution and be able to make it work.