“Nar?”

  “Hmmm?”

  Nar rolled over, feeling a pair of hands at his back.

  At first, he didn’t see anything in their dark and quiet room.

  Briefly accessing his [Sight], he was finally able to make the small figure reaching up to him.

  “Jul?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”

  Jul exhaled shakily. “I need your help, Nar...”

  That finally got the rest of the sleep fugues to dissipate. He had stayed up late the previous night, having fun in Row’s party room with some of the others, and a quick check told him that it was just past eight in the morning. The others were all still asleep.

  “What’s going on?” he whispered, leaning closer to her.

  She sniffled in the dark. “Things didn’t go well with the Master of Shadows. I… I told her that I didn’t want to be a rogue anymore, and that I wasn’t going to listen to her! And then I-I ran away!”

  “Crystal…” Nar whispered. “Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, miserably. “I’ve just received a notification. I need to have another meeting with her… And this time, there will be other masters there too! Can-can you come with me? I don’t know if I’m in trouble…”

  Nar stared down at her for a split-second, his brain working to catch up with what she had just said.

  Crystal… This sounds serious. And can I even be there with her?

  For a moment, he almost voiced his concern, but he caught himself in time.

  It doesn’t matter, he thought, slipping down his bed. She needs me.

  He pushed away thoughts of punishments and expulsion, especially heavy now that he had secured the Master of Blades personal instruction, and placed a hand on Jul’s shoulder.

  “How long do we have?” he whispered.

  “About 12 minutes…”

  “Okay. Just wait for me in the common room, ok? And don’t worry, everything is going to be fine.”

  She nodded. “Thank you…”

  Nar quickly got out of his comfortable pajamas, and made himself presentable. As he was leaving his room, a voice called out from the darkness.

  “Be civil,” Kur whispered. “And let her speak. It’s her path. Her life. Her choice. You understand?”

  “Yeah… Should you go instead?” Nar asked.

  In all honesty, his party leader was much better suited for the role, not to mention that he was their leader.

  “She asked you,” Kur said. “You’ll do great. Just stand by her.”

  “Got it.”

  “Good luck. Whatever happens, happens. We’re still the party.”

  “Hmm.”

  With that, Nar quietly stepped out of the room and the door sighed closed behind him.

  He found Jul sitting at the table of the common room. She was staring blankly at her hands over the table, and the dark stains underneath her usually bright, green and blue eyes spoke of a night mostly spent awake.

  “I’m ready,” Nar said to get her attention.

  Jul startled and looked up, and as soon as their eyes met, her face contorted as fresh tears fought to break free.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have woken you,” she whispered, her chin trembling. “I was scared, and you’re going to get in trouble! I-I just…”

  “Hey, come on,” Nar said, smiling. “I got your back, you got mine. Remember? Or does our promise not mean anything anymore?”

  Jul covered her eyes and a sob escaped her lips.

  “It will be okay,” Nar said, coming over to pull her into a tight hug. “We’ll get that master to back down.”

  “I don’t care about her!” Jul said. “I just… We’re here. Everyone’s so happy. And you get to have the Master of Blades to teach you! I just… I just don’t want to ruin this for everyone!”

  Nar pulled her away and frowned at her.

  “Hey! You’re not ruining anything for anybody!” he said. “It either all works for us, or it doesn’t!”

  “But what if we get in trouble?” she whispered. “What if you get in trouble?”

  “Then they can all go and get fucked!” Nar said. “We Climbed together, and we’re going to stay together! No matter what! You hear me? Now let's go, before we’re late!”

  Together, they rushed through the silent, empty, dark corridors of the Scimitar. It seemed that no one had planned to rise early on their first free day in two weeks, and they didn’t meet anyone else as Jul guided them to the meeting.

  “Are you sure about this?” Jul asked, as they stopped before a closed door. “I-I understand if you…”

  “Don’t make me smack you,” Nar said, examining the door.

  Despite the bravado he exuded on the outside, within, his heart was racing, whipped into a frenzy by his nervousness and growing anxiety. Yes, it would be a blow to lose the Scimitar’s elite training, but, much more importantly, he was worried about properly supporting Jul in getting through that situation.

  He took a deep breath and looked at her.

  “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go in. We’ll hear them out, and they will hear us out. Okay? We’re not backing down! You hear me?”

  “Hmm!” she said, nodding. Her face was now frowned in a decided expression, and Nar couldn’t help but smile at her.

  “You’ll do great.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “Really.”

  “What is family for?” Nar asked, shrugging. “Okay. Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  Jul stepped towards the door and it sighed open to admit her through. Nar then followed after her and the door closed them in with the masters.

  His heart nearly stopped.

  They were in an empty room, a small training room, given the soft dark gray squares covering the walls. Tables had been brought in and arranged side by side to form a longer row, and behind it, sat four people. Four masters.

  Nar recognized two of them with a sinking sensation in his stomach.

  The Master of Blades and the Master of Aura.

  The two of them seemed friendly to him, but he had no idea how they would react to his uninvited presence there. As for the other two masters, he had never seen them before.

  The first one, currently shifted her smiling face from Jul to Nar, and her expression turned to a scowl. She wore a simple black and brown uniform, though it was stained and discolored across most of its surface.

  Her hair was a frazzled mess, with alfin ear tips poking out from within it, and her skin was an ashen duskiness. Her dark eyes gazed upon him balefully, and Nar grit his teeth at the sudden coldness that tightened around him.

  Without even thinking about it, Nar reached for his aura, and its warmth banished the icy fingers that had been curling around him.

  “Umph,” the alfin master said. “His aura really is something… However, apprentice Nar, I don't think you were invited to this meeting, were you?”

  “Uh, no, master. I’m…”

  “Here for what?” she cut in. “To advise Jul? Do you think yourself wiser and more knowledgeable than your masters in guiding her? Or is this simple arrogance at the attention shown to you by the Masters of Blades and Aura?”

  Nar felt his face reacting to the woman’s words, the Master of Shadows for sure, but he reigned in his temper, remembering Kur’s words. Also, he was before four masters.

  “With all due respect, master,” Nar said, keeping his tone neutral. “I’m here simply to support Jul. She was there for me when I almost made a decision that would’ve destroyed my party, my path and myself. She was there for me throughout our whole Climb, and I for her, and I don’t see why that’s going to change just because we’re outside. And no master, I really don’t think I know better than any of you. I’m just here for support. It’s Jul’s life and path to decide what to do with. And not anyone else's.”

  She stared at him through dangerously half-closed eyes, but it was someone else who spoke.

  “My apprentice is correct, Master of Shadows,” the master of Blades spoke, giving Nar a curt nod. “The footage was flagged to us by instructors of the Shadows, and upon reviewing it, we have reached the decision that you are overstepping your bounds. Our duty is merely to guide, not make decisions for our apprentices.”

  “Our duty is to guide them towards the best possible decisions,” the Master of Shadows replied, her tone suddenly professional. “And that is what I am doing.”

  “You can’t push the girl to be another Einxo,” the Master of Aura said. “If she doesn’t want to, she doesn’t want to.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Apprentice Nar, do you know who this Einxo is, that the Master of Aura just mentioned?”

  “No, master,” Nar said, surprised she had brought him back into the conversation. Shouldn’t she be talking with Jul?

  “As I told apprentice Jul, Einxo, The Breath of All Encompassing Dread, was one of the deadliest assassins that the Nexus has ever seen. No one here will argue with me that he was one of the top ten combat delvers of our entire era,” the Master of Shadows said. “It was thought impossible for another assassin to rise to the heights he did before the next Great reset. Or even further… Not only did he develop an incredibly deadly art of combat, he did that off the backs of an incredibly rare and high level of compatibility with the element of fear. The man merely breathed, and a million enemies froze around him, paralyzed with terror.”

  Crystal… Nar thought, struggling to keep his face neutral.

  “He… He sounds very powerful, master,” Nar conceded.

  “Oh, he was more than powerful, Nar,” the Master of Shadows said, her tone almost dreamy. “He was a physical manifestation of what power is. He didn’t even die. He joined the ranks of the Golden Silence. Not even the Silent. But the Golden Silence, the warriors preserved in the chamber of the Most Holy Itself, to be awakened only in times of great need by the Holy Church. These are the best of the best of the best combat delvers to ever live through the eras… There are only one hundred Golden Silences, and to join their ranks, you must surpass the considerable feats of one of the current Golden Silence.”

  She looked at Jul and her expression broke into a warm smile. The change was so sudden that Nar didn’t believe he was seeing right for a few seconds.

  “Now consider Jul. An auramancer, with a true and deep affinity to fear!” she said. “She can do what he did. No! She can do better than him. For Crystal’s sake, she’s been able to sense fear from the very start! She can read it! Her affinity is close to 100% compatibility! Do you not know what this means? She can become one of the most terrifying fighters the Nexus has ever seen in its eternal history! And you all think that I’m overstepping my bounds? My duties to Jul? To Tsurmirel? Do you all forget what Einxo did to us as an employee of our number one competitor? What do you think the top is going to say about my actions?”

  The masters all seemed to be lost in their own deep contemplations, following the Master of Shadow’s words.

  Damn… Nar thought, glancing down at Jul.

  He had to admit it. The Master of Shadows was speaking a lot of sense. If it was him in Jul’s position, he would’ve probably been screaming himself raw with joy at the opportunity to have the chance to climb that high! And on such a powerful and deadly path, no less!

  But that's me, he reminded himself. I want power to save my dad. She doesn’t. She just wants to make her own decisions, for fucks sake. Is that so hard to understand?

  Maybe in a room filled with people valuing power and its accumulation it was. But he knew Jul. He knew the fear that had controlled her entire life… It was time for her to be free. She had Climbed. She deserved it.

  Nar sighed audibly.

  “Master of Shadows, what kind of fighter was this Einxo?” Nar asked.

  “The best kind. One of meticulous preparation, strategizing and deadliness,” she replied, frowning at him. “His entire party was built around his debuffing capabilities. He would paralyze his enemies from afar, and either finish them off himself, or let his party handle the cleaning up. His efficiency was unparalleled.”

  “I see. Thank you, master,” Nar said, with a slight bow. Then he turned to Jul. “What do you want, Jul?”

  The shaking quam looked up at him with fear clear in her eyes. “I want…”

  “Not to me,” Nar said. “To the masters.”

  And he gently turned her around.

  “Whatever happens, we’re all with you,” he whispered to her, then he stepped back, away from her.

  This is your fight, he thought. I’m sorry Jul, but Kur is right. It has to be you.

  The masters all stared at the frozen rogue, and Nar took a deep breath, hoping that he hadn’t just screwed it all up.

  But then, Jul took a small breath. Then another. Longer. And another… Nar saw her shoulders relax, and he too resumed breathing.

  “Masters,” she said, looking at them all in turn. “Master of Shadows, I know you just want what is best for me. But that is not the path I want. I want to stand with my party, at the front of the line, not hidden away under my [Stealth].”

  “Kills are kills, Jul,” the Master of Shadows said, her voice soft. “It doesn’t matter how they are achieved.”

  “It matters to me!” Jul said, her voice coming out louder. Stronger. “I’ve spent my whole life hiding! Scared! Wanting nothing more than to run away and disappear!”

  Jul balled her fists and pointed one hand at Nar. “I did nothing but be protected and covered during most of our Climb, while Nar and the others fought and risked their lives for me over and over! Nar even sacrificed himself to save me from the cannibals! He could’ve just run, but he got captured instead!”

  “But you saved them,” the Master of Shadows said.

  “Only because of the shame I felt at leaving them behind. At the person I was! This-This coward who had fled from her party as they got captured to be eaten alive!” Jul shouted. “I don’t want to run. I don’t want to hide! I mean no disrespect to your path, master, or the ways of the shadows. I understand their power. I respect them! I truly do! It’s just not what I want! I want to be in the light! I want to be with my new family! I want to be brave! And if I stay a rogue, if I follow Einxo’s path, I will always be that little girl crying and hiding away in the corner! And I’ve had enough of that!”

  Tears streamed down her face as she shouted the last words.

  Nar wanted to rush in and scoop her into his arms, his little sister, his new found family. But knew that it was not his place to do so, or interrupt. This was Jul’s fight, and by the Crystal, she was more than mighty enough to fight it!

  You got this! Nar urged her on silently. You got this, Jul!

  “I… I do not want to be a rogue, anymore,” she said, her voice cracking, but her words clear. “I chose that class out of fear. And I don’t want to build my life around a decision made in fear… So, Master of Shadows, I’m sorry, but I don’t want to follow Einxo’s path, and I don’t want to be a rogue anymore. Please, listen to me!”

  The Master of Shadows leaned over the table, her expression shocked. “Jul… I-I just…”

  In the face of Jul’s raw emotion and stand, the master seemed to be at a loss for words.

  “Maybe we can come to a compromise,” said a new voice.

  With a startle, Nar remembered that there was a fourth master in the room. He had been so focused on the Master of Shadows, Blades and Aura, that he hadn’t even looked in her direction.

  She was human looking. Her skin was a sort of pink with streaks of purple. Her hair, of many shades of pink, was cut short, and it was gelled to her scalp, coming down to form a curved edge that rose from the back of her neck. She held a placating smile on her lips, and Nar felt a sort of tranquility coming off of her.

  “What you truly want, Master of Shadows, is for Jul to effectively use her affinity of fear to its highest potential,” the fourth master said. “And you, apprentice Jul, what you want is to fight in the front lines. This may seem obvious, but why not combine the two of them?”

  “What?” the Master of Shadows said.

  “Oh… That could be interesting,” the Master of Blades mused. “Very, very interesting.”

  “Provided the apprentice does not have an aversion to her affinity?” the Master of Aura asked with a smile.

  “I… I don’t know,” Jul replied, looking at the Master of Shadows. “The master explained it to me, but…”

  “An affinity of fear does not mean you are beholden to fear. All emotions can be controlling, or controlled,” the fourth master said. “It is up to you whether to let fear continue to dictate your life, or to use it to your advantage. And that of your party as well.”

  “I told her that,” the Master of Shadows said, scowling at the fourth master. “Jul, you are brave. I never meant to deny that. I simply sought to guide you up the most promising path, just like I do with all of my apprentices…”

  She sighed, and rubbed her eyes. “Though maybe I was a bit too forceful this time around.”

  The Master of Aura chuckled. “This time? Every two years it's the same thing!”

  “I just want the best for my apprentices!” the Master of Shadows snapped. “Sue me!”

  “The Master of Shadows is young, but she is wise,” the Master of Blades said, smiling. “I agree that Jul should build a path around her fear affinity, if she agrees to it. But I think that in this case, you are being blinded by the past, Master of Shadows.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, frowning in suspicion.

  “I mean, think about it. Grab Einxo’s fear capabilities, and throw them in the middle of the battlefield, with a martial path capable of making the best out of it,” he explained. “Doesn’t that sound exciting?”

  The Master of Shadows sighed and glanced at Nar, who stiffened at her attention. “I thought of that… I’m not stupid. But not everyone can follow a hybrid path. We would risk diluting her affinity and path.”

  “True,” the fourth master said. “But this seems to be one of those rare cases. A debuff/DPS hybrid, built upon a nearly perfect affinity to fear, and the attributes to power its direct combat side… She will need to work hard, but she could do it.”

  The Master of Shadows shook her head. “You’re all insane! Why do you keep finding hybrids in this party? These paths always fail!”

  “Master of Shadows!” the Master of Aura warned.

  “No! I won’t shut up!” the Master of Shadows snarled back. “Almost all attempts to build hybrid paths fail!”

  “Not when it's done with reason,” the Master of Aura said. “And properly. The decisions to support all hybrid paths currently aboard the Scimitar were made by council and vote between all the masters. All footage was reviewed. All possibilities were considered and measured. That a second hybrid path has been found within Kur’s party was not done on purpose, and in fact, I feel like it should have been brought up with the others… You can’t fool me, Len. You knew the girl was a hybrid!”

  “Only if she wasn’t guided properly!”

  “Enough, enough,” the fourth master said, and again, Nar felt that peaceful feeling mollifying him.

  “Don’t do that shit to me!” the Master of Shadows snapped.

  “Then stop throwing a tantrum and do your job!” the fourth master snarled, and for a moment, Nar felt a deep, and all devouring terror threaten to swallow him whole. “It’s their break! They should be spending it relaxing, not shivering in fear as their masters bicker in front of them!”

  “I’m not bickering,” the Master of Blades said, looking at Nar as if to get some support from him.

  “Uhm…” he mumbled, unsure of what to say.

  “Let’s get this done, and be done with it,” the fourth master said. “Master of Shadows, I understand your concern for your apprentice. I’m sure it’s the same felt by the Masters of Blades and Aura towards Nar and his path. But our job is not to keep them alive. Is to guide them in building the best paths possible within their own choices. And I’m sorry if I’m overstepping my bounds as a newcomer this year, but for fuck’s sake, get a grip. These apprentices look up to us for guidance! So, give it!”

  The Master of Shadows tightened her jaw so hard that Nar could hear her teeth grinding against each other, and the force with which her tendons were contracting. However, after an intense stare off between her and the fourth master, she relented.

  “Jul, I only ever wanted what was best for you,” she said, softly, facing the quam. “A path to real power, and one that would’ve kept you safe.”

  “I know, master. I understand, and I thank you,” Jul said. “I just really can’t do it.”

  The Master of Shadows sighed, but she nodded.

  “Will it be acceptable to you, if we follow the suggestion from the other masters?” she asked with a small smile. “You will learn to control your affinity under the Master of Emotions and Hand to Hand Combat, while with me, you will learn the ways of the combat rogues. We fight dirty, but we fight as well as any in the Blades Hall.”

  “Eh. Some of you, maybe,” the Master of Blades said, grinning.

  Jul nodded. “I would like that, master. But… No poisons, please. Those are scary…”

  The Master of Blades burst out laughing.

  “I like her! Why not just give her to me?”

  The Master of Shadows glared at him, then her expression softened once again.

  “No poisons,” she agreed. “You won’t need them anyways, and we’ll need to cut out everything and anything that is not your control over fear and martial combat. This path will demand a great deal from you, Jul. A great deal.”

  “I understand, master,” Jul said. “I won’t let you down.”

  “You won’t…” the Master of Shadows choked, then she looked at the other masters. “What are you all still doing here? Don’t you all have jobs to do?”

  The fourth master rolled her eyes and stood up. “I will see you soon, Jul. Together with Mul and Viy.”

  “Yes, master,” Jul said, bowing politely.

  “If you ever get tired of her tantrums, come find me,” the Master of Blades said, winking at Jul as he passed her. Then he nodded at Nar. “Enjoy your rest, apprentice. If you thought the first week was bad, wait until First.”

  “Yes, master,” Nar said, gulping. “I look forward to it.”

  “Enjoy the break, you two,” the Master of Aura said, smiling at them on her way out.

  That left only the Master of Shadows, Jul and Nar in the room.

  “Can I have some time alone with my apprentice?” the Master of Shadows asked, glaring at Nar. “Or do you think I’m going to eat her?”

  “Uh…”

  “It’s okay, Nar,” Jul said. “I’ll see you back in the room.”

  “Alright,” Nar said.

  He wanted to shout “well done” as well, but he figured that maybe that wouldn’t sit well with the already aggrieved Master of Shadows.

  However, as the door closed behind him, he had to admit it.

  In the end, the entire ordeal had seemed to arise from the Master of Shadows wanting to spare Jul from the hardships of going down the route of a hybrid path.

  It was a sobering experience. He thought that hybrid paths were powerful, rare paths that everyone aspired to, or at least dreamed of. But the way the Master of Shadows had fought against it had revealed a very different and opposite reality.

  The Master of Aura had told them that everything was balanced, and that all choices had their pros and cons.

  Given how hard the Master of Shadows had struggled to keep Jul out of a hybrid path, Nar had to wonder just exactly what kind of cons were waiting for him in his, and now Jul’s future as well.

  Nevertheless, just like Jul had made her choice, so had he made his. Now, all he could do was grit his teeth and endure through whatever was coming his way, and hopefully come out the other side stronger for it.

  I'll get the rest of them sechduled later today.