“Cyrus,” Celenae started, her voice carefully neutral.

  But, the rogue holding my arms hostage was anything but. With his mask off it was easy to see the throbbing vein in his neck.

  “I understand that you are essentially a newborn when it comes to certain…” he growled but paused, looking back to Khrem before grinding his teeth. Isaac’s voice took on a dangerous edge–cold and nearly a whisper. “But I know you are not this stupid! What were you thinking?!”

  I let him tug my arms forward even if it was more of a subconscious reaction on his part. It didn’t hurt and if anything the cold was familiar, comforting. A concerning thought but one that could be addressed later when tempers were less heated.

  Scanning the room’s occupants, I understand the general emotion felt by them. It was anger. Anger and concern. Only Isaac held fury in his eyes but even that was undercut by fear hidden underneath along with else.

  Another curious aspect. Is it because his skill is touching me? Noted to ask later.

  It wasn’t like when I merged with Galarion and saw auras, but Isaac’s mana told me a lot more than usual. It was as if the usual shield of vague intention inside his mana--that normally moved to conceal his actions--simply peeled away under a more thorough inspection.

  “Cyrus. Are you paying attention?” Celenae jutted in, pulling me from my examination.

  “Hmmm? Yes, sorry.” I stopped and sighed, rolling my neck and cracking it before allowing the seal on my mask to retract. It plopped and I caught it, quickly sliding it into my belt before facing the others. “Do you want the answer you want to hear or the truth? I can give one or the other or both.”

  Teddy frowned, as did Celenae and Sereza. Isaac’s eye twitched but that was expected. It was Igas and Eodyne who stood out. Igas watched me with a statue-like expression that was impossible to read and Eodyne… Her stormy eyes pierced me–looking through me and into me.

  “The truth would be best,” Teddy said, speaking up before Isaac could snarl. “The lie would serve only to help for the now, but leave a seed of doubt in the future. So please, Cyrus. Do not disrespect our friendship by giving us an obvious lie.”

  The others nodded, well except Khrem. He stayed as the odd-man-out toward the back in his chair. He watched with interest but he neither spoke up nor reacted along.

  I tugged against Isaac’s pull and half-dragged him toward the seats. After sinking into my chair and resting my head against Arturous’ shoulder, I breathed in slowly.

  “The truth? I wasn’t thinking much. I mean it was funny to fight the human using Isaac’s mana-type, but other than that there wasn’t much planning. I wanted to experiment and áine didn’t feel up for a fight. What happened with the shadow spirits… Shadelings? Shadespawn? Whatever you call them, it was an accident. After realizing I could do something new, I kept testing and reapplying the same action.”

  Sereza’s eyes narrowed. “The human?”

  “Hmm?”

  The shadowy tendrils around my wrists tightened and yanked upward, forcing me to lurch off Arturous’ soft fur.

  “It's the transformation. You’ve exposed yourself to too much shadow and lost some of your empathy. Tell me. What did you call Isaac Ajestella during the fight?” Isaac prompted.

  I turned and frowned. “Idiot Isaac at first. He was a stupid haughty version of you, surprising but fitting. After that, just Isaac or noble. I suppose human when he stopped being more than part of the experiment?”

  There was a disconnect in my own emotions. Objectively I knew how my words sounded, it was cold and callous. But I couldn’t bring myself to care. The noble truly had stopped being more than another factor in experimenting with my abilities.

  My face must have shown something dark. The concerned looks grew.

  “If I’m being honest, I’m disappointed. The fishing in the shadowplane was novel and new. But I don’t think Erebus’ powers are really meant for it. Pulling an army of monsters from wherever I want sounds useful, unpredictable but useful. I think I understood how the bigger monsters survive the depths too. They control space around them, locking them in place and anchoring it. Right?” I said, turning to Isaac.

  “I’m not answering that,” he said.

  I shrugged and pulled against the tendrils, securing myself enough slack to go back to resting against Arturous. “So that is why I experiment. You have all constantly told me to push my skills to their limits. But from how everyone is acting, I understand that it is objectively a bad idea to do so.”

  “I swear to all the gods, Cyrus. I will-”

  “Enough,” Teddy commanded.

  I watched him walk forward, sensing the mana spread from his core. Instinct told me it was benign, but a part of me wanted to move anyway. That part I crushed and kept my eyes glued to his.

  Soft face, firm stare. Not an attack, but caution.

  “Teddy.”

  He stopped a foot away and extended his arm. It was open and relaxed. “Will you let me run my skill through you?”

  “Part of me wants to reject you. That seems stupid, so of course. Go ahead.”

  To his credit, he kept his smile as calm as ever even if the others crinkled at my words.

  From his fingers, a light bubble of golden light extended forward. Again, another oddity. Like how Isaac’s mana revealed more than usual, so did Teddy’s. But not through intention, more visibly. The soft gold that usually accompanied Teddy’s skills, stood out like a glowing beacon. I could have mistaken it for fire if it wasn’t for the uniformity to the mana.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Minor adjustments of his finger saw the aura extend forward and slide up my arm and past Isaac’s tendrils. Gently, almost glacially, they slid toward my chest and flattened upon breaching the fabric. Another tug in my head told me to pull away. Crushing that thought, I lowered my defenses and retracted my mana to hold within myself. I knew the skill Teddy was using, I wasn’t going to fight it.

  The golden light entered my body and continued to climb over my skin and through my muscles. It never delved deeper than it needed, avoiding my mana. As it slowly reached my neck and toward my chin, the feeling of retreating increased.

  Luckily, biting my tongue forced my spare focus on the pain and crushed the agitated thoughts.

  Teddy’s mana surrounded me, warming my skin and filling them with light. His aura was calm, placid. And much like a gentle hug, it embraced me with its soft touch.

  Mana continued to pour in and I breathed in the sensation, allowing it to tickle my stomach and slide down my arms. Isaac’s tendrils adjusted as the light spread but never fully released me.

  Eventually, Teddy stopped and pulled his mana back.

  “Cyrus,” he sighed.

  I blinked and cocked my head at the strange expression on his face. “Yes?”

  “Do you understand how much mana I just used on you? You know the skill I used. Cyrus, that’s not good.”

  I did feel better. Touching my chest, my limbs had a weight to them, something different than the lightness I had been feeling, and as I looked down at my feet I could see the shadows underneath me looking firmer, more attached.

  Teddy followed my gaze, as did Isaac. His tendrils yanked me upward as he crouched and started to prod my legs.

  His anger returned and he grasped my foot and shook it violently. “Aaaagh! You! Ugggh!”

  “Isaac? What’s wrong?” Teddy asked.

  “Him! You-” He switched from pointing to me and then at my feet. He released another muted scream and banged his head against the chair’s leg. “Whyyyyyyy? How did you even hide this?!”

  “Isaac.”

  “No, shut up. Look! You can see it yourself! Look at his shadow.”

  I had to lean back as the others crowded around me. Even Khrem stood up to take a peek without approaching.

  The concern grew heavier and the restraints pulled tighter.

  “That’s starting to hurt,” I complained.

  “Oh shut it. At this point, I’m not sure if you actually hate pain!”

  I tapped Isaac’s shoulder before flicking him in the head. As he reeled back, I slipped from his tendrils and rubbed my wrists.

  “I’m not that masochistic. Now I’m assuming from your reaction that it's bad, but not too bad. Teddy’s skill helped, but áine’s didn’t. Why?”

  Celenea attempted to touch my shadow. Her fingers brushed against the floor and managed to subtly push it around. It sent a strange sensation up my spine, a new feeling that was difficult to describe.

  It’s like she’s brushing a strand of hair by flicking her finger. Uggh.

  “Can you cut that out? It feels weird.”

  She stopped and summoned a journal. Between the furious scribbling, she summoned another and pulled out her enchanted pen. Two notebook pages filled with ink simultaneously as she brought out an assortment of glass instruments to examine my shadow.

  While she did that, I tapped Isaac’s shoulder, drawing his ire. “So. Now that I’m partially back to normal, how bad is this? And how bad is the arena? I saw the enchantments but I’m not entirely sure what happened. Or how to classify whatever it is that I pulled from the abyss.”

  “I don’t want to speak to you right now,” he snapped.

  “Okay, I get that. But in the interest of not accidentally unleashing nightmares against the city, how about you talk to me anyway?” I batted my eyelashes. When he continued to glower I summoned a piece of paper sealed with gold wax. “Fine. Take it, accept my bribe.”

  He carefully grabbed the paper and used a tendril to slice the seal apart.

  It’s not going to bite you bastard.

  Isaac stopped reading and shoved a finger against my chest. “What is this?”

  “Exactly what it says it is.”

  “A favor? Really?”

  “Yep.”

  He poked harder. “And what makes you think I’d want this? Huh?”

  “Becauseeeeeeee. I know full well there are things you want to do but are too pig-headed to ask for. So take this as a way to get me to do something you want without having to do something icky like ask me nicely. Although, a please is still appreciated.”

  There was a long minute of staring but he didn’t rip the note apart. With deliberate and exaggerated movements he folded the paper and slid it into his shirt into some hidden pocket I knew he had stitched in.

  You have a dimensional storage. That was solely for dramatic effect. And you call me silly.

  “Fine. I’ll answer your insane questions.”

  “Not insane.”

  “Quiet”

  I mimed zipping my mouth shut and tossing the key away. It drew confused stares but that was all part of the fun.

  Isaac growled and rubbed his temple as he flopped onto the couch. “Where do I even begin…”

  “Perhaps, explain why it is a bad idea to grab a spirit from the shadowplane inside a city,” Teddy offered.

  Igas grunted. “You would think that’d be obvious.”

  “Not the point. Obviously don’t bring monsters into a city. But more so why the city is a key factor in this equation.”

  Igas relented and walked away, returning to his chair and the small pillar of ice beside it. He casually snapped a chunk off and tossed it high before biting down and pulling out a book.

  “Ugh, ignore him you fool. Now I’ll only say this once so pay attention!” Isaac barked.

  I saluted and he motioned to strangle me. Thankfully, Teddy pushed him away and rapt his knuckles against my head, quelling the rogue’s anger.

  “I… Ugh. Listen. The shadowplane is filled with spirits, I already explained this.”

  “You did.”

  “And you should have understood that pulling them into our realm is a bad idea!”

  “Okay, yes. I get it. I messed up and did something taboo. Can you please explain already?”

  He grumbled something unintelligible and started drumming his fingers against the armrest. The tendrils behind him writhed in the air while he chewed his lip.

  “The city… No. The leviathans, the big spirits underneath. Even the small ones, but especially the big ones–they search for mana. Whether it's hatred, hunger, or what that drives them to it, they are pulled toward it. In your case and that stupid stunt you pulled! You were giving them a full-course meal and offering a feast behind it. That’s why so many showed up.”

  “Okay. Got that part. Now why is Teddy stressing about the city?”

  “Because anywhere else, you’d have to delve deeper into the plane to pull the bigger ones. Spirits don’t stay together, they consume each other in the shadow realm. But a city is different. Mana gathers and leaks into the shadowplane. All the mana affecting the land and air calls to them. They gather in greater numbers and remain more docile while hovering closer to the shallows.”

  Oh. I think I get what’s wrong. Makes sense too.

  “And while normally it’d take me pushing myself into the shadowrealm to grab a big beast like the titan I summoned, that’s not the case here in the city.”

  “Correct!” he shouted. “Maybe you’re not insane after all.”

  “So that means if I ever need to stage a siege, I just need to infiltrate and then summon the army.”

  His tendrils nearly wrapped around my neck before Teddy brushed him aside.

  “Cyrus. There’s a time for jokes and a time for being serious. What you caused out there was danger. People were hurt, and could have been severely wounded if Myol hadn’t stepped in. Do you understand?” Teddy said.

  I wilted. “Yes. Sorry.”

  He patted my shoulder. “I understand your emotions are currently ‘out of whack.’ But please try to take this seriously.”

  I cringed at the attempt to use Earth slang. “Yeah, sorry.”

  He motioned for Isaac to continue but a low buzzing filled the air. The enchantment in the booth sparked and fizzled out, the sound cutting off as they did. Before Celenae could stand up and approach the wall, the runes flashed to life and surged with mana.

  “Attention. Attention to those inside the arena. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the arena requires repairs. Matches have been postponed and will resume tomorrow after the enchantments have been vetted and approved for usage. We apologize for the delay, but know that we will not compromise on the safety of Solunaria’s citizens! Please see the nearest attendants for any further questions!” a firm but bubbly female voice rang out.

  I could already feel the others staring so I slid my mask back onto my face.