[Sig – 13 years] → starts during Chapter 103.

  "-and make sure you listen to everything Derrick tells you, okay?" Aunt Rachel says.

  I'm currently tying my boots as I wait for Mr. Fuller to arrive to pick me up for the hunting trip this weekend. He's picking me up first, then the other kid who's coming with us. Hunter is going to meet us at the place we're going to and is bringing some of the supplies which won't fit into Mr. Fuller's truck.

  And Aunt Rachel has been nagging me for about an hour now and it's really annoying. I know the rules, I'm going to follow them.

  There's no way I'll risk getting told I can't try this. Especially not since spending the last few days breaking in these boots so that they won't hurt me fight while hunting. Double especially since I bought a deep freezer yesterday to store the meat in. That's an expensive purchase and I did it in the hopes of getting a lot of meat tomorrow.

  Took up a lot of the money left over from the testing sessions.

  "Yeah," I say.

  "I'm serious, Sig," Aunt Rachel says. "Listen to him. This isn't just practicing shooting a bow or gun. You're using a bow in a hunt, where something might attack. Someone might get hurt."

  "Yeah," I say.

  "Sig-"

  "It's dangerous, I know," I say. "Mr. Fuller also said that in all the years he's hunting on that property, there's never been an issue. And I'm going to listen to him. Not doing so would be stupid as heck. First, it could get someone hurt, and I don't want to do that. Second, it could get me hurt, and I don't want to do that. Third, it could result in me not managing to get a catch this weekend, and I don't want that to happen. Mr. Fuller won't take me back out next weekend if I don't catch something unless neither he nor Hunter do. Fourth, it'll get me grounded, and I don't want that to happen. So there's nothing for you to worry about. Have I really made you think I'm that kind of kid?"

  "You have a tendency to goof off," she says. "Didn't you come home with icing smeared on your cheek today?"

  We baked cookies in Culinary Arts and decorated them with icing.

  "It wasn't smeared," I stand, my boots now fully laced. "It was decorating my cheek. And I'm serious when I need to be! Trust me, I'll behave!"

  Aunt Rachel sighs.

  "Alright," she pulls me in for a hug. "Sorry. I can't help but worry. You're taking a real weapon out into a field, with others doing the same. I just don't want you to get hurt, Bas."

  "Siiiiiig!"

  "Sorry, Sig," she says, and I wrap my arms around her. "I think I hear his truck."

  "Yeah," I say as we release each other and I grab my backpack. "Got all my things in here!"

  "He'll probably want to double-check," she says. "Before you go, I wanted to let you know something."

  "Yeah?"

  "Due to a long-standing mandate by Adrian King," she says. "Testing into a higher grade has to take place at a special facility. Each state only has one; ours is up in the city. You should be back Sunday afternoon sometime at the latest. I've already slated you for testing next week. We'll head up Sunday evening and stay a few days. The testing is split into three days, and they'll test your knowledge in social studies, science, math, reading, and writing. It tests your full knowledge of what you should know for each grade level from kindergarten through high school in those five subjects and no others."

  So soon? And that sounds like an intense testing period.

  "Really?" I ask.

  "Really," she answers as we hear a car door close. "You'll receive a score for each subject. If you manage to test into the high school grades, the test for each grade level will count as a credit for the equivalent class."

  "Meaning that if I test into high school," I say. "I might be able to start off with some of the required classes already finished?"

  "Correct," she says as there's a knock on the door. "We'll stay at a hotel during it, and come back down Wednesday once it's finished. Just wanted to let you know before you go."

  Can we actually afford to stay at a hotel for two nights? It seems to me like it would be cheaper just to drive up there early in the morning.

  "Alright," I say, then open the door. "Hi, Mr. Fuller!"

  "Hey, S.G.," he says. "Hello, Rachel. Mind if I come in?"

  "Sure!" I step back and let him in, then close the door. "Did you want to check to make sure I had everything?"

  "I did," he says. "Can I see?"

  "Yeah," I hand him my backpack.

  He goes through the backpack and checks that I have everything on the list he gave me. Aunt Rachel and I went to the store before dinner yesterday to buy the necessary gear. We also made sure everything has been removed from their packages and had their labels taken off, then we cleaned them.

  "Everything looks good," Mr. Fuller hands me back my backpack and looks at Aunt Rachel. "We should be back either tomorrow or Sunday, depending on how well the hunt goes. Though it's possible we won't catch anything at all. Not all hunts are successes."

  "Yeah," Aunt Rachel says. "Keep him safe, will you?"

  "I will," he says. "See you then. Come on, S.G."

  "Bye, Aunt Rachel!" I tell her. "See you Sunday!"

  "Stay safe, Sig," she says.

  "Will do!"

  Mr. Fuller and I leave, and I climb into the truck. The ride for the first couple of minutes is quiet.

  "Mr. Fuller?" I break the silence.

  "Yes?"

  "Is it okay to be really nervous?"

  He laughs at my question and I make sure to glare at him.

  "Sorry, S.G.," he says. "That's just not what I was expecting. You're always confident and sure of yourself. A question like 'should I be nervous' seems more like something you'd say than 'is it okay to be'. You didn't seem to be when I picked you up, though I guess you are a little pale."

  And now that we're in the truck, I'm shaking a little and feel light-headed, too.

  "I'm confident," I say. "Not cocky. I know my limits. And… I didn't want Aunt Rachel to see I'm nervous. She might've canceled if she did."

  "Fair enough," he says. "What's got you nervous?"

  Where do I even begin with that question?

  "What if I mess up?" I ask. "What if I accidentally shoot one of you? Or don't manage to kill an antelope? Or it gets mad and charges at us? What if-"

  "Everyone makes mistakes," he says. "Though from what I've seen, you learn fairly fast. And you did great at the archery practices. As long as it doesn't spook or move, you should be able to nail it in the heart, just like how we practiced the last couple of times."

  The last two practices had me shooting at antelope-shaped targets, aiming for the part marked out for the heart. I thought shooting at the head would be better but Mr. Fuller explained that the brain is a much smaller target and the head is more likely to move than the body. Targeting the heart means an easier kill that's also more merciful to the animal.

  Apparently, this is an archery-only season right now, which Mr. Fuller didn't tell me until Wednesday. He felt it would make me take the practices more seriously if I thought I would be using a gun.

  "Unless you're misbehaving and improperly using a bow," he continues. "You won't shoot one of us. We'll be working in pairs – you and me, and Hunter and the other kid. We'll also be set up in different areas, far enough away that there's no chance of us hitting someone else.

  "If we get charged," he says. "Just remember what I taught you. I'll be doing it, too, so you'll have an example if you forget. And if you don't kill one, then you don't kill one. There's not always success when you go hunting. We should be able to catch some rabbits, though. Hunter and I usually come back with a few when we go hunting there, no matter the time of year. With how good you've gotten, you should manage to get one of those."

  All of that is a little reassuring, but it doesn't do much to quiet my nerves.

  "Are you religious?" Mr. Fuller asks after a minute of silence. "Your aunt wasn't sure when I asked her."

  Please tell me he's not secretly some nut about religion and is just a normal person who believes in a god. Nuts don't really make for great future stepparents.

  "Not really," I answer. "Most of my experiences with churches have been when I went to them with the Martinses and Coxes when staying with them in the past. I mean, I kind of accept that the gods exist, but I don't worship them or anything. I'm not entirely sure what to think of them."

  "I do," he says. "And one thing some of the people from my church believe – and from other churches, too – is the existence of multiple gods."

  "Yeah," I nod. "Most people accept there are multiple, especially since Adrian King's mentioned them."

  It's the only reason I even accept that the gods exist. Not even Xander's claim that I and our other friends are blessed by gods affects that. He can be a bit odd at times and that's probably just his way of trying to handle comparing himself to us.

  A lie requires knowing it's false and attempting to convince others the falsehood is true. If you believe it to be true, then it's not a lie, you're just wrong. Xander probably honestly believes that we've all been blessed by the gods.

  "Right," he says. "But other than that, he's not said much. Something those of us who believe there are multiple of also believe is that some of them even 'sponsor' a church."

  "Sponsor a church?" I ask. "What do you mean by that?"

  "There are churches," he says. "Where people with common interests gather. This is on a level completely different from something like like-minded people drawing to each other. One of the churches at the border of Lakeview and Dragon Falls has a disproportionately-high number of members interested in the arts. Drawing, painting, sculpting, music, theater, and so on. Interestingly, a lot of them are very good at it, too, even as kids. Not necessarily prodigies, but definitely above the norm."

  "You think a god is behind that?" I ask.

  "What I believe," he says. "Is that perhaps there's a god of the arts 'sponsoring' that church, that they're interested in the church and maybe their divine energy or something is present. That, in turn, draws in people who are interested in things within their domain. In response to that, they bless some of them with a little bit more talent in those areas.

  "My own church," he says. "We just follow the standard flow of religion, but nearly all of us are hunters, married to a hunter, the parent of a hunter, or something like that. It doesn't have anything to do with our religion, but it's a commonality between most of our congregation. Some of us have pretty amazing luck with hunting, too. I'm not talking the sort of luck which affects skill, but things like seeing a pretty rare find while hunting, or getting lucky and game showing up faster."

  "You think you're blessed by a god?" I ask.

  "Something common between churches like mine and the arts-filled one," he ignores my question. "Is that nearly all of their members are fairly decent folk, too, if not all. They might have rough patches or do dumb things, but they aren't bad people."

  Not bad people… didn't Xander's ex have an interest in art and take him to his church? Xander mentioned that everyone he met there was nice and either most or all had a blessing, if I remember what he said correctly. Russell was really dumb with breaking up with him, but he wasn't trying to be malicious or anything.

  That's probably his church Mr. Fuller is talking about.

  "One thing I believe," Mr. Fuller continues. "Is that the gods don't just bless members of their churches. They might bless others, too. Like you."

  This must be him trying to reassure me.

  "Like me?" I scoff. "Why would I get blessed? And what would it take the form of?"

  "Well," he says. "Rachel's told me your situation, S.G. In pretty good detail of what she knows, too. It was part of her making sure I know you're her priority and why it goes beyond just her caring for you. She wants to make sure nothing like that ever happens to you again, and that I need to know that I can never make you think I'll treat you that way. And I won't."

  They are a lot more serious than they're willing to tell me, if Aunt Rachel's doing that. I'll need to remind Aunt Rachel of my babysitting fees.

  "Thanks," I say. "But what does that have to do with this?"

  "When you were five years old," he says. "You were able to walk to the park and back entirely on your own. Sure, kidnappings are extremely rare around here, but that was a prime opportunity for it. And yet you remained safe. Then you happened to befriend children of two of the oldest mage families in the world, whose parents figured out your situation and tried to help you the ways that they could. Then you became friends with someone who is extremely nice, the kind of kid you could be an extremely close friend with, and whose father would do his best to make sure you were taken care of. Who recognized the neglect and took measures to protect you. Then you made two more close friends who are just as kind as the first and whose fathers are just as protective of you as the first."

  "That's not-"

  "I'm not finished yet," he says. "Then the random boy you were crushing on at the bowling alley turned out to be good enough to be one of your friends, and even crushed on you back. And he turned out to be able to help you launch your career as a streamer and uploader, and not as a business transaction but just because of what he does to try and hang out. And not in an attempt at earning it, but because that's how he processes and understands things."

  Xander does have a really odd way of processing games. Creating the most advanced, most state-of-the-art gaming magitech glasses and console just because he was attempting to understand zombie shooters is not normal by any stretch of the term. I'm really lucky to be his friend and am kind of nervous that he'll think I'm just using him even though we were friends before he started doing magitech.

  There's no way I'd ever do that to him, that's just mean.

  "I don't see how this is relevant," I say. "What does me making friends with awesome folk have to do with the gods? It's just making friends. People who aren't good know I'm not gonna put up with their crap so they leave me alone."

  "I'm getting there," he says. "If you look at all of that, what does it say about you?"

  "That I'm really lucky?"

  "Exactly," he says. "An extremely unusual amount of luck has graced you. You never got kidnapped despite repeatedly being in a prime situation for it. You've met a lot of people who care about you and want to make sure you're okay. You've made extremely good friends who are basically brothers to you. You were so wrapped up in having fun that you never noticed the bad in your life, and those points all contributed to it."

  "You think a god blessed me with luck?" I ask.

  That's just crazy.

  "What I think," he says. "Is that a god blessed you with protection. Maybe also the ability to find yourself drawn to good people, or to draw good people in to you."

  That matches up a little with how Xander said blessings from gods work. They don't strip away free will but rather, present opportunities to improve a person's life. Opportunities that we'd have to grasp.

  I'm still not convinced, though.

  "What's most telling," he says. "Is your mana growth. The norm is only five to ten percent of your capacity per year, yet you doubled it. And you're from an ordinary family. You're good at magic, so either you have a natural talent or a god blessed you so that you could learn quickly. But the fact that you're from an ordinary family means you shouldn't have been able to gain that much mana in a year."

  "Wait," I say. "You think a god blessed me with faster mana growth?"

  "It would explain it, wouldn't it?" He asks. "Whether they simply increased how much you can gain as a point-total per year, or if they straight-up doubled your annual growth ability, I'm not sure. Regardless of which it is, it's hard to deny that you have an unusual growth rate. So yeah, I believe you're blessed by a god. And they may have given you some protections as well. And perhaps a tiny bit of luck."

  The part about my mana might be a little bit convincing, but I'm not going to tell him that. I don't want him thinking he's changed my mind about this or anything.

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  "What does this have to do with anything?" I ask. "You're taking forever to get to that part."

  "Because if I'm right about you being blessed by a god," he says. "Then I think you'll get a bit lucky and have an opportunity to take something down while we're out. Whether you do or not is up to your skill with a bow, but I think the opportunity will present itself."

  If he's right about me being blessed by a god, then I really hope my skills aren't boosted by them. That would mean they aren't really my skills.

  "Okay," I say. "How much longer before we get to his place? It's already been a few minutes, hasn't it?"

  "We've got another few minutes," he says. "He lives at the edge of Dragon Falls. He and his mom moved here after school let out for the summer and he doesn't have anyone to take him hunting. I've taken him a few times for rabbits, to get to know him."

  I don't remember there being a new kid at school, so he must be homeschooled. At least his mom is a good and lets him socialize. While I don't know very many homeschooled kids and all of them get to socialize, I've heard stories online of ones whose parents were using it to abuse their kids and never let them socialize instead of allowing it to happen regularly.

  "How'd you know them?" I ask.

  "His mother met my sister at Dragon Falls' farmers' market," he answers. "They got to talking and became friends. Before we arrive, I need to let you know something. They aren't very well off, and the kid does a lot of work at home to help make sure they can eat. His case is a little bit different than how yours used to be. He caught someone's attention – I don't know the details – and attends one of the private schools in the area as a result."

  "He goes to a rich kid school?"

  "As I said," he says. "He caught someone's attention. They're sponsoring him and I don't know the details. Avoid asking about it, okay?"

  That's really confusing and also a little bit suspicious, but Mr. Fuller's tone isn't a casual one. It kind of makes me feel like I really shouldn't be asking about the situation.

  "Yes, sir!"

  When we arrive at the house, Mr. Fuller goes up to the door and talks inside for a few minutes. How big is the property itself? The house sits on several acres of lands before any visible dividers, which is a wooded area hundreds of yards out. As we pulled up, I saw what looked to be a produce garden and I'm fairly certain there were chickens, too.

  Mr. Fuller and the other kid come out a few minutes later, and he's is a little on the cute side, though he has a serious look on his face. It kind of reminds me of Xander, and I pull out my phone and send him a text.

  [Sig]: Hope your afternoon's going well!

  Helping out on Tate's family's ranch and farm all day is probably exhausting him so I might not get a response soon. He might though, and I really do hope his day's been good to him.

  I look out the window to watch as the kid and Mr. Fuller approach. The kid has brown hair and amber-colored eyes with a light splash of freckles on his cheeks. He's dressed in shorts, a sleeveless, and hunting boots right now, with a duffel bag slung over one shoulder and a bow in his left hand. The bag and bow go into the bed of the truck, then he gets into the front and I scoot over so he can fit.

  "Hi!" I hold a hand over to him. "I'm S.G.!"

  "Nice to meet you," the other kid shakes my hand. "I'm Seph!"

  "Seph?" This is my first time hearing his name, and it has me feeling like Mr. Fuller deliberately didn't tell me it now. "Not Seth?"

  "Nope," he says as Mr. Fuller begins driving. "It's short for 'Joseph'."

  "Oh! Like Xander!"

  "So that's a nickname, not his full name?"

  "Yup!" I answer. "He doesn't like his full name, or 'Alex'. Wait, you know about him?"

  "I've seen some of his streams," he nods. "Yours, too. Though I mostly watch Carter Martins' videos. Mostly the stuff related to the ranch, but some of his freerunning and stuff."

  "Carter's pretty cool, yeah," I nod. "I've only watched some of his athletics videos, not his ranch stuff."

  Carter's put out a few videos just showing work on the ranch, and that doesn't really interest me as something to watch. There are definitely people who watch them, but I like his athletic videos a lot more.

  "That's cool," he says. "I was wondering if I could ask something about Xander?"

  "Is he really that talented?" I ask. "Yup! Dude's most amazing guy I've ever met!"

  "Not that," he shakes his head. "I doubt Adrian King would personally show up if it were fake talent. He ain't known for supporting fake things.Um. What I was wondering was… never mind."

  "Never mind?"

  "Yeah," he says. "Never mind. Mr. Fuller says you've never hunted before?"

  Is he attracted to Xander or something? If so, he'll be disappointed to find out that Xander's taken.

  "Yeah," I say. "I've kind of wanted to try and catch something on my own, for the meat. Just for the experience, so I know what it's like. And if I end up liking catching my own meat… I might see if I can go hunting more often."

  Seph and I talk for awhile and before I know it, a few hours have passed and we're arriving at our destination. Mr. Fuller drives along an old dirt road beside a field with a lot of large, round hay bales sitting out in it. There are wooded areas in view, and some slopes and hills as well. A truck sits a little bit inside of one of the wooded sections, and I almost miss it.

  "Is that Hunter's truck?" I ask. "Oh, I see him now."

  Hunter just came into view and watches as his dad pulls off the road and drives over. The drive is a little bit bumpier now, especially once we're inside of the woods. When Mr. Fuller parks, we get out and I look over to see a slightly-clear area just a little past Hunter's truck. There are some logs chopped and stacked to one side, as well as piles with tinder, kindling, and larger sticks.

  He must've gotten to work preparing some stuff while waiting for us. How long ago did he arrive?

  "Let's get the tents set up," Mr. Fuller tells us. "They're in the back of my truck."

  "We're camping?" I ask. "I thought we'd have a cabin or something."

  "Nope," Mr. Fuller says. "Tents. Not the kind you're used to, probably. These go by a few names, including wall tents. They're large and don't have a floor other than the ground. Since there are four of us, we'll do two."

  "What do we need big tents for?" I ask.

  "You'll see," he answers.

  Setting up the tents turns out to be both easier and more difficult than I expected, though the others all seem used to it. With the tents constructed, they're then "set up". A tarp on the bottom at the back, where our cots and gear go. No boots allowed on those to keep them clean, and the tarps can be easily swept if they get dirty. Rugs are placed at the front of the tarps for us to store our boots on when we're not wearing them.

  Seph and I are sharing one tent, while Mr. Fuller and Hunter are sharing the other. They set up a table with a portable stove in their tent, and they have a heavy-duty cooler with food in it they put in there as well.

  "Always make sure the lid is closed and secure," Mr. Fuller tells me. "The cooler's designed to prevent smells from escaping. A tiny bit of magic helps. But you need to make sure the lid is firmly on, so always make sure it's secured. The same goes for the other other food tote. The enchantments are on the cheaper side so we need to make sure it's secured. We don't want to risk the lid not being on all the way and whatever tiny amount of smell leaks out drawing something in."

  He keeps repeating about making sure it's secure, which means that this is really important. I would try to do that, anyway, but I don't think complaining that repeating is annoying will do anything but earn me a scolding.

  "Alright," I say. "What are the other coolers for?"

  They have this cooler full of food, but Hunter's truck had several other coolers in it. I can't imagine the four of us would need that much food for a day or two of hunting.

  "For cooling down meat," Hunter explains. "You want to start cooling it as soon as possible, to avoid it spoiling. If we catch stuff, we'll begin butchering it as soon as possible. Removing the guts, the skin, the limbs, removing meat from bones. It all goes into bags and into the coolers to cool down."

  "Ah," I say. "Do we have to report the hunts before then? I was looking up online and it said we had to report our catches. That they have to inspect it."

  "We can check in our hunts online," Mr. Fuller says. "For antelope, yes. Rabbits, no. Some states do require you to present the hunts for inspection, depending on what it is. Here, antelope isn't required to be inspected."

  "How do they make sure people aren't catching more than they claim?"

  "There's some degree of trust involved," he says. "But they can still do an inspection if they think you're hunting more than allowed."

  "Ah."

  We finish setting up camp and Hunter starts a fire in a ring made of rocks he assembled. As we set up some chairs, Seph calls for Mr. Fuller's attention.

  "Yes?" Mr. Fuller asks.

  "Is it alright if I see if S.G. wants to try and learn a spell?" Seph asks. "The arrow spells I use for hunting? He might not be able to learn them immediately but if he can get even the basics of one down, it can help him tomorrow. We won't use too much mana – I don't have enough to just spend it practicing. But I can show him a few of them and still have plenty for tomorrow."

  Though mana is measured in units sort of like electricity and stuff, the units used on the Lumaria Mana Level scale are technically ten times what they really are. At least, that's Xander's explanation of it. Most basic spells cost less than 1 unit of mana because they're really costing something like 1-3 when we have 100.

  But reducing that by a factor down to 10 makes it easier for most people. It also helps prevent people from getting a big head just because of a bigger number.

  With me having double the normal amount of mana, and these spells being cast by someone who probably has average or only a little above it, I can definitely practice a couple of times without worry.

  "Oh! Yeah!" I say. "And picking up how to cast a spell isn't too hard, as long as it's properly described. The real issue is mana control, and I've got a decent bit of it. Comes with being taught wrong for a year but pushing through…"

  I can't make it to the middle level of the mana control training orbs yet, but I'm definitely above my regular classmates in control.

  "Sure," Mr. Fuller says and gestures away from the camp. "Aim at the trees over there. Don't leave the camp other than to retrieve the arrows, though."

  "Yes, sir!" We respond.

  The first spell Seph teaches me is one to enhance the sharpness of the point of an arrow. It's a temporary enchantment that doesn't last very long, but it can help an arrow cut through bone a little more easily. Retrieving the arrows out of a tree isn't very easy, but I manage to.

  Then he teaches me how to enhance the durability of an arrow, to make it less likely to suffer damage. I'm not able to cast two spells at once, but I don't need to with this. The spells are set into the arrows like enchantments, just not long-lasting. They fade after a few seconds, depending on how well I cast the spell.

  With a little bit of practice, I'm able to cast each spell and still have both enhancements active when the arrow strikes the tree.

  Once I can do that, Seph teaches me another arrow enhancement, this one increasing the speed of the arrow as it flies.

  "These three enhancement spells combined," Seph tells me once I manage to cast all three well enough and quickly enough they're all still active when I strike a tree thirty yards away. "Are pretty essential to magic archers. It's generally not enough to get you a magic beast unless it's a simple one, but it's still useful when hunting regular things. Your arrows penetrate more easily so you're more likely to manage a cleaner kill, the arrows don't take as much damage when cutting through bone, and they're able to fly further. If you can't do the durability one, at least do the other two."

  "Alright," I say as my phone starts ringing. "Are we done?"

  "Yeah," he nods. "If you practice more, make sure you don't cast the spells too many times more. You'll want as much mana for tomorrow as possible."

  "Alright, thanks!" I pull my phone out and see that it's Xander calling. "Hi, Xander!"

  "Hi, Sig," he greets me. "We made it to the cabin. Is it okay for me to call you?"

  He totally thinks this is texting, doesn't he? Xander's sleepy brain strikes again!

  "Xander?"

  "Yes, Sig?"

  "You just called me."

  "Oh," he says. "I'm still waking up from the nap so my brain's still sleepy. Sorry. I meant to text you."

  "It's fine!" I say. "I just finished learning some new spells to help me hunt. How to put enhancements on my arrows to help them hit a target and penetrate."

  "The internet ain't always right about stuff like that."

  "Not the internet!" I tell him. "Another kid joining us on the trip, he's new to the area and has gone hunting with Mr. Fuller a few times. He uses the spells."

  "Oh," Xander says. "That's nice. Oh, it ain't bunk beds. That's good."

  "Bunk beds?" I ask.

  "Yeah," Xander says. "Carter just showed me the room we're staying in. We're both staying in it. Separate beds, not a bunk bed. Did you make it to the camp okay?"

  "Yup!" I answer. "We've got it set up, then Seph showed me how to do the spells for my archery. Then you called me, and now we're talking! Oh, and Seph is the other kid."

  "Okay."

  "Hey, Xander?" I ask.

  My conversation with Mr. Fuller earlier really gave me a question for Xander and I want to see if he's willing to answer it.

  "Yes, Sig?"

  "You said Trenton says I have blessings from gods, right?"

  Xander thinks they're hallucinations, but if I am actually blessed by a god, then he's probably seeing some sort of sign of it only visible due to his true magical perspicacity.

  "You have a lot of the not-real fairies hanging around you," he says. "And Trenton says that means you're a good person and got blessed by at least one god."

  "Did he tell you what those blessings are?" I ask. "What they do, I mean?"

  "Trenton?" Xander asks. "Sig wants to know what the divine blessing or blessings he has are, if they're really there," he goes quiet for a few moments. "Okay. Sig? Are you still there?"

  "Yup!"

  "Trenton says," he says. "That you have a blessing which protects you from bad things, as long as they ain't a result of your own actions. So like, you can climb a tree and if you fall out of it, you can still get hurt. Or if you run into a road and get hit by a car. So you ain't protected from doing stupid shit. But like, you ain't gonna get kidnapped just walking to the park or something like that. He says that's your oldest blessing, that you must've gotten it when you were reaaaaaaally little."

  That matches up with what Mr. Fuller told me about what sort of blessings I might have from a god and I really doubt he's spoken with Xander about something like this.

  I really do have divine blessings.

  "Um…" Xander says. "Okay, so the next blessing is one that makes it easier for you to find good people to be friends with. He says it essentially enhances your own draw for them. That one's weird, but he's explaining it as if people are magnets and the blessing just boosts your magnetism in some regards."

  Which also matches up with what Mr. Fuller says, sort of.

  "It especially boosts if they are blessed by a god, too," Xander says. "Though he says people blessed by gods are naturally drawn to each other, and more likely to have children who are at least good and with the potential to be blessed by the gods. Which kind of explains why all of your friends' parents are blessed, too. They're just that good of people and managed to gain the attention of a god or more."

  Genuinely good people would want to make sure the neglected kid they met is okay, especially if that kid is a friend of their own. This just makes it harder to deny about the gods.

  "And…" Xander trails off. "Okay, Trenton says that they also boosted your ability to gain mana. They multiplied it by twenty. Instead of your normal growth rate for a typical training program boosting it by about five to ten percent over a year, it can boost it by up to two hundred percent a year. Though a more intense training program can, of course, boost it even higher. That's just normal. He says that's your newest blessing, that he estimates you got it about a year or so ago. Probably around when you started learning magic."

  Another thing matching up with what Mr. Fuller told me. If I accept that I'm blessed by the gods, which I'm starting to for sure after both discussions, then that one is kind of obvious. My mana growth rate is abnormal, and it's been commented on by multiple people. I think Mr. Cox even mentioned it back when we talked in Nine Springs about me learning magic wrong.

  "Hey, Xander?" I say when Xander doesn't add any others. "What about my skills? Did a god bless me to learn things faster? To be able to develop skills more easily?"

  "Trenton?" Xander says. "Sig wants to know if the gods blessed him with the ability to learn and develop skills more easily. And maybe knowledge? He said 'learn things faster', too. Okay. He says no, you're just that good on your own."

  Thank goodness my skills are my own. So my parents somehow gave birth to someone who's naturally talented despite both of them being rather ordinary. That's impressive.

  "S.G.!" Hunter calls out. "Dinner!"

  "Oh!" I say. "It's time for dinner, Xander!"

  "Okay," Xander says. "That's a late dinner."

  "Yeah," I say. "We didn't eat on the way here. Good luck with the hunt!"

  "You, too," he says. "Oh, and look for gold."

  "Look for gold?"

  "Yeah," he says. "Bye."

  "Bye?" It takes a moment for my brain to process it, only to realize a moment too late that he's probably registered that as me saying it to him. "Wait-"

  Too late, the call's over.

  What did he mean by "look for gold"?

  Though considering some of the odd phrases he's said before and their connection to Greyson, it's probably something he's used to saying to that oddball cousin of his. That one's a lot less concerning than some of the others, like "don't explode".

  I hope I never do anything that would make him say that because of me.

  [Xander – 12 years]

  "Hey, Xander?" Carter asks after the call between Sig and me ends.

  I pocket my phone and look at him. He's taken off his shirt and is in just his shorts now, though he's also wearing the friendship bracelet I made for him and a necklace I noticed a few others wearing.

  It's a necklace made from a black leather cord, and a pair of wolf-like fangs hang from it, set so their tips are pointing toward each other. Several beads made of bone and crystal are strung on the cords, including separating the fangs so that they can actually point at each other instead of overlap. Hanging from between the two fangs is a crystal orb about half an inch in diameter, deep green in color with some brown swirls on it.

  I've seen him and some of the others from the Autumn Realm region wearing the necklace before, but his dad and brother are wearing it today as well. I think I saw some of the other guys here for the hunting trip wearing one like it, too.

  Did they coordinate? I want to ask but what if he doesn't like me after because it's something everyone else here knows the purpose of? And staring at it isn't going to get me any answers and just make me look at him more.

  Staring at attractive people isn't something I want to do, especially not when I'm dating someone else.

  "I don't know why I said that," I tell him as I grab Trenton and look at him instead. "I just felt like I should. That happens sometimes, where I feel like I should say something but I don't know why. But maybe he'll get lucky and find some gold."

  "Not that," Carter says.

  "Oh."

  "Since you used magic to clean the room," he says. "That means we don't need to take care of anything before getting ready for bed. We've got a little bit, so I was wondering about something."

  "I'll try to answer if I can."

  "That sense-sharing spell of yours," he says. "You said you can cast a version which fully temporarily changes our senses to be the same type as yours, right?"

  "Yeah," I nod. "You're not getting my senses, but it's as if your own are the same type as mine."

  "I was wondering if you could cast it on me?" He asks. "The full version. I want to see how well I handle it. We probably won't need two of us with them during the hunt, but it doesn't hurt to see just in case, right?"

  "Maybe?" I say. "I don't know if it would hurt or not."

  "That's not what I meant," he says. "I mean, there's not much reason to not see how well I can handle it and how long you can maintain it, right?"

  "Oh," I say. "Yeah."

  "Okay," he says. "Can you do it with your version of magesight on? That's better for hunting since it removes ambient mana from your senses. Before you cast it, I wanted to let you know – I might pass out, depending on how strong of a sensory input it is. Don't freak out and don't cancel the spell. It just means my brain overloaded and maybe needs a minute to process everything. Don't cancel the spell until I tell you to unless you're not able to sustain it any longer on your end. If you start getting a headache or woozy or something."

  Passing out doesn't sound normal at all but he seems okay with the possibility the spell will do that to him. Why?

  "O-okay…"

  Carter lies on his bed, then tells me he's ready for me to cast the spell on him. I take a few deep breaths, then cast the spell. Almost immediately, Carter passes out. I nearly cancel the spell before forcing myself not to. He said not to.

  But I want to cancel the spell. Passing out isn't normal! Should I wake him? But he said that his brain just needs a minute to process things. It's been a minute already! Has it? Yeah, it's been a minute. Should I cancel it? It's been more than a minute, something went wrong! I should cancel it! But if I do that, Carter might get mad at me and not want to hang out anymore.

  It takes almost ten minutes before Carter wakes up and when he does, he groans a little.

  "A-are you okay?" I ask. "Should I cancel the spell?"

  "N-no," he winces, his voice quiet. "Holy crap… your senses are absurd. No wonder you get so overstimulated. But could you talk a lot quieter, please? I know you're not yelling, but it sounds like it. Your ears are insane."

  "My ears?" I feel them as he sits up. "Did I accidentally transform them into something weird? They feel normal."

  "Referring to your hearing," he says. "It's so sensitive. Is that my parents talking? I can't make out what they're saying, there's just so much noise. And the texture of my clothes feels scratchy now. And…"

  His gaze fixes on me and Trenton.

  "Whoa…"

  "What?"

  Carter looks at himself for a few moments, then back at me. He's swaying and really pale.

  "My mana looks like a drop in the bucket compared to the ocean that's yours," he tells me. "I knew you had a lot, Xander, but damn. No wonder using magic comes so naturally to you. If I had that much mana, I'd probably use it all the time, too. Can you cancel it? I feel like I'm gonna pass out again."

  "Done."

  "Thanks," he takes a few breaths and tries to stop swaying. "I don't think we can do that for the hunt tomorrow."

  He shakes his head for a moment.

  "Anyway, should we join the others for some cards before we have to go to bed?"

  "I just want to go sleep," I tell him. "But you don't have to do what I do."

  While I took a nap on the way here, it wasn't a very long nap, and it is nearing bedtime. Please don't be mad I just want to go to sleep.

  "Okay!" He says. "I'll go see about cards. Good night, Xander, Trenton! Enjoy your sleep!"

  Whew. He doesn't seem mad.

  "Good luck with the cards."

  Carter leaves and I look down at Trenton.

  "He told you good night, too," I say, then nod Trenton's head before setting him down. "I'm gonna get ready for bed now, you stay right there and wait."

  Once I'm ready for bed, I curl up under the blanket with Trenton held against my chest, my tail curled up between my legs. If only I could have it all the time, but I've learned that other people don't like that so I can't. At least I can be a wolfkin when I sleep and have my tail with me for that.

  Though I'm not able to play with it very much tonight. I'm just so tired, I'm drifting off to sleep now, my fluffy tail really comfy against me.

  Comfy tail, comfy tail, fluffy fluffy tail. Let it flick and let it swish and don't let it hide. Comfy tail, comfy tail, fluffy fluffy tail.