Li sighed heavily, put one of the cups in the sink, removed a towel from her shoulder, and put it on the tertop.

  "Ah... That..." she said. "I expined some of that to you during the past weeks, though I didn’t know how much was safe to reveal. All of us... we are taught from childhood that the undead are the enemy. That we have to stay away to be safe."

  She took a deep breath, returo the table, sat near Aira, and took her hand. "But you are so different from the stories," she said. "Elder's memory... You overturhe whole world for me. Even before you told me that our world isn't the only o there."

  Aira looked at her questioningly.

  "Yeah, I know," Li said. "Not a real answer. I was stuck here, iown. For a long time, I felt that I didn't belong. I was intrigued when the Elders ordered us to ge our approach towards the undead. But now, after what Garrick did... And especially after I stole your body from the tral square, I definitely o skip town."

  "Even during your execution," she tinued, "I was thinking about a hideout. And I knoce."

  "That's good," Aira wrote. "Because I definitely o escape this town."

  Li nodded, her expression serious. "I'll help you. It's uo leave right now; the vilge is in shambles and every single rahat's left is on the lookout. We o wait at least a few hours."

  In a few words, Li expio Aira the sequences of her and Garrick's as. The whole power structure was destroyed. First, Garrick killed all the other Elders. And then, he and his gang were killed during the burning. It's a total mystery to the townspeople, and everyone is scared. Still, people would find time for politics even in such dire circumstances. Maybe, especially in times like that.

  Some traders and artisans wanted a spot on the cil for years. And, of course, ranger anders like Korin were inspired by Garrick's promotion. Now, they were als to seize a new opportunity.

  "Luckily, it seems that everybody fot about you in the subsequent panid power struggle," Li tinued." And they didn't make the e between you and the deaths yet. We just o y low for a bit, and an opportunity will show up. In the meanwhile, you have to rest and recover. These burns are insane! How did you even walk those few steps to reach Garrick?!"

  Aira g her hands, recalling the raw energy she had felt c through her during the frontation with Garrick. "Energy Manipution," she thought, testing the feel of the new skill. "It might be our key to getting out of here."

  Oablet, she wrote: "I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve."

  "Ah, yes," said Li. "Magic. How could I fet?"

  "Could you give me a moment?" wrote Aira. "I o explore my e with this new gadget."

  "Well, root me sideways!" excimed Li. "Of course! e! That's the most reasohing to do... What's , you'll start talking to the mpposts ireet? Ah, whatever... I'll go check with a couple of my friends. We o know the state of affairs iown."

  Aira looked at her in bewilderment. But then decided not to push the issue. "Is it safe to go out?" she wrote.

  Li hesitated for a moment. "I don't know," she said. "But I hope I should still have some friends out there. They'll help, I have to believe that."

  As soon as Li left, Aira found a nice er right there i and sat on the floor. Somehow, she felt she o be grounded for the best results. Quite literally. The furniture, the boards, and everything surrounding her now loomed rge over her, boosting her sense of safety. Just a little bit. But that slight difference was enough for her to dive into that are and explore her new magic.

  Even if she couldn't stand it much longer before reag the st stage of her meditation routine, she did it the proper way. This time, she started with the sts. Especially as in this kit, they were pretty intriguing. While Li didn't seem very fond of cooking, she had a small colle of local spices. And not all of them were simir to what Aira had in her old world. Fog on the unfamiliar fragrances, Aira started the exploration of each of her senses.

  In the previous weeks, Aira had tried to reach the final stage of her meditation on so many occasions. And every time, day after day, she felt only a depressiihere, where her magic should have maed.

  Even now, for a brief moment, she was on the brink of panic. What if it doesn't work? Yes, she definitely had gained some access to magid she could read the System stats. But what if?... After you experienced only this unfiving void for weeks, you start to doubt yourself whehing has to work out.

  With a scious effort, she pushed aside all these thoughts and reached out with her seo the wristband on her forearm.

  There it was, that power she experienced during the execution. Aira explored its multifaceted nature. It maed her e to the System, but also, some source of energy was hidden within the gadget. And even that wasn't it. More magical signatures were hidden within the device. And outwards from it, she felt strands of are forces reag out in all dires, enveloping this town.

  "But if there's magic everywhere around us, why don't humans use any are powers?" Aira thought. "I should probably ask Li how these devices work. Even if she doesn't know anything about magic, her knowledge may help me improve my mastery of the gadgets."

  Mentally, she picked several of the strands of energy and started following them.

  Again, she felt more energy signatures present within the house. Like that small pnt on the window. Aira probed it and tapped into its reserves to heat Li's tea. And, of course, there were more of them without. There were the streetlights out there, as before; she could see their outlihrough her magical perception. She herself owerful source as well. More powerful than anything else in the viity.

  Around the house, she also found a few signatures of humans. It was evening already, so most of them were at home, doing the st chores before sleep. Still, at least a couple of people walked dowreet. The glow they emitted was almost simir to hers. Even if there were minute differences iterns. Nearly unlimited sources of energy.

  Aira stopped abruptly. Was she really sidering humans as mere sources of energy now?

  "How does this magic even work?" Aira thought. "I transfer energy, but what else I do with it? And what happened with mana?"

  She briefly checked her status.

  --- Current Status ---Health: 431/555Mana: ???/???SP Used: 61,694SP Avaible: 5,657XP: 67,351,000 / 69,141,000 ( Level: 101, Legendary)

  At least she was healing very quickly. Much faster than she'd expected with her old powers. She made another note for the future: to do some tests and figure out how her manipution of ambient energy affected the stats.

  Once again, she extended her senses, fog them, pig separate energy patterns and signatures that swirled all arouhis town wasn't very green. Streets were mostly paved with stone, and every free spot was occupied by buildings. But there were enough trees and bushes to allow her to try these new abilities on something besides that small pnt on Li's windowsill.

  She probed even further, reizing the signatures of humans and animals. Memorizing their locations as if using her old Sing and Marking skill. Birds sat on the roofs of buildings. In the sewers, there were some rats and other rodents. On a nearby square, she focused on a copse of trees. She tried to remember if she saw them during her walks with Li. But they never really veoo far from the town hall.

  The trees were almost as powerful as humans and animals. And she noted all of them. The depth of their energy reserves seemed different but still very potent. From now on, cataloging everything around her should bee her everyday routio keep a stant list of sources of are poossible dangers.

  Due to some twist of fate or Systemic irony, only one skill remained avaible to Aira. A steep dee pared to her old choice of thirty. However, it was already apparent that some of its capabilities may prove even more beneficial than what she had with her Mana Manipution. Her mind was already preparing to use the most of it.

  Aira stored all that information, uanding that she must learn to harhese neabilities. Starting from the basid building up to the full proficy of the skill's ninth level. And hopefully, even beyond. Each fifth level of any skill gave some additional powers. And Aira couldn't wait until she had an opportunity to upgrade Energy Manipution.

  Returning from these stray thoughts to her meditation and expl the energy signatures, she sensed a fast-moving object. It was farther away, on a nearby street. The patterns hihat it should be a human running in her dire. Getting closer to the house she was in.

  Aira jumped to her feet in surprise, instinctively drawing some of the energy from those trees towards her, filling her reserves. She didn't take much, and it didn't seem that the trees' glow had diminished even a bit. They probably wouldn't pin even if they could. However, she felt empowered even more than she was when she first regained access to the System.

  She crossed the kit in two giant strides and hid behind the door.

  Moments ter, Li burst into the room. Aira let out a sigh of relief. Only now did she realize how much of a stressed spring ready to release its energy she was. After a slow month filled with frustratios escated withiwenty-six hours of the day. And most of that time, Aira was lying unscious in Li's home, without any ce to process what was happening, all the ges, and their meaning for her life.

  Li turned on a dime, seeing Aira hidden behind the door. "Fox's whiskers! What's happening?" she asked. "You scared me!"

  Aira held her hand pgly in front of her and stepped back to the table. "You scared me!" she wrote. "I sensed someone running back to the house and got spooked."

  "You sensed?!?" asked Li. "By the bark, you could sense me from afar? What does that even mean?"

  "From the street," Aira wrote. "Just before you passed this square with a couple of trees. And why did you even have to run?"

  "You know what?" said Li. "I 't deal with that right now."

  She took a deep breath as if trying to calm the adrenaline rush caused by her sprint and from being startled by Aira.

  "We o get moving soon. Tonight is our best bet," Li said. "I talked to a couple of people out there. It seems they still haven't made a e between me and your disappearance. But I don't think we should wait until tomorrow. With each hour, we risk more and more. And here iown, there's almost no pces to hide. It's not an A City where your brethren supposedly live."

  She walked towards the table and sat near Aira.

  "But the patrols are tricky. Rangers are uaffed now. However, I'm sure they will have at least someone on duty. We've got one shot at this. I know their routes like the bay hand, so if we're lucky, there will be a gap right after the guards ge. Just stick close, and we'll slip through like m fog."

  "Need a distra?" Aira wrote. "Or would you prefer a stealthy approach?"

  "A bit of both," Li said thoughtfully. "We 't afford to draw too much attention, but a small distraight give us the needed edge. We just o get past the patrols. And then, it should be safe. No one should follow us past the town limits. Not with everything else that's happening here. In the end, it's only an undead running away. They should be happy to get rid of you."

  Aira nodded, her mind rag with possibilities. She wrote: "What do you have in mind?"

  Li smiled, a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Leave that to me. I have a few tricks up my sleeve too."

  Aira raised an eyebrow, a silent question in her gaze.

  "Don't worry," Li said. "I've handled worse. Well, maybe not worse. It's hard to beat a coup and spiracy with an undead enemy. Just be ready to move when I give the signal."