The silence, broken only by the murmurs of others—not all of them human—stretched unnaturally. Everyone else seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for a response.

“It really is a shame you have no loyalty, my sweet Seri,” the man said with mock sadness. I now managed to get a better look at him.

He swiped back his ear-length, straight black hair, then adjusted his loose shirt, tucking it into… parachute pants? Bright orange, paired with an equally blinding red shirt.

His sharp, pointed ears caught my attention as well.

Displaying his bizarre modern look, he continued, “I’m used to having disobedient disciples. Unfortunately, I seem to have passed that trait on. Now you recruit such a brazen champion…”

“So you aren’t going to fight? Take off then!” Luna yelled.

He chuckled. “I wasted my effort coming here.”

“I agree. You tried to look cool and failed,” Luna shot back.

Without another word, he turned and walked toward a clear wall that stood apart from the others. The transparent material vanished before him, and he stepped inside.

A low hum followed, and then he shot upward, disappearing somewhere far above.

Actual elevators, though they were more like floating platforms that seemed capable of going anywhere. Several more hovered and glided around, carrying others. At least there were no gates in sight.

LUNAAA!

She still didn’t respond.

Maybe she can’t hear us? Wyrem guessed.

Serith grinned wide. “How about you just take Peter’s body forever?”

Of course she knew.

“Really?!” Luna shouted. “You think it’s a good idea?”

Serith ruffled her—my—hair. “Such a young and talented flower. You could make such good use of—”

“Luna?” Thea cut in, voice gentle. “You don’t want to trap Peter, do you?”

“Hmmm.” Luna seemed to genuinely consider it, which only made me panic more. Finally, she sighed. “I guess not. But you want to see me more, right?”

“Of course!” Thea nodded quickly. “And Miss Serith seems like that too. How about this? Next time we have a good meal, you get to be in charge of Peter.”

Thea must’ve been a good negotiator because Luna immediately brightened.

“Really?” She spun to Elric. “You too?”

He shrugged. “Sure. I think it would be fun.”

I felt my mind shift and quickly sent a wave of Beast Force down. Could you hear me?

What? Luna replied, confused. Did you say something? I thought you were just being mature.

I paused. I was being mature. I only wondered if you were enjoying yourself.

Liar, Wyrem exposed without hesitation.

Thanks Peter. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you couldn’t say anything.

No problem. Honestly, I’m impressed. You could’ve completely controlled me. Maybe you don’t even need your own body?

No, she disagreed. If I took over someone, they’d need my talent, foundations, and spiritual power. That would probably be too troublesome to find.

However, Wyrem had another idea. We could find another species you like, train them, then you know…

Ohhh. I like—

I cut off the connection, leaving the two heartless creatures to discuss that on their own.

“Sorry about that. Is there anything we need to do first? What’s a champion? What’s this place?” I fired off the questions in quick succession.

Serith turned and began walking forward. “Follow me.”

“Back to being Peter?” Elric asked.

I nodded.

She pointed down an expansive hallway to the left, where both humans and definitely not-humans moved about. “That way holds some markets.”

Using my Spiritual Sense, I extended my view. Small structures built into the onyx walls glowed with amber light like honey. Some burned with cold frost neon, others with emerald.

“Not that it matters,” Serith continued. “There’s nothing there you could afford.”

She pointed to the right. “Practice rooms. Maaaybe you’ll use them. Though with your power, there’s no real need.” She glanced back at Elric. “You don’t know any techniques to destroy hills and stuff, right?”

“I’m sorry?” he said, completely thrown.

“Don’t be,” she replied, turning forward again. “Just making sure you didn’t inherit anything dangerous from your family.”

Thea turned to him, eyebrows raised. “Your family knows techniques to destroy—”

“Banished, Thea,” he interrupted. “I was banished. I hardly know anything about them. Let alone continent-destroying magic.”

Wait… How the heck is the war even still going? Is this one of those mutual destruction things?

“And up here,” Serith said, stepping onto one of the floating platforms, “I’ll register you as my new champion.”

“And that means?” Thea asked for me.

“That means he’ll represent my territory in exchanges of... knowledge.”

“In battle,” I corrected, already knowing the real meaning.

“Yes, exactly," she admitted without protest.

The platform lifted us smoothly, gliding through a maze of transparent walls that vanished as we passed. Honestly, probably more complicated than necessary. Maybe whoever designed this place just liked appearances.

Speaking of which. “You're not wearing that flowy outfit from before.”

Cough. Serith nearly choked. “I—I um… it doesn’t fit an occasion like this.”

Today, she wore a simple white dress, flowing gently down her frame, embroidered intricately at the hems.

“What did you wear before?” Thea asked with genuine curiosity, examining Serith’s clothes.

That’s right, back then, she was shocked by my clothing too. Although, it was only the torn up remnants.

“It was... something nice.”

I shook my head. “She had a bunch of random fabrics that waved around in the wind. It looked really mystical. But when I saw it still in a vision—”

“It was nice!” Serith cut me off quickly.

“Is there somewhere I can buy something like that? Can I touch it?” Thea pressed. “It's beautiful.”

“It’s... sort of foreign,” Serith admitted, holding out her sleeve for Thea, “but you can get one here if you have the resources.”

Elric nudged my shoulder.

“I got it, dude! I’m not that dumb,” I whispered back.

He shook his head, just as we stepped off the platform and approached an empty clerical area. “Yes you are, man. Find a way to get some of the resources… please.”

“You’re not just looking to mooch off me for Sia and Lyra, are you?”

There was a pause as we approached a circular desk manned by four identical attendants. These were easily the most modern-looking things I’d seen here. Completely metallic humanoids with chrome heads and simple blue-pixel smiley faces glowing across their screens.

“So what if I am?”

I ignored Elric, focusing on the task ahead. He could've just asked. I think he struggled with that. Hopefully Lyra and Sia could fix that up eventually.

[“Welcome!”] one of the robots greeted in a cheerful synthetic voice. [“What services can we provide?”]

“I need to register, please," Serith requested.

[“Of course!”]

it chirped, reaching under the desk to pull out a clear slate and circular stone. [“What is your territory?”]

“Western Caedia.”

It tapped the slate, strange golden symbols rotating across its surface with each press.

[“Ah, welcome Miss Serith! We apologize for the policy change and any inconvenience. Please place your new champion's hand here.”]

The robot extended the circular stone, which now revealed a suspicious small hole at its center.

Serith gestured for me to proceed.

I placed my thumb on it, pressing firmly.

“OW!”

The moment I pressed down, something shot up and stabbed the tip of my finger.

[“Ow?”] The robot’s screen flickered into a confused expression, pixels rearranging into a cartoonish frown. [“Miss Serith, I asked for the champion. Did a servant—”]

“No mistake. That’s him.”

I half-expected her to sound embarrassed or at least mildly annoyed, but instead she looked amused, barely holding back laughter. “Don’t think about it too much, Nova.”

Apparently more comfortable now, Nova’s expression shifted into a bored face, the pixels slanting slightly downward. [“It’s so unfair what they did to you!”]

I leaned toward Thea, lowering my voice. “What’s with the mood swings? A moment ago, it acted like it didn’t even recognize Serith.”

Before Thea could answer, Nova cut in directly, apparently also able to hear through the Phantom Whisper. [“I switched, young man, and it’s rude to ask questions like that.”]

Both Thea and Serith giggled while I stood there, getting scolded and unintentionally learning about this species' strange design.

[“Before, you were speaking to my sister.”] Nova gestured toward an identical machine behind her. [“And I advise you to be careful using that technique, alright?”]

I nodded quickly, silently wishing this entire process would just end already.

[“Good. Also, don’t go showing weakness around Miss Serith. She has a reputation to keep... Then again, maybe a more sensitive boy is better than that Lucan. Be nice to Miss Serith!”]

Elric grumbled something incoherent under his breath, but I could guess his thoughts. Like me, he’d probably realized the previous champion had been his other brother, after Drake was refuted.

“No problem,” I said quickly.

Nova shifted the clear tablet toward me. [“Please place—”]

“My sweet Seri!”

The voice cut in from behind. One that was familiar, smooth, and far too pleased with itself. “I see that you’ve already registered.”

Trailing behind him was a large creature. Its face carved from solid stone, expression stern and unblinking.

“My champion is just at the limit now with the new rules,” he continued, voice with mock politeness. “So how about he tutors your new one?”

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