The seats here were stupidly soft, the kind with too much cushioning that made you sink in whether you wanted to or not. Been a few hours since the sandship had taken off. The initial excitement of watching the desert roll by had worn off pretty quick. Turns out magical death-desert looked pretty much the same whether you were looking at mile one or mile fifty.

Sand. More sand. Occasional weird rock formation. More sand. Oh, wow, more sand!

The monotony was getting to him. He'd tried counting the sand dunes for a while. Lost count at thirty-something when they all started blending together. Then he'd watched the crew members scurrying around on the lower decks through the window. That got old fast too. Now he was just sitting here, wondering if maybe he should've brought a book or something. Though knowing him, he probably would've just stared at it without reading and then promptly started playing with mana.

Come to think of it, he never got this bored before, ever. Was Freya rubbing off him? He scoffed.

"I'm going to explore," Freya announced, standing abruptly.

"Freya—"

"Just the noble sections! I promise. No trying to get to the outer platforms. Scout's honor."

"You were never a scout."

"Details." She was already walking away. "Back in an hour!"

Theodore watched her go with mixed feelings. On one hand, Freya wandering around unsupervised was probably a bad idea. On the other hand, a bored Freya wandering around unsupervised was definitely a bad idea.

"Should we stop her?" Juliana asked.

"Could we?"

"...Good point."

They settled back, watching the room's dynamics shift and flow. The blonde noble's report had definitely stirred things up. Both groups were talking more animatedly now, shooting glances their way. The two strong presences had gone back to their original activities, but Theodore could feel their attention hadn't wavered. They didn't seem to like either group, but they also didn't seem to like each other. "Like" was a strong word here. They just seemed cautious.

"This is going to be a long three days," he said.

"Probably."

"Think we'll make it without incident?"

Juliana gave him a look. "When have we ever made it anywhere without incident?"

Fair point.

Outside the windows, the Scorching Expanse stretched endlessly. Patches of normal land giving way to sheets of glittering sand that hurt to look at directly. The sandship rode smoothly above it all, its magical barriers keeping the heat and worse things at bay.

Freya was probably going to harass the crew about letting her onto the outer platforms. Or finding something to punch. One of the two. Maybe both. Definitely both, knowing Freya.

Juliana had her nose buried in some book about political structures of the eastern provinces or something equally thrilling. She'd been on the same page for like ten minutes though, so either it was really dense material or she was just pretending to read while actually keeping an eye on the room. Probably the second one. His sister was paranoid like that.

The noble drama had settled into a low simmer. Both groups still shooting looks at each other, but nobody making any moves. Like two cats circling each other, waiting for someone to blink first. The strong woman from earlier had gone back to her book—actually reading hers, from the way her eyes moved across the pages. The man had found a card game with some of the less uptight nobles. Probably cheating them blind, if Theodore had to guess.

Theodore was starting to think maybe he should've brought something to—

"Interesting."

Theodore flinched, spinning around so fast he nearly fell out of the stupid chair. A woman sat in the seat next to him. Just... there. Like she'd always been there. Black hair, black eyes, skin pale and gray. Her lips had this bluish tint, like someone who'd been out in the cold too long. Or drowning. She looked like she hadn't slept in... ever, maybe. Dark circles under her eyes that seemed to go on forever.

"Are you alright?" Theodore couldn't help but ask. Because seriously, she looked like death warmed over. Then cooled back down. Then left in a freezer for a week.

She chuckled. "How sweet of you to ask." Her head tilted, studying him. "No one's asked me that in... hmm, what year is it? Never mind. It's been a long time."

That's when Theodore noticed something else. Something that made his skin crawl. He couldn't sense her. At all. He couldn't sense her presence, not her mana, not even the basic life energy every living thing gave off. She was just... nothing. A blank spot in reality shaped like a person. Like looking at a hole cut out of the world. It reminded him of the boulder Varyndros had sent. What feature did she share with that boulder?

Theodore's eyes flicked to Juliana. Still reading. Freya's empty chair. The nobles gossiping. Nobody had reacted to this woman appearing out of nowhere. Nobody was looking at them.

Actually, nobody was moving.

What the fuck?

Juliana's hand was frozen mid-page turn. One of the nobles had a glass halfway to his lips, the liquid inside tilted but not spilling. A server was frozen mid-step, tray balanced perfectly on one hand.

"What—" Theodore started, immediately on guard. Time magic? Illusion? Some kind of skill he'd never heard of? He started pulling on his mana, flooding [Psionic Resistance] with power. If this was some kind of mental attack—

The woman chuckled again. "That's cute. But don't worry." She tilted her head the other way, like a bird examining something shiny. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would've already. This isn't even magic, not really. Well, not the kind you're thinking of."

That was super reassuring.

"I'm just interested in your body."

Not concerning at all.

"It's quite peculiar," she continued, and her eyes changed. The black deepened somehow, reflections ceased to exist, it was as if there was no light, just endless black that seemed to pull at something in Theodore's chest. "You're constantly sucking in mana. How delightful. And your body..." She leaned forward. "Is it part slime? All very interesting. Very, very interesting."

She stood up, moving toward him. Theodore moved, mana rushing out of him—

Aura crashed down on him like a mountain.

No, worse than a mountain. Mountains were just heavy. This was heavy and sharp and cold and burning all at once. This was the weight of existence itself deciding he should stay exactly where he was.

Theodore had felt strong auras before. Freya's, when she got serious during their spars. Even caught the edge of his father's once, though that had been carefully controlled, more like a gentle reminder than actual pressure.

This was terror given weight.

He couldn't even tell what Rank she was. That was bad. Really bad. When you couldn't discern someone's Rank, it usually meant they were so far above you that your senses just gave up trying. Like an ant trying to comprehend a human. But worse than that was the principle of it. She was trying to bind him. Him. With her aura.

That triggered something deep in Theodore. Some part of him that absolutely refused to be held down. She hummed, walking closer, squinting at him like she was trying to read fine print. Her eyes shifted, pupils becoming slits. Reptilian. She examined his face first.

"Let's see, let's see," she muttered. "Hmm."

She moved to his chest, head tilting again. "Hmmmmmm."

She walked around him in a slow circle, still muttering. Theodore tried to move again, straining against the invisible weight. Nothing. It felt like trying to push against the concept of gravity itself.

"Oh-ho" she continued, apparently oblivious to his struggles. Or more likely, just not caring. "How is this possible? You not only have that fire, but also [Mana Convergence]? How did you even get that as a skill evolution? That shouldn't be possible for someone at your level, much less a human."

Theodore gritted his teeth. He had massive mana reserves. Stupid amounts, really. And this woman thought she could just hold him down?

No. Fuck that.

He pulled on everything he had, flooding his body with mana in one enormous burst. Like opening a dam all at once. The aura holding him cracked and Theodore wrenched himself free, stumbling back a step.

The woman blinked. "Interesting. Didn't think that would happen."

Then her aura slammed down again, twice as heavy. Theodore's knees nearly buckled.

"Now stay put," she said, like she was talking to a misbehaving puppy. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just curious. Do you know how rare it is to find something genuinely interesting these days? Everything's so predictable after the first few centuries."

Centuries? What the hell was this woman?

Theodore glared at her. She stared back, those impossible black eyes giving away nothing.

Then she sighed. The aura vanished.

"Sure, whatever," she said, sounding bored. "I've seen what I needed to see. Mostly. There's still that one thing..."

Before Theodore could react, she put a hand on his shoulder.

"There," she said, removing her hand. "That'll be helpful. Think of it as a... bookmark. Yes, that works. A bookmark so I can find an interesting page again later. Oh, and as compensation for showing me something interesting, that bookmark has a skill in it, if you can get through the lock, that is. Which I doubt."

She stepped back, smoothing down her dress—when had she been wearing a dress? Theodore couldn't remember. It seemed to shift between dress and robe and shadow every time he tried to focus on it.

"Come meet me when you're in the capital," she said.

Then she vanished.

Time snapped back into motion. Juliana finished turning her page. The noble completed his sip. Theodore looked around wildly. Nothing. No sign she'd ever been there. Nobody reacting like they'd seen anything weird.

What was she? What did she mean, meet her in the capital? How did she even know he was going there? And how the hell was he supposed to find her when she didn't even tell him how? Why would he even find her?

"Are you alright?" Juliana asked, looking up from her book. "You look pale."

Theodore ignored her, dissolving the clothing from his shoulder back into himself. The slime-cloth melted away, revealing skin underneath.

There, on his shoulder, was a rune. Small, about the size of a coin. Black lines forming some kind of rune he didn't recognize. "Fuck's sake," Theodore grumbled, the clothing reforming with a thought.

He absolutely hated that interaction.

***

Okay, I have handled everything I needed to IRL, so I will be uploading 5 times a week again (fingers crossed).

Patreon - /itsnectar