Seika’s eyes opened wide with surprise, before she turned her head to face me. She was stunned. Her mouth opened as if to say something and her left hand pointed at me, but otherwise she didn’t move at all.

“Seika,” I said again, my voice trembling. “It’s me, Adel.”

I moved forward and fell on my knees next to her. I had grown to be taller than her but even so, she threw her arms around my shoulders and hugged me as she did the day she left Nara.

“They told me you were dead,” she whispered. “They told me that you were all dead.”

“I escaped.” She pushed me back and looked at my face. “I survived because mom and dad sacrificed themselves to protect me. To protect all of us.”

She tried to hug me again but this time it was to console me like the big sister she was. I put my hands on her shoulders to let her know that there was no need, but then I saw her eyes tearing up again and I understood.

This was not a move to console her little brother. It was a move to share her grief with her family. I welcomed the embrace and we stayed like that for some time until she spoke again.

“They told me that something terrible happened in the village,” she explained, and she shifted to put her back against the tree trunk once more. “They called me to the archmage’s library and they told me that someone attacked Nara. Adel, they said that someone raided the village and that they found no human remains. Only blood and the bodies of dead angels. What happened?”

So that’s what they thought. Or, at least, that is what they were prepared to tell people. The official story. It did make sense for it to have been a raid, apart from the fact that there were no human bodies left, and if we were lucky no human bodies would ever be found.

I took a deep breath and explained what had happened from the beginning. The liturgy and the angels turning on us. Kai going wild and killing everyone, the survivors and the funeral, the tower and our plan to cross the sea with Leka An’s heir to the throne, my visit to Smyrna and my way here.

“By The Divine,” she said when I finished recounting my journey thus far, “I had no idea. You’ve been through so much. What are you planning to do now?”

“Well, I still need to find Haad and inform him of what happened. Do you know where he is?”

“I don’t,” she said, shaking her head and I thought I glimpsed the sadness return to her eyes. “He visits every once in a while to check on my studies but he never gives a warning before coming or going.”

“I see. Then, if I can’t find him, there’s no option but for me but to return to the tower.”

“Of course there is!” she exclaimed. “You can stay here with me. We’ll be together again, little gargoyle.”

I smiled but didn’t want her to get her hopes up. “I can’t stay with you at the university and I don’t have the coin to live in the city. A manaless can’t find work in the university or even in Sumalen without raising suspicions, and I won’t have you work so that I can have food and a roof.”

“Adel, you don’t have to be alone,” she said. “And finding another boat to cross the Endless Sea will be very difficult for you without help.”

“I don’t need to return to Leskia. I have magical means with which I can teleport directly back to the tower onboard the ship… and I won’t be alone Seika,” I explained. “I have my friends. My people. And I promised them that I would return. I would rather die than break my promises. That’s what father taught us, remember? But you, Seika, you don’t need to be alone anymore. You can come with me.”

“If there’s a way to discover what happened, it’s here, in the university. And I plan to find out who is responsible for the deaths of our people. For what happened to our parents.”

“Then we both know what we need to do,” I said, and smiled.

“We do, my sweet little gargoyle.” She laughed. “Your hair is almost as long as mine!” I felt like a kid again, being teased by his older sister, without a care in the world.

But then Seika became serious again. “Mom and dad would have been so proud of you.”

I felt a knot rising in my throat, but I kept my composure. I had left that part of me behind.

“How soon are you leaving?” she asked.

“Immediately,” I answered. “It’s getting dark and I haven’t slept for almost two days. But I can walk with you back to your dorms.”

The road back felt oddly familiar. Not because I remembered the paths that I had walked some hours ago, but because I was strolling with Seika by my side. All the walks back from the top of the hill after her lessons. All the idle wandering back from the river after a day of swimming during summer.

“How is studying at the university?” I asked nonchalantly, the sky already almost dark above us.

“I can’t really describe it with words, Adel,” she said, and turned her eyes upward. “There are so many extraordinary people. Smart people, powerful people, wise people. From the moment I started my studies, I got the urge to try to become better. I always liked studying and trying new things, but being around like-minded people has been a great accelerator for that.”

For the first time since I found her, I focused and absorbed the information the Dark Energy had on her.

Name : Seika Leonil

Race : Human

Class : Chancellor of Bliss

Level : 36

She had grown so much even in level though this was not always the case with Elysians. Having the advantage of divine mana and the spells that came with it, many people never bothered to raise their levels like other in the Apocosmos. Especially because the class-upgrade quests on level 20 and level 40 were strenuous and dangerous.

Seika however was now getting closer to changing her class for the second time and I bet this made her even stronger. A combination of class-based skills with divine spells was something that would really make her stand out.

“Have you learned any powerful spells?” I asked, and nudged her with my elbow.

“The purpose of my studies is not as shallow as memorizing cool-looking spells,” she replied, in a slight pompous manner. “Though, I did learn how to control fire and how to fly without the need to keep my concentration.”

“That sounds amazing, Seika!” I exclaimed. “At this rate, you’ll become as powerful as Haad.”

“I’m trying my best,” she answered with a smile, though again I thought I recognized a small frown at the mention of our eldest brother’s name.

“What else have you studied?” I asked. “Come on, spare no details. It’s not as though I’m going to get the chance to come here now!” I smiled sadly and she reached out her arm for mine.

We spent the rest of our walk back with her describing all of her classes and experiments, her newfound love for potions and her advancements in offensive spells. When she mentioned a specific class on monsters of the Apocosmos, she asked about Kard and told me he’d be delighted to know that she now agreed that dragons were, in fact, as spectacular as he’d always preached.

She talked about many more topics of her studies, but I got the feeling that the one she was most interested in was the study of The Divine and Its nature. This, she said, was one of the most cutting-edge topics of research, particularly because of its dangerous propositions, since a lot of assumptions had been made based on the theories of polytheism that the manaless believed in.

According to some, The Divine was nothing but a deity that was contracting Its power to mortals as a loan. This way, once the mortals passed from the world, the mana would return to It, along with all of the experience they had gained in their lives, making It receive XP passively.

I was happy to see that Seika was really blossoming in this place.

“Take this,” I said, once we reached some hundred feet from the building where she lived, and I handed her the earring I was wearing. “If anything happens, or you feel like talking to somebody, use it.”

“Stay safe, little brother.”

“You too, Seika,” I replied, and let her give me her biggest hug yet.

I walked to the exit of the university while she was still watching me. I waved at her and she waved back as I continued walking. The next time I glanced back at her, she had turned her back and was walking into her building.

The dark was thickening, and I could see people coming out of the main university building and walking toward their dorms. I kept moving in the direction of the exit hoping to find a dark spot where I would be able to use the hourglass and teleport myself back to the tower.

Once I was near the exit of the university, just before crossing the statues, I turned back for a final look, knowing that this may be the first and last time I visited it. So many lights and so many people living with mana and studying it.

As I took in the view, I noticed that one of the figures in the distance seemed like it was moving in my direction. I immediately thought that Seika had changed her mind about coming with me, but soon realized that the figure was much larger than Seika. So, I turned back and exited, the university grounds now appearing as nothing more than a dark, empty field.