Mash held a hand to the sky and partially transformed into Priscilla. Her knew, much darker scales grew over his hand. His affinities improved enough that he could actually feel a change within in his energy. It was easy to form a pathway for it, and he built power in his hand. Lightning thrummed from his hand, making the whole arm look like it was vibrating. The air around his hand seemed to quiver from the power, and small bolts danced between his fingers. Mash turned to look at the babbling old man. The man was a lot quieter now and was just looking at his hand. When Mash noticed the old man’s eyes turn towards his own, he put his best grin on.

Before the old man could even get a word out, Mash fired the lightning into the sky. He wasn’t trying to make it maintain a singular shape, he wanted it to spread and paint the sky with light. It was the middle of the day, but he wanted his attack to outshine the very sun. The lightning broke apart as soon as it left its hand, spreading into hundreds of branches as it painted the sky. It almost looked like the top of a tree. An uncountable number of branches covered the air, the light making the whole world flash. An instant later came the ear-shattering thunder, and Mash noticed several people clutch their ears in pain. The shaking of the ground around them was pretty rough too, and one kid even stumbled to the ground.

Mash cut off his magic at that moment, realizing that he may have taken things too far. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. If anything, he was trying to do the opposite, but stopping the old man from starting a fight he couldn’t win. Mash really should’ve practiced a little with Priscilla before doing something like that. The display had been more than he had expected, far surpassing the image he had conjured for it. At the very least, it seemed to have had the intended effect on the old man. He looked horrified, and his mouth was firmly shut. Every single person that had been looking to join the man had frozen.

“That may have been a little excessive. Sorry.”

Mash tried to apologize to the people, but none of them even flinched at his words. Their lack of reaction made him wonder if they had even heard it. He was about to try saying something else but was saved from making a fool of himself. He felt something changing within his domain and was glad to see Daniel and Jeral appear. However, they had swords drawn, obviously looking for an enemy. Mash just waved to them awkwardly.

“Hey. I, uh, might have done something stupid…”

He didn’t speak with much confidence, unsure of what to say, considering what he had just done. His voice trailed off as he tried his best to come up with something.

“Mash and I assume those three are to be your allies. Welcome back to the sect, we have much to discuss though this location looks to be a poor place for it.”

Jeral spoke smoothly, and he looked perfectly calm. Almost to the point that Mash would completely believe it. However, the way he kept his sword at hand told Mash that he was worried. Even with Daniel’s skill to judge people, Jerel was maintaining his vigilance. He turned and spoke to the old man, addressing him and the crowd that had grown.

“Boril, please take everyone present and get them back on task. These people are our allies and are quite powerful.”

The old man nodded, though he still seemed a little confused by the situation. Although that empty look in his eyes could have just as easily been from shock. Mash really hoped he hadn’t done any serious damage to anyone. While he wanted to put on a small show, he didn’t want to go overboard. Maybe, Luke could heal them later if there was any damage. Jeral turned back to face Mash and his friends, before speaking again.

“Follow me, we can talk in my home.”

With that, he took to the air. Mash could see that he was manipulating the air around him to project himself upwards. Mash briefly considered trying to replicate that but decided to just form some wings instead. There was no reason to try anything fancy at the moment. The others followed him quickly, even Daniel managing to join them.

The flight was mostly a quiet one, but Luke did come around to lecture Mash. They flew beside one another, slowing slightly to let Daniel and Jeral get out of earshot. Then Luke spoke.

“You need to be more careful. I know that you want to use your new powers, but you can’t just do things like that. What if something had been flying overhead? What if you caused something else to happen? Just stop and think for a second, and if you don’t think you can do that, at least send one of us a message beforehand.”

Hearing Luke speak with an air of superiority was confusing. Mash would’ve expected this conversation from Red. Luke had never been one to confront someone so openly, and Mash couldn’t help but wonder how much his class had influenced him. Even Jill seemed a little more serious now. When they had been sparring, he saw how much ferocious she was in a fight. It was like she had gained this callousness, the kind he only ever saw in retired knights. Their classes were also the strongest of the bunch. Did the strength of a class change how much it affected a person’s mind?

Mash kept his mouth shut on the matter, and just nodded along to Luke’s words. This wasn’t the time or place to have a conversation about that. Mash would bring it up later and try to help them if he could. A Touch of Nothingness did mention that it would help his allies as well. Maybe he could help them break free of their classes' influence. Both Jill and Luke would probably benefit from it. It was a passive aura, but he still didn’t know how exactly it functioned. His domain was a type of aura too, and the had full control over what he focused on with it.

By the time Luke finished chastising Mash, they had arrived at Jeral’s home. It wasn’t really a home, but a room within the tower that Mash had been in before. it seemed like Jeral’s house was actually several floors of the tower, but he only ever used a single room. Apparently, he simply didn’t care that much about filling the rooms with pointless items. Mash couldn’t understand that. If he had a big house, he would stuff it with things from his adventures.

Jeral led him to one of the rooms. It was a large empty space with a wooden table placed in the center of the room. Pillows were laid out around the table, and Jeral walked over and sat down at one of the pillows. Daniel did the same, and also pulled out a teapot and some glasses from his storage device.

Mash followed suit, sitting on one of the pillows and matching Jarel’s position. He sat with his legs crossed in front of him. It felt a little awkward, but Mash managed to do it easily enough. Jill tried replicating the position too, though she crossed her legs opposite to what Jeral had done. Red didn’t try to sit like them and just kneeled formally, her back stiff. Luke sat casually, sitting with his legs spread out. The gesture surprised Mash more than his words had. Did his class really affect him that much? Or was it just the time he had spent alone? Luke had said he had a lot of time to think while in the trial.

“Well, let me start by explaining our situation. There is some urgent information which we need to discuss.”

Jeral started the conversation. He didn’t seem to care at all about Mash’s display, which probably meant that the situation was pretty serious. They all listened patiently as Jeral went over a lot. He spoke like someone familiar with being a leader. His words carried the severity of their situation quite well. Mash was surprised by a few things.

The invasion was underway, but nothing too dangerous had revealed itself yet. The other side seemed to have a degree of intelligence, and they had been mainly sending scouts through the portals. Most of the virtuous sects had allied and sent some masters to watch the portals. They made sure to either capture or kill any scouts.

Mash was a little stunned at the concept. Their world’s strongest people were working together and were doing the majority of the work themselves. He didn’t think that would ever happen back home. No, his leaders would definitely leave the brunt of the work to adventurers, only using knights if it was necessary. None of the strongest would even move unless something that could challenge them revealed itself. This world was much more unified than Mash had initially believed. Even the sects that weren’t part of the alliance, had taken similar steps near their own homes.

Jeral’s request was the most interesting thing though. He knew that Mash had a method for speaking in any language, and he wanted him to go and investigate the other side. To try and start some peaceful negotiations. It was a good idea, but Mash wasn’t sure he was the best person for the job. None of the others looked too keen on the plan either. It just wasn’t something they were familiar with. They were fighters above anything else, and that wouldn’t change no matter what. However, they agreed to Jeral’s plan. Though they wouldn’t try to form peace on their own. instead, they would try and set up a meeting between Jeral and some leader from the other world. There were plenty of things they still needed to discuss, but the conversation was cut short as Jeral was needed for something.

However, none of them felt particularly bad about that fact. Now that they were just with Daniel, they might be able to get a closer look at their paths. Daniel had suggested that very idea the last time. Jill was the one to bring up the subject, and she spoke as soon as Jeral left.

“Mash mentioned you guys had something called paths? Could we learn them?”

The eagerness in Jill’s voice was matched by the expression on all of their faces. Jill had been driven since her trial, and Mash could understand why. The rest of them were just excited by the opportunity. Mash for one just wanted to learn about what was available. He just liked learning about new worlds. Power was great, but he was just curious. It was something that he had gained in pursuit of his freedom. It just felt right. He wanted to be able to share that with his friends too.

“You may, however, it is not something that just anyone can learn. We will have to see if we have something compatible with your strange powers. I do not know what energies are within your body. Some paths may even be harmful, but we can certainly check the archives.”

Daniel spoke a little formally, but Mash was just glad to speak to someone who was just genuinely nice. Mash couldn’t help but feel like everyone he met was out to get him. going back to Krall had brought up some unwanted memories. Honestly, he still felt a little disappointed when he thought of it. He couldn’t help but realize how little Red had shared prior to it, and all of the secrets she had been keeping. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand why she had done it, it was just that it didn’t make him feel any better. He stopped his thoughts from drifting back to Krall. Instead, he followed Daniel as he led them through the tower.