Chapter 48 — An Afternoon With A Prince (Part II)

Ria thought the carriage ride would have left her a nervous wreck, but Phaelys didn’t seem romantically interested in her at all! He didn’t look at her chest once. He didn’t even attempt to touch her hair or face. Not once did he stare dreamily into her eyes!

Rather, the eyes he made at her once they were within the privacy of the carriage seemed more like a boy meeting his hero! Ria couldn’t read him as well as she could Hulle, but she suspected he had spent the whole ride barely hiding his excitement as he queried her about what it was like to be a frontier adventurer, her experiences with the Siege of Vorshan’s Hills, and her journey through the Wilds.

Was he a ‘caged bird’ pining for adventures of his own or something?! Ugh! What was all her worry for?! And what was this growing sense of irritation she was feeling? At least with Leon, she could get him to look at her with appreciative eyes!

Ria held back a huff that would’ve been rude, instead keeping a (hopefully) pleasant enough smile in place as she answered his eager questions.

Even with Ophesia’s warning not to have unreasonable expectations, Ria had let her childish dreams of becoming a storybook princess get ahead of her. That was the only conclusion to be reached.

Still, even if it was a defeat, all was not lost.

Phaelys clearly was interested in her, even if it wasn’t the kind of ‘interest’ Ria would have preferred. A storybook romance with a prince of a fallen royal family would have been fun and exciting, but she could work with this. Just becoming friends with the Vesali boy would help tremendously with her future goals.

Besides, to be fair, she was Crysellia’s youngest ever honored war hero. Or so the High Council had said when conferring the honor. And seeing Lady Janacythe’s frown now including Phaelys as well counted as a victory of sorts. Maybe?

And somehow, she kept from melting her dress, the flowers, or anything else, even though Phaelys was inconsiderately demanding she relive things she’d rather not. Partly, the result was because she was learning ways to talk about the events of her past without entering too deeply into the memories, and partly it was due to the soul cultivation—but in a way different than she expected and maybe more worrisome.

The revelation was that the soul cultivation wasn’t helping her process her traumas or lessening her anger, or regret, or fear, or making her less likely to experience those feelings, and thus far, the negative emotions didn’t go away easier or magically disappear when she meditated. Rather, the current stage of the technique was making it so she could simply contain more before becoming unstable and acting out. It was as if she had gained a reservoir to store her negative feelings in—a reservoir that she was growing with each session, adding depth to her soul.

“Ria?”

She looked up to see the amethyst-eyed boy curiously awaiting her response.

Ah-! She must’ve trailed off in her answer at some point!

“Sorry. I had an insight into a project I’m working on for Researcher Shadwich.”

“Something related to combat magic?”

Ria shook her head and made an apologetic gesture. “My Order deals with restricted magics, so I can’t really talk about it…”

“Oh.”

“Isn’t Soulkeeper Renard advising on your project?” Orlisi volunteered in her now familiar troublemaking voice. “I bet it’s something like binding the spirits of the invaders to golems for interrogation and slave labor or ripping the souls out of her enemies with her glowing eyes of doom.”

Ria could only stare at the elf, and she wasn’t the only one staring.

“What?” Orlisi made a face of elfin innocence. “You’re not denying it involves spirit magic, are you?”

Glancing back worriedly at Phaelys and his chaperone, Ria hedged, “No, but… it’s nothing like that. And some of the techniques involve other elements such as air or water…”

“Advanced multi-element magic?” Phaelys asked, surprise showing in his voice. “As a first-year?”

“Yes?” Was that unusual? Now that she thought about it, even with her self-made spells, they were all single-element. Were the techniques in Soulkeeper Renard’s manual secret Soulkeeper techniques?

Lady Janacythe looked impressed for the first time of the afternoon.

Thankfully, the carriage was pulling up to the fountain in front of Lady Asara’s manor; she wouldn’t have to answer any further questions.

Unsurprisingly, Keira and the others had arrived ahead of them. Ria had realized early on that the Vesali driver had taken a scenic route past the old castle and estates flying Vesali colors. Maybe to give them more time to converse in private?

What was surprising was the sight of Aldri escorting Keira into the garden.

“Orlisi, didn’t Aldri come with you as your escort?” Ria worriedly blurted.

At Lady Janacythe’s eyebrow raise, Ria realized her breach of etiquette. Using titles all the time was so tedious!

Orlisi didn’t seem to mind, placing a finger to her chin and pretending to think. “Hmm. I guess that’s not wrong. You could say that Aldri escorted me to Keira’s place. Yep.”

Ria hooded her eyes at the elf.

“Ria? Shall we?” Phaelys prompted as he climbed down from the carriage and turned back expectantly. “I’m assuming we don’t want to keep Lady Asara waiting.”

“Ah, right!” Ria hopped up and hurried down the steps to Phaely’s waiting hand only to receive a grimace from the boy, snickers from Orlisi, and a sigh from Lady Janacythe.

“We have much work to do with your etiquette, Ria of Shadewood,” the Vesali woman confirmed. “How you are being sponsored by City Administrator Asara…”

Ria cringed and gave a nervous titter. “I often wonder that myself…”

“My family could provide an etiquette tutor to assist you,” Phaelys suggested as he guided Ria’s hand to the crook of his elbow.

“Ah, thank you, but I couldn’t impose any more than I already have.” Ria looked down at the paving stones, careful of her step as Phaelys followed a servant assigned to lead the guests to the event location. “And I already promised Keira… um, Young Lady Keira, that I would make use of the lessons at Whitestone Hall, so…”

“There’s only a week until the Spring Moon Festival,” Phaelys cautioned. “Will you really be fine?”

“Maybe Lady Asara has made arrangements?” Ria offered as more of a hope than a counter.

He accepted her supposition with a nod. “One would expect so.”

The path they followed through the garden’s hedge maze was different from the prior visit, and when couples ahead of them passed through a rose-wrapped archway into a large open area, a servant loudly announced the addendee’s names and titles.

“Young Lady Keira of House Vorshan, Apprentice of the Golden Dawn, Champion of Vesali City’s Divinesday Newcomers Tournament, and her escort, Sir Mage Aldri of House Touften, Initiate of the First Circle!”

Ah-! Keira really had asked Aldri to be her escort! How and when did that happen? As Ria watched the pair unsure whether to be horrified or not, Aldri leaned down and whispered something into Keira’s ear causing her to raise her hand to her mouth to hide her laughter.

Ria could only blink at the scene. Did they actually get along well...?

Before she could think about it too much, her and Phaelys’ turn had arrived, and she sucked in her stomach to improve her posture and mustered her confidence as they walked through the archway into the open area where the party was taking place. More people were gathered than she had expected, and the sight of the finery-clad couples present made for an intimidating air—a new battlefield that she was poorly prepared to face.

“Honorary Lieutenant Ria of Shadewood, Apprentice of the First Circle, Hero of the Siege of Vorshan’s Hills, Champion of Vesali City’s Divinesday Newcomer’s Tournament, and her escort, Sir Mage Phaelys of House Vesali, Initiate of the Flowing Crystal, Four-time Champion of Vesali City’s Divinesday Newcomers Tournament!”

Four-time champion?

Ria looked over at Phaelys in surprise, and he raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t know?”

He might have made a wry smile at her head shake, but more important was whether Orlisi would get allowed in, and she glanced back to see their attendants pass through the arch without issue.

“Master Mage Janacythe of House Vesali, Elder of the Flowing Crystal, wife of Master Mage Ignus of House Harwen, Mistress of Harwen Estate!”

“Sir Mage Orlisi of House Yurren, Disciple of The Nurturing Tempest, Initiate of the First Circle, Four-time Champion of Vesali City’s Divinesday Newcomer’s Tournament!”

Ria couldn’t help raising her brows. Orlisi was also a four-time Newcomer Tournament Champion!

“Seems you were right, Ria,” Phaelys quietly commented in her direction, drawing her attention back to him, and motioned to where the pairs of guests were taking turns approaching and greeting Lady Asara, who was standing near a fountain beside a beautiful man with the blond locks and ice blue eyes characteristic of House Novidus. “Lady Asara has set this event up for the participants to practice for the Festival’s evening greet and dance.”

Greet?

Ah! As the person invited, she would have to lead the greeting for her group!

Ria tried to recall the name of Lady Asara’s husband, and the writing from the genealogy book just came back as a blur. What if the Novidus man wasn’t her husband? She could cast a Whispering Wind spell and listen for the name, but if she got caught, it would seem as if she were listening in on their conversation! Ugh.

“Uhm, Phaelys?” Ria leaned close to her partner. “The Novidus man there…”

“Lord Jevaran?” Phaelys whispered back as a question. “Is there something wrong?”

Relief replaced Ria’s growing panic, and she shook her head. “Thanks.”

Phaelys looked confused for a moment then chuckled. “You know at least that he’s Lady Asara’s husband and the lord of the estate we are currently visiting, right?”

“I do now.” A self-deprecating half-smile showed on her face before she groaned, “Ah, that would’ve been so terrible if he had been her brother or uncle or something!”

Phaelys made a sound like a snort and looked away while covering his mouth with a fist.

While her partner was distracted, Ria glanced around to identify the other guests.

Ahead of Keira and Aldri, she spotted Aeri and Arthur, and Iselyn and Faris waiting their turns. She didn’t recognize the sandy-haired girl and her escort currently greeting the hosts.

Of the groups that were already mingling, Ria recognized Iori and Rienne but not their partners.

There was one final pair, and goosebumps ran their way up her back at the sight—a certain glasses-wearing blond third-year accompanied by a familiar third-year girl who looked anything but boyish in her sleek curve-hugging gown that gave the impression of shadows-made-fabric. What were Hulle and Desi doing here? A surge of irritation had to be suppressed at the thought of the pair having had a relationship all along. If Hulle had teased her even so...!

Keira had warned her about Hulle’s bad reputation! Why had she been so naive?

“I had heard that you have some involvement with Hulle Novidus,” Phaelys spoke up. “You should be careful around him.”

Hulle waved amiably in her direction, and Ria huffed out a breath. “He’s the one sponsoring me for entry into my Order. Iselyn, too.”

“Oh… and I guess changing to the Soulkeepers wouldn’t work?” Phaelys suggested.

Ria shook her head. “I’m working toward a shamanic magic license. The Sages are the best fit, and I want to be in Luventi’s Order. And I like my Grand Games teammates. Besides, if I’m fair about it, Hulle has helped me out a lot.”

“Hmm…” Phaelys hummed in thought. “Helping you is not without benefit for him. If you do well and bring prestige to the Novidus, it could improve his position with his House.”

Phaelys’ assertion made sense. Even if Hulle’s focus was currently on the Grand Games, that was likely a means to an end.

The sandy-haired girl finished her greetings, and she and her escort went over to chat happily with Iori. Iori motioned in Ria’s direction as part of their conversation, and Ria had to respond with a similar discreet wave as they smiled and waved at her. The sandy-haired girl seemed to blush and hide her face for some reason which made the boys accompanying them laugh.

Being talked about without knowing what was said was unnerving, but Ria had little reason to suspect Iori would say anything harmful or embarrassing. Rather, Ria’s impression was that the girl and her sister would be reliable upperclassmen to turn to should the need arise.

“Sir Mage Phaelys, what a surprise seeing you here,” Aldri greeted dryly as she and Phaelys caught up to the queue.

To Ria’s surprise, Phaelys’ mouth quirked up with amusement. “Admittedly, attending a private Novidus afternoon tea with Novidus-sponsored debut candidates wasn’t something I would have foreseen but a week ago.”

Ria tilted her head. Was the joke that they just saw each other at Keira’s estate?

“How are you holding up, Ria?” Keira asked, her eyes showing concern.

After a titter of nervous laughter, Ria gave her friend a thumbs-up—only to immediately regret the common gesture at Keira’s grimace and chuckles from Aldri and Orlisi behind her. Phaelys sighed, and a furtive glance back at Lady Janacythe showed the woman rubbing her forehead.

“Well, at least you’re in good spirits,” Keira assisted, taking pity on her. “Do you remember your lessons on how to do a formal greeting?”

“I’m not entirely confident I’ve got it right…” Ria sheepishly admitted. She definitely wasn't going to refuse Keira’s opportunity at a refresher, and by the time she had grudging acceptance of the others, it was Keira’s and Aldri’s turn with Faris’ parents.

The area around where Lady Asara and Lord Jevaran were receiving their guests seemed to deaden sound for privacy. Ria could see their lips moving, but only indecipherable murmurs reached her ears.

Soon enough, Keira was done, and her turn had arrived. As she drew near Lady Asara and Lord Jevaran together with Phaelys, Lady Janacythe, and Orlisi, Ria felt herself pass through a barrier and the outside sounds faded a bit into the background. It really did seem like some kind of sound dampening spell, but even as curious as she was, Ria didn’t dare send out her senses to investigate.

Instead, she took a deep breath, put on a smile, and curtseyed. “Greetings Lord Jevaran and Lady Asara. I thank you for inviting me and for sponsoring my debut. I come accompanied by Sir Mage Phaelys, and our chaperones, Lady Janacythe, and Lady Orlisi.”

Lord Jevaran cordially smiled. “We are pleased that you have chosen to trust House Novidus with your debut. My wife, my son, and my nephew have spoken highly of you, and meeting you in person has reinforced my high hopes for your future prospects.”

Such kind words full of expectations caused her to duck her head as her cheeks reddened.

“Sir Mage Phaelys, I was shocked to learn that you would be attending my wife’s humble gathering, and particularly at the side of my niece's friend from the frontier.” Lord Jevaran laughed and added, “Pleasantly shocked, of course. I can only hope that this will be the first of many such events and that you, your siblings, and cousins would feel welcome to be our guests again in the future.”

Phaelys lowered his head with a shallow bow. “I thank you for receiving me and for the opportunity to socialize with interesting peers outside the usual circles provided for me.”

Lord Jevaran looked approving of Phaelys’ response as he turned to their group’s last member. “Lady Janacythe, that main House has sent you to watch over young Sir Phaelys here shows that the Vesali, like the Novidus, believe that our youths’ are an investment that determines our future.”

A wry smile formed on Lady Janacythe’s face. “Indeed.”

“And Lady Orlisi of House Furren, it’s a rare treat to have a guest from such a respected elven House. Ria is fortunate to have such a friend. I can only hope that you’ll continue to assist her as she adjusts to living and studying here in Crysellia. Please enjoy our hospitality.”

Orlisi gave a fancy curtsy involving a swishing of her gossamer-sleeved dress… robe? Ria still wasn’t sure how to describe the garment—something akin to a long-tailed vest layered over a fluttery hip-hugging pastel underrobe. Pretty and stylish, that she was sure of.

“Thank you for your consideration and for receiving me on such short notice. This is quite the opportunity and experience for me as well,” Orlisi responded happily.

Lady Asara nodded pleasantly to Orlisi and smiled a genuine smile at Phaelys and Lady Janacythe, making an inclusive gesture with her arm. “Sir Mage Phaelys and Lady Janacythe, what a pleasure to have you at one of my events! It’s true that the Novidus and Vesali haven’t always shared the most cordial of relations, but that doesn’t mean we don’t share common interests. Maybe young Ria here can be the bridge we need?”

Ria felt her stomach go a little queasy at the thought of having such responsibility. That improving the relationship between the two most powerful of the Greater Houses would rest on her?! But… if she could leverage it, she couldn’t ask for a better position from which to plot Revant’s downfall.

Lady Janacythe moved beside Phaelys and spoke to address the matters of House diplomacy, “The elders do appear to be giving the possibility more thought than I had expected. At the moment she is a raw gem, freshly unearthed and unpolished, but her potential may well be enough to make her a rare find indeed. I must admit, I’m quite curious to know her lineage.”

“More than rare—if what my nephew has reported is accurate,” Lord Jevaran asserted and turned back to Ria. “How are you finding the Academy, young champion? Are the resources provided sufficient to finish awakening your bloodline?”

Ria gulped at the lord’s question. His demeanor was conversational and friendly, but she couldn’t help the feeling that a web was being woven to guide her fate in directions advantageous to their houses. “Sir Mage Hulle, Researcher Shadwich, and Soulkeeper Renard have been helping me. I have had some breakthroughs this past week and can now use my element.”

“I can confirm that Ria is making progress,” Phaelys added. “Her aura has become much less muddled, denser and more cohesive, in the time since our first meeting.”

“She couldn’t even use her element?” Lady Janacythe questioned in surprise. “She’s a wild-talent. How is that possible?”

“It’s not altogether unusual for young mages in the frontiers with rare affinities such as spirit or astral to have incomplete awakenings or simply be unaware of their true affinity and progress as an unaligned mage similar to those whose bloodlines don’t provide affinities. In fact, a new student this year, sponsored by House Vestra, was recently discovered to have astral affinity for example.”

After his lengthy analysis in Ria’s defense, Lord Javaran made a show of considering for a moment as if searching through his memories before continuing, “And if I recall correctly, there have been a handful of cases where the element required more energy to manifest than the young apprentice could sustain. So, it’s not unprecedented for a wild-talent to initially not be able to use their element.”

Not missing Lord Jevaran’s omission, Lady Janacythe bluntly asked, “What is her element?”

“Rather, how about she demonstrates it?” Lord Jevaran countered, a challenging smile forming on his face. “I’m curious to feel the full strength and character of her aura.”

Ria’s heart clenched, and she looked to Lady Asara for help only to find the woman also smiling like a tiger spotting a delicious opportunity, clearly thrilled at the idea.

Surely, if she accidentally forced such high-ranking nobles to their knees that would be a terrible thing!

Blanching at the thought, Ria desperately tried to head off this development, “Um, Lord Jevaran... are you sure that’s okay? At the library, four third-year members of Oduron’s Oath working together were unable to withstand its weight…”

Her attempt was met by wide-eyed stares from Phaelys and Lady Janacythe and sharp eyes from Lord Jevaran.

His voice carrying an edge of authority and power, Lord Jevaran rebuked her, “You think too highly of yourself to worry about us, young apprentice—that a mere first-year student could assume her aura would pressure master mages of the Novidus, Vesali, and Vorshan families. I’m sure even Sir Mage Phaelys is curious to witness your element firsthand.”

“I am, Lord Jevaran,” Phaelys eagerly confirmed.

Ria’s hands and knees were trembling with nervousness at having upset the lord. She glanced again at Lady Asara and was met with an encouraging nod.

Doing everything she could to keep her dismay off her face, Ria took a deep breath to buy time and keep her voice from shaking. “Okay, I’ll do my best then.”

She summoned her orichalcum bracer from Jeni’s pouch and formed the glyph to connect to her element followed by the rest of the domain spell. Lord Jevaran’s rebuke was still bothering her, irritating her. She was just trying to be polite! A part of her wanted to slam down the domain with as much force as possible just to show him up… but that would be stupid and childish.

What was Lord Jevaran after here? If it was just to learn more about her element, he could have asked her to stay after the party. No, this test was likely set up as a way for her to impress Phaelys and Lady Janacythe. And lashing out childishly wouldn’t impress them.

Taking another deep breath and closing her eyes, she slowly filled the spell matrix with orichalcum energy, defining and limiting the range to not affect any of the other guests and giving time for those within range to adjust as she ramped up the strength.

What Phaelys had said about the muddled quality of her aura was important, and the key to impressing them would most likely be by further clarifying her aura, focusing it on the concepts that defined her element.

Fire was how she first connected to her element. But Ria had no desire to melt her favorite dress in the middle of a formal event, and mostly no desire to melt anyone else… or their formalwear. But fire didn’t have to burn—Zena’s embers had shown that. She needed to explore for alternate properties before further strengthening that aspect.

The fire in her element represented its molten forging and refining in the burning blood of the deep earth. Or that was her assumption and inspiration at the library. She still didn’t understand why that wouldn’t be more about heat than fire? Maybe the truth wasn’t so simple?

Fortunately, she had an orichalcum artifact in her hand to explore, one that was becoming more a part of her with each day she wore it. The fire aspect in her orichalcum ‘bracelet’ was indeed strong after having graced the wrist of an ember spirit, but the lingering impression wasn’t of burning hells, or sulfurous volcanoes, or raging forest infernos, but rather of enduring will and resilience, an undying and steadfast blaze that traced its birth back to Khalgar’s fiery forging of the world.

How such an everburning ember could be a source of stamina was something that was understandable. And yet, the orichalcum’s fire nature was more. Much more. An unbreakable strength, unyielding to any force of nature, unyielding even to magic. A strength not limited in purpose and without rigidness of thought or brittleness of body.

With each observation she identified the corresponding representation in the glyph and felt her understanding grow clearer. Satisfied with her progress on the fire aspect, she continued to orichalcum’s connection to earth energy and the shared properties.

Earth was easy. It was pressure and solidity, not just physical but magical. But thinking back to the angular orichalcum tree of her vision, was it also crystal? A gem element like Phaelys’? It was! Though different… somehow.

Where the fire trait was unflagging endurance, the corresponding earth trait was its indestructibility, an unblemishable hardness capable of withstanding the fiercest assault and able to form edges sharp enough to cut legendary magical metals—even mithril and adamantium if the book she borrowed was to be believed! Ah-! She’d better not emphasize that one too much. Slicing up her dress wouldn’t be much better than burning it to ash!

Better to focus on orichalcum’s weight being more than gold. In fact, she had become more certain that the weight of orichalcum wasn’t just from its physical denseness but also its magical denseness. But even that wasn’t the extent. There was still the almost ‘spiritual’ weight that came with its relationship to time.

Suddenly, she had an insight about how her orichalcum magic was able to suppress other magic. It was catching the energy in the grip of time’s passage, slowing all energy under her domain until it stilled under the inexorable weight of ages!

That left shadow. Her first instinct was that orichalcum’s shadow aspect was simply because metals form and spend most of their existence underground, but a fire aspect wouldn’t readily lend itself to darkness so simply. The metal’s ability to absorb light the closer it became to its true state was the more likely reason, and that felt intuitively right.

And not just light, but all energy.

Beyond the aspects shared with other elements, there was still more she could do. During her inspired state in the library, she had defined structures within the twisted space of the flows of the glyph itself.

Spaces in between… was that spatial magic like Aldri’s? Did that mean she could expand the restrictive properties of her magic into the non-space between dimensions and stop teleportation and summoning magic too?

Could she actually connect distant places with her orichalcum magic? She didn’t want to accidentally connect to the dragon again and risk it, but maybe if she could listen deeper to the orichalcum in her body, she could reproduce those internal structures?

But where to start? The obvious place was her eyes and hair that had changed with the partial awakening of her bloodline… there certainly was a resonance with the domain she was creating… not unlike the resonance with the orichalcum bracer.

Was awakening her bloodline turning her body to orichalcum?

She searched for other resonances and found them. Her bones, her muscles, her heart, her lungs, her skin, and organs, even her brain.

But there was a large one that wasn’t part of any physical structure and felt almost like an echo. Ria sucked in a breath. She knew what that was! A mystic gate!

She had already discovered her energy gate nestled between her lungs and near her heart and it was an important part of how she stored and refined energy. Her soul gate seated in the part of her brain that was supposed to bridge animalistic impulses and rational thought she discovered soon after forming her bond with Ranger.

Assuming her understanding of Renard’s manuals and the theoretical overviews in Luventi’s beginner text was correct, this gate placed behind her stomach and close to her spine was most likely her ‘body’ gate, a gate formed by the inherent spiritual and magical nature of her physical body.

Ria didn’t hesitate and cycled energy through the new gate until it solidified, causing a sudden boost to her ability to manipulate the orichalcum energy and adding new properties to her domain—hints of primal things and a grandness that commanded respect. The feel of it reminded her of something...

Ah! There was still one more aspect she had forgotten about! Her bloodline also had a strong divine and spirit aspect. If that was part of the orichalcum element, was her ability to restrain limited to energy and magic? Could she restrain elemental spirits? Souls? Welkin’s spirit magic had calmed her mind with but a word. Could she do something similar to restrict thought? Pressure the soul itself?

“Ria, that is sufficient.”

The terse words from the male voice cut through her single-minded quest and brought her back to reality, waves of fatigue greeting her.

As conscious realization returned and brought with it clarity on the extent she had expended her energy reserves, Ria froze, worried that she had made another terrible mistake. To her immediate relief, Lord Jevaran was still standing, winded but sufficiently calm, clothes intact, and didn’t appear injured even though his hand was trembling almost unnoticeably.

The faint smell of singed fabric did make her briefly confirm her own clothes were also thankfully still fine before quickly glancing around and confirming that no one else was injured either.

Lady Asara had both her eyebrows almost disappearing into her scalp, and Lady Janacythe’s face was pale. Phaelys was gazing at her with awe-filled eyes while climbing back to his feet from his hands and knees. Orlisi gave her a reassuring(?) grimace.

Before she could decide what that impressed gaze from her escort meant, Ria realized the sound muffling barrier was gone, and the only sound was that of the breeze ruffling the leaves as everyone stared in her direction.

Suddenly a clap struck her back, almost causing her to pitch forward.

“Congratulations!” Orlisi cheerfully announced. “You unlocked your body gate!”

Ria stared at the elf girl uncomprehending. The gate was indeed there, and she was pretty sure that it was the body gate, but why did Orlisi know? And why was the girl so happy about it?

Or rather, why were expressions of realization followed by serious faces spreading among the three adults...

“You don’t get it, huh?” Orlisi inquired with a triumphantly smug smirk. “Being able to use the natural truths from your body gate to improve the quality of your aura means that you have a true bloodline—one that can be passed on to your descendents.”

It was Ria’s turn to stare. No, no. That still didn’t mean her ridiculous affinity was thanks to a bloodline that came from her parents. If Hemse gave it to her through a blessing as Atresia seemed to be suggesting could be a possibility, as a god of husbanding and fertility, bestowing it to be inheritable would be a natural expression of his will.

“Lord Jevaran, Lady Asara. We need to talk. Privately,” Lady Janacythe quietly demanded.

Lord Jevaran solemnly nodded. “Yes. Yes, I believe we do.”

“You three can go ahead. We’ll talk more later,” Lady Asara kindly dismissed Ria’s group, minus Lady Janacythe.

Ria was still distracted by the possible ramifications of having a ‘true bloodline’ and trying to untangle the strangeness related to her recently unlocked body gate when Phaelys lightly gripped her forearm and steered her toward where the other guests were gathered in loose groupings near the refreshments table. Behind them, she felt the privacy magic restored so the adults could talk.

Setting aside the bloodline matters and refocusing on her present circumstances, there was an odd difference in effect that her domain had on her two companions. Though relieved that Phaelys hadn’t taken offense and didn’t seem upset, Ria wondered why, since both were second-years… “Orlisi, how’d you manage to stay standing?”

“It has to do with the strength of one’s Path,” the elf girl proudly stated, but Ria caught sight of a drop of sweat trailing down the back of the girl’s jaw to drip onto her dress. “Though it was a close thing, honestly! When you caused all active magic in the domain to turn sluggish and stop, I almost pissed myself. Even controlling my own energy was like moving fate itself! The way you kept increasing the strength and refining the clarity of your element—I was getting goosebumps and couldn’t help thinking you might just turn to orichalcum or ascend as an elemental spirit right in front of us!”

Wha-? Was that a real risk?!

A quick glance in Phaelys’ direction caught him looking away, slowly shaking his head with a wry expression.

She glanced back to Orlisi, and the girl gave her a diabolical grin. “I’m going to talk to Welkin! We’ll be working on your Path at the next Grand Games team meeting!”