Amanda’s mother gazed at Alexis as I struggled. Invisible forces gripped my wrists and legs in a vice, restraining me. She didn’t move to free her son from the stone block I’d crushed him under. Instead, she stared down at him and then towards me.

Her eyes were cold.

“We haven’t been formally introduced, have we?”

Amanda’s mother was calm, her features looking the same as the day of Unice’s celebrations. She tapped the top of my inventory box with a smile on her face.

“My name is Oubliez.”

A feeling of recognition sparked at the back of my mind.

I had heard that name before.

She took a step forward, her invisible restraints tightening across my wrists and the thought was chased out of my mind. I could feel the grip shifting with every breath I took, waiting to strike.

My mana sense could see through some illusions, but it hadn’t seen through Alexis’, and couldn’t see what was holding me down.

The tension rising in my heart mirrored the echoes of her footsteps. Every time her foot touched the ground my heartbeat quickened, and green mana sprang forth.

Sickly green light shone over my skin, and I saw a faint outline of something wrapped around me.

The tendrils of mana wriggled on the ground, following her path like moths to a flame. As she drew closer, so did they, each stride bringing them towards me and threatening to envelop me in their embrace.

A tremor ran through my body.

I had already experienced that once today. Now that my emotions had time to catch up, I could feel panic rising inside me.

My mana was depleted, and my inventory had been taken from me. I was running out of options.

No.

This wasn’t the time to panic.

I needed to think of a solution. A way out.

My nostrils flared as I breathed deeply, and my mind calmed, my emotions flowing back into the depths of my heart. My thoughts were placated, my brain focusing on the ones that would aid me.

The sound of Oubliez’s footsteps drained away, the world slowing around me as I dove into my mind.

My symbols radiated power, but my manapool was drained. My mask could hide me, but that was of no use when I was already captured.

I had to assume my guards were still nearby.

I dove deeper until I was wading through a swamp of thoughts and emotions, each one trying to keep me away from my destination. I was in a space separate from my mind, yet intricately connected.

This was the feeling of examining my physical body.

Purple mists gathered around me, and I looked up to see a symbol shrouded in mist. Its power enveloped me without permission, its presence dominant.

My Mark.

The golden mana’s presence hadn’t alerted the guards, but I had other skills the Mark provided me.

One of them could help me.

Celestial convergence.

An intricate connection forged between Marked ones. The moment it activated Gerial would know I was in trouble.

Sweat gathered at the back of my neck as I thought through my plan. Celestial convergence created a portal from me to Gerial, connecting us.

There were issues with using it.

The moment my skill activated my Mark would force a connection with Gerial’s, regardless of my available mana, and my bloodline power would burst out of my pores like a beacon.

Without my manapool filled, it would only connect our Marks.

It couldn’t form the portal.

For my manapool to fill I would need time. If I only wanted to signal Gerial, then I needed Oubliez to look the other way, or she would catch on immediately.

I needed to distract her, or she could kill me before Gerial could alert the guards.

A pair of bright green eyes crossed my vision, and my thoughts were broken, my mind clearing as I left behind the swamp of thoughts created by my Mark.

Oubliez was in front of me.

“The inheritor never looked past the illusions. It was impossible for the boy.”

She raised a hand to my face and her finger pressed against my jaw, making its way down my chin.

“But in the academy your mana ripped them apart. Its bright golden radiance seared into my mind, unlike anything I’d seen before.” Her tone was filled with curiosity. “Imagine my surprise when I found out you were an earth magician.”

“I was either being lied to,” Her eyes flashed, “or your mana was different, like mine.”

My body tensed at her words.

“So, I watched you. Met with you.” She pursed her lips. “It was a pity about the pin. I thought you lived in Koshima. I should have talked to the girl more.”

The green mana moving across the floor squirmed out of my sight as Oubliez reached me, but I could feel it crawling across my legs. It took its time, but soon the first of the tendrils rose to my neck.

“There’s no need to hide what we both know.”

My eye was drawn to a single tendril of mana that clung to my cheek. It crawled over my skin, bumping into the invisible restraints over my mouth. It fell back, and then waited patiently for Oubliez to guide it.

“You can see it. My mana.”

Her words were a statement, and her eyes traced over me, analysing my expression.

I narrowed my eyes.

This topic had come up before. Alexis had asked about my ability to see fire mana. A brief memory crossed over my mind, one of the half-remembered illusions I had fallen into. Roxxy’s illusion had asked me about my ability to see mana.

My mouth parted and I tried to let out a sound, but nothing came out.

Oubliez drew back her hand and waved her finger over my throat. The cover on top of my mouth slid off, but the restraints on my wrists and legs stayed in place.

“You can speak.” A twinkle of amusement crossed her features. “Your consciousness is conditional on your cooperation.”

She raised her hand and clenched her fingers into a fist. I felt the restraints tightening around me, a warning of what was to come if I struggled.

Second after second, I felt my mana slowly regenerating, but I kept my emotions out of my face and thought about Oubliez’s words.

She knew my mana could transform into other elements.

That was what she was implying.

I looked at the prone form of Alexis, and then at the green mana wobbling as it waited on my cheek.

“All I see is flames.”

The moment the words left my mouth I knew I’d made a mistake. There was a second of silence as she took in my words.

“This time there was no illusion.” Her lips tightened into a thin line. “Thank you for confirming my suspicions.”

I froze at her words.

Elemental mana was invisible to everyone except those with the skills to see them. Even magicians needed to be attuned to an element before they could properly communicate with the mana within the world.

By letting her know I could see something, I had confirmed that I could see the green mana.

She raised her hand, and I was lifted into the air by my restraints. With a quick downward thrust they slammed my body into the ground, the air beaten out of my lungs.

Oubliez hadn’t hit me hard enough to deal permanent damage, but I could feel the restraints pressing into my chest, constricting my airflow.

There was a rush of air against my body as I was brought back up to face her.

“It was worth a try.” I gave her a weak smile. “You know, I’ve realised something. You were at the academy grounds the day I fought with Amanda in the arena for the first time. That’s how you knew about my guards.”

I saw her pause, surprise crossing her features.

She hadn’t expected me to say that.

It was obvious once I thought about it. Alexis and Amanda weren’t aware of my status as a Marked one. Either one of them could have told her I was an earth magician, but neither knew I was guarded.

The only person that knew was Gerial. And we’d spoken about my guards on that day. I’d sensed an invisible presence at the time, but I’d thought it was him.

I’d actually been sensing her.

“You went to Unice’s ceremony, and you’ve also snuck back into the academy after they’d been alerted to you. Both of those places were under heavy supervision.” I frowned, the knowledge of what she’d done revolving in my mind. “How?”

Gerial had been at Unice’s ceremony. The guards of two Marked ones were present, as well as the headmaster, and nobody had sensed a thing.

Oubliez stepped back, a slight smile on her lips.

“Little magicians and their precious spells. They all have so little idea of what true power is.”

She tilted her head.

“All of them, save you. You have a wonderful gift within you. To think there existed a class of mana above my own.” She opened her palm in front of her and a green tumor crawled out of her skin. “We’re similar, you and I. Do you not see it?”

The tumor shimmered and twisted, bursting into flames as an illusion took hold. I shook my head as my mana sense pierced through the illusion.

Then the tumor shifted again, to earth, and then it became water. Oubliez wasn’t trying to ensorcell me. She was making a point.

I gazed down at Alexis.

Strands of hair lay scattered on the floor around him, still ablaze.

His breathing was weak, but a thin layer of fire mana clung to his skin, a shield between himself and the stone I had dropped on him.

When I had first seen him fighting William, he hadn’t unlocked his bloodline, or used fire magic at all. It had only come after.

He wasn’t the only one.

I knew two more people that were affected. One was Unice. Alexis had mentioned it himself.

I’d also seen Alexis transfer green mana to one of his friends, the memory replaying in my mind. I hadn’t known the person back then, but I did now.

It had been Cresp.

Cresp, the same boy that had recently learnt the water spell of his family, and Unice, the heiress that had unlocked her metal attunement. I’d been with her when she had done it, and I knew that it was genuine metal mana.

Each and every one of them had used a different element. Water, metal, fire.

Oubliez could change the element of her mana like I could and gifted it to others. Or she could help others connect to other elements somehow using the green mana. My mind raced, but not because of Oubliez.

Looking at Alexis had given me an idea.

My fingers twitched as the notion entered my mind. I didn’t have enough mana to risk a prolonged fight with earth creation, but earth manipulation didn’t need mana.

My senses treaded carefully towards the stone block pressing down on Alexis. I wanted to form a connection with it, moving gently so the earth mana wouldn’t shift or react.

And I felt it respond.

“Why are we talking?” I spoke loudly. “You have me. I can’t fight back. That’s been made clear enough.”

Oubliez turned her attention from the tumor towards me. It stopped changing elements as the illusion halted.

“Can’t moments be savoured anymore? Life is precious.” She lowered her hand, the green tumor floating towards my mouth. “Very well. Business it is. I want to make you an offer.”

“The same as Alexis’?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“One you’ll find equally beneficial.” She traced a finger gently in front of her.

The green tumor shimmered brightly in front of me.

I should accept the offer.

I should accept-

“There it is.” My mind ached as I dismissed the wayward thought. “Thank you for confirming my suspicions.”

I threw the words she’d spoken to me earlier back at her.

Oubliez’ eyes widened, and her smile cracked. These were the first signs I’d seen of her confident facade breaking.

“I think I’ve been taken in by that trick one too many times now.” I looked into her eyes.

I’d been making questionable decisions ever since Alexis had approached me, and I knew it wasn’t a coincidence.

The same thing had happened the first time I had encountered the illusions and the green mana. Gerial, William, and I had gone over it when it had first happened, and I had rerun the events over and over again in my mind since then.

Alexis had taken me by surprise today, but now that I’d had time to take everything in, I was enacting the contingencies I’d thought of after my first encounter with the illusions.

Every moment was being memorised the instant I experienced them, and every decision I made was examined. My concentration and focus were at their highest points.

Now I was certain.

Something was influencing my thoughts.

My eyes scanned over Oubliez and the green tumor. The mana inside it had flared up. It was a spell. Alexis had forced me into thinking the beads were tempting and now Oubliez had failed trying to do the same thing.

My lips parted in a smile. I wasn’t sure why, but the pact she wanted to make couldn’t be forced, or she would have done it already.

It could only be accepted voluntarily.

The cracks in Oubliez’ mask quickly healed, but I knew what I had seen.

Caution. Fear.

She didn’t approach me arrogantly like Alexis had. There was no hand on my shoulder, forcing power inside me. My mana could overpower hers. She was worried that I was hiding a trump card.

She was right.

I’d prepared carefully, my connection with the stone block behind her synchronising perfectly with me. It had taken time to avoid shifting the mana in a way that could be sensed, and my fingers tensed in preparation.

A single spear to the back, and then I would activate my celestial convergence skill to call Gerial. It would be over quickly.

Then I heard a creak.

It was the sound of a single floorboard being stepped on, but it hadn’t come from inside the room. It had come from the corridor outside of the study.

“I expected something like this might occur. You didn’t seem the type to give in easily, and I don’t know everything that your mana is capable of.” Oubliez’s teeth shone as her lips parted upward. “One thought from me, and the girl dies.”

A faint crimson glow entered my vision, emanating from something in the corridor behind me. I could hear a single person walking outside the room.

“This would be a lot easier if we woke up Agni to translate.” A voice floated into my ears. “I know you two are close, but she can handle a disrupted beauty sleep.”

There was a pause and silence hit the air. My heart sank as the glow grew brighter. There was nobody responding to the person's words.

“Okay, okay. No need to chirp my ear off. You don’t have to worry about losing your spot on his shoulder. I doubt my brother could fit.”

Her shadow moved across the study as she moved into the open doorway.

“Alexis, Gold is worried you’re stealing his best friend.” Her voice called out. “Andross? Are you here?”

It was Amanda.