I huffed as sweat poured down my neck. Six rounds of tag back-to-back had drained me of all my energy and my half-formed earth constructs littered the ground around me.

It wasn’t all bad.

The mana was singing sweet melodies into my mind. My mana communication skill had been active the entire time, and I could clearly feel the emotions of the mana around me.

It was happy. And amused.

“You’re going to be really scary when you figure out how to make stuff.” Amanda stepped beside me, a water bottle in her hand. “What’s it meant to be?”

She was looking at the discarded stones on the ground. Each one was a different shape.

“I figured if the skill book wanted me to practice with circles, I should try to make a wheel.” I steadied my adrenaline-fueled heart.

The monstrosity on the floor looked more like someone had tried to form half a ball out of stone ropes and then given up.

When I was in the heat of the moment during our exercises, it became harder to form constructs using earth creation.

I was used to simple blocks or uneven stones.

“Remind me not to ask you for any sculptures.” Amanda brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Hey, I take offence to that.” I rebutted. “I’m an excellent sculptor. I made Gold come alive with stone, and my self-portrait was stunningly innovative.”

Amanda giggled and then saw I wasn’t joking.

“Really?” She asked.

I nodded.

“Could you make one of me?” She batted her eyes at me. “I always wanted one of those.”

“You’re asking me this after you beat the heck out of me for six whole rounds?” I grinned. “Of course I can.”

Amanda beamed with happiness as we made our way out of the dome. The birds zoomed into the air above Koshima.

The moment I stepped outside I was overwhelmed by emotions as the mana of various elements greeted me.

I could feel them watching me, understanding every emotion I felt as it crossed over my heart.

This was the effect of mana affinity and mana communication together.

It was too much.

My mind and heart couldn’t take the cacophony of information they were receiving.

I turned the ability off, but it was too late.

My head had a splitting headache, and I stumbled. A hand pressed against my front, stopping me from falling over.

“Are you okay?” I heard Amanda’s concern.

“Yeah.” I raised my head. “I’m just getting used to a new skill.”

The sensation felt similar to when I had first started using mana sense. Whenever I was in a room with a lot of magicians, I’d turn it off before I was overwhelmed.

Except now, I had to turn it off whenever I was outside.

The proximity I felt to mana wasn’t just physical. It was emotional, and mental as well. It would take some time to get used to it. I would have to practice in private or when I was surrounded by a single element.

The arena hadn’t been nearly as bad.

In the room there was only earth and fire mana, two elements I had already had a lot of communication with. It was when the other elements got involved that I had an issue.

That was also a good thing.

It meant I had more opportunities to talk with new elements and get a proper response. Where that led, I could only guess.

The trip to the safehouse was quick, and soon Amanda was opening the door, her body glowing as the hidden entrance reacted to her bloodline.

“Finally, a place to relax.” Amanda walked through first.

I stepped into the doorway and then paused.

What was that?

I’d seen something in the alleyway. Or at least I thought I had. I took another quick look through the darkness but there was nothing there.

Maybe it had been my imagination. Or maybe not.

I took out my texting regent.

‘Could you please check if anyone suspicious is in the area?’

It was a quick message. After the incident with Oubliez my guards had given me multiple contact methods, including ones that could be used when I was restrained.

The texting regent had been part of that.

“Andross?” Amanda called out.

“Coming!”

I entered and hurriedly closed the door behind me. The moment I walked inside I knew there was something different.

Amanda’s safehouse had completely transformed since the last time I’d visited it.

The clothes strewn haphazardly across the furniture had disappeared, the dirty dishes were gone, and the small piles of rubbish were cleaned up. Even the sofa had been vacuumed.

The fragrance of cherry swam over me, tickling my nose. It had no visible origin.

Was there a regent for that?

“I see you’re admiring my hard work.” Amanda’s voice floated into my ear.

She bounced out from beside me and gestured grandly with her hands, drawing my attention to the room.

“Ta-da. All clean!” She grinned.

I gave her a polite clap and Gold joined me, flapping his wings happily.

“Thank you, thank you.” Amanda smiled. “I've been feeling a lot more productive in the past few days.”

She brushed her hand against the sofa.

“Don’t be shy, take a seat.” Amanda continued inside. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Agni hopped off her head and onto the sofa, chirping happily.

I moved next to her, Gold’s talons clacking together as he made his way from my shoulder onto the cushion.

“How have you been, Agni?” I fed the phoenix a treat. “You know, I don’t think we talk enough. I’d like to get to know you better.”

Agni tilted her head at my words. She let out a chirp and I listened to her melodic voice.

I couldn’t understand a single sound.

“That’s a pity. I was hoping that my new skill would work.” I grinned at her. “I still can’t understand you.”

Agni looked at me in confusion and then turned to Gold for an explanation. He let out a series of chirps and squawks, Agni listening intently to every note.

When he was done, she ruffled her feathers and let out a puff of flames from her body. They flew into the air, and she chirped.

Gold bobbed his head in understanding and then turned to me and squawked.

That didn’t help me at all.

“One day we’re going to work this out.” I promised him.

I wasn’t sure if Agni also counted as a spirit or not. In fact, I didn’t even know if Gold was one. The only indication that he might be was the class option I’d been offered.

Gerial hadn’t known what a spirit was, which surprised me.

I would have to find out on my own or wait for William and Gerial to research it. They had more resources than I did.

A faint glow interrupted my thoughts. It bathed the sofa in gentle orange light and I looked up to see Amanda looking down at us.

“Are you guys having fun?” She raised an eyebrow at me.

She’d changed clothes and she was holding a foldable table in one hand. I could see the papers containing information on our opponents in her other.

Amanda had made copies for both herself and me.

“I’m pretty sure these two know the meaning of life and talk about it all the time. We just can’t understand them.” I glanced at the birds and saw them staring at me.

They were gazing into my soul.

“Okay, okay. I was just joking.” I raised my hands in defeat.

Amanda giggled and nudged me to the side, stealing my place at the edge of the sofa and forcing me into the middle.

She unfolded the portable table in front of us and placed the papers onto it.

“Maybe Gold does, but I can tell you that all Agni talks about is food.” Amanda’s smile widened. “She just likes to hide it by looking elegant and mysterious.

Agni’s head perked up and her flames turned crimson. I chuckled.

“Do you want to know a secret?” I leaned towards Agni. “I do the exact same thing every day.”

I winked at the phoenix.

She chittered back at me, laughing.

Wait.

I turned to Amanda. “You can understand Agni.”

It was a statement, not a question.

Amanda had never hidden her ability to communicate with Agni. She had even told me about their shared thoughts when they transformed.

“I can.” She didn’t hesitate. “Why? Do you think it’ll help us?”

“Actually, I gained a skill that lets me talk to Gold.” I spoke carefully. “But I’m not sure how to get started on training it. Do you mind if I pick your brain? When you have time of course. And only if you’re comfortable with it.”

No wonder Amanda had been embarrassed to ask me about my skills.

I felt awkward just saying the words.

Agni stared at me curiously. The phoenix was created by a bloodline and Gold might be able to bestow a bloodline.

It was a bit of a stretch, but maybe the two were related somehow.

Amanda grew quiet at my question. She tapped her cheek pensively and then leaned at an angle so that she could see Gold.

He puffed out his chest, absorbing the attention.

“I can tell you how mine works, but I don’t know if it’ll help.” Amanda poked her tongue out at Gold. “Different skills work in different ways.”

She was right.

There was no guarantee that our skills were even slightly related.

“My skill is called spirit communication.”

I didn’t regret telling her.

The skill wasn’t related to my Marked status. Even if it was, Amanda already knew about that.

More importantly, I trusted her.

She paused as my words sank in. She straightened up and turned to me, a playful smile on her lips.

“Spirit Companion Communication.” Amanda nudged my side happily. “That’s the name of my skill.”

A smile bloomed on my face.

This was perfect.

“Can I ask for your help? I don’t even know where to start.” I admitted.

Amanda put her hand on her cheek, a mischievous glimmer crossing her eyes.

Her shoulders straightened and she leaned back cockily, resting against the sofa’s corner cushion.

“Hmm. Does this mean I’m your teacher? I feel so powerful.” Her hair flowed across her shoulders, and she shot me a roguish grin. “My time is pretty valuable, but I guess I can try to make some for you.”

I took in her words.

Then I shook my head.

“That’s okay, I can always ask William to help me. He’s pretty knowledgeable about these things.” I replied smoothly.

“No!” Amanda’s poker face folded immediately. “I want to help.”

She sat up straight and coughed lightly. The embers in her hair tinged with crimson flames.

I decided to stop teasing her.

“That’d be great if you could help me.” Gratitude rose in my heart. “Really, it’s a huge thing for me.”

Speaking with Gold was something that interested me on a personal level, regardless of my ascension. I wanted to be able to communicate with him and deepen our friendship.

Then I turned to Amanda.

“We can always do that when we have more time. We should get started on the planning.” I said.

Most of our afternoon was already gone, and the evening was quickly taking its place.

Amanda nodded.

Her expression turned serious as she spread the papers out among the table, leaning slightly over me to point at various notes of interest.

“Our biggest disadvantage is that Shar and Vesper are experienced in arena fights. They’ve had more time in the academy and they enjoy the battles. But that’s also our greatest advantage because I’ve been able to find out what they can do” She glanced at me. “Let me know if I’m going too fast for you.”

I raised my hand to let her know I was fine.

Amanda turned back to the pages, and I followed her words, a plethora of information hitting me like a tidal wave.

Shar and Vesper had been in a total of eleven fights together, often as part of a trio.

Shar could conjure swords made from stone, and he could manipulate dirt to entomb or capture opponents while his allies finished them off.

He had other skills, but Amanda switched to his ally before I could read them.

Vesper was more battle oriented.

He could fire balls of water that exploded onto his opponents and glued them to the ground. His usual tactic was to follow this up with two serpents made from water that bit into his opponents.

These conjured serpents weren’t real animals, but they acted independently from him and could attack his enemies to distract them.

However, it was his control over water that worried me.

He excelled in manipulating large bodies of water. It was the perfect counter to Amanda’s abilities. He could conjure a tidal wave to sweep the arena and his opponents or summon a whirlpool to drown her flames while Shar fought me.

The cogs of my mind turned as I thought about how to defeat them.

There had to be a winning strategy.

“Shar can also create sharp spikes around his body.” Amanda pointed towards the earth user’s sheet. “He’ll hit you like a tonne of bricks and bore a hole in you too.”

“Earth spikes or stone spikes?” I stroked my chin.

That was a purely offensive move, just like my earth spear.

Would my mana vitality hold it off? I didn’t think so.

The arena protection would activate before my ability did.

My gaze was drawn to a familiar name on the sheet, and I frowned. It had the Destin family name under the section titled ‘family members’.

“Wait, is Shar directly related to Unice and Ouros?”

Amanda opened her mouth to reply when I saw my texting regent flashing. She eyed it with curiosity, noticing it in my hands for the first time.

The guards were sending me a text.

I remembered the message I had sent to them when I’d entered the safehouse. I thought that I saw something in the alleyway.

My eyes combed over the message and my heart sank.

I’d been right.

‘Individuals confirmed to be present outside Mitra household. We have ascertained that they are unrelated to you.’

My guard’s report was short and swift.

‘Miss Mitra is being watched.’