Jia had wanted to find one of the parks scattered throughout the campus so that they could enjoy the nice weather, but since they didn’t have the freedom to move around the academy at will, they had to make do with the small courtyard attached to their dorm. It was a new feature that their previous apartment didn’t have.

The courtyard was small, but well-kept, with a small garden of leafy flower bushes that Jia had no idea how to take care of—Yue had been handling it. A small stone path led to a central patio with cushions for seating. Jia and Eui ignored the patio entirely and sprawled out on the grass to stare up at the clouds.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, and Jia realized that she had no idea where to begin. There was so much that she wanted to say, and so much that she didn’t want to say, but knew that she should. As she fretted about what to say, she started to grow nervous about the drawn out silence, getting stuck in a feedback loop of anxiety.

She was brought out of it by Eui taking her hand in a reassuring grip.

“Jia, I know you think I’m mad at you—and I am, a little—but it’s alright. I understand why you—made the choice you did. I just...I—”

Eui’s voice began to break up and tremble as she went on, and Jia could tell she was fighting back tears. Jia squeezed Eui’s hand and realized what she needed to say—what she should have said from the beginning.

“I’m sorry, Eui. I thought that it would be fine as long as at least one of us survived and—I didn’t think about it from your side of things. I was just being selfish.”

Eui chuckled and wiped at her eyes.

“Did you just describe attempted self-sacrifice as ‘selfish’?”

Jia blushed. It did sound a bit stupid when she put it that way.

“Okay, that sounds silly, but am I wrong though?”

Eui shook her head.

“No, I guess not. I understand what you were thinking—ancestors, I can remember thinking it. You barely gave my feelings a second thought.”

“Y-yeah...I thought you’d be a lot more mad about that.”

“I was—I am! It’s just...I don’t know whether I can say that I wouldn’t have done the same thing if our positions had been reversed. No, worse than that. I’m almost certain that I would consider your feelings—and then do it anyway.”

Jia stopped to mull that over. How would she feel if Eui sacrificed herself to save her life? The very thought formed a pit in Jia’s stomach, as she realized she’d rather die herself than let that happen. Eui seemed to know exactly what she was thinking and snorted with amusement.

“We’re both idiots, but somehow Yoshika is smarter than the two of us combined. As soon as our thoughts merged, she knew that neither of us would be able to handle the other’s death and did everything she could to save you. There was no hesitation.”

That was true. In hindsight, Jia would have expected some kind of inner conflict, but Yoshika had been decisive. Eui and Jia were both prepared to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the other, but Yoshika had refused to let either of them die—even to the point of aggressively resisting the demonic hunger.

“Yeah...I don’t really know how I feel about that. Back then, she felt a lot more like—a third person than just a combination between us. She made decisions that it didn’t feel like either of us would have made, and I think she had a moment where she considered just...staying that way?”

Jia and Eui both shuddered at the thought before Eui sighed wearily.

“I think that was my fault. The demonic core was a lot more...insistent after we fed it so much. I think it wanted your soul. Jianmo did tell us that it could absorb them, but I never actually considered what that meant or how it would happen. There’s too much about our cultivation that we don’t understand, and as much as it pisses me off I think we do need Hwang’s help.”

“Yeah, probably. I think we should talk about it with Master Ienaga, too. There’s no point in keeping secrets now that basically the whole school knows.”

Eui groaned.

“Uugh, I am not looking forward to that conversation. I also dread to imagine what Sun Jaehwa is going to do with that information.”

Jia grimaced. She had forgotten all about Sun Jaehwa and her smear campaign. She still didn’t understand why she was doing it. Jealousy?

“Yeah...”

The conversation slipped into an extended silence, but Jia no longer felt as tense or awkward about it.

“You know, I kind of expected this to be more of a—I don’t know. An argument I guess? More confrontational, like when you fight with Yue.”

Eui scoffed.

“Half the reason I fight with Yue is because I hate her fucking guts. I could never hate you, Jia—we’re partners, no matter what happens. We’re on this path together, wherever it takes us.”

“Even though I—”

Jia hesitated, but Eui knew what she was going to say.

“Yes, Jia. Ancestors, I’m not so petty that I’m going to totally change how I feel about you just because you don’t feel the same way. I’ve come to terms with you rejecting me, more or less. If you figure yourself out and decide to return my feelings after all, great, but I’m not going to stake our entire relationship on it. Just don’t blame me if I end up falling for someone else while you’re dawdling, you slowpoke.”

Jia giggled at Eui’s typically sardonic attitude, though she could tell her heart wasn’t entirely in it.

“That’s fair. I’ll...try to work on it. Maybe Yoshika can figure it out for me since she’s so smart.”

Eui slapped her in the arm playfully.

“You can’t get other people to introspect for you, Jia.”

“But she’s me! It’s the perfect loophole!”

Both girls giggled at that, and they spent the rest of the afternoon quietly watching the clouds and enjoying the comfort of each others’ presence. At least until Yue ruined it by coming out and demanding why they were just lazing around, starting another argument. Things weren’t perfect, but Jia felt like the cloud of tension had been lifted, a bit.

The next morning, Eui and Jia headed directly to Magus Hwang’s lab. They were surprised to find Grand Magus Do Hye meeting them at the door as they arrived.

“Aha, excellent! I knew you’d make the right choice! Please, come inside and make yourselves at home! I’ve rather been looking forward to this.”

Eui and Jia both grimaced as the old mage rubbed his hands together excitedly, much more hesitant about this than they had been a moment ago. They heard Magus Hwang shouting from inside.

“You couldn’t sound more slimy if you tried, you disgusting old snake! And stop acting like you own the place—this is still my laboratory!”

Jia shook her head and chuckled as Do Hye ushered them inside. She was starting to suspect that the old mages played up their rivalry a bit for others. They seemed friendly with each other, though perhaps that was just Xin being a bad influence on her.

Hwang’s lab was as much of a mess as she remembered, with various scattered materials and artifacts of inscrutable purpose covering nearly every surface. If anything, it was even more of a mess with Do Hye now contributing to the pile of junk—which was actually probably quite valuable, now that Jia thought about it.

The girls politely greeted the older mages, before taking the seats offered to them. Magus Hwang smiled widely at them, while Do Hye set about plucking artifacts from piles as if he knew exactly which part of what pile each object he was looking for was located. Was it just a mage thing? Or could he be using Absolute Awareness for something that frivolous?

“I appreciate you coming today, ladies. You two are going to be quite instrumental in my research now that—”

“Our research, you lousy snake. I’m not letting you run away with all the credit this time.”

Do Hye scratched his bald head and chuckled.

“Right, yes, our research. Anyhow, since you’re the only mortal talents to make it here of all the ones that I arranged for, you’re the last hope I have to convince my contemporaries of the benefits of prioritizing unawakened applicants for the Grand Academy. It would have been a terrible shame if either or both of you died last month.”

Magus Hwang shook his head and sighed heavily.

“I just knew that it was your doing. A bunch of nobodies with weak ties to noble families, two of which just happened to get their tokens stolen by mortals who just happened to find their way to the academy and just happened to be exceptionally talented. The whole thing reeked of your influence.”

The Grand Magus grinned.

“And I knew I could count on you to think that! Imagine if it had been Seong Min instead of you as the instructor here. Ancestors, she probably would have just killed them on the spot, hahaha.”

Jia and Eui both paled as Do Hye laughed. Both of them had been afraid that they’d be killed when they first arrived. Magus Hwang scowled at him.

“That’s hardly something to joke about. Besides, Princess Seong Min no doubt would have considered a position here to be an insult. I imagine she was far more interested in positioning herself to take your place in case you did something as ridiculous as stepping down from your role as prime minister for a position as a researcher.”

“Ahaha! She certainly was! It’s Prime Minister Seong, now. Though I imagine she prefers the royal title.”

Magus Hwang gave Do Hye a flat look before returning his attention to the girls. Jia was curious about this Seong Min—one of Eunae’s sisters or cousins, presumably—but refrained from asking for now.

“My apologies, ladies. It wasn’t my intention to ignore you, but the Grand Magus does love to command attention. I have some good news, regarding what we spoke about yesterday. You see, it turns out that—”

Jia could actually see the interruption coming before it happened, as Do Hye’s grin grew wider just a moment before he cut in.

“Old Hwang was greatly exaggerating the impact of Miss An’s condition on the data he already collected. I was able to come up with a few formulas that we can use to account for it without having to redo all those tests!”

Hwang frowned grumpily, but nodded.

“Indeed. That said we’ll need to conduct a few more tests with the demonic core in mind, to measure its progress. While I admit to an interest in studying the effects of a demon core, I believe we should also be careful not to allow Miss An to be subsumed by demonic hunger.”

Eui crossed her arms and regarded Magus Hwang archly.

“How do you propose to do that? Elder Qin’s already forbidden me from using the destruction element until I’ve mastered it, which I don’t know how I’m supposed to do without using it!”

“Miss An, that’s exactly the kind of problem that I’d like to help you solve.”

Jia tilted her head and gave Magus Hwang a look of confusion.

“I thought you wanted to study interdisciplinary cultivation, though. Doesn’t Eui’s demon core and our joint cultivation method kind of mess with the results a bit?”

Do Hye laughed boisterously before Hwang Sung could respond.

“Of course it does, Miss Lee! Almost everything we learn from you will be utterly worthless to our general thesis!”

Magus Hwang made a sour face, but didn’t offer any argument. Jia’s face scrunched up as she tried to make sense of it.

“Then why—?”

“Simple! You two are an absolutely fascinating case study! Besides, for our more results oriented peers, a display of your performance at the end of the year should be more than enough to bring a few over to our side. By this time a year from now, we’ll be spoiled for choice of candidates to assist with our research.”

“What do you mean?”

Magus Hwang took over for Do Hye, shooting the Grand Magus an irritated look.

“We weren’t supposed to mention that. It’ll be announced officially later, and we can’t give you any more details now. Suffice it to say that we are hoping that your example will pave the way for the second generation of unawakened academy students, taking a holistic approach to cultivation from the beginning.”

Do Hye nodded excitedly, ignoring Hwang’s sour looks.

“Precisely! Think of yourselves as something like a prototype! Besides, our interest is in cultivation itself! In any form it may take.”

Jia was glad she’d been studying with Dae, or she wouldn’t have had a clue what a ‘prototype’ was. She thought she more or less had a grasp on Magus Hwang’s motivation, but she was still a bit leery of the Grand Magus. It felt like a bit of a betrayal to distrust Dae’s master so much, but something about him just disturbed her.

“Now then, girls. I know you were hesitant to do so before, but would you be willing to let us interview you in your linked state? We’re interested in seeing how that state affects the balance of your mana.”

Jia hesitated for a moment. She wasn’t particularly against the idea now, but she and Eui hadn’t meditated together since the mountain trip, and it felt a bit odd to do so now. Jia felt Eui’s hand reach out and grasp hers.

“What do you think?”

Jia jumped as she heard Eui’s voice in her mind. She’d forgotten they could do that—the seal on their domains had made it impossible unless they were in close contact. She turned to meet Eui’s gaze.

“I don’t really mind. I just thought our first joint meditation session after my recovery would be a bit more momentous.”

Eui audibly snorted and shook her head.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Jia. Well, if you’re ok with it, then I say let’s do it.”

Jia nodded, and turned back to the two old mages watching their exchange with anticipation.

“Okay. Should we do it now?”

Hwang scratched his head.

“Yes, erm, do you need some privacy? I’ve heard that dual cultivation techniques are—”

Jia grimaced.

“No! Why does everyone think that? It’s just meditation.”

Jia tried to ignore Eui’s snickering as she blushed and tightened the grip on her hand. She took a steadying breath, and Eui did the same. She closed her eyes and began to synchronize her breathing with Eui’s, then—

She opened her eyes in surprise—both pairs. She blinked a few times in confusion. That had been fast. Nearly as soon as she’d had the thought, Yoshika had become whole. It could hardly even be considered meditation at this point.

She looked around the room, curiously. This was the first time she’d done anything more than meditate with two bodies at once. The fight with Zheng Long and its aftermath had been close, but Jia’s body spent most of that time incapacitated, so she’d effectively only been using Eui’s then. She was surprised at how easily she was able to look in completely different directions and process what she saw. She had expected it to be disorienting, but apparently her nature as a gestalt entity made that sort of parallel processing much simpler.

Magus Hwang cleared his throat and Yoshika turned her attention to him. As she did, he jerked back in surprise. She realized it was because she’d moved both her heads at exactly the same time—it must have been unsettling.

“Ahem, uh, Miss Lee, Miss An, is something amiss?”

“No. Just getting our bearings. Please, call us Yoshika.”

Magus Hwang’s eyes went wide as saucers, and Do Hye let out a sharp bark of laughter. Yoshika frowned and blushed as she realized she’d spoken in chorus. She hadn’t done so intentionally, but neither had she given any consideration to not doing so.

“Oh, this is just fascinating! Look Hwang, see how the expressions are different—their thoughts and emotions are unified, but the physiological habits of each body are still distinct.”

Yoshika blinked in surprise. She hadn’t noticed she was doing that.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you—Yoshika, you said? The characters from each of your given names are put together and read in Yamato, yes?”

Yoshika nodded, carefully choosing to speak only with Jia’s voice this time.

“Yes. A friend came up with it as a nickname for us because she—”

Yoshika paused—Rika had nicknamed them as a couple. Jia hadn’t known that before, but Eui had.

“—uh, because she saw us together a lot.”

She finished lamely—and also with the wrong body. This was going to take a bit of getting used to.

Magus Hwang glanced between the two with a complicated mix of unease and interest.

“I’m not sure whether I preferred the chorus or finishing each other’s sentences. Still, it is indeed nice to meet you at last, Miss Yoshika.”

Yoshika shrugged.

“This is a new experience for us. We’re still getting used to it. It feels a little odd to call it a meeting, though. We’ve known Magus Hwang for half a year, and we’ve at least met Do Hye before.”

Do Hye snapped his fingers.

“Of course! You have all the memories of both girls. However, you must understand that while you have met us, this is our first time meeting you.”

Yoshika shook Eui’s head—it seemed appropriate to use her voice for disagreeing.

“No, it’s not. We are Jia and Eui, both of whom you’ve met. We’re not a third, distinct person. We only chose to name ourselves in this state to make it easier to talk about.”

Hwang rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“I see. I was actually going to ask about the existential part of it, how you felt about the transient nature of your existence.”

Yoshika chuckled—well from Jia’s body it was more of a giggle.

“We worried about the same thing, at first. It was one of the first things we learned together in this state. The answer is pretty simple—our existence isn’t transient. Not more than Jia’s or Eui’s individually, anyway. It’s like two roads running side by side—if they were to curve together and meet, then they would become one path for a time. When they split up again, it doesn’t erase what came before. That merged point is part of both roads. As long as either Eui or Jia survives, so do we. Though, we recently had cause to learn that we really, really prefer it if both of them do.”

The two mages exchanged a serious look that seemed to have more meaning behind it than Yoshika could grasp. Oh, they were definitely old friends. It was Do Hye who spoke, stroking his chin as he glanced between them.

“Miss Yoshika, it’s interesting to me that you would use such an analogy—paths, and roads. Perhaps it’s a coincidence—”

Magus Hwang scoffed, but Do Hye ignored it.

“—but in my travels I have found that all the greatest cultivators use the same analogy to describe something of great importance to them. Always the same thing, in fact—their domain. Qin scholars theorize that it’s the result of all cultivators—even the ‘misguided’ ones—intuitively grasping at the same concept. Some kind of universal truth to the world that they call the ‘heavenly dao’.”

Yoshika remembered Elder Qin mentioning it before, while he was chastising her.

“We had a number of questions for you, Miss Yoshika, but they can wait. Let’s talk more about this ‘path’ of yours.”