It was late when I walked back to the elven inn. I had been keeping my feelings bottled up all day. I kept a brave face and pretended all was right.

But it wasn’t right.

The truth was that I had been shaken but I didn’t want to cause a scene inside the temple. I did not want to get the trio on the Goddess’ bad side. I had yet to tell them what I had endured.

The elven innkeeper welcomed me with a smile. He was most likely unaware of my blasphemer status. Maybe not all elves are assholes, I thought. Just the ones inside the temple.

I walked up the stairs to our rooms and knocked on the door before entering.

The trio gave me a warm welcome with smiles and shoulder squeezes.

I sat heavily on my bed wearing a tired expression. This place was sufficiently away from the temple, I could talk.

「Allen: Guys, I have left off a big part of the story when you came to visit me. Let me tell you all that happened.」

And I told them, about the questions I’d been asked, the suspicions they held against me and how my soul had been turned inside out.

I omitted that I had spirit walked during the dream, I wanted to succeed at least a second time before sharing the details. The last part where I woke up was hazy in my memory to the point I was no longer sure what had been part of the dream and what of reality.

「Ellin: Why didn’t you tell us?!」

Ellin asked angrily.

「Ellin: Let me check on you…」

She walked closer and put her hands to my temples, then she closed her eyes knitting her brows in concentration. She furrowed her brows.

「Ellin: Your spirit is whole… but the natural barrier is all damaged! I’m going to complain to the high priest, they owe you at least an apology. This not right!」

She turned, ready to walk off. I grabbed her by the arm.

「Allen: No.」

That was exactly what I wanted to avoid. Ellin looked at me, the fire still burning in her eyes.

「Ellin: No?! We can’t let this slide!」

Namrick and Grastel stood beside her.

「Namrick: You’re part of the team, Allen. You know you can rely on us.」

Grastel nodded in agreement.

「Allen: I know, but don’t go stir up a hornet’s nest. Please.」

It wasn’t worth it. I released Ellin’s arm.

「Allen: I don’t want you guys to make this problem bigger than it is and get yourselves in trouble. Could you please let it go? My spirit should heal in a couple of days.」

I said, just wanting to forget about it.

「…」

My friends were too naive, there was nothing we could do about it. Alher was a proper Goddess of Nature. Harsh, cruel and uncaring. Antagonizing such a deity was just a bad idea. I knew when to lower my head.

Never mind the pain and the accusations, I could rationalize that I would look suspicious given my memories, newborn soul, and the dark god’s touch.

What I couldn’t forgive was digging up the memories I had worked so hard to forget. Old images from my youth kept floating in my mind at the most unexpected moments. I had long broken ties with that younger me, with whom I had nothing left in common. No one liked to remember all the mistakes they did in life.

「Namrick: If that’s how you feel, we’ll respect your decision.」

Namrick said, relaxing his stance. Ellin stared at him and then at me, her fists balled.

「Ellin: But–」

I lowered my head.

「Allen: Please.」

She looked down, dejected.

「Ellin: … It’s not right.」

She whispered.

After that we were no longer in the mood for talking, so we got ready to sleep.

I laid down on my bed.

A real bed. With sheets.

I remained awake for a long time, dealing with the resurfacing memories the only way I knew. Replaying them in my mind over and over, sucking away the feelings until only peaceful oblivion remained.

That night I had a dream, but I could only remember faint fragments of it. I was at the shores of a lake surrounded by green tall trees… and there was an elven woman. We talked about something… I’m pretty sure she didn’t like me but no one tried to kill me.

The next day my mood had slightly improved. I went about the day serving my sentence. The day after that my spirit had healed up and I regained my ability to manipulate mana. With that done, the sense of dread weighing my heart had been lifted.

I spent the following nights practicing my Astral Projection skills, succeeding twice.

One time I wandered around inspecting stuff but ended up waking up too soon.

The second time I experimented a little more with greater success. I found out that if I go far, I start feeling a force pulling me back. Out of curiosity, I tried severing the silver cord. I hesitated a little but reminded myself that when Alher had caught me I had simply woken up.

The only problem was that I had no hands. Instead, I floated against the silver cord and willed to cut it. I immediately returned to the dream world.

I’m fine. I’m still fine.

I calmed myself and projected out again. The silver cord that had remained attached to my spirit body had apparently been reabsorbed because I couldn’t see any trace of the previous thread. I floated back to the place where I had severed the cord and found my remains. The severed thread of mana was floating in the air moved by an unseen wind. Attached to one end I could see a small spherical glob of mana.

So, that’s how I look when I astral project. It was about one centimeter in diameter.

Something moving caught my attention… an unknown mana being was feeding on the filaments of my leftovers! I wrapped myself around my remains and ran away as quickly as I could. I woke up with my heart pounding but otherwise fine. It was a whole new world.

I had ascertained a few things.

I can’t pass through people or other living beings. Their natural barrier keeps me out. It feels like sliding on a slippery surface.

There’s a limited range I can travel, which might be related to my skill and power.

I can’t see actual colors, only shapes with varying degrees of brightness… and perhaps a vague sensation of the quality of mana, but I couldn’t make anything out of it yet.

The silver cord can end up getting tangled and if cut, my awareness returns to the main body.

In retrospect cutting the silver cord might have been a hazard. Luckily, I did not end up brain dead. It would have been nice if I had been able to find an experienced spirit walker or some written record about it. No such luck.

I was in good spirits so I shared my progress with my friends.

「Allen: Hey guys! Guess who learned spirit walking?」

No one seemed to share my excitement. Maybe I should have waited for everyone to fully wake up before breaking the news.

Grastel groaned something intelligible as he shifted in his bed.

Namrick scowled at me.

「Namrick: I was having a good dream…」

Ellin looked at me with tired eyes.

「Ellin: Hnnn… are you sure?」

I told them about my attempts and successes.

「Ellin: Blobs of light… That reminds me of Mana Sight.」

She said ending with a yawn.

「Allen: Mana Sight, how come I haven’t heard of it?」

I asked, interested in the topic. Something like seeing mana seemed like a fundamental of magic to me. Why had it never be mentioned during my magic lessons?

「Ellin: It’s one of the advanced topics.」

She stood, sitting on her bed.

Of course, those blasted secretive advanced topics.

「Ellin: I just know about it because my uncle is a Magic Inspector. He told me tales of how he would catch criminals by investigating mana residuals with his Mana Sight.」

She furrowed her brows.

「Ellin: You’re a spellcrafter, don’t you do something similar when you enchant magical items?」

She asked, tilting her head.

「Allen: Hmmm, it’s different. It’s more like pushing your awareness inside the object and then feeling what’s inside. Remember when you taught me spell triggers?」

One of the few magic spells I managed to get her to teach me.

「Ellin: Of course, but that was just a basic spell.」

「Allen: The principle was the same, you place the spell and fix it in place. At that moment you feel it.」

「Ellin: Of course. I can also feel a vague idea of the kind of spells stored in a magic item, but that’s as far as I go.」

I shrugged and said.

「Allen: It’s just a matter of practice. At first, I had no idea of what I was doing, but then by adding, removing and shifting spells around, it became clearer.」

「Ellin: And you figured it all out with just trigger spells?!」

She stared at me in disbelief.

「Allen: I was motivated.」

I said, without hiding a smile.

「Ellin: Okay… going back on topic. Spirit walking… is it safe?」

She leaned forward a little. I scratched my chin. Is it safe? Good question.

「Allen: Well, I’m still alive.」

I heard Grastel grumbling some more, still hiding under the sheets.

「Grastel: Just… let… sleep… hmmngrr.」

He seemed in a foul mood this morning.

Ellin stared at me with a glint in her eyes.

「Ellin: Would you… teach me?」

Ellin asking me to teach her magic? This is a first.

「Allen: Huh… are you sure? I’m not a very good teacher, but I can try.」

Grohm always reminded me of how sub-par my teaching skills were. Thank you, Grohm.

「Ellin: Yes, please.」

Right, she had shown interest when I had grazed the topic before we left for the quest.

「Allen: Sure, but what’s your interest in astr- spirit walking? If I have to teach you lucid dreaming in the process I need you to be motivated or we won’t be able to move forward.」

Attempting to lucid dream without a strong intent would be unproductive.

「Ellin: Well… I had given up because I thought it wasn’t possible to learn without the talent. When I was little I wasn’t allowed to leave the house, so I always dreamed of flying away and see the world, just like the spirit walkers of the tales.」

She started fiddling with her fingers.

「Ellin: I know… it’s just a silly childhood dream. But I always wanted to experience it.」

How can I say no?

「Allen: That’s not a bad reason. Plus training together can only make it easier.」

Namrick stood up, apparently not interested in the secrets of the arcane arts.

「Namrick: I’m going to ask the innkeeper to prepare our breakfast. See you downstairs.」

He walked off the room, hiding a yawn with his hand.

「Ellin: Thanks!」

She said to him, before turning her head back to me.

「Ellin: How do you do it? What’s the trick?」

I began my detailed explanation. From lucid dreaming, to what I did within the dream to succeed in Astral Projection.

「Ellin: Hmmm, but can’t you just do it when awake?」

I froze.

Why didn’t I think of it?

「Allen: Huh… let me try.」

I lied down on the bed and tried to perform the trick.

I failed. I just couldn’t evoke the same walking-through-spiderwebs feeling. I gave it a few tries but quickly realized I wasn’t going anywhere.

I opened my eyes.

「Allen: Nothing, sorry. Maybe it can be done with the right training, or maybe not.」

「Grastel: Or you blasting dreamed it!」

Grastel yelled in exasperation. I poked at the shape under the bed sheets receiving more grumbles in return. I grinned.

「Ellin: Hmmm, I see. then I have to learn this lucid dreaming first.」

「Allen: Yes… You’re a magician as well, so you are already practiced at meditating without losing mental focus. You just need to become aware that you’re dreaming while dreaming.」

Of course, it was easier said than done. But if I could learn it, I’m pretty sure anyone else could.

「Ellin: I’ll do it!」

She sure looked determined. I really hoped she wouldn’t get bored of it after the first week.

Having another astral projector buddy would be very helpful to do science.

「Allen: Very well, then… I recognize you as my disciple!」

I said, standing and making a dramatic gesture.

Grastel kept grumbling at us to shut up.

When I went downstairs to get my breakfast, Namrick explained to me Grastel had drunk too much elven spirit the earlier night. That explained the grumbling and the aversion to light. Hangovers, man.

I had been wondering if he was turning into a vampire. You can never be sure in this magical world.

Anyway, it was time to leave this blasted elven city. I had served my sentence.

I just had to collect my equipment from the high priest. I asked my friends to accompany me, their righteous presence should increase my chances of everything going smooth.

The elven guards escorted me to Taldinann’s office, my friends remained just outside the room.

「Taldinann: I see, you have come to collect your belongings…」

Taldinann rose from his seat trying to look solemn.

「Allen: Indeed.」

「Taldinann: But before that…」

Come oooon. I ground my teeth under my corporate smile.

「Taldinann: I would like you to explain to me the purpose of this magic item. The spellwork is rather crude but intricate…」

He picked up the silver cube.

I sighed.

「Allen: That’s my rough attempt at building a programmable device.」

「Taldinann: A what?」

「Allen: A thing that can be instructed to do specific tasks.」

Taldinann stared at me in silence for a couple of seconds.

「Taldinann: Isn’t that what spellcrafting is all about?」

「Allen: Uh… yeah. But spirit constructs take up much more magical space and are less predictable. This is more efficient!」

I began decanting the versatility of my magical processor opcodes, but I was cut short.

「Taldinann: Stop! I don’t understand or care about the details, I just wanted to know what it does!」

He said, exasperation in his voice. I smiled inwardly, my full pedantic explanation had given the expected result.

「Allen: Oh… it mainly saves notes and shows energy bodies in the proximity. I needed it to locate the hellhounds in the battlefield.」

He stared at me with a hard expression.

「Taldinann: It’s not a spying device or anything dangerous, is it? I can only feel spell triggers and hallucination magics… plus some sealed mana arranged in some kind of pattern.」

He fiddled with the cube while inspecting it. I felt queasy, I did not trust this elf to touch my beloved creation.

「Allen: No… it can’t cause harm. Unless you step barefoot on it.」

Taldinann met my eyes with a flat stare. So much for my attempt of lightening up the atmosphere. No sense of humor. My opinion of elves was plummeting dangerously low.

「Taldinann: I see… Fine. Get your stuff and leave.」

He put the cube back in the bag with all my equipment, which I promptly collected.

「Taldinann: May the Goddess forgive your sins.」

He said sternly. I said nothing and left the room, rejoining with my friends.

「Allen: I’m good, let’s go.」

We walked outside the temple and toward the stables.

「Grastel: Did you see those elves at the tables? They were literally scowling at their food… did something happen?」

Grastel asked, breaking the silence.

I smirked wickedly.

You can eat your tasteless pride, blasted elves.

During the last week, I had done my best to make good-tasting delicacies so they’d forever mourn the loss of my cuisine. That was my revenge.

As we were about to leave the city someone shouted behind us.

「Oi, wait a moment!」

I turned around to see Yusdrolir running toward us.

「Yusdrolir: Can I… can I come with you guys?」

He stared at us with pleading eyes. He looked so pitiful.

We looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders.

「Namrick: Fine… Just, don’t cause trouble.」

And thus we set off from this cursed god-infested town.