When the towering walls of Voirsten came into view, Dario sighed in relief.

Across from him, Amara kept herself busy by using her powers to play with her hair, trying out and discarding different hairstyles. It was a bit of a quirk of hers and one which she used as a form of practise. She’d told him that controlling multiple strands of hair and forming knots took quite a bit of focus and skill.

From where he was sitting, that certainly seemed to be the case. To his untrained eyes, it simply looked like a tangled mess of writhing hair, but she somehow seemed to be enforcing some kind of order to all the chaos. He watched as she deftly arranged her hair in various styles before easily dismantling the tight knots to try out different ones. Eventually, the floating tendrils of red hair settled back into place in her usual waterfall braid.

“Man, that’s so cool to see every time you do that,” Dario remarked.

“Thank you,” she said with an appreciative nod. “It was quite an effort to learn, and while I was always praised by my maids and tutors, I never knew whether or not they were just saying it because I was their boss’ daughter or if I really did have talent. It’s nice to hear from an outsider’s perspective.”

Dario smiled at being able to have a small peek into what her personal life was like. It showed him that she truly was warming up to him. It’s always nice when you get to know people and they’re willing to share, especially when they were frosty with you at first.

“I can see now why you were able to learn how to deflect my beams so fast earlier. If you’ve been practising like that all this time then it’s no wonder why your control is so good,” he complimented.

Earlier, during the start of their journey back to the city, he had thrown beams at her over the course of an hour just to see what she could and couldn’t do. At first, she wasn’t able to stop his beams with her telekinesis, which was about as much as he expected. After all, how would something he could see through block light itself?

Apparently, it was indeed possible, to a certain extent.

His light beams seemed to only be affected by things that were tangible, and so she had merely focused on forming a kind of invisible shield that felt solid to the touch. While it couldn’t block the beams, it was somehow capable of altering the trajectory of his light after some adjustments. It hadn’t been as simple as that, however, since it was her first time doing such a thing and took all of her concentration to maintain.

In fact, she hadn’t been able to move at all while keeping up the shield, which he’d deemed as a major weakness. During the entire journey back to Voirsten, she had been adamant on fixing the flaw in her mobility, thus roping him in to help her train. It took a while, but she was eventually able to move back and forth along the length of her seat comfortably without losing too much of her shield’s integrity.

With their small success and the city quickly approaching, they had decided to call it quits and just relax for the rest of the journey.

“I’ve had my powers for a little over a year, so of course I’d be good by now,” she replied haughtily. “If I couldn’t do this much then I’d probably die from embarrassment.”

“If you’ve had your powers for a year now, does that mean that you’re a member of the Superiors Guild?”

Amara frowned. “No, I’ve been meaning to join the guild ever since I got my powers, but my membership is still pending my father’s approval. He told me he’d let me join, but it’s been so long now that I don’t know if he really did approve or not. It’s quite frustrating.”

“Oh,” Dario said, feeling somewhat disappointed. He’d hoped that she was a member of the guild as that would mean he could find out more about the details of joining from her, but that plan was a bust now. “Cheer up, if your dad knows anything about how good you are, I’m pretty sure he’d let you join the guild no problem.”

“Not with how this trip went.” She rolled her eyes. “If anything, I’m more likely to get more restrictions and less freedom. It’s the price of being royalty I suppose, even though I’m not that high up,” she said with a dejected sigh.

“Oh, woe is me, I’m royalty but my daddy won’t let me have this one thing, poor me,” he mocked jokingly.

She glared at him. “Shut up.” Amara twitched her finger towards him and he felt something painfully flick his forehead. “As if you would know anything at all about what it’s like to be me. I work hard for every single one of my successes. What do you know about hard work?”

Dario rubbed his forehead with a smile on his face. “First of all, oww. Secondly, the fact that I survived out here for a couple of days was no mere fluke. I worked hard to stay alive, I’ll have you know.”

“Oh? How hard could it have been? What was it really like out in the Wildlands then?” she asked with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. Despite her dismissive attitude towards him, he could still see a glint of intense curiosity in her eyes.

“Oh, it was nothing much.” He gave a nonchalant shrug. “I killed some two-foot-tall spiders and some other minor monsters. I fell off this really, really tall cliff. Oh, I also met this huge ogre and giant slime. I then had a threeway with them where I came out on top.”

The young red-haired woman stared at him with narrowed blue eyes before sighing and shaking her head.

“Never mind. If you’re just gonna tell me some weird lies then don’t bother.”

“No really, all of it did happen, I swear!” Dario protested.

“Uh-huh,” she said with a look of disdain.

For the rest of the ride, he tried convincing her that it was all true and spent much of his time retelling his adventure from start to finish. By the end of it all, she still wasn’t convinced as she considered much of his story to be far-fetched.

According to her, someone who only just recently discovered their powers shouldn’t have been able to do all the things he did. Even the two-foot-tall spiders were apparently deadly to newbie Superiors, and he should’ve died facing the numbers he claimed to have encountered. Furthermore, encountering an ogre so close to the city was supposed to be unlikely since they’d all been eradicated or forced to migrate. She was even more skeptical about his encounter with a giant slime as they were rarely found deep in the Wildlands, let alone near a thriving city.

By the time they were crossing through the gates of the city, Amara still didn’t believe him despite his assertions. She seemed so adamant that even he was beginning to think he’d hallucinated it all.

Dario slumped in his seat and sighed. “How do you even know all these things about monsters? I thought you’ve never been outside the city before the last couple of days.”

“When I’m not having lessons I use my free time to find out more about the world. As I said, it gets really boring in the castle sometimes so I just read in the library or ask around for tales of the outside.”

“Lucky,” he muttered under his breath. “You have your own library… that’s so unfair.”

Despite his general demeanor, Dario loved reading and learning new things. It was something his mother encouraged and nurtured during his childhood.

“The perks of being me I suppose,” Amara said with a shrug and a smirk.

Before Dario could make a witty retort, the carriage door opened and Bright Star’s face peeked through.

“We’re back now folks, safe and sound in the city.” She then pulled out a cube-shaped device and held it out in front of her. “Please tap your Bands on this please.”

Dario recognized the object as the Record Device used on Superiors who went in or out of the city. Both he and Amara complied with her request, placing their Status Bands against the cube. Afterwards, Bright Star turned towards Dario.

“By the way, is this yours perhaps?” She showed him a slightly dirtied, pure white, metallic shield.

Dario’s eyes widened. “Wow, I was wondering where that went. I thought I lost it when I was hit by that explosion,”

“Well, Augur found it leaning against a tree earlier. You can thank him later.” She handed him the shield.

Dario took it and placed it onto his back where it automatically reattached itself.

“This is where you two part ways. Dario, I’m gonna be taking you to the medical ward back at the guild. You may not be a full-fledged member yet, but you’re still a supe. Perhaps we have something there that can speed up your recovery,” Bright Star explained.

“Alright,” Dario said, pausing just as he remembered something important. “Before you do that though, could you send a message to my mother telling her I’m okay? She’s probably a bit worried that I’ve been gone for a few days.”

Bright Star sighed. “Fine, I’ll send a messenger. What’s the address?”

“I live at Hidden Haven,” Dario answered. “My mom’s the owner of the place. Just ask for The Madam, ‘cause that’s her.”

Bright Star raised a delicate eyebrow. “Your mother is Amarys?”

“Yeah...?”

“I knew your last name sounded familiar,” Bright Star muttered. Her face disappeared as she walked away to send the message.

“Wait a minute,” Amara chimed in. “You live in the supe whorehouse? As in, you’re the son of a whore?” Her eyes widened in disbelief.

Dario instantly scowled. “I wouldn’t call my mom a whore if I were you, but yeah, technically I am." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After a short moment, he quickly regained his calm and opened his eyes, sternly staring at Amara. "Don’t treat me any differently though,” he said with pursed lips. “I may be a prostitute’s son, but I’d prefer it if you treated me like a normal person.”

She leaned back in her seat, reddening at having her previous words thrown back at her. “Sorry,” she muttered. “That was completely tactless of me and I apologize.”

He looked at her intently, trying to discern her sincerity. After a quiet moment, he leaned back and loosened up his tense shoulders. “Apology accepted," he sighed. "I'll say it's water under the bridge, so long as we treat each other like normal people from now on. If you agree to that, then we’re cool.” He reached out a hand towards her. “Deal?”

Amara looked at his hand and nodded meekly. “Deal. Although, I doubt we’ll be seeing each other again.” She reached forward and shook his hand. “Thanks for being an amiable cabin mate." The sound of Bright Star approaching reached their ears and they let go. "Until next time.”

Dario smiled. "Until next time."

“You two done with your goodbyes?” Bright Star asked as soon as she returned.

“Yep.” Dario tried to stand up, but stumbled on his way out. "I'm good to go."

“Easy there.” Bright Star took hold of him and carried him bridal style outside the carriage, nearly hitting Amara on the way out.

“Hm, I feel like I should feel emasculated, but this feels strangely comfortable,” Dario commented.

“I’m glad you think so, because I’m flying you like this all the way to the guild.”

“Wait, wha—”

With barely any warning apart from the slight bending of Bright Star’s knees, they took off into the air at terrifying speed. The wind whipped past Dario’s face, stretching his face to comical proportions.

“Holy shiiiiiiit!”

Dario’s howls of delight echoed through the air.

He leaned back on the hospital bed and breathed out in relaxation.

While it was exhilarating to be flown over the city and seeing everything from a bird’s eye view, nothing could beat the feeling of lying down after a long few days of pain and hardship.

The medical staff had been alarmed when Bright Star flew in through the open window with his limp body in her arms, but they quickly and calmly looked him over after learning he was mostly fine. He was actually surprised to learn that the nurses and medical workers there were simply regular mundane people. He’d thought that only Superiors were allowed in the guild building, but that apparently wasn’t the case. Perhaps there was an exception for medical employees or guild staff.

After checking him over, they’d given him some painkillers and told him to wait for some kind of healer to attend to him. His foot was still missing, but he felt like it was slowly coming back. He’d specifically requested his bed be moved under the ray of sunlight streaming through the window in order to hasten his recovery.

It seemed to be working, but if it wasn’t, then it still made him feel better at the very least.

“Dario!”

He turned his head and saw a tall, bald, amber-eyed Superior heading towards him with a briefcase in hand.

“Miss Aimee! Long time no see!” Dario cheerfully called. “I’d stand up to greet you, but I’m feeling a little under the weather. I started the day off on the wrong foot you see.”

Miss Aimee rolled her eyes. “I was afraid you’d received some brain damage, but I didn’t know it was this bad.”

“You jest, but I actually did receive a couple hard knocks to the head during my… foray in the Wildlands.”

“What the hell were you even doing out there? I told you to just sit back and relax while we wait for your membership to go through. You just couldn’t help yourself could you?” she asked, the exasperation clear on her face.

“I did it because, you know…” He leaned forward towards her and whispered, “I gotta get stronger to take on The Bloody King.”

“That’s bold of you to say out loud.” Miss Aimee pinched the bridge of her nose. “You never know who could be listening.”

“Relax, there’s no one around to eavesdrop. Like you said, no one but us should know about that particular moniker so it's perfectly safe. Besides, it was totally worth going into the Wildlands. I learned a lot.”

Miss Aimee sighed before giving him a stern look. “Alright. Tell me everything or else I’ll bend you over my knee and spank you.”

“Okay, but just know that everything I’m about to tell you really did happen,” Dario said, ignoring her strange threat.

“Yes, yes, just tell me already,” she said impatiently.

And so he did. He spent half an hour telling her everything he did in his time spent out in the Wildlands, and of the things he’d discovered.

“I see,” Miss Aimee said after a contemplative silence. “It’s quite difficult to believe everything, but my senses tell me you’re being truthful so I’ll accept it.” She crossed her arms and stared at him with narrowed eyes. “It’s unusual that you encountered an ogre and giant slime so close to the city and even harder to believe that you actually beat them, but I’ve heard of stranger things happening. The most interesting part is how your assimilator aspect is light. That’s very interesting indeed, and good to know.”

“Mhm,” Dario agreed. “I found out that I could do many things. For example, did you know I can—”

“Is that the patient Bright Star brought in?” a voice asked from behind Miss Aimee.

“It's about time, what took you so long?” Miss Aimee asked as she turned around.

A man wearing a plain white coat came into view with long wavy hair and dark narrow eyes.

“I just came from the regular hospital. There’s been a lot of people coming in with burns recently from building fires. Must be the summer heat.”

“Oh, is it bad?” Miss Aimee asked curiously.

“No, it’s nothing too bad. It’s all just minor burns, but there’s quite a few of them so I went over to help for a bit.” The man turned towards Dario. “So, young man, I heard you lost your foot recently, but I’m told you heal by yourself. Is that true?”

“Yeah, I know I can regenerate, I just don’t know how fast it takes. I lost my toe when I was younger, but when I manifested I got it back brand new in some time under a week,” he answered.

“Hmm, I see, I see…” The man leaned forward to inspect his stump, poking and prodding with his finger. After a minute of silent inspection, he stood back up and pulled out a few glass vials from his pockets. “Here, drink the red one now and rub a little bit of the green one over your stump once a day for as long as it takes. It should speed up the process.”

He handed Dario three glass vials, one of them red and the other two green.

“Anyways, I’m leaving now. There are many more patients in more dire straits. If you’re having any issues with the medication, don’t hesitate in coming back.” The man turned towards Miss Aimee. “Is he covered under guild insurance?”

“He will be,” Miss Aimee assured. “I actually came here to formalize his membership.”

The man didn’t even wait for her to finish her sentence before rushing off.

Dario blinked after him. “Pleasant fellow.”

“He only has good intentions — he’s one of our best.” Miss Aimee shrugged before pulling out several pieces of paper from her briefcase. “Anyways, I was able to get your registration through earlier than usual like I promised. I have your membership contract here with me.”

Dario took the offered sheets and looked them over. On the top right corner of each page was the Superiors Guild logo, colored in both silver and gold. The symbol was made with the letters ‘S’ and ‘G’, intertwined together in the shape of a hexagon — similar to a Status Band.

There was a lot of technical jargon on all of the papers, but what caught his eye was the intriguing list of offered job titles on several of the pages.