Sometimes, moving on truly was as easy as taking a step forward. While Millie knew there were plenty of traumas in life that couldn’t be left behind, it was gratifying that at least now with Liam, she’d finally managed to do just that. Despite the doom lingering over her, and of the unknown horrors Magincia had yet to unleash, she felt a great burden disappear as she left Liam and his club behind. It was like she could finally breathe after a lifetime of suffocating.

Oh, she was pissed—that was certainly true. Sleeping with a servitor customized to look like her? How was she supposed to react to that? However, in other ways, it was almost flattering. It was as though Liam couldn’t handle having lost her and was desperately trying to hold on. Meanwhile, she’d left him in the dust to wallow in the bed of despair he’d made himself. In many ways, it was as though their roles had been reversed.

Sadly, not all of her problems were done and over with yet. She had a lineup of them waiting for her, but at least now, she was better prepared to deal with them emotionally. Physically though…it was a different story.

She was light-headed and her hands were trembling, which annoyed her to no end. While some of it was leftover adrenaline from the tense situation, most of it was surely her low blood sugar after her recent reading. She may have healed the damage, but she hadn’t had a proper meal yet. But as tempting as an all-you-could-eat buffet sounded right now, she decided to postpone it for another necessity. After visiting that club, she was in desperate need of a shower. That, or a power wash capable of stripping flesh away.

Shuddering in mild disgust, Millie returned to her room. There, she spent some time having her servitor run her bowls of healing water to dunk her head in while she took an object, remarkably similar to a steel scrubber, and put it to good use. More than once she needed the healing water to deal with some slightly overzealous scrubbing.

As she cleaned herself—thankful for the odd scent scrubbing feature of the shower—she also considered her situation. Specifically, she tried to decide on how much to tell her other classmates.

While a large part of her pushed for full transparency, she worried if they knew her choice on the remedy it would adversely affect them. It could drive them into recklessness, push the more protective among them to risk themselves foolishly. At the very least, it added a ‘do or die’ stress to them, and when they were already committed to trying their best for the sake of her child, what was the point of that?

So no. In the end, she decided to withhold that for now. She’d tell them later when the future was more certain. The rest she would share.

Once she was cleaned up and presentable, and the wound on her forehead was only an angry bruise, Millie checked her terminal to update herself on her teammate’s status. It looked like Braylon and the Navarros were still training and Raj had returned briefly, only to disappear again alongside Katelyn according to the logs. Catherine was still in the dorm, in the study alone. There was one more thing, however.

There was a note from Raj in the system, letting the Class know that the three of them were working together on researching in the Archives—Raj scouting locations, Katelyn pulling the books, and Catherine pouring over the contents.

It sounded like a good strategy, but she worried about their safety. She had to accept it though—there was nothing to be gained in a place like Magincia without risk, and if Raj felt the dangers on the lower floors were something they could handle, she’d trust his judgment; he’d probably know better than she did anyway. Plus this gave the others a chance to work on their own goals. Also, me wandering alone into a club doesn’t give me a lot of room to comment on the matter, she mused.

Putting her worries aside, she left her room in search of CJ to kick her plans into motion, burgeoning though they were. He was still in his lab, along with Tanya, so it wasn’t a long trek through the commons and the large, metal doors to his sanctum.

The inside of CJ’s Alchemy lab was staggeringly large. In truth, it was like an entire research wing; with its own central area, hallways, and a multitude of specialized rooms leading to a warehouse in the back. It was even multistory with three floors, though the interior was rather barren as it hadn’t come fully stocked with industrial-scale machinery—it just looked capable of housing it. For the most part, there were only private, single-person tools and equipment stations to be had, alongside a small, private library. It was still an amazing amount.

In one of the rooms, which smelled strongly of herbs with a biting undertone of something chemical, Millie found her two friends. They were bent over a bench, pouring over a book together, with an actual blackboard next to them with several theories and formulas written down in mad scribbles. It was somewhat amusing to Millie that she could tell which notes were from whom—Tanya’s handwriting was an elegant, flowing script that was perfectly level as though written with a ruler. It was hardly surprising; the girl could literally write in italics, a feat that had endlessly amused Millie in high school. Meanwhile, CJ’s was pure chicken-scratch.

“Hey guys,” Millie called out. She walked past a shelf filled with an assortment of alchemical goods as she approached the duo and side-eyed it for the dubious odor wafting from it.

“Okay, okay, so the second room’s alembic has the Runes for dissolution, sublimation, exaltation, and—oh, Millie!” Tanya called out. It was clear the two had been brainstorming the various Alchemical processes and how to implement them.

“Shit, what happened to your face?” CJ said, his eyes narrowing as he took in the massive bruise on her head.

Millie shrugged as she came to a stop near the two, holding out an arm as Tanya rushed forward for a quick hug.

“I kinda got into a fight with a mirror. Kicked its ass though,” she told them.

“This isn’t like the time you were drunk and fought a tree, is it?” Tanya asked, squeezing her side.

Millie flushed a little before clearing her throat. “Hey, that tree was squirrelly and had it coming—”

“It kicked your ass,” CJ cut in.

“—it was a draw at best,” Millie concluded. Her high school years had contained… many colorful experiences. In hindsight, too many had involved alcohol.

Her friends chuckled in bemusement, Tanya stepping back to the side but a moment later CJ straightened his expression and gave her the look. Millie hated the look—the boy could probably shame a monster with that glare. I should ask for tips on how to pull it off. All mothers can give a look, right? That’s like a superpower I’ll develop at some point?

“Seriously, did something happen?” He emphasized.

“I…I’ll tell you the whole story later,” Millie said, trying to ignore the trembling in her limbs. “I just kind of had an emotional breakdown. It didn’t help at the time that I got an invite from Liam to his stupid club.”

Her friends looked at her worryingly, before sharing a glance. Thankfully, they decided not to press Millie on her vague answer. She was grateful for that.

“You…got an invite from Liam?” Tanya said, steering the conversation. “What was it about?”

“Fuck, you went already didn’t you?” CJ said accusingly. Damn it, he knows me too well, Millie thought, wincing in guilt.

“Yeah, I did,” she admitted. She hesitated about reveling Liam’s peeping powers but decided to spill the beans. CJ was top on her list for people who could deal with it anyway. “Somehow the fucker’s been spying on us and knows what we learned in our consultations. He presented me with a piece of his soul in a gem, and his now partner-in-crime Thomas gave me some healing potion that I super don’t trust.”

“Spying on us?” CJ responded. “Is this part of his Gift then? Also, I take it you want me to look into the stuff?”

“Please,” Millie said, digging into her satchel and handing over both the potion and the gem. “And yeah, I assume so. At the very least, his Gift seems to be related to some sort of Demon he’s contracted with that was trapped in his crystal. I think his spies are some sort of shadow Spirit or the like, as it would fit a Void-type Undead, but I don’t know for sure. All I know is he owns that club he found his crystal in, and the thing’s chock full of demonic Spirits. Mostly Succubi and whatever the male equivalent is.”

“Incubi,” CJ answered off-handily, taking both items, but setting the gem to the side. He lifted the vial to swirl it around as he eyed it, before writing down several notes. Millie saw amongst them plans for ‘holy water for shades?’ so he was clearly taking her spy warning seriously. That was good, though his answer of ‘Incubi’ did confuse her.

“Wait, isn’t that a band?” Millie commented. It sounded familiar.

“You’re thinking of Incubus,” Tanya ventured. “Remember the song: Wish You Were Here?”

Millie made a face. It was one of the songs she’d had on her iPod in high school when she’d been ‘separated’ from Liam, and her enhanced clarity was, unfortunately, beginning to draw up memories of her repressed teenage angst. Tanya giggled when she saw Millie’s expression, and CJ threw in his own chuckle.

“So did he say what kind of healing potion this is?” CJ eventually clarified. He lowered it again, having eyed it to his satisfaction while Tanya and Millie spoke.

Millie sighed. “Well, apparently the Elixer of Life is still inside Thomas, and he can share it through his blood and does so liberally. It can even change what kind of potion it works as, and in this case—that’s some sort of soul healing mixture designed to aid with transplanting soul bits. In theory, it will forgo the need for surgery and will heal me right up if we find and use the right injection procedure. It should have several doses as well.”

CJ harrumphed with a small frown as he looked at the vial. “First the guy’s unkillable, and now he’s an endless potion dispenser? Jesus, that’s such a damn cheat power.”

“I know, right?” Millie responded. “However, I really want to know if the vial is clean. Thomas said it was, but I watched him dole out his drug-blood like Ecstasy hits to a harem of girls he’d collected.”

“...really?” Tanya said flatly, voicing much of Millie’s own disgust over the situation.

“Yeah,” Millie said with a scowl. “Really. Though if you could pull a hat trick and find a way to replicate soul-healing that would be great. If it turns out I need more, I do not want to go begging the source.”

“Donators might need some too so I’ll try, but keep in mind it’s a tall order,” CJ said, sighing as he set the vial down. “Is there something you wanted me to look into with the gem then?” He picked it up to look it over as well. “Anything specific, I mean?”

“Well, is it safe to use a bit of soul from someone who’s been making demonic pacts?” Millie questioned. “Otherwise, I hope you can figure out how to handle a donation. Maybe see if the crystal can be re-used or help with it since we’re on our own for getting soul bits. He wouldn’t share how he did his.”

“Fuckin’ figures he wouldn’t spill the beans,” CJ said, rolling his eyes before getting serious. “A demonic pact bleeding over though? That's a scary thing to think about.”

“Did you make any sort of deals?” Tanya asked.

Millie shook her head vehemently as her two friends furrowed their brows in thought.

“Hmm,” CJ said, “I would like to think it wouldn’t transfer anything, since you never made a deal with the Demon yourself, but that’s based on assumptions from stories on Earth. It's best if we try to verify how accurate those are, maybe in the Archives? I’ll see what I can find, though, I wonder…”

CJ’s eyes flashed with a subtle sheen of light. Millie cocked her head in confusion, and when he noticed her quizzical look, CJ gave her a lazy grin.

“I picked up my first Attainment already,” he told her. “Lots of us did. Mine’s an internal one and I’m calling it Appraisal. Sadly it’s not as broken as I’d hoped it’d be but it’s pretty useful.”

“How would something like that be broken?” Millie asked. She didn’t doubt him, but she figured it would be useful to know.

CJ shrugged. “It’s just a thing that comes up a lot in Isekai—you always go for an identifying or appraisal skill because it’s easy to level up and gives you more information than most people have access to. My Attainment though only gives me information about things I know. It's still useful, but if I come across a substance I’ve never seen before its totally blank.”

“Wait, doesn’t that defeat the purpose then?” Millie said. “How is it supposed to help you identify things if it only works on stuff you’ve seen before?”

“You gotta keep a few things in mind, Millie,” he said smugly. “Firstly, the more I study, the more useful Appraisal gets, letting me recognize things even if they’re in forms I’m just coming across. Secondly, there are more advanced Attainments to help with identifying new materials, and this guy pairs well with them, expanding the information they’ll give because I’ll then ‘know’ the substance. Lastly—there’s also Spells,” he added with a wink.

Millie rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright, you little game-breaker. Anything useful here then?”

He shrugged. “Like I said, it only helps me identify things I’m already familiar with. I got some interesting reads off of the potion, but this crystal is something else. It’s mostly blank, like some of the magical materials I’ve tried appraising around the dorms. It’s definitely worth investigating, I might even beeline trying to master the Alchemical Rune of Exaltation.”

“It’s not…onyx then?” She said. “Or does your Attainment not do material compositions?”

He shook his head. “Only if I know what to look for. In this case, it might contain, I think, chalcedony in it? Or some sort of silicate, but because the structure’s unfamiliar to me I might be getting false positives. What I can tell is some of the internal layout, and its…weird. I think I recall gemstones having simple geometric structures; prisms, pyramidal, hexes, that kind of thing. But something about this is… spiral-shaped. I don’t know how else to describe it, and it really doesn’t feel natural.”

“Maybe it’s a black hole?” Tanya said, her tone clearly joking, but CJ looked contemplative as he hmmed loudly. She quickly frowned in worry.

“It’s…not actually a black hole, right?” Millie jumped in, her own anxiety building.

CJ’s hmming intensified, so she smacked his arm before he broke out laughing.

“No, I don’t think so. I hope not anyway, a black hole gemstone sounds too ridiculous to be so casually thrown about. Like I said though, I’ll look into it so don’t worry.”

I swear to god, if it is a black hole, I’m stuffing it down the Headmaster’s mouth. “Alright. Just…keep me posted.”

“Will do,” he assured her. “What are your plans after this though?”

CJ set the gem down to give her an appraising look. She knew lying to him would be virtually pointless—he’d see through her too easily. So with a sigh, she spilled the beans. She’d decided earlier to do so anyway, she was just anxious that he’d worry.

“Liam and Thomas confirmed that there’s secret quests for those with Gifts,” she said. “I’m going to go do a Tarot reading on those stupid bugs in my food to see if I can find a clue how to start mine.”

“And then…start it, I presume?” He said.

“It could open up options,” she answered, folding her arms defensively. It helped quell the small tremble in her hands.

“It could also get you killed,” he replied. “I know we’re on a time crunch, but I’m worried how much damage those readings can cause you. And I know you did one not even an M-hour ago.”

Millie scowled at the gentle admonishment. “I know it's a risk and the rewards are unknown, but if there's even a chance it could help solve our problems I want to take it.”

“But,” Tanya interjected, “if we find a way to give you donations isn’t that good enough?”

“It isn’t,” Millie said, shaking her head. “I still need Attainments. While Prince Douche claimed he could try and get some scraps, even if I did manage to get all ten of the ones I need, the cost is still too high. If I can find something valuable though, I might be able to use it as collateral for a loan. It just has to not count as a damn gift.”

It’s that or abandon our plan altogether and find a new one, she silently added.

“I get that,” CJ said. “But if you literally kill yourself chasing leads, what does that accomplish?”

“I’m not going to kill myself,” Millie said emphatically. “I’m only going for tier-one Spells. I can handle that.”

CJ narrowed his eyes. “Hold out your hand.”

“What?” She said.

“Hold out your hand, Millie,” he repeated.

Grudgingly, she did so and he took it. “You’re shaking. I thought I saw it when you came in.”

“I just need to eat some food,” she said tersely. “It’s not a big deal.”

“That you’re guessing,” he said, letting go of her hand. “There’s more to healing than just closing wounds. You need to eat and rest. A couple of hours isn’t going to—”

“A few hours now sounds fine, sure,” she cut in. “But what about the next time? And the time after that? It adds up, CJ. I have to be efficient with my time.”

“Guys, please—” Tanya tried to interject.

“I get that Millie,” CJ said, voice rising, “but the energy to cast your Spells isn’t coming out of nowhere. It's taking it from your body, like some sort of blood magic. In games, sacrificial magic isn’t—”

“Not everything is a game, damn it!” Millie shouted. “I understand I’m paying for it, but I can heal up and keep going. I know the risks better than you.”

“Do you?” He said challengingly. “What does your vision show you about this then? Well?”

She ground her teeth. “Backlash comes in two main forms. From a Spell you can’t control, to one that’s lacking energy.”

“And?”

“And…I don’t know,” she admitted lamely. “That’s it.”

“Do you not know, or is it missing?”

“I…I don’t know,” she repeated. “Why would I? Backlash isn’t some big mystery. And my circumstances aren’t the same as my vision’s anyway.”

“You’re right, they aren’t,” he shot back. “There's no book, or vision, or anything that can tell you how dangerous what you’re doing is. Which means you don’t know the risks, not really. You’re making assumptions that could get you killed.”

Oh, god damn his stupid logic. “For fuck’s sakes, CJ, I’m not…” She hesitated. She was about to say she wasn’t really taking a risk, but her enhanced mental faculties were helping her realize the fallacies in her own argument before she even uttered them. Further, she could tell she was just being stubborn. Why was she even arguing with CJ? What was the point here? Was she going to yell at him for being worried and asking her to take it slow? What was the point of them fighting over this?

“Fine,” she finally said. “I’ll wait to do the reading. I’d still like to get it down before our rest cycle.” That would give her a few Earth hours to recover anyway.

CJ’s grateful sigh made her feel guilty. “Thank you. Please, I know how stressful this is, really. But only risk it when you’re in top shape. Tanya, can you make sure she’s stocked up on food?”

“Y-yup,” Tanya said. The poor girl looked whiplashed, but she also didn’t like arguments. Millie didn’t either, but that was mostly because CJ usually won them, despite his own distaste for conflict, verbal or otherwise.

Well, until then I guess it's time for plan B.

“As you can guess, mastery takes time,” Millie explained to the glowing wall. “Ultimately, you’ll find yourself stuck between deciding on versatility or specialization. Knowing a hundred Runes at a middling level gives a lot of options, but it’s Mana expensive and time-consuming to improvise everything. Just a few Spells that you’ve streamlined with a goal in mind can accomplish a lot more. Especially if you have accompanying Foci for them.”

“Do you have any suggestions for good Spells to start on early?” Isabella asked.

Millie nodded, before realizing that most listening to the podcast probably wouldn’t see it. “It really depends, but generally you want some sort of answer for offense and defense. Mobility and awareness are good secondary options as well—one thing I wish I’d seen my vision-self use more is mobility. But I was focused on Expeditions. I’m sure the best choices fall to how you want to make your RP.”

“A good point,” Isabella said. “Which, next episode we’ll discuss in more depth the various options we’ve found so far. Just a reminder until then—the city is dangerous. Not just from what Magincia throws at us, but from the people in it. Find friends and stick with them.”

“Good luck everyone,” Millie said.

“And give ‘em hell,” Isabella finished, before tapping a button on the entertainment room’s table and ending the recording. “Alright,” she said, turning to Millie, “I’ll go through and make sure everything looks good. I’ll call you if there's anything I think needs work.”

God, I hope I don’t have to re-record any of it again, Millie thought. The girl was a frightening perfectionist.

“Thanks, Isabella,” Millie said. “By the way, I noticed you’ve been training the last M-hour. Was it just with your spear?”

Isabella shrugged. “That and my Fire Bolt. It's still costing me two Mana per cast and I’m not sure why. Why do you ask?”

“Just trying to be friendly, I guess,” Millie admitted. “Though I was thinking of asking if everyone would be okay if we let our servitors use the entertainment room when we aren’t.”

The beauty frowned, before cocking her head. “I suppose? You were watching some stuff with your robot when we came back earlier, weren’t you? Is this some special project of yours?”

“Sort of?” Millie said, scratching at the back of her neck awkwardly. “I know its probably cliche or something to help a robot learn about humanity and whatnot, but I like to think it humanizes them.”

“Honestly, I don’t care,” Isabella said, letting out a dramatic sigh. She looked tired, which was unsurprising given how hard she’d been pushing herself. “You know, as much as I’d like to be able to relax in here, kick back with a beer and watch a movie, I don’t think I could. I feel like every moment I’m not spending doing something is a waste of time.”

Millie schooled her expression. I feel the same way, she thought to herself, but at least you can actually do something. “I’m sure someone smarter than me would warn you about burnout, but I’ll pass on being a hypocrite for the moment and just say to remember to drink water and get plenty of food.”

Isabella snorted, rolling her eyes. “Yes, mom. Just remember to take your own advice.”

“I’ll try,” Millie said, slowly rising on her tired knees and making her way out. She paused in the doorway before throwing the beauty a wave, getting one in return. As she left, Millie’s eyes lingered briefly on the girl’s restored tattoo one last time.

CJ wasn’t wrong that most picked up their first Attainment, Millie mused. I think Isabella is the only one who’d gone for an external one though. She’d been somewhat surprised to see it, of course. Millie hadn’t noticed it when the group had all come back from the Stacks, given the atmosphere and conversation with Katelyn. But once she’d gotten a chance to speak with Isabella, she wasn’t exactly surprised by the girl’s choice. Though she worried how useful it would be.

The dark-skinned beauty had decided to call her Attainment Majestic Presence. Given how its ‘default’ name was Auspicious Sun-blessed Harbinger of Sagacious Intent, Millie approved the sensible shorthand. Especially as it seemed Attainment’s names got longer and even more word-salady the higher tier they got. Renaming them only seemed appropriate, and it was something the fourth floor Stack Spirit had apparently encouraged.

The name aside, her Attainment made people…pay more attention to her. That, as far as Millie was aware, was the extent of its power. Eight Mana, and for an as of yet unknown amount of time, everyone would listen to her. Listen as in, pay attention—there didn’t seem to be any obligations to do as she said and they could still argue with her, though talking over her was practically impossible. What limitations, how hard it was to resist, or the full nuance of the ability was still unknown, but apparently it had worked wonders to get her brother in line during training.

It’s weird that a tier-one Attainment costs so much Mana compared to a tier-one Spell, Millie thought, making her way through the empty commons and into her room. Is there a specific reason for that? Can they be made more efficient? She did recall in her vision that some amount of development could be had with Attainments. Sadly, the details on that alluded her.

Once inside her room, Millie sat down at her favorite table, overlooking the devastated city outside, and tried to take stock of her body's current state. As much as it annoyed her, she was nothing if not honest when it came to her word, so she’d held back on doing any readings, taking time to soak in the pools some more as well as gorge herself on nearly three meals worth of food. It was frustrating how hungry she got after her two readings, and she suspected it would be a trend. She wasn’t even sure why—nothing in her vision or experience explained that problem.

Her hands were finally steady, however. Internally she felt sleepy, though that was a combination of food coma and how late it was. She’d probably be up another Earth hour or two before going to bed as she was pushing herself to match the schedule the group had decided on. They would ‘rest’ in some way, shape, or form during the M-hours of three through seven. That gave them six M-hours of activity and four of rest per cycle; translating to around sixteen Earth-hour-long days with eleven hours for relaxation and rest. It was doable, if potentially miserable, and she was honestly tempted to take some of her Endurance boosters.

But each point of an Attribute is worth around ten resource points, she reminded herself. And it’s obviously easier to boost at a lower level, especially if I go with Braylon’s suggestion. The athletic-focused man had discussed it with Couch and found that one of his training options included physical Attributes. And if a hundred points for a sped-up training session could net you more than ten points of Attributes, that obviously made that the best deal.

“Miss robot,” Millie called out. Her robot quickly poked its head out of its little room. “Can you do another health scan on me? Am I good to go?”

Her robot wandered over. “Millie, I told you I’m not equipped for such things.”

“Pleeeeease? I’ll let you touch my belly for five minutes,” Millie bargained.

Her robot looked torn, before clearing its throat. Its decision obviously made. Putting a hand next to her head, her lips moved silently and rapidly, her eyes glowing briefly as she reported an ‘emergency’ situation.

“I’ve contacted the Governor and requested emergency diagnostic powers to help treat your wounds,” she said, before lowering her voice. “I don’t know how much longer you being pregnant is going to work as an excuse.”

“We’ll milk it for all its worth,” Millie said with a grin, before turning in her seat to give her robot full access to the goods. Thankfully, her servitor realized how annoying Millie found it when she cooed too much, so she just silently, and gently, rubbed Millie’s belly, smiling innocently before giggling at one point when her son kicked out.

“So…that diagnostic?” Millie prompted.

Without looking away, her robot shrugged. “You appear to be in good health. Your Mana saturation has grown larger than anticipated, however. It’s not enough to present an immediate concern, but it does mean your projected timetable before serious complications has shrunk to just shy of two Magincian weeks.”

Millie nodded. They’d discussed this somewhat before, though the true mechanics of ‘magic radiation’ alluded Millie. She just knew it was building up in her body and would eventually create too much pressure on her soul, leading to a rupture and then death. Fun stuff. Millie impatiently waited a few minutes before clearing her throat.

“Well, I guess it's time then. I want to squeeze this reading in before bedtime.”

Her robot pouted but took the cue as she stood up. Walking across the room, she picked up a covered bowl and brought it over to Millie, who straightened in her seat and took out her Tarot cards. Setting the bowl down in front of her, the servitor removed the covering to reveal the bugs laying within. They were salted and buttery—picked out earlier from some popcorn that had then gone straight into the fire.

Dumping the bugs out onto the table, Millie then handed the bowl back to her robot, who took it away before coming back out to sit down nearby, watching. Millie had asked her to keep an eye out—just in case something happened. What that could be, she wasn’t sure, but better safe than sorry. Finally ready, Millie stopped hesitating and began to shuffle her deck.

The first card she drew was of a moon-lit valley. A river ran gently between it, and a man slowly, but futilely, tried to climb his way out, slipping on dew-dampened rocks. On the opposite shore from him, on the river’s sandy bank, eight cups sat on the ground with a little, make-shift wooden cross pounded into the sand before a person-sized mound.

The second card was reversed. In it, a robed woman with a hijab covering her face stood in a small clearing, two trees behind her alternating in stages of their life cycles. She lifted out of an ornate, gilded box an elaborately crafted wand using a white silken sheet, before offering it to the viewer.

The last card was also reversed. A man, looking away, covered in a long, grey sleeveless coat with a flowing red scarf, held aloft his hands as a whirlwind of magic juggled seven cups in the air, their contents ranging from blood-covered daggers to cracked mirrors, skulls, and the like. He stood on a gnarled, twisted branch of a massive tree overlooking a misty forest.

Immediately, Millie felt the magic take hold as the energy was ripped from her, with more hunger than she herself had shown an hour before after downing two large pizzas. A moment later a distant, haunted voice came from the man in the cliffs as the Eight of Cups spoke.

“We have to leave somethings behind to make our way forward,” he said, head bowing before he glanced back at the grave behind him. “You never want to. It never gets easier. But no matter the loss, no matter the steepness of the cliffs…you must go on.”

“It will be difficult,” the robed woman said, with a thick middle-eastern accent. The Paige of Wands. “You hope for a quick fix, a sudden find. That will not happen, I am sorry. Would you have started this journey earlier, learned to consult the cards from the beginning, perhaps this would be easier to hear. But your quest has only begun.”

“Yet in many ways,” the man juggling the cups said, his voice distinguished and refined. The Seven of Cups. “Your life has only just begun. What Magincia takes from you is eclipsed by its gifts. It is good that you are taking action finally, delayed or not. You didn’t have many options before you, yet you still needed a push to get started.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Millie said, turning to spit blood into a cup her servitor had helpfully provided. “I took my sweet time actually starting my quest and it’ll be harder than I want. I get it, it fits the MO here. So—what am I doing next?”

“It is not just you who has lost, seeker,” the distant voice of the Eight of Cups warned. “Your quest follows a path set by one who is now gone. You trek in ruins, digging through graves for what was left behind.”

“And yet, we provide,” the girl intoned. “Information as you seek, but beyond the limits of this simple Spell. Do not distress.”

“Tell me, girl,” the distinguished voice said. “Would you like to see a magic trick?”

Millie raised an eyebrow. This has been the strangest reading yet, she mused. “Ah, sure?”

He laughed, before turning his head back to face her, giving her a wink. “Look to your target for this reading.”

Millie did as he instructed and gasped. The bugs had re-arranged themselves on her table, the majority of them gone. Only ten remained, set into a large pattern spanning her table, for which she had no context.

“What? How did—”

“Magic, girl,” the Seven of Cups laughed somewhat derisively. “Now try not to take so long on the next step. Hmph.”

And with that, the magic ran out. Her gamble had worked—her gut feeling correct. She had indeed succeeded in starting her hidden quest. While she had no idea if it would give her the options she needed to save her son, she couldn’t help but feel proud she’d accomplished it.

There was just one problem.

“What the fuck is this supposed to mean?”

She stared at the buttery bugs, but they remained silent.

Meanwhile, in the study.

Catherine flipped through the latest book Katelyn had brought back, her eyes darting back and forth as she took the contents in. It wasn’t an Attainment she was using—she’d long ago mastered the art of speed reading. It wasn’t as hard as some claimed.

“The parables in here are worse than the Unjust Steward,” Catherine mumbled. She’d always found that passage in Luke frustrating. Jesus praising a manager for unjust handling of money?

But at least there's context to draw meanings from with the Bible, she thought. In the book she was currently reading, it was hard to even tell if the events listed were real or not. Not only did it seem to constantly fluctuate between parables and historical events, but its true accountings were of seemingly impossible events from an Earthling’s perspective!

“Why is the story of one man being so hungry he eats himself, dying in the process, just a parable? Meanwhile, a story of a Spirit doing…unwholesome things to a cloud and giving birth to a new species of creatures is real?”

More confusing yet, why was there a scrap of an Attainment for resiting foodborne illness in the first, and then a Formation scrap for a Spell called Thunderous Chakra in the second?

I suppose it doesn’t matter at the moment, she concluded. While she longed to understand the rhyme and reason, she’d still learned a great deal over the past several M-hours. For one—she’d found that there were scraps for Spells. The Formations only took five pieces to complete, but even one was enough to practice the Spell with. Though, if someone was dedicated enough, the full collection unlocked an option to buy personal training with the Spell.

A sound chimed on her Soul Scroll—another notice that she’d ‘unlocked’ the scraps, and a short while later a servitor, wearing simple clerical vestments, came in. He had a kind, patient smile with short black hair, just barely beginning to bald, though Catherine didn’t lookup. Her servitor delivered the two pieces of paper, setting them on the slowly growing stack she’d accumulated, before bowing and retreating without a word. Catherine continued to decipher what she was reading, trying to reach some unknown level of comprehension required by the System to unlock the rewards.

Does this retelling of a man traveling across the world via a dolphin-like creature have any bearing on anything whatsoever?

After a few minutes more, she set the book down and went to massage the bridge of her nose. She hesitated when she remembered she didn’t have glasses anymore, and instead rubbed her temples. After a moment, she lowered her hands, one catching on some of her hair. She grabbed it to lift it up and examine it, frowning. It was so…straight, and smooth. The products her servitor had suggested after her remedy had done a lot to strengthen her hair even more.

Another sound issued out, causing Catherine to startle, as the portal ignited. Checking her Soul Scroll, she realized more time had passed than she thought and the others would be returning for the day. A moment later, Katelyn walked through, carrying another book.

“How were the ones we found?” Katelyn asked. She sounded breathy, and Catherine was fairly certain her expression indicated fatigue.

“We’re up to six tier-one Attainment scraps, two tier-twos, and quite a few Spell scraps, ranging all the way to tier-three.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Katelyn said, lips rising in a smile as she set the newest book down to sit down. Catherine picked it up, glouring at the unadorned cover that was common, and opened it up to start perusing.

“It’s not any more useful than what Saras told us,” Catherine replied as her eyes darted back and forth, her Attainment Analytical Mind doing a remarkable job helping her split her focus. When the Stack’s fourth floor Spirit had explained how it had worked, she never mentioned this side benefit. Would giving Saras an offering expand how much she shares?

“Wait, have we still not gotten any multiples?” Katelyn asked. “It’s all initial pieces?”

Catherine looked up, annoyed. Wasn’t that obvious? Why did that statement require clarification?

“Yes,” she told her friend crisply, before turning back to the book. If there had been multiples she would have said something, obviously. A long sigh came from Katelyn before she started looking through the stacked pages.

“So these are scraps then,” Katelyn said. “I didn’t actually expect them to print out pages of them.”

Catherine shrugged while she continued to read. “It's so we have something to turn in. One of the books didn’t contain any scraps, but it did have a small primer on the library.”

“Did it have anything specifically useful in it?”

Pausing, Catherine set the new book down. The primer had been one of the books the Headmaster had recommended to her, with information on the Archives functions. At least, one of the ones they could reach at their current levels.

“The scraps all contain condensed Glyphwork, which is another alphabet used here, one that Millie wasn’t aware of. My best comparison would be like Kanji. It’s essentially small phrases and complex concepts packed into tightly packed clusters that make encoding the information about the Attainment or Spell easier. It also makes trying to make use of it dangerous without all the pieces.”

Katelyn’s lips lowered into a frown. “I assume the System takes the scraps back when turned in?” Catherine nodded. “Is it possible to copy them?” She asked.

“There were warnings in the primer against that,” Catherine answered, “so I assume there are Spell protections in place. I don’t know how well that would hold up if someone were to copy it from memory.”

“Something to look into perhaps…” Katelyn muttered, before shaking her head. Her voice sounded strained. Was she frustrated? Or perhaps tired?

That would make the most sense. Catherine tried to swallow her guilt on the matter, but the truth was when she’d gone into the Stacks she’d had a panic attack at being alone. While there wasn’t supposed to be any physical danger on the upper floors, her anxiety had gotten the better of her, and now Katelyn had to work to pick up the slack.

And I got my Attainment just for breaking through the puzzles on the shelves and books too. A motion drew Catherine’s attention as Katelyn lifted up a small stone to her mouth.

“Raj? What’s your ETA?” She said into it. The stone remained silent for several moments as Katelyn frowned again. Eventually, a burst of noise, like someone moving quickly while punctuated by heavy gasping came through.

“One second!” Raj’s voice came out, an echo of some shrill cry coming from behind him before the communication cut out.

“Shit,” Katelyn said, pulling out the Healing Rod she’d purchased earlier and moving over to the portal.

“Do you know which section he’s in?” Catherine asked.

Katelyn grimaced. “Yes, but I don’t have access to it. I told him not to scout out those Tomb Guardians, but he insisted on gauging how dangerous they were.”

Catherine bit her lip in worry, book forgotten, her hand reaching into her pocket to grab the stone there. It wouldn’t help here sadly—it was keyed to one of the two Katelyn had as they’d decided to be economical with the Stones of Messaging. At a hundred resources a pair, it was expensive but allowed coordination between their split research group. Collections to Stacks, and Stacks to the Study. One day, they’d buy a set for Collections to Study, but only when they had RP to spare.

Suddenly, the portal sprang to life and a blood-soaked Raj came barreling in. He stumbled, twisting to reach back but Katelyn was a step ahead of him in shutting down the portal. He looked at her instead, his great big chest rising alongside his gulps of breath, before nodding. Katelyn’s face contorted, something like annoyance or perhaps worry in her features.

“Sit—now,” she stated. Raj obediently obliged, and Katelyn hovered her Rod over him—it was a medium-grade tool halfway between wands and staves—and a soft green light began to emanate from it. Catherine had worried when she’d learned Katelyn spent over half her RP on the tool, but she couldn’t argue its usefulness as the gashes and cuts on Raj began to seal up, with the large Indian man grimacing.

Thankfully, his wounds looked grazing, if numerous. Catherine shuttered to think what his Mage Armor had absorbed before running out of charge.

“So, were they dangerous enough for you?” Katelyn said, her voice wavering as she worked. Catherine knew from experience it meant Katelyn was angry, likely on the verge of crying. Thankfully Catherine had never been the target of her former care worker’s ire.

Raj sighed heavily. “I needed to be sure,” he admitted. “And yes, it's worse than I imagined.”

“Oh?” Catherine said. She was glad she hadn’t been the one fighting the Tomb Guardians, but she was intrigued with the possibility of formulating a defense against them. Maybe there are holy Spells? She quickly buried that thought though. She was having…a few issues, spiritually, with her current circumstances.

“I confirmed what the Banshee told us,” Raj said. “The floors instance themselves, so I only found a small group of the Guardians. But, they’re not only sentient but extremely tenacious. The moment they found me they were using group tactics to run me down, flush me out, and attack. They also refused to give up the chase for a second.”

“I thought you got a Stealth Attainment?” Katelyn said, her brow furrowed as she continued to work. Catherine could feel the soft pulses of Mana coming from her ministrations—a slow, but steady Healing Light, one of the simple Spells contained in her Rod, albeit far more effective in Katelyn’s hands than it would be from anyone else.

Raj shrugged before wincing in pain, and Katelyn smacked his head. “Don’t move,” she told him sternly. He grumbled, only to earn another disciplinary swat to the skull. This time he wisely didn’t protest.

“Prowling Stance worked great, up until it didn’t,” Raj said. His voice had a tone that suggested humor.

“That doesn’t make sense, you know,” Catherine pointed out. While she was fairly certain he’d been making a joke, she also didn’t appreciate it. The situation was tense, he’d been hurt, and he kept fidgeting like a child while Katelyn worked.

Raj sighed. “In all seriousness, I think they have a hidden sense of some kind. You know how we have our Magic Sense? I think they can detect living beings.”

Catherine nodded. Magic Sense was a basic skill they’d gained and had proven quite useful in many ways. For example, Katelyn’s Attainment, Diagnose Injuries, was built using it as a foundation. It modified her Magic Sense to work on the Lifeforce of a target, allowing her to pinpoint their ailments. It was why her healing Spells were far more efficient since she didn’t have to settle for bombarding her target with healing energy.

“A way to detect the living…” Catherine muttered, before speaking up. “It’s not unheard of in stories with the undead. Do you know the range?”

“If I had to guess—ten yards.”

So around ten meters, Catherine thought. Katelyn’s Attainment only worked on a touched target. She wondered if Katelyn could improvise a Spell using it as a base, and then expand its range by sacrificing its clarity. Even if it was just a fuzzy sense, the ability to detect any living creature from range could be useful, as shown by the skeletons. Assuming that’s how they did it.

Focus, she reminded herself. “I’m not sure what we have about that off-hand. You said earlier that the Headmaster gave you locations on Necromancy Spells, yes? If we could get something that draped you in a cloak of death energy, that might render you invisible.”

“Not a bad idea,” Raj agreed. His lips raised as he smiled warmly at her, nodding. Catherine squirmed a little, being praised was…odd. Sure, Katelyn did it all the time, but she was like a big sister to Catherine. She’d practically raised her after Catherine’s mother was imprisoned.

“I-I’ll keep looking in case I find anything else,” Catherine said. She wondered…did Raj think she was attractive? Thomas had. People had been acting differently around her after the remedy. It was probably true then, wasn’t it? Her being…attractive.

Her mother would have beat her for suggesting it. Accused her of wanting to be a whore. Catherine tried not to think about that. Thankfully, Analytical Mind made it easier to focus on more important things—it may have been more limited in its scope compared to some Attainments, but it was a passive, permanent boost to her mental faculties.

“Oh, we did get a scrap for Spare The Dying, like you wanted,” she said, using the modified name she’d decided on. “While we still need more, I was able to decipher a crucial Spell component from the page. One for targeting incorporeal targets.”

Raj raised an eyebrow. “Spell component?”

“Yes,” Catherine said, nodding. “I believe Millie was using the term features, but I found that to be inadequate. Instead, I think it's better to view Spells as having specific components. By that, I mean the mechanical building blocks that constitute the Spell.”

“Wait, how is that different from what Millie was trying to explain then?” Katelyn asked.

“Because her method is too vague,” Catherine stated. “Which isn’t surprising—her description on how she improvised Spells was atrocious. They’re far more simple than she explained, take the Elemental Bolt Spell we all have wands for.”

Catherine pulled out her wand as emphasis, her hands trembling slightly when she sensed the Spell Formation within it. It felt warm.

“At its base, the Spell has three primary components, as well as two lesser components. The base ones are the Element Glyph, which determines what you’re using, the Shaping Glyph, which in this case is that of a bolt, and finally a Targeting Glyph. It’s technically possible to cast the Spell without that last one, but the Spell isn’t naturally aerodynamic and that would be like trying to fire a gun that didn’t have rifling in the barrel.

“The lesser components are useful but completely unnecessary from a Spellcasting perspective. One is what I’ve decided to call the Point of Cast Glyph and the other is the Trigger Glyph. They’re both cantrip level, similar to the Checksum Glyph.”

“What exactly do they do then?” Raj asked, wincing again as the last of his wounds closed up. There was still a small, unsightly pool of blood beneath him. He really took a bad hit, didn’t he? Catherine noticed, before refocusing on his question.

“The Point of Cast helps direct the location the Spell manifests from,” she said. “It's why the Spell comes from the tip of the wand and not from…um.”

“It’s alright,” Raj said. Catherine sighed, annoyed with herself.

She’d be lying if she said the first thing she’d looked for hadn’t been how to make sure the events in the Collections never happened again.

“A-anyway,” she pushed herself forward, “the Trigger is just that—how to cast the Spell. Normally it awaits a phrase, but sufficient Mana control can bypass the need for this component. Um, would you like to see an example?”

The two exchanged glances, before Raj eventually nodded, Katelyn only half watching as she continued to check him over.

Taking a quick breath, Catherine pulled out a second wand from her belt. It was a blank one, one of the ‘training’ wands that had no Foci in it. It was still magically crafted, so it was highly resilient and could withstand any Spell up to third-tier without issue and only cost her fifty resource points to acquire.

“I’m going to improvise a very simple Spell, using the Elemental component and the Point of Cast.”

She held up her wand, and her mind focused. First, she started by directing Runes into the Elemental component.

“Summon. Lesser. Flame. Three Runes, making a Glyph as they combine, to flesh out the starting component. Next, the lesser component, Point of Cast.”

She focused again, the images of the Runes appearing in her mind while she audibly narrated.

“Weave. Origin. Manifest. A bit more complex, but still rather straightforward when put together. The two Glyphs go into a basic Mandala, which I’m pretty sure just come in tiers for their size and complexity, and then we have…”

She paused as she concentrated. It took her two Mana in the end to balance the energy in the Glyphs, but once she had she let the Formation collapse.

When it did, it took on a strange, multi-dimensional shape in her mind’s eye. She pushed a Mana into it, watching it travel through the incredible structure, twisting and changing before her magical sense, before leaving. As it did, the shaped energy traveled through her body, down her arm, into her wand, and then bloomed into a bright, white flame at the tip of her wand.

Her mother would have burned her at the stake for performing witchcraft, but a part of her, more than anything, wanted to feel this feeling over and over again. The flowing of Mana, the formation of Spells. The thrill of success, the immensity of…being good at something. Everyone kept telling her she was good at magic. And she wanted to believe them.

Staring at the flame, blazing nearly a foot in height at the tip of her wand, she could almost believe it too. Though the memory of her burning hands still haunted her.

“You…you didn’t even say anything though,” Katelyn said. She sounded breathless.

Raj just shook his head, smiling.

“Hmm?” Catherine said, letting the flame go out. “Oh, I didn’t use the Trigger component so it wasn’t necessary.”

“I don’t think I followed any of that,” Raj muttered.

“Yeah…” Katelyn gave up, shaking her head before whispering, “When did she even learn these Runes?”

Catherine blinked. She’d spent, what, two—maybe three—Magincian hours studying today? Why were they surprised she’d learned a few Runes? It wasn’t like she’d mastered them or anything. Besides, this Spell was hardly difficult, it had even cost her three Mana to cast it! And it was tiny!

Exasperated, Catherine was about to begin another round of explanations when someone came through the open Study door. It was Millie, her eyes were darkened and there were traces of blood on her cheeks from a hasty cleanup. Had she tried to cast more magic? Worryingly—she looked thinner, especially around her neck. Had she been losing weight rapidly?

“Hey guys,” Millie said before her eyes settled on Raj. “Good—you actually are here. Sorry to barge in, but where’d you guys put the map of the Academy?”