Ilmarinen sits at the table for quite some time, arm under his beak in thought; it took us a while to explain everything. “It’s been many tides since the last of the Fae passed. Or so everyone thought. There be at least one now though.”

Ilmarinen stares at Colt, he looks down to the table. “What’s with the sour face, lad? Yer Fae now! Should be a time of celebration, not mourning!”

Colt keeps his head down. “But I’m not human anymore, I’m... different.” He stands up from his chair and heads to the front door.

I move to stop him, but Ilmarinen grabs my arm and shakes his head. “He needs to figure this out alone, lad.” Staring at Colt as he walks out the door, there’s a slight shimmer in the air, and then he’s gone.

Turning to Ilmarinen, he gestures at our bags, changing the subject. “Bring out everything ye collected, I wish to inspect it.” Opening up my backpack, I take out the mole crystal and the golem core. Ilmarinen’s eyes twinkle, especially at the golem core.

“I had naught thought about it, but these items give me ideas, once you have the metal, I shall make you an anchor the likes of which have never been seen before.”

Taking out the other two potion bottles full of root sap, I show them to Ilmarinen. “Inspecting it just brought up question marks with The Construct, we can’t identify it.”

Ilmarinen’s face turns to shock when even he apparently can’t Inspect it. “I may not be able to Inspect it either, but this here sap be emitting Fae magick. I’ve only experienced it once before in my life, but I would be hard pressed to forget the feeling.”

Taking the bottle, I feel the magick inside as well, it feels similar to making contact with Colt. We’ll simply need to ask him later to Inspect it himself.

------------

Outside Ilmarinen’s house, Colt walks under the guise of a Glamour. The streets are empty of all but bellowclaw lobsters, but in this case, even they can’t detect him. Simply walking, he takes whatever turns his feet bring him to.

Everything is different for Colt now, in a way no one else can understand. Every step he takes, he’s woefully aware of how soundless it is. His body is made of magick now, not just matter. It’s strangely light, yet still as solid as any other.

Taking a knife out of his pack, he makes a small cut on his finger. Light green ichor spills out before sealing back up. With HP and MP regenerations merged, the summative total gives him greatly enhanced total regen.

Lost in thought, Colt finds himself in a field, the very same one that he and Lucas collected potion ingredients from earlier. Finding a rock in the field, he takes a seat and stares out across the landscape.

He watches as various bugs move about the flowers and herbs, taking nectar and pollen along with them. If he pays attention to it, he can feel the plants around him, each one with its own unique signature.

Looking down at his hands, he notes that they’re still his hands. The left hand is still slightly off color from the rest of his skin where he had to grow it back. He may be a bit paler, but the same scars are all in the same places on his body. Nothing has changed, but so has everything.

A flash of green sprouts from his hand, the plants around him swell in size, fed by his Fae Blessing. It’s a significantly more potent version of his old Green Thumb.

“Why did this have to happen to me? I didn’t ask for this.” Colt brings his knees to his chest and rests his head on them. Tears fill his eyes as the wind blows past him. Where he should feel a slight chill, there’s nothing. His body has no temperature to speak of.

“Quit all the moping, it’s unbecoming of the Fair Folk.” Colt snaps his head up in shock as he senses a presence that was not there seconds ago. The snappy voice cuts him from his train of thought.

Looking up, there’s a man standing in front of him. His skin is pale, hair a gentle lavender, and his eyes are a deep, piercing purple.

A pit of anger grows in Colt’s stomach. “You did this to me, didn’t you?” His voice is quiet, but seething with rage.

The other Fae responds. “I may have been present, but your Fate is entirely in your hands, as The Construct wishes it to be.”

Colt stares at him, tears in his eyes. “So you’re saying it was my Fate to become Fae?” The man shakes his head slightly.

“It was simply one of the many possible branches of Fate you could have followed. Had you not become Mana Burnt and imbibed the magetongue brew, this would not have happened. How you made it into the Fae Forest, however, is beyond even my knowledge. I simply became aware of your entrance and investigated from afar. The Faerie Circle chose you in that moment when you laid under the Grand Tree. The process is irreversible.”

Colt’s stomach drops at this revelation, there’s no going back. He stares the other Fae directly in the eyes, refusing to break contact. “...Can you help me understand?” The lavender man’s lips quirks into a smile.

“For the only other of my kind in this world? Of course. But you must not tell anyone of my existence. Being Fae is dangerous in the wrong circles, especially when you have debts unsettled.”

Looking the man over once more, Colt notes the number of scars present on his body, they all have a slight purple tint to them. “What is your name? I’m Colton Kaine.” The Fae takes a slight bow.

“My name is Pasivier Heliothyst, former Last of The Fae. Pleased to meet you, Colton Kaine.”

“What is your first question for me, Colton?”

Colt looks at him for a moment. “Just Colt is fine. And I’m not sure, I guess it would be, what are we, how did this happen?”

Pasivier smiles. “A fine first question, the answer varies, however. You took what our people would have called the Ancient Way to become Fae. The process was believed to have been refined over the years, but I believe there was a certain loss of quality in exchange for number of Fae. You are a Fae of the earth, I am a Fae of the stars.”

In his eyes, Colt sees the power of the stars held within this man. Pasivier continues after taking in Colt’s expression. “I envy you, with your ties to the earth. It is a powerful magick. Tell me, what is your resource?”

Colt thinks for a moment but decides honesty is best. “Wild Magick.” Pasivier turns a slight shade of purple at this.

“Truly? Wild Magick? But that- No it does not matter, I believe you. As an exchange, I shall tell you my magick, perhaps I can even pass on some knowledge. I am a performer of Celestial Magick, the magick of the stars and the sky. Wild Magick is considered to be the most powerful of the Fae magicks. However, it is an incredibly difficult magick to control. We shall practice that in time. For now, I believe we have more to discuss.”

Colt stares at himself again. “I wish I could change time, and turn back, I’m not me anymore.” Pasivier looks truly offended by this declaration.

“How could you not be more you? The Fae magick might have transformed your body, but the process involved is the refining of your truest self. You are more you than you ever were in your short, mortal life.”

A shock runs through Colt at these words. Feeling deep inside himself for the essence of who he is, he realizes the truth in Pasivier’s statement. Every part of him is still his. His mind is still his own. With a flick of his hand, large tendrils of vines sprout up, breaking the ground away. The magick is still his as well, even if it’s changed.

Everything may have changed, but in the end, it's still him. Reassured, he stands up. “Show me the ways of the Fair Folk.” Pasivier’s smile is ear to ear now.

“I was waiting for that.”

Hours passed in minutes while Pasivier instructs Colt on all things Fae. He gains several levels in Glamour as well as his nature and earth spells. Pasivier even manages to teach Colt a celestial spell, Stardust. It’s the intro spell to Astrokinesis but has its uses for distraction and even has minor healing properties if used correctly.

Colt’s head is throbbing by the time Pasivier considers them done for the day. Maintaining control of his Wild Magick takes an immense amount of mental effort. Not to mention the crash course on everything to expect from his Magickal Anatomy.

Apparently, using too much of his Wild Magick will drain his physical body as well. As long as he has even a single point of Wild Magick, he will never die. Pasivier warns him, however, that the recovery will be painful.

Walking back to Ilmarinen’s house, Pasivier disappears in a Glamour, assuring Colt that he will find him again at a later date. As he steps out of the field, he feels an object slip into his hand.

Looking at it, he finds a smooth purple crystal with glowing glyphs moving across the surface and a strange light within. Inspecting it gives him no results, but he slips it into his pocket anyway.

-----------

The door opens back up and I look up from where I was waiting at the table, flipping through the Basics of Fire tome, but not really paying any attention. I stand up immediately as Colt steps in. His familiar grin is back on his face, his posture exuding confidence.

My face is alight with a smile seeing my best friend back to his normal self. “You’re back! What happened?” He smirks at me.

“Fae’s secret. Let’s just say I came to terms with these changes.” He flashes one of his hands toward me, sparks of light fly out.

Some of them land on me, I flinch for a moment before I realize they feel good. “Woah! What was that?”

“It’s Fae magick, I figured out how to do it, it apparently has some minor healing abilities! Otherwise, it’s just a showy spell. It’s called Stardust.”

Ilmarinen walks back into the room, hearing the commotion. He takes one look at Colt. “Good to see yer back to yerself, now make dinner.” Colt looks annoyed for a moment but sighs and smiles to himself, moving to the kitchen.

Ilmarinen sets a hot ingot of metal on an anvil and begins hammering it. When I look over, I realize he’s handling the white-hot ingot by hand. “Doesn’t that hurt?”

He stares at me. “Nay, lad, I wouldn’t be handling it if it did, now would I?” He turns back to his work, ignoring me now. ‘Stupid octopus gets moody when he’s hungry.’ Bored with sitting around, I move into the kitchen to help out Colt.

He hums to himself while he moves around the kitchen with a certain grace I had never noticed with him before. It seems him becoming Fae did change some things, like his heavy farmer’s steps.

Colt notices me watching him practically dance around the kitchen and blushes. Trying to avoid showing my shock, I smile. His blush is green. “Oh… Hi.” Colt stares at me.

“I wanted to help out with the whole cooking thing.” He looks shocked himself now.

“Oh, well you can uh, chop these vegetables for me.” Setting to work, we idly chatter while preparing food, it’s nice to have everything feel normal again after Colt’s transformation.

The dinner is ready so Colt prepares everything on plates, bringing them out to the table. It’s some kind of fish again, it looks and smells delicious. When we sit down, I truly take in the aromas of the food.

The fish is cooked and seasoned to perfection, the vegetables have been boiled and seasoned as well on the side, they look rich in flavor and heavily appetizing too.

Taking my first bite of the fish, it melts in my mouth. The flavor is absolutely divine. From across the table, Ilmarinen grumbles a bit. “Something’s off about the vegetables, the seasoning is fine but there be something I cannot place me arm on. The fish is delicious though, thank you, Colt.”

He mutters his thanks while my heart sinks. ‘I prepared the vegetables.’

“Why does all food I touch turn bland?!” Ilmarinen and Colt stare at me, but return to eating, only finishing some of their vegetables.

“I believe it be time for me to see the two of ye duel. I want to assess yer skills as an Anchorist, Lucas. As for Colt, I must admit I am excited to see a Fae in action. It’s been many tides since I last saw Fae magick.”

We stare at each other, then at Ilmarinen. His look tells us we can’t say no. We grudgingly follow him into a room of the house we haven’t seen before. It’s a very plain room, simple brick walls, and smooth stone flooring. “This be my training room, everything is enchanted. I would like to see either of ye break this stone, should be impossible at your current strength.”

At Ilmarinen’s comment, I take a stance and stare at Colt. “I want ye to go full force on each other, this training room possesses certain enchantments that will allow it.”

A quick check of my conditions in my status shows that I am currently “Protected”. Nodding to Colt, we agree to trust what Ilmarinen says. Plotting a Course, I sprint towards Colt at high speed, anchor held up and ready to smash him.

A shimmer in the air is all I see before Colt disappears. I swing at empty air, hitting nothing. Taking a guess based on how well I know my friend, I fire a volley of Mana Darts back and to my left.

A grunt of pain emits from the air, telling me that my shot landed. Deciding to surprise Colt once more, I use a new spell I’ve been practicing from the Basics of Fire tome. “Flame Swathe!” A jet of fire shoots out from my hand, hitting the area where I assumed Colt would be.

Just as I shoot this, however, a fist connects with my ribs, sending me flying into the wall. “Glamours are more than just visual, Lucas.” Colt smirks at me, his hand coated in stone and thorny vines.

His hit hurt, but a check of my HP shows that I am completely full. ‘Protected, huh?’ Letting go of my inhibitions, I feel any restrictions I was holding to my movements fall away.

Pouring MP into as many knots as my legs can handle, I Plot another Course. My body blurs as I launch at Colt with a Crashing Wake. His eyes widen in surprise as my anchor connects, delivering a Devastating Impact to his stomach.

Having caught him by surprise with my speed, he was unable to affect me with another Glamour in time to dodge. His body crashes into the wall from the force. Standing up again, he grunts.

“Okay, so we’re really playing hardball then, huh? Try this on for size.” He holds a hand out, it glows green as spires of stone launch up from the ground at me, I back up, dodging each expertly, using my Ballasted Body to move at odd angles with perfect balance.

As I move backward, however, I feel my body touch a mass behind me. Thorny vines entangle my body, constricting tightly on me.

Struggling to free myself, I shift every way possible, scratching myself on the thorns in the process. My anger builds in my stomach. Reaching inside myself, I focus that anger, willing myself a way out of this.

The answer comes in the form of words echoing in my mind. “Marlinspike!” A thin watery cone stabs and slices around my body, cutting through the Gaia’s Grasp with ease.

Landing on the ground, I grin at Colt. I charge him once more, my body blurs. He’s ready for me this time. From my side, I realize too late that it was another Glamour.

Colt roars as a Fist of Gaia smashes me into the ground. This time, Ilmarinen calls the fight, declaring me the loser. Apparently, without the Protection of his training room, that attack would have been fatal.

“Now bow and shake hands the both of ye.” We follow his instructions and do so. My anger at the fight dissipates in seconds, I’m simply happy to see Colt feeling better about himself now, even if he is apparently much stronger than me.

There is a level of embarrassment at losing, however, but I brush that off. Grinning at him, I slap him on the back. “You’ve gotten so much stronger now! You’re a badass!”

He blushes a bit at the compliment. “You caught me off guard several times there too. How did you move so fast? I felt like I got hit by a freight train!”

“Yes yes yer both very impressive, now go wash off, ye smell vile.” Our moods sour slightly at Ilmarinen’s words until we give ourselves a sniff. ‘It’s not that bad. ...Maybe a little bad. Ilmarinen must have some kind of smelling Perk like me.’

Colt calls dibs on first shower this time, so I know it’ll be a while until he’s done. Ilmarinen remains in the training room with me. “Ye have a talent with the anchor, but yer form is poor.” Nodding, I take his advice to heart.

“Will you show me?” He grumbles a bit but steps out of the room. Returning with his anchor, he takes a stance, holding the weapon in slightly different places as well as shifting his feet differently than I’m used to.

“Ballasted Body helps an Anchorist immensely with handling the weight, but stable footing such as this will do ye wonders.” Mimicking his stance, I notice an immediate improvement.

My anchor feels far easier to hold, and I can shift my weight better to hit with it as well. After taking a few practice swings, The Construct alerts me of my gains from both the spar and Ilmarinen’s teachings.

Level up! For use of a related perk as well as continued practice with the anchor, your Talent: Fledgling Anchorist has reached (20/50)!

For reaching your fourth Talent milestone in Fledgling Anchorist, you have been awarded applicable stat points to Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Willpower and + 120 XP. In addition, you have been granted the Perk: Ebb and Flow

Skill level ups have occurred, check the Skills menu for further details!

“Ilmarinen what does the Perk Ebb and Flow do?”

He chuckles to himself. “Oh to be young again. Try it yerself, allow yer body to move with the Ebb and the Flow of the tides.”

Moving back into my stance, I move around, finding my body seems to flow now, and backing up feels far more stable and graceful than it did minutes earlier during the spar. Feeling my mana as well, something seems different about my mana vessels. Checking the Perks menu, I’m given my answer.

Perks:

Ebb and Flow

Description: Your body now rides the tides of life, allowing you to Ebb and Flow seamlessly through the battlefield. Dexterity increased by 1. +1 Dexterity per level up.

Neural-Magic Vessels

Description: Your nerves and neurons have merged with your mana vessels. Mana now flows down your neural pathways, granting increased magical power, speed, instinct, and memory. Intelligence increased by 1. +1 Intelligence per level.

‘Both of these perks seem incredibly powerful!’ Turning to Ilmarinen, I thank him for his instructions.

We go through forms once more, everything flowing far more easily now. Even Ilmarinen seems impressed by my sudden skillfulness. By the time we finidh, Colt is done with his shower.

He steps out of a cloud of steam, smiling and heading to the bedroom. “Your turn.” Taking the chance happily, I grab another set of clothes, setting them in the enchanted shelves of the bathroom.

The steaming hot water immediately helps to relax my tense muscles. After spending a long time simply enjoying the heat and washing, I step out of the bathroom, feeling like a new man.

Climbing into bed, I lay down, tomorrow will be another busy day. Colt and I need to make more potions before we head back out to the forest to collect more materials for our quests. The second my head hits the pillow I’m out like a light.