Jennifer opened her eyes to a polished white ceiling, one that was most certainly not inside the dungeon cavern she’d been, or any location that she recognised. With mild alarm, she tried to pull herself up but the stabbing pain in her shoulder, chest and right arm dissuaded her.

“Ouch,” the words escaped her mouth, as she leaned back onto the soft pillow beneath her head. Before she had the presence of mind to check her surroundings, a voice beamed itself into her mind, one that she was starting to grow familiar with.

Eight legs crawled around her back, making Jennifer tense up instinctively at the motion. Through a surprising demonstration of will, she restrained herself from jumping up and going through agonizing pain once more, as Xar moved up to her shoulder. The spider raised a leg once more and moved it in a waving gesture.

So that wasn’t a dream.

Jennifer felt as if she should’ve shown a bigger reaction. A spider with a Mark, and one that could talk to people perfectly well. She had heard of smart monsters who used tools or traps and even had primitive language, but this level of communication was unheard of.

Jennifer sent to Xar, the telepathic communication, a lot easier than it had been before.

Xar replied, looking at her in surprise.

Jennifer asked, she couldn’t imagine that spiders waved to each other in greeting, though the image did almost make her chuckle .

Xar asked in confusion.

Jennifer said.

Before Jennifer had the time to respond to the little spider, the click of the door opening drew her attention.

“Stay down, no need to get up,” a gruff but familiar voice spoke. Jennifer’s eyes widened as she turned aside to look at Magus Beritross walk inside the chamber.

“Magus? What are you doing here?” Jennifer asked, as the man shut the door behind himself. In a rush she instructed Xar to hide, before she turned back to face the magus. He wore his typical simple shirt and pants with a little insignia of the academy on it, but his clothes were more formal than she’d ever seen them.

“As the instructor who qualified you as an Apprentice Mage, it is under my jurisdiction to look after you on behalf of the Academy, until we have found a suitable Mage willing to accept you. I had been hoping that you wouldn’t be getting into much trouble till we did that,” the Mage said, leveling a glare towards her.

Jennifer glanced down, feeling guilty. “I apologize for the trouble Magus,” she replied, waiting a moment to see if the man had seen Xar, or sensed him.

Jennifer felt a wave of surprise go through her words. Mind manipulation at that level was highly sophisticated, to think a tiny spider could do something like that… she tried not to let the surprise reflect upon her face.

“I’d rather you’d been more sensible. Do you even understand why I am angry?” Beritross asked, walking closer to the bed she lay on, before he took a seat nearby.

“Because… I went into the dungeon unauthorized? Because I could’ve died?” Jennifer asked.

“Mages die all the time Jennifer. It wasn’t the delve, though the fact that you went in so unprepared still is a problem. No, Jennifer, what angers me is that you pushed yourself far beyond your limits, instead of holding on for help to arrive. This could’ve been the end for your path as a Mage, that single overdraw could’ve broken your mana pathways beyond repair and nothing would’ve helped to fix them,” the Magus said, his voice tense as he looked on at her with a steeled gaze.

“I… it wasn’t a choice. We were stuck and there was no good way to escape. The only way to get out was to kill the serpent, and when we did, it rose again as a spirit remnant,” Jennifer replied.

Xar exclaimed in her mind, but thankfully, the words only seemed to be heading towards her.

“A splendid battle. The creature gave a low bronze rank spirit core. It’s astonishing that you managed to beat it. But tell me, how long could you have held on if you’d stacked in your defenses, put up a perimeter and a ward, and called for backup from the guild?” the Magus asked, quirking an eyebrow. Without waiting for a reply the man continued. “Your friend got injured in the skirmishes, and while no one had died, what would you have done if they had? It wasn’t just your own life at risk here Jennifer, but others that had gone alongside you. As the only authorized Mage in the vicinity, it was your responsibility, to prioritize a safe escape, over the defeat of the creature. You let the heat of the moment cloud your thinking and go in with an extremely risky plan.”

Jennifer stared silently for a moment. She opened her mouth to respond. To say that she’d found a Mark who she may have not been able to meet again, or to say that she knew she would’ve won. But the reality of it was that she’d merely put aside the risk because she knew that if she died, or if any of them died. She could just reset and things would return to normal.

I can’t live like that forever. At some point this madness of time will end… and things will have to return back to normal. I can’t keep thinking that my actions will never have any consequences.

Jennifer nodded to the Magus, not replying. The man let out a breath, looking at her silently for a moment or two.

“I hope you understand the weight that comes with our positions Jennifer. That is all. And you can thank your new teacher for making sure you did not lose your magic permanently. Magus Nathaniel has been the one to cure you back, he’s been waiting to talk to you for two days now.”

Jennifer frowned, looking at the mage. “Two days?” she asked, looking around in surprise. “I… was unconscious for two days?” she asked in disbelief.

“Roughly that, two and a half at this point. Your parents have been informed of your waking up as well, so they should be heading here to meet you as well. Now. Normally, I would not let go actions like this without some measure of disciplinary action, but seeing that you’re quite heavily injured and likely unable to use magic for at least a week, making your apprenticeship to the Magus delayed, I’ve decided on a slightly different plan,” the Magu said, turning towards Jennifer. “You’ll have mandatory work in the Academy’s library with Ithea for the next two weeks, after you’ve made a recovery.”

Xar asked curiously.

Jennifer sent the image of a library towards the curious spider before turning to face the Magus.

She tried reading the man’s expressions to gauge his intention. That was… far from a punishment, but the serious expression on the man’s face made Jennifer think he genuinely thought this to be a valid form of punishment.

the little spider spoke, as he tried to refine the image of a library in his mind.

Jennifer replied, before turning to Magus Beritross. Trying to keep a smile from coming onto her face, Jennifer dipped her head in acceptance.

“Ah, it seems we have a guest as well,” Magus Beritross said. A moment later, the gate clicked open once more, and Jennifer looked at Nathaniel standing at the entrance and looking inside.

“It seems my troublesome apprentice has awoken?” Nathaniel said, walking inside. With a nod to Magus Beritross, he walked closer and took a seat next to Jennifer, before grabbing her hand gently.

A pulse of mana went through her arm, and on instinct Jennifer tensed up, anticipating the pain that was to come. She was surprised when only a light almost ticklish sensation spread through her arm, as Nathaniel pulsed his mana through her arm.

“Mostly healed, but it’ll need a week’ time to fully recover,” he said out loud, patting her hand as he put it down and turned to face Jennifer. “I hope you already know that you’re not allowed to use any magic. No spells, no enchantments, nothing. If you feel extremely fidgety then you can channel your mana, but nothing more than that.”

Jennifer bit her lips lightly, before nodding.

“Good. You’d almost burst your pathways open pouring that much mana. I suppose it’s a miracle that you’re alive at all. A low bronze rank spirit remnant, and that too from a juvenile sky-fang serpent, impressive to say the least. You’d make for a good adventurer,” Nathaniel said, glancing towards her.

Jennifer let most of his words flow past her, as one in particular stuck out to her. “Juvenile…? Those things grow larger?” she asked in horror.

“Sky-fang serpents? Not in size no, the one you killed was as big as any adult, but an adult would have formed elemental wings, and would be capable of free flight. The one you killed managed to reach that stage after its death, which led to atrophied wings. Lucky for you, really. Adult serpents are high-bronze ranked. Not even overdrawing would’ve saved you,” Nathaniel said.

“A mage shouldn’t allow themselves to be in a position where they have to gamble against their future for their continued survival in the first place. Especially a young mage like you,” Beritross interjected. “In any case. Adventurer Nathaniel has agreed to take the role as mentor for you. I will leave the two of you to have a talk in private.”

Jennifer slowly pushed the pillow behind her back, leaning up slightly. Her arm still stung, but the pain was starting to ebb. “Thank you Magus Beritross,” she said out loud to the magus walking out, and bowed her head.

A moment later, the magus was gone, leaving just Nathaniel and Jennifer seated on the bed, who looked back at her with a loose smle hanging on his lips. The same old Nathaniel that she knew, except there was no familiarity to be seen in his eyes, and his expression was a lot more guarded than before.

“Do you have anything you want to ask Jennifer?” Nathaniel asked.

Jennifer shook her head, before pausing. “Actually, I have one question.” She said, looking up. “Why did you accept to be my mentor?”

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow curiously at her question. “Multiple reasons. I happen to be something of a specialist as far as rare affinities and affinity based magic goes. You also presented a technique that is eerily similar to mine. The magus also told me that you’d leveled up extremely fast. Though I think we’re starting to see how with your last stunt,” Nathaniel said with a grin making Jennifer duck her head in embarrassment. Having his fill of teasing her, Nathaniel continued. “In any case, the honest answer is that I got curious, Jennifer. Plus, I got the highest letter of recommendation I’ve ever received."

Jennifer looked at Nathaniel in confusion. The man waved his hand around, as a letter appeared in it and he extended it towards Jennifer.

Staring down in confusion, she looked at the letter embroidered in gold and laden with magical protections. A seal kept it close, made of pure mithril. An insignia of two rings and a sword marked onto it.

“Open it,” Nathaniel urged, and Jennifer looked up at the mage in confusion before glancing back down.

She tried to pry open the seal but it didn’t seem to budge an inch. Quickly realizing what she needed to do, she sent a pulse of mana into the seal through her uninjured arm, and the seal popped upon.

Opening the envelope, she took out the finest paper she’d ever seen, and set it on her lap as she began to read.

“It’s been a long time Jennifer. How are you doing? Well, not great, seeing how my month was cut short. I can’t imagine death being pleasant.”

Jennifer’s grip tightened on the parchment, and she struggled not to look up at Nathaniel. Taking a slight breath she continued.

“I apologize that it took me this long to reach you. It was only in the last month that I’d finally managed to understand what was happening, and became aware of the repeating months. It’s really not the first thing that comes to mind when you start seeing strings of fate tangling up all over all the world.

Cough.

In any case. We have met again! And it’d be great if we could meet again. My memories are still imperfect, and I’d love to patch the holes. I’m also slightly curious about the new friend you recently got hold of. They're bound to be helpful.

Leaving those details aside, I'll be making arrangements for us to have a meet at some point. In secret, of course. I've ensured that information won't slip through the gaps any more than it already has.

Till I hear from you again, Jennifer. Which will be soon. And I mean soon.

Don’t believe me? Countdown from three.

Three… Two… one…”

Jennifer looked up, ready for the Prince to suddenly burst into the chamber. When a moment of nothing passed she looked back down.

“Didn’t take you to be so gullible Jennifer. Tch tch tch. We’ll need to work on fixing that. If I'm being honest though. I would’ve come to surprise you just now, but I’m afraid there’s a demon lurking in the premises that we don’t want to know about your existence.

The rest will be taken care of by Magus Nathaniel. Good job getting in touch with him, it made my job a lot easier.

Rest well Jennifer, we'll be meeting soon.

Laiken Re’an Zandria, Crown Prince of Zandria.

P.S: The scroll will erupt in flames when you’re done reading it, make sure you throw it away before it burns your hands!”

Jennifer threw the scroll away as it erupted in flames a moment later. With a bright flash it was gone, not even ash remaining. Jennifer llet out a breath, trying to calm down her racing heart. A whirlpool of emotions stirring in her chest as she looked up to meet Nathaniel’s eyes. “You knew,” she stated.

“It’s an honor to teach you,” Nathaniel replied with a light bow.

Xar asked, his legs rubbing at her neck. It tickled more than anything given the spider’s furry appendages, but she appreciated the soothing intent he was sending through the mind link.

She looked at Nathaniel, feeling as if a massive weight had just been lifted from her chest. She wiped at her eyes, embarrassed by the tears that welled up, as a laugh broke out of her mouth.

“Thank you,” she said to Magus, feeling surprised by her burst of emotion. Sniffing her nose, she took a breath. “I know you don’t remember what happened. But I’m really glad that you’re here now,” she said with a smile.

“Yeah, I don’t actually know a lot. But I know enough to have a clue about what you’re saying,” the mage said. In a calming gesture he extended her hand on top of Jennifer's. “No child should’ve had to go through what you have. Thank you for doing this Jennifer.”

Jennifer nodded, trying not to squirm in embarrassment. Nathaniel smiled at her, pulling his hand back, which only furthered the flush on her cheeks. In an attempt to distract herself, she tried to divert the topic back to something else. “What now?” she asked Nathaniel.

“Nothing really. You continue to recover for the next week or so, finish your duties, and then once you’re in better condition, there will be a meeting arranged.” Nathaniel said.

“I see…” Jennifer said, as the room descended in silence. A few minutes of silently looking around later, she used [Lesser Arcane Analysis] and brought up her newest spell.

Glass Blades StormGlass/Wind

Tier - 3

A spell born from the fusion of the glass blade and glass storm spell. Launches sharp blades of glass in a swirling storm.

Jennifer read through the spell, feeling a wave of satisfaction flow through her. She’d gained a skill from this, and the ability to fuse multiple spells together. She didn’t think she’d be able to do it very easily, but the idea excited immensely.

“Do you know about [Fusion Casting]?” Jennifer asked.

“You have [Fusion Casting]? That’s quite an advanced skill. I assume then that you’ve already managed to fuse together a spell by now?” Nathaniel asked, and Jennifer nodded.

“Interesting, so you can already cast at Tier-3. Very interesting. It’s going to be fun to train you Jennifer, when you recover that is. Remember, no spell casting this week,” Nathaniel reminded me in a stern voice.

“I know,” Jennifer replied. She had no plans of worsening her condition any more than she had. And she had a tome of forbidden magic to go through as well.

Xar sent through the mind link, and Jennifer looked towards the door in surprise.

She heard the dim thud of footsteps, before the door slammed open. Jennifer stared blankly as Rumina stood at the gates, accompanied by Livian.

“Jenn!” Rumina exclaimed, rushing over, as she swept Jennifer up in a tight embrace. “I was so worried…” her friend whispered, gripping her tightly, and Jennifer leaned into the hug.

“I’m perfectly alright Rumina. Just had to take a nap,” Jennifer replied.

Rumina broke out in a laugh, wiping at her eyes. "Of course."

Jennifer's gaze drifted towards Livian standing at the entrance.

“I’m so sorry Jennifer. I should not have asked you to come with me,” Livian said, bowing his head deeply.

“Hey, it’s okay. I agreed to it. And we’re a team, we gotta keep each other’s back and everything,” Jennifer replied, smiling at Livian. The boy returned a light smile as well, though he could tell his awkwardness.

“I suppose I’m the unwanted guest here now?” Nathaniel said with an amused smirk.

“Thank you Nat. Uhm, I meant—”

“—It’s alright Jennifer. Just because I don’t remember it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” the man said with a wink as he turned around. “Take care and don’t strain yourself.”

Jennifer watched Nathaniel step out of the room, and to her surprise, saw Xar crawl back out from behind her neck, in front of Livian and Rumina.

“See/Hello/Greet Friend!” Xar said, the voice telepathically spread outwards to everyone nearby.

“Hi Xar,” Rumina said, waving at the little spider.

Jennifer stared at her friend. “You know him?” she asked, as Xar walked down her shoulder and climbed atop Rumina’s.

“Sort of. He was refusing to let anyone near you when the adventurers came. We had to convince him that they weren’t going to hurt us.” Rumina said, lightly brushing the white spider on his fuzzy head. “I kept him hidden of course, don’t worry,” she added a moment later.

Xar sent to Jennifer.

Right. He’s a dungeon spider. It makes sense that he’d be afraid of adventurers. Wait, is it even a he?

Jennifer asked the spider, feeling quite strange when it looked at her, sending an emotion of bafflement.

“Of course Xar is a he! Xar’s sisters are a lot larger than Xar, and a lot scarier. Though Xar is still the mightiest of them all!” The little spider proudly exclaimed.

“Of course little buddy,” Rumina said, gently scratching the spider’s head.

“Are you not surprised by a talking spider Rumina?” Jennifer asked.

Rumina shrugged in response. “Two days is a long time to get used to things. It’s a bit weird, but certainly not as weird as what you told me.”

“I most certainly find it weird. Weird feels inadequate to express how strange this is,” Livian said, jumping back when Xar raised a leg towards him. She sensed a sensation of amusement come from her mind link to Xar.

“I think you know what kind of impossibility your friend Xar is?” Livian said, turning towards Jennifer. “The sheer implication of a creature like him is… it changes our hypothesis about monsters entirely. It’d make dungeons… I don’t even want to think about it.”

“I don’t think Xar is exactly normal. We don’t see talking spiders walking around everyday, and… well. There’s magical things involved in everything happening as well,” Rumina said, letting Xar walk up to her palm, before she put the spider back onto Jennifer’s shoulder.

“I’m well aware. Those markings are unnatural. But even so, a spider capable of such complex mind magic. I shudder to think if more of his kind have this ability. The entire dungeon would have to be scoured through to get rid of the threat,” Livian said.

Jennifer glared at the boy. “Xar saved our lives. We won’t be killing anyone.”

“Right. My apologies Xar. That was very insensitive of me,” Livian said, dipping his head to the spider.

Jennifer was amused when she heard something like a snort transmitted through Xar’s telepathy. “Xar forgives you. For Xar is magnanimous.”

Xar paused when Rumina leaned closer to him, and whispered something close to Xar. Jennifer found a smile coming up to her lips when she heard her friend’s idea.

“No, Xar has changed his mind about forgiving you.”

“Oh… how can I make you forgive me?” Livian asked, glancing at Rumina for a moment.

“Xar wants one no two mana stones to eat. Then Xar will forgive you,” the spider said with a huff in his voice.

Livian blinked at the spider in surprise, sending the two girls bursting out in laughter. Xar puffed out even further as he raised two tiny legs up to the sky, as if demanding the mana core.

With a smile, Livian dug into his pockets and pulled out two shiny stones, handing them. “As you say Xar. Is this enough?” Livian asked.

“Yes, Xar has been pleased. He will forgive you!” the spider exclaimed before he began to nom at the stones.

The friends soon delved into idle chatter, as Jennifer sat around talking to her newest spider friend. It wasn’t everyday that she got to talk to a spider, and she was curious about how Xar had gotten his particular Mark.

Jennifer asked through her mind link.

Jennifer’s eyes widened as she stared at Xar. There was no mistaking the brackets around the words, and the echo of the system lurking in it.

Before she could probe the spider any further a knock on the door interrupted them.

“I’ll get the door,” Rumina said, walking ahead.

Jennifer glanced to the side, trying to see who had come to visit her now, and the sight made her freeze.

Her father was standing outside.