James felt that same strong sensation of being watched and followed.

He definitely heard a voice, clear as day. It said “kill”.

There was no one around him, that was a fact. Why was he hearing voices then? Did he consume too much Darkness?

It must have been the darkness, it would explain everything. The several times before when he felt like he was being watched and followed must have been because of the Darkness as well.

But Cadmus, Helios and Lunaris wanted him to absorb more Darkness.

“Did they lie to me? Do they want me dead? Do they want me to lose my mind for the sake of some sick experiment?” James’ mind was racing, suddenly a sense of rage overcame him. But somehow it was pleasant to let the rage take control, it was so freeing, so comfortable.

He started throwing spells around without a goal, fireballs hitting trees, icepicks hurled at the sky.

It felt so relaxing, it’s like his body and mind were on autopilot.

"Those liars, all this time they lied to me."

“No, no, no, this isn’t right.” It would have been so comfortable to let himself go and just lose control. But he knew deep down this made no sense.

Helios and Lunaris have been so nice to him. They didn’t even know each other for very long but they already did so much for him. For the first time in his two lives it felt like he had real friends.

There’s no way in hell that they would do anything to harm him.

And this anger wasn’t like him either, he never reacts like that.

There’s only one possible explanation, the Darkness or something else corrupted his mind, influenced his emotions.

There’s nothing new under the sun. James wasn't a genius, but he always thought of himself as wise. And as a self-proclaimed wise person, he could see where this was going.

Just how many stories had he read in his lifetime? They weren't the best use of one’s time, but it did expose him to many such situations.

So many times he saw people fight and turn on each other, when all they had to do was talk and be honest. Especially when they were friends.

He could tell his mind was influenced somehow.

Experiencing it first-hand does feel very different, scarier. To fall victim to corruption, to have thoughts that aren't fully your own.

But it didn't need to become a big, tragic thing. If only the people in those stories stopped and looked around and remembered what’s important. Or if they at least stopped and used their brains every once in a while. James would be wiser.

It wouldn’t make much sense to turn against your friends. And it wouldn’t make much sense to simply ignore these big, sudden, irrational changes in one’s thoughts and emotions.

James decided that the most sensible thing to do was to calm down and ask his friends for help.

When he told them what happened, Lunaris and Helios immediately hugged him.

“I’m so sorry you went through that, we had no idea that would happen.” Lunaris almost started crying, but James just laughed and gave her the thumbs-up. He didn't want her to worry.

James was touched. Their reactions were so genuine, he was happy he was able to control himself and realize that these incredible people would never wish him harm.

But the serious atmosphere made him uncomfortable, so he chose to lighten the mood.

“Hey, I’m alive and nothing really bad happened. Let’s just call it a learning experience.” James said while laughing.

“Aye, that’s the spirit, brother! Lunaris, you know more about the Darkness than me, any idea why this happened?” Helios was as curious as James.

“Naturally, the Darkness corrupts, that’s something everybody knows. But we thought it wouldn’t happen to James. The whole point of his half-demon soul was that he had an affinity for the Darkness, he had a resistance to this kind of thing. If anything, increasing his affinity with the Darkness should have strengthened his resistance to this corruption, not weakened it!” Lunaris exhaled exasperatedly. This situation should not have happened, she didn’t want to put anyone in danger.

“Unless…” Lunaris suddenly had an idea. “Yes, that must be it. Perhaps it wasn’t the Darkness you absorbed that caused this!”

“What do you mean?” Helios and James said in unison.

“It’s possible that someone deliberately influenced your mind!. You said you felt like you were being followed, right? Maybe someone was watching you after all. Someone must have cast a spell on you!”

“What? Do you mean mind magic?” Helios asked, almost stunned by the implications. James didn’t really understand what they were talking about though.

“Not just that. James said he felt like there was a veil over his eyes, right? It must've been someone that knows not only mind magic, but has very powerful Darkness magic as well.”

“Mind magic combined with Darkness? Does that mean what I think it means?” Helios asked.

“Yes.” Lunaris sighed. “It means an agent of Darkness could have targeted you.”

By Helios’s and Lunaris’s reactions, James could guess that this wasn’t exactly good news.

“It was foolish of us to broadcast your existence. And perhaps we should’ve been there to guard you while you are still developing your powers.” Helios and Lunaris were filled with regret.

“No, that’s a load of rubbish. You guys didn’t do anything wrong. I wanted to let everybody know who I was, and I wanted to go out and train by myself. There’s no need to feel regretful, I’ll just be more careful in the future.” James didn’t want them to feel bad.

Helios and Lunaris then whispered something amongst themselves for a while.

“Actually, we decided that we are going to come with you when you train!” Lunaris announced gleefully.

“What? I thought you guys couldn’t come because that would diminish the xp I gained. But even if it didn't, I don’t want to impose on you like that, you have your own life and your own things to do. You have to train as well.”

“Nonsense. We want to do this. Besides, not only are we tired of training, but at our level gaining more levels is a quite slow process. The main way people progress is by training skills. And we can do that even in our travels with you.” Helios explained.

“But what about the xp? If we party up, I won’t gain xp, right?” James asked, still confused about how this world works.

“Normally that would be true. But we can dampen our levels to the point we are the same level as you!” Lunaris said excitedly. “We still wouldn’t be able to help you kill monsters most of the time since that would split the xp among us, but when we don't get involved, our presence alone won’t reduce the amount of xp you receive.”

“But then if an agent of Darkness attacks, you’ll be in danger. You’ll be just as weak as me.”

Helios laughed. “Don’t worry mate, we have it all figured out. It does takes five minutes for the level dampening to deactivate and for us to return to our original levels. But with the skills, items and artifacts we possess, we can definitely stall for that long!”

James didn’t really like the sound of this. It seemed like they were risking their lives just to keep him safe. But there was no point in arguing, they were hell-bent on helping him out.

Yet again, this meant that he must get more powerful as soon as possible. He already forgot all the reasons why he promised himself to acquire power quickly, there were just so many of them.

James now felt an even stronger sense of urgency. Before, the danger felt distant, some Darkness that was threatening the world. But the danger was imminent now. He may be risking his friends' lives if he progressed too slowly. Some madman can just pop by and slaughter the three of them before the five minutes were up. Helios seemed confident, but James really didn’t like the idea of them being vulnerable. Five minutes can be a long time on the battlefield.

James chose to accept the situation for now. “Thank you guys, saying this is embarrassing but I’m glad to be able to call you my friends.” James blushed, displays of emotion made him uncomfortable. But he pushed through the discomfort and hugged his friends.

“Anyway, what about the mind control spell, or whatever it was. Is it still a threat?” James wasn’t exactly excited about the idea of going crazy, especially since it felt eerily pleasant. That was the scariest thing about it.

“With mind altering spells, once you are aware of them, most of the danger is gone. Realizing that your mind is altered usually dispels it. Although we can’t be too careful, I’ll teach you the basics of delving into your mind just in case. That way you’ll be able to scan it for any irregularities.”

The three then chatted and had some biscuits and other sweets. Hopefully this world had a cure for diabetes.

Having confirmed the agreement that from now on when James went out for training the two of them will join him, Helios left. But Lunaris stayed behind to teach James about delving into his own mind.

“Do you see anything?” They meditated with their eyes closed for an hour till James got the hang of it. It was a fairly exhausting process of channeling mana into one’s brain. James had to keep channeling mana without interruption, while Lunaris guided his thoughts.

“I felt something! I think there may be a spell embedded into my mind after all.”

Lunaris then put her hands on James’s head.

“Good, now use your mana to guide me to its location.” It was unlikely James would be able to dispel it on his own, so Lunaris will have to do it for him, but only he could detect it.

“There it is!” James focused his entire will and mana into the precise location of the intruding spell.

Lunaris sent a strong wave of her own mana with pinpoint accuracy, like a scalpel removing a tumor.

Then, unexpectedly, Lunaris fell over.

“What’s wrong?” James was concerned, she operated on his mind and instead something happened to her.

“It’s nothing. It’s just… your mind, it works so differently from other people’s. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Lunaris then smiled.

“And that’s why you collapsed?” James was relieved, he thought it was something more serious.

“Yes, it’s just that my mana had to take an unusual path to reach its destination, so a lot more was used up. It’s alright, I’ll recover immediately.”

With the problem solved they could finally breathe freely. But Lunaris couldn’t help but look at James with a sense of awe. His mind was different, special … somehow. It felt so conflicted, convoluted. Like there were two sides to him. Is that why he had a half-demon soul?

“Is that why he was able to easily realize that his thoughts and emotions were being influenced?” Lunaris wondered.