Syrene caught up with Rataga about a mile outside of Deluuth. As Syrene had predicted, the woman had fled on horseback the moment she realized the battle had not swung in Amos’s favor. Rataga had the head start, but Syrene was a level 25 max with 10x her normal power, thanks to the victory buff.

The traitor hadn’t stood a chance.

Elzio surprised himself by how disappointed he’d been when she’d returned, Rataga’s corpse slung across her horse.

“It was quick,” Syrene said, face grim as they entered the gates. “She tried to fight, which didn’t go well. Unleveled humans typically don’t stand up well to lightning of any sort.” Elzio had never seen his mentor’s eyes as cold as they were on that day. “It’s a good thing we have witness to her treachery and the identities of her companions.”

That was all she said before heading indoors.

Disappointment was an odd feeling for this. It was a victory. Justice served, a traitor dealt with, Tylin’s death avenged. They had plenty of voices to verify the injustices caused by Ythrel, they had Jenna’s experience, Carlin’s testimony, Tylin’s fate. Rataga’s survival was not necessary for them to rile up Ythrel. If Elzio was being honest, he didn’t want her to survive, even if it had been.

He took his discontent to Echo, with the hopes to mull over his muddled feelings.

I fail to understand your frustration.

So far, Echo wasn’t offering much enlightenment.

I don’t understand it either. I just… He sunk down on the bed in his temporary chambers. I wish I could have spoken to her.

It is safer to deal with her minions, Echo said, voice lofty. Her tone irked Elzio for some reason. Rataga was wiley enough to talk her way out of many predicaments. Perhaps she might feign regret, the way Sir Thomas did. Try to claim she was forced into this, or—

Elzio snapped, loud enough to quiet Echo’s musing. That was it. That’s what bothered him so much about this. And what bothered him upset him further.

Rataga got out easy. A lightning strike from Syrene, and that was all. She got as easy an out as there was. Elzio wanted to confront her, to make her feel what she had done, to make her understand the evil she’d inflicted. The horror of her actions. The pain Tylin went through. The fear Alyssa and Jenna faced. The grieving that so many would now go through—grieving that would never really end.

But Rataga didn’t understand it. She didn’t feel it, she didn’t get it, and at the end of the day, she’d died without ever facing any remorse.

Elzio’s stomach twisted as the realization built up in him. He’d wanted revenge. Not justice. He’d wanted to hurt her, and he’d been denied that chance. Carlin had been denied that chance.

But worst of all was that even if he had gotten his hands on Rataga, it wouldn’t have mattered. He couldn’t undo anything she’d done.

Elzio.

But he didn’t want to talk to Echo. Her coldness, it wasn’t like Rataga’s—Echo was uniquely motivated to protect life—but she still didn’t get it. And Elzio didn’t want to talk to Carlin, who was managing his own grief and shouldn’t be expected to deal with Elzio.

I need to go, he said. I need to be… somewhere else.

She didn’t stop him as he ran from the room. His head felt ready to explode, and he felt tears behind his eyes, something he normally would have hated, something he normally would have dismissed as an irrational response. Tears never helped anyone. Tears signified an irrational overload of emotion and needed to be blocked. Tears were only shed by those too weak to control their emotions.

But Rataga hadn’t cried a single tear for all the crimes she did, and that made Elzio sick.

Tears made you human.

He finally made it to Syrene’s rooms. It had only been a few hours since she’d shown up with Rataga’s body. Only a few hours since this whole thing had broken.

But it felt like an eternity.

Her face was lined with strain and weariness as he burst in, but those solemn blue eyes widened as they took in his tearstained face.

“They gave me a room large enough for two.” She gestured at a couch nestled in an alcove, surrounded on three sides by clear, glass windows. “Please. I don’t much think either of us wants to spend the night alone.”

Elzio collapsed onto the couch, grateful that she hadn’t asked why he was so upset. Of course, she wouldn’t have to. She would know because she was Syrene, and Syrene had spent decades mentoring people like him in one way or another. Syrene knew that Elzio didn’t want to talk about it right now. After some time, he would, and when he did, she would be there for him too.

Her face was worn with the pain she had seen, but in her years, she had seen pain. She had seen suffering. That came with age, experience.

And more than her skills in the battlefield, her levels, her power, what Elzio truly appreciated about her more than anything, right now, was the fact that she understood people. She probably understood him better than he did, and right now, he needed that.

Because he felt so lost right now. Despite having a plan of action, despite winning, despite the fact that tactically, logically, objectively, this was a victory, he felt lost.

Utterly lost.

—

The fallout of the Ythrel Echo battle had caused political turmoil across the entire nation.

Between the testimonies of Rataga’s associates and Tylin’s accumulated notes, Elzio was able to oust dozens of Deluuth agents across the entire Ythrel kingdom. Each of the nation’s major cities had at least one high ranking member of government in the back pocket of the vicious Queen Irona

As warnings and sentences spread across the land, so too did the tales of the horrors of what Deluuth was capable of. Echo had come to Ythrel to offer aid and were attacked. Jenna Noryn had refused to volunteer and had been forced to fight. Councilman Tylin had attempted to uncover the deception and treachery and had been brutally murdered for it.

Danyien stepped down from his position as Head Councilor, the scandal of challenging Echo being too great a smear on his career, even if he hadn’t been directly in the pocket of Deluuth, Sanjayl, the councilor who had supported Tylin’s instinct to trust Echo, took his place. She now rallied the best, most honorable, and loyal councilors of the other major cities to her. It took some time, but slowly the political turmoil began to stabilize.

It had been an exhausting, tense few weeks, but Elzio relished the ability to sink his thoughts into something concrete. Something he could win or lose. It let him process some of his tumultuous emotions on the side.

The only thing he didn’t involve himself in was the funeral of those fallen in the liberation of Ythrel. Alyssa and Tylin. Erlin and Gyrao. Even though the latter two fought on the side of Amos, they were still given heroes’ burials. No one really knew what happened in there beyond Elzio, Syrene, Carlin, Jenna, and Nolath. And Jenna had requested it be this way.

Elzio didn’t protest. He didn’t even go. When Syrene stopped by his rooms after, he expected a reprimand but she simply squeezed his shoulder and told him that his grief was his own to handle.

After that, things went smoother. It was almost as though a part of Elzio needed the nation to officially recognize the sacrifices made in order for the sting of Rataga’s fate to wear off.

With the country in better hands, with anti-Deluuth rumors circulating around the continent, and with the rot in Ythrel cut out, it was time to move to Genyl.

It was as Elzio packed the last of his things, the many stacks of notes and papers, the evidence and testimonies he’d gathered, that Carlin knocked on his door.

“I’m coming with you.”

Sryene had told Elzio to expect this, but he hadn’t quite believed her. Really, he ought to have by now, since she understood people better than he did. Expected or not, however, Carlin’s insistence at the end of a very emotionally fraught few weeks had been welcome news.

Were Elzio in Carlin’s position, having watched his nation’s council fall apart, a nation he was actually proud of, he would seize the chance to step in and ensure nothing like this ever happened again. Ythrel needed leaders. They needed people with strong conviction and good hearts, and Carlin had all of that. Plus, he had Tylin’s shoes to fill. His brother had died serving this nation.

But that seemed to be the problem.

“I can’t stay here.” Carlin was, thankfully, speaking rather evenly. The big man had responded rather emotionally in the first few weeks following his brother’s death, often crying or shouting, but by now he’d gotten over the initial shock. The waves of grief seemed to strike him softer and less frequently. Still, there was something desperate in his voice. “I can’t stay with them. These people.” He took a deep breath, something dark flashing in his big eyes. “No one did anything. No one here did anything. I can’t stay with them. They’ll focus on rebuilding, putting themselves back together, and all the while Deluuth will just grow and grow. I can’t—” He stopped, and Elzio could see the emotions pressing against his eyes. “I just can’t.”

So it was revenge he was after? Revenge he couldn’t find in Ythrel? Well, revenge was as welcome a motive as any, and Echo absolutely could use the assistance. Elzio just had to ensure Carlin was on the same page as the rest of the party.

“Carlin.” Elzio put a hand on his shoulder, a gesture that seemed to both soothe and reassure the man. The past few weeks had been a learning experience for Elzio, and he’d gotten better at handling the grief of others. Or at least he’d improved on expressing his sympathies more effectively. “You are more than welcome to join us. Your talents on the battlefield gave us the tools we needed to stand a chance, and your knowledge of the enemy team gave us the tools to win.”

The burly man took a deep, measured breath. “I won’t have that going forward. Don’t know the people in Genyl. They’ll have an edge on us.”

“They won’t fight us,” Elzio said. “Genyl won’t fight us for the same reason Deluuth needed to plant agents in Ythrel and Pyrthet in the first place—they won’t have the points to both trap us in an arena and defeat us. Irona needed the smaller nexi to challenge Nexus Deluuth. That’s why she didn’t just flatten the entire continent.”

“You’d mentioned.” Carlin looked perturbed though. “But you’re still going to fight.”

“We’re going to talk to Genyl. We need to convince them to join us to take on Deluuth.” There wasn’t much else they could do. The continent currently had three nexi left. Deluuth at 17, Genyl at 14, and Echo at 6. They were all at a stalemate if they couldn’t convince Genyl that it would be for the best of the continent for Deluuth to fall.

How that conversation would go was entirely dependent on how well the spread of word of mouth and propaganda impacted the hearts of those who lived in Genyl. Elzio didn’t know the nation very well, only that they were a noble group that would likely balk at the idea of breaking their treaty. That’s what everyone said. Genyl would not break their treaty.

But would a noble nation stand for the crimes their allies had committed? That was the gamble Elzio was taking. And with Carlin at his side—passionate, kind, and grieving—he’d have an even better hand than he’d thought.

“And you think it’s possible?” Carlin asked.

He needed to hear ‘yes’ here. Elzio could see it written all over his face. He needed to hear there was a chance. A chance to avenge Tylin and make good on his vision of a world that took care of its citizens. Looked out for them.

In a strange sense, it was a vision they were all working towards. Even Echo, with her cold curiosity and disdain for mortals.

“Yes.” Elzio smiled. “We have a very good chance. And you joining us puts us in an even better position.” He closed the last of his bags and hoisted them over his shoulder. “Syrene has spent the entire last few weeks researching Genyl history and the possibility of nexi working together. She said she’d share what she learned on the ride. The journey alone might not be enough to cover everything, but she’s a very good teacher. You’re in for quite a stimulating discussion.”

Carlin, who’d smiled upon hearing Elzio’s affirmation, now wilted. “Ah. That, uh, that does sound very interesting. Magical theory and history. Very, uh, very cool. I’ll pack my bags. ”

Elzio frowned slightly as he walked off. Somehow this hadn’t made Carlin as happy as he’d expected it to. A chance to be on the bleeding edge of any magical breakthrough should be exhilarating, but maybe Carlin had just been disappointed Elzio wasn’t giving him anything now. Maybe Carlin just expressed his excitement in different ways.

More likely, he was feeling guilty that he should live to see this new magical development while his poor brother had died before such an advancement was made. That couldn’t really be helped, but Elzio could ensure that, in Tylin’s memory, they gave Carlin as in depth an explanation as possible. Enough to make up for both of them.

Right now, it was all Elzio could do to help the grieving man, but if he was going to help, he was going to do it justice.

—

“So, rules of combat aside, the primary concern would be the inequality of terrain and the positioning of halves. Thirds, I suppose, though how inelegant sounding is that?” Elzio said. “It’s ancient spatial law that would determine the general position of thirds—let’s call them sectors—and I can only imagine that there is a ruling, though whether any tomes as modern as the ones we own could contain any hint at how leveling combines with the general energy flux is doubtful.”

“Of course, that only takes into account the lack of agency each nexus has. In a circular arena, the kind we’re proposing, we could potentially force the relative position of Genyl and Echo to keep our internal borders less defended, forcing Deluuth to face down our strongest forces on both sides.” Syrene sighed. “But that brings us back to the halves versus thirds dilemma.”

Elzio weighed this in his head. There was a lot they didn’t know, even with Syrene’s extensive research and formidable memory. Of course, there was always the potential that the answers to their questions lay in one of the books they’d saddled on their poor packmule. It wouldn’t be easy to rifle through texts while riding, so they had to wait for the evenings to consult the books.

Up ahead, Elzio heard a shout, and he looked up to see Carlin atop the hill ahead, waving at them to catch up. The sun had almost set and there hadn’t been a solid clearing to make camp in miles. For the sake of the horses, it would be ill advised to travel at night, so Elzio spurred Ylia on to catch up to Carlin, hopeful that the man had, while scouting ahead, found something. It perturbed Elzio that Calin should be the one to scout, when he’d been so eager to learn.

“I don’t understand why he took that role,” Elzio said as their horses began up the incline. “It should have been my burden. I can always read up on your research in the evenings. I’m just making an assumption here, but I think I’m a faster reader than Carlin. He would benefit more from your lecture.”

Is that why you insisted on scouting? Echo asked. Her light pulsed inquisitively. I had wondered why you tried so hard to escape a discussion you logically should have enjoyed.

Syrene laughed, eyes a sparkling blue. “I had thought he’d gotten bored of my lecturing.” She exchanged a glance with Echo, and the nexus responded with a sort of amused display of lights.

Boredom did not seem likely, but neither did his attempts to avoid hearing your research.

Neither had even considered that Elzio might have been acting altruistically, and that strung a bit.

“Boredom?” He couldn’t imagine what kind of personal insecurity could have spurred his favorite teacher to worry about this. “I can’t imagine ever being bored. Only that, if I had to pick between Carlin and I, he needs it more.”

“Elzio.” A patient smile had spread on Syrene’s face, the same one she used to adopt when he’d push the Pyrthet team beyond their limits during practice. “He doesn’t want to listen to this.”

“Does he… know it already?” Elzio asked. The potential of this realization sunk in his stomach like a stone. How remiss had their education in Pyrthet been?

“No!” Now Syrene was laughing. “It’s not interesting to him. It’s boring. Magical theory as an interest is rather niche. If everyone cared, well.” She grimaced through her laughter. “Just imagine. We’d have made stupendous strides in integrating magic better in our day to day lives.” The grimace gave way to a thoughtful smile. “Maybe. At least, that’s a theory some academics ascribe to. Regardless, Carlin’s disinterest in the field isn’t abnormal. Many just don’t care.”

She was right, and now Elzio cursed his misunderstanding of Carlin’s lack of enthusiasm. It should have been obvious to Elzio. Certainly he knew a great number of people, students, commoners, and professors alike, that didn’t find any interest in this topic. But Elzio respected Carlin, and it was hard to picture someone he respected not sharing that same curiosity.

“I suppose, after how well he conducted himself in our arena planning…” Elzio shrugged.

“I just thought Carlin was smart.”

I cannot imagine why.

Syrene looked sternly at them both. “I disagree with that assessment, Echo. Your instinct was right, Elzio.” The creases over her brow furrowing. “Intellectual aptitude is not mutually inclusive with every potential academic field in the cosmos. Don’t dismiss him based on his lack of interest in magical theory, specifically the area spatiality subbranch. I quite think there’s a lot you could both learn from him.”

I suppose he does cover a class we are lacking in, Echo said.

At this, Syrene let out a sigh that Elzio rarely heard directed at him. A sigh that said you are utterly hopeless. “He possesses something neither of you seem to understand,” she said. “An actual emotional stake in the game. And the ability to communicate without driving anyway anyone who isn’t obsessed with magical theory and political tactics.”

Theoretically, she was right. After all, Elzio had learned an inordinate amount about the Ythrel heroes and how best to pit them against each other, all because of Carlin’s observation of them. But how well would that translate to future learning?

“There is, likewise, much we can learn from Genyl’s capital.” Syrene smiled, a more excited glint in her stormy eyes. “Their magical prowess is unrivaled. Rumor has it, they utilize magic in day-to-day living, and I hear the average commonfolk is leveled.”

Leveled? Echo asked. The average mortal?

Elzio scowled, also taken aback by this. “Who says that?”

“Some travelers.” Syrene’s smile took on a more wry twist. “I agree, it would be absurd, but they spoke with conviction while talking. I’ve never been to Genyl. I’ve rarely left Pyrthet. It’s just not really done. Maybe the commoners here are leveled. We’ll find out.” Her smile widened. “Leveled or not, they are on the forefront of magical discovery. I am very eager to explore their libraries and academies.”