Alex wondered where the days had gone. A week ago, he was in the Hells fighting demons, rescuing the Traveller’s artefact, and meeting her in person. It was a lot to think about. Now, he was back to his life in Generasi with an evolving plate of things to do.

It was odd seeing the new Lucia; knowing how much she’d transformed from the sullen sky-gondolier she’d been a short year before, to an open, confident, entrepreneur who wanted to partner with him.

He’d hired a local shipbuilder for an afternoon to give Lucia’s ship a thorough inspection before signing anything and he was thrilled when the shipwright gave her caravel a ringing endorsement. With that out of the way, he and Lucia had spent the rest of the afternoon discussing details of their plans, and after she’d agreed to the trial agreement that Alex had wanted, she’d returned to her headquarters in the Rhinean empire, and he had returned to his work at Shale’s, his tasks with the expedition, preparing the bakery for its grand opening and, of course, school.

Classes were…actually a nice break from everything he’d been through recently. At the university, some of his fellow students were moaning and looking ready to claw their own faces off as exams loomed on the horizon. The workload was high, with no sign of decreasing. The more advanced the coursework, the more work the professors piled on.

Professor Jules was taking particular pleasure in designing a project so devilish that Hobb would have been proud.

“Your assignment is to craft a wand,” she had said during a lab one day. “And while this has been a group project in previous years, it will be a solo project this year.”

Groans of misery rippled through the entire lab, to which Professor Jules had only rolled her eyes. “Don’t complain,” she’d said, not hiding her glee. “If you’ve been studying and reviewing your labs—as I have heavily instructed you to—then you should be fine. Now, your wand will have to produce the following effects—”

She’d then gone through a list of things that the wand was expected to do, as well as a boatload of things that the wand should not be able to do. Crafting the wand would require a lot of precise engineering, and depending on a student’s fondness for minute detail, most softly muttered about how Jules was inclined toward torturing her students, and about being driven mad by the woman…

…but not Alex.

He’d already crafted a staff, so this wand assignment should be child’s play; he was actually looking forward to it, and was expecting to have it finished in a night or two. Then he’d have two magic tools: his staff, and the wand to give to a cabal-mate…or possibly someone else.

His magic lore and summoning courses were painless as well, and he was always prepared for class since It didn’t take him long to read the material. Summoning? Well, because he had such a knack for it, he loved that class. The Traveller’s power was stronger than ever—and the edge it gave him had grown. But now, he also felt a connection to Hannah whenever he walked into his summoning class.

That magic was almost as natural to him as breathing—despite the Mark. A handful of classmates kept up with him, but he was squarely one of the top three students in the entire class, even in the practical part of the course. Something else to thank the Traveller for.

The Mark had made studying magic lore so simple that at times he was tempted to skip the rest of those lectures. If he didn’t show up in person, he’d only miss the odd fact that the professor quoted that wasn’t in the textbook. But since he could speed read and process information so well when he used the Mark, a few minutes going through supplementary papers in the library would easily fill any gaps, and even give him information that wasn’t in the class materials.

Of course, an alternative would have been to ask a classmate to trade notes. Most would have gladly given him their lecture notes in exchange for his.

But, he couldn’t skip. His sense of responsibility kept him going to class; the professors spent a lot of time preparing proper lectures and if Selina saw him skipping class, she’d think it was a good idea, and also, it wasn’t like he neededthe extra time. These days, classwork was the least time consuming thing in his life.

A lot of it was spent expanding the bakery’s business plan, working with Shale, the expedition, or practising the power that was a part of him.

This evening was dedicated to the latter.

Night found Alex on the roof of his home, floating cross legged in midair under the power of a flight spell. Many of his practise sessions found him there, and this night was no different.

For the moment, he was alone: Selina was asleep; Brutus and Theresa were out on a hunt with Thundar and Claygon, and the neighbourhood was quiet. An excellent night for the exploration of unknown powers.

In one hand, Alex clutched the Traveller’s artefact, feeling her power flow through its inner workings. Its energy would serve as a beacon as he began exploring her legacy.

“Here goes nothing,” he took a deep breath, falling into his meditation techniques.

He disengaged his mind from his surroundings, counting his breaths as he slowly drew in cool, night air, then exhaled. Alex noted the feeling of his clothing against his skin. The pulse of mana through his pool. The scent of newly sprouted herbs in the rooftop potion garden. The sounds of activity coming from Shale’s workshop across the road.

There were no thoughts in his mind: he became simply an observer in a sea of sensation, letting the world and all his tiny judgments fall away. His mind stilled, and there was peace.

For a time, he stayed in that state, letting the sensations wash over him.

Then he directed his attention, diving inward, searching for Hannah’s power within him.

It was tricky, what he was trying to do, since he only truly felt the Traveller’s power when he cast teleportation and summoning spells. Lately, though, when he prayed to Hannah, he felt a spark of her energy in his chest…but he had no idea of how to actively find it.

Slowly, he examined his body and soul—where the power seemed to reside—seeking out the teleportation power. He felt his heart beating. He felt himself breathing. He felt his mana coursing through his mana pool and pathways.

Yet, he couldn’t feel what he was seeking; the Traveller’s power within himself.

He slowly moved his senses through his body again, searching for the energy, but finding nothing.

“Alright, time for the next step,” Alex whispered, closing his eyes.

Quietly, he whispered a prayer to the Traveller: “Please, guide me to your power.”

There was a spark within his chest as the power coursed through his being. Instantly, he reached for it, trying to grasp the energy…but it vanished before he could touch it.

He reached for it again, unsurprised that a power based on transporting someone from one place to another in an instant, was difficult to grasp. Again and again he tried, but there was no map to guide him on how, or where to begin, and Hannah hadn’t had the time or chance to explain even the beginnings of how her power worked.

Kelda had used the Mark to master Hannah’s power, mastering it even faster than Hannah had been able to, but she’d also had one on one instruction from the Traveller herself. A definite advantage. For Alex? It felt like he was trying to learn how to fly when he’d never had wings before.

He didn’t even know how to find those ‘wings’, in this case.

But, at least he could cheat.

After a lot of wasted time fumbling around within himself, he called on the Mark, expecting lots of images of what he’d done right.

But, the images were sparse: the power would flare when he said a prayer to the Traveller. And then nothing. “Shit, I hardly did anything right,” Alex opened his eyes again. “Alright, let me try something different.”

This time he tried moving his mana in the direction of his power, while praying to the Traveller. He tried to connect the mana to the power. Yet again, the power proved elusive.

He called on the Mark once more, looking for guidance. Again, no images came to aid him.

“What’s going on?” Alex wondered out loud. “The power comes to me when I cast the right spells, but I can’t seem to grasp it. Why—”

He paused.

The power sparked, reacting, but he wasn’t praying.

Curious, Alex uncrossed his legs and floated downstairs into his apartment. Silently gliding down the hall, he felt the power within growing in intensity.

He stopped, pausing down the hall from Selina’s room, cocking his ear toward her door; from within came the quiet whisper of a young girl in prayer. He smiled: she must have been praying to the Traveller when the power reacted in his chest.

Alex wasn’t going to stay and listen to his sister’s private prayers, so he turned and began floating back upstairs to return to his rooftop perch.

With power sparking from his sister’s prayers, he kept searching long after those sparks faded.

“Huh,” he murmured much later, trying to apply his mana manipulation techniques to the power directly. For a breath, he did touch something, but it quickly slipped away.

Still, he wasn’t discouraged. “It’s a start…I’m starting to find a wing.”

Calling on the Mark, it began showing him images of what he had done right. Each time he tried using mana manipulation techniques on the power directly, the Mark showed him an image of that attempt.

He was finally on the right road…though something still troubled him.

“There’s something missing,” Alex frowned. “I’m not doing something quite right. Maybe I need to modify the technique, this isn’t mana, after all.”

He glanced at the position of the moon, yawning. “Well, I’ve taken a step forward. And that’s good for one night.”

Lowering his head, he uttered another prayer to the Traveller, letting her energy flare inside him. He hoped his faith would empower her as she had empowered him.

He hadn’t found the power he was seeking that evening, but he'd taken a few steps forward.

###

The divine servant had spoken in the First Apostle’s mind, granting him revelation of threats on the horizon, and knowledge that servants of Uldar would be coming to their aid.

He had meditated on it for a time, but now he must call on Izas.

He would need the Third Apostle’s faith.

###

“May my faith be your succour,” Third Apostle Izas prayed. “May my life be your nectar. May my soul serve you in this life and the next. In Uldar’s name, I pray.”

The elderly man lifted his head from his clasped hands, letting himself fall out of his trance. With a deep breath, he allowed his senses to turn outward once more, bathing himself in the incense and quiet wind chimes within the chapel of Uldar.

He pushed himself to his feet and it was only then that he noticed a strange change in the room’s shadows.

“Eldin, have you been here long?” he asked, turning to find the squat, powerfully built priest kneeling just within the doorway.

“I arrived after your hymn had begun, Third Apostle,” Eldin said. “I did not see fit to disturb your prayers.”

“Thank you for respecting my sacred time with Uldar,” Izas lowered his head. “How might this humble servant of our god help you?”

“The First Apostle has called for you,” Eldin said. “He wishes to speak to you urgently.”

###

As Eldin closed the door in the First Apostle’s sanctum, Izas was left in the dark. Ahead, he could feel the presence of the most holy member of his church within his alcove.

Yet he could not see him in the dark.

“Third Apostle Izas,” came the First Apostle’s voice. “What are you willing to give to Uldar?”

“Everything,” the Third Apostle said without hesitation. “He fought and sacrificed for us; it is our duty to do so in turn.”

“You are utterly convicted in this?”

“Yes.”

“Swear it on your faith.”

“I swear it on my faith.”

“Swear it on your name.”

“I swear on my name.”

“Swear it on your soul.”

“I swear it on my soul.”

“Swear it on the life of our god.”

Izas startled, looking around the black alcove in shock. “First Apostle! That is blasphemy!”

“It is not,” the First Apostle’s voice was stern. “If you are true of heart and soul, then Uldar will have nothing to fear. There will be no falsehoods in your oath and thus no blasphemy. Unless you doubt your faith.”

“I do not doubt my faith. I…” The Third Apostle muttered. “I swear it on the life of our god.”

Silence followed.

“Good,” the First Apostle said. “You were gifted The Third Truth upon gaining your position. The truth that the cycle must continue. Now…you are ready for The Second Truth.”

“But that is only given to you and the Second Apostle.”

“Normally, yes,” the First Apostle said. “But these are abnormal times. And I have received a revelation from a divine servant.”