Upon returning to my body, my breath caught for a moment. The feeling of solitude I had been subjected to, just the memory of the experience, sat on my chest, making it difficult to draw breath. I wasn’t sure what had caused the emotional radiation I had encountered, if there was some extremely powerful entity that put it out or if it had some other cause but the effect had been profoundly disturbing.

Finally, I managed to get in a breath and scrambled out of my seat, my mind continuing to follow my connection to Sigmir, simply moving without thought. Safety, companionship, a refuge from the cold, lonely existence I had encountered, I was drawn to it, seeking out her embrace. She had been nearby, waiting for me, and quickly enfolded me in her arms, making noises my mind didn’t comprehend. A part of me remembered that I was in a game, that I could simply log out, but another part reminded me that I had promised Sigmir not to simply vanish. And what if the feelings remained, the mind that had been affected was the same, wasn’t it? I just didn’t know and to return to my empty, quiet appartement, lying down in my empty bed, which had never known another occupant, with the emotions running through me? I didn’t even want to consider it.

Breathing in Sigmir’s scent, primal, slightly musky, but purely her helped calm my racing mind allowing me to think a little more clearly, even as tears came pouring from my eyes, feeling strangely cold on my cheeks.

“I’m fine but just hold me.” I asked Sigmir, speaking softly, my voice a choked whisper.

“Liar.” I heard Lenore’s mental voice, laced with concern, while I felt her land on one of Sigmir’s arms that were wrapped around me. I could feel that she wanted me to know that she was near, that I wasn’t alone. I was grateful for the sentiment, per presence almost helping as much as Sigmir’s did.

Sigmri didn’t try to coax me into speaking more, simply holding me, letting my emotions pour out. The safety of her arms allowed me to think a little more and finally, my curiosity asserted itself. I wanted to know what had changed with me if I had encountered the second Divide and if so, if I had been strong enough.

Mentally calling up the log, my lips curled into a smile, happy that something good had come from the harrowing experience. I had managed to cross the divide and was profiting from it.

You have crossed the second Divide.After crossing the second Divide, your body was strengthened by the Astral River. You gain +10 to all Attributes.

Class change!After crossing the second Divide, your class has changed. You are now a Sorceress.of the Dark Moon. You gazed at the dark Moon and have endured. The experience has changed you in ways you may not yet understand, a change few can comprehend. You may be one of them. Your new class grants you an Attribute-Bonus of three Intelligence every five levels and two Inspiration every ten levels.

Your new class grants you the trait: Dark Mirror.

Your old Trait, Lunar Cycle, has changed.

Trait changedYour ‘Lunar Cycle’-Trait has changed. You have learned that, just because the Darkness hides something from you it is no less powerful. While under the open sky, your connection to the Moon remains strong, granting you a bonus to Ice- and Darkness-Magic.

Trait gained You gained the trait: Dark MirrorYou gazed at the Moon and the Moon gazed into you. When using Mind Magic you channel the power of the Moon to strengthen your abilities but beware, not all minds can endure without breaking..

Companion Ability gained You gained the Companion Ability: Harvester of Souls Thanks to the long and intimate connection with your Spirit-Companion, some of their skills have imprinted upon you, allowing you to learn them. You gained the Death-Magic Skill.

Skill gained You gained the Skill: Death MagicLife and Death are two faces of the same coin. You understand that simple truth, measuring and cutting the threads short when necessary. But you can also spin a thread a little longer, if you so chose.

For a moment, I felt stunned. The sheer bonuses I had gained were incredible, even if part of the change had me a little worried, especially the ‘Dark Mirror’-Trait. It looked like my magic was slowly gaining a distinct pattern to it, losing some versatility in the process. But I had a new magic to work with, so losing some versatility with the other magic, in exchange for greater potential was fine with me.

It had started quite some time ago, back in the dungeon beneath that glacier, when my reckless use of powerful magic had permanently infused my body with Ice Astral Power, forcing me to actively filter my magic for some applications. When Lenore crossed the first Divide and our combined spells had become infused with Death-Magic, the change went into the same direction and now, my Mind Magic seemed to be influenced as well, the change making beneficial applications of it a little questionable.

On the other hand, the ‘Death Magic’-description was interesting, hinting at ways to heal or prolong life with Death-Magic, something I definitely would want to look into.

I felt Sigmir shift against me, her hand gently cupping my chin, lifting it so she could look at my face, while her thumb brushed my cheek, wiping away my tears.

“Everything will be alright, love.” she assured me, her voice gentle.

“If crossing the divides would be easy, everyone would do it. Just know that I’m here for you.” she added, before her soft smile got a little wider, turning into a grin.

“And the change looks good on you, you know?” she asked, her thumb brushing my cheek again, this time a little further back and I felt something on my face that I hadn’t felt before, my skin shifting strangely.

My confused thoughts must have reached Lenore, as she was sending me an image of myself, seen through her eyes. If it had been my eyes, I would have blinked in surprise, but as it was merely a memory, I couldn’t do so.

The face was obviously mine but changed, my features a little sharper, even if the tear-stained cheeks and bloodshot eyes took away some of the severity granted to it by the feathery eyebrows. But there was a new addition, a line of glimmering shards running down my right cheek, opposite Lenore’s Hallow, almost like a line of tears. But the shards looked solid and when I reached up with my hand, I could feel them, sticking out of my skin. Not sharp or jagged up solid and cold, like small icicles.

“I’m glad I don’t need to shave.” a stray thought of me reached Lenore, causing her to caw in amusement.

“It’s good to see that you didn’t suffer permanent damage.” she told me, before hopping closer, onto my shoulder, finally shifting into her Hallow.

“Comfy, I like it. Before you crossed the Divide, the Hallow was a little cramped.” she told me, from inside her Hallow, her amusement was even stronger than earlier. I decided that Lenore could wait and I should focus on Sigmir, I was sitting on her lap after all.

“As long as you like it, I’ll be fine with it.” I told her, pushing any concern regarding my new facial feature away.

“And yes, crossing the divide was…” I stopped, trying to find the right words.

“Difficult?” she asked, her smile now wry, causing me to nod.

“Before we go back, you might want to reign in your aura. I can take it but I’m not sure Adra and Rai would fare as well. Ylva retreated into her Hallow when you approached, unwilling to take it.” she explained. I reached out mentally, trying to see what she meant and quickly noticed that I was radiating out Astral Power, roughly what I was regenerating naturally, pushing it out in an unspecified way resulting in a pressure aligned to my primary elements, Darkness and Ice. It wasn’t powerful enough to harm someone with similar strength to my own but for weaker people it would certainly be unpleasant. It took me a moment to redirect the power, channelling it towards my core which was a stop-gap solution for now, until I could fully find my center and cut off the excess regeneration but I was simply too tired to tackle that.

“Better.” Sigmir told me, gently brushing her hand over my cheek again. I relaxed into her and simply let sleep take me, trusting her to take care of things. Thankfully, I wasn’t alone, she was with me.