Samuel, Shigeru, and Oto decided to stay at their campsite for one more night, instead of trekking through the barren landscape that had once been the Dagorra Forest. Despite the absence of one companion, the circle of light still held the semblance of peace and calm about it, so they all settled in. Samuel offered to take the first watch, and the other two accepted his offer gratefully.

As he sat alone by the fire, his senses extended for a great distance in every direction, Samuel was left alone with his thoughts. He hadn’t expected this to be so troublesome, but he couldn’t keep his thoughts away from Grimr. Even now, the Ancient would be doing whatever he needed to help the forest begin to grow again. He wasn’t sure exactly what that entailed, but there was no doubt in his mind that his friend could manage it easily.

And then he would be gone, presumably for several decades. That was an unexpected change, Samuel thought. Prior to gaining Arcana’s favor, he had been an ordinary mortal, living his shortened lifespan out in the unremarkable village to the southeast. Then, suddenly, his life had been introduced to all manner of things extraordinary. Even now, he still had trouble understanding the gulf of time that Grimr had lived through. Had he made companions the entire time, or had he been alone before meeting Raveonic and Shigeru?

Now that the Ancient was gone, Samuel had thought of a whole flood of questions he regretted not asking, not all of it related to the secrets of magic. What did an Ancient do to fend off boredom? For surely, living many hundreds, possibly thousands of years would create stagnation. So what did one do to keep things interesting then? Maybe they slept often. Grimr had seemed to be a fan of sleeping, even when he seemed not to need it.

As the sun disappeared completely, and the moon lifted itself into the sky, Samuel decided to stretch his legs and walk a patrol. Strictly speaking, the range he could achieve with his mana made this pointless, but he felt the cool air would be good for his dark mood. And so he walked away from the campsite for about a hundred yards, then began to pace in a wide circle. He would occasionally glance back at the low-burning flames to see his two remaining companions where they slept, then look away quickly.

He tried to imagine what this would be like for Shigeru. He had spent sufficient time with Grimr to have an inkling of the swordsman’s grief. He’d tried to muster some encouraging words as they’d eaten the evening meal but in vain. Try as hard as he did to keep up a pleasant conversation with the other two, Shigeru was obviously still troubled and had rolled into his blankets as the night fell without much talk.

Samuel peered back out away from the camp, studying the night sky full of stars. The bright points of light twinkled in a friendly manner, and they lit up just enough of the ground for his eyes to make out vague details. Not that there were many details to pick out, he thought drily. Ignoring the mountain looming behind them, there was nothing in sight to break the horizon. The land continued flat until it dropped out of sight. Quite featureless.

But was it truly featureless? As Samuel stared into the distance without blinking, he thought he saw a brief flash of light. Convinced his eyes were playing tricks on him, he blinked rapidly and rubbed them then looked again. Another flash of light, longer this time. It was like the dying efforts of a fire’s last embers. It flashed, then faded, then flared again, a little longer each time.

Samuel craned his neck, attempting to get a better view as the light flared into life again. It almost stayed, only fading after several long seconds of life. Then it flared for the last time and began to grow in size and intensity. Though he couldn’t explain it, Samuel felt the tiniest flare of hope within himself as he watched it. Each time it had faded and swelled, he’d felt his heart leap and sink accordingly.

The light continued to grow until it had reached a great circumference. Even from this distance, Samuel estimated that the light covered several hundred meters in each direction. And now that he was paying proper attention, he had the vaguest sense of potent energy coming to life at its center. It was only as the light sunk into the ground and he felt it beginning to spread that he understood what it was.

Far away, in the forest’s epicenter, Grimr had channeled his considerable power into the land. He’d used his unique brand of energy manipulation to bring life back to the area. Though he couldn’t see them, Samuel knew that there were trees there, growing strongly as if the earth underneath them had never known corruption. Even now there was the faintest sign of a dark blot on the horizon, the unmistakable sign of nature surging back into life.

Samuel smiled quietly to himself as he walked on, completing his circle. He took great pride in Grimr’s achievements over the past few days, and he felt quite comfortable knowing that nature had such a clever and strong protector to watch over it now. Returning back to the fire and his sleeping companions, his back was turned to the direction of the new Dagorra Forest, and so he missed the thin bright beam of light that reached up to touch the heavens, then fade away.

He woke Oto gently to take over the watch as the moon came to stand at the halfway point in the sky and told him quietly what he had seen. The old mage’s eyes held the same sense of hope and wonder that Samuel had felt, as well as a good deal of calm that nature’s struggle had been resolved. There had been a great deal of damage to the area, Samuel thought as he rolled into his blankets, but at least now, it could begin to heal and grow anew.

He woke again in the late morning, to the sound of sizzling meat. Samuel couldn’t be sure if it was the smell of the meat or the aroma of coffee that had pulled him from his blankets, but he knew it was a close-run thing. Oto had left early in the morning, it seemed, and only Shigeru remained at the camp, and he was the one making breakfast. Samuel studied the swordsman carefully, looking for any sign of the previous day’s grief. There were still traces of it there, but they were mostly replaced by a quiet sort of energy, as Shigeru moved about the campsite with purpose.

“Good morning,” Samuel said, stifling a huge yawn and stretching. “You seem to be in a better mood today.”

Shigeru paused in his task just long enough to flash a grin at Samuel. ”Indeed. It is as Grimr said. I have too much to do in life to give up now. This was just another chapter. I must set out and find the next.”

“Lucky you,” Samuel said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Then, seeing the confused look on Shigeru’s face, he elaborated. “You at least have some idea as to what you’ll do next, it seems. All I know is that after I meet and help Arcana, my future seems rather dull. I’ve no idea what to do next.”

“You could take up Master Astori’s recommendation,” Shigeru offered. “Rejoin the college. With your new status under Arcana, I’m sure that any other archmage would be willing to replace him as your mentor.”

Samuel shrugged, unsure. “That is one option, of course. I could also set out on a new journey.”

“You could,” Shigeru said, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. “Where would you go?”

“Not sure just yet. I might go seek out this wise master who has taught you and Grimr so much.”

Shigeru’s face lit up at that. “It would be challenging, but definitely worth your time. There is much to learn from Raveonic. He knows many things, apart from fighting. Much wisdom to be gained.”

Samuel grinned into his cup of coffee. He’d expected that reply from Shigeru. In truth, he’d already made up his mind on his next objective, if you could call it that. He wanted to delve further into his studies of magic. The true nature of the arcane arts was a mystery he wanted to unravel, and he suspected that there was more to it than even Grimr knew. Maybe Raveonic knew all there was to know on magic, and maybe he didn’t. But Samuel was inclined to research on his own, as he learned differently from others. Astori had recognized that fact and proposed unique puzzles for him.

“Well, no matter what I do next,” Samuel continued, “I must return to Arcana, and fulfill my promise. I expect I can learn much from him. Perhaps that will be enough new material to last me several years.”

“Probably,” Shigeru said, agreeing this time. “I would offer to go with you, but-”

He trailed off, and Samuel finished the sentence for him. “I have to go alone. Don’t worry. Head to Milagre, and I’ll catch up to you. I know Arthur will allow you room and board until you decide what to do next.”

The swordsman nodded his gratitude at the offer. He scooped several pieces of roast meat onto a small plate and handed it to Samuel. Today, the meat was drizzled in some kind of dark sauce. It was decidedly salty to the taste.

“It is called Shoyu,” Shigeru explained at his obvious puzzlement. “It is a staple seasoning in Nihon-Ja that I am quite fond of. Oto left me a bottle of fine shoyu as a parting gift.”

Samuel nodded slowly, then dipped a piece of meat into the pooled sauce and popped it into his mouth. The salty bite of the sauce mixed well with the natural flavor of the meat. He made a small noise of enjoyment at the morsel, and immediately ate another one. Shigeru grinned at his pleasure.

“I’m glad you enjoy it. Perhaps someone in Milagre could provide the sauce. I’d imagine that Master Seamus would be able to manage that.”

Samuel nodded his agreement. Seamus’ cooking was the best part of his new life as a noble. The man was a true master in the kitchen. From that first bite of the omelet, Samuel had been able to see that. Perhaps that was a reason to rush back, he thought with an inward laugh. Good food was an incredible motivator.

Shigeru and Samuel enjoyed another meal in each other’s company, then proceeded to clean and put away the dishes. They had all been brought by Shigeru, and though he offered Samuel a plate, bowl, and cup for himself, Samuel politely refused. He was sufficiently skilled at creating basic things like them with magic by now. And if they were made of magic, then he wouldn’t have to bother with cleaning them. He could just make them go away.

Their parting of the ways was much easier than Grimr’s departure had been, because they knew it was not a long parting. At worst, Samuel expected to be kept busy a day or two with Arcana, then he would return to the capitol where Shigeru would be waiting. The swordsman was soon jogging to where the edge of the forest had been, where he would find the road that led back to Milagre. Samuel smiled wrily at how fast Shigeru was able to move and reflected at how much he had slowed the group down on the way here.

Shaking his head in amusement, Samuel put the fire out with a wave of his hand and began to gather his things in preparation for setting off himself. He struggled for a few minutes to cram all of his belongings back into the large rucksack but only succeeded in ripping the side of the canvas sack when he put too much pressure on it. Frowning, he stood back for a moment, not sure what to do with it all. It was too much to carry, yet he couldn’t abandon his papers.

The answer came to him after a few minutes. Remembering a short lecture given by Astori all those months ago, he recalled that some mages could create a sort of pocket, formed entirely of magic. This pocket could be in another plane of existence, yet reachable from whatever point the mage decided. Being formed of magic, there would be no limit to its size, save for the mage’s ability.

He found out rather quickly that it was much easier than it seemed. He wove his mana into a careful shape, then willed it to slip beyond his sight into another place. He didn’t know nearly enough about the other planes of existence to know exactly where it ended up, but he found that, in reaching his right hand out to the side, he could deposit and retrieve a slip of parchment with ease. It didn’t seem to cost him any extra mana to reach in, either. It took quite a bit to expand the space enough to fit the contents of his rucksack, but with Arcana’s mana, and the strength of his new body, he managed the task easily.

He took his time putting all the papers, books, and random items in the space. He piled the parchment carefully and memorized where they were placed so that he could find them easily. This completed, he closed the entrance to his hidden storage space and strolled to the base of the mountain. He reveled in how light he felt. Part of it was due to the absence of fifty pounds of paper, but he also knew that this new body was more lithe and agile than his old one.

Just as a test, Samuel did not fly back up the mountain. Instead, he channeled mana to his arms and legs to reinforce them, and jumped as high as he could, aiming for a rock ten feet up the path. He overshot by a considerable margin, flying past the intended landing spot and colliding with the side of another boulder, some fifteen feet up the path. He bounced off that rock and into another, then began to roll down the slope until he slammed against a boulder and stopped moving.

Groaning aloud, he shook his head reproachfully at himself and tried again. It wasn’t the most graceful ascent, but with each leap, he had a better understanding of the body’s new strength. He got the hang of it about halfway up the mountain and had no more slips as he bounded up the steep slope, reaching the cave at the peak in just under an hour.

The fall was another matter. He used his flying spell for that, allowing himself to fall in a more controlled fashion. He still plummeted fast, but he channeled the wind that rushed past his ears to slow his descent considerably. He was also aware of the moment that he crossed into Arcana’s range because the winds around him faltered slightly. They held, however, which he attributed to it being Arcana’s mana that was in use.

He hit the sand at the bottom of the long shaft with a soft thump, crouching to absorb the shock of his landing. It wasn’t the most gentle contact, but he knew it could have been worse. A plume of the fine sand was thrown up by his arrival, and he coughed slightly as he breathed it in, then, covering his mouth and nose with his right hand, dispersed the rest with a gust of wind from his left.

Arcana was still silent as he exited the first chamber and approached the hallway. Samuel could sense him, but Arcana made no attempt to communicate as he paced down the long hallway. It had the sense of a ruler waiting at the far end of the throne room, silent as his subject approached. Or a frightened animal that crouched at a dead end, waiting for a predator to come closer. Both situations were possible, Samuel thought.

He decided to stop just shy of Arcana’s chamber as a matter of caution and dropped to one knee, his head bowed in respect. This seemed to be the right choice, as Arcana finally flared into sight. His light was rather muted when compared to the blinding orb he had been on the last visit. Samuel realized that he was weaker now, after giving Samuel so much mana, and he knew that, if he wanted to, he could kill Arcana now.

He showed no sign of hostility as he rose to his feet and moved closer. He kept his mana as still as possible and tried to slow his breathing. He didn’t want to do anything to increase Arcana’s doubts. He definitely didn’t want to do anything to provoke an attack. Not quite used to this body or the mana it held yet, he wasn’t entirely sure he could avoid getting seriously injured.

I have come, Arcana.

Indeed. I am glad to see you return. I take it you were successful in aiding the Ancient in his task?

That came as a slight surprise to Samuel. He’d assumed that Arcana had been watching closely as they fought against Neratas. But now it seemed that he wasn’t aware of what had transpired.

We were successful indeed. Neratas has been freed from the corruption that consumed him, and the forest lives on anew with Grimr’s help.

Arcana’s voice came back to him, but it was slower and heavier. Samuel didn’t have to wonder long on the reason. Arcana was nearly out of time now and didn’t have much strength to speak as he did before.

I sensed his soul depart for the Divine Isles during the night. I will be joining him soon and thanking him for bringing you to me.

Samuel bowed his head again. He helped me get to you much sooner. If I were alone, I doubt I could have reached you in time.

Perhaps. But that is the concern of an alternate future. In this time, in this moment, you have arrived just in time. I am freed from this burden that slowly kills me. Come now. It is time for you to receive my blessing.

Samuel took another step and now stood a foot away from Arcana. He knew, instinctively, what had to be done. After a moment of preparation, he lifted his right hand and placed it upon the bright white orb. To his surprise, it felt solid under his hand. At the contact, the light flared brighter, then reached out to touch his hand. A violent shiver of energy passed through Samuel, and he staggered, barely managing to stay up.

His hand was glued to Arcana by the force of their connection now. The wave of pain from the energy had passed, so Samue stood tall again. His mind was hurting a great deal from the excess amount of mana he was pulling in. If the amount Arcana had given him had felt like a small lake, then what he received now was the equivalent of a raging sea. It coursed into his body and mind, expanding beyond his own control. He cried out with the pain of it, feeling as if his mind would tear in two and explode.

Then, just as quickly as it had begun, it was over, and Samuel staggered away from Arcana, dropping to his knees with the pain. He saw the briefest flicker of light before him, a tiny wisp of white flame that was all Arcana had become with the loss of his body. It curled around itself in mid-air and flickered out of sight. Then it surged back with incredible force, filling and dominating the small chamber with the presence of its power.

The power radiating from Arcana caused him no pain because it was what was already inside him, and that felt enough to kill him. He thrashed on the floor desperately, as if trying to wriggle out from under the burden of the mana. There was no escape as he lay on the ground, his hands clasped to his head. Blinded by the agony, he was only vaguely aware of Isip, for it truly was the man that he knew to be Isip, standing over him with a faint look of concern about his face.

“This pain will pass, Samuel,” Isip said. He spoke too softly to be heard over Samuel’s cries of pain, but the words reverberated through his brain as well. “It is impossible to carry power this great as a mortal without such pain.”

Samuel lowered his hands enough to glare accusingly at Isip, only able to gasp out one word. “Why?”

Isip did not seem pleased with his pain. In fact, he looked like a parent, worried that his child was in pain. “It is necessary. It will fade, however, with time. Be strong, Samuel. Your mind is your greatest weapon. Use it. Master this energy.”

And then Isip was gone with a bright flash of golden energy. The energy coalesced into a single beam of light that shot through the roof of the chamber and faded. Isip had ascended once again, then. And he had left Samuel alone, trapped here under the mountain, fighting off the burden of his essence and dying. His mind was tearing at the seams. Master the energy? He couldn’t do that. He had to escape.

He thrust his mana out, as far as he could, in the hopes that it could latch on to something. Home. He had to go home. Anywhere. He had to leave, and quickly. Quick enough to leave this agonizing pain behind. He closed his eyes and willed himself away. Despite the pain wracking his mind, he knew it had worked. Gone was the sensation of the soft carpet beneath him. All around him was a sweet, blank, uncaring oblivion. That same space he moved through whenever he had teleported before.

He knew not how long it took him to reach his destination. He could have floated through that empty space for seconds, or hours, or even possibly days. He could not measure time with his mind so clouded by pain. He was aware only of the sensation of nothingness, as he tried desperately to free himself from the clutches of that burning mana.

His vision cleared after what felt like an instant, and his mind was free. He blinked, registering that he was standing next to a large fountain. Was he back in Milagre, at his late father’s estate? No. He could make out a building to his left. It looked familiar, but it wasn’t his new home. He felt his eyes rolling back again, just in time to hear someone speak in a shocked voice.

“Samuel!” the voice said. “Is that you?”

He collapsed against the fountain, trying desperately to hold himself up. He turned to see the person who had spoken. All he could see was an elderly woman, wrapped in a warm cloak, surrounded by small children. Then his vision went black again, and he fell, the shouts of concern around him the last thing he heard.