“What do you think about the SMC bill?” I looked Amira dead in the eyes.

She leaned off a bit, her jet-black hair falling and being ushered from the nape of her neck over to her chest. “I see you’ve interests in Tyrr’s politics.”

“So do you, Black Sheep. At first, I figured you were just repaying the favour for the mana potion. But nah. You knew the Genuk family would get in trouble, but you helped me anyway. Which made me think, the Rizts would benefit from the Genuks going down, if the Rizts weren’t dependent on SMCs. But you are.”

She grimaced, “You think I did it because of the SMC issue?”

I remained silent, answering with nothing more than a discerning eye. The mysterious elf mused, totally embracing me. “How do I know I can trust you?” Her susurration implanted a chilling effect in me. No, it wasn’t magic, but rather steps of caution that made me look at her twice.

At that moment, a scale formed in my mind. On one end, there was continuing to ally with her, which would most likely land some very useful information in the palm of my hands. On the other end, there was keeping my distance from her and doing my own investigation, which should eventually lead to the same information, but who knows when?

Hmm, I thought about the Mirage festival. It would begin in just a couple days, and whilst the festival was going on, Steyza wanted to cause a commotion and force members of the public to use their SMCs on the issue to show the government that passing the bill wasn’t the way to go. I didn’t know what information Amira had, and what I’d have to do to get it. Would it be worth it?

“One way to find out.”

My indecisiveness gave Donna power over my choice. Fine then. Ain’t nothin’ to lose anyway. “Alright, Black Sheep. Here’s what’s up… The Mirage Festival starts in two days. Whatever information you have on the families or whatever you’re plotting, I’d like to know all of it before then. I don’t know how I’ll earn your trust, but I’ll do it.”

She hugged me even tighter, her breasts devouring my face, “I knew I could count on you! Now, there’s something I’d like you to retrieve…”

A couple hours later, and I was sneaking through the plant where they made empty SMCs. In the head office, there appeared to be something like a safe, or the elven version to it at least. It was small, more like a lockbox, but boy was it tightly locked with magic. I thought back on what Amira told me.

So, SMCs are nothing but mana potions? How on earth are elves with shit ass mana spans doing alchemy? It was quite a wonder. But then I realised, alchemy doesn’t actually need mana. It’s all know-how when it came to herbs. I paired transmutation with it so often for said herbs that it just felt like alchemy needed mana too.

The recipe was apparently split into two. One half was in the lockbox in the factory’s basement that was guarded by some serious-looking guys. The other half was at the Genuk’s family home. Combine the two and follow the directions, and anyone could produce SMCs. Interesting, really. But how do I get that damn thing open?

“Want me to give it a go?”

Hmm? Yeah, sure.

Donna came outside, did a thingy, and the lockbox’s magic was gone. I looked at her angrily, and she knew exactly why. The bitch didn’t teach me whatever that spell was. She looked at me even angrier, and I knew exactly why. My stupid ass only cared about damaging and flashy spells that looked cool so I never truly bothered to hound her and Flynn down for subtle spells like the one she just used. I sighed defeatedly, and she fleered in victory.

“Better hurry, it doesn’t last forever.”

Huh? Well, that’s stupid. But I suppose it makes sense. Didn’t want them to know their secrets were compromised after all. Mana laced my fingertip and I jotted down some stuff on a piece of parchment I transmuted. The things in this recipe were things I already knew, but one thing alarmed me as I was floating through the sky to the nearby Genuk residence. The ingredients were supposed to be halved… But, the list of herbs I copied were nowhere close to half the herbs I needed for a mana potion. It even had unnecessary ingredients.

I shrugged it off and focused on my mission at hand when I entered the house. The first room I sought out was the office where the family heads were, but looking all over, I didn’t see it. The sorrowful groan of a child escaped me, knowing I’d have to comb the entire house, and it wasn’t exactly a small place. But alas, halfway through the day, I found it.

It was locked behind the heavy metal frame of a safe of sorts. No magic was found protecting it. The craftsmanship didn’t look elven at all. The stupendous number of cogs and gears and other unnameable mechanisms inside it provided a manual locking system that even magic couldn’t do anything about, especially elven magic.

Well, with that one, it was a simple matter of walking inside it. Yeah, it was huge enough for me to do that. They had other valuable things inside there as well. But mayhap the most bizarre was a feather that was hot to the touch. An orange feather…

After I copied the text onto another parchment, I stared at that feather for a few minutes, wondering if to take it. Knowing that it was probably something of sentimental value, it probably wouldn’t go anywhere and I could always revisit this place. Eh, but I’m already here. What the heck, why not?

Phoenix answered my summons. “Wassup, man?”

“I’m cool. You see that feather there? Know anything about it?”

He ogled for a while. “Because it’s a hot and orange, you automatically assume I know something about it?”

“Nah, huh?” I asked defeatedly.

“Well, I do…” suddenly he went quiet and idled for a minute or so. Snapping my fingers and waving my hand about his face didn’t help at all. The red-haired guy zoned out. “Say, Eric, we’re in Jynnak, aren’t we?”

“Yup. How’d you kn–”

“And this is Tyrr? The elven country?” Something about him at this point told me I shouldn’t mess around. Yeah, I was stronger than any spirit lord now, but he was also my friend.

“Yeah, man. You, uh, you okay?”

“No.” He placed his hand over the feather and it disintegrated, flowing into him. “I suggest you leave Jynnak. Or at least Tyrr.”

Now, it was my turn to embrace silence and thought for a minute. “You had a bad history with the elves huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Planning on killing them?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t,” I advised. “Don’t kill many for the wrongdoings of some.”

His face contorted in a way that showed he was trying his best to hide his annoyance but simply couldn’t. “Don’t you dare!” his voice threatened softly, but not at all with diminished ire. “Remember what you did in Ulanos! Spare me the speech on morality!”

“What I did in Ulanos was necessary to save Methelia. What you’re going to do, will it save anything?”

He suddenly stopped and looked down in thought. “There might still be a chance,” he muttered to himself. “If there’s enough…”

Suddenly, he looked up at me again. “Eric, there may, or may not be other feathers just like this one,” he materialised the feather again, “I’ll need to find them all. Every last one! Make a contract!”

“W-whoa there! Slow down. What’s this about? How am I making a contract with a feather?”

“She’s not yet sentient, the contract can be forced. Just do it! I don’t have time. I need to go back to the spirit world right now!”

“Alright, alright. Calm down, buddy.” I made the contract like he asked with a feather, and suddenly I could feel other presences just like it throughout Tyrr. What the hell’s going on? I was going to ask Phoenix that question, but he zipped back over to the spirit world the instant I made the contract.

“Well, he’s a busy one.”

Better be busy finding feathers than massacring people.

“Eric, make sure and find out what’s going on before you help him.”

Why are you stating the obvious? I asked and copied the other half of the SMC recipe. I met Amira again in the institute. It amazed me a little that the Rizts didn’t go after me more proactively. In the back of my head, I felt that something was strange about that. In fact, how could the entire fight for me be decided by a simple decision from the government? These five big families clearly didn’t give a damn about the government’s choices, but they let me slip through their fingers like that.

“Ay! Focus dude,” Donna snapped me out of my thoughts.

Amira was simply smiling at me. “Looks like you have a lot on your mind. Sure you’re up for this?”

“As up as I’ll ever be. Here’s half the list, you’ll get the other half when I know everything.”

A coy smirk enshrouded her, “Beautiful. Let’s go, shall we?” She walked with me to a teleporter. For someone so secretive, I found this a rather bold move. Seconds later, the afternoon sun hit us directly in the face. We arrived at a beach. A teleportation pad out here? I peered down at the grey disc. It certainly didn’t seem to be one known by other elves. To our left was an eyrie overlooking the soothing waves of the ocean.

Amira weaved some magic to enter. There seemed to be a floor above but apparently, I wouldn’t get to see up there until the other half of the recipe was given up. So, I’ll really only have a full grasp of the situation when I get up there. Foul…

A girl, and three guys stood about, talking with each other. As we entered, they looked at us. Elven ages were certainly hard to guess, but their body language certainly screamed young. “This is my inner circle. The fact that you saw their faces, means you cannot back out now. As promised, we will tell you what we assume you should know, and whatever else you wish to ask.”

We introduced ourselves, and each of these youngsters – not that I wasn’t one myself – were from one of the big families. There was a Genuk, a Morrhiggan, and Amira the Rizt. Those were the families I knew of at least. The two remaining was a girl from the Tuvos family who controlled maritime and trading with the other races of Jynnak and a dude from the Cey family, who built and maintained enchanted constructs like the teleportation pads. He also apparently built the lock magic for this very tower.

“Let’s get our end goal out of the way,” the Tuvos girl spoke. “The reason we’ve come together is to destroy what our families have built.”

The others sighed in unison. “That’s not totally accurate. What we’ve joined hands for is to eradicate the monopoly our families hold,” the Morrhiggan guy explained. “We believe that these things should be much more accessible to the average citizen.”

“And in order for us to do that,” the Cey came closer to me and threw an arm around my shoulder, “we first need to know how to make SMCs.”

“These things,” the Genuk held one up, staring intently at it, “are the backbone of Tyrr. I’m not saying that because I’m a prideful Genuk, no. But almost every aspect of our society depends on it. The five families depend on it. Normal people depend on it. In order for those gathered here to truly master the trade of their family, they need SMCs to do it. And seeing that the SMC bill might pass, we need to learn how to make it on our own. My family might reduce the amounts the other families get to one-up them.”

“Alright,” I exhaled tiringly, “The Rizts need it for education; fair enough. The Morrhiggans need it for medical stuff; fair enough. The Ceys need it for magical constructs; fair enough. But why do the Tuvos need it?”

Tuvos looked up at me, her fiery eyes almost wanting to roast me alive for questioning her presence here. “You damn whelp!” she stood, her mana flaring. The Morrhiggan held her hand to calm her down.

“You don’t have to,” I told him. “She can test my mettle if she wants.”

He smiled, “I’d rather that not happen. You see, I’m very deeply in love with her,” his words made her blush and diverted her attention from being angry with me to being embarrassed like a child, “so I’d prefer if she didn’t get into fights.”

I stared at him for a long time. He had the weakest personality here; a lack of presence. He seemed weak-willed, but I knew that wasn’t true. To stop the impetuous Tuvos with a few words, this Morrhiggan knew how to control the others. He was their leader, whether they realised it or not.

“I respect that. I’ve a couple questions. One for you, Mr Morrhiggan.”

“Mhm?” he crossed his legs elegantly.

“Fenral Rilas. What’s he need from your family?”

“Hmm,” his mind backtracked, “this was the man involved in the kidnapping incident, yes?”

I confirmed with a nod.

“He was being treated with a magic spell to increase his resistance to,” the man paused, “his sickness.” He stopped there, and I looked at him with eyes that told him to continue. “It’s, extremely rare, and highly unbelievable, but that man is a werewolf.”

“Werewolf?” Cey asked. “Like in the books?”

“Well, it’s not as amazing as you’d think. Anyway, yeah. If one contracts the disease by getting infected from a bite, scratch, or whatever, the wolf’s cells begin to bond harmoniously with the patient. It’s incredible, really. But the greatest thing about it, is how it bonds with the person’s mana. This is why they can shift back and forth, given the right conditions. If it didn’t bond with mana, then the person would simply look like a werewolf all the time.”

Amira, the only person whose first name I bothered to learn, asked me if it had anything to do with Steyza, Fenral’s daughter. “No. I thought so too, at first. But the whole thing went down without her involvement. Anyway, next question,” I said a bit loudly, perking their ears up. “Did one of your families send an assassin after me?”

The room went whisper-quiet. They all looked around at each other but no one knew anything. Interesting. “Next question then. What do you guys know about the legend of the phoenix?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” the Tuvos commented.

“Yes, well, that was kind of the deal,” my smartass remark irritated her enough for her to form a small dagger made of mana, just like the mana sword from the assassin. Depending on how exclusive that spell was, her family may or may not be the one gunning after my head, or at least my capture.

“Now, now, take it easy,” Morrhiggan stopped her once again. It made me wonder if she was just acting tough because she knew he’d stop her. “We know nothing more about it than everyone else does. There was a harsh winter and the mythical creature saved us with its wings of fire. I’m not one to believe in fantasies so I never delved into it.”

“I see,” I perambulated about the room, making a full circle and eventually standing at Amira’s side again. “Final question. What’s up there?” I pointed toward the stairs with my chin.

“None of your damn business, human. Where’s the other half of the recipe anyway?” Tuvos looked at Amira, “Did your human even get it?”

“Wow, you’re a hothead, huh?” I rummaged around my robe and retrieved the parchment, “it’s right here.”

She suddenly rushed me, dagger drawn and her eyes glued to the paper. A concentrated Divergence bent her knee the opposite way it was intended to bend. Another one flung her across the room and stuck her onto the wall, slamming her hard enough to make the others jump. A Convergence orb kept her hanging by the broken leg as she screamed in agony. “You do realise I could kill you with a mere thought, right? I feel like you’re missing that piece of information.”

The others were shocked to say the least, and the Morrhiggan tried running to her rescue once again. “Put her down! We’ll tell you whatever you want to know,” he bargained.

I gave him a deadpan stare followed by a sigh. “Nah, man. It’s alright. I could go up there anytime I want.” I Levitated over to the rude girl, held her by her good leg and dismissed the Convergence orb. August’s strength enchantments were ridiculously powerful to allow me to do that. I healed her back to normal with Eden then dropped her. She didn’t try anything even as I turned and walked away. “Here,” I handed off the other half of the recipe to Amira and left the lone eyrie.

“Wait!” she stopped me before I flew off. “You didn’t get to go upstairs.”

“It doesn’t matter. I know the goal of your group. Mine isn’t as grand, but it aligns with yours. Goodbye.”

“J-just wait, okay? What about your potions?”

“You have the SMC recipe. You don’t need them.”

She leaned toward me a bit more, “Do you take me for a fool? SMCs are garbage compared to that mana potion. Perhaps we can work out a new deal?”

“Like?”

“I can tell you who sent that assassin after you.”

I laughed. “It doesn’t matter who did. It doesn’t matter how many they send. Besides, I already have a good idea who’s behind it.”

“Just how strong are you? She was a Tuvos. They are the some of the best fighters, but you treat her like a ragdoll.”

“Go back to your friends, Amira,” I advised before leaving her.