“Can’t say I expected any less from an Apostle,” I commented but he answered with silence. How unnerving. What’s unnerving, you ask? That sly fox showed his wits, showed he could outsmart me. Placing a clone in Invisibility then going into his own void plane so the person he knew could detect mana essences would naturally suspect the invisible mass of mana floating around seemed like a simple little trick but it did nothing but show his experience over me.

Could he defeat me in a spell-for-spell battle? Unlikely. But one didn’t truly need to as long as his opponent was unsuspecting, which I was. He had the perfect opportunity to decollate me, but he didn’t. Was he still respecting my relationship with the witch despite her being dead? Doubtful. So, the real question was, why did he set that up then simply cast away his advantage?

A malicious grin crept across his face, “Do you suspect me of attacking that dryad?”

I did the same and dismissed my clone, then switched to the corporeal plane so he could see the real me. “Yeah. Is it true?”

“Yes, it is, Mr Archibald.”

“Are you my enemy, Sven?” I questioned.

He closed his eyes, “Well, that depends on your actions going forth.”

The man was a conundrum. Nothing was ever straightforward with him. When were they ever? “What actions would make us enemies?”

“I guess we’ll see,” he gave a pleasant smile and disappeared.

He’s a real asshole, isn’t he?

“Yeah. I bet he was the least liked Apostle,” Donna agreed.

I hastily teleported to a beach in Tyrr, country of the elves. Aerellis was back to normal after my clone took care of her. “Why did he attack me?” she posed the question to me, expecting me to have an answer.

I found it a bit weird. Why would she think I’d know the reason? I shrugged, “Dunno. Listen, do you mind living with me for a while?”

She shot a brow up, “I, figure it’s for my protection, but there’s something else, isn’t there?”

~

“Why do you think some beings are better at certain magic types than others?” Aerellis questioned, making circles around me as I stood in the yard. It was a nice change of pace for my household. Most of them spectated my training, except Anjali and Bianca. Hell, even the servants took a break to ogle the dryad.

“Well, Pyro, for instance, was born in lava, and Volt got electrocuted as a kid but he survived,” I pointed out.

Aerellis rolled her eyes, something she probably learnt from Bianca and all her sassiness. “Would you stop messing around?”

I chuckled a bit and yielded, becoming serious too. “I’ve honestly got no idea, but I’m willing to bet it has something to do with how your cells react to a type of magic or perhaps how they don’t react.”

“Close enough. As you know, mana is embedded in the blood cells. As you power it up, it makes its way to the muscles and bone. The cells that mana touch has something called a ‘pathway’. And it’s exactly what it sounds like, a pathway. Each magic type has a preferred pathway. And each species that has mana has a preferred pathway.” She came closer, “Human pathways favour arcane the most; for orcs, it is void. However,” she gently placed the tip of her finger on my forehead, “pathways can be moulded and changed. It is like stiffening clay, it’s still somewhat workable, but it’s hard work.”

“If it’s void for orcs, then how did I master it? Am I an orc?” I asked Aerellis and I could feel Sek’hana twitch listening to me.

Aerellis mused, “Well, your entire existence feels like the exception to the rule. Sure, a human can master most magic types, but to do that without Division is extremely difficult. The reason I say this is because there’s no ‘one pathway fits all’ for magic types. The pathway will almost always favour a few types over the others. But I’ve noticed, since I’ve trained you a bit in mind magic, that the pathways in you shift constantly. And something I’ve noticed since you visited me recently is that there’s a second pathway for each cell you have.” Her stare became heavy now, “In fact, it is the most perfect pathway possible for void magic. I don’t know how you created another pathway solely for void, but I probably wouldn’t like to imagine.”

I squatted down and rubbed my chin in thought. Hol’ up. Since when did I do that? Why void? It’s not the only manipulation I’ve mastered.

“August used living enchantment, remember?” Donna said aloud, playing with Aviana.

“Oh yeah! I forgot about that!” No wonder my void spells are overpowered. “So, we’re talking about this a lot and everything, but what really makes nature magic worth it? Could you give an example?”

Aerellis pondered, “Let’s say, you didn’t have Division and you used nature magic to merge elven cells with yours, you’d most likely achieve it. If I merge human cells with mine, my pathways will better accept arcane magic.”

“And what happens to the being whose cells you use?”

“Nothing. You’re not actually taking their cells away from them. It basically scans, converts, and duplicates others’ cells into your own body.”

I grinned slyly and ran my hand along her back. Not her human back, but her deer back. “Is that how you…”

“No,” she retorted, a bit irritated. “Just begin, will you?”

“How?”

“Use Sek’hana’s cells, you basically have orc mana pathways already, it should be easy. It’s similar to mapping someone’s mind.” She walked toward Tacari and his mana wolf, “Get to it now,” she hurried me along.

Just as I was about to start, Celosia warped out from around my hand, “Do me, do me!” she asked excitedly. I paused in thought. One, she’s a she. Two, she’s a kid. Three, a spirit lord. Four, basically made of fire. This is a bad idea no matter how you look at it, but…

I’d be damned if my name wasn’t Eric Try-Everything-Once Archibald. I began trying to ‘map’ her cells after placing a hand on her. In fact, it was something I could do nonstop, since she was basically attached to me almost all hours of the day. Despite being an extremely high starting hurdle, it was a rather convenient way to train.

Eventually, I went to bed, but not in my usual bed. Recently, I’d been sleeping with Mary. Before her usual bedtime, you could clearly see how distraught she was even when she tried her best to hide it. She’d gotten so used to having Flynn right next to her that the empty bed was something that chilled her. With a simple sleeping spell, she was able to fall asleep comfortably.

I laid next to her, staring at the ceiling with thoughts of regret and what-if’s rummaging through my mind. There wasn’t one day that passed where I wouldn’t question if I could’ve done something to save Flynn. I blamed myself in a way, because there should’ve been an end to my humility. Everyone in my household – hell, my nation – knew that I was one of the strongest mages they’d ever heard about, so then why didn’t I put things in place to protect my loved ones? I bickered back and forth with my past self, trying to understand why I didn’t do the things I should’ve. And what the hell was with Sven and Aerellis? What was that even about?

After a grand battle of thoughts, I finally awoke the next morning; mom was long gone. I immediately sent a clone to her work. In fact, I sent out a team of clones to place Light Links in my entire family, August’s family, Dawn’s family, Pyro’s, Volt’s, and of course, Aerellis. Whilst my mind was overrun with how I’d keep others safe, I neglected to notice a ridiculous heat emanating off me.

I panicked a bit at first, and immediately cast Renew. Nothing happened. I opted for Vivify, then Convalesce; still nothing. Am I sick or what? Health potions did nothing and Hydra was just as baffled about it when I summoned her for her healing expertise. “Oh, I knew this heat felt familiar! You’re not sick, Eric,” she explained. “Your body is mimicking the heating techniques Phoenix once used, but I don’t know how,” she shrugged.

I let out a huge sigh of relief. That really did explain everything. “Celosia?” I called upon the little girl and she eventually came out, rubbing her eyes from sleep.

“What’s wrong? I was really comfy,” she complained lazily.

I simply smiled at her. I guess Phoenix’s feather helped. I can’t see a creature like Celosia having easy cells to merge. Now… I made my way outside excitedly after having breakfast, eager to see what the benefits were. Phoenix Wave was shot out, nothing different happened. I began raising my body temperature, to a degree where humans would surely encounter issues, but it all felt natural. I’d have kept at it, but then I wouldn’t have any clothes on and the house already had enough trauma to deal with.

Just when I sat there, pondering if to wake Celosia again to ask her about the benefits of her body, August popped up. He flew down and we bumped fists, “Hey so, Melissa told me there was something going on back in Hyzek. She seemed pretty worried and wanted me to go with her.”

“Oh, I hope everything’s alright. Why’d you tell me then? Just go,” I told him and earned a smack about my head.

“Oh yeah? How am I gonna get there? I wonder which goddamn mage you know that can teleport people to other worlds?” He then pondered something, “Well, I can do it since I mastered space manipulation, but I haven’t practised it so I’m not gonna take the chance yet.”

I rubbed the top of my noggin, “Fair enough…”

We arrived in Ansul, one of the cities in Hyzek and found that both holy warrior and shadow beast coexisted peacefully. Our jaws dropped in shock. What did Madam Jelly do? I pondered about her and Leo. Just when we were about to ask a passer-by what brought about this strange sight, Melissa caught someone’s attention.

With all the craziness going on back home – Flynn’s death, One ritual, hivemind, Sven’s appearance and more – I found it hard to digest yet another new piece of information. I’d wished these worlds would slow down a bit for me to catch up.

Even August couldn’t make heads or tails out of what was going on, he simply stared on as the man and Melissa spoke, half-reminiscing the past and half-dreading the future.

Eventually though, as they spoke, we overheard the gist of what had happened. Apparently, some army had invaded Hyzek, and it got so bad that Madam Jelly lent them the aid of the shadow beasts. It reminded me of Ulanos in a way, but I found this to be much more threatening. To invade a land where basically everyone could control quintessential energy was tomfoolery of the highest order, yet it was happening.

“…so, they’re about to have a meeting at Geona,” the man pointed out to Melissa after explaining how dire the situation was.

“Geona?!” Melissa was taken aback. “Then, I take it all the paladins would be there?”

“Yeah. I just hope the Ansuls represent this city properly.”

Melissa thanked her old colleague, and turned to me, “August, we’ve got to go to that meeting! Even if I’m not allowed anywhere near them, it’s important that you and Eric be there! I don’t want Hyzek to be destroyed!” She squirmed.

August comforted her and nodded at me to do what she said, so I grabbed them up with the void and flew over to Geon with her directions. After reaching the city, I understood why it was such a big deal. Despite its stupidly colossal size, there were people everywhere; it was by no means an empty city. Hyzek’s usual white, cream, and gold colours shone through and dominated most of the city. One could easily get lost in this city and starve in the streets before finding his way. But these citizens were overly generous and would never allow that to happen.

With Hawk Eye, Avatar of Wind, and Voidwalk, I was able to see afar and manoeuvre freely about the city. Finding where the paladins were to congregate was done in just under an hour despite all those handy spells; the city was that gigantic.

There was a giant building that occupied a sizeable chunk of real estate. Hell, it was an estate. The yard was littered with high-ranking holy warriors, no one lower than the rank of knight-paladin was there. Now, just to get a handle on how ridiculous that statement is, let me remind you of the ranking of holy warriors in Hyzek.

There was crusader, who sat above thirty percent quint usage, then knight which could use more than fifty, then we had knight-paladin which were able to use over eighty percent. Every single person here was a monster in their own right. Getting to the paladins, who were the strongest of each city, was outright impossible. Well, not for a fellow with Voidwalk.

We snuck into the Ansuls’ waiting area, where Edgar and Chelleze Ansul discussed some things. There was no one in their room but them, so we could appear without causing too much commotion.

“Hey, guys!” I greeted, and earned their stares of confusion and anxiousness, but as they continued looking, they identified us.

“Melissa!” Chelleze put a hand to her mouth in surprise, “I’m glad to see you’re in good health!”

Edgar on the other hand, was as serious as can be. “Why are you here, Eric?”

“Heard you guys were in some trouble,” I shrugged.

He then turned to August, “And you?”

“To make sure my woman’s home world doesn’t get destroyed.”

Edgar and Chelleze looked at each other, “W-we don’t doubt your strength,” Edgar motioned us to have a seat, “but this war is–”

“Okay, let me be frank here,” I rudely cut the man off, “I’d like to get back home as quickly as possible. If doubting our strength is what bothers you, then don’t. This will be over a lot faster.”

Edgar grunted in frustration, then began snickering, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you two that I’ve forgotten our logic doesn’t apply to you. So be it then! Stay at our sides, and we will create an opportunity for you to present yourselves. However, expect to meet with headstrong hostility. And also, this is a meeting of heads, I suggest you search the wardrobe for attire befitting the occasion.”

After dressing in their bright white and gold colours and dawning their overcoats, we made our way into a fancy yet simple hall in Voidwalk of course. Edgar kept his security detail with his wife, Chelleze back in their waiting room. The other four paladins entered the hall with two bodyguards each, so they found it quite strange that Edgar had no guards.

A couple of them furrowed their eyebrows in agitation and I knew why. Having no bodyguards was a statement that said Edgar believed he could handle any of them if things got out of hand, which of course rubbed them wrong. They knew not the two devils lying in wait beside him.

There was a man clothed in robes who acted as a mediator, and also another face that was quite familiar – Leo. It was a big surprise that a hermit like him would attend this meeting. Heck, he was properly shaven, groomed, and everything; a whole ‘nother person.

The robed mediator finally set the meeting into motion once the paladins were seated around the circular table. After a long time, I cast Levitate because my feet were killing me. They discussed strategies, whose army was best suited to do whatever and the like; pretty boring stuff.

Finally, Edgar stood up, gaining their attention, “Esteemed paladins, there may be a way to minimise casualties. Honourable Speaker,” he spoke to the mediator, “Forgive my beguiling, but I have allowed outsiders into this meeting.”

The others stared at him weirdly, because no one saw any outsiders to begin with. Edgar, in a quiet voice, gave us permission to finally come out of Voidwalk. So, we did.

At first, everyone was shocked, because there were no such things as invisible holy warriors to them. One of them even asked if it was sorcery, which I found a bit funny because it was true. But perhaps the greatest surprise to me was their lack of realisation at August’s strength. When we first came to Hyzek, everyone could feel August’s overwhelming quintessence, but now, it seemed he learnt to hide it.

Eventually, one of the paladins chortled, trying to hold his laughter in, “Ansul, you bring to us two fledglings and talk about minimising casualties? Have you gone mad?”

“I’m afraid I don’t see how this helps, either, Ansul,” another pointed out.

They all chimed in, giving their two cents one by one, until it naturally came to be Leo’s turn to speak. However, instead of muttering a single word, he stood up and walked over to us. They all looked on with anticipation of what this might’ve meant. I even noticed some of the bodyguards tensing up, expecting things to get physical. He stopped when he got close enough, and faced our general direction, but he mostly looked at August. Suddenly, he kneeled, “Hyzek and Umbral are in your debt.”

They were all aghast.