Hugo struggled in terror. Three metal bands were wrapped around him, tying him to the chair. They must have been made of the same materials as the cuffs from earlier. His magic was fully suppressed. The same was true of Mia. Dean Artjom loomed forward menacingly and the slew of mana made knives showed he meant business. Did everyone in this city want to capture and kill him?

“Quit struggling, Hugo,” Mia said casually. She leaned back into the chair and said, “Dean Artjom, your favorite stuffed animal from your childhood was a monster ant. Your first crush was Ana Marie from year thirteen. You pretend to like your wife’s cooking, but she will never make cabbage rolls as good as your mother.”

The dean’s expression faltered and he leaned back in confusion. The knives of mana drifted back with him.

Mia continued, “Right now, you are thinking, how did she know that? The chairs should block any magic, and light mages can’t read anything but surface thoughts anyway. You are right on both counts. I knew all those facts, including about Project Artifice, because you told me about it. Hugo and I have both time traveled as the result of a botched ritual.”

Dean Artjom continued to stare at them. His eyes flickered back and forth between the two of them, a scowl on his face. Several long, tense, moments passed.

Hugo said, “Mia?”

“Just give him a moment,” Mia said.

The barrier knives continued to hover in the air as Hugo frantically looked between the dean and Mia. Eventually they dissipated as Artjom recycled them. He said, “Something strange is going on, that is for sure. You said you are time travelers. Have you lived this moment before? I have a secret passcode that I don’t even know. It is written on...”

“On your wristband, yes. It’s 11-H-62-M,” Mia said.

The dean opened his wristband and checked and said, “Only sentinel high command is supposed to know that code. I will have to get a new wristband now.” The dean sighed and pressed the rune in his desk again.

All of the security measures retracted and the room looked like it had before. Hugo leapt out of the chair and stood to the side. The dean and Mia ignored him.

“So, time travel, huh?” Dean Artjom said. Her knowledge had obviously shaken him, his proper manners and demeanor were gone.

“Yea, and that isn’t even the weirdest thing we have to tell you today,” Mia said.

What followed was a long explanation. Hugo eventually sat back down as they talked. They told him about Mia’s experience and how she had to fix the shimmer refinery. Then they went over Hugo’s previous life, ending with the city exploding. They ended up explaining what had happened with the hedge mages last night.

Once they were done explaining things, the dean leaned back and steepled his fingers. It was a lot to take in. “First of all,” he said, “I don’t believe you are in any imminent danger, Hugo. The hedge mages were desperate to keep their presence secret, but they have to assume that their secret is out now. It is likely that they have left the city by now, or at least gone to ground.

“The first order of business is to get the right people involved. Mia, you mentioned that you were working on getting a meeting with the Reval sentinel command, but you don’t have to worry about that. I went to school with the current head, Commander Amahle. She is a nox, but she actually cares about us humans here.

“I would suggest we bring the shimmer corps in on this too, but since it involves the hedge mages, I am not so sure that is a good idea. There has been a longstanding suspicion that the shimmer corps have a mole in their midst, since the hedge mages continually avoid their attention,” Dean Artjom said.

“I thought that they avoided the shimmer corps because they could see the future?” Hugo said.

The dean shook his head, “No, that’s just a parlor trick.”

Hugo thought about it and then said, “Actually, I think they really can see the future. I know the parlor trick you are talking about, but I have seen several things that lead me to believe they are working real magic.”

“Regardless, we will start with the sentinels and only add the shimmer corps if it becomes necessary,” the dean said.

It didn’t escape Hugo’s attention that the dean just didn’t trust the shimmer corps no matter what. Perhaps it wasn’t surprising. They had developed the shimmer casters to put down rogue magic users, but it put them in direct conflict with mages and the nobility. The balance of power in the city kept the magic academy and shimmer corps on opposite sides of the equation.

“Alright. Will you be keeping us informed of what you decide or is that a need to know kind of thing?” Hugo said. As much as he felt like he deserved to be in the center of everything, he recognized that he was still an apprentice mage with questionable decision making skills.

“Oh, no. You will be at every meeting. We need you to be involved the most, Hugo. If we fail in our mission, and the city explodes again, you will likely be sent back again as Mia once was. We need you to tell us what we tried and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes.”

Hugo’s eyes went wide. He hadn’t even considered that idea. The possibility of being sent back in time again was deeply abhorrent. He had built a life for himself here. He had a future now. He didn’t want to give that up. There was a possibility he would end up in his old, scarred body next time around. And having two domains was probably a fluke that he couldn’t count on happening again. He would just have to make sure that they got it right this time, so he wouldn’t have to lose everything he had gained.

“Yes, sir. I will be there,” Hugo said.

“Only with an escort of course,” the dean said, “The academy has traditionally shown a blind eye to the students sneaking out. I am afraid that will have to stop now. At least until we are sure this problem is taken care of. You two are dropping quite a few problems on my lap.”

“Sorry about that. I appreciate your help. I won’t leave the school grounds without your knowledge,” Hugo said.

“Speaking of problems,” Mia said, “In addition to making sure the city doesn’t explode, I think we should track down Alexandru.”

“I am not sure how much help I can be there,” Dean Artjom said, “I don’t have any contacts in the mountain guide business. I can’t think of any graduates of this school that end up in that profession.”

He wasn’t saying it out loud, but mountain guides were considered a lower class profession. Only one step above harvesters.

“I believe I can help out there. I know a few mountain guides that owe me a favor. I was thinking of visiting them in person, but now I think I will just send a letter,” Hugo said.

“I made a few contacts in the mountain guides as well,” Mia said, “I will send a few letters as well. It can’t hurt.”

“That is settled then. I suppose we should all get started on things then,” the dean said.

“By the way, what was Project Artifice all about?” Hugo said to Mia as they got up to leave.

Mia shrugged.

“You don’t even know? You were just pretending to know state secrets? I could have killed you,” Dean Artjom said, shocked.

“You wouldn’t have killed us. You are far too reasonable for that. You always hear me out after I bring it up. It’s just the fastest way to get you to pay attention to what we have to say, and the security system you have helps convince you that there is no mind magic in play,” Mia said.

Hugo just shook his head. She had risked their lives just to save time. She had been right this time, but she couldn’t have known how he would react this year. He wasn’t going to trust her judgment over his anymore.

...

Sitting in class and doing nothing was hard after that meeting. He had written his letter and sent it off to the mountain guide office in Tallinn, and then he was done. He had nothing else he could do but go back to class. The fate of the city hung in the balance, and he was learning about monsters in Cryptozoology class. For the second time. The anxiety of knowing hedge mages were out to kill him, warred with the fact that this class was boring the first time around, let alone the second.

After class finally let out, Hugo walked the stone pathways, lost in thought. The sentinels were going to take over things from here. Hopefully the fact that they were involved would chase the hedge mages away. He was starting to think that his reluctance to trust others with his secret was just paranoia. That thought made him realize that he hadn’t fully trusted them. He hadn’t let anyone know that he had two domains yet.

Now that he thought about it, he could probably trust Mia with the truth. He had always wanted to tell someone, but feared the repercussions. Now it seemed like there was no reason not to tell her all about it. He actually looked forward to getting it off his chest.

A voice broke him out of his musings.

“You missed class today,” Daniela said, “I was worried about you.”

“Oh, I am sorry about that,” Hugo said, “I didn’t feel well this morning. I feel great now though. I suppose that is the soulmarked constitution for you.” Soulmarked could still get sick, but they got over illnesses much quicker than mundanes.

“I am glad you are feeling better now,” Daniela said with a genuine smile.

They walked together for a bit before she said, “Are you excited for the culling tomorrow?”

It had completely slipped his mind. What had once loomed large in his mind didn’t seem that dangerous with the current context. Killing a few monsters didn’t seem as big of a deal as saving the city from going up in flames. Plus, this was his fourth culling trip by now. He was starting to get good at this. He could defend himself with a barrier and kill monsters with his improved crossbow. It wouldn’t be hard. He just hoped that he wouldn’t accidentally change things again and more students wouldn’t die.

“I hadn’t thought much about it,” Hugo said, “I am sure we will all do well. Not that I am overconfident, I am taking it seriously. But I think we will be fine.”

Her expression then turned nervous as she said, “I was wondering. You know, for the culling. If you had already decided on a team. I heard a bunch of people were doing that, you know, organizing a team for culling so you can fight with people you know. If you aren’t... If you aren’t already on a team, it would be cool if you joined my team. It’s alright if you already have your own team though.”

Hugo sighed in relief. With the way that she had been talking, he had thought it was about something serious. “Of course I would love to join you. Who else is on the team?”

Daniela lit up. “Wonderful! Alice and Oliver started this group and they already have Lenna and Mark as well. The girls are formation mages and the boys are runists. That makes six so far, so we only need two more couples.”

Hugo’s eyes narrowed. She worded that kind of strangely. Was she inviting him on a group date? A group monster killing date?