“Of course, I can be honest with you,” Mallory said. He pulled up the bottom of his robes.

High up above his ankle was a mark across his skin. It was hard for Jon to make out completely.

“That monster that we sealed back up,” Mallory said, “it sort of left a scar on me when we put it back.”

“Are you okay?” Jon asked, alarmed. He didn't think he meant that question any more than he did at that moment.

“Yeah,” Mallory said, “It’s fine. I just have to do some more research on it. That, and… just….”

He sighed. “I guess I should explain. I’m not really very good at spellcasting.”

Jon opened his mouth to respond, but Mallory held his hand up in protest.

“I already know what you’re gonna say. ‘But you’re good at spellcasting, Mallory.’”

Jon couldn’t argue. He was gonna say something along those lines.

“I’ll correct you right there,” Mallory said. “I can perform a lot of spells. A ton of them, actually, but I have no affinity in them. I have no training in them. In fact, my mana levels are piss poor. That is to say that I have the normal mana levels of an average being.”

That seems normal.

“I already know what you’re thinking,” Mallory said. “Something like, ‘that sounds normal.’”

Jon agreed again.

“Well, what’s not normal,” Mallory explained, “is that after you learn to utilize your mana pools and start doing those spells consistently, your body adapts to it and is able to use higher pools of mana. So it is normal, but it’s not.”

Jon remembered Mallory’s explanation. Not all of the details, but he did remember enough to start recognizing different people used mana.

“Well… that’s not the case for me,” Mallory said. “Not until recently, anyway. No matter how much I use mana or learn, or study or fight or survive anything… my mana levels won’t change. No matter what. It’s like I’m a deformed baby or something.”

He shook his head. “That was a terrible analogy. But that’s how I feel about myself sometimes.”

He held his open palm up again to stop Jon’s response. “I know I’m not a deformed baby. But, I’ve just been shackled.”

He gave a dark laugh. “Funny joke. I can’t do much of anything by myself. Honestly, at the rate Hector’s going, he’ll be an even stronger spellcaster than I am before some point.”

Jon grimaced.

“...Don’t look at me like that,” Mallory said. “Hector’s a talented spellcaster. Just ‘cause he’s all grumpy and stuff doesn’t mean he couldn’t cast a mean spell if he wanted to.”

Jon wasn’t thinking that, but he decided to let Mallory continue.

“Now anyways,” Mallory said, “this is the real secret I have to tell you.”

Jon waited for more.

“I’ve developed some weird inconsistencies ever since the battle at the farm,” Mallory said. “Not just that. I’ve… been copying the spell circle that was used to put the monster back in the ground,” he said. “Trying to use it in more… practical terms.”

Jon still didn’t completely understand what this meant, but he continued to listen.

“...It’s a really powerful old spell that's actually very similar to the type of magic I use,” Mallory explained. “In fact, if I wasn’t me, I might not have been able to do it. Or rather, it would take a lot of magic to brute force, but I can’t attain said mana levels to attain that. So, I was able to finagle it together using my own know-how.”

He pointed to his head in the little brevity of pride he had at that moment.

Jon understood. If it wasn’t for the fact that he carried a magical blunderbuss, he would have never been able to contribute nearly as much as he could to the group dynamic. It was a great big coincidence for him too. Mallory, however, had to work incredibly hard to get to where he was, probably training for years even before Jon knew him.

“What type of magic do you use?” Jon asked. He had seen Mallory’s spellcasting enough to assess some of it, but he was now in a place where he was sure Mallory could explain fully.

“...I have two major spell disciplines I focus on,” Mallory replied. “Plus an array of understanding of other… that comes later. But in essence, constructs and magical manipulation.”

He continued as if he hoped that Jon understood everything he had said.

“It’s like… I can control certain spells and the mana around me in a direct way, and I can make all sorts of hard and soft constructs. You know? Blocks. Walls. Tentacles.”

Jon nodded.

“Well, that’s part of a construct. On a base level, constructs are the same as a fireball or whatever shit you see fly through people’s hands these days. But constructs are pure mana concentrated into hard objects that are used for practical reasons, like stepping up to high places, or protecting yourself from another spell.”

Mallory broke off into a small tangent.

“Well, techniaclly fire is sort of hard construct, but when people see a dove they call it a goose and... “

Mallory shook his head. “Back on track. I use constructs because it’s the easiest to make consistently for the amount of mana you use. Thankfully, my body has gotten adjacently used to making constructs, since I use them all the time. It uses the same amount of mana every time, like muscle memory.”

He shrugged. “But I can’t make larger spells because it would take a large amount of mana for me, and no matter how many times I can practice those spells, my body will never be able to account for that. Remember when Liz summoned that giant creature in the middle of the tournament? That’s a super high-level construct, and that’s not even Liz’s main area of spellcasting! She can do several different forms of spellcasting, with and without a spellbook, and she’s mastered more magic than I’ll ever-”

Mallory stopped himself from being the most upset Jon had ever seen him become.

“...It’s fine.”

“...Can you do fire?” Jon asked.

Mallory sucked his teeth.

“Man…” he blew air through his lips.

A small fire appeared on Jon’s shoulder.

“Are you asking why I never focused on something like fire?” Mallory asked.

Jon nodded, even if he wasn’t asking why. He was curious.

“Well… Hector’s always doing fire, right?” Mallory said. “So, like it would have been useless to learn fire as well.”

Jon somewhat understood, but the expression on his face wasn’t good enough for Mallory.

“There’s two types of fire magic, more or less,” Mallory contiued. “There’s when you use body mana, like I said. Fire requires a lot of kinetic energy in order to start. I don’t know if you what that means… it’s basically a lot of mana all at once, all at the same time. Then there’s literal spellcasting fire. That fire is more like a large stream. It pours through slowly. That’s why Hector’s fire disappears instantly most of the time, and other fire stays for a while. Both types of fire require a large mana pool, and ‘cause my body won’t adapt, I won’t be able to learn them.”

The fire on Jon’s shoulder finally disappeared. Jon didn’t realize that it had lost it’s warmth a while ago.

“That man yesterday, he used a spell the second way,” Mallory said. “Me and you were treating it like it was Hector’s fire, and not the other way around, so bad on us.”

Jon was about to nod again when Mallory continued.

“Hector has practiced using the first way for a long time, and he’s slowly learning to cast it the second way. Most people can’t tell, but he can tell, and it pisses him off that he can do it.”

“He can do the second way,” Jon said.

“He can do a mixture of both.” Mallory bobbed his head side to side. “He’s slowly learning to the other end through his spells. It all overlaps. It won’t be too long before he can cast magic like Major. As for Mercy, that’s the type of fire that she’s been copying from Hector. She’s not too good at either or, but those commands she performs are casting a spell that uses both elements of fire magic. That’s why she was able to copy Hector because they’re both literally doing the same type of magic. But they don’t know that. They’ve just fought and been trained so much that their bodies are used to copying things it knows.”

He looked up to the air in reverie. “How I wish to be so dumb and be able to accomplish so much.”

“What’s my gun?” Jon asked. He picked it up and held it in the air.

Mallory gave a big smile. “Hey… there he goes! Asking the good questions. Unlike some other people I know… Pass it!”

Jon tossed it over to Mallory, who caught it with ease. Jon never took Mallory for one with finesse for physical objects.

“What is it?” Jon asked again, watching Mallory trace his fingers over it.

“Special,” Mallory said. “That’s what it is.”

Unlike Liz, who moved her hands over his rifle quick and with sharp movements like a soldier, Mallory went at it like a surgeon, carefully poking and prodding at the different areas of the gun while also being firm and deliberate.

“It shoots a fixed form of loose mana constructs,” Mallory explained. “Like a spell. It’s concentrated mana… but not a construct. Umm…”

Mallory stopped maneuvering the gun and thought of an explanation.

“It’s… a whole bunch of mana, gathered and squished together so that it changes the structure of the mana, but not so much that it becomes a construct. Like, somewhere between a solid and a gas form of mana.”

Mallory aimed it at Jon, who wasn’t scared at all. Maybe if it was a normal blunderbuss, he would have been a little worried.

“The gun gathers the mana around it and shoots it. Since it’s using so much world mana, it only requires a little bit of your body mana to work, but your body mana has to be the just specific type of mana to work it. If not, it won’t start up at all. And well, it requires special permission from the user. I think the way it shoots objects is that it compresses the mana around the object, and then sends it forward. That’s my theory, at least.”

“What happens if you shoot it?” Jon asked, curious.

“I’d probably die,” Mallory answered.

Jon immediately reached out for it.

Mallory laughed. “It’s fine. It’s fine.”

Jon frowned, maybe the most upset with Mallory he’d been in a while. Not just because he was in danger of hurting himself with the gun, but his general disregard with his life. When Jon had first offered his gun to Mallory, Mallory had rejected it completely and in a panic. Now, he was joking about using it and possibly dying.

Mallory finally tossed Jon back his gun.

Jon decided to change the subject to something Mallory could be lively about again.

“Magical manipulation...” Jon mentioned.

“Ywah,” Mallory’s expression lit up. “I-”

Mercy opened the door.

“Guys I… did I interrupt something.” She hit herself lightly on the head. “Oh, I didn’t knock. Stupid me.”

“It’s fine,” Mallory said. “It was nothing serious, right Jon?”

“Right,” Jon ended up saying.

“Hector’s finally ready to go,” Mercy said. “I mean… he wants to go now… and-”

“If we don’t leave now, he won’t ever leave,” Mallory said in almost the form of a question.

Mercy looked away without answering.

“Is that what you want?” Mallory asked. “To stay? Not go back?”

“Not with what my family would do to you if we didn’t show up,” Mercy answered. “It’s fine.”

“Well, today’s the day then.” Mallory stood up. “You heard the girl.”

The day. Jon remembered. It was the last day they would be with Mercy.

His heart sunk. He wished he felt as tired as he did last night.

“I’ll go down now,” Mallory said.

He stood up and walked to the door before anyone responded.

Right when he passed Mercy to the doorway, he turned dramatically to Jon, actually nearly scaring Mercy in the process.”

“Remember Jon,” Mallory told him, “Don’t tell Hector.”

He then exited the room.

“Don’t tell Hector what?” Mercy asked Jon.

“Nothing,” Jon answered. “...That he’s good at spellcasting.”

“Makes sense,” Mercy sat down next to Jon and put her head on him. “That makes sense.”

They sat there for as long as they could. Jon wanted to feel Mercy’s head on his shoulder for a long time. He couldn’t remember ever wanting someone to lean on his shoulder before. It was nice when it happened, but he never ached for more of it than he did now.

“I think it’s time to go,” Mercy said. “We’ve procrastinated long enough.”

Jon nodded.

They both stood up together, ready to help the other up.

When they realized the folly in this, Mercy laughed.

“I’m so silly”’ she said. “You don’t need my help anymore… you probably never needed my help. But I wish I still could help.”

“Me too…” Jon responded.

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek

She then grabbed his hand and led him downstairs.

Walking by, he saw that all of the doors on the top floor, including the one where he had seen the man in black, were all open and empty.

They walked downstairs and were surprised by the scene.

Both Hector and Stewart were sitting across from each other. Hector’s head was sunk into his hands, which were propped up by his elbows on the table. He was hiding his face in them.

Stewart, however, was just on the table, his head wrapped covered by his arms while his head was completely down.

“Are you guys okay?” Mercy asked.

“Huh,” Hector looked up. He covered his eyes with his arm. “Yeah, it’s just kinda bright in here.”

“Ugh…” Stewart moaned from his position on the table.

“That’s what you get!” Helia said, taking care of payment with the innkeeper. “You can’t just make yourself drunk whenever you want to!”

“I didn’t make myself drunk…” Stewart moaned. “You made me drunk…”

“Helia, I can take care of that,” Hector said. “You don’t have to-”

“No silly, you’re tight on money,” Helia replied. “I got it. And you don’t want your sister to know that you spent money on a liter of ale before a mission, right?”

“I... “ Hector turned red. “I wouldn’t tell her…”

“Of course you would,” Helia replied, finalizing the transaction and giving a wave to the innkeeper. “You’re honest to a fault. I thought we discussed that last night.”

“We did…” Hector began.

“You discussed it all fuckin’ night!” Tallow yelled, walking through the front door. “Now come on! No pity for the hangover bros over here.”

Stewart groaned again.

“I got a solution,” Mallory said to Helia, while he was still in front of the counter.

He ran behind Stewart and put his hands over Stewart’s temples.

With a press of the noggin, Mallory quickly stepped back and Stewart sat up in shock.

“Whoa, whoa whoa!” Stewart cried, throwing his hands up in shock. He tried to keep his balance, before catching himself on the table.

“What was that?”

“My hangover cure,” Mallory said. “A blast to the mana cores to pump up your body's processes. You’re technically only supposed to do it to people with high mana tolerances, but…”

“I feel gnarly,” Stewart said. He shook his head slowly.

Mallory then crept over to Hector with his hands raised, like he was mimicking a beast.

“No!” Hector put his hand up. “Don’t do it! I swear! I hate that! I’ll just…”

Hector pounded the table hard, then slowly rose up from the chair.. Helia came to his side and held him by the waist.

“Come on, this way,” she said. “I should have let you get some more sleep.”

“I’ll be fine,” Hector muttered.

They went out through the front door.

“Did…” Tallow put her hands on her hips. “Did she and Hector-”

“Don’t be nasty, girl!” Mallory cried. “Sides, he deserves it. Someone deserves something for their troubles.”

“I don’t remember that being something you deserved,” Tallow replied with a bit of sting in her tone. “But, I’m more concerned about his ability to function.”

“Hector’s done much better while feeling much worst,” Mallory explained. “I think we should trust him.”

Mallory went out through the door after him.

“Freggin’ zealot. ” Tallow muttered. ‘Like, jeez.”

“I think Mallory’s right,” Mercy said. “It’s not our business to-”

“But you can’t deny if you’re curious,” Tallow said.

Mercy began to blush.

“I didn’t-”

“You are curious?” Tallow asked. “Unless you have something to tell me about you and Hector and that night you disappeared.”

“...I’m not gonna dignify that with an answer!” Mercy grabbed Jon’s hand and pulled him out of the inn.

Outside the wagon was already prepped.

Mallory walked up to the front of the wagon as usual.

“Uh, actually…” Helia approached him before he mounted. “Would you mind if-”

“Oh, sure,” Mallory said. He stepped away, then helped Helia up into the seat.

“She’s replacing you?” Tallow asked Mallory. “Don’t you always sit there?”

“Oh, no, I”m driving,” Helia said. “So, that Hector doesn’t have to.”

“...I can drive,” Tallow said. “Come on!”

Hector walked up to Tallow, his hand still holding on to his forehead, but still keeping a high posture. He decided it proper to answer Tallow’s concerns right there.

“I heard that you have really good skills as a driver,” Hector said. “And I want to keep you on reserve, just in case we have to make a quick escape.”

“You want me to make a quick escape?” Tallow asked. “Wouldn’t it be better if I was holding the reigns in the first place?”

Hector took a while to respond. It was unclear to Jon whether this was him being fed up, or just not being able to answer. The shadow cast by his arm made it hard to tell.

“I talked with Macy about the mission you went on,” Hector said. “You use a lot of mana when you make stunts with the wagon. Especially ‘cause you try not to hurt the horses. I wouldn’t want to put you into that position until it was necessary.”

Tallow was slightly lost for words for once. Her mouth twitch as if it was searching for some sort of talkback.

“Since when did you talk to your sister?” Tallow asked finally.

“She may be a pain in the ass,” Hector explained, “but she’s still my sister. We share information from time to time.

He sighed. “Look, my head hurts, and I wanna make this quick. I trust you, Tallow. That’s why I want you to wait in the back and be aware of the dangers. If you really want-”

“I don’t really wanna drive the wagon!” Tallow said. “I just don’t know why she’s doing it! Like, have Mallory or Jon do it! The last wagon she drove broke!”

“I was driving that one!” Stewart proclaimed. He was lying straight down in the back of the wagon and sat up to speak. He quickly covered his eyes with his hands after making his point..

“Ow…”

“Jon doesn't know how to drive a wagon,” Hector said. “but do you want to just put it to a vote?”

“That’s not the point!” Tallow groaned. “Never mind. Just make out with your girlfriend or whatever, and hope we don’t die.”

Tallow ran to the back of the wagon and jumped on board.

“Don’t mind her,” Mallory said, boarding as well. “We’ll be fine!”

Jon and Mercy joined their companions on the wagon. Helia scooted over and Hector climbed in next to her in the front.

Hector gripped the reigns in one hand, whipping them to start the horses, then passing it off to Hella.

The wagon moved forward.