That night, Siraye brought Mahon and Jorik into another district of Stonewell, and even though it wasn’t related to the Fada, they didn’t mind. Siraye knew of a restaurant that served unlimited grilled meat, and if you managed to eat some absurd amount of it, the owner would even give you the meal for free.

Needless to say, neither of the three managed to eat enough, but they enjoyed their time there, anyway. The restaurant stood in one of the most lively districts of Stonewell, and Siraye led them next to watch the street performers that crowded every corner of the area.

“Look!” She excitedly pointed to a man that was juggling with red balls, and once upon a time they would suddenly ignite under the awe of the little crowd that had stopped to watch the show.

Mahon and Jorik didn’t even need to watch the other before they both immediately entered the Flow.

Hmm… I can still see Jorik pretty well. Did I get used to his Flow?

As his surroundings started to resonate to his new perception, he first got sight of Jorik, standing next to him. Contrary to the previous times, Jorik’s Flow wasn’t much impeding his own. He could still see the borders of Jorik’s silhouette flapping in and out of existence, causing some kind of blurry zone in his world of rhythms, but overall, he was very aware of Jorik’s motions.

It wasn’t to the point at being capable of predicting them without mistake, but it was a far cry from the usual empty information state a foreign Flow was giving. Suddenly, Jorik took a step back at the same time the blurriness that wrapped him disappeared. He now appeared clearly in Mahon’s Flow.

He already got ejected?

Focusing back on the reason he had used the Flow in the first time, Mahon switched his attention to the artist and his magical juggling balls. The man appeared very calm and in control as he effortlessly dealt with five balls, sending them higher and higher in the air. With swift motions, Mahon saw him igniting his balls one by one and sending them as high as he could, where they caught fire one after the other, at the apex of their path.

He resisted the backlash of his Flow when five anomalies suddenly banged in his mind, sending void ripples through the other nearby rhythms he perceived. Exhaling deeply, Mahon tried to observe the phenomenon with attention, but the situation quickly went back to normal as the balls fell down to their owner’s hands as if nothing had happened. All traces of fire gone.

Under the public’s applause and encouragement, the juggler increased his pace, and he started juggling faster and higher, triggering his flame more often. Mahon observed everything through the prism of his Flow, carefully studying the effect fire magic had on his own perception.

The deeper he dove into the Flow, the stronger effect the fire magic had. If the five balls ignited when he was immersed enough to do the thirteen Step, almost half his vision would go blank as a tsunami swept through his world of rhythms.

As time passed however, Mahon started to get more familiar with these sensations, and he could withstand the clash of magics with more ease. While keeping his perception to a few meters around him, he could completely block the ripples from the fire magic to destroy his Flow. At some point he even managed to retaliate, and it was he that destroyed the fire magic. When that happened, one of the balls of the juggler failed to ignite, to the surprise of the street performer.

Not wanting to disturb the man’s show for too long, Mahon signaled his comrades they could move on. Fortunately, the streets were packed with such performers, and although less than ten percent of them could show a small talent for fire magic, there were plenty enough to find quickly another target to practice with.

The most they could do was ignite specific objects, or make some sparks, but it was exactly what Mahon was looking for. He needed to start low if he wanted to get a better understanding of fire magic and his Flow, and a few sparks were already more than enough to throw Jorik off his own Flow and push him close to the door too.

Siraye thought they were particularly attracted to the street performers, and she had no idea the two men were actually training. Anyway, she didn’t mind spending time in the Drunken Dancer district. If not for her personal enjoyment, she had promised the two she would be their guide, and given they would defend her in a duel in the morning, she wouldn’t dare not indulge them.

After a few hours wandering in the streets, the passerby became rarer, and so the street performers started to go home as well. Mahon and Jorik were already satisfied with their harvest from the night, and they didn’t mind the interruption of their training. Jorik had been able to stabilize his Flow enough not to get ejected away as soon as a spark ignited in his perceiving range.

Mahon, on the other hand, got familiar enough with it that the magic wasn’t disturbing him anymore in the first levels of the Flow. If he went deeper, he could even extinguish the weak attempts, but that split his focus too much, and he wasn’t sure he could still fight properly while doing it.

I need to hire a street performer and make him create sparks while I fight with Jorik. It’d be even better if I can friendly duel a sorcerer. If not, then I can also find multiple street performers and then…

A thousand thoughts twirled in his mind, as he imagined how he could further improve his comprehension of fire magic. The thoughts followed him through Nightmare, and he discussed it with Jorik, but the noble was much more interested in what he had found in the library.

In his enthusiasm at improving his techniques, Mahon had almost forgotten the even more important news. He quickly informed Jorik of everything he had found in the library. How he had found out about Immortal King, their capacity of being immune to poison, their ability of building cities out of nothing, and the fact they lived for millennia. Jorik listened to every word with attention, and he asked multiple questions along the way.

Once Mahon was finished, Jorik stayed silent for a long minute, lost in his thoughts, before he looked back at Mahon.

“So we’re Immortal King, that probably were half Fada a long time ago, and that would make us Fada’s hybrid? We inherited a part of the Fada’s power and that’s why we seem stronger than the humans in Finem. That’s why we’re less prone to get dominated by our emotions. That’s why blue is the natural color for us and not red. That’s why we can learn Earth magic.”

“And probably time magic too. I told you my Flow reacted to the Great Fresco.” Mahon added.

“Right… And the Immortal Kings are now gone, but it’s believed they went into hiding, pulling from the shadows the strings behind the kings and emperors of this world? Also, the Ill Immortals may have been created by them, so they probably have even more information about all this?”

“Well summarized.” Mahon acquiesced.

“We weren’t that far off, then.” Jorik joked, but it lacked sincerity. “Do you think the Ill Immortals managed to use the Amentiae to pack the Immortal Kings in Ratho when they rebelled?”

“Maybe. Or we helped the Fada escape by luring the Amentiae elsewhere. Or we actually defend the way for the Fada to come back to his world.”

“I can’t believe we share some blood with the legendary Fada…”

“It’s just a theory.” Mahon pointed out. “As true as it may look, we can’t be completely certain for now. We’d need to find either an Immortal King or someone who knew enough about them. Fortunately, I got a lead of another book, Detailed analysis of the history of Immortal Kings, that, according to Stonewell’s librarian, is actually in Lakefield’s library. It’s not even a detour so we might as well start there before hypothesizing further.”

“Not even a change of plan, then. Perfect.” Jorik agreed.

The two men continued their discussion before reason forced them to meditate in preparation for tomorrow’s duel. They exited Nightmare feeling refreshed and ready for today’s challenge.

They joined Siraye, who was waiting impatiently around her cart. Mahon had known the woman for long enough now to recognize when she was in a poor mood. She didn’t seem upset or angered, as opposed to yesterday. Instead, she looked worried and stressed, emotions Mahon wasn’t used to associate with the ordinary spirited woman.

“You’re ready?” She asked as soon as she saw them.

“Yes, don’t worry.” Jorik answered. “How are you? You don’t look too well.”

“It’s nothing.” She waved it off. “Just a bit stressed. I’m not used to being in such a situation.”

Jorik smiled reassuringly. “It’s gonna be over shortly, don’t be too concerned.”

“It’s still my future we’re talking about.” She muttered, but it was clear that she felt better now that Mahon and Jorik were with her and appeared so confident.

“Let’s go, then.”

Siraye led them into the town. The sun couldn’t even be seen over the hills, but it was close and its light already illuminated the sky and the highest building of the city. They walked in silence through the almost empty streets of Stonewell. The arena wasn’t far from the city doors, and they reached it just as the sun appeared on the horizon.

The arena wasn’t a tall building, but it was very large. Inside, there was a big stage for people to enjoy spectacles, shows or important events. Siraye led them to another area, however. They went to an aisle where multiple smaller areas laid next to each other. She searched for the number Edwin had told her previously and pushed the corresponding door.

They were welcomed by a small crowd among which they didn’t recognize many people. Edwin was one of them, as the Frontalier had woken up even earlier than them to bear witness to the duel. Another one was the crippled noble they had met twice already. He was sitting in a wheelchair and sent them a death glare as soon as he spotted them.

An older version of the arrogant noble stood nearby, and even though they had never met him, the family resemblance was too obvious. Adding the aura the man emitted and the way people treated him, it was evident he was the mayor of Stonewell.

“The freak had shown herself!” He declared, and the surrounding crowd chuckled.

Siraye ignored him whatsoever and turned to Edwin. “We’re ready. Who are we to fight? The instigator of a duel should show his champion first.”

“Why are you in such a hurry, miss?” The mayor intervened again with a heinous smile.

Siraye threw him an angered glance. “I only agreed to this farce of a duel, not to talk to any of you. Send your fighter right now, or it’s your forfeit.”

The man seemed pissed off, but there was nothing he could do. As the one who had called out the duel, he had to show his champion first. Alas, he wasn’t here yet. Cursing in silence, he was about to order one of his own to go look for him when the door suddenly opened.

A trio appeared brazenly, discussing between themselves without a care in the world. Their appearance caused a loud buzz, however, and not only in the nobles rank.

“It’s them?!”

“Oh, hi! What a coincidence. We meet again.”

The tone with which the man had spoken showed he wasn’t surprised in the slightest. It was clear coincidence didn’t exist in his world. With a wicked smile, Virrion bowed slightly in the direction of Mahon and Jorik, as if he was mocking them.

Behind him, the sorcerer Vivian and the mysterious cloaked Varek only threw them a knowing look.

“Since my champion is here, the duel can start!” The mayor announced loudly, cutting short to the whispers the entrance of the trio had caused.

With a movement of his head, Virrion motioned to the cloaked man to enter the arena. Without hesitation, Varek walked inside the arena and unsheathed a shortsword and a dagger. He juggled leisurely with them while throwing a challenging look at Mahon and Jorik.

“Sorcerer.” Siraye immediately said as she saw his weapons.

“I guess, it’s on me then.” Mahon stepped forward.