“How did you do it?”

Megan and Michael were sitting together in the college dining hall, halfway through a sumptuous meal of roast duck and fresh greens. The food was significantly higher quality than they were used to, no doubt because they were minor celebrities in the college. The story of their victory in the group fighting event was already spreading quickly by the time they returned, and they’d almost been hailed as heroes by their peers and juniors. Even quite a few of the teachers went out of the way to shake their hands and congratulate them on their performances.

Despite the fact that they longed for nothing more than to collapse on their assigned bunks and sleep like the dead, their classmates had insisted on dragging them to party after party, all themed on their victory over Attos and Lana Beran. They threw questions constantly, wanting a play-by-play analysis of the fight, or else begging to know what it was like to face the new ruler of Attos in combat. Megan and Michael were willing to share, but Rachel and Jordan refused outright and skipped off to bed.

The parties, questions, celebrations, and flattery had lasted for hours and hours, and it all finally ended in the early hours of the morning, when the admirers stumbled, drunk and exhausted, off to their beds. Megan and Michael were still keyed up from the experience, and so found themselves a seat in the corner of the dining hall, which the head chef had opened for them with a knowing smile. He’d cooked them up a quick meal using the day’s leftovers, then left them to eat and talk in peace.

Michael looked up from the food he’d been devouring in a hungry silence, his face perplexed. “How did I do what?”

“How did you stop Beran from healing her broken shoulder?” Megan asked. “More than that, how did you know she had such a power? There was no hint of it. She was so strong.”

Michael set his fork down and picked up the mug of coffee he’d gotten filled, taking a long sip before answering. “Well, truth be told, I have quite a few friends and family members who went to fight in the first war.”

Megan nodded her understanding. While she was free from any of the influence the war had cast, she knew that it was still fresh in the mind of some, even two years later. References to the war were made constantly in the daily conversations she overheard, and she knew that the losses had been heavy for all participating armies, even Tyrman, whose participation had been rather brief. Michael, belonging to the immense and far-reaching Ciayol clan, doubtless had a long list of people he knew who had taken part, and many who had lost their lives.

“Well, some of them were able to see Attos and his daughter in action,” Michael continued. “Those that made it back alive were reluctant to talk about it for a while, but I eventually convinced them to share, and I learned quite a bit.”

Megan wanted to ask a question already, but held her tongue, sure that Michael had more to say on the topic. Sure enough, after letting out a quiet sigh and setting the mug down, he continued. “They told me that she used some kind of magic to undo the damage that she took, but only to her own body.”

“Are you talking about time magic?” Megan asked. She knew that it was one of the rumored “impossible” magicks. Even Samuel couldn’t work such spells. “But that can’t be right.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Michael said, pointing a finger emphatically. “Nobody can do time magic. So then I thought she was forcing her body to heal faster.”

“Is that any more feasible?” Megan asked, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion. “I mean, there are limits to what one person can do. And she’s mortal, just like us, right?”

“She is, but I also think that’s exactly what she’s doing,” Michael said slowly. “Think about it. You know about Resonants, right?”

She nodded. It was one of the many branches of unique arcane magic. It wasn’t unique in the sense that only a select person or group of people could learn it, but it was rare. Resonants focused on harnessing the power of sound with their magic, turning their mana into actual bursts of sound. Some even went so far as to sacrifice their hearing, speech, or even both to boost this power. Her eyes widened at the realization.

“You could do that with other types of magic!” She exclaimed. “So she’s forcing herself to be stronger and heal faster!”

“Well, I don’t think her strength comes from such an arrangement,” Michael admitted. “But her healing does indeed supernatural. I think she forces the damage she takes to heal faster, and pays some heavy cost in return.”

“But then how could you stop her from using the ability?” Megan asked. “If she has restorative magic that strong, you shouldn’t have been able to stop it.”

“Well, it’s really just a guess on my part. But I think that when she uses her ability to heal a critical injury like that, it makes her more fragile. It’s the only explanation that I can come up with. Why else would she put so much emphasis on strengthening only her barrier spell, and having so many runes to protect her?”

Megan had to admit that it was odd to see a mage wearing so much armor. It wasn’t uncommon in physical magic users, but the way that Lana Beran fought, she was clearly an arcane mage that used mana to bolster her offense and defense. The excessive use of barrier spells proved that. But if she were using the armor as a surface on which to inscribe runes, it made sense. With the fortune she doubtless had access to, it would be an easy task.

“So, in order to hamper that power, and force her to either forfeit or show her true strength, I inflicted the most destructive wound I could without using lethal force.”

“The shoulder?”

“Yes,” Michael agreed, a grim smile crossing her face. “I’ve seen broken shoulders in soldiers before. When it’s right on that bone that connects the shoulder and neck, it breaks into so many small pieces that it’s impossible to heal through normal means. You need a specific kind of restoration expert, and they can’t do it quickly.”

Lana Beran had indeed surrendered at once when she noticed how bad the damage had been. She’d declined the stretcher that was offered, and walked proudly out of the arena. Mere hours later, Megan had seen her sitting, limp and exhausted but apparently healed, outside the Attosian tent, with her compatriots grouped around her as if expecting an attack.

Attack, she thought. That was right. With Beran so weak, the attack hadn’t taken place, she remembered. Apparently, her idea to take her out of commission had been a good one. She’d accomplished the task she’d set with Michael and Jordan’s help and the removal of their greatest threat had been a great boon. With Beran out of the way, her allies fell quickly. Then it had just been a rather short fight between themselves and the upperclassmen.

“Well, this just became a lot easier,” the smug senior had proclaimed, a broad grin across his face.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Michael had replied, and before anyone could see it coming, he’d closed the distance between them and struck down three of the enemy team. Megan and Rachel had moved quickly to support him but only succeeded in knocking out the fourth. Then Michael and his tormenter had entered a brief but savage duel that lasted mere seconds and ended with Michael standing victorious. That duel, in particular, had earned him a lot of admiration, Megan thought with a smile.

“Well, I’m glad you figured that out,” Megan said sincerely. “If the other teams hadn’t been so hell-bent on beating them as well, we would have had a much harder time of it.”

She pushed her empty plate away now and drew out the relic she’d won from the group combat event. It was a ring, enchanted by Samuel himself. The thin line of runes inscribed on the face of the ring was a pretty powerful enchantment that boosted her magical strength, and the setting in the center housed a tiny blood diamond. The rare gem was known among magic users as the best stone to use when casting supportive magic. Its main use was that a spell could be stored in it, to be used freely whenever the owner wanted.

Michael looked at the relic in her hand, a faint grin on his face, then pulled his own relic out of his magical storage. It was a pair of comfortable leather boots, clearly designed for combat. There were more runes inscribed into the leather of these, detailing an enchantment that greatly boosted the wearer’s speed and reflexes. It also contrived to increase their luck in dodging attacks. Thanks to the system that accompanied her presence in Ahya, she’d known immediately what each item was.

“What will you do for the legendary weapon?” She asked now. After confirming that Lana Beran was in no shape to fight, and the next best option, Kanora, having already left to return to the Sanctuary, Samuel was forced to admit that Megan and Michael were the only two people left with a chance to win the ultimate prize. Megan had forfeit at once, certain that she didn’t want to have a contest with Michael. So he had won the legendary material by default. It was currently stored in his magic storage while he thought of a use for it.

“I’m not sure yet,” he said after a pause. “The obvious answer is to make a new sword, but with runes and everything involved, that’s going to be quite expensive.”

“True,” she agreed. “Shame Samuel didn’t offer to enchant it for you.”

Michael snorted. It was half amusement, half irritation. “As if. This is going to cost me thousands of platinum to get right. There are some great blacksmiths and enchanters in my family, but that won’t lower the cost by much.”

“Well, I’m sure that you’ll figure it out before long,” she said. She let out a long yawn, then pushed her chair back and stood up. “I need about ten hours of sleep now. I wonder if I could convince the teachers to let me off for the day.”

“Probably,” Michael replied, slipping his boots back into the magic storage. “It’ll give us some extra time to catch up on that Alchemy essay, anyway.”

“True,” Megan agreed with some feeling. “I don’t know why you’re still taking Alchemy. You clearly don’t like it.”

Michael shrugged. “I have to be the best. Even though you’re clearly better.”

Megan ignored this provocation to extend the conversation and picked up her empty plate to carry it to the discard pile. She caught Michael’s rueful sigh and hid a smile. They’d grown a fair bit closer after he’d used his Truesight on her and pointed out the….

Megan froze, hands on the counter to support her weight. What had he pointed out? And what had they talked about? She couldn’t remember. Searching her memory frantically, she encountered nothing past his explanation of his Truesight ability. It was the same kind of fuzzy blankness that accompanied her lapses in memory from the horrible anxiety she’d suffered as a child. She turned on her heel and marched quickly over to him now.

“Michael,” she said briskly, her brisk tone catching him off-guard. “Remember when you used Truesight on me? What did we talk about? I can’t remember.”

To her surprise, Michael’s face fell at once, and he had a vaguely panicked expression came over him. It was as if the mere memory of the conversation scared him, she thought. “What is it?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Michael said, dropping his eyes. That immediately put Megan on edge. He was never the type to shy away from a subject, no matter how awkward it was. Unbidden, the tension of the moment caused her to raise her voice. “Tell me!”

Now, now. Megan spun on the spot at the sound of the voice, looking in all directions before realizing that it had come from insider her head. The same voice from her childhood, the one that had landed her in so many therapy sessions, gotten her kicked out of school, and caused so much trouble in her life. She felt an uncomfortable weight enter her stomach, rooting her to the spot with dread.

I told you we didn’t belong here, but you didn’t listen.