“I can’t… can’t move… please… help—” his friend’s words cut off suddenly.

  Dazien mentally shouted back, “Phoenix! I’m coming. Just hold on!” he was already sprinting back down the street as fast as he could, even triggering the [Charge] option of his [Rallying Cry] ability in order to increase his speed.

  “I’m heading your way,” Uriel said through the connection they always kept open with each other.

  They heard the weak and pitiful sound of Phoenix whispering, “Help me,” and he felt his panic increase as he crashed through the front door of the building, shattering the gss panel that didn’t open automatically fast enough.

  Both of them continued to try calling out to her until Dazien saw golden lettering floating before him in a disturbing message.

  Communication with Phoenix Fraser has been forcibly interrupted.

  Phoenix Fraser is no longer your Subject.

  When he reached the front of the door that was oddly locked still, he didn’t bother to knock. In a single swift motion, he conjured his new shield and used the full force of his body behind it to sm into the door, causing it to fly from its Mundane frame.

  The dorm was silent and still, which was not a good sign.

  He made his way to the bedroom door, which was also closed but not locked, and frowned at the sight he walked in on. It was empty of any person, but the bed was a mess as blood stained the side facing the window. It was easy to spot the cracked gss spreading out from the thumb-sized hole in it that disrupted the uniform color of the blue-tinted pane.

  A discarded bolt y on the floor, and he carefully picked it up, noticing a dark, sticky substance among the blood. Smelling the tip, he didn’t recognize whatever poison it had been loaded with, and he mentally said to Uriel, “I need your nose, Senesh. It’s much better than mine.”

  “What did you find?” his partner asked.

  Dazien grimaced as he took in the sight of the thing that worried him the most: the white ash covering the bed and floor in fine dust, “Potentially the murder weapon,” he said grimly, then added, “I didn’t get a death notice, though it could have been after we were cut off. Most Crystal Casters don’t instantly turn to ash, however, so let us hope what I’m seeing belongs to poor Ta.”

  “What are you going to do now?” Uriel asked in obvious concern.

  “Pray that the Padin of Vengeance doesn’t kill the messenger,” he replied, quickly leaving the scene while trying to keep his own panic at bay and making his way towards the Waynd Estate.

  Paul looked up from his journal as the door to his study was cracked open after a quick announcing knock, and Roger peeked inside while expining, “Milord, Mister Smithson is here. You told me to go ahead and bring him straight to you if—”

  “Lord Waynd!” the precocious brat said over his head steward, pushing past the man in order to get to him quicker.

  “What did you do this time?” Paul gruffly asked. He was still cross about the foolish party leader going to the Ruwena Estate without first consulting with him, only informing him after the fact and asking him to do something he was already handling while also trying to get information out of him with that silver tongue. Aside from the sheer audacity, the boy painted an obvious target on Phoenix by confirming that she still lived.

  “Little King was not aware of the deception Waynd was hoping to keep in pce,” Orebe reminded him, but he gave a mental huff of annoyance and ignored her wisdom.

  “Sir, Phoenix is either kidnapped or…” Dazien paused a moment as though reluctant to speak, then finished, “Or dead, sir.”

  Paul was in front of him in the next breath and commanded, “Expin while we move.”

  Then, at a slower pace that the Crystal Caster should have been able to keep up with, he began heading towards a lower level. He checked his pouch for the Fme of Life he kept on his person at all times and verified that his apprentice was still alive—the fme within burning strongly—and lifted it to reassure Dazien as well, feeling some of the fear in his aura dissipate.

  Dazien scrambled after him and recounted the events of the early dawn after he had left Phoenix’s dorm.

  Paul paused in the hallway for a moment to raise a brow at him and ask pointedly, “And what exactly were you doing with my Protégé in her home at that hour… alone?”

  Dazien had the good sense to flush in embarrassment and quickly expin, “Ah, we were just talking, sir. I’ve been worried about her well-being since learning that she was involved with Arktis Neired. That woman’s reputation is not a pleasant one, and I know how brutal she can be.”

  “Indeed,” Paul agreed and continued his walk to one of the ritual rooms below street level. He didn’t need to check the room he had given to Phoenix to bind her [Waypoint] to since a quick expansion of his aura found the room vacant of any other aura and confirmed she hadn’t simply revived already.

  Once they reached the destination of his rge ritual room, he began taking ingredients out of the cupboards along the wall and drew out a complex ritual diagram with chalk, pcing components into various locations throughout it.

  “What are we doing, sir?” the kid asked while staying out of his way, which was a smart move since he was not in the mood to be deyed.

  “A tracking ritual,” he replied, pcing the Fme of Life in the center of the circle. “I found it during my research after the st time Phoenix… went missing.”

  “But we know where she is!” the arrogant boy excimed. “It had to have been Arktis.”

  “Arktis Neired is a Stone Juggernaut Css,” he replied as though that was answer enough.

  “So?”

  He gave a sigh. “Expin to me how a juggernaut went through a locked door and vanished with only an arrow and ash left behind.”

  There was silence for a long moment before the kid said, “It must have been House Ruwena, though. They have obviously been targeting Phoenix for some time now.”

  “Most likely, but that doesn’t tell us where they took her, and despite my new deity, I can’t just walk into another noble’s home and burn it to the ground.”

  “Can’t you?” Dazien asked softly, which caused Paul to pause and look up at him.

  The look the young leader gave him was not the humor he had been expecting, and he answered with equal sobriety, “No, kid. I don’t serve the Destroyer.”

  Dazien looked away, shame and anger filling the Crystal aura at his words, and he tried to help crify, “This information doesn’t leave this room, but Avenger whispers to me when someone is deserving of retribution. While it aligned with my desire to keep Phoenix safe, it was Avenger who gave me the quest to kill Murinah Ruwena via miserling—the same manner she killed others—not my own whims. He has not given me such a command for Arktis or any other Ruwena… yet.”

  “Others? She killed people with miserlings?”

  Paul’s face twisted at the memories of the list of victims Avenger had given him before, and he decided to enlighten Dazien a bit more, “Apparently, the te noble enjoyed that particur method and didn’t usually need a portalist to help her accomplish luring her victims. A pretty smile and a well-respected name can do a lot of convincing. Tell me, did you know ‘Violet Barrelli,’ ‘Martin Kethis,’ or ‘Alexis Sarkov’?”

  Dazien bnched and replied with a quivering voice, “Violet and Martin were lovers of mine. I… I thought Violet had just left since I knew we weren’t doing very well. She didn’t like that I could love and want other people as much as her—” The kid halted as though realizing he had made a mistake and eyed him almost expectantly.

  When Paul didn’t make any comment, Dazien continued cautiously, “I was told Martin died in an accident. We—” he took a steadying breath, and Paul could clearly sense turmoil and grief filling the kid’s aura, “I was heartbroken when I found out.”

  “Well, it was an accident involving miserlings, apparently,” Paul softly replied, unsure how else to comfort him. “From what I’ve gathered, Murinah was obsessing over you to an extreme level.”

  “It—are you saying it’s my fault they died?” Dazien asked in a broken voice as his chest began to heave, and he ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “I knew Murinah was interested in me, but… gods, I’m the reason Martin was—was murdered?”

  “Hey, I know stalking isn’t uncommon for Shiny gemites,” Paul said, pcing a reassuring hand on the kid’s shoulder to try and refocus him. “But most people don’t go killing off the competition just to get closer to them.”

  “So, who was Alexis?” Dazien asked, attempting to shake off his mencholy. “I-I don’t remember anyone by that name.”

  “I didn’t think you would,” Paul replied. “You would have only been around ten when the fifteen-year-old Murinah locked Alexis, a younger house servant, into a cage with a miserling that her father was studying.”

  Dazien stared at him in horror. “That was the same age I first met her… she was sitting outside the temple of the Servant even… Why would she do something like that?”

  “Apparently, Alexis didn’t want to cut their hair when Murinah ordered them to,” he replied with a shake of his head. “Don’t bme yourself for her twisted mind, kid. There would have been more bodies one way or another. Be thankful Phoenix still lives.”

  “Wait, she didn’t mention anything about miserlings—”

  Another knock came from the door to the ritual room and Paul gestured for Dazien to open it. Roger stood outside and announced, “Noble Stratford, is here to see you. She says she has information about your Protégé’s whereabouts.”

  “Noble Stratford?” Dazien asked him with a raised brow.

  “Bliss’ party leader.”

  “I know who she is. We’re well acquainted, but why is she here?”

  “You’re not the only one who cares about Phoenix,” he added, then called to Roger, “Bring her here. She can help coordinate with Bliss.”

  “As you wish, milord,” Roger replied with a polite bow.

  Paul gnced at the worried gemite who was awkwardly pacing and he suggested, “Why don’t you go get the rest of your party and wait in my study.”

  “Should I help coordinate things? Is there anyone else I should inform? Perhaps I should inform the temples as well, I’m sure they have resources and would help with one of their Chosen,” Dazien rambled in a sign of increasing distress.

  Paul grumbled, “I’m not your father, kid, so I can’t order you like one, but just keep calm and stay out of the way. Be ready to respond and I’ll let you know when something changes.”

  It was only with his Emerald Caste hearing that he was able to catch the upstart king muttering under his breath, “You might as well be our father with the way you treat us.”

  “See? Even Little King agrees with me,” his Familiar chimed in.

  “Not now, Be,” he replied with an annoyed huff.

  You have died.

  All equipment has been returned to your collection.

  [Waypoint] has guided your soul back to your designated location.

  You have been reconstituted to a state of full integrity.

  Twenty-four hours remain until this effect can be triggered again.

  Phoenix felt immense relief at seeing the book’s message hovering above her as she y in an unfamiliar bed. She sat up and looked around the room that Paul had offered for her to use and had moved her spawn point to after his insistence.

  Summoning her clothes and standing, she gnced around the room, taking in its yout and amenities. Aside from the rge four-poster bed that she had just climbed out of, there was a rge firepce on the opposite wall with two plush chairs to each side and a rge couch between the fire and bed. A low coffee table y between all of it for the seat occupants to conveniently use. To her right was the room’s entrance while across from that was a wide wooden desk against the solitary window. In the far corner of the room was another door to a washroom that currently hung open but remained dark.

  Paul had been right; she should have moved here instead of insisting she stay in her obviously insecure dorm room. She took a few deep breaths to center herself but found that she felt much calmer now than she had after her previous deaths. Perhaps that was because she had been the one to cause it? She would need to think about that more ter. Maybe she would ask Priest Jacob about it next Dimsol.

  For now, however, she sought out her mentor, who surprised her by being right outside the door to her room as she opened it. They stared at each other for a long moment, silent words passing between them. His eyes became angrier as her mouth tried to find words that wouldn’t cause him to go on some kind of rampage through the city.

  Paul was the one to speak first as he said with a coldness that belied the fire in his gaze, “Did Arktis kill you again?”

  She hesitated for a moment, this cold fury almost worried her more than if he would have yelled, “Not exactly.”

  He narrowed his eyes, then pointed at the couch nearest the center of her room. She lowered her head, fully expecting to be scolded, “Were you already waiting here?” she asked as she moved to sit on the seat.

  Paul took his pce next to her as he answered, “It was lucky timing. I sensed your aura just as I was going to inform my sister about a political move I was about to be forced to make.” Then he returned to her previous comment and inquired, “By ‘not exactly’ does that mean they used another monster?”

  “No. I, um… I killed myself to escape,” she said nervously.

  Her mentor’s eyes widened then narrowed again, “Expin.”

  She unched into the story, not wanting to give the Ruwena family more time to potentially escape, hide the evidence, or enact their pns to help the Renseres with whatever a Tulisuda was. Phoenix could sense the anger building in Paul’s aura and raised a brow when he started fiddling with his bracelet but didn’t ask him about it or pause in her retelling.

  When she had finished, they sat in silence for a long while.

  Phoenix was still wondering why this death felt so much different than her st ones but she was more concerned about how Paul would react towards both her clear disregard for not dying or the family that had made her so desperate.

  After a few more tense seconds, he finally spoke, “I don’t like you using that ability in that way… but I’m gd you had the courage to do so.”

  “Thanks? I get that it should be a st resort kind of thing,” she replied, then asked something that had been nagging at her, “What’s Tulisuda?”

  “It’s the name given to a Reality Rift,” he expined, “One that sits at the heart of this city a couple hundred meters below street level. If they manage to sabotage it like the Soul Reapers, Tulimeir will cease to exist.”

  She gasped at the mental picture but let him continue. His next words took her completely by surprise though, “Phoenix, I want you to join my House. Officially. I’d like to adopt you.”

  Phoenix stared at him with wide eyes, trying to process the words that her transtion ability allowed her to know but that she couldn’t fully understand in that moment.

  As she remained silent, Paul offered more expnation, “As an official member of House Waynd, I can offer you more protection politically as well as additional support and resources. You can live here without suspicion and I can be more readily avaible for you.”

  He met her stunned gaze and said softly, “I know I’m not your father, nor will I ever truly be, but I want to offer what I can.”

  “Why?” was the only word that came to her mind.

  Her mentor gave a gentle smile and repeated the words he had told her what seemed like an eternity ago, “Because you need it and I can… but more importantly, I want you to be part of my family.”

  They fell into silence again as Phoenix contempted his offer. She assumed that noble adoption worked simirly to the regur kind, even when she became an adult in this world, she would always be seen and treated as his child. She assumed that didn’t mean Paul would suddenly gain control over her choices even more than he did as her Mentor but it would pce her within the noble hierarchy and whatever that would entail.

  “I’ll need to think about it some more,” she whispered. She wanted to learn more about what joining the nobility would actually require of her. Despite Dazien’s apparent obsession with the aristocracy, she actually knew very little about it. Perhaps she would ask her friends for advice this time.

  Paul stood and patted her head affectionately as he reassured her, “There’s no rush. Just know that the option is there for you. I’ll be working to protect you either way.

  “For now, I’m going to inform the AOA and duke about the Ruwena family’s traitorous actions and the threat to Tulisuda. Stay here until I return. I’ll have your party join you. You gave those boys quite the scare.”

  “Ah, crap,” she groaned, “What am I going to tell them? Should I let them know about my [Waypoint]?”

  Paul seemed thoughtful for a moment, “Let’s wait a bit on that.” She raised an eyebrow, and he expounded, “I’m not suggesting they’re not trustworthy. It’s just…”

  Her mentor seemed at a slight loss of words, which made her worry even more, and she asked with wide eyes, “Will they hate me for it?”

  “It’s more like it will be difficult for them to truly understand both the concept and the potential repercussions,” he tried expining, “Phoenix, your Talent is… well, frankly, it’s a miracle. Resurrection like yours has always been believed to be impossible. A dream even further beyond myths and legends. Most of the people that chase after Obsidian Caste do so to gain immortality –to stop aging– but to come back from death is a completely different thing.”

  He ran a hand through his short golden hair and added, “We should wait until things calm down a bit before sitting them down to carefully expin both the power and the enemies it will bring should they utter a single word about it. Let’s first focus on taking care of the people that are targeting you for more mundane reasons.”

  She nodded, and as he moved to leave, she called out to him, “Paul?”

  He paused at the door, “Yes?”

  Phoenix gave him a genuine smile, “Thank you for caring about me so much. I don’t deserve a mentor like you.”

  Paul returned her smile and said almost regretfully, “Trust me when I say that you deserve much better than me.”