Gwen returned to reality to see Caliban scraping its long claws against a crystalline wall, headbutting the barrier and drooling grey goo all over the transparent pane.

"Gwen!" Petra called out. "Get your frog under control!"

The Mages were in no danger, Gwen realised, but there was something to be said about a three-meter Lovecraftian monstrosity bashing at one's Shield with nails the length of a man's arm.

"Caliban! To me!" Gwen petitioned for her familiar to return her side.

When the "Consume" had taken place, she had momentarily lost her reins on Cali. On a Familiar less inclined to act on instinct, it would have stood still as a statue. On Caliban, however, it meant the netherworld-fiend began to seek out its next meal.

It was one of the peculiarities of her Familiars. They weren't Spirits, but they weren't soulless shells either. Neither was stupid, and both actively sought out delicious treats.

Sniffing the air for mana, Caliban could sense the fount of vitality that was Mai Kumiko. Gwen could feel her beastie didn't want to hurt Mai, which came as a great relief. Instead, like a Great Dane too dumb to know its strength, it was trying to goad the Magus, in its unique way, to produce more treats from the Summoning Portal.

When Gwen reestablished the empathic link, she could feel its frustration simmering like a pot of proverbial toads in hot water.

"Caliban!" She tried, but her mental leash was too loose.

Now empowered by even more frustration, Caliban turned to the three women behind the Crystal Barrier and howled.

"SHAA—!" It protested the unfairness.

Magister Wen quickly jotted down their interaction.

"Fascinating! So it's intelligent enough to not berserk! Gwen, it looks like you need to work on your mental commands, have the creature conditioned," Wen advised, her irises lovingly eyeing the monstrosity beating down on her nigh impenetrable barrier. "Mai, summon another thing. I want to see what it does. Gwen, are you able to leash it or not?"

"I can continue, but this little bugger is a bloody handful!" Gwen tried snarling and growling at Caliban. "Caliban! HEEL! Do you want me to go over there? Fine! I am coming! You better not regret this!"

Wen double-checked her notes.

"Can you confirm that the last ability your Familiar used had a restorative effect?"

"Yes, Ma'am, but not enough to match its expenditure," Gwen replied in all honesty. Although Consume appeared to nourish her far more than Caliban's regular attacks, her vitality remained in deficit, meaning she could not abuse the ability in succession.

"Can Caliban eat without using your mana or vitality?" Wen asked a crucial question that was likewise hovering on the edge of Gwen's mind.

"Yes, but nothing challenging." Gwen thought back to when Caliban was sweeping through the Gila-infested pocket dimension.

The three women watched as Gwen reached Caliban and placed both hands on its back. For whatever reason, the creature responded far more favourably to tactile stimuli.

With considerable effort and picturing herself taming her unruly cats, Gwen laid a hand on Caliban's broad, wart-strewn back and caressed its toad skin, feeling its ridges and bumps.

"Caliban, calm down," she said to the creature softly. "Be a good boy."

Caliban ceased its antics and turned to face Gwen with its faceless mien. She could sense it sniffing her body, her hair, enjoying the sensation of her touching its skin.

"Good boy," Gwen cooed, relaxing her nerves. "There's plenty to eat if you'd just listen."

Just as Gwen thought she had everything well in hand, Caliban reached over her shoulder with its three-meter reach and snatched at something with its dragging arms something behind her.

“Onibi!” Magus Kumiko was aghast. “Gwen! Stop it!”

"Caliban!" Gwen pounded her Familiar, but the damn thing was too large, its hide too thick. She may as well have struck a golem with her bare hands. In its attempt to get away from Gwen's berating assault, Caliban bowled her over with its cumbersome body, not possessing the spatial awareness necessary to move with sufficient agility. Overwhelmed by the creature's girth, Gwen fell onto her buttocks for the second time.

"EE—! EE—EE!"

Besides Gwen, her other Familiar had stomached enough of Caliban's arrogance. It had watched obediently, as a Familiar ought to do, its delinquent half-brother thrash and trash its surroundings like an uneducated young marten incapable of understanding their Master's command!

A stupid worm is stupid! Or at least, that's the feeling transmuted by Ariel into their mutual Empathic Link.

Gwen immediately issued Ariel the allotment of mana her Familiar requested. Instantly, Ariel's chastisement came as a surge of electrified Lightning element filling every inch of its body with power.

With a simple command, Ariel released Gwen's anger.

When Ariel requested to contest Caliban, she inadvertently recalled something her Master had said when the two Familiars first appeared.

"Looks like her elements are oppositional rather than cooperative... She's going to have her hands full, trying to wrangle them together. Hopefully, one will check the other." She recalled her Master stating with great wisdom.

Since then, Caliban and Ariel had rarely fought in tandem. Gwen generally used either one or the other. When she did use the two together, it was almost always against enemies with overwhelming odds, leaving the creatures with little opportunity to bicker and contest.

From the looks of it, after only so long without her Master's advice, she was already regressing.

"EE—!" A semi-circle of electricity arched from Ariel's cute little horns to kiss the floor.

A command came bidden to Gwen, learned from her Empathic link with Ariel. As the words issued forth from her lips, she felt the satisfaction of having a childhood fantasy she had long possessed fulfilled. She was, after all, a child of the nineties. There was little to do in her negligent household but to keep company with the soapbox, and for a child, there was nothing more significant than that rare, golden hour from 7 AM to 8:30 AM.

"Pi—Ariel! Thunderbolt!"

"EE—EE!!"

A torrent of Lightning channelled directly from her Evocation sigil, possessing the same intensity and power as if she had issued forth the attack, connected the space between Caliban and Ariel.

The line-blast struck her Caliban full in the chest and forced it to release the quivering form of the Onibi flame, sending it packing toward its owner through some innate Blink.

"SHAA—"

To Gwen's surprise, the Lightning blast from Ariel seemed to trigger something in Caliban. Her creature shrunk in size, losing its Transmutation empowered morphic field until it became an obsidian serpent of about two metres in length and the size of her thighs in girth.

"EE!"

"Shaa!"

"EE—EE!"

The two creatures slid toward one another and joined into a ball of black and white, nipping, hissing, clawing, and wrangling one another on the floor, blazing back and forth. Feeling Caliban possessing the upper hand, Gwen helped Ariel cheat a little by supplying it secretly with a smidgen of mana to empower its Haste.

While watching the brawl, she thought about Ariel's newly manifested ability.

Did the horns replicate her spells? Or was it an innate ability for Ariel? It would require additional testing, of course, but either way, it meant she could use her Familiar as a secondary source of Lightning damage. Considering Ariel's innate ability to Haste itself and crawl, roll, duck, and sneak around the battlefield, it would mean the creature offered an excellent source of sneaky damage.

She turned excitedly to regard the others. Like herself, Petra watched the two Familiars bemusedly. Besides Pats, Magus Kumiko comforted her terrified Familiar while Wen furiously tapped her data slate.

Ariel and Caliban continued to fight with boundless energy, sending bits of fur flying here and there, with Caliban dripping its oozy saliva, or perhaps blood, it was impossible to tell, all over the Cognisance Chamber's polished floors.

"Alright! Stop!" Gwen commanded them both.

Ariel leapt from the melee expertly, far too fast for Caliban to follow. Caliban snarled and continued to spin in a circle, only stopping when it realised it had bitten its tail with its circular maw.

"To me!" Gwen intoned, fortifying her voice with a jolt of mana. "Sit! Heel!"

Ariel returned to her instantly, the very picture of a model Familiar.

With great reluctance, as though a delinquent thrashed by a stern mother, Caliban slithered beside Gwen. Gwen couldn't help but notice that its serpentine form had changed since Gwen had last seen Caliban in its original shape. Its interior now resembled a mass of roving, congealed ink, while Caliban's carapace had become opaque. Its faceless head, with its massive, angular pieces of chitin, had a disturbing, erotic elegance that made any observer uneasy, especially knowing that it could split to issue forth lamprey-lipped tongues.

"Bravo." Magister Wen clapped softly. "Although that control could have come handier much earlier."

Magus Mai did not appear at all convinced.

"Gwen, how're you feeling?" Petra asked carefully, observing Gwen with a studied eye.

After demonstrating the majority of her spells, conjuring two Familiars, and exhibiting their abilities, a brilliant sheen of perspiration now covered Gwen, plastering the fabric of her dress to her body. In the pale brilliance of the Cognisance Chamber, her eyes glowed, lit by the static electricity she could not control.

Below her physical body, her Astral Form was a blend of inky, tenebrous motes of Void bisected by brilliant flashes of Lightning. Hues of Conjuration, Evocation and Transmutation appeared and disappeared, creating a curious contrast.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The surrealism was enough to catch its owner off guard, and for a moment, all Gwen could do was stare at her Astral projection.

"I think I need to take a break." Gwen raised her hand gently. "I am getting a little woozy."

She was almost out of mana. The succession of spells, the drain on her vitality, the fiasco with her unruly Familiar, the bout between the marten and the void-serpent that followed, all of her feats had been performed without rest. Spell-fatigue, unlike vitality drain, was a weariness of the soul.

"Let's finish up here." Magister Wen nodded affirmatively. "There is much to be done, and we have no reason to rush. Thank you, Gwen Song. You have shown us something truly unique and worthwhile."

Petra left the crystal barrier and approached her cousin, heedless of the serpent that now coiled miserably around Gwen's ankles. Gwen supposed that once a girl had experienced riding Cali-Spider into battle, there wasn't much else that could be worse.

"EE—!" Ariel leapt toward Petra and ran infinity coils around her legs before begging with its paws, like a monk praying fervently.

Petra retrieved an LDM crystal and fed it to the marten, who turned to look at Caliban gloatingly as if showing off.

Provoked by the marten's goading display, Caliban opened its maw by splitting its carapace, extending two thin, long tentacles, one blue and the other red.

Visibly disgusted by the vividness of the fleshy organs, Petra allowed the organs to hijack another LDM crystal.

Caliban then turned to Ariel and hissed with triumph.

Not to be bested, Ariel turned to Petra and opened its two beady eyes of heart-melting pity to maximum capacity.

Petra looked to Gwen with a look that said she wasn't as rich as that.

"Alright, enough is enough, you two," with a tired voice, Gwen coaxed the two to return.

The thrum of the chamber began to diffuse, and soon the illumination globes resumed their function. The four women soon found themselves in a room with floors covered with glistening fluids. Some from the now consumed Blink Dog, but mainly from Caliban.

"I'll send for a cleaner." As the lowest member, Petra volunteered for the trivial task.

"Mai, can you take care of this?" To their surprise, Magister Wen interceded. "I need Petra to help me with the data."

"Of course, Magister," Mai did not protest, although she did hold Onibi close to her chest.

"Gwen, Petra. We're going back to the Lab. I need your help to confirm our initial findings." Wen then turned to Mai. "We will continue the experiments two days from now. Do you still wish to be a part of our fact-finding mission? I can offer you third place on the Co-Authorship."

"I would be honoured to be a part of your research." Magus Kumiko bowed.

Wen nodded approvingly.

"Good, take care of Gwen when the semester begins. Our findings will be made public in good time, but I advise discretion until then. You may inform Magister Birch, and he can speak to me personally if he too wishes to participate."

"I shall."

"Very well then. Gwen, Petra. With me."

With Petra holding Gwen steady, the three women made for the Hengsha building, with Gwen hoping the cleaner wouldn't slip and fall into Caliban's questionable excretions.

"We can use a spectre-index to represent your vital cost and expenditure numerically," Petra pointed out helpfully as the three women poured over the data collected from the afternoon's experimentation.

"We still haven't carried out indexing on your Evocation Spells either. I would suggest benchmarking with Void Bolts, testing with small animals and moving up from there."

"I want to try out Ariel's new abilities and see if it meshes with my other spells," Gwen informed her seniors. "Also, if Ariel could truly keep a check on Caliban, it would provide a temporary solution to one of my pressing issues."

"You can't suppress Caliban mentally?"

"It still possesses a will of its own, I am afraid. If it becomes overstimulated, I am not sure it will listen to my commands."

"Can it take on a Blink-Dog form now?" Wen inquired. "I am very interested in that."

"I am not sure; it's the first time I have used the Consumption ability in that sort of setting. Normally, Caliban takes on a form after a good fight where it can consume the foe."

Wen appeared thoughtful.

The three Mages drank their Oolong. For supper, Wen had sent the NoM staff in the building out on an errand to bring food from University Boulevard. Now they were sorting through the data while enjoying their infusions and glutinous osmanthus cakes.

"At any rate, you're saying there's terrific feedback from the Consume?"

Gwen nodded, chewing on the florally scented jelly. She swallowed before she spoke.

"I am positive. The feeling is indescribable. Imagine a starving man suddenly encountering the Golden Nectar of the Dryads. It so strong I almost blacked out."

"Do you think there are diminishing returns?"

"I hope it dulls with repetition, yeah," Gwen replied worriedly. The sensation was one of pleasure - comparable - if she had to find an analogy with the proverbial Soma of Huxley's famed novel. It was delight without effort, rapture without cause, a feeling of fulfilment in the metaphysical sense, a genuine jolt of unadulterated gratification. It was the high of cocaine without the pitfall.

"Do you think it will be a problem?" Magister Wen asked earnestly. "We can probably do something about it via a dampening item, experiment with mental-Abjurations, that sort of thing."

"I'd like to see if it is possible to resist it naturally," Gwen advised her companions. "I think I've had enough of item-crutches for now."

"The choice is yours, but we'll look into it regardless," Magister Wen affirmed her decision.

"Don't push yourself too hard," Petra spoke to Gwen with a worried expression.

"It's fine. I'll take care of myself. I promise."

"Your initial report from Klavdiya said that Caliban's consumption of Mages ballooned your mana capacity. Is that true?" Magister Wen continued.

Gwen nodded again.

"Do you think Consume could increase your… vitality? Become healthier? Stronger? Faster?"

"I don't feel any different," Gwen confessed a half-truth. She felt good, like after a hearty session of yoga by the beach.

"Are you adverse to- er... human testing?" Magister Wen dipped a finger into the water to test Gwen's tolerance.

"I AM," Gwen retorted sternly. There was no way she was about to start murdering human beings to test out her abilities. That was the way of Elizabeth Sobel; she's trying to hunt the monster, not become the monster. "Please, Ma'am. I don't want to harm anyone insofar as much as we can."

"Of course, I am merely asking," Magister Wen replied unconvincingly. "You are alright with experimenting on summoned creatures, yes?"

"I am," Gwen agreed hesitantly.

"Alright then, how about Demi-humans?" Wen tested the waters again. "Ugly, inhuman ones? I guarantee you won't even know. We'll use nothing remotely simian."

"Please, no…" Gwen insisted.

"Okay, I understand." Magister Wen gave her an affirming smile. Gwen tried to hear the gears grinding in the Magister's head, but the Magister allowed nothing to escape.

The trio looked down at the planned Papers for the next year and a half:

Initial Investigation of Void Mana to Vitality Conversion Ratio.

Affinity rate for Void Spells: A Comparison.

Void-Matter Interactions Material Data.

Effects of Consumption on the Caster:: C: G. Song F: C. Song

Longitudinal Study of the Extended Use of Void Magic:: Gwen Song

Druidic Essence Material Data.

Most of her slated tests centred around Gwen's Void talent.

Once she reviewed the data, Wen offered the conjecture that the strange, orgiastic side effect was a part of Caliban's skill set, exacerbated by Gwen's loss of the Kirin Amulet. A portion of it was from the raw, unfiltered comings and goings of rough magics violating her senses. What remains was likely how her parasite "awarded" the host, thereby conditioning her to hunt.

"Maybe that explains Sobel, to a degree?" Wen appeared very pleased with herself. "Either way, we should keep this under wraps until we know more. You have potential, Gwen, perhaps too much potential."

Gwen gulped.

"As soon as we publish." Magister Wen brimmed with confidence. "With the old Magisters at Pudong, mayhap even the Magi himself taking an interest in these findings, you will have backing for sure."

"Won't the PLA interfere?" Gwen asked.

"That would be Pudong's problem," Magister Wen answered with a smirk. "With your ties to Kilroy's apprentices, it's not as though the PLA could have a use for you, at least not without significant reconditioning. But if they did that, you'd be useless to them."

"Reconditioning?"

"Don't worry your pretty head about it." Wen batted a hand to and fro. "It won't happen to you, not without Master Shultz burning down half of Shanghai."

Gwen wondered about that, but her outlook was agreeable with Magister Wen's proposal. The research helped Gwen immensely, allowing her far more nuanced knowledge about her abilities and limitations in a relatively safe location under supervision and support.

For now, she would just have to go with the flow.

As it was a Friday night and Shanghai never sleeps, Petra escorted Gwen home for fear of her cousin wandering off. Mina's apartment occupied a very trendy part of Shanghai, and the weekend attracted all manners of unsavoury characters into the neon lights of the Bund and beyond.

"I hope our apartment is ready by Monday," Petra commented as they passed by a troop of young men and women outside a nightclub, drawing dozens of eyes as they passed. "God, I hate places like these. So many people. All the time."

Gwen's Message device buzzed.

"Yeah, Richard?"

"Mina and Tao are over. How close are you to home?"

"I am with Pats, about 10 minutes. Why?"

"They want to eat out, want to come along?"

"Sure, I could eat," Gwen replied. This time, she really could eat. She could eat a horse.

"Great, tell Petra we're going to SHOOK! on Nanking. The Address is 23 Nanjing East."

"Alright, see you there soon."

Mina flashed a business card at the manager, and the group bypassed the half-a-block line outside and ventured straight in.

Within, the young Mages had a booth to themselves, staffed by private Waiters and a Chef who cooked Wildland cuts of tender meat on a fire-enchanted slab of stone.

Richard and Tao knocked down expensive European beers while the girls had cocktails. Gwen initially thought of ordering a mock-tail but forwent the consideration for her drinking age after becoming peer pressured by her two girlfriend-cousins.

Each exchanged accounts of their day.

"WMR Properties?" Mina raised a tapered brow as she sipped her Signature Blue-Moon. "And someone happens to gift you a cheap apartment? Huh, it figures."

"Why, what's wrong?" Gwen turned to her cousin for some sincere advice.

"Probably nothing." Mina shook her head. "The M in WMR belongs to The House of M, but they own lots of properties around the city anyway. WMR is a corporate conglomerate group, after all."

"Ah, you mean Mayuree." Gwen realised Mina's concern. "You think this is another favour?"

Mina shrugged, putting a spoonful of truffle to her lips and chewing thoughtfully before answering.

"If you were renting anywhere from Waitan to Laoximen, around the Jinan District, you'd be looked after by my Dad, so I'd dare say it's fifty-fifty. The big merchant consortiums own most of the properties around the CBD."

"Well, thanks for the heads up. I'll keep an eye out."

Gwen turned to see how the others were doing.

"Yeh Dawg, I am telling ya. Yo gotta come to one of our shows man! It's the bomb. You gone be impressed, I guarantee it! Drinks on me! VIP! Yeeeah!"

Tao was extolling the virtues of his underground shows, hosted by 'crews' of cosmopolitan men and women who worshipped the latest trends from America.

For Gwen, if a 'trend' like the latest iPhone could make its way across the sea, that would be far more satisfying. Having spent almost fifteen years of her life with a smartphone, using a device capable of only Messaging and making Calls was agonising. Without Google Maps, she had no idea where things were. So far, outside of the Campus district, she couldn't tell east from west.

"Gwen, come on, you gotta come to one of my shows, just one!"

"Okay, Peaches. I will. I promise," Gwen replied sweetly. "Petra and I are a little busy right now, though, but definitely once things cool down."

"Alright, alright!" Tao whooped loudly, and the two cousins made a low-five.

"Pussht!" Gwen leaned backwards dramatically, expecting Tao to do likewise.

Tao stared at her as though his cousin had suddenly gone insane.

The others turned to look at Gwen, searching her face for answers.

Gwen felt her face flush pink and beetroot.

Ah, nuts, she blinked. She could guess by now that this world did not have six seasons of Fresh Prince to culture them in the art of the low-five.


A day later, Manager Xie called and told the girls that they could pick up the keys from the office whenever they desired. As such, the girls and Richard took inventory of what they needed, then had Tao's chauffeur drive them around town for furniture, toiletry, and other necessities of life in a new apartment.

Sunday, the girls returned with Magister Wen to the Yi-Fu Spellcraft Building and continued preliminary testing, recording Gwen's biometric fluctuation as she fired off Void Bolt after Void Bolt.

"Minimal rebounds from your Evocation spells," Magister Wen observed somewhat disappointedly. A dozen summoned creatures perished under Gwen's spells before her Druidic Essence waned, but they could not replicate the fabled vampiric effect of the Void.

Comparatively, Caliban proved to be a superior research subject. Now that it was being summoned to feed, the creature grew far more compliant. Warming up to Magus Kumiko, the sometimes-serpent, sometimes-toad, occasional-spider-cum-centipede ravaged the magical chattel, all the while purring like a kitten.

When Gwen commanded Caliban to transform into lunch, meaning everything from felines to crawlers, her beast grew frustrated and disruptive.

"Maybe it only transforms into creatures it bests, in the wild. Like in a ritualistic bout." Petra offered an unlikely proposition.

Gwen was thinking more so of Faceless and how the void-woman thing had tried to consume her body by submerging her ego into a pool of corrosive pitch. Or mayhap it had something to do with Creature Cores or even power tiers, but that would take real-world evidence.

Under Wen and Kumiko's watchful eye, she attempted both Consuming feeder-summons, as well as having Caliban wail away without using its Gila-ability. Though there was no conclusive answer to that hypothesis, Gwen did confirm that without her Kirin amulet, she was most definitely receiving the lion's share of the vitality consumed by her void-Familiar.

Her new problem, which made her flush with shame, was the euphoric pleasure that came with Caliban's Consumption.

Having lived as an adult prior, she wouldn't quite say that Consumption was 'better than sex', but it was undoubtedly a feeling of pleasure. To rationalise the peculiar attraction of the unbidden euphoria, she would compare its metaphysical ecstasy to a smoker who, after seventy-two hours going cold turkey, finally torched a Marlborough to his lips.

A few times, as Caliban tore and ripped at its meal like a wood chipper, all she could do was ward herself against the growing desire for more of these moments of transient rapture.

But in the end, it was manageable. In Gwen's old life, she was a woman of many pleasures; she liked her fine dining, theatre, shoes, couture, and with the money she made, few vices were out of her reach.

Even so, she never reneged on her exercise regime, her yoga, or her sessions with Doctor Monroe.

She was exhausted most days. But at the very least, she never lost control.

When Monday arrived, Gwen, Petra and Richard came to their new abodes, removal truck in tow, and began to furnish their new homes. Magister Wen had lent Petra her Large Storage Ring, allowing Petra to pack an apartment in one convenient sweep.

Gwen took the room with the larger window at Petra's behest, who insisted that she desired little more than a place to wash and sleep. The girls laughed and made chit-chatter while their white goods arrived, followed by a contemporary couch, a dining set in the Saarinen Tulip style, a luxurious high-pile rug to warm their feet on the sofa, and a Noguchi coffee table.

When the living room was finally set up, her cousin couldn't help but marvel at the simplistic beauty of it.

They had a Vid-caster on the far wall, a scandi cabinet in white polyethene and oak, equal-distantly framed by a glass coffee table and a low-back couch that made the room far more spacious than she had anticipated.

"I never knew you could make such a small space so..." Petra struggled for words. "...spacious."

Gwen thanked her cousin for the praise, then reminded herself that she needed to contact the Pudong Tower to install that LR Communication Projector and Petra for permission, which she gave.

After the NoM cleaners returned to clean up again, Gwen oversaw Richard's renovations next door. Her cousin, whose adolescence survived the dorms of Prince's College, transformed his small living room into a bachelor pad. Lacking a Vid-Caster, Richard congregated four eclectic-themed couches, a battered table, and a host of bric-a-bracs that had arrived while Gwen was busy with her side of things. On one wall, a lascivious leggy blonde riding a ten-foot wand with the tag "Blast Em!" insinuatingly adorned the central space. On another, Richard had beer adverts collected from God knows where. The place resembled, Gwen realised, someone's idea of a college student's abode and Gwen couldn't help but wonder how much of it was Richard and how much of it was for show.

"Where in the world…" Gwen marvelled at the ancient fridge and the Magitech equivalent of a micro-oven. "...Did you get these?"

"My co-workers donated these." Richard grinned. "For saving their lives a few dozen times."

Gwen exhaled with pride—Richard has known these men for a week, and they were already donating all their second-hand white goods and spare couches. As for the quality of the donations, she couldn't say, but the gesture was something she could appreciate.

Returning to her room, Gwen carefully laid out her arsenal of attires which she'd acquired in her travels as well as salvaged from Sydney, then took account of her war chest: T-shirts by the dozen in pastel and plain. Skirts in the twenties, jeans in the tens and half a dozen pairs of blouses, jackets, blazers, shorts and other assorted accessories.

Naturally, she desired more.

There would be frequent gatherings, socials, outings, interviews and meet-and-greets in her immediate, three-year future. At the very least, a secondary walk-in closet was quintessential in living life to the fullest.

The following two weeks thus came and went without incident, and her busy schedule soon drowned out the euphoria of living in a new home.

Thanks to their frequent absence, the renovation upstairs wasn't nearly as bad as Manager Xie made it out to be. Both herself and Petra left the apartment in the morning, as did Richard, whose work ensured he was rarely home.

Gwen called her grandmother every few days, even though she was sure that Petra would have reported their comings and goings with the precision of a military report. In turn, her grandmother spoke a little about the development at home, such as her father returning to Hebei to train, her uncle's advice for her to stay safe, and then there was Percy.

Thanks to Guo's overt nepotism, Percy was accepted into Shanghai's Xiangming High School, the most prestigious government-sponsored school in the region. Within, her brother would receive the best education under the most experienced tutors, in addition to placing firmly under the auspice of the PLA, for the school almost exclusively produced Mages who went on to join Jiantong University, followed by a PLA career track.

"That's wonderful news," Gwen said nothing else and mentioned nary a word about the Kirin Amulet. Her babulya likely already knew about her dilemma, and if she could have done something about it, she probably would. "Would you like to come and see our apartment?"

Her grandmother promised she would—when work at the Experimental Hospital allowed.

In the intervening time, Gwen managed to book a private training hall through Wen's connection. Her instructor, Magus Kumiko, offered to accompany her, but only if Caliban did not appear.

"Lightning Grasp!"

"Eee!"

"Lightning Bolt!"

"Eee!"

"Blast Bolt!"

"Eee!"

"Call Lightning!"

"Eee?"

Ariel was proving to be a true boon now possessed the means to manifest most of her spells externally.

"Flashbang!"

"EE-EE—EE—"

"OH. MY. GOD! Sorry! Are you okay?!" Performing a ranged Flashbang, Ariel manifested the spell in front of its face and became instantly blinded and deafened, causing it to collapse onto the ground and writhe in epileptic ecstasy.

"Poor Ariel! I'll kiss it better, okay?" Gwen congealed a droplet of her Druidic Essence and fed it to the marten. Ariel took the emerald dew within its lips, then sprang to renewed life, dashing to and fro with such haste as to resemble a bolt of lightning itself.

As the marten recovered, Gwen considered her new options.

It would seem that Ariel's horns could only duplicate her Evocation spells, allowing for a twin cast from both herself and the creature, so long as she channelled the mana for both of them. As such, it seemed that the best way to abuse Ariel's horns was to load up on Conjuration herself, then together with the marten, unleash Evocation spells from both. In theory, the strategy seemed sound to both herself and Magus Kumiko, as Ariel could be mauling an opponent one second, then blast them with a bolt of lightning a few inches away from their face.

"An exceptional ability and one rarely manifested." Magus Kumiko observed approvingly. "It takes an incredibly dense and well-preserved Core to pass on such a talent, and even then, it's a matter of luck. Where did you find such a thing?"

"A favour," Gwen confessed enigmatically.

"Beware of favours," her instructor advised.

"I know." Gwen agreed wholeheartedly.

Onibi floated toward the marten and nudged it. The marten purred and rubbed its face on the flames, for the ghost-flames were as soft as silk. Onibi was a thing from the Positive Elemental plane. Ariel was a being of Air and Positive mana. In this way, both Familiars were fast to make friends.

"Shall we try some target practice?" the helpful Magus offered, likely mindful of Wen's orders to keep Gwen on her feet.

"Sure." Gwen closed her eyes for a moment of introspection. "With Onibi here, let's drain the mana pool!"

Gwen awoke to the most god-awful sound imaginable on the Prime Material.

"WEEEEEeeeeeeeeEEEEEE!"

"Evacuate NOW!"

"Do not use the levitation platform!"

"Evacuate NOW!"

"W-Wha?" She slid out of her blankets, pyjamas akimbo and half-asleep with grogginess.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Gwen!" Petra burst through her door, wearing nought but her intimates. "There's a fire somewhere in the building. We need to go."

"Oh God," Gwen groaned. "No! No! No! Not when Richard is away!"

They had just settled in for two weeks! How could she lose her home now? Her mind immediately thought of the potential of the fire being a scheme of some sort, but who would set an apartment on fire to get at herself or Petra?

"It's just an evacuation alarm." Petra read the panic on Gwen's face. "There shouldn't be any danger, I don't sense any smoke, and there's nothing I can see from the winter garden. We should be safe, but it's best to go."

Comforted, Gwen rolled out of bed and searched for something to wear. She wasn't too worried now, for all of her essential documents remained safely in her Storage Ring. If the apartment should genuinely perish, all she would have lost was her wardrobe and her new furniture.

"Where's Richard gone?" Petra asked.

"Working late. Staying on-site."

Richard increased his part-time hours now that they had settled into the apartment. Gwen figured her cousin must be hoping to make a sizeable sum before their semester officially began, for he would have few opportunities for labour once the academic term consumed all their time. It was a shame, for Lea would have snuffed the flamed with a wink.

"Evacuate NOW!"

"Do not use the levitation platform!"

"Evacuate NOW!"

"Bloody hell, I can't even hear myself think!" Gwen groaned as she struggled into her attire. The two girls met their annoyed neighbours in the stairwell, who were likewise fleeing down the stairs.

"Evacuate NOW!"

"Do not use the levitation platform!"

The alarm system drowned out all conversation as the girls followed the crowd to the meeting point below, where a hundred residents chit-chattered, looking straight upward at the building and trying to figure out what was wrong.

The midnight air of Shanghai's spring was stifling as usual, and the girls found themselves sweating despite their light attire. Such was the humidity of the weather, exacerbated by the thick mass of mana pollutants that hung like a miasma over the city.

"Hi, I am from 21-03."

Within minutes, seeing the two girls alone and by themselves, a few bored and enterprising young men from the dorms took advantage of their captive audience.

"Miss Kuznetsova! Is that you?" A young man uttered in disbelief once he came closer and saw Petra's face, stunning even without any makeup. "I am… I can't believe we live in the same building! To think we're neighbours! I thought you lived in B3."

Petra stared at the young man coldly until he apologised and made a retreat. Despite her frigid resting-bitch face, dozens of eager eyes shot toward the two girls, and soon the courtyard was liberally whispering about "Miss Kuznetsova", as well as inquiring as to who the girl next to the celebrated 'Ice Queen' of Fudan was.

"Maybe a relative? She looks like a gweilo as well," A girl commented.

"I think so; she's almost as tall as Miss Kuznetsova."

"Do you think she attends Fudan?"

"She must. She just said so to Lee."

"I've never seen her in class, though."

It took a good ten minutes or so for the Fire Fighters to arrive. Gwen understood from reading PSA's that there was a Mage variant of Fire Fighters and an NoM variant. As the fire presented itself as non-destructive and localised, the NoM variety arrived to assuage the residents.

Another ten minutes passed where Gwen was harassed by interested parties, politely diffusing the situation with sweet smiles, vapid giggles and handshakes, with Petra watching on as though she had no involvement in her cousin's predicament.

"Alright, everyone! You can go home. False Alarm! False alarm!" the Fire Marshall declared.

"What the fuck?"

"Wocao! Stupid alarm."

"Kaonima! Whoever set this off!"

"Who the hell triggered it!"

"Shit, I got to work in 2 hours!"

"I have a paper due in 5!"

Grumbling and far from happy, the crowd returned to the building.

Not wanting to be crushed by the weight of the people crowding the lifts, Gwen and Petra decided to take a walk around the perimeter and take in the ambiently lit rock garden at B1's exterior before returning to the main lobby.

As they entered the foyer, Gwen couldn't help but have her eyes drawn to a pair of siblings also waiting for the levitation platform.

The familiar-looking girl was petite and cute, with large and luminous eyes that made her look younger than her actual age. She wore a pink terrycloth set in the Juicy Couture style prevalent in Gwen's old world, drawing Gwen's eye.

Beside her, a young man stood languishingly, not much taller than the girl beside him, attired in a grey-white set of matching tracks. He turned to the girls with a sheepish grin, blowing out a stream of smoke.

"Fancy meeting you here," the man with the eye-liners greeted Gwen with a grin. "What are the chances?"

"M-Mayuree?!" Gwen blurted out the name.

"M-Marong?!" she then blurted out a name that was most definitely a surprise.

"What are the two of you doing here?" Gwen heard the Tetris blocks falling into place in her head even as the words escaped her lips; the two pissed off ex-tenants, the eager Manager, the sweet-rental deal, clicking into place.

"Ahahaha…" Mayuree's flustered, embarrassed face looked as though she was about to burst into tears. "Hello, neighbours."

"You set off the smoke glyph?!" Gwen didn't know what else to say.

It was Marong who had set off the alarm. It was the Para-Elemental Mage's first day staying in the penthouse suite, and he had entirely neglected that the safety devices were not deactivated.

"It's because that was originally my suite." Mayuree sulked, hugging a pillow on the L-shaped couch resting on the lower floor of the mezzanine. Above them, a glass-cage construction looked out over the campus, where the two Fudan Towers were fully visible, aglow with diffusing mana.

"Quit your sulking, Mia." Marong leaned back into the couch without any sign that he felt any danger from Gwen and Petra.

The young man yawned.

"I am more so surprised you're here speaking with us." Marong cocked his head toward Gwen questioningly. "Last we met, you were positively skittish!"

"Are you alright?" Gwen ignored the brother's goading and turned to Mayuree. "Is he bullying you, Mia?"

"For shame!" Marong protested. "You make me sound like a scoundrel."

"You are a villain! Meanie! Idiot!" Mayuree retorted churlishly.

"I take it you all know each other then?" Petra sighed. "Gwen, is this the Diviner you were talking about?"

"Yes, Ariel's benefactor," Gwen said.

"It was a trade!" Mayuree insisted. "A downpayment."

"So you're the one who foretold your fortune," Petra noted critically, looking the girl up and down as Mayuree clutched her pillow tighter. Petra's husky-blue eyes had that effect on small animals.

"And you're the infamous Miss Kuznetsov of Fudan." Marong smacked his lips together appreciatively. "Simply exquisite."

Petra glared at the man.

"If only your servant girl were here, Mia. She could be making us some tea while we feud." Marong looked about them with impatience. "Alas, our little storm in a teacup will not arrive until the semester starts."

"Kitty is not my servant!" Mayuree hissed at her brother. "She's my friend!"

"And Gwen is a friend. A friend to us both, right?" Marong smirked at Gwen.

"Maybe when we get to know each other a little more," Gwen chided the offensively confident Marong. "I am on Mia's side, after all."

"Ha!" Marong huffed disingenuously.

"At any rate, we should get back," Gwen interrupted Marong's self-aggrandising banter. "Mia, I know that you are to thank for our lodgings, and I certainly don't mind that we're neighbours. If there's something you want to talk to me about, come to my apartment."

"Sleep well!" Marong called out, waving a hand casually in the air. "This time, the detector better be off! I could kill for a smoke..."

Gwen and Petra left the penthouse, followed closely by Mayuree.

"Look, I can explain. Please let me explain." Mayuree followed them out the door, touching Gwen's arm with far too much familiarity.

"Alright, come in then. We can talk in private," Gwen offered. She was interested in how Marong came to be their menace-in-residence.

"Right now?" Mayuree hadn't expected Gwen to be forgiving.

"Yep, come on."

The three girls returned to 2203.

"Wow, nice setup!" Mayuree marvelled at Gwen's contemporary living room when she entered. The girls set themselves up on the couch, and Petra poured the two of them each a glass of water.

"I am going to bed. Scream if you need help."

Mayuree watched Petra leave, then turned to Gwen. "Wow. The one and only Petra Kuznetsova, in the flesh! She's as beautiful as the rumours say."

"Yep. Petra's a top sheila," Gwen agreed.

"S-she-la?" Mayuree tried to replicate the slang without success. "Gwen. I am sorry I didn't let you know beforehand!"

"It's fine." Gwen was starting to feel a bit guilty. She got an apartment that she couldn't have otherwise for half the price, and now the bringer of her boon was apologising? There was only so much advantage a girl could take before she should blush for shame. "Look, I am thankful. I owe you another one. "

"You're not mad, are you?" Mayuree came closer to her face.

"No! Of course not." Gwen took Mayuree's hand to assure the girl while moving her face further away. "I am more worried about you. Are things okay with your brother?"

"My half-brother," Mayuree confessed candidly. "I don't know. I moved some of my people to get this penthouse sorted out, but then my brother barged in with his people, then I had to concede the master bed if I wanted to stay here at all."

"And you agreed? What a sadist! What's his game?"

"Well… I don't know. I wasn't going to Divine it..." Mayuree tried to place Marong but appeared as lost as ever. "I wouldn't exactly call him malicious or cruel. He likes his jokes, and his jokes always go a little far. This one time when we're young, he set a goblin on me to see how long I could run before..."

"That's abuse, hon." Gwen patted the poor girl on the hand. "You should report that."

"I don't think anyone would have cared until injuries started happening..." Mayuree looked the very picture of pity. "My family is... openly competitive."

Gwen felt her maternal feelings skyrocket. Mayuree wasn't cute like Elvia, but the Diviner's natural innocence gave her the air of a kicked kitten.

"You're okay with being neighbours then? Even with Marong?" Mayuree asked.

"Well, if you don't mind and if I don't have a choice. Do you think your brother is going to be a danger? What's your deal anyway? Why are you here?"

"I got a half-scholarship for Fudan," Mayuree informed her. "I thought we could attend school together."

"Can we even attend the same course?" Gwen asked sceptically.

"We can hang out on campus." Mayuree came closer yet again. "I just wanted us to be close, for you know, reasons. Do you mind?"

"I wouldn't mind that. I don't know anyone here, except for the people you've already met." Gwen gazed at the ceiling.

"That's wonderful!" Mayuree replied happily, then caught herself. "I mean, I am sure you'll make new friends."

"I hope so too. Did Marong say Kitty is staying with you as well?"

"Yes, she's the one with a full scholarship."

"Oh?" Gwen noted with surprise. So that's the other winner of the LCSS. When she thought back on it, the Wind Mage had demonstrated control far superior to hers. Comparatively, she was the immoral backdoor cheater who'd snatched her LCSS placement like a bandit fleeing the scene of her crime.

"I hope you can work well together," Mayuree prophesied hopefully. Her imploring puppy eyes made Gwen all the more guilt-ridden.

"I am sure we will," Gwen assured her. "Look, it's getting late. How about we convene for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Sure! Come to the apartment! We have an Aunty there who will make it! She's from the home country, and she's a kitchen muse. Cantonese style, Japanese, Korean, Western, whatever you want, she can make it."

"An Aunty? Your aunt is living with you?"

"Not an actual Aunty!" Mayuree corrected Gwen, "Our NoM Maid, she's in the kitchen."

"She lives in the what?"

"I mean the pantry; she lives in the pantry. There's a Maid's room in it."

"The p-pantry? Where was she when the fire went off?"

"We weren't in any danger, so she stayed behind."

"Jesus…" Gwen looked at the ceiling once more.

There was a maybe fire. And there was a living, breathing human being also hiding in the fucking pantry the entire time? What was she, Dobby the house-elf? Would Mia's maid take socks in exchange for freedom?

"So… breakfast? I'll get Aunty to make something nice."

"Alright." Gwen relented, still wondering about the Scullery Maid. She also wanted to speak to Marong again to ask why he had intruded into their lives.

"Okay! I'll let her know. She'll probably have to start baking. Western okay?" Mayuree answered happily before leaving Gwen's apartment, satisfied that she would see her new friend again in six hours.

Gwen breathed out and returned to her living room from the door, shaking her head.

Out of paranoia, she checked their apartment's pantry just in case an NoM house elf came with the utilities. Thankfully, theirs was cramped and small and could only fit Gwen's SPAM boxes, instant ramen, and a rice cooker Petra had brought.

Satisfied, Gwen returned to bed. Hoping to God that Marong would not set off the fire alarm again.


Gwen couldn't help but sneak a peek at the Maid's room in the pantry the following morning. Sure enough, built into the kitchen was a pantry door, and behind that door was the food storage - and a room with a single bed, a lumen globe on the wall, a chair and a small cabinet built into the wall.

"Greetings, young Miss."

Gwen turned around and saw the Maid with her face full of wariness, wondering why the guest was so interested in her quarters. The woman was in her thirties, plain-faced, but had an intelligent look about her dark eyes.

"Miss, erm…"

"Lei," the woman replied. "The young Master and Mistress call me Ah-lei."

Bloody oath, the woman even has a pet name, Gwen thought to herself.

"Sorry for intruding." Gwen collected her feelings, then dipped her head apologetically. "I am Gwen Song, by the way, Mayuree's friend and classmate."

Lei bowed deeply, arching her back until she was doubled over like a jackknife. "Please take care of the young Miss!"

"I will. I'll do my best." Gwen gingerly sidestepped and allowed the woman to pass, berating herself for violating what little privacy the woman enjoyed.

With the small, inconsequential episode over, Gwen settled down at the open kitchen overlooking the campus for breakfast with the siblings.

Mayuree remained on edge, sitting with Gwen and Petra rather than her brother, while Marong engaged his favourite thing in the world—chain-smoking.

Marong watched them like a film noir villain as the girl ate their breakfast. He pulled out a cigarette and lit the tip with a snap of his finger, then puffed away, surrounding himself in a circle of smoke that thankfully never quite reached across the table, mystically constrained by an invisible force.

"Impressive." Petra pushed her plate away and levelled her eyes at Marong. "I assume that's a Smoke Mephit. I think I have heard of you. The infamous Poof and Puff of Peking fame, right? What are you doing here in Fudan?"

"PUFFT!"

The hot milk raided Gwen's sinus as she choked on her flat white. Lei quickly brought her a towel, which she used to drain the coffee from her nose.

"Petra!" she scolded her straight-talking cousin. She knew Petra had no chill, but this ignorant, repulsive display was too much even for Gwen. The Russians were famous homophobes in her old world, to think this world was no different. "That's horrible; you can't… you can't call people the P-word in polite conversation!"

She turned to Marong.

"Sorry, Marong, Petra didn't mean it. We have nothing against that sort of thing. Free love for all! I am not at all opposed to it—"

Petra turned to look at her flustered cousin with incomprehension.

Marong followed Gwen's gaze until his eyes fell on his cigarette.

"This? I started when I was 14." The Smoke Mage crossed his legs cooly, taking a luxurious drag, twirling the fag across his lips. "No, I don't mind the moniker. That's what they call me."

"That's horrible!" Gwen felt the utmost sympathy for the poor man. Lineage might be paramount to a Mage's household, but to think they would discriminate so openly.

"What's wrong with Puff?" Petra said the P world out loud again, apparently missing the point.

Marong exhaled. Smoke coiled around his torso, then formed into the likeness of a vaguely humanoid Sprite. It was an impish-looking thing, resembling a skeletal goblin with wings.

"This is Poof," Marong introduced his spirit. "He's not very friendly; we can dispense with the pleasantries. I am not a Conjurer, so I am afraid you can't interact with it. Besides, Smoke Mephits are infamously skittish."

PUFF. Gwen felt her cheeks go crimson. She cursed her ears, or perhaps her Translation Ioun Stone, or both. Puff as in parfait, not as in Queen. Poof as in vanish, like smoke.

"Brother is number three in the family," Mayuree explained, seeing Gwen's inability to follow Marong and Petra's conversation. "He was on the Peking Inter-University Team in 98."

"Oh?! Do tell." Gwen turned to the man with renewed interest. "There's more than meets the eye!"

"We lost." Marong shrugged. "I didn't have Poof with me then, so only half the moniker stood back then."

He tapped his cigarette.

"We could speak some more if you like. Over dinner, perhaps-"

"Gwen needs to study," Petra interjected, her voice cutting the dialogue like a keen scimitar. Gwen swore she could see the glass table vibrate to the pitch of Petra's protest.

"On that note, we better go," Gwen advised the siblings. "I have lessons with Magister Wen."

"I'll see you out." Mayuree quickly left the table to accompany the two girls.

Petra and Marong exchanged another glance, her Husky-blue eyes meeting a haze of distinct smoke that masked his face behind blue tendrils.

"If you're wondering still. We're busy. Always busy." Petra announced each syllable audibly, stressing her vowels.

"Of course. Nothing would please me more." Marong crushed the cigarette in his hand and reached for his coffee. "Good luck."

Gwen's' tuition under Petra continued for another fortnight. Gwen self-studied in the lab during the morning, receiving lessons from Magister Wen or Petra alternatively during the week, then participated in a minimum of two sessions of data-gathering and fact-finding.

With a growing sense of foreshadowing, Gwen shuddered as the immense feeling of satiation gained from using Caliban's Consume did not fade nor falter with repetition. Each time, the experience was as vivid as the first, though Gwen was beginning to differentiate the different creatures fed to it by Magus Kumiko. Magical Beasts of the mammalian kind provided a sort of fuzzy satisfaction akin to being bathed in a hot spring. Comparatively, insectile creatures possessed a bitter aftertaste. At any rate, the sustained euphoria lasted for a few hours, easing her casting of additional Void Spells.

The inquisitive foursome also found that consistent use of Consume every few days kept Gwen's vitality and health well balanced. Combined with the nourishing effect of Almudj's druidic Essence, her eyes remained bright, her complexion smooth, and her limbs shapely and supple, all despite the taxing use of Void.

Gwen soon felt herself at peak physical fitness, despite only engaging in a nightly jog with Petra around the safety of the B1 compound.

As a result, Magister Wen grew immensely pleased that Gwen could now sustain her health and noted it down as a milestone victory for Gwen's development as a viable Void Mage.

When the weekend came, Gwen invited her babulya over to the new apartment to show off her new life and ease Klavdiya's worries.

"Feeding Caliban Magical Creatures might not be a long-term solution, but it's a decent crutch, for now," her babulya comforted Gwen. "Remember, as your affinity grows, so will your efficiency in converting vitality and mana into Void spells. Maybe one day, you will find that lesser spells would cost little to no vitality."

Gwen was inclined to agree. Elizabeth Sobel seemed to rip through mid to high tier spells unceasingly without even breaking a sweat. Even now, her maximum allowance was five tier-4 Incantations within five seconds of one another.

"Which means I need to seek out Void-beings attuned to the element and try to have Caliban Consume it." Gwen followed her babulya's line of logic. "Not sure where there'll be Void-spawn, though. I think the centipede that Caliban ran into had a smidgeon of Negative energy; it was a carrion eater for sure. They're awfully rare unless we're talking about the Undead."

"No, stay away from anything involving the Negative Plane." Klavdiya's tone was firm. "Even if you should survive it without incident, the PLA would not take it kindly. The Undead up north and to the West remain the greatest threat to the State, and the PLA Tower would hardly be expected to sit on its hands if it turns out you can tap into the Plane of Negative Energy."

"But..."

"Gwen, I know Void is a rare element, and its nature is not conducive to simply 'exist' somewhere, that's true," her babulya noted sagaciously. "But that is why you need to go and adventure, see the world. When the Semester begins, go check in with the Tower—see if there is any information on whereabouts where Void-creatures manifest. That would be your best bet."

"Okay," Gwen agreed.

"Remember, NO UNDEAD. Without the forbidden art of Necromancy, you would likely deteriorate as soon as the element floods your body," Klavdiya continued. "It is, after all, the antithesis of life. It's a miracle in itself that the Void appears to have a non-lethal impact on your health. Guo's family trait with Salt was a talent tempered by centuries of natural selection, but you? You're special, which means you are also an anomaly."

"Does Shanghai have Void Mages?" Gwen asked.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Yes, now and then. However, none survived more than a few years past their Awakening, which is why to the CCP, your worth isn't enough for them to start pulling whiskers from the Pudong Tower. However, for Fudan, on the study of Spellcraft—the data we glean from your experiences might mean the survival of future Void Mages. Your milestones would one day be their touchstones, do you understand?"

Gwen nodded solemnly. She hadn't thought of that before. She was the guinea pig, and after her, the next generation would be the benefactors.

Shanghai.

The Hongqiao District.

After much internal debate, Gwen resolved to finally put a full stop to a matter that nagged her incessantly since Percy arrived in Shanghai.

Her mother.

Helena was a loose end she wanted to resolve, at least for now.

From babulya, she had received the address for her mother's new abode, a Mage-only gated community just on the south side of Shanghai, nearing the scenic region of the Hongqiao district, past the Third Orbital Highway.

Petra had wanted to go with her, but she was preoccupied with an errand from Magister Wen. Richard was also in Suzhou, where he was heavily involved in the waterworks operation that dominated the Civilian news cycle. To her knowledge, the Water Conjurer had only returned home to sup with Gwen once this week, promising that things would settle into a more reasonable pattern once the Semester started. Even for a man as talented as her cousin, Richard's expression looked wane, though he did appear otherwise happy and fulfilled.

In the end, it was Mayuree of all people who accompanied her, tempting Gwen to finally agree after she offered the loan of her private chauffeur and the comfort of a massive Maybach-type sedan whose interior looked as though a dozen Aurochs were sacrificed for upholstery.

Gwen had to admit there was vanity powering her decision as well. She wanted to show her mother her success since their separation. It would be a cathartic experience, something Gwen owed to the old Gwen. It would be a cleansing, a scouring of the past so she can move forward without baggage.

When the land yacht pulled into the driveway of the compound, it received the reception Gwen intended to elicit.

The Hu Clan was well-to-do, but they were baitfish to the House of M or a famous winery to Monsanto. The Hu family mainly dealt with military contracts and mass fabrication in Shanghai. In contrast, Mayuree's people traded rare and unusual magical goods from Europe to China to Australia.

When Gwen extended her deliberately exposed legs from the back seat, her handheld by the impeccable chauffeur, she once more applauded the calculated genius of her bringing Mayuree. It wasn't so much that the Hu family marvelled at the car—it was the embossed, stylised M discretely mounded into the bonnet and the side carriage.

Having a girlfriend accompany her also sent a good signal. With Mayuree's demure, adherent body language, it was clear that Gwen was a close acquaintance of the auspicious merchant house, an ally; not something that would send tongues wagging, like the lover of a young Master.

Her mother wasn't among those who greeted her, but her stepfather was.

Tang looked older, far more than he did in Sydney. Where the man had reminded Gwen of a Chinese Clint Eastwood, he had grown visibly frailer after the loss of his assets in Sydney. Once, the man had been proud and outspoken; now, he just seemed tired. If Tang had lost his position in the Hu Clan, Gwen realised with ambivalence; it also meant her mother was in misery.

Inexplicably, Gwen regretted her choice of battle dress.

To mock Helena, she wore an elegant, twist-dyed split-thigh maxi in cobalt, obsidian and emerald that emphasised her eyes while baring her shoulders and showing off her collarbones.

She had chosen the look after consulting with her Fu-er-dai cousin, the richly equipped Mina, who had assured her that she looked the very picture of a Covergirl on the upper crust fashion magazines.

But there was no turning back now.

It wasn't as though she could apologise and return in sweatpants and tracks to attempt a more homely encounter.

Fawned over by the Hu's family members, Gwen and Mayuree entered the manor's foyers, moving toward the East Wing, where the side-branch of the family resided in their temporary residence.

She found her mother waiting for her in an open living room overlooking a small garden. French windows filled the room with light, but the ambient glimmer against her mother's silhouette only made the woman feel less significant against the opulent vista.

Helena had gotten her desire, Gwen told herself. She was in a tier 1 city now, but what did that mean? What did her mother gain by it?

"Gwen," Helena spoke softly. "You're here."

She could read the paralytic ambivalence in her mother's body language. Her mother's vibrancy seemed to have become muted, her vivacious fire doused by living under the roof of a family far more auspicious, wealthy, and powerful than her own. Gwen knew her mother. Helena loved, craved, thrived and nourished herself on drama, but what dramatics dared she engender under the roof of the Hu's main house?

Two pairs of brilliant irises, near-identical in their hue and complexity of colour to hers, met Gwen across the open space.

"How old do I look?" Helen's voice could barely contain the simmering emotions within. "I know. I know. You must be laughing. You and Percy both."

Watching her mother's face run through changing shades of complexion, Gwen search her chest for a feeling of satisfaction, only to find sorrow.

She felt instead the guilt one felt when stepping on an injured animal. The immoderate makeup, the overdone hair, the dress that attended Gwen's figure like a cascade of colour; all of it now seemed childish and vindictive.

"Mother." Gwen curtsied. "Are you well?"

"I am well." Helena's lips curled, but it didn't take a Mind Mage to guess that her smile did not reach her eyes.

Mayuree introduced herself, and Helena dipped her head.

The three then stood in silence, Gwen waiting for Helena to speak and Helena for her to begin, with Mayuree enduring the agonising standoff while holding her breath.

Somewhere outside, there was also the Hu family, probably wondering why the room was entirely silent.

"I have a Scholarship to Fudan," Gwen said at last. She was here. She may as well deliver her lines.

"That's nice," Helena spoke, but Gwen could detect her mother's breath quickening, seeing the small vein below her mother's jaw throb with an invigorated cadence.

"I have also left the House of Song," Gwen said without any particular emotion. "Grandfather asked me to forfeit any right to inherit to make way for Percy. I gave Percy the Kirin Amulet, a Song heirloom that Dad gave me."

Helena's eyes lingered on her daughter in disbelief, then considerably softened.

"I then told them that I am cutting off all ties to the Song's inheritance. I said that I would do nothing to interfere and that they should expect nothing from me in the future."

Helena's eyes grew downcast.

"I am my own woman now, Mother. I am just me. Gwen. I belong to myself."

Helena moved her mouth a few times to speak without success. Watching her face, Gwen could almost read Helena's thoughts. Regret? Shame? Helena was likely thinking of a life without Hai or one where she had held onto the man. Her mother had always been beautiful, more so than Gwen herself for her passion and heat. Did her mother also have aspirations? Ambitions?

All Gwen could see now was a woman wallowing in regret.

But that was the choice her mother made.

It was her choice to abandon them.

She chose Tang Hu, an admirer she knew from the past. A man of the moment. A man who now possessed the things she desired. A man who spoke softly to her and cared for her.

Would Helena even know what it meant to be "her own woman?"

Her mother had never been her own woman.

She was her father's daughter. She was the perfect girlfriend. She was Morye's wife and now Hu's.

How could the summer insect know of the winter's furious rages?

As Gwen studied her mother, Helena remained silent, watching, observing her, her mind drifting off to Gwen knows where.

So Gwen chose to speak.

Slowly, meticulously, Gwen told the tale of her life since her kidnapping from Singapore.

"… Singapore had a few close calls…"

"… I had no choice but to help out cousin Tao. He's a strange young man, but I think he grows on you after a while…"

"…Babulya, that's my grandmother, took me to the Second PLA Hospital…"

"… We managed to pull through with enough CCs to win the bonus…"

"… That was when I knew that I had gotten the Scholarship, but unfortunately, Grandfather became suspicious that I was after the inheritance, that I would make Percy look bad…"

Her mother wasn't listening.

Gwen signed, then reached into her Storage Ring.

Helena peered up at Gwen with a dazed expression.

"Here, Mother. It's for you. A token of appreciation for Gwen Song's childhood. For whatever happy memories you did leave her, limited they may be."

Her mother woke with a start, confused as to why Gwen spoke of herself in the third person. She looked up at her daughter, but her gaze became drawn to the item left on the table.

A sudden luminance overtook the ambient light of the room.

A crystalline cube with an attached note.

A piece of fruit with white-jade flesh quivered.

"Goodbye, mother. I've left instructions on top."

And with her last words, Gwen Song, the fruit of Helena's ten months of labour, was free.

"Why?" Mayuree asked once they returned to the car.

"I owe her," Gwen replied.

"Because she's your mother?" Mayuree appeared immensely confused by it all.

"Because she is my mother." Gwen nodded. "Now we are in the clear, in so far as I am concerned. That fruit should be good for a decade at least, right?"

"You needed that fruit, didn't you?" Mayuree reminded Gwen that she needed the Vitae Fruit to supplement the growth of her emerald mana.

"You told me there were diminishing returns, and I've already had two," Gwen returned Mayuree's question with a statement of her own.

"I also said I'd find you an Alchemist-Enchanter."

"It's just as well then that I've got one left," Gwen assured her companion. "It'll do."

"So… that's it?" Mayuree's expression was equal parts awe and confusion.

"You think that I am cold, right? Mia?" Gwen tilted her head toward Mayuree inquisitively.

The diminutive Diviner inclined her head ever so slightly. "I won't judge..."

"Would you believe me if I told you that I barely know the woman? That she's my mother only in a biological sense? That I feel no more connection to her than a character of fiction? That all that tethered me to her was a sentiment that had long since waned?"

Mayuree shook her head.

"That's alright." Gwen reached over and pinched her friend's cheeks, still adorably adorned with baby fat.

Mayuree allowed her the pleasure, playing out her worth as Gwen's stress ball.

Retracting her hands, Gwen leaned back into the thick leather of the ultra-luxury saloon and closed her eyes, hiding her face from her companion.

Bloody hell. Gwen realised she should have used waterproof liners.

"Mia?"

"Yes, Gwen?"

"Wake me when we're home."


A few more days of tuition and exhaustive data gathering came and went like the weather.

While Gwen helped with cleaning, Richard returned from his extended outing looking like he had gone through all kinds of muck and hell, smelling as though he'd lived the last two weeks in the belly of a whale.

"I really should have borrowed those cleansing Glyph-cubes from you," Richard joked as he opened the door to his apartment and stripped off his shirt to reveal a torso sinuous with toned musculature. Her cousin was not a stocky man, but definition made his long-limbed body pleasing to the eye.

He filled the tub with water and dropped a pile of clothes into the soapy mess.

"Oh?" Gwen couldn't help but notice the upgrade. "A Medium Ring of Storage? Congratulations!"

"This thing?" Richard waved his hand. "It's a small-medium, just a cubic meter, nothing like yours. I won it in a duel, ha. Fair and square."

"Did you guys manage to finish the foundation for the Nantong Suspension Bridge?"

"Naw, it's gonna take a while." Richard shrugged. "Got some Fresh Water Mermen that are set up near there. They keep attacking the crew. PLA wants to hammer out an agreement or send in a Purge team from the Nantong base. So it's going to take a week or so. I am back here until it's sorted out. Come on! We're going to start university! I need to see the Course Advisor first, though. How are you doing in that regard?"

"Petra's taking care of it," Gwen smirked. "She's taken over as my mother and mentor."

"She's a top gal." Richard nodded approvingly. He then covered his waist. "Do you mind? No free shows."

"Whoops, sorry." Gwen turned her back toward Richard and walked into the living room.

Richard emerged ten minutes later, scrubbed to within an inch of his life.

"I am reborn," he moaned with relief.

He flung himself into the double-couch on which Gwen sat, sending her almost bouncing off the other end. It was an old couch made by a master artisan, and the cushions were a little too enthusiastic in evoking Magi Newton's laws.

Catching herself on the armrest, Gwen pulled her shins under her buttocks to keep her feet warm; Richard laid his head against the worn headrest and rested his eyes while Gwen continued her tale.

"... And apart from Mia and Marong, the other day I went and made a clean break with mother. I spoke about our experiences, watched her stunned response to everything I said, and then I gave her a Vitae Fruit and…"

"Richard?"

Gwen looked over at her companion.

Richard was fast asleep.

Gwen chuckled.

Feeling maternal, she pulled herself carefully from the couch, leaned over, and kissed her cousin on the forehead. She then found a blanket and placed it over his chest and shoulders. The Shanghai spring was yet to pass, but the night air had begun to cling as the monsoonal moisture rose toward a wet summer.

She had two tests tomorrow: one academic, the other for academia, heralds for the beginning of her tertiary education.

Friday night.

"Where are we going?" Gwen asked Petra when she emerged from her bedroom. She had never seen Petra dress up so lavishly in the months they had been together. Her tutor, companion and cousin had on a little blue dress, and by God, she was magnificent! Petra even had lipstick on, a deep scarlet resembling two bold, bloody petals.

"I thought I told you; we're going to Mina's Karaoke Party at M on the Bund."

Before Gwen could continue her appreciation of Petra's limited time non-work outfit, her cousin pushed Gwen into her room, where a dress shimmered on the bed.

"What is this?!" Gwen took the dress from her bed quizzically. It was beautiful, the fabric as soft as flowing water. At first, she had thought the garment a simple one, but once she had it in her hands, she realised that it was backless down to her mid-torso, tied together with a pink bow.

Her eyes glanced at the label.

"A Miu Miu!?" Gwen gasped, looking toward Petra with incomprehension. The Miu Miu wasn't a gift from her mother, undoubtedly. Who else would buy her frivolously expensive couture? Not her father and certainly not babulya. It can't be Petra, nor Richard.

"Just put it on. We're going to be late!"

"But…" But the dress could pay for three months rent.

"Just do it already!"

Perhaps more frightening than not, the dress fit perfectly well. The hem reached just past an acceptable line of modesty, meaning whoever ordered the dress either had supernatural powers of Divination—or access to biometric data.

Petra tied the bow for her and left two pink streamers reaching just past her shoulder blades.

Gwen found a pair of white pumps to match the dress, then quickly made up her face.

Outside B1, Mayuree's chauffeur was waiting with the Maybach.

"Young Misses, the Mistress is waiting at the M already."

Petra shuffled into the rear seat and pulled Gwen in with her.

Gwen entered the car, trying to figure out her mysterious benefactor. Tao? That would be unlikely as well. Mina would have gotten her something that sparkled.

"So, who-"

"Enjoy the mystery! Just go with the flow." Petra quipped, not letting a single slip of information past her lips.

Watching Petra's face hiding her secret joy, it wasn't hard for Gwen to piece two-and-two together. She was a busy woman, but she was also highly perceptive.

It was May.

It was 2003.

And that meant she was going to be seventeen.

Seventeen!

By the Gods! She felt young and old simultaneously.

Once she realised the date, Petra's rare attire, the Karaoke Party Mina arranged spontaneously, the expensive dress on her bed... it all added up.

All she could now was relax—then pretend to be at least a little bit surprised.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"Ghetto Platinum! Barely Legal!" Naturally, Tao did his best.

A cacophony of voices exploded as Gwen entered the interior of the privately booked function room at M on the Bund. Confetti, balloons, and illusion-based projections filled the room as greetings showered her from head to toe.

"Oh my God! You guys shouldn't have!" Gwen did her best to feign her surprise. Thankfully, there was no need to falsify the happiness gushing from her in torrents of bell-like laughter.

Mayuree was there, as expected.

Richard, too.

Petra, of course.

A jubilant Tao.

Mina clapped her hands adorably, standing next to Mayuree.

And Marong? Unexpected, but Gwen could see why he wanted to tag along. The man's eyes studied her like a smiling hawk. She still wasn't sure what Marong wanted from her or Petra. Maybe he wanted what all men wanted, though Gwen had a feeling Mia's eyeliner loving brother's interest might veer toward the academic or business.

Her eyes scanned the rest of the suite.

Babulya wasn't here.

Nor her father.

No uncle Jun.

Naturally, no Percy, but that came as no surprise.

There wasn't nearly enough family, but it was enough. A boon of having an older mind was knowing enough to know that other people had their circumstances. As a poet once said, time made it easier to be wise.

"Babulya sends her regards." Mina caught Gwen's flash of disappointment and immediately moved to clarify their grandmother's intentions. "And gave me a gift to give to you!"

"I appreciate it very much." Gwen gave her cousin a wholesome hug, feeling the relief from her cousin. "I'll thank her personally later."

The private function room was a VIP section of the M on the Bund's restaurant, which embedded karaoke facilities into the announcement system. Some enterprising Magitech-Illusionists had then managed to interface a large-scale Vid-Cast crystal into the wall so that one side of the room functioned almost like a cinema.

"Feel—your body close to mine—" Tao was, incredibly, not only capable of singing regular songs but had an incredible voice to go with it.

The problem was that Gwen knew none of the songs, even if they sounded vaguely familiar. She could follow the tune in her memory, but the dissonance between the melody of her old world and the new meant it was impossible to predict the following note. Fumbling with the words and halting with the cadence of her voice, Gwen did her best as her companions agonisingly endured her lacklustre sing-along with grimacing faces. The sonorous torture resulted in a new understanding; or misunderstanding: their very talented cousin couldn't sing for shit.

Thankfully, the aural assault lasted only a dozen tunes.

When the cake wheeled into the room was enormous, Gwen could only marvel at its likeness of a life-like lotus in green and pink, with an exterior that resembled jade.

Gwen marvelled at the spectacle. "That's a cake?!"

"It's a Seven-Fold Jade Lotus from Taihu, the lake in Suzhou," Richard clarified for her. He had come to know many bodies of water surrounding Shanghai thanks to his labours. "Also, your singing is worse than your Flashbangs! Hahaha! You should open up a duel with a tune."

"Richard!" The girls chided.

"Hear hear!" Marong was the one man brave enough to back up Richard's assertion.

"Haha—" Tao bit his tongue when Petra turned her gaze upon him.

"That's my gift to you," Mayuree proudly presented herself. "Of course, we're all going to partake in it, but I got it especially for you! Make sure you eat the lotus heart at the centre. It'll help your emerald mana!"

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Mayuree then lit the top of the lotus, and the whole platform began to rotate slowly. One by one, the petals caught the Illusory flame, then the lotus 'bloomed' as the thread which held it taut unfolded, becoming a fuchsia-pink wonder. A delicious, sinus-clearing fragrance then spread throughout the room, clearing their alcohol befuddled minds.

Unable to contain her giddiness, Mayuree urged Gwen to blow out the candle.

"I wish that we can remain friends and family forever, and I wish for all of our good fortunes!" Gwen spoke aloud as she blew out the flames. Of course, such cringy confessions were the etiquette, but she could see that all of her companions returned her boast with fulfilled smiles.

Mayuree then retrieved a ball of pink-green petals from the lotus' centre, a cluster of buds not yet bloomed.

"Here, the heart." Mayuree had an expectant grin split from ear to ear as she presented her birthday gift to the woman who may yet one day save her life, directly or indirectly. "To your health."

Gwen took the Lotus-Heart from the girl's tiny hands and placed it to her lips.

"One gulp~" Petra advised. "Don't chew it. That's the best way to consume mystic flora."

Taking her cousin's earnest advice, Gwen tried cramming the fist-sized ball of petals into her mouth. Thankfully, the leaves were soft and pliable, filled with water and capable of compression.

"Mmmph- it's bigger than I thought, I can barely fit—"

She met Tao's degenerate expression.

"Ghurrghk... God damn it, Peaches..."

Gwen coughed and choked.

The girls laughed and chuckled as Gwen crushed the lotus between her teeth, massaging her chest a few times to ease the passage. As the magical flora dissolved, Gwen felt a burst of vital energy passing through her chest and into her abdomen, warming her instantly as though she'd just been through a sauna. A sheen of sweat broke out over her forehead, her arms and her legs, beading across her exposed back. When she straightened once more, all of her fatigue fell away.

Within her body, Almudj's essence rejoiced at the boon of primal energy, growing wildly as the motes multiplied, becoming more robust and invigorated.

When finally her body digested the boon of the lotus, her skin positively glowed. It was an effect that should come as no surprise, for the lotus was the essence of renewal, the heart of rebirth. For a transcendent moment, Gwen seemed to her companions beautiful beyond compare.

Marong had initially questioned whether it was worthwhile importing the girl a dress. Now, he had no doubt the investment was worth every HDM.

"Oh— you look amazing, Petra! Marry me!" Mayuree exclaimed, her eyes aglow.

"Your skin is glowing too! How's mine?" Mina ran a few fingers up Petra's shoulder. Petra sternly slapped the girl's daring fingers, soliciting a sharp squeak from the petite cousin.

Marong did regret the two thousand or so HDMs Mayuree had burned for the occasion, though he had to admit the infectious joy of the girls did make the cost easier to swallow.

Still, he wondered about his sister's design on her "benefactor". The amount Mia had spent amounted to a quarter of her training stipend. Was the Void Sorceress worth such an investment? To his knowledge, these were non-contractual gifts, merely goodwill and likely a waste of time.

Whatever his doubts, it was undoubtedly a challenge to keep his mind in focus when the plush velvet matched the girl's porcelain skin so astoundingly well.

When finally his eyes left the girl, he noticed that he wasn't the only one doing the watching.

Richard Huang, a close cousin to the girl, grinned at him.

He grinned back.

I am watching you, Richard's eyes said.

Good. Marong replied with a wink.

They smiled once more at one another.

There we go, Marong thought pleasantly.

For men of virtue, friendships are both immediate and uncomplicated.

"Lea!"

Richard's Spirit materialised, then squealed in delight as Mayuree passed the humanoid Spirit a petal too. To Gwen's surprise, the entire mass of the lotus was more than enough to feed a dozen people, much less a group of teenagers, meaning not only were there enough for everyone; Petra could even crystalise leftovers for babulya.

With the cake finished, it was time for gift giving.

The groups sat around the U-shaped couch built around the wall, with Gwen seated on an ottoman in the room's centre.

"The Lotus is from Mia, of course, and you're wearing my gift already," Marong declared. "I must say, it suits you perfectly, Miss Gwen. It was well worth the HDMs."

Gwen had suspected as much, for Marong had been admiring her all evening. She smiled at Smoke Mage nervously, allowing Marong the privilege of appreciating his gift a bit more.

"Thank you so much, Mia. Marong too, such a thoughtful present. And Mia, your gift is too rare and too thoughtful."

"It's a trifle," Marong answered for his sister, crossed his legs, then gave her a look of complete approval. "The House of M is at your service."

Mayuree huffed and blocked Gwen from her brother's sight with her petite frame. "Marong! Stop looking! Gwen's MY friend."

"A good sibling always shares," Marong said.

The room laughed at the infuriated Mayuree's expense.

"This is from Babulya." Mina opened a small trinket box and retrieved what looked like another Ioun Stone. "This is a Stone of Clarified Thoughts. It'll help you concentrate and think, as well as improve your memory retention."

"How lovely!" Gwen took the box and pressed it to her bosom. "I'll be sure to thank her as soon as I am able!"

"This is from your father and Uncle Jun." Mina produced another package from her Storage Ring. "Uncle Jun provided the HDMs; your father picked the gift."

Gwen pulled open the packet, revealing an intricate pink box.

She opened the box. and saw the offending item.

She snapped the box close.

"What is it?" Petra leaned over.

Gwen's face grew as pink as the box's salmon exterior.

Mina caught the label on the box.

"Ooo," her cousin cooed. "I got a pair of those too."

Petra lifted the lid slightly, then slowly closed the lid before informing Gwen of her opinion that "Uncle Song is a strange but very thoughtful father."

"Ah— you got a pair of THOSE." Richard recognised the box as well. "I've got several pairs myself, for men of course, and in briefs. Let me say that when you're adventuring in the wild, surrounded by God knows what, the last thing you want to do is to leave your party and find a place to have a good squat. Hell, I know of a place in Malaysia where there are larval parasites in the river that can crawl—"

Richard wiggled his brows.

"Where do they crawl into?" Tao pursued the subject. "Come on, dawg, don't leave me hanging."

Now scarlet, Gwen's stowed the box in her Ring.

"Tell Dad thanks," she quickly asked Mina to move on. "Thanks for the heads up, Richard."

"WHERE?" Tao insisted. "Like, up yer—"

"NO!" Mina pulled her brother aside. "Tao. Shut it!"

"Gwen," Marong quipped, "As a soon-to-be goddess of Fudan campus, that thing is going to be indispensable to your image."

"Why?" Gwen asked quizzically. Did Fudan lack facilities?

"Well." Richard burst into laughter. "I'd imagine that when we're out on Quests and Field Duties, no one would like to find their Goddess having a squ-"

"Richard!"

"NO!"

"I mean, there're parasites that—"

"WHERE?!" Tao pulled at his hair. "Like—"

"OKAY! THANK YOU!" Gwen waved them both away. God, these immature men were worse than children. Still, Goddess of the University? That sounded nice. There were plenty of pretty girls in university, though, and she likely had no time for a popularity contest.

"This is from me." Petra materialised a gift 'box' as well.

"Pats! You shouldn't have. You're helping me so much already!"

"Nonsense, here it is." Petra pushed a crystalline cube into Gwen's hands.

"A Spell-Cube?"

"Yes," Petra announced proudly. "It is from Master and me. We paid a special visit to the Tower and met with Chief Apothecary Dao of Pudong."

"This is…"

"A Regeneration spell of the seventh tier, the activation trigger is with me. I'll tell you later," Petra continued proudly. "Even though it'll only keep for two months without my or Master's mending, it will mend your flesh, restore your health, even attach lost limbs. Its duration is unknown but, I would suggest two hours minimum."

"A second life!" Gwen gushed and embraced her cousin. "Thank you so much, Petra. Master Wen too. Your present is beyond precious. You must have spent CCs on this! Pats! I ever so grateful!"

"I am happy you like it." Petra hugged Gwen back.

The others appeared equally impressed. There were no more than a dozen Magister-healers in the city and only two who were tier 8 in their attainment of Clerical spells. Likewise, Magister Dao was as famous for his healing as his aloofness, meaning the cost in favours may well have exceeded something which could be accumulated, like CCs.

"Alright, now for our gift," Mina announced after Gwen separated from Petra.

Herself, Richard and Tao walked beside a table covered with a dark cloth.

Richard coaxed Lea into some hidden contraption behind the table.

Tao began to incant his Illusory projection spells, filling the surrounding space with delicate notes of pale luminance.

Mina fiddled with a device for several moments.

"Gwen, are you ready?"

Gwen nodded. What could it be? She wondered. What's with all the fiddling and the secrecy? Was it a puppy or a kitten? Maybe a young Magical Beast? No, that would be absurd. She had two familiars already.

"Here we go!" Mina manipulated a button, and there was a thrum of mana.

The black cloth fell away.

A petite Asian girl about the height of Gwen's shoulder was standing before them. She had large, luminous brown eyes and prominent lashes that gave her a wilful demeanour, punctuated by an aggressive mouth. When Gwen's eyes fell lower, she had full confirmation of who she now faced.

"YUE!" Gwen choked. "OH MY GOD, YUE!"

She rushed forward to embrace her friend, still reeling from the fact that Yue was here. HERE! In Shanghai! What a gift this was! WHAT A GIFT!

"Gwen…" Yue began to move.

Gwen crashed into her friend, fully expecting to be cushioned by surplus flesh; instead, Yue burst into a pool of water that drenched Gwen from head to toe.

"Eeeek!" Lea quickly renewed the illusion.

"I am not here, Gwen," Yue laughed at her bedraggled friend, who by now had water streaming down her dress and her face. "I am being projected via the LR COM Device onto Lea in real-time."

Gwen paused her rollercoaster of emotions and oriented her mental bearings.

Tao provided the Illusion.

Mina provided the loaned LRC Device.

Richard provided the medium for projecting Yue.

The trio managed to synthesise a combination of Magi-tech and Spellcraft that simulated a real 'Yue' which Gwen could touch and feel, albeit not embrace violently nor pash lovingly. How long had they spent on this project? The undertaking must have taken weeks!

"Oh, you guys!" Gwen felt unspeakable joy filling her heart. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

The merry trio took their seats.

'Yue' joined the party, and the music once again blared.

"Yep, Evee's gone on her merry way," Yue informed Gwen after the others left them some room for privacy. "I am training hard enough to spew blood every other night, haha. Alesia's pushing me pretty hard. I am dog-tired every night, I tell ya."

"God, I wish you were here," Gwen said.

"You think I don't?" Yue chuckled. "Wait for me; I'll come and show all your tier 1 upstarts what a real Fire Mage looks like."

"I eagerly await the day."

Once they caught up, Yue asked Gwen for the latest news, and Gwen unreservedly told Yue of what had transpired.

"Seriously, fuck that old Chink." Yue huffed. "Asians can be so idiotic."

"Yue, you're Chinese too." Gwen couldn't help but smile. "I've got Babulya on my side, though."

"AND I want to beat the shit out of your useless brother." Yue kept ongoing. "Why does he even need pubeS? He should go back to suckling on his mother's tits."

"Alright, alright." Gwen had to calm her down. "Jesus, your mouth is as foul as ever."

"Doing work with the military. Broke the two thousand Mark just the other week," Yue boasted. "They're calling me after Master, ha! Imagine that."

"Amazing!" Gwen marvelled. "Mermen plaguing the city still?"

"Yep." Yue shrugged. "Although I wish there were something more significant to hunt other than stragglers in sewers. The crabs are pretty good, especially the big bastards. Tastes divine with some soy sauce."

Ah, Frontier field cuisine, how I missed thee. Gwen allowed herself to indulge in the scene of Yue chewing on a crab leg after a few well-placed Walls of Fire. Yue then told Gwen that her Opa missed her terribly but was otherwise doing well.

"I'll try to contact him when my LRC gets installed," Gwen told Yue. "Maybe a month or so at the longest. I can't wait to see Evee as well. How was it when she left?"

"Tears, lots of tears, but she looked cute crying too, makes you wanna— Haha." Yue chuckled sadistically. "She kept saying your name as well. I guess she's expecting you to call her soon."

"I'll try my best."

"Yep, Master says she's already moved into a dorm in London, near the Cambridge campus. She got a contact there to help Elvia set up. She's sharing a room with some other Cleric studying at Nightingale College. I don't know the details yet, but you can speak to herself soon."

"I will, thanks, Yue. I look—" Before she could finish, the illusion of Yue faded. The disappointment came so suddenly that Gwen could hardly react.

Tao's apologetic face appeared behind Lea.

"Sorry, OOM," Tao said despondently. "Never tried Greater Image for like, hours."

"Sorry from Lea too! I am tired!" Lea apologised, then returned to Richard.

"Machine's out of crystals as well." Mina tapped the LMC Device. "I've lost the feed. Did you have a good time, Gwen?"

Gwen pushed herself from the ottoman and moved to the middle of the room.

"THANK YOU! Everyone!" She announced, bowing deeply, feeling so thankful that her chest was on the verge of bursting open with happiness. "Thank you for everything!"

In less than one week, her university life would begin.

Bathed in the spotlight, Gwen felt her future seemed impossibly bright, so bright that for a split second—she couldn't help but blink.