"Now, before I leave, there is something else I want to check," Castra said.
Liam looked up. "Check what?"
Castra turned her gaze on Michael. "Michael, I want you to cast a spell. Any spell will do."
Michael opened his mouth to ask why, but Castra's glare silenced him before he could utter a word.
"You are now my apprentice, boy," she said. "You will do as I say."
Michael nodded. He focused and summoned [Thermo Domain]. The air around him shimmered as the temperature rose, a warm, comforting bubble embraced him. Castra observed Michal with a critical eye for a long while.
"I knew it," she said, after a moment. "When you synergized your spell, Liam's Magicore reacted to it. What have you two boys been doing?"
"I don't understand," Michael growled, exchanging a puzzled glance with Liam. "Stop being so cryptic and say what you mean."
Castra narrowed her eyes. "The two of you have been opening your Magicore to link, to draw power from one core to another."
"Yes," Michael said. "Liam draws power from my core to heal and help the villagers. Why is that so bad?"
Castra let out a sigh that this spoke volumes of her disappointment. "Why is it that people always stick their hands into things they don't fully understand? What you're doing isn't inherently bad, but it demands a great deal of trust and responsibility. Sharing—"
"I already know all that," Michael said with impatience. "What's your point?"
Castra's eyes flashed anger, and the air around him grew heavy, pressing on him like an enclosing wall. "My point is—if my student keeps interrupting me and shouting at me, I will have him flayed. You will be sorry to have been born."
Michael gulped. Hadn't he decided never to interrupt Castra again? How could he forget it so quickly? "I'm sorry,"
"Words are just that, words," Castra said. The thick air pressing on him vanished. "I will see if you'll behave or not."
Michael took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves.
"So what is wrong with Michael sharing his Magicore with me?" Liam said.
"The sharing part in itself isn't wrong or dangerous—even I have done it a few times when it was necessary. The problem starts when you continue to link your cores too frequently. There can be… complications."
"Complications?" Michael said.
Liam frowned. "Problem? The High Mage who taught me never mentioned anything about the problem with linking."
"That's probably because he didn't know about it," Castra said. "Or maybe he did not think it a big deal. When two people share their Magicore frequently, a bond starts to form. And once that bond begins to settle in, it's impossible to stop or break."Michael and Liam exchanged uneasy glances.
Castra continued. "Soon, you'll begin to sense each other's presence to the point where you can tell the direction of your bonded partner, even if you are hundreds of miles apart. You'll even be able to perceive what they're doing, including…" Her gaze sharpened, a mischievous glint in her eye, "...when they're being intimate with someone. Like how they—"
"OK, OK, we get it!" Liam blurted out, his face flushed with embarrassment. "You can stop now."
Michael's cheeks were burning, and he struggled to find his words. "Is there a way to… you know?" He said. How do you even say it? "... You know, to stop the other one from sensing when you are… you know…"
Castra arched an eyebrow. "Planning on having intimate relations so soon, are you? There's no need to rush, you are young yet."
Michael's face reddened further. He opened his mouth angrily, but no words came out.
Castra laughed. He had walked right into that, hadn't he? Damn woman!
"Don't worry, boy," Castra said, finally. "There are spells to block the bond temporarily. I will teach it to you when the time comes."
Despite himself, Michael let out a relieved sigh. Castra laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes.
***
Isha and Nairobi worked together, their muscles straining under the weight of a Titan Spawn carcass they hoisted between them. Their breaths came in ragged gasps as they dragged the monstrous body toward a growing mound of similar carcasses. With a sigh of relief, they added the body to the pile.The villagers around them were doing the same, creating more piles of giant roaches. There were so many dead monsters. Isha glanced around at the heaps of corpses, her mind reeling with the scale of death. Had they truly slain all of these creatures?
Bodies of monsters were valuable alchemical resources most of the time. However, Titan Spawn had little value in that regard. Oh, there were still few uses for the bodies of the Titans Spawn and villagers had decided to keep a few of them to sell to the merchants. But they could not afford store all the bodies that littered the area and they could not just leave these carcasses to rot. They had to deal with them before it brought some kind of disease or illness. There was no choice but to burn these bodies.
As if hearing her thoughts, Nairobi raised her hand and a ball of fire shot out of it. The mound of dead monsters caught fire, crackling and popping as the fire consumed the bodies. Wisps of smoke curled upward, and the smell almost made Isha gag. Almost!
The heat from the fire was incredible, and Isha instinctively took a few steps back, her face flushed from the intense warmth
"Isha?" Nairobi said, her eyes reflecting the light of the flames. "Are gods real?"
Isha turned in the direction of the Cniad-woman and frowned at her. "What kind of question is that?""I'm being serious, Isha. Are they real?"
"Of course they are real," Isha said, her frown deepening. Why was the woman asking such a question? She knew for a fact Nairobi was not a religious woman. "Of course they are real. Why else would we worship them, pray to them?"
"How can you know they are real? And don't tell me that it is faith. I want something concrete."
Isha paused, taken aback. Where was this coming from? She took a moment to consider her response. "I know gods are real because the power of the Priests comes from them. The magic they use, the holy magic comes from the gods themselves. From the god the Priest is dedicated to, I mean."
Nairobi swayed where she stood. "Are you alright?" Isha said.
"Just a little tired, I think," Nairobi said, waving away the hand Isha had reached out to grab the woman, just in case she fell over. "I think I will go and get some rest."
"I'll come with you," Isha offered, stepping forward.
"No need," Nairobi said. "I think I'll manage. Just need some time to clear my head."
And just like that, Nairobi turned and made her way back to the house the villagers had left for them.
"Nairobi, wait," Isha called. The woman did not even look back and continued on her way, muttering something about… something not being her… imagination?
"I don't understand," Isha said to the empty space where Nairobi had been. The abruptness of the conversation and Nairobi's odd reaction left her unsettled. "What just happened?"
Had Nairobi encountered a god?
Isha immediately shook that absurd thought away. Gods had better things to do than to appear before a random mortal.