Thalor dabbed his nose gently as he removed the cloth to check the bleeding. He looked a little worse for wear. "It's frustrating," he said, catching my curious look. "I can detect and defend against attacks with malicious intent, but when it comes to her…" He shot a glare toward the room where Virana and Rika was, "…there's none. She can throw everything at me without a single evil thought behind it."
So, she fed him that blisteringly hot pepper without an ounce of malice. Somehow, that made her scarier.
And it didn't take a genius to see Rika and the Azdrian siblings already knew each other. They were doing their best to pretend otherwise, but Thalor had clearly been sacrificed in the process. The least I could do was avoid asking questions—for his sake—so his suffering wouldn't be for nothing.
Changing the topic, I asked, "Where are Bom and Rem? I haven't seen them since I got back."
"Oh, they've been on some fish mission," Thalor explained, grimacing at his own dried blood. "Bom's been coming back with so much fish, Rem got curious and decided to follow him. They left a few hours ago, so they should be back soon."
My mind drifted back to Bom's mysterious source. There wasn't anywhere he could have bought all that fish, so…did he catch them? I wouldn't put it past him to go fishing in the middle of a never-ending storm. Maybe Rem would have an explanation soon.
With no immediate distractions, I found myself thinking about the events of last night. I had offered to stay awake to keep watch, but honestly, there was no chance I'd have slept anyway. Not with her sleeping beside me like that.
...I definitely didn't do anything wrong, but somehow, I feel guilty.
I shook the thought off, but my mind circled back to Rika's earlier words, the ones that hinted at a heavier burden than just losing people here in Stormfront Sea. She was blaming herself for something far deeper. I didn't know what it was, but I'd tried to ease her guilt regardless. I hoped it had helped, though I wasn't sure if she felt any better or if I had just sounded...odd.
The door slammed open, snapping me out of my thoughts. Bom entered, arms piled high with fish, and Rem was perched dazedly on his shoulder, her eyes wide and unfocused.
"Oh, you're back!" Bom greeted cheerfully. "Fish?"
I blinked, accepting one of the fish he offered. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with it, but he looked so pleased I couldn't say no.
"Rem," I began, carefully holding the fish as if it might explain itself, "please tell me you found out where he's getting all these."
She shook her head, still visibly rattled. "…You wouldn't believe it. I don't even believe it."
"What do you mean?" I asked, intrigued.
Rem turned toward me, her voice shaky. "There's…there's something in the water. Under the sea. It's so huge it could swallow this entire town… then, it just spit all thesr fish, then gone— I can't even explain it..."
Bom glanced over his shoulder at her, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "Yep. She froze up when she saw 'im, so I put her up here," he explained casually, nodding at his shoulder where Rem still sat in a daze.
I blinked, looking from him to Rem, then back to the fish in my hand, suddenly wary.
I was about to press him for more details when Virana and Rika returned from the back room. Rika looked relieved, or maybe just…lighter, somehow. As we made brief eye contact, her cheeks flushed, and she looked away quickly.
"Hey, everyone! Listen up—wait…" Virana surveyed the room, her face a picture of resigned confusion. "What is going on here?"
Bom held up a frying pan, wholly unbothered. "Fish."
"No, I mean—oh, forget it." She rolled her eyes, then gestured to Rika with a jerk of her thumb. "Anyway, she's coming with us."
"Ehm…hi?" Rika offered with an awkward wave.
It must have been a strange sight from her perspective: a dwarf at a makeshift stove, a bat-winged small girl and a bedraggled Thalor with tissues up his nose, and me, standing in the center holding a fish in my hands like it was a alien creature.
Thalor's mouth opened, but Virana quickly grabbed him by the collar, dragging him out of the room before he could say anything to blow Rika's cover. "You're coming with me."
Rem leapt up eagerly, ever the friendly one, and gave Rika a bright smile. "Hi! I'm Rem. And the guy with the fish is Bom."
Bom grinned and nodded.
Rika's expression softened as she returned Rem's greeting. "Nice to meet you, Rem. And, um…thanks for the fish, Bom." She glanced down at her own fish with a wry smile.
I don't even know when he gave her one.
As the room relaxed, I caught Rika's eye again, and for a brief moment, she looked back at me with something almost like…gratitude.
...
The fish Bom had brought, despite their odd origin, turned out to be surprisingly good, and Bom himself was an unexpectedly talented cook. We'd solved part of the mystery of where he kept finding these fish, but his explanation somehow left us with even more questions. Some kind of massive sea creature was supplying him with fish every day? And Bom acted as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
While I was away, Virana and Thalor were busy arranging for the rescued villagers to return to their homes. They returned to that and advised us to rest up. Rika had insisted on keeping her identity hidden from the townspeople and had gone to speak with Lila. Apparently, she'd promised to check in on her.
Not feeling like resting, I decided to go outside. Now, sitting atop one of the buildings, I looked out over the rain-soaked town, using a small somnium barrier to shield myself from the drizzle.
I reflected on Rika's advice about adapting my somnium abilities to use affinities beyond my natural Sun affinity. But it was easier said than done. Creating anything outside of my affinity—ice, water, air—felt clunky, and the energy required was far higher for minimal results. It made me painfully aware of how limited I was against certain threats, like the Revenant at the Fallen Worldtree. My attacks didn't just fail against its blazing core—they'd practically strengthened it. Without Bom's well-timed accidental intervention, I would've been done for.
I remembered Kran's lesson about shifting core affinity, a method that lets somnium practitioners switch elements by transforming their core's energy type. It was complex, with a massive drawback: it took at least a minute to shift for me. A minute that might as well be an eternity in a fast-moving battle. Worse, using another affinity dropped a practitioner's core level by a full rank. A true Indigo core wielder might feel like a Blue, but I… I went from near Violet to Orange, like trading a spear for a toothpick. I needed another way, but nothing was working.
"Maybe you're looking at it the wrong way." Rika's voice called out from behind.
I turned, finding her just steps away. She had come back sooner than I expected, the rain falling around her but curiously stopping inches above her head, creating a natural shield of dryness.
"You returned fast."
"Things didn't take as long as I thought," she replied, eyeing the different somnium forms floating around me—a pathetic display of orbs and sparks that looked as mismatched as they felt. "Practicing what I told you?"
"Yeah, but as you can see, it's not working."
She thought for a moment, then asked, "So, you were trained to use Sun as your main element, right? No wonder it feels natural to you."
I nodded. My entire understanding of energy manipulation had centered on what I learned from other Solunars, stories from my childhood, and what I saw and copied from Wormeater. All of it aligned with solar power.
"It's imagination," she continued. "It doesn't matter if it's technically possible—what matters is how real you can make it in your mind. Your core can only reflect what you understand."
"Great. Any tips on improving imagination?"
"There's no shortcut. But you seem to learn fast from what you experience, right? Use that. Use your memories to fuel the new forms. It could be from how someone else used somnium or even just a vivid scene you remember. The world's full of examples—you just have to pull from them."
The world was full of examples. She was right. I'd seen so much recently, almost too much to process, each experience full of sights and moments I couldn't have dreamed up alone. I focused, sorting through memories. There was one in particular…
I closed my eyes, centering myself. I could still picture it: the towering roots of the Fallen Worldtree, twisted, immense, yet stubbornly alive even a thousand years after the tree had fallen. I remembered how the somnium felt there, dense and ancient, pulsing as if carrying on the last heartbeat of the land. Holding the memory, I channeled my core, allowing its energy to flow out in the shape of those roots, their stubborn vitality becoming part of me.
I opened my eyes to see thick, vine-like tendrils spreading around me, shooting roots into the rooftop, sending plants bursting from the cracks, little flowers blooming in the night.
Rika's eyes widened, and I knew she recognized it. "…I knew you'd learn fast, but not this fast."
It was remarkable—even as I held the memory, it transformed into power that I could sense and wield. And I couldn't have understood it if I hadn't seen it. The fragment of the Worldtree's resilience, its power to keep breathing life into the earth, seemed to flow through me.
"So," I asked, pulling out a crystal shard to test my affinity. "What does the crystal say?"
She glanced at it. "Pure Indigo. It's almost equal to your original level…" A look of approval flashed in her eyes, almost hidden, as though she wasn't ready to admit it.
I let a smile tug at the corners of my mouth. The more I experienced, the more I could imagine. And if I could imagine it, there was no telling what I'd be able to accomplish.
Rika regarded me with sudden intensity. "So, who are you really? I've never seen anything like what you're doing."
"Fair question. I'll answer if you tell me how you know Virana and Thalor first."
A flash of surprise crossed her face, but she quickly masked it. I had noticed, and she knew it.
"So… you figured it out."
"I tried not to, but you all made it impossible to ignore."
She sighed and turned her gaze away. "Fine. But you're still not getting my name."
"Really?" I couldn't resist teasing her a bit. "You trusted me enough to make a plan that could've cost us our lives, then slept next to me all night, but won't trust me with your name?"
Her face flushed, and she shifted her eyes to the side. "That… that was…!"
With a small laugh, I decided to let it go, watching the tension leave her shoulders. "Do as you like, but you seem lighter now. I'm guessing you and Virana settled some things?"
She nodded. "I thought about what you said. Decided it was time to face some things I'd been running from. I didn't expect it to be this quickly, but still. So… thank you."
"I figured there was something like that," I said with a shrug. "So, are you coming with us because of that?"
"Yes. I'll return with you all to Azdria, but first, I need to find someone."
"Who are you looking for?"
Her gaze sharpened. "The Fated Sovereign."
Interesting. Then why hadn't Virana told her already?
"Does Virana know?"
"No. I kept it to myself… I guess this is my way of making things right."
I nodded. "I also confirmed you were from Azdria just now. I mean, I suspected, but now I know."
Her eyes widened as she realized her slip.
She didn't explain why she was searching for me—or for the Fated Sovereign, rather. But it didn't seem urgent, so I didn't say anything to her.
Besides, maybe a part of me enjoyed the idea of holding onto my own secret while she clung to hers.