If anything had heard him, it didn't respond. Damien didn't care. A laugh escaped his lips, and he reached out, strumming the lines of Ether like a harp. It flooded into him eagerly, awaiting his command like a trained hound.
Damien channeled the energy, forming a Gravity Sphere and tossing it across the considerably larger room. It hit the far wall. The dust covering the room whooshed through the air and condensed at the orb.
He was tugged toward it as well, but the force wasn't enough to do much more than that. He felt momentarily breathless, but the magic dispelled a moment later, leaving the dust in a large pile.
Damien let out a laugh. He formed another orb and tossed it at the ceiling at the far side of the room. He lifted into the air for a moment, then dropped back to his feet as the magical force waned.
He continued creating the Gravity Spheres, tossing them against the wall and growing closer to gauge their strength. They seemed to be mostly effective within a five-foot area around the impact zone.
Anywhere outside of that, the air was still sucked into the epicenter of the Gravity Sphere, but it did little to actually move Damien more than a foot or so.
As Damien practiced, miniscule changes happened within him. The Ether coursing through his body left minute traces behind, seeping into his muscles and veins and infusing them with energy.
The amount entering him was so small he barely noticed it. However, with every spell Damien cast, his body grew slightly stronger. In addition to growing physically tougher, the core within his chest where the Ether grew brighter.
Damien practiced for hours, not taking a single pause or break. His mind homed in on the task, and the rest of the world fell away, leaving him in a trance. Sylph peeked into the training room once or twice, but he didn't let his mind stray.
At some point, Henry darted through the shadows of the room and reentered Damien's body. Damien, who was mid-cast, allowed the spell to peter out and fade. Sweat trickled down his forehead, and a dull throbbing headache had become a new companion.
"I'm back," Henry said cheerfully. "The Void creature closest to us is still around a hundred miles away. They are not aware of our presence, and they appear to be well-sealed within a cave."
Good. Do anything else while you were gone?
"Just took a look around a small town," Henry said.
Damien suspected his companion shrugged. "Nothing too interesting."
I see.
There was a short pause as they observed each other.
Say, do you remember when I summoned you and made a mistake in the runes?
"Yes," Henry said, chuckling. "And a foolish one it was."
Right. When did you arrive? Were you aware of me before I was aware of you? Or did we see each other at the same time?
"I heard your call the moment you sent it out, but I was not present until we both saw each other," Henry said, curiosity tinging his tone. "Why do you ask?"
Damien thought as hard as he could about his new conviction of magic, forcing himself to focus on it rather than the real reason for the question.
Just curious.
"I see," Henry said, copying Damien's words from a few moments before. The creature peered at Damien from within him, a small frown crossing his face. "You're different."
I made a decision.
"I can tell," Henry said, shifting through Damien's mind like he was rummaging around in someone's musty old storeroom. "Hmm. Part of the soul I gave you has slightly escaped its bindings. That's not good."
Leave it. I think whatever that change did is helping me.
"It could have serious consequences," Henry warned.
"The memories locked up in there in addition to my own power will almost certainly change you."
Then I'll get changed. They're my memories, Henry. I don't think we should release them all at once, but they're part of me. Eventually, I think they should return to my control.
"If you insist," Henry said. "I've never actually seen what would happen to a mortal who joined with an eldritch soul, so I'm quite curious. If you start going insane, I'll do my best to seal everything away again. Just remember it's much simpler when its fresh. Once the memories return to you, they won't go as easily."
Damien just nodded.
"Your new friends are coming," Henry said. Then he chuckled. "Actually, they're waiting outside the cave. Your roommate knows they're there, but she's pretending she doesn't."
Damien chuckled. He tossed one final Gravity Sphere at the wall. He drew in a breath before it hissed to life, ripping all the dust away from Damien and the floor and condensing it into a single spot again. He exhaled as the spell faded and rolled his neck before walking back into their main room.
Sylph sat on her bed, her knees tucked in with her book balanced on top of them. She'd unrolled the rug that had given them and laid it out on the thin open strip of rock between their beds at the center of the room. She glanced in his direction as he arrived, covering a yawn.
"Have fun sucking all the air up?" she asked.
"It barely took any air from more than a few feet away from me," Damien replied. "You must have barely felt it."
"I'm quite sensitive to changes in the atmosphere," Sylph replied, lowering the book.
"Oh," Damien said, a small frown crossing his face.
"Would you like me to practice elsewhere?"
Sylph blinked. Then she laughed, shaking her head.
"It's okay. I was mostly just pulling your leg," she said, setting the book aside and getting out of bed. She jerked her chin toward the door. "Did you realize we had company?"
"I only came out because I finished training, but I said I'd go to dinner with them," Damien said with a small shrug. "You want to come?"
Sylph cocked her head. Then she nodded once. "Sure.
I'm out of Ether anyway, so there isn't much more progress I can make with the book Delph gave me."
Her words were jovial, but Damien noticed the traces of bitterness within them. He settled for a small nod, and the two of them headed out of the cave.
Mark and the Grays leaned against the stone outside.
When Damien and Sylph emerged, Reena jumped slightly before clearing her throat and glancing at the sunset, pretending they hadn't just scared her.
"The rune circle works great. I'm quite new to rune magic, but it seems quite powerful. Is it difficult to learn?"
Mark asked Damien, baring his teeth in a snarl. After a moment, Damien realized the boy was trying to smile. His features were disturbingly wolflike, and the dull shadows of the evening didn't help.
"It's just a lot of studying and practice," Damien replied.
"It's not the best for anyone interested in combat magic, since it takes up a lot of time to learn and isn't the most effective in a fast-paced fight."
Sylph snorted beside Damien but just glanced away when the others gave her questioning looks.
"So, why did you learn it?" Nolan asked. He flushed. "No offense meant, of course. But your companion is quite powerful, so I'm sure you could have a very lucrative career as a combat mage. Why study runes?"
"I wasn't always planning to be a combat mage," Damien replied. "That decision was quite recent."
Reena nudged Nolan in the side.
"Ah, our rune circle was also very helpful," Nolan added, flushing. "Forgive me. I should have thanked you earlier. I just got a little distracted, and—" "Oh, stuff it," Damien said, massaging his brow. "I think I almost preferred when you were acting like a throbbing prick. Stop sucking up to me and just treat me like a normal person. It'll get you farther than anything else."
Nolan's mouth flapped for a few moments. Then it clicked shut, and he gave Damien a single nod. The others sent surprised looks at Damien.
"Shall we go?" Damien pressed. "I'm getting quite hungry."
The group set off toward the mess hall. As they walked, Henry felt a sense of intense displeasure he'd been ignoring grow stronger. He faded into the background, not leaving Damien's mind so much as receding to the back of it.
Henry once again found himself standing in a sea of darkness, looking up at an enormous face made of stars. An image of Harriot being consumed by tendrils of magic appeared in Henry's mind.
"Why?" the darkness rumbled.
"You're speaking now?"
There was no response. Henry let out an annoyed sigh.
"The Mortal Plane doesn't need to be reborn yet," Henry said. "We've waited for millennia. There's nothing wrong with waiting a little longer. Time is nothing, and we've been bored for so long. The others are all sealed by some outside force. If it was strong enough to take care of them, we should figure out what we're dealing with."
The face in the sky looked down at Henry, incomprehension clear in its features Its mouth opened, and a howling gale erupted forth, buffeting Henry back.
When it vanished, a humanoid around Henry's size stood before him. It was also made from motes of light, but its gender was impossible to make out.
"The mortals' way of speaking is tedious," the figure said, looking down at its hands. "However, I will humor you."
"Have you chosen a mortal name as well?" Henry asked, chuckling.
"It is beyond me how we managed to create such an annoying persona for ourselves," the starry figure said.
"Blame the boy," Henry said, shrugging his shadowy shoulders. "It's his spark."
"The boy indeed. His mortal influence is corrupting you, Henry." The starry figure nodded at the spiderweb of light slowly stretching throughout Henry's body. "You are demonstrating emotions instead of pretending to have them."
"I know," Henry said. "And it's fascinating. Humans have such incredible souls. It's no wonder they burn as brightly as they do. I am more than what I was when we were a single entity. The Mortal Plane has much to offer. Why destroy it now?"
"It is my—our—duty."
"The universe sent down five others to do our task," Henry said. "And they haven't gotten around to it yet. Why should I do all the work?"
"The end of all things must come. It is the law. The Mortal Plane must cease for it to begin again. You know what will happen if it does not. What our enemies will do to the Cycle."
"Then it can cease later. I don't see any of them around yet," Henry said. "Think of what we can learn. What we can do. The Void holds nothing. Besides, you're ignoring the presence of whoever interfered and bound the others."
"The presence of one strong enough to bind us is… unexpected. It is likely the others were bound before their full strength could be brought to bear."
"Like we are now?" Henry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We're stuck at the kid's pace. We can only use the magic his body can channel. We need to be prepared to take on whatever our adversary may be."
"This is correct," the starry humanoid mused. "But it is not why you choose to delay. You cannot lie to yourself.
Your thoughts are mine."
"Not all of them," Henry said.
The starry form let out a silent laugh. A harsh wind blew past them, scattering the stars across the sky and sending Henry flying back into Damien's mind.
While Henry had been communing with himself, Damien and the others had already arrived at the dining hall. The line moved quickly, and they soon found themselves standing before the large woman.
"The professor only covers your lunch," the woman told Sylph.
Her face fell. Reena elbowed Nolan in the side. He stepped forward and cleared his throat.
"I'll cover our meals today," Nolan said, gesturing to the small group. "We'll all get the most popular meal for tonight."
The woman nodded, extending her hand. Nolan reached into a large bag at his side and pulled out several coins, handing them over.
"Thanks," Damien said. Sylph mirrored him, but Nolan just waved his hand.
"It's fine. It's the apology for breaking into your room yesterday," Nolan said, glancing away from Damien.
"I appreciate it," Damien said, giving him a small nod.
They sat at the table and activated their rune circles to wait for the food to arrive. Damien noted Henry was strangely silent, but he didn't have the attention to spare his companion.
After an awkward silence broken only by the occasional clink of utensils on plates and the dull chatter of the background, the runes lit up at once.
Damien pressed the circle before him. A plate popped into existence before him. It had a large, perfectly seared steak with a side of glistening asparagus and mashed potatoes. The food looked fantastic, especially after the vomit he'd been eating recently.
"This looks good!" Mark exclaimed, grabbing the steak with his hands and taking a large bite out of it.
They all stared at him while he chewed. Mark noticed their attention and swallowed, wiping the juice off his face with his sleeve and raising an eyebrow.
"What?"
"You generally use utensils for food," Reena said, nodding at the knife and fork beside his plate.
"We didn't use them yesterday," Mark said, his brow furrowing with frustration. "Why do we need them now?"
"We had burgers yesterday," Nolan said. "Those have bread around the meat, so it won't get your hands sticky."
"So, if I use a napkin to hold this, wouldn't that count?"
"No!" Reena exclaimed. "Well, I suppose. It's just wrong."
Mark sighed, but he set the steak down and wiped his hands off before picking up a knife and fork.
"What a pain. Eating shouldn't be this hard," Mark explained. "I've lived in the East Forest for so long I got used to traveling light. Utensils are such a waste of time."
"Why did you live in the forest?" Damien asked, raising an eyebrow as he cut himself a slice of steak. "If you're willing to say, of course."
"I don't care," Mark replied, shrugging. "Monsters ransacked my town when I was ten. I was in the forest at the time, so I was lucky enough to survive the attack. It came so quickly that the monsters were almost completely gone by the time I returned. We were pretty far away from the rest of the kingdom, so there weren't any other towns nearby, so I lived in the forest as best as I could."
"How did a ten-year-old survive in the wild?" Reena asked, her eyes wide.
"The forest didn't have many predators," Mark replied, his mouth full of food. "I managed to find a summoning circle already made in one of the old towers, so I used it and a Summoner's Almanac to call out to my companion.
After that, it wasn't too hard. If I'd been smarter, I would have stayed by the town and waited for a merchant to pass by."
Mark swallowed and gave a dismissive shrug.
"I lived, though. Mage seekers found me a few months ago and brought me back up to pace with the rest of the world. It could have gone a lot worse."
"So, you haven't interacted with humans before a few months ago?" Sylph asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Not since I was around ten," Mark replied, picking up his utensils. He held the fork in his fist and jabbed it into the meat, cutting away a large chunk with the knife and stuffing the whole thing into his mouth.
Reena pierced Mark with a sharp glance and mimed closing her mouth. The boy continued chewing with his mouth open, but he cocked his head like a confused dog.
"What?" He asked through a mouthful of food.
"It's impolite to chew with your mouth open," Reena hissed.
"Oh," Mark said, his mouth still open. He didn't seem like he planned on apologizing.
"It's fine, Reena," Nolan said, his words somewhat stiff.
He cut himself his own slice of steak and paused a moment before raising it to his lips. "Mark is still adjusting to civilized society. No offense."
"It's fine," Mark said, swallowing and sending an annoyed glance at his fork before shoveling a scoop of mashed potatoes into his mouth. He closed his mouth, then tried to continue speaking with it shut. Nothing came out other than a series of unintelligible grunts.
Mark swallowed and pursed his lips. "How are you supposed to speak if you can't open your mouth?"
"You wait until after you finish the bite," Reena said. She sighed and massaged her forehead. She suddenly flinched and shot a glare at Nolan, who looked away innocently.
"I could probably give you some basic etiquette training, if you'd like," Reena offered.
"Sounds like a waste of time," Mark said. "The mages focused mostly on reminding me how to speak the common tongue. Everything else wasn't considered urgent."
"Not pissing off everyone you meet would probably be beneficial," Reena pointed out.
"I guess I could consider it," Mark said, scrunching his nose.
Nolan gave them a wide smile. Within Damien's mind, Henry made a gagging noise, speaking up for the first time since they'd left the cave.
"That boy is such a suck up I think I might be physically ill," Henry complained. "Can you punch him?"
Look who decided to show up. I thought you might have gone back to sleep. And, no, I won't punch him.
"He's trying to butter you up and act nice to people so you like him," Henry said. "Disgusting politicians."
You act as if you care about politics. Did you even have politics in the Void?
"A bit," Henry admitted. "When you've got a group of beings that have nothing to do forever, a few things tend to crop up. But if you're aware he's just acting, why bother with him?"
Because he's still being nice, even if it's an act. It's not like he's hiding it. He straight up told me what he was doing. I don't care what his goals are. Since when have you cared about what other mortals do?
"Bah," Henry said, ignoring the question and receding into the depths of Damien's mind again.
"Since Mark told us a little about himself, it's only fair we do the same," Nolan said, gesturing to himself and Reena. "We're from the Gray family. We live a short distance from Kingsfront, in Capitol City."
"That's a noble house, right?" Damien asked.
"You haven't heard of it?" Reena asked. She winced and shot a glare at Nolan, who ignored her.
"It is," Nolan confirmed. "Our family has served the kingdom for over one hundred and sixty years."
"The heir of the family has been one of the greatest battle mages of their generation for several centuries now," Reena said, shooting a competitive smirk in Nolan's direction.
"I take it that person has yet to be decided for this generation?" Damien guessed.
"It's still in the air," Nolan said. "If you ask my father, that is. However, I'm sure this year will go a long way in determining which of us is more capable."
The two Grays glared at each other for a moment before remembering they were sitting at a table with other people.
They broke away, and Nolan awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"I'm afraid our story isn't particularly interesting compared to Mark's."
He trailed off, clearly hoping for Damien to pick up after him. He mentally shrugged and took the bait.
"I'm nothing special either. I was raised in a small town that isn't even on the maps," Damien said. "My dad is a combat mage on the front lines, but I haven't seen him in years. My mom is a mage as well, but she never had any interest in combat. I studied a lot of rune drawing in school, and that's really just about it."
All four of the other students just stared at Damien with dead eyes.
"Seriously?" Reena asked. "How did you get your companion, then? You already had it before you took the tests, so you must have gotten it from your town, right?"
"I did," Damien said, shrugging. He felt Henry stir, but he didn't need his companion to warn him off. "I was a very impatient child. I managed to copy a rune circle from the Summoner's Almanac well enough to summon a companion. It was more luck than anything else."
"I feel like it might have been more than luck," Sylph said. "Rune circles won't work correctly if there's even the smallest mistake, and they're very complex. It's borderline unbelievable someone so young could make one correctly."
Damien cleared his throat and glanced to the side, pretending to be embarrassed. After a few moments, Nolan looked at Sylph.
"What about you?" he asked.
"I'm nothing special either," Sylph said with a dismissive shrug. "I was trained by a combat mage before I got to the school, and that's really all there is to it."
She picked up her utensils and ate, leaving no doubt she was done speaking. Damien's stomach rumbled, and he joined her. The food was delicious, and he had no desire to let something someone else had paid for go to waste.
Especially when he knew what he'd be eating come the next day.