"I'm glad we finally got to have that duel," Ordephus said after sheathing his sword, sitting heavily on the ground with a groan and grasping blindly at his waterskin next to him. Once he found it, he took a long drink. "But I can practically hear Ventura scolding me at how much I've neglected my training."

"You are by no means an amateur, either," Iver assured, taking a seat next to him—albeit less out of breath—and taking a drink out of his own waterskin. "Once you get your endurance back up, I doubt I would be able to stand up to you for very long."

"I'll have to reluctantly agree with Iver," Noctifer piped up from the stone wall he was leaning against. Argent sat next to him on the wall with his legs dangling down. One ankle was firmly wrapped with bandages Ordephus had retrieved when he went into a town nearby, using a glamour to hide his features. This one had blond hair and blue eyes, something that didn't stand out too much in the region (They were along the border of Loten and Paraglia, apparently), but Argent had insisted Ordephus removed the glamour when at the tower. It was no trouble for him since he had an affinity towards illusions, but he couldn't quite fathom why the boy would prefer his original hair and eye color. "You live up to your title as a Prince of Nimn."

"My, my. Aren't we getting better at compliments," Ordephus needled, lying back in the shade of the tree.

"It could return to insults if you'd like."

He wisely kept his mouth shut at that. Instead, he motioned to the swordsmen idly. "You two can go ahead and do your own dueling and training. I'm going to take a break."

Noctifer only snorted in response, pushing himself off the wall as Iver nodded and headed back into the open field. They were all off to the side of the tower, but not far enough to go past what Ordephus said was a barrier that kept this place hidden from the rest of the world. It felt a bit restrictive, considering they were on the open roads just a week before, but they all weren't ready to face what had become of Weststar just yet. Ordephus had informed them—after he returned—that Amaredeia was in an uproar as to what had happened, and the three of them were wanted with the Order of Ordephus looking high and low for them. It was still believed "Darin" was dead, at least, but there was a fourth identity on the wanted list. A powerful wizard without a face or name, but was widely thought of as the one who slaughtered an entire force.

So in short, every one of them was wanted.

Ordephus sat up with a sigh after a few minutes, casting Argent a small grin. "So, have you gotten the chance to practice your affinity at all?"

"A little bit," Argent shrugged with a frown, "but I can't seem to use it very well anymore. Like before, it was super easy for me to summon lightning, but now I can barely get a spark." He held out his hand to demonstrate. It was slow to develop, but gradually, a fizzling sound started radiating from the air around his palm before little streaks of electricity danced between his fingers. It was short-lived, however, and he lowered his hand in defeat. "See?"

"Well, then—" He stood from the ground and dusted himself off before ambling over, hopping up onto the wall next to Argent. "—it appears you've lost sight of your goal."

"My goal?"

"Mhm. When you first summoned lightning—Iver tells me you struck the area around you—your goal was to protect and to harm." He quirked a grin when Argent became sheepish. "Nothing to be ashamed of, but make sure it's for a worthy cause when you wish someone dead. Once you do it, there's no going back. You can't raise the dead. You understand this, I'm sure."

Argent nodded solemnly. "I understand."

"Good. And remember that that applies to both magic and archery." He waited until the boy gave him another nod before continuing. "Now, back to the original topic. Since there's no threat in front of you, what would your goal be now?"

"Um . . ." He furrowed his brow in concentration. "I guess I don't really have a goal anymore . . ."

Ordephus shook his head with a small smile. "Try again."

"Then . . . to get better at it?"

"Correct. You won't get as strong of a reaction since the situation is urgent, but try thinking of it as, 'I must get better so I can protect my friends.' Protecting seems to be your key motivation, even though that's technically my job." He elbowed Argent lightly, causing the boy to laugh.

"Hey," Argent suddenly said, looking up at Ordephus expectantly, "you said dragons and dragonkind have affinities, but then you've also said your affinity is illusions. Is that because you're a dragonkind?"

"Ah, half-dragon would be a better term for it along with other half-human subraces—like half-elves and such—but don't let the dragons hear you referring to me as one." He chuckled. "But yes, it's because of that. Wizards can have their specialties, but in the end, they would still use the same mana output. Let's use you as an example: To summon rain costs less than summoning lightning, but it would still cost a fraction of the mana if a normal wizard, including me, were to use an actual spell to do the same thing. And by using channeling devices such as a spellbook or a staff, it would cost even less since mana-channeling items increase your efficiency."

"So should I be using a spellbook for this?"

"Efficiency is different from ability," he explained. "First, focus on being able to use it naturally before trying to add another step to it. Affinities still work differently from spells, after all, even if they both require mana."

"This is confusing . . ." Argent said, tapping a heel impatiently against the wall. Ordephus couldn't help but laugh at that.

"I'll tell you what, then," he said, dropping back to the ground. "How about we take a break from affinities and work on something you do know?"

Argent held onto Ordephus' arms as he helped him down, tilting his head slightly and giving him a curious look. "Like what?"

"Remember when we helped repair the barriers back in Langerich?"

"The one that separated the realms?"

"Mhm. The barrier around the tower works almost the same way, making this like its own little realm." He watched Argent carefully from the corner of his eye, monitoring the boy's limp. Iver said he was alright walking on it as long as he didn't overdo it. "So let's inspect it for cracks and other weaknesses. Does that sound good?"

Argent nodded eagerly, ready to apply what he had learned so far. The poison had worn off completely, thanks to the Dew of the Gods, but there was still the boy's sprained ankle and broken ribs. Thus, he wasn't allowed to do many things such as practicing with his bow or climb any trees. Anything that he used to do when they were traveling. So this was something he could do instead of watching everyone else.

They were on the opposite side of the tower when Argent suddenly stopped. Ordephus nearly voiced his concern, thinking his ankle was bothering him, but that was when he saw the boy's expression: It was sharp, alert, and wary. So he looked in the same direction as the boy, and soon saw what he was seeing.

There was a woman just beyond the barrier. Her long, dark hair was left to pool down to her waist and elongated ears poked through the black tresses. She could have been mistaken as an elf or a faerie without wings, except Ordephus knew better. It only took one glance at her eyes: They were pitch black. I didn't realize changelings still existed, he thought mildly as he quietly ushered Argent to stand behind them. As the spawn of a faerie and a human, he couldn't help but wonder how she had survived so long without being caught.

Neither Ordephus nor Argent moved a muscle as they watched the changeling silently walk around, looking puzzled at what exactly she was seeing. Sometimes she would walk directly into the barrier, only to disappear from sight and then reappear a few moments later. Argent made a confused sound at the action at first, but Ordephus knew it was the work of his barrier. From the outside, it looked as if nothing was there. The land where the tower stood acted as its own realm, after all. Her walking into the barrier would simply teleport her to the other side. But it was clear she knew something strange was there. It was another few minutes before she gave a huff of frustration, turning around and disappearing back into the woods. Argent let out a breath of relief behind him.

"Who was that?" he asked, looking up at his mentor in concern. "What was she even doing?"

"She was a changeling, someone born of a faerie and a human," he explained and shook his head, drawing his original spellbook from its carrier. It was much thicker than the one he carried as Darin—the one now Argent carried, and he drew it out as well, following Ordephus' example—and had many more tabs. He was still getting used to using it again. "As for what she was doing here, I'm not sure. Either way, that makes it more imperative we check the barrier."

"Imperative?" Argent sounded out in confusion.

"It means urgent or important."

"Oh. But there's no cracks here?" he said as Ordephus activated a spell.

"New plan: We're reinforcing it. Worst-case scenario, she comes back and tries to break in." He sent out a subtle pulse of magic to check if the changeling was still there. She was not. "Work on the physical barrier while I rework the illusions on the outside of it."

With a nod, Argent did as he said.

"I don't like the sound of that," Noctifer stated when Ordephus recounted the event from earlier that day. The sun had since gone down, and there was a chill in the night air. None of them would have been surprised if snow fell that night. Yet the workshop was warm as the fireplace was alight. Exhausted from the day and still recovering from his injuries, Argent was put to bed just in the other room while the adults stayed out, sitting around a counter near the fire, to discuss what had happened that day and what would happen in the future.

"I don't know what to think of it, either," Ordephus sighed. "People encountering the barrier isn't unusual, and most don't even notice something's wrong with the area, but it's the fact that she was a changeling. Changelings are cautious and wary by nature due to . . . well, history, but that's not something we should go into now. If they encounter something they don't recognize, they're more likely to leave it alone. But this one, she was either trying to figure out what she was looking at or trying to get through."

"I thought changelings had died out long ago when the Fae were banished to Druuo," Iver said. "So without the Faeries, they should not even exist, even if they did somehow continue to live after all these years."

"Yes, well, it is an ongoing problem with unseelie breaking into Amare, so why can't the seelie do the same?" Ordephus waved his hand. "Anyway, that was just something odd that happened at the border. What we really should be discussing is what we plan to do now." He looked at the two before them. "I think it's a general consensus that we aren't going to sit idly with the Order of Ordephus and The Alliance, in general, running amok."

"No, I believe we will not," Iver said with a smile.

"Well, then," Ordephus grinned, sharp and almost conniving, "let's get to it."

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