The morning of their departure was foggy and cold, unexpectedly so, since the spring sun had been shining on Valderun for the past week, and winter appeared to have loosened its hold. Unfortunately, it seemed it still had one last trick up its sleeve.

  Orion sat on his chest, somewhat surprised that he had managed to fill it up completely. He had only left the Sanctum with a few changes of clothes and whatever could fit in his pockets, but it seemed like he had managed to gather quite a bit of stuff over the past month.

  And what a month it has been. I’ve grown a lot more than I expected, met some incredible people, some terrible ones, and even got to witness history firsthand.

  All those were remarkable experiences, but nothing could match his creation of the CC, the V2 SGDs, and becoming a [Causal Epistemologist]. Those accomplishments belonged to him and him alone, and were clear signs that he was walking down the right path.

  He felt more settled now, even though he was about to go back into the lion’s den. More confident, too, especially because he knew he had a spot waiting for him in the Collegium, and his friends would be setting things up for him while he was gone.

  “What’s the long face? I seem to remember you have people waiting for your return,” Pauline said as she stopped beside him.

  She, too, was coming with them. There hadn’t been a real discussion about her role, but he expected it would be settled once they were away from Valderun’s walls and any prying eyes.

  “I do,” Orion nodded, “and I’ll be glad to see them again. But now that I’ve seen just how much the world has to offer, it’s hard to go back to the Sanctum.”

  He didn’t explicitly say he thought he’d be stifled, but the implication was clear enough.

  “So you didn’t go,” Asteria interrupted, suddenly appearing behind them. Her face was a mask of neutrality that could have belonged on a statue, and even Orion struggled to read her true feelings.

  “I didn’t,” he admitted. The promise of a reward from Yue was tempting, and he knew that he was damaging his relationship with the Sanctum by refusing to share such a valuable ability, but he simply didn’t have a way to explain what he did in a way they would understand, and he would be revealing far too much if he tried anyway.

  It would be even worse if they actually managed to develop a better way to read statuses. I’d be immediately outed, although I guess my class is confusing enough to someone without the philosophical and scientific context to grasp its true meaning.

  “Alright,” she said, and walked over to where the carriage was waiting to take them to the coach station.

  Orion watched her go, confused that it was enough, but chose not to look a gift horse in the mouth. He stood up, sending a simple command through the CC to levitate the bags, then followed her.

  “You two have such a strange relationship,” Pauline muttered, and Orion shot her a questioning look.

  She looked uncomfortable for a moment, as if she hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but she didn’t back away, “Most witches try to keep some distance between themselves and their sons. It’s almost inevitable that they will leave, and trying to build too much of a bond just means getting hurt,” she explained, and Orion hummed in understanding.

  He supposed that was simply a consequence of how things were done. With limited prospects in the Sanctum, eighty percent of the males who grew up there ended up leaving, and only twenty percent accepted the minor positions they were given in the hierarchy, or even became little more than grunt workers.

  “I guess we are different,” he said. Asteria had never tried to keep her distance from him, not even when he’d just been born, which would have been understandable, given her circumstances.

  Back then, she had just been betrayed by the one she believed to be her true love, lost her connection to her mentor, and was forced to return to the Sanctum with nothing to show for her time away but shame.

  Honestly, Orion wouldn’t have even resented it if she had been a distant mother. He might have even preferred it back then, considering how emotionally stunted he had been.

  But with the benefit of hindsight, he was thankful she hadn’t, and that even now, when she knew he wouldn’t stay much longer, she accepted him for who he was and didn’t try to impose her beliefs on him.

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  When he placed the bags at the back of the carriage, he took a moment to inspect the driver out of caution and was relieved to find the man was exactly who he seemed.

  After that last scare, I might not trust any kind face for a long time.

  Their trip away from the embassy was quiet, as the fog kept most witches indoors, and even fewer had the energy or desire to see them off. Still, Orion could swear he saw a flash of dark hair and pale skin before the carriage turned and left the embassy behind.

  Asteria chuckled softly, following his gaze. “She can never bring herself to do things properly,” she said, confirming that he hadn’t imagined Yue’s presence.

  For once, Orion wasn’t annoyed by her antisocial behavior because it let him slip away without needing to explain himself.

  He looked out the window, feeling strangely nostalgic for a place he hadn't left yet, and knew he would return soon.

  Even shrouded in cold fog, Valderun was unmistakable. The faint glow of the wards overhead ensured that, and in the distant background, massive buildings could be faintly seen, at least in outline, giving the entire city a distinctive atmosphere.

  By the time they reached the coach station, he was himself again, having shaken off his melancholy, but he knew it hadn’t gone unnoticed when Asteria placed her hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, then softly pulled him toward a beast of a coach, which lit up to [Hypotheticism], showing it was much more heavily protected than the one they took from Silverpeak.

  Ironically, they needed those defenses far less now. Orion could handle himself much better, and Asteria alone was a one-woman army that would make any bandit group, even those backed by major factions, think twice before approaching them.

  It was also likely much more expensive, considering it was a private carriage pulled by two sleek six-legged Iron Lizards that seemed capable of running all the way to Silverpeak without stopping. Only one coachman and one maid would accompany them on the journey, both of whom were high-tier two and, for once, not suspicious.

  Still, he appreciated the security measures because they gave him some much-needed peace of mind.

  “Let’s go,” she said, and nodded, giving the city one last look before stepping in.

  The speed at which the coach could travel meant they would reach Silverpeak in just a couple of days if they didn’t stop along the way beyond the night, yet it was only six hours into their trip, well before they should have slowed down, that they deviated from the main road.

  Orion tensed and quickly started to prepare a suite of defensive spells, but Asteria stopped him before he could get going.

  “It’s fine, moonbeam.”

  He sat back down, clearly indicating he wanted an explanation.

  She smiled before tilting her head toward Pauline. “There is one thing we need to do before heading to Silverpeak, and while we could delay it, it shouldn’t take long.”

  Orion let his glasses hang on the tip of his nose and pinned the young woman with a curious stare. “Are you attempting to rank up, then?”

  At level ninety-nine—having gained another level since he last checked her—it wasn’t surprising she would want to do it, but it was surprising that Asteria would go along with it. But then again, perhaps that’s always been her plan. She’s bringing her along to serve as the first step in her new power base; it makes sense she’d want her to reach her potential before taking her to the coven.

  It still would have been helpful to know in advance. He could have avoided the whole debacle with the glasses and Yue, since a rank up at this level would have definitely been enough for his needs.

  It is what it is, he thought to himself. He hadn’t been very open about his plans either, so he couldn’t get too upset.

  “I am,” Pauline replied firmly. She appeared to have psyched herself up, which raised a question.

  ”I imagine you already have a target in mind, then. I doubt you want us to wander the countryside looking for something suitable,” he said, and she nodded, pulling out a map of the central region of the Magocracy where the Collegium governs. It showed a series of red crosses along the northern forest, where the orcs had once lived, and a red circle on the Belt’s eastern coast, roughly halfway between Valderun and Last Thaw, which was their destination for the day.

  “There has been word of an aquatic monster attacking a fishing village on the coast here,” she said, tapping the circle. “I had to work hard to keep this mission from reaching the Adventurer’s Guild, but it’s just what I need to reach tier three.”

  “Hmm,” Orion hummed, eyeing the map. “I’m guessing there’s more to this mission than meets the eye, then? A regular monster attack wouldn’t be enough to give you the levels you need,” he said, and she nodded.

  “Yes, but I’m not telling. You will stay away from the action. This is my time to shine,” she said firmly, and Orion raised his hands in mock surrender.

  “Hey, I’m a peaceful guy. I’m perfectly happy not fighting, if that’s what you want.”

  The amused look his mother gave him showed he hadn’t been very convincing, but he decided it wasn’t worth arguing over.

  “It looks like she might need help,” he muttered under his breath, but didn’t move from his spot on top of the coach’s roof, swinging his legs back and forth.

  “She made it clear she wants to handle it herself. We should respect that wish,” Asteria said, her own eyes fixed on the raging battle on the Belt's shore.

  A massive water serpent, easily as long as ten grown men and three times as thick as a human, broke the water's surface, fangs glinting in the weak sunlight as it attempted to bite Pauline’s hazy form.

  The young woman didn’t just stand there, though, and seized the fleeting chance to release a burst of dark mana, which entered the monster’s maw and writhed, exploding into tendrils of shadow that engulfed its entire head.

  The serpent slammed into a nearby shack hard, destroying it completely as it struggled to free itself from the nasty trap Pauline had set.

  Yet, despite the success, she couldn't take advantage of it because another serpent burst out of the water, and the dance started again.

  “Is this natural? I doubt they are native to this place, or there would have been some level of preparation,” Orion asked. He was fascinated by their size, especially by the fact that they seemed to appear and disappear every couple of minutes after attacking, making it impossible to know exactly how many there were.

  [Hypotheticism] insisted that it was a mix of illusion magic and some sort of biological mechanism that allowed them to shed their form when they returned to water, only to regain it when they surfaced, but the confidence interval for the latter was twenty percent, which meant he wasn’t seeing the full picture.

  “It’s not,” Asteria confirmed. “But she can handle it. Just watch.”

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