“You look very… tired today, Aurelius. Did something happen?” Seraphine asked in concern.

  Aurelius flinched like an abused dog at this comment, looking off into the distance to dramatically wipe away a tear threatening to roll down his cheeks.

  “It’s polite to answer when a beautiful lady is showing concern for you.” Pultris commented helpfully and innocently.

  Aurelius had been forced to stay awake for the entirety of dawn because of this horrid angel. Pultris had chatted away in a one-sided conversation for most of the night, kindly monologing on various not-so-fun facts such as his delight at being able to speak freely and without the restrictions of his seals.

  And he had kindly informed Aruelius that there was a 6 hour period for resetting the use of the charm, something that Sage Yeltz had so unfortunately omitted in her explanations about the charm.

  “Also, is that… mocha?” Seraphine asked, tilting her head sideways to read the description written on Aurelius’s steaming cup of coffee.

  Aurelius, now wise to the ways of adulting, had grabbed a cup of coffee from the cafe at the junction near the commission.

  Of course, that was the reason that he told himself, but getting that coffee was actually just an excuse for him to report to the commission early.

  It was driving him mad to hear this voice in his head constantly while alone in his room! At least being around other people would give him less of a creepy time…

  “How much sugar did you add to that?! I can smell the sweetness all the way from here!” Seraphine commented in horror, sniffing at the air, making Aurelius shoot a glare at her face.

  He didn’t like the bitterness of coffee. If he could drown the taste of dirt out of his mouth with sugar, what was there to be so judgemental about?

  Aurelius doubted that tea had enough caffeine to get him through the morning anyway. So this was the best he could do!

  “...Don’t judge me Seraphine.” Aurelius managed weakly, slumping back in his seat.

  The two of them had both reported around 10 minutes early at the Tower lobby, and were lounging about in its cushioned guest chairs in the emptiness of the morning.

  Occasionally, there were a commissioner or two whoosh down on the magic elevators to leave their morning shifts and disturb the peace of sunrise, but other than that, it was the definition of a sleepy morning.

  “How many times did I beat you already, Aurelius?” Seraphine asked, initiating small talk to break up the awkward silence surrounding them like a fog.

  “...We both know that you won every round so far.” Aurelius muttered cynically, melting deeper into his seat in a feeble attempt to find his stolen hours of sleep.

  “True, true…” Seraphine replied, scratching at her chin and using the awkward pause to rack up her brain to think of a different, more interesting topic for conversation.

  “I know I’m not supposed to pry into your ‘special circumstance’, but you should give me a hint to your good friend.” She started.

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  Are you working on research like me, or something more like field work?” She asked curiously.

  “I can’t say…” Aurelius responded bluntly, his eyelids drooping as he leaned against the armrest lazily.

  “Come on, you should at least give me a hint, right? I mean, you were asking about angelic contracts for some reason as well the other day. It’s clearly something super interesting!” Seraphine pressed enthusiastically.

  “What a charming young lady.” Pultris commented.

  “Shut up.” Aurelius blurted out, the sleep deprivation getting the best of him.

  It was truly a tragedy that he had to get through another 2 bloody hours to shut this horrendous djinn up for another 12 measly hours.

  He knew that he should feel a little more intimidated by this angel, but it was hard to keep up even the facade of fear when he was so… infuriating!

  “How rude of you kiddo. You’ve upset the lady!” Pultris teased, prompting Aurelius to look up at the muted expression on Seraphine’s face.

  “…” Seraphine stared blankly.

  Ah. Shit. Aurelius thought, scrambling upright on his chair hurriedly as he ransacked his brain for a way to talk himself out of this situation.

  “Wait- I-” Aurelius started.

  “I get it, kid. It’s early in the morning. But it’ll do you a lot of good to remember that politeness is a virtue Aurelius.” She said haughtily, staring off lividly into the distance.

  …Kid? She’s like 3 years older than me. Aurelius thought to himself, his mouthing opening and closing as he debated on the proper response.

  “Whoosh” The magic elevator stirred.

  “Good morning runts.” Sage Yeltz greeted sourly, stepping out of the elevator in her usual creased shirt and pants.

  “Did you not go back home last night Ms. Yeltz?” Seraphine asked, jumping up to her feet to greet her, and took the extra cup of coffee on the table to pass to the Sage.

  “Thank you Dwayne.” Sage Yeltz thanked, taking a small sip of the coffee cup with relish.

  “And yes. I didn’t manage to return home last night. I had work left to do.” She explained, beckoning the two of them to follow her.

  “But you’re on a sabbatical!” Seraphine cried out in concern.

  Sage Yeltz just scowled, sipping on her coffee wordlessly and led them over to the elevator.

  “What a workaholic.” Pultris said helpfully.

  “Ah, we’ll be skipping the archives today.” Sage Yeltz declared, pressing the elevator buttons to the gym level.

  “Hm? I need a few more materials for my research though?” Seraphine said in confusion, taking out a piece of paper from her pockets to review what was apparently a list of documents.

  “I’ll take care of that later.” Sage Yeltz replied casually, taking another fragrant sip of her coffee.

  “But we’ll spend the morning in the gym.” She announced, the elevator. doors opening to the corridors of the various gym facilities.

  Aurelius almost tripped and fell right then and there, as horror washed over his face and awoke him back into another round of nightmares.

  The entire morning?! Spent on… Training at the gym? Aurelius thought to himself, his feet turning into lead at even the thought of such a horrifying idea.

  “...But Aurelius is not too great at magic.” Seraphine chimed in helpfully.

  “Hoho, I’m starting to become more and more curious as to why Yeltz is investing in a dud like you!” Pultris teased curiously.

  “You’re right. You’ll be dueling me today. And Aurelius will be dueling someone else special to practice some of his… newfound skills.” Sage Yeltz replied, suppressing a smile at Seraphine’s assessment of Aurelius.

  This comment made Aurelius perk up in alarm.

  Right. He had made a contract with Pultris!

  And as the trio walked down the corridor further than they had gone the previous days, Seraphine asked an important question.

  “Who’s going to be the special instructor teaching Aurelius?” She asked.

  Sage Yeltz opened the second last door in the long corridor, letting a small breeze waft through the passage with the action.

  And with a scowl on her face, she replied to Seraphine’s question, pointing at the old man smoking away in the middle of the large training room.

  “My mentor. Former Sage Wally Tona.”