When I opened my eyes, the real world felt so different from the last time.

  I had to blink multiple times just to convince myself that I wasn’t still inside my head.

  “Whatever you’re doing, stop it immediately!” Baryon’s voice echoed from several yards away, sheltering behind a flickering barrier of light.

  Somehow, I didn’t notice the wind at first, nor the cracking stone beneath me. It was only when the glowing crystals started flickering erratically that I realized something was wrong.

  I feel… strange.

  A sensation of heat spread through my entire body, radiating outward from my chest. It was the same feeling I had when Baryon took my hand to walk on water, only now, it was thousands of times stronger.

  It was almost… painful, yet, at the same time, it was intoxicating. I felt as if I was holding the entire world within my grasp, as if I could bring to life anything my mind could imagine.

  A violent spasm in my muscles yanked me back to reality.

  My hair whipped around wildly, caught in fierce gusts of wind that seemed to be originating from… me.

  Many crystals had already gone dark, reduced to nothing but shapeless piles of ash. The ceiling of the submerged cave groaned ominously, as if it could collapse at any moment.

  “Arda!” Baryon called out, trying to get closer. “If you don’t stop, the entire place is coming down!”

  I wanted to say something witty, maybe “Oh really? Didn’t notice,” but I couldn’t even force out a single word. Just like in the final moments of my vision, it was as if I had completely lost the ability to speak.

  A sharp pain shot through my fingers. Starting from the tips, both of my hands were losing their color, darkening to black. “Help…” I barely managed to whisper.

  The words were too soft, and got carried away by the howling winds raging inside the cavern.

  “Arda!” My master kept calling for me, only a few steps away.

  “You need to cut the flow of mana! If you keep this up, you’ll burn yourself out of existence!”

  You think I haven’t tried? I wanted to yell. Just like I couldn’t force my mana out before, now I couldn’t stop it from pouring out uncontrollably.

  “Arda!” He shouted again.

  By now, the black marks had spread up to my forearms, and judging by the searing pain running through my entire body, my arms weren’t the only parts affected.

  “I’m sorry, master,” I murmured. I tried to smile, but the pain twisted my face into a grimace instead. “I don’t think I can do it.”

  I collapsed onto the cracked ground.

  My consciousness clung desperately to my body with the last scraps of strength I had left.

  But it was enough to see a blur of blue hair as my master knelt beside me.

  “Everything’s fine now,” he reassured me. “I’m here.”

  The world faded into darkness, and pain subsided as I slipped back into the realm of dreams.

  The last thing I remembered was that I’d never felt this cold before.

  My dreams were confused, fragmented. They all started at the mountain lake, but each time, a single detail would shift, sending the dream in an entirely new direction.

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  Just as I was about to plunge into the lake yet again, a deep voice pulled me away.

  “It’s time to wake up, young master.”

  I jolted awake, gasping for air.

  Above me, against all odds, the cave still stood intact. “Welcome back to the land of the living,” my master greeted. He sat a short distance away, next to a small campfire.

  “You sure took your time,” he teased, closing the book he had been reading, setting it down beside him. “You were asleep for almost an entire day.”

  I pushed against the ground, using my hands to prop myself up. My body still ached, but with some effort, I managed to sit upright.

  My hands had returned to their normal color. Only a few small black patches stained my fingertips, but even those were already fading away.

  “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen something like this,” Baryon admitted, following my gaze. “But I believe it might be a side effect of your uncontrolled mana release.”

  “How did you stop it?” I rasped, my throat painfully dry.

  Baryon handed me a flask of water, which I gulped down to the last drop.

  “One thing at a time,” he said. “First, I’d like you to explain what exactly happened inside your head.”

  Baryon was an excellent listener. He didn’t interrupt me even once as I spoke, though I noticed him raise an eyebrow a few times at some of the more bizarre details.

  “So, you’re telling me… that was your mana? All of it?”

  I wasn’t sure if he meant the lake or the disaster I caused.

  Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure what to think myself. “I guess?” I shrugged.

  Everything had happened so fast that I hadn’t had time to properly process any of it.

  Baryon let out an incredulous huff. “And here I thought I had run out of things that could surprise me.”

  “So… what about you?” I asked.

  “To prevent the cave from collapsing on top of us, I had to place a seal on your mana,” he explained. “Now, unless you deliberately push the seal to its breaking point, another burst like this isn’t likely to happen.”

  “Thanks,” I let out a sigh of relief, flopping onto my back.

  At the very least, I’d no longer have to worry about burning myself out and nuking everything around me.

  “It’s a temporary solution,” he warned. “And a pretty crude one, at that. Unless I loosen the seal, it should completely shut off your mana flow.”

  My gaze dropped low. “Have you already thought about what we’ll tell my parents?” I asked, keeping my tone neutral.

  “If possible, I’d rather keep this matter between us,” he replied cautiously.

  Even from the corner of my eye, I could see that he had gone pale.

  “They’d never blame you, you know?” I pointed out. “My parents are incapable of staying mad at you, master.”

  “Maybe,” my master muttered as he stood up. “But I’d still rather not give them a good reason to fire me.”

  “What, ’cause you’d miss me?” I teased him with a grin.

  He gave my leg a light kick. “No, I’d just be bored out of my mind.”

  He extended a hand toward me. “Here, time to get up.”

  The moment I grabbed it, a light shock ran through me.

  Thin golden chains coiled around our hands as they clasped together. Only after the chains dissolved did Baryon help me up to my feet.

  Huh? Did he just cast a spell? I frowned.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “Oathkeeper,” he replied nonchalantly. “I’d appreciate it if you kept this little detail to yourself as well.”

  “It is to ensure that neither of us breathes a word about what happened today.” He added, sensing my upcoming question. “Especially about your emblems.”

  I covered my mouth in mock offense. “Do you trust me so little?”

  “It’s not you I don’t trust,” he shot back. “It’s anyone who might try to force the information out of you.”

  Before I could ask, he continued, anticipating me once again.

  “If we try to speak about it ourselves, our words will die in our throats, and we won’t be able to make a sound,” his voice darkened slightly, “and if we’re forced to reveal it, we die before we can say anything.”

  “Thank you for asking for consent then,” I muttered.

  “Anytime,” he replied sarcastically. “I’m sure you’d have declined, but, alas, damage is already done.”

  Not that we’d ever have a reason to break this promise anyway…

  I let out an exasperated sigh.

  “Well, I guess this day was—” I started.

  “Just… don’t,” he cut in flatly.

  Yeah, maybe that’s for the best.