The elixir was the definition of overkill, but it wasn’t as though I lacked ingredients or elixirs. At the end of the day, it was just a resource, and resources were meant to be used—especially for people you cared about. So I returned to give it to her—

  —only to be stopped by Nia.

  She was waiting for me at a large tree outside camp, and when she saw me, she waded toward me to ensure I knew she wanted to speak.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, she’s fine,” Nia said pointedly. “Actually fine. As in, if you’re doing something to cure her—don’t.”

  I laughed. “What?”

  “I said, don’t.”

  “Okay… then you do it.” I pushed the elixir into her palm.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “It’s something to heal her core. Give it to her. This fever will break”—I snapped my fingers—“Instantly.”

  Nia rolled her eyes. “Yeah… that’s about the worst thing you can do.”

  “I’m not sure what crazed rationale you’re about to give, but—”

  “Have you thought about her?”

  I glanced at the elixir sarcastically.

  “Her feelings,” she clarified, emphasizing the words with equal sarcasm.

  I rolled my entire neck in a state of severe disbelief. “Sara’s fighting to breathe—and you’re asking about her… feelings?”

  Nia rubbed her eyes. “He’s a genius, Nia…” she muttered, “he clearly lacks empathy…” Her voice was quiet and lacked sarcasm, which seemed to indicate that she was genuinely reminding herself. She looked up to face me. “Listen, Kalas. You clearly lack experience in psychological matters, so I’ll be blunt: you severely maimed Sara’s confidence yesterday during your little spar. That’s not your fault, but it’s what happened. And now, it’s so bad that she won’t even…” She pursed her lips to stop herself, and then took a deep breath to continue. “Look. Sara fancies you, okay? At least to a degree. And since then, you’ve kinda made her feel small. Then, she sacrifices herself to save you, and what happens? You end up saving her instead. If she wakes up and thinks that her sacrifice made things worse, she’ll probably crack. Okay? And this?” She laughed. “This’ll do it. It’s the cherry on top.”

  Nia was right—I had no idea what she was talking about. I guess… I could’ve hurt her confidence a bit. But made her feel small? She made it sound like I was stabbing her.

  Nia groaned in frustration. “Kalas. You’re not thinking. I mean, even if you take away the confidence… this?” She lifted the bottle. “Seriously? Her fever’s gonna break by midnight. Are you really gonna give her something that she’ll feel obligated to repay?”

  “It’s medicine,” I said. “What’s the point of medicine if—”

  “It has six question marks, Kalas,” Nia interrupted. “The only information I’m getting is that it’s an elixir. That’s it.”

  “And that’s all you need,” I said. “It’s not like she’s going to see it. She’ll just wake up, and it’s…” Her unyielding glare made me give up. Maybe I was being unreasonable. It was ridiculous. Maybe it didn’t even make sense.

  I had never had friends—just mentors and teachers and merchants. That was it. And while I wasn’t punch-drunk on Sara, she was clearly special and my desire to protect her was far more substantial than I felt comfortable with.

  Nia sighed at my slouching shoulders, and she gently handed me the elixir. “Look, if she gets worse, feel free to give that to her. We’ll all appreciate you for it. Just remember that there are other types of suffering, and the physical kind is amongst the weakest of them. So just consider that before you act, okay?”

  I still didn’t understand, but the thought of me harming Sara’s confidence hurt me, so I nodded and took her seriously. “Okay.”

  “Good. Now come back to camp and have a drink. If the team goes one more second without praising you, we’ll probably panic.”

  “Okay…”

  I felt better when I saw her gentle smile, so I returned to camp, determined to keep my mind busy. It was easier than I thought. Once Tab had a few drinks, he lost his normal reasonableness—but retained his good-natured charisma. It dragged us down rabbit holes of conversations, many of which were ruthless—and satisfying.

  “To our enchanter!” Tab toasted with flushed cheeks, swigging hard from a wine bottle. He turned to Rassan. “Not you. You did good, too, though.”

  Rona covered his face with a quiet groan. That was the fourth time Tab had said something like that—and Nia wasn’t helping.

  “Yeah, good at showing us contrast,” she said drunkenly. “The way Rassan’s went woooooo, and then Kalas’s when swooooosh!” She threw her hands around. “Then boom! Shatter. Crack. Grrrr! Destruction, almighty! I thought the world was coming to an end!”

  Tab laughed with her, falling to the ground. He almost spilled the wine, but I caught it with telekinesis and offered it to Rona. He passed. I took my turn.

  “What’d you think, Rassan?” Tab asked. “That must’ve been a shock.”

  Rassan’s sober body shook like a kicked can, white knuckles locked against his knees. He stood up.

  “Hey, where are you going?” Nia mused. “We just got to the good part.”

  “I’m going to bed.” He strode toward the tent.

  Rona sighed. “Well, I guess we’re all going to bed, then. Come on. Let’s—”

  “What the hell is this?” Rassan screamed from within the tent. “You can’t be serious!”

  “Hey, calm down,” Nia said. “It’s practical. Don’t make it weird.”

  “If it’s practical, then you do it!”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “I can’t. Sara made it really clear: ‘Touch me against Nia, and I’ll break your legs.’ So… Next up is fi~an~cé.”

  I scoffed. “I’m not her fiancé.”

  “Hey, if you sign the paper, it comes with responsibilities,” Tab said. He paused, and then burst into slurring laughter.

  I pushed myself up and entered the tent, expecting the worst. The problem was obvious: my blankets were overlapping Sara’s—bedrolls touching. My cheek twitched.

  “See!” Rassan yelled. “Even he knows. Either you do it, or it’s not happening.”

  I groaned. Something about Rassan telling me not to do it took any hesitation out of me. I peeled off my cloak and folded it.

  He seethed. “I swear, Kalas, if you do this—”

  “You’ll what?” I shot him a glare that silenced him, then unlaced my boots. “Just relax. It’s not like I’m going to spoon her. I have magic, remember?”

  I’m not sure what Nia’s intentions were, but I didn’t find the slightest degree of romanticism in it. Even if I did, it was ruined by Sara’s shaking and wheezing. There was only one emotion I could feel as I crawled under the covers: concern.

  “You’re okay,” I whispered, drawing a heat regulation sigil underneath the covers. It glowed, cooling the area underneath the blankets.

  Sara gasped with relief, and I collapsed onto my back a foot away from her. I lifted my hand and clenched it. The fire sigil outside snuffed out, leaving the area lit only by moonlight.

  “Well, that’s that,” Tab said outside the tent, almost let down. “Let’s turn in. We have canines to pull tomorrow.”

  Rona agreed and the team crawled into bed.

  Rassan watched me like a hawk at first, but after half an hour passed, he lost interest and drifted to sleep, leaving me to think under the sound of Sara’s gasping breaths.

  Feelings… huh? I thought. There was so much in the outside world that I didn’t understand. My magic’s impact made sense. It was a tangible thing—I could see water purification having a powerful effect on world populations. If I summoned Koragan from the gate, it would surely spark pandemonium and terror. But… feelings? Social dynamics? Was it expected of me to hold back so people… felt better about themselves? Sure, I couldn’t care less how inferior Rassan felt—but I did care about Sara. And while I couldn’t conceptualize the emotional impact I was having, I could freshly remember the revulsion and desire to protect when I met Sara—those emotions were indeed more intense than physical pain.

  How complicated.

  I gripped the elixir, prepared to throw away my confusion at any point and heal Sara if things worsened. At the end of the day, people can only complain if they’re alive and healthy enough to do it. So I prepared to heal her if necessary—even if she hated me. It would be a long night.

  At least, that’s what I thought. The all-nighter I pulled the night prior had a far stronger impact on me than I believed, and within just five minutes of that gruesome self-reflection, I dozed off, drifting into the land of dreams and aimless relief.

  —Sara—

  Sara awoke before dawn, feeling sluggish yet warm. Her blanket was snug, and she thought she could just lie there forever. Yet, as her mind always seemed to do, the moment she thought a sleeping position was unreasonably comfortable, she felt the need to change it for no reason whatsoever. So she tried to roll, only to find herself locked into place.

  What the—?

  Sara wiggled to the left to unlock herself and, when she turned, her cool body returned to a scorching desert. Kalas was there. Kalas was actually fucking there. He was the one holding her in place, wearing nothing but a sleeveless shirt and pants. Why the hell was he holding her in place while wearing nothing but a sleeveless shirt and pants? And why was he even there?

  Her mind started repeating itself, as if asking the same question twice would yield answers.

  Sara lifted her blanket, and her body burned like the sun. She was wearing nothing but a thin tank top and her underwear. Her underwear. Her thighs were fully exposed! What in the hell was going on?

  Unwilling to stay still, she searched for her clothes. She slowly turned to push herself up, but bumped into his hand in the process.

  A slight clink of glass sounded as an object hit the ground.

  Sara glanced toward his hand and saw a tiny bottle. She gingerly lifted and examined it, and to her shock, she couldn’t read its description on her Codex.

  Name: ???

  Type: Elixir

  Estimated Rank: Amethyst - Garnet

  Known Ingredients: Torlain

  Note: Torlain is a primary ingredient in core recovery elixirs.

  How can’t I read the description? she wondered.

  This was the first elixir she couldn’t glean a substantial amount of information from since she was eight. The reason was simple: she came from a family of alchemists. So what the hell was she even looking at?

  She reread the known ingredient: Torlain.

  Why would I need…?

  The day’s events flashed past her like a film reel. She remembered the massive razor wind spell that tore the forest apart—the way she collapsed after, feeling her hands sink into the mossy mud. Her mind had buzzed, and cold chills washed through her body. Never before had a single spell triggered overheating symptoms—

  —but that spell did.

  Sara could still remember Rassan’s enchantment augmenting her [razor wind] spell. But it shattered. She remembered the spell shattering—and then it feeling like she had been hit by another enchantment.

  No, she definitely was. Her body glowed, and the entire world’s mana supply seemed to suck into her core like a vortex. The spell spiraled out of control, and when she released it—

  Mass destruction.

  Sara rolled over onto her back and stared at Kalas’s gorgeous face. Did you… do that? And if so… She thought about the devastation. What are you capable of?

  Sara’s head spun, confused and unable to process thoughts clearly. She was still sick, and her state took its toll on her thinking, but there were a few things she did know: Kalas had enchanted her, her core overheated, and then he warmed her with his body. Her face heated up like a thermometer when she realized that. He had wrapped himself around her half-naked form to heat her. She wasn’t even wearing a brassiere! It was so indecent and almost violating—

  So why did she feel so excited thinking about it? Why was her body burning, and her mind fantasizing about him moving his hands around her waist, hips pressed against her—

  Sara almost screamed and kicked away from Kalas, but that was a childish reaction.

  This was clearly not the slightest bit romantic. He had an amethyst to garnet elixir—something that could sell for ingots of gold—at the ready in case she needed it. No one would be crazy enough to use something like that unless they absolutely needed to. So, he was seeing if she’d make it without it—but he still almost gave it to her.

  Kalas had saved her life, and then almost sacrificed a priceless treasure on her behalf. There was no way that she could treat him like he had done something wrong.

  Unsure what to do with the elixir, she reluctantly tucked it between her breasts—the only place she could safely hide it from Rassan—and then considered what to do.

  If she got out of bed and made a big deal of it, it could make Kalas feel terrible—and she refused to do that. That said, what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t snuggle back into his arms and pretend like nothing had happened.

  Compromising, she lay on his forearm—albeit at a distance. Bad move. Her head triggered some reflex, and his body shifted. He was freakishly powerful, even in his sleep, and with a single pull, she found herself glued to him again—this time from the front. Her ear was pressed against his muscular chest—her breasts against his stomach. She could hear his heart and feel his every muscle.

  Sara was certain that the embarrassed heat she felt then was far worse than her fever. Then, for three awkward minutes, she lay there, hyper-aware of his every movement. At one point, she tried to pry free without waking him, but once the adrenaline and confusion wore off, she was left deathly tired from the sickness.

  Feeling unnaturally comfortable and safe, she drifted into sleep.