[Zek's POV]
I wasn't annoyed.
I was fine.
Really.
It wasn't like the sun had started to set or anything. Or like we were just now getting back after what should've been a simple supply run that spiralled into a five-hour odyssey of lines, confused shopkeepers, and one alchemist who tried to sell us "magic salt" for 90 silver.
The magic salt was just salt mixed with sugar by the way.
'It's fine,' I told myself for the fifth time. 'You're with friends. This is bonding.'
"—and then I told him, 'If you're gonna sell me leather boots, maybe don't also sell horse food right next to them.'" Araki laughed.
Orin snorted beside him. "What, did the boots smell like hay or something?"
I rolled my eyes and leaned back slightly against Orin's neck.
Yes. I was sitting on his shoulder.
No. I was not going to explain it.
Orin and I had just… clicked. Fast. Like flipping a switch. He was easy to talk to. Grounded. And tall. Which made riding on his shoulder a surprisingly good vantage point. Plus, it was kinda nice being above eye-level for once.
'Tall people get it good,' I mused, arms crossed as we walked the dirt path toward the academy. The walls of the castle-like building rose in the distance, catching the sunset like an ancient sentinel.
The wind was calm. The path was quiet.
Then—
"Hey! Wait up!"
We all turned at once.
Jethro and Elaina were jogging toward us from the direction of the city gates, each carrying a large bag that looked way heavier than it had any right to be.
Orin waved. "You guys just finish up?"
Jethro nodded with a sigh, slowing down as they reached us. "Yeah. Spent the last hour trying to find an alchemy shop that apparently doesn't exist."
Elaina puffed her cheeks out, clearly frustrated. "Turns out it does exist. It's just in the slums, looks like it was condemned decades ago, and somehow smells like rotten cinnamon."
"Oof," Orin winced.
"Yikes," Araki added.
I just gave them a look of pure sympathy. "You didn't… touch anything in there, did you?"
"No," they said in unison, grimacing.
"Good," I muttered.
"But!" Elaina said brightly, as if to banish the bad memory. "We got everything!"
She held up her fingers and began ticking things off. "One bottle of high-grade holy water, a bunch of weird herbs, and this thing—"
She reached into her bag and pulled out a brass-and-silver device with dials, mirrors, and an odd turning arm. It looked like a clock and a compass had a baby.
"Called a… 'sextant' or something?" she said.
Everyone turned to look at me.
I blinked.
Then squinted at the device.
"…I have no idea what this is," I admitted.
Elaina deflated. "You're supposed to be the smart one when Jack's not here!"
"I am the smart one!" I said, indignantly holding the device up. "But this thing looks like something out of a clockmaker's fever dream."
Araki stepped forward, eyebrows raised. The moment he saw it clearly, his eyes widened.
"Wait. I know that thing. My dad has one. A sextant is used by navigators and trackers to measure angles between the stars or the sun and the horizon to help determine your exact location. Essentially, you can use the sky and stars as a map."
I blinked at him.
He shrugged. "What? Just because I'm good with a bow and live in a swamp doesn't mean I live under a rock."
"Fair enough," I muttered, handing it back to Elaina.
"That makes sense, though," Orin said thoughtfully. "If you're travelling through unknown terrain or tracking something magical, being able to figure out where you are using the stars would probably help a lot."
"Still begs the question," I said, tilting my head. "Why does Jack need it?"
Everyone paused.
"...No idea," Elaina admitted.
Araki shrugged. "It's Jack. It probably makes sense to him."
We all exchanged helpless looks… and moved on.
The sun was dipping just below the horizon as we crossed the final stretch of road. The outer wall of the academy loomed above us, smooth stone catching the golden light, its towers casting long shadows across the grass.
The courtyard was nearly empty—only a few students scattered around, packing up for the day or heading inside.
I frowned.
"...Where's Jack?"
We stopped at the center of the path, glancing around. The air was still, heavy with the scent of warm stone and magic residue. The kind of stillness that comes right before something weird happens.
"Did Jack say where we should go when we got back?" Jethro asked.
Everyone shook their heads.
"Nope."
"Nah."
"Didn't mention it."
I was about to suggest splitting up to search when we heard it.
Chuff.
A soft growl.
We turned as one—and saw a massive blue and yellow tiger leap gracefully down from the academy's outer wall.
Jethro and Elaina instinctively moved to stand in front of everyone, arms raised in alarm.
"What is that?!" Elaina hissed, getting ready for a fight.
Orin calmly stepped forward and put a hand on the twins' shoulders.
"This is Volt," he said. "One of Jack's spirits."
Jethro blinked. "Spirit? Really?"
Orin nodded. "Yeah. He introduced us a few days ago, but we haven't seen him much."
Volt nodded and turned his head slightly, then lifted one paw and pointed toward the greenhouse at the far edge of the courtyard.
I followed the motion, then looked back at him.
"Is Jack in the greenhouse basement?" I asked.
Volt nodded once.
"Thanks, Volt," Orin said with a smile.
Volt gave a soft purr, then—
CRACK.
In a flash of white-blue lightning, he vanished, leaving nothing but the scent of ozone in the air.
"...Okay," Elaina whispered. "That was… kinda amazing."
"Yeah," Jethro said, still staring at the scorch mark where Volt had stood. "Teleportation is insane. That wasn't even a spell circle. Just pure blink magic."
"Do you think he'd teach us?" Elaina whispered back.
"Or maybe we could find a lightning spirit and form a contract…"
They both looked way too excited about the idea.
I chuckled softly to myself.
'They're gonna fit right in,' I thought to myself.
We made our way over and opened the passage, and walked down the stairs.
The door creaked open without resistance. The air inside smelled like burnt wood, and something... electric but also radiating energy.
And that's when we saw it.
Papers fluttered in the air, rotating in slow spirals around invisible currents. Tools and metal shards drifted like debris caught in orbit.
Magic circles floating in the air all around us, some full yet inactive and others incomplete.
No one said a word.
Even Araki looked stunned.
Elaina finally whispered, "...Did we just step into the Mage's Tower or something?"
Orin stared wide-eyed. "What is this…?"
I couldn't speak.
My whole body locked up.
'This… this looks like my master's workshop…' I thought, fingers trembling. 'My master used to enchant like this. Controlled chaos. Layered spell-weaving. Never just one rune—always three, nested. Always more.'
My breathing quickened, but I forced myself to focus.
And then we saw Ark.
He was sitting off to the side, tucked near a corner table, arms crossed on the wood and chin resting on top, just… watching.
Blankly.
Orin stepped forward first, and Araki flanked him on one side and the twins on the other side.
"Ark?" I asked.
His eyes flicked up. A pause.
"Hey guys..." he said before turning back to everything in the room.
"Do you know what is happening here?" Araki asked.
He shrugged and said, "I don't really know. Jack just… started doing stuff once we got down here, and eventually all this happened."
We all turned back to the center of the room.
Jack sat cross-legged on the stone floor. Three books floated around him—pages turning in perfect sync, flipping faster than human fingers could manage. Runes drew themselves mid-air. Threads of silver mana extended from his hands like puppet strings, guiding the movement of enchanted tools.
And he hadn't even noticed we were here.
Araki slowly stepped forward, raising one hand like Jack was a sleeping dragon.
"Uh… Jack?" he said.
Jack flinched, then turned, eyes wide like someone yanked him out of a trance. The circles dimmed slightly around him.
"Guys!" he said, blinking a few times to focus. "You're back! Did you get everything?"
We nodded, still trying to process… all of this.
"Everything's here," I said, gently setting my bag down.
Jethro, Elaina, Araki, Orin—everyone followed suit.
Jack leaned forward and began organizing it all in a surprisingly neat circle around himself.
"Okay. Let's see… one bottle of high-grade holy water. All the requested herbs. Four empty mana crystals. Two vials of goblin blood. Silver powder… the sextant…, plus what I got... that's everything."
He exhaled like someone who'd been holding their breath for hours.
"Good. Then we might have a chance at saving Aaron," he said.
Everyone's mood shifted at that. A mix of relief and nervous energy.
Araki crossed his arms and gestured around. "Do you need our help with anything, or do you have it?"
Jack paused a moment.
Then stood and grabbed a small bundle of dried stalks.
He handed them to Orin, Elaina, and Ark. "I am going to need a dozen straw dolls. Doesn't matter how pretty, so long as they are made."
He turned and gave each of us a mana crystal.
"Fill these. Ark, yours with wind. Araki, light. Zek, fire."
Ark balked and asked, "Wait—me? A-are you sure?"
"You're the only one with a wind affinity and mana core. Overall, you're the best option, and Zek's got his wand, so you guys are all set," Jack said simply.
Araki nodded but asked, "I get ark, but I don't have a core, so I can't create light mana."
Jack smiled and said, "I can sense your core, and although it isn't finished yet, it is growing quickly. As it is right now, you should be able to convert some mana into light mana."
Araki stared in shock as he realized what they meant.
...and I felt a little jealous that he had his core before me. Though I would never admit it.
Then he pulled a small arrow from his storage ring and handed it to Araki.
It was strange. The head was halved and carved inward, like it was meant to hold something rather than pierce it.
"You'll need this later," Jack said, handing it over.
Araki examined it, then looked at the crystals. "This slot… It's for one of the mana crystals?"
Jack nodded. "I will explain once the crystal is full."
Then he pointed to the far table.
"Jethro. Elaina. I need mana potions. Medium grade. Should be most of what you need over there—but some of the rarer reagents are in the bags you brought back."
The twins glanced at each other, nodded, and rushed to the table. The clinks of glass and soft hum of alchemical burners followed soon after.
Everyone split.
Straw dolls. Mana crystals. Potion brewing.
Jack knelt again, spinning one of the books and layering another set of magic scripts mid-air.
I moved back toward him, watching the spellwork closely.
The circles weren't standard. They weren't even high-level inscriptions from the arcane tomes. They were…
Something else.
Lines curved not just in space but through symbols I didn't understand. Half the runes had mirrored doubles. One line of text flickered in and out of dimensional layering, like it was alive.
"…What is this?" I asked.
Jack barely looked up.
"Application of science, metaphysics, and outerworld mechanics."
He said it like it was the weather forecast.
I stared.
"…Sorry?"
He tilted his head slightly and added, "Think physics meets soul theory. We're basically hard-coding the boundary between Aaron and the god using symbolic metaphors made real through willpower, matter-aligned energy anchors, and selective divine rule-bending."
"…"
"…Okay," I said quietly.
I sat back, defeated.
Jack blinked at me.
"Sorry," he said softly. "Didn't mean to lose you there."
"Nah, it's fine," I muttered, turning away. "Just… not what I'm used to."
He watched me for a moment longer.
Then went back to work.
But I saw it.
That little flicker of guilt in his eyes.
And that silent promise: 'Next time, I'll find something for you too.'