The darkness transformed into a clear, windless night, the harbinger of a new moon. A moment when the vast gloom observed the events in a forest of mushroom-like trees.
Silence hung in the darkness, making it all the more terrifying, as everyone turned toward Merlin the Wizard.
He chuckled softly, shaking his head almost desperately. Then, in a relaxed tone, he snorted:
"By Zephyr and the divine Principles, shouldn't I be allowed to make a small mistake when speaking?"
Lux took a deep breath, his yellow eyes—almost like the sacred sun—focusing on Merlin, as if he were burdened with words that were difficult to explain. But the Wizard only responded with a strange look.
"What are you looking at?" Merlin murmured, his deep black eyes silencing Lux.
"Dear Mister Merlin, look at me, please."
Merlin turned to face Kōri, hoping to find doubt in her eyes, but was met only by two ice-blue eyes that stared back without the slightest trace of uncertainty, carrying only coldness and quiet superiority.
Merlin swallowed discreetly and tried to continue lying, but that gaze chilled him to the bone.
Sunday kept watching, with no apparent interest in interrupting the conversation.
Nero looked between Kōri and Merlin with a small smile on his face; after all, he did know the truth.
I want to see how long your show lasts, Magician... although I still don't know Merlin's paths, much less his Ranks... that gives me strange feelings, like a minor annoyance. I wish I knew... Information is never useless. Especially when it's about someone as dangerous as Merlin.
Suddenly, Sunday turned to Nero and, with swift movements, crossed the distance in a blur.
"Hey..." he murmured, "Is what Kōri said true? Is it true that you have two Paths?"
Nero felt a little self-conscious remembering how he had once lied to Sunday, telling him he only had the Path of Cunning. He didn't feel bad about lying, since that was as natural as breathing; what bothered him was that he had lied to Sunday, someone who had become like an older brother to him.
"Yes, I'm sorry for hiding it from you. My master told me not to tell anyone... they are the Path of Cunning and the Path of Void."
"Axel... great master, great friend, great companion..."
Nero noticed Sunday's somewhat melancholic gaze.
"How did you meet him?"
"That's a long story... so long... I wouldn't have enough time to tell you."
Without another word, Nero and Sunday turned to face Merlin and Kōri.
Kōri continued to gaze at the Wizard with such composure.
"I swear I'm not lying!"
Kōri smiled slightly.
"I only have two things to say... number one: please stop yelling at me, and number two: I haven't accused you of anything yet, or do you naturally become defensive every time someone asks you something?"
Merlin took a few steps back and realized the true plan behind Kōri's words: if Merlin answered "no," Kōri could continue asking questions; if he answered "yes," he would gain a reputation for being crazy, or worse, if he remained silent, everyone would suspect him.
The Wizard felt as if, little by little, this white-haired woman was cornering him.
"I'm so tired of you! Always so bossy and cold, do you think you're better than me?!"
Kōri nodded gracefully.
"Fucking bitch!"
Merlin clenched his fists, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him before he could do anything.
Standing behind Merlin was Sunday, who, with a smile, said:
"You'd dare hit a young Lady in front of me?"
Nero was surprised, but not by Merlin's insult.
What?... How is Sunday so fast? I didn't even see when he got up or when he ran towards Merlin... that speed isn't typical of a Rank 11... Could Sunday be a...?
Merlin flashed a small, triumphant smile, but suddenly, applause erupted throughout the room, then another, and another.
It was Nero, who, with a wide curl of his lips, said, almost laughing:
"Sunday, don't be fooled by this vile Mage. All he wants is to change the subject about whether he has two Paths. That's why he tried to hit Kōri, knowing someone would stop him."
Merlin burst into loud laughter and roughly pulled away from Sunday's grip.
"I should've known you'd figure it out... phew... Well, there's no point hiding it anymore. Yes, I do have two Paths, the Path of Greed and the Path of Sloth."
Merlin turned to Kōri with a broad smile.
"I'm sorry about earlier. You could say it was... 'just a harmless little joke,' so no hard feelings, right?"
Kōri smiled back and exclaimed, "I agree with you. I might even dare to play a joke on you too... be careful when you sleep, or something very bad will happen to your body."
Merlin tried to remain composed, but couldn't stop himself from trembling.
After a few seconds of silence, Kōri asked, "Dear Mister Magician, could you tell us what your Rank 11s are?"
Merlin opened his mouth, but Lux spoke first:
"Your Rank 11 in the Path of Greed is Goldsmith, which allows you to create golden objects, and if you eat and digest those objects, you gain strength, speed, and stamina. Your Rank 11 in the Path of Sloth is Effectist; Merlin can use blue smoke to cause pain and green smoke to induce sleep... those are them, if I remember correctly."
Nero narrowed his eyes, but his gaze remained fixed on Lux.
"Who told you that?"
"The Magician."
So Merlin trusted Lux enough to teach him...
Lux scratched the back of his neck in an almost comical way. Then, he looked at Merlin with his typical silly grin.
"Sometimes I think Merlin has a soft spot for me."
Merlin chuckled and sat back down on the floor with the others, picking up his plate and taking a bite of the now slightly cold meat.
Kōri continued staring at Merlin with an unreadable expression, a few meters away from her.
The Wizard, noticing this, sighed and approached her without any apparent fear. Then, he sat beside her.
"I'm sorry... so you don't kill me, I'll tell you the name of your Rank 10."
Kōri smiled, looking at Merlin with high expectations.
"If I remember correctly, and according to that book I read, the Rank 10 of the Path of Coldness... what was your Path?"
"Coldness..." Kōri whispered, then proceeded to eat her flesh with smooth and delicate movements.
"The Rank 10 of the Path of Coldness is Visionary of Time."
Kōri blinked twice slowly, her gaze falling to the ground at the colorless grass. One of her hands reached out toward Nero, and then she pulled him hard.
Nero looked at her for a moment.
"What's wrong, Kōri?"
Kōri smiled slightly.
"I thought my next Rank would be about ice, since my current Rank is Cryokinetic... apparently it's about time... 'Visionary of Time'... do you know the names of your Ranks 10s?"
Nero clicked his tongue casually. Then he nodded, and after shook his head.
"Only one, Rank 10 of Path of Cunning, Liar... I don't have the one for Path of Void, I just hope it's powerful."
Nero was eager to rank up. The mere thought of gaining more abilities excited him, but he had a strong feeling.
Would the Rank 10, Liar, have a high or low combat capabilities? he wondered, as he watched Sunday.
After a while, with everyone focused on their food and no one speaking, Lux looked at Sunday with a disgusted eyebrow.
"Hey, idiot. What's your path, and your rank?"
Sunday sighed heavily.
"Path of Spontaneity, and I'm Rank... Rank 10."
Lux nodded, then turned to face Nero, but after analyzing Sunday's words, he looked back at him.
"What?!"
Kōri's face was a strange mix of fear and respect. Merlin just mumbled something indefensible as he lay down on the gray grass.
Nero sat down next to Sunday.
"I suspected as much... you, with your impressive strength and speed, didn't seem very Rank 11... so, what's your Rank 10? And out of curiosity, what's your Rank 11?"
Sunday looked at everyone with some embarrassment.
"I'm sorry for hiding something so important... well, my Rank 11 is called 'Electrician.' It allows me to create small discharges, which, if I accumulate them, can create a small lightning bolt. Also, I have enhanced strength and speed."
Sunday suddenly became excited, his hands moving erratically, as he began to speak aloud:
"And I love my Rank 10! It's called 'Thunder Knight,' and it lets me do so many things! For example, I can sense when a storm is coming and how intense it will be. I can be struck by lightning and easily survive. My body improves, my lightning improves, everything improves! Also, I can electrify objects like spears or swords, but since that idiot Reveli has my Inazuma... well, I can't use it... and my Rank 10 comes with a very strong weakness: I can become insane very easily."
Nero nodded, delighted by all the new information, but also dizzy from it all.
"Sunday, what do you mean by 'insane'?" Lux asked, finishing his meat.
"Oh... it's a somewhat advanced concept among Sinners. 'Insane' is something you acquire in various ways: by rising in Rank, it grants brief madness, which is why it's possible to see illusions or hear terrifying voices. I myself suffered from that during my ascent to Rank 10; it's... it's simply horrifying."
Sunday closed his eyes, searching for something more to say.
"It's irreversible when it reaches maturity, but if it remains weak it can be removed over time, and if you fail an 'Insane' ritual, it explodes, driving you, you know, mad, making you obey the commands of your path... also, small rituals can grant it, even..."
Sunday gestured for everyone to gather. Little by little, they all approached Sunday, forming an imperfect circle.
"The sages of the churches say that seeing the true form of a Principle drives you mad."
Nero remembered Zephyr and that brief "encounter" they had shared.
So that divine bastard didn't even deign to show his true form... well, it makes sense, why would he drive me crazy if he wanted to speak with me?
"Hmm..." Nero murmured.
Merlin turned to him, clearly lazy.
"What's wrong?"
"I think I know why 'Insane' exists... think about it, if we had a friend with a high Rank who helped us collect Centrums, and then we had to do the ritual ourselves to increase our Rank, and we did that until we reached a very high Rank, that's why 'Insane' exists. It's like a natural limitation to advancing in Rank."
Sunday put a hand to his chin.
"Good observation, but ascending isn't so easy... although I can agree with you, since if it were just a matter of gathering information, eating Centrums, and performing the ritual, it would be very easy... it seems the creator of this strange power doesn't want us... doesn't want us to fall by our own Path."
Kōri thought for a moment, and finally said: "It's a clear limitation, clearer than ice... if sinners didn't have a time limit to advance in Rank, there would be many mid and high ranks, and few low ranks."
"Stop!" Lux stopped, putting his hands to his head. "That's too much information all at once. Can we just talk about something else? I'm tired of talking about the Sinners."
Lux looked at Sundsy, his yellow eyes, like the sun itself, seemed to quell the darkness around him.
"If you're a Rank 10, how could Nero beat you in that tournament with Axel?"
Sunday and Neroo exchanged glances.
"The truth is, I held back. He could have killed him at any moment, that's why Axel told me to set limits for myself before he did... that idiot, does he think he's so powerful?"
Sunday snorted bitterly.
"He thinks he's better than me just because he's about to reach Rank 9..."
So Axel can advance to Rank 9... I expected as much from my master.
Merlin tilted his head to look at Sunday. Then, he curled up on the floor as if there were a soft, warm pillow there.
"They talk about him a lot. Who is this Axel guy?"
Lux smiled slightly, remembering Axel. "He's our teacher, our boss, and he's the one who taught us the basics about the Sinners... besides, he has a strange history with Sunday."
Merlin nodded, closing her eyes.
Is he going to sleep on the grass just to avoid going to his bed?... Now that's lazy... If Sunday held back when we fought, and it was so hard to 'win'... how strong would Sunday be if he didn't hold back, especially with Inazuma?
A shiver ran through Nero's body.
"Hey, Kōri," Lux laughed maliciously. "Remember when you and Nero used to sleep together?"
A flush rose across Kōri's pale face, turning her cheeks red. Nero seemed indifferent, not paying any attention to Lux's words. At the same time, Merlin opened her eyes, observing Nero, and then said happily,
"I thought you were a virgin... I guess I was wrong. Whoa... you're very lucky to have such a stubborn and violent lady."
Kōri's face twisted in embarrassment, while Nero glared at Lux.
"Lux... you are a fucking idiot!" Nero hissed. "She and I didn't do anything."
Merlin looked at Sunday.
"Did they sleep together?"
Sunday nodded, remembering, then said with a smile, "Yes, I remember that time Kōri came out of the room practically dead, she was in pain all over and didn't want to talk to anyone."
Merlin turned to Kōri.
"Uh, I... I was on my period!"
"Not even Zephyr believes that..." The Wizard turned to Nero. "Did you sleep together, yes or no?"
Nero hesitated for a moment before answering, searching for the word "naps" so as not to further complicate the situation. After a few seconds, he said, "Yes, but we just slept, nothing more."
Lux, Merlin, and Sunday stared at each other, caught between the flustered Nero and the embarrassed Kōri.
"Funny..." Sunday murmured. "Oh, and..."
Suddenly, an enormous weight fell on his heart. An electric current snaked through his body, causing a bearable but uncomfortable pain. The electrical energy concentrated in Sunday's chest, unleashing a powerful storm in his mind, body, and soul.
He stood up, drawing everyone's attention.
"Grab what's most important... we have to go... now!"