The knight had been inside of his domain since last night, but clearly wanted to be out here to watch what was about to happen. Curious, and unsure what to focus on directly, Alicia’s eyes moved back and forth between the fragments and the actual spirit standing next to Ryan.

  “Oh! Look at how wonderful they both look!” Alicia pointed out, “Their mana is just so beautiful!”

  Slowly, Ryan placed the two fragments onto Alicia’s hand. He was a bit nervous to let them go, but if Runar knew her personally, she wouldn’t do anything wrong with them … right?

  Maximus’s sight was following the fragments the whole time, and Ryan looked down at him. Ryan squatted down. “Are you alright?”

  Maximus turned toward Ryan, nodded his head just once, but then quickly looked back at Alicia with the fragments. Ryan didn’t know what was going through the knight’s head, but hearing all those things from Runar last night must have not been easy for him either. Hearing what exactly caused these problems, and there were many more spirits out there that had suffered similarly, could not have felt great to him.

  “We’ll find them all, don’t worry,” Ryan promised, and Maximus hesitated briefly, but then once more nodded. Though Ryan said that, he wasn’t even sure himself if that was possible. Sure, it was what he wanted, but you couldn’t get everything you want in this world. But if what Alicia was about to do worked, then that was a first step in achieving that.

  “Don’t worry.” Runar walked up next to Ryan, placing his hand onto his shoulder for a moment. “Clairvoyance is one of Alicia’s strong suits.”

  “One of many~!” Alicia agreed, as she placed the two fragments into a small circle within the drawn pattern.

  “H-How … how did you end up meeting Miss Boreard anyway?” Modak wondered, curiously looking at Runar, who couldn’t help himself but scoff.

  “Miss Boreard? Seriously?”

  Alicia glared at Runar. “Leave him be, the boy’s got manners. You could learn a thing or two from him, you know?”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I awakened pretty young, and Rune Mage is a pretty rare class. We didn’t have anyone directly in the family that could teach me, so I went to the Magic Tower for training. And Alicia is the one that taught me.” With crossed arms, Runar looked over at the elf, who was nodding her head proudly.

  “And look at how well he turned out for it. He learned from the best,” she pointed out, and Modak was almost stunned, barely able to get his words out.

  “Y-You were her student? That … really?” he let out in disbelief, and Runar slightly narrowed his eyes.

  “I’m not sure why you’re in such disbelief there. I’m a very capable man.”

  Ryan scoffed, “Yeah, sure.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You know exactly what that’s supposed to mean,” Ryan smirked.

  “Well, sure … I can be a little forgetful sometimes, but I’ve got a lot of things on my plate. And, I’m capable enough to make you guys these!” Runar quickly walked over to his desk, trying to find the three metal plates he prepared earlier. He had to search for a while because he had a hard time seeing things with just the dim candlelight, but he found them soon enough. Runar walked over to the three newcomers, handing each of them one of the plates.

  “Put this into your phone case, with the array pointing to your phone, and you should get a signal down here,” he explained, turning to his nephew with a smug grin. “I feel like that’s pretty capable, don’tcha think?”

  “Well … it’s a good start,” Ryan joked lightly, pulling out his phone. He peeled the case off and placed the thin plate inside. As he turned the screen on, almost being blinded by the bright light, he soon saw a few bars appear in the corner of the screen. He was even getting a Wi-Fi signal from upstairs now. A few messages came in that he had missed while down here.

  One from his mom, sending him a recipe for lemon bars that she found. Some from Yanna, talking about a workout plan that she and Ryan had been trying to figure out. And then, in the flood of random notifications from apps of phone games he meant to uninstall for weeks already, there was an email from the Awakened Center. An invitation to something that Yanna had already mentioned. A get-together for newly awakened individuals. He mentally noted it to take a look later, but for now he put his phone back into his pocket. That kind of thing wasn’t important right now.

  “You kids ready to do this?” Alicia asked, just waiting for everyone to get ready. “Please don’t use any spells or skills that use mana right now.”

  Ryan watched as Alicia pressed her palms together, as though she were praying. She let out a long breath at such fervor that it seemed almost impossible for her to hold it for as long as she did. Almost instantly, she stopped, and carefully pulled her hands away from each other. With a soft pink glow, a staff appeared between her hands. It was made of wood curling around itself, holding on to a round pink bulb at its end. Alicia held that end right over the ceramic bottle in the center of that pattern on the ground.

  With a whispering, almost fading voice, the elf started to recite a chant. It was rhythmic and musical, enthralling to the point where Ryan’s eyes were almost stuck to her lips as she spoke. He turned to the side, and he noticed he wasn’t the only one; the others were staring right at Alicia, as if they were watching the most engaging movie ever.

  By the time Ryan looked back toward Alicia, some liquid was carefully flowing out of the top of the ceramic bottle. It was fully translucent, but it seemed too thick to be water. It was just a step before gelatinous. Once out of the bottle, the liquid split up into eight parts, each forming a small bubble.

  Seven of these bubbles moved to the candles, trapping their flames. But instead of extinguishing them, the liquid just made it all brighter. The walls were quickly covered in fractured light, which swerved back and forth. It was like what happened when light reflected off a body of water. The last of the bubbles moved toward the two fragments of Gaia, carefully scooping them up before carrying them to the center of the pattern, floating just between the ceramic bottle and the tip of Alicia’s staff.

  The whole time as this happened, Alicia hadn’t stopped her chanting for even a moment, not even to breathe. Her eyes were deeply focused on the bubble containing the fragments. Carefully, she tapped the top of the bubble with her staff, pulling the liquid up into a thin strand. Ryan’s heart almost skipped a beat as he watched the reflections on the walls peel off the surfaces. They floated through the air and were pulled toward the pattern on the ground, like a dome of light that was slowly shrinking, leaving nothing but darkness behind. Before long, Ryan and the others were taken in by this darkness as well. He couldn’t even see his own hands anymore. By the time he looked back in front of himself, that “dome” had reached the magic circle on the ground, but it didn’t stop there. These reflections continued on farther, even beyond the candles that created them in the first place. A few moments later, the only thing that was visible in this room was the bubble containing the two fragments.

  It was an almost uncomfortable darkness, one that Ryan had never seen before. It was even darker than just closing his eyes usually was. Right now, he would have had no idea if they were open or not, if it weren’t for that single ball of light dancing right in front of him. Soon, the light pulled up the thin strand that Alicia had created earlier. Her voice, so serene and quiet as it had been, was now so deafening that it seemed like she was screaming, though in reality it was still nothing but a steady whisper.

  The light soon gathered at the tip of the strand, forming a small, marble-sized ball. Ryan’s eyes were deeply focused on them, as he finally started to see something else beside the light. Alicia’s hands were slowly closing in around it, her pale skin illuminated by the magical lights. As if they were physical, Alicia grabbed it in her right hand. Her whispered chanting ongoing, she held it toward Ryan. He didn’t even have to be told and carefully took a step forward, taking the marble of light from her.

  Out of everything that was happening, the part that truly surprised Ryan the most was that it was cold to the touch. He looked away from it, watching Alicia guide her fingers to her lips. The light of the marble was reflected in her eyes, and she was staring right at Ryan. He didn’t know why, but it was like his body was acting on its own. He mimicked Alicia and placed the marble to his own lips. And then, he took a piece of light into his mouth, swallowing it.

  As the whispers cut out immediately, the light of the candles slowly returned and the room was filled with that soft yellow glow. A system message appeared in front of Ryan.

  [You have taken in the -Light of Guidance-]

  “What … what’s the Light of Guidance?” Ryan let out, and as he spoke, he realized that he had been holding his breath up until now. At the same time, he could see the liquid move back into the bottle after placing down the two fragments. Alicia smiled at Ryan.

  “It’s how we can find Gaia’s fragment. It’s going to guide you there,” she explained, tapping her head. “Just try to concentrate on it.”

  Ryan nodded his head, closing his eyes for a moment, trying to search for the Light of Guidance. However, he didn’t have to look for it for long. Inside of Gaia’s domain, a small orb of light was floating. As Ryan focused on it, he could feel it practically pull him in a direction. It was perfectly to the right. To test it out, Ryan slightly turned his head. The pull of the light was still aimed in that same direction.

  “Have you found it?” Alicia asked. “Now, this part might be a bit tricky, especially since you haven’t awakened that long ago. You need to let go and let it pull you to where it wants you to go. It’s going to feel almost like …”

  “Like a very strong ‘want’ to go somewhere? Yeah, I think I got it?” Ryan replied, and Alicia blinked a few times in surprise.

  “Wait, you already got it?”

  “I think so? It’s trying to pull me right over there.” He pointed in the direction where the light wanted him to go. It was slightly to the right of the door.

  “… Didn’t you just awaken a few weeks ago?” Alicia tried to confirm, not sure if Runar maybe lied to her.

  “On the fourteenth, yeah. I feel like I’m pretty good at handling mana, I guess. Plus, the fragment is just inside of Gaia’s domain right now, so it was easy to find,” Ryan explained, and Alicia clicked her tongue as she turned her head away.

  With crossed arms, the elf glared at Runar. “Like uncle, like nephew, huh? Your family is just so annoyingly talented at using magic.”

  Muttering to herself, Alicia walked over to a bag placed on one of the couches. She pulled a scroll out of it; a full-on proper scroll that looked like it came straight out of a movie.

  “What’s up with her?” Silvia asked curiously, and Runar couldn’t help himself but grin as he responded.

  “When she started teaching me, she would always get super annoyed at how quickly I learned the basics. She wanted to explain and teach it to me more, but I’d skip whole lessons.”

  Alicia narrowed her eyes and stared at Runar. “Your bloodline is cheating.”

  “Oh get off it,” Runar scoffed. “Just open the map already.”

  Alicia sighed, unrolling the scroll she was holding. On it was an old, hand-painted map of what seemed to be New Riverside. It wasn’t particularly detailed, but apparently quite accurate. The elven mage looked away from the map and at Ryan. “Now, place your palm on there, and act like you’re pulling out the light. As you did with the fragments earlier.”

  “Right, just hold on,” Ryan replied, quickly walking over to the magic circle that had been drawn on the ground. Gaia’s two fragments were still laying there, and Ryan quickly picked them up. He pulled them back into Gaia’s domain where they would be safe. They were floating just below that orb of light.

  And then, Ryan came back to Alicia who patiently waited, and he placed his palm onto the map. It was rough and clearly pretty old. Ryan took a deep breath and concentrated on the light in the domain, pulling it out through his hand. He could feel the same chill that he felt when he touched the light earlier; it was like cold water was flowing down his arm onto the paper.

  Alicia prompted him to put away his hand, and as he did, a small circle appeared on the map, drawn around part of the Channel’s island.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Shadows

  It’s in the Channel?” Ryan asked with a light frown, and Runar loudly clicked his tongue.

  “Of course it is. Fuckin’ Shadows …” he muttered quietly. Even so, Ryan still heard him.

  “What do you mean, ‘Shadows’?”

  Though hesitant, Runar knew that this was an important aspect of this situation that Ryan had to be filled in on. He couldn’t not tell him. “… Alright, so … we’re not the only group acting at this ‘level.’ One of the main groups that’s being a bit of a bother is, well … they’re called the ‘White Shadow Society.’ ”

  “Seriously?” Silvia scoffed, hearing that name. “That’s kind of … weirdly cliché, right?”

  “Well, when they got their name, it was very innovative,” Runar pointed out. “But their name isn’t important. They’re also in the business of dealing with the mystical, and those that are ‘hidden’ for one reason or another. But … instead of trying to help the ‘hidden’ not be ‘hidden’ … they’re trying to get rid of them altogether.”

  When Ryan heard his uncle’s words, the hairs on his neck stood up. “What? What do you mean?”

  “I mean exactly what it sounds like.” With a loud groan, Runar walked over to the windows to pull the curtains to the side and let some light in again. “They’re honestly the main force we’re fighting against. With every step we take to help the hidden, they take a step against them. They basically hunt all that they deem ‘dangerous’ for one reason or another. They’re also the ones pulling the strings behind the auction, and they have massive influence over so, so many companies. Bluesky is one of their major fronts.”

  “Blue—what? Seriously?” Ryan let out in disbelief.

  Similarly, Modak and Silvia didn’t know what to think about what Runar just said. The orc quickly shook his head. “No, but Bluesky is a massive corporation, they … why would they … ?”

  “Because they were made specifically for this. Awakened people are a massive force. They can get almost impossibly powerful. And Bluesky is the biggest player in every Awakened-related industry that exists,” Runar explained. “Why do you think they were going after Ryan that hard? It’s not just because he’s got a unique class.”

  “So that Simon guy was one of the ‘Shadows’ you’re talking about?” Silvia wondered, but Runar quickly denied that.

  “He’s just a goon, I guess. Some random asshole working at the company who doesn’t even know who he’s really working for. Honestly? I doubt there’s more than four or five people at the whole company that actually know everything.”

  “So … they stole one of Gaia’s fragments?” Ryan asked, and Runar hesitated as he once more shook his head.

  “First of all, they didn’t ‘steal’ it. After your father, you know … The fragments were ready for the taking. And frankly, I believe they might have simply found the full core, probably damaged, and fragmented it themselves.”

  Ryan ground his teeth together. “So … they’re the ones that gave Vanda the fragment? And what, they somehow placed the fragment in a dungeon?”

  The word hesitation was practically written on Runar’s face at this point. There were a lot of things that he had to tell Ryan, but he didn’t know if this was the right moment. However, Runar promised to fill him in, so he did. “The formation of dungeons can be … helped along, so to say. The ‘seed’ was probably already there, and then they pushed it a step further with the help of Gaia’s fragment. You said her title was ‘Garden Golem,’ right? That fits the monsters in the dungeon quite well, right?”

  “Are you serious?” Ryan asked, confused. “Why the fuck would they do that? How does creating dungeons even help those guys? If their goal is total genocide of everyone they don’t like, what do dungeons have to do with that?”

  Before Runar could reply, Alicia spoke up with her own guess, “To get rid of spirits.”

  Runar snapped his head toward the elf. “We don’t know that! That’s not—”

  “Get rid of spirits? What do you mean? Runar, what does she mean?”

  Not just Ryan, but Maximus as well; they were both getting worked up. The spirit was staring deeply up at Runar, and Ryan followed suit. The Rune Mage tried to think how to best word it.

  “We don’t know for sure, but … We believe that they are trying to make spirits seem dangerous,” Runar explained. “The dungeon was not particularly strong. Like, come on, a level 1, newly awakened kid was able to find the core room in a couple of hours. If it had been anyone else … they would have found the core room, the dungeon would have been closed, and the only thing left behind would have been a spirit core. That would have reported, and …”

  Ryan was stunned, unsure what he was supposed to think. In these moments of silence, Modak slowly spoke, “So … they’re trying to make it seem like spirits cause dungeons?”

  Runar slowly nodded. “That’s the only reason I can think of, yes. It would be great if it’s some kind of misunderstanding, but … after what happened yesterday, with that robot? That just supports the idea further.”

  “Wait, how so? Even if Ryan hadn’t been there, that clearly wasn’t the fault of Gaia’s fragment, but because of how it was used! Plus, the university wouldn’t want to spread too much about it either, right?” Silvia asked, not really understanding the purpose behind that, or what Runar was insinuating. But Modak quickly filled in the gaps.