The concept of hostility between different variants of elves was hardly outside of my expectations. Plenty of fiction had presented that idea, and more often than not, I was finding that our fiction had apparently drawn upon multiversal norms. Thinking about it, though, brought the RA Corporation to mind, and the blind favor I owed to its owner, Salvor Tore. If I were to accept the herald offer, I had a feeling that debt would be called in soon after. That kind of power might let me accomplish whatever it was that he was angling for.

  I realized I was letting my mind wander and refocused on what was happening before me. Crynane’s presence felt different. All of the forest elves, even Dylus with his apparent grief, had a sense of light and growth about them. It made it easy to understand the tension with Crynane. They were inherently different beings. She was all shadow and silence.

  Tad paused longer than he had with the others. “I know you chose to follow me for your own reasons, but I’d feel bad if I didn’t give you a chance to leave without binding yourself this tightly to me. You know that with the fight ahead of us here in Basetown, there are real risks involved.”

  “You didn’t ask any of the surface elves this.”

  That flustered Tad, and after letting him hang there for a second, the dark elf let him off the hook. “If you do this for me, I promise I can bring a few hundred more dark elves to your banner, just for a chance to be awakened.”

  “I just want to run a shop, not build an army.”

  “Mmhmm. Sorry. You are what you are, My Prince, whether you want to be or not.”

  For a moment, I felt for Tad. Life had a way of growing out of control that I understood all too well. But then I glanced over at Samvek. I thought about all the friends I’d made, and even the fiancée I’d gained, because of the changes in my life. My lips settled into a smile. I wouldn’t give any of it back, even if it saved me from all the pain and suffering.

  Tad’s attention turned inward. His senses were clearly engaged in ways I still didn’t fully understand, and when he finally moved, his actions were careful to the point of reverence. He offered the vial, and Crynane drank it in one smooth motion, not spilling a drop. The time for testing was gone, and she was fully committed. The ascendant energy spread through her as it had the others.

  The warehouse seemed to dim, not in brightness but in activity, as though the world itself had slowed. I felt the power descend through Crynane’s channels like a cold current beneath ice. Tad leaned forward slightly, guiding only when necessary, his authority present but restrained. This wasn’t a flood to be shaped. It was a foundation being reinforced.

  Sprites appeared, but only a few. They flickered at the edges of perception in muted tones, dark violet and pale silver, hovering without drawing close. Unlike before, they watched from a distance, as if recognizing that this soul was not something to trifle with.

  The oath took hold without spectacle. I felt it settle, heavy and final, like stone placed at the bottom of deep water. The bond between Tad and Crynane didn’t feel like allegiance in the way the Order imposed it. It felt like acknowledgment, a recognition of worth rather than a claim of ownership.

  When the power finished settling, Crynane rose without wavering. Her aura became denser, harder to shift, and I realized it had become difficult to read her without effort. Spirit Sight showed fewer bright flares than in the others, but the channels that existed in her were deep and reinforced, built to endure strain that would have shattered lesser beings.

  Her nature, everything about her, was more muted than the other elves, but by examining her, I could better understand the duality in Tad. He’d said he was from two different fey Courts. I’d never been one for fey romance books, but I knew a little lore, and at least some of it was accurate. That might have been what made Tad so interesting. He was a man straddling two different worlds.

  The notification arrived quietly, almost incidental compared to what I’d felt earlier. Crynane had reached level 155, but the number barely mattered. What mattered was how real she felt now, how firmly she occupied the space around her. Just as with the others, this awakening was personal.

  Then I noticed it—something different. There was an extra concentration around her soul. Before I knew what I was asking, I blurted out, “What’s that ring around her soul?”

  Tad shook his head. “You saw that, huh?”

  I nodded.

  “It wasn’t intentional, but I’m getting the hang of this. I was able to refine her a little more. The awakening connects us, opening up their potential, but I’m beginning to see how I can guide that potential. I was able to boost the power of her magic, further enhancing her curses and her healing.”

  He glanced at the other elves. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I can redo your awakenings, and I know she got an extra boost, but it wasn’t meant as a display of favoritism. I’m just learning as I go.”

  They all gave him short bows. “We would never question you about that, My Prince,” Mirren said quietly.

  Oliver didn’t move right away. He’d been watching every awakening with the intensity of a scholar who knew he was witnessing something that would rewrite entire fields of study, and I could see the conflict playing out behind his eyes. This wasn’t just about power for him. He was a man driven by duty to his kingdom and people. At some point rather recently, he’d discovered that much of what he’d thought to be true was not.

  It was fascinating for me to watch from the outside as Tad shook up these people’s lives without intending to. It was also a cautionary tale, a reminder to me about the impact I had on those around me. In many ways, these insights alone would have made this trip worth it. The fact I was having a ton of fun only made it all that much better.

  In Oliver’s case, as well as Clay’s, their understanding of the universe had changed. The limits they thought were real had turned out to be barriers placed by a being from beyond this world. The Lawgiver had proven himself to be no friend of Aerth.

  When Oliver finally stepped forward, his shoulders were squared, but there was a gravity to his movements that hadn’t been there before. His decision had been made.

  He didn’t kneel at first. Instead, he looked at Tad directly, meeting his gaze without arrogance or defiance. “If I do this,” he said quietly, “then I’m done pretending that reform is possible from the inside. I won’t hedge. I won’t keep one foot in the empire and one foot out. I’m committing because it’s the only way to save my people from being bled dry by the Order.” His voice didn’t waver, but the cost of those words was written all over him.

  Tad studied him for a long moment, then nodded once. “I won’t lie. I hate the Order with a passion that is in my blood. I mean that literally. It’s a part of me, and I can’t change that. It may color how I see things, but you have my promise that I want to improve life for regular people. Once I learned I could create magical items, all I could think about was running a shop that would not only sell sharp magical sticks to adventurers, but also things like the ice boxes, endless water supplies, and magical lighting to improve daily life. I am and always will be that orphan who washed up on the beach. I’m connected to the people here despite what’s in my blood, not because of it.”

  In response to the sincerity in Tad’s voice, Oliver knelt, far less gracefully than the elves had, and accepted the vial with both hands. When he drank, the reaction more intense than the others, the ascendant energy slamming into him like a storm front. Oliver gasped, fingers digging into the floor as raw power tore through channels that had been shaped by study and discipline.

  This awakening was messy. Mana flared and snapped around him in unstable arcs, and I felt Tad leaning harder into the process, authority firming as he guided the surge away from catastrophic overload. Sprites appeared in a sudden burst, far more numerous than before, their colors erratic and bright, clustering and scattering as if arguing with one another. I realized then that Oliver’s magic wasn’t just personal. It was academic, layered with borrowed frameworks and half-understood theories that now had to be reconciled with something real. He had been at a higher level of power than any of the others for a longer time.

  The oath took longer to settle. I felt it form in stages, each one locking into place as Oliver consciously accepted what and who he was becoming bound to. When it finally held, his aura snapped into focus, less elegant than Mirren’s, less predatory than Lia’s, but expansive in a way I couldn’t entirely grasp. Knowledge had always been his strength, and now that knowledge had weight.

  Oliver stood with visible effort, but his eyes were bright in a way I hadn’t seen before. His level had shot up to 201 with the extra XP he’d accrued on our most recent dungeon run. More than that, I saw how refined he was inside. Tad really was getting better at this, and I was taking notes.

  “I can feel all the magic around me,” he mumbled. “I don’t know what you’ve done, but my class changed.”

  I hadn’t paid attention because I’d only been curious about his level, but when I looked at the Identification, the difference was stark. His class was now listed as a Meta-Mage rather than Grand Mage, and the description was fascinating.

  Meta-Mage: One of the blessed few mortals who can see and feel the flows of magic. Your soul has been deeply connected to the magic of the Fey, which powers this realm. You can now work with any spells and shape them as you see fit, or even forgo established spells and craft your own.

  For achieving this class, you gain +300 to your Magic stat. Further, as a meta-mage, whenever you are in the presence of a fey, your magic stat and potency are increased by 10% for each fey. In the presence of the one who awakened you, that is increased to 30%. As your oath of loyalty has been accepted, you gain a 25% boost to all stats, spells, level efficiency, and traits based upon the power of the Twin Prince.

  There was so much to unpack there, but before anyone could comment, the dungeon opened up a spot in the floor and practically spat Selena and Fara out. They looked a bit scuffed, and Selena was breathing harder than she would ever admit to. There were scorch marks on Fara’s armor and a thin line of blood along one scaled forearm, already drying. Neither of them offered an explanation, and no one asked.

  Fara’s gaze went straight to Tad, then to the empty space beside him. The impatience that had been simmering in her earlier had hardened into resolve. Whatever had happened in the dungeon, it hadn’t slowed her down. If anything, it had sharpened her focus.

  Tad exhaled slowly and looked around at the group, now larger, stronger, and irrevocably changed. “All right,” he said, fatigue creeping into his voice at last. “One more.”

  Chapter Forty-One: Finishing Up

  Fara didn’t kneel in front of Tad, and no one was surprised by that. Tad certainly didn’t ask her to, not that he’d asked any of the others. Like me, Tad seemed uncomfortable with overt signs of subservience, but he had grown to accept the necessity. The relationship he had with Fara was clearly different, and that alone told me to expect good things from this awakening.

  She stepped forward, stopping a pace away from him, posture loose but poised like a blade resting in a sheath. There was no ceremony in her movements, no attempt to make this look solemn. Her tail flicked behind her, but her eyes never left Tad’s face. She was excited, certainly, but there was more to it. There was a look of possessiveness, like Tad was hers. Not like some jealous girlfriend, but like a guard standing watch over something truly precious. They had history, and while I only knew a little of it, they’d clearly been through a lot together—shared ordeals bred a familiarity that nothing else could. I thought about Samvek, Selena, Lana, Jiang, Cece, and even Asta. I shared similar bonds with all of them.

  “You don’t need to test it with me,” Fara said. Her voice was steady, but there was heat under it. “I’ve trusted you longer than anyone else here.”

  Tad swallowed, and for the first time since the awakenings began, he looked unsure. Not afraid, but aware of the weight of what he was about to do. “That’s exactly why this matters,” he said. “You’re not another follower. You never were. I’d be lost without you. Dead, probably.”

  Fara nodded once. “Of course you would. Your head is often lost in the sky, to the point where you don’t see a root until you trip on it, but that’s why you needed an attendant.”

  The warehouse seemed to lean in again, that same charged stillness settling over the space. I felt something shift between them before any potion changed hands, a resonance already present, intentions already aligned. This wasn’t prince and subject. This was survivor and protector, a bond forged long before the systems or Courts had taken notice.

  Tad lifted the potion and handed it to Fara, who drained it without hesitation.

  The ascendant energy ignited within her like she’d swallowed a grenade, tearing through her body with predatory speed. Fara gasped, knees bending as her claws scraped against the stone, and the air around her warped with pressure. Tad was already there, one hand gripping her forearm, the other braced against her back, anchoring her before the surge could rip her apart.

  Sprites exploded into view. Not a few drifting sparks this time, but swarms of color—red-gold, shadowed violet, flashes of sharp silver and ember-orange—all circling Fara in tight, aggressive spirals. They didn’t hover politely or keep their distance as the others had. They dove, clung, recoiled, then surged again, drawn to something feral and incandescent in her soul. But the sprites were pulled to Tad, showing that while they were interested in Fara, it was her connection to him that made them come in such numbers.

  There was no oath this time, just a shifting that anyone with enough magical sensitivity should have been able to feel. There was a momentary fusing of the fey prince and the lizard woman, and Fara’s power shot up as her soul seemed to expand beyond the borders of her body. The power flowed back and forth with genuine give and take.

  Fara screamed, but it didn’t sound like there was any pain. I blushed when I recognized the sound for what it was—pure ecstasy. The rush of the changes in her must have been more than she’d expected.

  Her aura detonated outward, a wild, burning thing that snapped back under Tad’s control before it could lash out at the rest of us. Her scales glowed faintly, patterns shifting beneath them as her body and soul reconfigured in tandem. I could see the transformation clearly with Spirit Sight. Where the others had been reinforced, refined, or aligned, Fara was being rewritten from the ground up, building off a frame that already existed but had never been allowed to fully express itself.

  Tad leaned harder into the process, sweat pouring down his face as he shaped the flow of energy with a master’s precision. “Easy,” he murmured. “You’re not losing yourself. You’re sharpening. Becoming who you are meant to be.”

  The sprites reacted to his words, their chaotic orbit tightening into a coherent pattern before dispersing all at once, like a pack that had decided there was nothing more to see here.

  Fara collapsed forward, one hand braced against the floor, breathing hard, shoulders shaking. Tad stayed with her, steady and present, until her breathing slowed and her aura stabilized. Even then, it felt dangerous, coiled, like a predator at rest rather than spent.

  Somehow, she thought to push her notification out to us, but I barely needed it.

  Fara Shadeless

  Tier: Grandmaster

  Level: 218

  Race: Awakened Lacertian

  Bonded to a prince of the fey to serve as his protector in the Void Court. Agility and Perception have been boosted by 200 points each.

  New Class: Void’s Shadow

  Each royal fey is appointed a hidden guardian who helps protect them when their chaotic natures inevitably lead to problems. As the Twin Prince is connected to two Courts, you were linked to the one which most closely matched your nature.

  As a Void’s Shadow, you gain abilities possessed by the fey prince you guard, including Affinity for Void Magic, Soul Resistance, and Overclocked. Your bonus from your prince’s To Stand in Front trait is increased from 25% to 50%. You also gain the Survivor title: you are harder to kill when your life gets low.

  Void’s Shadow is a Champion Class, and gains additional stats at each level retroactively.

  Her level had jumped higher than the others. I had to assume that the last three hours with Selena had been profitable for her. They must have been pushing very hard to have ended up in the condition they’d appeared in. I did some quick back-of-the-napkin math. If she was half again as strong as her level said, that put her at about 327, even higher if she gained bonus stats for every level. She might just be able to give some of those Order awakened a run for their money in a one-on-one.

  Fara pushed herself upright and looked at Tad, eyes blazing. Then she grinned, sharp and unapologetic. “Took you long enough.”

  Tad laughed, exhausted and relieved all at once. “You were already terrifying. I just stopped holding you back.”

  I exhaled slowly, realizing only then how tense I’d been. This awakening hadn’t just been stronger. It had been truer, shaped by shared history instead of hierarchy. This was something I could build upon. I’d already done something like that with Samvek, but seeing how Tad did it convinced me I could improve on the process I’d used.

  As much fun as I was having, at least a part of me needed to keep in mind all that was riding on my success. This might be a vacation, but it was a working vacation.

  Tad straightened with visible effort and looked around at everyone, a few of whom had yet to close their mouths. “That’s it for tonight,” he said. “If I attempt anything else, I’ll make mistakes. But I want you all to know that I’m honored to have you all on my team. I still don’t know how, but we’re going to defeat the Order, even if it means making contact with my grandmothers.”