Book 3 - Chapter 17 (Patreon)

Before they could leave, Myra asked them to wait. “I can’t believe I almost let you get away without giving Marksi his present!”

She pulled out a little red bag, from first glance. She brushed off, then visibly pushed a pulse of magic into it. It popped and formed into a wide brimmed hat with a pointed top, a perfect miniature version of Lumina’s.

“I could tell he really wanted one,” said Myra.

Marksi nodded firmly and jumped into Myra’s arms. The motion knocked her back a step; Marksi was getting bigger. She patiently tied it to his head with a little band and clasp that hung from the bottom. He looked like quite the mystical little fellow with the hat, and purred as he nuzzled Myra’s arm.

Lumina squeaked and held her hand up to her mouth.

Marksi jumped down and strutted, showing off his awesome new hat. The watching crowd drew closer to admire him, talking in excited voices, and Marksi preened from the attention. He colored his scales a bright cherry red to match the hat. His head turned golden yellow to match Lumina’s hair.

Lumina held out her hands and Marksi jumped up onto her, so they could demonstrate how good they looked together in their matching hats.

That elicited another cheer from the watching crowd, this one even louder than the cheering for Brin’s win against Myra. Lumina’s face went a bit red, but from the smile she wore she wasn’t displeased.

“Alright, that’s enough. Show’s over!” Hogg shouted, and made a shooing motion with his hands. Some of the new arrivals started to look offended at an old [Rogue] ordering them around, but the natives who knew the score pulled them back before they could make fools of themselves.

“Come on, you two,” said Hogg. “We have stuff to talk about, don’t we?”

“Yes, yes,” said Lumina.

“Thanks for the hat, Myra. It’s amazing,” said Brin.

Myra was shaking with suppressed laughter. “I know!” she said, too loud, and then she clamped her teeth shut and put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing openly at the [Archmage] with a cute matching dragon on her shoulder.

They left town in good cheer, but that faded somewhat as the town receded and the upcoming decision grew closer.

Lumina waited until they were outside of town and walking down the path towards the forest before she asked. “Have you decided?”

Brin didn’t have any question as to what she was talking about. “I want to do both. I want to go to the tower with you, and I want to go see the world and travel with Hogg. It sounds like the only way that could happen is if I chose Hogg now, and you later. So I think I have to go with Hogg.”

Lumina nodded. “Logical.”

On the other side, Hogg grunted his agreement.

Brin winced. “I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m choosing him over you. It’s only that–”

Lumina smiled kindly. “Not to fear; I’m not offended. My life is like this, I'm afraid. Sometimes I’m called away from friends and loved ones for months or years. What I’ve learned is to treasure the time I have, and to not give much weight to partings or reunions. These two months have been a blessing, and when we meet again, we’ll pick up where we left off and it will feel as if we were never parted. You’ll see.”

The way she said it was compelling, with utter confidence. She strode with purposeful steps, not too fast and not too slow. She held herself with perfect poise, and her scarlet robes swished in just the right way that reminded him of runway models from home. The only thing that ruined her perfect act was the big fat Marksi sitting on her shoulders, with his tail wrapped up around her wide-brimmed hat.

When Lumina tried this hard to look completely fine, it meant she was really troubled by something. She was sad, and wished he could come with her.

“Thanks,” said Brin.

“Do you know when you’ll be leaving? And to where?” she asked Hogg.

He scratched the stubble on his chin. “Blackcliff, I think. It’s the biggest city in the kingdom apart from Stormshield, and it’s the major trade hub. I could restart many of my operations straight from there. It’s also nowhere near the Tower, so if there were agents of the crown looking to pull Brin into your drama, they won’t find him quite as easily.”

“Wise,” said Lumina. “In that case, you may find the time to give Brin a primer into the way business is done in the Kingdom?”

“I already planned on that,” said Hogg.

“You should practice your foreign languages more. I didn’t concentrate on it because my time was better spent on magic, but it will be important. And you have a talent for it.”

“I have an Achievement for it,” Brin said, though he’d long since read her his entire status sheet.

“It’s much the same thing,” said Lumina.

“When I’m gone, you should spend more time learning illusions from Hogg. I neglected light and sound somewhat, but only because I knew you had another teacher ready for that subject. Pay special attention to practicing the spells he wrote out for you.”

“I definitely already planned on that,” said Brin.

“I know. It’s… um.” Lumina paused. That drew Brin’s attention. 

Lumina spoke boldly and clearly, sometimes for too long, but she never said, “Um.” He looked down the road, trying to see if she’d spotted some danger that he hadn’t noticed yet, but that didn’t seem to be the case. She looked like she was staring off into space.

“What is it?”

“I think you should… that is… would you consider–”

Hogg cut in. “We think you should see a [Mind Healer] when you’re in Blackcliff.”

“A what?”

“A [Mind Healer]. A healer for minds. Someone to take a look inside that skull and figure out where all the nightmares are coming from,” said Hogg.

“It’s not like that! We’ll find a competent professional, someone with a [Rare] or higher. They won’t alter your personality or use their powers to control you somehow; that’s a myth. Trust me, there’s absolutely no shame in seeing someone for things like this. Plenty of men and women at the highest levels utilize such Classes, and you’d never know it. They’re very discreet. If–” 

Brin shrugged. “Sure, yeah. Ok.”

“What?”

“I don’t have a problem with it,” said Brin. He’d never gone to therapy in his last life, but he’d never felt like he needed to. He’d never been cut to pieces or killed anyone or survived torture in his last life. This life was different. If there was anything he could do to sleep through the night again, he’d be willing to try it.

“Oh. Well, good,” said Lumina, looking a little confused.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I just had a whole speech prepared. I thought you would resist the idea. Most people are resistant to the idea. Frightened.”

“Is there a reason I should be frightened?”

“None at all!” Lumina said.

“See, now I’m a little worried,” said Brin. “What does a [Mind Healer] do?”

Hogg shuddered. “They mess with your head. Get you talking about things you thought you’d never talk about. Open up wounds, dig up things that are better left buried. And by the gods, they’re always so condescending. ‘I hear what you’re saying…’ Oh yeah? You can hear me from all the way over there on your high horse? They act like they’re the Voice of Solia up there on their big chair. Noctis’ Burning Shroud you’re not special, you’re just someone with a family that’s so crazy you had to build your entire Class around trying to fix them.”

Hogg ended his tirade with a huff, quickening his pace. Lumina and Brin made eye contact.

Brin asked. “Have you ever gone to one?”

“No, but I have a friend who did,” said Hogg. That had to be a lie.

“I have,” said Lumina.

“And?”

“She was not condescending; in fact she was very kind. [Mind Healer] wasn’t her actual Class, that’s more a catch-all term for a group of Classes. She didn’t ‘mess with my head’ or anything of the sort. She lent a listening ear and then used a few Skills that fixed an issue I had been struggling with. That was all. It was uncomfortable, but healthy. ”

Brin shook his head. “I don’t know. You guys aren’t really selling it. If anything it sounds like you’re trying to talk me out of it.”

Lumina glared at Hogg. He clenched his teeth, ignoring her, but as the glare went on, his face shriveled as if he’d eaten a sour mato. He sighed. “Look, we’ve noticed that you can’t sleep. You’re putting on a brave face, but there are things you can’t push through with willpower and determination. As uncomfortable as talking to a [Mind Healer] sounds to me, I think it’ll be a good idea for you. The friend that I know who went for it really did seem to do a lot better afterwards.”

“What friend? You don’t have friends. Where is he now?”

“Don’t even remember the name. He died three weeks later to a Pit Lurker. But for those three weeks…”

Brin didn’t buy it. Hogg literally had a computer made of light in his brain that helped him remember anything he wanted. But Brin didn’t call him on it. Instead he laughed and said, “Tell you what. I’ll go if you go.”

“What? No. I don’t need that. I’m fine,” said Hogg.

“Then it’ll be a boring session and you’ll have nothing to talk about,” said Brin. “Just go one time.”

“Absolutely not. My brain works just the way I want it to. We’ve gotten used to each other.”

Lumina nodded slowly. “I think you should do it.”

Hogg threw his hands up. “Unbelievable. The craziest person here thinks I should see a [Mind Healer].”

“I’m easily the sanest person here,” said Lumina.

“Nah, that’d be Marksi,” said Brin. Marksi chirped his agreement, and then snuggled in deeper on Lumina’s shoulders.

“Well I can’t argue with that,” said Lumina.

The conversation died down and they walked in silence for a moment.

Brin remembered something he’d meant to ask. “Why did Myra cut me so easily? I should have a +100% damage resistance now with [Warbound].”

Hogg scoffed. “Yeah, so you're twice as hard to hurt now. You think that makes you impossible to cut? Your leather armor is probably twenty times stronger than your skin, and that got sliced to ribbons when the undead ambushed us.”

“Oh,” said Brin, deflating. “I never thought I was invincible, but I kind of thought it was a big deal.”

“I didn’t say it’s not a big deal,” said Hogg. “The biggest improvements will be against things like concussions, whiplash, and falls. It’s good for the joints, too.”

“Oh, nice to know I won’t have a bum knee in fifty years,” said Brin.

“Hey, don’t discount it! I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve noticed an [Assassin] in time only because their knees popped when they stood up,” said Hogg.

“You can’t tell me because that number is zero?” said Brin.

Hogg laughed, but didn’t answer.

“Come on. You’re putting me on. That can’t have actually happened,” Brin tried again, but Hogg wore an inscrutable smile.

Brin shook his head. “Ok, here’s another question. You’ve spent a lot of time teaching me, but what about Hogg? Now that he’s a [Conjurer of Hard Light] he’d benefit a lot by learning all the stuff he didn’t need as an [Illusionist]. Do you have any questions about magic for her before she leaves?”

Hogg winced.

Lumina said, “Directly teaching someone like Hogg would be a delicate matter, politically speaking. If my tutelage helped him evolve into a [Mage], the matter moves from delicate to difficult,” said Lumina.

“Letting me eavesdrop on your lessons was the best she could do. It’s a small technicality, but it’ll matter a lot if [Lawyers] get involved,” said Hogg.

“Not to say that he didn’t teach me anything,” said Lumina. “Watch this.”

Lumina mouthed some words, quiet enough that he couldn’t hear them, but he could still feel the energy of the Language. He felt like he should know them. He’d understood the dragon’s words, even when she didn’t have any audible sound accompanying them. Maybe it was just a matter of size. The dragon was loud, and Lumina was purposefully quiet.

She finished her spell, and he felt a gentle breeze. It was unnatural in the way that it blew steadily, like a fan, but he doubted he would’ve noticed it if he hadn’t been looking for some sign of magic.

Then a perfect copy of Lumina stepped out from behind a tree in front of them. [Know What’s Real] instantly alerted Brin that this was an illusion, but he bet he would’ve been able to tell anyways. She looked thin and ethereal and seemed to glide across the ground instead of walk.

“Hogg showed me the usefulness of a good decoy,” said the decoy. “This one isn’t perfect by any means, but it should suit in a pinch.”

“It’s amazing! You summoned that with a ten second command, and without a Lightmind,” said Brin.

“Greater knowledge lets me put more intent into fewer words. It does take a good deal of concentration, however. I don’t know if I’d be able to make one in battle.”

Hogg squinted. “That’s not all light, is it? What other elements did you use?”

“Light is a difficult element for me, so I only used it for the finer details. The robes and hair are made from colored wind and air.” Lumina answered.

Looking at it now, it was obvious. He really had focused on the face and hands, so he hadn’t noticed at first that her robes were kind of blurry and her hair faded away at the ends.

The duplicate Lumina stepped forward and raised a hand. Brin reached up to take it, and felt solid fingers press against his. They were frighteningly cold, but felt real.

“Can it fight?” Brin asked.

“See for yourself. Hogg, care to give it a go against one of yours?”

“Sure,” Hogg grunted.

A black shadow congealed on the ground, and then a pure black mirror image of Hogg grew up out of it.

The shadow launched into action immediately, slicing at Lumina’s duplicate with twin black shortswords.

The duplicate danced out of the air, dodging each attack easily as if she were made of wind, which of course she was. Brin started to think all she could do was dodge, until she waved her hand and a blade of air flashed towards the shadow.

Hogg’s shadow jumped out of the way and narrowly avoided the blade that continued on to leave a six-inch gouge in the trunk of a tree.

More blades of air launched forward, and now the shadow was on the defensive, jumping back and forth to miss them all. Since it was just hard light, there wasn’t any reason that Hogg’s shadow couldn’t just zip around and miss them all easily, but Hogg was actually putting in the effort to make it look realistic, so the misses were narrow.

Brin focused on the blades of air and noticed something with [Know What’s Real]. The duplicate wasn’t creating them, they were invisible at first, traveling in from behind, and only became visible when they passed her hand.

He traced the line back, and saw that the spell was starting invisibly with the real Lumina, arcing around in a wide half circle, and then coming back in and turning visible right in time. Spells were more efficient the closer they started to the caster, but that seemed like a lot of trouble to go through just to save a little mana.

Hogg won the battle, such as it was. Neither of the illusions could really be hurt, but Hogg’s shadow was the first to press in and put a sword through the duplicate, proving that it was a fake.

“In a fight between [Illusionists], that’s where it would end,” said Hogg. “Someone would throw down an Eveladis and it would all be over. In this case, though, I feel sorry for whoever actually manages to draw Lumina out of hiding.”

When they arrived home, they ate lunch, and simply hung out for the rest of the day. Hogg taught Lumina how to fish in the stream. It was a strange lapse in her education, but apparently she’d never been before. When she pulled up a fish, she first refused to touch it with her hands, but Hogg insisted, and had her gut it with a regular knife to her complete disgust. The experience made her swear to never eat fish again.

Hogg and Brin ate the fish while they all sipped tea and traded stories. Brin talked freely about his old life. He talked about sports and movies, the video games he would play with his friends and the snowball fights in middle school. Lumina told stories about her early days at the academy, learning with the other students. Back then, she’d just been an ordinary student, well as ordinary as a [Mage] could be. Her stories were nostalgic, and many of the names seemed to contain a tinge of sorrow. 

Even Hogg had a few stories. He talked of the adventuring parties he’d joined before deciding to go solo. Mostly about how dumb they all were and how they should’ve listened to him more.

Then, when no one else had anything to say, a comfortable silence descended on them. They sat in peace, as a family, and watched the last trickles of dwindling light move through the windows and cast sunbeams through the living room.

A knock came at the door right at dusk. True to her word, Lumina didn’t participate in a long, drawn out farewell. She reminded him to write, kissed him on the forehead, drew him into a long hug, and then swept away to where her [Knight] had a horse prepared for her. She hopped on in a smooth motion, aided no doubt by her [Riding] Skill, and then trotted off. She left without a single backwards glance.