Nikolai felt exhausted as he slowly woke, almost exactly as if he were sick. His muscles ached, and his head felt stuffed with wool.

  He was lying in a soft bed, in a room filled with warm colors. The bed was a little too small for him but otherwise felt amazing. In fact—it felt familiar.

  He sat up slowly and looked around bewildered. This wasn’t the hospitarium. This was Moulin and Vitzer’s home—his room. He stared in confusion until the door opened to admit someone already talking.

  “I’ll just drop my things in my room, Mother, I’ll be right out!”

  A Gravling entered, her fur a warm brown interspersed with white along her neck and chest. She saw him the same moment he saw her—and it was definitely a her, the feminine curves now familiar to him from having lived a while with Moulin.

  For a moment they just stared at each other, before her face shifted from surprise to snarling fury.

  “Intruder!” she roared, and purple lightning began crackling around her hands.

  Nikolai’s eyes widened. He threw himself sideways off the bed just in time as a bolt struck where he’d been lying, the explosion deafening.

  His body protested as he rolled to his feet. The Gravling refocused, hands lighting up once more.

  “Die!” she screamed, enraged.

  Nikolai reacted instinctively. He locked eyes with her and cast Mind Wipe. To his surprise, she didn’t fall over but merely stumbled, her magic fizzling out. She looked dazed, but still conscious.

  “You bitch! I’m going to tear you apart!” she hissed, sharp teeth flashing as her hand gripped a small axe at her side.

  Nikolai held up his hands.

  “Whoa, whoa! I’m no intruder—I’m a guest!”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “Nice try!”

  She lunged, swinging the axe—her movements still sloppy, which was probably the only thing that saved him. He sidestepped and shoved her away.

  She tumbled into the now ruined and still smoldering bed. Mind Wipe’s effect was clearly fading, because she jumped up again, lightning building around her hands as she grinned.

  “No more games…”

  Nikolai stumbled backward.

  “Please, don’t. I won’t have any choice but to fight back.”

  She laughed hysterically.

  “Do your worst, ape!”

  She pointed her crackling hand at him—and Nikolai acted. He triggered the curse mark he’d left on her earlier with his push, and the effect was immediate. Her eyes widened as her body stiffened in pain for a few moments.

  Knowing it wouldn’t last long, Nikolai rushed forward, snatching a letter opener from the desk. He kicked the axe from her hand—it clattered into a corner—and tackled her onto the bed. He straddled her, pressing the tip of the letter opener against her neck.

  Her body was tense as an arrowstring, but she began to loosen as he grew used to the pain the curse cause. She glared at him, but froze as he pushed the blade a little harder into her neck.

  “You need to chill the fuck out! I’m no intruder—I… am… a… guest!” he hissed angrily into her ear.

  His whole body ached, his hand trembling from the effort of staying upright. Healing magic didn’t seem like it would help this time, it was deeper than that.

  The female Gravling struggled beneath him, trying to throw him off, but he managed to pin one of her arms. Despite the sharp edge at her throat, she refused to yield—and she was strong.

  He pushed more magic into the curse; she growled in pain. Then he cast Minor Essence Drain. His mind still felt fuzzy, but he held the spell’s power back. He didn’t want to kill her—just weaken her. Energy rushed into him, staggering in its intensity.

  The moment it entered his body, his limbs strengthened and the pain he felt lessened. He grinned and cancelled the spell.

  She stared up at him in horror, her fur darkening briefly with a gray tinge before returning to brown. Nikolai ended the curse and hissed,

  “Enough! I don’t want to hurt you!”

  “Dark mage…” she whispered. “You… you bitch…”

  Both froze as someone cleared their throat behind Nikolai. Slowly, they turned their heads in unison to see a very angry-looking Moulin.

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  “Mother, I—this man, he—” the Gravling stammered.

  “What have I told you about shooting lightning inside, Simi?” Moulin asked quietly, her tone promising punishment.

  Nikolai felt the Gravling—apparently named Simi—freeze beneath him. Then Vitzer entered, grinning.

  “Did she get him? Is he—oh…”

  He looked disappointed at the scene and sighed, but Moulin gave him a look that stopped whatever he was about to say.

  “Nikolai, dear, if you would, please get off my daughter,” Moulin said softly.

  Nikolai slowly lifted the letter opener and realized he’d nicked her neck. Blood darkened the fur where it had pierced. Acting on instinct, he placed a hand over the wound and healed it before she could react.

  When he met her eyes, he flinched. They were round as saucers—not angry, but shocked, even hurt for some reason.

  “You… you can heal? How!?” she whispered. Then she shoved him off with surprising strength, almost sending him sprawling.

  “Mother, what is going on!? He used dark magic—and just now he—”

  Moulin gave her daughter a sad smile and nodded.

  “Simi, this is Nikolai Travelion, our apprentice.”

  What followed was a long-winded explanation, mostly from Moulin, detailing everything about Nikolai’s arrival and training. Honestly, he wished they’d stop; they left nothing out.

  That was how he found himself sitting at the dining table, eating porridge and drinking tea while Simi sat opposite him, looking shell-shocked. Of course, that didn’t stop her from glaring as Moulin spoke.

  “After your rather… experimental healing, and you passing out afterward, we decided it was time to pick you up,” Moulin explained, looking at Nikolai.

  “You decided,” Vitzer grumbled.

  Moulin ignored him and continued.

  “How did you know? Were you spying on me?” Nikolai asked neutrally.

  “Of course we were,” Vitzer scoffed. “What kind of researchers would we be if we didn’t observe the experiment?”

  Moulin threw a scone at his head without even looking, hitting him square on the nose.

  “We were watching, yes—but not all the time, of course. We do have a sense of privacy.”

  Nikolai raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh, well that’s great then. You throw me into a forest with barely anything, watch me nearly get killed more than once, then drag me back whenever you feel like it. Don’t you think that’s going a bit too far?”

  “We’ll do what we want,” Vitzer said flatly. “Besides, we have a job for you.”

  “Yeah, fuck that,” Nikolai snapped. “You take that job—whatever it is—and shove it.”

  “You owe us, boy!” Vitzer hissed.

  “I owe you nothing! What we have is an exchange. You summoned me here—screwed up my life spectacularly—and in return, we made a deal. You get your experiment, I get training. That’s it!”

  Vitzer stood, mouth opening for another retort, but Moulin cut in like a scalpel.

  “The boy is right, husband. Now sit down.”

  He glared but obeyed, as he usually did when Moulin used that particular tone.

  “Nikolai, dear,” Moulin said calmly, “I apologize if you feel we treated you unfairly. You’re right—we made a deal. Pulling you back here was necessary because you used up most of your life energy healing that adventurer. You need recovery time, and we’ll help you. Also, we have an offer for you—one that comes with proper reward, of course.”

  Nikolai exhaled slowly. It was damn hard staying angry at Moulin; her calm logic made it harder.

  “Fine. I can accept that. But I’m still annoyed. I think you need to explain what essence really is, because I still feel like crap—even after draining some of hers.” He nodded toward Simi.

  Simi’s expression darkened, but surprisingly, Vitzer grinned.

  “I can’t believe you lost to him, daughter. He hasn’t even reached the second stage.”

  “What!? How is that even possible!?” she exclaimed in disbelief.

  “We explained everything, didn’t we?” Vitzer shrugged. “By the way, boy—the way you healed that woman wasn’t bad. Risky, but effective.”

  Nikolai blinked. Had Vitzer just… complimented him?

  “It was stupid and reckless!” Moulin cut in.

  “That’s what a dark mage is supposed to be!” Vitzer said with a laugh. “We don’t get anywhere by walking the safe path! Using Light affinity with a dark spell—wife, it confirms our theories!”

  Moulin pouted but nodded reluctantly.

  “It does, doesn’t it? I still say it was stupid, though.”

  “He did what!?” Simi shouted, but everyone ignored her.

  “It was brilliant, Moulin! Not only did it save that woman, it opens up so many possibilities!” Vitzer said excitedly.

  “He used Essence Drain with Light mana!? Is that even possible!?” Simi tried to cut in again, but was ignored once more. She looked like she was losing her mind, pulling at her own fur.

  Moulin turned to Nikolai and placed a few items in front of him.

  “Lazgrim is a kind boy,” she said. “He didn’t quite understand what you’d done, but the adventurers were grateful and donated a large sum to the hospitarium. Normally, that would go into its budget and that would be that, but since you’re not clergy, he decided a personal reward was appropriate.”

  She pointed first to a rune stone.

  “This is called Barrier. It creates a shield of pure mana in front of you, and it can be infused any kind of affinity. It should prove useful.”

  Nikolai nodded, wanting to bind the rune immediately, but Moulin continued.

  “Next, a wand. It’s unbound—never used. Once bound, you can channel some of your spells through it at range instead of direct touch.”

  His eyes widened at the sleek, carved wand—a grey crystal at the tip and a leather-wrapped grip. It gave him strong Harry Potter vibes, and he nearly trembled with excitement.

  “Finally, this,” she said, pointing to a simple silver ring. “It’s a status ring, from Vitzer and me. Infuse it with mana, and it will help you sense your progress. It’s useful for planning your growth.”

  Nikolai stared at the three items, then looked from the grumpy Vitzer to the bewildered Simi, and finally to the smiling Moulin. He hesitated, still irritated with all three, then sighed.

  “Alright, fine. I forgive you.” He said, his tone an unhappy grumble.