Before I can even try to respond to Cari, Bella rapidly speaks up.

  “You can see its name and tags?! Tell me what it says,” she commands.

  I’m half tempted to ignore her simply on the grounds that I don’t like being ordered around, but it’s an innocent enough request. Still, Cari is more important in this moment.

  “Just a sec,” I mutter before pulling out a charcoal pencil to scribble a response.

  I keep the message short and vague, just enough to drive Cari up a wall while still being reassuring.

  “Babysitting a Princess. Yes, literal. Long story. Distracted bandits, they chased. Still alive, safe-ish. Heading to capitol ASAP. Glad you’re safe."

  I hesitate for a moment, glancing up to make sure Bella isn't reading what I write, then quickly add:

  "She's crazy pretty. Send help.”

  I also doodle a little fox eating a heart in the top right corner where there was still room left, just to make sure I got the message across that things were really okay. For now, at least.

  Cari’s a smart cookie, but she’s a worrywart sometimes. She probably wouldn’t just take my words at face value. She would, however, know that if I have the wherewithal to doodle, I’m probably doing just fine.

  Finally, I meet the glare Bella has been sending my way.

  “Ok, what is it you were saying?" I ask.

  “The compass,” she says, seemingly barely restraining a growl behind her perfect poise.

  With a huff, I store my things back in the bangle, taking care to be gentle with the notepad.

  Best. Item. Ever. Even if it takes another week to use.

  Thinking back on it, I could have paid more than double what we did, and it’d have still been worth it.

  I heave a sigh, equal parts relief and exhaustion, as I mentally flick what I saw with Relic Whisperer her way. With the exhalation, a weight seems to fall from my shoulders, relaxing muscles I hadn’t known were tense.

  Bella lets out a little hum as she eyes the compass more curiously. I lay my head on the tombstone and settle in before interrupting her thoughts.

  “Can it guide us to the capitol?”

  She glances at me briefly before giving me a quick nod. “Yes, it can. However, it doesn’t always take me on the best possible route. Or… maybe it does, but in a different way.”

  I flick an ear in irritation at the riddle but press on. “Then we should get moving as soon as possible. I’m not sure if your little fan club went through the altered space, but if they did, we’re going to be in deep shit the moment we leave this dungeon.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” she mutters, still concentrating on the compass.

  I wait for a moment for her to elaborate, but she doesn’t. Eventually, I get fed up with the silence.

  “Ooookay, if you’re not going to explain, I have another question. How long will it take for it to… do its thing, or whatever?”

  She waves me off this time, agitation visible across her face as she focuses intently on the compass. Like the first time she used it, it’s almost like she’s trying to cast something complex. Looking closer, I notice something interesting.

  I’d never taken a close look at Mages as they use their magic after gaining access to the System, but now…

  The mana in her core travels up and into the arm she holds the compass with, trickling into the item. She seems to have significantly less mana than the first time I saw her in the train lobby, and even now the mana in the air seems to warp around her in its effort to avoid actually touching her.

  So weird.

  Curiously, I look at the ring on my finger. Thanks to the Perfect Match enchantment, it looks like a simple band of silver metal for me, matching the simplicity of my earrings. My eyes flick back to her core and the dense ball of mana within.

  She definitely used mana to fight beside my Dad.

  The thought of my Dad gives me pause, distracting me for a moment. I push through it, but make sure to take a moment to further imprint my memory of him into my mind.

  I don’t want to forget anything anymore.

  After a deep breath, I focus on the ring. The knowledge on how to use the enchantment comes freely, almost like when I first gained my Skills. With a flick of my will, I shove all of my mana regeneration into it.

  With the knowledge of how it works came the understanding that I could send chunks of mana via my own reserve to her, or I could send my regeneration through in a constant stream. The bond it all travels through is invisible, but I notice the instant it reaches her.

  She cries out and arches her back so sharply I worry she’ll snap herself in half. Her eyes glaze as she spasms once, a breathy, involuntary sound escaping her lips.

  I immediately stop what I’m doing and rush to steady her.

  “What happened?! Are you okay?” I ask, but she doesn’t seem to be paying me any attention.

  Worried, I look closer at her mana core, only to find it brimming with mana now. It’s nearly ten times as dense as the first time I saw her, but nothing else stands out.

  Then she spasms against me once more, her eyes fluttering as a soft, involuntary sound slips out. It’s embarrassingly intimate, and it suddenly clicks.

  For whatever reason, the mana transfer made her feel… other things, as well. For some reason.

  My face flushes a deep crimson, but I firm my will and keep her upright and in what I hope is a semblance of comfort until, eventually, she seems to come back to herself. She’s gasping at this point, hugging herself tightly as she shivers with aftershocks.

  Her gaze is still somewhat unfocused, but the moment she sees me it sharpens to a knifes edge. I speak before she can lay into me.

  “I’m sorry!” I say, bowing my head.

  “You… you!” she says between breaths, then she seems to vibrate again, and this time she strangles the moan that tries to escape her.

  I force myself to ignore how she sounds, knowing it’d be unfair after what just happened. Instead I peek up at her, only to find her face a shade of red that nearly matches her hair.

  She seems to be struggling to decide on how she wants to fillet me, her gaze flicking through a gamut of emotions. I can recognize them easily enough now that she’s not wearing her mask of royalty.

  Embarrassment, rage, shame… and surprisingly, there’s even a pretty obvious moment of desire. It’s quickly overshadowed by the others again, but still—it was there.

  Fair enough… it did look pretty incredible.

  My momentary jealousy is interrupted when she quickly pulls away from me, if a bit shakily, before whirling back on me. “What did you do to me?”

  Her voice is significantly more steady now, but she’s still breathless.

  I wince, regardless. “I saw how little mana you had left in your core, so… I just sent a little your way to refill it.”

  “A little?!” she shrieks. “Pray tell, to who in our Tier would over 60,000 mana be ‘a little’?!”

  I swallow. “I’m sorry. Are you hurt?”

  Her breath hitches at my sudden apology, and for a moment her mask slips again. Then, quieter, almost grudgingly, she says, “No. I’m not hurt. Just… that was a lot, you know.”

  She’s refusing to meet my gaze again, the tips of her ears darkened from the blood rushing to them.

  “Sorry, again. But… what just happened?” I ask.

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  She look back at me, conflicted. She scrutinizes me for a few long, quiet moments until, suddenly, the intensity of her gaze disappears. She turns away with an exhausted sigh.

  “I… may need your help,” she whispers.

  I respond immediately, leaping on the chance to pay her back for what she’s done for me in whatever small way I can. “Name it, I’ll do it.”

  She looks back at me with a sad smile. “Can you keep a secret?”

  “I can,” I answer.

  She looks like she wants to believe me, but something holds her back.

  In for a copper, I guess…

  I decided to trust her the moment we finished this dungeon. On top of that, I can tell that through the abrasive, commanding front she puts on, she’s a good person.

  On top of that, a line from the notice I got earlier comes to me.

  “You will not walk it alone. The threads of destiny weave companions to your side, and though I cannot see who stands beside you now, I know they are one whom you may come to trust.”

  If the closest thing to a benevolent demi-god I’ve ever met tells me I can trust her, then I have no reason to object.

  But I haven’t given her any reason to trust me, outside of saving her life. For whatever reason, though, that’s not enough to tip the scales for whatever she wants to share.

  So I make a reckless decision. I send her a shared notification of my Titles, including System Waker.

  “You keep my secret, I’ll keep yours,” I say with a small smile.

  She gives me a look of confusion before her vision shifts to the notification. My tail wags behind me as I watch her face transform, much as Cari’s had when I showed her my Status. Shock, confusion, disbelief, more shock… yeah, it’s pretty fun.

  And Bella’s not even getting the full Status sheet.

  This will never get old…

  By the time her eyes return to focusing on me, I’m wearing an infinitely smug grin on my face.

  “So, how can I help?” I ask.

  She fish-mouths at me, struggling to find the right words. I watch until, eventually, she manages to gather her voice.

  “You’re the System Waker? But… how?” she asks, her voice full of wonder.

  “That’s… a long story. We have a lot to do, and not a lot of time. But first, you need my help. So…” I say, waving my hand at her to indicate it’s her turn to speak.

  “R-right…” she says hesitantly.

  She takes a moment to quickly compose herself again, though the front is much, much less solid than it was before. She still looks terribly curious.

  “First, you cannot tell anyone about what I’m about to show you,” she says, and I give her a serious nod.

  Then I receive a notification.

  Shared Status:

  Name - Arabella von Bysm

  Race - Hybrid Arcanthir

  Age - 22

  Level - 67

  Health: 9,246/9,246

  Health Regen: 2,126.5 per minute

  Mana: 0 (118,224)

  Mana Regen: -0.06% per minute

  Strength: 198

  Constitution: 402

  Dexterity: 588

  Intelligence: 1,971

  Wisdom: 324 (0)

  Charisma: 1,422

  Combat Class: Ice Sovereign (L)

  Profession Class: Princess of the Chasm (L)

  Nothing too insane, though I can’t help but be impressed by her Classes. I suppose it’s expected of royalty to have high rarity Classes, though. What really draws my attention is her Race.

  I give her a confused look. She looks, for all intents and purposes, exactly like a normal human. The only oddity that I could point out would be her eye color, but even then, that could easily be explained away by Class Skills or even a few, albeit rarer, General Skills.

  She catches my unasked question and sighs out, “Arcanthir are what most would call ‘mana vampires’.”

  My jaw drops as I stare at her.

  I’d thought those were just myths, but… then again, Bluebell was also supposed to be a myth, but we entered a Dungeon and have an item, both with her name on them.

  Still, I control myself and make no move to distance myself from her. I have no reason to be afraid of her, and I don’t want her to think that I am. There’s no telling how other people would react to such news, but I make it a point to show nothing but curiosity.

  I fail to control my tail though. It betrays me immediately, twisting about this way and that excitedly, clearly showing my interest.

  She hesitates at my reaction for a moment before asking, “You… aren’t afraid?”

  I tilt my head, one ear flopping with a metallic tinkle as the earrings clatter against one another. “Why would I be?”

  “Of course, as the System Waker…” she whispers.

  “Nah, that’s not it,” I quickly interject, waving the comment off. Then I smirk. “I just trust you. Besides, I’d win.”

  She scowls at me for a moment then shakes her head. “Anyways, the royal family is a long lineage of Arcanthir, dating back to even before the Undone Age. It’s our greatest secret, and I can name on one hand the people who know it, including you now. If it were to become known, we would be hunted. The best we could hope for is a quick death…”

  She leaves the reasoning open ended, letting me imagine what might be done if people found out. I am intimately familiar with the concern, given my Title.

  I nod seriously.

  “That said, we need mana to survive. Normally I can get it from shards of Arcanite, but… well, I’m out. After fighting the Engineer, then countless Empire soldiers—real or not—I’ve used what I brought with me,” she says.

  For a moment she looks like she’s about to amble around to the point of the topic, but I interrupt her, suddenly curious about something.

  “Actually, before you continue, why didn’t you have guards? Or more supplies? Actually, for that matter, why didn’t you have an entire… what’s it called? Retinue? Whatever—you get what I mean—what’s the deal with all that?” I ask.

  She visibly winces, but quickly regains control. “That’s unimportant right now. What matters is that I need mana, and I have no way of getting it… until now,” she says, looking down at the ring on her finger.

  I’m unsatisfied with the dodge, but I can just pester her about it later. Either way, it’s starting to make sense why she seemed so overjoyed to have the ring. The… reaction… to receiving mana is another thing, though.

  “And your reaction when I sent you the mana you apparently desperately need…?” I ask, my cheeks warming ever so slightly.

  Her mask shatters once more as she flushes a bright crimson and quickly turns away.

  “T-that’s because you sent too much! It’s not supposed to be like that!” she snaps defensively. “In small doses it’s just a little… ugh!”

  “Hey, whoa. I’m not judging. I just… it’s, uh, pleasurable? For you to absorb mana, I mean.”

  Despite the earnestness with which I ask the question, she turns to give me the most threatening glare I’ve ever received in my entire life.

  I immediately hold my hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright, I won’t ask anymore. Sorry for bringing it up. What do you need, specifically?”

  She maintains her piercing gaze for a few more moments before sighing.

  “How often can you send me that much mana? I assume it was most of your mana pool, so I won’t ask you to send it all at once like that, but…”

  My ears perk up at that. There’s a misunderstanding here that I can pounce on.

  I’m briefly concerned with how much I enjoying tearing away that little nobler-than-thou facade of hers, then I quickly discard it in favor of fun.

  “Most of my mana pool?” I laugh. “No, no. That was just my mana regen.”

  I swear, I could survive off of the look on her face alone.