Mel stared into the fire, lost in thought.

  As a result, it came as a surprise when Gwen knelt in front of her. Mel got a closeup view of those assets, albeit a brief one. Oddly enough, she wasn’t really in the mood to appreciate much of anything.

  Mel had, technically speaking, gotten everything she wanted. The revenge she craved had been carried out with nothing short of Magi efficiency.

  Though she knew she could not take full credit herself, the Stolst gang’s fall never would have happened without her interference.

  That didn’t fill her with as much pride as it once would have. She knew better than most that revenge rarely achieved what you hoped it would.

  The best to hope for was that you healed along the way, or else you wouldn’t be any better off once you ran out of bodies to stack.

  Not that revenge was useless. Hell no. Mel might not have felt much better compared to the day when she discovered the deaths of her friends, but she could not allow Warren and his men to run amok.

  Deklin would have had something to say about that view. He would have pointed out that if she kept going down that road, she’d find more people that were worthy of punishment.

  He was fond of saying, “Eventually, the killing has to stop or it never will.”

  Mel wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised to learn that she had already passed that point. She was okay with that. It was a cross she could bear.

  Gwen studied Mel’s face with concern. Her expression saddened at whatever she saw. “I wish I was there for you,” she whispered with heartfelt sincerity and brushed Mel’s hair out of her face with familiar tenderness.

  Not familiar to Mel, but clearly familiar to Gwen. Which didn’t make Mel feel much better. This Magi remembered her, but Mel couldn’t.

  Before Mel knew it, she had a hot mug of [Ginseng Tea] and a bowl heaped with fresh fruits while they waited for the stew to finish.

  “What’re…you doing here?” Mel asked, brushing past the uncomfortable closeness she couldn’t reciprocate.

  She was unsure what to do with the food. She knew what to do, but she still couldn’t believe that she had tea and fresh cut fruit in front of her. It was so jarring after more than a month of foraging and hunting and stealing.

  Gwen continued to watch Mel closely.

  “Thanks…?” Despite how she was feeling, Mel stared back aggressively.

  Gwen smiled, nothing but friendly.

  Weird.

  All thoughts of how strange these two Magi were flew from her head as she sipped her tea. The spicy bite of the tea was just what she needed to wash away the cold in her bones.

  The tea, coupled with the fire, banished the lingering, icy loneliness in her bones that she had been carrying around for weeks. For the first time since sleeping in that dinky little shelter with her friends, Mel was truly warm and comfortable.

  As cruel as it might have been, she felt significantly more relaxed here than she ever did with the others.

  Initially, she had been sure they would be able to achieve Copper together. When the others realized what that life would entail, Mel felt abandoned and hurt.

  She took on the role of protector out of necessity and guilt for what she had put them through.

  These two were different. They were Magi. Mel had seen firsthand that they both could handle themselves quite well.

  You thought the same of the others when they saved you from that snake.

  Mel agreed with the thought, but the key difference was that both Gwen and Thomas were already Copper. They clearly had a full suite of aspects. Something that the others never had.

  It’s not a comparison.

  Which was true, but it was impossible not to notice the differences.

  Like the fact that they both witnessed eldritch horrors and didn’t lose their goddamned minds?

  “We’re camping here,” Gwen answered calmly. “Searching for more kindling branches, training scrolls, and worthwhile places to hunt.”

  “And we’re doing it in comfort,” Thomas pointed out, still reading his old book.

  “That’s right,” Gwen agreed. “We were tracking some aspect wielders for a while who hurt Almace, but the trail grew cold. And well, I was also searching for you. Now, you’re here and safe.”

  Mel’s eyes lit up at that name. She knew of Almace. He was an Archivist, and a fairly powerful one at that. What was he doing here?

  Probably the same thing that they are, which you also don’t know.

  “Where is he?” Mel asked.

  “Charlie’s group took him in,” Thomas said, watching Mel carefully. “We split up from the main group a couple of weeks ago. You know how Magi are. Get too many together and tempers flare like a bunch of alley cats. Best to keep it small.”

  “Who else is here?” Mel asked before she could stop herself.

  Gwen looked at her curiously, exchanging a look over Mel’s head with Thomas. For a moment, Mel tensed, wondering what would happen if they realized she didn’t know them.

  Would they think she was a dopple and fight her? She was confident she could get away, but she didn’t really want to fight them. Not only because she could only guess at their aspects and thus any defense she could form would be half-assed at best, but because killing Magi was bad business.

  Even the worst rivalries rarely crossed that line.

  There was nothing quite like hating somebody and knowing in your bones that you’ll continue hating them—and they, you—for thousands of years. Killing them would be such a waste. Who would willingly deprive themselves of such an invigorating blood feud Your average Magi was involved in no less than three blood feuds at any given time. Some were lucky enough to sport five or six! Most people didn’t understand it. It was a Magi thing.

  If it comes to escaping with your life or not…you gotta do what you gotta do.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Maybe you should keep things slow,” Gwen told Mel. “I know you’re a tough girl and everything, but you’ve been through a lot.”

  “How could you know that?” Mel asked, working hard to keep the heat from her voice. This Magi didn’t know a damn thing about her or what she’d been through.

  Gwen smiled sadly. “So many signs. For one, you’ve been starving.”

  Mel looked down at the empty bowl of fruit. She didn’t even remember eating. She looked back, her gaze thinning. “I’ve eaten.”

  Gwen tilted her head to the side, a skeptical expression on her face. “But have you ?”

  Mel opened her mouth to ask what the hell she meant, but she knew. Magi were notoriously fussy and a bit annoying about food. They could put enough food away to eat a hobbit out of hole and home.

  A Magi who only ate three meals a day would often be considered “starving” by another Magi’s standards. It was jarring for Mel to realign her standards and expectations from her month-long survival mode.

  “I practically passed out the first day from hunger,” Gwen admitted. “Then I got into a nest of giant eggs and started harvesting monster meat.”

  “You can eat monster meat?” Mel asked curiously.

  “If you cook it right, yes. Even the poisonous stuff. Though I wouldn’t trust another Magi with that, other than me.”

  Thomas didn’t look up from his book as he said, “Ask her how she knows that.”

  Gwen shot him an irritated look.

  “I saw that.”

  “You weren’t even looking at me!”

  “I can feel your female gaze,” Thomas said with a chuckle.

  “C’mon, Thomas!”

  Mel couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. It wasn’t even a full-blown snort, just a little more exhalation than normal, but it was the closest she’d come to true happy laughter since her friends died.

  Mocking and derisive laughter didn’t count.

  “Do either of you know who the Bloodletters are?” Mel asked, suddenly curious.

  Gwen and Thomas exchanged a look.

  Thomas put a finger to mark his place and shut the book, placing it in his lap. “Aren’t they the group of Defenders that kill and extort people? Made quite a name for themselves for never leaving a victim alive, thus the name.”

  Before Mel could point out the ridiculousness of it, Thomas continued, “Which, of course, is complete and utter lunacy. If you never let anybody survive, nobody is there to witness your deeds. Which means you’d have no reputation to speak of. Really, the petty tyrants and wannabe villains out here is like being surrounded by a bunch of basic bitches.”

  “Seems pretty standard for people with brain rot,” Mel said with a chuckle.

  The heavy metal pot lid began to rattle loudly. Gwen turned to it and lifted it off, placing it on a hook nearby. She stirred the stew with a long wooden spoon and took a sip.

  She took a pinch of something from her inventory and sprinkled the shimmering stardust as she stirred, humming to herself.

  Tasting it again, she frowned and took out another pinch of something else. This spice glowed the color of copper patina and produced a woodsy smoke when it landed on the stew.

  Thick cut vegetables, mostly things that Mel didn’t recognize, bobbed and fell beneath the savory brown surface of the stew. The meat was so tender it fell apart as she stirred.

  Finally, after half a dozen more tastings, Gwen announced the food was ready.

  The [Hearty Gloam Roast Stew] was served with crusty [Gleam Wheat Bread]. Mel figured the stew’s name came from the [Gloam Carrots] and the [Hearty Potatoes] that went into the food.

  Mel thanked her and took a tentative bite.

  It was the best stew she’d ever had. Of course, hunger helped tremendously, but this was on par with the stuff from the kitchens of the Stardust Cafe. A famous eatery at Brookmoors.

  Mel ate a full helping, then another, and a third on top of that.

  By the time she was sopping up the remnants of her stew with the crusty and chewy [Gleam Wheat Bread], the sun had fully set.

  A series of buffs appeared in the bottom right corner of her vision. Mel rarely had more than one or two buffs active at once, now she had a total of four, which was a first.

  Buffs on the bottom-right and debuffs on the bottom-left?

  She didn’t remember setting it up like that, but it made a bit of sense since most debuffs affected health, which she put in the bottom-left of her vision.

  After a few moments, Mel rearranged the buffs more to her liking. General buffs went at the top of her vision, out of the way but still visible, while general debuffs went below. Mirroring that, buffs for individual resources went above the bar, and debuffs went below so she could tell, at a glance, what was going on.

  Seeing a buff icon over her health bar meant she didn’t need to examine it to know something good was happening. Meanwhile, if she saw an icon appear under her health bar, she knew it was something to worry about.

  [Minor Dark Vision(Food Buff)]: Temporarily enhanced vision in darkness.

  [Increased Max Health(Food Buff)]: Maximum health is increased temporarily.

  [Increased Max Mana(Food Buff)]: Maximum mana is increased temporarily.

  [Increased Max Stamina(Food Buff)]: Maximum stamina is increased temporarily.

  Gwen kneaded another batch of dough and placed it into the [Proofing Box], acting as if that was a commonplace activity.

  In fact, a lot of the comforts seemed normal to the pair. The only thing they were missing was a small cottage. Mel looked around to make sure they hadn’t somehow conjured one when she was busy stuffing her face.

  She didn’t notice when it happened, but Gwen was cleaned up. The soot was scrubbed free from her skin, and her red hair was hanging wet as if she had recently bathed. With soap too, judging by the pleasant smell.

  There was a low wall, no more than five or six feet tall, off to the side against the natural stone wall of the encampment. It looked rough, but better constructed than a lot of places she had seen on Aldim.

  Better than some of Hal’s first buildings, she thought with a smile. Still, the lack of any sort of “home” made her feel a little better.

  While groups of Magi craved comfort, creating something more than a well-off campsite would suggest they weren’t spending much time doing anything else.

  Mel didn’t know if she would be welcomed long-term here, but she still had a goal in mind. She needed that [Revival Scroll]. In order to get it, she would need to place in the top 3 of the entire Convocation trial.

  She couldn’t do that if she was sitting around having fantastic stew and bread with fresh ginseng tea.

  “Since Thomas picked Mage as his class, we have a ritual magic detection perimeter,” Gwen explained. “While it won’t stop anything from getting in, it’ll raise the alarm, so no one needs to stay up to keep watch.”

  The viking looked over to the passage that led further back into the walled campsite. “There’s also a ritual magic operated shower and whatnot back there,” she said, then continued in a teasing tone. “Our Thomas has brought some things to the table.”

  “No more wiping with a bundle of leaves,” Thomas said without missing a beat. “Or squatting behind a bush.”

  “You…have a toilet?” Mel asked, nearly brought to tears.

  “Naturally. We’re not savages.”

  I’ve missed being around my people.