Pax finally made it to the dining hall, his body still chilled, but feeling a lot better now that he’d dressed again in his clothes and armor. He waved over to his crew and saw he was the last to arrive. Talpa ran over to join his friends, while Whisk enjoyed being back in his usual place, wrapped under Pax’s armor. He barely noticed it anymore and appreciated the extra layer of protection that his companion always provided.

  Pax grabbed two bowls for his tray and filled them to the brim with steaming stew. He needed both heat and fuel, so the stew was both. He grabbed a few crusty rolls for dipping and filled two mugs with hot tea doused liberally with sweet syrup.

  His mouth watered at the delicious smells wafting up from his tray, and his steps moved faster, impatient to fill the starving hole inside him. He mumbled a quick greeting as he sat down before digging into his food.

  “Whoa.” Rin gave him an amused look. “Slow down before you choke. Your food’s not going anywhere.”

  Mouth full and still chewing, Pax looked up at his friends with a sheepish look. They had mostly finished, now nibbling on the last bits of their own meals.

  “Leave him alone so he can finish and tell us how it went down in the ice room.” Amil gave Rin a scowl before looking at Pax with a look that suddenly turned charming. “And how he’s going to level up lightning next, right?”

  Pax swallowed so he could chuckle. He shook his head and shoveled another bite into his mouth. The hours in the cold had made him ravenous. They could just wait until he was done.

  It didn’t take long before he felt full, a delicious lassitude spreading out from his center, mouth and body very pleased with the feast. The rest of his crew had finished their own food, cleared their trays and now sat, waiting for him to finish.

  He took the last chunk of roll and wiped his second bowl clean. He slowed as he raised it to his mouth, taking as much time as possible.

  “Knock that off.” Rin smacked him in the chest, almost making him drop the bread. “We’ve been patient enough. Keep teasing us, and you’ll regret it.”

  “Sorry.” Pax popped the last bite in his mouth, laughing around it as he fended her off. He swallowed a moment later. “You were just all so impatient, I couldn’t resist.”

  She didn’t look amused. Neither did the others.

  “Fine.” Pax cleared his throat and got serious. It didn’t take him long to summarize the hours of torture he’d endured that morning, along with the leaps he’d made in his understanding and skill with ice mana.

  Amazement and excitement filled the expressions of his friends in equal measure.

  “Wow.” Rin’s voice was soft and full of wonder. “After all this time, you actually did it? And the notification said you could just share the gift of ice with other mages? What does that mean? Because when someone gives me a gift, all I have to do is open it. Do you think it’ll be that easy? Or will I need to spend hours in the training room like you did?”

  Grinning, Pax raised a hand to stop the unusual flood of words from Rin. He hadn’t realized how invested she was in gaining her ice element. “I have no idea. I barely finished and came directly here.”

  “Then ask one of the Fenixes or the Solanis, you dunder.” Rin hit him again. “Can’t you speak to them anywhere you want?”

  Pax’s brows went up. “You sure you don’t want me to just try giving it to you?”

  Rin sat back and gave him a disapproving look. “And end up like Amil when you tried to give him lightning. No, thank you. I’m impatient, not stupid.”

  Sputtered chuckles came from the others. With a grin, Dahni bumped Amil’s shoulder, who looked embarrassed at the reminder.

  “If one of you wants to clear my tray, I’ll check in with—”

  Rin jerked his tray away and was already out of her seat before he finished speaking. He chuckled and closed his eyes, triggering his Altar Interface and reached out to Magesecond Fenix.

  What? I’m busy.

  Too busy to answer a quick question?

  There was a grumpy sigh before he answered. I’m just working on plans for my new workshop. I guess I can take a quick break.

  Oh, you found a good place for your new workshop? Pax couldn’t help getting distracted, feeling very curious about what an ancient light mage would put in his dream workshop if he had the freedom to set it up how he wanted.

  Yes. Fenix’s tone was suddenly much happier, almost cheerful even. It used to belong to Mage Aelion Crastos, who was a bit of a flick. But no one could fault his magical expertise. It’s got a full-sized workroom with mostly solid stone and metal workbenches, so they’re still intact. There are also four rooms off of the main space. Time ruined most of the specialized equipment, but the storage spaces and rooms are perfect.

  Wait. How much magic can you actually do? Pax didn’t know why the question hadn’t occurred to him earlier. Fenix had helped him learn enough to open the different sections of his beginning light manual. But the two Solanis seemed to mostly work as managers of base functions. He assumed the original Mage Solani had also been a light mage.

  More than you’ll be able to do anytime soon. Fenix snorted.

  Pax’s eyes widened, suddenly imagining how amazing it would be to add four powerful light mages to the rebellion.

  Well, at least the shadows of it. Fenix mumbled the last.

  Shadows? What does that mean?

  Fenix didn’t answer for a long moment, and Pax could feel a thrum of embarrassment along their connection.

  Finally, he sighed. Well, I have access to all the skills and spells that the original Mage Fenix had, but they can’t actually affect the world around me very much. When I cast a spell, I get a shadow version that mostly only I can see. Others with decent mana skills might also detect it to varying degrees.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Oh. Pax’s dreams of having four powerful light mages on their side fizzled. Then what’s the point of having a workshop?

  Research, you featherfumble! Just because the spells are shadows doesn’t mean I can’t use them to test and learn new things. Not to mention any skills that give me information like variations of Mana Sight, still work perfectly fine. I just can’t manipulate the surrounding mana much at all.

  Pax nodded, thinking of the implications of what Fenix had just shared.

  So, it takes an external power source for me to do much of anything. Unlike you, I can’t just move around and do magic wherever I want. Why do you think I waited this long to get working on my workshop? It won’t be long before there’s enough power flowing through the base that I’ll be able to siphon off a bit of power for my work without using up the reserves left in my crystal.

  Oh, that’s very interesting. Pax tried to figure out the new information might help. How hard is it to cast shadow versions of spells? Is it something only you copies can do? If it costs less mana, it could really help with practice. Is this related to how the training rooms work?

  You’re getting ahead of yourself. Fenix let out a dismissive snort. It’s a bit out of your reach for now. Just focus on gaining the rest of a light mage’s building blocks before you try to do anything more advanced.

  Speaking of— Pax suddenly remembered what he was supposed to be doing. I finally leveled a secondary mana type: ice. The notification said I can gift the element of ice to other mages now. Rin is more than ready to unlock her ice. Can you tell me how to do it?

  Pax felt a flicker of surprise from Fenix.

  Already?

  Fenix’s surprise made a smile spread across Pax’s face, especially after just being told more advanced magic was out of his reach.

  Well. Fenix cleared his throat. That is impressive, though it’s common knowledge that the more life challenges a mage, the faster they develop. And I guess the current situation is plenty challenging.

  And helping Rin unlock her ice? Pax did his best to bring Fenix back to the topic.

  Well, it’s been so long since I did anything like that. From what I remember, it shouldn’t be hard at all, which is why it’s described as giving a gift to a mage. Definitely much easier than a mage doing it on their own. For those without easy access to a light mage, it could take years to force their two elements to work together and spark the creation of a new one. Much like unlocking a minor element on their own, it’s a chore that is done much faster and easier with the aid of a light mage.

  No wonder you all had the resources to build a place like this. Pax tried to imagine what the ancient society had been like and how they’d likely admired light mages.

  Fenix scoffed again. Everyone back then knew exactly how valuable a light mage was and treated us accordingly. And rare. Vitur only blessed one in a thousand mages with light magic.

  But the altar when I first got to the academy allowed me to hide my status. Why would light mages in your time need to do that?

  Because children are mean idiots. Can you tell me you don’t know any children who’ve been nasty to someone who might have power over them in the future?

  Fair point. Pax realized he was the one getting off track. Would you join me as I give ice mana to Rin? If you can use your skills to observe, then you could help me avoid any mistakes, right? I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt her or damaged her magic. Pax felt a flush of unexpected emotion at the idea of causing harm to Rin.

  Of course. Good friends are to be protected and cherished. Fenix’s tone was much less reluctant than Pax had expected. But once you’ve learned how easy it is, I expect you to do the others on your own. You can’t keep interrupting me all the time. There is still value in the struggle to develop your own path of magic, understand?

  Got it. And I wouldn’t have bothered you if it hadn’t been something completely new and possibly dangerous to Rin.

  Agreed. Now, where would you like to do this?

  You mean do it now? Pax asked in surprise at Fenix's easy agreement.

  Of course. You’ve already interrupted my work, so let’s get this taken care of. Get one of the blank crystals your crafter has, so I can manifest with the two of you. It takes less energy to do it that way.

  Pax opened his eyes with a grin and looked at Rin’s impatient gaze across the dining table. “Magesecond Fenix said it’s easy, and he’d babysit me the first time so I don’t mess anything up.”

  “Right now?” Rin stood immediately, clambering off the bench.

  Pax nodded, her excitement making his flare up. “We just need one of the anchoring crystals Tyrodon has, and we can start.”

  Rin grabbed Tyrodon’s arm and pulled him to his feet. He laughed and got up, pulling a crystal out of his inventory to hand to Pax. The others followed, with their companions piling after them. Even Bryn and Tasar joined them, looking curious about the process.

  It didn’t take long for Rin to lead them down two hallways to a medium-sized training room that Pax hadn’t even known existed.

  As soon as everyone piled in, Rin shut and locked the door. She moved to the center of the room, pulled out two chairs from her inventory and plopped down. “I’m ready.”

  Pax moved to sit in the other chair with an amused look on his face. Tyrodon pulled out a small table and placed the crystal on it. When Pax let Fenix know they were ready, his mentor’s head popped into existence, his eyes lit with more excitement than he’d let Pax see in a while.

  “Let’s get this done. Both of you need to Meditate for a few minutes to calm and gather your mana.” Fenix turned to Rin. “You need to gather both of your mana types into two collections as concentrated as you can make them and as close as possible without them touching.”

  Rin nodded, intense focus on her face.

  “The next step will be for Pax to use his light mana, mixed with ice, to form a bridge between your two mana types. And then—” Fenix pursed his lips. “Then it should just work?”

  Pax narrowed his eyes. “That sounded more like a question than a statement. Are you sure this is safe?”

  “It wasn’t really my area of expertise.” Fenix sounded disgruntled. “And it’s been much too long since I had anything to do with basic light mage duties.”

  “Pax. He knows what he’s talking about.” Rin aimed a frown his way.

  Pax shook his head. “I’m not doing something that might go wrong and hurt you or your mana. Remember what happened to Amil? What if we freeze your legs solid instead of just shocking them numb for a few hours?”

  Rin’s eyes widened for a moment before she shook her head. “Not going to happen.”

  Pax opened his mouth to object, but she held up a hand and pulled three healing potions out of her inventory. Pax recognized the different strengths, the final one being one of the strongest any of them had access to.

  “You’ll give me whichever one I need if anything goes wrong.” She turned to look at Amil. “And you get your flame mana ready to warm me up right away if I need it, alright?”

  Amil nodded, pulling out his own chair and scooting close.

  Rin turned back to Pax. “Now, we’ve got the most versatile mage in the empire and an ancient one who was even stronger back in the day. This is as safe as it’s going to get. Tell me I’m wrong.”

  Pax looked over the setup and everyone waiting to hear his decision. He had to agree, despite how the idea of hurting Rin tugged at him. This felt different from battle. There, they had little choice about the danger they stepped into. If they wanted to survive, they had to fight.

  But here, they didn’t actually have to act right now. He could wait until another mage, one not in his crew, got to the point Rin was at and risk that person instead. Then, once Pax knew it worked, he could safely help Rin.

  Pax looked at Rin’s determined face and knew she’d never agree to that. And he couldn’t really argue. He’d feel the same if an extra element was dangling right there in front of him, waiting to be learned.

  He gave her a nod and did his best to look confident. She looked relieved that he’d agreed, but he could still detect a touch of anxiety. She wasn’t the type to leap into danger without considering the dangers like Amil.

  He reached out, took both of her hands and gave her a reassuring nod. “You’re right. This is as safe as it’s going to get. Let’s do this.”

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