“Salvos!”

Edithe shouted, running forward as the golden explosion filled her vision. The red-haired woman recoiled and covered her eyes from the flashing light. It was a powerful blast— magic that came from Salvos. Or.. a clone of Salvos.

It was honestly so much to take in for Edithe. The fact that Salvos could, firstly, create a clone of herself, and secondly, produce such extreme magic. The red-haired woman realized just how far the gap between them had become.

The explosion was uncontrolled. Distorted by something that made the golden flames lose its shape. It engulfed Salvos as Edithe could only watch. There was no shockwave, despite the size of the blast. It felt muted, somehow. Perhaps by that odd distortion.

All Edithe could do was watch in worry as the golden flames dissipated. An odd sensation mixed with the magic emanated from the center of the blast. Daniel placed a hand on her shoulder, speaking reassuringly.

“Salvos will be fine. Don’t worry.”

Edithe glanced over at him. She pursed her lips. And a flicker of flame flitted ahead of them. Willy gazed into the smoke as it cleared and said a single word.

“Alive.”

Both Humans paused. They leaned in, and they caught sight of a flash of silver. Salvos lay in ground zero— at the very heart of the blast. There was no crater. No shredded tiles. It didn’t even look like there had been an explosion. But the [Aura of Greater Protection] covering the silver-haired girl was gone.

“Huh.”

Salvos sat up, looking down at herself. She turned to Edithe and Daniel. The pair stared at her in both shock and relief. Then she grinned, flexing an arm.

“I’m pretty amazing, aren’t I? I could’ve killed myself!”

“Salvos!”

They both cried out as they ran over to her. She chuckled, getting to her feet, only to get tackled back down by a pair of hugs. Edithe gave the silver-haired girl a worried look.

“What was that? I’ve never seen anything like it. It.. I could barely even see it.”

Edithe didn’t know what happened during the battle with the Wyvern flock. She saw Helena Warshade arrive. There had been lightning and thunder. The red-haired [Mage] sensed the immense magic being thrown around the battlefield.

Then something changed. For a brief moment, Edithe had felt an unsettling presence. She saw a ripple in space. And it was like staring into a void. The sight prickled on her scalp— like ants crawling on her skin. A sense of dread had settled in. Like she’d seen something so wicked. So unreal. Flowers made of flesh. The scraping of bone. It terrified Edithe, and it seemed she was not the only one who was affected by it.

Helena Warshade, the Great Tempest Archmage of Mavos Academy, and leader of the Rising Veterans Company descended from her cloud. She faced Salvos with a look Edithe never expected to see on her face. A single bead of sweat slid down the side of her face as she breathed deeply.

“We need to talk.”

Salvos blinked. Helena Warshade glanced towards where the explosion had been. Then she steeled herself.

“And you’re going to explain everything about whatever that was to me.”

“Um.. sure? But I just got my Class advancement. Could I do that first?”

The Great Tempest Archmage of Mavos Academy crossed her arms.

“No.”

We flew away from the destroyed city of Catark, watching the refugee camps forming just outside the city over the night. A few small convoys of soldiers had arrived from the nearby cities in the region after hearing the call for aid, and they were now maintaining the peace. Even a retinue of knights had arrived from Alyras to help.

But we had no reason to stay. We were adventurers, and we did our job exterminating the monsters. There had been dozens of Wyverns there, and we killed them all. I lay back on Helena Warshade’s cloud and stared up at the sable sky as I thought about it.

The Mistress of Remnants’ last words weighed on my mind. But before I could think too deeply about it, Helena drew my attention.

“Now tell me everything, Salvos.”

She spoke, seated on the cloud in a cross-legged position. Edithe and Daniel were at the very edge of the cloud, looking uncomfortable being in such close proximity with Helena Warshade. Willy rested on my shoulder as I shrugged.

“I mean.. what is there to say? That was the corruption. It does things like corrupting stuff.”

Helena Warshade’s brows creased.

“I noticed.”

She got to her feet and paced around the cloud.

“I have never seen something quite like it. It wasn’t space magic. It wasn’t time magic. No— it wasn’t even magic. It twisted reality and made it a perverse version of itself. When I blasted it with lightning, I could feel it ripping my magic from me and turning it into something else.”

“Yep. That’s what it does!”

I nodded eagerly. Helena Warshade came to a halt. She wore an exasperated look on her face for a moment. Then she calmed herself. She looked at me with a sigh.

“How did you discover this corruption? Why have you never informed others about this discovery? Are you not a student of Mavos Academy? Does Headmaster Clayton Skyshredder know about this?”

I backed up from her, raising my hands.

“Woah, woah, woah. That’s a lot of questions at once! Give me a second to answer them, alright?”

The Archmage drew back, and I placed a finger on my chin in thought.

“So, um, I am in fact a student of Mavos Academy, yes. Clayton doesn’t really know about this. I haven’t told anyone about it. And as for how I discovered it? It’s kind of a long story, but basically..”

I regaled Helena Warshade of the time I was in the Beastmen Plains. I explained the whole ordeal with the Cursed Boulder and how I defeated it thanks to the help of the Breastplate of Alexander. She narrowed her eyes.

“And you attained possession of the Breastplate of Alexander due to your relationship with the Merrysters.”

“Yep! I was supposed to return it after I was done using it, but I kind of broke it?”

“I have heard.”

Helena Warshade closed her eyes, letting this information sink in. Then she frowned.

“But that still does not explain how you heard about this ‘Corrupted Boulder’ you encountered.”

“Oh, that?”

I shrugged, leaning back casually.

“My Dad told me about it. He said it’d help my space magic if I beat it up, so I beat it up.”

“I see.”

Helena Warshade took that in without much of a reaction. Of course she didn’t. She didn’t know me. But the other passengers on the cloud sputtered in shock.

“Wait, your Dad? You have a father, Salvos?!”

Edithe spoke up with wide eyes. She stared at me, the confusion evident. Daniel raised a brow.

“But I thought you were born from—”

The redhead’s gaze snapped to the side. She immediately placed a hand over his mouth, interrupting him as she spoke in a hurry.

“I thought you were born out of wedlock! And your dad left your mom before you were even born!”

I cocked my head.

“But I don’t have a mom?”

Edithe smacked her palm on her forehead, groaning. Daniel blinked a few times, then mouthed an ‘o’. Willy just chuckled as he watched them from over my shoulder.

Helena Warshade cleared her throat, cutting us off.

“I have heard of your father, Salvos. Clayton Skyshredder had informed me of this man called ‘Sal’. It is interesting how I have never heard of him before he visited Mavos Academy. Yet, somehow, Clayton estimates that he is comparable to an Elite in level.”

“Oh, that’s because he comes from a far away place! He rarely visits the Human lands! Usually just to check up on me and stuff.”

I waved a hand off with a smile. Then I glanced over the horizon. I saw Alyras in the distance. We were finally returning back to the city. I turned back to Helena Warshade.

“Anyway, is that all?”

“There is still much to discuss.”

She replied simply. I rolled my eyes, but the Archmage continued.

“However, that is all the questions I shall ask you today. There are other matters to attend to. And I believe there is something else that draws your attention.”

I perked up excitedly. I raised a hand, grinning as Edithe watched from the side with pursed lips.

“Yep! I just hit my Level 100 Class advancement!”

Finally, I could look through the options.