Mia still felt like a worn-out dishrag when she woke up a bit past noon for the fourth, or maybe sixth time, since going to sleep. She’d lost count. Alas, she had had roughly seven hours of sleep, so she decided to get out of bed. It wasn’t like going back to sleep just for another nightmare sounded like much fun and she might as well try getting some work done.

  Carmilla was lying next to her still, staring absently at the ceiling while … Mia had apparently been using her as a body pillow, and a regular pillow, considering the arm under her head.

  “Hey,” Mia said softly, then coughed. Her throat felt drier than the Sahara, so she sat up with a groan and grabbed the plastic water bottle past-Mia had oh-so-helpfully left on the bedside table for her. “Good … afternoon?”

  “Uh, hi,” Camie said, blinking slowly. It reminded Mia of a cat. “Yes, it’s afternoon, I suppose. Did you … err, do you feel better?”

  Mia snorted, almost sending the water she was pouring down her throat into her lungs. “I feel … somewhat rested. Thanks, I don’t think I could have gotten a minute of sleep if I were left alone with my thoughts in a dark room.”

  Being alone with your thoughts was dangerous, doubly so when they were so marred by misplaced guilt and other darker emotions.

  “No problem,” Camie said with a happy smile. “Happy to help. Just say what you need.”

  Mia believed her and returned the smile with a softer, more fragile smile of her own. It was nice knowing someone would be there for her no matter what. It was a pillar of support she was glad to have, even if that pillar came with some serious baggage of her own … but then again, Mia knew she would have felt like a horrible burden if the relationship was one-sided.

  Relationships were supposed to be like that, right? Help each other, always try to be the better partner and all that.

  “Thanks,” Mia said, her voice quivering a little with emotion. She took a deep, calming breath. “Alright, let’s get some coffee, and then see about doing something productive. I can’t spend all day having nightmares and being miserable.”

  Sipping on a warm mug of coffee a minute later, mixed with enough sugar and cream that an Italian would have had a heart attack just watching her make it, Mia already felt better. Coffee was how she always started her days; it was something normal. It was grounding in a way she appreciated more than ever. With Carmilla sitting next to her and the taste of an overly sweet and creamy latte on her tongue, Mia was finally feeling like herself again.

  Once she finished her coffee, Mia quickly dismissed the Alert Wards placed inside the apartment suite. With her and Camie both awake and alert, it would be damned near impossible to sneak up on them, so the Wards became redundant.

  Some of the others were still asleep, but Lina and Nikki were both just lying in their beds, reading or something like that, according to Mia’s ears.

  Mia settled in to practice some more, since she was loath to rob the others, who could somehow, miraculously, sleep, from their rest. Her pointy wizard hat popped onto her head. She grabbed a runic lexicon delivered just yesterday and began absorbing the next rune on her list needed for the Chaos Edge enhancement function for the Spectral Blade spell. While her runic-model digested that new addition, she continued with mana exercises, feeling far too restless for anything meditation-related.

  Kinetic energy manipulation remained her primary focus, with the goal of learning how to jolt her Wisp Form this way and that, being placed as her primary mid-term goal.

  Today’s specific practice exercise was flinging small objects with a single burst of kinetic energy across the room. Preferably, it had to be done without harming the object on launch. The training manual suggested pebbles or balls of purpose-made enchanted marbles. Mia had to make do with the small balls she’d made from the aluminium foil she’d found in a drawer.

  It was a … work in progress. Mana gathered in Mia’s hand while she pinched the aluminium foil ball between her index finger and thumb. It was all a balancing act. Converted kinetic energy didn’t like to obey her, so it was best to prime the arcane mana before beginning the conversion. But if she used too little mana, the ball would sadly flop to the floor a metre or two away, and if she used too much, she wouldn’t be able to convert it all in time, and the destructive arcane mana would join the kinetic energy as the latter went to launch the ball across the room. The ball usually didn’t survive first contact with the destructive arcane mana, so the distance it travelled was even less than if she had undershot the invested mana.

  She was getting better, bit by bit. Converting mana to kinetic energy came easier and faster, too, with each try. She knew she could do it; she had done similar against Camie in spars and against monsters that got too close to her. Was it a mental thing? Did she need to be in some kind of combat flow-state to get it right? It all seemed to come so easily to her in her memories, or maybe the foes she’d used it on just shrugged off the arcane mana, which was trying to disintegrate them.

  Her current theory was that since Will apparently affected how well she could command mana, she had to be in a state where her will was focused into a sharp, unyielding edge to push her mana control beyond the limits. Or maybe not; Mia had no idea. She was just throwing around ideas in her head to explain away this inconsistency.

  But if she was right, did that mean every single Attribute — Base or otherwise — was just a modifier added on top of her natural attributes, the ones she would have had even without the System’s help? Those were supposed to be the Base Attributes, if she got the explanation right, but people weren’t static like that. Her memory wasn’t always the same; it was affected by how tired she was, how much sleep she’d gotten, and whether she’d just spent two hours memorising something for an exam. Slapping a single static number on it was rather reductive. The same was true for Will, Flexibility, Strength and Agility too, she reckoned.

  Maybe the numbers she saw next to the Base Attributes were the upper limits of her natural attributes, and the other Attributes she got from magic fruits and Stat Points were the modifiers?

  Whatever. I might as well try out a meditation exercise that should focus my mind and try again to see whether it does anything. Mia decided.

  There were a near-infinite number of meditation exercises, and what felt like an infinite number of them was included in the book Mia had gotten from an earlier Rift. She supposed it made sense. The System was ancient, and civilisation in the Mystic Realm must have been a number of times older than the one on Earth, while also having the benefit of being inherently magical. They had all the time in the world to develop an exercise for everything.

  Which was why she had to choose a single meditation exercise out of dozens, all of which should technically suit her purposes of focusing her mind for a given task.

  A good number of them were ruled out by default on account of their using energy channels she just apparently didn’t have yet. She excluded some more because they had no exercise tied to them on the mana-front, just mental exercises. In the end, she went with a technique apparently used by acolytes in a magical institute called the ‘Brightroar Academy’, whatever that was.

  The mana side of the exercise was simple enough, involving sending pulses of mana in quick bursts out of her core, down to her hands and having them bounce back into her core. It was good for training how to make snap changes to the mana’s state, even if it was just about reversing its momentum. The mental side of it was about lining it up with her breathing, down to the hand, with a long inhale, then reverse with a short exhale.

  After getting used to the exercise, she switched back to her original goal of the day. She repeated the breathing part, sent the mana down to her hand with a long inhale, then twisted it into kinetic energy in a snap as she huffed out the air in a short burst.

  The aluminium ball shot out of her grasp, small arcs of arcane energy still sizzling around it as it flew, but it stayed on course and mostly whole as it bounced off the wall, maybe four metres away.

  Over the next half hour, she managed to get to a point where arcane mana fully converted into kinetic energy without any leftovers clinging to the aluminium ball. By that point, the balls were consistently hitting the wall opposite her with tiny thuds, and she’d spent the last ten minutes just working up her aim to a level where she could hit a metre-wide circle pretty consistently. It was good progress.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  It was just in time too, as Brent and Helene had woken up a while ago, and even Mark had stumbled out of his room a scant few minutes ago. He looked like a grumpy hedgehog with his hair and beard sticking out in every possible direction, but Mia didn’t tease him for it for once. His eyes looked a bit haunted and bloodshot, with bags under them. He probably slept no better than she did, just without the comfort of having Camie to cuddle to sleep. So instead she went and made him a warm mug of coffee, which he took with a mildly appreciative grunt, practically a thank-you hug where grumpy dwarves were concerned.

  Lina didn’t look much better; her hair was a mess, and she was still wearing yesterday’s clothes, which went to show how affected the girl was by what happened. She had never let shitty circumstances stop her from dressing nicely and taking care of herself, which Mia guessed was her way of spitting at fate for throwing her into this stupid magical apocalypse. That she’d forewent that today spoke volumes of her mental state, but Helene was already talking to her in a whispered conversation, so Mia left her to it.

  I’ll draw a hot bath when we have time. Maybe she would like that? Make her feel like the world hasn’t fully gone to shit just yet? With electricity not being available, hot water was something of a luxury. Sure, you could boil it over a fire, but firewood was also a hot commodity without electric heating. Thankfully, it was still early autumn, but Mia knew things would get much worse in winter if they didn’t figure something out. Maybe they would get something like her enchanted bath rock when they most needed it from the monthly Quest rewards?

  Not long after, they set off to get a meeting with the acting general, and they were joined by the majority of the people who’d fought beside them in the Raid. Word has spread, apparently, that they were going to join the fight against those who would have had them murdered in their sleep. Only Nikki opted to stay behind, not wanting to appear before the Starhaven operative and come under scrutiny. She did, however, say she’d catch up with them when it came time to go kill monsters and give the beastkin a black eye.

  ‘Anything happen while I was sleeping that I should know about?’ Mia asked Sparkle and felt the small sprite stir inside her Core.

  ‘They collapsed three more tunnels,’ Sparkle said lazily. ‘The military guys are still looking for more. They also locked up the naughty beastkin. Not sure how secure they are. I didn’t catch anything suspicious besides that.’

  ‘Thanks for keeping an eye out.’ Mia said, but Sparkle just buzzed a little in acknowledgement before going back to rest.

  Mia kept alert, her mind turned towards the information her Spirit Sense was feeding her to check for any sign of another ambush. Everyone was wearing a Ward, though she knew it wouldn’t be enough to save someone from a sniper bullet to a critical area, but it could still turn a lethal injury into a flesh wound. It was well worth the mana it cost.

  Zeigler had made his headquarters in the old castle standing atop the aptly named Castle Hill. It was within spitting distance of both the inner city and the Mur river, so it was about as central a location as you could get. If Mia recalled correctly, the city had been founded around that hill long ago.

  It looked … new. The walls, the road, everything seemed almost newly built, and Mia could even feel the lingering echoes of earth mana in the fortifications. It felt so strange to be relying on a medieval castle for protection, but considering their enemies were animalistic monsters, and had no weaponry that could make castle walls useless, it was as good of a stronghold as you could get. Doubly so if the mana in the walls was more than the lingering echo of the magic that re-shaped them.

  She could sense people hiding in the forested slopes of the hill as they made their way up the zig-zagging serpentine staircase making its way up to the castle. Atop the battlements stood vigilant soldiers, all of them above Level 5 at least, with a few closer to Level 10 scattered around here and there.

  They were let through the gate — which Mia found a peculiar Ward clinging to, in an element she was unfamiliar with — and people they passed gave them nods of respect. It had Mia standing up a bit straighter as they were led towards Acting General Zeigler’s command room.

  Most of the castle fell within reach of Mia’s Spirit Sense, which left her counting the appreciable number of Level 10 people spread out across the building. She also sensed a single signature that was more, almost like Sparkle, but not quite.

  That has to be the Rank 1 agent. Mia thought. Rank 1 people felt entirely different from Rank 1 monsters or, apparently, spirits. There was something to Rank-Ups that made that single Level difference between Level 10 and 11 somehow more substantial than the one between 9 and 10, or 11 and 12. Something just inherently more than a simple increase in mana density or an upgrade to some Skills, though it was beyond Mia to pin down what exactly.

  As they entered the room, her eyes were already locked onto the Starhaven agent. She was a middle-aged brunette woman with a severe frown practically carved onto her face with a chisel, wearing what looked like Ren-Fair leather rogue armour. There was some magic woven into it, though, so it was probably the real deal. Nonetheless, had she been wearing a dress shirt and pants, she wouldn’t have looked out of place as a customer service personnel bored out of her mind, or maybe a lawyer or a career soldier with that stiff frown on her face.

  To her mild surprise, the woman’s gaze found its way onto her in short order, her cold grey eyes narrowing, then widening in recognition. With a little heave, the woman detached herself from the wall and wandered over to them, a pair of soldiers carrying assault rifles trailing after her.

  Mia glanced over at Zeigler. He stood at a large table near the back of the hall, leaning over it as he peered down at something while a dozen different people argued loudly around him about enemy movements, proper responses, combat deployments and strategies. It somewhat mollified Mia after yesterday’s attack to see the acting general look like he’d barely slept for days.

  On the other hand, he was allowing a self-proclaimed magical spy from an enemy nation to listen in on his tactical meeting. Was he scheming something, or too quick to trust? Or maybe just desperate enough to take any help he could, even if the source was dubious at best? She could understand not wanting to antagonize the woman, but letting her in this room? That was a bit more than that.

  “Greetings,” the woman said, coming to a stop before their group and plastering a polite smile that didn’t even try to seem genuine on her face. She also spoke German, and with a surprising level of fluency for someone who only had less than a week to learn the language. “I’m afraid the general is a bit busy at the moment. If you don’t mind, I would like to get introductions out of the way. I am Stephanie Graham of the Shadows of Starhaven. If you are planning to join the fray, I believe we will be working together a lot in the near future.”

  “You are far from home,” Mia said in a bland tone. “I suppose we should thank your generous heart for the assistance?”

  Maybe she was a bit too obvious in her dislike for the woman, but then again, Mia seriously doubted she could hide her suspicion from a trained spy. There was little point in even trying; her behaviour might even get disregarded if she leaned into it as just her being a bit of a bitch.

  The woman’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but her smile didn’t waver. “It’s in the best interest of us all if the planet’s ambient mana sphere is stabilised as swiftly as possible. Thankfully, Starhaven had more than enough high Ranked individuals to quell any Rifts manifesting on our ‘continent’. It allowed us some leeway, just enough to send some assistance to all major population centres across the globe.”

  Mia almost believed her. The woman’s tone had just the right amount of earnestness and offended undertones to make her seem genuine. Too bad they all knew she was lying through her teeth.

  “And your assistance has been greatly appreciated, Miss Graham,” Brent said, his voice just loud enough to make it clear he was intentionally talking over her. Was he playing along with her harebrained idea? It seemed like he was. “However, I doubt we will need someone of your talents.”

  “Nonsense.” She waved him off. “Your group is the most accomplished, powerful and disciplined group of warriors in the city. My ‘talents’, as you put it, would allow you to find the battles where you can best leverage yourselves in this little war so it may be concluded with all due haste.”

  Mia felt Sparkle buzz inside her Core, feeling a rush of amusement and expectation from him before he blinked into existence, manifesting his physical body while sitting on Mia’s shoulder.

  “Such an altruistic soul, they do raise their kids right in Starhaven, don’t they?” Sparkle mused aloud, smiling a bit too wide to be comfortable to look at. “I will be sure to mention it to my Sire the next time we meet. I am sure you and Starhaven as a whole will be thoroughly rewarded for all you have done to benefit my Bondmate when the Null-field between Realms finally drops. Grandfather is personally invested in seeing this one survive the turmoil, you see?”

  He pointed a thumb at Mia, grinning as the supposed secret agent went stiff as a board. Her eyes moved between Mia and Sparkle, frenzied calculations running behind those empty grey eyes. Her smile turned a bit wooden.

  “That is good to hear, but I didn’t do this for any reward beyond the hazard pay I’ll be receiving from the Shadows,” Graham said, staring at Sparkle intently. “I would assume this Grandfather of yours would be a member of the Astral Court?”

  “‘A member, ’ she says,” Sparkle said, snorting as he sent a mirthful glance at Mia while rolling his eyes. He turned back to the woman who was either directly or indirectly responsible for Mia nearly getting some high-speed lead injection. He gave her a mean smirk. “I am a Childe of Agreas. Do you understand what that implies, or do I need to spell it out for you?”

  The name didn’t ring any bells for Mia, but apparently it was quite the opposite for Miss Graham, who went pale as a sheet. Sparkle’s cackles echoed inside her mind, while outwardly he let out a single mean chuckle.

  “Ah, a final little nugget of information for you, because it might not be obvious for someone from a Lesser Plane,” Sparkle said. “The Null-field keeping the forces of the other Realms out of this one, for now, does not stop the more powerful ones from looking. Do keep that in mind going forward.”