Kurt is exhausted from the day on the road, but he needs answers before he can fall asleep. He was the first to go down in the sewer and the last to wake up afterward. He’s glad his teammates are safe. Lucian’s death hit them all hard. Olivia and Benjamin wouldn’t talk about it. Kurt can tell Olivia blames herself, and Benjamin's grief only strengthens his overprotective nature.

  When he woke to find everyone still alive in the sewer, it felt like a miracle, but he wanted answers. It took considerable self-restraint not to grill Jason on what happened after he went down. There were plenty of reasons to wait; Jason was still a little frantic from the fight, jumping at the shadows and frantically looking at the woods like he saw a ghost.

  They had other things to concentrate on, and he wanted to wait until he could hear everyone’s perspective to discuss the fight. For a knight, being able to learn from your fights is a critical skill. More than once in the past, he had reflected on a fight with his companions and learned his teammates had some critical insight.

  This time, how they had survived the fight at all is a mystery to him. Not a gift he’s willing to balk at, but a mystery he’s a little leery of learning, considering how badly they were losing when he blacked out. By the time they are gathered around the fire, Jason looks like he would fall over any second. Kurt wants to ask him to stay up to hear his side, but he knows the man wouldn’t last through a retelling.

  With his bowl finished, he takes a little water from his water skin to wash out the bowl before putting his arms on his knees. He was right, Jason is out like a lamp. He turns to Olivia first.

  In a dry tone, he asks, “So what happened after I collapsed?”

  Olivia grimaces, “It was too chaotic to see. I tried to let off blasts of flame, but the amount of water swirling in the air overwhelmed any passive fire mana given off by the staff.”

  Kurt turns toward Benjamin, who sits on his log staring off in the distance while chewing his lip.

  Kurt had seen that look on some of the veterans. The far-off look that told of losses, even in the midst of victory. He reached out to his friend, “Benjamin?”

  Benjamin doesn’t meet their eyes as he softly speaks, “The wilder did him in. I didn’t see much at the end, but I did see the scene after.”

  He licks his lips before continuing, “The wilder barely had any wounds on him. That could have been because he healed himself after, but I saw his clothes undamaged. He had been spending a while healing the two of you by the time I came to. But the elf… his body looked like it was mostly intact. At least as intact as a malnourished pestilence-ridden elf could be.

  “The elf’s body did not have any external cuts, bruises, or major injuries, except that his heart was torn out of his chest. In the fight, I saw blood running from the elf’s nose. I thought I hit him, but now I wonder what could have caused so much damage that his heart erupted from his chest without any other major wounds.”

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  Kurt is confused and sees the same confusion reflected on Olivia’s face. Kurt’s words come out slow, as he tries to piece together what Benjamin is saying, “He waited for us all to go down before taking him out with a single attack? Did he spear his heart with a large ice shard?”

  “No, Jason did something else. In the battle, I got lucky with my knife and nicked the elf. *heh* The elf healed the wound instantly; he ignored it as he knocked me off my feet with a wave of his hand. The wilder did something else. He just sat in the water orb with his eyes closed, but then the elf started acting weird. I didn’t see it at first, but I think the wilder hurt something inside the elf.” Benjamin trails off as he gets a faraway look.

  Olivia asks next, “You think he is some kind of poison or disease mage?”

  A mage capable of wielding poison would be a considerable threat on their own. Darkness affinity magi often have spells that make them powerful assassins, but those who have the dual affinity of darkness and earth are ooze magi. Ooze magi have all the powers of a darkness magi except access to spells that manipulate powerful poisons and acids. This expanded spell set makes them elites among the assassins of the mage world. Jason seems like a good man to Kurt, but the thought of being an ooze mage makes even him just a bit paranoid.

  Benjamin shrugs, “I don’t know. The elf was in a terrible state when I got up. Despite whatever resistance he had cultivated, the mushrooms were already wreaking havoc on his body. He must have healed himself constantly as he lived in the sewer. If the wilder somehow nudged those spores to work faster, it might have overwhelmed him.”

  “You know what you are saying, right? If he has access to another magic, he hasn’t shown-” Olivia says in a low tone. “…You think he is a tri-mage.”

  Benjamin doesn’t respond. Kurt would never have considered it, but hearing Olivia’s words, pieces he didn’t see before start to fall into place. “What did the wilder say? Something about calling off a marriage? Maybe he is running from someone.”

  “You think the supposed heir to House Frostmore was found to be a tri-mage and they kept him sealed away to forge alliances?” Olivia asks her companions.

  Kurt shrugs; he was never meant for politics, and it is Benjamin who answered.

  “It would make sense. The low level, his gaps in knowledge, and the way he holds himself are all wrong. They’re all signs of noble isolation or imprisonment. He doesn’t have any of the rough edges of a woodsman, callouses, or even the basics of the system. It’s like he’s never even seen an artifact before.” Benjamin mumbles almost to himself.

  “He’s a bit eccentric. What about the testing? I was there. The ball stayed still until the clerk put her blood on the table. Keeping him locked away and unable to level wouldn’t dampen his affinities. Nothing can change a person’s affinities. You get what you get when you’re born.” Kurt replies.

  Benjamin nods, “I thought about that a lot. If his third affinity was Earth, that would be the best combination for poison. Runite enhances power, but at the end of the day, it is a metal. With the way the metal magnifies power, it would take very little effort for an earth mage to hold it still. No one would ever think of it because who would want to mask their affinities? Once the clerk put her blood on it, the quantity must have overwhelmed what he had on there, so it went to her affinity instead.”

  Kurt feels his heart rate go up. “You know what you are saying, right? If he’s what you think he is, we could be leading him into greater danger. We could be in greater danger.”

  Olivia shakes her head, “If he is what we think he might be, then he is already in more danger than we can help him with.”

  They sit in quiet contemplation, watching the fire dance and crackle, until the weight of sleep is too much for Kurt. Over the next few hours, they rotate the watch while squeezing in a few hours of sleep. The next morning, they pack up and head deeper into the wild woods and the dangers that lie within.