Despite it being a different tier 1 spell, the runic formation for Still Wind ended up being incredibly similar to that of Whispering Wind. Rather than directing the air to carry sound, it was instead ordering it to prevent sound from carrying. Not only that, but the concept of forming a bubble of still air was so similar to what Aqua Sphere did with water that Vin managed to set a new personal record, mastering the tier 1 spell in only a couple of hours without a single runic backlash, and coming out of Introspection just in time to see the sun beginning to set.

  New spell learned! Tier 1 Air Spell (Still Wind).

  Curious, he cast his newest spell, sensing his mana direct the air to form a bubble around him which would prevent any sounds from getting in or out. Perfect for holding a private conversation, or getting some peace and quiet when others were being too loud.

  “You might not have any tier 3 or 4 spells, but even I have to admit it’s insane how quickly you can learn some of these spells,” Shia said as he dropped his bubble. “That was, what, four or five hours?”

  “It ended up having a lot of similarities to other spells I already understood the runic formations for,” he shrugged. “Strange to think I already have six different air spells under my belt at this point. Feels like it was one of my lesser-used affinities for so long.”

  “I mean, what do you think visiting a civilization that lives in the sky and learning from their Cloud Whisperers was going to do?” Shia snorted. “Teach you more earth magic?”

  “Point taken,” he laughed.

  While they waited for Alka to come back and for night to truly set in, Vin took over the watch with Blossom, allowing Shia to devote her full attention to her own spellwork. At this point, any monster even remotely close to them had already been taken care of, so he went back to his grip-strength exercises, creating a rock with Summon Stone just to toss it up and down in the air over and over again. While he did so, he narrowed his eyes and peered more carefully at the magical construct standing at attention beside him. He’d tried to figure this out before, but he hadn’t had Beyond the Veil available to him back then.

  “...You’re not really sentient… right?”

  “Are you talking to trees again?”

  Vin jumped as Alka finally returned to them, her head tilted to the side a bit as she stared in his direction. “Last I checked, I’m pretty certain only Druids can talk to plants.”

  “Hilarious,” he drawled, shaking his head. “I don’t know. Shia keeps telling me that Blossom is in fact a purely magical construct, but I just can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to Blossom than meets the eye.”

  “Well, you’ve got your fancy new ability that keeps making you see stuff so horrifying it puts you into a coma. Wanna try going three for three?”

  “It’s not because it’s horrifying, it’s because I keep seeing things too powerful for my mind to comprehend,” he tried to explain. “And even if I wasn’t trying to hold back on using it because of what the Goddess said, I still don’t quite understand how it works. Sometimes all I have to do is look at something really hard, but other times it’s more like I need to look through something, as if it were made of glass. Half the time it happens without me even intending to do so, and the other half it’s impossible regardless of how hard I try. It’s like flexing a muscle I don’t know how to control.”

  “Never heard of an ability working like that, but I guess all you can do is try training it like any other muscle,” Alka shrugged. “How much longer before we break into the citadel again?”

  “Not too much,” he said, peering at the setting sun. It was half hidden behind the horizon, so they could probably get a move on within a few more minutes. “How was the fighting?”

  “Oh you know, just had some fun letting the foxes blow up and send me flying around here and there, practicing my recoveries,” she said, turning away to stare at the sun. “Just golem stuff. You flesh-bags wouldn’t understand.”

  “I thought you wanted to bring the fox corpses back to Myers so she could turn them into explosive materials for your Slayers?” he asked, giving her a confused look. “Change your mind?”

  “Yes… I did that first,” she said, her voice sounding strangely robotic for some reason. “Then I let the monsters knock me around a bit. Didn’t want to give Myers too much to work on, you know?”

  “That’s strangely considerate of you,” he said, narrowing his eyes as the golem continued facing away from him, her focus never moving off the setting sun. “You know, you learn a lot about someone when they echo your physical body for the better part of a month. What they find entertaining. What interests them. When they’re lying about something.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Alka said, before beginning to whistle of all things. Naturally, in her golem body she didn’t even have a face, let alone a pair of lips, and the shrill, high-pitched noise that began emanating from around her head made him wince.

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  “Broken branches, what is that?!” Shia shouted, leaping to her feet and throwing together the runic formation for Grass Spikes within her mana. Curiously, Vin could actually see the spell being woven in real time thanks to Beyond the Veil. It was almost like he had two different images being overlaid on top of one another, and he had a feeling it was only because of his remarkably high focus that he wasn’t getting a headache trying to look at them simultaneously.

  Thankfully, it seemed this aspect of the ability was minor enough that utilizing it didn’t cause him any sort of lasting damage.

  “Are we under attack or something?” Shia asked, her spell held at the ready as she narrowed in on the noise and realized it was just Alka. “Alka… what the hell are you doing?”

  “Practicing to see what noises I can make!” she said, finally stopping her shrill whistle. “This body can do all sorts of cool stuff. I mean, did you know I can perfectly replicate other sounds? Isn’t that neat?”

  To Vin’s surprise, Alka’s voice abruptly changed mid-sentence, transforming to perfectly match Shia’s own. He and Shia stared at her in shock, before turning to look at one another. Based on Shia’s expression, it was clear she hadn’t known Alka could do that either.

  “Anyway, we should get a move on, right? We don’t want to keep Scule and his family waiting.” Walking over to Lumel, Alka carefully tapped her on the head with her warpick, jolting her from Introspection.

  “Is it time to go?” Lumel blinked, making sure her hood covered her face as she stood up.

  “Yeah… we might as well get moving,” Vin nodded. He had no idea why Alka was acting so strange or what she was trying to hide, but it was clear that the Slayer had something she wanted to keep secret from them for whatever reason. He trusted her enough to assume it wasn’t anything terrible, but he was beyond curious as to what it might be.

  What could Alka of all people want to keep hidden from them? And why?

  The four of them finally crossed the rest of the distance toward the citadel, taking their time and waiting for night to truly settle before they risked getting too close. Seeing as it had worked so well last time, they went to the exact same location they’d used the first time they’d broken into the city. Though rather than have Shia grow another tree and use that to scale the large wall, Vin had a better solution this time around.

  Bringing everyone in close, Vin silently cast Redirect Gravity on their merry band, stifling a laugh as all three of his friends lurched and landed none too gracefully on the outer wall of the citadel. He’d had plenty of practice changing the orientation of his personal gravity with his boots, but he still recalled just how jarring it was at first. Thanks to his spell, the wall effectively was the ground to them now. Meaning if they ran up to the top of the wall and hopped off, they would go falling over the entire length of the citadel, at least until his mana ran out.

  Gravity magic was fun.

  Needlessly motioning for them to stay silent, and getting a kick from Alka for doing so, Vin crept his way up the wall before peering over, checking both directions to ensure the coast was clear. He didn’t see any guards, so he motioned for his friends to get ready. Once they all had a firm grip on the top of the wall and were lying on their stomachs, he let his spell end. Immediately, gravity reoriented back to normal, and the four of them were suddenly dangling from the top of the large wall by their hands.

  “Gravity magic is weird,” Shia muttered.

  Easily clambering onto the wall, they ran across and did the exact same thing in reverse. One more cast of Redirect Gravity was all that was needed for them to run down the other side of the wall, and before they knew it, they’d broken into the citadel for the second time.

  “We’re getting pretty good at this,” Alka laughed once they were all situated on regular ground again. “I wonder how we can do it even faster the third time.”

  “I’ve got a few ideas on that front,” Vin grinned, before turning toward Lumel. “Do you still have the clothes?”

  “I didn’t drop them, if that’s what you’re asking me,” she laughed, summoning her spare set of robes and handing them over to Alka. “Here you go! Just try not to be too rough with them, please.”

  “I’ll try, but no promises,” Alka said, struggling to tug Lumel’s robes on with only one functioning arm. On their way over, they’d realized that while humans and elves were a common sight within the citadel, and Lumel would be alright thanks to her heavy robes, the sight of Alka wandering around in her darthsteel armor would almost certainly end up drawing attention they didn’t want. Thankfully, Lumel had her spare set of robes, so they didn't have to run back to town to fix the problem.

  Once Vin and Shia finished helping her, Alka looked no different than Lumel. While two hooded strangers in the same group might be a little noticeable, it was leagues better than either of them wandering around without them.

  “The warpick hangs out a little bit past the sleeve,” Shia pointed out, frowning at the revealed weapon. “...not much we can do about that, though.”

  “It’s practically night, people will probably just think she’s trying to ward off pickpockets or something," Vin shrugged. “Alright, let’s go ask for directions.”

  Just like the first time they’d snuck into the citadel, Vin was blown away by the sheer number of people out and about. Despite the fact that it was rather late in the evening and most people were probably already back home, there were hundreds of people all around them simply going about their daily lives. They passed bustling taverns where beastkin lapped at strong-smelling ales, late-night shops where tired folk grabbed items they’d forgotten to pick up earlier, and even nodded at a few buskers trying to make a living as they performed at the side of the road for everyone’s enjoyment. Keeping a careful eye out for guards, Vin stopped someone on the street and asked for directions to where the petians were.

  The elf seemed surprised that Vin didn’t already know, but he merely shrugged and pointed them in the right direction.

  “I guess the location of the petians is pretty common knowledge,” Vin muttered as they made their way across the city. “Though I’m still a little confused. He said ‘Tiny Town’ was over here… as if it were its own building.”

  The others thought it was strange as well, but decided to simply hold their comments until they made it to the directed location. It took them nearly an hour, but eventually, the four of them stopped dead in their tracks.

  They’d finally discovered Tiny Town, the location where the petians of the citadel lived.

  And it was not what any of them had expected.

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