When everything was over, Theodore left the Instance arena through the back exit, because of course he did. He definitely was not trying to avoid anyone, and he definitely hadn't been bamboozled by people swarming him the moment he'd come out. And he definitely, one hundred percent, had not [Blinked] out of there and ran.

He'd won. First place.

In Instance Seven.

Right, that was the part that made it weird. Not exactly a prestigious victory. Still counted, though. Points were points. Back at the estate, he headed straight to the shower.

***

Theodore found himself at a street vendor with Freya, both of them disguised. Though, Theodore was more disguised than Freya, given that he could alter his physical appearance with [Slime Manipulation].

Currently, they were working through skewers like they hadn't eaten in weeks.

The vendor kept shooting them looks. Probably recognized Freya. Hard not to, her disguise… wasn't really a disguise. Theodore ignored it. Good food was good food, and these skewers were excellent.

"Can't believe you actually did it," Freya said between bites. She'd gotten first in her Instance too. "Three hundred points. That's absurd."

"Got lucky with the matchups."

She snorted. "Right. Lucky. That's why you systematically hunted down every Rank 4 in the Instance."

"They came to me, mostly."

"Because you were sitting in clearings like bait."

Theodore shrugged. It had worked, hadn't it? No point in running around when people would come deliver their bracelets directly to him.

Efficiency.

Freya had her own story, something about a three-way alliance that imploded spectacularly when they couldn't decide how to split the points. She'd swooped in during the chaos and cleaned house.

Smart play.

Who was this? This couldn't be Freya…

Now that he thought about it, he was acting more like her these days than anything, and she was acting like him. Were they rubbing off on each other? The thought made him shudder, and thankfully Freya gave him just the right distraction.

"You know everyone's talking about it. The Chronicles especially. They had a field day."

Theodore had been avoiding the Chronicles, actually. Nothing good came from reading about yourself in the broadsheets. Either they praised you for the wrong reasons or criticized you for things that didn't matter. Better to just ignore it all.

"Let them talk."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one getting marriage proposals from minor noble houses who suddenly think you're worth investing in."

Theodore raised an eyebrow.

"How many noses did you break? " He asked her.

"Who do you think I am?" She made a face. "I'm in a foreign country, under foreign royalty. Why the hell would I make this kind of trouble?"

That was… surprising to hear from her.

"Huh, surprising. Anyway, who told you I haven't been getting marriage proposals. The balls are horrifying to attend. I've been getting hounded by women and their mothers left and right."

Freya snickered. "Serves you right."

Theodore was about to respond when he noticed someone approaching. Jason? What the hell was he doing here, and how did he even know where to find them and what did he want?

Regardless, this would be interesting.

Theodore wondered what Jason wanted. A fight? Didn't seem likely. Jason wasn't the type for random street brawls, too calculating for that. Information maybe? Or just sizing up the competition?

Freya noticed too, her posture shifting slightly.

But Jason just walked up, calm as anything, and nodded to them both.

"Your Highness. Lady Freya."

"Jason," Theodore replied, keeping his tone neutral.

"Congratulations on first place. Impressive point total." Jason's voice was steady, sincere even.

"Thanks. You did well yourself. Second place with two hundred eighty-two."

"Not quite what I was hoping for. Wanted to make more of a splash, you know? Get people's attention."

Theodore nodded but didn't ask why. Everyone had their reasons for being in the tournament. Some wanted glory, some wanted to prove something, some just wanted the prize money. Jason clearly had his own motivations, and they weren't Theodore's business unless Jason decided to make them so.

For a moment, Jason just stood there, like he was debating something internally.

Finally, he seemed to reach a decision.

"Could you spare me some of your time later sometime, Your Highness?"

"That depends," Theodore said carefully. "Why do you need me?"

Jason hesitated, which was interesting in itself.

"It's, uh, complicated. But I'd appreciate it if you could take out some time for me."

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Complicated. Theodore's favorite kind of situation. But Jason didn't seem like he was planning anything hostile. Even if he was, Theodore could handle it, and Miss Bodyguard was there anyway.

Actually, was she there? She'd gotten serious since they arrived at the capital, so he hadn't been able to sense her in the slightest. Not even now, when he was so attuned to space and dimensions.

He needed to have a chat with her sometime.

Regardless, it seemed like Jason needed something and was trying to ask for it without revealing too much.

Theodore shrugged. "Sure."

He could handle complicated. He was interested anyway. They worked out the details quickly. Jason suggested a high class tavern on the merchant district's edge. Not too public but not suspiciously private either. Theodore agreed to meet him there tomorrow morning.

"Thank you. I know we're not exactly allies, but—"

"It's fine," Theodore cut him off. "We'll talk later."

Jason nodded, gave another brief acknowledgment to Freya, then left.

The moment Jason was out of earshot, Freya elbowed him lightly with a cheeky grin. "Ooh, Theodore's going on dates already? I'm jealous."

Theodore rolled his eyes hard enough that they probably could've seen it from the palace. "It's not a date."

"Secret meeting at a tavern? Sounds like a date to me."

"Seemed more like business."

"Business date, then."

"Freya."

"What? I'm just saying, he did specifically ask for Your Highness. Very formal. Very romantic."

Theodore grabbed another skewer from the vendor, mostly to have something to do with his hands that wasn't throwing something at Freya's head. She was enjoying this way too much.

"Could be worse," she continued, because of course she did. "Could be that Velka girl. Now that would be a complicated date."

"She literally wants to kill me."

"Some people are into that."

…Theodore couldn't argue with that, so he just leveled a dry stare at her. "What is wrong with you?"

Freya shrugged, completely unrepentant. "I'm bored. The tournament's on break until they announce the second event in a day or two or whenever, everyone's being weird about your Instance results, and you're having secret meetings. Let me have this."

Theodore couldn't really argue with that.

"Anyway. What do you think he wants?" Freya asked.

"No idea."

"Helpful."

"Could be anything. Information about the next event, maybe. Or wanting to coordinate somehow. Or completely unrelated to the tournament."

"That last one seems unlikely."

"You going to go?" Freya asked.

"Said I would."

"You could always not show up. Claim you forgot."

Theodore shook his head. "I'm curious now."

That was the truth of it. Jason had approached him publicly, asked politely, and seemed genuine in whatever he needed. Could be a trap, sure, but Theodore didn't think so. Jason was too smart to try something that obvious, and he'd had better opportunities if he'd wanted to attack.

"Want backup?" Freya offered, though her tone suggested she already knew the answer.

"I'll be fine."

"Famous last words."

"If Jason wanted to fight me, he wouldn't need an elaborate tavern meeting to do it."

"Fair point." Freya stretched, joints popping in sequence. "Well, try not to get assassinated. I'd have to find a new dining partner."

"Your concern is touching."

"I'm very empathetic."

***

Theodore arrived at the tavern next day right on time. Jason was already there, and he wasn't alone.

Two men sat with him. One had Jason's sharp features but rougher, like someone had taken Jason's face and aged it badly through stress. Brother, probably. Or maybe his father. The other was harder to place, but he didn't seem related.

Theodore approached and they did the whole greeting dance. Handshakes, introductions, careful smiles that meant nothing. One of them was Jason's brother, apparently, named Edran. The other one was Finn, and Theodore had been right about the friend thing. They ordered drinks nobody really wanted, talked about the weather that nobody cared about, mentioned the tournament results that everyone already knew.

Theodore let it run its course for about ten minutes before deciding enough was enough. "So what did you need me for?"

Jason hesitated, which was becoming a pattern with him. "You seem to be great at [Mana Manipulation]."

Theodore raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Point being?"

"Well… There's this person. He's my enemy, you could say. Garrett Brennan. He has quite a peculiar skillset, and I'd like your help replicating and training against it. I believe it has something to do with [Mana Manipulation] or something of the sort."

"The Brennan family?" Theodore murmured, frowning.

Now that was interesting.

The Brennans were prominent here in the capital, old money with older secrets. The public speculation about them ranged from reasonable to completely insane. Paralysis, compulsion, domination—people threw around all sorts of theories about what they could do.

But Theodore had access to information others didn't. Being a prince had some benefits, even when you were the family disappointment for the majority of your life. He knew what the Brennans actually did, and it was both simpler and more complicated than the rumors suggested.

Their family skill was [Blood Manipulation], and it was a nightmare to deal with.

Not because blood manipulation itself was that terrifying—though it could be—but because it fell into the same family of skills as [Mana Manipulation] or [Slime Manipulation]. The really strong manipulation skills that, when mastered properly, could do things that looked like magic even by this world's standards.

Although they weren't the only ones with [Blood Manipulation] just as Theodore wasn't the only one who had [Mana Manipulation], the Brennans had honed this skill over generations, refined it, developed techniques that allowed a single skill to have dozens of applications.

They could slow your blood flow to make you sluggish, speed it up to cause panic, create pressure points that mimicked paralysis. Hell, the really good ones could supposedly control your movements and make you a puppet, or literally blow you up.

And that wasn't even the worst part.

Coupled with [Blood Manipulation], the Brennan family was proficient in [Telekinesis] as well. An evolution of [Mana Control] you could get if you went in that direction, focused on controlling objects with pure mana. The synergy between the two skills was nasty.

No wonder Jason wanted help.

"Well, I'm afraid I cannot help you with replicating those skills," Theodore said.

[Blood Manipulation] wasn't something you could just learn. For one, Theodore wasn't about to spend that much time trying to learn this skill just to help Jason. Two, while it wasn't a bloodline skill, it was a refined skill, passed down through generations in the Brennans, refined over generations. And even if he learned the skill, Theodore could hardly replicate those refinements which were closely guarded secrets of the family.

And [Telekinesis]? Well, that required specific conditions to evolve from [Mana Control], conditions Theodore couldn't replicate even if he wanted to, given that he'd already crossed that bridge long ago when he evolved [Mana Control] into [Mana Manipulation]. And learning [Telekinesis] without the [Mana Control] evolution would be tedious and hard, which he didn't want to do.

His clones were focused on his current skills as is, he didn't need more than that currently.

"Let's go, I told you this was a waste of time," Edran said, standing up with a scowl.

Jason grabbed his arm and pulled him back down, smile never wavering. "Sit down, brother. It's quite impolite to just leave like that."

The tension between them was obvious. Edran wanted to be anywhere but here, Jason was determined to see this through.

Theodore watched it all with mild amusement. Family drama was always entertaining when it wasn't yours.

"I said I can't help you replicate the skills," Theodore said. "I didn't say I couldn't help."

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