[Sig – 13 years]

"So?" I ask Ryan. "What do you think?"

We're in the gym, having just spent the last half-hour goofing around with some others in the foam pit. Alec was with us at first, but then he joined some of the others for a game in the pool. At the moment, Ryan and I are taking a break as we're both exhausted.

I wish Xander were in here to play in the mega foam pit with us, but he stayed in the rec room to eat and for a little bit more quiet. He'd probably also be uncomfortable with there being several guys he's not really familiar with being shirtless in here, too.

Everyone would likely be willing to put one on to make him comfortable, but based on what he said on Monday, that would just make him feel bad.

He did turn me into a snow leopardkin before I left the rec room, though. All of the boys with enough mana to cast the spell turned themselves into wolfkin. Jake and Cyrus were both taught it as well, though Jake might have already known it and was just being polite.

I'm not sure.

"Of the gym?" Ryan asks. "Having his own is impressive. You said earlier that he paid for it himself?"

"Not just the gym," I tell him. "The whole rec facility is Xander's thing. The dorms were added this week. Before those, the sleeping area was the carpeted section in front of it. Dorms were so that there was a defined separation between guys and girls, though also so that we had proper beds to sleep on rather than the floor."

"This feels like a lot to me," he admits. "Not an excessive thing, just… too much for me. I feel like I've stepped into a whole other world."

"Xander has that effect on people, yeah," I agree. "I feel that way a lot, too. Just when I think I've started getting used to it, he goes and turns into a merboy to kill a leviathan in under five seconds."

It sometimes makes me feel inadequate and like I shouldn't even be his friend. Then I have to remind myself that Xander doesn't care about stuff like that. He prefers looking at personalities more than anything when it comes to friendship – what people are like and how they treat others.

"Xander's honestly amazing," Ryan says. "And after finding out more about him, I'm glad Alec finished his research already. He was, too. If he didn't finish it before today, people would probably try to claim that Xander helped him."

Sort of like with Carter's birthday hunt. The claims that Xander was the real reason it was a success got shut down, but some people still try to claim it. Xander himself has directly stated that all he did was share part of his senses with them and temporarily freeze the creek. The actual fight itself was all on the others.

Which means it's true. Sadly, a lot of people prefer to dismiss achievements if there's even a connection to someone who can do it more easily, for whom it's not an accomplishment. Alec might get that a little as well since they were near each other on Saturday. Even the footage that's online of the entire incident won't stop everyone from making the claims.

That said…

"Research?" I ask. "What research?"

"You didn't hear?" He asks. "It's why he was buying everyone's bones on Saturday. He's been researching magic crystals for a couple of years now."

Magic crystals differ from mana crystals in that they don't store mana at all. Mana is simply a fuel, so the crystals themselves don't harness the actual power of whatever type they're of. Instead, they act as fuel for those magics.

Rarer and more expensive, magic crystals harness that element. They can't do anything on their own, but they can be used to make magic items. One can lessen the mana cost and increase the strength of an enchantment if a magic crystal of the corresponding type is used.

Mana crystals are seen in magic objects more often since they're more common and already lessen the cost on their own. There's still a difference between using a fire mana crystal to fuel a fire spell and a fire magic crystal to actually create the same fire spell. Using both together is much more efficient.

They're rare enough that very few magic objects use them, however.

"What was his research?" I ask. "Alec needed a bunch of bones for it?"

"Know how things like the bones of magic beasts are used in creating alloys or used as the base material for an enchanted or magitech object?" Ryan asks.

"Yeah," I answer. "It's because the parts of a magic beast are infused with the magical aspects of the beast, in addition to being magic. Same reason things like hides, scales, and feathers work well, too."

"Right," Ryan nods. "Alec was researching that. He's actually pretty smart, and I ain't just saying that. The reason he was buying up all of the bones was to continue his research, which was an attempt at extracting the magical aspects from them and crystallize them."

He was doing what now?

"Wait," I say. "You're saying that Alec figured out how to get magic crystals from animal parts?"

"Yup!" Ryan grins at me. "Figured it out on Monday! The process ain't perfect, but he can do it. Filed his findings Monday night, and it's already been verified by several others. He was actually worried he wouldn't be able to make it to the party because of it."

"Why not?"

"Interviews!" Ryan laughs. "Bunch of people want to interview the eighth-grader who figured out a new magical process! Being able to extract magic crystals from bones and other parts means less impurities in alloys and other mixes which used them before, which will make the objects stronger and more stable. This is a huge discovery, and for a middle-schooler to be the one to figure it out? That's even bigger!"

"It would be, wouldn't it?" I ask. "Damn. Now Alec's making me feel inadequate! I can graduate high school at thirteen and without having even gone a month in the eighth grade, much less any time in actual high school. Alec's out here figuring out new magical discoveries, and he doesn't even have the advantage Xander has of being able to see mana and magic!"

Wait.

"You just realized something, didn't you?" Ryan asks.

"Yeah," I say. "I wanna go ask Xander something."

We head back into the rec room, and I walk over to where Xander's chowing down on a cheesecake while playing some sort of card game with Carter, Nash, Austin, and Berry. It's a game with its own deck, and I've never played it before. Haven't even heard of it outside of seeing it on the shelf in here earlier.

Carter's got his cards sitting face-down in front of him, and the others are each sliding him a card, upside-down. Those are all red cards, while there's a lone green card sitting face-up in front of Carter.

"Hey, Xander!" I say. "Hug?"

"No."

"Because I'm sweaty or shirtless?" I ask. "Or both?"

"Both."

"Okay!" I say. "Did you hear about Alec's discovery on Monday?"

"Yeah," Xander's staring intently at the cards in his hands. "Grandpa Adrian said we'd use that method to acquire spatial magic crystals for the dorms."

"He wasn't already using spatial magic crystals?"

"They're really hard to find," Xander tells me. "And for a building that size, it would've required a lot."

"He didn't know how to extract them from bones and stuff?"

"He does," Xander says. "But for most things, he prefers sticking to what's already been figured out by the people he's interacting with. Since humans hadn't figured that out yet, he stuck to just using the bones."

"Oh."

"That's how he strips magical aspects out of meat," Xander adds. "He just draws out the magical essences he wants to remove and crystallizes it. Alec's method is a little bit different, but it works as well."

Xander pulls "Wolves" out of his hand and sets it face-down on the table, then slides it over to Carter.

"Did you look at Alec's stuff?" I ask.

"Yeah," Xander answers. "Grandpa Adrian wanted me to figure out how to do a more efficient version of it, then compared that to his own version and showed me the differences. But he was pretty strict that I'm not allowed to give Alec advice on it, or others. That way, when Alec gets interviewed, he can honestly say that I didn't help him at all."

"Oh," I say. "That makes sense. I'm gonna get a snack, then head to the pool."

"Don't eat in the pool."

"I won't!" I tell him. "Gonna eat my snack, then head to the pool!"

I head over to the snacks table and find that there are even more things out than when I went to the gym. From the original desserts pumpkin-shaped cookies, some decorated with green and orange icing, some with jack-o-lantern faces on them. There are also cookies decorated like straw bales, and some like spiderwebs. Several pies have been set out as well, along with a very large cake labeled as "PUMPKIN PARTY".

The label probably wasn't supposed to stay on the tray once it was set out.

In addition to all of those, Xander's added in cheesecake. The cheesecake definitely wasn't out before, and was probably his way of avoiding making others want some but not able to have any without asking.

Tate comes into the room as I'm getting my snacks and some pizza and chips, and we end up talking and playing Rummy together. He's insanely good at this, and I'm fairly sure he's not reading my mind to win.

After we finish eating, I notice that Xander's gone. He must've calmed down enough to do something else, then. Since he's not in here, he's probably in the theater, though I want to go swim for a bit. If he's in the theater, then he's probably wanting less play, not more.

Before I head to the changing rooms, I retrieve my sneakers, socks, and shirt from the gym and take them to the dorms. They won't be needed for the rest of the night so I should put them in my room. I need to grab shorts and clean underwear for after I swim, too, since I am rather sweaty and shorts are more comfortable for lounging in than jeans.

When I open the door to the dorm room, I find Xander snuggling Mr. Leviathan on his bed. He looks completely passed out, which I guess I should have expected. Even if he's the host, it's past his bedtime. I'll be quiet as I-

"Oof!" I slam into a barrier. "Oh, right…"

There's a barrier to keep people who are a couple from being in a room by themselves. I need to find Carter or Nash now.

[Luke – 13 years]

"Hey, Ty," I say, and Tyler looks over at me. "I'm getting a bit tired, so I'm gonna get a snack."

We're sitting on the edge of the pool, watching some of the others keep playing. The game is currently a modified version of the sharks game where if a minnow tags a shark and doesn't get tagged back, the shark has to sit out until the next round.

Carter managed to get me out. Twice. He's insanely good at this and it's fun watching him tag others without getting tagged, himself. The thought that he's using water magic to help himself has crossed my mind a few times, but no one's complaining. It's fun trying to tag a water mage in his natural environment.

"Gonna go to bed after?" Tyler asks.

It's about eleven o'clock now, and I'm sure a lot of guys here are getting tired. Xander went to bed hours ago based on S.G. needing Nash to go with him to their room and while half of us are in here, I'm sure most of them are considering going to bed.

Spending half an hour being physically active after a full day of activities can wear anyone out, and most of us in here have been playing for an hour or more. Almost everyone is tired now. Somehow, the Autumn Realm boys have more stamina than a lightning-blooded mage.

"Maybe," I shrug. "Though if you're wanting to go to bed, too, we'll need to find Parker or Ethan."

Those are our assigned roommates, which isn't a bad deal. Parker can be a bit weird, but Ethan was pretty cool when we met for the last party. He was also insistent on dunking me when I first came to the pool tonight, though he left once an actual game began.

"I slept half the day," Tyler grins at me. "Feel like I can go for a lot longer. Besides, there's plenty of sugar! I'm kind of hungry, too. Let's go get snacks!"

We shower off and I decide to stick to regular shorts for the rest of the night. It's already fairly late and most of the boys have already switched to that. Mostly, the ones who went swimming or were horsing around in the foam block pit.

Upon entering the main rec room, we find most of the boys who weren't swimming playing a game spinning a glass soda bottle in a circle. I've heard about that game, but thought it was just something Parker was claiming to mess with me. People actually play it?

The group playing consists of Parker, Cooper, Ryan, Alec, Tate, Nick, Owen, Sam, and Nathan.

Tyler and I grab some snacks from the table, then make our way over to the group. Tyler wants to play, I want to watch. Parker's the one spinning the bottle when we approach. There's a large bottle of what looks like hot sauce (no label) sitting in front of Owen, with a little bit of it missing. Everyone has a shot glass beside their snack plates/bowls with hot sauce residue within them, and a stack of clean shot glasses sit between Cooper and Tate.

"Join us!" Cooper says. "We're just spinning it and whoever it points to gets to ask a question of everyone else. Since some of us don't know the others, we figured it'd be a good way to get to know each other."

So Parker was just messing with me when he told me about this game awhile back, then. I join them as the bottle finishes spinning. Some space was made for Tyler and me, though the bottle stopped while pointing at Alec.

"What was the last thing you got into trouble for?" Alec asks. "Mine was when I threw a chicken at my brother last month. Chicken loved it. Brother did not and complained to Ma."

"Why'd you throw a chicken at your brother?" Owen tries not to laugh as he asks that.

"Kid was bugging me and wouldn't stop saying how he'd do better at caring for the chickens than me," Alec answers. "Ma's been babying him for whatever reason and he hadn't had to start helping raise the chickens yet. We're supposed to once we turn ten, which was six months ago for him. Told him that if the chickens were that easy to take care of, he could do it!"

"Yeah!" Ryan laughs. "His chickens are a bit more feisty than ours are. They ain't mean, but they love hitting people with conjured dust they then manipulate with air magic when they fly. It's just a small battering, but can be really annoying, and you might need to rinse out your eyes after if you're unlucky enough."

"Da finally said enough was enough," Alec tells us. "Now, Blake has to take care of the chickens. He whines about it every day and Ma tries to get me to do his share, but Da refuses to let her do that. Blake's old enough, so he needs to help out."

"You do chickens for food, too?" I ask.

"Yeah," Alec laughs. "But it's part of how we earn our money. We raise dustbeak chickens; they have a mix of earth and air magic, but are low in power. We ourselves ain't that powerful so we can't handle stronger beasts yet. In addition to those, we grow some crops. Some for feeding the chickens, some for making tomato-based sauces and some pickles."

"My family buys them sometimes," Parker tells me. "They're good for some catering events for mages where that's the catering range."

"Huh," I say. "Small world."

Answering the question goes clockwise from Alec and when it's Parker's turn, he shakes his head.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Hot sauce," he says.

"Hot sauce?" Tyler and I ask.

"Right!" Tate grabs the hot sauce and turns it to show us the label, which was on the side opposite from where we could see until now.

It says "BOTTLE GAME" in what looks like a little bit neater version of Xander's handwriting.

"Xander had this with the bottles," Tate points towards the shelves of games. "The bottles were listed as enchanted to resist damage 'and magic', and this bottle was sitting there. Xander didn't say it, but we figured that it's probably his way of adding in a penalty, in case someone didn't want to do the thing. So if someone doesn't want to answer the question, they have to do a shot of the hot sauce. The glasses were beside it."

The last thing Parker got into trouble for was probably attempting to take his life. He's taking a shot of hot sauce to avoid telling anyone instead of making something up.

Then again, with a natural mind mage here, lying in answers probably isn't an option for this group.

"And we all took a shot at the start so we'd know how hot it is," Sam tells me. "You two gotta do it before Parker takes his."

There's a difference between what Xander's okay with as a hot sauce and how spicy Trey likes it. Judging by the eager and amused expressions the others have, it might be on Trey's preference level.

I accept the bottle from him and grab a glass, then fill it. Tyler fills his next, then we both down our hot sauces.

"Oh, jeez!" I groan after swallowing. "That's not as strong as what Trey likes, but I'm pretty sure it's way past Xander's preference."

"That's so strong," Tyler grimaces.

"Won't kill your taste buds," Tate grins at us. "But ensures that you're going to answer unless you really don't want to."

"It definitely will," I say. "Jeez!"

Parker takes his shot of hot sauce, and we continue playing. The person who spins is the one who gets to ask the question, and it takes a few turns before the bottle finally points at me.

"What is the most nervous you've ever been?" I ask. "Mine was over the summer. I got called in to help with a Rift which appeared in Nine Springs."

"The one Xander closed?" Ryan asks. "I've heard stronger mages can get called in sometimes. You were in that group?"

"No," I tell him. "There was another one before that, but I think they managed to keep it from really hitting the public news as it doesn't seem like it's widely known, even at the academy. Xander's somewhat mentioned it in a stream or two, but I don't think people really know what he was talking about.

"It was registered as the most dangerous Rift ever recorded – this was relayed to me later on," I tell everyone. "The old sensors for Rifts were designed to detect immense quantities of mana in an area. They could reach far, but really only worked for detecting mana above a certain amount. Ones which can detect smaller amounts could only do so at a shorter range, and those were useful for sensing high magic usage in areas where it would be suspicious."

Such as at my family's company's headquarters. They're installed in all secure areas, especially after a certain kid kept teleporting in.

"For the larger ones," I continue. "They exclusively detected Rifts. Near society, the only reason that much mana was in the air was if one formed. And, well… the most terrifyingly high amount of mana surged in the air over in Nine Springs. I got called in, among a lot of others.

"I've killed demons," I say. "Even mid-level ones. That's basically routine now. I've even fought at Rifts a lot of times. But this one? It had the potential to require contacting Adrian King. I'm the thirteenth most powerful mage in the world, according to the ranking he's given Trey. The strongest who isn't a Lumaria King. That should tell you just how dangerous it was. So we were all feeling pretty anxious."

Finding out that I'm the strongest non-Lumaria King was a shock. I'd thought there was one or two more but apparently not. The gap between me and #14 is also pretty large – I have more than 20,000 mana more than the next-strongest person.

"What happened?" Nathan asks. "You mentioned Xander doing something? He mentioned improved Rift sensors as an apology in a stream this week, didn't he? That wasn't for teleporting the soldiers?"

"No," I shake my head. "We arrived and I sensed Xander's electricity. I went to evacuate him in a panic and found him curled up on the ground, sleeping. He was exhausted. When I woke him up, he was a little bit confused and maybe slightly cranky? I don't remember clearly.

"Anyway," I say. "As it turned out, Xander had cast an extremely powerful spell which leaked a lot of mana. Then he took a nap on the spot. He later made an improved Rift sensor as an apology to the local base. It's much more accurate than the old ones, gives better information about its location, and can differentiate Rifts from other things."

"And now," Tate says. "They're installed all over the nation. Xander said they can detect Rifts even sooner than the old ones, as they don't need the leaking mana to do so. They directly detect the magics making up the Rifts."

"That's insane," Ryan says.

"That's Xander King," I tell him. "Alright, Tyler! What's the most nervous you've ever been?"

We continue playing, and at about eleven-thirty, I notice Xander's electrical signal coming out of the dorms.

I noticed when we were putting things away earlier that I couldn't sense electrical signals inside the dorms or their rooms, only in the room I was in. Xander probably had some sort of block added in so that he and Tate wouldn't have to deal with thirty other minds as they tried to sleep. Adding me in was probably for the same reason, but electrical signals rather than mind.

I look over and spot Xander making a beeline for the snacks table, dressed in his pajamas with Trenton in his arms.

With this timing, either it's coincidence or he set an alarm to wake himself up so that he can keep hanging out with all of us.

I turn my attention back to the icebreaker. That lasts until quarter-'till, when Xander's voice quietly spreads throughout the room. Possibly the entire rec center (minus the dorms).

"If anyone wants to craft pumpkin party-themed magic lamps," Xander says. "That'll begin at midnight in the crafts section of the rec center. For those who don't know how to craft magic lamps, directions are given. They're quite simple, and basic magic lamps can also be crafted, with directions given, for those who don't know how to make them."

"I want to do that!" I tell the group. "The basic one taught me a lot last time, so this one should as well, since it's themed rather than basic."

There will be differences for sure and I want to see what they are.

"Y'all'll want to do it, too," Tate tells the guys in our group who weren't here for the previous party. "It's a fun crafting project and it really is easy. Even the boys who hadn't done enchanting before were able to do it."

"It's like a memento from the party," Nathan tells them. "Well, in addition to the bracelet Xander gave us all in the party bags last time. But it's like a memento that we made instead of just received."

I hadn't thought about it that way, but he's right. The bracelet was nice and all, but I have the magic lamp from the last party on my desk in the study attached to my bedroom at home. Having something that actually shows I did something here feels a lot better than a bracelet. Making the magic lamp was also one of the highlights from the last party.

We put the stuff for our game away, grab our snacks, and head over to the refreshments area to get more before entering the crafts area. It seems like everyone wants to participate, as there isn't a single person not here when midnight hits.

Even if some of us want to go to bed, we all want to do this.

Xander's set up individual spots for each of us, with actual kits this time. They include all of the materials and tools we'll need for this project.

Two tables sit at the front of the crafting section, each with a different light weaving in the air above them. The one on the left is for those who haven't done this before, who have two kits. One of those kits is for the basic magic lamp, a sample of which sits underneath the illusion above the table.

The other table has a little bit more complex of an enchantment formula floating above it, also woven in light. Two magic lamps sit beneath it, one orange with black pumpkins, and one black with orange pumpkins. When it's off, it'll just look like a normal block of wood with a pumpkin design in silver on each side.

This one uses a block of wood with light magic as the base as well, and the enchanting ink is… the same as for the basic block. We also have a small packet which explains how to swap the colors.

It describes a lot more than that, but it's the only thing which has an alternative version in the packet. Nothing else has modifications we can make based on the directions alone.

We can make them either black with orange pumpkins, or orange with black pumpkins. The black part won't glow, and the orange isn't too bright. Making them a soft glow rather than a bright light makes them look a little spooky. We're not able to have the sides be different colors from each other with the directions Xander gave, but that's fine. This is already pretty cool.

I pick orange with black pumpkins, for a little extra glow.

The coloration and having a pattern isn't the only thing different from last time. In addition to that, the lamps emit a scent from them. The chosen one for this is pumpkin pie, no variation given.

Once we're done, Xander lets us borrow the pen from last time to sign our names onto them. For the boys who haven't done this before (that is, those who weren't here last time), they get to make both of the cubes. The basic one so they know how to do it, and the newer one so that they can have that from this party as well.

"Thought you needed a sample of the scent?" Knox asks. "To make things emit it, that is? Either as something it releases like with scented oils, or by using enchanting ink with essence of the scent in it in a certain way?"

"No," Xander says. "That's not all. I figured out a way to make a scent without the essence. It did take some experimenting to get the scent right, though."

His "experimenting" probably involved temporal acceleration and using his ability to see magic to know what to do.

I sign my name onto my cube, then set the pen down. The pen has silver ink and blocks the glow where it is without affecting the enchantment. Most everyone will probably do what I did and sign their name off of the pumpkins. My signature is on the bottom of one face of the cube, in the right-hand corner.

"Also," Xander summons a tray of glasses and sets it on another table. "I was thinking… and I know I made glasses for everyone, but what if y'all wanted to decorate your own? So you can get a glass and decorate it if you want."

More glasses? He has a plain glass with our name on it and a pumpkin-themed glass with our name on it. Those were a new addition to the party, and it looks like he's adding in another glass for us.

"Make sure to put your name on it," he puts a tray with several marker holders full of markers down. "Use these markers. The glasses are enchanted already and normal markers won't work on them. If you need to erase something, just rub it with the back of the marker used to make it.

"Once you're done," he puts another tray down, this one with a coaster sitting on the center. "Put the cup on the coaster here and press down for three seconds. The cup will glow for one second, then stop. That finalizes it and you won't be able to draw on it anymore. It also sets the ink into the glass on that side, so that it's within the glass. That way, you can draw on both sides for different effects and not worry about it coming off or affecting the drinks. It's the same stuff I used to make the art on the glasses for y'all."

Xander then makes his way back to the refreshments tables… to restock them.

He does know that you're supposed to enjoy a party, right? Not just be a host?

[Xander – 13 years]

"Xander?" Carter asks as he puts up a wind barrier to block out sound. Or to block others from hearing us talking? "You okay?"

"I think so," I empty out a bag of chips into a bowl to refill it, using telekinesis to make sure none of them fall out of the bowl as I do. "Why?"

"Because you're up way past your bedtime," he answers. "And I know you ain't the type to deviate from your schedule. Collin says it'd cause you stress. And your face ain't your usual 'just doing things' face, and you've rocked a few times. And haven't let go of Trenton. You're using magic to help you do things so you can keep him in one hand."

I have Trenton pressed against my body with my left arm right now.

"Um…" I look down at Trenton for a few moments, then the chips bag disappears and I pull out another one, which opens up. "It's hard to put into words how I'm feeling right now."

"Are you okay with telling me why you're up?" Carter asks. "You can just answer if so."

Okay, so this is one of those times I should answer instead of just saying, if I'm okay with it.

"Yeah," I answer. "Because most of y'all stayed up really late last time, too. And at sleepovers with Sig and them, they tend to stay up late, too. So I set my alarm to wake me at eleven so that I could try to participate more. But then I stayed in the room for awhile, just enchanting. That got me wondering if y'all wanted some magic lamps to match the party, so I asked Grandpa Adrian if he had the stuff for that. He has an avatar always available for me, so it's okay to call him at any time. He's the one who made the packets, though I had to send him my version first. So I used temporal acceleration to quickly make mine, then I sent it to him."

Grandpa Adrian also used temporal acceleration in order to get everything ready so that the crafting activity could begin at midnight. I was the one who enchanted the glasses, though. That was easy enough to do on my own and I figured, the others might not want to use a glass which I decorated.

So now they have a choice between a plain one, one themed to the party, and one they decorated on their own.

"That's neat," he says. "Once you're done restocking, would you be willing to teach me how to turn into the merboy form you took during Monday's stream? I know we'll need to get two others to join us. I know you ain't comfortable with Cyrus, but he's on the quieter side and I'm sure he'd be willing to. Austin, too."

"You won't be able to wear swim trunks for it," I tell him. "And if you're wearing an anklet, you'll have to use the tailoring spell on it so that it fits on the fin."

"I don't mind," he says. "And I ain't got any anklets on right now."

"Okay," I say. "Um… Dad said that you, Jake, and I don't need to have at least three others if we're in the pool. We can be in it with only two or three, as long as all are from that list."

"Really?" Carter feels really surprised. "Why would he say that?"

"You're a water mage," I tell him. "And he says he remembers you using a spell during some of the barbecues which let you stay underwater a really long time. I know a spell which lets me breathe underwater. All three of us are really durable, so we're unlikely to get hurt."

"What about Jake drowning?"

"I'm not sure if I can say," I tell him. "But it would be really embarrassing for him to start drowning."

Water-type dragons really shouldn't drown. If I were a water-type dragon and I started drowning, I'd be really embarrassed.

"Okay," Carter snorts.

"And there should've been a sign saying who can be in the pool with fewer than four," I tell him. "As long as they're from that list and are at least two."

"I didn't see it," he says. "But I wasn't paying too much attention. Was it the new sign by the rules?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I didn't look," he tells me. "You hadn't said the rules were different, so I didn't think there were any changes. So it can be just the two of us, if that's comfortable for you."

"More than if Cyrus and Austin were there."

"Okay," he says. "Are you willing to teach me once you're done? If not is fine, just thought it would be fun to learn it."

As much as I don't want to be a merboy again unless it's necessary, I don't see a reason to decline Carter's request beyond that. He does seem genuinely curious, and has a weird mix of things I can't really figure out in his emotions, too. They seem to be out of care for me, though, so it's nothing bad.

"After I finish," I tell him.

I finish restocking the refreshments table, then Carter and I both go to the pool. We make sure to wash off before entering, and we wear our swim trunks into the pool. In addition to my trunks, I'm wearing my swim shirt and have swapped my glasses for my swim glasses.

Just because I can turn into a sea creature, that doesn't mean my vision improves. I need glasses no matter my form.

Grandpa Adrian could fix my vision, but he says that it'll just keep getting bad as I grow. It's better to wait until I've finished growing to fix it, since I'll actually stop aging entirely in my late teens or early twenties, just like he did. At that point, my vision will never get worse again, so the fixing spell won't be needed again.

Carter and I get into the pool, then he looks away so that he doesn't see my crotch in the few moments I'm not wearing trunks before I transform. Only after I let him know I'm now a merboy does he turn back around.

"Whoa," he examines my tail. "How long is it? It seemed like it would fit well here, and it looks like that's right."

"Yeah," I nod. "It's a really big pool and even in the shallower side, there's plenty of space since my tail's flexible. And it's, um… I don't know the exact length? But from my waist to where my tail turns into a fin is the same length as from the top of my head to my crotch. So total, I'm actually a little bit taller now than in human form. Only if I'm extended straight out. The tail doesn't like being straight out, though. It likes being bent a little."

"I was expecting you to be a lot longer now," he says.

"I could be," I tell him. "But I chose not to be. Oh, and be careful when swimming in the shallower part. I haven't done it yet, but Grandpa Adrian told me that in the three-foot section, don't move my body too much to avoid banging it. The pool can handle it, it's just that banging it with the tail might hurt. Or scales might come off, even if we're really durable. If that can happen to me, it can happen to you, too."

"He might've just been telling you that so that you'd relay it to anyone you taught it to," Carter tells me. "Or who you turn into a merboy, in case you did, since you have turned Sig into a snow leopardkin."

"Oh," I say. "Maybe that was it? I was really sleepy when he told me and don't fully remember."

"Maybe," he smiles as he shrugs. "Before you teach me how to turn into a merboy, could you share with me your magic senses? Think you can manage it long enough for me to learn the spell?"

"Why?"

"It'll make it easier for me to understand you," he tells me. "Rather than you just doing a marble. The reason you didn't really give much information on how to tailor it to other animals is because it's difficult to explain that on paper, right? So it'd be easier to say it?"

"Oh…" I say. "I can probably do it long enough for that, since you already know the wolfkin shapeshifting spell."

I cast the spell to share only my senses for magic and once Carter acclimates to it, I tell him the differences between the wolfkin and merboy shapeshifting spells. Once he's sure he can cast it, I turn around so he can have some privacy as he does, but I pay attention to the spell I'm sensing behind me.

Which gives me an idea, and I do a pseudo-cast of the spell so that Carter can sense its formula. It works without me saying anything, and I can feel him adjusting his spell in a couple of spots. Then his spell completes and he lets me know it was a success.

"This is amazing," he says. "I'm gonna swim!"

"Wait!" I tell him before he can take off, and he looks at me. "Um… you can breathe underwater. But know that you'll need to expel the stuff from your lungs when transitioning. I don't know what'll happen if you try to inhale while it's still got a lot of air or water in when switching to the other, but I think it's better to just… breathe out as much as possible for switching. That's what I did on Monday."

"Got it," he says.

Carter exhales, then lowers himself under the surface of the water and starts breathing. Once he's adjusted to it, he swims back and forth across the pool a few times.

"That's actually pretty awesome," he says. "Are merboys able to talk with each other underwater? Or does sound not travel as well?"

"I dunno," I answer. "I haven't thought about that bit."

"Want to try?"

"Sure."

We both go under the surface of the water and make sure our breathing is adjusted.

"Can you hear me fine?" Carter asks, only a few more smaller bubbles coming out of his mouth than when we breathe.

"Yeah," I answer. "But that could just be me. Can you hear me?"

"Crystal-clear," he answers. "Seems merboys hear in water the same as humans hear on land. Which is… not scientific at all."

"Merboys are probably inherently magic," I tell him. "I can see some sort of magic going on with your eyes and ears, and throughout your whole body. It looks like it's making it so you can hear and see fine and can even in deeper, darker waters. And that your body won't be affected by temperature or pressure very much. And other things."

"That's interesting," he says. "Do you know if they exist in other worlds?"

"Yeah," I answer. "I asked Grandpa Adrian after my stream on Monday and he said they do. And that the proportions I gave myself are accurate for many varieties of them."

"Interesting how our hair is still there are merboys," Carter reaches up and feels his. "And it only lightly drifts around, too, rather than acting like normal hair does in water. Magic?"

Our hair matches what it was before we transformed into merboys, but our fish tails are different.

"Yeah."

"Want to swim for a little bit?" He asks. "We'll probably have a little time to do it in quiet before others come, if any of them do. I think most are getting too tired for physical stuff."

"Sig, Tate, Cooper, Cyrus, and Jake all tried coming in here a minute ago," I tell him. "I don't think they know we're in here, though."

"Tried?" Carter asks. "They couldn't come in?"

"I sealed the area so that it'd be just us while we were showering," I tell him. "We can leave just fine, but we have good privacy now. That way, no one comes in while we're shifting."

He seems a little worried for a moment, but then his mind suddenly shifts to not being worried. It does so in the same way I've felt others feel when they're having an "oh, duh" moment. And when I'm having one. I don't know what caused it for him, but maybe he realized that it'd make sense to keep others out for that.

"If you want to keep swimming," I tell him. "You can. I'm gonna go to bed. Want me to let the others know they can come in here?"

It's okay to leave him alone in here briefly, and I can let the others know with magic. They might come back pretty fast.

"Sure!" He says. "I'll stay a merboy for awhile. This is pretty fun!"

"Okay," I say.

He turns around before I can ask him to, so I quickly change back, teleport my trunks to me, and slip them back on.

"Night, Carter."

"Night, Xander."

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