Flynn stood near what had once been the bar, leaning against it with both hands tucked into his pockets. He wore a curious expression and seemed casual, but I could see the focus shining in his eyes and the tension in his stance. That, coupled with the mana twisting and shifting under his flesh, told me the truth.

I was about to respond when I noticed the rest of my surroundings.

The inn had been relatively intact the last time I saw it. Damaged and uninhabitable for anyone civilized, but in good enough condition considering a drake had rampaged through town. Now, it looked as though a storm had torn through the center of the building.

There were chunks of flooring missing, looking as though they'd been ripped up and thrown. The remaining tables and chairs, which had been pushed up against the standing walls, now sat in pieces across the room from where they'd sat earlier. Metal sconces set in the walls had been torn free, there was a crack running along the ceiling, and one wall looked ready to fall in on itself.

The worst of the damage was within my circle, however. As far as I could tell, I had burned clear through the wood and into the dirt underneath. There were a few pieces here and there that corresponded to something, and I knew the rings must have held up until relatively recently, but it was a remarkable show of destructive force.

As I stood up, I realized something. My body felt off. Different. Not in a bad way, but almost...light? It reminded me of when I flowed mana through my flesh, but I knew I wasn't calling on my magic.

My balance pitched forward, and I stumbled forward before getting my footing. I cleared my throat and straightened, placing both hands behind my back and nodding to the light mage.

"I advanced," I said simply.

Flynn took a slow look around the inn, pointedly focusing on the ring underneath me before replying, "Thanks, I hadn't noticed what every other mage within ten miles would've picked up on. I certainly hadn't sensed you jump two whole stages somehow. Don't suppose there's any point in asking how the hell you managed that, is there?"

Two? I had advanced two stages? I had theorized it was possible, but still...

I was trying to decide how much to tell the light mage when Flynn shook his head with a grin.

"Don't bother. I'm pretty sure you've got a lie in mind already, which you should, and I'd rather not waste our time. I'm not going to pretend I'm not very curious how you managed to pull it off, but you were right. I would rather wait and see what else you've got planned."

Flynn started walking towards the door, then turned back to me and waved a hand. "That said, you might want to get cleaned up. You're looking a little...leaky?"

I narrowed my eyes, then looked down at myself. My eyes widened as I took in the state of my attire.

My clothes were now closer to rags than anything. Dozens of cuts and tears covered my shirt and pants, leaving them in tatters. That alone was bad enough, but almost worse were the red-brown stains covering me everywhere. I could see the dried blood caked against my skin, and knew just based on what I saw that I should be one foot in the grave.

Despite that, I was awake and alert. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this good.

"Thanks," I said after too long a pause, looking up and nodding once. "I think I'll take the back door out."

"Smart," Flynn laughed, then turned to walk away again before shouting over his shoulder, "Good luck with the drake!"

I watched him leave, then snuck out through the side door to the inn, making my way back to the outskirts of town where I had taken to sleeping when not working on my magical circle.

Fortunatus was there already, and he rose as I walked into the small camp. Surprise and something approaching pride thrummed through our familiar bond, and the feline looked me up and down.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"You smell different. Feel stronger. What happened?"

Our bond felt stronger than ever, almost as if the mana flowing through me had somehow reinforced it. I could sense the feline's emotions and his location, as before, but also something else. Something difficult to parse seemed to run through our link, a sort of vague energy I hadn't yet sensed.

I allowed myself a moment to ponder that development before replying, "I'm not sure, but why don't we find out?"

It took me a few minutes to strip off my tattered clothes and wipe myself down with some water and a towel. As I did so, the first signs of change became apparent.

Lean muscle covered my frame, far more than I ever possessed in the past. My skin looked unmarked, which struck me as bizarre considering the sheer volume of blood I had lost. I should have dozens, if not hundreds, of scars, but strangely, even the ones I already had looked faded.

My hair had lengthened as well, and judging by the color I could see, it had darkened from a muddy brown to near-black. I couldn't fully explain that change, but suspected it might be related to my strengthened bond with Fortunatus. His fur was black, after all.

Thankfully, my face felt about the same. I'd need a mirror to confirm, but I doubted any changes would be drastic.

I moved my senses inward then, leaning on my training as a healer. I had already checked for anything alarming, such as tumors, injuries, or notable scarring, and found nothing. Still, it paid to be sure.

The first thing I noticed was that everything, from my bones and muscles to my veins, arteries, and organs, seemed to feel just a little more receptive to my mana. I flowed a trickle of Aether through me, using it to 'see' inside of me, and found that it was like my body had become more conductive to the energy.

Though there were no abnormalities to my senses, everything seemed to be functioning a little better. Muscles and bones felt denser, my heart pumped harder without any signs of strain, and my lungs took in greater amounts of air with every breath. I'd need to spend hours studying and measuring all of the changes, but what I had already found was promising.

While I wanted to jump to my feet and start testing the full extent of my improvements, I knew there was something else I needed to do first. It seemed my attempts to enhance my physicality were a success, which was certainly fantastic, but that was just one half of the equation. I needed to check and make sure I had crippled my future as a mage along the way.

I slipped my awareness deeper within, past the muscle and into my core.

The Aether within my center had shrunk dramatically. I estimated that it occupied about one-third the volume as before and was now a dense, roiling cloud of brilliant green gas. It twisted and spat like a storm, sending out sparks every second or two.

Deeper within, I could both see and sense the trapped power left behind by my counterpart. A decent amount had already leaked out of the shell, and what remained seemed to pull on my Aether even as tiny wisps of that Ocean-dense energy seeped through the cracked barrier and into my own, weaker mana.

It was impossible to say just how much this lingering energy would impact my growth rate, but I had my suspicions. More importantly, I hoped this particular trick had given me something even more critical.

My counterpart had once warned me of a Seer, a mage who could view the future through a bizarre magical talent. Protecting me from that man had been one reason why he granted me a portion of his Aether in the first place.

I hoped that merging my energy with my counterpart's would carry over that protection. It was impossible to say for sure whether or not this would be the case, but in the end, it felt like a reasonable gamble.

Those concerns fell away as I examined my core and channels themselves. I had to make sure those were in good condition before I could allow myself any measure of pride and satisfaction.

Once more, what I discovered left me with more questions than anything.

My core was larger than ever, which I took as an unexpected bonus. Its walls remained the pitch-black shade I had gained back in Aresford, but something new had appeared. Strange, silver-white marks criss-crossed them like cracks and fissures in a dizzying network of lines.

I ran my awareness over these lines, prodding with a flicker of mana, and found that they were no weaker than the rest of my core's walls. In fact, they felt even stronger than the blackened portions. Had the rapid healing somehow cleansed them of some lingering corruption? Or maybe...maybe I had generated scar tissue within my core? I couldn't say without further study, but clearly something had changed.

My channels looked and felt the same, having both expanded in size and gained those same white 'scars.' I marveled for a moment at how much Aether I could push through them at once, one corner of my mind running through possibilities even as another cursed the instability within my core. Fine control would be just shy of impossible for weeks to come.

I returned my awareness to the external world and let out a sigh.

On the one hand, I had succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. Not only had I advanced, but I had jumped right over Fog and into Cloud. That put me at possibly the most advanced mage in all of Ferris for my age. My channels and core had grown even stronger, and I suspected they could handle even uncontrolled Ocean mana for at least a little while.

Most importantly, I had done it. I had successfully reinforced my body, infusing my flesh and bones with Aether. Sure, it had required a magical circle, Ocean density Aether, hurt like hell, and likely cost me years of my life in the process, but I had done it.

While I was happy with these successes, a few things dampened my excitement. First, I had introduced potential issues along the way. Stabilizing my Aether enough to safely cast would take weeks, if not months. I had, without question, burned away some of my lifespan, though this felt like another reasonable trade-off in my situation.

There was also the possibility I had done something wrong. Maybe I had introduced some horrible, fatal flaw into my body that remained hidden. Would I drop dead mid-battle as my heart stopped, or fall asleep one night and never wake up as some blood vessel in my brain split open?

Best and worst of all were the mysteries and unanswered questions. How much stronger had my body become? Could I replicate the process? What were those white markings? Why had my bond with Fortunatus changed? Those were some of the most obvious, but I knew there was more to consider.

In the end, such questions felt meaningless at the moment. My body felt quick and strong, but my mind was like a wrung-out rag. I needed to rest and allow myself time to recuperate before going further.

So, finally, I laid down on my bedroll, closed my eyes, and allowed myself a self-satisfied smile. There were plenty of problems yet to solve, but for now, I could allow myself to take pride in this latest step forward.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.