Several days passed in a blissfully uneventful rhythm. Between sports, meditation, and classes, Aaron found rare moments to unwind. Lyra drifted closer into their circle, while Erai and Ceiro kept their wary distance. The library became a sanctuary, his journals filled with reflections and combat lessons under Grandfather's silent watch. Nights belonged to the Mind Mage, where focus replaced fear, and bit by bit, the amulet's first ring burned red with red progress.

Yet beneath the surface, the time for avoidance ran out.

In the still of night, Aaron stood once more in his Dreamgarden, the words of summoning on his lips. I've avoided enough—slavery, pain, doubt. But avoidance is the killer of dreams. Today will pass—and it will all be better.

A recovered, yet still weakened Quetzy was reassuringly solid around his neck as he stood next to the magnet, the books, and his collection of confusion coins on the diamond pillar in his dreamgarden. The Mind Mage pressed his shoulder reassuringly, and Aaron began to intone the words he had last spoken in his darkest hour.

"Watcher of the Weaver, I call you!"

His heart sped up, thumping like a galloping horse running from a predator. Aaron took slow and deliberate breaths. He focused on the Mind Mage's hand and stared out into the well-lit void.

"Watcher, come forth and see your champion!"

He gulped audibly. What if the Midmage is wrong? What if I give it the wrong answer again?—No. I will not spiral. He squared his shoulders. I will face this.

The nearby neutron star of the Midmage pulsed. The warmth and light brushed courage and certainty into him like an inevitable tide. I can do this.

"Watcher of the Weaver, come forth and hear me!"

He shouted the final words—and silence fell. No shimmer. No heat. No pressure. Nothing happened. Aaron froze, only his eyes flitting back and forth. There were no signs. No ominous smell or noises. What went wrong?

Then the floor beneath his feet disappeared. Aaron blinked. And felt weightless all of a sudden. His breath caught as he opened his eyes.

He floated alone, suspended in a sphere of waxen, interlocked eyes. Silent. Still. Their omnidirectional stare crushed him from every angle.

Aaron gulped and recalled what the Midmage had instructed him to say. With a feeble voice, he began.

"Honored divine messenger, I have come to…"

He swallowed on a flash of angry heat. I can't fuck this up again. My time will come.

"…apologize for my audacity and presumption at our last meeting."

He could barely hear his own words over the thumping of blood in his veins. What if it punishes me again?

The thousands-upon-thousands of eyes were motionless, staring at him.

Aaron nodded. "The issue with slavery is that the Purist Cabal and the factions of the Dorian civilization are killing young mages born to the servile classes."

Silence fell like a ton of steel.

CORRECT.

The single word slammed into Aaron's chest like a hammer of judgment. The voice was as toneless and calm as ever. Aaron clenched his teeth. Fuck you.

THE BONDING CRYSTAL ENTITY BUG CARRIES WILL ENABLE PARTY PATH TO BOND.

MID LEVEL ALTERNATOR SPELL UNLOCKED IF ASSISTANT DEEMS CHAMPION READY.

All the eyes winked at him in unison. Aaron tensed as they stayed closed for a long moment. Why does the thing keep freezing up?

Then tentacles wedged out from the eyes, surrounding him like a sphere of inwards-growing seaweed. The eyes opened and Aaron felt a strange assessing pressure.

YOU MADE PLANS TO INTERVENE. FOLLOW THROUGH.

Good, at least it approves of what we are doing. Aaron forced a smile, more relief than joy, as the last tentacle retreated.

GAIN CHOICE OF REWARD AND FINAL SPELL.

ONCE KNOWLEDGE OF METHOD IS OBTAINED.

The moment the last word had been spoken, a cloying wave of artificial cinnamon and sickly vanilla churned his stomach. He barely managed to keep himself from vomiting. He blinked—and the infinite void snapped back into the clean, shimmering diamond of his Dreamgarden foundation. As Aaron tumbled back, a firm hand grabbed him.

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"Will yourself stable." The Mindmage's voice cut through the sensory noise like a knife.

Aaron groaned but pressed his eyes shut. I am alright. And so it was all of a sudden.

The Midmage gripped both his shoulders and steadied Aaron while Questzy swirled in a spiral around them both. Both of them spoke at the same time.

"YouAlright?" "What happened?"

Aaron squared his shoulders and took stock. "How long was I there?"

The Midmage narrowed his eyes. "Where? You just finished the last phrase of the summoning and then stumbled."

Questzy's growl pulled Aaron's attention to it. "NoMeeting. UnlockOfImplantedMemory. GivenLastTime. Bastard!"

Aaron shook his head. "Might have been better not to meet the thing again. I… I wasn't doing too well with the encounter."

Questzy landed on his shoulder and pushed its head to his ear while the Midmage pressed his hand to Aaron's other shoulder.

"Did you get the party boon?"

Aaron nodded.

The Midmage gestured—and suddenly, the void expanded. Two new stars blinked into existence, distant but familiar.

The Dreamgardens of his companions. The Mindmage inclined his head and gestured. As discussed before, his face blurred into that of a supernaturally attractive woman with reptilian features. His form grew lithe and lethal instead of average and relaxed. The two lights in the void weremere specks compared to the neutron star of the Grandmaster's core.

Aaron willed his view closer. Theon floated within a deep blue sapphire sphere, eyes closed in meditation. A foundation of steel inlaid with patterns of copper formed a steel base beneath him. Unlike Aaron's infinitely deep pillar, Theon's foundation sat in a sea of darkness. Like a ship at sea.

The Midmage nodded. "Many dreamers anchor themselves in water—depth, buoyancy, reflection. A powerful metaphor."

Aaron's gaze dropped to the abyssal depth of his diamond pillar. But my foundation is more distinct in its depth.

"Precisely. It will give you stronger growth potential later on. You will not be bounded by instinctive boundaries that others have to push away later."

Aaron turned and studied the free-floating neutron star of the Grandmaster's Dreamgarden.

Aaron squinted at him. "Yours floats. Not exactly the picture of stability."

"Reality has no foundations," the Midmage said, "Space and time do not form a solid stage one could dig down to and lay bricks on." He smiled. "Most masters learn to found themselves on gravity and momentum eventually. After all, that is the way stars and worlds are anchored." Aaron blinked. That… actually made terrifying sense. So, one begins mirroring ever more foundational aspects of reality? Interesting.

He studied Reha's construct. Unlike his invisible magnetic shield and Theon's translucent sapphire, she was encased in a ball of steel with thousands of holes. Sensing what lay behind it was an odd feeling. His mindshield sensed into the metal effortlessly.

Aaron stroked his chin. Will her mind even resist mine in any way? Let's not test that.

Her foundation was a stone on a pile of black sand.

"Notice how she is assembling a solid crystal of obsidian? It is a material with great offensive potential. A foundation whose cracks will create sharp edges. A ground made of infinite sharpness."

Aaron studied the ever-less-dense shards of sand that Reha stood on. It's like a fuzzier image of ever deeper soil.

Questzy sprawled across Aaron's head like a purring headband. It motioned with its paws at his two friends, while its tail began swishing at Aaron's neck at an ever-faster pace. Then the dreamspace pulsed—and Reha and Theon, hazy and sleep-heavy, began to drift toward the platform. They seemed slightly indistinct and moved like sleepwalkers through the void.

As they landed on the platform, they began blinking their eyes open. Quetzy screeched and shot toward Reha like a crossbow bolt of hyperactive fur. "Rheaaaaaaaaaaa!"

She reacted as fluidly as a cat. A sidestep and the screeching Quetzy missed. But the dragon-squirrel swiveled and corrected its course. Reha yelped and swiped at Questzy with her forearm.

Aaron smirked. Unlike me, she isn't falling over the edge.

Then she screamed and fell to the floor. Questzy had simply phased through her arm and was now wrapped around her neck like an aggressively friendly scarf. The dragonsquirrels head pressed to Reha's cheek and began babbling—happiness and rapidity in a constant duel.

For a heartbeat, Reha looked like she might panic, but her eyes snapped into focus. A broad smile split her face.

"Quetzy? Aaron, where are—Oh."

She noticed the Midmage's female illusion.

"Excuse me, mistress. We are in a dreamgarden?"

She sat down and began petting Questzy as Theon cleared his throat. Aaron just observed his friend with a mischievous smile he shared with his mentor. Theon's gaze fell on Aaron's mindshield sphere. "How does that work? Is that the magnet?"

He totally ignored the beautiful woman. Then his eyes fell on the neutron star. His mouth dropped open. "Wha… How…"

He spun around and fell to both knees, deeply bowing to the disguised Midmage. "Excuse my tardiness, master. I was in awe. I—"

An enigmatic smile passed over the reptilian woman's face. "No matter. I am merely assisting the champion in communication with you." The Midmage flashed his triangular teeth. "For now."

Aaron almost rolled his eyes—then froze. That was not a normal wink. This is so creepy. Why did I agree to this?

Then the Mindmage winked at him and grew blurry. Indistinct. Aaron nodded in understanding as Reha and Theon seemed to forget the woman's presence. Old showoff. He smiled.

Aaron looked at his friends. "I got the party boon as expected. Are you ready to join?"

Reha fell on her back as Questzy scurried over her like a hyperactive squirrel-blanket. The others watched in silent amusement. Soon, Reha turned over to lie on her stomach and Questzy leapt on her like a king on its throne. She flashed an awkward smile, still tangled in fur and half-dream.

Theon cleared his throat. "Very well. We will swear now and decide on the boon, then do the blood binding later."

Aaron nodded as both of them knelt before him. They spoke up in unison, intoning ancient words.

"I swear to honor the brotherhood of battle, and to stand beside my brothers in war, work, and intrigue." They rose. Aaron knelt in turn, the words steady.

"I swear to honor the brotherhood of battle, and to stand beside my brothers in war, work, and intrigue." They pulled him up. The warmth that flowed between them wasn't heat—it was purpose, threaded through thought and trust. Only blood remained.

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