Erik stared at Elena, puzzled, as if searching for the part of her statement that was meant to be a cruel joke.

"You're serious?"

"Dead serious."

His brow furrowed. "Were you not in there when I strung you by the neck, eager to strangle you with my bare hands?"

"I was. And you used a single hand," she pointed out.

Erik blinked, his gaze shifting towards Maya as if wanting to confirm he was hearing right, remaining bewildered. Then let out a hollow, joyless laughter.

"She's actually impressed… I can't…"

It was a rather unbelievable outcome. Elena stood her ground, meeting his gaze with an unwavering stare. Despite the high neckline, you could catch hints of markings left there, and even her voice was still hoarse. But her proposition was genuine.

Irritated by her earnestness, Erik's laughter abruptly died, and he pierced her with his icy glare. "Piss off before I cut you up for good this time."

"Just teach me how to get stronger," Elena said without delay, her voice taking on a pleading tone. "I'll pay you back. I can handle an infiltration mission, dig up dirt on Amanda, anything…" Elena struggled to find an enticing enough offer but was desperate to make a deal. "I'll find something… I'll give you a Maya-pass so anything you need to convince this stubborn girl," Elena's hand flung to the side, pointing at Maya, "I'll support you once."

However, not a single thing she offered moved him.

"I—I'll paint you a fucking portrait! How about that?" she blurted out, her voice bridled with distraught shakiness. "There's a bastard I need to kill. It happens that he needs to be hunted down. Teach me…"

Elena had been pleading as if murdering her maker was a natural, intrinsic need.

"I didn't know you wanted revenge," Maya interjected quietly.

The thought of Elena wanting to avenge her own death never crossed her mind. And to such an extent that she would plead with her aggressor for help.

Elena gawped at Maya, then quickly checked his expression, as if fearing Maya's statement would put the sincerity of her aspirations in question. Left hanging in silence, Elena sighed.

"You could also use some help against this Marcellus guy. Take the offer," now she urged, her tone taking a frosty edge, as if she was veering towards issuing a threat.

"Just get out of my sight," he replied jadedly and walked away.

Leaving the rejected Elena sitting in the grass, Maya followed Erik, who had stopped a short distance away. The sight of him, so visibly affected by his past, tugged at Maya's heartstrings. She reached out to touch his arm, only to retract her hand, not knowing how he might react.

Maya didn't know what to say to his and Elena's earlier exchange, but still wishing to say something, she ended up asking a question.

"What does releasing the element do? How did it cause such destruction?"

She theorised that what had happened inside that cave was like a microscale supernova explosion. When the balance of a dying star breaks, all the energy spills out. And Erik's power was enough to melt and reshape the very surface of the rock.

He hesitated before speaking. "Mage's power is stored within themselves," he pressed his hand to his chest. "You can imagine it as a container within, holding the fluid power. It replenishes naturally when depleted, but the amount you can access at a time is limited, especially so for a novice mage."

Maya nodded subconsciously. It matched with her theorised concept of possessing an elemental core as the source of your power.

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"Every person has a different way of interacting with it," Erik continued."But for most, especially those just starting, your body is the language through which you communicate with your power."

"Yes, through motion," Maya affirmed. Forms, stances and sequences. Remaining inactive did not move the magic.

"Only if your power is outside its container can you wield it unhindered."

Raising an eyebrow, Maya acknowledged never thinking of that. Erik met her gaze; his eyes, although deeply tired, held intensity.

"What use is the supposed great power of my lineage when it is trapped within my bound body? I had no other choice but to release it," he looked away again. "Ripping one's own hearth requires nothing but will."

Recalling the molten shackles she saw inside that cave, she began to understand the magnitude of Erik's predicament. He was deeply knowledgeable about magic, his theoretical understanding surpassing her wildest imagination. But he was met with frustrating constraints of his own ineptness as a new practitioner of magic.

Maya could see why he would give it a shot even if it meant losing his magic in the long run. There was no other way to escape the madness.

"It's like opening floodgates, in a way they cannot be closed again," he gave an analogy. "Well, breaking them essentially," his gaze fell down. "In my desperation, I destroyed my source of magic for a fleeting chance of unbridled power, and now… I must live with it."

From his distant gaze, Maya knew Erik was too rattled and his mind occupied with duties he was forsaking to stay here with her. She encouraged him to get some rest while she stayed and processed her thoughts. Naturally, he was reluctant, but after some convincing, revealing she had even been to Diverging Peeks once, and that Elena wouldn't allow any danger to approach, he yielded.

It was clear he wished to be alone right now.

Maya returned to the mound of rocks basking in the gentle sunlight. This place was too quiet. Her mind returned to the inside of that cave. Although it had seen great suffering, not a single spirit lingered.

'Pure unbridled flames… Would they be able to burn even souls?'

Idly lost in her thoughts, Maya picked up a stone from the pile, finding a ribbon of paper tucked under it. Finding it strange, she unravelled it. With a puzzled expression, she studied the neat handwriting. It said:

January took you away. Your memory cast upon cold, bitter winds, forever to bite on my soul…

At that moment, she noticed the peculiarity of a single wilted white lily left resting atop the mound. It wasn't fresh, but still had to be placed there recently. Maya dropped the stone, realizing this conspicuous pile of rocks was a grave.

"Ah!"

Quickly putting the stone back, regretting being disrespectful, Maya bowed to it and muttered an apology.

'Of course, it would be a grave. This is where Erik had lost his dear friends.'

Maya glanced at Elena, still sulking nearby, wondering if she found Maya's behaviour strange, but Elena didn't pay her any mind.

As Maya sighed quietly, a thought occurred to her.

'What if I can summon the spirit of the person who lies here? Would hearing their words give Erik comfort?'

Never having attempted it before, Maya decided to give it a try. Delving into the Sea of Souls, she tried to reach out, but no one answered. The same stillness as the inside of that cave remained here as well. The person must've moved on. Perhaps that in itself would be a comforting thought.

Wishing to confirm, she tried once again. Summoning was something she would have to learn for the mission anyway.

"You won't be able to find anyone here," Anastasia's sudden voice jolted Maya's eyes open.

"Anastasia!" Maya was filled with joy at seeing her. "But how can you tell?"

"You sensed the silence within that cave," she pointed her chin toward the entrance. "The flames that washed this place weren't ordinary. Fire of one's ruptured soul burns even through Plains. You could say this is the cleanest part of Mellgrah," she chuckled softly. "Some may even declare this spot sacred."

Maya's brows furrowed in confusion. "Wait, have you been here all along? Did you hear our entire conversation?"

"I was nearby," Anastasia admitted casually.

Maya's eyes widened in surprise. "Why didn't you say so?! I'm sure your words of sympathy would ease his mind—"

"I was the reason his life was filled with suffering every step of the way," Anastasia cut her off abruptly. "What consolation could I possibly offer him?"

Maya's words got caught in her throat. The truth in Anastasia's words stung like a raw wound. She was someone who set the world on a course for destruction, leaving behind a prophecy of Mellgrah's finite nature that Erik's family had obsessively latched onto.

"Although he is blameless about the tragedy that befell his friends," Anastasia continued, her voice softer now, "he will never absolve himself of the guilt. I have observed him long enough to understand this. His wounds can only heal with time as he makes up for it."

Maya turned her gaze back to the grave, a melancholic expression on her face. "What about his friend? Where is her soul now?"

Anastasia's voice was gentle when she answered, "She's in a happier place."

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