The ELEVATE class ended after a quick meditation. Siege said I needed rest. I knew I needed progress. Without waiting any longer, I gathered them. It took some and a little friendly intimidation, but I found my friends. And then I led them to the one place free from monitoring…

  __

  “Why did you bring us here?” Kory asked, her gaze glued to my magnificent starship.

  “Because we need to talk about the past, the future, and the now. Seriously.” I tapped on the surface. The sound was mesmerizing. “And my ship has better privacy than any room here.”

  “Can I fly it?” Steel said with a wide smile.

  I sighed. “Unfortunately, no. I need to become a Knight to unlock flying.”

  Kory sweated visibly. She wasn’t pale anymore, but she was far too thin, almost malnourished. “I’m not sure it’s a g-good idea.”

  “Why?” I said. She reeled from the intensity of my gaze… and the starpower I accidentally spilled. With a twist of my will, I stopped flaring.

  She breathed a sigh of relief. “I-it’s just… Maybe some of us are infected by the treacherlings? T-they are just waiting for an opportunity to strike.”

  “They are?” Steel said and stepped closer to Kory, her eyes jerked from side to side.

  “I have been tested. Steel was, too, I made sure of it. Did you get tested?” It wasn’t hard to make Simona examine Steel.

  “I-i… I did.” She looked down. With a deep breath, she lifted her eyes. “But I still think we shouldn’t-”

  “Shouldn’t what? Talk? Steel, do you not want to talk with me and Kory?”

  Steel bit her lip and stared with those wide puppy-eyes… snake-eyes? “I want to talk with Kory… Kory, you don’t want to talk with me?”

  “I want to, it’s just that…” She glanced at me. “I’m a little afraid. Isn’t Magnus weird today?”

  “I’m right here. And yes, I am weird. I spent a lot of time in the void of death, thanks to Siege. Now I don’t want to have any regrets. Do you understand?”

  Steel nodded, even if it wasn’t addressed to her.

  Kory took a deep breath, and starpower shimmered on her skin. “You’re planning something, Magnus. I can tell. What is it?”

  I smiled. “The truth. I will tell you the entire truth.” I looked into the window near one of the walls. The stars were so beautiful. “I’m tired of being like this, and so I decided that if we were to become real friends, I won’t keep secrets from you.” The stars were lonely too.

  Kory clenched her fists. She glanced between me and Steel. Who knew what sort of things the wunderkind thought about? It certainly wasn’t something simple.

  “I thought we were friends?” Steel jumped in with a raised hand.

  “We are. But I want you to know the entire truth.” That poor girl... Was Kory even more cruel than I? “It’s for my peace.”

  Kory coughed once, then twice. A bit of blood glinted on her sleeve, and a painful smile twitched on her lips. “Alright. We’ll talk.”

  Steel already grabbed her shoulder, mumbling words of worry.

  “Good. Hey, Steel.” I pulled out a healing panacea. The green girl grabbed it out of my hands, ready to bite in. “That’s for Kory.” Her eyes widened. Without hesitation, she shoved the pill into Kory’s hands. Kory was left without a choice – she swallowed it.

  “For you, my emerald friend. I’ll make some plum juice. Sounds good? I’ll even put some nice magic.”

  Kory stood straighter. There was a resolve I haven’t seen before. Her eyes didn’t move from Steel.

  “What’s magic?”

  I smiled and pressed my hand on the ship. I forced starpower in. “Something that wizards do…”

  A portal opened.

  The Lacrimony was as beautiful as ever. Without the constant art pieces and pompous sculptures on every corner, it was even fresher in my eyes. Calm and peaceful.

  Now I could notice that there was no hum; the learning facility constantly hummed, and I never noticed. This place was silent, only the combined sounds of our breaths.

  “Welcome to Lacrimony. My rightful starship.”

  They gazed in wonder at the floors imitating wood, at the homey walls, and the rhythmic ringing of our steps.

  “This is…” Kory made a detection form. “How did you get this? It’s at least count rank.”

  “I’ll tell you. Let’s go to the living room, it’s a better place to talk.” Vogelgesang should have put the hydroponics in stasis.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  They looked around carefully. Weighted each step. For them, it was alien territory.

  The living room was as comfortable as I remembered it being. A massive couch, many armchairs, and a nice coffee table. This one room didn’t have those out-of-place sci-fi elements; maybe the floating chandelier counted.

  I dropped onto the couch and sank into its soft belly. “Take a seat, this will require time.” I grabbed the three plums from my pocket and started making some happy juice.

  “Today, you will learn who I am, what my goals are, what Betrayer is, and what we will have to do to save the Galaxy.”

  Steel raised her hand. “I’m in!” That smile was heartwarming.

  “Wait, Steel. Let him talk.” Kory didn’t even entertain me seriously. She still didn’t think she could survive. I will crush her hesitancy.

  “It all started an unknown amount of time ago, on Earth – the planet where humanity was born…”

  The story took some time. I talked about Earth, the origin of humanity, history, and my own life. Kory fired questions like a machine gun, and her eyes grew wide with each answer. I told of the lack of starpower, the majesty of Earth’s architecture and technology, the art of poets, sculptors, and writers.

  “Wait, so without starpower, you made rocks think? It’s impossible to make thinking things without starpower, y-you must be lying.”

  I could remember the exact principles; perfect memory was not a joke. Those two videos I watched in 2013? They were clear in my mind.

  “It’s done using logic gates and a Turing machine, as well as a lot of mathematics. I can conjure a diagram to show you…”

  After my explanation, Kory gasped, and something in her eyes shone with light. She didn’t doubt me about that topic anymore. It was weird.

  Even Steel asked questions occasionally. Though those were of a more cultural context.

  “And so then Friedrich was shot and beaten to death for daring to stand up for useless things…”

  “So you are not Friedrich’s clone?” Steel scratched her head. “Wait, that means you are a true human!”

  Kory’s breathing shook. “Y-you told Steel first? S-steel, every human is a true human.” She clutched at the armrests.

  “Yes, I did tell her before. But now you have the full picture. I died, spent some time in the void of death trying not to dissolve, then the Betrayer appeared, forced me to reincarnate, and hitch-hiked on my soul.”

  “T-that’s insane…”

  I raised my eyebrow.

  Kory continued, “You’d need to be beyond overlord to affect someone from another Galaxy. How strong was the Betrayer?”

  “It looked pretty weak to me, squiggling and wriggling.” Steel shrugged.

  “I don’t know. But it did tell me something. Its kin will invade soon, in less than 15 standard years, and they will consume the Gray Path. It wanted me to conquer the Galaxy and prepare for the invasion.” I sighed. “I don’t think it’s possible to do that, or even smart. I… I don’t know what to do.”

  The cozy atmosphere was infected with the illness of rancid emotion. I knew what I had to do, but it all looked hopeless. Beyond overlord, beyond overlord. How can I?

  Soft laughter resounded through the room. “Now I see why you’re such a snake/bitch.” Kory took a deep breath. “Y-you think you’re going to die soon; we all are going to die soon. T-that’s why you wanted me to-”

  Steel stood up, her starpower flared. “I will not let you die.” She had certainty, one that went beyond reason.

  I shrugged. “We can struggle. That’s what everyone can do, isn’t it?” I only managed to painfully smile. “We have to spread the word. We have to warn everyone of the invasion… And figure out what to do with the Betrayer.”

  “The dragons won’t fall! Not to an Overlord, not to some evil geists.” Steel’s hands shook.

  Kory grabbed her. “Gray Path is vast. The war against null geists has been going on for longer than dragonkind existed. It’s not that simple, Steel. It never is.”

  Steel didn’t respond. Her determination wasn’t shaken. She pulled Kory into a gentle hug. The other girl let out a yelp.

  I coughed, and Kory awkwardly slipped out of Steel’s grasp. “I don’t want to push you, but I don’t think there is a better time to talk about this.” I put my fingers into a steeple. “You should tell her.”

  Kory’s tone rose a pitch. “I don’t think it’s a good-”

  “Tell me what?” Steel was absolutely clueless.

  “I’ll leave you alone.” I dashed out of the couch. “Most people only have one life, Kory, don’t waste it.” The door was closed shut. I shouldn’t have listened to them, I really shouldn’t have.

  It took some time for Kory to gather courage, some awkward shuffling, and some comments. Steel was laser-focused on the question; she didn’t let Kory steer the topic.

  “What do you want to tell me? If someone is attacking you, I’ll protect you! Don’t worry.” I was sure she stared at Kory with those devoted eyes. Without doubt.

  Silence stretched on, and Kory stumbled over words several times. But eventually-

  “Steel… I love you.”

  “Okay, I love you too.” She didn’t understand the meaning.

  “I don’t mean it like a friend… I-I want you to be my betrothed.” I nearly gasped. Straight to marriage?

  “I know I’m going to die, b-but I want to spend my last years with you… s-so please d-don’t leave me. Don’t…”

  A loud gasp, then a louder one.

  “It’s selfish, but please, please-” Kory yelped. They cried. Weeping and sobbing; Barely eligible words of affection, oaths of eternal friendship, declarations of more.

  I summoned a solid slip of starpower with a message of where to go next. The academy was truly a cruel place. I checked on the hydroponics, planted the plums, but my mind was elsewhere.

  The clones didn’t live for long enough by themselves. All they had were the memories of Rame, and then only the violent training. Dragons or not, it was reprehensible.

  I was not a good person, I wasn’t even close to that, but I knew that love was sacred. Never truly loving anyone myself, it was one of the fruits I never tasted – I couldn’t even learn the love form.

  I harvested. some meaty fruits. The plum seeds were firmly planted in the glistening soil, and I channeled starpower to reactivate the stasis. This was going to be my home soon. I needed to make it mine.

  The door to hydroponics got slammed open. The pair of tiny dragons resolutely marched towards me. Steel shone with happiness; her smile was wider than ever. Kory looked healthier than she had in ages.

  Finally, I did one right thing.

  “Hello. It wasn’t that hard, right?” I smirked.

  “It was.” Kory puffed her cheeks.

  “Thanks!” Steel said and bowed. “Together we will save Kory and the Galaxy.”

  “The only way to save the galaxy is together – that is, we need to get ridiculously strong and join the Noble Council on our terms, specifically mine.”

  They exchanged glances.

  “I will need to defeat my almost-count father in a Game to become the Glanzvoll house leader and get the ability to participate in the Council. There, I can raise the issue on a political level and start preparing the Gray Path for the invasion.”

  “What?” Steel tilted her head.

  “We need to get absurdly strong, and that means finding overpowered traits for both of you… It’s a shame God’s Flesh only works for onyx.”

  Kory grimaced. “All my trait slots are filled… and I can’t get another one because… I can’t raise my SE.”

  “And here comes the time when you tell me about your trait. Go ahead.” I snapped my fingers.

  “Hey, don’t be rude,” Steel growled.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be.”

  “Well?”

  Kory took a deep breath. Fear blossomed in her eyes. Despite that, she spoke.

  “The trait is called Thoughtform Hypnagog, and it is a cursed trait.”