***

  Something surfaced in Tao's memory from a previous life — perhaps from his kindergarten days — about trying to catch large beetles with an insect net. Now his body was far more agile and his mind sharper; catching insects would have been trivially easy. Unfortunately, invisible spirits were not beetles, and a spirit power trap was nothing like a nylon catching net. Every time, his trap came up empty.

  Well, unlike elemental magic, spirit-catching was invisible to his parents' eyes, so Tao had no reason to fear they would figure out what he was doing. Still, Sigi responded to his spirit power flow more than once with whining or a soft yelp. The habit of moving his hands as he channelled spirit power was not helping either. For a child of Tao's age, there was nothing unusual about playing with something invisible — Safia did it all the time. Yet after a while, Tao noticed that his father was watching him thoughtfully, a deep furrow between his brows. After all, unlike other children, Tao had never been one to do such things before.

  Better to take a break, Tao decided sensibly.

  He would not want his parents to conclude that he was behaving too suspiciously and refuse to let him outside the village.

  "Are these the right flowers?" Tao brought his mother some blue blooms with long, narrow leaves that he had picked a little while earlier.

  "Oh, yes — those are cleanrak. Well done!" Sofra smiled warmly at her son and stroked his hair. Tao gave a modest nod, trying not to let a happy grin spread across his face. "Please set them on the blanket with the rest of the cleanrak, all right? If you find any more, bring those along too."

  Sofra had spread a blanket on the grass that was gradually filling with neatly arranged bundles of various medicinal flowers, leaves, berries, and other plants. Having placed the cleanrak blooms on the blanket, Tao glanced at his father, who was now gazing into the distance toward the mountains. The boy then seized the opportunity to drift a little further from his parents. He pretended to search for more flowers and slipped into the taller grass. Once more, he activated his spirit power radar to locate spirits. Some of them had blurred, indistinct shapes — like mist or smoke — while others were clearer. Tao was not entirely sure what the difference meant, but his mind found it easier to perceive spirits with defined shapes, so he focused on catching one of those. By instinct, he raised a hand in the spirit's direction and closed it into a fist, simultaneously trying to encompass the target from all sides — to seal it inside a kind of sphere.

  At first, it was impossible to tell whether he had succeeded; the sphere of spirit power he had formed offered no glimpse of what, if anything, was trapped inside. But when Tao used the radar technique again, he sensed that the spirit was still free and moving away from him.

  Nothing again...

  He felt as though he were trying to catch flies with his bare hand — every time he opened his palm, it was empty.

  Tao had not, of course, expected instant success; he knew that a new kind of magic, a new way of wielding spirit power, was not something to be mastered in a single day. As always, many attempts and repetitions would be needed to gradually improve and reach the desired result.

  He tried to execute the technique without moving his hands, hoping to appear less suspicious. Spirit power was directed by the mind, by will, after all. But doing it this way made everything harder, clumsier. The hand reaching to swat a fly now felt slower and heavier. Was it because the human brain had an ingrained instinct to use the hands when doing things? Or was it because most of the active magic Tao had learned, he had learned through hand movements?

  First catch at least one spirit — then I can think about refining the technique, he reminded himself to keep his eye on the main goal.

  As the sun moved slowly across the sky, the blanket gradually grew fuller with an array of herbs. The family also moved from spot to spot every so often, searching for more variety. Each time Sofra found a new useful plant, she showed it to the children, explained its valuable properties, and encouraged them to find more of the same.

  "This is Mud-leaf. It looks almost like ordinary grass, but it's darker — see? Tea from these leaves helps with sleep and calms the nerves. Try to find some of those as well."

  "How much longer?" Safia finally began to lose patience, puffing out her cheeks.

  Sofra sighed and stroked her daughter's hair.

  "Well, help me find at least a few leaves, then you can rest and play — all right?"

  That was motivation enough for Safia to go off in search of the indicated leaves. Tao, meanwhile, turned his attention once more to learning the new magic. When he scanned his surroundings, however, he sensed a different yet familiar presence — a small being moving swiftly through the tall grass, its spirit power form distinct but without an aura.

  Knowing where to look, Tao soon spotted the miniature girl with greenish skin, clad in leaves and grass blades. He crouched down as she ran up to him.

  "What are you doing?" Eleya spoke quietly but sharply.

  Tao had anticipated something like this might happen, so even though he felt a flutter of nerves, he had an answer ready.

  "I'll show you."

  He tried again to locate one of the lesser spirits and catch it. He failed — which was no surprise, since Tao was devoting more of his attention to Eleya's face than to the task.

  Well, she did not disappoint.

  The forest spirit's eyes went wide; her mouth fell slightly open. For a moment, she seemed frozen, like a paused video. She regained her composure quickly, though several heartbeats passed before she spoke again.

  "You want to catch spirits." Eleya's voice was notably flat, expressionless.

  Tao judged that the surprise had worked.

  "Yes." He had no intention of denying it.

  "That is... You didn't tell me." The tone was not accusatory, but the meaning was unmistakable.

  "Well, I didn't know whether it would work." Tao smiled sheepishly.

  Eleya studied him for a moment.

  "You weakened your barrier. The spirits can sense you again."

  "Only a little — just the ones nearby, right?"

  "Even so, it's risky."

  "Can we talk about it later? My father is watching again."

  Tao straightened up and began walking around as if searching for the plant his mother had pointed out. Eleya soon disappeared from sight in the tall grass, but when Tao scanned the area, he confirmed she was still close by.

  Freed from the duty of gathering herbs and studying them, Safia began running around, trying to draw her father and Sigi into her games. That worked in Tao's favor, giving him less reason to worry about being caught practicing. And yet he made no visible progress by the time his parents decided to head home.

  Eleya followed Tao's family and only fell back when Sigi — somehow sensing the forest spirit's presence — tried to catch the tiny creature, until Indres called the dog back.

  "She seems restless today," Sofra remarked, watching Sigi.

  Indres was carrying the largest pack of gathered plants, though Sofra had entrusted smaller bundles to both children as well.

  "She probably didn't manage to catch what she was after in the meadows," Indres replied. "Sigi hates letting prey get away."

  "Speaking of which, the meat in the cellar is running low."

  "Yes, because of the trip into the mountains. Helping the deorgs didn't leave me much time to see to it." Indres sounded faintly guilty.

  "Well, we still have the fowl, so I have something to cook with. I was thinking more of Sigi."

  "I want to go hunting too," Safia spoke up, trying to walk alongside her father.

  "You're still too young." Her mother said firmly.

  "If I can gather herbs, I can go hunting!" Safia stated her logic indignantly.

  "I already said you'd have to learn to shoot a bow first," Indres replied, glancing down at his daughter.

  Usually, that would have settled the matter; this time, she did not look ready to give in so easily.

  "When?"

  Her father appeared to think for a moment before answering.

  "Soon."

  That seemed to surprise not only Safia, who looked thrilled, but also Sofra, who wore a worried expression.

  "Isn't that too early?"

  "It'll be fine. Five years old is plenty to start learning with a child's small bow."

  Sofra did not look pleased, but she said nothing more.

  Safia, meanwhile, bounced jubilantly around the family, pestering her father with questions about how soon it would be, until he grabbed her by the collar of her jacket and set her on the back of the disgruntled Sigi.

  Tao, for his part, was picturing Safia running through the house with a child's bow and blunt arrows.

  I'm finished... He sighed inwardly.

  ***

  Throughout the evening, Tao scanned his surroundings many times, checking whether Eleya was still nearby. She was. The forest spirit was in the attic and followed Tao below her like an iron weight drawn to a magnet, separated only by a sheet of paper. It was irritating, but it would have been difficult to find a quiet moment to talk with Eleya while the whole family was still awake. To her credit, Eleya made no attempt to slip inside when Tao visited the privy. Granted, the room was well insulated — though it did have one sizeable opening through which someone could enter. Evidently, the conversation was not quite that urgent.

  Tao was aware, however, that it would be unwise to needlessly provoke Eleya, so he made an effort to leave the children's bedroom fairly soon after sensing that his sister and parents had fallen asleep. He had barely stepped into the kitchen when a small figure dropped from a gap in the ceiling and nimbly clambered onto the table, waiting for him to come closer.

  "You took your time." Eleya expressed her displeasure, arms crossed over her chest.

  "I actually came as quickly as I could." As usual, Tao spoke in a whisper.

  He sat down at the table and focused all his attention on the forest spirit, hoping it might ease her irritation.

  "An interesting idea you decided to act on today." Eleya's yellow eyes studied the boy carefully.

  "Well, it's partly because of what you showed me."

  "Because of me?" She raised her small eyebrows.

  "Yes — you taught me the spirit power barrier. And you showed me it's possible to catch lesser spirits, back when you used one to link the barrier to my breathing."

  The barrier Eleya had taught him normally suppressed his spirit power's natural aura, but its essence was to block spirit power. Tao had tested whether a denser, more intense barrier could contain more than just an aura, and he theorized that it could also block a spiritual being — or, if wrapped around one from all sides, contain it entirely.

  Eleya's yellow eyes narrowed slightly.

  "From that alone?" She seemed skeptical.

  "Before I met you, everything I learned was based on guesswork and the results of countless attempts." Tao allowed himself a shy smile.

  The small being continued to watch him intently, even taking a step closer — though that only reduced the distance between their faces by a hand's breadth.

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  "But now I am here. Strange that you didn't ask for my help."

  Yes, here we are...

  Tao sighed quietly.

  He had anticipated the conversation would head in this direction, so he had also been thinking about what to say next.

  "I know a story about a wizard who fell in love with a beautiful woman and, to please her, began teaching her magic. After some time, the woman asked him how to imprison someone who knew magic in a dungeon. Although the wizard felt uneasy about the request, the woman assured him she would never use this knowledge against him. Deeply in love, the wizard trusted her and taught her the magic. The woman betrayed him and locked him in an enchanted prison from which he could never escape."

  The story made Eleya raise her eyebrows.

  "Interesting... what were the wizard's and the woman's names?"

  Tao hesitated a moment before answering, then drew a breath.

  "The sorcerer's name was Merlin." He tried to pronounce the name as it sounded in English. "I don't remember the woman's name."

  "Mer-lin?" Eleya repeated with an unusual inflection. "I don't know that name. Where was he from?"

  Tao felt a flicker of disappointment when the forest spirit did not recognize the name. He would have felt more encouraged if he could rely to a greater extent on Earth's mythologies and legends about magic and supernatural beings.

  "Well, it's only a story — possibly a made-up one." Tao shrugged in reply.

  The yellow eyes watched the boy for another moment before Eleya turned her back on him and took a few steps away.

  "So, you thought I wouldn't help you if I knew you wanted to learn to capture spirits?" she asked, turning back toward Tao, though now her posture seemed less tense.

  "Well... yes. I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable, or lose your trust in me..."

  Tao tried to look at Eleya with innocent puppy eyes, much as he did with his mother when he wanted to coax something out of her. Whether it had any effect on the forest spirit was unclear. She studied Tao thoughtfully for a moment, then smiled and shook her head.

  "Don't worry — that won't frighten me, because I trust you." Her smile turned a touch mischievous. "But not telling me was foolish, because you were wasting your time, you know."

  "Why?"

  Even though Tao felt relieved that Eleya had not grown angrier, her answer was not encouraging.

  "Capturing a spirit — especially an intelligent one — is not easy. Particularly not with something as primitive as what you're attempting. So, if you were planning to catch our enemy this way, it won't work."

  "Well, I still want to try. This kind of skill could be useful in other situations, too." Tao said carefully.

  Eleya responded with a smirk and beckoned him closer with her slender hand, which he obediently did.

  "Using the ability I taught you, to sense spirits, and then capturing them by enveloping them in spirit power, is... clever — I'll grant you that. However, keep in mind that spirits capable of thought, and even some of the lesser spirits with sufficient power, can slip your grasp by retreating deeper into the Spirit Realm." She slipped into her instructive tone and even raised a finger, like a miniature teacher.

  "Do you remember what I told you — that it's easier for spirits to anchor themselves to the Material Realm when they have a physical body, as I do now?" Eleya tapped her own chest with her other hand. "The same works in reverse — without a physical body, it's easier for them to evade attacks from embodied beings. It's like..." she paused to think for a moment. "It's like fishermen casting nets — a fish can always dive deeper, can't it? So, fishermen only ever catch the foolish fish."

  Eleya began gesturing with her hands, showing how one fist escaped the other's grasp by dropping lower, beyond the other's reach.

  "Earlier, you said the sea floor is the Material Realm and a physical body is like an anchor..." Tao reminded her.

  "Don't fixate on the words. That was only an example, a comparison." The forest spirit puffed out her cheeks. "You understood what I meant, didn't you?"

  "Yes, I think so..." Tao furrowed his brow, sinking into thought.

  What Eleya said was consistent with what she had told him before, and seemed to match his own observations as well.

  Well, I wasn't expecting it to be easy.

  The boy sat up straighter in his chair and took a deep breath before continuing.

  "Perhaps it will be futile, but I still want to do it. It would make me feel better. I promise it won't stop me from continuing to build up my spirit power. Of course, if you have no objections."

  Eleya placed her hands on her hips and seemed to think for a moment.

  "It's dangerous to lower the barrier. I taught it to you to hide your aura from malicious spirits. What if something wicked notices you?"

  "I only lowered the barrier a little — just enough to draw the lesser spirits outside the village. I promise I won't lower it too much."

  Dissatisfaction was plainly visible on Eleya's face, so he hurried on.

  "It's not as though evil spirits tend to come near a human village, right? And if you notice any, just tell me, and I'll stop immediately."

  Tao felt his heart beating faster as he waited for the small being's answer.

  "Such a stubbornness..." Eleya shook her head and sighed. "Fine, do as you wish. But don't expect me to be much help with this... desire of yours. I have no idea how to teach a flesh-born being what you want to learn." She sounded irritable, like a teenager handed extra homework.

  Tao felt the tension that had crept up on him unawares begin to ease. He had managed to make peace with Eleya without any serious quarrelling. All that remained now was to master the skill. And to hope that the way he planned to use it would actually work.

  ***

  A few days later, Sofra set off again to gather plants outside the village, and naturally, Tao volunteered to come along. This time, it was easier to convince his parents. The only one who was not satisfied was Safia.

  "I'm going to be a hunter and a hero. I don't need to pick herbs!" she announced stubbornly.

  "Even heroes and hunters need to know which plants in the forest are useful for food and medicine," Indres said in a serious voice, though it was plain he was trying not to smile while addressing his daughter.

  Safia couldn't think of a comeback, so she went along obediently.

  As before, Tao made a point of staying close to Sigi, so that if the dog reacted to what he was doing, it would appear to have a natural cause. Eleya came to observe as well — most likely to make sure Tao did not make a mess of things. She did keep her distance from Sigi, knowing full well that the sereni dog would certainly try to catch the forest spirit again. Tao felt a temptation to sic Sigi on Eleya as a joke, but he held himself back.

  Sofra wanted to collect several plants that grew not in the forest, but among the rocks on the hillside, so the family began climbing northward. That brought to Tao's mind the last time they had done this — the night the drake attacked.

  That was midsummer... not even half a year has passed, yet it feels so long ago... the boy mused to himself.

  When Tao had been a helpless infant unable to even lift his head, time had seemed to crawl by in painful slowness. Now he could hardly believe he would soon have spent four years in this world.

  "Are we nearly there?" Safia asked her mother plaintively when she was made to search for plants among the rocks again.

  Tao smiled, looking at his older sister.

  Being a child for whom a day drags on endlessly... that isn't so bad... he felt a wave of nostalgia.

  Tao noticed his father watching him with a grin. Realizing he had absent-mindedly started smiling himself, the boy went slightly red.

  "You too, Tao. No slacking." Indres looked amused.

  "I'm not slacking..." Tao replied a little awkwardly and began scanning the area for useful herbs to hide his embarrassment.

  His father kept watching him, so Tao decided to counterattack.

  "You're not doing anything either..."

  "Oh, is that so?" Indres raised an eyebrow.

  He was indeed sitting on a stone, leisurely honing arrowheads with a whetstone — more out of boredom than necessity.

  "Father is on guard duty. That's important too — protecting us from dangerous beasts and monsters." Sofra said in a teacherly tone, also turning her attention to her son.

  You can keep watch just as well by walking around and helping to pick useful plants...

  Tao thought, but he bit his tongue.

  It would not be wise to draw attention to himself while he was trying to master a new ability.

  Several hours later, Tao had still not caught a single spirit. He had managed to summon the spirit power grasp more easily, and Sigi reacted to his magic less than before, so the progress was not wasted — yet it was still difficult to feel satisfied.

  Tao glanced sidelong at the spot in the grass where Eleya was sitting. Her face was not visible, so the boy had no idea what was on the forest spirit's mind.

  At a convenient moment when no one was watching, Tao crouched down beside the tiny being.

  "Any suggestions that might help me?" he asked in a whisper.

  "I already told you — I have no idea."

  "I'll take anything, even a guess." Tao refused to give up that easily.

  Eleya sighed.

  "You could try catching the ones that are closer to the Material Realm."

  "Which ones?"

  "Can you make out their forms?"

  "Yes."

  "Those that resemble physical things — animals and people, for instance — are more bound to the Material Realm."

  "Ah..."

  Tao had already had the impression that some spirits' forms were more than just vague clots of spirit power, but now he focused on that more closely. It was rather like seeing familiar shapes in banks of cloud. Indeed, among the spirits nearby, the boy spotted several that resembled birds, crawling beasts, and also tree leaves.

  Tao tried to catch one that looked like an unknown four-legged creature with a tail, but failed again.

  Never mind — maybe one that looks like a tortoise or a snail will come along... he consoled himself.

  As the sun began to approach the horizon, the air turned cool, and the family headed home. They had made a wide loop and were descending the hills at a different point from where they had climbed. Tao had still not managed to catch a spirit, though he had the impression it was becoming easier to perceive their forms.

  "Dad, I'm tired. Can you carry me?" Safia pleaded with her father.

  "My hands are full." He indicated his pack.

  "Please, Dad — my legs hurt." The girl was not ready to give in.

  She had a smaller bundle of plants as well, just as she had the previous time. Releasing it with one hand, Safia grabbed her father's trouser leg.

  "The village isn't far, sweety. Be patient." Sofra joined the conversation, walking at the back alongside Tao.

  "Ehh..." Safia whined.

  When her mother had given her free time to rest, the girl had spent it running around and playing, so it was little wonder she felt tired. This time, however, her parents made no effort to offer her relief — perhaps to teach her to spend her energy more wisely, or perhaps so she would be less energetic at home. Indeed, when an exhausted Safia dozed off, a peaceful calm settled over the family.

  "Can we go over there? To where they dig the stones?" Safia pointed toward the quarry not far from the village.

  "People are working there. We'd best not disturb them." Indres replied.

  "I just want to see. A little." The girl wheedled.

  Indres looked at his daughter and then at his wife. Sofra sighed and gave a faint smile.

  "Well, it's almost on the way..."

  Seeing that her parents had agreed, Safia broke into a wide grin and began marching forward with a more sprightly step.

  Living in the village, Tao had witnessed countless tasks carried out by pre-industrial methods — cooking over an open hearth, preparing meat, washing clothes by hand, tanning and processing hides, shearing livestock wool, weaving cloth, and much else besides. It had been interesting, especially when magic was sometimes involved, even if it had grown familiar over time.

  Seeing something new — how slabs of rock were split and shaped into straight-sided blocks — was genuinely captivating. He would of course have been delighted to watch a deorg work stone with magic at close range, but even the human methods were entertaining enough.

  The quarry was in fact simply a large pit at the base of a hillside, where the deorgs had cut through a layer of rock suitable for making bricks for the village wall. It had begun as a hole the width of a well, but over time had grown wider — wide enough that an entire house could have been built inside it. As the family drew nearer, the sounds from the quarry grew louder. It did not seem like the workers were striking stone so much as wood. There was also a faint humming sound.

  As they approached, they could see workers inside the pit driving wooden wedges between the cliff faces with hammers. The split-off pieces were set on a flat surface where they were slowly sawn into square-edged shapes. The largest saw was driven by a mechanism operated by a worker who walked inside a large wheel. Smaller hand-saws were used by one or two workers together. Finished blocks were lifted to the edge of the pit by a crane, also powered by a wheel with a worker inside, where a wagon stood ready to transport them into town.

  "Oh..." Safia's mouth fell open in wonder.

  Tao smiled in agreement. Even though this world's level of technology was lower, the ingenuity of human-made devices and mechanisms was still captivating. His parents, too, watched the workers' labor with evident interest.

  Indres had decided to keep a certain distance so as not to disturb the workers, much to Safia's disappointment. They were able to watch as the crane lifted another load of stones, which the workers then loaded onto the wagon on top of those already there. The combined weight was apparently too much, as the hitched taur was unable to budge the wagon from the spot. Another person emerged from below, walking with a limp on one leg. Tao recognized Vern, who had started the quarrying operation. The magic acolyte prodded the taur's flank with a wooden staff for a moment, then called several workers over and set them to pushing the wagon. That helped it start moving forward, if slowly.

  Indres's expression soured. Tao had the impression his father would have gladly taken a much wider detour around Vern, but the wagon was on the only beaten path leading toward the village. And since the wagon was moving so slowly, the family had no choice but to draw closer in order to pass it.

  Tao noticed how worn and dusty the workers' clothes were. Of course, these were their work garments, but the boy had the sense that villagers didn't tend to have quite so many patches and holes in their trousers and shirts. Despite the cool air, the workers were also rather thinly dressed — perhaps from the heavy labor, since they looked sweat-drenched. They stood in stark contrast to Vern and his companion, a young fellow beside him; both were dressed in clean, neat clothes. Vern's jacket collar was even trimmed with fur, and he wore gloves.

  One of the workers pushing the wagon lost his balance and fell to one knee. That did not sit well with Vern, who was walking behind the workers.

  "Faster! Faster! We're falling behind schedule!" Vern struck the fallen worker across the back with his staff.

  The fallen man struggled to his feet and rejoined the other pushers, who were breathing heavily from the exertion.

  Tao felt deeply uncomfortable watching this. He understood that life in this world was not easy, but something about Vern's behavior felt wrong.

  Indres's fingers curled into fists, and his lips pressed together tightly. He quickened his pace to get past the wagon sooner. Tao and Safia had to scurry to keep up with him.

  The worker who had fallen earlier lost his balance again and went down completely. That only enraged Vern further, who struck the man across the back with his staff.

  "Get up, you fool! May the Abyss maw you! Get up, or you'll go without supper!" he screeched like a starving crow.

  "Enough!" Indres called out unexpectedly.

  The wagon halted, and everyone turned their attention to Tao's father, whose face was calm but whose eyes flickered with fury. Not only Vern and his workers, but also other people who happened to be on the path or working nearby.

  "What do you want? What business is this of yours?" Vern turned a displeased look on Indres.

  He lowered the staff but did not step back from the fallen worker. Tao recognized this older man — he had been looking for work in the village some time ago. Sofra, meanwhile, drew both children closer to her and stepped off the path.

  "Even if they are your workers, it is not right to beat them. If you dislike their work, dismiss them and find others." Indres spoke in a controlled voice, though it was clear he was far from calm.

  "Oh, really?" Vern smirked and addressed the fallen worker mockingly. "Tell me — do you want me to let you go? Think you find work somewhere else? No! I'm the only one who, by undeserved generosity, was willing to pay coin to useless, ungrateful drunkards!"

  The fallen man rose to a sitting position and mumbled an apology in quat voice. He did not dare look up. The other workers also looked profoundly uncomfortable, several pressing their lips together, but none daring to contradict Vern.

  Tao could no longer see his father's face, but he sensed that Indres was making an effort to hold himself in check. Sigi growled at his side, having likely picked up on her master's mood. Indres stroked her head.

  "Only a fool or a brute trains a dog with a stick. Have you heard that saying, Vern?" His voice was ice-cold.

  By way of answer, the magic acolyte flushed red as a tomato.

  "What did you say!?" he screeched, clenching his hands into fists.

  The young fellow beside him also tensed and placed his hand on the hilt of the dagger at his belt. When Sigi growled louder and bared her teeth, his face went pale.

  Indres turned his head toward his animal and stroked her head with a smile.

  "You won't earn anyone's respect this way." He said simply to Vern, then turned to his family. "Let's go home."

  "You... you..." The magic acolyte tried to say something as Indres walked away with his family, but the words would not come.

  Safia tried to look back to see the furious man, but her mother would not let her. Tao, for his part, used his spirit power radar. Vern and his workers went on watching Indres and his family for a good while before returning to their work. As best Tao could tell, the fallen man was not struck again.

  "Why is he so angry? Is it because his leg hurts?" Safia asked once they were well past the wagon.

  "Perhaps," Sofra replied with a faint smile.

  Indres said nothing, his expression dark.

  Tao tasted something like bitterness in the back of his throat. He had resolved not to hesitate to use his power if his family were in danger, even if it revealed his unusual nature. But would he be ready to do the same to help others? To walk past if an unfortunate worker were being beaten mercilessly with a staff? That was a harder question to answer.

  I want to grow up faster.

  ***

  Want to read another fantasy story where the MC hides his magic abilities? Check this out!