Tara watches the glowing threads coiling around his paws. "Efficient," he thinks. "A bit heavy on the mana consumption, but I suppose if you have a giant tower to power your hobbies, you don't worry about the electricity bill."

  The transition from 'exotic pet' to 'high-security risk' happened with the kind of speed usually reserved for corporate layoffs.

  One moment, they are being escorted through the city gates with Aria cracking jokes; the next, Tara is being marched through corridors of cold stone and light that feel like a laboratory's fluorescent bulbs. Everything is too straight, too clean. It smells like old paper and ionized air.

  Unolf walks beside him, his posture alert even with the magical chains humming against his fur. A guard wolf to the last, even when he is the one being guarded against.

  They stop at a reinforced door. When it opens, the air that spills out is dry and stale, carrying the faint, metallic bite of disinfectant magic.

  "Into the monster chambers you go," a voice says.

  Tara looks at the room beyond. It is built for something significantly more 'monster-y' than a large wolf. Thick black bars, reinforced metal, and a carved circle in the floor that looks less like a decorative rug and more like a trap waiting for a reason to go off.

  Tara steps in. The bindings slacken just enough for him to move, then lock again the moment he reaches the center of the cell.

  Unolf is led into the adjacent chamber. A heavy barrier separates them—meant to prevent even a desperate lunge from becoming a problem. Unolf's gaze flicks to Tara, his tail giving a single, restrained twitch.

  Tara calms Unolf with pack communication: "Relax. It's going to be fine, Unolf."

  Elara stands outside the bars. Her expression is composed, almost kind, in the way a doctor is kind right before they tell you that the insurance won't cover the procedure.

  "You'll be treated properly," she says. "No one is here to harm you. We simply need to ensure the safety of the tower while your status is clarified."

  "Clarified," Tara thinks. "That's a nice way of saying 'until we decide if you're useful enough to live and not dangerous enough to die.'"

  The door closes with a heavy thud, leaving them in a silence that feels weighted.

  Tara lowers himself slowly, deliberately. He doesn't drop; he sits. It is a choice, not a surrender. He turns his attention to the carved circle on the floor, his Appraisal skill humming at the back of his mind.

  "Magic is just a system," he reminds himself. "And every system has its issues."

  ---

  While Tara is busy auditing the floor, Kai is finding out that Master Voren's hospitality is even colder than the stone walls.

  Kai sits in a chair that is bolted to the floor, his hands restrained by spellwork that feels like cold iron. The room is bright, clinical, and smells of ink and hot crystal.

  Master Voren sits across from him. He doesn't look like a torturer; he looks like an accountant who has just found a very annoying discrepancy in the books.

  "Kai, was it? State your origin," Voren says, his pen moving with steady, rhythmic impatience.

  Kai swallows. "I am not an enemy."

  Voren doesn't even look up. "Try again. And this time, answer my question. It will save us a lot of time and you a lot of pain."

  The bindings tighten for a heartbeat. Not enough to bruise, but enough to make the point.

  Kai forces his breath to stay steady. He isn't a criminal, but in this room, it looks the same. "Xian. I defected. I crossed the border with Aria when the soldiers came for her."

  Voren's pen pauses. "A Xian warrior defecting for a Terra apprentice. That's a very romantic story, Kai. It's also a very convenient one for a spy."

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Kai's jaw tightens. "It wasn't romance. It was survival. Xian was going to kill her. I wasn't going to let that happen."

  Voren's eyes lift. They are flat, grey, and as empathetic as a tombstone. "Noble. Also useful for liars. Who trained you?"

  Kai hesitates. "Master Chen Long."

  That finally earns a reaction. The pen stops completely. Voren leans forward, his voice dropping to a quiet, dangerous level. "Chen Long doesn't train 'just anyone.' If he taught you, then you had access to the inner circle of the Fire Kingdom's Mage Guild."

  He leans closer, the scent of old parchment clinging to him. "Why was Xian hunting a Terra apprentice so aggressively that they risked a border skirmish? And why did you decide her life was worth throwing away yours?"

  Kai keeps his voice level, even as the magic hums in his ears. "They thought she was a spy. They were wrong. But once they start hunting, they don't stop to ask for ID. Aria and I... we are friends. In fact, more like family."

  "Names," Voren says. "Who ordered the hit?"

  "I don't know names," Kai lies, or perhaps half-lies. "I know they sent soldiers. I know they were desperate to get her back—or kill her."

  Voren taps the table once. "And what did you hear in Xian? Preparations? Talk of the north moving?"

  "People are afraid," Kai says. "That's all I can tell you. Fear moves faster than armies."

  Voren studies him, weighing his words like a merchant checking for counterfeit coins. Finally, he speaks, his voice almost conversational.

  "You understand the problem, yes? If you're lying, you're a threat to us. If you're telling the truth, you're a liability that Xian will want to retrieve or remove. Either way, you're at risk."

  Kai's voice is rough. "So what happens now?"

  Voren's pen returns to the parchment. "Now, I seek the truth. And I will get it."

  ---

  Below, in the monster chambers, Tara lifts his head.

  He can't hear the interrogation clearly, but he doesn't need to.

  Unolf is pacing his enclosure now, a low rumble beginning in his chest.

  Tara watches the carved circle again. He can see the logic of the runes now. "Reading all those books was definitely worth it. It isn't just a binding; it is a siphon. It is designed to pull mana from whatever is inside the circle and feed it back into the tower's grid."

  "Oh," Tara thinks, a metaphorical grin forming in his mind. "They want to siphon my energy? Let us give them a surprise."

  He changes into the pyramid form once again and checks his status.

  **ARTIFACT STATUS**

  - **Type:** Triangular Pyramid

  - **Level:** 36

  - **Current Stats:** m=20, v=36

  - **Energy Generated:** 12,960 units per second

  - **Stored Energy:** 5,184,000,000

  "This isn't one-way traffic, my mages," Tara thinks as he starts to pull.

  ********* Chapter end *********

  *Dear readers, I’ve decided to upload new chapters every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Your interest and support truly mean a lot—thank you!*