The hairs on the back of Tahir’s neck stood on end, and the smell of ozone filled his nose as lightning crackled along his arms. The sound of thunder rumbling as a storm cloud formed overhead overtook the creaking of ice breaking as the spectral giant attempted to break free. Just as it freed its arms, and Tahir began to worry about its lengthy casting time, he finished the spell. In an instant, a mighty bolt of lightning struck the giant with an earthshaking impact, breaking and evaporating the ice holding it captive as well. The giant fell back down onto the ground. Dazed temporarily, but already attempting to recover and stand back up.

  Tahir wished he could have ended the fight with two advanced spells. He might have been able to if one of them hadn’t been solely to keep it in place, but he didn’t like the strategy of running around until he finished casting. He still had most of his aura, and a little bit of mana this way. With the last of his mana, he cast the soulflame spell on his blade silently thanked the fire spirit for the affinity it gave him, while the charred giant angrily rose back to its feet . He’d finish this fight mostly using aura.

  The giant rushed forward with thundering steps and tried to slam down its club on Tahir. He rushed forward, past its leg and on the side opposite the club and swung at its ankle, causing a deep and noticeable cut, but not one that would down it unless he poured significantly more force into it. He continued the process. Slicing around the legs, dodging out of the way when it tried to step on him, or when it swung its club to crush him or send him flying. At one point, the giant got on its knees and gave a wide swipe with both arms. One that Tahir barely managed to leap over when he realized what it tried to do. After he cut thoroughly along its legs, all the way up to its knees, he felt like he’d determined how much aura he needed to make a clean, finishing cut.

  To that end, he backed away from it, out toward the edge of the field this fight took place in. The giant chased after him, holding the club up, poised to slam it down on him once more. As it reached him, and tried to bring its arm down, Tahir gathered a perilous amount of aura into his blade, one that made the soulflame around it flare up and double the blade’s length for a moment, before he swung and sent the fiery slash flying in a diagonal wave. It cut directly through the club, and sliced the giant across the chest. If the giant was real, it probably would have showered him in blood from the depth of the cut, but instead, it simply collapsed to the ground, fading away.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t have time to confirm, but he assumed the spectral club mimicked the properties of actual wood. Wood thick as a tree trunk, but wood all the same. “Had to work for it, but certainly got the job done.” Elder Carlsen remarked. “Though you are also unscathed. Better to do it meticulously and safely than risk being injured.”

  Tahir looked toward him, panting. He’d used all of his mana, and only had about a third of his aura left, and that was after giving only the bare minimum to Mikharma and the elemental spirits. Had he actually summoned Mikharma, he likely would have won the fight much easier, but he wanted to test himself. As much as he wanted to - and was relying on the spirits, he wanted to keep his personal skills sharp as well. With a nod, he left the field, finally looking toward Hasio and Shukri, only to find that he had an audience.

  The princess stood near Hasio and Shukri, arms crossed with a neutral expression, likely just having watched his entire fight, or at least the tail end of it. She wore what likely passed for her as a casual outfit without armor, an elaborate set of blue with gold trim throughout. Tahir paused, feeling unsure how to proceed, but Shukri walked past him, ruffling his hair with a smile as she passed by. He supposed that was her way of saying ‘good job’ without actually saying anything. After that, he cleared his throat and came to stand next to the princess as Shukri’s test started. “Hello, your highness. I suppose you came along to read the report we submitted about the ruin?”

  “Yes, indeed.” She replied. “Imagine my surprise when I overheard that the Redcloud in question had recently come to take a test to advance his rank. Congratulations on your imminent promotion to platinum.” She made eye-contact, and held it for a few seconds before speaking again. “Is that a result of your spirit magic?”

  Tahir gave her a questioning look in return before he realized - his eyes must have still been cat-like, among other things. “Right, yes, using aura to call them brings physical changes.” He thanked Mikharma and the elemental spirits, and sent them on their way, bringing him back to normal. “So, did the report confirm what we’ve already told you?”

  “It did. The descriptions of what you found in each room alone match with what the collective has also reported in their investigations. If there was any falsehood to be found, the Redclouds would have found it already.” She said, “I am aware of the collective’s duplicitous tactics when dealing with themselves and other mage guilds, but I didn’t expect them to use them against me. Since this matter was resolved rather quickly, I cannot even take any disciplinary action toward them, but you can rest assured that they will not hinder you or your companions from now on.”

  “I appreciate that, your highness.” If he didn’t know that she probably had to appease him to some degree, he’d almost say that she gave in too easy. He didn’t particularly envy her position, especially having to deal with the collective, but as he had that thought, an idea formed. “Say, your highness, you can’t really punish them, but you can get back at them if they’ll really stay out of our hair.”

  The princess looked over to him, intrigued, but a loud thud and a tremor drew their attention away from their conversation. Shukri stood on top of the fading spectral giant, pulling her spear out of its head and hopping off the body. “I believe that will suffice, but I can fight another if you still think I need testing.”

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  ###

  Later that day, Tahir held up his new platinum pocket watch, as he and Meti stood a fair distance away from the mage collective’s building. Meti leaned against the wall, glancing around, and generally looking like she still wanted to be in her makeshift workshop in Callipho’s garden. He managed to convince her once he told her about his meeting with the princess, and what she managed to get her to agree to. At some point, Meti’s eyes came to rest on Tahir glancing over at his watch. “I’m sure it feels surreal, considering you were still silver when we met.”

  He blinked in surprise, turning his attention to her. “Right. I went from bronze to silver in a month or so, but that’s because I finished what they considered to be basic training and did my first few jobs without any issues. I was silver for nearly a year before all of this happened. It is kind of hard to believe. I’ve heard of prodigies advancing this fast, but I think it's pretty apparent that I’m no prodigy.”

  “Hmm. I think I have a working theory in that regard.” Meti replied, continuing at Tahir’s look of interest. “You’re still able to cast the spells that you’ve created from the knowledge you’re granted from the spirits, as well as the spells you’ve simply learned by summoning them, no? Even when you’re not actively calling them?”

  “Yes? They take a lot more mana without the affinities but I still remember how to cast them.”

  “Perhaps then, there is more knowledge and experience that you retain whenever you summon your spirits that you don’t realize you’re retaining. You are melding your souls together, after all. I wouldn’t find it strange for you to have passively absorbed some of their experiences as your own.”

  Tahir stared at her, and then down at the ground while his mind worked. “That’s a good point. I didn't even think of that. I’ve used them in practically every fight we’ve gotten into since I started using the magic. Hard to tell how much I might have been getting from the elemental spirits, but spirits like the Traveler, the Divine Serpent, and especially Mikharma might be sharing whatever experience they have, whether it's from combat or using magic and aura in general.”

  “Indeed. You’re not a prodigy, but you have many good mentors, and a rather strange way of learning.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment, but thanks for pointing this out to me, Meti.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, I believe the princess has arrived.” She gestured toward the collective’s building, where the princess stood out in front of the building, still in her casual clothes. After a moment of looking around, she found where Meti and Tahir were waiting.

  Quickly, they made their way up to the front of the building. “My apologies.” The Princess said when they reached her. “I had a conversation with my father that ran a bit long after I went over this…situation with the collective. He held me back to warn me not to make too much trouble for them over this when I told them where I was heading. I hope I didn’t make you wait long.”

  “Not at all, your highness.” Tahir said. By ‘her father’ she likely meant the king. Maybe one of his spirits had interacted with royalty frequently and he’d internalized that- or maybe it hadn’t quite sunk in yet to Tahir that he was talking to the princess of the kingdom he grew up in. Most likely, his interaction with the collective and the royalty’s overall indifference to their scheming, until it involved them, had soured his perception of the royal family as a whole. He still knew to act polite, of course, but he figured that one of the reasons Cecily Nottfelde even entertained this idea was because the royal family wanted to be on his good side. “Shall we go?”

  “Of course.” The princess led them into the collective’s building, with Tahir and Meti not far behind her. Conversation within fell down to whispers almost immediately as the mages within realized who had stepped into their presence. She made her way to the receptionist desk, where said receptionist sat up straight and cleared his throat in an attempt to seem professional.

  “A pleasure, your highness. How can I help you today?”

  “I would like access to the leyline crossing, along with my companions here.” reaching into a small purse, the princess pulled out ten coins of a dull gray metal and set them on the counter. Platinum pieces, the equivalent of 100 gold. Without waiting for a response, the princess started to walk toward the leyline crossing.

  “Er, your highness-” The receptionist said.

  “Oh?” The princess seemed to have been waiting for that, as she paused, turning her head. “Is there a problem?”

  Tahir suppressed a shiver, she’d taken on the same tone she had when she came to take him and his companions into custody, and the receptionist certainly didn’t take it well. “W-well its just, the costs of access for honored individuals such as yourself and those who are unaffiliated are-”

  “Are you implying that I’ve made a mistake, and given you the wrong amount?” The princess cut him off. The receptionist trembled, trying to gather the words. Tahir thought she might have been emanating her aura to induce fear, but it didn’t affect him in the slightest if so. Maybe she is naturally this intimidating.

  “Of course not, your highness, do continue. I h-hope you enjoy your time at the leyline crossing.” The receptionist quickly gathered up the platinum coins on the desk as he sat down. No one else in the building seemed to have the will to stop her, either, so she, Tahir, and Meti made their way through the path to reach the leyline crossing.

  “I feel like I shouldn’t, but after all they’ve put me through, I do enjoy seeing them squirm.” Meti said, once they reach the leyline crossing.

  “I just wish one of the archmages were there so that the princess could really drive it home that she was on to them.” Tahir replied. “Still, I’ll take this. I did think it was a waste that we didn’t get to use the crossing as we were leaving.”

  “I’ve used this crossing a few too many times, so I’m afraid I won’t get much benefit from it at this point.” The princess said to them, as they began to settle in somewhere to begin cycling their mana. “I will watch over you in the meantime, though, so don’t worry about that.”

  “You have our thanks, your highness.” Tahir said. Once both of them were ready, they began to cycle their mana.