The sun sank behind the mountain range to the west. Crystal and candlelight was all that illuminated the Witch’s study.

  Alaric gently touched the candle’s base. The wick remained unlit. No matter how much he tried to imagine it lighting up, he simply couldn’t do it. It was easy when he touched it directly. But even a tiny bit of distance between his finger and the target made it near impossible to cast the damn spell.

  With a sigh, he leaned back on his chair and rubbed his eyes. Exhaustion had begun to set in. He needed to rest. Time is running out. Each day that passed brought him one step closer to near certain death. Each sunset brought the Profaned Legion to their doorstep. Their wolves howled in the darkness of the night, and the knight’s heavy footsteps rarely disturbed the silence that otherwise set in.

  A soft, almost sheepish knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts. The door opened before he could speak up, and Clara stepped inside, accompanied by Ava and Victoria.

  “Lochlan said you wanted to see us.” Clara walked up to the desk and sat on the chair Sarah had pulled over. Victoria remained by the open door, while Ava also approached.

  Oh, right. He had forgotten about that. “Have a seat, please,” he offered the other two, pointing at the chairs scattered around the room. One was facing the western window, while another was just pushed aside next to the bookshelves.

  Ava pulled a chair, then shot Victoria a glance before pulling the other one as well. “Are you going to just stand there?” She asked.

  The other woman visibly flinched. “Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought.” She quickly sat down next to Clara.

  Ava finally sat down as well, turning her gaze to Alaric. “What’s up?”

  “Thanks to Laura, I’ve started building my Core Nexus.” He put his glove on before touching the back of his hand to reveal his mana pool. Blue spread around him.

  Ava’s eyes widened. Clara’s lips formed a wide smile, while Victoria seemed dazed. Her forehead slightly scrunched, she looked around the vast pool of mana.

  “You three should do the same.”

  Ava raised her eyebrows. “My power just helps me store stuff. Like an invisible pocket. What good will more mana do? I already carry everything I need with me.”

  “I don’t think you’re using your imagination enough. You can carry whatever you want without ever being affected by their weight. What’s the limitation?” With enough mana, she could probably eliminate the need for a cart to carry the brine. Or anything else they needed to haul from far away. He was sure that there were even more useful and powerful things she’d be capable of.

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  “Shouldn’t you worry about your duel first?” Clara folded her arms with a hint of annoyance in her voice. “This all can wait until after you survive, right?”

  Alaric shook his head. “No, besides, I’m not the one who will build their Core Nexus. Or yours.” He added, turning his gaze to Clara. “You can heal pretty much anything save for Wyrdflame. Your only limitation that we know of is that, and your mana pool. You need to build a Core Nexus to make sure you can heal anyone, at any time. And many people.”

  Clara clenched her fists. “Many people? Are you expecting something to happen?”

  He shrugged. “I’m hoping nothing bad happens. I wish the duel was the last of the challenges we needed to face. But it likely won’t be. I want us to be as prepared as we can. You need to become the best healer you can be. Your magic is beyond any of ours – you can protect people unlike any of us.”

  Clara looked down. “Ok. I’ll work on the Nexus. How do I do it?”

  Quietly breathing out a sigh of relief, he rummaged through the few papers in front of him, then pushed one towards her. “Find something that has history. A story, the Necromancer said. Carve or draw this on it, then use your blood to link it to you.” He pushed a similar piece of paper towards Ava. “Please, you should do it too.”

  Ava took the paper and inspected the mark drawn on it. “Oh, I will. I just feel like maybe we should be focusing more on your duel. Things we can use to build our Nexuses are probably limited in number, you know. Maybe you should be adding them to your nexus instead, to maximise your chances.”

  So all that power is lost when I die? No – I need to make sure Clara has a chance still. Even if I’m gone. He didn’t say that out loud. He couldn’t. Not yet. Not in front of Clara.

  “No. More mana isn’t what I need now.” It didn’t matter how much mana he had if he couldn’t utilise it properly. “Right, go and try to find something you can use. Start small if you have to. Just make sure you’re always looking for more.”

  Clara folded the paper, then reached over the desk to grab his wrapped up hand. “Let me heal that.” He felt a faint warmth. The dull pain he had been ignoring since he cut his own hand slowly disappeared.

  “Thanks.”

  Ava got up on her feet. “Right, I’ll help Harriet prepare dinner, then see what I can do about this. Clara, help us out?”

  The young woman nodded. “Oh, right. I did promise her I’d help.” She started to her feet. “Are you coming Victoria?”

  “I actually need to speak to her still. Apologise to Harriet for me please.”

  A shadow flashed across Clara’s eyes before she nodded. “Oh, alright.” She spun around and followed Ava downstairs.

  Once the door closed behind them, Alaric turned his gaze towards Victoria. “Are you alright? You’re pale as a ghost.”

  The young woman shifted her gaze away. “I’m fine.” She rubbed her arm. “What did you need me for?”

  Cold. Since when was she so formal? “Look,” he touched the bottom of the candle’s wick with his fingertip. A small flame flickered to life. “This is simple to you, isn’t it?”

  Her lips parted as she watched the dancing flame for a moment. “You did it.” She couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice. Her stiff posture relaxed somewhat. “Since when…?”

  “Figured out why I was failing at something apparently so simple just a few hours ago. I can only light it up when I’m touching it. Otherwise… it takes hours to do. At best.”

  She short him an odd glance. “You need to touch it…?” She looked down at her own hands. “The witch didn’t have that limitation.”

  “Neither do you. The Witch is dead – I can’t ask her. But you’re just as capable. How do you do it?”