There was a knocking at the door.

  Phoebe groaned as she got out of bed, slipping on the first article of clothing that would cover her. Another knock followed.

  “I’m coming! Gods, this better be the start of the bloody monster surge for you to be visiting at this hour— Humphrey?”

  She’d expected her brother, but her cousin stood in his stead.

  “Should I come back?” Humphrey asked, looking at Phoebe, clothed in Dustin's shirt and nothing else.

  “Well, it’s not going to change much now, what do you want, Humphrey?”

  “I wanted to talk… about the match today.”

  “What about it?”

  “Do you want to put more clothes on?”

  “Is this going to be a long conversation?”

  Humphrey shuffled a bit, then looked away.

  “It doesn’t matter; I’ll just be—”

  “Fine, give me a second,” Phoebe said, closing the door.

  “Pheebs, everything ok?” Dustin asked drowsily, looking over as his shirt hit the ground, suddenly wide awake.

  “Yeah, Humphrey needs to work through… something.”

  “How soon does he need you?” Dustin asked his hand, catching Phoebe’s as she walked near the bed.

  “He’s literally on the other side of the door, Dusty,” Phoebe answered, allowing herself to be pulled back onto the bed, Dustin trailing kisses up her arm.

  “And I’m right here,” Dustin murmured as he lightly nipped at her collarbone, his hands trailing her body as he pulled her closer.

  “You make a good point,” Phoebe laughed, tilting her neck to give Dustin better access. “Though if I leave, I could bring back breakfast.”

  “I have breakfast right here.”

  Humphrey leaned against an archway, looking out into the dormitory gardens as the early morning sun painted the sky, when he heard a door open and close as Phoebe strode out towards him.

  “Get lost in your room?”

  “Had breakfast.”

  “Right…”

  “What? It’s the most important meal of the day. Oh, don’t give me that look, I’ve seen Gabrielle here plenty.”

  “Gabrielle isn’t an offsider for Mercer.”

  “Your problem’s with Thad, not his friends.”

  Humphrey looked back at the gardens, crossing his arms.

  “Do you really think they're his friends?”

  “They are now, regardless of how recent that change was.”

  “You know, he once told me, that people like us don’t have friends… only obligations.”

  “That’s a lonely way to live,” Phoebe said, walking onto the garden path. “Is this what you wanted to talk about? My assessment of Thad?”

  “You’re a two-star adventurer, people trust your judgement, which made me wonder why you—"

  “Would start hanging around a team like his?”

  “Yes. Though I know Dustin is probably the main driver for it. But you wouldn’t have started training Thad if you didn’t feel it was worth it.”

  “You heard I was training him?”

  “Hannah’s a gossip.”

  “She really is… though my brother’s head over heels for her, so I’ll let it slide.”

  “You also bet on me to lose.”

  “You’re a brawler, Humphrey. Who’s your worst match-up?”

  Humphrey looked at Phoebe, his brows furrowing.

  “You’re saying he’s a guardian?”

  “His recovery skills support it, and he’s even got a healing ability now. If you don’t kill him straight out, the match is his.”

  “What are the odds of that?” Humphrey asked as he followed Phoebe through the gardens and into the main estate.

  “Not really in my favor to be honest, one week of training can only do so much, and he seems fixated on the dying part of the mirage chamber.”

  “He won’t actually die.”

  “I know, and I told him as much. Though I’d watch out… You know how people get the first time in the mirage chamber.”

  “Desperate, and needlessly aggressive.”

  “You’ll definitely see a person’s true colors,” Phoebe said with a laugh.

  “Do you think he’s pretending?”

  “Pretending?”

  “To be nice, playing some long con to make you sympathize with him.”

  “Do you know what the biggest thing he’s worried about, past dying, is?”

  “Getting his ego bruised?”

  “Hurting Stash.”

  Humphrey paused at this, sensing the baby dragon still sleeping in his room, where he’d left him.

  “Why are you telling me this? You know I can use that to my advantage.”

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  “I’m just saying, no self-obsessed person would care that much about the well-being of someone else’s familiar when their own life’s on the line.”

  “He hasn’t really even met Stash.”

  “Yet he kept trying to think of strategies to keep Stash out of the fight. I won’t be surprised if he straight up asks you not to bring him in,” Phoebe said, stopping in front of the dining hall. The scent of breakfast food filled the air as they stood outside.

  “I tried to help him for years…” Humphrey said, crossing his arms. “I don’t know if I can believe that he just got better on his own.”

  “To be honest, neither did Dustin nor Neil,” Phoebe said with a shrug. “Listen, I know you both were almost friends once or something, Thad won’t go into much detail. And you're frustrated with him, while he’s still clearly frustrated with you.”

  “Frustrated with me? Are you taking his side?”

  “I’m not taking anyone’s side. You asked me for my assessment, and I’m giving you it, along with the perspective I have, because context is key to understanding a situation and a person’s motivation.”

  “He threatened to fight me in the middle of the temple district.”

  “Did Gabrielle tell you what her goddess did?”

  “No…”

  “His soul took a hit, whatever she did. I’ve never seen anything like it… and you—”

  “Caught him when he was suffering from soul damage.” Humphrey finished, knowing full well from his training what that meant. “I’m not going to go easy on him.”

  “Good, I’ve told him not to go easy on you.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to talk me into calling it off, so you can win?” Humphrey asked, opening the door to the dining hall.

  “Do you want to call it off?” Phoebe asked, walking past him.

  “No, I want him to prove you right.”

  “God, the ritual landscaping here is a work of art!” Thad exclaimed, examining a set of flowering trees, their branches braided into patterns through years of meticulous pruning.

  “Right!? The designer was a genius,” Clive agreed. “Remind me to show you the planning diagrams the next time you visit the society.”

  “My dad was a landscaper, not the magic kind, mind you. But still, he knew his Ficus from his Ginkgo,” Jason said, getting a confused look from most of the party.

  “He knew his trees from his trees?” Cassandra asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why did he own so many trees? Was he rich as well?”

  “I took it as he knew one tree species from the other. Is that closer to what you meant, Jason?” Clive asked, his translation ability providing context, but not much else.

  “Well, you would hope his dad knows one tree from another if he’s a landscaper,” Neil quipped.

  “He didn’t mention if his father was a good one, only that he was one,” Thad added with a smirk.

  “You take that back; my father’s an excellent landscaper!” Jason said with mock affront. “Is really that much lost in translation? It can’t be that bad, I mean, Clive, you get what I’m saying most of the time.”

  “I have a translation ability of my own, so I can cross-reference what you say.”

  “Oh… well, what about you, Thad? You seem to understand me just fine.”

  “I just assume you’re trying to be funny when I don’t understand you,” Thad said, with a shrug, only to notice Clive giving him an odd look. “What? I’ve got better things to do than try to decipher Jason.”

  “Yeah, like that,” Jason pointed out above the garden’s tree line as the mirage chamber dome came into view.

  “…It’s big,” Thad said, looking up at the dome, his eyes wide.

  “No bigger than the last time you saw it,” Cassandra said, looking at her brother with some concern, before glancing at Neil, who just mimed hitting his head. “Besides, the Livaros Mirage chamber is much larger than this one, remember.”

  “… Yeah, though, I was ten the last time I was in Livaros, Cass… And what, twelve, the last time I came here willingly?”

  “You’ve been beefing with Humphrey for that long? Strewth, talk about holding a grudge… wait, what did you two get in a tiff about anyway?”

  “Oh, look, there’s Dustin,” Thad said, grabbing Neil’s hand and jogging off towards the defender.

  “He answers questions just about as often as you do, Jason,” Clive noted.

  “Do you think he and Neil are acting very familiar?” Cassandra asked, eyeing Neil’s hand in Thad’s.

  “They're teammates,” Jason said with a shrug. “Though I did hear your staff gossiping about them.”

  “The staff gossips about everyone; you don’t even want to know the rumors flying around about you,” Cassandra said with a huff.

  “… Well, now I kind of do,” Jason pouted, putting his hands on his hips.

  Cassandra raised a brow and then leaned into Jason’s ear and started whispering.

  “… What! With him? I mean, good on me for apparently looking like I have that much game… but really?” Jason said, his face pink.

  “Oh, you’re kind of cute when you’re flustered,” Cassandra smirked.

  “Am not!”

  “What, flustered or cute?”

  “Oh, look, it is Dustin!”

  Thad fumbled with the arm bracer for the second time and let out a frustrated sigh, running his hands through his hair as he looked at the changing room ceiling.

  “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

  “I can’t believe I’m about to win my first bet against Pheebs.”

  “Well, you’re welcome for that,” Thad scowled at Dustin, who just laughed as he leaned against a cubby near Neil.

  “He should be welcome for a lot more than that. If you hadn’t agreed to that first contract, I doubt he would be so smug right now,” Neil said as he took Thad's arm and tightened the bracer for him with deft hands.

  “Was it special?” Thad asked with a smile, trying to keep his aura composure with the healer so close.

  “Very! Gods, she’s amazing,” Dustin said, looking wistfully off.

  “Truly hopeless, this one,” Neil said, adjusting Thad’s armor, only to stop as their eyes met. “You’re going to be fine. We’ll be there when you wake up.”

  “You mean after Humphrey kills me,” Thad lamented.

  “I mean, there’s a way to prevent that,” Neil said, patting Thad’s shoulder, whose eyes got wide.

  “Wait, how?”

  “You’ve got to kill him first,” Neil said, taking a step back, watching the look of horror on Thad’s face.

  “I don’t want to kill him either!”

  “How are you going to win then?” Neil asked with a raised brow. “You know, part of being an adventurer is not just facing monsters, right?”

  “It just feels… very personal.”

  “It is personal, or at least it is for Humphrey,” Dustin pointed out, finally out of his lovestruck daze.

  “Fine, I’ll make him yield. That way, I don’t have to kill him,” Thad said, which got a laugh from both Neil and Dustin, who stopped when they saw the look on Thad’s face.

  “Gods, you’re serious,” Neil groaned, rubbing his temples.

  “Welp, I’m definitely winning this,” Dustin said, shaking his head. “Phoebe’s gonna kill you by the way, if you don’t win… so I guess pick your poison there.”

  “If you’re not going to be supportive, just get out and let me focus,” Thad said with a huff.

  “Fine, fine. Just try not to space out while you're fighting him,” Neil said as Thad watched him walk out of the changing room with Dustin.

  “I don’t really space out that often,” Thad grumbled to himself as he checked his gear one more time in the mirror.

  -It’s still weird seeing you like this. -

  What? In actual adventurer gear?

  -I had gear! -

  You thought you were a mage.

  -I could’ve been, if the awakening stones had gone the right way! -

  You should’ve just joined the magic—

  Thad paused mid-thought as he saw a puppy sitting beside him, watching him in the mirror, tail wagging like crazy. He glanced down to see the adorable dog look up at him and then flop itself on its back, looking for belly rubs.

  “Hi! Oh, my god!” Thad exclaimed, sitting down on the ground to pet the dog. “You look like a scruffier Pretzel!”

  -User. -

  “How did you get back here?” Thad asked as the puppy jumped up and then crawled into his lap, demanding more attention.

  -User! -

  “What is your name, little guy?”

  “It’s Stash.”

  Thad stopped mid-pet, looking up to see Humphrey staring down at him with a confused scowl, his arms crossed.

  “Oh, this is Stash… of course he is… that makes a lot of sense.”

  “Why did you say he looked like a scruffier twisted pastry?”

  “What?” Did they not have pretzels in this world?

  “You… oh, never mind. Are you ready to go or what?”

  “To fight you now?! Um, I mean… actually,” Thad said, looking down at the small dog that was now pawing at his hand and looking up with big eyes. “Geller, can I talk to you about something?”

  “My brother’s a fool!” Cassandra declared as she stormed out of the Mirage Chamber control room and sat down in the stadium directly between Clive and Jason, who was eating a snack held in a red and white bag.

  “Well, we already knew that. Puffed spice rice?” Jason asked, offering the bag over to Cassandra, who waved it off, looking up at the screen that was swirling with colors as the mirage chamber came online.

  “… what did Thad do?” Neil asked, looking concerned but still taking a handful of puffed rice from Jason.

  “He renegotiated the mirage chamber parameters without my guidance. Without anyone’s guidance!”

  “Why would he do that?” Dustin asked, his hands also full of puffed spice rice.

  “Gods, He had Stash taken out of the fight, didn’t he?!” Phoebe asked, her brow furrowing as she looked up at the screen, confirming her dreaded suspicions.

  “Yes, and—” Cassandra started only to be cut off by Phoebe.

  “And Humphrey managed to capitalize on it like the strategist he is.”

  “What does that—?” Neil started to ask.

  “It means Thad’s going into this fight without his healing ability!” Phoebe finished cursing under her breath.

  “As I said, my brother’s a fool!”