Magi's Path (Aether's Revival Book 3) Daniel Schinhofen (books to read in a lifetime .txt) 📖

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“Welcome home,” Dia greeted them when they made it back to the clan hall. “How did the game go?”

“My team won,” Yukiko said.

“Mine lost,” Jenn shrugged. “It was different.”

“Teams? Hmm... I didn’t expect that until after the tournament,” Dia said. “Magi-killer is clearly not done making changes.”

“The difference for us was communicating between teammates,” Yukiko said.

Dia grimaced. “That’s not fun, but it does teach you to expect problems.”

“As I found out,” Jenn sighed. “The shadow magi waylaid my messengers three times.”

Yukiko smiled broadly. “Almost as if they’re good at killing a single target. I do recall someone setting a trap for them.”

“Of course I was going to,” Jenn snorted. “We had no chance with you waylaying them all.”

“Almost caught my commander. You put me out for most of the game once you did,” Yukiko said.

“Didn’t do enough,” Jenn said.

“I’m glad you’re not bitter about the loss,” Dia said. “I’ve known enough people who get that way.”

“That isn’t how we are with each other,” Gregory said.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Dia said. “I didn’t mean to delay you from breakfast.”

“We’re going to bathe first,” Yukiko said. “After breakfast, we’ll be trying to find our resonance until it’s time for Gin to train us.”

“I’ll make sure to notify you before it’s time to train, then,” Dia said.

“Thank you, Dia,” they said and bowed to her.

Chapter Forty-five

Gregory stared at his aether flame, ignoring the sparks slowly drifting away from it. He could almost feel a connection to it, but something just wasn’t slotting into place. Time slipped by as he kept reaching for the connection.

What am I missing? Gregory asked himself. There has to be something I’m missing...

As he continued to stare at the flames, Dia’s voice drifted to him, It’s about knowing your strengths, weaknesses, desires, and fears. The flames shifted, and Gregory’s throat closed as he watched the fire take shape.

A body lying among some trees— a ripped, shredded, and bloody ruin. Strawberry-blonde hair was soaked in blood as sightless eyes stared into nothing.

Gregory’s heart sped up as he looked at his mother’s body. “N-no…” The word was a whisper as he stared at the flames given life.

The body shifted and changed as he watched. He felt his heart slow as his mother faded away. It stopped entirely when he recognized the new body that lay there.

Pale hair, turned red by blood. Cyan eyes, staring into nothing. Kimono, shredded and barely covering her. Deep, bloody wounds crisscrossing her body. Beside her, another body— smaller, but more firm, and just as dead, lifeless, and mangled.

“NO!” Gregory roared, surging to his feet and reaching for Yukiko and Jenn.

The body became flames that leapt at him, coating his arms and legs, burning, searing, and seeping into him.

Panting, Gregory went to one knee. “Fear… yes, that is what I fear. Every other fear is mild compared to that.”

The burns he felt faded, and he slumped to the ground. He continued to stare at the flames. “It’s not them dying like she did... just them being taken from me,” he told the cavern.

The flames shifted again, and Gregory inhaled slowly as he waited for the next horror. All that happened this time was that the flames became him, as he was on his age day. He was thin, painfully thin; tall; gawky; and weak.

“We’re nothing,” his double said in a feeble voice. “We’ll never be anything. How can anyone think we’d be worth anything at all? Slow, stupid, weak... even our own father hates us.”

All the insecurities he felt rose up inside him. How could Yukiko ever love him? Or Jenn? Why would Bishop or Dia ever accept him as Aether reborn? The novices were just cajoling him about wanting to join the clan while they laughed behind his back.

“No...” Gregory said, gritting his teeth. “I am good enough. I am loved and wanted. My friends believe in me and trust me!”

His double exploded into flame and engulfed his head. Gregory’s eyes boiled into blindness, his ears turning to ash. His tongue became a blackened stump as the flame cut off his scream, searing his throat as it rushed into him.

Falling back, Gregory panted as his throat healed. Sound came back to him next, the pop and crackle of the flame soothing him. Blinking tears away, he looked up at the ceiling of the cavern.

“Yeah, I’m insecure, but I’m getting better...” Gregory muttered. “It’s a work in progress. All of life is.”

“We never stay down, do we?”

Gregory jerked upright to find another copy of himself, but this one was vastly different. This one had short hair cut close to the scalp, scars on his hands and face, and lines near his eyes, belying age.

“No.”

“We never back down, either,” his older self said. “We just want to show the world that they’re wrong— wrong for mocking our dream, wrong for hurting our wives, and wrong for being so close-minded.”

“It needs to change,” Gregory said. “The whole world needs to accept that everyone is worth just as much as the next person. That any dream is worth supporting.”

“Stubborn, but are you stubborn enough to force the world to bend to your ideals?” The older Gregory’s haunted, green eyes locked on his.

“Yes. I will force the world to bend to my will.”

Snorting, the older copy stood up. “Best of luck, kid. You damned well better be prepared for pain; physical, mental, and emotional.”

“I—”

The copy stepped forward, grabbing him, pulling him into the air, and hugging him. The flames burned hot, and Gregory could feel his skin melt away, then his abdominal muscles turn to jelly under the heat.

Shivering on the ground, naked and dying, Gregory stared at the ceiling again. Stubborn? Yeah, that’s probably my greatest