Day in the story: 4th October (Saturday)

I thought for a moment, then asked, "So what exactly is your Domain? If it's not rude to ask. I saw your Authority move toward the food earlier."

"It's no secret," Dam replied with a chuckle. "Our Domain is Culinary Excellence."

"…Seriously?" That caught me off guard. Definitely not what I expected.

Both he and Nickolas laughed. "It's a Domain for warriors, healers and creatives alike," Dam said. "It's more versatile than it sounds."

"For real?" I raised an eyebrow. It was hard to believe.

"Yes," Dam said with a grin. "My wife will heal your wounds today."

"How do you know I'm bruised?"

"I can see it in how you move."

He stirred the stew casually. "Ariana has access to a different set of Soulmarks than Nickolas or me, hers are more tuned to making food do things, like healing. Nickolas and I are more the… brute force type." He laughed again, deep and rumbly.

"You throw magic food at people?" I asked, genuinely curious now.

"You'll see after lunch, if you want," he said with a wink. "We'll take a look at what you can do and figure out how best to help you."

"Fine," I said with a shrug. "Aren't you curious about my Domain, though?"

"Oh, we definitely are," Ariana chimed in, placing a large bowl of salad in the center of the table. She then fetched the stew that Dam had just finished and they both brought out the filled bowls, setting them down as we all took our seats.

"It's called the Domain of Artistic Creation," I explained as we began to eat. "It's not particularly combat-oriented, though. My primary mark,—"

Only identity, I reminded myself. I didn't trust them enough to reveal connection. That felt like a trump card best kept secret.

"—lets me make art believe it's real."

"What do you mean?" Nickolas asked, intrigued.

"I can paint fire on a wall and it'll behave like real fire, or at least believe it is. It won't move or spread on its own, but it'll be warm, give off light and sound and be flammable."

"So if you paint it on wood, it can catch fire for real?" Dam asked, leaning forward.

"Yes."

"That's very powerful," he said with a booming chuckle. "I can work with that."

"Well… so far, I've only found niche uses in actual combat. I rely mostly on preparation. It's not exactly easy to paint something in the middle of a fight."

"That's a poor excuse, Alexa," Dam said, his tone firm but not unkind. "Soldiers rely on prepared equipment in battle. So did knights in ancient times. Why should a mage like you be any different?"

He had a point.

"I guess I thought I'd be able to just toss fireballs around," I admitted.

He laughed again, deep and loud.

"Well, what's stopping you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Paint a baseball to look like a fireball, then throw it," he said simply, as if it were the most obvious idea in the world.

…I hadn't thought of that.

He was proving to be far more inventive with my power than I was and he'd only just learned about it.

"Well, that might not be super effective," I said slowly. "Unless it hits something really flammable and stays there. But maybe something like a thunderball… That might actually work. I will think about it."

"Please do," Dam said, picking up his spoon. "But first, enjoy the soup. While it's still warm."

I took a spoonful and was immediately overwhelmed.

The taste, the scent, the warmth… it was earthy, rich and comforting in a way I didn't even know food could be. I don't even enjoy soups that much, but this? This was the best thing I'd ever put in my mouth. And more than that, there was a tug at my soul. A foreign Authority reaching out, not aggressively, but like a friend knocking politely on the door. I still had a choice: let it in or shut it out.

I chose trust. They had invited me into their home, into their Domain. The least I could do was lower my guard.

With each sip, the warmth spread. Not just in my body, but deeper. I felt it in my very being. The light within the soup flowed into me, healing me. First, my aches vanished. Then something stranger happened: I could feel my skin regenerating, dead tissue replaced with new. My swollen muscles relaxed, stitching back together like a seamstress mending torn fabric. Even my bones felt… new.

My mind cleared. Sharpened. I hadn't even noticed how foggy it had been before.

Ariana watched me eat and gave a quiet, knowing smile. She could probably feel her magic at work inside me, just as I could when mine moved through my creations. I wondered, how does that feel, to have your magic living inside someone else, doing its work?

Dam and Nickolas, meanwhile, were eating fast, like it was a timed event. The stew was still steaming, but they didn't seem to care. Were their tongues made of molten steel?

"Thank you," I said when I'd finished. I hadn't realized they were all watching me. "That was the best thing I've ever eaten in my life."

"You're welcome," Ariana replied gently. "I assume you're feeling better now?"

"Yes. Completely healed." I paused, considering. "But I was wondering… it was your Authority that healed me, but I saw Dam send his earlier. Can two people influence the same thing?"

"Yes," she answered. "We altered different aspects. I poured in my intent, a wish for healing, you could say. He simply asked the ingredients to taste good." She smiled at Dam, who gave a mock-offended look and then laughed.

"We used the same Domain, but even within that, everything is relative. Some things are harder to influence than others, especially when they've developed Authority of their own."

"Like Soulmarks?"

"Yes, but not only Soulmarks. They just gather intent over time until they become icons, symbols of concentrated meaning. You can extract that intent and either imprint it on your soul core permanently, or use it temporarily to borrow its influence."

"Wow," I breathed. "So you could use it like… a short-term boost?"

"Exactly. But it requires deeper knowledge of your soul core, how it functions, how it accepts external influence. And a little guesswork on how a particular Soulmark will interact with it. The strength and duration of the effect depends on the power of the mark you're using."

"That sounds incredibly useful. And valuable."

"It is. In fact, it's the currency of the most powerful mages."

"I can't imagine them walking around with all those Soulmarked items. Some must be really impractical."

"Well," Ariana said with a grin, "seers can extract the intent from a Soulmark and store it elsewhere. Most mages carry them in traditional spellbooks."

"I've seen," Nickolas cut in, "some modern mages store them in phone apps now. It's becoming a trend."

"What? That's amazing."

I wondered if Zoe could do that. She was both a seer and a programmer.

"Mages and seers…" I mused. "I've met a seer before. I'm a mage. Are there any other types of magic users?"

"There are," Dam said, suddenly more serious. "Those commonly called warlocks. But there are many kinds and not all the same."

"How are they different?"

"Warlocks don't draw their power from a soul core. Their Domains are borrowed from higher beings, Demons, Angels, even Gods."

I blinked. "Wait. All those things, gods included, they're real?"

"Yes," Dam said. "But most don't operate on Earth directly. Reality is the one true god here and he doesn't like competition. So the others stay in the Ideworld and send agents instead."

That was… a lot to take in.

"Reality is the one who makes people forget about magic, right?"

"Yes. That's his most common trick, it's easy. But sometimes, he does more. Especially if too many 'sleepers', non-magical people, witness something magical."

"What happens then?"

"We call it a Backlash," Dam said grimly. "Reality uses its divine Authority to suppress or erase the mage's power entirely. It can rewrite abilities, undo enchantments, even strip Domains. Whatever it takes to make the world behave according to his rules, not yours."

"That sounds… horrible."

"It is. That's why some mage factions, like the Technocrats, create fake technology. So people think it's science, not magic. And as long as they believe that, Reality doesn't interfere."

"So it all relies on people's perception of what should work?"

"Not only people's, but yes, mostly," Ariana said. "Reality doesn't see on its own, it sees through us. Through what we believe, what we expect."

"It's like the observer effect in quantum physics," Nickolas added. "Things exist in potential until they're witnessed. Then they collapse into one version of the truth."

I grabbed a bit of salad, chewing slowly as I tried to swallow not just the food, but the mountain of information I'd just been served. A whole hidden world existed beneath the surface of everyday life, with its own rules, systems and politics. Some people learned how to bend those rules to their will, mages, seers, warlocks and used magic for their own reasons.

Stolen novel; please report.

And then there were gods, angels, demons.

Honestly, I'd have preferred not to know that part. But if I had to guess, none of them could match the kind of hell people were already capable of bringing upon each other without any divine help.

Still… the salad?

Oh my god.

Or rather, oh my Reality.

It was honey-dipped, citrus-kissed, absolutely divine.

"Would you like a little spar now?" Dam asked, his tone light. "We can show you how we Lebens fight, if you're up for it."

"Of course," I said, swallowing another bite. "Just let me finish this. Also, those warlocks. How exactly do they use someone else's power?"

"They make contracts," Dam replied. "They offer services, loyalty, or some form of exchange in return for borrowed power."

"I can't imagine that ever being a fair deal."

"It's not for me to judge," he said simply.

There was something in the way he said it, flat, almost too neutral. That wasn't just academic detachment. There was something personal there. But I didn't press. Not now.

"One last thing," I said, finishing the salad. "Before we go play warrior, earlier you mentioned that not only Soulmarks can hold Authority. Can anything else do that?"

"Yes," Dam said. "There are temporary vessels of Authority, like this food. But there are also artifacts. Created by powerful mages and infused with intent over time, they eventually develop their own identity. At some point, the creator's Authority stops being the dominant force… and the item accepts itself as the true bearer."

"So the artifact becomes its own being?"

"In a way," he nodded. "A simplified explanation, but yes."

I pushed the plate away. "Thanks. Seriously. But why are you sharing all of this with me so easily?"

Dam laughed. "Penrose and I go way back. He may not remember it well, but he saved my life once. That means something to me."

There was warmth in his voice, but also steel beneath it.

"And besides," he added, "what we've told you, this is all common knowledge among the Awake. You're new to it, sure, but most people who are born into mage bloodlines or recruited by groups like the Technocrats learn all this young. Like learning the Earth revolves around the sun."

"So… I'm just the anomaly. The sourcerer who stumbled into everything by accident."

"Exactly. Most mages aren't self-born. Most inherit legacies, power and instruction. You? You're improvising in the dark."

"Cool. No pressure."

I stood up and brushed off my dress. "Alright. I'm ready to see what you Lebens can do."

Both men stood so quickly and smoothly it almost defied belief, like their joints were springs and not bone.

Ariana remained seated. "I'll clean up and join you later downstairs," she said.

"Downstairs?" I asked.

"Come," Dam said.

He moved over to what looked like a normal wardrobe. With a casual motion, he parted the hanging coats and reached behind them, pressing something I couldn't see. A soft click sounded and then part of the back panel slid aside.

Bright lights flicked on, illuminating a set of pristine white stairs descending into a hidden basement.

A secret training arena under the kitchen.

Of course.

I grabbed Ella from the stand near the door where I had left her and followed the two men down the hidden staircase. We soon reached a large room, double the size of a small gymnasium. It was split in half by a thick wall of hard glass. On our side, it felt like a viewing deck: a long table, several chairs and a startling collection of weapons displayed across the walls and tables. Pistols, rifles, maces, knives, swords, even halberds, I thought? The variety was dizzying.

The room beyond the glass looked like it had once been a bunker. Now, it resembled a battlefield. Craters pockmarked the concrete walls. The floor was cracked and uneven and even the ceiling bore signs of serious damage. It was like someone had thrown a couple of grenades in and then asked, "Why stop there?"

I stared at it all, caught somewhere between horror and awe.

What the hell are they doing with food to cause that kind of destruction?

"Okay, Alexa," Dam said, stepping to the center of the viewing room. "You've been to the Ideworld, right?"

I nodded.

"You fought shadows there. How?"

"I punched them. Shot them. Set them on fire." I said while scanning the array of weapons.

"You punched them?" Nickolas blinked. "With your bare hands?"

"Well, not exactly bare," I smirked. "I used body paint to create power armor."

Dam let out a low whistle, clearly impressed. "Now that is a clever use of your Domain. But, impractical in surprise situations, right?"

"Exactly. I reached the same conclusion. That's why I started carrying a pistol, just in case."

"Let me show you something," Dam said. "Grab a rifle. Any one. They're all loaded and safe."

I glanced at Nickolas for a second, he just shrugged like good luck. Great.

I grabbed a Kalashnikov from the table and followed Dam into the main arena. He walked a few paces ahead, then turned to face me. He spread his arms.

"Shoot me," he said.

"What?" I blinked. "I'll kill you."

"You won't," he said calmly. "Shoot him," Nickolas called from behind the glass.

"If I'm going to shoot someone, I'd rather use a pistol."

"No! Just shoot me already, girl," Dam said, grinning. "Please."

Well. If he asked nicely.

I raised the rifle, rested it against my shoulder and carefully aimed for the right side of his ribs. I pulled the trigger. A short burst tore through the room with a thunderous clap. I saw the bullets hit,

, but instead of piercing his flesh, they struck a shimmering barrier of red, orange and gold. It cracked like a mirror made of light, then scattered harmlessly to the floor. Dam barely flinched, shifting only slightly as though nudged by a heavy cushion.

"What the hell?" I muttered.

"Your Authority," Dam explained, "isn't just for casting magic through your Domain. It also acts as defense. Most mages don't even realize it at first, but it responds to threat. Instinctually."

I was still staring at the bullets on the ground.

"With training," he continued, "you can strengthen that response, build it into actual armor, even empower your strikes with it. But even now, without any practice, you should be mostly bulletproof at range. The layer of light your soul conjures deflects or absorbs most kinetic energy."

"So… I could take a bullet to the chest and live?"

"Mostly, yes. You'll bruise, hard. And you can be knocked out if your head takes a direct hit. Subdermal bleeding's a risk. But your idea of just carrying a pistol around? It won't help much against other mages."

I thought back to Shiroi. We'd shot him. A lot. Nothing had worked. Was that why? His Authority simply unraveled the bullets before they could kill him.

"So how do I fight something magical?"

"Overwhelm it. Use enough force. Natural elements, fire, water, gravity, those help. Suffocation works. Starvation. Or your own magic. Some creatures are fragile enough that bullets can work, but stronger mages and monsters? You need more than lead."

He pulled off his cardigan, then his shirt. His chest was crisscrossed with scars, a brutal map of old battles.

"Why weren't those healed?" I asked.

"Magical healing restores the body to what the soul considers normal. I earned these scars before Ariana learned to heal. My soul sees them as part of me."

Then his body changed.

Scales spread over his skin like wildfire. His arms stretched and twisted into thick, armored tentacles. He stood in front of me, no longer just a man, something deeper, older, stranger.

"Would you be so kind," he said politely, "as to spar with me?"

I stared. "Excuse me? You just turned into some kind of deep-sea nightmare."

"This is what we do," Nickolas said from the sidelines, smiling faintly. "We adapt our bodies to match what we eat."

"That's… cooler than throwing food, I admit. But how do I fight you with this?" I raised Ella.

"You brought her for a reason. I assume you can use her?"

I nodded. I infused Ella with my Authority, keeping her in her closed form. Power hummed through her frame.

Dam didn't wait. He lunged.

Tentacles slammed toward me from above like twin battering rams. I twisted to the side and slashed upward with Ella in a wide arc, pressing the hidden button as I moved. A jolt of electricity surged from the umbrella's tip into Dam's side.

He grunted as the voltage crackled against his scales. But he wasn't done.

I moved, danced, kept my footing. He bounced and flipped using his limbs, twisting after me. I ducked under a wild strike and stabbed Ella into his side again, this time lower, more personal.

Dam screamed. And then he laughed.

He stumbled back, still cackling and shifted forms again. The scales vanished. His body turned slick and black, like tar. His arms grew quills.

"I don't like that," I muttered, as I removed authority from Ella, then opened her and infused again into her shield form.

He raised his arms and fired. The quills rained down like darts, hammering the shield with rapid, brutal force.

Thump. Thump. Thump-thump-thump.

Dozens of them struck in seconds.

Then I heard a sharp inhale. He was preparing something else.

I rolled out from behind the shield just in time as he slammed down where I'd been, tentacles back in play. I blocked a strike with Ella and surged electricity through her again. This time, he barely reacted.

One tentacle grabbed the umbrella and ripped it from my hands. The other coiled around me, lifting me into the air like a snake. For a second I couldn't breathe, then he dropped me and returned to human form.

"Well fought," Dam said, laughing and panting. "For someone unprepared. You're quick, clever and I love what you did with that umbrella."

"And yet you could've snapped me like a breadstick."

"True," he said. "But I've had decades of experience and combat-specialized powers. If you had more time, more prep? I'd have to try a lot harder to win."

He turned to Nickolas. "You two should spar sometime."

I glanced over. Nickolas was grinning.

"Are you a shapeshifter too?" I asked him.

"Not yet," he said. "I'm restricted in power. I can copy traits from food. Strength from spinach, night vision from carrots, that sort of thing."

"Then sure, why not," I said with a smirk. "We could spar from time to time. Do you guys go into the Ideworld often?"

"Not really," Dam replied, rolling his shoulder as if working out lingering tension. "We go when we get word about openings, but that's it. We hardly ever use Guild Gates unless we're forced to. Too expensive, for one and they're tightly controlled by the guilds."

"I've never even heard of those," I admitted. "I've been to the Ideworld during my trial and then twice more when I stumbled across random portals."

"Let me guess, spheres that suck in the light around them?"

"Yes. Exactly."

"Those are what we call 'openings.' They appear randomly across the world. That's how we usually cross over, to harvest supplies, gather infused plants, materials for our food-based magic. But we always try to leave as soon as we can. You don't want to be trapped in there if it closes."

I frowned. "But why would that trap you? Don't you have your Domain to return to?"

"Our Domain is located in France," he said casually.

I blinked. "France?"

"Yeah. It's where my family originates from. One of my ancestors established the Domain there generations ago. No one's moved it since, mostly out of tradition."

I considered that. "But… how do you grow your soul if your crystal's that far away? Don't you have to touch it?"

"When your soul is ready to grow, your soul core will transport you there and back. Distance doesn't matter."

"Huh," I muttered. "Didn't know that. My seer told me that my Domain would manifest in a place I consider home, but on the Ideworld's side. I assumed that was true for everyone."

Dam relaxed his stance, his posture growing more casual. "That's one way it can happen, sure. You're not wrong. But not all Domains follow the same rules. Mine's been rooted in the same spot for centuries. And honestly, I could move it if I really wanted to. I'm currently the most advanced user tied to it. But it's well hidden, secure and still tied to other Lebens besides me. There's no real reason to relocate it."

I nodded slowly, taking that in. "Makes sense."

"But about the Ideworld, since we're on the topic," Dam continued, more serious now, "be careful about going through portals that open near the city center."

My brow furrowed. "Why not?"

"Because the city's presence is… strong. It developed a mirrored version of itself, floating above. We call it the Mirrored City. And it's crawling with things you're definitely not ready to face."

That sent a chill down my spine. "What kind of things?"

"Nasty ones," he said grimly. "Twisted shadows of city's idea of people, distorted ideas themselves, memories that got stuck and turned violent. The city's personality was strong enough to manifest its own reality. That place is a trap disguised as architecture."

"Noted. I won't cross over in the city." I said, though part of me wondered if I could risk it. With teleportation at my disposal, I had the means to get out quickly… but if it was as dangerous as they claimed, maybe it wasn't the time to tempt fate.

"Yes," Ariana said, her voice cutting in gently. I hadn't noticed her coming downstairs. "Even within the Guild, only Hexblades operate in the city center, or in the Mirrored City itself."

"Hexblades?" I asked. "Some kind of elite mage squad?"

"Something like that," Dam replied with a vague smile. "Let's just say they're a special breed. Best leave that rabbit hole for another time."

"Fair enough. Any other places I should avoid?"

"Well," Dam said, "we've lived most of our lives around here. So we only know about this little patch of the world."

I nodded. "Still. Thanks, really. For everything. I know Mr. Penrose is updating his contact list to include magically active people, so if, "

Dam cut me off with a raised hand. "I already told him. I'll help, whenever you or he need me. Same goes for my wife and son."

Ariana and Nickolas both nodded at that, quiet but sincere.

"Well… in that case, I'll bring you a gift next time I visit," I said with a grin.

"You're leaving already, Alexa?" Ariana asked.

"Yes. If I stay any longer, I might never leave." She laughed softly and gave a knowing nod, then turned and led me upstairs.

When I finished dressing near the front door, Ariana appeared again, this time holding a cloth-wrapped bag. Dam and Nickolas watched quietly as she stepped toward me.

"Here," she said, placing the bag in my hands. "It's the broth from the soup you had today. Magically preserved for at least a year. It's infused to heal any natural wound or illness. A healing potion in soup form. Keep it in the fridge if you want, but you don't have to."

"That's… a bit much, Ariana," I said out of polite reflex, though honestly, I wanted to hug it like a teddy bear and never let go. Something like this? Invaluable.

"Take it," she insisted, closing my fingers around the bag with a jar inside. "And think of me kindly when you use it."

I bowed to all of them, deep and grateful. "I will. Thank you."

With that, I stepped out into the crisp bite of October air, the chill brushing against my skin like a reminder that I was back in the real world. I walked a few blocks until the streets grew quieter, shadows deepened between buildings and CCTV eyes blinked away. Only then, in that thin space where no one was watching, I slipped into the dark and wished myself home.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.