Andrew Rowe - On the Shoulders of Titans

“Oh.” He put a hand to his forehead. “Oh, dear. I, uh, isn’t she a bit young to be thinking of me in that way?”

I pointed a finger at him. “You’re the one who called her beautiful, not me. You can sort it out.”

He turned his head skyward. “I think I’m just going to leave the matter alone and hope she forgets about it. She probably understands I was just complimenting her martial prowess.”

I was definitely not the world’s leading expert on relationships. Until recently, I had always assumed that my lack of desire for sex meant I’d never be interested in anything romantic at all.

I was just starting to figure out that sexual and romantic interests could be distinct…and then I’d blown up my love interest.

Oops.

So, my qualifications for this kind of thing? Not outstanding. I was D-ranked Quartz in romantic understanding at best. Even then, I could tell that Keras was being hilariously naïve about this.

Maybe it was mean of me, but I was tickled by seeing an unstoppable force of nature acting completely befuddled about how to deal with a teenaged girl.

I chuckled too and headed back toward the house. “Good luck with that.”

I was still grinning when I pulled up a chair next to the table where Sera and Patrick were playing Valor.

Sera was winning, of course. She had already taken seven of his pieces off the board, and he’d only managed to take three of hers.

Patrick was smiling, though, so at least he was having a good time.

Of course, he knew Sera was amazing at Valor.

He also knew she was probably upset about her inability to speak — especially since that directly impacted her ability to use magic.

The more I thought about it, the more I was certain that he’d picked this activity deliberately to let her feel better.

Patrick was an amazing retainer.

He glanced at me as I sat down. “You look pleased about something.”

I chuckled again. “Oh, I think Keras accidentally gave Marissa a bit of a crush, is all.”

Sera turned toward me, raising an eyebrow and using a ‘come hither’ gesture to indicate she wanted more information.

“Nothing scandalous, he just complimented her on being able to shape her aura into a blade after watching him do it once. If you saw her blushing, though—”

Sera narrowed her eyes at me.

I raised my hands defensively. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to tease her about it. Probably.”

She glared harder.

“Okay, definitely. Fine, fine. I can even make sure she knows he’s like… probably super old? I’m honestly not sure.”

“I’d guess about twenty-five,” Patrick offered.

I shrugged. “Could be twenty-five thousand for all we know. I don’t think he’s human.”

Sera nodded vehemently at that. Interesting. Did she pick up on something I hadn’t?

As a Summoner, she probably had more insight into how monsters worked. I’d have to ask her… Oh, right. Well, she could write something down.

Patrick glanced back at Sera. “Alas, a forbidden love. Like my love for you, Sera.”

Sera snorted, then made a vaguely heart-shaped gesture in her hands…and broke it apart.

Patrick laughed and moved his piece on the board, taking one of hers. “That’s for breaking my second-best heart!”

She brought her hand up to her mouth, and I heard the faintest wheeze coming through her lips. Apparently, that was all she could manage for a laugh right now.

That worried me a bit, but at least they both were smiling. I’d worried a bit that they’d lose their friendship after Sera had shot Patrick down about going to the winter ball, but they seemed as close as ever.

Good.

I stood back up. “Good luck to you both. Maybe I’ll play the winner later.”

Patrick groaned. “Don’t wander off too far, then. At this rate, that won’t take very long.”

I patted him on the shoulder. “You can play her best three out of four first. I’ve got some work to do.”

I got dressed in my uniform. It wasn’t in the best of shape after all the insanity in the tower, but I didn’t have a full change of clothes here. I’d need to go back to my dorm room for that.

I packed my gear and belted on Selys-Lyann.

The new stick went in my side-pouch, just in case.

I borrowed a glove for my right hand from Derek, since my own had been shredded during the fight with Jin. The metallic part was perfectly intact, I just needed to replace the leather portion.

Then I headed out of the mansion.

My first stop was the Climber’s Court, since it was just a few blocks away.

Lars looked me up and down as soon as I walked into the store. “Goddess above, lad. You look like Mizuchi chewed you up and spat you out.”

I cracked my knuckles. “Oh, no, we managed to avoid the room she was in.”

He blinked. “You saw her?”

I nodded. “Sure did. But that wasn’t even the scary part.”

He leaned back against a nearby table. “Sounds like you finally have a story to tell me for a change.”

I smiled. “You know what? I think I do.” I paused, considering. “But I’m going to have to leave a few parts out. I’m not supposed to be talking about them.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “You don’t have to tell me that, Corin. You just fill those parts in with something more exciting. The story is more entertaining that way.”

“Well,” I pulled up a chair and sat down. “It all started when Visage Katashi asked me to do him a favor…”

It took me a better part of an hour to tell him a heavily edited version of my tale. I talked mostly about the tower rooms themselves — and completely left out the fighting against Orden, Derek, and Jin.

He listened intently the whole time, hints of concern mixed in with peals of uproarious laughter.

“…And now I’m here, alive, thanks to the magic cloak you loaned me.”

Lars folded his arms, nodding with a grim expression. “And your sister, she still can’t speak?”

I took a deep breath, feeling a pang of guilt at my role in that. “Too much scarring. She’s using that regenerating rock I made, but I don’t think it’s helping much.”

“I still can’t believe you enchanted a rock. How’d you do it so quickly? I thought enchanting something on that scale took hours. And isn’t doing something that far above your attunement level a tremendous risk?”

I nodded. “It was a risk, but moving mana felt so easy in the tower. I felt like my attunement was enhanced while I was in there. I’ve never been able to manipulate mana in the air outside, for example.”

“I always felt stronger in the tower, too, but I could never sense the mana like you did.”

I tapped my right hand. “I think this might have had something to do with it, too. Even before Katashi changed it into an attunement, it felt easier to channel mana through my hand. I couldn’t actively draw mana out of the brand, but I think it might have been helping me.”

Lars shook his head. “I still can’t believe you have a gift from Katashi himself. You’ve impressed me, boy.”

“Thanks, Lars.” I smiled. “Couldn’t have done it without your help.”

“Aye. So, now you can start working on repaying me.”

I laughed. “I’ll get right on it. To start with, do you have any more powerful healing items for sale? Something stronger than a ring of regeneration?”

“For your sister, I take it? Nothing like that, I’m afraid. I’d see about talking to a Mender. Even if Katashi couldn’t have helped her right then, sometimes Menders can help with long-term treatment to accelerate natural recovery. Aside from that, there’s always taking a trip to Caelford, but I wouldn’t put your hopes on that.”