Regardless, it mattered little who was stronger. Magical skill and knowledge were what they required, not strength.


    Still, it was a topic that would certainly make those seeking to control things from the shadows panic. If Eldrian was taking a more active stance. s, ever since his duel with Zaphreal in the previous tournament, he had withdrawn for the most part.


    As had been the goal. But now Zaphreal couldn''t help butment that Eldrian had been too inactive.


    "And, of course, we can''t forget about those close to him," Julius said, bringing the narrative back to their original topic. "They''ve been improving far faster than any of the other yers. I wouldn''t be surprised if they can control mana at this stage."


    Sadly, they weren''t sure what level of mana control was required to reach Tier 6. To surpass Tier 4 and climb into Tier 5, you needed to learn to feel and guide mana. True control, however, was still too much of a hurdle.


    Certainly, their control would be far better than other yers. But whether it could be called actual mana control or not ''more urate guidance''. That wasn''t clear.


    "That was the goal of ANW''s release. Certainly, we should contact them." Zaphreal agreed.


    "In that case," Joren interjected, "make sure to do so with Eldrian''s acknowledgment. We do not have the best track record, and trying to do things behind his back will simplye back to bite us."


    "Agreed." The others voiced, and they got to talking about how to ask for help.


    —


    A few days had passed since Vriski had entered Eldrian''sb. And the pup had finally exited earlier in the day.


    Bored during the interim, Eldrian had gone seeking something to do. Having aplished his immediate goal, he thought to reconnect with his guildmates. Of course, he had only gone onto this narritive once he realized Vriski was not going toe out of theb any time soon.


    A terrible mistake that had been.


    Eldrian had promised to help in the uing quartet tourney. And he had thought to do some practice with the guild. To smooth things out so they could avoid a situation likest time.


    s, the public was far too riled up. Even with the time Eldrian had spent avoiding everything and everyone in hisb. Their excitement hadn''t dwindled. No, it had grown exponentially.


    As soon as his location was public, it had be hell.


    Any yer who had time free, and the funds, had immediately rushed over. Making any training the guild attempted to run useless.


    The smart thing would have been to hold their training sessions during ranked matches. But that defeated half the purpose. Coming up with secret tactics.


    And, naturally, being swarmed by eager fans and inquisitors magic fanatics didn''t give them any better odds ofing up with secret tactics.


    Unable to deal with the attention, Eldrian had abandoned his friends (after a few days of hopeless relocation attempts).


    The slew of curses they had sent him in the chat was simply too long. Pages upon pages, all calling him a coward.But what could he say? He was focusing on other things and he truly didn''t have the time to answer the same questions thousands of times.


    Thus, he was currently back in Fort Phoenix. Here, due to the rules Eldrian had set up (and altered) made it impossible for yers to pester them. If any did, they would be in breach of the rules of the fort and be marked as aggressive individuals. Depending on the situation, the guards (here to ensure no diplomatic issues arrive) would swiftly deal with them.


    And, finally, Vrisky had finished his evolution. His ''new'' appearance leaves Eldrian bbergasted.


    Truly, Eldrian had thought Vriski would jump in size. Go from a pup to a magnificent wolf. That, however, was not the case. Except one physical change, nothing else seemed different.


    The same couldn''t be said for ephemeral. The aura surrounding Vriski was on a different ne than before. The only thing Eldrian noted physically different was the extra lighting bolts.


    A bolt of brilliant white zig and zagged across Vriski''s night ck fur. Along with the green, blue, and ck ones. Naturally, noting the ck lighting bolt was difficult. It was a deeper shade of ck, but only really noticeable when Vriski was using magic. When it seemed to surpass ck and enter into the effect of actively absorbing light.


    This new white bolt stood out as clear as day. It was so clear, sorge, and even branched. From Vriski''s head, it followed his spine, branching down his legs, and onto each tail. Twirling around the other bolts, much like the caduceus (rod of Asclepius—intertwined snakes).


    Wondering what this new bolt represented, Eldrian attempted to form a telepathic link with Vriski.


    Excitement almost boiled over when Eldrian felt the connection stick.''Can you talk now?'' Eldrian asked tentatively.


    "Yipp!" Vriski barked, and at the same time Eldrian heard in his mind a sound so load he thought his head might explode, ''LIKE THIS?!''


    The attempt was rather close to failure. A shout so loud filled Eldrian''s head that he felt like clutching it in agony, though that would do nothing. And barking while sending telepathic messages also wasn''t ideal, but they could work on itter.


    Exining that he didn''t need to shout, and doing so a couple of times to get the volume right, Eldrian wished dearly for some headache pills. s, he settled for some healing spells. Which were, honestly, far more effective.


    ''What happened?'' He asked, after recovering hisposure.


    Extremely curious as he was, Eldrian didn''t want to jump straight into examination mode. He felt if he did so, he would be much like Miracle. Vriski first had to agree, and hopefully even help.


    ''I ate the crystal!''


    That reply... didn''t help.


    Exining that proved impossible. Vriski seemed to not understand what Eldrian meant. Even though the mental path between them was supposed to surpassnguage and directly convey one''s intention to the other.


    Realizing that it can''t be anguage barrier, Eldrian had to ept his defeat. Vriski understood him, but to the pup, the important thing was what he had done. And that was eating the crystal. In one big bite.


    Not what had happened to him after.


    Several minutes of attemptster, Eldrian got this follow-up: ''Then I fell asleep! I just woke up!''


    Truly, he felt like facepalming. Hopes dashed, Eldrian realized that his evolutions forced through Tier breaking were nowhereparable to that of magical creatures devouring a source of power and evolving through it.


    He had known it wouldn''t have been the same, but he had hoped there would bemonalities that he could use to better understand his own situation. s...


    ''Can I try to understand what happened?'' Eldrian asked.


    ''Huh, why?'' Vriski asked, and Eldrian conjured a mirror made of ice. Showing Vriski his new self. White bolt and all.


    The little pulp stared at the mirror wide-eyed. And Eldrian truly believed he was getting somewhere.


    ''That''s me?!''


    Again, Eldrian felt his hopes dashed. ''You didn''t use to have those white lines.''


    ''Huh. Oh right! I remember seeing my nose before. It was just ck when I drank from a pond.''


    Realizing, btedly, that Eldrian hadn''t ever bothered (why would he) to show Vriski what he looked like in a mirror.


    This meant this was the first time the pup had seen himself from front to back. And he was most interested in the back.


    ''Oh, you''re right! My tails have an extra line!'' Turning his head, Vriski stared at his tails. His posturing made Eldrian wonder if he was about to start chasing his own tails.


    ''Should I be d he isn''t, or upset?'' Eldrian asked himself when it didn''t happen.


    AN: Happy new year!