Seth shot up when a mental pinch notified him that Therus was at the door. His throat was raw, and the pain shooting through his body reminded him he was far from fully healed. He touched his face, hands finding the bulging ropes of flesh stretching just beneath the skin. Confirmation that yesterday wasn't a dream.

  [Hungry...] Mal's voice whispered into his mind before drifting off. Ignoring the glutton, he let Therus into the room.

  He took a cautious step into the room, keeping his eyes on Seth the whole time. Neither spoke. Therus kept shifting and opening his mouth like he wanted to say something, only to think better of it at the last second. Seth could relate. He was doing the same thing.

  "Good morning," Seth said.

  "Afternoon, actually."

  "Eh, I just woke up, and none of us have seen the sun, or what passes for it around here, in weeks."

  "Are we really..." Therus' chuckle grew into a full laugh, followed by Seth. Seth wasn't sure what Therus was laughing at. To be fair, he didn't know why he was laughing. Maybe it was the ridiculousness of it all. Maybe he just needed to laugh. Whatever the reason, it felt like the right thing to do in that moment.

  "So, you're still there," said Therus, his laughter calming down. In the meantime, Seth's hearty laughter had devolved into gasps for air. Damn missing lung.

  "You ok?"

  Seth's gasps turned into choking, and alarm showed on Therus' face. He moved to help, but Seth held his hand up.

  It took a few moments, but Seth got the choking under control. It took another minute to get the dizziness settled down.

  "Sorry to... worry you. Lost a lung."

  "Sorry, should I lea—"

  Therus stopped talking as Seth shook his head.

  "You can stay. Unless the... new features are too creepy. I can't heal this."

  "Your constitution?"

  "Yeah. It took over where the lung used to be." Seth was speaking more deliberately, taking measured breaths every couple of words. It seemed to help.

  "Wow, that's..." Therus sighed and shrugged.

  "I'll figure something out. Pretty sure I'll survive the next selection now."

  "So the inheritance actually helped?"

  "Yeah. Granted, it comes with another problem. But as long as the sect doesn't start testing lung capacity..."

  "I can imagine it now..."

  Silence fell between them once more. It lasted for a few minutes. Seth took a moment to close his eyes and just breathe.

  "Do you regret it?" Seth's eyes opened at the words.

  "Regret what, exactly?"

  "Doing the ritual wrong."

  Seth stopped to think about it for a moment. On the one hand, he missed having two working lungs and dreamless nights. If I could go back and do it differently, would I sacrifice them? He tried to imagine himself making that choice. Tried to imagine how much better his body would feel. It made him feel filthy.

  "No. For once, I made a choice I can live with." As he said the words, the filthy feeling lifted ever so slightly.

  "You know, I would have—"

  "I know. And it doesn't change anything."

  It was at that moment that Mal woke up and started moving his eye around. Worry clouded Therus' face as one of Seth's eyes darted around with no regard for what the other was doing.

  "That's unnerving," Therus said, looking away from Seth's eye.

  "If you think looking at it is unnerving, imagine being—"

  "No, no thank you."

  [Food?] The word came with an image of Therus.

  "No, not food. Friend."

  [Boring. Where food?]

  Seth sighed out loud, drawing a curious glance from Therus.

  "One of my tumors has become quite chatty lately."

  "Wha...? What does it chat about?" As Therus stumbled over his words, Seth bit his lip to keep from laughing.

  "Food. It always wants food."

  Seth finished packing the two sets of books into his spatial ring, a smile on his face. He was confident that the books at the sect regarding formations were lacking, and was looking forward to seeing what he could wring out of them for the copies. The past week had been fruitful, but some people were in a hurry to get back to the sect, so they would leave tomorrow. After taking one last look, Seth nodded to himself and left.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Outside the library, the central altar room was empty. Most of the remaining initiates had already started the long trek back on foot. Not wanting to do any part of that trek if he could avoid it, he had spent a couple of days researching if any other exits from the mountain existed. It took some time to find, but in the secret library, there was a small locked shelf that had been invisible until now. Well, to everyone else, it was still invisible.

  On that shelf had been a detailed map of the surrounding area. The nearest point of interest was a twenty-day flight by flying sword, if he understood the units correctly. Either way, maybe he'd explore if they had a long cycle between sect tests. What was more exciting, however, was the hidden exit in the cavern's roof. No squeezing through tight crevices for him.

  With nothing to do, Seth "knocked" on Therus' door to see if he wanted to spar. Therus didn't answer. Not wanting to be a pest, Seth just went to his room. Then, he started practicing martial arts forms. It took five minutes for him before he needed to take a break. It was progress. When he first emerged from the trial, he couldn't last for twenty seconds before running out of steam.

  [Hurt?]

  "No, just tired." He had also had time to come to terms with the change in his... tormentors? passengers? Seth wasn't sure what they were anymore. Thankfully, they were quiet most of the time. Occasionally, Mal hijacked his eye to look at random things.

  He reset and began exercising again, trying to silence his thoughts. Tomorrow, they'd be going back.

  "About time." Aaron seemed grumpy this morning. Well, he was grumpy every morning, but today seemed worse than usual.

  "No need to be so sour just because you lost," Xiaobo said.

  "Morning, " Therus said.

  "If everyone's packed up, then let's get out of here." Seth pulled his gigantic sword out of his inventory, and they all stood on it. As large as it was, there wasn't enough room for all four of them to sit, so they needed to stand.

  Their banter continued as they took off and flew out of the mountain. The illusion magic hiding this entrance allowed Seth to see right through it. His passengers weren't so fortunate.

  One thing that surprised Seth was how fast the sword could fly in the open. He thought the board they rode on the trip in was fast, but this... this was something else. He soared toward the ceiling overhead, stopping to take in the scenery. Vibrant green forests, lush plains, and flowing rivers as far as the eye can see. All of this, under a blasted wasteland. He laughed, enjoying the feeling of flight.

  Fourteen hours later, the sect came into view. It was already night when they landed a mile outside the sect. Therus thought they could get closer, but Seth didn't want to risk any defenses the sect might have.

  When they got back, the outer disciples let them through with no issues. A group of initiates spotted him. Some of Johan's people. They advanced until they got a good look at his face. Then, they froze. Seth took a step toward them. If they want to get in the way... They broke and ran.

  The next morning, Seth received a message ordering him to report to Elder Frerren. He had expected it, but a small pit of anxiety filled his stomach as he walked toward the elder's office. The door was closed when he arrived, so he knocked. Two minutes passed before a familiar voice boomed from within.

  "Enter!" Seth smiled and opened the door.

  Immediately upon entering, he shut the door behind him before bowing to greet the elder. Before he could open his mouth to speak, he felt a stabbing sensation, but saw nothing stabbing him. Something was wriggling around inside his... mind? his soul?

  "Don't resist, boy. It will hurt worse if you do." The elder's voice was matter of fact, but not unkind.

  He took a deep breath and stopped the struggle he hadn't realized he had started. The pain didn't go away, but it lessened. Tendrils snaked around his thoughts and feelings, probing them. It no longer hurt, but part of him would have preferred if it did. This just felt wrong.

  "First question. Did you kill any members of the sect while on your excursion?" The elder's voice echoed through his mind.

  "No elder." Seth felt the tendrils poking around, looking for any hints of deceit or duplicity.

  "Then how did four members of the sect die?"

  "I don't know, elder. All I know is they perished within the trial."

  "Trial, you say? What kind of trial?"

  "An inheritance trial, elder."

  "Who won?"

  "I did, elder."

  "Excellent. I take it your new appearance is because of that, then?"

  "Yes, elder."

  "And your mind is free from outside influence?"

  "As far as I'm aware, elder."

  At that, he felt the tendrils exit his soul. He retched as waves of nausea gripped him, but managed to keep the contents of his stomach down.

  "For what it's worth, I'm glad you have returned. I am also glad that I don't have to execute you for violating sect laws. As weak as you are, replacing you would be a pain in the ass."

  "Thank you, elder," Seth said, forcing a pleasant expression on his face. From the elder's point of view, calling Seth weak was akin to calling water wet. A simple statement of fact.

  Elder Frerren gave Seth a searching look. Then, he started walking around Seth as if to examine him from all angles. Qi pulsed through the room, though Seth couldn't tell what techniques were being activated. If any were being activated.

  "Your constitution has grown, and those seals... were those seals put on you, or did you do those yourself?"

  "I did those, elder."

  "Interesting. Not half-bad work."

  Seth kept quiet as the elder finished inspecting him. Then, as if remembering something, Elder Frerren stopped his inspection and faced the wall.

  "Elise, come back here and take Seth on some rounds." He returned his attention to Seth and paused before continuing. "I've made sure the contribution points you are owed have been awarded."

  "Thank you, elder. Before I go, may I ask a question about something I found in the trial?"

  "You may, though I will be rather annoyed if you are wasting my time."

  Seth began summoning the books from his spatial storage, but external qi suddenly clamped down, restricting his access. Less than a breath later, the same qi clamped down all around him and hoisted him into the air. Elder Frerren's expression was a mix of shock and rage.

  "Seth? Tell me what you were about to take out of your spatial storage."

  "Books, elder," Seth spat, his heart a jackhammer inside his chest. Why is the elder so mad?

  "Then why did the karmic seal almost self-destruct when you reached for the books?!"

  "I don't know, elder. I swear—"

  The force gripping Seth returned him to the ground as quickly as it had lifted him up. The elder looked... tired.

  "I'll take a look at what you have later. After I've dealt with the karmic seal issues."

  A knock echoed through the office. A wave of the elder's hand caused the door to sweep open. Not saying anything to Elise, the elder stormed past her. Her brow furrowed for a second before she turned to Seth. The smile that came to her lips faltered, replaced with shock. Not horror, thankfully.

  "Welcome back, Seth. I'd ask what happened to..." Elise trailed off as if searching for words. While shaking her head, she continued. "Unfortunately, we have too much work to do right now. Tell me, have you gotten any stronger, or are the changes just for show?"

  "I've definitely gotten stronger, elder sister."

  She flashed a bright, genuine smile. "Then let's go. There's a lot to do. try to keep up."