Arjun's mastery of soul magic is still legendary in my eyes. He managed to teach me something I didn't realize about my life that I've carried with me to this day. In a way, he was the final chunk of therapy about my life on Earth. He made me realize I had become someone new and no longer fit into the mold of my former idealogy or life. Just another stepping stone on the path to discovery.


"Here's your next patient, doctor Capetillo," A young brunette haired nurse says as she hands me a chart.

My eyes scan over the patient's vital signs and his current condition. Looks like he has fluid in his lungs, a few minor scrapes on his arms and a large contusion upon his left pectoral. No allergies, medications, immunization information, and most importantly a lack of insurance.

I sigh and rub my temple with my left hand as I look at the chart for his room number. Seems he's located in room 134, so I better make my way over to figure out what kind of treatment he needs.

"You alright doctor? You're just standing there. Don't tell me you are hitting that 4 am wall again," I hear the nurse snicker to me, but I shake my head and reply, "It's nothing. Just going to go and see what kind of healing this man needs."

"Healing? Didn't know we had a naturopath here, is that your other degree?" She inquires with a haughty attitude and I pause for a moment before replying, "No, it's just biology and anatomy. I'm going to go diagnose him now before the coffee wears off. Thanks for the chart."

I turn quickly to head down the well-lit hallway with my white coat billowing behind me as I pass an older janitor mopping up the floor. I smile to the older gentleman, "How are you doing tonight Gary?"

"Not too bad. Cardinals play tomorrow and I have the day off, so I'm well." The aging janitor replies in a raspy tone that gives away his habit of being a life long chain smoker.

"Sounds good, I'll be asleep so keep me updated on Monday!" I respond as I continue down the hall and reach the sliding glass door to room 134.

I grab the handle, let myself into the room, and notice the older Arabian man is awake in his bed already dressed in a medical robe with an IV hooked up to his arm. I glance at the heart rate monitor and all his vitals appear to be normal. I take another glance at the chart and realize he's been cleared for a small dose of morphine already by the nurse that's just waiting for my signature and his labs should be coming back shortly with his X-rays.

"Mr. Bhurmkar? I'm doctor Capetillo and I'll be taking care of you tonight. I've been looking through your chart and you'll need to help me fill in some of the gaps. Like insurance for starters."

The old man shifts in his bed to a more upright seated position and replies in a smooth and cordial voice that also reflects his age, "Ah, of course, but please, call me Arjun. I was in a horrible accident that got my leg crushed in-"

I flip through my chart to the nurse's notes and interject, "Yes, that. It seems you said you were in a stone crafting accident. Why were you building so late at night? Not good for someone with signs of pneumonia."

"All work must be completed, no matter how long it takes. That's what I always say."

I tap my chin and reply, "Alright, so let's discuss insurance. You arrived with no insurance, ID, or other means of identification from what I've heard. Where are you from?"

"I'm from a place far from here. You could say I'm new to these parts."

"A foreigner? Well, we will take good care of you at Carondelet St. Mary's hospital, but do you have any emergency contacts we could talk with? Anybody at all that we could maybe verify your identification or talk about costs? We've got treatment on the way for morphine for the pain from in your chest and some anti-inflammatory drugs for the fluid in your lungs, but I can't sign off on anything until we see something, understand?" I explain to the elderly man, but he laughs and replies, "Is that so? Sure, I can call someone. Do you have a…"

I smirk and reply, "A phone? Yeah, we can get you one. I'm going to go fetch your x-rays and I can have a nurse bring the phone. I'll be back in a bit."

I wave goodbye to the man, and as I'm closing the sliding door to the room I hear him call out, "Goodbye, Santos."

I pause for a second outside the room and mutter to myself, "Did I tell him my name? I must have...I need to take five."

I walk by the nurses' station and hand back the medical chart and instruct, "Get Mr. Bhrumkar a phone. Hopefully one of his relatives can fill in the blanks for our mystery man. Did he have any other injuries?" I emphasize by pointing to my head but the nurse from earlier rolls her eyes and retorts, "No, I don't think so."

"Good. I'll be back with x-rays in a bit," I respond as I head down the labyrinthian hallway and take a side exit to the outside.

The fresh and cool summer air meets my skin and I breathe a sigh of relief as the door slams shut behind me. I pull out my phone and check the time and see if I have any messages. Nothing, Cassandra must still be asleep which makes sense that it's only 4:30 am. Just another day and then it's my Friday and I can finish that one show with her...I think it was the one about some groups of children in medieval times fighting against the evils of the world. Fairly generic but it had a good production value from what I remember and had a decent plot hook that got me quite invested.

"Must be some Lord of the Rings spinoff on Amazon…"I muse to myself as I put my phone back into my pocket, but as I do it buzzes. I usually don't get texts at this time so I tentatively pull it back out and look at my phone to see an alarm going off labeled 'Go back'.

That's weird as I don't remember setting an alarm for 4:34 am with that label, but as I open up my calendar and look at my alarm settings and it's set there. Still 2019 with my usual schedule...wait is it July? Or was it August? And wasn't it Tuesday, and not Saturday if the Cardinals are playing tomorrow?

I look up and see storm clouds forming in the sky and a small tremor from the Earth. I dismiss the weirdness of it and unlock the side door and go back inside as it becomes progressively more stormy outside. Maybe it's one of those flash floods or something? Still strange to see that in summer.

I enter back into the hospital and I notice the lights flicker for a moment. I increase my pace a bit to get back to the nurses' desk and see my clipboard on the countertop right where I left it, so I decide to snatch it and look up which room they did the x-rays in. On top of the board is a sheet of paper with the words 'Wake up!' written on it.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny guys!" I call out to the empty corridor as I crumple the piece of paper and toss it in the recycling. Sighing, I rub my temples and rush towards the x-ray room to pick up Arjun's results.

Making my way to the x-ray technician who has bright and wild reddish hair that compliments her caramel complexion quite nicely. I don't recognize her from my few months working at the hospital, so she must be filling in for someone. Her lab coat is also a bit disheveled, almost as if it's too large for her.

"Do you have the results for the patient in room 134?" I inquire to the bored-looking technician.

"Yup, here you go," She says as I'm handed the x-rays. I look over them carefully and identify no major damage in the lungs, but he may have a cracked rib. Either he has great pain tolerance or is still in shock.

"Thanks, but who are you? I don't think you and I have met before. I'm Santos," I explain as I extended out my right hand, which she takes with a stronger grip than I would have anticipated and replies, "I'm Hapi. Aren't you supposed to be doing something right now? With Arjun? Don't waste your time here."

I frown and retort, "Look I was just trying to be friendly, I know how things are run around here."

"Then when will you wake up? You're stronger than this," Hapi strongly insists to me. I turn my back to see if anyone else is in the hall watching before I raise my voice to this weird technician about what's her deal, but as I turn back around I notice she's vanished.

"What the hell…" I comment as I stick my head into the dark x-ray room and notice a bunch of machines idling, but nothing unusual nor a place big enough for someone to hide. I look down both ways of the hallway and it's vacant and silent.

I tilt my head back and pinch the bridge of my nose, "I'm losing my goddamn mind on this late shift. Breathe, Santos. People don't just vanish after giving you labs."

I take a few deep breathes before I briskly make my way back to room 134, and see Arjun still awake and seemingly waiting for my return. I shut the sliding glass door behind me, perhaps a bit too quickly as he asks in his thick accent with a hint of worry and curiosity, "Everything is well, I take it?"

"It's been a night, I'll tell you that."

"I see. Do you enjoy working here?"

I tilt my head to the side to consider his thought and reply, "I...think I do?" I shake my head to try and refocus myself and continue, "Nevermind that, I have your results. They look promising. No permanent damage, but you will need to take it easy for a bit. Did you get ahold of anybody?"

"Yes, I did. They'll be here tomorrow. Though, could you stay with me until then? It's been a while since this old man has had any company."

My mouth feels dry as I want to say yes to the man, but I hear a slam against the glass door, and on the other side I see the strange red-haired x-ray technician with a paper slapped up against the glass that has the words 'Wolf Pack' written on it. I feel confused yet soothed by her presence as I return my attention to the old man who is smiling in his medical bed and says, "Won't you stay awhile?"

The lights flicker once more as I look at the elderly man and shake my head, "No...I don't think I will."

I walk closer to the man until I'm right up beside his bed. I can feel a warmth coming from him as he asks, "But don't you like it here? Wouldn't you prefer this?"

As if possessed by a strange feeling I move my right hand up to the man's chest and whisper, "I'm not sure I would. I...I need to do something…"

I hear the sliding glass door crack behind me and the voice of Hapi shout, "Finish this Santos! You are running out of time!"

Time. That's been the one thing off this entire night. I look down at my hand that is resting on Arjun's chest and then up to the man's calm visage who whispers out, "Stay. It is good to be comfortable. You've earned your rest."

I can feel sweat beading on my forehead and my hands begin to shake as I reply in a strained tone, "No. I still have work to do."

"You have finished, so reward yourself by giving an old man a good-ack!"

I watch with horror as my hands have flung to the man's throat and I'm squeezing him with all of my might. The heart rate monitor and the other machines begin to sound off wildly as he flails around helplessly and I hear Hapi shout distantly behind me as if she's almost inside a tunnel, "Hurry Santos!"

I can hear the sounds of other hospital employees rushing into the room shouting for me to stop squeezing Arjun's throat. I hold my ground as I squeeze with every bit of strength I have within me. I can feel hands from my ankles all the way to the top of my scalp trying to tear me away from the man. A cacophony of demands, cries and screaming echoes behind me as I try to end this man's life, and finally, it all ends as the heart rate monitor flatlines and elicits that monotone beep.

The feeling of hands disappears instantly as I back away from the older man who now is sporting a completely crushed windpipe with a grim expression upon his face. I look back and see the lights in the hallway have gone out, but the paper that was stuck to the glass door remains stuck there with it reading 'Wolf Pack'.

I begin to make my way towards the door and pause one last moment to look back at the dead man and comment, "I'm choosing to leave this behind. I have work to do because people depend on me still. I can't live off of toxic nostalgia and shirk the future. Goodbye, Arjun."

With those final words, I open the glass door and step into the void. My journey has already begun, and I won't be stopped by the chains of my past weighing me down. Not when I still have so much to do.


"Hey! Hey! Bleeder! Santos!" I hear Hapi's voice grow in volume until it's nearly screaming in my ear and my eyes open. Before me is Arjun's crumpled body on the floor, writhing in pain with blood spurting out of his mouth. I look to the surroundings and notice all of the statues have fallen over, but more importantly, they are now unconscious people and no longer made of stone.

A large tremor shakes the ground and some dust shakes off the walls and nearly knocks me off balance as Hapi turns me around and slaps me, "Hey! Wake up!"

I break free of her grasp and shout, "I am awake! What in the hell happened?!"

"You were in frozen with your hand on that guy's head for a while, maybe a half-hour or so and you began to mumble to yourself a lot. I couldn't understand much of it, but the place began shaking so I place my hand on your shoulder. About 10 minutes later," Hapi points to the incapacitated Arjun on the ground, "his throat exploded and all the statues came to life."

Another tremor shakes the ground and I look towards Balthus and Yuri who are passed out on the ground and comment, "Looks like the spell was broke. Seems their spiritual energy was the only thing keeping the underground still standing. Let's wake them up and go...and get Bishop Solari."

Hapi nods as we both run over to the other Ashen Wolves and as I place my hand on each of them and cast Restore. Both their eyes flitter awake, though they are pretty quick on the uptake as Yuri mumbles, "I'm never letting you choose the brothel again, Balthus."

"I don't blame you, boss. Thanks, Santos," replies Balthus as Hapi and I lift each student to their feet. I give them a second to get their barrings before explaining, "Balthus, I need you to carry that guy over there. I have reason to believe it's Alphonse Solari, our target. Next, we need to carve a path out of here before it collapses on us, and I'm sure outside this room is a bunch of angry Morfese warriors.

"Good, I'm itching to get back at these guys for turning me into a rock. It's payback time," Yuri cockily muses as he rolls his shoulders and Hapi adds, "Yeah, let's do this. Anybody that does this to people, is less than human."

"Balthus, I need you to stand out of the fighting and protect our target. I doubt the church wants him in multiple pieces," I warn to the focused looking Balthus who sighs, "Yeah, I hear ya. Just don't expect me to be too gentle. Let's show them what happens when you mess with the Ashen Wolves."

We bolt out of the containment room as another tremor hits and we notice the 2 guards from earlier with their scimitars drawn waiting for us. I nod to my team as Hapi and Yuri attack the one of the left in hand to hand combat while I cast Warp on the one in front of me with relatively low resistance, and send him into the cavernous abyss over the sides of the bridge.

My students beat down the other guard handily as Hapi finishes him off with a close-quarters Death Γ spell, a particular spell I have yet to completely grasp due to it's volatile and dark nature. They send the warrior plummeting to his eventual death as another quake rocks the underground and the bridge begins to fracture.

"Move!" I shout as we all begin to sprint for the opposite corridor. As we go through the middle of the bridge I can feel the suspended stone giving away so I cast Warp on Hapi, Yuri, and Balthus to send them to the other end of the room.

The bridge collapses with me at the epicenter, with my students watching on in horror as I begin to fall towards the seemingly bottomless void below. I try to cast Warp on myself but I find my mana being finicky as I can't muster up enough to cast the spell. I must have spent too much energy too quickly when teleporting everyone at once, leaving my mind drained of that desire for now.

I begin to free-fall and my mind drifts to the strange dream I had earlier in the hospital. I now know that Arjun was trying to trap me inside my subconscious by having me flirt with my past life. The life I tried to go back to not too long ago, but thinking about it now makes it feel so distant. So much has happened since I was rescued from Fhirdiad. I've begun to atone for my selfish endeavors, and in that, I've met amazing people who have brought a new light into my life. I do think a part of me will always cling to my life on Earth, but in a weird sense, Arjun gave me some closure about wanting to return to Earth. Put simply, I've changed too much and don't think I can truly go back to my old life. When I returned, I made an oath to myself that I would help better Fodlan. It's a promise I can't break easily, and I'm not going out without a fight.

I look down and cast Bolganone with all my might, and luckily the physics work out as I intended as I rocket upward, almost to the ceiling with a trail of fire flowing from my hand. Upside down I spot my students looking on with a mix of awe, confusion, and fear. I shout out to them, "Someone come get me!"

Hapi springs into action by jumping off the broken bridge as my Bolganone spell is fading and I'm about to fall to my death again. She reaches out towards me, and in a quick flash I'm teleported right next to the other students by the door and Hapi is falling in my place now. I quickly conjure up a Rescue spell of my own and pull Hapi beside me in the blink of an eye.

I look back and see Yuri has already moved on to figuring out how to open the slate door with Balthus looking at me approvingly. I return my attention to Hapi and give her a high five, "Looks like you have been paying attention to the lessons."

"Maybe a little," Hapi cheekily replies and follows up, "But seriously, don't be so dramatic."

"Balthus, I need you to ram the door. It's jammed by some mechanism on the other side," Yuri addresses to the group and Balthus roughly drops the unconscious bishop on the ground and cracks his knuckles with a smirk on his face, "I'll have this door down in second, boss."

Balthus takes a deep breath as more rubble around us falls from the ceiling and he gives the slate door one solid punch followed up by a powerful front kick that manages to crack the stone around to the door. Balthus backs up a bit and performs a jumping two-feet sidekick that caves the door and manages to shatter the hinges that were hidden in the surrounding stone.

"Oh yeah, that's the almighty King of Grappling for you!" Balthus cheers as he scoops the bishop into a fireman's carry.

"I didn't know kicking was a grappling move," Hapi chimes in which draws a dirty look from Balthus but Yuri manages to keep us on track by instructing, 'Let's go, guys, I don't want this place to be my grave."

We rush through the rest of the underground lair by casting various spells at Morfese warriors that charge at us, we see many of the denizens had already fled from their comforts, but that doesn't stop Balthus from snagging a bottle of booze from their abandoned bar. We take on about 8 Morfese warriors on our way through the crumbling area with Yuri managing to steal a scimitar so he can carve us a path ahead with Hapi and I supporting with offensive magic.

We manage to escape out of the spiral-like staircase and out of the secret entrance as we barrel into the dark street. The cool and fresh air washes over us as we take a small breather and Yuri huffs out, "I'd like to reiterate. Balthus. You are never choosing where we go again."

"Hey, it worked out in the end. If I never suggested we take up that pretty lady's invitation we would have never found the guy we were after! I see this as an absolute victory!" Balthus defensively replies as he pats the still unconscious bishop who I go to check on. I grab his wrist and check for a pulse, and thankfully it's there but very weak.

"Congrats Balthus. As your reward for finding our target and nearly getting all of us killed, you will be the one scrubbing the top deck of the ship on our voyage back," I announce to which Balthus raises an index finger to protest but lowers his hand when he makes eye contact with his disgruntled classmates and sheepishly whispers, "Yeah, that's fair."

With our adrenaline spent we trudge back to the hookah bar that Yuri booked rooms at earlier in the day and make our way through the smoke-filled lobby. We manage to reach our rooms unabated, and I decide to check up on Constance and Lysithea, though something feels off as I can't feel their magical energies coming from within.

"Looks like they had an unwanted visitor," Yuri remarks as he points out the broken door. It must have been a forced entry from the looks of it.

I push the broken door open to reveal the standard room that looks destroyed. The walls look scorched with fire and electricity, the floor is stained with blood and the bedsheets are singed. I step into the room and see a piece of paper in the center of the floor that reads 'come to the docks'. I pick up the paper to see if anything else of note is on it, but it seems to just be a simple ransom note.

"Balthus, go get our stuff from the other room. Looks like it isn't over yet," I instruct as Yuri and Hapi peer over my shoulder to read it. Yuri asks, "What does it say? I don't read Morfese."

"Looks like Arjun or someone sent his thugs up here to kidnap Constance and Lysithea, but by looking at the room it would seem the girls made them work for it," I reply as I pocket the note and continue, 'Let's not waste time. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night here."

"Do you have a plan?" Hapi asks me but I shrug, "I've never had to negotiate for hostages before. Yuri?"

Yuri smirks and responds, "I have a plan, and it's going to be risky. Tell me, Santos, how good is your Morfese?"


We scoped out the docks and found about six Morfese thugs with their patented scimitars and armored cloaks waiting for us with Lysithea and Constance on their knees and tied up with burlap sacks over their heads. I verified that their magical signatures were correct for the team and that they weren't imposters, though considering the muted feeling around them I'd wager a guess they are under the effects of Silence.

We managed to incapacitate a cloaked Morfese warrior in the alley behind our inn and steal his garb. The cloak and head ware have a mask option to prevent sand from whipping up into one's face, which makes for a decent disguise if you also don't want to be recognized. As per Yuri's suggestion, I got suited up into the Morfese thug's outfit, which is surprisingly roomy and breathes well, but most importantly hides that I don't have a left arm. We managed to confirm that the leader of the hostage-takers is a mage due to Yuri pointing out they wield a Levin sword and I can sense a strong signature coming off of them.

The final bit of the plan is for me to infiltrate while underneath Yuri's silence spell to not arouse the lead battlemage to the deception. There is a good chance that he can also sense magical signatures nearby, and I don't want to give away our advantage, so I'm going in with just a scimitar to see if I can fool them. If not, we move onto phase two of Yuri's plan.

I make some final adjustments to my Morfese garb as I approach from the north end of the town. Nobody is out on the streets as I see the thugs posted up in front of the Ordelia ship we came into town on. Well, looks like the show is about to begin.

I approach casually up to the group of thugs passing by some of the grunts to get to the leader. They look at me curiously through the slit of their face wrapping and in a feminine voice ask, "Did you finish scouting? Are they coming?"

"Yes, but we have a problem. These here are the wrong travelers. It was the wrong inn," I reply to the commanding thugs who growls, "What?! How did this come to be?"

"I followed them to a different inn. They must not be traveling together," I inform the captain who's hand nervously scatches at the hilt of her Levin sword.

I clear my throat and insinuate, "We should release these children and find the correct marks. They are no use to us."

The captain hums as she considers the option and muses, "Why would Vihaad be wrong...I'm sure these people are who Arjun wanted...how else will we use magic to repair the barrier…"

I shrug and reply, "I'm just reporting what I saw. They should be making their way towards the eastern entrance soon. If we move quickly we can cut them off."

She seems to agree with my reasoning but her vision freezes as she looks to my left side and slowly asks, "Show me your left hand."

I swallow a bit as some panic begins to set in. With the Silence spell not dispelled yet, I'm a sitting duck without the bulk of my magic at my disposal, leaving me with only one option. soul magic can still be used through a Silence spell as it doesn't follow the same conventions, but soul magic is hardly a combat option. Wander is not a spell I want to cast, and I doubt I can use Soothe to dismiss her immediate concerns about me in the next five seconds.

She draws her sword and fumes, "Liar. You're one of them," She pauses to prepare a shout to alarm the other thugs around me. I look frenetically around for my other students, but I see they are still in the alley a ways off across the street. None of them have the rescue spell, and even if I give them the signal now it'd be an immediate death sentence as I can't handle 7 trained warriors at once, let alone without magic.

Desperate as the seconds pass almost in slow motion, I remember the last soul magic spell I had read about in that old tome. Harvest. I hadn't tried it, but after studying the text it sounded extremely dangerous, but I'm out of options. It's now or never for the mystery spell.

As the words are about to flow from the female battlemage's mouth I concentrate on extending my metaphysical self towards my Morfese assailant and focus on the one thing the spell emphasized to do. I visualize hooks protruding outward from myself going into the woman and with all my motivation and desperation I rip and pull at her soul.

"Warriors! The-ahhhh!" She screams as she drops her sword and collapses to the ground as I assault her unsuspecting soul with savage voracity. I want to feel ill as I can feel her soul writhe in pain as I strip chunks of her very identity apart with my crest empowered soul magic, but the act itself is oddly euphoric as my soul seems to attract the raw power of her soul.

"A sneak attack! Check the south and north! I will help here!" I shout out to the other Morfese warriors who run off without another need for instruction to hunt down the phantom assassins I sent them after.

I crouch down closer to the woman whom I'm literally tearing apart from the inside out and place a hand on her shoulder. I continue to fuel the hunger of the Harvest spell with my malice and hatred for these people making my students become hostages, I lean in and whisper, "Kidnapping children to use as magical batteries is quite low. So, I'm going to drain you of everything you hold dear."

I can feel her soul weakening as it fruitlessly tries to fight off my intent, growing smaller and smaller with each passing second and I'm becoming light-headed from the spell for an opposite reason. I can feel power flooding into my very being as the stolen energy is charging up my reservoir of mana. It's an intoxicating feeling that feels hard to pull away from as I continue to tear into this woman and lose any sense of my surroundings.

With any semblance of time lost to me, I feel someone shake my shoulder and in a very muted voice call out, "Hey! We gotta get on the ship!"

My vision begins to darken at the edges like a tunnel as I tear off the last scraps off of the warrior's soul and all surrounding sound becomes dulled as if hearing someone trying to talk through a wall. I look up to see the rest of the Ashen Wolves have freed Lysithea and Constance from their trappings. I must have become more absorbed in the Harvest spell as I didn't even notice them come in for the rescue effort. Hapi grabs me by the arm and I hear her very quietly shout, "C'mon!"

I dumbly nod as I'm dragged away from the catatonic body of the warrior mage and towards the ship. I'm barely able to register that we board the ship and Yuri is shouting commands to the crew to get us moving as quickly as possible from the shore. I don't even feel the cool sea air anymore at this point. Not even Hapi's grip on my elbow is more of just a slight amount of pressure. I can't even register if I'm breathing anymore at this point, but I'm still being dragged along in a daze.

I'm led to the upper quarterdeck of the ship where the wheel is and a better view of the docks where I see several of the thugs returning from the false alarm, this time with reinforcements. I can vaguely make out the sound of Yuri commanding the crew to ready themselves for a fight. I look to Hapi who's mouth is moving but no words are coming out. I feel a calm wash over me and no desire to panic as I see the warriors below begin to shoot arrows at us.

As I look back towards the Morfese people below I feel the effects of Yuri's Silence spell end and I extend my hand. My mana hardly needs any coaxing for my Cutting Gale spell as it releases from my body with magical might I had not ever experienced myself wield. The spell erupts from my fingertips as I aimed towards the middle of the docks, but the spell, instead of just hitting a person or small area it expands rapidly and increases in force as I see wooden planks snap and shatter. People are being thrown back by the force of the razor-sharp wind and the buildings on the other side of the street begin to crack.

As the spell persists my vision and hearing return to normal, I feel a normal train of thought once more and my emotions take on a much less reserved embodiment. The spell lasts for a little less than 10 seconds, and after the carnage, I don't even feel as if I used any of my mana to cast it, then the revelation hits me.

"I just catalyzed her soul…" I remark with a hint of wonder and disgust. I look out over the docks and see nobody left standing, it's scarce that anybody was left alive of the 15 or so fighters. Many of the people are missing arms and legs, the dock is completely torn up, and the buildings look like they got hit by a terrible storm. This is the power of Harvest; a spell that turns souls into magical fuel. My body losing sensation was probably an effect of me harboring too much power for one mortal body.

"What the fuck…" Hapi shudders as she looks at the carnage of the single wind spell.

"I...got us covered," I hesitantly respond as I look down at my hand that's covered in blood from the skin of my fingertips that have split apart as like they've suffered a thousand paper cuts.

I hear someone running up the stairs so I turn around and see Yuri looking slightly out of breath and wheeze out, "Okay, you've got to show me that. Anyways, we are all good to leave. Ready, professor?"

"I am. I feel pretty decent too actually," I reply as I turn away from the destroyed shore and begin to make my way towards my cabin, but instead my vision goes dark and I feel myself falling. The last thing I hear is Yuri shouting, "Hapi, grab him!"


A/N: Wild chapter, eh? We get to see Harvest in action which is quite the doozy. That's a wrap to the side questing arc, so we will be heading back to Garreg Mach to see what's been going on in the past few weeks? Certainly, it can't be worse the half-day the Ashen Wolves spent in Morfis, right? Right?

I can be found on Narwhal Lord's Fanfiction Treehouse discord Stormtide_Leviathan on discord . gg / 9XG3U7a so stop by and say hi to all the talented folks over there! Lots of other great stories to pick up and read from what I've found if more FE fanfiction is your things.

Many thanks to CottonElybit this chapter for some serious proofreading and beta work also! :D

Review Response:

Greyjedi449t: Expanding the world of FE3H was one of my original goals for this fic, so I'm glad you are appreciating it!

WalterTheMadGod: I can totally see that happening, wasn't my intention for a King Bumi moment, but I think it worked out xD Also I will probably look into commissioning more art at some point, but it's not a huge priority. As for the memory loss stuff? It's definitely an interesting concept I haven't considered, but I could see how that could work if I wanted to write a more horror/suspense-centric fic. Great suggestions and thanks for the review.

Nothing else to report here, just been pretty slow the quarantine and no work. Stay safe everyone, and I'll see you next time.

Next Chapter: 4/3-4/5 or maybe sooner depending on how much free time I have with Coronavirus still ravaging my area. We shall see!

Edited: 3/30/20