After they were done eating, Ambigious, TehLulz and Unchosen quickly went to bed, exhausted from their training. freeZe admitted to herself that she wasn't faring much better but her exhaustion was not physical in nature and she didn't actually feel tired. She decided to sit on the couch in the living room with Fire and Shadow for a bit longer.

freeZe asked: "Did you do anything apart from negotiating?"

Fire said: "No, not really. The most time consuming part was having to wait for our audience, the negotiations were over quite quickly. The king may not be Eye-and-Claws but he sees the Mencur-Besh as valuable allies and is generally sympathetic towards us. The only reason why the Axe is still in Rockhaven is because it is the only known thing to be able to destroy artificial bedrock in an acceptable amount of time."

Shadow continued: "He is aware of the origin of Rockhaven, which made it significantly easier to negotiate for the Axe. He understands that the Mencur-Besh have similar reasons for wanting the Axe in a safe place and he doesn't want such a powerful tool in the hands of someone who wants to wage war on his city or his allies. We convinced him that the safest place for the Axe is in the custody of the Mencur-Besh."

freeZe asked: "Is there anyone who would be against giving the Axe away?"

Shadow said: "Yes, the Mage Guild representative said that there is an unusual amount of disagreement in the Guild. The archmage doesn't want to hear any of it though, she had the last word and she agrees with the King. We also heard surprisingly similar things from the Enchanter Guild. The Guard and the alchemists almost unanimously support the decision. Most other guilds are indifferent."

freeZe said: "Makes sense, the mages and enchanters don't like giving up power and it's only natural for the Guard to stand behind the king's decisions."

Without saying anything, Fire stood up and left the room, presumably going to his own, freeZe had a sneaking suspicion that he hadn't slept the night before. When she thought back on the day, she suddenly remembered something.

She asked: "Shadow, do the eyes whisper?"

Shadow looked at her apprentice and slightly tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

freeZe explained: "When I talked to Carol earlier she said that she was sensing some kind of magical interference from the eye."

"That should not be happening." Shadow said quickly. After a short pause she added: "And yet it is. I just checked, there is a significant amount of energy seeping from the eye, the interference only goes out a few meters but it still shouldn't be happening."

freeZe asked: "Any idea why?"

Shadow thought for a moment and then seemed to realize something. "I think I know why it is doing that. About five hundred years back there was a very unstable teleportation routed through the eye network, the target site was in the woods just outside of Rockhaven. Thousands of people were part of it, the magical surge must have damaged the eye in some way."

"What now?"

"It's good that you told me, I can only assume that the instability grows stronger over time. The damaged eye represents a flaw in the network, fragments of information are seeping out. The network uses the demonic language to transfer information, that's probably why it sounds like incomprehensible whispering."

freeZe asked: "What will we do about it?"

Shadow sighed. "Nothing. We can't afford fix or replace the eye since that would require my direct attention and we don't have that kind of time. Destroying it would severely cripple the network. We just have to get this Axe business done fast and hope nothing happens until we have the Ban Hammer."

freeZe asked: "Which is about how likely?"

Shadow said: "I can't really make any estimates about that."

Shadow stood up and poured herself a glass of tearfruit juice, then they both just sat there for a few minutes.

When she had finished her drink she asked: "So, since you don't seem tired enough to sleep, how about another lesson in theoretical magic?"

freeZe asked: "You told me that we had all of the relevant theory covered, I'm not complaining though."

Shadow said: "You are right, what I'm going to tell you isn't relevant to you but I thought that you should know. It's about Void magic."

"Didn't we talk about Void magic already?"

Shadow explained: "We did but what I told you back then wasn't the entire truth. Back in the base I didn't really know you but our travels have shown me a lot about you. I know that I can trust you with this."

freeZe said: "Alright, let me hear it."

Shadow stood up and started pacing around the room. "What I told you about Void magic so far is true, it is the counterpart to Ender magic. While Ender magic allows you to apply the laws of physics at your will, you are still bound by them. Void magic is what defines those laws. Uncontrolled Void magic represents the lack of rules, which is why it annihilates everything. The reason it can't be controlled is because it's the only thing that could permanently reshape how the world on the server works. Void magic is essentially the software in its raw form upholding the rules that allow this world to exist."

freeZe said: "Interesting but you are right, I don't see how this is relevant."

"The admins usually don't go on the server themselves but they still need someone to take care of some things in here. You know, people sometimes break the code of conduct. They tasked me with it and gave me some manner of control over Void magic so that I could apprehend the rule breakers no matter what. I am very limited in when I can use it though, it's only when I know for a fact someone broke the rules or clearly intends to break them and can't be dissuaded."

freeZe suddenly remembered something. "Back in the arena Fire mentioned the admins' enforcer. That's you, right?"

Shadow nodded. "It is important for the safety of everyone on the server that it remains undisturbed and secret. People joining are aware of this but occasionally forget or believe that there would be no consequences. There are also people who just like to make trouble, the human mind is easily tempted. That's where I come in. I track them down and confront them, though usually I let them off with a warning."

freeZe began to understand. "Unless they do it again."

Shadow nodded again. "That's where actual punishments come in, one of the harshest is being banned from the server. Although there are some people who require more than that, if someone wants to harm the server as a whole or expose the project I am forced to remove all memories associated with the server."

freeZe asked: "Could you theoretically kill people as well?"

"I can and I have. Only a small number, for those there really was no other way of being absolutely sure, a memory wipe can easily be undone if they left themselves hints. Those people were malicious beyond any doubt." Shadow briefly paused. "Don't look at me like that."

freeZe slowly said. "So, people in the real world are actually killed to uphold the secret?"

Shadow's pacing sped up and her voice got increasingly angry. "Yes and they knew that it could happen, it says in the damn contract. I have looked at their memories thoroughly and it still eludes me how some people can be so ignorant. Letting them live would endanger the safety of everyone on the server, if I hadn't killed them something like the hacker situation would have happened a lot sooner. I don't really have a problem with this, they had every opportunity to back down."

freeZe tried to ask something but all she got out was "Why…" before Shadow interrupted her. "If you want to know the reason, I'm doing this for Fire… Peter. He's been through so many bad things in his life and the server is the only place he has left where he is still truly free from his burdens. I will not let anyone take this world from him, not after all he has done to set me free as well!"

Suddenly Shadow stopped and buried her face in her hands. freeZe was unsure about what to do, Shadow had always been very restrained with her emotions in her presence. freeZe slowly stood up and walked over to her mentor, put her arm around her and slowly guided her back to the couch, then sat down beside her.

Shadow looked up to freeZe, freeZe expected to see tears in her eyes but then she remembered the nature of Shadow's body.

Shadow said: "When I heard that hackers took over the server I thought about killing them, when I heard that they were holding people hostage I knew that was what I had to do. It turned out that I couldn't, my power only works on people with a direct connection. I felt powerless because I was unable to help my brother. I couldn't live with letting him down." She paused. "I am scared, freeZe. I of all people. I know that if we don't succeed my brother will die because I was unable to save him."

freeZe said: "These are strange times. A few months back I would have never thought to be in this situation. The first days in the mine were hell, I probably would have lost my mind if it hadn't been for Fire. Trust me, I hate the hackers just as much as you do, we all do. You can't blame yourself for something they did. We are well on our way to stopping them."

Shadow sighed. "I know, I know. I really hope this whole plan works out." Shadow weakly laughed. "And to think that I just wanted to finish telling you something I left unfinished."

freeZe didn't know for how long they sat there but at some point Shadow had completely regained her composure but still stayed.

When she finally stood up, Shadow asked: "freeZe, can you do me a favor?"

"Yes."

"Please don't tell the others about this."

freeZe nodded and stood up, she went upstairs to her room and thought about what had just happened.