“Lara is close to her last gate. She could probably clear it already. She’s been stalling because she doesn’t want to leave you behind.”

  The words were like a dagger to his heart. Deep down, he’d realised that there was just no way he was going to make it on the six-month mark. He was still on his first gate after months of constant effort. Lara wasn’t dumb. She probably figured it out even before he did.

  Still, it hurt. He’d given it everything he had. No, he’d given it more than that, from the start, from the second he learned about his affinity, there was just nothing he could do that would let him keep up with her.

  When Lara looked up at him, no doubt seeing the hurt there, she opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it when she thought better of it.

  Felix wanted to ask if it was true, and wanted to assure her that he’d be right there beside her. But the words tasted like ash in his mouth. They both knew it wasn’t true. Just like they both knew Lara couldn’t hold back just because of him.

  For a long time, the table was still, no one knowing what to say. With a deep sigh, Felix broke the silence.

  “I killed it.”

  He pushed around his own food. He could see all the effort Agrona put into the meal, knew why she used the ingredients she did, and he could even tell that she swapped out the bitter blossom nectar for Pelmeron ring fruit juice, knowing it would throw him off while still tasting wonderful. Yet at that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to take another bite.

  He looked out of the glass wall, towards the golden gate of the Ways with its ever-splitting and merging path.

  “That’s three of the original four dead. The only one I still have to worry about is the rabbit. The last obstacle is the mountain. Once I clear that, I’ll be done with the gate.”

  He looked back at Lara, her gaze still down on the table.

  “Look, Lara, I know it isn’t looking good, but we’ve talked about the gates you guys had. Mine is… Well, it’s strange. We all know that. There’s always a chance that once I pass it, I’ll be able to quickly clear a huge stretch of my path. Hell, maybe I only get one gate.

  “The point is, you can’t hold back because of me. What are we going to do when I end up clearing it and you don’t? Will I have to go to the elite group on my own?” Felix chuckled. It wasn’t a joyous sound. Even to his own ears, it sounded hollow.

  “You need to keep going, Lara. I promise I’ll do everything I can to be there with you at the end of the six months. Even if it kills me, I’ll be there. So please believe in me, a little longer, even when you have no reason to.” He looked out at the paths.

  The next thing he knew, Lara had made her way around the table and hugged him while she cried. He knew they had to be drawing a lot of attention, but he didn’t care. He just rubbed her back like he used to when she was upset.

  She kept shaking her head as she held him tight.

  “You can't,” she choked out between sobs.

  “You can’t die, I’ll go on. I promise, just… just don’t die, ok?”

  Felix met her eyes, tears welling up in his own before he nodded.

  “Ok, I won’t die. You can’t die either, remember what Grandma said about the last gate. Make sure you’re ready, ok? Don’t rush… Just don’t hold back either.”

  He looked at Aster.

  “You too, ok? You can’t die either. I know you’re under a lot of pressure to keep up with Lara. I believe in you, but be careful.”

  Before he knew it, he was wrapped up in another hug.

  When he looked up, he saw Agrona, standing behind her counter, wiping away tears as she openly cried. He’d come to realise that she was a bit of a gossip over the months he spent with her, and clearly, even his conversation wasn’t beyond her eavesdropping ways.

  Even with his celebratory breakfast turning sombre, Felix still didn’t rush back to the Ways. He’d spent too long constantly dying, even with the Ways helping to dull the trauma he’d still built up a lot of stress.

  Instead, he took the day to enjoy himself. He spent some time walking through the garden, hanging out at the café. He had a friendly spar with Henry and had a cup of coffee with instructor Grendel. He read a couple of books, not because they seemed useful but just because they seemed interesting. He still ended up using his spell, but it was mostly out of habit.

  When the day was done, he treated himself to something he hadn’t had in months. He went to his dorm and actually slept in his bed. No channelling Invigorating Rest, just good old-fashioned sleep. When he awoke two hours later, he was quite disappointed to learn that his mana had gotten so used to the spell that it managed to speed up his sleep even without conscious effort.

  Still, it was better than the thirty-minute meditation sessions he’d grown accustomed to, so he decided to just be grateful for what he got.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Feeling refreshed but still weighed down from his conversation with Lara, he made sure he was in perfect condition before finding himself in front of the Ways again.

  Felix took a deep breath.

  “I’ll finish it, no matter what it takes.” Clenching his fist, he stepped into the Ways…

  Two days before the six-month deadline, a beaten and battered Felix finally crested the plateau at the summit of the mountain. His clothes were torn to shreds, and frozen blood stuck his clothes to frostbitten patches of skin. The only thing keeping him moving was the smouldering ram's horns tied to various parts of him with vines.

  Blackened veins pulsed painfully up his neck and the side of his face where he’d failed to avoid one of the many venomous creatures that made their home in the crevasses on the mountain.

  Spitting out the blood-soaked ram's horn he’d clutched in his teeth, Felix turned on his back.

  He’d sorely underestimated just how hard climbing the mountain would be.

  Just planning his route to provide enough shelter to keep him from being torn off the mountain face by the terrifying winds was hard. On top of that, he had to hunt down cinder goats from the lower ridges to make sure he didn’t freeze to death at the higher elevations. He had to carry their horns with him, adding to his burden.

  Apart from avoiding the almost comical amount of venomous creatures that made their homes in the crevices, he also had to avoid the Stratos Falcons. The damned birds made a game of tossing boulders the size of a carriage at him while he climbed.

  Yet he’d finally done it, he’d finally made it to the glowing beacon that had taunted him for the past half a year of his life.

  When he finally gathered the energy to drag his aching body off the ground, he felt like yelling out to the heavens.

  He caught himself at the very last second when he noticed another creature at the top with him. When he started his climb, he’d constantly been on the lookout, but after months of climbing, he’d completely forgotten that there was one more creature in the race with him.

  A creature that now sat there staring at him. Felix’s mouth hung open after his choked-off yell of elation. He was too surprised to close it.

  “No, no, don’t stop your celebration on my count. Go on, you’ve more than earned it.”

  Of all the things Felix had expected, the terrifying rabbit-like creature starting a polite conversation at the summit just before the finish line was definitely not one of them.

  For a moment, he considered still celebrating, but no matter how he looked at it he just couldn’t.

  “Uh, no, that’s alright. The moment is kinda gone.”

  The creature gave him a look that might have been apologetic… Well, it was between apologetic and hungry. Its face wasn’t the easiest to read.

  “Yes, well, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to rob you of your moment of triumph.”

  “Uhm, that’s alright, I guess. Why, uh, why haven’t you crossed the finish line?”

  The creature looked at him in surprise.

  “You haven’t figured it out yet?”

  Felix looked back at it blankly, only for the rabbit’s look of disbelief to grow. It was honestly rather embarrassing, so Felix tried to figure it out. As soon as he did, his eyes went wide in shock.

  “It was never a race, was it?!”

  “No, of course not, child, how would a race teach you patience and perseverance? Did you forget why you faced this gate in the first place?”

  Felix looked away, trying to hide the fact that yes, he had indeed forgotten why he ended up with this gate.

  “Wait, then why all of this? Wasn’t the first lesson with the spiders enough? This challenge was clearly way harder than anyone else's?"

  The rabbit creature nodded.

  “You were really stubborn, had to make sure the lesson sunk in.”

  Felix stared at it, his anger slowly bubbling up.

  “You can’t be serious?!”

  After a second, it burst out into rather cute squeaky huffs of laughter that didn’t at all match its terrifying appearance.

  “I’m not. I have no idea why your gate was so hard. You should have figured out that the things you faced in here, the creatures you met, none of them were fully fledged beings. We’re all constructs of the Ways. We aren’t actually alive. In a way, we’re just side characters in your story, here to help you along or challenge you when you need it.”

  Felix thought back to how Knucklehead would always rush towards the fight in the woods no matter how hard he tried to stop him. Or how the spiders would so strictly stick to their territory’s border. It made no sense, unless they were merely placed there as parts of a puzzle for him to solve. Looking at the rabbit with a new perspective, he nodded.

  “So what now?”

  “You complete the challenge, kid. Gate’s over there.”

  “You mean I don’t have to fight you?”

  The creature gave an oddly human shrug.

  “Nope, that would be a little too much for a first gate, even one like yours.

  Felix sighed in relief. It could be lying, but honestly, what would be the point?

  “Thank you.”

  “I'm just a plot device kid, congratulations on finally making it.”

  With one last look over the enormous distance he’d crossed, Felix turned his back on the challenge that had shaped the start of his journey. Taking a moment he appreciated just how far he’d come. While he would have liked to sit there a while and admire the sight he wasn’t comfortable doing so with the rabbit beast at his back. No matter how polite it seemed. Walking through the golden gate, he found himself back on the path.

  The gate slowly cracked before it finally shattered, every fragment turning into flakes of light that drifted off into the night.

  The gate that had blocked his path for practically his entire time in the Ways was gone. His path stretched out before him, eagerly waiting for him to continue his journey.

  When his path cleared, the entire Ways seemed to tremble, the entire sky twisted, the stones beneath him seemed to sing in joy as the weight of his accomplishment sank in. Felix allowed himself a moment to take it all in.

  Even with the answers right in front of him he didn't have the energy to move forward, to see if he’d be able to follow Lara and Aster. For a time, he just lay on his back, celebrating with the Ways until he drifted off to sleep.

  If you liked it, please rate and follow to help with the story's visibility. (～￣▽￣)～

  If you want to read up to the end of Volume 1 you can do so on and