Shadows

A long while later, Mo Bai and Rover came out of the teachers' office together.

As for why they had been called in for a lecture, it was because Mo Bai had damaged the surrounding area while subduing a Shikigami earlier.

"This is all your fault..."

"How was I supposed to know they wouldn't even put up a sign after choosing the spot..."

Rover stared at him with a flat, deadpan expression. Mo Bai could only offer his excuse with a guilty look.

"Ugh. I didn't think I'd spend the last Sunday before classes started getting lectured," Mo Bai grumbled.

Ding.

Rover's Terminal chimed. She read the message that had come through on Feixun and let out a soft laugh.

Then she turned to Mo Bai.

"Lynae heard the teachers dragged us in for a lecture. She said that when you have time, she's coming to mock you in person."

A chill ran through Mo Bai at Rover's words.

"That's a bit much. Why does she act completely different now that we know her better...?" Mo Bai muttered.

An awful lot had happened today, he thought.

First, he had seen Rover wield three astonishing powers at once. Then the teachers had called them in for a lecture. And now Lynae was mocking him through Rover.

Seeing his expression, Rover smiled faintly and said,

"You're very different from the Mo Bai I first met, too."

Mo Bai felt his face grow warm. He promptly walked ahead, leading Rover away from the teachers' office.

He remembered an old internet joke.

When you first met a friend, you put on an act and seemed cool and aloof. Once you got close enough to let loose, having them bring up the old you was mortifying.

"Back then, I was just being cautious," Mo Bai protested.

When he had first arrived in this world, everything had been exhausting and nerve-racking. Now that most of his problems were settled, he felt much better.

As he thought back, Mo Bai glanced at Rover.

Of course he would act differently around a stranger than around a friend. But what about a friend who became a stranger again?

Back when Mo Bai was in school, he had always lived on campus. Apart from his teachers and classmates, the people he spent the most time with were his roommates.

He had gotten along well with them. They had been close friends, even.

But after graduation separated them, the roommates he had once had so much fun with never contacted him again, despite there having been no falling-out.

He had searched online and found all sorts of explanations.

Some said that too much time apart and too little contact caused feelings to fade. Others blamed changing circumstances and social class.

Would things end that way for him, Rover, and Lynae too?

Lost in thought, Mo Bai found himself back at the familiar academy garden with Rover.

Perhaps she was tired from the earlier fight, or perhaps she was simply tired of walking. Rover sat on a bench and patted the empty space beside her.

"What is it?" Mo Bai asked after sitting down.

The Remnant Star Society had made no moves lately, and the Voidworm crisis had been resolved. The academy was safe now.

From what Mo Bai remembered, whenever Rover took the initiative, it usually meant she was about to do something momentous.

"I want to hear your assessment of our friendly match."

To his surprise, she only wanted to talk to him about something small this time.

"You sound like a teacher..."

For some reason, Mo Bai felt a certain pressure from Rover, much like when she had been holding the scythe.

Still, complaints aside, Mo Bai went over his shortcomings with her.

He thought his biggest weakness was a lack of imagination. His attacks were too straightforward.

As for his hand-to-hand skills, he could practice those over time. He would subdue a few more Shikigami next weekend.

"During the fight, I noticed you pause right before your final assault."

After Mo Bai finished, Rover pointed out the problem.

"You caught that? You're sharp." Mo Bai was a little surprised.

He figured Rover had noticed him hesitating between destroying the White Divine Dog to strengthen the Black Divine Dog and attacking hand-to-hand instead.

With that in mind, he looked at the shadows beneath the academy's towering buildings.

A shadow could mean many things. It could suggest the dark side of the world, or stand for the depths of a person's heart.

Gazing at the shadows beneath the tall buildings, Mo Bai summoned both Divine Dogs.

Then he explained to Rover how a Shikigami's power was inherited.

After listening, Rover reached out and stroked the two Divine Dogs' heads.

"So you can't bear to part with them?"

"Yeah."

Mo Bai admitted it outright.

Although summoned Shikigami could be seen and touched, they were shadows at their core.

They could make sounds and bleed, but once completely destroyed, they would dissolve into a puddle of shadow and vanish.

Rather than living beings, Shikigami were more like tools.

Yet Mo Bai could not bring himself to destroy something so much like a tool.

They were his shadows.

"Because each of them feels like another version of me."

As he spoke, Mo Bai remembered the way the White Divine Dog had looked at him in Lynae's dorm room.

At the time, he had felt as though he were looking at himself, silently questioning himself.

Am I really going to run away like this?

Those eyes watching him were what had kept him from choosing to flee.

"When your ability awakened, all the knowledge about it was imprinted directly in your mind, right?" Rover asked.

"Hm? Yeah." Mo Bai nodded.

"Then those are just the paths already laid out for you. If you don't like them, make a new one."

Mo Bai gave a wry smile at her words.

That certainly sounded like her.

During his time at the academy, Mo Bai had come across plenty of accounts of Rover while looking up information about Solaris in the library.

She was the great hero who had repelled the Threnodian War to defend Jinzhou and saved Rinascita from disaster.

The Rover in those accounts seemed capable of anything, someone who could turn despair into hope.

For her, forging a new path must have been easy.

That was why her advice made Mo Bai smile wryly.

He did not think he had Rover's gifts.

Perhaps reading his thoughts from his expression, Rover said nothing more. She simply rose from the bench.

Whoosh.

Then, surrounded by the two Divine Dogs, she held out a hand to Mo Bai.

"Thanks." Mo Bai smiled, took her hand, and stood.

Forging a new path would not be easy. But with a friend's help, perhaps he could do it...

That was what Mo Bai thought.