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 the damage Mo Bai had done to the surrounding area while subduing a Shikigami earlier.

"It's all your fault..."

"How was I supposed to know they'd pick a spot and not even put up a sign..."

Rover gave him a helpless, deadpan stare, and Mo Bai offered a sheepish explanation.

"Ugh. I can't believe I had to waste the last Sunday before classes start getting lectured," Mo Bai grumbled.

Ding-dong.

Just then, Rover's Terminal chimed. She glanced at the message on Feixun and let out a small laugh.

Then she turned to Mo Bai.

"Lynae heard the teachers dragged us in for a lecture. She says she'll come mock you in person the moment you're free."

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

"That's a bit much. How come she acts completely different now that we know her better...?" Mo Bai grumbled again.

An unexpected number of things had happened today.

First, he had witnessed Rover wield three astonishing powers at once. Then the teachers had dragged them in for a lecture. And now Lynae was using Rover to pass along her mockery.

Seeing his expression, Rover smiled faintly and said,

"You're nothing like you were when we first met, either, Mo Bai."

Mo Bai felt his face grow a little warm. He immediately strode ahead, leading Rover away from the teachers' office.

He remembered an old joke from the internet.

When you first met a friend, you acted all cool and aloof. Once you got close enough to let loose, having them bring up how you used to act 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 on it, Mo Bai glanced at Rover.

Of course you treated strangers differently from friends. But what about friends who had become strangers?

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

He had gotten along well with them. In fact, they had been great friends.

But after graduation, the roommates and classmates he had once had so much fun with had never contacted him again, even though nothing had happened between them.

He had looked it up online and found plenty of explanations.

Some said that too much time apart and too little contact made friendships fade. Others blamed changes in circumstances and social standing.

Would things end the same way for him, Rover, and Lynae?

Lost in thought, Mo Bai found that he and Rover had returned to the familiar Academy Garden.

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's up?" Mo Bai asked after sitting down.

The Remnant Star Society hadn't made a move recently, and the Voidworm crisis was over. The Academy was safe now.

As Mo Bai recalled, whenever Rover took the initiative, it usually meant she was about to do something momentous.

"I want to hear your thoughts on our friendly match."

To his surprise, she had only stopped him to talk about something minor.

"You sound like a teacher..."

Rover somehow seemed imposing now, much as she had when she held the Scythe earlier.

Still, after that complaint, Mo Bai went over his shortcomings with her.

His biggest problem, he thought, was a lack of imagination. His attacks were too straightforward.

He could work on his hand-to-hand combat over time and subdue a few more Shikigami next weekend.

"During the fight, I noticed you paused when you launched your final assault."

After Mo Bai finished, Rover pointed out the problem.

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

He figured she meant the moment he had hesitated between destroying the White Divine Dog to strengthen the Black Divine Dog and attacking with hand-to-hand combat instead.

With that in mind, he looked at the shadows beneath the Academy's tall buildings.

A shadow could mean many things. It could suggest the dark side of the world or stand for what lay in someone's heart.

As he gazed at the shadows beneath those towering buildings, Mo Bai summoned the two Divine Dogs, one black and one white.

Then he explained to Rover how Shikigami inherited one another's power.

After hearing his explanation, Rover reached out and stroked both Divine Dogs on the head.

"So you can't bear to do it?"

"Yeah."

Mo Bai admitted it without hesitation.

Though a summoned Shikigami could be seen and touched, it was still a shadow at its core.

It might make sounds and bleed, but once it was completely destroyed, it would vanish into a puddle of shadow.

Rather than living beings, Shikigami were more like tools.

Yet Mo Bai simply couldn't bring himself to destroy them.

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, it had felt as though he were looking at himself, silently questioning himself.

Am I really going to run away like this?

It was those eyes watching him that had kept him from running in the end.

"When your ability awakened, the knowledge that came with it was etched straight into your mind, wasn't it?" Rover asked.

"Hm? Yeah." Mo Bai nodded.

"Then that's just a path already laid out for you. If you don't like it, forge a new one."

Mo Bai gave a wry smile at her words.

That sounded just like her.

During his time at the Academy, Mo Bai had visited the library to learn about Solaris. Along the way, he had read a great deal about Rover.

She was the hero who had repelled Mingshi during the war to defend Jinzhou and saved Rinascita from disaster.

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

Forging a new path must be easy for her.

That was why her advice made Mo Bai smile wryly.

He didn't think he had Rover's gifts.

Seeming to read his thoughts from his expression, Rover said nothing more. She simply rose from the bench.

Whoosh.

Then, with the two Divine Dogs gathered around her, she held out a hand to Mo Bai.

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

Forging a new path certainly wouldn't be easy. But with a friend's help, perhaps he could do it...

That was what Mo Bai thought.