Location: Magicon Empire; Song Duchy; Song System; Jiā; Valenia

Our food arrives soon after I agree to Duchess Song's proposal. It tastes delicious and makes me forget the bad taste of the deal we just made. At least a little. The good thing is that nothing will really change after all.

I guess, I can survive sharing the fame with Lisa. Even if it stings a little that she doesn't have to do that much for it. At least I do like Lisa. I'd be horrified if I had to share it with that Charles Junbun idiot for example.

While we eat, the Duchess uses another Communication spell to talk to me privately and explains a few more details that led to her reasoning. It is basically what I found out by myself: When Lisa took me in as a retainer, it was basically a lose-lose situation for her. At least considering the Earth adventure. Otherwise, there are only benefits in binding such a strong Mage like me to oneself.

It would be a benefit for the Earth adventure as well – If I was on her team… With me going separately, she'd look like she has no control over her retainers. And that doesn't even consider me possibly placing higher than she does – Which is certainly a possibility! On the other hand, if she dismisses me as a retainer, it makes her look bad as well because she didn't manage to control a strong Mage like me.

That's where Duchess Song's solution comes in. Including Lisa in my existing team circumvents our issues at least for the most part. On the one hand, Lisa looks good, as she managed to fetch a very good retainer who basically did all the work for her. On the other hand, I get a lot of credit too because, well, I did all the work.

It's not perfect, but the Duchess thinks it's still the best solution. She also assures me again that I get all the credit that I'm due for discovering Earth as soon as I shed my disguise. That helps my mood a lot. While I don't really care about getting first place at the Earth adventure with the accompanying Noble title, getting recognized for discovering our long-lost origin planet is on a different level!

At the Duchess's insistence, we stay for the night at our hotel and watch the sunrise from the place she recommended. It's breathtaking, and I'm glad we stayed the night. The city looks even more beautiful in the morning! After that though, it's time to leave.

We've already said our goodbyes to the Duchess after we signed the contract last evening. I had Clara analyze every millimeter of it, but she couldn't find any duplicity. The contract was exactly as the Duchess promised. I guess Grandpa John would have ripped her a new one if she tried to trick me…

I have the permission to teleport us back to the Stargazer, and so I grab everyone with my spell, and then we're gone. Clara has already flown the yacht back up during the night.

Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; VS Stargazer

Our return trip is pretty fast with Tim navigating through wormholes and me directly teleporting most distances in between. Therefore, we arrive late Saturday afternoon instead of sometime on Sunday. This enables us to relax for a whole day before we're back at school on Monday.

As Monday's schedule also features the Exploration course, this could also mean that we have to present our results already. I don't know yet as Sam was very tight-lipped about it. Honestly, I can't imagine that she expects a full-on presentation of everything we found right after we're back. Others might even still be on their return trips, depending on the distance they have to travel.

So at most, I think she wants to hear a short summary. But we'll see. Alina and Lydia both took care of our report on the way back and Nick prepared some practical examples of his findings. So I'd say even if Sam wants to throw us under the bus on Monday, we should have most angles covered.

Anyway, Clara and I park the ship back at the space station where most of our Exploration lessons take place and we all exit the ship. Somehow, Sam must have heard of our arrival, as she's waiting right on the other side of our airlock in the docking arm.

"Welcome back! I hope you had a good time. The Vexton System is something special, right?" She asks with a big smile on her face.

I frown a little. "Yeah… But I wouldn't call it fun, exactly. Let's just call it an experience we'd rather not repeat in the near future."

Her face falls, and she looks shocked. "What? Why? Didn't you explore Vexton 2 and ride some dinosaurs? That's like every child's dream!"

"Yeah, we did. That was kinda fun, true. But we also flew through a radioactive wasteland, had to get decontaminated, and in the end, had a very close run-in with Gina…"

Her mouth drops open. "Gina…? No! The T-Rex? But how? You're not supposed to come even close to her. Or did you attract her somehow?"

I shake my head. "Yeah, the T-Rex… Let's say we got too curious, and it backfired. We've got it in our report, but right now, I'd rather go to sleep for a bit. I don't think the others would mind some relaxation either." I point at the tired faces of my friends.

"Yeah, of course. Still, do you think you're ready to do a short presentation on Monday? Nothing major, I know that takes more time, but I'm very curious, about where things went wrong. The Vexton System is supposed to be a fun one after the little shocker with the contamination."

I nod at her. "Yeah, we should be able to do that. See you then!"

She says goodbye as well, then I teleport us back down to Terra. The boys exit my room soon after, saying they'll get some sleep as well.

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Lydia asks if we want to go out to grab something to eat, but the three of us are all too tired. I'm practically lying in my bed already as all those teleports really took their toll. Lydia just shrugs and then proceeds to call Olivia. Five minutes later, she's clothed in something nice and leaves our dorm. Then I'm asleep.

I wake up the next morning with a message blinking on my interface. Yawning, I stretch and then open it up. The message manages to wipe away the remaining sleep quite nicely. It's from Grandpa John! He asks to meet me for lunch today. Considering that we just arrived back in the Magicon System, this probably is also about our recent exploration adventure. Crazy how fast the word spreads in some circles. But with Grandma Amelia… Yeah.

Anyway, Alina, Lucy, Lydia, and I go out for breakfast somewhere on campus. Lucy asks if we want to watch a movie afterward and both of the others immediately say yes, as the sequel of one of their favorite movies just released. When they catch me shaking my head, their expressions fall.

Why not?" Lydia asks with sad eyes.

"Come on, you're gonna like it, even if it's a romantic comedy. Donald Gambit is such a good actor… And he's soo hot!" Alina basically drools.

I sigh. "I wish, I could… But I've got to meet my Grandpa for lunch. I'm sorry, but I actually have to leave soon.

Lucy laughs. "I guess that's more important than watching a movie with us. Let's just move it to the evening instead. That way you're not gonna miss it." She turns to the others with a big grin. "How about we rewatch the first movie in the meantime?"

Both girls' faces brighten and Lydia responds. "Oh, yeah, I'd like that!"

Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Benson Moon

After a quick stop in my disguise chamber on the Stargazer, I arrive in one of the jump rooms close to both my great grandparents' offices. When I step outside and am immediately tackled by Vic, I start to think that this might actually be an official meeting with Grandpa John instead of a chilled get-together.

I mean all the other times I just jumped there and walked to my destination myself. So why is Vic there, looking like she's here to escort me?

She hugs me fiercely. "Sara! I was so worried when the news came through. Are you okay?"

I have to take a step back to stabilize myself, then I hug her back. "Hi Vic, I'm fine… It's all good, why are you so worried."

"What do you mean? You almost get eaten by a crazy experiment and that's your reaction? You can't just brush it off, you know? That eats you from the inside!"

She releases me from the hug and scowls at me. "You almost died. I saw the video. Don't do stupid shit like this again!"

There is a video? Uh, oh. Now I'm dreading my meeting with Grandpa John. "I'm sorry, Vic. I didn't mean to. The T-Rex surprised us, that's all. I mean who lets an animal use anti-magic pulses? How is this even possible? It's stupid!"

She just shakes her head and turns around. I notice a small smile on her face though. "Follow me, they're already waiting for you."

They?

Double uh, oh!

She leads me down the hallway until we arrive before a nondescript door. There are two beefy men standing guard. Vic stops beside them and makes an inviting gesture. "After you."

I gulp and stop before the door. Taking a deep breath, I open it. Then I immediately stop at the threshold. There are five people inside, frowning at me. Everyone's there. Shit.

Even Chris found his way up from the planet. The only one missing is Adrian, but I know that he's currently out on a mission, so he doesn't count. "Uhh, hello, everyone," I hesitantly say and fully step into the room.

Vic closes the door behind me but stays outside. A heavy silence descends upon the room.

After a moment, Grandpa John points at one of the empty chairs at the table. "Please sit, Sara."

I swallow some spit and comply. No one says a word, and with a snap of Grandpa John's fingers, plates of food appear on the table. "Please eat, we'll talk later."

Everyone grabs their food and starts eating. It's so weird, the silence is deafening and I inwardly sweat buckets, as I know that they'll probably chew me out any moment now.

Every time I find the courage to speak and start to open my mouth, their stern looks make the words die in my throat. So I continue to eat. At least it tastes superb, but I guess no one here would drop so low and actually serve me bad food. Food is sacred after all.

Finally, we're finished and the plates vanish. I look up expectantly. Grandpa John clears his throat. "I know you're young, but that was beyond stupid! Why take so many unnecessary risks? You've basically had everything to ace your course almost ten times over. Why did you push further and further?"

"I…"

He interrupts me with a raised hand. "No, please let me finish. It was foolish, and I think you're starting to get it. But that's not what I'm aiming at here. You've become spoiled!"

I what?!

He must have read the confusion on my face, as his voice softens a bit. "Yes, spoiled. Since you've become a pseudo-Archmage, your reliance on your magic went through the roof. I think you barely even noticed it, but it's true. Here, take a look. These are only the things that public CCTV cameras captured, and we all know that we're even more reliant on magic in private. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing per se… Maybe you get it yourself if you think a bit, now watch."

A projection comes alive above the table and shows me arriving in various jump rooms across campus. A map on the bottom right shows the distances covered. I feel myself blushing, as some distances really are very short. The projection then switches to me casually levitating many different things around me. My hands are in my pockets almost all the time. A third switch shows me strolling through the rain with a telekinetic field above my head, and a last switch shows me using my telekinetic bench right next to a real empty bench. That one hits the hardest and I'm now red as a tomato.

The projection vanishes and Grandpa John tilts his head. "Do you see?"

"Yeah… This might come over as spoiled… At least a bit. But where's the issue? Why do we have magic if we're not gonna use it?"

Instead of saying anything in response, he taps something on his interface. Then I feel it, the heavy pressure of anti-magic tech. I also feel that I could overcome it if I tried hard enough. I'm still some kind of Archmage after all and Mom didn't bother with the prison's suppression either.

Wait, why was the T-Rex able to suppress my magic then? Oh! And I see now what Grandpa John meant. The suppression vanishes again, and everyone sighs in relief.

"I see that you get it now… While you're in a unique position to ignore anti-magic, it is still uncomfortable and takes a lot more power. It's also not infallible, as you discovered during your encounter with Gina."

I lower my head in shame. "I get it… I'll lower my use of magic. But can you please tell me how it or rather she was able to do what she did?"

Grandma Amelia speaks up for the first time. "No, don't cut back on your magic. You're getting this wrong. What John tries to tell you is that you should always have contingencies in place. Your plans to teleport away in case of danger are a step in the right direction, but you should always plan on your magic failing, at least during fights or when you explore the unknown. Most of magic is still a mystery for us after all. Who knows if there is some alien behind the scenes just waiting to flip a switch and cut off our magic forever."

She stops for a soft chuckle and Grandpa John picks up again. "To answer your second question, Gina didn't use anti-magic. She rather sent out a pulse that disrupted all ongoing spell effects in the vicinity. The backlash of that scrambled your core and made your magic malfunction for a short time. There are ways to resist this if you are interested."

Oh, I'm very much interested!

Mom winks at my great-grandparents. "What those two old fools are trying to say is that we all were worried. You can't imagine how we felt while looking the possibility of losing you again in the eye. You need to be more careful! As you've seen, we're not always there to protect you. Promise to be more careful in the future!"

Grandma Amelia smacks Mom on the back of her head for her comment and I smile a bit.

I straighten myself in my seat and nod at them all. "I promise."

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