"How sure are you that no one's listening in?" Richard asked.
She drew a complex sigil in the air, and a shimmering barrier of blue light materialised around them. "Absolutely."
Richard met his sister's gaze, his expression darkening. "I've been set up, Mer. Some people—King included—did something in Paphos ten years ago, and I died."
His hands clenched into fists at his sides.
Meredith frowned at the shadows shifting in her brother's eyes.
"Died? How—" She shook her head, voice wavering. "I don't understand. You're standing right here, alive."
Richard inhaled a measured breath, forcing himself to stay calm despite the surge of bitterness. "I barely believe it myself. But I did die that night, Mer—King and whoever else was with him arranged it so I'd face that… thing on my own. Then I got stabbed straight through the chest."
Her lips parted in shock. "C-Chest? Wasn't King your—?"
"My partner, yes," Richard cut in. "He was assigned to the mission with me. Or so I thought. But something happened in Paphos—something big—and I was the sacrificial lamb."
Richard opened his mouth to speak, then paused, glancing at the shimmering, semi-translucent barrier around them. The arcs of blue light pulsed gently, making the air hum with contained energy.
"No one will hear us," Meredith assured him, "not with this barrier active. But… if you died, how did you survive?"
Richard's brow furrowed. "I have no idea. I just remember darkness, then waking up years later, alone." He swallowed the knot in his throat. "Look, I'm piecing it together bit by bit, but I can't do it alone. I need to find out why they'd want me gone."
Meredith slowly nodded. "Right. And the best way to learn the truth is from inside the Association itself."
"Yes," Richard agreed, letting out a bitter laugh. "Ironic, isn't it? I have to become a hero all over again, just to learn why I was forced to die in the first place."
She hesitated, shuffling her feet. "Maybe I could help you with that."
He paused. "How?"
Meredith pressed her lips together, then squared her shoulders. "Things have changed since you've left. I might not be as famous as Astralis"—she spat the name like it was a filthy word—"but I'm not just some random junior researcher, either."
"I don't know. I'd rather you didn't take any risks for me…" Richard said softly, making his sister snort.
"I'm not the little girl you had to coddle ten years ago, brother," she said firmly.
Right. She's right. If I'm remembering all right, she should be a year older than me now…
It was strange to think about—he'd been frozen in time while she grew up and surpassed him.
Meredith hesitated before speaking again, as though bracing for his reaction. "I'm Britain's number seventy-seventh hero. Officially, I go by Astrid."
Richard blinked, taking a moment to absorb that news. "Astrid," he repeated, remembering the silver-haired woman who'd answered the door. "Was that why—?"
Meredith gave a wry smile. "Yes, that's the name I go by in official circles. I know it's ironic, but it seemed… right, to pick a name close to Astralis, since I was determined to reveal the conspiracy behind your death."
A dozen questions flitted across Richard's mind, but one stood out. "Wait. Why did it seem like Mum and Dad don't know? Don't tell me you're going around with a mask like I was."
She nodded weakly. "Can you blame me? I didn't want them panicking every time they switched on the telly. They know I work with anomalies, but not to what extent."
Richard sighed, passing a hand over his face. "So you've been fighting monsters, and I had no idea."
Her tone softened. "It's not like you could've rung me up from the afterlife."
He gave a hollow laugh. "Fair point."
For a moment, neither spoke, each grappling with the bizarre reality of their circumstances. Finally, Richard's gaze twinkled with amusement. "So, you're ranked seventy-seventh. That means you've got some skill, yeah? What's your rank?"
Meredith drew herself up proudly. "S-Rank, same as you used to be."
What? S-Rank?
"Humanity wasn't idle in the last ten years, brother of mine," Meredith said with a smirk, enjoying her brother's befuddlement.
"No, I suppose you haven't. What about your Class?" he asked, regaining some of his earlier excitement.
"My Class is Mage," she declared. "The greatest Class there is!"
Mage Class? I don't know anyone besides myself with that Class. And now that I think about it, isn't this the Guild of Mages headquarters? Richard thought with interest.
"I haven't heard about anyone being a Mage," he actually said, which was true, considering he hadn't told anyone about his own Class.
I told them all that I was a fighter. Thank God for all the stats I put into strength.
Meredith's eyes sparkled with mischief. "That's because it's so rare! I don't know what happened back in your time, but now, there are about a hundred new mages only in a year."
Only a hundred, huh? Well, that would explain why I didn't know anyone else being a mage since I'm not exactly the biggest extrovert.
"Just because something's rare doesn't make it better. I thought our parents taught you better than that," Richard said amusedly.
"It's not that, dummy! Mages are the only ones who can change their abilities!"
As she spoke, Meredith gestured with her hand, and a sphere of swirling purple energy materialised. "See this? This is my E-Rank ability. When I first started at the academy, my E-Rank ability was just conjuring stone—not very useful for killing monsters."
Come again?
"Wait. How can you change abilities?" Richard asked, flabbergasted. Can I change my abilities too?
"It's pretty easy! If you're a mage, you have a single subclass called Apprentice. With that subclass, which is a constant in every single mage's system, you can consume different magical abilities from tomes and exchange the ones you already have. Well, that is if you have any to begin with. Not all of us do," she explained and stopped channelling energy to her purple spell, prompting it to disappear.
"I started with four abilities," she finished with a haughty smile that Richard missed because he was too busy thinking what that meant for him.
How come there weren't any mages ten years ago, and how didn't I find any of those tomes Meredith talked about?
"That changes everything…" Richard muttered.
"What does?" Meredith asked, tilting her head curiously. Her brother's expression shifted, a mix of surprise and something else flickering across his features.
"Because," Richard said slowly, "I'm a mage too. And unlike you, I have two subclasses."
Meredith's eyes widened. "A mage? Two subclasses? But that's—" She shook her head, struggling to process this revelation. "I've never heard of any mage having two subclasses."
"Maybe that's why they wanted me dead," Richard said grimly. "I was an anomaly… But how could they know, when even I didn't know about it?"
A heavy silence fell between them as the implications sank in.
After a few moments, Meredith broke the hush. "We need to be strategic about this. If you're right about them targeting you for your unique status, we can't let anyone know you're back until we're ready to move."
Richard nodded. "Yes, I know," he said, pausing to think. "Listen, Mer. I know I can't stop you from trying to dig up the truth. I will, however, urge you to act with utmost caution."
Meredith folded her arms, her expression firm. "Of course, I'll be careful. This isn't my first time handling secrets."
She met his gaze, unwavering. "But what about you, Rich? What's your next move now that you're back?"
Richard let out a slow breath, his lips curling into a wry smile. "What else?"
His gaze burned with renewed determination. "I'll become a hero again. But this time, I won't just be the same man I was before. The world will know me as a mage. And when the time's right, they'll learn. They'll find out exactly who I am."
A flicker of something passed through Meredith's eyes—pride, worry, maybe both. "Then we'd best make sure you do it right."
Her fingers twitched, a hint of magic sparking at her fingertips. "If you really want to step back into the light, you're going to need training. You might be an S-class monster, but times have changed."
Richard raised an eyebrow. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
Meredith smirked. "Weren't you ninety level tops? I'm level ninety-five. I outrank you now, old man."
Richard laughed—a real, unguarded laugh. "All right. Let's see what you can do."
And despite his words and his easy demeanour, Richard felt new worries rising.
If my little sister is levelled above me, then what about everyone else? How much stronger have the bastards who betrayed me grown while I was dead?