What was the easiest way to get someone to do something?
If you asked Frusen, he'd say subtle influence.
A nudge here. A suggestion there.
Slip into the gaps of a person's thoughts so lightly that they never realised their decisions had been guided in the first place.
In fact, the more convinced they were that the choice was entirely their own, the better.
But if you asked Reoloy—
He'd give a different answer.
Throw off their sense of reason.
People liked to think they were logical creatures. Rational. Deliberate.
Most weren't.
All it took was the right push, and logic would be the first thing to leave.
Usually, he'd lean more on confusion to do the job.
But there was a more reliable way.
That's right.
Make them emotional.
"We're turning back."
"No, we aren't."
"Yes, we are. This journey is over."
Reoloy frowned, still staring into the depths below.
If something as simple as a bridge collapsing was enough to stop him, he never would have made it past the first night on that boat.
Green eyes shifted to the man already walking away behind him, harsh snow-laden gusts battering against his face and hands.
'How do I get him?' Reoloy wondered. 'He's more measured and collected than the average person...'
Up until now, Frusen had shown nothing that suggested he could be roped into his newest reckless scheme. Especially when said scheme directly violated one of the rules he had established at the very start of the climb.
Thinking back on their earlier interactions, Reoloy mostly remembered the man trying—and failing—to get a rise out of him.
Not that he ever had much of a chance of succeeding.
Reoloy considered himself something of a professional when it came to provocation.
Regardless, he himself still had nothing to work with until a stray thought crossed his mind.
In a quick motion, his back and neck snapped straight in realisation.
The images of Edam and Edren, and the pathetic way Frusen had fawned over them before they departed.
A sort of twisted glint appeared in his eye.
"Did you know that your children threw themselves into the path of danger when they could've run away?"
The sudden absence of footsteps told him everything he needed to know.
He was in.
Now to reel the hook back.
"...What about it?" Frusen asked, his tone strained.
"I'm just surprised, is all," Reoloy said, elevating his tone just a shade brighter, almost cheerful. "Since someone like you is their father, they must not be as impressive as I thought."
In a flash, Frusen was in his face.
Reoloy had to hide a smile. This was too easy.
"Don't you dare use me to talk down on them! Those two are my pride and joy... my everything!"
The teen felt the grip on his collar tighten, looking off to the side, almost bored.
"You of all people don't get to mouth off, brat!"
'Of all people?' Reoloy thought. 'What's that supposed to mean?'
He studied him for a moment, fully aware the man was already exactly where he wanted him—any move now would be too late to reverse.
The reincarnator smiled. "There's some fire. Use it for what comes next."
"What… are you… talking about?"
Then they dropped.
Every ounce of anger in Frusen's body snapped into alarm.
He knew instantly what was coming.
And just like that, a deep, distorted call—the chilling cry of a monstrous bird—rolled through the frozen air.
A massive surge of sharp mana flooded the region as a shadowed wingspan stretched across the sky, at least a hundred metres wide, gliding far above them.
Frusen's eyes drifted to the smiling boy still held in his grip, already understanding he had just been played.
"I'd start hovering if I were you," Reoloy laughed. "And don't even think about dropping me. They'll know if you kill me on purpose."
The guide clicked his tongue.
Reoloy was right. At the very least, the chieftain would notice. The man had an unnervingly sharp awareness like that.
Adjusting his hold of the boy, Frusen lifted slightly into the air, mana bursting beneath his feet in controlled pulses.
Immediately, he set his sights on what had previously been the other end of the bridge and shot toward it.
"What are you doing?" Frusen asked, watching Reoloy out of the corner of his eye. "Are you trying to signal?"
"So that's what it's called," the teen muttered, idly shifting his line of sight and twitching his muscles every so often.
"Yes, and you're doing it all wrong—"
A gust of sharp wind cleaved past them, interrupting them in their flight path.
Frusen twisted instinctively, rotating his body and pulling Reoloy in closer with a strained grunt.
A distant ridgeline split apart with a deafening crack, several tonnes of snow and stone shearing away from a mountain before vanishing into the abyss below.
The guide's expression darkened.
The snow-laden winds shifted, and a shape emerged.
Massive wings stretched before them, each feather resembling a curved blade forged from cold blue metal. The creature coasted through the blizzard with terrifying ease, barely flapping despite its absurd size.
For a moment, it looked almost graceful.
"You know we could be moving right now?"
The brunet snapped out of his stupor, staring in disbelief at the child that seemingly still felt nothing even at the sight of such a monster. It reinforced his earlier theory that Reoloy was a dangerous brand of careless and ignorant.
They descended through the open void, wind biting at them from all directions as the peak they had just dropped from drifted away into nothing in the vicious blizzard the blade kite had just kicked up.
Unfortunately, the lower flat terrain that had been faintly visible earlier also fell into a deep blanket of white, leaving making landfall entirely up to chance.
Frusen's breaths came heavy, his mind racing even as his body moved on instinct, executing a series of incredibly precise manoeuvres to evade incoming air blades.
'Where is it?' he thought, his head on the swivel for their destination.
"Go right now and then straight without shifting in the slightest."
His eyes snapped toward the boy dangling rather carelessly in his hand.
He would have ignored him or questioned him further, but something about the child's demeanour made him move before he knew he had done so.
'Did he just...?'
Reoloy sighed. "It's your turn. Have at it as you please."
For a moment, Frusen thought the boy had actually lost his mind.
Then he felt it.
A dark, oppressive mana manifested directly above them.
It wasn't comparable to the blade kite's presence, nor did it come remotely close to the overwhelming scale of power the monster possessed.
Yet something about it felt wrong.
Profoundly wrong.
The energy carried a corruptive quality that seemed to stain the air around it, as though its very existence violated something fundamental.
Frusen felt inclined to admit he felt more fear at this new presence than he did from the bird monster.
"What is tha—?"
"For your own sake, don't ask," Reoloy interrupted. "Don't look at it either. That's how it latches onto you."
That was a lie to get out of answering unnecessary questions for the time being, of course. The man wouldn't catch on because he was rattled, so he could afford to try it.
While Gaiskas held the bird off for the next few minutes, they would arrive at the ruins, and everything would be just amazing.
Of course, his thinking was somewhat sarcastic. The bridge collapsing the way it did spelt more problems for his future than he was comfortable admitting right now.
"Why aren't you afraid?" Frusen asked, finally deciding to just be upfront about it.
Reoloy blinked, then laughed.
"What's so funny?" the man asked, not even annoyed anymore, just mentally exhausted.
"I didn't know that's how it looked to you," Reoloy said. "I'm terrified out of my mind every other moment."
That caught Frusen off guard, but he didn't show it. He maintained a steady, controlled flight despite the distant thunder of explosions above them.
"You militia guys put too much stock in these monsters in Cardana," he continued seriously. "They're powerful—especially to me as I am now—but there are far more dangerous things beyond the cliff walls you've been sheltered by your whole lives."
A massive dark structure began to emerge in the distance.
Deep black doors.
An expression of mixed joy, excitement, and fear crossed the reincarnator's face.
"You have to keep moving to get past the things that limit you today."
Frusen didn't have a response.
Cursing his own introspective nature, he found his thinking shifting—against his better judgment—toward actual respect for the young outsider.
"How old are you?"
"Fourteen, I think."
"You must have lived one hell of a life."
Reoloy froze, his gaze drifting downward.
"...You could say that."
Just then, a massive corpse came tumbling down, whispers of purple mana leaking from its body as it crashed through the air.
Both of them stopped and stared, almost in disbelief.
The great blade kite had been felled.
All in the span of a few minutes at that.
Reoloy frowned briefly, then quickly reset his expression before it could be noticed.
Unable—or unwilling—to accept that the threat was already gone, Frusen descended and landed them directly in front of the fallen beast. He studied it carefully, then staggered back in utter shock.
"It's actually real..."
"There are far more dangerous things beyond the cliff walls you've been sheltered by your whole lives."
He looked at Reoloy, still held in his grasp, though he seemed eager to be let go now.
"The monsters beyond the boundary…" Frusen hesitated. "Are they all like the... thing you summoned?"
"Hm?" Reoloy muttered before catching himself, a strained smile forming. "Way stronger things exist out there. There's a girl who could've killed this beast with a sneeze when she was five years old. She's seventeen now, so you can imagine what she's capable of."
Frusen released him, allowing Reoloy to dust himself off and stretch out for a moment.
"You can go on." The guide pointed toward the doors standing in the middle of the snowfield. "I would've brought you closer and maybe even joined you, but since I can safely fly back now, I should return to protocol."
He stood up, taking a few steps back.
"This is as far as I go. I'll confirm that you've made it in and leave."
Reoloy raised a brow. "Just like that?"
"Just like that," Frusen replied lightly. "Earlier, you tried signalling—subtle manipulation, as others would call it. You weren't too far off. If you make it out alive, come find me. I'll teach you."
Reoloy let out a short laugh.
"I still don't like you, but I'll remember that."
"…Brat."
Immediately, Reoloy walked off, and within a good couple of minutes stood before the towering, mysterious entrance.
There were no handles, so he placed his hands against the cold surface—and instantly, the white light he had received from Gordoi flared across the doors in branching lines of circuitry. The massive structure groaned, then creaked open slowly, revealing a set of steps descending downward.
"This is it!" he yelled across the field. "Thank you for the help!"
Frusen waved once, then turned, his boots igniting as he streaked into the air.
Reoloy stared.
And stared.
And stared some more.
And then—
"You really decided to test me, didn't you?"
The purple entity formed beside him, nervously glancing around to avoid looking at him.
"I don't see the problem," Gaiskas murmured. "It worked out, didn't it?"
The doors slammed shut behind him, and he leisurely strolled to the right side of the snowy field.
"But you wasted mana in the process. What happens if we end up needing it later?"
As he finished speaking, the "corpse" began to break apart, dissolving into wisps of fading mana.
"You said it would be easy," Gaiskas retorted. "Why the extra caution now?"
Reoloy glanced at where the bridge had been, a frown stretching across his face.
"Nothing we can do about it now," he said, scratching his head.
---
~ Earlier ~
"Did you know that your children threw themselves into the path of danger when they could've run away?"
Reoloy's hand slipped into his pocket, fingers closing around the mirror relic.
"You're good with illusions, yeah?" he whispered.
"Dream magic?" Gaiskas asked. "I've dabbled in it."
"There's a monster I'm going to describe to you. Make him see it not long after we fall off this ledge..."
~ Moments Later ~
"Are you trying to signal?"
"So that's what it's called," the teen muttered, idly shifting his line of sight and twitching his muscles every so often.
'Just maintain the damn thing, and on my signal, fight it until we get past.'
In a flicker of purple mana, Gaiskas shot upward into the sky, and Reoloy assumed he'd gotten the message.
"Yes, and you're doing it all wrong—"
---
Confusion and emotion would only have gotten him as far as diving off the peak, and if the real blade kite had appeared, it would have gone from bothersome to outright impossible for him to get through.
So instead, he chose to stage the entire encounter while hoping the actual beast would still be separately distracted.
Frusen was clearly afraid of the blade kite—overly so.
Meaning that in a situation like that, he wouldn't be thinking clearly enough to question anything properly.
The only hiccup had been Gaiskas' illusion of the monster's death. It was fortunate the level of detail in the spell's sensory override extended to touch; otherwise, they would've been exposed.
"I'll deal with you later," he muttered darkly, eliciting a flinch from the laikern. "For now..."
Reoloy dropped off the edge of the flat terrain and fell for what felt like ten minutes before extending his spectral claw to arrest his descent, cushioning the impact as he landed.
"What is this?" Gaiskas asked, looking around at the cavern they found themselves walking into.
"The side entrance."
A blur of lavender motion crashed into the boy, knocking him to the ground.
"You made it!" Lohan exclaimed.
She pulled him up immediately, then dragged him deeper inside.
"You were late, so she started doubting you'd even show up."
"She did?" Reoloy asked, amused. "From the looks of things, you didn't believe in me either."
Lohan let out an awkward laugh.
"Where is she anyway?"
"Over here."
They both froze as the other figure stepped out, her expression a mixture of rage, exhaustion, and reluctant acceptance.
Reoloy smiled. "It's been a while."
He straightened and walked toward her, scanning her up and down.
"You've seen better days, clearly."
"And whose fault is that?" she grumbled.
"Right, right. But I saved you," Reoloy replied. "And I'm here, aren't I?"
He paced theatrically around her, exaggerating every motion before stopping directly in front of her, meeting her brown eyes.
"I could've disappeared on you, but I showed up to keep my end of the deal. That should count for something, Laurencia."
Silence.
"...You owe me a new boat too now."