"I am so sorry, Kurt." Mila apologized for the tenth time in a row.

  "It's okay," Kurt said, also for the tenth time in a row, as he swatted his sword in the air to get the last dregs of resin off its blade for what must have been the hundreth time.

  In the end, they had managed to find Silver Demon in less than half an hour. It had been lodged in the trunk of a tree a good fifty feet away from the clearing's edge, and high enough that tree that Kurt had had to climb it to get it. He hadn't really cared about the whole issue, really, being more centered on just how much strength it must have taken for that dainty root, which was slimmer than Mila's already dainty arm, to pull such a feat.

  He wasn't completely sure if he himself could have done it, at least with his pre-quest level of strength, and the implications of this did not fail to amaze him.

  It did not, however, amaze him nearly as much as the fact that Mila herself hadn't seem to catch onto it yet.

  "Still," she began once again. "I'm really sorry, I should have been more careful."

  "And that makes eleven."

  "Uh?" Mila asked, tilting her head. "Eleven what?"

  "Apologies in a row," he clarified, chuckling. "Look, everything's fine, okay? I got my sword back after only a little fuss, and our little experiment worked. I mean, you can use Pneuma! Isn't that a better talking subject than apologizing eleven times? Let's talk about that!"

  Mila'seyes widened as if she had just remembered something, and she smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "Oh, yeah, that..." Her eyes shot open, so suddenly that the almost seemed to pop out. "Wait a second!"

  She stopped dead on her feet, and so did Kurt. Then, planting both her hands on her stomac, Mila took a deep breath through her nose. As she did so, every plant around them, from the trees to the bushes to the grass, started to twhich and grasp in ways that were clearly not the wind's work. When she exaled, this time through her mouth, the forest gave one final stir before falling silent again, save for the rustling of the wind through the branches.

  Not that Kurt stopped to hear this, however. He was to enthralled by the ear-to-ear smile Mila was giving him. Without saying a word, he opened his arms, and Mila jumped in. Literally. She rushed to him, gave a jump and, when they collided, she kept herself from falling backwards by looping both her legs around his waist, and one arm around his neck. Her other arm she kept up, hand clenched in a fist in a sign of victory.

  "I got it!" she exclaimed, and the delight in her voice was almost enough for Kurt to ignore the fact that she was screaming practically on his ear. "I frigging got it!"

  Chuckling in delight, Kurt looped an arm around Mila's back, raising his free hand in imitation to Mila's, and spun on his feet, causing the girl to laugh with him.

  "I know, right?" he asked as Mila broke the hug, hopping back on her feet. "The second use is always the scariest. The one where you know how cool Pneuma is, but also the one where you aren't sure if you can replicate it."

  "Exactly!" Mila exclaimed, pointing sharply, first at him, then at herself. "But I could! Gosh, it feels so good! And at the second try too! Conrad was right, we were worrying for nothing!"

  "Yeah, he was," Kurt agreed, nodding his head. They reached the end of the forest, and the sight of the road, and of the gas station beyond that road, graced them. After a quick check for any incoming cars, Kurt and Mila rushed past the road and into the gas station's parking lot, where the group's car was parked.

  "Oi!" They heard someone exclaim, and when they turned towards it, they saw Conrad, drink in hand, leaning against their car's backdoor. "Took ya long enough! What the hell were you doing?"

  "Hi, Conrad." Mila said as she rushed towards the car, smiling coyly. "Don't you remember why we went into the forest? Why, and after that whole speech you gave us about it. We were training, remember?"

  After a moment of surprise at the girl's (playfully) haughty tone, Conrad gave her a smug smile of his own, and retorted. "Why, yes, I remember. It's just that you stayed almost an hour in that forest. A bit too much time to be throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks, don't you think? Why, I was beggining to think you guys ditched to make out or something."

  "Conrad!" Mila exclaimed as she recoiled, her entire face going cherry red. "Don't joke about that!"

  "Ah. A sentitive matter perhaps?" Conrad asked with a chuckle, before turning to Kurt, who was looking at the scene in what could only be decribed as a mixture between amusement and embarrasment. "Jeez, sorry dude. She really seems to despise the idea of kissing you. And here I was naively thinking you'd make a cute couple."

  "Conrad..." Kurt called in the most matter of fact manner he could, even as he felt a heat rise to his face.

  "Shaddap!" Mila yelled before turning to Kurt. "Not you, Kurt!" she said rapidly before turning back to Conrad. "You shaddap with that! For your information, we only spent so much time in there because Kurt's sword got lost..."

  Conrad's face went dead serious, and his eyes turned towards Kurt, who simply gestured at his sheathed sword to reasure him.

  "... and we had to find it." Mila continued, ignorant of Conrad's reaction. "If not for that, we could have made it outta that forest in less than twenty minutes."

  "Ah?" Conrad asked, raising an eyebrow. "What dou you mean?"

  "You would like to know, wouldn't ya?" the girl asked, her tone smug once again. She then sighed in an exageratedly tired manner, her face managing to look both resigned and haughty at the same time. "Weeell, I guess I have to show you, right?"

  Without saying another word, Mila's hand went to the car's chromed rear bumper and, taking a deep abdominal breath while doing so, clenched her hand around it hard enough for it to let out a faint sound of groaning metal. When se pulled back, there was an indent shaped like her hand on it.

  Conrad looked like he had swallowed a live toad. His eyes went from the bumper, to Mila, and finally to Kurt, his face growing more disbelieving with each transition.

  "Already?!" he finally asked, loud enough for Kurt to check the parking lot around them in search of any startled bystanders. Luckily, they were alone. "Jesus Christ, guys. I knew I said you would figure it out easily, but, fuck, this is far too easy."

  Kurt shrugged, closing the distance betwen Mila and himself. "What can I say? You can't put two geniuses like us to work together and expect for nothing amazing to happen." Without looking, he put an arm around Mila's shoulder, and she responded by doing the same with his waist. "It's just not logical."

  "To be honest, we make too good a team," Mila added, and kurt didn't miss how she pressed herself closer to him. "It took us two ideas to find the one that worked. Two!"

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  "Yeah, she's right," Kurt agreed, gently squeezing the girl. "And wouldn't you know it? She came up with the winning one alll on her own. I simply followed along!"

  "Hey know, that ain't fair. You did think about adding your od-flares to the mix when it seemed like it wasn't working! I was about to give up on the whole blood oath thing!"

  "Blood oath?" Conrad parroted. "What in God's goog name was your idea, Mila?"

  "Using Kurt's life force to awaken mine," she said with a shrug, showing the cut on her thumb. Kurt did the same. "And since you can't move life force outside a living body, we... had to get creative."

  "My God," Conrad said as he shook his head, and smiling despite it. "It's a very good thing I rejected your offer, man. And did you use your sword to make the cut? Good luck dealing with whatever demon and fae grime is running through your veins."

  "Mithril cleans itself and you know it," Kurt said. "And, by the way, you only rejected my offer until this quest is over, remember? As soon as we are back home I'm gonna teach you so much about Pneuma your head will pop."

  "Yeah, yeah... I know," Conrad said, waving dismissively, and all playfulness seemed to abandon him. "That's long term stuff though. For the time being, let's just roll."

  And with that, he turned and walked to the car's front, taking his place in the driver's seat. Wordlessly, Kurt and Mila did the same, Kurt sitting in the front and Mila in the back.

  "Kurt," Conrad called, tapping the spot above the key port. "Do your thing, will ya?"

  "Yeah, sure," Kurt said, manifesting his wand on his left hand and, with a lazy wave and a quick use of Dynamancy, he started he car, making sure to clip a part of the key hole's mechanism so it would stay that way. "By the way, dude, how did you get the car here from the pumps?"

  "I pushed it," he said simply, his eyes fixed on the car's front. "While pretty much every car behind me called me every name in the book, I may add."

  "Oh," Kurt hummed, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, man. I didn't remember we had no key. I should have stayed until you were done pumping gas."

  Conrad simply shrugged, chuckling. "Ah, I forgot too, didn't i? That's a lesson for later."

  "I am so sorry, Kurt." Mila apologized for the tenth time in a row.

  "It's okay," Kurt said, also for the tenth time in a row, as he swatted his sword in the air to get the last dregs of resin off its blade for what must have been the hundreth time.

  In the end, they had managed to find Silver Demon in less than half an hour. It had been lodged in the trunk of a tree a good fifty feet away from the clearing's edge, and high enough that tree that Kurt had had to climb it to get it. He hadn't really cared about the whole issue, really, being more centered on just how much strength it must have taken for that dainty root, which was slimmer than Mila's already dainty arm, to pull such a feat.

  He wasn't completely sure if he himself could have done it, at least with his pre-quest level of strength, and the implications of this did not fail to amaze him.

  It did not, however, amaze him nearly as much as the fact that Mila herself hadn't seem to catch onto it yet.

  "Still," she began once again. "I'm really sorry, I should have been more careful."

  "And that makes eleven."

  "Uh?" Mila asked, tilting her head. "Eleven what?"

  "Apologies in a row," he clarified, chuckling. "Look, everything's fine, okay? I got my sword back after only a little fuss, and our little experiment worked. I mean, you can use Pneuma! Isn't that a better talking subject than apologizing eleven times? Let's talk about that!"

  Mila'seyes widened as if she had just remembered something, and she smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "Oh, yeah, that..." Her eyes shot open, so suddenly that the almost seemed to pop out. "Wait a second!"

  She stopped dead on her feet, and so did Kurt. Then, planting both her hands on her stomac, Mila took a deep breath through her nose. As she did so, every plant around them, from the trees to the bushes to the grass, started to twhich and grasp in ways that were clearly not the wind's work. When she exaled, this time through her mouth, the forest gave one final stir before falling silent again, save for the rustling of the wind through the branches.

  Not that Kurt stopped to hear this, however. He was to enthralled by the ear-to-ear smile Mila was giving him. Without saying a word, he opened his arms, and Mila jumped in. Literally. She rushed to him, gave a jump and, when they collided, she kept herself from falling backwards by looping both her legs around his waist, and one arm around his neck. Her other arm she kept up, hand clenched in a fist in a sign of victory.

  "I got it!" she exclaimed, and the delight in her voice was almost enough for Kurt to ignore the fact that she was screaming practically on his ear. "I frigging got it!"

  Chuckling in delight, Kurt looped an arm around Mila's back, raising his free hand in imitation to Mila's, and spun on his feet, causing the girl to laugh with him.

  "I know, right?" he asked as Mila broke the hug, hopping back on her feet. "The second use is always the scariest. The one where you know how cool Pneuma is, but also the one where you aren't sure if you can replicate it."

  "Exactly!" Mila exclaimed, pointing sharply, first at him, then at herself. "But I could! Gosh, it feels so good! And at the second try too! Conrad was right, we were worrying for nothing!"

  "Yeah, he was," Kurt agreed, nodding his head. They reached the end of the forest, and the sight of the road, and of the gas station beyond that road, graced them. After a quick check for any incoming cars, Kurt and Mila rushed past the road and into the gas station's parking lot, where the group's car was parked.

  "Oi!" They heard someone exclaim, and when they turned towards it, they saw Conrad, drink in hand, leaning against their car's backdoor. "Took ya long enough! What the hell were you doing?"

  "Hi, Conrad." Mila said as she rushed towards the car, smiling coyly. "Don't you remember why we went into the forest? Why, and after that whole speech you gave us about it. We were training, remember?"

  After a moment of surprise at the girl's (playfully) haughty tone, Conrad gave her a smug smile of his own, and retorted. "Why, yes, I remember. It's just that you stayed almost an hour in that forest. A bit too much time to be throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks, don't you think? Why, I was beggining to think you guys ditched to make out or something."

  "Conrad!" Mila exclaimed as she recoiled, her entire face going cherry red. "Don't joke about that!"

  "Ah. A sentitive matter perhaps?" Conrad asked with a chuckle, before turning to Kurt, who was looking at the scene in what could only be decribed as a mixture between amusement and embarrasment. "Jeez, sorry dude. She really seems to despise the idea of kissing you. And here I was naively thinking you'd make a cute couple."

  "Conrad..." Kurt called in the most matter of fact manner he could, even as he felt a heat rise to his face.

  "Shaddap!" Mila yelled before turning to Kurt. "Not you, Kurt!" she said rapidly before turning back to Conrad. "You shaddap with that! For your information, we only spent so much time in there because Kurt's sword got lost..."

  Conrad's face went dead serious, and his eyes turned towards Kurt, who simply gestured at his sheathed sword to reasure him.

  "... and we had to find it." Mila continued, ignorant of Conrad's reaction. "If not for that, we could have made it outta that forest in less than twenty minutes."

  "Ah?" Conrad asked, raising an eyebrow. "What dou you mean?"

  "You would like to know, wouldn't ya?" the girl asked, her tone smug once again. She then sighed in an exageratedly tired manner, her face managing to look both resigned and haughty at the same time. "Weeell, I guess I have to show you, right?"

  Without saying another word, Mila's hand went to the car's chromed rear bumper and, taking a deep abdominal breath while doing so, clenched her hand around it hard enough for it to let out a faint sound of groaning metal. When se pulled back, there was an indent shaped like her hand on it.

  Conrad looked like he had swallowed a live toad. His eyes went from the bumper, to Mila, and finally to Kurt, his face growing more disbelieving with each transition.

  "Already?!" he finally asked, loud enough for Kurt to check the parking lot around them in search of any startled bystanders. Luckily, they were alone. "Jesus Christ, guys. I knew I said you would figure it out easily, but, fuck, this is far too easy."

  Kurt shrugged, closing the distance betwen Mila and himself. "What can I say? You can't put two geniuses like us to work together and expect for nothing amazing to happen." Without looking, he put an arm around Mila's shoulder, and she responded by doing the same with his waist. "It's just not logical."

  "To be honest, we make too good a team," Mila added, and kurt didn't miss how she pressed herself closer to him. "It took us two ideas to find the one that worked. Two!"

  "Yeah, she's right," Kurt agreed, gently squeezing the girl. "And wouldn't you know it? She came up with the winning one alll on her own. I simply followed along!"

  "Hey know, that ain't fair. You did think about adding your od-flares to the mix when it seemed like it wasn't working! I was about to give up on the whole blood oath thing!"

  "Blood oath?" Conrad parroted. "What in God's goog name was your idea, Mila?"

  "Using Kurt's life force to awaken mine," she said with a shrug, showing the cut on her thumb. Kurt did the same. "And since you can't move life force outside a living body, we... had to get creative."

  "My God," Conrad said as he shook his head, and smiling despite it. "It's a very good thing I rejected your offer, man. And did you use your sword to make the cut? Good luck dealing with whatever demon and fae grime is running through your veins."

  "Mithril cleans itself and you know it," Kurt said. "And, by the way, you only rejected my offer until this quest is over, remember? As soon as we are back home I'm gonna teach you so much about Pneuma your head will pop."

  "Yeah, yeah... I know," Conrad said, waving dismissively, and all playfulness seemed to abandon him. "That's long term stuff though. For the time being, let's just roll."

  And with that, he turned and walked to the car's front, taking his place in the driver's seat. Wordlessly, Kurt and Mila did the same, Kurt sitting in the front and Mila in the back.

  "Kurt," Conrad called, tapping the spot above the key port. "Do your thing, will ya?"

  "Yeah, sure," Kurt said, manifesting his wand on his left hand and, with a lazy wave and a quick use of Dynamancy, he started he car, making sure to clip a part of the key hole's mechanism so it would stay that way. "By the way, dude, how did you get the car here from the pumps?"

  "I pushed it," he said simply, his eyes fixed on the car's front. "While pretty much every car behind me called me every name in the book, I may add."

  "Oh," Kurt hummed, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, man. I didn't remember we had no key. I should have stayed until you were done pumping gas."

  Conrad simply shrugged, chuckling. "Ah, I forgot too, didn't i? That's a lesson for later."