POV: Greg

  We walked. And walked. And walked some more. More accurately, I wasn't walking anymore—I was simply sleeping on the move, and the sand, obeying my laziness, carried me forward like a lazy wave.

  Then a furious storm hit us. Sand flew into our faces, clogging our mouths, but Aurora didn't care—she had an itch to learn. She asked me to write words to practice reading. I drew whatever came to mind on the sand with my finger.

  "The sister took off and ran away with a hick," I read aloud what I had scrawled.

  "What is a 'sister'?" she asked, squinting against the wind.

  "Well... a sister is a part of a family."

  "What is a 'family'?"

  I sighed. Explaining the basics of biology and social bonds to a demon was quite the treat.

  "Look: a man and a woman have a child. To them, this child is a son or a daughter. If these same folks have another one, they are brothers or sisters to each other. Depending on what grew out down there."

  "Who are 'folks'?"

  "It's short for 'parents'. Too long of a word for the desert."

  The blizzard intensified. I just relaxed, letting the wind carry me, while Aurora continued to curse the sand with every word in the book. Throughout the whole journey, I didn't see a single well. Apparently, the drought here was no joke. I had to stomp my foot.

  The earth had to be dug about ten meters deep before water appeared. A bit deep.

  At night, Aurora asked why I was constantly staring at the sky.

  "Observing the stars," I replied.

  She looked at them, found nothing edible or useful there, and stared back at her feet. I alternated between levitating nearby and trudging over the dunes until the outline of a city finally appeared on the horizon.

  "YEEHAW! Finally."

  We picked up the pace. The city was impressive—it literally hung on a cliff, rising in terraces. The walls were long and massive, and on them... on them stood artillery. Huge cannons aimed into the void. Technological progress in the Sultanate clearly hadn't stood still.

  As soon as we stepped inside, chaos crashed down on me. Thousands of stares. I felt every single one of them: brief, casual, suspicious. It was wildly irritating and exhausting. My internal "void" vibrated from such an amount of attention.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  We dived into some semi-basement, poor alleyway and just collapsed where we stood. Aurora was already closing her eyes, falling into sleep.

  And then I saw him.

  A black kitten. He was lying in a pile of garbage, barely breathing. Tiny, bony—just skin and bones. Cats are a rarity in this world; they were almost exterminated after being blamed for carrying some old plague.

  The kitten meowed. Once. Weakly, almost inaudibly. His eyes hadn't even opened yet, crusted shut with dirt.

  I looked at him and thought: 'It's better if you die. Right now. This life is a lousy thing, it's not even worth trying.' The cynicism inside me applauded this thought.

  The kitten meowed again and dropped his head powerlessly.

  "Oh, damn it!"

  I walked over and touched his cold little body. The green light of mana passed through his ribs. The dirt on his eyes dissolved under a trickle of water I created, and the little guy started eagerly licking it up.

  "I'm making the exact same mistake again," I grumbled to myself.

  I was already falling asleep, feeling the kitten settle cozily on my legs. I looked at this little black lump and closed my eyes.

  POV: Greg Chapter: Heat Exchange and the Underground Mage Base

  In the morning, I woke up to a vibration. The kitten had opened his eyes—yellow, like small coins—and was purring away on my legs.

  Generally, I don't like cats. You have to give heat to cats, and I don't have any. I'm used to taking it from others, absorbing it, using it as fuel. My nature is a vacuum that sucks in everything around it. Giving something away isn't my thing.

  But I was too lazy to throw him out. I simply picked up this black lump and put him on my shoulder. The kitten dug his claws into my old jacket and went quiet, warming my neck. Fine. Consider yourself my living collar.

  "What is that?" Aurora asked, rubbing her sleep-filled eyes.

  "A cat," I answered concisely.

  She stepped right up and stared the animal straight in the face. He wasn't scared; he didn't even hiss.

  "Looks like you," she finally delivered, and strode out of the alley.

  I didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Being compared to a starving, mangy creature was a dubious compliment for a great mage, but in this world, I didn't look much better myself right now.

  We walked through the city, catching disgusted glances. A beggar with a cat on his shoulder and a girl with empty eyes—the perfect couple for the local celebration of life. To our questions about the school of magic, passersby only waved us off or twisted a finger at their temple.

  Finally, some old man pointed to a temple that didn't rise to the sky, but instead went deep underground. A massive entrance, carved directly into the cliff, led into the darkness.

  We began to descend the wide stone steps. At the bottom, in the cool shade, our path was blocked by two guards in armor polished to a shine.

  "Halt," one barked, blocking the way with a halberd. "Beggars don't belong here. Get out before I call the city watch. And get rid of that animal."

  I didn't even bother opening my mouth. Too many words. Aurora wasn't in the mood for small talk either. She simply raised her hand.

  In the dry air of the dungeon, a massive water sphere instantly materialized. It hovered between the guards, slowly rotating and shimmering in the torchlight.

  The guards froze. All their arrogance evaporated just as quickly as water in the sun.

  "Mages..." the second one muttered, lowering his weapon. "Real ones."

  They exchanged glances and hastily stepped aside, clearing the way.

  "Go ahead, my lords... Apologies for the misunderstanding. It's just the times... you understand."

  I only snorted, adjusting the kitten on my shoulder, and we stepped deeper inside.

  Looks like we found what we were looking for.