Ultimate Level 1

“Do you understand what you have done?”

She nodded, a smirk still on her lips as her partner for all these years pressed her into the alcove of the hallway.

“You act like this is the first time either of us has done something like this. We both play the game, and you know it.”

The cloaked figure growled and then slammed their fist into the stone wall, not flinching when neither was damaged. “A black skill,” they hissed. “It has been centuries since one of those was given. Least of all to this boy! A nobody!”

She could see her friend was upset. It had cost so much. She had saved up power and given it away. This Max Hoste was proving himself better than she could have imagined. “I cannot share any more details, and you know it. You need to be blameless if something goes wrong.”

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Her hooded friend twisted around, strands of red hair escaping briefly before being tucked back in. She watched the only ally she had take a few steps into the hallway, looking both ways to ensure no one was around.

“Trust me.”

A laugh she hadn’t heard in centuries came from her friend. It went on for a few seconds before the figure cut it off, turned back around, and stared at her from under that hood.

“The last time you said that, we both suffered for it. Regardless, I did what you asked. No one will see the web we have woven for a while.”

She nodded, smiling at her friend, not concerned with hiding under a cloak even in these halls. “And yet you would do it again without hesitation.”

The hooded figure slowly nodded. “Phaius is beside himself. At least there is that.”

Both stared at each other for a few heartbeats before laughing and walking down the hall in opposite directions.