NOVPUB"Eighty Lunar?" Nathan said. "For sleeves?"
"Rune-threaded," Elara said.
"They better make me invisible."
"They don't."
Nathan's fingers tapped the glass. It didn't move.
"You're setting off the proximity charm," Elara added.
"So?"
"It logs contact."
He paused. Pulled his hand back.
Merlin looked across the central aisle. A stair column spiraled upward with floating stone steps. No railing. No visible support. Just slow rotation.
Elara walked toward it.
"You coming?" she asked.
Merlin nodded once.
Nathan sighed and peeled himself away from the mannequins.
Second level.
Wider arc. The floor here shifted underfoot, slightly springy. Thin cushioning under laminate that tricked the step.
'This is pretty good.'
This level had tech vendors. Arcane monitors. Portable casting rigs. Transcribers. Two booths with retinal glyph recorders and loud salespeople yelling about speed and clarity.
Nathan gravitated immediately.
Elara hung back.
Merlin stepped toward the nearest display. A row of crystal nodes hovered above small stone platforms. Each glowed faintly when touched.
"Target markers," the clerk said before Merlin asked. "Synced to casting gestures. Integrates with most standard duel rigs."
Merlin didn't reply.
The clerk kept talking.
Nathan was already being sold on a voice-controlled charm folder. "Just whisper and it reorders the page," the vendor said. "Takes eight languages. Even Old Hallic."
"Even?" Nathan asked.
"Especially."
He didn't buy it.
They moved on.
Third level.
Less noise here. Less light.
Bookstores. Paper supply. High-end charms for scholars and scribes. The lighting came from wall sconces enchanted to mimic candlelight. The illusion wasn't perfect. No warmth. No smoke.
Elara slowed near a section of glass cases filled with old tomes. Not first editions. Just old enough to pretend.
One case was locked with a rotating rune dial.
She leaned close. Studied the ward.
"Don't," Merlin said.
"I'm just looking."
"You're testing."
She didn't argue.
Nathan rejoined them with a paper cone full of cinnamon-glazed something. Half was already gone.
'Seriously? Why is he eating so much in a day.'
He offered it.
Merlin passed. Elara took one.
"Best part of the mall," Nathan said. "Food disguised as research."
They passed a staircase with a velvet rope across the first step. Sign said Level Four closed for renovation.
Nathan started to duck under it.
Merlin grabbed his sleeve.
Nathan frowned. "We're not allowed?"
"We're not interested," Elara said.
She nudged him toward the escalator instead. It groaned faintly under their weight. No steps. Just a flat platform that rose in slow jerks.
Fifth level.
Top floor.
Quieter than the rest.
Here the ceilings were lower. Lights recessed. No advertisements. Just one wide café space overlooking the atrium.
Nathan made a noise like a tired bird.
"Coffee," he said.
Elara waved him off.
She crossed to the far railing, leaned her arms on the edge, and looked down.
Five floors below, the fountain sprayed a lazy arc of light-infused water. The droplets never touched ground. Just vanished midair. Caught in loop.
Merlin stopped beside her.
"You're quiet," she said.
"So are you."
He looked down at the fountain too. The water pulse reset every ten seconds. It never changed. No lag. No error.
'It's working perfectly.'
"You think we missed something?" she asked.
'No..'
Merlin didn't answer.
Nathan returned with three drinks balanced between his arms. Set them down with mild ceremony.
"Guess which one has sugar," he said.
Elara picked the right one. Merlin took the plain one. Nathan drank the wrong one anyway.
Below, the mall pulsed on. Color. Sound. Movement. But not life. Just the echo of money spent too quickly.
—
They finished the drinks without much conversation. The cups left faint rings on the tabletop. No coaster charms here. Just polished stone and the smell of roasted beans with too much syrup.
Nathan stretched out first. His spine cracked loud enough that two students at the next table flinched. He didn't notice. Or pretended not to. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
"Alright," he said. "That was level five. Where to next."
'Possibly back to the academy.'
Elara glanced at the railing again.
"Back down," she said.
"Back down," Nathan echoed with mock drama. "To the land of overpriced robes and charm folders."
He headed for the elevator alcove. Not the main escalator. The smaller one hidden behind the pastry display.
A wall of gold-tinted mirrors flanked the doors. Elara caught a glimpse of herself as she passed and they got inside.
The elevator hummed as it moved. Soft light washed over their faces from the glowpanels above.
The walls were smooth stone, polished to the point of reflection, but the images didn't line up cleanly. Slight delays. Like water bending glass.
No one mentioned it.
When the doors opened, the scent changed. Less coffee. More metal and heat. A trace of perfumed incense.
This level felt newer. The tiles underfoot were paler, clean but not as worn. Fewer people moved here, but the space was wide and tall, lit by high-reaching windows rimmed in enchanted vines.
Nathan was the first to step out. He scanned the storefronts with a lazy grin.
"Now we're in it."
Elara followed, arms folded loosely across her chest. Her eyes moved slower, taking in the bright signs, the moving mannequins in charmwear, the jewelry stands flanked by students with heavy bags and glazed expressions.
Merlin came last.
'This place is built like a funnel. Each floor tries to drain you. The higher you go, the cleaner it looks, the more expensive it gets. Here, they want impulse. Movement. No room to think.'
He didn't hate it. But he didn't feel at ease either.
Nathan veered left toward a stall selling adjustable cloaks. The merchant snapped to attention and began reciting features before Nathan could say anything.
"Weight-shifting fabric. Weather resistant. Glamour threading along the trim. Made from genuine wyvern blend."
Nathan raised a brow. "That's illegal."
The merchant grinned without blinking. "That's why it's on sale."
Elara moved past them, drawn by a wall of charm pins stuck into a rotating board. Each charm buzzed lightly with stored magic, the surface etched with symbols that shimmered when touched.
She brushed one with the back of her finger.
"Boosts climbing," she said aloud. "For ninety Lunars."
'Ninety? Seriously?'
"You planning on scaling rooftops again?" Nathan asked from behind.
"No. But you're the reason I check now."
A voice from the back of the stall muttered something about students breaking altitude rules.
The merchant didn't seem to care. He kept pitching cloaks to a girl holding a pet carrier wrapped in noise-cancelling sigils.
Merlin wandered past the shop entirely. His steps were slow, but not aimless.
'None of this is for me. These kinds of places aren't built for thinking. They're built for thinning the line between want and have. There isn't anything good or noteworthy here.'
He paused near a rack of short knives. Decorative. Not field-use.
But one of them had a grip he recognized. Old Western mold. He turned it slightly and found the symbol stamped at the base.
'No sharp edge. Just a blade for posture. For looking like you know how to use one. Still costs seventy-five Lunars.'
Behind him, Nathan argued over the price of a scarf that changed color when spoken to. Elara tried on a ring that shrunk to match her knuckle.
A group of first-years passed through laughing. Their bags were already full, bright ribbons trailing from one of the handles. One of them bumped into Merlin's shoulder without noticing.
He didn't react. Just stepped aside.
'No fights here. No rules broken. Just people forgetting where their feet are.'
Farther down, the corridor split. One side went toward a plaza with food carts, spell candies, and a band playing slow jazz with illusory instruments.
The other dipped slightly and vanished under a glass archway where a fountain spilled light instead of water.
"Left or right," Nathan called.
"Left," Elara said without hesitation.
Merlin followed.
They stepped into the plaza and were instantly surrounded by movement. Shouting vendors. Floating menus.
Booths painted with illusion inks that shifted color with every angle. The scent of sweetbread and boiled sap oil drifted thick through the air.
Nathan pointed at a tray of fried dumplings floating past.
"Those. I want those."
He jogged after it. Elara called after him.
"Do not pay more than thirty Lunars for six. That's robbery."
"I'll rob them back."
Merlin drifted to the edge of the plaza. A small bench half-shadowed by a fruit cart gave him space to sit without being in the way. He rested his forearms on his knees and watched them move through the crowd.
'They know how to live here. I still feel like I'm visiting.'
He leaned back and let the noise carry over him. Laughter, haggling, the clang of a dropped utensil, the shiver of a windchime spell firing overhead.
Nothing dangerous.
No edge.
Just life.
He let it be.
—
They walked a slower pace now.
'This is just what I needed..'
The clothes district started where the scent of fried dough stopped.
Music played in gentle loops overhead, strung between floating speakers set in flickering charm lamps.
Most of the stores had wide glass fronts, mannequins frozen mid-step in clothes that shimmered like they moved even in still air.
The first shop was called Specter and Stitch.
Nathan dragged them in without asking.
Two attendants greeted them from behind a silver counter. Their uniforms were mirror black. One had painted lips the same color as the trim on the wall, some deep shade of copper that caught in the light.
