"To our dormitory," Ren responded. "I have something for you." "Oh," Larissa arched an eyebrow, a mischievous smile forming on her lips. "And you needed all this theater to deliver it to me?" "Considering what it is, yes," Ren replied, his mushrooms pulsing with what appeared to be amusement. "Unless what you said about 'tradition' no longer matters." "I see, then..." They reached the dormitory, apparently without being detected, despite some tense moments when they nearly collided with a group of students and professors. Once inside, with the door firmly closed, Min canceled the invisibility while Liu maintained his sonic bubble active. The shimmering distortion around them faded, revealing four students catching their breath from the clandestine journey. "That was incredibly fun," declared Larissa, her eyes shining with childish excitement. "Can we do it again?" "Perhaps after you see what I've brought you here for," Ren responded, heading toward the cabinet where he kept his creations. Larissa observed with curiosity as Ren carefully extracted a crystalline egg. It had a silvery tone with white veins that seemed to move like air currents. "Is that really...?" Larissa began, her voice fading with disbelief. "Your Wind Lynx," Ren confirmed. "It's ready." Larissa remained momentarily speechless, a rarity for her. Her eyes widened as she stared at the egg, hands trembling slightly as she reached toward it before stopping herself. "But... when I asked you what would be my best option, I didn't expect you to actually get it for me..." "Well, I felt bad about what you said," Ren responded. "You were right when you said I didn't think through what I was doing, so I wanted to make up for it a bit. Of course, if you don't want to get caught, it's better not to take it and just..." "NO! Ahem... I want it, thank you... I thought about asking Julius," Larissa admitted, approaching to examine the egg with fascination, "but that would have meant revealing my... situation. I'm not sure how badly they would react, so this is perfect." "Perfect, but it should be clear that it will be your decision from here on... And having it will be a problem," Ren warned, his tone becoming more serious. "With two common cores, perception tools like those at the cave entrance could detect you. Especially now that security has intensified." Larissa shook her head, unconcerned. "Don't worry about that. I have my methods for hiding my interior nature." "Because of your mineral fairy?" Ren asked, his mushrooms pulsing with curiosity. "Exactly," Larissa nodded. "These earrings aren't just decorative. They're artifacts that make the energy signature inside me appear like that of a simple firefly. With luck, they'll work just as well to hide a second core." "Convenient," Ren acknowledged. "So, should we proceed with the bonding? We don't have much time before half the school is looking for you." Larissa laughed at the image. "Wait a moment. First, I want to thank you properly." To everyone's surprise, especially Min's, who pretended to cover his eyes but peeked between his fingers, Larissa briefly hugged Ren. "I'll be repaying this favor for a long time, Ren Patinder," she declared in Ren's ear with a princely seriousness that comically contrasted with her slightly blushed cheeks and ears. "Um, thanks, I guess," Ren responded, a bit uncomfortable with the display of affection. His mushrooms pulsed rapidly, emitting a more intense glow than usual. "Look, he got more nervous than with Luna!" Min whispered to Liu, who was unsuccessfully trying to maintain a serious expression. "Let's focus on what's important," Ren intervened, fake coughing and quickly regaining his composure. "The egg is ready for bonding." The next moments passed in silence as Larissa finished establishing the bond with her new beast. The egg opened with a silver flash, revealing a small lynx with snow-white fur and paws that seemed to barely touch the ground, as if constantly floating on air currents. "It's beautiful," Larissa whispered, extending a hand toward the creature. "It will be a perfect complement to your mineral fairy when it reaches gold," Ren commented, observing with satisfaction. "It will give you a 30% increase in speed, agility, and perception, plus another 30% in elemental air control for now." Larissa nodded, already feeling the connection with her new beast strengthening. The small lynx jumped into her arms, settling comfortably. "By the way," Ren added while carefully storing some materials, "I also have the eggs ready for Liora and Luna." Larissa blinked, momentarily confused. "How did you know they were already doubles too?" "I was 100% sure from your question that day and the potions the guards gave you," Ren responded casually, classifying some residual tentacles into neatly labeled containers. Larissa stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Liar." Ren joined her laughter, his mushrooms pulsing with what Min and Liu already recognized as his version of amusement. "Fine, fine, I wasn't that sure just from that... So did they take the potion or not?" "Of course they did, they gladly accepted it," Larissa responded, absently stroking her lynx. "Now you're the liar," Ren replied. "I can see it clearly in your eyes... Besides, Liora told me you tricked them into taking the potion, making them believe it was normal tea." Larissa opened her mouth to protest, but then closed it, a mischievous smile forming on her lips. "Well, technically I didn't lie. In the end, they'll be content..." "You can't!" Luna suddenly exclaimed, jumping from the shadows. "You're too young for THAT!" Four pairs of eyes looked at her with absolute confusion. The lynx bristled, its fur standing on end as it sensed the sudden intrusion. ♢♢♢♢ The shadow moved between corners, sliding like spilled ink to the dark side of the room's door. Luna had followed the trail without difficulty. Her shadow wolf granted her a sense of smell that rivaled that of professional tracking beasts, and the combination of the mossy scent of Ren's mushrooms with the peculiar perfume aroma that always surrounded Larissa created an unmistakable olfactory signature. Now, crouched in a shadowy recess outside the old room of the grey wing, Luna tried to listen with curiosity and growing indignation upon realizing that she could smell them but they didn't seem to be saying anything... Too quiet... Ren had "kidnapped" Larissa to "take responsibility"... 'It can't be true,' she had told herself while following the trail. 'They're surely just doing some of Larissa and Mayo's ridiculous games.' But as the long seconds passed and no sound escaped from the room, her imagination began to run wild. The silence was worse than any conversation she might have overheard. What could they be doing that required such…? The implications(none, they are 10) made her cheeks burn, though she wasn't entirely sure why she cared so much. Her shadow wolf stirred restlessly, feeding on her growing agitation. The darkness around her deepened, tendrils of shadow extending unconsciously from her feet as her emotions intensified.