Fai remained tense next to Iwai until the first of the fog people closed in to beat on the shield and the magic held up. He couldn't feel the magic tearing or stressing, not like when the hellbeast back in August had been able to rip through his shields with hardly any effort at all.

He turned to Iwai, and when the other man didn't seem afraid or completely creeped out a smile spread across Fai's face. He took the opportunity to curl up against Iwai again, tucking himself against his side and laying his head on the other's shoulder.

"Nope, I wasn't kidding. I still can't do much with it yet, but I can make shields pretty well."

"But... now what?"