"Huh? Oh, no." Lindsay replied.

"I'm just sweaty." he told her.

"Worked up a massive sweat at work tonight." he chuckled. "I was going to take a shower to freshen myself up." he told her further with a small smile.

"That's all." he said further.

"I work hard to pay for my education." he added with a stretch, wincing again at the pain in one of his shoulders.

Lindsay had already been turning around to head to the shower, but froze when she made her last statement.

"Ah... eh?" he asked.

"Hit?" he asked her.

"I mean, yeah, I... took a nasty spill, I suppose, but... hit?" he asked further.

"And what makes you think it was a hit?"

Lindsay's eyes widened when Kalin said what she did.

At that point, out of the corner of her eye, Kalin saw Lindsay sigh. It was a sigh of resignation, and it seemed to silently say 'oh well, guess the jig is up.'

"I see." he said.

"Yeah, I suppose so." he admitted.

"So... how did you find out?" he asked her. "You REALLY don't seem to be the type that watches 'Xtreme MMA' or anything along those lines." he commented further.

Again, Lindsay sighed.

"I know you're bright and perceptive. And quite intelligent in general, let alone for your age." he commented.

"But how did you know it was me?" he asked.

"I mean, 'The Masked Shadow' and I do have very similar builds, but my muscles and larger skeletal structure aren't... incredibly rare." he went on.

"And deepen my voice as much as I can." he continued.

"...was that not enough?" he asked her.

".....ahh hell." Lindsay muttered.

"Fell for the oldest trick in the book. The confident bluff." he said.

"So I suppose I have freely admitted to you that yes, I AM The Masked Shadow." he went on.

"Don't tell anyone." he continued.

"I'd... rather not let my identity be known..."

"Mm." Lindsay mumbled in response to her first statement.

"It matters because of my education." he told her.

"See... being an MMA fighter, a known one, leaves a reputation." he said.

"It can be good, it can be bad, depends on your plans for the future." he continued.

"And I don't think people would want a former masked MMA fighter for a psychologist."

"I want to provide something for this world." Lindsay responded.

"Doctors heal the body, but we need more people that can help people heal mentally." he said.

"Not to be corny or anything." he then muttered.

"Anyway, I should go and shower." he said.

"You keep doing what you're doing." he told her.

"I'll see you after I'm done."

Almost a month had passed since Kalin had discovered Lindsay's little secret. However, after that, he let her know that he had another job, but it was more on a contingent basis. He had told her that he sometimes acted as a bodyguard for Hollie Remmington, the head of the Council, which governed mages. She had her own security, but sometimes she needed a little more. She needed what Lindsay could bring to the table, just in case... which was something he hadn't actually told her yet. But that was more because it had never come up, nor was Kalin truly curious enough to poke into it.

A few days ago, Lindsay had told Kalin that she would be on her own once more for a bit, as Hollie would be attending a rather important conference nearby, and she had enlisted his help. As usual, Kalin was fine with this, and Lindsay had made sure that she had plenty of food for the time he'd be gone.

While he was working as her guard, he had asked her specifically if he could talk to her about something, but he was vague about it, as he was technically on duty. Hollie had agreed, and after her business had been concluded she sought him out, and asked him what he needed from her.

The two of them then seemed to have a heavy discussion. Lindsay appeared to be unloading his soul to her, and Hollie listened intently. She heard all of what he had to say, before merely smiling softly at him when he was finished.

She then said something in return to him, which seemed to brighten his expression unlike anything else had done.

At the moment, Kalin was sitting in the den, reading once more, when she heard Lindsay step through the door... about a day later than he said he would be back.

"Kalin!?" he called out.

"Kalin, I have news!" he told her.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Lindsay apologized.

"Ended up discussing something with the head of the Council." he told her. "There was something I wanted to broach with her, and it ended up going further than I had intended." he continued.

"But it ended up being all for the best." he then said.

With that, he took a small stack of papers, and set it down on the table in front of her.

"See for yourself." he said.

"It's no longer kidnapping for me to have you." he told her.

"The paperwork as gone through, and you are legally my ward."

Lindsay nodded.

"School next." he told her.

"And there's a bit to discuss." he said.

"See... you're clearly very intelligent." he told her. "Enough that you could probably skip a few grades." he went on. "We'll need to find out how many, and see if you'd like to skip them." he said.

"And then there's selecting a school." he went on.

"You know of mana." he said further. "But do you have any? At least, any that you know of?" he asked her.

"It can play a factor in making a decision."