《Primal Wizardry - A Magic School Progression Fantasy》


 Chapter 1: Invisible

    The great irony of the fall of the tower was that it freed sorcerers from persecution while simultaneously sealing their end.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    Kohlyn spent the last day of his old life the same way he had most of those before it, studying. While the magistrate was declaring his parents dead in absentia, placing him under the stewardship of his uncle, he was digging through the deep archives in the hopes that some antiquated spellbook would be the key to his magical troubles.


    Kole¡ªas he preferred to be called yet no one seemed to ever do¡ªwas a wizard. Or at least, he wanted to be. As far as being a wizard went, he checked most of the boxes and even excelled at quite a few. Unfortunately for him, he struggled with the whole "spell casting" thing. But, we''ll get to that later.


    On this particular day, he left the library earlier than usual. He vaguely recalled there was something important he needed to do that day, but couldn''t remember what. As he left, eyes on his spellbook before him as he tried to glean some last insights from his notes, a fish struck him in the head.


    Now, in most regions of Kaltis this would be an immediate cause for concern, but in Illandrios the raining of fish was a common occurrence and a significant source of a family¡¯s daily meals. Kole looked down at the fish and then up to the ocean suspended above.


    Seeing that the fish was dead and no others fell with it, Kole sighed and looked around. Not far away three boys of similar age stood laughing and pointing. This was not the first time people had thrown fish at Kole, but unbeknownst to him, it would be the last¡ªat least in this specific situation, fish were everywhere after all.


    Corbyn Oldhill led this particular hunting party. He led most in fact, recruiting from the wide pool of volunteers with varying degrees of enthusiasm that were Kole''s classmates.


    Due to his particular confluence of magical heritages and single-minded dedication to becoming a wizard, Kole had been hailed as a prodigy at an early age. But, due to that same heritage and single-minded born stubbornness, he''d eventually hit a wall.


    Children¡ªand adults for that matter¡ªdon¡¯t take well to being shown up by their peers, and when Kole began to fall behind his classmates were more than eager to wave mockingly at him as they passed.


    When he¡¯d completed his mental vault at the age of nine and his bridge at the unheard-of age of ten, he¡¯d been put into classes with children four years his senior. His understanding of magic was nothing special, but he leveraged his massive pool of Will to practice three times as long as his new older peers.


    At first, his work paid off, and he constructed his first cantrip on pace with his classmates, but then he hit his particular wall. The simple spells that ought to have taken minimal mental effort, completely exhausted his Will whenever he cast them. He agonized over the constructions in his mind, but they were flawless. The problem was in him. Not willing to give up, he continued to learn cantrips while those around him moved on to first-tier spells. When no cantrip worked, he tried first-tier spells himself. Those too proved within his capacity to learn¡ªas far as he could tell at least¡ªbut the Will cost was more than he could bear. Fruitlessly, he kept at it until eventually he was only three years ahead. And then two, and then one, and then, he was learning alongside students his own age.


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    These classmates had grown up in the shadow of the so-called-prodigy, constantly compared to him by their parents and teachers, and took no small amount of pleasure in his stagnation. They harassed him endlessly, and by this day he had long since given up fighting back.


    So, when Kole realized the dead fish had not fallen from the ocean above, but had been thrown at him by a classmate, he used his singular magical talent and turned Invisible. Now unseen, he continued on toward his home at a casual pace. Until that is, another fish struck him in the head.


    Surprised by the unexpected blow, he stumbled, dropping his book. Beyond him, the three boys approached, Corbyn leading the rest with a basket of fish and wearing strange glasses, that if the ornate nature was any indication, were magically piercing his spell of invisibility.


    ¡°Flood,¡± he cursed.


    This was not the first time other kids had learned to circumvent his invisibility. When the class had learned Color Spray, they''d continually hunted him, painting him with magically conjured pigments. But, his uniquely large pool of Will, and incredibly efficient Invisibility spell meant that he could recast his spell more than his pursuers could theirs, even if they worked together. He was forced to pay for magical cleaning each day he escaped, but he did always manage to escape.


    These magical glasses however were another matter.


    Kole picked up his book, now smelling of fish, and ran clutching it close. He¡¯d been caught before, and the bruises he bore for the weeks that followed may as well have been invisible for all the sympathy it evoked from the adults in his life. He ran through the market square hoping to lose them in the crowd. His invisibility, however, was to his disadvantage as no one could see him barreling towards them, and he crashed into more people than he dodged before he thought to banish the spell.


    On the far side of the market, he snuck into an alley and saw Corbyn''s gang had tracked him through the crowd and restocked on ammunition in the process. He continued to run, casting Invisibility on himself again as he went. The alley opened up to the main thoroughfare of the city. Normally this road would be packed with stalls, shoppers, and wagons, but it was the eve of the migration and those present were working to erect the barriers that would guide the deep whales through the city while others cleared the street of anything that might cause the giant crustaceans to linger.


    The workers shouted in frustration as the three teenagers ran past them in pursuit of something they couldn''t see.


    "He turned left at the baker!" Corbyn shouted to his cronies when he saw Kole try to escape.


    Kole had indeed turned off there and quickly came to regret it. The stalls that normally lined the thoroughfare had all been packed up in anticipation of the migration, and this road, to Kole¡¯s Riloth cursed luck, was where they¡¯d all ended up. He was met with a barrier of stacked panels, which he immediately began to climb hoping to reach a roof.


    Halfway up another fish struck him, followed by some fruit and then a rock. The first two were more embarrassing than painful but the third caught him by surprise and he lost his footing. He fell back from the steep stack of timbers, crashing hard on the street, where his concentration lapsed on his invisibility once more.


    "There he is!" Corbyn shouted with feigned joviality. "We were looking for you! We heard your parents were officially dead and wanted to give our condolences."


    Oh, that''s what I forgot.


    The words didn''t sadden him in the way Corbyn probably intended, but they did cause him distress.


    Uncle Jaryn''s going to be mad.

 Chapter 2: Uncle

    It is one of history''s great ironies that the very act which liberated sorcerers from persecution brought about the end of their Arcane tradition. Why torture yourself to learn new sorcery when wizardry was free for the taking?


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    The three boys stood over Kole, unsure what to actually do now that they¡¯d caught him. While none of them liked Kole, they didn''t exactly want to hurt him. Chasing and teasing were one thing, assault was quite another. One of the reasons so many were willing to join Corbyn in his hunts was that in the end, Kole always escaped any real harm. Rare were the bullies that could inflict actual physical harm, but the jagged timber in Corbyn''s hand suggested he might be among their number.


    The other two watched uncertainty as he brought the club down on Kole, striking him in the thigh and eliciting a cry of pain.


    "Come on!" Corbyn encouraged. "Kick him!"


    His two followers looked at each other uncertainly as Kole struggled to his feet. Corbyn, ever the patient leader, struck Kole again with his club, sending him back to his knees, giving the pair time to work themselves up to the assault.


    Kole didn''t plan on waiting. While the other boys knew it took nearly all of Kole''s Will to cast even a single cantrip, they didn''t know that Kole had been diligently exhausting his Will each day to ensure that already large capacity continued to grow.


    The problem with Kole''s magic wasn''t that he didn''t know how to cast first-tier spells, it was that his magical heritage made them cost so much Will that he couldn''t cast them.


    Until now.


    Kole¡¯s efforts delving into the forgotten depths of the library had recently borne fruit.


    As Corbyn''s club came down for Kole''s shoulder, Kole was fighting a battle inside himself. He''d constructed the spell in his mind, tracing the pattern stored there. This had never been his issue, and he was now fighting with his bridge to get it to open the specific part of the Arcane Realm the spell needed to function.


    He poured all his remaining Will into the act, until eventually, the portal flickered and reopened to the seemingly random patch of the magical realm. All that happened in less than a moment, and he sent the spell through, brought his hand up before him, and uttered a single word.


    "Bo."


    A translucent barrier appeared before his palm like a distortion of the air, deflecting the club harmlessly to the side.


    Kole didn''t stop with the spell though, and took advantage of Corbyn''s surprise to rise to his feet and punch his tormentor in the face, shattering the magical glasses that made this pursuit possible, and his nose for good measure.


    Corbyn dropped to the ground, clutching his face and screaming in pain as his friends stared from him to the other in terror before turning and fleeing.


    Kole didn''t wait around, pausing just long enough to kick Corbyn in the ribs before running away. Once safe in an alley, he pulled a small vial of a clear blue liquid from his bag and downed it. The potion tasted terrible¡ªit was literally made from crustacean feces¡ªbut the effect was immediate and Kole recovered enough Will to turn Invisible once more.


    When he got home hours later, after taking a circuitous route that led in and out of the city¡¯s sewers, he found his family''s home under siege by an army of laborers, pulling out crate after crate of his belongings.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he shouted at them.


    ¡°There you are Kohlyn,¡± came a familiar, disapproving voice.


    Kohlyn¡ªKole¡ªturned to see the disappointed face of his uncle.


    ¡°You missed the hearing,¡± his uncle said.


    ¡°Yeah, I knew there was something today, but I got a little held up,¡± Kole explained, gesturing to his torn clothes and bloodied everything.


    His uncle shook his head, disappointed with only a bit of sympathy.


    ¡°If you¡¯d relented years ago, you would be able to properly deal with these miscreants.¡±


    ¡°So what now?¡± Kole asked, ignoring the suggestion.


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    ¡°Now,¡± his uncle said as if repeating himself for the hundredth time, which was impressive because they¡¯d definitely had this conversation at least twice that number, ¡°the choice is no longer yours. You are now officially my ward, and your creditors have called in their debts. You will live with me and I will see that you are educated properly. You will be trained as a Mirage Knight like your mother would have wanted. We¡¯ll put these fancies of being a wizard away, and you can go about continuing in the footsteps of our family.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Kole said simply and walked inside.


    Kole had no desire to be a Mirage Knight. Despite being a primal of the Font of Illusions, it was not mandated that he become one. Many in Illandrios manifested the same power as him and continued on to become bakers, artists, lawyers, or whatever they dreamed of, leaving their primal abilities as a neat little hobby and party trick.


    Anything they wanted¡ªso long as what they wanted wasn¡¯t to be a wizard. Unfortunately for Kole, that was all he¡¯d ever dreamed of becoming. His parents had been adventurers¡ªstill were if you asked him. At a young age, his mother¡ªthe sister of his previously mentioned and currently very disapproving uncle¡ªhad gone missing while exploring a pocket realm they¡¯d discovered. She¡¯d been¡ªor still was, depending on who you asked¡ªa Mirage Knight. Kole¡¯s father had been a¡ªor still was, again, depending on the source of the information¡ªa wizard. He¡¯d survived the encounter that had taken his wife from him, and he''d vowed to return and rescue her. Unfortunately, the pocket realm vanished on his exit, but he¡¯d held out hope that she still lived.


    Kole''s father had dedicated himself to discovering the location of his wife. He¡¯d taken the non-insignificant wealth they¡¯d acquired in their adventuring career and set it all towards the effort. He traveled the world recruiting experts and learning whatever he could of divination and spatial magics, leaving his son at home for long stretches of time. Kole grew up alone, intermittently alongside his father, and he grew to share the same obsession. And then, when Kole was nine, his father claimed to have found her. He left his son at home yet again, gathered up his old team, and set out to retrieve his wife.


    He''d never returned.


    And so, Kole remained alone, in the care of his uncle, nannies, and tutors. He dedicated himself to becoming a wizard. His mother had been a Mirage Knight, but at the age of eight he''d manifested the sorcerous ability to blend into his surroundings while being chased through the sewers by kobolds that had breached the caverns beneath his home. His father was overjoyed with the discovery that his son was a sorcerer, and Kole was relieved he wouldn¡¯t have to train to be a Mirage Knight.


    As far as anyone knew, there had never been a primal born of a union between sorcerer and primal. For whatever reason, they always resulted in sorcerers, or more likely those without any innate magic whatsoever.


    Kole had no desire to follow his mother¡¯s arcane tradition. It had let her down, broken up his family, and it was his father¡¯s magic that would reunite them. The fact that his father¡¯s magic ultimately let him down as well was not one Kole liked to dwell on.


    Kole¡¯s uncle followed him inside.


    ¡°It¡¯s time you give up on this nonsense. Your parents are dead. You must stop living in the past and¡ª¡±


    Kole cut his uncle¡¯s rant off when he slammed the front door in his face.


    That may have been a mistake.  He thought as he heard his ever-patient uncle struggling to control his anger beyond the door.


    Kole ran up the stairs, and into his parents'' rooms to find that it had not yet been ransacked. Quickly, he gathered his mother¡¯s locket and then to his own room to grab a bag prepared for this eventuality.


    He''d long since planned for this day. He knew it would come. Once his parents were declared dead, all their possessions would be auctioned off to pay their debts, leaving Kole with whatever remained. There would be nothing left, he knew this. His father had spent everything in search of his mother, and Kole had been living on borrowed time¡ªand money¡ªsince his disappearance. Lord Oldhill, Corbyn¡¯s father, had been all too happy to loan money to Kole to continue to live in the absence of his parents. He had been an acquaintance of both of his parents, but Kole always wondered why, if he cared enough to loan him money, he never cared enough to rein in his own son.


    Well, I guess he¡¯s about to get all his money back, He reflected as he watched all his possessions loaded onto carts.


    Kole would  not  consent to give up on wizardry. If he couldn''t learn here¡ªsomething he¡¯d long since realized to be the case¡ªhe would go to the Academy of Illunia and learn there. His condition was not as hopeless as he¡¯d initially believed. He had learned to cast Shield after all. He¡¯d been hesitant to leave everything behind, but now that he¡¯d seen real progress, it suddenly became less daunting.


    The door to his room burst open as his uncle kicked open the door.


    ¡°Stop being a child!¡± he shouted, no longer able to conceal his frustration. ¡°I¡¯ve given you four years to try to learn magic and you failed. Now let¡¯s get you help before it''s too late.¡±


    Uncle Joryn was speaking to an empty room. At the approaching footsteps, Kole had used his sole sorcerous ability to turn invisible. Another side effect of being both a primal and a sorcerer, as Kole had learned; not only was he unable to cast wizard spells, but the sorcerous spells he could innately learn were restricted entirely to the Font of Illusions.


    This could have been manageable, there were plenty of stories of illusion specialists having success as adventurers, but he had the misfortune of learning a weak form of invisibility as his first spell. Sorcery worked on instincts. Instincts that sought the easiest way to resolve a situation, taking into account what one could already do. If a sorcerer needed to not drown they might manifest a spell to breathe underwater¡ªor they might just drown¡ªit was best not to put too much faith in one¡¯s potential sorcerous abilities. If however, that same sorcerer had a powerful affinity for the Font of Space, they might instead manifest the ability to teleport out of the water¡ªor they might just drown, as mentioned previously, sorcery is fickle.


    Why was this unfortunate for Kole? Well, in all situations where he  might  manifest a new ability, he simply turned invisible and got away. Invisibility¡ªit seemed¡ªwas far too effective at getting disobedient children out of danger, and he never really needed more once his camouflage spell evolved to that state. He considered trying something drastic, like stepping out through the dome and into the depths of the ocean but, as mentioned previously, sorcery was not to be relied on.


    So, it was to a visibly empty room that Kole¡¯s uncle lectured. He blocked the door, waiting for his disobedient nephew to reveal himself. He waited and waited, and waited until a tapestry on the wall fluttered in a breeze. Kole, as I mentioned, had been prepared for this day. As his uncle soon discovered, there had been a secret passage cut into the wall, leading to the servants'' quarters, down the back stairs, and out into the city.

 Chapter 3: Competent Guards

    With the fall of the Tower of Illunia, the art of reading spellforms disseminated throughout the land. It hadn''t been contained as well as the Tower believed and with the threat of death gone, those with knowledge were eager to share it¡ªfor a modest price.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    The next morning found Kole sleeping in the sewer. It wasn¡¯t a bad sewer as sewers went. Like many of the isolated cities that survived in odd niches in the aftermath of the Flood, Illandrios had adapted to the sudden isolation and lack of resources by getting creative. They developed countless ways to reuse everything from timbers to paper, found magical solutions to mundane problems, enslaved a kraken and forced it to pull ships to the depths, collected poop for composting, and many more.


    Because of this, the sewers built before the Flood to manage rain and waste, now sat empty and unused in this sub-aquatic city. After a few forsaken incursions in the wake of the city''s deliverance, the city sealed them off to better defend themselves. As a social outcast, Kole had found plenty of opportunities to explore alone, and with a constant need to hide, he eventually discovered a few entrances that remained open.


    Kole had prepared for this exact eventuality¡ªsort of. He expected to have to flee from his uncle one day to go to the surface, and he even expected the need to travel light. He hadn''t, however, foreseen that he¡¯d be forced to flee wounded. So, he sat in the not-so-bad sewers, ripping up his clothes to form bandages as he contemplated his next move.


    In the darkness of the tunnels, he fell asleep, only to be woken by the clattering echoes of armored men stumbling through a tiny passage.


    Kole turned invisible out of reflex and looked around. The tunnel was strewn with supplies, and there was no way he could hide all the evidence of his presence. He had to run.


    But why are they here? How did they find me?


    There was no time for questions. Kole gathered his bag, shoved what food he could fit in it, and ran.


    ¡°What was that?¡± a voice asked from behind, but Kole wasn¡¯t concerned.


    In the sewers, the armored soldiers couldn¡¯t keep pace with his smaller, less encumbered frame. After a few minutes, he was out in the dim light of the Globe of Day, just in time to see it shift from night to early day.


    His plan for escaping was simple: he''d run through the caves to the tower that led to the floating city above, book passage with a ship clan to the Basin, and make his way to the Academy of Illunia where he would find the solution to his magical problems.


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    He quickly lost the guards, distantly hearing the echoes of their voices when they discovered his hiding spot.


    Kole¡¯s mood began to lift after escaping the sewers as he walked through the meadows that lay between the city and the caves, but when the gate came into sight, his rising hopes were dashed. A heavy guard stood outside the gates to the caverns, only opening the doors when people arrived. They inspected the beds of each cart, physically waving their hands above it even if nothing could be seen. They even sprinkled white powder on the ground and watched it closely for signs of movement. In short, they were guarding against an invisible escapee.


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed to himself. ¡°I probably shouldn¡¯t have broken those glasses. They must have cost a fortune.¡±


    Also, he reflected, he probably shouldn''t have left behind his notebook with his escape plan.


    That''s probably how they knew to check the sewers.


    Kole sat in the field of wheat, hiding low in the grass, contemplating his options and eating a small breakfast of dried meat when the great migration began. The first of the deep whales made its appearance near the caves, where it met the barrier of the dome. Its massive claws passed through the barrier first, and the rest of its ten-foot chitinous form followed. The creatures were essentially massive lobsters but with more legs and proportionally longer bodies. More followed after the first, until eventually the meadow between Kole and the cave was a sea of black.


    The frustratingly competent guards closed the door at the migration and waited for the first wave to pass. The great migration happened every four hundred seventeen days and spanned a week. The deep whales roamed the ocean floor in a very specific circuit, a circuit that led directly through Illandrios. Records from the early days of the Flood were lost, due to the whole scarce resources thing rendering things as trivial as history superfluous ¡ªand the small issue of a tyrannical brainwashing overlord from another reality--but eventually the migration became a holiday for the city. The beasts roamed in dozens of herds, and each herd took hours to pass, leaving gaps of hours in between each group.


    Once a herd had passed, the townspeople descended on the roads with buckets, wheelbarrows, pots, and anything else they had at hand to collect the excrement left behind. This particular  ¡°tradition¡± was relatively new. The lack of resources of a bubble city had left Illandrios bereft of skilled alchemists after only a generation, and eventually, the art was lost. When contact was regained with the surface world, they were pleasantly surprised to discover that the filth left behind by their giant crustacean visitors was far more valuable as an alchemical reagent than as a fertilizer.


    An industry rose up to collect and process the waste, and some even began to capture and pen the creatures in the waters just beyond the bubble.


    Watching his neighbors scramble over the dark gold gave Kole a terrible idea.


    Typically, the only way to the surface was through the caves, but during the migration, there was one other way. The quantity of deep whale excrement was so great during this time, that it was sealed into giant steel cylinders and pushed through the barriers where they shot up to the surface. Up above, ships collected the barrels, dumped the contents in their holds, and sent the now empty containers back down.


    ¡°This is a terrible idea,¡± he muttered to himself, just as he ignored his own judgment.

 Chapter 4: Castaway

    Sorcerers once trained by placing themselves in controlled situations of life or death. The ship clans, demonkin, and many of the divine bloodlines all had their own methods to unlock specific abilities. They didn''t always get the desired results, but no one could argue their torturous methods were not effective, though many¡ªincluding this author¡ªargued all the same.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    Ten minutes later, Kole was sitting in a barrel waiting for the lid to be sealed above him. He held his cloak above him, having smeared it with excrement to give the appearance of a full load. The smell was horrible, which may have been why no one looked too closely before sealing each container. With a series of deafening bangs, Kole was sealed in, and a moment later, he was on his side, rolling down the rail towards the barrier.


    ¡°This is a terrible idea,¡± he said to himself before he began retching at the smell, barely able to keep it down.


    Mouth shut,  he decided.


    His mad spinning stopped as he hit the barrier, but it was followed by the sensation of his stomach dropping from under him as the buoyancy of the barrel hurtled it to the surface. Time was impossible to gage in that dark and terrible ascent, and if asked later he would have claimed it took an hour, but in reality, it was closer to a minute. Eventually, the speed reached an equilibrium, and the stomach-dropping feeling was replaced with an unstable tumbling that culminated in a brief moment of free fall as the barrel breached the surface and shot into the air before crashing down into the water once more.


    Distantly around him, Kole heard other barrels breaching and splashing down, but his focus was solely fixed on trying to keep his breakfast of dried meat down. He couldn¡¯t imagine the smell getting any worse than it was, but he didn¡¯t think adding his own excretions to the situation would help either. Casting the cantrip for the Font of Air, and using most of his Will to do so, he held his palm up to his face and breathed in the clean fresh air.


    The wait was actually long this time, as he sat there in the barrel praying to Riloth that he be plucked from the sea. He bobbed slowly in the wave, occasionally violently interrupted as a barrel from below crashed into him. But, after an eternity of Fauell, Kole heard a rope hit the side of his prison followed shortly by a sudden jolt as the barrel struck the side of a ship and was lifted.


    There were many more bangs to follow, but eventually, the last one was on top as the lid was removed.


    "It''s a Flooding kid!" a voice said, "Where''s the shit?"


    "I''m a cast away requesting passage!" Kole shouted from his very undignified position.


    "Ah, Flood," the man cursed, resigned.


    Kole''s father had taught him much about the ship clans, being from one himself. One very important teaching was: don''t stow away on a ship clan''s ship. Stowaways were as likely to be killed as thrown back into the sea, castaways however were rescued. The ship clans lived on the sea and knew its dangers more than any other group not of Oule, and they took mercy on any who suffered the wraith Riloth''s storms.


    While Kole wasn''t actually a castaway, his claim spoke volumes of his knowledge of the people. And, while not a particularly a rule-following people, he did check all the boxes of a castaway if they really pressed the issue. He was fished from the sea, floating in a makeshift vessel he''d boarded under desperate circumstances.


    "Get up out of there," the man continued. "What are you? Some sanders kid?"


    "Yes," Kole answered as he climbed out. "My father was¡ªis¡ªa stormcaller."


    The man let out a whistle and reassessed Kole. Due to the odorous nature of his job, the two of them were alone on this particular section of deck.


    ¡°We better get you washed up before you go see the Grand Master then,¡± he said, gesturing to a bucket of water on the side.


    Kole obliged and began to rinse himself off.


    ¡°I hope you weren¡¯t too attached to those clothes boy, because you¡¯re going to need to toss them overboard.¡±


    Kole looked down and agreed. They hadn¡¯t exactly been in pristine condition before being covered with filth, and even if he knew both Mend and Clean, it was unlikely they would have been salvageable. There was only so much magic could do.


    Kole stripped down and cleaned up a bit more before putting on the canvas clothing his new acquaintance handed him.


    ¡°I¡¯m Meech, by the by, and this is the Willowboom,¡± the man introduced himself, gesturing to the ship.


    ¡°I¡¯m Kole, Kole Highridge,¡± he said, giving his mother¡¯s family name, ¡°but my father was of the ship clan Teak.¡±


    Meech let out another whistle. His father¡¯s clan had been an old one, as evidenced by the simple name. As clans grew and splintered and new ships were built, they tended to take on names of their own, but they were usually derived from their old clans.


    ¡°Alright, let''s go see the Master,¡± Meech said, leading Kole up a ladder.


    Kole winced at pain as each rung reminded him of his tender ribs.


    The ship was massive and was the core ship of the clan that bore the clan name on the rear. Ship clans were made up of many vessels, from galleons to sloops, but each clan had a massive heartship that served as the core of the fleet, nearing on small cities. These ships were constructed with the aid of magically enhanced materials and took constant magical maintenance to keep going. They were home to all of the centralized services that smaller ships could not support, such as schools, blacksmiths, and other tradesmen. They also served as the seat for the highest ranking Stormcaller amongst the fleet.


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    While not the highest ranking member of a ship clan, that would be the High Captain, the Grand Master quite literally answered to no man. The High Captain could be replaced with a vote, but the Grand Master position lasted for life or voluntary retirement.


    Needless to say, Kole was very nervous.


    ¡°Why do I need to see him?¡± Kole asked, managing to keep a tremble from his voice.


    ¡°Trust me, you¡¯d rather see him than the Captain.¡±


    They ascended many levels and passed over the top deck to the aftcastle, where they climbed a grand staircase, past the captain¡¯s quarters, higher still to the quarters of the Grand Master. The ship was largely free of artistic flourishes in the woodworking, the wood all sculpted for purpose, and painted for decoration and protection from the elements. But, up here, some liberties had been taken and the doors and panels that made up with living quarters of the ranking members of the clan were covered in ornate scrollwork.


    Meech pulled a small cord hanging next to the door and the bell could be faintly heard through the thick wood. A moment later, the door opened, revealing a man in his early forties, wearing a similar loose-fitting canvas outfit the rest of the clan wore, with cords tied around his wrists to keep the fabric from interfering with his spellcasting. He wore no visible insignia of rank, but his clothing did seem to be of a higher quality than Meech¡¯s.


    ¡°Good morning  sir,¡± Meech said with an overly dramatic bow. ¡°We got a castaway requesting passage.¡±


    ¡°Why not take him to Meerim?¡± the Stormcaller asked, looking Kole up and down.


    ¡°Well, he seems to be more of a fugitive than a real castaway, but his father was a Stormcaller.¡±


    Kole shrank a little at Meech¡¯s accurate assessment of his situation and managed to restrain his instinctive reaction to correct the implication that his father was deceased. He didn¡¯t expect to keep the fact he was on the run a secret, but he had hoped his situation wouldn''t have been so glaringly obvious.


    ¡°Well, in that case, he better come in,¡± he said gesturing for Kole to enter, but stopping Meech from doing the same. ¡°You better go get cleaned up. You have three more days of dung duty.¡±


    ¡°Aw come on,¡± Meech said disappointed, ¡°Can you just, you know...¡±


    He gestured wildly at his filthy self with his hands.


    ¡°That would defeat the purpose of a punishment detail wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    Meech relented and bid Kole goodbye before leaving.


    Once inside, the mage directed Kole to a seat at a table.


    ¡°I¡¯m Grand Master Stormcaller Jorin, but please, call me Jorin. Can I get you something to drink?¡±


    ¡°Yes please,¡± Kole said, realizing that despite it feeling like years since he embarked on his stinky journey, it had only been two hours since he¡¯d eaten beneath that tree.


    ¡°So,¡± Jorin said as he went about preparing some tea, ¡°tell me how you became a castaway while we were docked at a floating city.¡±


    The room had no stove, and Kole watched as his host caused the teapot in his hand to whistle as he placed his free hand on the side and spoke the verbal components of a spell.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a fugitive¡ªprobably,¡± Kole amended. ¡°I struck a classmate in the face, but that''s hardly grounds for the search party they sent out after me.¡±


    He sensed Jorin''s skepticism as the man paused his tea preparation to look at him.


    ¡°Well... he was wearing enchanted glasses, which may have broken when I punched him in the face, but he¡¯d already struck me with a club by then, so it was clearly self-defense.¡±


    ¡°Why flee then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d already been planning my departure before this whole incident. I¡¯m going to the Academy of Illunia to become a proper wizard. My uncle... doesn¡¯t approve.¡±


    ¡°That raises more questions than it answers,¡± Jorin observed. ¡°Why would the child of a Stormcaller, raised in the magical hub that is Illandrios, need to go so far to become a ¡®proper¡¯ wizard?¡±


    Kole didn¡¯t want to answer at first out of instinct but realized that this man wouldn¡¯t care.


    ¡°I¡¯m a primal,¡± Kole said as if admitting some great sin.


    Jorin''s eyebrows raised in surprise.


    ¡°I know, I know,¡± Kole said, forestalling a lecture. ¡°They say primals can¡¯t be wizards, but that''s wrong. I can cast wizard spells, it¡¯s just extremely difficult. I think I could figure it out if I can just find the right spells.¡±


    Jorin took a glass orb from his pocket and held it out to Kole.


    ¡°As interesting as that is¡ªand I¡¯ll be honest, I think you¡¯re probably going to fail¡ªthat''s not why you are in my quarters. Swear on this oath sphere that you aren¡¯t actually a fugitive, and I will cover for you to the captain. You must have Riloth¡¯s own luck, the deep whale product you stowed away in was due for Edgewater.¡±


    Kole touched the orb with an outstretched finger and spoke, infusing the orb with his Will imbued with honest intentions.


    ¡°I swear I¡¯m not a fugitive,¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Jorin said, smiling. ¡°Let¡¯s go see about getting you a bunk, and you can explain how in the seas you are a primal  and  a sorcerer. ¡±

 Chapter 5: Stowaway

    <div>


    ¡°How did you know that!?¡± Kole asked in shock.


    <div>


    He ran back through his conversation, certain that he hadn''t let that slip.


    <div>


    "I get to keep my secrets," Jurin said with a sly grin. ¡°I''m not the one seeking passage under dubious pretences.¡±


    <div>


    He looked at Kole expectantly.


    <div>


    I really don''t want to be thrown overboard. Kole thought as he wrestled internally. But, can I tell them my secrets?


    <div>


    But he found that he couldn''t really find a reason not to tell the man.


    <div>


    He''d quickly found that once people knew you could turn invisible, the power of the ability was greatly reduced, and as such he''d vowed to keep the specifics of his abilities to himself if he ever left his home. But, here he was in front of a figure of authority that wasn''t telling him his very existence was impossible.


    <div>


    He decided to open up. On the way back down the levels, Kole explained his magical situation to Jorin.


    Kole told Jorin about how he¡¯d built his vault at an early age, and upon finding no evidence of the Font of Illusions within, had dove into wizardry head first. But, on the creation of his wizard¡¯s bridge, he¡¯d found it opened up beside the Font instead of within it. He was a primal, only one without any of the instincts needed to harness the abilities.


    He told him of how he kept it secret, and his struggles in learning magic, spotted as they were with hints of success.


    The master mage seemed not to be paying attention, greeting people as they passed and occasionally casting some spells to entertain a child. But, he would ask questions and ask for clarification at times, proving he was following the tale.


    ¡°Let me get this straight then,¡± Jorin said, stopping at a seemingly random location in the storage hold. ¡°You could have trained to become a powerful Mirage Knight, using your sorcerous Will pool, but you chose to hide the power on the off chance that the last hundred years of magical study into primals was somehow wrong?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but when you put it that way it sounds really crab-headed,¡± Kole defended, he didn¡¯t think his decision was that crazy. ¡°That same hundred years of study said that someone couldn¡¯t be both a sorcerer and a primal. And... something¡¯s wrong with my primal instincts. I can¡¯t see my Font from my vault and I never gained a primal ability¡±


    ¡°Very curious. Does your primal connection hinder your sorcery?¡±


    In response to that, Kole turned invisible without the powerful mage even realizing he¡¯d cast a spell until it¡¯d been complete.


    Jurin let out a whistle,  ¡°Well, well. I stand impressed. I didn¡¯t sense you drawing on the Fonts until the spell was completed.¡±


    Kole took a step to the side, out of habit whenever he turned invisible to hide his location, and was unnerved when Jurin¡¯s eyes followed him, maintaining eye contact.


    Jurin performed an arcane gesture and spoke another word, and suddenly Kole was visible once more,  ¡°Hmm, that  is  impressive. That was truly a third-tier spell, not some weird primal shortcut. How much Will did it cost you? ¡±


    ¡°Around three,¡± Kole confessed.


    Jurin shook his head,  ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re a fool or a prodigy, but if you have time between your duties, I¡¯d be interested in talking about your situation more ¡ªthe magical one, not the fugitive state. This is your bunk, you¡¯ll get your duty assignment at breakfast in the on-duty mess. Be there at 5 A.M.¡±


    At that, Jurin vanished, having teleported away.


    ¡°I guess he didn¡¯t like all the stairs,¡± Kole said to himself, finally taking in his surroundings.


    What he¡¯d first taken to be a storage hold was ¡ªin fact¡ªan actual storage hold. A hammock hung tied between the nets securing bundles of cargo to the walls. Kole stood in a small illuminated area, darkness on all sides. The immediate area was illuminated with Light runes carved into the ceiling and had lit before them as they¡¯d approached, and gone off in their wake.


    Kole¡¯s eyes were drawn to the runic symbol for the Font of Light briefly, but he wasn¡¯t sure why. After a moment, the light went out, and he was forced to navigate his way to the hammock in the dark. He could cast the Glow cantrip, but it would take all the Will he had for the day, and he was hoping to not spend the rest of the day with a Will drain-induced headache.


    With nowhere else to be for nearly eighteen hours, and having most recently slept in a sewer ¡ªeven if it was a clean one¡ªKole decided to take a nap.


    Thud


    "Ow!"


    The sudden noise broke Kole from his sleep, and he turned invisible out of instinct.


    He stood slowly and crept, barefoot, out of his small alcove between crates. A dim glow came from a small opening a few bays down the hold, and Kole could hear indistinct whispering.


    He crept closer, careful to remain silent using well-honed skills gained from an adolescence spent hiding. When he had only covered half the distance, the light went out, and the whispering stopped. Kole froze, afraid he¡¯d somehow been spotted, but he knew he hadn¡¯t made a sound. Eventually, when no challenge came, he moved close, ready to cast Shield or Magic Missiles if the need arose, though afterward he¡¯d be defenseless.


    ¡°Stop right there or I¡¯ll blast you!¡± a very nervous girl¡¯s voice called out.


    As threats of murder came, it was probably the worst that had ever been thrown at Kole. Not that he¡¯d been threatened with murder often, but it  had happened enough times for Kole to make that assessment. So lame was the threat, that it took him a moment to realize the speaker had somehow spotted him. He examined himself, but to his relief ¡ªand mild confusion¡ªhe was still invisible.


    Maybe it''s a bluff?  He thought.


    He stood still, focusing on calming his breathing, lest it give him away.


    ¡°I know you are there,¡± the voice called again, somehow sounding nervous and irritated simultaneously. ¡°I¡¯m pointing a blasting rod at you, so turn visible before I use it.¡±


    The light returned, and Kole could see a small rod backlit and protruding out from between a stack of crates.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Kole relented, letting his spell lapse. He held his hands out to his side, in a gesture that gave the impression of harmlessness, but kept his hands ready in case he needed to cast a spell.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± the voice demanded, gaining confidence. ¡°Were you looking for me?¡±


    ¡°I don''t even know who you are. I was asleep over there and heard you fall.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± the voice said, sounding almost disappointed. ¡°Why are you down here then?¡±


    ¡°They assigned me a bunk down here. I¡¯m trading work for passage to Edgewater. What are  you  doing down here? ¡±


    There was no answer for a moment before the girl finally spoke.


    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business. Turn around, go back to your bunk, and forget you ever found me.¡±


    Kole ignored the demands and asked,  ¡°Are you a stowaway? You know the ship clans throw stowaways overboard right?¡±


    He knew the ship had set sail some time ago, and the window for this girl to come clean had likely ended. Ship clans don''t usually throw stowaways overboard anymore, but... the conversation with Jurin strongly suggested that their captain wouldn''t be so lenient.


    ¡°I... didn¡¯t know that,¡± she said, all hints of surety now gone from her voice. ¡°Is it true?¡±


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    Kole nodded, not sure if she could see him in the dim light, but she had somehow detected him


    ¡°I¡¯m Kole. Can you come out, or at least stop pointing that at me?¡±


    There was a clattering and Kole saw the stick fall to the ground as she dropped it and began to move crates around. When the crack was wide enough, a girl crawled out, bringing her light with her and illuminating the space. The light was a short stone cylinder, runed to emit light from the top like a stubby torch. She looked to be around Kole¡¯s age but was short and thin. She had pale skin and short messy blond hair tied up in a bird nest of a bun, and her ears had shallow tips marking her as a half-elf, and calling her age into question.


    ¡°I¡¯m Amara,¡± she said, looking at Kole¡¯s feet as she spoke. ¡°That was just a stick. Please don¡¯t turn me in.¡±


    Kole let out a heavy sigh.


    "I won''t, just..." He looked around at the empty rows of cargo. "I have to go, I lost track of time and need to be somewhere. Stay hidden. I''ll see if I can bring you something to eat. I have to report in, I have no idea what time it is but I think I¡¯m running late."


    Amara¡¯s uncertain face lit up at the mention of food.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll stay,¡± She said, and then added in a whisper, ¡°Please don¡¯t turn me in.¡±


    Kole made his way up the levels of the ship, berating himself.


    He really should turn this Amara girl in. He¡¯d lucked into getting passage himself, and now he was putting that passage ¡ªand his very future by extension¡ªat risk, by helping a girl he¡¯d not only just met, but had introduced herself with a threat. But, how could he turn her in? She had looked quite pathetic and he could very well have been in her situation if his barrel had surfaced by a different ship.


    He wrestled with what to do until he found the mess hall he¡¯d been assigned to. He ate a standard ship clan meal of fish and bread and then found Meech waiting for him outside.


    ¡°Good morning Kole, it looks like I¡¯m going to have some help with my dung duty.¡±


    Several odorous hours later, Kole left the  ¡°stink hold¡± as the crew call it, and began to head to the mess.


    ¡°Not that way,¡± Meech called after him. ¡°My brother wants to see you.¡±


    Brother? That explains it.


    Kole looked himself over, noticing he¡¯d done a very poor job in keeping himself clean through the transferring of the ¡°product¡± into the holding tanks.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that,¡± Meech said as if reading his mind. ¡±Jurin will take care of that, you¡¯re not being punished and he¡¯s not a fan of the smell."


    Kole found my way back up to the master mage''s quarters and knocked.


    Jurin opened the door and¡ªbefore Kole could voice a greeting¡ªcast Clean on him. The filth flaked off of Kole''s skin and clothing, disintegrating into a cloud of black dust that then vanished.


    "Much better," Jurin said and then gestured for Kole to come in.


    A meal for two was set inside and Jurin invited Kole to take a seat. Jurin asked Kole about his particular condition, and Kole was more than happy to share. Very few back home seemed to have any interest in his attempts to learn wizardry. They''d marked him as mad and his recent successes hadn''t served to change their opinion of him, not that he¡¯d stuck around long enough to hear what they thought.


    Kole told Jurin how he''d struggled to cast even a cantrip, how he''d pored over the library trying any version he could find until eventually, he''d found ones that worked. He explained how he''d discovered that the older spells were easier to cast. Those spells used simpler gate components and compensated with more complex paths. Working his way into the past, he eventually learned the oldest spellforms the great library back home had that were still intact. He learned every cantrip he could, noticing some Fonts were marginally easier to connect to than others, but so great was his connection to the Font of Illusions, opening his bridge anywhere else in the Arcane Realm took an immense deal of Will.


    "After that, I taught myself spellform construction theory and began to repair the damaged ones. By the time I left, the only spellforms I''d yet to try had been completely devoid of Will and beyond my ability to restore."


    ¡°So what can you do now?¡± Jurin asked.


    ¡°I can cast Shield and Magic Missile, but each cost me nearly forty Will.¡±


    At that, Jurin¡¯s brow rose and he let out another surprised whistle.


    ¡°That... is a lot. You have that much?¡±


    ¡°I know and I do,¡± Kole said, a little embarrassed, ¡°But I can still do it, which is more than any other primal wizard ever could. It means there¡¯s hope I can figure it out.¡±


    ¡°That there is,¡± Jurin agreed.


    Kole looked up into Jurin¡¯s eyes and didn''t know what to say. Never before had he encountered a wizard who thought him anything but crazy.


    Before he could think of how to respond Jurin held up a hand to stop him and continued,  ¡°You have a lot of work ahead of you, and there''s still the rather large possibility you will fail, but... I believe there¡¯s a chance you won¡¯t.¡±


    Despite his hedging, the words still filled Kole with hope, for they were validation.


    They talked after that about less serious matters, when eventually the topic came around to Kole¡¯s stowaway status.


    ¡°So...¡± Kole began, ¡°How do you think the Captain would respond if they found a stowaway mid-journey?¡±


    Jurin¡¯s face became serious and he examined Kole closely before asking, ¡°Why?¡±


    Flood, Kole thought


    ¡°Umm... I was just curious, you know? Like, what would have happened if I¡¯d not announced myself?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not a good liar. Tell me the real reason you are asking.¡±


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole said, this time aloud. ¡°Let¡¯s say ¡ªhypothetically¡ªthere was a stowaway on the ship. What would the Captain do?¡±


    ¡°Hypothetically, the Captain would rouse the entire crew to search for them and throw them overboard when found.¡±


    ¡°That seems... harsh,¡± Kole said.


    He knew the ship clans had strict laws about stowaways, but he also knew they''d grown more lax on the issue in the last couple hundred years and were more than likely to bend the rules away from capital punishment.


    ¡°Yes, it is. The previous High Captain Durant was killed by a stowaway that he happened upon by chance. High Captain Meerim had been the commander of the ship and quartermaster of the fleet at the time, and High Captain Durant had been her mentor. When Meerim was elected High Captain in the wake of the murder, she made an example of the stowaway, binding him before throwing him over the edge. If there was a new stowaway found, she¡¯d likely not bind them, but she¡¯d certainly throw them overboard.¡±


    Kole didn¡¯t say anything after that, and Jurin continued after a moment¡¯s pause ¡°She¡¯d also throw anyone caught aiding the stowaway overboard as well.¡±


    Flood...


    Kole considered Jurin¡¯s tone and past actions and was fairly certain he didn¡¯t share the Captain¡¯s opinions of the matter.


    I might as well ask.


    ¡°How would you suggest getting food for a stowaway if one wanted to remain undetected and unejected?¡±


    Jurin let out a heavy sigh and began to rub his forehead.


    ¡°Hypothetically, of course,¡± Kole amended.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Jurin agreed. ¡°Hypothetically, I¡¯d suggest one not steal food from the mess. Ideally ¡ªin this hypothetical situation¡ªit would be best to find a member of the crew sufficiently high ranking to have their own private pantry, and to steal food from there. Now, if you will excuse me, it is very late, and I must go to bed. Please clean this meal up.¡±


    Kole was taken aback at the sudden turn.


    Jurin stood and walked out of the small dining room, toward the door in the back.  ¡°Please place the uneaten bread back in the pantry in the kitchen. Just through that door, the first cabinet on the right. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow for dinner at the same time.¡±


    And then, Jurin left, and Kole sat at the table looking over the small heel of the loaf that remained.


    Oh! I see... am I actually supposed to clean up?

 Chapter 6: Understanding

    Over the hundred years that followed the Last Dragon War, sorcerers used their expanded natural Will capacity to excel at wizardry. A young sorcerer could construct a bridge in two years instead of the average of four of an ordinary wizard. Slowly the "arts" of sorcerous training were lost, and sorcery became an afterthought, each sorcerer only having a single Font to their name.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    Kole decided it best not to risk Jorin¡¯s displeasure and cleared the table before collecting the food. He brought all the plates into the kitchen in a large pile where a very surprised pair of servants sat playing cards


    After an awkward encounter, Kole stood waiting as they began to clean up. One servant went to the dining room with a rag, and the other began to tidy up in the kitchen. Before he could tell if the pair would let him take food, a small bell rang in the corner, and the remaining servant left, but not before giving Kole another confused look.


    As soon as he was alone, Kole pulled the cabinet door open, grabbed an empty sack from within, and filled it with a loaf of bread, some cheese, and a few small green fruits he¡¯d never seen before. He then infused the bag and its contents with his Will, and turned invisible, the bag vanishing along with him.


    The trip back down to the hold went without issue, but he did have to hide in corners and stairwells to avoid running into passersby. He banished his spell as soon as he was safe in the hold.


    When Kole got close to Amara''s crate cave, he called out, "It''s me. I brought you food."


    The side of a crate opened up. When no one emerged, Kole sighed and crawled in. Within was a surprisingly spacious opening that reminded Kole of the times he¡¯d built forts with his friends out of discarded planks, before his mother''s disappearance and he''d become a social outcast.


    Amara sat in one corner, examining her stick from before.


    "Close the door," she said without looking up from her work.


    Kole complied and made himself comfortable. The girl sat cross-legged, fiddling with a wooden rod in one hand and scratching the head of a rather large rat beside her.


    "I brought food¡­" Kole said, staring at the rat in bewilderment.


    Finally, she looked up. She was still visibly nervous, but her eyes locked onto the bag. Kole broke his own gaze away from the rat.


    "I will give you this, but you need to tell me what possessed you to stow away on a ship clan vessel."


    She didn''t answer at first, only staring at the bag, seemingly eating it with her gaze.


    "Okay," she said, grabbing the bag from Kole before he could react.


    Amara dug through the bag, finding the cheese and breaking a chunk off for her rodent friend and sticking another in her gourd before eating herself. Kole spotted tiny black bugs on the gourd in the dim light.


    "I''m looking for my sister," she said as if that answered all Kole''s questions.


    "I''m going to need more than that if you want me to steal for you for the next week."


    Kole felt no need to inform her that the ship''s¡ªno, the clan''s¡ªhighest-ranking wizard was helping him in the endeavor.


    The girl looked from Kole, to the food and then to the rat and a strange gourd beside her before deciding.


    "Alright. I''m from Stone Haven. My sister went to the Dahn to bring understandings back home. But, she never came back. I''m going to enroll and find her."


    "Stone Haven? Like, the hive mind thing? With the giant ants?"


    "It''s not a hive mind," Amara said defensively. "We are all individuals, we just share parts of our knowledge."


    "Wait, so you''re a..." Kole stopped, only derogatory terms for the people of Stone Haven coming to mind. "Primal of Community?"


    Now it was Amara''s turn to let out a sigh.


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    "Grandmother was very wrong when she chose that name. We call it the Font of Understanding now "


    "Grandmother!? Lidian Oakcrest is your grandmother?"


    Lidian Oakcrest was¡ªor possibly is, Kole wasn''t actually sure if she''d died¡ªa famous elven naturalist. She''d stumbled on an island of giant symbiotic ants, written of them, and then quietly removed all mention of it from subsequent editions. During the Last Dragon War, the island joined in the fighting, revealing the reason for her sudden secrecy. People had become part of the magical symbiosis. The descendants of the settlers of Rock Haven had become primals and become a part of the island collective. They''d been terrifying fighters, despite their lack of an army. Flocks of seagulls and swarms of rats served as eyes, ears, and noses for the forces battling the dragon cults. They quickly learned the art of war, and when together in large groups, the people were nearly unstoppable. Kole had read an account of an ant swarm devouring a kobold warren alive. It had been horrifying and recalling the passage, Kole scooted away from the gourd slightly.


    Kole had read all Lidian¡¯s work relating to primals he could get his hands on, hoping to find some bit of knowledge to aid in his own pursuits. He''d found no actionable information¡ªthough he¡¯d grown a bit jealous of the abilities of full primals gained the intuition needed to wield their magics.


    "Yes," Amara said, embarrassed, though she had yet to make eye contact with Kole, he could tell by the flush of her pale skin. "I''m a quarter-elf."


    "Quarter-elf?" Kole couldn''t help but ask, despite knowing he just kept repeating Amara''s words. "That¡¯s not¡ª¡° he stopped himself from saying ¡¯that''s not possible.'' He¡¯d been told that enough times in his life about his own pursuits and he tried to keep an open mind.


    ¡°Those are possible?" he asked instead.


    "Rare, but yes,¡± Amara answered, not noticing the slip-up, ¡°It''s believed that when the Illusian races crossbreed, the children are infertile, but that''s not true. It''s possible, only exceedingly rare. My mother is human, and my father is Lidian¡¯s son. I''m Amara Oakcrest, and my sister is Amintha Oakcrest."


    "If it''s so rare, how do you have a sister?"


    "We¡¯re twins. She left to go see the world and convinced our father to let her go to the Academy of Illunia, but she''s since disappeared. She may have run off for adventure, but I''m afraid something happened to her."


    "Oh..." Kole said weakly, at a loss for words of support for this strange girl.


    ¡°Why are you heading there?¡± Amara asked after a long silence.


    "I want to be a wizard,¡± Kole answered without a moment''s pause to reflect.


    ¡°Why do you want to be a wizard? Why the Academy? There are other places.¡±


    Kole thought about how much he wanted to share. He hardly knew this girl, but... she¡¯d been kinder to him than all his peers back home combined, and they all knew his ambitions. Why keep it from her?


    ¡°I want to be an adventurer. My parents were and they''re missing. I''m going to find them. The Dahn at the Academy trains wizards, but they also train adventurers. I''ll need more than just magical knowledge to rescue them when I find them. And...¡± he paused, embarrassed about this last part despite the decision to be honest. ¡°I can¡¯t really do magic.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked, surprised. ¡°Turning invisible seemed pretty magical to me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah... I can do that, but little else. It''s complicated, but I think the answers to my problem may lie in the Dahn''s library. I hope to catch the attention of a journeyman or master wizard to sponsor me into the adventuring program, but that might never happen if I can''t progress further on my own. My abilities are lacking currently, but there are a few oddities about my magic I hope will attract someone¡¯s interest. If I can find a way to cast spells for a reasonable cost, I''m sure I''ll grab someone''s interest.¡±


    To prevent further questions, Kole went on the conversational offensive and asked, ¡°Are you planning on enrolling? Or just staking out in town and searching for your sister?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, certainly,¡± she said, excitement creeping into her quiet voice for the first time. ¡°I can¡¯t afford to not enroll.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I need a scholarship or patron if I want to have any hope of staying. I lost all of my money in the floating city. That''s why I''m hiding in this crate. I hope to train under a runesmith."


    ¡°Oh, a runesmith? Are you one? I¡¯m not very familiar with runes¡±


    For the first time, Kole saw genuine joy spark in the girl¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Oh yes!¡± she said, full of fervor. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking into applying the new secondary Font of Life to wood. Normally wood can¡¯t be used for runes long term because it decays so fast under the magical forces, but I¡¯ve had a lot of success.¡±


    Kole sat patiently as the girl inundated him with far more information about runes than his brain had room or context for. He wanted to change topics, but¡­ she seemed so happy. He let her continue, trying to follow as best he could.


    The pair talked late into the night, and eventually Kole was able to change topics. They spoke about their homes. Amara told of the giant towers that dominated her rocky home and the animals that lived alongside them, while Kole told her about his sub-aquatic dome.


    The conversation was a little awkward. Amara seemed unable to understand the sarcasm Kole had attempted to cut through the tension. She apologized, explaining that she was used to having a close magical understanding of those she interacted with back home.


    ¡°Is everyone from your home like that?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Amara said, not providing any more explanation, and she began fiddling with her stick more aggressively.


    Eventually, they separated and Kole went to sleep in his hammock, while Amara curled up in a pile of thin-stranded nets.

 Chapter 7: Passage

    The sorcerous wizards, henceforth referred to as mages, rose faster and higher in their power. Where the average wizard plateaued with spells of the third tier, the average mage rose to the fourth. For either class though, it takes true talent to rise to the fifth tier of spellcasting. But, even amongst the best mages, their sorcery rarely rose beyond the second tier.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    The next week was spent in drudgery. While Meech was only needed to work in the dung hold for two more days, Kole was not so lucky, and he toiled away the remainder of the voyage working with the regular laborers, who were far worse conversationalists than Meech had been. Either the work addled the brain, or only the brain-addled were willing to sign up for this duty full-time. After the product had been loaded into the hold, it required constant stirring and watering, lest it lose its magical potency. Magical potency which Kole believed was directly related to the smell, for each time they wet it, the smell seemed to grow worse


    Kole spent as much free time as he could, marveling at the sky and the sea. He¡¯d left Illandrios once as a child when both his parents had still been around, but the distant memories of childhood couldn¡¯t compete with the reality of the sight before him.


    Each night, Kole would return to Jorin¡¯s quarters, where they¡¯d eat, and discuss magic, and then the master mage would look the other way as Kole helped himself to the pantry. Jorin had no specific knowledge to assist Kole in his situation, but having a master mage as a sounding board helped Kole focus his plans for the immediate future at the Dahn.


    Kole continued to keep Amara company each night as she ate her pilfered meals. She explained to him more about how the magic of her Font worked, though she was far less interested in the topic than in runes. The Font of Understanding was one of the secondary Fonts and controlled, well, understanding. All the primals of the Font, no matter their race or species, had an innate understanding of one another. This understanding ranged from emotions to skills, but not knowledge. The line between knowledge and skills was vague, but Amara described it for Kole with an example.


    She held up the stick she¡¯d bluffed Kole with previously. Ants crawled over it gnawing at the wood, causing Kole to jump back in surprise.


    ¡°I¡¯m a runesmith. If I were around a master runesmith from my home, I wouldn¡¯t be able to draw runes from his memory if I were working on my own task. But, if I was working with him on a project, I would know which runes he wanted me to craft, and I could draw the shape, understanding not its function or purpose, but only that was his desire. Similarly, these ants don¡¯t understand runes, but they understand my desire for them to carve shapes into this piece of wood, so they do it. I can learn the runes through practice, and eventually retain the knowledge if I ask questions and intentionally learn, but if I don¡¯t, I forget.¡±


    ¡°That...¡± Kole began, ¡°Doesn¡¯t make any sense. How is that not just knowledge?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain when you lack Understanding¡±


    ¡°That is such a cop-out.¡¯


    Amara shrugged.


    ¡°While the connection between a fellow primal is a lot stronger, I can use my Font to better understand others. If you spoke a different language than me, I could understand your meaning by drawing on the Font, and eventually learn the language myself.¡±


    ¡°How is that not knowledge?¡± Kole asked again.


    ¡°How is altering an individual''s perception of reality an ¡¯illusion¡¯?¡± Amara shot back.


    ¡°That''s literally the definition of an illusion!¡± Kole yelled, exasperated.


    ¡°Oh... It is?¡± Amara asked, quieter. ¡°I thought it had to do with light.¡±


    Kole calmed as well and explained, ¡°An illusion is causing someone¡¯s senses to falsely interpret reality. Before the Font of Illusions was created, illusion magic was primarily an application of Light and Sound.¡±


    Both young primals were connected to the so called ¡¯secondary¡¯ Fonts. The ones that came into existence at some point after the Flood, millennium after the gods had created the original ones. Being rather recent developments, the nuances of their magic were not as clearly known as the original Fonts from the creation of the realm. And, being primals, these two were uniquely positioned to have in-depth knowledge of these relatively unknown Fonts.


    ¡°The Font of Illusions was made from the connection of Mind, Light, and Sound, and magic using the Font contains elements of all three.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Amara intoned, thinking. ¡°Understanding was formed from Mind, Bonds, and Identity.¡±


    ¡°Identity? That seems odd.¡±


    ¡°The Font of Identity is closely tied to understanding. The identity of an object is the culminated intent of people¡¯s understanding of that object.¡±


    ¡°If you say so,¡± Kole said with a shrug.


    ¡°Both of our Fonts are formed of three others. Do you think all the new fonts are?¡±


    ¡°No. The Wind Font is just Air and Force, and that''s only two. People thought it was connected to the Font of Pressure, but that too was a secondary Font formed of Force and Barrier and they are simply close in the Arcane Realm due to their shared proximity to Force.¡±


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    Despite the awful work, Kole found he enjoyed his passage. With both Amara and Jorin, he had interesting conversations each night, despite the horror of the day¡¯s labors. After the first day off, Meech even came by from time to time to keep Kole company.


    With the aid of Jorin, Amara remained undetected for the remainder of the journey. The night before their arrival at the port city of Roost, Meech came down to the hold at Jorin¡¯s request to help ¡°repack some cargo.¡±


    ¡°Flood!¡± Meech cursed when he saw Amara. ¡°And he had the audacity to assign me dung duty when he was helping aid and abet a stowaway!¡±


    Despite his cursing, Meech was more than happy to help pack Amara back into a crate and mark it so that she¡¯d be unloaded first.


    Kole felt a little uncertain about leaving Amara in the hands of the crew, helpless in a box, but Meech assured him that he would handle the unloading himself. Kole wasn¡¯t exactly sure what Meech¡¯s role was on the ship, but he seemed to do whatever he felt like¡ªso long as it was related to the act of sailing and he wasn¡¯t on punishment detail. Not everyone in a ship clan actively partook in the sailing of the ships, but those that did often had specific roles. In this way, Meech was an anomaly.


    The next morning found Kole at the prow of the ship, eagerly waiting for landfall. A few minutes after the call of ¡°Land ho!¡± from the crow¡¯s nest, Kole caught sight of the tips of the mountains that held the waters of the Ocean at bay. A few hours later, he could see the city of Roost or at least, the port of Hawk¡¯s Nest. Formerly a secret base to the infamous pirate ship the Sparrowhawk, the city was hidden behind a mountain, out of sight from the sea. The port itself was a bay formed from where the two mountains met and was surrounded by the jagged peaks of shorter mountains.


    At first glance, the bay seemed impassable, but illusionary lights guided ships through the rocky spikes to their berths once they¡¯ve made contact with the port master via magic, flags, or prearranged papers. Kole tried to sense the lights with his connection to the Font, but they were either too far away, or his senses too weak. He wasn¡¯t disappointed though, as sensing magical effects was a talent of older wizards than he, even with his advantages.


    Meech, whose ineffable responsibilities saw him free to watch the approach with Kole, explained that the city shifted the obstacles around on a regular basis, preventing unauthorized entry or exit of the port. The former pirate¡¯s cove had a surprisingly strong stance against smuggling. Something Meech thought quite amusing.


    Lights guided the Willowboom to a dock beneath a series of large crane constructions, specifically sized for the massive ship clan ships. The remainder of the fleet stayed out beyond the protected bay, sending people to shore on smaller vessels. The flagship dwarfed all other ships in the harbor and crew swarmed the deck, casting lines out to bring the massive ship alongside the dock cut into the mountain''s edge.


    Before the ship had even stopped, the hatches to the hold burst open and the crew began raising the cargo via magically powered lifts. Kole watched as the crates were methodically lined up on deck and subsequently removed from the port''s cranes.


    Meech gave Kole a nudge when a particular crate was unloaded, and they moved to disembark from the ship. A port official stood at the end of the ramp, discussing the manifest with the ship''s quartermaster. No one else had dared disembark but both men simply nodded at Meech as he passed, paying the still-visible Kole no mind.


    They went to the fenced-in area the cargo was being unloaded into, and once more Meech was ushered through a very serious-looking checkpoint without question.


    "What in Fauell do you do?!" Kole asked, not able to make any sense of the man.


    "Whatever needs doing," Meech answered with a sly grin as they walked through aisles of stacked crates.


    "That''s not really an answer."


    "That''s true," Meech said with a laugh, "But so is my answer. I''ll tell you this on account of your heritage and my brother seems to trust you. In the clan, the High Captain commands the fleet and acts as the overall leader. The Grand Master controls the Stormcallers and together they lead us in peace and war. Each ship has a captain of its own, which act as a sort of local governor, leading and ruling each vessel."


    "Now sometimes, the Captain or my brother needs something done, but none of their crew has the skill set to do it. When that happens, they ask me, and I take care of it."


    "So you''re, what, a smuggler? Spy? Assassin?" Kole asked.


    Meech maintained eye contact and lifted his eyebrows in a way that could be interpreted as a confirmation.


    "Your lady friend should be right here," he said, stopping and emphasizing his words by slapping his palm on a crate labeled ¡°LIVE PUSS BEATLES"


    "That''s one way to keep people away I suppose," Kole said, commenting on the words.


    Together they pried open the side of the crate and a frazzled Amara fell out along with a rat which landed on top of her.


    "Rat!" Meech shouted, reaching for a club at his waist.


    "No!" Amara screamed in panic as she covered the rat with her arms.


    "I think it''s sort of her familiar," Kole said.


    Meech looked between the two teenagers and then holstered his club.


    "Kids these days," he muttered under his breath. Louder he said, "Don''t blame me when you get some horrible disease from the thing."


    Once Amara had gathered her few belongings, Meech walked them out the gate, where the guards literally looked the other way at their passing.


    "Well, this is where I say my goodbye," Meech said. "My brother sends his regards and said he¡¯ll ask after word of the pocket realm you spoke of. Once you get settled, send him your address."


    "Thank you! I will!"


    The sailor left the pair and they looked around to get their bearings.


    "We need to take the lifts down to Edgewater," Kole said, with confidence he didn''t feel.


    He had been here once before, but he''d been young and not paid attention to minor details like directions.


    "I know where to go," Amara said, with a confidence that was certainly not feigned.


    Kole took note of the stark change in her demeanor and decided to trust her, she had trusted him with her own life after all¡ªthought, he supposed that could have been a sign of poor judgment and not trustworthiness.


    "Lead the way then."

 Chapter 8: Lift

    Chapter 8: Lift


    In its original usage, the term mage referred to anyone with a connection to a Font from which they could draw power. In this paradigm, even Primals would be considered as such. Over time, when the art of wizardry was discovered, the designation of sorcery was given to the innate ability to cast, but all still were considered mages.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    Amara began walking down the streets of the warehouse district, oblivious to the dangers such parts of town were known for. It was early morning, but that wouldn''t stop an opportunistic thief who caught a young girl unaware.


    "How do you know where to go?" Kole asked sometime after she''d made another turn.


    She pointed up.


    Kole followed her finger, squinting against the sun.


    "I just see a bunch of gulls."


    "One of them is with me," she said.


    "How are directions ¡¯understanding''?!" Kole started but then stopped himself adding, "Never mind."


    They continued like this a while longer until they found a line of carts and wagons loaded with supplies. The noise got louder and the crowds grew, and Amara lost some of her confidence, becoming agitated by the noise. Far ahead they spotted a large stone construction of dwarven build, perfectly square and free of adornments that served no function, only runes giving it any semblance of decoration. Groups of cargo were loaded onto a large rectangular platform, which then slid to the side to make room for the next one.


    Finally spotting something he recognized, he took the lead.


    "We don''t have to wait in this," he told Amara.


    They walked along the line until they reached a much shorter line up front reserved for passengers without cargo. A dozen people waited as one person stood on a runed plate in front of a clerk''s window.


    Behind the window, a dwarf woman said, "203 pounds. That''ll be 6 Will or 6 bits."


    "Could you have said it any louder?¡± the human woman who''d just been publicly weighed hissed, ¡°Will I suppose."


    The dwarf laughed at the irritation and Kole guessed that public shaming was seen as a small perk of the job to the toll keeper.


    She handed the woman a small glass sphere, and the woman touched it briefly before the dwarf took it away satisfied.


    When it became Kole and Amara''s turn, they collectively owed 12 Will.


    "What if we offer more Will?" Kole asked.


    He knew the Will was a tax to power the runes of the great lift, but he vaguely remembered his father exhausting his Will when they''d used it.


    "Then you get paid. 1 bit for each 1 Will extra." The dwarf explained.


    "I can give 25," Amara said, eagerly.


    Amara was handed a gemstone this time. A small ruby but wonderfully cut. She held the stone in her hand and focused and handed it to the dwarf, who inspected it and gave Amara a copper coin and 5 bits.


    "Just the 7 for me," Kole said.


    He had plenty of Will, but he required all of it if he needed to cast anything but Invisibility. He had enough money to see him through the coming months if he was careful, and if came to it he could come back and sell more Will. All his Will capacity for the day could earn him 40 bits, or two copper counts, but that was worthless to him next to a lost day of progress.


    Plus, he hated the headaches caused from Will drain. He looked to Amara who was already rubbing her forehead and shielding her eyes from the light.


    They were ushered through a gate and onto the giant platform. The platform itself was a 30-foot square, with 8-foot tall sides. The floor and walls were made of wood, but that was simply a platform secured to the metal runed plate that the elevator rested on.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Kole asked Amara who was attempting to pry up a board.


    ¡°I want to see the runes!¡± she said with focused determination, forgetting the pain of her Will-drained state.


    ¡°Stop it! You¡¯re going to get us kicked off.¡±


    Amara stopped her desperate clawing and looked around to see if she¡¯d been spotted.


    ¡°They¡¯d do that?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The dwarves are rather protective of their runes,¡± Kole explained


    Amara was disappointed for a moment but then smiled as a rat climbed out of her bag and onto the floor, where it quickly found a hole and squeezed through. As soon as it was through, she pulled out a notebook and sat down on the floor, drawing out a series of runes.


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    Kole watched her work, nervously looking to see if anyone was paying attention to them. The dwarves that ran the lift were busy directing the passengers and cargo, evenly distributing the weight, and paid no heed to the meager weight of the pair of teenagers.


    Once sure they were unobserved, he watched Amara draw. Kole didn¡¯t know much about runes, but in many ways, they were similar to the spellforms he¡¯d studied endlessly. The lines in each magical art had no decipherable meaning but were instead shapes that resonated with the Fonts and the Arcane Realm in ways that allowed Will to draw upon them.


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡± Kole asked, despite knowing he wouldn¡¯t be happy with the answer.


    ¡°Gus wants me to write them down, so I can understand his desires and do it,¡± she explained, as if that made perfect sense.


    Kole stopped himself from engaging, and instead focused on something else, ¡°Gus? The rat''s name is Gus? Like from the children¡¯s story?¡±


    Amara just nodded in response as she continued to work.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I like the story. He likes the story.¡±


    ¡°He likes the¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shhh!,¡± Amara interrupted his question.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Kole whispered, planning on bringing this topic up at a later date.


    The rat likes stories?


    Amara spent the entire hour-long descent drawing and annotating the drawings until she had a dozen pages of seemingly random shapes.


    ¡°Bottom!¡± came a shout from one of the dwarves shortly before the platform came to a grinding halt.


    The gate on the platform opposite their entry opened, and the wagons began to offload in an ordered fashion. In all the movement Gus squirmed out from under the platform and crawled back up into Amara¡¯s bag.


    Kole eyed the rodent with new eyes in light of the revelation of its opinions on fiction.


    ¡°Hide the journal,¡± Kole whispered to Amara who was looking through the pages as they walked.


    She looked up, confused for a moment, before remembering his previous warning, and then slammed the book closed.


    The platform came down alongside a lake, formed where water exited from an underwater cave from the ocean. The lake now served as a secondary port to handle the cargo from the lifts. Sailors and dock workers were busy loading and unloading freight. A small town had formed around the lake, but with Nest just up the mountain and Edgewater a days travel south, it was only a way-station.


    ¡°Let''s take a ferry,¡± Kole suggested before leading the way.


    The road to Edgewater was a safe and easy journey, but it took a whole day, and they wanted to reach the city before nightfall. Enrollment for the new year of study was open for another day, but they felt no need to risk it.


    They boarded a ferry with some of their fellow light travelers, and sat for the six-hour journey, taking in the sights of the forest that lined the river. Kole had hardly ever left Illandrios and Amara¡¯s home was rocky, devoid of any trees. The sight of the ancient forest with its towering trees awed the pair.


    Kole knew from his prior studies that the forest hadn¡¯t always been this impressive, but in the wake of the blight druid that had corrupted the area in the lead-up to the Last Dragon War, Assuine¡¯s followers had descended on the region, repairing the damage and then some. Now those followers stayed as Assuine¡¯s representatives to the Academy.


    Suddenly, the trees ended, and a city came into view. The tree line didn¡¯t fade or grow sparse over time. Instead, there was a clear delineation from the forest and the farmland that surrounded the city. The former logging village still partook in the trade, but the druids now dictated regions from which trees should be felled.


    The farmland itself was not typical either. Farms filled the region beyond the river, but the ones directly around the city were run by the school. Many grew reagents and ingredients needed for the study of alchemy and other arts, while others still were used to research the newly developing science of horticulture¡ªsomething the Assuine worshipers were still coming to grips with. They didn¡¯t dislike the art, far from it, but the methodical approach to rearing nature was at odds with their goddess¡¯s more instinctive and whimsical nature.


    The ferry stopped near one of these farms and ushered all the passengers off where a small rickety dock sat.


    ¡°Trust me,¡± the ferryman said as he unloaded his mules to haul the ferry back up north. ¡°You don¡¯t want to get dropped off in the docks.¡±


    Looking down the river, Kole saw a line of ships waiting at anchor in the middle of the river. The thought of their unwieldy ferry passing through that gave him an appreciation for the unstable dock.


    They followed a road through the farms that led them through the outer city until they found the main northern road that would bring them through the gates to the city proper. A small logging town before the war, Edgewater had experienced a boom with the influx of citizens from the Fall of Landing. The town quickly became the major city of the region, and a wall had been constructed at that time as part of the war effort. The city had long since outgrown that region, but the wall still remained, now more of an inconvenience to its inhabitants than it would be a hindrance to any invading army.


    No one challenged their entry at the gate, and once through they noticed a marked improvement in the quality of the building construction. While the area outside the walls was far from a slum, the buildings had all been constructed by humans, orcs, and halflings. Those races surely had their own skills and techniques for constructing buildings of quality, but the inner city had been constructed with the aid of the dwarves, and it showed. The vast majority of the buildings were crafted from stone, some of which was quarried from the nearby mountain, but others were drawn from down below by Stoneweavers and Torc¡¯s Blessed, and then molded into shape.


    The buildings were devoid of adornment, but every surface was polished so that the patterns in the stone were brilliant in the sun. Free of adornments save for runes, that is. While it was just past noon when the pair arrived, the unpowered Light runes could be made out on the corner and door frame of every building. The simple aesthetic of the dwarven craft was marred slightly by the later additions the city¡¯s non-dwarven residences had added over the decades. Most of the buildings now bore additional levels built directly atop the originals, but the combination gave Edgewater an aesthetic matched nowhere else on Kaltis.


    The Dahn¡ªthe central tower of the Academy of Illunia¡ªcould be seen from anywhere in the city, and Kole and Amara took advantage of this to guide their feet toward the campus. They forewent stopping for a meal, instead eating from a bag of travel rations Meech had given Kole before his departure. The city was packed with a diverse mix of humans, orcs, halflings, and dwarves, and Kole even caught sight of the occasional gnome and demonkin. There was a small population of elves in the city, but they stuck to the district they¡¯d constructed for themselves and the campus.


    As they got closer to the school, the demographic changed. The races were still diverse, but the ambling crowd was replaced with young potential students all heading toward the school. The mass eventually formed into a line, until Kole and Amara found themselves in a serpentine queue in the green around the Dahn.


    ¡°Do you think this is the line for admissions?¡± Amara asked, looking around at the crowds with apprehension.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s a safe bet,¡± Kole answered.

 Chapter 9: Admissions

    Chapter 9: Admissions


    Wizardry allowed mages to pass on their knowledge and this led to the traditional method of learning. Mages would take apprentices with similar affinities to their own and teach them the constructs for the spells. The sorcerous Fonts available to a mage were used to place masters with apprentices.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    The line moved quickly, and as they got closer to where it entered a large building, a crier could be heard shouting out instructions.


    ¡°Read the signs! Follow the path for the primary curriculum you wish to enroll in! If you can¡¯t read, follow the path marked with an ¡¯X¡¯ to be enrolled in the remedial program!¡±


    The man announcing the instructions repeated them every minute and had a few dozen times by the time Kole and Amara saw the first signs. The path branched into five, each marked with one of the major schools of the academy. They read ¡¯Academia,¡¯ ¡¯Art,¡¯ ''War,¡¯ ''Magic,¡¯ ¡¯Craft,¡¯ and ¡¯Nature.¡¯ Beyond each, the paths branched further. Some splitting seemingly without end, but the Nature path simply split into ¡¯Assuine¡¯ and ¡¯Horticulture¡¯ before the latter lead into a building while the former, lead to a large tree in the center of the art school¡¯s green.


    At the crossroads where they would part, Amara stopped and looked to Kole as she marshaled her courage to speak.


    ¡°Let''s meet under that tree after all of this,¡± she said quickly as if spitting the words out would lessen the chance of Kole saying no.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Kole said, having been about to suggest something similar.


    Amara perked up at the accepted offer and then pulled something from a pouch at her belt.


    ¡°Take this! If you imbue Will into it, it will point to mine.¡±


    Kole examined the object. It was a set of small circular stone discs set atop one another. The top of one disc was subtly shaped into a cone, while the other¡¯s bottom was slightly concave. The features allowed the top disk to spin on the bottom fairly freely. Faint runes that meant nothing to Kole covered the objects and following Amara¡¯s words, he held the object in his palm and imbued it with Will.


    Immediately, a small white light began to glow on the edge of the top disk and snapped around to point directly at Amara.


    ¡°The light will glow brighter the closer you get. It should work so long as we are both in town, but don¡¯t use it too much, it''s just made of pewter so it won''t last forever.¡±


    ¡°You made this?¡± he asked, impressed.


    He¡¯d seen Amara tinker with that rod, and draw runes in her book, so intellectually he knew she was a runesmith, but aside from the Light disks she¡¯d made¡ªwhich were extremely common¡ªthis was the first thing he¡¯d seen her use.


    Amara¡ªas she still occasionally did¡ªgrossly misread Kole¡¯s state of mind as he inspected the tracking device.


    ¡°I know, I should have used a better material, but I used the pewter cups on the ship, and it was all that I had at hand. I can¡ª¡±


    ¡°You made this on the ship?!¡± Kole interrupted. ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡±


    Kole didn¡¯t know much about making things, but the fine detail done on these devices was impressive even to him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you will need to worry about a scholarship.¡±


    Amara beamed, finally understanding that he was impressed.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    After testing the device a little more, they separated. Amara went down the crafting line, then rune smithing, and then out of sight towards the crafting quarter of the school. Kole went down the path of ¡¯magic¡¯ and then followed signs for ¡¯wizardry.¡± Kole walked among a large group of prospective students. The path continued straight towards the central tower of the Dahn, with the occasional branch with signs denoting specific fields of study. They passed branches for ¡¯enchanting,¡¯ ¡¯medical magic,¡¯ ¡¯construction,¡¯ ¡¯war,¡¯ ¡¯art,¡¯ and more, each taking a small number from the group out to the other colleges of magic, but Kole and the rest continued on until they saw a sign posted in front of the entry to the Dahn which read ¡°general wizardry.¡¯


    While that might not sound as exciting as things like ¡¯war wizard,¡¯ general wizardry was the track most common for those who wished to be adventurers. While a war wizard would learn magics useful on campaign and on large battlefields, they had little skills useful in a small team setting or much theoretical magical knowledge. The needs of war, and the best methods for killing large groups of men with magic were long since settled, and the field was not one-for-one seeking novel innovation in the art of magic.


    General wizardry was much like the curriculum taught at the Tower of Illunia of old. It was structured to give a solid magical understanding so that the students could learn the fields of magic necessary for them to pursue their own goals. While the other curricula were each capable of producing Master Wizards, very few reached the rank of Grand Master following that path.


    Up close, the Dahn was impressive. The stone was solid marble, devoid of seams or cracks as if it were raised from the ground as a single white piece of stone. Large stained glass windows adorned its surface, evenly spaced, and set all the way to the top. The windows depicted important scenes dating back to the battle between the Wardens and Faust which resulted in the creation of Kaltis. Unconsciously, Kole looked down at his feet. It always made him uncomfortable knowing that the god of fire and destruction resided at the core of the planet, and he didn¡¯t understand how more people didn¡¯t worry about it.


    The crowd passed by him as he admired the scene, the tower was the tallest building he¡¯d ever seen, and he was trying to judge if it would even fit within the dome of his home. Eventually gathering his wits about him, he headed into the massive black stone double doors that were held open. Within, he saw the tip of the massive crystal shard that hung from the large hole in the fifty-foot ceiling, down to a dozen feet above the ground. The crystal was white and gave off a magical light that illuminated the room without producing shadows. The grand foyer was devoid of any furnishings, save for the ropes guiding the students to the left. The room was a great circle, with doors set evenly apart. The door to the right was open, and Kole could see the library within, which was very odd because if he looked up through the large central hole, he could see the library above.


    I¡¯d heard this was disorienting, but that doesn¡¯t do it justice. Kole thought, looking back and forth between the two.


    Kole was not the only one to stop and stare. Many of his peers paused with him at the tip of the crystal shard, then through the door where part of its middle could be seen.


    Eventually, the gawkers built up to the point of forming a blockage, and Kole moved along. The door opposite the entry was closed, and a grand staircase started to either side of it and met well above it. Oddly, the staircase led to nothing. There was a landing over the closed door, but no door or hall.


    The Dahn was sometimes called the ¡°Flightless Tower¡± from its lack of stairs due to the magic doors, but here was a flight of stairs leading nowhere.


    He didn¡¯t have time to reflect, as his group was ushered into the next door. This room was far less impressive. There was a smaller foyer, with halls branching out in three directions. The central path lead to the center of the floor where one could access all the large lecture halls, while the left and right paths lead around the perimeter of the floor, where all the small classes could be found.


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    The applicants were all directed into a large lecture hall at the very center. The room was a massive pie shape that seemed to take up a fourth of the floor. They entered at the top, and saw nearly a hundred terraced rows of seats leading to the bottom where there was a large slate set in the wall. Before the slate was a long table, with dozens of young adult wizards sitting, looking over papers.


    The slate said, ¡¯Take a seat and begin.¡¯


    Many prospective students were already doing so, so Kole found an open desk in the middle with a stack of paper on it and made himself comfortable.


    The top sheet of paper had a list of fields one could study with brief descriptions and a check box of ¡¯major¡¯ and ¡¯minor¡¯ beside each.


    Kole was prepared and quickly found the ones he needed. He¡¯d long since researched the class requirements to enter the adventuring track, and he found those all quickly.


    He checked major next to General Magic, Combat Magic, and History.


    He then checked minor next to Martial Combat, Alchemy.


    He then filled out a few fields about himself. He listed his name, age, race, and gender, and stopped when it asked him to list any innate magical abilities.


    He considered lying, but he knew that they would ask him if his answers were honest under some sort of truth detection effect before he could formally enroll.


    Reluctantly he wrote ¡¯Illusion primal¡¯ and ¡¯Pacted dragon blood sorcerer.¡¯


    Then it asked him to list all the wizardry he could cast. He listed Shield and Magic Missile¡ªthe second of which he¡¯d confirmed his ability to cast one night on the ship, sending the spell into the ocean. He then listed the long litany of cantrips he¡¯d learned over the years.


    Once he was done, he flipped to the next page, which was blank.


    He looked around the room confused, but when he looked back at his page it was covered with print.


    Magic paper!


    Kole smiled. He¡¯d already seen many wonders, but this had really hit home the nature of this place. He dealt with paper a lot in his studies, and the potential of magic paper to clear some of the tedium of it all excited him.


    The text on the magical paper excited him far less. It began with a multiple-choice reading compression test, which was frankly insulting in its simplicity. When he finished a page, his correct answers would turn green, and the wrong red. Then the print would vanish and be replaced with another test. This repeated for math, but the math questions were far more in-depth. Kole was quite good at math, as the field was necessary to accurately reproduce the strange shapes that made up spellforms and were integral to the spells themselves.


    Once he¡¯d cleared those fields, the questions moved on to alchemy. He did far less well on that test, failing to identify plants by their descriptions or sketches, and not remembering many common safe potion combinations. He didn¡¯t feel too bad about it though. To get accepted into the adventuring track, only a passing knowledge of alchemy was required, and that was why he was here¡ªto learn.


    The martial combat test was very short. It simply asked him to judge his martial combat prowess accurately and list any weapons he was proficient in. He wrote ¡¯poor¡¯ and ¡¯none,¡¯ and the page went blank.


    It''s probably fine...


    Kole thought, reminding himself that this was a place of learning.


    For the history exam, he had to answer some basic questions about pre and post-Flood history of the Basin. After that, he was asked an essay question about the aspects he¡¯d been most knowledgeable.


    He wrote a dry essay on the lost civilization of the pre-Flood Basin, but he thought he did pretty well. His father had always told him knowledge of history was key for any adventurer. Half the battle of being an adventurer was finding lost places to explore, while the other half was¡ªwell¡ªbattle.


    For combat magic, he was asked questions about various common, and some less common, monsters. He did okay in that, having done some research on magical beasts and other common adventuring foes, but it hadn¡¯t been his focus.


    And then the magic test began. Well, the first. It started with the basics. Spellforms appeared on his paper, and Kole had to identify them.


    No way...


    Kole marveled at the spellform that had appeared before him.


    Could it be?


    Tentatively he touched the swirling shapes and found that it was imbued with Will.


    How?


    Copying spellforms was something that must be done by hand. Attempts had been made to use printing presses to copy the shapes, but they never held the Will long. Even less progress has been made in finding a method to copy the Will within.


    But here, before Kole, a spellform had appeared. He looked at the pages of the students around him and saw that many of them too had spellforms on their sheets.


    ¡°Keep your eyes on your own paper!¡± a proctor shouted from the side.


    Kole¡¯s eyes darted back to his sheet, and he got to work.


    The spellform before him was a Firebolt, he knew without even needing to read the Will. It wasn¡¯t a variant he¡¯d ever learned, but the basic components of most spells at the lower tiers varied little. He identified ten more spells in this manner before he had to slow down and start reading the Will and examining it in his mind. His pursuit of lost spells taught him far more about spellforms and their components than was typical for a wizard of his age¡ªor really any age¡ªand he could identify the most common spellform components by sight.


    Then the second-tier spells came. At first, Kole could recognize these on sight as well, but they grew more difficult much faster and he had to resort to reading the Will within to piece out their functions. When he saw the first third-tier spell, he didn¡¯t even try to figure it out by sight.


    He made it through three before he got stuck. He knew he was close to figuring out the Barrier spellform in front of him, but he couldn¡¯t recall all of the details. He looked up to clear his mind, and he noticed that others around him had books out and were using them as a reference.


    ¡°Keep your eyes on your own papers!¡± a voice shouted again.


    Kole raised his hand, and the shouter came over to him.


    ¡°Yes?¡± he asked, irritated


    ¡°Can we use our spellbooks as a reference?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the proctor said, still irritated, and then left.


    Kole pulled his spellbook out from his bag and set it next to his test. Then, he got to work. In his pursuit of old spells, he¡¯d begun to catalog spellform components meticulously in his spellbook. Books existed in the library with their descriptions and shapes, referencing areas of common spellforms where readers could copy the Will from there, but Kole had found that tedious, Instead, he¡¯d copied the individual spellform components into his own spellbook, and imbued them with the proper intent, creating a library he could quickly copy from to repair the old spells he found.


    The cost of such a convenience was rather absurd, the ink required to scribe spellforms being very expensive¡ªthough cheaper than it had once been even a few decades past. While Kole hadn¡¯t known why Lord Oldhill had supported him and his studies financially, he¡¯d not refrained from taking advantage of it, and he¡¯d spent an obscene sum of money to create this reference.


    With his spellbook, Kole¡¯s progress accelerated once more. He made it through the third tier, and then the fourth before the spellform stopped. He obviously couldn¡¯t cast any of these spells, but it didn¡¯t take a master musician to hum out some sheet music and identify a song. It was all about finding the key parts of the spell and putting them together with the Font to determine a purpose.


    Once the spells had stopped appearing, individual spell components appeared. These were devoid of intent, and Kole figured he was supposed to fill them, so he did. Again, and again, squiggles and shapes appeared. He couldn¡¯t do them all from memory, but between what he had stored in his vault, and his spellbook, there weren''t any he couldn¡¯t replicate.


    Then, something strange happened. A black dot of ink appeared. Kole touched it and sensed the intent of a spell component within.


    How?


    The whole point of a spellform was that it was constructed of shapes that stably held the spell¡¯s intent without degradation. A random dot shouldn¡¯t be able to contain the intent he sensed now. The answer became clear as he watched as the intent faded into magical noise and then nothing, but then the dot dissipated and an identical one appeared with the same intent.


    Kole quickly got to work, sketching out the shape that was needed to hold the Will. He repeated this for an hour, students around him coming and going.


    After completing a particularly obscure component Kole had only ever seen once on a very old Light spell, words appeared on the page.


    ¡°Please come to the front.¡±


    Oh no...

 Chapter 10: Grand Master

    Chapter 10: Grand Master


    Over time, many without the innate connection to the Font learned the art of wizardry and alternative methods of discovering affinities were devised. Eventually half of all practitioners had no sorcerous abilities, but at the top, the sorcerers crowded the ranks. The title of mage became associated with the best, and eventually came to refer to those who practiced both schools of magic.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    Kole looked up to see a group of the young test proctors standing around an older man, who sat with a quill in hand and a single sheet of paper before him.


    The man¡¯s eyes caught sight of Kole looking at him, and he smiled.


    Nervously, Kole gathered his things and his papers, then walked to the front of the room.


    The older man rose from his seat to meet him.


    ¡°Kole Highridge, I presume?¡±


    Kole nodded, too nervous to speak. Was he in trouble? Was he not supposed to use his spelbook after all?


    ¡°Let''s go somewhere more private,¡± the man said, ushering Kole out a door.


    The room had grown silent as the constant scratching of quills on paper had died when the professor said Kole¡¯s name.


    Kole nodded and allowed himself to be guided through a door, down a hall, and into a small room with a desk.


    The man sat behind the desk and gestured for Kole to take a seat.


    Kole obliged, and then couldn¡¯t help from asking, ¡°Am I in trouble?


    The man laughed, ¡°Gods no! You performed outstandingly!¡±


    Kole relaxed at that, still not sure why he was there.


    ¡°I¡¯m Grand Master Lonin, but you can call me ¡¯Professor Lonin¡¯ or ¡¯Master Lonin¡¯ if you prefer. You, my boy, are remarkable.¡±


    ¡°I am?¡±


    ¡°You are. It¡¯s not common that a prospective student of your age can identify up to fourth-tier spells, but it does occur. Never have I seen a first-year student identify all the fourth-tier spells in the standard test. In the end, I threw in some older, lesser-known spells, and you still figured them out. One I¡¯d developed myself, and it didn¡¯t even work properly, but still you deduced its intended purpose!¡±


    The man had been serious, but his excitement was getting to him and his voice had grown more animated.


    ¡°And then the components! Who of your age knows that many? Half the proctors couldn¡¯t have done a third as well as you had with those. In the end, I just wanted to see what you could do, and I laid out intent for you to copy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about those,¡± Kole interrupted. ¡°I didn¡¯t have my scribing tools with me, so it was hard to do free hand.¡±


    Professor Lonin laughed.


    ¡°Sorry? You did wonderfully! Yes, they will fade, but that was not the point of the test. Tell me, what drove someone such as you to learn so much about the construction of spellforms?¡±


    The professor leaned forward, eager to hear Kole¡¯s answer.


    Is this it? Kole wondered. Was it that easy? Could this professor be interested in mentoring me?


    Kole steadied himself and handed him the first sheet he¡¯d filled out upon entering, and pointed to the innate magical talent section.


    ¡°I¡¯m a primal, sir,¡± Kole said, and then hastily added. ¡°And a sorcerer.¡±


    Professor Lonin looked at the sheet, and then back to Kole.


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible?¡± he said, more a question than a statement.


    Kole just shrugged, ¡°That¡¯s what people keep telling me.¡±


    ¡°Amazing. But why would a primal know all of this? They can¡¯t cast wizardry.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not exactly true,¡± Kole corrected. ¡°May I?¡±


    He had used too much Will during the test to cast Shield, but he could still cast a cantrip if he used up all he had left.


    With a nod of approval from the now fascinated wizard, Kole cast the Air cantrip, creating a well of air in his palm.


    Lonin waved his hand through it, amazed.


    ¡°This is wizardry! How?!¡±


    ¡°Primals can cast spells. It just costs a lot of Will. That cantrip cost me about thirty. Being a primal and a sorcerer, my Will capacity was enough to just barely do so when I first started out.¡±


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°Thirty Will...¡± Lonin whispered. ¡°How so much?¡±


    ¡°I think it has to do with the gates and paths modern wizardry uses. It costs a lot of Will for me to open my bridge to the gates required for spells. Older spells are easier though. Spell¡¯s with offset gates are impossible for me to even attempt and if you go back far enough the complexity is balanced between the spell itself and the gate and path components. I found I could cast the oldest versions of Shield and Magic Missile I could salvage from the libraries back home.¡±


    The older wizard¡¯s eyes lit up as he connected the dots.


    ¡°That explains it. You learned all this spellform theory to delve into the depths of obsolete spells, and used your massive Will capacity to work at it longer than even an Apprentice could.¡±


    Kole nodded a confirmation. He was only vaguely familiar with the wizard ranks the Academy had adopted from the tower, but he knew that the rank of Apprentice was for wizards able to cast second-tier spells, usually attained around 18 or later. Kole would be considered a Novice, though he knew if he could actually cast all the spells he was capable of crafting he could be considered at least an Apprentice.


    ¡°What would drive a child to such depths?¡±


    ¡°I want to be a wizard,¡± Kole explained. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted it my whole life. When my mother was lost, it gave my desire a purpose. When I first exhibited a sorcerous ability, I thought I¡¯d been cleared of the possibility of being a primal like my mother. I didn¡¯t have the innate sense for the Font other primals did, and I carried on with my studies. When I built my vault, the Font¡¯s presence was absent, further relieving my worries about any latent primal abilities. But... when I opened my bridge, It was beside the Font of Illusions, essentially attached to the outside of the Font. Making my bridge open anywhere else costs more Will than a normal primal could muster at the age one decides to be a wizard. I kept this a secret though, and worked at it until my Will capacity grew enough to allow it.¡±


    ¡°Simply fascinating,¡± Lonin said and then began to leaf through the copies of Kole¡¯s test papers before him.


    One page caught his eye, and he pulled to the top, brow furrowing as he read.


    ¡°Why did you choose these courses?¡± he asked with suspicion.


    Kole peaked over the edge of the seat and saw he was referring to the combat prerequisites for adventuring track.


    ¡°They are the standard classes required for wizard in adventuring track,¡± Kole answered uncertainly.


    Was I wrong? Are they not?


    ¡°Oh,¡± Lonin said, dropping the sheets as if they were dirty. ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Did I do something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡ªwell, no. I¡¯m simply disappointed in wasted potential. I thought I might offer you an apprenticeship, but I see now that you are not the pure wizard I¡¯d taken you to be. Your desire to be a wizard is not for the sake of knowledge but for the sake of fame, glory, and adventure.¡±


    Kole was crushed by the dual realization that the very thing he needed to reach his dream was barred from him by that same dream. With a master to guide him, especially one with Lonin¡¯s expertise, he¡¯d finally become a wizard. He just had to give up on his parents.


    ¡°You won¡¯t take me as an apprentice because I want to be an adventurer?¡± Kole knew the answer but had to ask on the off chance he¡¯d misunderstood.


    ¡°Yes. I will not invest my time into a student who will squander their talent fighting trolls to find some lost trinket and gain the renown of some villagers. To be a wizard is to wield the tools of the gods, the very building blocks of reality. It¡¯s our responsibility to use that power to improve the world and usher the Illusian races into a brighter future.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair!¡± Kole couldn¡¯t help but blurt out. ¡°I only want to be an adventurer so I can gain the skills to save my parents. But even still, there would be no world left for wizards to improve if not for the adventurers of the past who saved us from doom. The Last Dragon War was won by adventurers, not armies. A wizard chief among them.¡±


    Lonin let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I may have judged too harshly. Not all adventurers are as I described. Many are true heroes and that wizard adventurer you speak of was a co-founder of this very school. Admission season always makes me bitter. I see so much potential all pursuing the wrong goals. Brilliant young minds striving to master simple spells of destruction, when they could be learned to bend reality to their will.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean you will take me on as an apprentice?¡± Kole asked, not daring to hope.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m sorry, but I won¡¯t reconsider that. I¡¯m very demanding of the curriculum my apprentices take. I put much of my time and focus into my apprentices, and I expect they meet my efforts with equal focus.¡±


    ¡°I think you will be¡ª¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Lonin interrupted. ¡°I won¡¯t reconsider, but I will leave my offer standing. If you come to your senses, come to me and I will take you as an apprentice.¡±


    Crestfallen, Kole didn¡¯t know what to say. He¡¯d been so close.


    After a moment of silence, Lonin continued. ¡°If, however, you don¡¯t change your mind, I recommend you find your way to my classes on spell crafting. I won¡¯t take you as an apprentice, but I think you will excel at the art.¡±


    ¡°What do I need to take that?¡± Kole asked, hopefully.


    Lonin handed Kole a piece of paper.


    ¡°You scored incredibly well on your placement.¡±


    Kole examined the page, and it showed all the classes his test had tested him out of. His alchemy grades were poor, but he¡¯d skipped some of the introductory history classes. He¡¯d tested out of all the undergraduate math and spellform theory. His applied spellcraft scores were another matter and he only qualified for applied magics classes of the first tier, something his ability to cast Magic Missile and Shield should have tested him out of.


    ¡°You have tested out of all of the theoretical classes required for spell crafting, but you must be able to cast tier-two magic to take them. Also, to enter the class as an undergraduate, you require a sponsor of some sort.¡±


    ¡°A sponsor?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Yes. To take classes outside your major or level you need a faculty member or respected alumni to vouch for you. Generally, this is through formal apprenticeships of some sort.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kole said, disappointed.


    Lonin was probably the only person in the school likely to be impressed with his particular brand of knowledge, and he¡¯d already rejected him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so disappointed. If you get a mentor for the adventuring track¡ªas you seem so set on¡ªthey will sponsor you. And,¡± he added, mischievously. ¡°If you don¡¯t, my offer still stands.¡±


    Kole shook Lonin¡¯s hand before leaving with the record of his scores. He traveled out of the office and back through the lecture hall where the eyes of the entire room bore into him.


    Don¡¯t turn invisible.


    Don¡¯t turn invisible.


    Don¡¯t turn invisible.


    He fought the urge until he got to the main hall, where the pressure lessened, and followed signs to the bursar''s office.

 Chapter 11: Bursar

    Wizardry continued to grow all the way until the Flood. Spellforms were discovered a few decades before the Flood when a wizard Isla Hancock from the Midlian empire learned of the art of runes in the years preceding the Flood. She became obsessed with applying them to wizardry but failed, though in doing so found that she could store spell constructs in ink.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    The signs lead Kole into a series of stalls set out on the green, and as with the testing line, the setup was well organized and it all moved quickly. After only a few minutes of halted steps, Kole found himself in front of an elderly woman with thick spectacles and long gray hair tied up in a bun.


    ¡°Let me see what you have there dearie,¡± she said, reaching for his paperwork.


    Kole handed it to her and she looked it over quickly, squinting and staring down her nose.


    ¡°Tsk. Magic paper and they still make the writing so small,¡± she muttered to herself and then looked Kole over.


    She gestured to a glass sphere four inches in diameter and said, ¡°Place your hand here on this truth orb.¡±


    Kole obliged, resting his right palm on the object as he tried to still his mind. Truth orbs were a type of alchemically treated glass that darkened when imbued with Will with deceptive intent. A steady trickle of Will caused them to become foggy, and the fog turned orange when infused with deception.


    He was familiar with the objects. They were expensive but not unheard of. They weren¡¯t foolproof, but they were close enough for most things, especially a task such as vetting an adolescent''s test results.


    ¡°Answer everything with a simple yes or no. Do you understand?¡±


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Clearly you didn¡¯t dearie, use your words.¡±


    Embarrassed, Kole answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    The orb turned foggy and the questions began. The bursar asked Kole a series of questions about his tests about whether or not he¡¯d cheated and about everything else that¡¯d happened over the last hour. Through it all, Kole fed a trickle of Will into the orb, which maintained a milky fog color throughout.


    ¡°So let me get this straight. You are a primal and a sorcerer, and you want to be a wizard.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Kole answered, exasperated at this point.


    The woman hadn¡¯t believed him when he¡¯d said he could cast first-tier magic, despite the orb.


    ¡°And you¡¯ve never been diagnosed with any mental disorders that might alter your perception of reality?¡± she asked for not the first time.


    ¡°Yes¡ªI mean no, I haven¡¯t.¡±


    She stared at him for a moment but stopped herself from continuing along that line of questioning. She proceeded to ask him about his financial situation, which also seemed to beggar her belief.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°So let me get this straight,¡± she said, again not for the first time. ¡°Your parents are legally declared dead, but you don¡¯t believe they are. You have no wealth, save for what is on your person. All your family''s possessions were taken to pay off the debts you accrued in the absence of your parents, and you are not wanted for any crimes financial or otherwise. And, you have no income and no marketable skills that you can use to support yourself.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Kole said, not liking her tone one bit. ¡°But, my scribing and drafting is probably a marketable skill.¡±


    ¡°Alright, One last part. Do you wish this school, its faculty, or any of its students harm?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Are you, or have you ever been, a member of a dragon cult?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Do you worship Faust, Erebog, Bilieth, or any of the demigods aligned with them?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Great! That¡¯s that. Your test results and legal orphan status qualify you for free tuition, but you do not qualify for free campus housing due to a lack of academic prospects. If you go south of campus, you can find rooms for reasonable rates of around six silver a month.¡±


    Kole elation at the news of free tuition was crushed by the cost of a room. He could afford that if he stretched his savings, but not for more than ten months, and he¡¯d be unable to purchase any spellform materials in that time¡ªor food.


    He had roughly six gold worth of coins in a mix of gold, silver, and copper. He¡¯s estimated he could live off of four silver worth of food a month. Together with the room rate he¡¯d just learned, that was a gold coin a month to eat and sleep.


    ¡°Are there any cheaper options?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you aren¡¯t too picky, you can rent a bed in one of the hostels. Those go for about five copper a week.¡±


    Kole mentally did the math, which was eight silver a month to exist, which would last him just over seven months. Kole asked for directions to the place in question and then headed out to the tree where he was supposed to meet Amara where he sat to wait.


    It took another hour before the strange quarter-elf primal girl found him.


    ¡°How did it go?¡± Kole asked, already knowing the answer from the smile plastered on the generally reserved girl¡¯s face.


    ¡°I got an apprenticeship with Nabid Donglefore!¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    Amara paused her excitement to study Kole¡¯s face.


    ¡°Is that a joke?¡± she asked, legitimately unable to tell. ¡°He¡¯s the head of the college of crafting! He¡¯s one of the premiere alchemists and rune smiths outside the Torack, and he is on the cutting edge of research in combining the two arts to produce more stable runes.¡±


    ¡°Oh. That Nabid Donglefore,¡± Kole said, knowing Amara wouldn¡¯t pick up on the terrible attempt to brush off his ignorance. He didn¡¯t care so much that he didn¡¯t know the name, but he sensed the girl would be a little hurt if he truly hadn¡¯t heard of a person she so clearly admired.


    ¡°That''s great news!¡± he added,


    She outlined her experience, told Kole how she¡¯d passed the written curriculum, and then been pulled aside by Nabid to demonstrate her skills.


    ¡°He was fascinated by my use of the ants to carve runes. Already he¡¯s asked me to help him with a number of projects he¡¯s been stuck on!¡±


    She must have realized she¡¯d been talking nonstop for nearly twenty minutes, for she stopped abruptly and asked, ¡°How did your admissions go?¡±


    ¡°I had a similar experience, though with different results.¡±


    Kole explained his encounter with Grand Master Lonin, and his interest in his abilities but refusal to take him as an apprentice.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Amara said when he¡¯d finished the recounting. ¡°But, at least you have free tuition, right? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find a mentor when you figure out your spell problem.¡±


    For anyone else, he would have thought the words empty encouragement, but he knew Amara lacked the social awareness or guile to pull that off.


    ¡°I have to go meet one of Professor Donglefore¡¯s senior apprentices for a tour. Can I meet you at the commencement ceremony tomorrow morning?¡±


    ¡°Sure, Kole agreed. ¡°I¡¯m going to go see if they¡¯ll let me into the library yet.¡±


    ¡°Great! See you tomorrow!¡±


    Left alone, Kole lay in the grass, eating the last of the food Meech had provided him as he thought through his next steps. First, he¡¯d go to the library, but after that, he¡¯d need to find lodging.


    Sleeping in the sewer hadn¡¯t been that bad. He considered but then discounted the idea.


    He¡¯d walked past one of the city¡¯s sewer grates already and the sewers of Edgewater were very much in use if the odor was any indication.


    Faced with troubling problems he¡¯d rather not deal with at the moment, Kole did what he always did: he went to the library to find a distraction.

 Chapter 12: The Library

    The knowledge of spellforms was spread but was quickly followed by the Avatar''s arrival and the Flood. After the settlement of Basin, the art spread wildly through the wizarding communities. It was also at this time that wizards learned that Basin was not a safe place for dragon blooded sorcerers.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    The Academy of Illunia had many, many, many, libraries, but when one spoke of the library, they always referred to a particular one.


    The Dahn¡ªtower in Torcish¡ªstood in the center of the campus, and housed the largest collection of magical texts on Kaltis¡ªwell, the largest collection of magical texts not drowned by the Flood, but those aren¡¯t exactly accessible.


    The library in the Dahn took up four floors of the building, and the same magic of the tower that allowed doors to open to far-flung areas of the building, also made the area much, much, much, bigger on the inside than out.


    When Kole left Amara, he went straight back to the building in which he¡¯d taken his entrance exam. He fought the urge to run but then gave up any semblance of propriety and broke into a jog.


    The Dahn. I¡¯m here! He thought as he smiled wide in anticipation.


    The distance wasn¡¯t far, but neither was Kole the fittest specimen, and he was breathing heavily and beginning to sweat when he reached the foyer. There was still a line of students streaming through to enroll, but the line no longer snaked across the campus. This time upon entering, he turned right and walked through the great double doors into the library.


    The door was open, and he paused in the doorway to take it in. The massive crystal shard that hung down into the foyer ran the height of the magical building, and a section stood before him now. While the building lacked stairs¡ªsave for the staircase that led nowhere¡ªthe center of the tower was open, and one could make out which ¡°floor¡± one was on by looking over the edge.


    He walked through the door and continued to the railing to see the door he¡¯d just walked through down below.


    ¡°Wow.¡±


    Bookshelves stood all around the perimeter of the central chamber, with gaps between them leading deeper into the magically expanded library. Looking up, he saw the shard continue hundreds of feet up into the ceiling far above.


    After he got over the wonder of the sight, he remembered the true majesty of the place¡ªthe books. Desks sat on either side of the entryway he stood in, manned by half a dozen library attendants each. He walked to the nearest one and gestured to the lower wooden gate that barred his path.


    ¡°Can I go in?¡± he asked nervous excitement in his voice.


    ¡°Are you a student or library card holder?¡± the bored attended asked, looking up from his own studies.


    ¡°I just enrolled... like an hour ago.¡±


    The student worker sighed and pulled out a familiar device from under the desk. He placed the glass orb on the desk in front of him, and Kole placed his hand on it.


    ¡°Are you an enrolled student in good standing with the library with no outstanding fines?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Kole said, a little too enthusiastically.


    ¡°Great, you can go in,¡± the attendant said in the same bored monotone. ¡°Make sure to get your student library pass. You¡¯ll need it to enter after the commencement.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Kole said, already walking through the gate.


    The great circular chamber had a large well opening in the middle, and around it sat the bookshelves. Tables and private booths filled the space between, and the place was only lightly populated at this time of the year. Kole made his way through the study area, going directly to one of the information desks that dotted the library.


    While the attendants at the entry had been bored students, the librarian at this desk was diligently at work inspecting a stack of books for damage before placing them on a nearby cart.


    As Kole approached her at a brisk pace, she looked up to him with a warm smile, ¡°Welcome! If that''s not the gait of an enthusiastic new student, I don¡¯t know what it is. What can I help you find?¡±


    The librarian was a middle-aged woman with chestnut hair tied into a bun and small glasses that¡ªif the slight iridescent sheen meant anything¡ªwere enchanted in some manner,


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for the spellbooks,¡± Kole said


    ¡°Oh good, an easy one. The first-tier spellbooks can be found between layers one and two, five o¡¯clock. Do you need directions?¡±


    ¡°No, thanks!¡± Kole said as he took off to the region.


    The library was broken up into layers and arcs denoted using the hours of a clock. The door he¡¯d entered from had been at nine o¡¯clock, and he made his way around the circle until he reached his destination. Doors to the other floors of the library sat at three, six, nine, and twelve o¡¯clock, and he passed the door to the second floor on his way. Beyond the door stood another admittance area manned by older and slightly more attentive students.


    Once in the correct region, Kole went through a gap in the stacks and stopped, eyes wide. Before him stood shelves packed to the ceiling for as far as he could see down the curved shelved aisle. Emblazoned on the end of each shelf read ¡¯spellbooks.¡¯


    He ran to the nearest one pulled the first book he saw and began flipping through its pages. He recognized the first spell he opened as the first-tier Firebolt spell, and he flipped the next... another first-tier Firebolt spell. He flipped to the next and found another first-tier Firebolt spell.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°What the flood?¡± he asked himself, as he turned the book over.


    The spine read Firebolt Tier 1, 775-800AF.


    He looked next at the shelves around them and saw that each book was clearly labeled in such a fashion, with spell names and dates. Looking back at the book before him, he finally understood.


    Each spellform was labeled with a number, creator, and brief description of how it differed from the standard. Each of these spellbooks were not spellbooks in the traditional sense, a book in which a wizard kept all his spells. Instead, they were compilations of all the developed versions of a singular spell over the years. He¡¯d heard of such a thing but had never seen them.


    Back home, all the spellbooks he¡¯d ever had access to had been those made for the training of new wizards, or the personal ones left behind by wizards of the past. To find a specific version of a spell, he¡¯d have to browse the index, find the spellbooks that had them, and hope the spellforms hadn¡¯t decayed beyond his ability to restore.


    Spellbooks were extremely expensive. The materials required to store intent imbued Will while also keeping out the influence of ambient Will were very expensive. The cost of reorganizing spellforms into books like this when one could simply catalog them seemed an enormous waste.


    Except...


    Kole recalled the test he had just taken. Each spellform that had appeared, had done so instantly, with intent imbued into it.


    They must have developed a means of copying spellforms! Why is this not widely known? Or is it?


    Kole, admittedly, was not very up to date on the latest comings and goings of the advancement in wizardry. His particular abilities¡ªand disabilities¡ªhad forced him to delve into the past to find answers. This method could have been in use back in Illandrios and he wouldn¡¯t have known.


    He vowed to look into this, but first, he had a lot of spells to look through.


    ***


    Two hours later, a frustrated Kole sat at a table surrounded by piles of spellbooks. Back home, he¡¯d settled into a method of searching for and learning spells. He¡¯d find a spell, learn it, and then move on to an older version. Once he¡¯d discovered that old spells seemed to work slightly better for him, he¡¯d immediately gone for the oldest spellbooks he could find but had found the spells within them deteriorated beyond his then ability to repair. He could piece a spell back together by just the Will devoid spellform patterns, but only if he had other spellforms to copy the patterns from. Since spells were improved with only small modifications with each version, he was able to work his way back through time, tracing modern spells to their simpler origins. Eventually, he¡¯d reached the oldest spells in Illandrios, and still been short of finding spells he could cast easily.


    From the first spellbook in the Dahn, Kole had found the spellforms to be recognizably modern, and he¡¯d flipped through the pages to the oldest in the very back before casting them aside in frustration. The oldest spells here were all far too new for his needs. He browsed the shelves, pulling any book with a date prior to 775, but the oldest he found was 760. Still, he kept at it, until he was surrounded by unshelved books.


    ¡°Can I help you find something?¡±


    Kole looked up from his fortress of failure to see the librarian from before placing a stack of books on the table next to his and staring at the pile around him.


    ¡°Are these the all spellbooks with first-tier magic you have?¡±


    The librarian let out a laugh.


    ¡°Illunia no, these are just the compendiums of the most recent versions. The original spellbooks are in the older sections.¡±


    Kole lit up at the mention of ¡°older sections.¡±


    ¡°Where can I find the oldest spellbooks?!¡±


    The librarian pulled a small stone sphere covered in runes with a tiny gem set in it from her pocket and handed it to Kole.


    ¡°You need to go to layer fourteen,¡± she told him.


    ¡°Will this guide me there?¡± Kole asked, examining the orb.


    The librarian laughed once more, ¡°No, that''s a light. You¡¯ll find that the shelves back there lack the runic lighting of the newer sections. That will hover over your shoulder and glow, lest you be tempted to create a light of your own in a less than sanctioned manner.¡±


    Kole thanked the librarian again and apologized for the mess before heading into the depths of the library. After eight layers, the light runes that had been on the tops of the shelves stopped, and the darkness grew with each step. He imbued the orb with Will, and it hovered above his shoulder, lighting up the area around him. Deeper and deeper he traveled, reading the signs on the shelves as he went. There were multiple shelves dedicated to the various versions of Lidians Oakcrest and other books that would have been discarded had they not resided in a magical library that could create space as needed.


    Finally, the path he¡¯d been walking down ended, and he reached the outermost layer of the floor. He traveled along the perimeter until he saw a shelf labeled, ¡¯Spellbooks, unrestricted¡¯


    The books on this shelf were much more in line with what he¡¯d expected. The compendiums had all been uniformly bound books of the same size, only differing in the color of their binding, the colors of which were selected to signify the Font from which the spell was drawn. These books, however, were all entirely unique. Tomes both small, large, ancient, and seemingly new, filled the shelves, and not a single one bore a title or any label on its spine.


    ¡°Beautiful,¡± he whispered to himself.


    He got right to work, pulling spellbooks off the shelf and working his way through them. After an hour of searching, it occurred to him to search for a catalog or index of spells, and he found one at the end of a row. Focusing on the spell Magic Missile, he pulled ten books off the shelf that were listed to contain it. The spellforms on these books were degraded, but judging by the age of the books, they were in far better condition than books of similar vintage would have been back home. Of those ten, only four were new enough that he knew all the components and could repair them. The remaining six were beyond him, but that was why he was here.


    He immediately got to work. He emptied his mental vault of all the spell constructs he¡¯d been working on back home and began learning the spells, copying the damaged components from his own spellbook, or others nearby when needed. He worked right on the floor in front of the shelf, and it wasn¡¯t until his stomach let out a loud cry of protest that he began to wonder how much time had passed.


    Judging by the amount of Will he had remaining, he estimated it to be nearly eight at night. He didn¡¯t think the library closed, but he wasn¡¯t really willing to risk not being allowed back in if it did. He ate the remains of the food Meech had packed him, which was just scraps by then, and continued working until the last dregs of his Will had been consumed. Out of instinct, he reached for his bag to take a clarity potion, but he stopped himself.


    No, you can¡¯t afford to waste those.


    Money would be tight this year, and clarity potions should be saved for when time was of the essence. Today was only his first day, and he could afford to end early.


    Well, less late... He corrected himself.


    It must have been past midnight by then. He stood up to stretch as he prepared to go find a place to sleep in town, and the thought of spending his little coin on a bed made him grumpy.


    I ought to just sleep on the green. It wouldn¡¯t be the worst place I¡¯d slept. I¡¯d fallen asleep in the library back home plenty of times...


    He looked around again at the seemingly forgotten section of the library It had been hours, and he hadn¡¯t seen a soul since he¡¯d gone past the fourth layer. It didn¡¯t take him long to decide, and he lay down on the stone floor, using his bag as a pillow to get comfortable.


    As he drifted off to sleep, he told himself a weak lie. Just for tonight. Tomorrow I¡¯ll get a room.


    Kole had found what he was looking for, and he had no intention of wasting a minute.

 Chapter 13: Commencement

    Any sorcerers of draconic bloodlines slowly went mad after passing the mountains, corrupted by the captured Avatar''s power. This was the beginning of the schism.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    Kole woke, briefly confused to where he was. The room was pitch black, and he smelled the distinct odor of books¡ªmusty paper with a hint of leather.


    Slowly, his memories of the previous night returned along with the realization he was supposed to meet Amara at the commencement. He rose quickly and fumbled around in the dark in search of the light orb he¡¯d been given. Just as he was about to give up on finding it and spend all his Will for the day on a Light cantrip, he found the smooth object and flooded it with his Will.


    The light was momentarily blinding as he overloaded it until his eyes adjusted, and he looked over the ground to gather the books he¡¯d been studying.


    They were gone. Panic took hold of him briefly, as he wondered why someone would have stolen them, but he then noticed that the shelves around him were completely full once again.


    Did the librarian shelve these around my sleeping body?


    He thought back to his interactions with the librarian, and he realized he¡¯d never seen her or any others shelve a book. Books had been piled up on the ends of tables, and they had paid them no heed.


    He put the mystery aside and ran out of the hall. When he saw the light of the newer section ahead, he turned off his own light and turned invisible. He didn¡¯t know the rules about spending the night in the library and decided to learn those before he risked exposure.


    With practiced ease, he navigated around the sparsely populated library, slipping out the wooden gate as quietly as possible. The inattentive attendants didn¡¯t even glance up at the quiet rattle of the gate. Once out of the tower, Kole found a secluded bush and became visible once more. He placed the device Amara had made for him from his pocket and began to follow its lead. The campus was full of students and adults milling about, and by the sun¡¯s position, he¡¯d certainly missed the morning¡¯s events.


    He picked up the pace, not sure how Amara would react to being stood up. He suspected she would understand, but he didn¡¯t know her well enough to be sure. The device led Kole towards the crafting quarter of the campus, to a large white tent set up just outside the front entrance. Kole moved to enter when a waiter stepped in his way.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, this area is invite-only,¡± the man said apologetically.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for my friend. She¡¯s inside, could you tell her I¡¯m here? She¡¯s a new apprentice to Professor... Dopple¡ªno. She¡¯s part elven, has a rat familiar. She¡¯s hard to miss.¡±


    The waiter''s eyes lit with recognition of the description, and he left to deliver the message.


    Dongledoor! Kole thought, proud to have remembered the name.


    Amara came out shortly after.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± Kole said before she could speak. ¡°I fell asleep in the library and lost track of time.


    Amara¡¯s expression had been reserved, waiting to decide if she was mad or not, and at his words, it settled on ¡¯not.¡¯


    ¡°That¡¯s alright. I sat with Professor Donglefore¡¯s other students. It was fun, we talked about runes. You look hungry, do you need to eat?¡±


    Donglefore...


    ¡°Um, yeah. But I can¡¯t come in.¡±


    ¡°That''s aright, I can come out,¡± Amara said.


    She went back inside and returned shortly with a plate of food, the small hors d''oeuvres that one would serve at a party on trays before a meal.


    They found a tree, and they sat, Gus climbing out of his hiding spot on Amara¡¯s back to inspect Kole¡¯s meal. He handed the rat a piece of sausage wrapped in bacon and got comfortable.


    ¡°You missed quite the event,¡± Amara began. ¡°They set up this wonderful tent on the green, suspended by runes! It floated and covered enough area to seat all the new students. There were hundreds! Humans, elves, half-elves, halflings, dwarves and seafolk! I even thought I saw a few demonkin and a voidling¡ªI think. The heads of each college stood on a stage and talked, but there was an empty chair for the Chancellor in the center. Apparently, they are some ancient adventurer who rarely makes an appearance. The speeches were actually a little dull¡ªexcept for Professor Donglefore¡¯s of course, but it got a little exciting at the end. The head of the martial college is a giant from the Iron Vein tribe named Tigereye, covered in tattoos! He spoke about how academics are a form of Contest, and how he was in charge of academic integrity, and spoke at length about the punishments for cheating¡ªI don¡¯t recommend it.¡±


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound exciting,¡± Kole said, giving more food to Gus.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t it. The exciting part was when the head of the art college, a small human woman, pushed the giant man aside and interrupted his speech. I think she was intoxicated and told everyone that they should all make sure to have fun this year. She also made a lot of comments about Professor Tigereye¡¯s physique. She went on and on until Professor Donglefore canceled the runes that were amplifying her voice. Then while we ate, they projected a hardball match in the air above for us to watch. Two alumni adventuring teams competed out in some desert. I¡¯d never seen anything like it!¡±


    As she described the events of the match, Kole had to admit a little regret at missing out. Not on the speeches of course, but the hardball match had sounded exciting. He¡¯d heard it was a popular activity amongst adventuring teams as a form of training and relatively safe source of income, but his parents had never been involved in the orc tradition turned sport.


    They talked for a while longer, Kole telling her about his luck in the library, and Amara gushing about all the exciting projects Donglefore had in store for her¡ªnone of which sounded the slightest bit exciting to Kole.


    It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m sure my library story was dull to her. He reflected.


    They parted when Amara¡¯s mentor left the gathering and ushered for her to follow. Kole told Amara he¡¯d head back to the library, and they made plans to meet up once they¡¯d gotten settled. She promised to have an updated version of the locater device the next time they met, one that could send a simple signal.


    Before heading back to the library, Kole had a few errands to run.


    <ul>


    <li>* *</li>


    </ul>


    A few hours later saw Kole back at the library a few silver poorer with an extra bag bulging with supplies. The same bored attendant from before let him through with a reminder to go by the office of student affairs to get his library card before tomorrow. Conveniently, no one seemed to notice the large bag Kole carried over his shoulder. While he was not a trained primal by any stretch of the imagination, there was one small primal ability he did have. The first ability any Illusion primal developed was the ability to make others ignore something. While normal primals learned the ability upon gaining access to their Font, Kole had struggled for years to figure it out. He hadn¡¯t dedicated a lot of time to learning the skill, but he¡¯d tried in an attempt to see if his knowledge of wizardry could aid him in using his Font, and vice versa. When he¡¯d finally learned the most basic skill, he¡¯d had to admit that the skills had no overlap.


    The skill was very limited in its nascent state, and Kole had never had the intuition or instincts other primals did to improve it. Without that improvement, it wouldn¡¯t work on anybody who knew of the ability¡¯s existence, Illandrios being the home of the Primordial of Illusions, everyone knew of the ability, and so Kole never had the opportunity to use it.


    Here, however, it could serve quite useful. Before entering the library he¡¯d focused on his bag and drawn upon the power of his Font, Willing others to disregard the object. As he passed people, they would double-take, looking back at him, and then seeming confused before walking on. The skill didn¡¯t make the bag invisible, but it made people not notice it. Each time someone¡¯s focus was drawn to the bag, Kole would feel a drain on his Will. If he spotted the observer in time, he could focus on them, using his Will to make them see past the object of their focus.


    He made it back to his corner of the library without challenge and dropped his bag. Unpacking, he set up a small bedroll he¡¯d purchased, along with a change of clothes, some travel rations, and additional writing supplies. Next, he went back towards the center of the library in search of some furnishings. Each lit ring of the library had regular study areas spaced throughout. The furniture within ranged from large tables that could seat eight, to single study desks and upholstered armchairs. It didn¡¯t take Kole long to find an empty area, and he found a small desk that he figured he could carry.


    The desk was heavier than he expected, but no one bothered him as he moved it deeper into the library. As with sleeping in the library, he wasn¡¯t sure that moving furniture was against the rules, but it seemed better to avoid the issue altogether.


    Talking to Amara, he¡¯d learned the secret to his self-shelfing books. The library of the Dahn had a powerful enchantment woven throughout it¡ªwell, it had a lot of powerful enchantments woven throughout it but specifically one that re-shelved books. Every night at midnight invisible servants combed the library, returning any unattended book to its shelf. Reassured that no one had found him in his sleep, he¡¯d settled on his plan to move into the library.


    It wasn¡¯t his best idea, but it was far from his worst. His uncle had complained endlessly that he¡¯d practically lived in the library back home, so when thinking of ways to save money, it seemed a natural solution.


    After getting his secret corner of the library set up, he returned to his studies. He was hopeful that the oldest of the ten spells would be a large improvement on his current barely-castable Magic Missile, but repairing and learning the spell would take him weeks¡ªassuming his class work didn¡¯t take too much of his time and Will. He studied late into the night and fell asleep into a book, an unfortunately familiar occurrence.

 Chapter 14: Introduction to Alchemy

    The Dragon War was the end of the sorcerers'' hold on the title of mage. The best of them went mad, and the wizards had to scramble to take them down. They succeeded in defeating the Arch Mages among their ranks, and swore to keep the dragons from creating more.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    Kole woke to a high-pitched whine. Groggily he groped around the desk his face rested on until he found the source and silenced it. The previous morning had highlighted one major flaw in his plan to sleep in the library¡ªwhich had through the day solidified itself in his mind as the obvious course of action. There were no windows on the section he decided to squat in, so unless he invested in something to wake himself up, it was unlikely he would make his classes on time.


    Thinking of classes, Kole leapt to his feet and quickly threw his supplies into his bag before turning invisible and running out. As far as Kole could tell, no one took count of people entering and leaving the library, but if he left early in the morning every day, someone would catch on.


    The bursar had given him a packet with this class schedule that he¡¯d looked at briefly before losing himself in study. His first class would be alchemy, over in the crafting quarter. He had little idea where he was going, but the school had ample signage to see him to his destination.


    While the Dahn lay in the center of the campus, four ¡¯L¡¯ shaped buildings surrounded it making a square and outlining the campus green. The crafting college took up the northeastern corner, and its green filled with gardens of alchemical value. Like the central tower, the crafting building had a mix of small classrooms, lecture halls, libraries, and offices. It was one of the larger lecture halls that he was headed for his ¡°Introduction to Alchemy Class¡±


    To Kole¡¯s surprise, he was on time, and the hall was only half-filled when he found a seat in the middle of the room. Some diligent students liked to sit in the front of the class to gain some sort of perceived advantage, but the way Kole saw it, that was dumb.


    In the front, it was difficult to read the whole board. Sitting there also set the bar high for the professor¡¯s expectations of you. Slackers didn¡¯t sit in the front, only the exceptional and the suck-ups. Kole had no illusions about his own skill in alchemy, and he knew if he sat in the first row he¡¯d be seen as the latter of the two. No, if one wanted to impress a teacher, all one had to do was be impressive. And if one wasn¡¯t impressive and didn¡¯t want to suck up, it was best to blend in.


    The room filled shortly after Kole sat and right at nine o¡¯clock, a familiar diminutive figure walked in.


    Professor Nimblefore!


    Without addressing the class, he approached the wall with the blackboard and pulled open a drawer. The drawer was not in fact a drawer, but an elevated walkway that pressed into the wall for the more vertically challenged races of Kaltis. Once the steps were all out, he climbed up and wrote his name on the board and underlined it.


    ¡®<u>PROFESSOR DONGLEFORE</u>¡¯


    Kole decided it would be in his best interest to write this particular name down.


    ¡°Good Morning class,¡± came the gnome¡¯s high-pitched yet dignified voice. ¡°You may be asking yourself ¡¯Why is the head of the college teaching an introductory course.¡¯ I could lie to you and say I value each and every student and want to ensure you all start with a strong foundation, but that would be both a disservice to your original professor¡ªand an easily provable lie. Your scheduled professor had an adverse reaction to a new potion she¡¯d been developing and won¡¯t be able to teach for some time. I have agreed to fill in for her.¡±


    Murmurs broke out throughout the class.


    ¡°Now, I will not have it thought that Professor Cowlin was lax in her technique or methods. Adverse reactions are common when at the forefront of alchemy, and even the most prepared can still suffer injury. Let that be a lesson to you all. Many would count temporary paralysis as a lucky outcome. Which, incidentally, is a great segue into this course. This class is titled Introduction to Alchemy, known amongst my apprentices as ¡¯Alchemy for Adventurers¡¯. This is a required course for any who wish to enroll in the adventurer program, and is little good for anyone else.¡±


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Kole looked around the massive room at all his fellow aspirant adventurers. He hadn¡¯t realized the track was that popular.


    ¡°As adventurers, you will interact with alchemy outside the supervision of an alchemist. You may be tempted to mix separate potions against the advisement of a certified alchemist. This class will teach you why that is a terrible idea. That large book is a list of all the terrible results of the uneducated dabbling in things beyond their understanding.¡±


    He pointed to a book on the desk, ¡°book¡± being a very generous term for the massive stack of paper.


    ¡°This year we will touch on a large number of topics, hopefully giving you enough understanding to realize how little you know. You will not learn to brew potions, you will not learn to transmute material. You will learn how to safely consume potions, to handle the adverse reactions that your less educated adventuring peers may suffer, and how to harvest alchemical ingredients you find in the field without completely destroying them.¡±


    This speech, which Kole felt was meant to douse hope, made Kole feel much better about the class. He had little interest in alchemy and feared he¡¯d be forced to learn the craft. The curriculum outlined seemed to be something actually helpful for him and his own pursuits.


    The remainder of the class saw Donglefore reading some particularly gruesome accounts from the tome Pains and Deaths Recorded, 32nd Abridged Edition. Before dismissing the class, they were assigned to create a list of three potions for use in an adventuring kit that had the least adverse reactions to one another.


    The professor dismissed them and informed them future lectures would be handled by his apprentices, as ¡°he didn¡¯t have time to babysit.¡± Kole was a little disappointed at that, he liked his attitude and thought he¡¯d be an interesting teacher.


    Kole had a few hours free before his next class and decided to spend it back in the library.


    While he¡¯d arrived early for his first class, he wasn¡¯t so lucky for his second. He¡¯d gotten a bit carried away in his studies and was five minutes late to his history lecture. Running down the hall, he slammed into the lecture hall door, bouncing off with a resounding thud as he realized that the door pulled open.


    Red with embarrassment he pulled the door open to see a sea of faces staring at him.


    Don¡¯t turn invisible.


    Eyes downcast he moved to the nearest seat.


    ¡°As I was saying,¡± the wizened voice of the graying orc spoke from the front of the room. ¡°It is commonly said that history is written by the winners. I choose rather to believe that history is written by the survivors. Sometimes in history, there are no victors. In this course, we will be looking at the pre-Flood history of Basin. We will primarily examine the orcish and dwarven accounts but will also reference some of the records of the lost civilizations of the region.¡±


    ¡°While only orcs and dwarves dwelled on Basin by the time it was settled by the Flood-displaced denizens of Kaltis, the history of the world is long, and it is littered with civilizations lost to time.¡±


    The rest of the class was a brief overview of Basin history that Kole was already familiar with. The class was dismissed, and no mention of his tardiness was made. He¡¯d heard that orcs weren''t exactly ¡¯big on rules¡¯ but he vowed not to test his luck any further.


    ***


    After completing his two classes for the day, Kole went looking for Amara, but his tracking device led him to the crafting building, and he gave up, assuming her busy. He spent the remainder of the night back in his secret corner of the library. When he returned to his improvised room, he was met with a surprise.


    He rounded the corner to the aisle he¡¯d made his home when he heard a rustling noise. Instinctively he turned invisible, chastising himself for the futility of the effort while a glowing orb hovered over his shoulder. On his desk, rummaging through his pack of provisions, sat a rather large rat.


    ¡°Scram!¡± Kole shouted, but the rat only tilted its head inquisitively at the disembodied voice.


    He bent over picked up his pillow from his sleeping roll and tossed it at the rodent. Just before the fluffy projectile struck, the creature vanished and the pillow bounced off the desk, taking the remains of the rat¡¯s meal with it.


    ¡°What in the world...¡±


    A moment later, the rat reappeared from the spot it¡¯d vanished from, and jumped off the desk, onto the bookshelf, vanishing behind the rows of books.


    Kole went to his food and salvaged what he could. The rat he''d found must have been a straggler because most of his food had been eaten, every bag and container destroyed as the rats had tried to get at the contents.


    ¡°I guess I need a better solution.¡±


    But, that was a problem for tomorrow¡¯s Kole. Tonight¡¯s Kole had some work to do. Hungry as he might be, it wouldn¡¯t be the first time he ignored the pangs as he worked late into the night.

 Chapter 15: Martial Combat 101

    The restriction on spellforms was meant to level the playing field against the dragons that remained. Any dragon could enter a village and leave with an army of sorcerers. An army that could become wizards in the course of a year if given access to spellforms. The Tower took on the role as stewards of this magical knowledge and fought valiantly to keep it from the enemy''s claws.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    The next morning, Kole used some of his limited funds to eat at one of the campus'' many cafeterias. Today was what he''d mentally dubbed his ¡°practical day.¡± Mondays and Wednesdays he had his history and alchemy classes, while Tuesdays and Thursdays he had ¡°WAR 101 Martial Combat¡± and ¡°WIZ 105 Advanced First Tier Combat Wizardry.¡± Friday would be reserved for his class with the lengthy title ¡°AV 101 Pre-Adventuring Track Battle Training¡±, and he had no idea what to expect from that.


    With a full belly and stuffed pockets, he arrived at the green of the martial college uncertain what to expect. Of the two outfits he owned after discarding the soiled one on the ship, he wore the one more suited for physical exertions. His father had continued to dress in the style of the stormcallers long after his departure from the clans. Kole wore this now. A loose-fitting tunic and pants tied tight at the wrist and ankles to keep it from interfering with magic or shipborne tasks.


    Calling the outside area of the martial college¡¯s quarter a ¡¯green¡¯ really stretched the meaning of the word. Where the other colleges had nice park areas for study and leisure, the martial college had instead turned theirs into a training ground. Absent were the pleasant grassy fields and shade-giving trees, replaced with hard-packed dirt, sand pits, an obstacle course, and more tools for training warriors and soldiers.


    Kole walked past the areas of older¡ªclearly-trained students until he came to a mass of people he deemed his peers. They stood around, loosely grouped and chatting idly, all equally unsure of what to do. He even recognized a few faces from his previous classes. Part of him was tempted to insert himself into one of the gatherings and get to know his peers, but a larger¡ªmuch, much, larger¡ªpart remembered all the peer interactions from back home, and he decided to stay at the periphery.


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re the tardy boy!¡± a cheery female voice called from behind.


    Kole fought the urge to turn invisible and realized his instincts to do so may be on a little bit of a hair trigger.


    I need to work on resolving issues without turning invisible and running away.


    Marshaling his embarrassment, he turned towards the voice, prepared to face whatever torment he was about to endure.


    The face he saw didn¡¯t match the voice he¡¯d heard. The loud voice had painted a picture in Kole¡¯s mind of a tall girl, with a cruel face that took joy in tormenting others.


    The face was certainly joyful, a sincere and friendly smile that made Kole reevaluate his initial interpretation of the greetings. The overall appearance of the stranger, though, said anything but ¡¯joyful¡¯.


    At first glance, he took the girl to be a voidling, one of the strange other-realmly creatures that had entered Kaltis during the Last Dragon War. She stood just under six feet tall and wore padded armor that looked to belong under plate. Like a voidling, she had pale white skin. But where the voidling¡¯s skin seemed like a foggy window into a void of nothingness, hers was mundane flesh, complete with beads of sweat from the early morning sun. Her hair was pitch black, again like the voidling''s, but where theirs floated around their heads in a chaotic swirl, fading in and out of existence, hers sat still, tied into a braid and subject to the whims of gravity.


    The hair of the voidings wasn''t really hair, but some strange distortion field that gave a glimpse into the space between realms. This girl''s hair was just hair, though it drank in the light more than any material Kole had ever seen.


    ¡°I¡¯m Zale,¡± the girl said, sticking her hand out to greet the frozen Kole.


    While there hadn¡¯t exactly been a crowd around Kole before, the few that had been nearby had fled at the arrival of this strange girl.


    ¡°I... ummm. Are you a voidling?¡± Kole couldn¡¯t help but blurt out.


    ¡°Only a little bit,¡± the girl answered, hand still outstretched and voice still cheery but now with a hint of remorse in tone, as if her heritage was something she thought she needed to apologize for.


    Kole reached out and shook her hand, surprised to find it felt like any other. His people had a bad history with denizens from beyond the known realms, but the Voidlings specifically had not been a part of it and they generally lacked the prejudice present in Basin.


    ¡°I¡¯m Kole. Sorry about¡ª¡±


    ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Zale interrupted, waving away Kole¡¯s apology. ¡°I get it all the time, and I probably could have gotten your attention in a nicer way.¡±


    Kole looked from the girl to the crowd that had given them a wide berth.


    ¡°Can I help you with something?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. I just wanted to introduce myself. I recognized you from Professor Gromck¡¯s class and thought you looked a bit¡­ alone.¡¯¡±


    At the mention of the orcish professor, Kole asked, ¡°Do you think I¡¯m in trouble, being late like that?¡±


    ¡°Nah,¡± she said, shaking her head. ¡°He doesn¡¯t care. He may be an academic orc, but he¡¯s still an orc. Just don¡¯t insult him and you¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? You seem pretty knowledgeable. Are you a first-year student like me?¡±


    ¡°Technically yes, but my mother...¡± she paused looking anywhere but Kole¡¯s eyes as she sought words, ¡°works here in the... art department. So, I grew up on campus.¡±


    Kole was confident that even Amara could tell this girl was being evasive with that answer.


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    Before Kole could ask more, a whistle blew, silencing the mingling students.


    ¡°Form up!¡± a voice boomed in the distinct cadence and accent of the Iron Vein Tribe.


    Kole turned to the voice, and then back to Zale, but found her pushing her way to the front of the crowd. Unsure of what to do, he followed her confident strides.


    Around him, the students bumbled about trying to figure out how to ¡°form up.¡± Some older students, dressed in uniforms of the martial wing of the school, began directing the younger ones into lines, and Kole lost sight of Zale as he was put into a rank.


    ¡°Miserable performance,¡± the same voice shouted. ¡°But, you are here to learn. Tomorrow you will form up before I arrive.¡±


    Kole could now see the man speaking. He was at least seven feet tall, and covered in black swirling tattoos reminiscent of spellforms, that poked out from the sleeves of his uniform, and covered his neck and shaved scalp. He had a single stone ax on his belt, that seemed like a great ax to Kole, but was probably nothing more than a hatchet in the giant¡¯s hand.


    ¡°I am Tigereye,¡± he continued. ¡°I am not ¡¯professor¡¯ or ¡¯master¡¯ or ¡¯general.¡¯ Most of you are here because you want to be adventurers. In this class, we will assess your martial skills and determine which path best suits you. All of you will learn at least one weapon through the course of this class. No matter your skill set, you will never regret finding a weapon that suits you. As adventurers, you will find yourself in situations beyond imagining and every edge can save your life. Battles are more often won by a hair''s breadth than by Fireballs."


    He paused to let the words sink in and then shouted, "Now run twenty laps around the yard!"


    The crowd of students looked at each other in bewilderment until the older students prodded them all into a jog.


    Thirty minutes later Kole lay in the grass gasping for breath alongside a hundred others.


    "It''s best if you stay standing," a still cheery and definitely not out of breath voice called to him. "Keep your hands on your head and it will prevent cramping."


    "Too late," Kole moaned from the ground where he clutched his sides.


    Kole wasn¡¯t in the worst condition¡ªsome people had shown up wearing armor and others were fairly overweight¡ªbut he was confidently in the lower half of the physical fitness curve. His skinny frame was a result of neglected meals, not regular physical activity.


    Zale helped Kole to his feet and he took a water skin from a station that had been set up.


    ¡°Small sips,¡± Zale advised.


    ¡°Why... are you... so... in shape?¡± Kole asked between pants.


    ¡°I exercise. Don¡¯t worry, Tigereye will have you whipped into shape in no time.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Kole deadpanned.


    ¡°Form up!¡± Tigereye shouted again, ending the short reprieve.


    In a very slightly improved manner, the students formed into ranks, and Kole lost sight of his new pale friend once more.


    ¡°We will start each class with conditioning. I recommend each of you practice the same on the off days. You will not be able to pass this class if you do not put in work outside of it. Those of you with prior weapon experience, go to the left, find your preferred weapon, and prepare to be evaluated. Those without, or who wish to be advised, go to the right and form a line in front of each of my assistants.¡±


    Over half the class moved to the left, towards racks of practice weapons supervised by older students in uniform. Kole moved to the right with the other less than physically impressive students. As they sorted into five lines in front of racks of practice weapons, Kale caught sight of Zale again, sitting at one rack alongside the other student aids. Her line had no one in front of it. The students in the other lines all tried to look as if they weren''t sneaking glances at the strange girl who was ¡°only a little bit¡± of a voidling.


    Kole ditched the line he''d been herded into by the mass of the crowd and went over to hers.


    ¡°You¡¯re an assistant in the class?¡± he asked.


    She looked away from the weapon rack she¡¯d been busying herself with, and Kole saw a flicker of sadness vanish as she saw him.


    ¡°No. I¡¯m technically enrolled, but I tested out. You can¡¯t test out of this class though, so I was assigned as an assistant. The teaching assistants are all older students in the martial college.¡±


    Neither acknowledged the lack of other students in her line and when the other groups started to work, Zale remembered herself.


    ¡°Let me guess. You¡¯re studying to be a wizard.¡±


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Any experience at all with a weapon?¡±


    Kole shook his head.


    ¡°Best we go with a staff then,¡± she said, grabbing one from the rack.


    ¡°Why a staff?¡± Kole asked, surprising himself with the disappointment he felt.


    He explicitly didn¡¯t want to be a Mirage Knight or a warrior, but... he¡¯d been a child and as all children did he''d pretended to be a valiant swordsman before the others had started to shun him. Swords were the adventurer¡¯s weapon. Kilroth the Troll Blight, Tal of Storms, Halkin of the Bridge, and every other famous wizard he could recall offhand all used swords in some capacity. Though in all three cases those adventuring wizards had magic swords that could fly, shoot fire, or otherwise devastate a battlefield without actually being held on a hand by their wielders.


    ¡°Staffs are great!¡± Zale said, back to her happy self. ¡°Perfect for the general caster. If you aren¡¯t planning on dedicating yourself to the training, it¡¯s a great option that will prevent you from harming yourself or others. You can develop a basic proficiency with a lot less effort than with a sword. A sword is more dangerous to yourself than a foe if you don¡¯t know how to wield it. Plus, staffs can be runed and enchanted to cast spells much easier than swords or other weapons.¡±


    ¡°That... makes a lot of sense,¡± Kole admitted, taking the staff.


    Zale instructed Kole in performing a few practice swings against a wooden dummy. After a couple minutes of this Kole turned to Zale, who was failing to hide the amusement on her face.


    "What''s so funny?"


    "I''m sorry, you''re just really bad at this."


    "I''ve never done this before!"


    "I know. I said I was sorry. Today was supposed to just have everyone select a weapon but... you''re going to need the head start."


    Kole''s face grew red, but he fought back the urge to say something out of anger. She''d been helpful and friendly, and he probably was terrible. Unable to say anything without further embarrassment, he just nodded.


    While the rest of the class waited their turn to be evaluated for a weapon before being dismissed, Kole performed repetitive swings with his staff under Zale''s close supervision. He was used to throwing himself into his work to reach his goal of becoming an adventurer, but these last few days were revealing his focus had been too narrow. Yes, wizardry would be his most powerful tool, but it shouldn''t be his only tool


    Long after the rest of the class had departed, Zale and Kole continued to train.


    "Alright, we should stop," Zale said, about an hour after Kole''s stomach had begun to say the same thing. "I have a private lesson I need to go to."


    "Thank the gods. I''m exhausted," Kole said, dropping the staff.


    "Why didn''t you call it earlier? We could have stopped whenever."


    "I..." He paused, thinking why he hadn''t stopped.


    He was used to working long hours into the night on his wizardry or his dabbling research into pocket realms. He thought that he simply got carried away with his studies but this exercise had elicited that same tunnel vision in him. He hadn''t even considered stopping as an option.


    How long would I have kept that up for?


    He''d never been good at time management, and he''d always chalked it up to a lack of self-control when doing something he enjoyed. But, he''d been miserable this entire session and still pushed out.


    "I don''t know," he finished. "But thanks for all the help, and for not making fun of my incompetence."


    "It''s the least I can do for you since you saved me from being all alone over here. Seriously, thank you. It means a lot."


    "Don''t mention it," Kole said, becoming a little uncomfortable with the shift in conversation.


    "I''ll be here tomorrow at six to get in some morning exercise. Want to join me?"


    "I''ll pass," Kole answered, unable to think of something he''d want to do less than that. "But I''ll save you a seat tomorrow in Gromck''s class."


    Zale began putting away the weapons they''d used. "I think it''s more likely I''ll be saving you a seat."


    The two new friends parted and Kole sniffed himself. He smelled. He started to do some math in his head.


    How am I going to afford daily baths?

 Chapter 16: Advanced First Tier Combat Wizardry

    But, even the Tower lost its way. The politics of that are outside the subject of this paper, but the source of it all was sorcerers. Some foul necromancer working in hiding in the Tower discovered that sorcerer''s bones animated far easier than any other intelligent creature. When this got out¡ªafter the necromancer was discovered, executed and his notes surveyed¡ªthe study of sorcerer''s bodies became the focus of all departments.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    In the end, Kole found a simple solution to his sweaty problem. The martial college had a shower facility that students enrolled in any of its classes could use for free. training clothes were available to rent for a small fee each semester. You could pick up a clean set in the morning, go to class, bathe, trade them in, and run off to your next class tidy as a freshly Cleaned wizard.


    They offered this to remove any barrier that might come between a student and their learning. No one wanted to sit next to a stinky student in a lecture hall, and fewer still wanted to be the stinky one. This resolved one of the problems remaining from Kole''s library squatting.


    After sorting the bathing situation out, a reluctant but clean Kole handed over the entry fee to the dining hall in the martial college. He''d yet to restock after his rat problem and the morning''s training had left him ravenous. He ate his fill and then stuck some extra rolls and fruit into his bag for good measure before running off to the next class.


    He didn''t want to be late to "WIZ 105 Advanced First Tier Combat Wizardry."


    The name was a mouthful but Kole was both excited and nervous. Excited for the potential opportunities he''d have to learn, but nervous his deficiency would be found out and he''d fall behind yet again. The curriculum would be demanding but he had high hopes he could keep pace with the new spells he''d found.


    With conflicted emotions, Kole sat waiting early as students filled in one of the smaller rooms of the lecture floor of the Dahn filled in.


    "Hey, you''re the guy Professor Lonin pulled aside during admissions!"


    Kole turned to the voice. While most of his classmates were a year or two older than Kole, the speaker looked to be around Kole''s own age and size, but where Kole was a bit scrawny, this student had a bit of muscle on his frame. He reminded Kole of the students who took up fencing back home. It was only after that thought that Kole noticed the rapier hilt at the boy¡¯s hip, proving his initial hunch. The boy had sandy blond hair, cut short, and he looked at Kole with eager interest.


    Embarrassed yet again, Kole simply answered, "Yeah..."


    "You''re going for adventuring track. Right? That''s why he passed on you."


    "Yeah, how''d you know?" Kole asked, the embarrassment at being called out subsiding.


    "I saw you in Intro to Alch, P.F. Basin history, and Martial 101. Now you''re here. That''s the curriculum of someone who wants to be an adventurer. I''m Gray.¡±


    The eager young man had moved to a closer desk and extended his hand out for a shake, which Kole reciprocated.


    ¡°I¡¯m Kole, and yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad to meet you. There aren¡¯t a whole lot of us¡ªwizards seeking to be adventurers that is. There are a lot less risky ways to become rich and powerful.¡±


    Kole just nodded. Kole felt this was an invitation to volunteer his own motivations, but he wasn¡¯t feeling up to opening up to yet another stranger about his parents.


    Thankfully, he was saved by the arrival of the professor.


    In one moment the front of the room was empty, and in the next a middle-aged halfling stood addressing the class, causing everyone to jump.


    ¡°Welcome to Advanced First Tier Combat Wizardry. I¡¯m Master Underbrook, but I won¡¯t take offense if addressed as ¡¯professor.¡¯ I will be teaching this class, so let''s get right to it.¡±


    "This is advanced first-tier wizardry, so look around at your peers."


    He waited in silence until the students looked at each other awkwardly.


    "Each of you are exceptional. To be in this class, you must be under seventeen and able to cast two first-tier wizardry spells. The average wizard doesn''t learn their first spell until sixteen, but you all know that. Each of you has some advantage. Sorcerers, Blessed, alchemical enhancements, or pure and simple genius. But, that will not be enough. At the upper ranks of mages, everyone is exceptional. If you wish to excel, you can''t let your advantages make you complacent.


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    ¡°The syllabus had all the requirements for the class, so I won¡¯t waste our valuable time going over that now. You are all here because you wish to learn the basic tools for magical combat. Some of you may be aspiring siege wizards or adventurers, while others may simply wish to learn self-defense. No matter the motivation, you are about to embark on a tradition as old as magic itself. Sorcerers were the first of the Illusian races to wield the power of the Fonts, and as is the nature of their powers, those abilities manifested in times of life-threatening need. Now, thousands of years later, we will continue that tradition¡ªwith a lot more refinement.¡±


    The professor continued the lecture, speaking the whole time and not wasting a moment as promised. He went over the pros and cons of each Font and their uses both offensively and defensively. The first week, each student was to select the spells they wished to learn this semester and write an essay explaining the justification. They needed to know three combat spells by the end of the semester, and with Magic Missile and Shield, Kole was already two-thirds of the way there¡ªif you ignore the small detail that he couldn¡¯t practically cast those in combat without exhausting all his Will.


    Kole was hopeful he¡¯d be able to resolve that issue, so he listened attentively as the professor spoke, making a list of pros and cons for each Font. He wanted something that could disable or move his enemies, or something that would improve his mobility, but he couldn¡¯t settle on which would be better.


    When the class ended, Professor Underbrook simply vanished as suddenly as he¡¯d appeared.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to the spell range, would you care to join me?¡±


    Kole turned to see Gray behind him. He ran through the interaction through his head, skeptical of outward signs of friendship from a life as a pariah. But, in the end, he realized he was being too suspicious. No one knew of him here, and unless this student had very strong opinions about punctuality, it was unlikely he was harboring some secret grudge.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Kole said, gesturing for Gray to lead the way.


    Together they walked through the hall that ringed the teaching floor of the Dahn, discussing the day''s lesson and potential spells they wanted to learn. Gray was fairly set on his selection for the class and acted as a sounding board for Kole. Kole had always been so desperate to find any spell that he could cast, that he¡¯d long ago put aside thoughts of effective combinations, so the exercise was new for him.


    The door to the practice range at first appeared to be just like any other door to a lecture hall, but it opened instead to another hallway which seemed to go on forever. It was lined on both sides with doors and large floor-to-ceiling windows into the rooms. Some of the windows were opaque, fogged to obscure the view inside, but through others, Kole saw students of all ages casting magic out down long halls.


    ¡°Some of the rooms at the far end are larger,¡± Gray explained. ¡°For practicing larger spells. There''s even one that can open into the void but they don¡¯t let just anyone use it. Activating it can cause the occasional outsider attack from aberrations¡­ and sometimes it drives people insane.¡±


    Kole shuddered at the mention. While voidlings were technically outsiders, Kole held no particular fear or animosity towards the humanoid breed of beings from beyond the known realms. The aberrations, however, had left a deep scar on the collective consciousness of the people of Illandrios.


    Gray noticed the subtle motion and stopped his explanation, then his eyes lit up.


    ¡°You¡¯re from Illandrios, aren¡¯t you?¡± Gray said, connecting the dots.


    Kole nodded, and Gray continued.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. That hardly ever happens and the Dahn is able to repel them even without the intervention of the Masters... usually.¡±


    The last line gave lie to the confidence in his voice.


    ¡°Here we are,¡± Gray said, changing the topic as he opened a vacant door.


    The room was simple, basically a long narrow hall with a stone dummy at the end.


    "So far I''ve learned Mage Armor," Gray began. "I''m a sorcerer as well, and I can cast Ice Bolt."


    "Is that common?" Kole asked, jumping on the change in topic.


    "Being a sorcerer? Not so much in general, but like the professor said, as you get the higher levels we become more common."


    At that moment, Kole realized he''d made a huge mistake. Thus far¡ªaside from Jurin and Amara... and Lonin¡ªhe''d kept his abilities private.


    Flood, did I tell Zale? No.


    Alright, he''d tried to keep his abilities private. But, once more he''d put himself in a position where he had to reveal some part of himself. He weighed his options. The ridicule he¡¯d suffered back home hadn¡¯t specifically been about his primal nature. His original fear about his secret coming out here was that he wouldn¡¯t be admitted, but Lonin hadn¡¯t stopped him.


    As if tracking Kole¡¯s train of thought¡ªor at least part of it, he¡¯d fallen down a bit of a rabbit hole in that moment¡ªGray asked, ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°A Sorcerer? Yes, I am.¡±


    ¡°I thought so!": Gray said, proud of his deduction, ¡°What spells do you know?¡±


    ¡°I know Magic Missile and Shield, and a lot of cantrips,¡± Kole said, hoping to at least deflect.


    ¡°Wow, those are useful. Ice Bolt is useful, but not so great when fighting armored foes. I hope one day I will manifest Cone of Cold. Which one is from your sorcery?¡±


    Flood.


    ¡°Neither... I have another spell, but... I¡¯d rather not share it if it''s alright with you.¡±


    Gray looked a little disappointed, but this wasn¡¯t the most uncommon request. Many adventurers kept some aspect of their abilities secret, it was only strange for someone as young as Kole to have something worthy of secrecy.


    Gray decided it was time to do what they came for, and began to send Ice Bolts down range, where they stuck the golem and exploded into shards of ice which vanished into a fog.


    Gray continued firing down the range until he¡¯d cast the spell five times. Kole was impressed by other young wizard¡¯s Will reserves. He had to have around 25, which was just over half Kole¡¯s, but easily double any other no-sorcerous wizard of his age.


    ¡°I¡¯m tapped out,¡± Gray said, breathing a little heavily. ¡°Your turn.¡±


    Letting out a sigh, Kole walked to the front of the room.


    Kole turned back to Gray, looking slightly abashed before starting to cast the spell. Just then, a scream broke out from the hall. They both turned to look out the window to see students running for the exit. Without a second thought, or glance to Kole, Gray bolted for the door and Kole followed.

 Chapter 17: Goblin-Rats

    If you have a spellform from the Tower''s library, odds are better than not that the ink was made using the bones of a sorcerer. Potions were made out of the bones that gradually increased Will capacity. Bones were carved into wands, staves, rings, and more. Each tailored to the Arcane signature of their former owners.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    The hall was filled with fleeing students, most yelling in panic but some stopped to fire spells back down the hallway before running on further. Between the bodies of students, Kole could make out the huddled brown forms of some diminutive creatures chasing and adding to the chaos with their chattering.


    Gray didn¡¯t hesitate and ran towards the threat. Kole paused for a moment, but then he too followed. As they pushed through the bodies, they got a better look at the monsters, which had stopped to feast on one of their fallen comrades. They were the size of goblins, a couple of feet tall each, but they stood hunched over. Their greenish-brown skin was covered in patchy tufts of coarse fur, and their faces elongated into rat-like noses. There were a dozen of the creatures and three older students had formed a wall blocking the hall from their advance.


    The light flickered, and Kole felt a pulse of something deep in his soul. A connection to the Arcane Realm he couldn¡¯t articulate. The students looked at the rat creatures expectantly, but the monsters seemed wholly unconcerned.


    ¡°Gods!¡± Gray cursed, as he fell in line with the other three with his rapier drawn. ¡°They aren¡¯t void creatures, the defenses didn¡¯t do anything.¡±


    At Gray¡¯s words, the creatures charged at the students. The older students each sent a blast of some elemental magic, fire, ice, and lightning, at the oncoming beast, each taking out one or more, but the distance was short and eight chattering goblin creatures reached them, clawing over each other to do so in the narrow hall. Gray stabbed one in the chest kicking another aside. Two of the students next to Gray had weapons of their own, one a quarterstaff, and the other a short sword, but the third had nothing.


    The unarmed student shot another bolt of fire at the goblin-rat closing in, but he missed and the creature leapt on him. The student fell, taking rakes to the chest, and no one but Kole was free to help him.


    Without hesitating Kole ran at the student, and kicked the creature in its rat face before it could dig into its victim¡¯s neck. He felt a sickening crackas the rodent face shattered under the impact. Gray broke free of his own foe in time to stab Kole¡¯s, keeping it down. Kole risked a glance to the fallen student and saw him alive, but he¡¯d taken a deep slash on his chest and he¡¯d not be helping any further.


    When Kole turned back to Gray, a goblin-rat had broken away from the sword sword-wielding student and was lunging for Gray''s side.


    Kole reacted on instinct, his hand shooting up as he built the construct for the spell in his mind. It took all his focus to open up his bridge to the proper location but he pushed through, pouring nearly all his Will to the effort. Focusing on both his hand and his lungs he spoke, ¡°Roh Ka¡± infusing Will into both the sounds and his hand as he flicked his fingers forward as he sent the spell into the Arcane Realm.


    Three bolts shot out from his hand, each striking the lunging monstrosity in the chest, only visible as a shimmer in the air on the way. Each hit made a small thump and left a coin-sized hole which quickly pooled with blood as the goblin-rat lay dying.


    The spell drained nearly all of Kole''s Will, and he fought through the headache as he filled the gap the fallen student had left. The goblin-rats were wary now, and only four remained, looking from their fallen kin to the students. It seemed that everyone was out of Will, for no bolts of magic flew. There was a brief stare-down before the last four broke out into a charge. One ran at each the other students, but two headed for Gray. Kole moved in to help, even if only with a kick or shove, but before he could reach the goblins, four shimmers of light passed by Kole and the heads of the three creatures exploded into geysers of blood.


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    Kole whipped around to see the source of the spells. Professor Underbrook stood, floating on a Force Disk moving toward them, hand still extended from the spell he''d just cast.


    "Is everyone okay?" He asked, looking at the older staff-wielding student who gave a nod.


    The professor continued down the hall on his disk, firing magic into any body that twitched.


    "That was crazy!" Gray shouted, both hands on his head, grasping his hair.


    "Yeah..." Kole replied in a bit of a daze.


    His adrenaline was beginning to fade, the heartbeat in his ears quieting, and the stench of the blood sinking in. He surveyed the scene and found he only felt a bit of disgust at the remnants of the creatures, but no regret in helping create it.


    "What in Fauell are these things?" Kole asked


    "They kind of look like goblins," Gray said and gave a sniff, then winced. "And they definitely smell like goblins."


    The oldest student with the stand was treating the wound of the fallen one, so Kole walked over to the wall and leaned against it, suddenly exhausted.


    ¡°Why didn''t you keep firing?¡± Gray asked Kole.


    Flood. Kole cursed inwardly.


    ¡°I, uh... I¡¯m out of Will.¡±


    ¡°Oh, wow, already? Were you practicing earlier?¡±


    ¡°No...¡± Kole started, he could lie and take the out presented, but that would only cause more issues later on when Gray inevitably found out the truth. ¡°That took up all my Will."


    Gray cocked his head sideways, processing the words but they didn''t seem to make any sense.


    "How?" He asked after coming up with nothing.


    "I¡¯m not only a sorcerer, I¡¯m a primal too. It makes wizardry... difficult.¡±


    A series of emotions flickered across Gray¡¯s face in quick succession. Surprise, to confusion and then curiosity.


    ¡°How?¡± he asked again, this time his tone packing a lot of questions into the single syllable.


    Kole gave Gray a brief rundown of his particular magical ¡°talents¡± and the limitations they brought.


    ¡°So you can only cast one spell?¡± Gray asked.


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°So... how are you going to be an adventurer? Are you going to learn a martial art? Be a spellsword? Or is your primal ability that powerful?¡±


    ¡°No to all of that. I plan to be a wizard, I just have to figure a way through this problem.¡±


    Through the description, Gray¡¯s face grew less friendly as Kole explained all his difficulties only growing kinder at the end when he asked Kole about a secondary talent. Now, he looked angry.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to get people killed! You could have just gotten us killed!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kole asked, taken aback by the sudden outburst.


    ¡°How do you expect to be an adventuring wizard if you can only cast a spell a day? You¡¯re basically a magical cripple!¡±


    ¡°I told you, I¡¯m going to work through this. Everyone said primals can''t even cast wizard spells, and you just saw me do it. And I think I handled myself well enough just now for never having been in a battle.¡±


    "You think you can figure out what no one in the last hundred years could? You''ve learned some spells, but you can cast one spell a day. You''re useless in a battle! If you somehow eek your way into the adventuring program, you''ll just convince some group that you''re competent and then get them killed!"


    Kole didn''t know what to say. A large part of him always feared social interactions at the Academy would take a turn for the worse, but this was nowhere close to what he''d expected. Gray had a lot of anger built up as if Kole''s words had struck a bone. He stood there, unsure what to say, and before he could think of anything Gray stormed off in anger.


    Kole looked at all the other students they''d fought with to see them staring from him to Gray, who was still making his way out.


    That could have gone better... Kole thought to himself. Though I''m not sure what I did wrong.


    Underbrook came back a while later and interrogated those who remained about what had happened before dismissing them. The injured student had recovered enough to stand by them.


    ¡°You all handled yourselves brilliantly,¡± he said, making eye contact with each. ¡°While it isn¡¯t common, these types of occurrences are known to¡ªwell¡ªoccur in a magical structure such as the Dahn. Rest assured, we will investigate this and ensure this particular breach doesn¡¯t happen again.¡±


    Kole was then left to his own devices, which felt odd to him. They¡¯d just been attacked by strange goblin monsters, and no one seemed to be too concerned about it. The older students were even joking as they left. He reflected on his actions and he was proud to know he hadn¡¯t hesitated when it came to acting. He¡¯d been nervous, but that hadn¡¯t stopped him from doing what needed doing.


    That in itself was a huge relief. A large part of being an adventurer is the temperament. Many of the most skilled wizards and fighters are not suited for the life, unable to put themselves into dangers that could be avoided by pursuing other professions. The thought buoyed him and allowed him to ignore the whole ordeal with Gray in the aftermath¡ªfor a while at least.

 Chapter 18: Friends

    The Tower had fallen long before the building itself was swept away in a flood. Chosen Daulf of Illunia saw to that and took what little good remained in the place with him before leaving it behind for good.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    Kole slunk off out of the training hall a short while later. He''d yet to buy food to keep in the library and ate the extra fruit he''d take at lunch as he went back. He had assignments due in both alchemy and history and he hoped to get a few hours of magical study in.


    The thought of practicing magic sent a throb of pain through his Will-drained head and his body seemed to weigh four hundred pounds now that the adrenaline of battle had faded.


    Maybe I skip that tonight.


    He''d studied magic Will drained in the past, but even he could recognize sleep would be a far more productive use of his time under those circumstances.


    So, exhibiting levels of responsibility and self-restraint usually foreign to him, Kole went to the library, set up at a well-lit study table near the center, and got started on his classwork.


    The work for alchemy required him to read through some dull reference books and the history assignment too was just reading. Kole found the required books on the shelves and powered through them. He was happy to discover there were dozens of copies of the books required so he hadn''t needed to buy them. The librarian explained that the required readings were well-stocked so students wouldn¡¯t need to purchase the potentially expensive texts.


    When he finished he placed his books on the end of the table as everyone else seemed to do and stepped behind a shelf, turned invisible, and ran off to his secret spot.


    * * *


    The next morning, Kole woke up with plenty of time to get to his alchemy class. Weighing the rumble in his stomach with the dwindling weight of his coin purse he decided he could hold out until lunch.


    "Kole!"


    Kole looked up to see a familiar face waiting in front of the lecture hall.


    "Hey Amara, what are you doing here?"


    "I''ve been trying to find you since Sunday. Where have you been? I went to that hostel you mentioned but you weren''t there. Then I realized you must be in this class."


    Kole hadn''t exactly forgotten about Amara, but finding her again had been low on his list of priorities after his first failed attempt. He''d checked the runed tracking device but it''d always pointed towards the main building of the crafting college.


    "Oh... yeah.,. I found someplace else to stay. Somewhere cheaper."


    "Oh good!" She said, happy for him and once more oblivious to his awkward answer. "I wanted to set a time to meet so I don''t have to track you down again. I haven¡¯t had time to make a new tracker with an indicator on it. Professor Donglefore has kept me quite busy."


    They settled in meeting up after Kole''s history class. He had to go out and buy more food¡ªand possibly a rat trap¡ªand Amara agreed to go with him. She was surprisingly okay at the thought of killing a magical rat that wasn''t Gus.


    As Kole made his way to his seat, he noticed that some of his fellow classmates were watching him.


    Am I late? He thought. No. Maybe they recognize me from Gromck''s class.


    The assignments were collected by one of Donglefore''s teaching assistants who then proceeded to teach the class. He was a human, a few years older than Kole. Despite his age, he spoke confidently on the topic and bored them all with the most common side effects of low-level alchemical interference. The man had a talent to make even the most horrible flesh-wasting disease sound boring and tedious.


    After class, he paid to eat in one of the dining halls, stocking up on extra fruit and bread, and then went back to the library to work through the spells he''d found. Intellectually he knew he''d made the right choice getting sleep the night before, but it still just felt like wasted time.


    While he wasn''t late to his history class, Zale''s prediction proved accurate, and he made it just in time to grab an open seat beside his new friend as the professor walked in.


    As Kole scrambled in, he noticed even more eyes following him.


    Maybe it is because I was late last time? He thought as he sat down.


    Zale watched him, looking less cheery than he expected from her. He sat just as the professor began to talk, and spent the rest of the lecture taking notes. At the end of the class, more reading was assigned.


    "I wasn''t late," Kole said once they could talk.


    "Yeah, but you certainly weren''t early," Zale answered, once more her cheerful self, though her eyes darted around the room as she spoke.


    "You grew up on campus right?" Kole asked, and Zale nodded. "I have some questions."


    Kole told her about his run-in with the disappearing rat as they left the lecture hall


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Oh, that''s just a pack rat. They¡¯re a nuisance, but largely harmless. They eradicated them from the campus as a whole, but they never seemed able to root them out of the tower."


    ¡°Can¡¯t the magic of the Dahn eradicate them? I¡¯ve noticed everything in the library is spotless, even in the hold and forgotten parts of the library. Surely they could do something to remove some rats.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they tried that. They got rid of all the bugs and other pests, but the Dahn didn¡¯t seem to want to remove the pack rats.¡±


    Before Kole could ask about the Dahn having an opinion on the matter, Zale forestalled his question.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the details, that''s just what my mother told me.¡±


    Moving onto the next topic he had in mind, he asked, ¡°Do you know a guy named Gray? I didn¡¯t catch his last name but he seemed really familiar with the campus.¡±


    Zale was hesitant to answer, looking around nervously again at the mention of the name.


    ¡°Yeah... I know him. Why?¡±


    ¡°We were talking after class yesterday and there were these crazy goblin-rat things, and when he found out...¡±


    Flood I guess I¡¯m telling Zale too. Kole thought. For a primal of the Font of Illusions I suck at deception.


    ¡°I told him that I¡¯m a primal, and that my wizardry is stunted because of it. He didn¡¯t take it well.¡±


    The nervousness left Zale, replaced by relief and then excitement.


    ¡°You fought those?! I¡¯m jealous!¡± Zale nearly squealed in excitement. ¡°I heard about that. Tell me all about it.¡±


    Kole reluctantly recounted the event, complete with Gray¡¯s reaction at the end,


    ¡°You¡¯re a primal?¡± she asked when he was finished. ¡°That''s great!¡±


    ¡°It is?¡±


    Kole had expected a reaction, but not that.


    ¡°Yeah! My mother is organizing a sort of... guided study program for primal students. There are a few other primal students here who weren''t properly trained in their abilities for one reason or another."


    "Your mothers a professor? You made it sound like she wasn''t. What does she teach?"


    "Art!" Zale declared proudly.


    "Art? Why''s an art professor organizing a magical study group? Is she qualified to assist in any way?"


    "Not really no, but she kind of just does whatever she wants. But, my uncle recently returned to... town and he was helping me with a particular issue related to my"¡ªshe gestured to her deep black hair and pale skin¡ª"voidyness, and he suggested we invite others in a similar situation."


    "Voidyness? What does that have to do with primals?"


    Zale''s face dropped as she realized she may have said too much. An internal battle similar to the one Kole had just fought warred on her face for a heartbeat before looked around cautiously and she answered in a whisper.


    "I''m sort of a primal too. But... we can talk about that later. Also, where are we going?"


    Kole had been walking to the crafting college''s dining hall as they spoke.


    "I''m meeting a friend for dinner. Want to come?"


    Zale hesitated a moment before agreeing, and they talked about the class they''d just left the rest of the walk and Zale asked a few more questions about the monsters.


    At the entrance the the dining hall, Zale walked past the counter without even a glance.


    "Aren''t you going to pay?" Kole asked after her.


    She looked from Kole to the cashier at the counter who didn''t seem to mind her blazing past.


    "Ummm... No, it''s fine," turning the the cashier she said, "he''s with me."


    Kole followed her through, despite his reservations. Zale hadn''t struck him as the type to break the rules, and the cashier clearly didn''t care. Unlike the inattentive attendants at the library, the cafeteria staff were constantly on the lookout for students sneaking in, or sneaking food out. Kole hadn¡¯t risked turning invisible to get inside, but using his abilities to divert attention from his bag bulging with food hadn¡¯t been below him.


    "What was that about?" he asked once they were through.


    He never got an answer though, as Amara showed up just then. She looked uncomfortable in the crowded room and was holding the tracker in her hand, clearly having been waiting for their arrival.


    "Hey Amara, this is Zale. Were¡ª¡±


    ¡°Are you a voidling?¡± Amara blurted out, showing her typical lack of tact.


    Though Kole reflected, he''d essentially reacted the same way upon meeting Zale, so maybe he shouldn¡¯t judge.


    ¡°Sorry! That was probably rude!¡± Amara apologized.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m half voidling.¡± Zale answered, taking the question in stride.


    Kole proceeded to introduce the girls to each other, and they sat to eat and talk about their first few days of classes. Donglefore, it seemed, was a very demanding master, and aside from meals, Amara was busy every waking moment of the day, though, from the way she told it, she was quite happy with the arrangement.


    ¡°He has me working on a few projects,¡± she explained. ¡°He wants to see how my ants¡¯ carvings can improve the stability of some of the harder-to-carve mundane materials. There are a lot of materials that hold up to runes quite well, but are too difficult to etch reliably. He¡¯s intrigued about my work with the Life Font, but is still deciding how best to pursue it¡±


    ¡°Have you made any progress on your... other project?¡± Kole asked ambiguously, not sure how open she was about the issue.


    ¡°No,¡± she answered deflating slightly, but then turned to Zale perking up. ¡°You live here, right? Have you heard of a female quarter-elf student who went missing last year? My sister was here, but she vanished.¡±


    Zale hummed, thinking it over.


    ¡°Not specifically. Students regularly leave without giving any sort of notice and the school doesn¡¯t track them down. A quarter-elf is quite rare, my mother is a half-elf, so I guess that kind of makes me a quarter-elf as well, but the circumstances of my birth are... odd. Do you have anything else that might cause her to stick out?¡±


    ¡°She was a primal. Does the school track that?¡±


    ¡°Another one?¡± Zale asked, surprised gesturing to Amara. ¡°Do you think she¡¯d be interested in the study group?¡±


    Kole shrugged.


    ¡°You can ask.¡±


    Zale gave Amara the same slightly vague offer to join her mother¡¯s study group. She thought about it briefly, weighing some choice, and then agreed somewhat reluctantly.


    ¡°I can give it a try. Part of the reason I¡¯m here¡ªofficially¡ªis to bring some understandings back home. If I can bring new understandings of Understanding, that would be great.¡±


    They spent the rest of the time talking about less consequential things and Kole was happy to discover his two new friends got along well. Zale¡¯s outgoing personality meshed well with Amara¡¯s general awkwardness and lack of social understanding.


    Gus made himself known near the end of the meal, climbing out of Amara¡¯s jacket to eat the leftovers.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be hiding him?¡± Kole asked, scanning the room for anyone who may have noticed the rat.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. He¡¯s registered as my familiar now, so I can pretty much take him anywhere.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s cute!¡± Zale exclaimed, ¡°Can I hold him?¡±


    Without Amara¡¯s intervention, the rat walked across the table into Zale¡¯s open hand. The sight of the rat brought Kole¡¯s mind back the the previous conversation.


    ¡°You never told me about Gray. Why did he react so strongly?¡±


    ¡°Oh him. He¡¯s one of the students brought up through the Dahn¡¯s orphanage. His parents were adventurers. They died in a delve. I heard their wizard had inflated his resume when joining their team, and most believe that''s why they died. What exactly did you tell him?¡±


    Hearing that, Kole had a little sympathy for the other boy¡¯s reaction.


    Maybe I can patch things up?


    ¡°My... primalness¡±¡ªKole mimicked Zale¡¯s gesture from before¡ª¡±makes casting spells difficult. I can only cast a single spell a day.¡±


    Instead of being disappointed by the news¡ªor mad, like in Gray¡¯s case¡ªZale grew even more animated.


    ¡°My uncle will really want to talk to you. You have to come on Saturday.¡±

 Chapter 19: The Room

    In the lead-up to the Last Dragon War, a Journeyman Stormcaller named Tal Binder, raised on Basin but trained in their ways by his mother, traveled openly as a dragon-blooded sorcerer at the side of Daulf, Illunia''s Chosen.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    Kole stayed up late that night working on the first of the Magic Missiles he knew enough spell components to repair, but he didn¡¯t manage to finish it that night. The next morning he woke to find that he had visitors in the night, and the food he¡¯d taken from the dining hall was missing.


    ¡°Flood!¡±


    ***


    Kole arrived at Martial Combat 101 already dressed in the rented clothes provided by the martial college. The clothes were far from fashionable and a little itchy, but they were light and comfortable and more than half of his classmates were wearing them. He found Zale standing alone by her weapon rack, the other students giving her a wide berth and sneaking glances.


    ¡°Good morning! Late night?¡± She called him when she saw him.


    Before he could answer, Tigereye¡¯s voice called out, ¡°Form Up!¡±


    ¡°At least you¡¯re not late,¡± she added.


    ***


    Kole didn¡¯t see much of Zale the rest of that practice. When they ran laps around the yard, Zale was out in front, while Kole was near the back. She waved whenever she lapped him, which felt a little condescending but her tone was kind.


    When the actual training began, he was grouped up with the rest learning the quarterstaff, while Zale assisted in the bastard sword training group.


    When Kole''s group had to pair up for sparring everyone near him quickly turned away from him to find someone else to practice with.


    When the hustle settled there was a single student left unpaired aside from Kole. When the boy saw Kole alone, he let out an audible groan.


    Kole was quite familiar being a social outcast from his time back home, but at least back then he''d known why everyone had hated him.


    What did I do now? He thought.


    "What''s everyone''s problem with me?" Kole asked his partner once they began the exercise.


    If everyone already disliked him, it couldn''t get worse by him being blunt.


    His partner, who''d not introduced himself or spoken a single word aside from the groan, looked surprised at the words as if Kole were some sort of talking bear.


    "You were talking to the ¡¯half voidling girl,''" he said, as if that explained it, and then swung at Kole''s head.


    "So?" Kole answered, ducking the blow and swinging back.


    The drill had them swinging in a set pattern to get used to the motions and comfortable blocking and dodging.


    "So? There''s no such thing. Haven''t you heard about the outsiders in Illandrios that turned people into aberrations? She must be one of them, and if you spend too much time with her, you''ll be too."


    Kole, being from Illandrios, knew the boy to be very mistaken.


    "That''s not at all what happened in Illandrios," Kole tried to explain.


    Kole began to explain Illandrios'' history with the outsider who had infiltrated and suborned his home, but the boy wasn''t listening. Kole had seen paintings and illusionary images of the aberrations the outsider had created, and they looked nothing like the pale and cheery girl.


    They''d become sickly pale monstrosities, human only in general shape, with black stains all over their bodies.


    Eventually, Kole gave up and repeated the drills in silence until they broke for the day.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Zale¡¯s voice came from behind when Kole was returning his equipment, remorse clear in her tone. ¡°I should have told you this would happen if you stuck around with me.¡±


    Kole turned to see Zale with downcast eyes, fiddling with the training sword on her belt. He wasn¡¯t exactly in the best mood, but he understood. He¡¯d been in Zale¡¯s exact situation before¡ªwell, not exactly, she had at least one friend, and now he did too. At the thought of that, he realized how much better off he was now than before. Sure, he was ostracized again, but he was used to that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Really. I wasn¡¯t exactly popular back home. This is nothing new.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± she asked, smiling a bit more. ¡°We could get in a big pretend fight right now and make it clear I don¡¯t have my voidy hooks in you.¡±


    ¡°Voidy hooks?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are very powerful¡±


    They joked as they walked back to the locker room where each of them had stored their clothes. Once both were more presentable, they met out front and headed to the mess hall together.


    ¡°I think you owe me a little bit more of an explanation,¡± Kole said as they walked past the cashier.


    Zale looked uncomfortable, but the guilt of before opened her lips.


    ¡°My mother isn¡¯t exactly just an art professor. She¡¯s the head of the college of art.¡±


    Kole let out a slow whistle.


    ¡°That is a lot higher up the ladder than you first let on when you said she worked here.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like to stand out...¡± Zale said, recognizing the ridiculousness of what she said as people scurried out of her way to avoid her ¡¯voidyness.¡¯


    Kole continued his line of inquiry after they sat with their food. Food that tasted all the better to Kole knowing it was free


    ¡°How does she feel about you pursuing adventuring? She doesn¡¯t want you to follow in her footsteps?¡±


    Zale let out a laugh.


    ¡°I¡¯m following as best as I can, actually. She was an adventurer too. I grew up hearing stories about my ¡¯aunt,¡¯ ¡¯uncles¡¯ and ¡¯father¡¯ and all the crazy things they did.¡±


    She punctuated ¡°aunt¡± and ¡°uncles¡± with air quotes, but her voice carried the same implied tone when she said father. Kole noticed, but let it go.


    ¡°My mother was the teams... acquisitions expert.¡±


    ¡°Rogue?¡± Kole asked.


    Zale nodded.


    ¡°Yeah, but she claims she didn''t steal things. People gave her what she needed when she asked.¡±


    ¡°Do you believe her?¡±


    ¡°Actually I do. mostly. She exaggerates, but she doesn¡¯t lie... to me at least. She tried to teach me her skills, but my appearance made half of what she knew less than exactly useful. It was a little irrelevant though, because I wanted to be a knight like Uncle D¡ª¡± she cut herself off mid-sentence and corrected ¡°my uncle.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Kole reflected that despite claiming to owe him answers, she was very clearly keeping a lot back. But, her secrets were her own, and he was starting to see why she may have made a terrible rogue.


    ¡°So what can you tell me about this uncle who is helping in this study group?¡±


    Zale relaxed a little when Kole didn¡¯t press her on her fumble, appreciating the change of topic.


    ¡°He¡¯s a very powerful mage. He would show up here and there as I grew up, but it seems like he¡¯s here to stay now... we think. That¡¯s part of the reason we are doing this class actually. He has a particular interest in primals. He had an experience with a Primordial which left him with a bit of a disability and he¡¯s been trying to learn how to manage it. It got better as he grew older, but it''s still causing him issues occasionally.¡±


    Zale¡¯s vague mentionings had been piquing Kole¡¯s interest, but the mention of her Primordial touched ¡¯mage¡¯ uncle, a title which was reclaimed by sorcerous wizards in the last hundred years, had him hooked. He was definitely going to that study group on Saturday.


    ***


    Kole found that it wasn''t only his interaction with Zale that marked him as an outcast. Gray, it seemed, had spread the word and his classmates had a similar opinion as Gray. Kole hadn¡¯t thought the older classmates¡ªwho were mostly training to be siege or court wizards¡ªwould care.


    When he got to class¡ªthe last one to arrive¡ªthe room grew quiet as he entered. And so began another school year as a social outcast.


    After class let out, Professor Underbrook stayed behind to answer any questions his students might have about their assignment¡ªrefining their spell list selection for the year. Kole waited until the last student had left before approaching.


    ¡°Professor,¡± Kole greeted him.


    ¡®¡°Good afternoon Kole. How can I help you,¡± the halfling said.


    ¡°I wanted to talk to you and make sure we won¡¯t have a problem.¡±


    Professor Underbrook interrupted him, forestalling Kole¡¯s imminent awkward confession. ¡°Grand Master Lonin already appraised me of your particular situation. I won¡¯t grant you any accommodations, but so long as you complete the work and pass the tests, I have no issues with you.¡±


    Kole thanked him, and then ran a few spell ideas by the professor to pair with Magic Missile and Shield before the halfling excused himself and teleported away.


    He wanted to ask the professor if he was looking for an apprentice but restrained the urge.


    Exhausted from the day, Kole skipped dinner and went back to his nook in the library. Zale had gotten Kole extra food to take with him at lunch. It really did seem like everyone knew her.


    She¡¯d offered to get him into breakfast any day he woke to train with her before class¡ªa topic he¡¯d done his best to ignore when Tigereye had reminded them they should be exercising in their off time.


    Kole admitted that he really would need to start working out on his off days, and the monetary benefits of doing so in the morning with Zale''s guidance took the decision out of his hands, so he returned to the library with plans to go to bed at a reasonable hour


    Around eleven at night¡ªa full hour past when Kole had told himself he''d sleep¡ªa squeak interrupted his studies then a rat appeared on his desk running away into the shelves. He looked under the desk to see the originator of the squeak and he saw another digging through his bag of food. When he moved to kick the rat, it jumped out of the way before scurrying up the shelves and onto the desktop.


    With nothing else to hand with any weight, Kole threw his notebook at the creature, and it vanished just before impact. The book knocked over his ink well and they both fell to the floor.


    "Stupid time-traveling rats," Kole muttered to himself as he picked up his notebook, finding it completely covered in ink.


    As if taunting him, the rat let out a squeak from somewhere in the darkness.


    Kole hadn''t had the best day. It had been far from the worst in his life, but it had certainly been the worst of this new life. He''d tried to tell himself that the day hadn''t been a sign of things to come, but only a minor dip in the road. But, the last strand of optimism in his body snapped at that sound.


    He charged through the stacks after the sound, grabbing the light from his desk and banishing the darkness in his pursuit. The rat''s sounds grew frantic, and the chattering was replaced with scratching.


    Kole ran towards the sound and caught sight of the rat''s wormy tail sticking out from where two shelves met.


    "Flood!" he cursed, both angry and a little relieved.


    He''d chased the creature out of frustration but was unsure of what he''d have done if he''d actually caught it. Rat was a common meal in Illandrios from before they reunited with the surface, but nowadays only the elders ate it, a nostalgic delicacy everyone else had long since abandoned to history.


    Closer to the shelves, his light illuminated the narrow gap between them. He expected to see the white stone wall of the Dahn just a foot back, but instead, his light illuminated a line out into a dark opening beyond.


    Cautiously he crept forward toward the opening, afraid the rat may jump out at any moment. As his light got closer, it illuminated more of the cavity between shelves and he saw that there was a chamber beyond.


    He contemplated his find. On the one hand, it was very late and he was supposed to have fallen asleep an hour ago, on the other he may have just found a secret room in a magical tower library. There was no competition.


    He placed his light on the ground and got to work trying to shift the shelf, but they were far too heavy for him to budge. Then he began to remove books from the lowest shelf, stacking them in a pile. In this lost corner of the library, the books were items of dubious academic value. The lowest shelf here was filled with tax codes from pre-Flood nations that had somehow found their way to Basin in the aftermath of the flood.


    Once the books were clear, he examined the back wall of the shelf. While most of the shelves in the Dahn¡¯s library were crafted magically from stone, the older shelves in the dark forgotten corners were made of mundanely crafted wood. With a few kicks, he knocked a back panel off the shelf, creating an opening just wide enough for him to crawl through.


    He pushed the light in ahead of him and saw a short hallway with an ajar stone door at the end. He pulled himself through quickly, certain that this would be the moment someone came to this neglected section of the library.


    The hall was short, and it was but a few steps before he stood outside the door. No sound emanated from the room, but he turned invisible before peeking through the crack just in case. When he saw no lights inside, he risked bringing his own to the crack. The runed device illuminated a small bedroom, furnished with two small beds and a writing desk. The far wall was covered with bookshelves and an earthenware jug and a worn book sat on the desk.


    Seeing the room empty, he pulled the door open and stepped in. The place was clear of dust, but that meant little. Even these abandoned corners of the library were covered by the cleaning spells that kept the school tidy. Despite that, the room smelled old.


    Kole couldn¡¯t put his finger on what exactly made him feel so, but he got the sense this place was older than the section he''d just left.


    The library as a whole smelled of books, the mix of paper mustiness and leather, but this room had that and something more. By then he¡¯d forgotten about that rat that had drawn him here, and he went to the bookshelf. The majority of the spines were unlabeled and he gingerly took books from the shelves, laying them out on the bed and leafing through their pages. Many were in Torcish, a language Kole had little knowledge of, but enough were in Rilith for him to understand what was in front of him. The shelf was filled with spellbooks¡ªtraditional spellbooks, not the spellform filled tomes he thought of when he said the word.


    Each spellbook was filled with the author¡¯s attempts to record the ineffable. Pages upon pages laid out, instructing future wizards how to build the spell constructs required to harness the powers of the Fonts. The words within made sense to Kole individually, but as a whole, it was utter nonsense. He read a section aloud as he scanned the pages.


    ¡°Create a closed loop linked with a quarter twirl in the lower quadrant of the previous section.¡±


    He stood in awe of the complexity of it all, wondering how anyone could have learned wizardry in this manner. Some of the descriptions linked to his own understanding of spell construction, but even with his particular interest in spell component study, he couldn¡¯t believe anyone could create a spell template in their vault following this nonsense.


    Eventually, he pulled himself away to look at the rest of the room. Two stone cups sat next to the jug, and he looked inside to find no liquid within. Curious, he lifted it, and turned it over to see if something was hidden within and dropped the jug leaping back in surprise as a white goo plopped out onto the floor.


    The jug landed in the goo without breaking, and Kole recovered himself to go inspect it. He gave the mess a sniff, and then cautiously poked it. Finally, he licked his finger and then stared at it in surprise.


    ¡°Mayonnaise? Who makes a magical jug that makes mayonnaise?¡±


    Putting the seemingly wasteful application of magic aside, he inspected the rest of the desk. It had no drawers, and had a simple board top, making secret compartments unlikely. When nothing of note turned up, he flipped through the old worn book on top and found it to be completely blank inside.


    Odd, he observed. The cover was extremely worn by age and use, but the paper within was pristine and of high quality.


    Did someone take an old binding and replace the pages? He wondered.


    As he thought of a possible explanation for the book, he looked over the rest of the room, checking under the mattresses for anything else. His father had always told him to check hidden rooms thoroughly. ¡°Where there¡¯s smoke, there¡¯s fire. And where there¡¯s one hidden door, there¡¯s probably another where the real good stuff is.¡±


    But, Kole¡¯s search turned up nothing.


    He looked at the books, the jug, and the journal. While the books were likely a massive find a hundred or so years ago, to him, with access to the Dahn¡¯s library, It was nothing. The jug was¡­ weird, but he suspected it could be made to create something besides mayonnaise. The journal was a timely find, having just destroyed his old one, but as secret rooms go, his adventuring career was off to a rather disappointing start.


    Briefly, he considered moving his belongings into this room, but he didn¡¯t want to risk discovery. The room seemed abandoned but he couldn¡¯t be sure as of yet. Carefully he remade the beds, making note of a few distinct folds he placed. He¡¯d come back in a few days and see if they¡¯d been disturbed. If they hadn¡¯t been, he¡¯d consider moving in.


    Before leaving to go sleep on his bed roll, he looked back at the bed longingly.


    Maybe if I just took a little nap...

 Chapter 20: Prevent

    Tal was pivotal in the war and gave many sorcerers the courage to come out of hiding and use their abilities to battle Faust''s followers. In the aftermath, the survivors traveled to the growing city of Edgewater to further their knowledge of the arcane arts at the school that would be known across Kaltis as the Academy of Illunia.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    A very sore and sleepy Kole arrived at the training yard just after six to find Zale going through sword forms with a wooden practice weapon. His better judgment had won out the night before and he''d returned to his bedroll to sleep.


    ¡°You¡¯re getting less late,¡± she said cheerily when she spotted him.


    ¡°It¡¯s way too early to be that happy,¡± Kole observed sullenly.


    While he recognized that exercising outside of his martial class was necessary to pass and achieve his long-term goals, he still hated it. If it wasn¡¯t for Zale holding a free breakfast hostage, he wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d be here.


    ¡°Light training today,¡± Zale said, lifting Kole¡¯s spirits. ¡°We¡¯ll want to be fresh for Prevent.¡±


    ¡°Prevent?¡±


    ¡°¡¯Pre Adventurer Battle Training.¡¯ We call it Prevent. The professor likes to joke that the class is meant to ¡¯prevent¡¯ us from dying.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty terrible pun.¡±


    ¡°I know, my mother hates it too, though my uncle¡¯s a fan of it.¡±


    Kole and Zale sparred lightly for an hour, Zale correcting Kole¡¯s mistakes after exploiting them to ¡°bonk¡± him on the head.


    ¡°The bonk helps reinforce the lesson,¡± she explained at Kole¡¯s protestation.


    Not that Zale needed Kole to make a mistake to get through his guard. Zale had been training alongside the students of the martial college her whole life in the pursuit of becoming an adventurer and was easily the most skilled in the class.


    At seven, the pair broke off their practice to wash up and eat before going to their only class of the day.


    Zale met Kole outside the locker room of the martial college fully clad in armor. She wore a fresh pair of the martial college¡¯s training cloths, but atop that, she wore a bright steel breastplate, along with pauldrons, gauntlets, and faulds.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to wear that to breakfast?¡± Kole asked, looking her up and down.


    Zale held up her articulated metal fingers and twinkled them all.


    ¡°It¡¯s good training. I need to work on my fine motor skills with these. The armor was a gift from my mother for enrolling in the academy and I¡¯m not exactly used to it yet.¡±


    Kole assessed the armor again. He knew very little about armor, only that it was expensive to get even a simple functional set made. Some of the Mirage Knights back home wore it, but he''d done all he could to avoid their attention, so had little experience with them.


    While Zale¡¯s wasn¡¯t ornate, the craftsmanship seemed exceptional even to his eye. The plate shone brilliantly in the sun and had a near mirror finish with no visible defects or irregularities on its immaculate surface.


    ¡°It looks expensive,¡± Kole said, not sure what else to say about it.


    Zale beamed proudly.


    ¡°It is. My mother bought it from the dwarves as a surprise and as an apology. She¡¯d not been very supportive of my desire to be a knight over the years, and she likes to apologize without actually saying ¡¯I¡¯m sorry.¡¯¡±


    Zale garnered more looks than usual as they ate in the mess of the martial college. Normally people saw her and moved to keep a wide berth from the strange voidling girl. Now as they sat eating their breakfast, people kept sneaking glances at the armor-clad pale-skinned girl who kept dropping her spoon.


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    "Flood!" she cursed after it slipped from her grasp for the fourth time.


    Surprised by her own foul language, she covered her mouth as if to bring the words back.


    "Sorry!" she whispered.


    "Why don''t you give it a rest and eat?"


    "I can''t. Mom said I need to be able to use chopsticks with these on by the end of the month."


    "What happens if you can''t?"


    Zale looked up from her portage with an expression of dread.


    "She''s going to take me to a ball in New Lakeside during the semester break."


    Kole could think of many reasons why he''d hate to do that, but he was unsure of the source of Zale''s trepidation.


    "How bad is that?"


    "The first time we went wasn''t so bad. I enjoyed dressing up. Everyone gave me a wide berth and I stood bored for a few hours. The second time she let me use a magical bracelet that disguised my appearance. That was the worst," she grounded. "I had to dance with an endless line of these wastrel nobles. They would tell me all about how important their father was, or how many horses they owned."


    She smiled at a memory as she continued, "One tried to impress me, boasting that he was a dueling champion. I challenged him to a friendly duel on the spot. He refused, but then I called him a coward and he did not like that. He wasn''t actually half bad, but I still beat him."


    ¡°Dueling? Isn¡¯t that with rapiers? I thought you used a bastard sword.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve trained with pretty much every weapon. I prefer the bastard sword, but my mother prefers the rapier and was training me in it most of my life. Bastard swords are hard to come by in polite society, but rapiers are more acceptable to bring to court.¡±


    ¡°Are you expecting to be in courts much?¡±


    ¡°Gods I hope not, but it''s best to be prepared.¡±


    Zale eventually gave up trying to be refined with her gauntlets and grasped the spoon in a fist like a toddler would, and shoveled the food down.


    They arrived to class on time, which was early by Kole¡¯s estimates and late by Zale¡¯s. The class was taught in the Dahn proper on the lecture floor. The door to the room itself sat innocuously between two other small lecture halls, with doors ten feet to either side. When they stepped in, however, they found themselves in an enormous circular room, equipped with everything from sand pits to a chalkboard and desks.


    Kole did a double take and stepped back out to confirm he was still in the Dahn.


    Zale sighed, amused.


    ¡°We have magical doorways that take you up to other levels and people are still shocked when they open a door to a room that''s just a little bigger inside than it should be.¡±


    ¡°This is more than a ¡¯little bigger.¡¯¡± Kole defended.


    Zale only shook her head, and they continued in, Kole looking all around trying to drink it all in.


    The idle chatter of students ended when they noticed Kole and Zale¡¯s arrival. Kole looked to Zale to see how she was taking the ostracization. She was smiling, but he was starting to recognize the difference between her real smile and the one she put on for show. He¡¯d been elated to find himself accepted when he first arrived, but he was finding he didn¡¯t actually mind everyone ignoring him. In fact, it was kind of nice.


    He reflected on that. He¡¯d hated his isolation back home.


    What¡¯s different now?


    Was it that he had a few friends? Or did he always prefer isolation, but hadn¡¯t realized it until he¡¯d been forced into idle small talk for weeks on the boat and the few normal days he¡¯d had here? He wasn¡¯t sure which it was.


    Maybe a little of both?


    In either case, he was worried that his presence might be causing Zale to experience more shunning than was usual.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± they whispered to each other at the same time.


    And then Kole saw Zale¡¯s false smile turn genuine.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± she said, and they walked into class together.


    The conversation picked up briefly before one of the many doors that lined the room opened and Professor Underbrook walked out with the looming figure of Tigereye close behind.


    ¡°Good morning class!¡± Underbook greeted them as they all grew silent. ¡°Welcome to Pre Adventurer Track Battle Training. I''m Professor Underbrook, and the giant behind me is Tigereye. Together, we''ll be teaching you all enough to realize how little you actually know."


    Tigereye took over from there.


    "The time you spend in this room will be spent training. We will teach you to function as a valuable and reliable member of an adventuring team."


    Kole looked at Gray and saw the boy look away quickly.


    "Outside of class," Underbrook continued, "you will research. Knowing how to fight does you no good if you find yourself up against a foe immune to your attacks."


    In what was clearly a well-rehearsed introduction, Tigereye took over again, and the juxtaposition of the deep, serious, halting voice next to the excited halfling almost made Kole laugh.


    "The key to being a successful adventurer is preparation. The only thing you have when you enter a pocket realm or monster lair is what you bring with you. You must know what to bring and when to use it."


    "So," Underbrook shouted, "to make it abundantly clear from the start how little you all know, let''s enter the dungeon! For most of you, this will be your first real taste of battle. This will be an important moment to prove you have what it takes to pursue this path."


    Professor Underbrook looked at Kole and Gray as he spoke this last part, giving them each a nod.


    Murmurs broke out across the room, as all the other students clearly knew what that meant.


    Zale had been expecting this and whispered to Kole, "It''s a magical simulation. They can configure it into any environment and fill it with creatures."


    "How does it work?" Kole asked.


    "I don''t know," Zale shrugged. "Magic?''


    She thought about it a moment longer and then added, "It''s probably one of the Dahn''s abilities. Chosen Daulf''s connection with Illunia unlocked a lot of amazing abilities in the Dahn tailored towards education. The dragon that created the Dahn and gifted it to the Hardune had a passion for teaching and it seems the artifact found a kindred soul in Daulf."


    ¡°Form up into adventuring groups!¡± Tigereye shouted.

 Chapter 21: Teammates

    The final Binding of the Avatar''s corruption freed sorcerers, demonkin, fallen orcs and even some forsaken from the whispers of Faust. They could finally walk the Basin without the threat of insanity.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    ¡°Four to five in a group!¡± Underbrook shouted after Tigereye¡¯s less-than-detailed instructions. ¡°If you aren¡¯t already in a group, come to the front of the room and we will form balanced groups for the day.¡±


    Kole looked at Zale, looking for guidance, and saw her already looking at him, biting her lip in uncertainty.


    ¡°So¡­ you know anyone we can use as a third or fourth?¡±


    Zale¡¯s nervousness vanished at Kole¡¯s implied agreement to group with her.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not exactly popular but my cousin should be around here somewhere. He was going to group with me.¡±


    Cousin? Kole hadn¡¯t seen anyone else with Zale¡¯s distinct features, though he supposed they could be from her mother¡¯s side.


    ¡°Zale!¡± a deep voice shouted from behind, sounding both happy and angry at the same time.


    Kole turned and saw a dwarf pushing his way out of the crowd. He was tall for a dwarf, around five feet tall, only half a foot shorter than Kole. He had darker skin than was normal for a dwarf, a dark olive that looked like it wouldn¡¯t immediately burn in the sun, and wore a loose shirt and wide pants, all made of thin linen, and bore no weapons or accessories save a metal weave bracelet.


    ¡°Hey, Rakin!¡± Zale said, waving him over and then teased. ¡°Couldn¡¯t find another group huh?¡±


    He glowered at the jab.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t look. Who''s your friend? You found us a third?¡±


    ¡°Yeap! This is Kole, he''s a wizard and I¡¯ve invited him to Mom¡¯s study group. He¡¯s one of the students who fought that weird incursion in the target range. Kole, this is my cousin Rakinar.¡±


    ¡°Cousin?¡± Kole asked, very confused at her usage of the word.


    ¡°He¡¯s the ward of my mother¡¯s former teammate,¡± Zale explained.


    ¡°That was you?¡± Rakin asked, reassessing Kole with a once over. ¡°Nice. Zale, You don¡¯t need to give him my life story. Let''s go to the front and get assigned a fourth.¡±


    The group made their way towards the front where Underbrook was sorting the magically inclined students, giving each a different color stick to categorize them in some way Kole couldn¡¯t tell from watching. Tigereye did the same for the martial ones, but Kole could tell he was giving red sticks to the more heavily built and armored students and green sticks to the ones with bows. People grew visibly nervous when they saw Kole and Zale approach.


    ¡°Well this isn¡¯t going to be super awkward,¡± Kole whispered, to which Rakin snorted in amusement.


    Zale got a red stick, Rakin a green, and Kole a white stick. Most of Underbrook¡¯s charges received white or black, except for a few Kole didn¡¯t recognize from class that had yellow sticks. Most with a yellow or green stick also had another stick.


    ¡°Form groups! Try not to have two people of the same color in a group. Red sticks are heavy fighters, while green are light. White sticks are generalist wizards, while black are utility specialists. Yellow are Blessed and orange are primals!¡±


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    Kole looked and saw that he, Zale, and Rakin didn¡¯t have orange-colored sticks. He assumed Rakin was a primal as well since Zale had alluded that he¡¯d be in the group.


    ¡°Why did he only give us one stick each?¡± Kole asked his companions.


    Rakin spoke up, ¡°They only make public what we wish to make public. The first-year student hardball league opens up next semester and most teams try to keep their specific skills close to the chest. Students that don¡¯t have a team need to disclose any advantage they have so they get picked up by a better group.¡±


    The trio stood talking idly about class as the students mingled around them. They decided they needed someone with a Blessing¡ªpreferably a healing one¡ªbut no one was exactly jumping to join them. Their initial overture of invitation was all met with about faces and quick retreats and in the end, they resigned themselves to picking up one of the leftovers.


    ¡°Hopefully they aren¡¯t a glindock,¡± Rakin muttered.


    ¡°A what?¡± Kole asked, not familiar with the presumably dwarven curse.


    ¡°Oh, nothing,¡± Rakin evaded. ¡°Let''s just hope they pull their weight.¡±


    During the hubbub, Kole caught sight of Gray. He was among the ranks of those who came with a group. He was talking with a tall man with dark skin, clad in plate armor similar to Zale¡¯s in form, but much larger and less brilliant. He had a large sword behind his back, along with a shorter one at his side and a shield.


    Two girls stood with the boys, who couldn¡¯t have been any more different. One was a small girl who could best be described as mousy. She had short hair and a round face and chin with a small but pointed nose. She stood with a nervous awareness, her eyes jumping around the room constantly as if expecting something to attack at any moment.


    The second girl was¡ªwithout exaggeration¡ªthe most beautiful girl Kole had ever seen. She was athletic, with impractically long brown hair, down to her waist. She looked fit, but not as bulky as most of the martial warriors, and wore leather armor. While most students were wearing cheap but durable clothing provided by the school, her own outfit looked both practical, tasteful, and expensive. While she was beautiful to Kole¡¯s eyes, he felt like there was something else drawing him to her. If he was thinking clearer he may have noticed the effect, but instead, he simply stared. He marveled at her face, the perfect¡ª


    ¡°Look¡¯s like your friend found Esme,¡± Rakin said, breaking Kole from his trance.


    Zale let out a sigh.


    ¡°Who? What?¡± Kole said, turning to the pair.


    ¡°The girl you¡¯re ogling. She¡¯s a bitch¡ªI mean Esme,¡± Rakinar said.


    Zale cut in, more diplomatically, ¡°She¡¯s Blessed by Esther, some minor demigod of beauty. She¡¯s a part of Gray¡¯s team, along with Mouse and Harold. And she¡¯s not as bad as Rakin makes her out to be.¡±


    ¡°You know them?¡± Kole asked, his head becoming clearer after he¡¯d turned away, only then noticing that he may have been under the effects of a Blessing.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Zale started.


    ¡°Zale¡¯s sweet on Harold,¡± Rakin cut in, cheerful at Zale¡¯s expense.


    Zale''s cheeks started to darken in embarrassment, but instead of turning red, they seemed to drink in the light in the same manner her hair did.


    ¡°I¡ªno¡­ it''s not like that!¡± she sputtered, proving to Rakin and Kole that it was very much like that.


    ¡°Those three¡ªminus Mouse¡ªgrew up in the school''s orphanage. We¡¯ve known each other our whole lives.¡±


    ¡°Did I¡­¡± Kole began, but Zale shook her head adamantly.


    ¡°Up until this year, I hid my heritage. I always wore that bracelet around Edgewater to disguise myself. We used to be friends. Last year we were exploring some of the¡­ restricted areas of the Dahn and my bracelet got dispelled. They didn¡¯t take it well. After they found out, I stopped hiding it. It was more isolating than I expected.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kole said, unsure of what else to say. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Rot¡¯em,¡± Rakin spat. ¡°Racist fools. She¡¯s better off without them.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t like Rakin at all when he showed up late last year,¡± Zale added, a little cheer creeping back into her voice.


    ¡°Racist fools,¡± he repeated and the mood lightened.


    As they talked, idly now about lighter things, the rest of the groups formed up around them, leaving not a single student to spare.


    Underbrook came over to them and gave them a sad shake of his head.


    ¡°It looks like you will have to go in as a trio,¡± he said apologetically.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Zale said, putting on a brave face. ¡°It¡¯s better to have two people you can trust than three people you can¡¯t¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡±


    Underbrook left them and made his way to the front of the room, where he sent a bolt of lightning into the ceiling without warning. The crack echoed in the stone room, and the students reacted in a wide range, from cowering in fear to drawing weapons and turning to the threat.


    ¡°Now that I have your attention,¡± he spoke over the silence that followed his spell. ¡°We can begin.¡±

 Chapter 22: The Dungeon

    At the Dahn, all were welcome to learn wizardry, and even sorcery if they had the stomach for it. The sorcerers quickly showed what the Tower had sought to hide, that sorcerers make the best wizards. These sorcerous wizards rebelled against the titles and ranks of the former Tower, and simply referred to themselves as mages. And so, thousands of years after the word lost its meaning, the sorcerous wizards finally reclaimed it.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    Professor Underbrook outlined the task that would follow.


    ¡°A prepared adventurer is a living adventurer. Some of you may think that simply means acquiring the proper combat skills, but preparation comes in many forms. This class will hammer that home.


    ¡°Today, each of your groups will delve into the dungeon. Once you¡¯ve all embarrassed yourselves, you¡¯ll have until next week to prepare for your next attempt. Established parties will enter first. Parties with new members will go next, followed by the groups that have formed today. Once you have completed your attempt, you must leave the classroom. No sharing any details! Remember, there is no shame in retreat. As an adventurer, if you face a foe you cannot beat, falling back is often an option. But, beware, for your foes won¡¯t stay idle in your absence.¡±


    He went on to further explain the rules and then called Gray¡¯s team into the dungeon first. He directed them to the supply racks, and they were allowed to outfit themselves however they thought best.


    The room was furnished with all the mundane gear an adventuring team could need, along with some magical equipment. Students were allowed to bring in anything they owned, but they could only borrow a set budget worth of equipment. Simple mundane gear such as ropes and torches hardly cost anything, but items like blasting rods, armor, runic devices, and the like, quickly ate into a team''s budget.


    Gray¡¯s team collected some rope, and torches, but took little else¡ªsave for Mouse, who shoved her bag full of whatever trinkets and food she could get her hands on before Esme pulled her away.


    The party of four was led through a very mundane-looking door, and Underbrook returned a moment later alone.


    Kole and his team examined the gear.


    ¡°I need a blasting rod,¡± Kole said, putting his cards on the table. ¡°I can cast Magic Missile or Shield once and¡­¡± he looked around nervously, contemplating revealing his secret. ¡°Something else we can talk about through the door.


    Underbrook explained at least as much to tell them they wouldn¡¯t be immediately ambushed once they went through. Kole vowed to reveal his primal talents once they had the privacy of the dungeon. It wasn¡¯t that it was the biggest secret, but the nature of the Font of Illusions was that the more people knew about what you could do, the less effective it was. Originally on his arrival, he¡¯d feared he¡¯d need to sneak around to get the knowledge he needed¡ªhe still thought he might, he just didn¡¯t think Zale or Rakin would stop him.


    ¡°I could use a few throwing darts, but I¡¯m good.¡± Rakin put in.


    Zale held her sword and looked over the other equipment.


    ¡°The blasting rod costs all 500 points. What do you have in your bag?¡±


    Kole looked through it and saw his light orb, his new-to-him journal, some quills, ink, one of his clarity potions, and some pilfered food.


    ¡°I have a light source¡ªwhich might be stolen from the library, I¡¯m actually not sure if I was allowed to keep it¡ªand clarity potion, but nothing else of use.¡±


    Rakin let out an impressed whistle.


    ¡°What?¡± Kole asked.


    In response, the dwarf pointed to the price list, where the same potion was listed for 50 points.


    ¡°Why so much?¡± Kole asked, confused. Back home clarity potions were the cheapest potions around.


    "Giant crab shits expens¡ªow!"


    Zale slapped Rakin''s thigh with the flat of her sword, interrupting him.


    "Language," she said, disapproving. "Don''t waste that potion today. Did you bring that from home? Do you have more?"


    Kole nodded to both. He hadn''t realized they were expensive away from his home, but it made sense. They only exported the excrement of the deep whales in large quantities during the migrations and it took a lot of work to keep it fresh, but they always had some from the farms supplying the alchemists and the students in turn. Access to cheap clarity potions explained why the Will capacity of his peers here seemed lower than those at home.


    It also explained why Illandrios still had a reputation for creating powerful wizards even after falling behind the rest of the world during their sub-aquatic isolation. Will capacity increased as Will was spent. Recovering it faster meant you could grow faster. Kole had been taking multiple clarity potions a week, and so had many of his old classmates, which could drastically increase the rate of growth. His own Will capacity was around 40, which was obscene for someone his age, but Corbyn''s had been 15, and he wasn''t even a sorcerer. The average new wizard student at the Academy had maybe 12, while a sorcerer or primal could have up to twenty. When reconnected to the surface world, Illandrios discovered their isolation¡ªand outsider psychic overlords¡ªhad caused their magical development to stagnate, but they had done an amazing job the last hundred years catching up.


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    "I have more," Kole answered.


    "Good. Save them... or consider selling them if you need the money. You can use them in the dungeon, but today''s test won''t count."


    In the end, they decided to get the blasting rod for Kole. The device likely cost hundreds of gold, something he''d never afford on his own, but without it he''d be pretty useless. It was a rod, a foot long and less than an inch in diameter, covered in intricate runes all radiating out from its inset gemstone.


    Kole practiced, imbuing the gem and Willing a bolt to fly. At a thought¡ªand a drain of 4 Will¡ªa bolt of purple energy shot towards his target. His first shot missed, crashing harmlessly into the magical stone of the Dahn, but after two more shots, Kole had the trick of it.


    "I''m ready," Kole decided, choosing that further practice wouldn''t be worth the Will.


    Kole''s large Will capacity would give him an advantage for now, since being able to shoot 10 bolts would be more useful than the two or three spells his classmates could manage, even if they had larger variety.


    ?


    After they¡¯d collected all their gear, the door burst open, and a haggard group of students tumbled out.


    ¡°They failed already?¡± Kole said in surprise, with more than a little joy.


    Zale shook her head and whispered, ¡°Time doesn¡¯t work the same in the dungeon. They could have been in there for a minute, or a week.¡±


    Gray¡¯s party was ushered out of the room by Underbrook while Tigereye stared down the other students, daring them to try to ask a question.


    Obviously, no one did.


    ***


    Kole stood in front of the door, nervous. They were the first of the newly formed parties, and the last group that had exited had been rushed to the healers with broken limbs. One had even smelled distinctly of the latrine.


    He braced himself as Underbrook opened the door, and stepped into¡­ a room. A door sat at the other end of the room. A large stone emerald sat on a pedestal on the side, and a piece of paper sat on a lectern opposite it.


    Zale approached the page and read it aloud, ¡°Goblins have taken two children from a nearby village. You have tracked them to their cave. Rescue the children.¡±


    ¡°That seems simple enough,¡± Rakin observed.


    ¡°Good luck,¡± Underbrook said, ducking back out the door.


    After he¡¯d left, Rakin turned to Kole.


    ¡°So, what''s the big secret before we go in?¡±


    In response, Kole turned invisible¡ªhe knew it to be a waste of Will, but it wasn¡¯t every day he got to surprise people with the ability.


    Rakin stepped back warily, but kept his eyes on Kole¡¯s location, while Zale¡¯s brows rose in surprise, but she too stared at him. Experimentally, he took a step back, and both Zale¡¯s and Rakin¡¯s eyes tracked him.


    He waved, and Zale waved back with a big smile.


    ¡°Fauell,¡± Kole cursed. ¡°That''s no fun. How can you see me?¡±


    ¡°I can sense your steps on the stone, faintly. If you stepped back any further I¡¯d lose you.¡± Rakin answered.


    Zale looked embarrassed, looking away from his eyes¡ªwhich she shouldn¡¯t have been able to see.


    ¡°I have the Willsight of the voidlings.¡±


    ¡°Wow. That¡¯s¡­ useful.¡±


    Kole hadn¡¯t known much about the voidlings before meeting Zale, but he had spent some time researching them since then. Their Willsight was very powerful. As beings from the void between realms, they didn¡¯t interact with Will the same as the denizens of Kaltis did. They could manipulate Will, but couldn¡¯t wield it. They had no Will capacity, but they could harness and control Will external to them, something the natives of the Material Ream couldn¡¯t.


    Part of this ability to interact with Will allowed them to see it. They don¡¯t see light¡ªor even heat as the subterranean races can¡ªbut Will. While a human eye sees the colors of refracted and reflected light off of an object, voidlings see the Will that makes up that object and the Will of the light reflecting off of it.


    ¡°I can see light like normal,¡± Zale explained, ¡°But I can also see an overlay of Will over everything.


    With nothing left to share, they gathered around the door. Kole stayed Invisible and Zale drew her weapon.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Rakin asked.


    The others nodded, and he pulled the door open to reveal a forest clearing.


    Zale jumped out first, scanning the surroundings for threats. Kole followed after and jumped to the side and Rakin followed after.


    The door they¡¯d come through sat in the middle of a field of grass, which in turn was surrounded by trees. The doorway was a freestanding black stone door frame, through which they could see the room they¡¯d just left. When nothing came out after them, they all relaxed.


    ¡°Flood!¡± Rakin cursed, putting Kole on guard, scanning the trees once more.


    ¡°What? Where?¡±


    ¡°He hates the forest,¡± Zale explained.


    ¡°You say that like it¡¯s unjustified,¡± Rakin shot back defensively.


    ¡°So I guess he¡¯s not going to serve as our scout,¡± Kole said. He turned to Zale. ¡°How¡¯s your woodcraft? I grew up in a sub-aquatic bubble city with like, 8 trees.¡±


    ¡°Not good.¡±


    Together they looked around the clearing and Zale found a path beaten through the woods.


    ¡°So¡­ what do we do?¡± Kole asked.


    After a moment of silence, each looking at the others for guidance, Zale spoke up.


    ¡°We all seem to be equally poorly suited for the task, so Kole should scout ahead Invisible. If something hears him, at least they won¡¯t see him. Rakin and I will follow. If you stay within thirty feet or so I¡¯ll be able to keep track of you.¡±


    Plan settled, Kole turned invisible and went ahead. Kole quickly found that his well-honed ability to walk silently through a city or building didn¡¯t translate to the forest. He¡¯d learned early on the importance of a soft step to avoid detection, but in the forest, it took more than simple grace to be silent.


    Branches smacked him in the face, twigs broke beneath his feet, and birds flew loudly away from his approach as he pushed through the woods.


    Distantly behind him, he heard Rakin¡¯s constant stream of curses and Zale''s insistent shushings.


    After a few minutes, Kole saw the trees begin to thin ahead, and he signaled back to Zale with an upraised fist. The worn path widened, and Kole could now move with some semblance of stealth. As the trees cleared, he spied a rock face beyond the forest¡¯s edge. He slowed his approach further and hardly daring to breathe, he finally caught sight of their target.


    A cave opening sat a dozen yards back from where the path met the clearing. Two goblins with bows sat lazily atop two large boulders that straddled its entrance. While they sat in a relaxed position, their eyes continually scanned the forest around them.


    Carefully, Kole crept back down the path to report his findings to the group.


    ¡°Goblins.¡±

 Chapter 23: Goblins

    Now, it''s rare to find any mage with much power in sorcery. The art of arcane pathfinding from a natural bridge has been nearly forgotten, and all magical research has gone into the optimization of spell constructs. There''s nothing wrong with this new art, but it is completely incompatible with the old method of casting through an unaltered bridge. The new spells are so intertwined with their paths and gates, that they would not even function if a Primal of their Font cast them.


    -Tallen Elmheart, On Mages


    ¡ª


    ¡°Goblins?¡± Rakin asked a smile on the dwarf¡¯s usually surely face.


    ¡°Yeah. Two on guard atop some rocks,¡± Kole said, describing the scene to his party members.


    ¡°Can you shoot them with how they¡¯re positioned?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°Probably not. Certainly not both.¡±


    They discussed it further and eventually settled on a plan.


    Zale and Rakin left the path, traveling deeper into the forest, looking to get closer to the goblins while remaining hidden. Still invisible, Kole returned to where he¡¯d been hiding and waited.


    The goblins chatted as they stood watch, but Kole didn¡¯t know the language spoken by the diminutive creatures once counted among the feralkin. Kole stopped ten paces from the boulders with a clear line of sight down the cave and waited. It didn¡¯t take long before the poorly hidden stomping of Rakin and Zale caught his attention, and the goblins¡¯ along with it.


    They hadn¡¯t wanted to get their attention, but they¡¯d known their odds of getting close undetected were low and planned for the occasion. The goblins stood in unison, nocking arrows to strings and scanning the forest. They quickly spotted the pair and sent a volley of arrows into the forest.


    As soon as they¡¯d been spotted, Zale and Rakin broke from cover, charging at the goblins. Rakin¡¯s height belied surprising speed, and his short legs quickly outpaced his ¡°cousin.¡± In his wake, Kole spotted raised pillars of earth wherever he¡¯d stepped, and looking close saw that the ground rose up with each of his steps, propelling him forward.


    When they saw the pace Rakin covered the ground, one of the goblins broke off and began to scramble down the boulder to alert their kin within. Just before the creature touched the ground, Kole pointed his blasting rod at it, sending his Will into the device and a purple bolt of energy at the goblin.


    Kole felt and saw his invisibility vanish the moment he created the bolt, the magic of his invisibility breaking at the surge of Will he¡¯d expelled. The bolt struck true, hitting the goblin in the back, and eliciting a scream reminiscent of an animal¡¯s yelp.


    The second, seeing his companion¡¯s fall, moved to run as well, but Rakin reached the boulder, scaling up the sheer stone surface as if he were a spider. Not expecting the dwarf to climb so high so quickly, the goblin was not prepared for the fist that struck him in the back of the head.


    The goblin collapsed, the force of the punch sending him flying off the boulder to the ground next to his companion. The first downed goblin tried to rise, but Kole sent another bolt into it, and this time it lay still on the ground. Zale arrived after the battle had ended, not even winded from the brief sprint.


    Kole on the other hand was already panting, his heart pounding in his chest and ears from the combination of exertion and adrenaline.


    Maybe I need to take physical conditioning more seriously.


    He looked at the dead goblins, reflecting on what he¡¯d just done. It looked like he¡¯d just slain a goblin, but was any of this even real? The goblin-rat creatures the day before had been real¡ªhe thought¡ªbut they¡¯d almost seemed like animals. Examining his emotions, he found that he didn¡¯t much care. The goblins may have gained some higher degree of sapience once Faust¡¯s influence on the world was reduced at the end of the Last Dragon War, but they were still vile creatures. Having been set on the path of an adventurer from childhood, he¡¯d always known he¡¯d have to kill, this was just the first among many¡ªprobably. This could all be some sort of mental illusion, though being a primal of the Font of Illusions, he¡¯d likely be able to see some flaws if it were.


    While Kole reflected, Rakin dropped to the ground, placing his ear on the stone of the cavern floor. After a moment he stood.


    ¡°We¡¯re alright, I don¡¯t think anything heard us within.¡±


    ¡°Should I scout ahead invisible?¡± Kole offered.


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    Rakin and Zale both shook their heads and Zale spoke, ¡°You can¡¯t see in the dark. We¡¯ll move forward as a group. If you stay behind Rakin, he can clear the ground of anything you might trip on. Have your light at the ready.¡±


    They fell in line, and Zale went first trying her best to stop her armor from clanging, but each step elicited a small sound. Luckily, once within, they heard the rush of a stream somewhere beyond.


    The cave was spacious for a goblin, comfortable for a dwarf, but tight for a human¡ªor human-sized void person. Rakin let out a sigh of relief once they went further in. The tunnel forked after forty feet, one path leading up, the other down, though Kole saw none of it.


    Rakin sniffed the air experimentally.


    ¡°Something smells foul down that way,¡± he said, pointing to the right.


    ¡°Agreed. Let''s go up,¡± Zale decided, moving in that direction.


    The path narrowed as they went up, and after a few ten steps, the gentle incline ended, replaced with a near vertical stone wall, covered in hand holds and loose stones.


    ¡°I got this,¡± Rakin whispered, taking the lead.


    He placed his hands gently on the stone, closed his eyes, and listened. Eyes still shut, his hands roved all over the surface, leaving behind a smooth face with firmly secured protrusions of stone to serve as steps. He climbed as he went, and Kole heard his voice from above.


    ¡°Come on! The water''s louder up here so you should be okay.¡±


    Zale went next, the rattle of her armor deafening to Kole. Once she grew silent, signifying she¡¯d reached the top, Kole fumbled towards the wall and climbed it blindly.


    The climb in the dark was surprisingly easy with the stoneweaver crafted holds.


    ¡°That woulda collapsed under our weight if I¡¯d not secured it. I doubt many other groups will have made it this far without alerting the goblins.¡± Rakin said as they began to continue on.


    The roar of a river was much louder up here. The cave continued in a semi-circle, but a cliff lined the right side, and water could be heard down below.


    Zale took charge once more, and Kole followed, hand on the left wall to ensure he didn¡¯t wander into a tunnel.


    ¡°There¡¯s an opening ahead,¡± Rakin whispered to Kole. ¡°Ready your light.¡±


    Kole heard Zale¡¯s armor quiet as she slowed further.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Rakin shouted aloud, but it was too late.


    Kole activated his light device in time to see stones fall onto Zale as she stepped into the branching tunnel. Just as the stone struck her head, she vanished, taken from the dungeon by its magic.


    ¡°Krool!¡± Rakin shouted another curse Kole didn¡¯t know.


    The shrill voices of goblins screamed in reply and Kole retreated back to the entrance, blasting rod ready.


    ¡°There¡¯s two in there and more coming from further down,¡± Rakin said, planting himself between Kole and the oncoming goblins.


    The first goblin climbed over the rubble of the first chamber, and Kole shot a bolt at it which flew wide striking the wall. Kole¡¯s Will was low, and a headache was starting to build to distracting levels. While Kole had attacked, Rakin had pulled a rock out from the wall, the stone rippling into an orb in his hand. He threw it at the goblin Kole had missed, and it flew with far more speed than the throw itself could account for, hitting the target in the chest with a sickening crack. The second goblin climbed over its fallen ally, and more goblins ran into Kole¡¯s orb of light.


    Kole judged he had three more bolts left in him and it was then he saw the true value of his training with the quarterstaff¡ªwhich he hadn¡¯t brought. He sent another bolt into the mass of oncoming goblins, hoping that even a miss would hit another target. His purple bolt flew true, and struck the lead enemy, destroying its diminutive leg. Five goblins climbed over the crippled one¡ªone of which was very clearly not wearing any pants.


    At the same time, the first goblin had reached Rakin with a pitted sword drawn. The dwarf batted the first wild jab aside with his bare palm, and stepped in past the goblin''s guard, sending his knee into the shorter creature¡¯s face and then pushing it over the ledge with his free hand.


    ¡°Archers!¡± Kole yelled to Rakin, as he saw two goblins stay back, bows in hand.


    Kole spent half his remaining Will and struck one of the archers before he could loose. The other got his shot off, and Rakin let out another unknown curse as the arrows struck his thigh.


    Three goblins with crude swords reached Rakin together, and the dwarf fell back, focusing all his attention on dodging and deflecting their attacks with his bare hands. Another arrow flew past, narrowly missing Kole, and when he looked up he saw the remaining archer had ducked back into an alcove.


    ¡°Flood!¡± Kole cursed.


    He couldn¡¯t hit a target that small and scanned the ground for options. The sword of the first to fall lay near his feet, and he dropped his light and used the last of his Will to vanish. A wave of vertigo went through him as he suffered the full effects of Will drain.


    ¡°Let me through!¡± Kole yelled.


    Rakin complied, stepping back to dodge an attack, the goblin stumbling forward, opening a small gap. Kole ran through the gap and heard Rakin hiss in pain as another blow landed. The archer now stood out in the open, seeing Kole was gone but not realizing where he¡¯d gone. The goblin strained to hold the bow drawn, looking for a gap in its allies to strike Rakin and not finding one as the dwarf focused solely on keeping his enemies between them.


    Kole ran right up to the goblin and swung his sword at its neck. His invisibility faded as soon as his sword made contact with the goblin, the Will of his target disrupting the delicate balance of the spell, but by then it was too late, the creature not even having time to register the sudden appearance of the human before him as its head fell off.


    Well, partially off. Goblins may be able to wield swords, but they are not skilled at maintaining an edge, and the blade got stuck halfway through when it struck the spine.


    There was a lot of general knowledge in Kole¡¯s mind about adventuring, but he¡¯d realized then he¡¯d forgotten a very important one. Goblin blood smelled terrible. Blood geysered from the goblin''s neck, covering Kole¡¯s face and causing him to fall to his knees retching.


    Distantly behind him, he heard Rakin¡¯s curse cut short as the dungeon whisked him off to safety. The goblins turned to Kole, not seeming to see anything strange about their foe disappearing.


    ¡°I give up?¡± Kole said hopefully, holding his hands above his head and then he too vanished.

 Chapter 24: Blasting Rod

    Magical creatures come in many forms and arose on Kaltis through a variety of means. A magical creature¡ªfor the purposes of this manual¡ªis any living creature that innately draws upon a Font to wield magic or was created through the use of magic. Through decades of pestering from my contemporaries, I have finally relented to their arguments to expand my definition to include the animals created by the gods near the end of their time on Kaltis. As such, the creatures I had formerly categorized as beasts are now included.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    Kole blinked, and he was no longer in the cave, but back in the ready room.


    ¡°Gravel munching ditch diggers!¡± Rakin shouted in what context¡ªand Kole¡¯s brief experience with the angry dwarf¡ªsuggested was almost certainly a curse.


    Zale, who looked disoriented but otherwise unharmed, let the curse slide without reprimand. Rakin however was covered in cuts and had a pretty bad arrow wound in his leg, sans arrow.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Zale asked the others.


    They updated her on the events that followed the trap.


    ¡°You just surrendered?¡± Rakin shouted, outraged.


    ¡°What was I supposed to do?¡± Kole defended, ¡°Let them stab me?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him,¡± Zale said, ¡°He¡¯s just a grouch. He¡¯s mad he got beaten by some goblins.¡±


    ¡°Bah! You did too!¡±


    ¡°Nope. I got crushed by a trap.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here,¡± Kole suggested, not sure of the dynamic between the two, but hoping to head off any possible conflict. Zale seemed incapable of anger, but Rakin could muster up enough for two.


    ¡°Good idea. I¡¯m starving.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kole yelled, ¡°the rod!¡±


    He¡¯d lost track of it when he¡¯d run out of Will. He felt his belt and pockets but didn¡¯t find it.


    Will I need to pay for it? He wondered, terrified at what the consequences would be, for he couldn¡¯t hope to afford to replace it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Zale said, walking over to a box in the corner. She opened it up and inside was the blasting rod and Kole¡¯s light orb.


    ¡°Thank the gods,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Even if you¡¯d broken it, you wouldn¡¯t have had to pay for it,¡± Zale explained.


    Kole gathered his orb and rod, and they left the room. Outside Underbrook greeted them outside and led them to a room on the side.


    ¡°We won¡¯t do a full debrief today,¡± He explained. ¡°But, if you walk through those doors, you can get cleaned up. In the future, we will have class after each run, but it¡¯s best you have some time to digest your experience. Violence isn¡¯t for everyone, and the first exposure to it can be traumatic. Enjoy your evening, and reach out through the week if you find you need help processing what occurred.¡±


    * * *


    ¡°There you are!¡± Amara¡¯s voice shouted from behind Kole as he ate with Zale and Rakin.


    He greeted her and Zale introduced her to her ¡¯cousin.¡¯


    ¡°Cousin?¡± Amara asked, ¡°How?¡±


    Zale sighed.


    ¡°I have a lot of uncles and aunts, none of whom are related to me by blood.¡±


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°So, why were you looking for me?¡± Kole asked Amara after she¡¯d joined them. ¡°We were going to meet tomorrow for Zale¡¯s ¡¯uncle¡¯s¡¯ class right?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah!¡± Amara said, pulling her tracker out of her pocket, excited now that the topic was runes. ¡°This was on my desk, and it started spinning. I thought it was broken, but I made a new one and transferred the stone and it did the same thing.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kole said, ¡°We were in the dungeon in the adventuring room for a few minutes. It¡¯s probably that.¡±


    Amara shook her head.


    ¡°No, it was spinning for at least an hour. I came here as soon as it stopped.¡±


    Zale jumped in, ¡°That''s probably related to the Dahn. Tracking spells have¡­ difficulties finding the paths to people within it.¡±


    They described the events of the dungeon, and Amara was enthralled¡ªthough not by the parts that the other three thought were exciting.


    She asked endless questions about the function of the dungeon itself¡ªquestions none of the trio knew, and eventually, she gave up, resigning herself to asking her mentor about it.


    ¡°Any ideas on how we can do better next time?¡± Kole asked, ¡°Aside from looking for traps that is.¡±


    Rakin and Zale had been a little down since their exit. Kole sensed that both had thought they¡¯d perform better than they had, and they were processing their failure. Kole hadn¡¯t had any expectations and was largely okay with their failure. He¡¯d come here to learn, after all, he knew where his skills lay, and combat wasn¡¯t one of them¡ªyet.


    ¡°You need to bring a weapon,¡± Zale said, pointing at him.


    ¡°Rakin doesn¡¯t have one,¡± Kole said defensively out of reflex, though he agreed with the sentiment.


    ¡°Rakin is a weapon,¡± Zale said, causing the dwarf to smile smugly. ¡°He trains with the Monk Order of the Resounding Silence.¡±


    Kole was impressed, and it explained his prowess in hand-to-hand combat and confidence in walking into the dungeon unarmed. Even Kole, the isolated recluse that he was, knew of the Order. The monks had long ago found a way to use their own Will to harness the energy that Assuine left in her creations. Normally, this power can only be drawn upon by her Blessed, but the monks learned that they could use the energy in their own bodies to reinforce themselves.


    After giving Rakin ample time to dig a hole with his smile she added, ¡°My aunt sent him there to work on his anger issues.¡±


    The smile vanished, replaced with a scowl.


    ¡°Can I bring one from class?¡± Kole asked. ¡°I don¡¯t have the money to buy one.¡±


    Zale thought it over.


    ¡°I can lend you one of mine but what we really need to do is get you a blasting rod. The budget for the class is meant to allow us to switch out gear and weapons to suit each dungeon, and using it all on that rod is going to harm us. If we can get one for you somehow, you could get a weapon from class.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t help,¡± Kole said. ¡°I can¡¯t afford a quarterstaff. How am I going to buy a blasting rod?¡±


    ¡°I could make you one,¡± Amara volunteered, causing everyone to turn to her. ¡°Um, what did I say?¡±


    ¡°How would you afford the materials?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Oh, that,¡± she replied, unconcerned. ¡°If my idea pans out, I could make one out of mundane materials, but I''d need two gems. My idea involves using organic materials, not the alchemically enhanced ones normally used for the rods.¡±


    ¡°Two gems? Why? That''s more expensive not less."


    "The regenerative runes I have in mine need a dedicated gem to store the pattern of the blasting rune," Amara explained. ¡°The overall cost would actually be lower than one gem and magical materials.¡±


    "Why do you even need gems?" Kole asked, frustrated.


    "The gems store the Will while intent altering runes mold it into the form required to power the runes."


    "Oh, kind of like a mental vault holds spell construct template," Kole said, connecting the unknown magical field to one he knew deeply.


    "Exactly like that," Amara agreed.


    "Why can''t I just store the pattern in my vault?"


    It seemed too obvious to Kole now that he''d connected the two, but there had to be a reason it wasn''t done. He knew little of runes, aside from the extreme basics. Like the spellforms he studied daily, runes were ineffable patterns that resonated and stored Will of certain intent. The Will within runes was shaped in the same way spells were. If spellforms and runes were both languages, they both at least used the same alphabet. While Kole couldn¡¯t create or decipher any runes, if given a reference, he¡¯d have little trouble copying it.


    "You could do that, some master runesmiths do, but then why use a rod at all? Aside from a master runesmith, only a wizard would have the skill to shape the Will, and it would take valuable vault space the wizard would be better used to store a spell. You¡¯d need to focus to channel it in combat¡ªwhich is difficult. It removes all the benefits of a blasting rod. You might as well cast the spell."


    Kole began to get excited, and he saw in her face when Amara connected the dots.


    "You can''t cast spells!" Amara blurted out.


    "Yeah..." Kole agreed, with a mix of excitement and embarrassment. "How can I learn the pattern intent?"


    "The school has a library of them!" Amara shouted, with the enthusiasm she only displayed when talking about runes. "You could come by and copy them into your vault! What Font should we choose? Force? Fire? Lightning? What could get you through the dungeon? Some of the patterns¡ª¡°


    ¡°Amara,¡± Zale interrupted diplomatically, forestalling an incoming lecture. ¡°Why don¡¯t you get something to eat and join us.¡±


    Amara looked around as if only then noticing where she was.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be right back. Then I can tell you about the regenerative internal matrix.¡±


    Then, she hurried off to gather food, excited to return and share her plans.


    ¡°So¡± Rakin began. ¡°Are we going to leave before she comes¡ªOW!¡±


    Zale struck him on the back of the head before he could finish the sentence.

 Chapter 25: Griffins Roost

    My revised classifications are primal creatures, which gained access to a Font through prolonged generational proximity to a Primordial; formed creatures, which were created by sapients through magical means; and magical creatures, which were created by the gods near the end of the Age of Wonders.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    When Amara returned to the table, Zale preempted further explanations of runes with a question.


    ¡°So, who wants to watch the hardball match tonight?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Rakin said, still sour.


    ¡°Oh, come on,¡± Zale pouted. ¡°Kole¡¯s coming. Right?¡±


    ¡°I was going to go back to the libr¡ª¡° Kole began before Zale cut him of.


    ¡°See, he has no plans. He¡¯s coming. Amara, how about you?¡±


    Kole wanted to defend himself. Plans to spend time with oneself were perfectly valid plans, but sensed Zale would disagree.


    ¡°Where are you going to watch it?¡± Amara asked, concerned. ¡°The convocation was rather loud.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a tavern a few blocks from campus that shows the matches. It does get rowdy, but the room is small. We could get a private booth.¡±


    Amara looked at Kole and then back to Zale.


    ¡°I suppose if Kole is going, but I¡¯ll need to prepare something.¡±


    ¡°But I never¡ª¡° Kole began once more


    ¡°Great!¡± Zale exclaimed. ¡°So all three of you are in. I¡¯ll meet you outside the southern door to the martial college at five! I¡¯m going to go get cleaned up.¡±


    Then she got up and left the dining hall before anyone could disagree further.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s Zale,¡± Rakin said, resigned. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll see you two later.


    Rakin got up to leave, and Amara followed, excusing herself.


    ¡°I have to go prepare something if we are going to go to a tavern.


    Once the other¡¯s had left Kole shamelessly stuffed the least chewed leftovers they¡¯d abandoned into his bag for later.


    He judged he had three hours to study and still make it to the meeting point, and he too ran out of the dining hall, with excitement that rivaled Zale¡¯s, though for very different reasons.


    * * *


    Kole sat in his corner of the library frustrated. He¡¯d exhausted all of his Will during class that day, and had little left to study. While in the dungeon, Rakin had sustained a fairly serious injury to his leg, but when they¡¯d exited, it had already begun to heal. By the time they¡¯d reached the dining hall, he¡¯d be completely better. Zale had explained that the injuries sustained in the dungeon were less real and faded somehow. Will drain however seemed to be very real.


    He¡¯d almost mastered the first version of Magic Missile he¡¯d decoded, and he might have done so today if he¡¯d had the Will to try. He debated taking a clarity potion, but the revelation of its cost stayed his hand. Instead, he got out the reading for his history class and got to work.


    Kole slammed the book shut and checked the time. The reading about the wars between the dwarves and orcs on the pre-Flood Basin had been more interesting than he¡¯d expected. The Will drain had made it a chore, but he''d powered through. Eagerly, he ran through the library, taking a route that would bring him by the secret door. A quick crawl and a peek inside showed that the bed was still undisturbed.


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    Soon¡­ He thought, staring longingly at the soft bed. The floor of the library was less comfortable than the sewers, which was no mean achievement.


    Zale, Amara, and Rakin all stood waiting under a tree near the southern door to the martial college. Rakin wore a clean version of the ascetic monk''s clothes he''d worn to class. Amara was dressed in the same stained overalls she''d been wearing when they parted, only now she wore two small silver earrings that looked to be some sort of runecraft. As usual, she held a wooden rod and fiddled with it nervously as she spoke, and Gus lay draped on her shoulder.


    Zale stood out in stark contrast to the others. She has on a red leather jacket that was cut short on her long torso, beneath which she wore a dress of a dark emerald green that stopped just below the knee concealing the tops of riding boots. The dress was simple, free of ornamentation but made of a fine fabric and tightly tailored to her frame. Her deep black hair was up in a nest of a thing above her head, which gave Kole the feeling she''d gone to great lengths to make it look just the right amount of messy.


    "You''re late," Rakin said in way of greeting.


    "He''s always late," Zale said in a tone that suggested the habitual nature of the act excused the offense.


    "You look nice," Kole said to Zale before his brain caught up to his mouth. "I mean, uh, you all look nice."


    "Bah!" Rakin laughed, looking at his simple clothes and bare feet.


    "Thanks," Zale and Amara said in unison, Zale with amusement and Amara with oblivious gratitude.


    Fumbling, Kole tried to recover.


    "I just mean, normally you don''t look nice¡ªI mean you''re dressed for training."


    Zale''s amusement grew, and Rakin bent over in laughter.


    "How about we just head to the tavern?" Zale suggested, saving Kole from further embarrassment.


    Red-faced, Kole quickly agreed, taking the lifeline, "Yeah, let''s just do that."


    ***


    Zale led the group west, away from campus, through the section of the city that primarily catered to its students. The northern district housed most of the industry and servants that served the needs of the school itself, such as crafters, artisans, produce sellers, and the like, while the western district served the student body.


    Amara wasn''t enjoying the walk. At the campus'' edge, she stopped, pensively rolling her current crafting project in her hand as she watched the milling masses. Finally, after fiddling with her new earrings, she''d nodded at Zale, and the group had made their way through the streets. The group''s casual stroll quickly revealed that whatever Amara had done had made her deaf to the world. She followed them through the streets, eyes fixed on Kole''s soon-to-be blasting rod as a small swarm of ants diligently crawled across it. As oblivious as she was to her surroundings, she seemed to navigate just fine, Gus on her shoulder diligently watching and somehow making her "understand" where to go and what to avoid.


    They passed stores and stalls that sold everything a student could need, from boots to paper and quill, and some things they only wanted like drink and companionship.


    The city on a Friday night was a chaotic hive of young academics, racing to get a start on their weekend. Kole was used to crowds from back home, but the variety of the people he saw still amazed him. Unfortunately, Kole wasn''t the only one enthralled by the exotic humanoids about, and the citizens of Edgewater all gawked and stared at Zale as she passed.


    On campus, Zale only brooked stares and a wide berth, the majority of the student population being at least somewhat educated, and many of them were from places that had a less fraught history with the voidlings. The student body also spread rumors like a dragon''s flame to a¡ªwell, anything¡ªso the whole campus knew Zale existed and that she probably hadn''t corrupted anyone into a soulless husk¡ªyet.


    Edgewater had been the town hit hardest when the voidlings arrived, and its citizens remembered, even if most of them weren''t actually alive when it happened.


    Zale did her best to hide her appearance, flipping her collar up on her jacket and looking down and struggling to keep her ever-present smile in place.


    The tavern she brought them to was called the Griffin''s Roost. It had a wooden sign carved to depict a nested griffin, asleep. It wasn¡¯t particularly grand looking, but it was large, taking up twice the length of the street as either tavern around it.


    Zale went up to the door, and Kole faintly heard her say ¡°finally¡± to herself as she pushed it open.


    The door opened to a large open room with a bar on the far wall and a balcony overlooking the room. The walls were lined with booths, and the thick sturdy wooden tables typical to all drinking establishments prone to brawls filled the area between. The place was full, but not packed, most of the tables were occupied by the most diverse group Kole had seen since coming to Edgewater¡ªand by extension in his life. Half-elves, orcs, halflings, dwarves, gnomes, iron vein giants, and humans filled the place. He spotted a booth in the corner with a horned man that had to have been a demonkin sitting next to a genuine full-blooded elf.


    As varied as the races were, the outfits were on another level. Everyone had a weapon at hand, and most were wearing some form of armor¡ªand not the simple armor you commonly saw issued to city guards and armies, but custom pieces, ranging from dull steel to colorful enameled pieces that wouldn¡¯t look out of place on a king. While many were armed, others were dressed in expensive outfits that would be more at home at court than in this seemingly mundane inn.


    ¡°Welcome to the Griffin¡¯s Roost,¡± Zale said, with wonder in her voice. ¡°The best adventurer¡¯s bar in all of Basin.¡±

 Chapter 26: Hardball

    Primal creatures are often found in proximity to Primordial manifestations of the Fonts in our realm. Prolonged generational proximity to these manifestations of power grants creatures the ability to innately tap into the power of the Font. Once the connection to the Font is made, the creature can leave the Primordial¡¯s proximity and still maintain its connection. The connection can also pass down to their offspring, but this varies on a species-to-species basis.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    Zale directed the group to a booth on the side and explained once they¡¯d been seated.


    ¡°This place is strictly for adventurers, but they let the prospective adventuring students in. It lets those looking to become a mentor get to know the new batch of students. Any graduate of the Academy''s adventuring program can become a mentor, even if they aren''t faculty. They don''t advertise that students are welcome though, so best we don''t spread it around.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem likely, no one talks to us anyway,¡± Kole said, trying to inject some cheer into the comment but failing.


    ¡°Speak for yourselves,¡± Rakin said, ¡°I¡¯m plenty popular.¡±


    Kole hadn''t known that any former graduate could serve as a mentor. Which was a relief. It''d only been a week but he''d failed to impress any faculty save for one, who''d categorically refused to mentor an adventurer. It was a relief to discover there were more options.


    ¡°Do we need to show credentials or anything?¡± Kole asked. He¡¯d gotten his paperwork identifying himself as a student, but no one had asked for it after his first attempt to enter the library.


    ¡°No, it''s fine, the owner used to work with my mother,¡± Zale answered, and then gave a wave to a man behind the bar.


    The bartender¡ªand seemingly the place¡¯s owner¡ªwas a man in his sixties. He had gray hair and a face that Kole felt he¡¯d not be able to pick out of a lineup if his life depended on it. He was neither ugly nor handsome, striking nor pudgy, he just was.


    ¡°He worked in the art department?¡± Kole asked, eliciting a giggle from Zale.


    ¡°You could say that,¡± she said, then in a whisper continued, ¡°he was¡ªor probably still is¡ªa fence.¡±


    The aforementioned fence noticed Zale and excused himself from the bar to come greet them.


    ¡°Who¡¯re your friends?¡± he asked, without greeting them.


    He didn¡¯t sound mad, instead, he asked the question as if they¡¯d been in the middle of a conversation with him.


    ¡°Gimble, this is my team this year at the academy.¡±


    Zale introduced each, and after a bit of small talk, Gimble asked them for their orders. Amara and Zale each ordered alcoholic drinks Kole had never heard of, and Rakin ordered a blended mushroom beverage that sounded terrible.


    When it came to Kole, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll just have some water.¡±


    ¡°You ate before you came?¡± Zale asked, hurt.


    ¡°No, I uh¡ªI¡¯d rather not spend the coin,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Oh, that''s dumb. I¡¯ll cover you,¡± Zale offered.


    Kole debated accepting, but then his stomach growled, making the decision for him.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll have whatever ale you have from the floating mats.¡± He didn''t have much experience drinking but what little he had came from the floating gardens that spotted the ocean.


    Zale then ordered food for the whole table and Humble left to fetch their drinks. When Gimble had left, Zale turned to Kole.


    ¡°So, how little money do you have?¡±


    "Just enough to finish out the year¡ªif you keep getting me into the dining halls at least."


    "Where are you staying? I bet I could find a room for rent on the cheap for you,¡± Zale offered.


    "That''s alright. I''m pretty happy with my accommodations,¡± Kole deflected.


    The food and drinks came shortly later, and they talked amiably while they ate.


    "How''s the food?" Zale asked the table.


    "Much better than the food back on Stone Haven," Amara said between bites. Gus was sitting next to her in the booth, out of sight from the other patrons and she was sneaking him bites. "Rat is still a staple of the island''s diet."


    "Same," Kole agreed, "We mostly eat fish back home... and the occasional rat, but that''s falling out of fashion."


    "Aye," Rakin agreed, "I never ate a rat, but monks aren''t exactly known for their indulgences."


    "How angry do you get? Amara asked suddenly. "It must be bad if you got sent up a mountain to deal with it."


    "Very," Rakin said and then downed his gross mushroom sludge.


    "Rakin also needed help training his primal ability," Zale interjected. "The monks have historically had great insight into the abilities of the primals and my aunt thought it would help."


    That seemed odd to Kole. Dimly, he thought he remembered something about stoneweavers that didn''t mesh with that explanation but the drink was already starting to affect him.


    The conversation turned and Kole told the others more about his own home, and all of the apparent wonders of it that seemed mundane to him.


    Just as Amara was about to delve into an explanation of the specifics of how her new earrings canceled out sound, the door to the inn opened loudly and Gray walked in.


    "We made it!" he shouted in triumph.


    Some of the patrons seemed to recognize the group and walked up to shake his hand.


    The group had all taken a page from Zale''s book and dressed up for the occasion. Harold wore an outfit cut to look like a formal military uniform but without the frills or insignias of rank or allegiance. Gray had donned a black vest with silver buttons over a plain white shirt. Esme''s outfit looked like it cost more than Zale''s armor, wearing a dress identical in color to Zale''s own dress, but embroidered with fine details and cut much more revealing. Mouse on the other hand hadn''t seemed to have changed from class.


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    "Crabs," Kole cursed, taking a long drink and looking away before he got distracted by Esme''s aura.


    He looked at Zale and saw her chewing her lower lip as she watched the newcomers'' interactions, all while Amara continued on about her earrings.


    "Looks like your boyfriend is here," Rakin teased.


    "Shut up!" Zale said at the same time Kole asked "Boyfriend?"


    "Aye, Zale''s had a crush on Harold forever."


    Kole felt his stomach sink and then looked at his drink as if it might be the source.


    Zale stared at Rakin, nervousness gone and murder in her eyes. Rakin lifted his hands up next to his head, signifying he was dropping it. When Zale looked back to the door, Gray¡¯s party had been seated across the room from them, and she caught Harold looking away quickly.


    ¡°Weren¡¯t we going to watch the hardball match?¡± Amara asked, into the silence.


    As if on queue, Gimble rang a bell above the bar and shouted, ¡°Shut your ale holes! It¡¯s starting!¡±


    All eyes turned to the bar as an illusion appeared in the air above it, showing a forest floating in the ocean. It was difficult to tell the scale of it, but if the trees were normal sized, and not the behemoth¡¯s the druid were wont to nurture, the floating island was at least a mile across.


    ¡°What in Torc¡¯s name is that?¡± Rakin asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a floating mat,¡± Kole supplied. ¡°Assuine¡¯s followers made them during the Flood.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I always pictured them less ¡¯foresty.¡¯¡±


    The view circled the island before closing in on the center, where a stone sphere sat in a forest clearing. Then, the view split in two, showing two groups of four, each standing on a ship a way off from the island. The first group consisted of four humans¡ªif you considered the two members of the Iron Vein tribe to be human. The male giant held a heavy stone ax while the female was covered in belts and bandoleers of throwing darts. The two smaller humans were clearly worshipers of Assuine by their garb of plant fibers that seemed to have been elegantly grown into clothing. One wielded a bow, while the other held what looked to be a simple tree branch.


    The other group was more eclectic. They had an older human male who couldn¡¯t have looked more like a wizard if he¡¯d been wearing a pointed hat and waving a wand. He stood frantically searching through his spellbook as soon as he¡¯d seen the island. With him stood a female archer, who appeared to be a mundane human, but for the sky blue skin and a constant breeze that blew off of her, marking her as an Air primal. A gray-skinned orc wearing leather armor and a gnome dressed much the same finished the group, each wearing thick overcoats.


    Murmurs broke out in the tavern as the adventurers recognized some of the contestants. Kole looked at Zale for some commentary on who they were, but she was looking over at Gray¡¯s table with a vacant expression.


    A light flashed into the sky, and the human with the staff dove into the water, moments later, a wave surged from where he¡¯d been and an enormous whale surfaced. The remaining three jumped on its back and got down on their hands and knees. The dart wielder went to each of them, touched their hands, and then the whale dove and began to swim for the island at full tilt. The source of the illusionary vision followed the group, and went into the water, showing the three adventurers magically bonded to the whale¡¯s back by their hands, dangling behind it.


    The other group used a different tactic, and as soon as the flare shone, the wizard began casting a spell. The spell had no visible effect, but after only a few seconds, he shouted something to his team, and they set off. The two over-coated members each pulled a small stone from their jackets and threw them into the ocean even as they began to cast spells. From the orc¡¯s stone, the water surged into a column, that shaped itself into a platform large enough to hold the orc. The green-scaled equine head of a hippocamp rose from the gnome¡¯s stone, and the small adventurer jumped onto the back of the aquatic steed. The wizard cast a second spell and took to the air, the Air primal following under the power of her own innate magic.


    The fliers reached the island first and continued on towards the center over the trees. When the whale reached the floating island, it¡¯s passengers jumped off its back onto the tangle of roots and moss that made up the island¡¯s ground, and then it swam back underwater, disappearing from view. The three broke out into a sprint, the archer leading the way, and the trees parting before them as they ran.


    The two summoners reached the island last, the gnome causing his mount to vanish in a cloud of black smoke, while the orc directed his water elemental to follow below. They ran through the forest with much greater difficulty. The view followed the fliers as they arrived in the clearing in the center. The primal archer remained in the air, bow drawn and scanning the forest, while the wizard landed to recover the stone. Just as he touched down, the roots of the island itself rose up to grab him. He dove to the side but only found more roots waiting. An arrow shot out of the trees towards the air-born archer, and she vanished into the air, reappearing an instant later, the arrow loosed as soon as she was corporeal.


    The captured wizard vanished from his fetters, reappearing in the air with a ball of fire forming in his hand. The two tribes people ran for the stone in the center while the archers exchanged fire. Wizard threw the ball of fire into the clearing, but the man with the ax bellowed, his tattoos glowing orange as he pushed his ally down on the ground and dove atop her. The clearing lit up in a fiery eruption that set the trees ablaze, but as soon as the fire of the explosion vanished, a steel dart flew out of the clearing, striking the wizard in the shoulder. His means of flight failed him, and he fell to the ground. His ally vanished into the air again but didn¡¯t immediately reappear, instead, the wizard¡¯s descent slowed.


    The dart-wielding primal crawled out from under her scorched teammate and ran to the soot-darkened stone. As she reached for it, water seeped up through the ground, and the cresting waveform of a water elemental formed around the stone and the women who sought to take it.


    The burned giant rose to his feet slowly, his back a mess of burns, and charged at the water elemental only to be tackled to the side by a panther. The two people of the Iron Veins battled their conjured foes, the conjurers themselves nowhere to be seen and their archer ally seemingly taken out by the Fireball.


    From within the water elemental, the giantess fought to swim towards that stone, which swirled around her, always just out of her grasp. She sunk to the bottom of the watery creature, and just as her feet found purchase, her own tattoos lit up blue, and she jumped, sailing through the water and grabbing the stone as she continued on into the air.


    While still airborne, an arrow came from the forest, striking her in the ribs, and she disappeared, taken out of the competition by the magic that supported the event. The stone continued upward and then began to shift, moving to the source of the arrow on invisible strings.


    The barbarian in the battle with the panther lost his ax, but had his arm around the feline''s neck, choking the beast as it tried to rake him with its back claws. The panther went still, then vanished into a black fog. The beast summoner had anticipated the dispatching of his minion, and as soon as the panther had disappeared, another stone flew at the giant and grew and expanded into a giant octopus that completely engulfed the target. The water elemental moved to aid his fellow conjured ally, and it subsumed them both. The captured adventurer thrashed futilely, but then went still and vanished as well.


    With all her foes down, the air primal landed with the stone, beginning to head back to her boat with her allies. Rapidly, they ran through the forest, until without warning the ground parted beneath them, and water surged to fill the void. The air primal took to the air to avoid falling, but the conjurers weren¡¯t so lucky. Before she could depart, however, a whale breached the surface, mouth agape, swallowing the flier whole.


    The whale landed on the floor of the mat, but it parted before it, allowing the druid to fall through the vegetation and back into the ocean below. The view followed the whale back to its boat where it breached once more, turning back into a man with a stone ball in one palm and a staff in the other. He landed on the boat with a bit of a stumble, but once there, focused on the stone in his hand, willing it to shatter, thus ending the match.


    ¡°I totally forgot about the whale,¡± Kole admitted on their slightly inebriated walk back to campus. They¡¯d stayed a few hours after the conclusion of the match to carouse with the adventurers¡ªand avoid their fellow classmates¡ªand were making their way back just before the campus curfew of midnight.


    ***


    ¡°How¡¯d you forget about the flooding whale?¡± an entirely sober Rakin chastised him.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you drunk?¡± A less than sober Kole shot back. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a thing with dwarves?¡±


    Kole¡¯s brain caught up to his mouth too late, and he covered his mouth with a hand. To his surprise, Rakin laughed.


    ¡°Bah! Dwarves do love their drink, but they don¡¯t often actually get drunk. I don¡¯t drink though. It''s part of my training. It damages the body and disrupts the flow of ki.¡±


    ¡°Key? Key to what?¡±


    Rakin sighed.


    ¡°Ask me tomorrow if you remember.¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯re lost,¡± Zale¡ªalso drunk¡ªsaid from the front.


    Far too loudly, Kole shouted, ¡°Oh! I know! Amara! Where''s your bird?¡±


    ¡°She went home with a letter,¡± Amara said, and then let out a big yawn. ¡°Can we just sleep here?¡±


    ¡°Bah! Children!¡± Rakin grumbled. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    He took the lead and tried to maze his way through the unfamiliar city. He knew he had to travel east to return to campus, he only had to figure out which way that was.

 Chapter 27: Study Group

    The first primal creatures encountered by men on Kaltis were discovered during the Age of Wonders. At the time, they were not classified as anything other than magical creatures. The extensive research and exploration conducted by the Midlian Empire discovered and classified the primal subset of magical creatures while studying stable Primordials in their conquered lands. At the discovery, the Empire forcibly relocated villages to these Primordials to observe the effects on sapient beings, but the Empire fell before the experiment could yield fruit.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    Eight o¡¯clock in the morning found three hungover students mushing food around their plates in silence, and one gloating dwarf, seated in the dining hall of the art college. Rakin had navigated them back to campus, where Kole had said goodbye, and ran around a building before turning invisible and running to the library. His food stash had been disturbed by his rodent friend once more, but he¡¯d passed out without noticing.


    Kole stared at his breakfast unable to eat and contemplated taking one of his clarity potions to at least banish the headache. Only the recent revelation about their apparent price stayed his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m never drinking again,¡± Amara moaned.


    Gus sat in her lap, somehow looking as pathetic as his master.


    ¡°Is Gus hungover too?¡± Zale asked, voice full of concern.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s just understands the pain I¡¯m in and feels bad.¡±


    They eventually all forced down their food, and drank extra cups of coffee¡ªor tea in Rakin¡¯s case. While he wasn¡¯t hungover, they¡¯d gotten back quite late and the dwarf was as tired as any of them. Coffee, it seemed, was also on the list of foods and drinks the monks of his order avoided.


    * * *


    "Just this way. We''re almost there," Zale told the group for at least the third time. They were navigating the bowels of the art college, passing room after room of statues and paintings collecting dust.


    "Here it is!" Zale exclaimed, walking through a door into a room filled with Seafolk instruments that only worked underwater.


    ¡°Finally,¡± groaned Rakin.


    They made their way through the instruments to a door on the far end of the room, hidden from view behind a free-standing dressing mirror covered in a sheet.


    ¡°Why the secrecy?¡± Kole asked when Zale scanned the room before opening the door.


    ¡°Um, no reason.¡± Zale lied terribly.


    ¡°I think she¡¯s lying,¡± Amara whispered loudly to Kole.


    ¡°We know,¡± Rakin and Kole said in unison.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about,¡± Zale said and walked into the door, ending the discussion.


    The room beyond was certainly not in the basement of the art college. It was similar to the adventuring class training room in a lot of ways, but both smaller and more ornate. The room was round, with a few doors along the walls, but where the walls of the other classroom were bare, these were set with stained glass windows of battles and scenes of the gods from the creation of Kaltis. One portion of the wall was covered with a slate, and had a dozen or so desks in front of it, while the rest was dedicated to training, with sand pits, target dummies, weapons, and anything one might need to train in combat martial or magical.


    ¡°Woah,¡± Kole and Amara said together.


    Rakin let out an exasperated sigh.


    ¡°Why¡¯d you put the door all the way down here!? We coulda gotten here from anywhere!¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Kole asked, ¡°What do you mean, where are we?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re in the Dahn,¡± Zale said with a grin, ¡°Not all of it is open to the public.¡±


    ¡°You can move the¡ª¡° Kole began to ask when a voice cut them off.


    ¡°Azalea dear! You brought friends!¡±


    All eyes turned to a woman standing in the center of the room¡ªa spot that had been empty a moment before when Kole had taken it all in.


    ¡°Azalea?¡± Kole whispered.


    Zale¡¯s¡ªor ¡°Azalea¡¯s¡± apparently¡ªface began to darken in embarrassment.


    ¡°This is my mother. Mom, these are my friends Kole and Amara.¡±


    ¡°So nice to finally meet you all! My darling Zale has told me very little about you. I¡¯m Headmistress Shalia, but you can all call me Lia.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t,¡± Zale whispered, with her hand rubbing on her forehead.


    Zale¡¯s mother sighed and added in a bored tone ¡°Or, ¡¯Professor Shalia¡¯, I suppose. Come sit, and let''s get to know each other. We are waiting for two more students, but one seems to have gotten lost on his way to the city, so we won¡¯t be waiting for him.¡±


    They all moved to the desks, and before they reached them, another door in the room burst open and was quickly slammed shut. A tall, athletic girl stood, back pushed against the door, holding it shut as something banged on the back.


    ¡°What the flood Lia?!¡± the newcomer cursed as she gasped for breath.


    ¡°Ah, there she is now,¡± Shalia said ¡°I would like to introduce you all to my apprentice Runt.¡±


    The banging grew quiet, and Runt cautiously took her back off the door and walked over to the group.


    ¡°You never said anything about shadow hounds.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± Shalia replied, ¡°But, I never said anything about there not being shadow hounds. You really need to learn to ask more questions.¡±


    ¡°You never answer my questions!¡±


    ¡°Well you should ask better questions,¡± Shalia said.


    Up close, Kole saw that ¡¯Runt¡¯ was six feet tall, and looked to be stronger than Zale. She had long brown hair tied into a braid down her back. She wore black leather pants and a matching sleeveless tunic that had the top few toggles undone. Her arms and the area below her neck bore the black outlines of a half-finished tattoo.


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    ¡°Ehem,¡± Runt gave an exagerated cough. ¡°My eyes are up here.¡±


    ¡°I¡ªum,¡± Kole sputtered, turning red. ¡°I was looking at your tattoos.¡±


    ¡°Fah, another one,¡± Runt said disappointed, looking at Zale whose own unique blushing had only grown deeper.


    ¡°Well, let''s get started then,¡± Shalia told the group.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we wait for Uncle?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°You know what it¡¯s like to wait for that man,¡± Shalia answered with a heavy meaning Zale seemed to pick up on.


    ¡°You¡¯re all here because you¡¯re primals who, for some reason or other, have not received proper training in your Font. This group will be a time for you all to experiment with your abilities in a safe and supervised environment¡ªif you¡¯re into that sort of thing. Personally, I think it''s more fun to learn on the job. Anyway, my¡­ colleague¡ªwho will show up at some point, I¡¯m sure¡ªis something of an expert on Illusian primals. He will be here as a resource and guide for you all to better learn to wield your abilities.¡±


    She directed each student to a desk, where paper sat with a variety of questions about them and their abilities.


    ¡°I know, I know, this is hardly exciting, but if you would all be so kind as to fill out the details of your abilities, your history of training, what you can do, and what you think you might be able to learn, this will make things easier for whenever he actually arrives.¡±


    Rakin and Runt let out groans, but the rest got to work without complaint¡ªsave for Zale who took her mother to the side for some words. Kole watched as Zale spoke frustratedly at her mother, who simply took it with a smile and a nod.


    Kole filled out the paper truthfully, giving a rundown of all that he could do all that he had tried. Most of his writing revolved around his trouble with wizardry, but he did mention his ability to turn invisible, its growth from a camouflage spell, and his other ability to make others ignore items.


    After writing their papers, the group was given time to talk alone while Professor Shalia went to ¡°find that bookish moron.¡±


    ¡°So, what''s your uncle like?¡± Kole asked, and then added ¡°Or, I don¡¯t know, his name?¡±


    Zale had a lot of ¡°aunts¡± and ¡°uncles¡± she spoke of frequently, but she wasn¡¯t equally open about each of them and Kole had never gotten the name of most.


    Zale gave an overly large smile, signaling to Kole that she was about to dodge the question.


    ¡°He¡¯s pretty bookish, but I wouldn¡¯t call him a moron.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t feel that way if you¡¯ve seen him try to talk a town into abandoning their homes in advance of a coming horde of trolls,¡± the professor called from across the room, entering from a door she¡¯d not left through.


    Behind her walked an athletic-looking man of average height, dressed in a less formal version of the loose-fitting clothing the storm caller of the ship clan wore. He wore an open front tunic, but instead of tying with toggles, one side tucked inside the other and a belt held it all shut. While the storm callers wore sleeves, tied at the wrists to keep their magics from burning their clothes, his shirt sleeves were cut short at the elbows. Kole guessed him to be in his late thirties or early forties, but for some reason, he was having difficulty getting a sense for his age. He looked healthy and fit, in a not-particularly-muscular way, but had streaks of gray in his brown hair.


    The man sighed, and then said with the air of an oft-repeated excuse, ¡°Burning the town down with the trolls trapped was a good idea!¡±


    ¡°Class, this is¡­¡± Shalia gestured to the man and trailed off.


    ¡°Mage Tallen,¡± he finished for her. ¡°I¡¯m going to be popping in from time to time to assist you kids.¡±


    For some reason, both Zale and her mother let out a small chuckle at his comment, though Kole couldn¡¯t see the humor in it. The laughs drew a wide smile from the mage, and Shalia quickly stomped down on her own. Kole could tell he was missing some context for all of these interactions and it was beginning to annoy him.


    ¡°Well, your daughter thinks I¡¯m funny at least.¡±


    ¡°Mage Tallen?¡± Amara asked uncertainly.


    ¡°Yes? And you are¡­?¡±


    ¡°Oh Amara, um Understanding primal Amara? I mean¡­¡± Amara sputtered, flustered by having all the attention of even this small gathering. ¡°Are you a professor? A master?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that. No problem Amara¡ªcan I just call you Amara?¡±


    He asked the last with a small grin, and when Amara nodded, he continued.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a professor at the academy, but I¡¯m, you could say, affiliated with the Dahn itself. I prefer the title of mage. You know, the first to use the title mages were the sorcerers who discovered the art of wizardry. It was reserved for only the most powerful of casters. After the Flood, the title got appropriated by the Tower and it came to refer to any wizard. As something of a ¡¯traditionalist,¡¯ I prefer to use that title. Honorifics like ¡¯Grand Master¡¯ and ¡¯Archmage¡¯ just feel so pretentious, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Kole was a bit taken aback by the explanation. The titles of wizards were earned through years of study and toil. For this ¡°mage¡± to just cast them aside for the antiquated term was odd. Could this man be weak? Ashamed of only being an Adept at the age of somewhere over 40? Or¡­ could he be humble?


    Kole had learned that Grand Master Lonin was the most powerful mage of the Dahn, and one of the most powerful of Basin. He¡¯d not heard of this Tallen in his research into potential mentors, but from what Zale said he was a new arrival.


    ¡°So, let''s get introduced, and you can show me what you can do.¡±


    While he asked to be shown what everyone could do, Mage Tallen seemed to already know. Kole checked and saw all their papers still sat uncollected on the desks where they¡¯d left them.


    Was he spying on us?


    Amara went first and demonstrated her ability to guide her ants to carve patterns. She also introduced him to Gus, and showed her how they could work together without communicating.


    ¡°Fascinating,¡± he said as Amara drew something that Gus was looking at. He turned to Zale and asked, ¡°That reminds, me, did you ever get rid of those pack rats?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Kole found himself answering before he realized it.


    ¡°Oh good. They began to grow on me. You must be Kole. Why don¡¯t you demonstrate what you can do next.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Kole agreed.


    He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a quill, holding it out in his palm for everyone to see, but Willing them not to notice it with his primal abilities. He stood there still for a few moments until everyone began to wonder what was happening. At that point, he could sense as their attention tried to fix itself on the hidden quill, and his Will began to drain slowly from him. Then, he let the ability lapse, and all their eyes locked onto the quill.


    ¡°Where did that come from?¡± Zale asked, ¡°Did you Conjure it?¡±


    ¡°No, I pulled it from my pocket, but I used the Font of Illusions to make you not notice it.¡±


    ¡°I could find a use or two for that,¡± Runt said. ¡°What else can you do?¡±


    Kole turned invisible, and Runt cursed.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not flooding fair. Mage Tallen, do you think there''s a way to trade primal abilities? I think I want his.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get distracted by the shiny magic dear,¡± Shalia interjected. ¡°The real magic is convincing people they want to give you the things you take from them.¡±


    ¡°Anything else?¡± Tallen asked, bringing them back on topic.


    ¡°I can cast a few spells, but it''s difficult. I struggle to open gates.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± he said, not asking any of the follow-ups that Kole anticipated. ¡°Whose next?¡±


    They each went in turn, showing what they could do. As they went on, Kole felt a little cheated. For everyone else, Tallen had given some advice on ways to proceed, had offered tips, provided feedback on their current plans, and asked for elaborations, but when Kole had gone, he¡¯d hardly seemed interested.


    ¡°Each of you should begin to work on building your mental vault if you have not done so already,¡± he said after Runt had demonstrated how she could walk up a wall, hands and feet adhering to the surfaces as she drew upon the Font of Bonds. ¡°The mental vault is extremely useful, even for those with no magic to their name. For you all, it will be invaluable. If you do have a vault, we will discuss next week how you can use it. For now, work on what we discussed and I¡¯ll see you all next week.¡±


    What? Thats it?


    Kole opened his mouth to protest, but then the man vanished, teleporting away. He stood, mouth agape, wondering what had just happened. He¡¯d thought this man, this alleged primal expert would be able to help his¡ªhis veritable whale fall. But instead, he¡¯d basically ignored him and then left without giving him any aid.


    He collected himself¡ªclosing his mouth¡ªand turned to Zale.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t very helpful.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said in a low tone, the rest of the group was working on some of the items Tallen had suggested, and Zale had stood by Kole, having not received any additional feedback either. ¡°I don¡¯t know why he ignored you like that. He¡¯s usually very helpful. He loves teaching.¡±


    ¡°You know that makes me feel worse, not better, right?¡±


    ¡°Sorry!¡± she repeated. ¡°I¡¯m sure next week will be better.¡±


    ¡°Class dismissed!¡± Professor Shalia shouted. ¡°Girls, come along. I have a weekend trip planned for us.¡±


    Zale and Runt both let out simultaneous groans and whoops of excitement respectively.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Kole. Really. I¡¯ll see you Monday. I have to go embarrass myself, or help Runt do something stupid.¡±


    ¡°Stay as long as you like,¡± Shalia told the others as she ushered her daughter and student out.


    They left through a door that opened to a nondescript hall, Zale giving an apologetic wave as she closed it behind her and mouthed ¡¯sorry¡¯ yet again.

 Chapter 28: Weekend

    Primal creatures typically exhibit one to three distinct manifestations of the Font¡¯s power. The key identifying feature distinguishing a primal creature from a formed or magical creature is that it is identical in appearance to a mundane animal and exhibits magic that could be ascribed to a single Font. Pack rats are primal creatures. They live in swarms alongside their non-magical cousins and are indistinguishable from them. Though I have not performed the test, based on previous primal breeding programs, it is expected that cross-breeding with mundane rats would result in non-magical rats that could produce primal offspring if bred with primal rats.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    After Zale left, Rakin and Amara stayed in the training hall a while longer. Rakin was focusing on expanding the range he could sense with his stone sense, while Amara was trying to glean ¡¯understandings¡¯ from mundane objects.


    Kole read a book, angrily trying to forget about his lack of advice.


    ¡°Can we get out of here?¡± Kole asked, slamming the book down.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Amara said, placing a quill down on the desk gently.


    ¡°Nah,¡± Rakin, said, eyes still closed in concentration. ¡°I¡¯m staying.¡±


    ¡°What do you have planned for today?¡± Kole asked Amara.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Amara began uncertainly, looking at the ground as she twirled her toe, tracing a circle. ¡°I was going to go look for my sister.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let''s go then.¡±


    ¡°Really?! You¡¯ll help?¡± she asked, almost making eye contact in the excitement.


    ¡°Yeah. I said I would. Didn¡¯t I?¡± Kole said, thinking.


    Had he told her he¡¯d help? He was pretty sure he had.


    Amara pulled a familiar-looking device out of her pocket.


    ¡°This is a tracker I built to find my sister, like the paired ones we have. It uses the Font of Understanding as a conduit and filters out¡­¡± she trailed off looking at the small stone object. ¡°It¡¯s broken. It was working before. I swear!¡±


    The stack of small little stone disks was spinning rapidly, pointing in one direction, then spinning for a while before stopping and pointing in another direction before spinning randomly once more.


    ¡°Well, it was sort of working before. It would jump around like she was moving, but nothing like this.¡±


    Amara continued to stare at the device, chewing her lip.


    "Do you want to go fix it?" he asked.


    "Yes, thanks see you later!" she said in a breath, running out of the room.


    Kole smiled, watching her go. He''d been willing to help her search, but he hadn''t exactly been excited about it. His study into the new version of Shield was almost reaching a breaking point. If he could focus this weekend, he''d be able to learn the new version of the spell.


    Then he recalled his assignments for the week and his smile faded. He knew himself well enough to know that if he let himself start working on spells, he''d wake up Monday morning with nothing else accomplished.


    ***


    Kole left the strange basement room and navigated his way to the college proper. The sun was high in the sky when he left, and he took a moment to marvel at it. The Globe of Day, the great orb of light at the apex of the dome back home had been a magical wonder, but it paled in comparison to the natural beauty of the sun. Though Kole supposed, the sun itself was a magical wonder, created by the gods using the Fonts just as man had created the light in Illandrios, only, much, much grander.


    Since he had the time, he went out into the city to buy some food for the weekend. He didn''t plan on leaving the library once he''d entered, and he hoped his presence would keep any time-traveling rats away¡ªnot that it had the last time.


    Kole eventually made his way back to his corner of the library with a bag full of food, and slightly lighter on coin.


    The first assignment to get out of the way was for WIZ 105. He had already settled on two of the spells he would learn for the year; Shield and Magic Missile. The third he was still uncertain on, and if he was being honest with himself, he had no prospects. For the purposes of the assignment, he wrote down Sleep. As a nonlethal spell that can deal with large numbers of smaller enemies, it filled two large holes in his repertoire. No matter what he discovered, he doubted that he¡¯d ever suffer from a preponderance of spell options, so it would be wise if he picked up spells useful in multiple situations instead of highly specialized ones.


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    It took him half an hour to write up his reasoning for his spell selection, and he moved on to his alchemy and history. These assignments were just reading, which was simple but time-consuming.


    As soon as he finished his last chapter on the ill-fated Midlian expedition to the pre-Flood Basin, he slammed the book down and pulled out the old spellbook he¡¯d been working on. He¡¯d nearly completed copying the spellform into his own spellbook. The process was arduous and required him to reconstruct the faded and damaged components by referencing his spellbook and other available spellforms, but once he¡¯d done that, he could move onto the hopefully easier phase.


    His supply of Will conductive ink was running dangerously low, but he expected that he had enough to finish this one spell. The ink was expensive back home, but he had hoped the cost would be more affordable in the city. If not, at least he wouldn¡¯t be any more homeless than he already was if he ran out of funds.


    Getting by on only Zale¡¯s breakfasts wouldn¡¯t be easy, but he wouldn¡¯t starve¡ªunless these weekend trips were a regular thing. He resolved to ask about that as soon as he could think of a way to do so without sounding like a desperate beggar.


    After hours of hunched-back toil, he was just about to finish, but Kole couldn¡¯t ignore the rumble in his stomach any longer. He wasn¡¯t sure what time it was, but he knew it to be late. He wrestled with his desire to continue weighed against his hunger, but his hunger won out.


    ***


    ¡°I should probably take a break,¡± he said aloud to himself.


    Taking a block of cheese and apple as his meal, Kole took a stroll through the stacks, intending to check on the hidden room. Walking around helped clear his head, and he often connected the dots to problems in these mid-study strolls, though getting himself to remember to take one was always a challenge.


    In the hidden room, the bed he¡¯d made looked just as he¡¯d left it after his first visit, but the mayonnaise had been cleaned up. That in itself meant nothing, since sections of the Dahn had various degrees of self-cleaning magic at work.


    He sat on the bed to eat and looked at the wall. At some point he couldn¡¯t recall, his sitting had turned to laying, and that in turn became sleep.


    The first thing Kole noticed upon waking was the lack of pain. If a bedroll existed that could make the stone floor of the Dahn¡¯s library comfortable, it was out of Kole¡¯s price range, and he¡¯d woken up stiff and sore every day of the past week¡ªnot that he¡¯d even had a bed roll. Today he felt comfortable and refreshed. Eventually, his brain caught up with him, and he realized he must have fallen asleep in the possibly-occupied room.


    Kole jumped to his feet, casting Invisibility as he did, but a quick scan showed the room to be empty. Quickly¡ªand still invisible¡ªhe made the bed, putting in his marking folds, and snuck out the door into the library. As he was crawling through the small hole in the shelf he¡¯d created, arms spread out ahead of him, he noticed something else. His clothes were clean.


    They hadn¡¯t exactly been filthy before, but he was a teenage boy, and that came with certain odors he lacked the magics or funds to mitigate. Bathing at the martial college every day helped a lot, but his three sets of clothing had been in need of a thorough washing.


    But now, armpit in his own face, he realized it didn¡¯t smell too bad.


    Did the Dahn¡¯s enchantments clean my clothes while I slept? He wondered.


    He really hoped no one was using that room and he could move in.


    ¡°Flood!¡± he shouted to himself when his nook came back into view. He¡¯d left his light on¡ªwhich had been a mistake¡ªbut by that light, he saw three rats digging through his bag of food. They scurried away as he ran, disappearing into the books on the shelves, but the damage was done. He took what he could salvage out of the chewed-up bag, and threw the rest back into the destroyed satchel.


    Angry, frustrated, and hungry¡ªbut not sleepy, stinky, or sore¡ªKole got back to work.


    ***


    Some unknowable amount of time later¡ªbut not a small amount judging by the sleepiness, stink, and back pain Kole had regained¡ªhe finished his task.


    Before him sat a completed spellform, but more than that, each little painstakingly scribed swirl and squiggle was filled with Will. He¡¯d checked, double-checked, and then triple-checked, found a mistake fixed it, and checked it all again, but now he¡¯d done it.


    The spellform was finished, the spell was imbued into it, and most importantly, stored in Kole¡¯s mind. Now all he had to do was test it. What he wouldn¡¯t do for a rat at that moment.


    Thinking of rats, Kole turned to his pile of ruined food scraps and pulled out an apple core. He arranged his desk into the middle of the racks, placed the apple core on it, and walked back a dozen paces.


    Without further ado, Kole filled the mental spell template with his Will, recreating the spell in an instant, and then tried to move his bridge to open at the requisite gate. This was the tricky part.


    The Will cost of a spell was a complicated interplay of spell and path complexity, one can be sacrificed for the other, but the end cost was multiplicative, not additive, making it an art to balance. Unfortunately for Kole, the Will cost for him to move his bridge was exorbitant, and it was like wrestling with reality itself to make it budge. But, budge it did.


    Will flowed from him, into the Arcane Realm, returning just as it left. He spoke the verbal component of the spell, infusing this too with Will, preparing the Material Realm to accept the magic of the Arcane more easily.


    ¡°Roh Ka!¡±


    Three faint shimmers of light shot from his outstretched hand toward the apple in the blink of an eye. The first obliterated the apple, and the next two shot past it, thankfully striking the ground harmlessly.


    ¡°Oops,¡± he said to himself. ¡°Maybe I don¡¯t test spells here again¡­ Offensive ones at least.¡±


    He thought back to the Will cost he¡¯d just expended. It had definitely been less than his old version, which measured in at 40 Will. But only by a little, maybe 10 or 20 percent, putting in the range of 32 to 36 Will. He was a little disappointed, but at the same time, it gave him hope. Coming to the Dahn had been the right choice. This place held the key to his problems, he just had to find them. Even if no one seemed willing to help.


    Just then, the high-pitched whine of his alarm went off, signaling it was time to wake up and meet Zale for training.


    ¡°Flood,¡± he cursed.


    Either he¡¯d slept much longer than he realized, or he¡¯d truly been lost in his work. Probably a combination of the two he reflected, but in either case, this day was going to be unpleasant.


    He ran off to meet Zale, dread for the weary day ahead tempered by his recent success.

 Chapter 29: Monday

    Pack rats were long suspected to be primals, but it wasn¡¯t until the Last Dragon War that it was discovered they were in fact primals of the Font of Time. The Font from which they draw their power was long unknown, as is their geographic origin. Pack rats were known to the native pre-Flood orc denizens of Basin but were not present outside the pre-Flood mountain bowl. They are now reported worldwide, having infiltrated the sailing fleets of the world.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    ¡°You look like Runt after a bender.¡± Zale told Kole in way of greeting when he arrived at the training yard. ¡°Rough weekend?¡±


    ¡°I lost track of time working on a spell,¡± Kole said, rubbing his eyes and cursing the sun. ¡°How was your trip?¡±


    Zale¡¯s amused smile dropped.


    ¡°Awful. Mom had us compete to see who could collect more money panhandling. She left us in New Lakeside with some filthy sackcloth and then disappeared.¡±


    ¡°Did you do it?¡±


    ¡°My mother¡¯s training trips aren¡¯t exactly optional.¡±


    ¡°Did you at least win?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Only technically. Runt got more money, but she started picking pockets and got disqualified.¡±


    ¡°What did you win?¡±


    Excitement returned to Zale¡¯s face.


    ¡°A new sword!¡± she shouted. ¡°I almost forgot. It¡¯s nothing exciting or special, but my old one was from the academy¡¯s stores, which means some student made it as a project. Which reminds me.¡±


    She walked over to the weapon rack and lifted a quarterstaff from amongst the rest.


    ¡°You can have this,¡± Zale said, tossing him the weapon. ¡°I never use it anymore, except for ¡¯bonks,¡¯ but I can just borrow one for that.¡±


    Kole caught the thick wooden stick and gave it a few practice twirls. He hardly had the skills or knowledge to judge the heft and balance of even a weapon as simple as this, but it seemed sturdy enough.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± he said, but then added. ¡°For this, not for the ¡¯bonks.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Now if Amara comes through with that blasting rod, we¡¯ll be in good shape to take out those goblins. Let''s try out your new staff.¡±


    The two proceeded to spar, but Kole¡¯s sleep deprivation quickly became apparent.


    ¡°You¡¯re way too tired for this. You''re almost asleep on your feet,¡± Zale said after disarming him for the third time.


    ¡°Thank the gods,¡± he said in relief. ¡°Breakfast?¡±


    Zale smiled, channeling her mother, and said, ¡°A good run should wake you up.¡±


    A half-hour later, Kole lay in the grass, gasping for breath, exhausted, but no longer sleepy.


    ¡°I. Hate. You,¡± he rasped between breaths.


    ***


    During breakfast, Zale gave Kole more details on the various trips her mother took her on.


    ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t training with her anymore,¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°I wish,¡± Zale said, wistfully. ¡°I¡¯m not her apprentice, but she still makes me act as a sort of training rival for Runt. She lets me use the disguise bracelet and uses me to goad Runt on. Runt¡­ has a bit of a chip on her shoulder. She doesn¡¯t like losing.¡±


    Kole felt like this was the perfect opportunity to inquire about his weekend meal plans without sounding too much like a leech.


    ¡°So¡­ are these like, every weekend?¡±


    ¡°Thank Gava not,¡± Zale said, swearing by the goddess of hope and protection.


    ¡°Oh good,¡± Kole said, feeling more relief than he expected.


    ¡°So what did you all get up to while we were gone?¡±


    ¡°Amara and I tried to search for her sister, but the tracker she¡¯d built wasn¡¯t working. She went to fix it, and I worked on finishing my latest spell.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah! You said. How did it turn out?¡±


    Kole shrugged, feigning nonchalance, but couldn¡¯t hide his smile.


    ¡°It was an improvement. It means I¡¯m on the right track, but it''s not going to let me pass WIZ 105 this semester unless I keep improving it. I was hoping your uncle would have been more helpful.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± Zale said. ¡°He usually won¡¯t stop explaining things and trying to teach. My mom hates it. I don¡¯t know why he didn¡¯t have anything for you.¡±


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    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I guess,¡± Kole said solemnly. ¡°No one¡¯s helped me so far and I¡¯ve been doing alright.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll come around.¡±


    ***


    Kole and Zale talked on the way to class, trying to ignore the way people gave them a wide berth, but Kole was beginning to tell when Zale was hiding her sadness, and couldn¡¯t ignore it any longer.


    ¡°Is my talking to you making all this worse?¡± Kole asked, gesturing to the people scrambling to get out of their way.¡±


    ¡°Ha! No. Not at all,¡± Zale said with a genuine laugh. ¡°If anything, I¡¯m more likely the reason people are avoiding you than any rumor Gray might have spread¡ªthough¡­¡± she trailed off, then grew worried. ¡°He might have been harsher on the rumor when he found out we were friends. Oh, Wardens, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m ruining everything.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it''s not your fault!¡± Kole quickly tried to reassure her. ¡°No one liked me back home anyway. I¡¯m probably just¡ªyou know¡ªsuper unlikable.¡±


    ¡°That''s kind of you to suggest, but it¡¯s not true,¡± Zale said, kindly, but then added. ¡°You¡¯re only, like, a little unlikable.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well, that''s a relief.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it''s the tardiness and overall cheapness that really do it,¡± she explained amenably.


    ¡°Not the body odor?¡± Kole asked, playing along.


    ¡°Well, now that you mention it, maybe you¡¯re just very unlikeable¡ªbut definitely not ¡¯super unlikable.¡¯¡±


    They continued trying to own the blame for the others'' pariah-ship until they made it to alchemy whereupon they sat in a pair of empty seats only for the people seated on either side of them to move away. This time they both laughed.


    Alchemy class for the day was a pop quiz based on the reading, and Kole did his best to remember all of the horrible, bone-melting side effects of mixing certain alchemical ingredients.


    Professor Donglefore came out after the papers had been collected, and continued hammering home the dangers of alchemy with paintings of some of the worse maladies alchemy could impart.


    ¡°This is terrible,¡± Kole whispered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Zale whispered back, ¡°it''s only the first two weeks, to hammer home the caution. Later on, we¡¯ll actually start to learn things.¡±


    By the end of the hour, Kole¡¯s mind was occupied with dozens of pictures he¡¯d rather not remember, and he made a note to read up on mental vault exercises. Many people developed mental vaults to help preserve mundane memories. It stood to reason one could use the same effects to muddy the details of an unpleasant one, or maybe even seal it away.


    With an hour between classes, the pair went to a study hall to work on the homework they¡¯d just been given.


    ***


    The energy Kole had regained from the morning¡¯s activities was gone by the time he sat down for Professor Gromck¡¯s lecture. He tried to hold strong, but after only five minutes of theories on the disappearance of the pre-Flood humans of Basin, Kole was asleep, face down on his desk.


    ***


    Kole and Zale went to the library after class to start planning a way to defeat the goblins this coming Friday. Kole caught himself¡ªbarely¡ªbefore he headed through the stacks to his secret corner.


    ¡°So¡­¡± he asked awkwardly, ¡°can I copy your notes from today?¡±


    Rolling her eyes, Zale plunked her notes down onto the table and then went to find a book. It was a lot of notes.


    ***


    Kole¡¯s hand was cramping by the time he¡¯d finished copying the notes into the new-to-him but very much not new journal he¡¯d found. Sleeping through history class had at least given him enough rest to make it through the remainder of the day.


    ¡°You done?¡± Zale asked, looking up from her book when she saw him stretching his hand.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Kole answered.


    Zale handed him a book.


    ¡°Good, now read this,¡± she said.


    Another hour later, Kole put down the book about goblins.


    ¡°This is pretty dry,¡± Kole said, with a sigh.


    ¡°Did you at least learn anything?¡± Zale asked, putting her own book about woodcraft down.


    ¡°Actually yeah. Did you know that before the Last Dragon War, goblins were nothing more than tool-using feral dogs? The dragons did something to them, made them smarter, but didn¡¯t give them any sort of empathy.¡±


    ¡°I did know that actually. I did grow up dreaming to be an adventurer listening to my mother¡¯s tales of that...¡± Zale trailed off as had become a pattern when she mentioned something she hadn¡¯t intended, though Kole had no idea what she was so poorly concealing.


    ¡°Sort of thing.¡± She finished.


    Zale threw a balled-up piece of paper, striking Kole on the nose to distract him from her blunder.


    ¡°Sorry, carry on.¡±


    ¡°So kind of you. Well, they are cunning. They lay traps¡ª¡°


    ¡°We knew that,¡± Zale pointed out, sharply, having become intimately familiar with said traps. ¡°Sorry, continue.¡±


    ¡°They lay traps,¡± he repeated, ¡°But not as well as kobolds. They rely mostly on trip wires and rock falls¡ªwhich we knew already.¡±


    ¡°So, nothing new?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting to that! At their hearts, they are cowards. Their lairs usually have a rear entrance they use to escape if their traps fail them. If we can find that, we can get the jump on them.¡±


    ¡°That could be useful¡­ If any of us had any skill in tracking.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Rakin can figure it out?¡± Kole asked. ¡°It is in a cave after all.¡±


    They spent another hour looking over the books Zale had gathered and learned a little bit more. Some goblin clans manifested sorcery, though they never grew particularly powerful due to their short life spans. Others, however, can grow quite magically powerful if they receive the Blessing of the trickster god Jester.


    Jester, whose real name was lost to time, was a court jester who traveled from kingdom to kingdom, killing nobles and royals alike through elaborate traps and tricks.


    Those Blessed by the chaotic god could perform a whole host of magics, such as forcing their foes to fall into fits of laughter and sowing magical confusion.


    Once the books started to repeat themselves, they called it a night.


    ¡°Dinner?¡± Zale asked.


    As Kole quickly began shoving his belongings back into his torn-up bag, she wondered why she even bothered to ask.


    ***


    An hour later, an overly stuffed Kole parted ways with Zale as they left the dining hall. They¡¯d gone to the martial college to eat, the staff at that facility being the least off-put by Zale from her frequent visits and the evident lack of anyone becoming a mindless husk as a result.


    As Kole walked back to the library, holding his satchel awkwardly to prevent his ¡°leftovers¡± from falling out, he heard the tone of a lecturer among the green.


    ¡°¡ªcan be used to find pocket realms. The spacial disruption they create isn¡¯t noticeable by the naked eye, but if one has accurate star charts, the presence of a pocket realm will be noticeable by the distortion of the star¡¯s light. The Dahn itself exhibits this effect.¡±


    Kole looked around to ensure he was alone, and then turned invisible and snuck close to the class. He¡¯d never heard of this method of detecting pocket realms. Finding pocket realms was important for his eventual long-term plans, but he¡¯d had enough magical problems, and that one had seemed less urgent.


    The professor was an older human woman, who looked like she¡¯d been around when the stars had been formed. Kole sat, listening to her lecture¡ªwhich he judged to be for at least Apprentice wizards in at least their second or third year¡ªand was fascinated. The professor eventually dismissed the class and instructed them to return Wednesday at the same time to learn other ways the stars can be used to divine information.


    Kole vowed to be here. He had a lot on his plate, but he¡¯d definitely make time for this.

 Chapter 30: Chase

    The Midlian Empire, while cruel and evil in countless ways, was on to something with its experiments to develop primals of the Illusian races. While the Flood devastated the world, it is likely the Midlian Empire would have inflicted far more cruelty long term if they hadn¡¯t been destroyed by the waves.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    The next day, Kole was much more well-rested for his training with Zale. They kept sparring, keeping themselves fresh for the conditioning they¡¯d have in class.


    Martial 101 was much the same as it had the week before with one notable exception. Kole and Zale stayed after class to practice more and allow the locker rooms to clear out before they went to change.


    ¡°So, this ones with you?¡± a booming voice said from behind Kole.


    Kole froze, recognizing the distinct tone and accent of the giant teacher.


    ¡°He¡¯s not so bad,¡± Zale joked, looking up above Kole¡¯s head to the man behind him.


    ¡°He looks pretty bad¡ªno offense.¡±


    ¡°None taken,¡± Kole said, lowering his weapon and turning around to face Tigereye. ¡°I am pretty bad.¡±


    ¡°That is the purpose of the class after all. But I heard you fared well against that goblin creature attack. If Zale doesn¡¯t give up on you, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll figure it out eventually. Carry on.¡±


    When the Iron Vein tribesman had left, Kole whirled on Zale.


    ¡°What was that all about?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you?" Zale asked, biting her lip.


    ¡°Tell me what?¡±


    ¡°Oh, well, he trained me. My mom wouldn¡¯t so I asked him to. He hates deception and tricks, and took it as a point of pride to help rid me of her dishonorable ways.¡¯¡±


    Before Kole could follow up, their conversation was interrupted again.


    ¡°Zale!¡± Kole turned to see Gray and Harold making their way towards them.


    Kole noted that Gray wore a training rapier on his hip, not the staff typical to wizards. He¡¯d seen him use it but thought maybe he¡¯d learn a staff in class¡ªin hindsight, that had been dumb. Harold had training versions of the large and short sword he¡¯d had at class on Friday.


    ¡°Ugh, I don¡¯t want to deal with this today,¡± Zale whispered to Kole and then shouted louder ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been avoiding us,¡± Gray accused.


    ¡°Ha! Me? Avoiding you? You¡¯ve been avoiding me for months!¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t been avoiding you,¡± Gray said. ¡°It¡¯s just taking us a while to come to grips with the revelation of¡­ what you are.¡±


    ¡°That sounds a lot like avoiding,¡± Kole interjected.


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    ¡°Shut up,¡± Gray snapped at him. ¡°You¡¯re why I¡¯m here. You are going to get our friend Zale killed with your incompetence and I won¡¯t sit around and let it happen.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we¡¯re ¡¯friends?¡¯¡± Zale asked, feigning cheer. ¡°You hear that Kole? We¡¯re all ¡¯friends¡¯. I thought Kole was my only friend, since you know, he¡¯s spoken to me, and not shunned me, and stood up to my old ¡¯friend¡¯ when they came back trying to tell me how to live my life.¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t even do magic!¡± Gray shouted, not willing to let Zale change the topic. ¡°I heard you were knocked out first on Friday. If he were a real wizard that wouldn¡¯t have happened. You¡¯re too good for that. He¡¯s dragging you down.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the only one besides Rakin in this whole flooding school that will talk to me. Except of course for you, who will only talk to me when no one else is around, and only because you want to tell me how to live my life.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not f¡ª¡° Gray began, but Zale cut him off.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s pretty fair. Harold, what do you think? Should I listen to Gray? Ditch Kole? Can I come back and hang out with you guys then? Or will I have to wear the illusion bracelet for you all to allow that? Did you know Gray told me to just put it on and keep pretending?¡±


    Harold looked down, ashamed.


    ¡°Yeah, I knew. We thought it would just make everything easier. You, know, if things just went back to how they were.¡±


    ¡°Well, maybe things weren¡¯t as great as we all remember them. Let''s go Kole.¡±


    Zale threw her training sword at the rack, where it bounced off and fell to the side, and then stormed off to the locker room.


    Kole followed, but Zale outpaced him. He rushed to change and wait for Zale outside, but she never emerged.


    Kole paid for lunch and killed time doing classwork until Wiz 105, where he snuck in just before class began and snuck out right as it ended to avoid running into Gray.


    ***


    The next morning, Zale wasn¡¯t at the martial training yard, and Kole jogged around the field for a while before giving up and sitting down.


    She didn¡¯t show up for either class that day, and Kole went back to the library alone. He¡¯d lived most of his life alone and had thought he¡¯d grown numb to it. He¡¯d been wrong. But, he mused, his sadness wasn¡¯t for himself, but for Zale.


    He¡¯d been betrayed by kids before. Occasionally his classmates would try to befriend him, but they always eventually gave up and joined in with Corbyn and his pack of bullies. But, he never expected it to last and was never that surprised when it ended. Zale though¡­ she¡¯d been friends with them for years. He couldn¡¯t imagine being betrayed like that. Though he supposed, Gray and Harold and the rest must have felt a bit betrayed too. Finding out your friend had kept such a big secret must have been tough.


    No, he chastised himself. Don¡¯t show sympathy for them. Their initial reaction could be excused, but they had months to make it up to her.


    Kole spent the evening working on the next version of Shield, only stopping to go sit in on the divination class.


    He arrived a few minutes late, with the professor mid-lecture.


    ¡°¡ªare useful for much, but not for rapidly changing divinations.¡± She paused and smiled. ¡°Oh good. Today I hoped we¡¯d get an opportunity for a more hands-on exercise and it looks like we¡¯ll have the chance. We have a guest.¡±


    The professor waved at Kole where he sat invisible.


    Oh no¡­


    ¡°Someone is spying on this class under a veil. Whoever can find and capture them will get to skip the midterm.¡±


    The students, second and third-year students all, looked around at each other confused. The professor let out a sigh.


    ¡°Find the invisible boy and catch him!¡± she shouted, spurring Kole into motion.


    He ran, not sparing a glance behind him, but he heard the beginning of spells being cast.


    Suddenly, he was visible once more, but it only took a quick effort of Will to recast the spell, resulting in curses from those he fled.


    He ran. Not sure where to go, his feet led him back to the library. Once inside, he fled into the depths, though he had the presence of mind not to head towards his home within it.


    Sometime later, Kole lay in a corner of the library panting for breath. He¡¯d found a section of shelves that formed a sort of maze. As he ran deeper, the place lost the neat concentric rings of shelves and became a bit of a mess. Taking all the books off of a few shelves, he took the boards that served as shelves, propped them up over the entrance to disguise it, and then infused it with some of his primal magic in the hope eyes would bounce off the strange makeshift wall. He retreated deeper in and lay resting in the middle where eventually he dozed off into sleep, using the contents of his torn bag as a pillow.

 Chapter 31: Theral

    The last hundred years have given rise to the discovery of Illusian races with Primal abilities, none¡ªas far as this researcher knows of¡ªof Midlian origin. The most famous among them are the Bond primals of the Iron Vein Tribe. As a key figure in the Last Dragon War, Bearskin lead his people out of isolation to aid in the war against the dragons¡¯ horde.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    Kole¡¯s unintended sleep was interrupted by a subtle woosh and he opened his eyes to see a young man sprawled on the floor groaning.


    ¡°Ow,¡± the man said as he rose unsteadily to his feet.


    He was dressed in light leather armor and and was covered in dirt and blood in various stages of dryness.


    Goblin blood by the odor that was newly familiar to Kole.


    Kole panicked, but then quickly realized this man was not a part of the students pursuing him.


    Mustering his courage, Kole asked ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Who am I? Who are you? Where am I?¡± the man answered, now on his feet and looking around the hideout.


    His eyes landed on the contents of Kole¡¯s bag which had spilled out on the floor and his demeanor changed. His posture tightened, and he brought his hands up to his waist as if ready to grab something¡­ or cast a spell.


    ¡°And where did you get that?¡± he demanded, pointing to the journal.


    Kole grabbed the journal and clutched it possessively. He wasn¡¯t particularly fond of the ratty thing, but he¡¯d already had to recreate his notes in the thing once, and he was loathe to do it again¡ªthough, it hadn¡¯t been as difficult as he¡¯d expected to fill the with notes on his lectures thus far from memory.


    The man reached his right hand out, palm raised expectantly before looking at his palm in confusion. His eyes briefly lost focus, and then he looked from Kole to the journal and his brow rose in surprise.


    ¡°Oh,¡± he said, mournfully before he collapsed to the ground unconscious.


    Worried that it was a trick, Kole turned invisible before approaching. Approach is maybe too strong of a word in the small confines of the corner he was hiding in.


    When the stranger didn¡¯t move, Kole kicked him and was rewarded with a painful groan.


    ¡°What in Fauell was that for?¡± the man asked.


    ¡°Why are you in my room. Who are you?¡± Kole demanded again, no longer scared.


    The man opened his eyes and looked directly at Kole¡¯s own despite the invisibility.


    "I wouldn''t call this a room," the man observed


    "I wouldn''t say you''re in a position to be judgmental," Kole retorted, no longer afraid of this interloper.


    ¡°Can you get me some water?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No. Who are you? How did you get here?¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± he laughed and said seemingly to himself. ¡°I suppose I should trust it.¡±


    He continued, looking at Kole once more, ¡°You can call me Theral. What year is it?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I would like to know what the current year is.¡±


    ¡°836,¡± Kole answered.


    ¡°836 of what calendar?¡± Theral said, a little exasperated. ¡°AF? Dome? Midlian? Canton? Arbith?¡±


    Looking at him now, Kole realized he was only a handful of years older than himself, though his attitude suggested him to be older still.


    ¡°AF,¡± Kole said, now much more curious than anything he¡¯d been feeling prior.


    ¡°Oh, well then I got here via magic.¡±


    ¡°Magic?¡± Kole asked, still confused by the situation.


    ¡°If we are just going to keep repeating each other back and forth, this is going to take a while. Can I please have something to drink?¡±


    Distantly in the hall beyond the plank covering the opening to the ¡°room¡± voices shouted, ¡°I heard someone back here!¡±


    ¡°Is this bad?¡± Theral asked Kole.


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    Kole nodded, and the stranger sat up with great effort.


    Theral stuck out his hand before him but then stopped himself, asking ¡°You¡¯re going to die bad, or you¡¯re going to get in trouble bad?¡±


    ¡°Probably the second,¡± Kole admitted.


    Theral relaxed slightly and began casting a different spell ¡°Grab anything that¡¯s important to you.¡±


    Kole complied, picking up his torn bag and throwing his scant belongings into it.


    ¡°All done? Great. Try to just go with it.¡±


    Kole felt a grip on his arm, and then the sensation of the world falling out from under him. He sensed that he could resist, but remembered the stranger¡¯s words and gave in.


    And then, he found himself back in the room he¡¯d found the journal.


    ¡°Are we safe here?¡± Kole asked, still panicked. ¡°They are tracking me somehow.¡±


    Theral cast a spell with a rather long verbal component and thrust his open palm towards Kole.


    There,¡± he said, ¡°that should break the tracking.¡±


    It only then sunk in that they¡¯d just teleported from his hideout to this room.


    ¡°How did you do that?!¡±


    ¡°Magic, obviously. Did you hit your head?¡±


    ¡°No, I mean, how did we get here?¡±


    Slower, Theral repeated, ¡°Magic. Obviously. Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡±


    ¡°No, that has to be at least a fourth-tier spell. How old are you, 18? There¡¯s no way you could do that.¡±


    ¡°Sure, lets go with 18, it''s technically correct which is the best kind of correct and often the only kind that will keep you sane. Listen, why don¡¯t you tell me how you found that journal while I drink this entire jug of water, and then I¡¯ll explain some things.¡±


    Theral picked up the pitcher that Kole recalled contained mayonnaise and began to drink out of it, still wincing from the pain of whatever had befallen him.


    Not really sure what to do, Kole complied and told the man of how he¡¯d stumbled across the hideout while fleeing the professor.


    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk,¡± he said, interrupting. ¡°You¡¯re what 14?¡±


    ¡°15,¡± Kole said reflexively.


    ¡°Okay, 15. Invisibility is at least a third tier. Maybe a chameleon spell could be done at second. Or has wizardry come that far?¡±


    Come that far? What does he mean? Kole thought


    As if confessing some great sin, Kole admitted with embarrassment and shame, ¡°Actually, sir, I¡¯m a primal.¡±


    Sir? Why did I call him Sir? He asked himself. The man was hardly his senor, but he did exude an air of authority common only to the most competent wizards Kole had interacted with.


    ¡°Really!?¡± Theral said, with eager excitement. ¡°Which Font?¡±


    Taken aback by the sudden interest, Kole was at a loss for words.


    Misunderstanding the silence, Theral continued, ¡°Oh, is that private? I¡¯ve not met another primal wizard before.¡±


    ¡°Another?¡± Kole asked, full of hope. ¡°You¡¯ve met one before? Who? Where? Can I meet him?¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Theral answered, his turn to feel embarrassed. ¡°It''s a bit of a special case, but I¡¯m sort of a primal Wizard.¡±


    ¡°How?! How do you create gates? How do you escape the pull of your Font?¡±


    Theral cocked his head for a moment, but then seemed to understand.


    ¡°Oh, that makes sense,¡± he said seemingly to himself. ¡°With a bridge opening too close to a Font, it could anchor it to that spot in the Arcane, much like a Primordial does to anchor a gate. Wait... does your bridge open near a Font or in a Font?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ the first one.¡± Kole said, confused even further.


    This young prodigy was outlining common knowledge as if he¡¯d just pieced it together. Was he dumb? Or sheltered? Who didn¡¯t know why primals couldn¡¯t be wizards. But¡­ he¡¯d correctly guessed that Kole¡¯s bridge opened next to his Font, and not inside, and he¡¯d never heard anyone else even suggest the possibility.


    ¡°Well that would make things easier. So you are what? A Light primal?¡± Theral asked. ¡°Sorry, if thats rude.¡±


    Theral cast a Light spell as he spoke, fully illuminating the room.


    ¡°Illusion,¡± Kole corrected, and then pointing to the light asked, "How''d you do that?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "You''re a Spatial primal right? From the Hollow Peak? How''d you cast Light?"


    "Oh, I see. Holl¡ª," he cut himself off, then said to himself "no, better not to ask."


    Back to Kole, he said, "How about you tell me about what your specific issue is, and we''ll see if we can help."


    "We?" Kole thought, looking around the room.


    Kole weighed the risks of sharing his not-so-secret secret with the stranger, but as he thought about it, he had nothing to lose¡ªexcept for his life, but no one has hunted sorcerers in ages.


    So, Kole told the man about himself. How his mother was a Mirage Knight¡ªwhich the man hadn''t heard of but restrained from asking about¡ªhow his father was a Stormcaller, and how he''d chosen to pursue wizardry at a young age. He then went on to tell of how he''d unlocked his vault at 9 and opened a bridge at 10, and that the bridge had opened outside of Font of Illusions, instead of inside it like all the other primals.


    The man seemed to grasp the significance of that, and then asked a bunch of questions.


    Kole explained, "I can cast any cantrip but, it takes about 15 Will for me to even open my bridge to a gate, which makes anything beyond a cantrip cost more than I could afford until recently."


    "15 Will, as in Will grains?" Theral asked.


    Kole nodded and Theral gave a gesture to carry on.


    "So, I can cast spells, they all cost too much. I''m a sorcerer too, but I unlocked a weak chameleon spell at first that later became Invisibility. There''s not a lot of problems turning invisible doesn¡¯t fix, and my sorcery doesn''t seem inclined to branch out to new Fonts."


    "Have you tried tying yourself to a tree? Drowning? Smoke inhalation?" Theral asked, entirely serious.


    Kole laughed, but then realized it wasn''t a joke and said, "No. No one does that barbaric nonsense anymore."


    He seemed to look disappointed by the answer but then smiled and asked, "Why don''t you just cast from your bridge? Send the spell out without a path or gate and just modify it until it gets there. Illusions probably adjusted to¡ª"he paused to think, "Sound, Light, maybe Mind?"


    "Here," he continued, pulling out a rather ornamented golden spellbook from a satchel that still smelled new, but looked as if it had already been in countless battles.


    Without looking he pulled two sheets out of the book and handed them to Kole.


    "Take these, learn the spell component and ignore the rest."


    "How do I create a path?" Kole asked as he looked at the spellforms he''d just been handed.


    They looked far less complicated than the ones he was used to learning. They were free of all the support structures that had been developed to reduce Will cost while retaining potency.


    Positively archaic. Kole thought. Exactly what he needed.


    Theral looked at the book shelf and moved to grab a book but winced in pain. Instead, he flipped his spellbook to a different page without looking and pulled a handful of sheets out.


    "Flood, I''m heading back. These will help with the path, they''re my notes from some of those books" He said, dropping the stack of pages by the bed beside him.


    "Leave this on the door." Theral said as another page flew out of his spellbook into Kole''s hand.


    Kole looked up to the door Theral had gestured to and saw the room now held a second door on the back wall.


    Kole read the note:


    Let the kid stay.


    -T

 Chapter 32: Sticky Runes

    The people of the Iron Vein are a race of human origin, but have grown to have an average height of 7 to 8 feet. The abnormal height predates the access to the Primordial and is likely due to the introduction of giant blood into the gene pool.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    While he read the short note, Kole felt a strange sensation at the back of his skull and then heard a small whoosh of air. He looked up to find Theral gone.


    Kole reflected on the sensation. Wizards and sorcerers eventually gained the ability to sense the casting of magic around them. He was far from acquiring such a skill, but from what he¡¯d read on it, what he¡¯d just felt could be nothing else. It was said that the most powerful magics could be sensed even by those without an ounce of magical talent.


    Could this teleportation effect have been that strong? He wondered.


    Kole had been around teleporting mages before¡ªor wizards he supposed if Tallen was right about that¡ªbut he¡¯d never sensed their magic.


    How far did he just travel?


    He set the thoughts aside and looked up at the door where he was supposed to hang the note. Cautiously, he walked towards it and cracked it slightly. Beyond the door stood another library, though this one was not so grand in scale as the one in the Dahn. An illusionary depiction of Kaltis sat in the middle, and tables and chairs were arrayed around it. Beyond that, bookshelves lined the walls of the circular room. It was hard to tell from just their spines, but Kole sensed that these books were far more valuable than those he¡¯d left behind in the library proper. The books outside this room had a uniformity that these lacked. Each book here was entirely unique, be that a worn and battered journal to a spine of pure gold etched with silver lettering.


    I don¡¯t think I¡¯m supposed to be here.


    Kole looked down at the note. Whoever it was written to, it was probably best he listened to Theral and posted it on the door. He moved to do just that but realized the door was stone and he had nothing to use to adhere it. It was then that he noticed that the back of the page had runes all over it. He didn¡¯t recognize most of it, but the symbol for the Font of Bonds was clear.


    ¡°Sticky runes?¡± he questioned aloud.


    Not sure what else to do, he pressed the page against the door, where it stuck.


    ¡°Weird,¡± he said, wondering why that young wizard¡ªor mage¡ªhad a pre-prepared adhesive-backed rune in his spellbook ready to stick to a door. From what little he knew of runes, that shouldn¡¯t work¡ªor at least not work for very long.


    As he stood contemplating asking Amara to prepare some runed pages for himself, he heard a door open somewhere in the private library.


    Flood! He cursed himself, turning invisible.


    He couldn¡¯t open the door, it hadn¡¯t been silent when he¡¯d come in and he doubted he could make it so now.


    He heard a voice next, half singing half humming a tune Kole didn¡¯t know with evident musical talent, growing closer. Afraid to even breathe, Kole held his breath, waiting for the unseen singer to move on.


    The humming continued as Kole felt his lungs begin to burn and he realized holding his breath had been a terrible idea, as now he felt the urge to expel his air quickly and gulp in more. As if taunting him, he felt a slight breeze blow past his face as the humming continued, and he considered making a run for it if his breath would give him away in any case.


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    Before he could make a decision, he felt an icy cold pinprick at the back of his neck.


    ¡°How did you get in here,¡± the beautiful singing voice asked from behind, even as it continued to sing out among the books unseen.


    As soon as the blade had touched his neck, Kole¡¯s invisibility had dropped. Slowly, he raised his hands above his head in surrender, but before he could conjure some sort of explanation or plead for the mysterious woman to look at the note he¡¯d just placed on the door, she let out a sigh.


    ¡°Oh, it''s you,¡± she said, disappointed.


    In a much less menacing and much more annoyed tone, she asked, ¡°How did you get in here? Zale didn¡¯t let you in here, did she? No, she wouldn¡¯t, but Runt might have.¡±


    The names provided context for the voice, and suddenly Kole recognized it as Zale¡¯s mother. Thoughts of his imminent death fled, only to come back as he recalled Zale¡¯s mention of her mother¡¯s sadistic nature.


    ¡°N-n-no,¡± Kole stammered.


    ¡°Oh, put your hands down, I¡¯m probably not going to kill you¡­¡± she trailed off, finally noticing the book in Kole¡¯s hand. ¡°How¡¯d you¡­ where¡¯d you¡­¡±


    She stopped talking, sounding uncertain for the first time since he¡¯d met her.


    ¡°It is? He did?¡± Shalia asked, disbelieving and talking to someone that Kole couldn''t hear.


    Kole relaxed slightly when he heard the sound of her blade sheathing.


    ¡°Turn around I¡¯m not going to kill you. Did you meet someone in there?¡± she asked gesturing to the door behind her.


    No longer fearing death, but still quite worried, Kole pointed to the note.


    When Zale¡¯s mother read the note, she broke out into a manic laughter.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill that little bastard. You¡¯re the kid? I was wondering why he was being so cold. I thought that might have been because of where you¡¯re from.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kole asked, confused.


    ¡°Oh, nothing. Sorry if I scared you. You can calm down now. Tell me what happened.¡±


    The words didn¡¯t help alleviate Kole¡¯s anxiety at the situation.


    Kole explained how Theral had appeared, and how he¡¯d teleported them to the room he¡¯d previously discovered.


    ¡°Now why did he need to do that?¡± Shalia asked, knowingly.


    ¡°I, uh¡­ was being chased by some divination students.¡±


    ¡°I thought that was you. Carry on.


    Kole continued, wondering how this woman had even heard about that, it hadn¡¯t been that long ago.


    ¡°Feel free to stick around in that room. I take it you¡¯re living in the library?¡± she said, after he¡¯d finished the short tale.


    Kole nodded, shamefaced.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t care about that. You¡¯re not the first. As a general rule, if a door opens for you in this place, you¡¯re allowed to go through it.¡±


    Kole perked up at that, and his eyes glanced towards the books.


    Shalia caught the look and added, ¡°But that doesn¡¯t give you a right to the things found behind the door. There¡¯s a reason these books aren¡¯t in the library proper. If you touch any of these, I won¡¯t have to kill you, you¡¯ll probably just die in a horrible magical accident or kill yourself from the horror of what you learned.¡±


    Kole wasn¡¯t sure what to say after that. He¡¯d been tempted to inspect the books, but now thought better of it.


    ¡°Any questions?¡± Shalia asked after an uncomfortably long pause.


    ¡°So, I can stay in here? Use the tables.¡±


    She thought about it for a moment and then shook her head.


    ¡°No, best not to tempt you.¡±


    ¡°Is Zale okay?¡± He asked after a brief internal struggle. ¡°She¡¯s been a little upset after a run-in with Harold and Gray.¡±


    Kole thought he¡¯d been scared of Zale¡¯s mother before, but the steel that entered her eyes at the mention of her daughter made him view the points leading up to them as a pleasant chat.


    ¡°So that''s what happened,¡± she said. ¡°She¡¯ll be fine. She¡¯s a tough girl. She¡¯ll learn she¡¯s too good for that idiot one of these days. Speaking of my daughter, you should probably get some rest. You only have a few hours until you''re supposed to meet her for breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed, realizing how late it was and that he¡¯d not had the most restful night.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he added as he turned to leave, though he wasn¡¯t sure what exactly he was thanking her for, only that it felt appropriate.


    ¡°One last thing,¡± Shalia said as Kole reached for the door. ¡°Don¡¯t tell Theral that you met me. And don¡¯t tell anyone you met him. And I mean anyone.¡±


    When Kole turned around to ask why, he found Zale¡¯s mother was gone. He was pretty sure that whatever she¡¯d done to vanish, she was still somewhere in the room, so he bit back a comment on her being overly dramatic and simply left to his new room. He lay down on the bed and was asleep in an instant.


    Twenty minutes later, his alarm went off from where it¡¯d landed on the floor after the teleportation.

 Chapter 33: Rune Library

    The Bond primals can draw upon their Font to create Bonds, both physical and metaphysical, and have utilized their magic alongside a communal ensouled artifact to create a system of energy sharing that makes the already massive people fearsome in battle.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    Kole fell out of bed as he reached for the buzzing magical device. The room had gone dark when he¡¯d fallen asleep of its own volition, and as soon as he¡¯d woken it had been flooded with a gentle light. He¡¯d forgotten himself and rolled over to find his alarm, only to find no bed or floor to roll over to.


    ¡°Ow,¡± he groaned from the floor, shielding his eyes.


    ***


    Zale was waiting for him outside the dining hall, Amara standing with her clutching something protectively. To Kole¡¯s eyes, Zale seemed back to normal, amused as always by his tardiness.


    ¡°Long night of adventure?¡± she asked jokingly.


    ¡°You¡¯d be surprised,¡± Kole answered, tempted to tell her about at least being chased by the divination class, but he wouldn¡¯t be able to deflect any of her follow-up questions. He wanted to ask her how she was feeling but didn¡¯t want to dredge up bad memories.


    ¡°Is that the blasting rod?¡± Kole asked instead, turning to Amara with forced excitement.


    Amara beamed, holding it up like a proud parent.


    ¡°It is! Can you come by the rune library after breakfast to start learning the intent?¡±


    Kole agreed, and Amara went on to explain the process she¡¯d gone through to make this first prototype blasting rod. This one only contained the blasting runes and not the self-repair ones. She was still working on those, but this would last him through a few battles before failing.


    As Amara chattered on, her friends trying to follow out of politeness but failing to keep up, Zale walked next to Kole and whispered, ¡°Sorry about ditching you yesterday.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I understand. Do you want to talk about it?¡±


    She considered briefly, biting her lip.


    ¡°Maybe later, but¡­ probably not.¡±


    Rakin was waiting inside when the trio entered, having already eaten his simple breakfast of boiled oats.


    ¡°Yer late,¡± he grumbled.


    ¡°You just need to accept that Kole¡¯s always going to be late and plan accordingly,¡± Zale said. ¡°We were waiting for him outside.¡±


    Rakin only grunted in response, not giving Kole a read on where his mind was at on the matter, but he vowed to prove Zale wrong. He had a bed now, hopefully, that would translate into better rest¡ªthough if he hadn¡¯t literally fallen out of it this morning, it would have been difficult to coax himself out.


    They discussed plans for the next day¡¯s class over breakfast. They¡¯d identified what they¡¯d done wrong in the first attempt, and at this point, there wasn¡¯t much more to go over, but the failure had stung Rakin¡¯s pride and he refused to let the topic die, no matter how repetitive it grew.


    ¡°I have to go learn to use this thing,¡± Kole said to Rakin, seeing an opportunity to get out of the conversation.


    ***


    Amara led Kole to a library in the crafting college¡¯s area of campus. The college did have a library of books and scrolls, but this was not that. They passed that section of the building and continued on to something more akin to a warehouse. Chests of drawers filled the entire space, going up towards the ceiling. For the most part, the drawers were tiny, like the catalogs in the more primitive libraries, but others were large enough to fit a person.


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    Amara went up to the attendant at the desk, and after a quick conversation Kole couldn¡¯t follow beyond the greeting, she led Kole deep into the racks.


    ¡°Here,¡± she said, gesturing to a small drawer.


    Kole pulled it open to find a tiny purple marble within. He closed his eyes and tried to get a picture of the Will within, as he would while reading a spellform, and a complicated mess of intent appeared in his mind.


    ***


    Thirty minutes later, Kole left the library with the intent to power a blasting rod nestled in his mental vault. He¡¯d surprised Amara and himself with the ease he¡¯d copied it. Runes and spells didn¡¯t use the same components to bring forth the power of the Fonts into the Material Realm, but they were similar. It was as if they were both different written languages using the same ink. Kole might not know what the words meant, but he could copy them down easily enough with the skills he¡¯d honed over the last five years. He had no doubt that with his massive Will capacity and particular struggle with magic, he had more experience copying unknown intent imbued Will than anyone his age.


    He¡¯d not expected to be able to copy the spell before Martial 101, and he¡¯d been right. Hence the running.


    The security screening upon leaving the library hadn¡¯t helped things either. A library full of gemstones required strict protocols to prevent students from running off with wealth accidentally in their pockets¡ªor intentionally. Kole wouldn¡¯t say he was tempted to steal the gem, but the thought definitely crossed his mind. For a kid who grew up with the ability to turn invisible, he¡¯d partaken in a shockingly small amount of crime.


    He reflected on that as he ran to class. He¡¯d never really needed to steal. He¡¯d not been above sneaking into restricted areas of the library and had taken a book home a time or two, but he¡¯d always returned them.


    Would I steal if it was needed? He asked himself.


    Thoughts of the dying goblins flickered through his mind and the lack of remorse he¡¯d felt.


    Probably¡­


    He made it to class just as the morning warm-ups began, and fell in line running around the practice yard. It had only been a week of training, but he thought that maybe it was just slightly less awful.


    After conditioning, Kole trained with Zale as usual. But unlike usual, Tigereye watched them as they sparred, checking on them throughout the class without comment. At the end of the hour, he finally spoke,


    ¡°Great job Zale,¡± he complemented her. ¡°I am impressed with the improvement you have knocked into his head.¡±


    Kole smiled despite himself.


    ¡°That does not mean you are not terrible,¡± Tigereye was quick to add seeing Kole¡¯s expression. ¡°Anyone else in this class trained one-on-one by Zale would have progressed much further.¡±


    Kole¡¯s smile vanished, though he knew that Tigereye¡¯s words hadn¡¯t been intended to be cruel, only to give Kole an accurate assessment of his own abilities. But still, it stung nonetheless.


    Tigereye left them and driven by the words, Kole and Zale continued their training beyond the end of the class.


    ***


    An hour later, Kole and Zale sat in the cafeteria. Zale had gotten him lunch after they¡¯d cleaned up after class, and he¡¯d stayed in the cafeteria studying the spellform Theral had given him.


    Like with the rune intent, copying the spell into his vault was rather easy and he did it in less than half an hour.


    It sure is nice just copying a spell into my vault instead of painstakingly recreating it. He reflected.


    He copied in Thunderwave, a first-tier Sound spell that created a deafening boom, throwing people back and harming them with a high-pressure sound wave. The other spell Theral had given him was Radiant Bolt, which shot a beam of light, which burned its target and illuminated it temporarily. Radiant Bolt had been similar enough to Magic Missile, which he¡¯d still held out hope for figuring out, but Thunderwave had been on his short list of potential spells to compliment his current arsenal.


    While he didn¡¯t expect the spell to work without the gate or path components copied over, he¡¯d refrained from casting it in the dining hall.


    When he¡¯d finished, he found he still had some time.


    ¡°So¡­ do you want to talk about it?¡± he asked Zale.


    ¡°No,¡± she said, but then shot back with a malicious grin ¡°But what about you? I don¡¯t really know anything about you. You met my mom, and know about my childhood trauma. That¡¯s not exactly fair.¡±


    ¡°I walked into that didn¡¯t I?¡±


    Zale nodded.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s not really a secret,¡± he admitted. ¡°I want to keep my¡­ ability private, because it''s less useful if people know you can¡­ you know.¡±


    Zale nodded.


    He told Zale about his parents, how they¡¯d been adventurers¡ªor still were, according to him¡ªand his dream to be one too. He told her about them being declared dead, and his flight from his home.


    ¡°Eww¡­¡± Zale said, leaning away from him when he got to the part about the barrels.


    He sighed.


    ¡°That was weeks ago.¡±


    He explained how he met Amara and their semi-fugitive state aboard the ship.


    ¡°Why do you think that Oldhill guy was after you?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. My best guess is that he¡¯s mad I broke the glasses¡ªor maybe because I hit his son.¡±


    ¡°You owed him a bunch of money right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Kole said thinking it over. ¡°but he basically got it all back when he took the house.¡±


    ¡°Did you take anything?¡±


    Kole shook his head.


    ¡°Nothing worth a manhunt. Just my notes, my father¡¯s spellbook¡ªwhich isn¡¯t anything special¡ªand my mother¡¯s locket.¡±


    He pulled the locket out from beneath his shirt.


    Zale looked at it, then cocked her head slightly as if examining it closer, then her eyes grew wide.


    ¡°That¡¯s an ensouled artifact!¡± she gasped.

 Chapter 34: Alive

    The Air primals hail from the floating castle. While the Primordials tend to appear in the highest concentration of their domain on the Realm, the presence of people seems to have a factor in that. The Primordial of Air has been following the Cloud Castle since shortly after it took to the skies to flee the Flood. Its people developed primal magic around 450AF.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    ¡°What?¡± Kole asked, staring at the necklace as if he¡¯d never seen it before.


    It was a simple brass pendant, the size of his thumb, but nothing special or of any visible worth.


    ¡°How do you know?¡±


    She tapped her head above her eye.


    ¡°Voidyness. It¡¯s got two auras in it, so it''s still Bonded to someone.¡±


    ¡°She is alive,¡± Kole whispered to himself.


    He¡¯d always believed, but he¡¯d never known. His father had escaped the pocket realm the first time with only the locket to show, but he¡¯d never told Kole it had been ensouled. Everyone knew that ensouled items were Bound to their wielders for life, and if Zale could somehow detect the presence of the Bond, then his mother was still alive.


    Had he known? Is this why he¡¯d been so certain? No¡­ he would have brought it with him.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I have no idea, but I think I might have a lead on finding them¡ªfinally.¡±


    Zale looked at a clock on the wall.


    ¡°Not to ruin this moment, but, don¡¯t you have class?¡±


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed.


    He gathered his things quickly and ran across campus, mind racing over the possibilities his mother¡¯s locket offered. He arrived to class winded¡ªbut not too late. Gray gave him a hostile look, angrier than usual, but otherwise left him alone. Kole tried to listen, keeping notes as best he could, but he was very distracted. Between thoughts of his mother actually being alive, and his new spell progress, he kept zoning out and imagining finding his parents and then getting distracted from that by slipping into his vault to examine the two new additions he¡¯d made.


    His vault had long been empty of actual spells until recently. To cast a spell, a wizard must store the template of it in their vault, so that they can quickly power it and send it into the Arcane Realm when the need arose. The amount of spells a wizard can ready in this way increases as they train. Typically, a wizard capable of casting first-tier spells can store one to three such spells¡ªthe ability to store three being a requirement for passing WIZ 105. Due to his arcane nature. Kole had always been able to store one or two extra spells than those of similar age, but he¡¯d never actually been able to cast the spells, so instead he¡¯d filled his vault with cantrips.


    Wizards cast cantrips by partially casting the gate and path portions of the spells they already had prepared, but since Kole couldn¡¯t cast the full spells, he simply filled his vault with these components of the Fonts he thought might be useful in cantrip form. Utilizing the less complex components of the oldest spells he could find, he had access to half a dozen cantrips, an unheard-of amount for any wizard, let alone one his age. He could have fit more, but the work to discover and recreate the pared-down versions of old spells had not been worth it.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Now however, he¡¯d had to abandon many of those cantrips in place of these new additions, and he looked on at the forms of Magic Missile, Shield, Thunderwave, and the blasting rod¡¯s force blast. His cantrips had been reduced to only Light and Air, and then of course Force and Barrier from Magic Missile and Shield respectively.


    Lost in his vault, he didn¡¯t notice class had ended until the lights turned off.


    Shaken from his thoughts, he went to the shooting range to test out his new toy.


    ***


    Alone in a long room, Kole stared down the stone mannequin at the far end, pointing a stick at it experimentally. He was trying to find the best way to aim the blasting rod before firing it, but after a few minutes realized he was just procrastinating. Learning the intent for the blasting rod had been far too easy and he feared he¡¯d missed something. If he never tried to use it, he wouldn¡¯t have to face the failure he feared.


    Pushing his pessimism down, he reached into his vault, shaped his Will to match the template stored there, and pushed it into the rod. A bolt of purple energy, identical to the one from last week, shot out from his rod and hit the wall a few feet to the side of the mannequin.


    Kole stared at the rod in awe.


    ¡°It worked,¡± he whispered to himself, still not believing it had been that simple.


    He fired the rod a few more times until he was able to hit the target twice in a row. He estimated each blast cost him around 5 Will, a little more than the rod from class, but Amara had assured him that she could make it more efficient if given the chance to tinker with it.


    After firing it five times, Kole examined the runes, looking for signs of damage. Being mundane wood, tied as it was to the Fonts of Earth, Water, and whatever else life drew upon to exist, the pure power of the Font of Force was destructive to it. Amara had told him that the runes should hold up for at least twenty blasts, but if it did fail, the failure would be explosive.


    It looked to him like the clean lines Amara¡¯s ants had carved into the rod had grown a little fuzzy, but he hadn¡¯t looked too closely at the start. Satisfied with his results, he stowed the rod and turned his attention to his vault once more.


    This time he examined the spell he¡¯d copied from the spellform Theral had provided. The spell had been unlike the spells used by modern wizards. The spell and path components were equally complex, whereas modern spells had simplified spell components and complex paths. Wizards had discovered that if they made one aspect of a spell very lean and the other complex, they could produce similar effects for less Will. Unfortunately for Kole, the part they made complex was the part his primal nature amplified the cost of.


    Theral¡¯s spell, like those Kole delved the depths of libraries for, had a path and spell of similar complexities. Wizards used to tailor spells and paths to fit together, increasing the complexity of both until a working spell was formed.


    From the spell construct, Kole held in his mind¡ªlacking a gate and path component¡ªhe estimated the cost for this spell would be 1 to 2 Will if it could be cast as is. If he did the same¡ªstripping out the path and gate¡ªto another modern spell, the remaining component would hardly be a measurable fraction of Will.


    So, hope further buoyed by his last success and the revelation about his mother, Kole stood in the training hall and sent the spell through his bridge into the Arcane Realm.


    Nothing happened.


    Inside his vault, he felt the spell leave him, seeking the Font of Sound, but undirected by a path, it was quickly torn apart by the forces of the Arcane Realm.


    "Flood,¡± he cursed, but he wasn¡¯t particularly surprised.


    While his pessimism had been a little overblown before, he¡¯d known that this wouldn¡¯t work on the first try.


    He tried a few more times, trying to get a feel for the failure, and quickly realized he had no idea how to construct a path from scratch. But, he knew who did.


    Professor Lonin could teach me this if I took his offer. He reflected, knowing the knowledge to be of no use. Maybe Zale¡¯s uncle could help.


    He left the training hall before incurring too bad of a Will headache. He had a lot of reading to do on a whole new topic. He tried to push thoughts of the locket to the side. He would need to pursue that, but right now was not the time. Wherever his mother was, she¡¯d survived this long. He needed to learn so he could help her when he found her.

 Chapter 35: Doug

    The Space primals originate from the Hollow Peak, the city once known as Atlian. The creation of a hyper-compressed spacial pocket within a cavern attracted the Primordial of Space. The giant spiders bred for silk were the first Space primals to arise, but Illusian Space primals arose shortly thereafter.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    Kole wasn¡¯t late to meet Zale and Rakin for breakfast the next morning, though he was very tired. His new bed alleviated the soreness he¡¯d been feeling each morning from sleeping on the ground but had done nothing to make him go to bed at a more reasonable hour.


    ¡°Ye look like shite,¡± Rakin said in way of greeting.


    ¡°Good morning to you too,¡± Kole replied.


    ¡°Late night?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°Always.¡±


    They ate a light breakfast, talking over last-minute plans, but the plans were not complicated and had long been talked to death.


    ***


    They entered the training hall of class to find the other students already huddled, whispering conspiratorially to each other. The class was smaller, down to around ninety from the original hundred and ten, many students dropping out after their experience with the goblins, having confronted the realities of the adventuring life and realizing they were not cut out for it.


    Following the direction of all the poorly hidden furtive glances, they found the new object of the collective¡¯s disdain. A young man stood talking to the professors at the front of the room. He was dressed in the forest greens and browns of an Assuine worshiper and his skin was tanned from long days in the sun. What made him stand out, and drew the attention of all the other students, was the long serpentine tail swaying energetically behind him and the pair of antlers protruding from his hairline. The antlers looked to be those of a young buck¡ªthough Kole didn¡¯t know this, never having seen a deer.


    ¡°A demonkin,¡± Kole whispered.


    ¡°A primal too,¡± Zale observed, watching as Underbrook passed him an orange stick to accompany the green and yellow he already had.


    Rakin let out a whistle.


    ¡°Blessed and a primal,¡± Rakin observed. ¡°If he weren¡¯t a demonkin, groups would be fighting over him.¡±


    Kole had never met a demonkin and¡ªas with most things¡ªhis people had lost their fear and hatred of the Faust-spawned creatures in their hundreds of years of isolation.


    He knew that they¡¯d once been a menace before the Flood, slaves of the demon lords that made their way to the Material Realm. As slaves, they were pitiful creatures, used as fodder in the insane wars of the cults that worshiped the demons. When their demon lords were inevitably banished, their followers were killed. Whenever a demon lord arose, they brought¡ªor created¡ªmore demonkin.


    When the Avatar had arisen, the demonkin began to manifest sorcerous magics and a feral insanity along with them. They followed in the wake of the Avatar, and in doing so found their way to Basin where the Avatar was trapped. From then until the Last Dragon War they lived on the fringes, another race of the forsaken.


    But, after the corruption of the Avatar was sealed they regained their sanity. Some had broken free of the corruption before that final sealing and fought against their kin at the side of the Illusian races. Since then they have still existed on the fringes. Tolerated but not accepted.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    As they watched, the demonkin student finished his conversation with the professor and turned to join his classmates. In doing so, his tail hit a weapon rack behind him, knocking over a row of glaives. He froze, eyes growing wide as he watched the tall-bladed weapons fall towards him. Underbrook wasted no time lunging forward, grabbing the student by the wrist, and teleporting them both to safety.


    When the tumult of the falling weapons died down, Kole distantly heard the new student say, ¡°Sorry.¡± In a soft defeated tone.


    ***


    ¡°Class, welcome to your second week of PREVENT!¡± Underbrook called happily to the gathered students after the mess had been sorted. ¡°Today you will be facing off once more against the goblins of last week. You¡¯ve had a week to reflect on your mistakes and plan your next assault, but¡­ so have they. Keep that in mind as you prepare to embark. We¡¯ll pull lots to determine the order, so each team should send a representative to the front.


    ¡°The sneaky weasel,¡± Rakin grumbled. ¡°He never told us the goblins would remember our assault.¡±


    ¡°He sort of did,¡± Kole said, recalling what Professor Underbrook had said before they had entered last week. ¡°He said there was no shame in retreating, but warned that the enemy would prepare in our absence.¡±


    ¡°Bah. That¡¯s stupid. We didn¡¯t retreat. We died fighting.¡±


    Kole, who had retreated, thought it best not to point out that dying in battle was hardly an improvement on fleeing.


    ¡°We¡¯re last,¡± Zale said, rejoining the pair after going to draw a lot. ¡°Underbrook asked us to come see him as well. He said a few students didn¡¯t show up today who hadn¡¯t formally dropped. He¡¯s going to fit the new guy into a group. All the people that formally dropped already had their groups resorted during the week.¡±


    ¡°Who dropped out late?¡± Rakin asked.


    ¡°Shalin and Drupin,¡± Zale said, listing two people Kole didn¡¯t know. ¡°But Shalin¡¯s group members claim she didn¡¯t drop. They said she went missing over the weekend. Left all her stuff in her room even.¡±


    ¡°Odd. She was the Space primal from the Hollow Peak right?¡±


    Zale nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Mom if she knows anything later.¡±


    They gathered at the front of the room with two other groups of three students. One group looked irritated, while the other somewhat distraught. Kole guessed Shalin was from the second group


    ¡°This is Doug,¡± Underbrook introduced the demonkin. ¡°Yes, he is a demonkin, and no, he is not enthralled by the will of Faust. He is a skilled ranger, Blessed by Assuine, with latent primal talent. Who would like to extend him an offer for their group¡±


    An awkward silence followed, the other groups looking at their members, no one wanting to draw attention to themselves.


    Doug, who was already uncomfortable from being the center of attention, began to wilt under the weight of the silence. Zale grew angry at her classmates'' actions and stepped forward angrily.


    ¡°You can join us!¡±


    "Hurray,¡± Rakin muttered, so only Kole could hear. ¡°Now we¡¯re going to be even more popular.¡±


    ***


    ¡°This is Kole,¡± Zale said later when they¡¯d stepped to the side of the room to get acquainted with Doug. ¡°He is a wizard. Rakin, who¡¯s a pugilist training with the Order of the Resounding Silence, and I¡¯m Zale. I swing swords.¡±


    Doug hadn¡¯t spoken since Underbrook had left, he¡¯d only gaped at Zale.


    When he didn¡¯t respond, she added, ¡°And yes, I¡¯m part voidling.¡±


    At that, Doug¡¯s senses returned to himself, and he grew visibly embarrassed and then ashamed as he realized he¡¯d been treating Zale much the same way others treated him.


    ¡°Sorry! I¡¯m Doug, but you already know that.¡±


    ¡°First day with the tail?¡± Rakin asked, pointing as Doug¡¯s tail smacked him in the leg as it waved about in Doug¡¯s nervousness.


    ¡°Oh! No! Sorry! This place is odd,¡± he said, gesturing to the room. ¡°Assuine¡¯s power is lacking here. I¡¯m used to the forest, where I can sense my surroundings through my Blessing. I can feel the presence of others, but¡­ you are invisible to me.¡±


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin said, refusing to elaborate. ¡°I would be.¡±


    We moved from introductions to our plan for the trial of the day. Doug only listened, not asking questions.


    ¡°Just stay in the back and shoot the green people,¡± Rakin advised.


    ¡°Got it,¡± Doug said, oblivious to¡ªor choosing to ignore¡ªRakin¡¯s rude tone.


    They made their way to the wall of equipment and began to get the gear they¡¯d discussed.


    Rakin collected some throwing darts, while Zale gathered some rope and a bow with a quiver full of arrows. I took a clarity potion for myself, and a dagger. Doug took some extra arrows inspecting each carefully, and a second hatchet he put on his belt, joining another there.


    ¡°How do they afford to pass these out?¡± Kole asked, holding up the potion.


    ¡°It''s just blue water,¡± Zale answers. ¡°The dungeon makes them real, and don¡¯t ask. I don¡¯t understand how it works.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Kole asked, dumbly.


    Rakin sighed, Zale smiled, and then Tigereye¡¯s voice boomed from just behind them.


    ¡°You are up.¡±

 Chapter 36: Round Two

    The origins of the Ice primals of the arctic circle are unknown. The tribes that developed the magic had lived there prior to the Flood, and had only oral histories for much of that time. If those histories are to be believed, they once had a tropical utopia on the ice, which was lost when the gods left the realm. Those same tales claim their Primal magic arose shortly thereafter, which would mean they have had primal magic for a thousand years.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    The door opened to the same clearing it had the week before, but unlike last time, they immediately heard a rustle at the forest¡¯s edge.


    ¡°Go!¡± Zale barked, and she and Rakin broke off into a sprint towards the sound.


    Rakin¡¯s small legs outpaced Zale¡¯s, as the earth rose beneath his feet to propel him forward.


    Kole drew his blasting rod, scanning the woods for the source of the sound, but couldn¡¯t make it out. Whatever it was, it was running through the undergrowth away from them.


    Doug took a moment to collect himself before following after Rakin. Rakin disappeared into the woods and a moment later came the sound of violence as he caught up to his quarry.


    ¡°Goblins!¡± he shouted. ¡°Two more are getting away.¡±


    Kole ran into the woods behind Zale futilely, knowing he¡¯d never be able to catch up. The goblins had taken a small game trail, and Zale ran ahead of him cutting the branches out of their way as they tried to catch up.


    After nearly a minute of chase, they came across a gory scene. Two goblins lay face down in the dirt, one with an arrow through its neck, the wound still pumping blood.


    ¡°Who did¡ª?¡± Zale began to ask, when Doug stepped out into the path, the branches parting silently around him as he walked.


    ¡°Sorry I let them get away,¡± he apologized. ¡°I was just so surprised by the sudden return of Assuine¡¯s bounty.¡±


    Zale and Kole looked at each other, and then laughed, remembering their fumbled attempt to navigate the forest on our first attempt.


    ¡°No need to apologize,¡± Kole said. ¡°You did great.¡±


    Rakin joined them a moment later and they devised a new plan in light of their new companion¡¯s skills.


    Ten minutes later, Doug returned.


    ¡°The cave is where you said it would be. There¡¯s five goblins guarding the mouth on top of those boulders, and they have another patrolling the forest¡¯s edge with a dog. I asked around, and there are a few more goblins with dogs throughout the woods.¡±


    ¡°You asked around?¡± Kole asked. ¡°Who¡¯d you run into?¡±


    ¡°Birds, a squirrel, and a chipmunk,¡± Doug said as if it were an entirely reasonable answer.


    ¡°Can we take them out?¡± Zale asked, taking the source of the information in stride.


    Doug shook his his head.


    ¡°That would be risky. They are patrolling very close to the cave. We¡¯d risk them raising the alarm.¡±


    In the end, they decided to skirt the perimeter, outside the range of the patrols. Once on the far side of the hill from the cave entrance, they could close in with less risk.


    Doug led the way, and Kole marveled at how the branches parted before him as he walked. He walked almost casually and made no sound, the leaves above dodging out of the way of his antlers, and his feet always seeming to find spots to land free of leaves and sticks. The grace with which he traveled through the woods contrasted greatly with the clumsiness he¡¯d shown back in the Dahn. But, as Kole watched Doug¡¯s tail swaying behind him, he noticed the plants parted before it as easily as they did around his antlers.


    He doesn¡¯t need to be careful out here. Kole realized. He must not be used to being away from nature.


    While Doug¡¯s passage was effortless, he was alone in that. The branches only parted for Doug and returned to block the path in his wake. Rakin cursed the whole way, while Zale¡¯s armor rattled and clanked the whole way, causing Kole to constantly scan the surroundings for an ambush, thus making his own noise as he failed to watch his step¡ªnot that he needed the help to make noise.


    Doug seemed unconcerned by their blundering, and after a ten-minute trek, punctuated by brief chats with birds, he said, ¡°We¡¯re here. The birds tell me the goblins seem to appear in this area as if by magic but they¡¯ve never seen how.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Zale said, taking charge. ¡°Rakin, can you detect the secret entrance anywhere?¡±


    ¡°Not yet. But if we walk around I should be able to find it.¡±


    Doug led them through the woods, seeking signs of the goblin¡¯s passage.


    ¡°Stop,¡± Rakin said, closing his eyes. ¡°There¡¯s a cave below us.¡±


    The group looked around, scanning the surroundings for any possible entrance.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s coming,¡± Rakin added in an urgent whisper.


    They all heard the hollow thud of a hatch being thrown open and turned to see a small goblin head sticking up from the undergrowth, facing away from them.


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    Doug drew his bow while Kole held out his rod, but Zale held her hand up, signaling them to wait.


    Cursing in the goblin tongue, the small creature squeezed out of the tight hole. Once free, he reached his arm back in and pulled up a mangy mongrel of a dog behind him by the scruff of its neck.


    Zale lowered his hand, and they all broke into motion.


    Doug vanished, and Kole sent his Will into his rod. Before Kole registered Doug¡¯s absence, Doug¡¯s arrow came flying over Kole¡¯s shoulder from behind where it flew off into the trees.


    ¡°Assuine¡¯s mercy,¡± the demonkin cursed.


    Kole¡¯s purple bolt of force struck the goblin in the chest, making a much messier hole than the neat coin holes of his magic missile. With the front of its chest missing, he died before he even knew they were under attack. The dog, who¡¯d begun to sniff the air as soon as he¡¯d surfaced, saw his companion fall and snarled at them, hackles raised. But, turned to flee as it saw Rakin and Zale charging after it.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Doug shouted to them from where he¡¯d somehow appeared behind Kole, but they didn¡¯t listen.


    The pair made short work of the dog and turned back to Doug.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t need to do that,¡± Doug said, defeated.


    ¡°Yes we did,¡± Zale said, not without sympathy. ¡°We killed his master. There was nothing you could have said to him to make him trust us.¡±


    ¡°We could have tried,¡± Doug defended.


    ¡°And we would have failed,¡± Zale finished for him. ¡°Rakin, make that entrance wide enough for us. And Doug, what in the realms happened just now?¡±


    Rakin moved to the hatch the goblin had come through, and listened with his primal senses while Doug stammered.


    ¡°I-uh¡­ don¡¯t have any control over my primal abilities,¡± Doug confessed.


    ¡°Bah!¡± Rakin shouted in frustration. ¡°Now we got two! It''s clear by the way. Gab later.¡±


    Rakin threw the hatch open and jumped in.


    He got stuck almost immediately, but the dirt seemed to fall away around him as if it were ice and he was a hot iron. Slowly, he descended into the tunnel, widening it as he went.


    ¡°Clear!¡± came his shouted whisper once he¡¯d disappeared out of sight.


    Zale looked at Doug and asked, ¡°You good?¡±


    He nodded, though he still looked upset.


    ¡°Good, I¡¯ll come last.¡±


    Kole went down the hole, blind in the darkness.


    He continued downward until Rakin whispered, ¡°Stop.¡±


    Kole, who¡¯d thought himself to still be in the narrow tunnel, nearly screamed in surprise but choked down the reflex. He felt the dwarf''s hands on him, guiding him out.


    Below, he heard the running of water echoing through the cave and smelled the overwhelming aroma of sewage.


    "Gods, I thought their blood smelled bad," Kole said, holding his nose.


    Zale came down next, and they were lucky for the sound of the water to drown out the sound of her armor.


    Once Doug was down, Rakin took charge.


    "Follow me, Zale guide the blind human. No talking."


    They waded into the filthy water that rose to their knees. The subterranean river was only a few feet across, but the rough edges of the cavern and frequent large blocks resulted in a disproportionately loud flow.


    As they traveled the riverbed rose upward, and widened out. As it did, it grew quieter and they began to hear Zale''s armor over the rapids.


    At Rakin''s signal, the group came to a halt. Kole, being blind in the darkness, walked into Zale''s back. Only Zale''s reflexes in catching him kept him from falling into the water.


    "You''re too loud," Rakin whispered to Zale. "You need to ditch the armor."


    Zale shook her head, which Kole felt as her hair whipped his face.


    "Let me try something I''ve been working on."


    She closed her eyes in focus and when she opened them, she smiled triumphantly. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.


    "What''re you doing?" Doug asked.


    "What is she doing?" Kole echoed, unable to see.


    "She''s just flapping her gums," Rakin explained.


    Seeing their confusion, Zale brought her metal-clad hands together to call, only no sound was produced.


    "Ye blocked the sound?" Rakin asked, only for Zale to point to her ear while shaking her head.


    "She can''t hear us," Doug explained for Kole''s benefit.


    "Alright," Rakin said, satisfied with the solution. "let''s go. Keep it quiet. We''re close to the right elevation so we should be close."


    The tunnel continued to widen as they waded upstream, the ceiling too rising higher. By the time the stream was only a few inches of running water, they came to a small subterranean beach of gravel.


    Rakin motioned for a stop and crept ahead of the group, his Earth primal abilities making his steps on the loose rock silent. He returned a few moments later.


    ¡°This is the right tunnel we didn¡¯t take last time. If we keep going upstream we will be below the ridge we fought on. There''s at least a dozen goblins walking around up there.¡± Rakin whispered on his return.


    ¡°Let''s keep going. Maybe there¡¯s another way up,¡± a no longer silenced Zale decided.


    Rakin led the blind human, deaf voidling, and clumsy demonkin up the river, and shortly they were in the crescent-shaped chamber they¡¯d fought in before. Torches were lit up top, finally giving Kole some light. The light of the torches didn¡¯t extend far enough down to illuminate them. Slowly, they crept upstream, all while goblins milled about above, joking in their cruel tongue.


    Rakin stopped them silently and pointed up the ridge. Faintly, Kole could make out the silhouette of logs, backlit by the torches.


    ¡°Traps,¡± the dwarf whispered.


    They slowed their pace then, scanning the riverbed for any trip wires, but whatever triggered the trap wasn¡¯t down below. They made it through the large chamber without exposure and continued on in the dark until Rakin cursed in a sharp whisper.


    ¡°Flood.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kole asked


    ¡°The river ends, it goes under the stone,¡± he explained.


    ¡°Can you widen it?¡±


    ¡°No, there''s no cavity beyond. I can feel it.¡±


    ¡°What should we do?¡± Doug asked.


    As if in answer to the question, they heard the light splash of drops hitting the water.


    ¡°Is there a path up?¡± Kole asked, looking up into the darkness.


    Plop


    Something struck Kole in the face.


    Plop, Plop, shlop.


    Three more projectiles¡ªeach progressively less solid¡ªlanded before he could react to the first, and with them came the overwhelming¡ªand now familiar¡ªodor of goblin shit.


    Zale¡ªwho was not blind¡ªthrew her silence field up once more and broke out into a silent pantomime of laughter.


    Before he could fully react, Rakin reacted and pulled him down into the water, shoving his head under.


    Because of Rakin¡¯s quick thinking, when Kole began to retch uncontrollably, the sound of was lost under the surface. The urge to vomit fought with the urge to scream in disgust, but the more physical of the two reactions won out, and Kole expelled his breakfast into the already filthy stream. He fought back the urge to gasp for breath after, but failed, choking in some water before clamping his mouth shut. He fought to stand, but Rakin held him under until suddenly another hand grabbed his neck.


    Zale pulled Kole up by the collar and hugged his face tight to her chest. He tried to hold it in, but couldn¡¯t help coughing up the water he¡¯d inhaled before desperately gasping for breath.


    To his surprise, no sound came from his mouth as he fought for air. He could still hear the cave around him, but nothing came from him. Once he¡¯d stopped coughing, struggling, and generally being a panicked animal, he felt Zale¡¯s grasp loosen and she let him go.


    When his mouth got more than an inch away from Zale¡¯s chest, he heard the sound of his own ragged breathing return.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± he whispered to Rakin, whose quick thinking likely saved them.


    ¡°Rakin¡¯s gone,¡± Doug answered. ¡°He started climbing up the poop shaft as soon as Zale had you.¡±


    As if on cue, a small body fell into the water next to them, splashing them all with the filthy vomit-strewn water.


    Reacting quickly, Zale chopped at the figure with her sword, and the smell of goblin blood joined with the rest.


    ¡°Come up!¡± Rakin¡¯s voice echoed from above.

 Chapter 37: Rescue

    Secondary Fonts, such as Illusions, Understanding*, and Wind, are all recent developments with uncertain origins. As a naturalist, it is outside of my purview to speculate on their origin. Regardless of their origins, I have made some observations on the Secondary Fonts and their impact on the species of Kaltis.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    Kole climbed up first, lighting his runic lamp at its lowest setting when Rakin gave him the okay. The lamp was surprisingly high quality, and the more he used it, the more he was sure he wasn''t supposed to have kept it. Despite the low level of light, Kole had to squint after being in total darkness for so long.


    The climb was simple if not necessarily easy. Rakin had molded steps and handholds into the wall as he climbed, and Kole tried to ignore the shaft¡¯s intended purpose.


    "Kill the light," Rakin whispered as he neared the top.


    Kole complied and the dwarf helped him up into a circular room lit by a crude torch. The room was largely empty, save of course for the hole, and the two young girls tied up in the corner, passed out but still breathing. The entrance to the chamber was small, Kole would have to crouch to fit through and was covered by a filthy sheet.


    "Are they okay?" Kole asked and saw Rakin''s curt nod in reply.


    Zale surfaced next, silent once more through some application of her primal magic or "voidy-ness" that Kole really wanted to ask about.


    Doug surfaced last and scanned the room.


    "No one''s coming," Rakin told the group, hand to the ground.


    "How long does it normally take a goblin to do his business?" Kole asked, in jest. "I think we have about that long before somebody comes in to see what happened to this room¡¯s last occupant."


    "No clue, there''s not exactly reading material in here," Rakin answered, looking around.


    "I can make one more silence aura," Zale told the group. "I think we should try sneaking out. I''ll wake the girls with a silenced hand over their mouths, and you can explain the situation. Then we go down the hole and sneak out the back."


    No one objected, and Zale walked over to the girls, gently placing her hand over their already gagged mouths.


    As one would do when woken from an uncomfortable sleep by being muffled, they freaked out.


    "Calm down ye idiots," Rakin scolded the girls.


    Kole quickly stepped in, realizing maybe he was better suited for this task.


    "We''re here to rescue you. We''re adventurers sent by the..." he paused realizing the actual answer to the situation wouldn''t make sense to the two girls who were possibly magical constructs.


    "Mayor," he finished with the first thing that came to his mind.


    The pair relaxed slightly at that and stopped squirming, allowing Zale to remove her hands from their mouths and cut their bonds.


    "Can you climb down a ladder?" Kole asked them, realizing now that they were about his age.


    "I think so," one said weakly.


    "Take this," Kole said, handing the speaker his light. "My friend Rakin will descend before you. He can catch you if you slip. But try not to, he can be a grump."


    Rakin grunted in response, eliciting a small smile from the girls.


    Zale positioned herself to the edge of the door flap, while Doug stood at the far side of the room with his bow at the ready.


    ¡°I¡¯ll stand watch outside,¡± Kole volunteered, turning invisible and ducking through the flap.


    The opening beyond took a tight turn to the right before widening out into the large crescent chamber the river passed through. The chamber was dark, save for the torches that stood outside each of the entrances to the other two-chamber openings. He could see light emanating from the tunnel they¡¯d used to enter on their first attempt. As he watched, he saw a goblin run out of the entrance tunnel squealing something in the goblin''s tongue. He ran past the first chamber where Zale died and into the second they¡¯d never seen.


    Kole ducked back into the prison latrine room and whispered, ¡°I think someone found our victims outside. Hurry up.¡±


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    He moved back outside to see a group of goblins walking towards his location with purpose. The lead goblin stood a head taller than the rest, wearing an elaborate headdress of bone that marked him as a shaman or sorcerer.


    ¡°They¡¯re coming!¡± Kole rasped as he jumped back in, just in time to see the second girl¡¯s head dip beneath the surface.


    ¡°I¡¯ll cover the door,¡± Zale said, keeping her position. ¡°Don¡¯t shoot me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± Kole said as Doug said, ¡°I won¡¯t.¡±


    Kole drew his blasting rod and held his breath as he heard the group of goblins approach. The first to enter was short even for a goblin, and Zale cut him in half from shoulder to hip before he even noticed her.


    The next walked through the flap, tripping on his dead comrade¡¯s body, and taking an arrow to the chest. The goblin gasped as he got struck and let out a wet scream, alerting the shaman to the ambush.


    Kole heard the arcane mutterings of goblin magic from beyond the flap, and dove to the side shouting, ¡°Spell!¡±


    The room filled with thunder, and Kole felt a sharp pain in each ear as the sound ruptured his eardrums, leaving behind only a high-pitched whine. Struck by the full brunt of the attack, Zale was thrown back towards the hole in the center of the room, and Doug slammed into the rough cave wall he stood against. The dead and dying goblins on the floor were thrown toward the hole in a tangled heap.


    Kole recovered first, and pointed his rod at the entry, expecting the shaman to enter at any moment. But, nothing came. He saw blood dripping down the ears of Zale and Doug as they regained their feet, and he felt the same on himself.


    Then in the subjective silence, a pair of goblins charged into the room, crude short swords drawn, eyes casting about wildly. Kole struck one with a bolt, while Doug took down the other with an arrow. When a third didn¡¯t come, Zale motioned for the boys to watch the door, as she picked up the small goblin bodies and pushed them to the entryway to form a barrier. Once that was done, Kole stuck his head down the hole, where he saw his light shining clearly from the bottom.


    Waving wildly, Kole got Doug¡¯s attention and pointed for him to go down the hole. The demonkin obliged and was halfway in when a thick smoke began to fill the chamber. Zale backed away from the entryway, holding a cut piece of her shirt to her mouth. She tried to push Kole toward the hole, but he shook his head, pushing her to it instead. Unsure of his plan, but trusting he had one, she sheathed her sword and began to descend.


    The smoke grew thick rapidly, stinging Kole''s eyes and driving him to a wracking cough. Between gasps, he focused his mind and used the remainder of his Will to cast the Air cantrip, creating a well of fresh air in his palm just as he had to survive the stench of the deep whale barrel. Compared to the burning in his lungs and stinging in his eyes, he hardly noticed the side effects of being Will drained. He fought through the pain of his existence, and pulled a clarity potion from his belt, downing it in one go.


    Ugh, he thought, fighting back another bout of vomiting. These somehow taste worse than back home.


    The spell had banished the smoke directly in front of his face, and he watched as Zale descended slowly, armor getting caught as she fumbled blindly for footholds below. The first goblin came through the smoke, just as her head disappeared beneath the surface, and Kole struck it in the head with his quarterstaff before it noticed his presence.


    Before more could come from the smoke, Kole turned invisible.


    Flood, he cursed inwardly, noticing that he looked like a human-shaped void in the smoke.


    Luckily, the smoke was thick enough, that anyone who could see his outline would be within striking distance of his staff. No goblin followed after the first, and Kole watched the door nervously, waiting for what the crafty creatures would try next.


    He moved to the side of the hole opposite the entrance and lay on the ground, blasting rod extended before him. He fought the urge to descend the hole. If he could keep the goblins focused on him up here, his friends had a chance to escape.


    After what felt to Kole like days, but was, in reality, a few minutes, the smoke began to clear. When it did, Kole froze as a single scrawny goblin flew into the room as if thrown. The wretched creature landed inches from the hole, and immediately jumped to his feet, scanning the room.


    Finding it apparently empty, he looked down the hole and then began to shout in the goblin tongue.


    Deciding it was worth the risk, Kole reached across the hole, grabbed the goblin by the ankle, and pulled it in. His invisibility vanished as soon as he made contact with the enemy, and the goblin''s eyes grew wide in recognition before it fell screaming to its death below.


    Kole recast invisibility as soon as he was free of contact with the goblin and disappeared just as two more ran in, weapons drawn. They scanned the room, looking for their companion.


    Kole held still as they searched the room, holding back the urge to shove them down the hole when they grew close. The pair quickly realized their escape path and ran out of the chamber shouting.


    Kole followed, careful to stay back far enough to be unheard. Outside the latrine room, he saw the goblins gathering weapons while those who were already armed were running to the entrance and others descended the cliff face down to the stream below.


    Kole couldn''t see his friends but expected that they were trapped in the cavern that joined the beach to the larger chamber. He crept along the ridge, careful to keep his distance from the enemy. As he made his way towards the entrance, he thought he could hear the sounds of battle¡ªthough he knew it to be just a figment of his imagination. When a group of the crudely armed creatures ran past, he ducked into a side chamber. When he came out, the only foes remaining stood over the log traps Rakin had spotted below.


    He ran down the incline towards the entrance, stumbling in the low torchlight. When he neared the bottom, by the entrance, the sound of battle grew louder below¡ªthough Kole couldn¡¯t hear it, deaf as he was. The occasional spark lit the darkness as blades met, and somewhere in the blackness below, his friends held back a swarm of goblins as they fought to enter the cave.


    Three crossbowmen stood above the logs, looking down the stocks of their weapons into the darkness below.


    Should I? Kole asked himself, eyeing the crude ropes holding the logs up.


    He weighed his options. If he was wrong, and they weren¡¯t in the cave, they would die. But, if he did nothing, they would likely die anyway.


    Making up his mind¡ªcomforted by the fact that they wouldn¡¯t actually die, even if he was wrong¡ªhe drew his dagger and slashed at one of the ropes holding the logs.

 Chapter 38: Escape

    The Secondary Fonts produce less destructive Primordials than the originals. These Primordials are always located in or near places of Illusian habitation¡ªeven when significantly more densely aspected regions exist. The development of Illusian primals for these Fonts is accelerated when compared to the original Fonts created by the gods.


    *It should be noted that this researcher first named this Font "Community" when it was discovered by her and her team, but the primals of this Font wish for it to be called Understanding.


    Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    Kole¡¯s blade cleanly sliced the ropes, his invisibility holding up despite the action. The log shifted slightly at first, and the goblin leaning against it jumped back in surprise, giving it the extra push it needed to tumble over the edge. He still only heard a high-pitched whine with his destroyed ears as the massive tree trunk bounced and rolled down the steep incline.


    The other two goblins stared at the third in shock, shouting something to him. The one by Kole raised his hands in denial, shaking his head, but the other two were not convinced by his pleas, and they each fired their weapons into his diminutive body.


    When the murderous pair moved to reload, Kole ran behind them both. He landed a kick on the side of the nearest one, breaking his invisibility but sending the unaware goblin over the edge. The third dropped his unloaded crossbow and grabbed at a dagger from his belt, but Kole was ready, and he blasted the creature in the chest with a bolt of purple energy.


    Moving quickly, Kole cut the ropes on the remaining two logs, sending them down to finish off any that remained below. Then, he took a torch from the wall and threw it over the edge. Briefly, before it extinguished itself in the water, Kole saw that some of the goblins remained, but the logs had stacked near the cave mouth, restricting the entrance enough that Doug could swipe at any goblin limb that tried to enter.


    Kole turned invisible again and continued down. He felt his way along the wall as he navigated back toward the steep rock face they¡¯d climbed on their first visit. Goblins filled the entry chamber where it split to the beach and the ridge. The shaman stood, backlit by the entrance, and he watched as his followers flooded toward Kole¡¯s friends.


    Looking for anything he could use, Kole scanned the room. The rocky climb remained as Rakin had fixed it on their first climb, but Kole spotted something they had¡ªthankfully¡ªmissed on their original attempt. A small wooden board lay on the ground, with a taut string coming out from under it, leading up into the ceiling above the cave entrance. Kole couldn¡¯t see what it did, but he could make an educated guess. He slammed his foot down on the pressure plate and felt a snap as the string separated and flew up into the darkness.


    Rocks and boulders fell from the ceiling onto the goblins below, and Kole felt the ground shake with each impact, deaf as he still was. Dust pillowed up from the impacts, and the cave quickly became obscured, the only thing Kole could see being the light of the cave entrance.


    Carefully he climbed down the stone wall and groped blindly through the debris-strewn entrance, over the dead and dying goblins until suddenly he was outside in the light.


    Kole rose from all fours to run but was suddenly struck in the back with a blunt object. He fell to his knees but recovered enough sense to roll forward and turn, facing his attacker. The goblin shaman stood behind him, with a skull-topped club raised for another attack, murder and hate in his eyes.


    Kole raised his hands and saw that a gray dust had completely covered him, revealing him. He groped for his quarterstaff but realized he¡¯d dropped it back by the log trap and not remembered to go back for it.


    Stupid!


    Instead, he held up his blasting rod and fired a bolt wildly at the oncoming attacker. The bolt went wide, and the goblin came on, swinging his club at Kole¡¯s chest. Kole jumped back, dodging the swing, and came back with another blast of his rod, tapping the goblin on the arm before unleashing his Will through the weapon.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The purple energy exploded into the goblin¡¯s arm, severing it below the elbow and sending him sprawling back.


    The anger in the goblin¡¯s eyes turned to madness as Kole lined up a shot to finish him off, but then the shaman closed his eyes and Kole began to feel a deep connection forming to the Arcane Realm at the back of his head.


    Death spell! He realized and turned to run.


    He made it only ten steps before he was thrown across the field by an overwhelming wave of sound.


    ***


    Kole came too sometime later, though he didn¡¯t know how long it had been. At first, he was confused but the pain in his everything quickly jogged his memory. Cautiously he opened his eyes to find himself near the forest¡¯s edge, far closer than he had been when he¡¯d been struck by the shaman¡¯s death spell. Then it all came back to him. The shaman had killed himself, drawing uncontrolled power from the Font of Sound in an attempt to take Kole with him.


    He rolled onto his back, letting out a gasp of pain when he tried to use his left arm.


    That¡¯s definitely broken.


    With a great effort, he sat up and looked around the cave¡¯s clearing. A few diminutive shapes were milling about in the darkness, but no goblins were around. Kole forced himself to his feet, and took a few unsteady steps into the woods, holding onto trees for support.


    Painfully, he made his way through the woods, not even remembering to turn invisible.


    Still deaf, his head spun around manically, looking for any sign of an ambush he couldn¡¯t hear. He quickly came to realize that he had no idea where he was.


    What happens if I stay lost? Will I be pulled from this place? Will I wander around until I die of thirst and the dungeon spits me out?


    Lost in thoughts of his potential modes of failure, he didn¡¯t at first notice the bluebird on the branch in front of him, waving its wings as if to get his attention.


    After the third time, the bird repositioned itself to block his path, the oddity finally struck home in Kole¡¯s concussed brain. He stopped, looking at the bird. It seemed to tell it had been noticed and flew off to Kole¡¯s left a few yards before stopping on a branch.


    Weird¡­  Kole thought, but then recalled what Doug had said before about ¡®asking around.¡¯


    He followed the bird through the woods, still paranoid of ambush, but trusting the bird to flee if any goblins were near. After ten minutes of this, the bird flew up high, landing on a high branch of a tree. Kole began to look for a path to the bird when he noticed the group of goblins gathered beneath the tree, standing in a circle with weapons drawn. The surroundings came back to him, and he realized where he was. They were gathered around the hatch they¡¯d use to enter the caves.


    Kole dove behind a large tree, and drew his blasting rod, inspecting it for damage as Amara had advised he do after battle. As far as he could tell, it had survived the Thunderwave far better than he had. He risked a glimpse around the tree and counted four goblins with crude bows drawn and trained on the hatch.


    Elaborate plans of ambush flickered through Kole¡¯s mind, but he threw them all out. He still couldn¡¯t hear, and who knew what was happening through the hatch. He lined up his blasting rod at the lone goblin facing his direction and fired a bolt at its chest. As soon as the projectile had fired he ducked behind the tree, turning invisible again.


    He didn¡¯t wait for them to find him and ran around the group to another tree. His passage was clumsy and loud, and he saw three remaining goblins look right toward him, though they couldn¡¯t see the source of the terrible woodcraft. One goblin fired blindly and the arrows streaked right before Kole¡¯s path forcing him to stop and fall back behind a large oak.


    Pausing to gather his breath and steady his hand, Kole stuck his head out and aimed at the nearest goblin. All three had abandoned their ambush and moved to find him.


    Once more his bolt struck true, but this time the goblins were ready. The remaining two loosed arrows at him as soon as he appeared, and one landed a lucky shot, grazing Kole¡¯s ribs and fouling his attempt to turn invisible.


    Kole fired another bolt, missing terribly, but driving the goblins behind cover. His Will was dangerously low, and he judged he could send one more bolt, but that wouldn¡¯t be enough.


    He sat there debating using his Will to turn invisible and flee, or to take out one more goblin. Above him, the bluebird flew away, and he made his decision. Kole rolled around the tree to find the goblins advancing with swords drawn. He forced the last bit of his Will into his rod and sent a bolt into a tree beside the goblins. They both dove out of the way but quickly recovered their feet and ran at him. Kole pointed his now useless rod at the closest of the two, causing it to dive behind cover but the other continued on toward him.


    Kole raised the thin rod back to chuck at his attacker, when it stopped, stumbled, and then fell to the ground, an arrow sticking from its back. Kole spun to the other goblin, to see that it had never recovered from its dodge, having been struck in the head by one of Rakin¡¯s darts.


    The exhausted wizard looked up and found Rakin and Doug standing with weapons drawn as Zale carried an unconscious girl, another following behind, eyes wide in terror.

 Chapter 39: Recover

    The Fonts were the first permanent creations of the gods. Built as tools to facilitate their future wonders, the Fonts are the building blocks of our realm.


    -Tallen Elmheart, Secondary Fonts


    ¡ª


    Outside the dungeon, Kole felt as his hearing quickly returned to him. They stood around looking at each other with mixed expressions of triumph and relief as they waited until they could hear each other. Kole was pleased to find his discarded quarter-staff and blasting rod leaning against the wall of the room, right next to a small pile of shattered glass. The others each had some of their own discarded equipment alongside it, Doug¡¯s pile of arrows being the largest.


    He inspected the glass and found a familiar cork stopper beside it.


    The potion bottle? He wondered


    ¡°Everything we take in comes out with us,¡± Zale said from behind.


    It sounded to Kole like she was speaking softly at the end of a long hall, the sound barely getting to him.


    ¡°You can leave the garbage here,¡± she added,


    ¡°What happens to it then?¡± Kole asked, speaking in a loud voice that sounded like a whisper even to himself.


    Zale just shrugged, and she collected some of her lost belongings alongside him.


    By the time they¡¯d returned the equipment he¡¯d borrowed and laid down on the ground in exhaustion, he could hear Doug asking in bafflement where the two girls had disappeared to.


    While his hearing recovered fast, his arm still felt very broken.


    ¡°What happened to you guys?¡± Kole asked as he lay with his eyes closed.


    ¡°We got to the cave before they raised the alarm,¡± Zale explained. ¡°We were defending that tunnel, keeping the goblins at bay when the log trap fell. That was you right?¡±


    Kole gave an exhausted grunt of affirmation.


    ¡°We were about to push through to the beach when suddenly dust was everywhere. We killed the few pushing into us, and escaped into the tunnel in the confusion. Rakin collapsed it behind us, but when we got to the trap door, he stopped us, sensing the ambush above. We mustered the courage for a blind charge, but when we surfaced, the goblins had begun to chase you.¡±


    ¡°Did the girls survive?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Yeap,¡± Zale declared proudly. ¡°I bet we¡¯re the first group to pass with full marks.¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t we only the third group?¡±


    ¡°It still counts.¡± Zale defended and then changed the topic. ¡°So Doug, what¡¯s your deal?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Doug asked, surprised at the sudden turn. ¡°Oh, I just wanted to be an adventurer to see more of Assuine¡¯s creation. I must say though, cities have really left a lot to be desired.¡±


    ¡°Not that, you dob,¡± Rakin said, ¡°The teleporting business.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that,¡± Doug said with a smile, showing that he knew Zale¡¯s intent from the start. ¡°I¡¯m a Spatial primal, but the only primal in my family was my great-grandfather, and he¡¯s been dead a long while. I can¡¯t exactly control my magic.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Zale eyes grew wide in recognition.


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re you!¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Doug asked.


    ¡°My mother told me about you. You were supposed to be here last week for a primal study group she put together. Why were you late?


    ¡°Your mother? Professor Shalia?¡±


    Zale nodded, and Doug continued, now more embarrassed than he was for his confession about his magic.


    ¡°I got to the region alright, but people were quite rude to me,¡± he said, gesturing to his antlers. ¡°I asked for directions along the road, and the first person who would speak to me said I was on the wrong road. He seemed friendly, and I listened. He lied. Sent me all the way to the ruins of Landing, and I had to backtrack just to get here yesterday.¡±


    Rakin¡¯s sour mood softened at the tale.


    ¡°Aye,¡± he said in agreement. ¡°People can suck.¡±


    Zale, Doug, and Kole all nodded silently in agreement.


    ¡°Well, aren''t we just a bunch of positive ponies,¡± Zale said, breaking the solemn mood.


    ¡°Positive ponies?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s a phrase,¡± Zale said. ¡°Ask anyone.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really not,¡± Rakin said.


    ¡°How would you know?¡± Zale teased. ¡°You grew up underground and then spent ten years in a monastery on top of a mountain.¡±


    ¡°Bah,¡± Rakin grunted, waving his hand at Zale, done with the frivolous debate.


    Zale smiled, and Kole was fairly certain she¡¯d just won the little exchange¡ªbut he was also fairly certain she¡¯d made that saying up.


    They sat resting and telling Doug about the study group before the topic went back to their performance. Kole tried to listen, but the sensation of his arm healing kept distracting him. It was as if his bones were itching, and he could almost feel the fracture knitting itself back together.


    While they talked, other groups shuffled through the dungeon. Where last week it had taken nearly the whole three hours to get through the class, this time it took less than an hour.


    ¡°Why is it going faster?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Magic?¡± Zale suggested, less than helpfully.


    ¡°Bah!¡± Kole shouted, imitating Rakin, which earned him a flick on the head from the dwarf.


    The group was shown to one of the many doors on the side of the room that led to a locker room with shower stalls and fresh sets of martial college training uniforms. They all took the opportunity to rid themselves of the accumulated filth, though the grime of the dungeon had already begun to vanish from them, leaving only the remnants of their own blood.


    ***


    After everyone had finished, Underbrook gathered the class to the center. Kole was gratified to see that other groups were in far worse condition than their own, and the latest group to exit still hadn¡¯t recovered their hearing. They were looking at each other with panic, cupping their ears to try to catch the professor¡¯s words.


    ¡°I hope you all enjoyed today¡¯s lesson,¡± Underbrook began. ¡°But it was not all about fun, it was a lesson after all.¡±


    Underbrook pulled a crystal out of his hand and placed it on a pedestal forming an illusion in the air above the class.


    ¡°Normally you will each receive one-on-one feedback from me or my stoic counterpart, but today, we will just do the group debrief.¡±


    The illusion showed Kole and his group all gathered in the latrine room, frozen mid-air as they were thrown back by the goblin shaman¡¯s spell. Dread went through Kole to be put on the spot in such a way.


    ¡°While Ms Zale and her group were the first to complete the mission without losing a member, they did make some mistakes we can all learn from. They had the clever idea of climbing up the goblin¡¯s waste shaft to get to the captives. But, once inside, they stayed grouped together, even when they knew a spell caster was coming.¡±


    To Kole¡¯s relief, the professor didn¡¯t dwell on them and quickly moved on to other groups. Gray¡¯s team had succeeded as well but had opted for a different strategy. They¡¯d sent Mouse, their Assuine Blessed in as a¡ªwell¡ªmouse, to find the hostages and free them. Then the group created a large distraction out front allowing Mouse to bring the girls to safety through the river. They hadn¡¯t gotten off without their own failures though and their battle against the shaman outside had set the forest ablaze.


    Other groups had failed spectacularly, and those failures were shown in all their glory. Nothing though rivaled Kole¡¯s embarrassment of being shat on, and he was extremely grateful the professors seemed to be exercising some restraint in what he shared.


    As the class wound down, Underbrook gave one last announcement.


    ¡°Details on next week¡¯s dungeon will be passed out at your next class with Tigereye. Don¡¯t miss it.¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you just tell us now?¡± an entitled voice Kole didn¡¯t recognize asked from the group.


    Underbrook smiled mischievously before answering, ¡°I have no idea what it will be. As soon as you leave, Tigereye will reset the dungeon and see what¡¯s in store for the lot of you.¡±


    As if emphasizing the point, Tigereye came out of some back room, wearing a well-patched and unadorned version of his normal uniform and carrying a backpack stuffed to the brim.


    ¡°Class dismissed!¡± Underbrook yelled, rubbing his hands together eagerly. ¡°Now it¡¯s our turn.¡±

 Chapter 40: Weirdity

    The Fonts were created in the void, but through their creation, the gods built something within the nothing. The void around the Fonts became the Arcane Realm, and ceased to be the void at all.


    -Tallen Elmheart, Secondary Fonts


    ¡ª


    Doug joined the group for lunch and they headed over together discussing the possibilities of their next week¡¯s mission.


    ¡°Did you know that about the dungeon?¡± Kole asked Zale.


    ¡°Sort of?¡± She answered, uncertainly. ¡°I knew it wasn¡¯t something the professors could control completely, but I didn¡¯t realize it was completely unknown. In the past, professors have tried to use it for things besides teaching, but it never seemed to do what they wanted. They tried hosting a hardball match inside once.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Doug asked.


    ¡°The Dahn seemed¡­ irritated. They got it to create the environment they wanted, but the trees were all the wrong color, the animals made strange sounds, and the whole place smelled like old cheese. Despite all that, they ran the match, and when they tried to review the recording, they found the illusory record followed the progress of an ant colony within slowly deconstructing a loaf of bread. The ball did appear in the view for about three seconds when someone dropped it into view.¡±


    ¡°Bwa!¡± Rakin laughed, rubbing his hand affectionately along the wall as he walked. ¡°I hadn¡¯t heard about that. I think this place is starting to grow on me.¡±


    ***


    ¡°Blasting rod!¡± Amara demanded hand outstretched as they came upon her outside the dining hall.


    Kole handed it over, proud he¡¯d not completely destroyed it. Amara carefully examined the runes on the rod, rubbing her fingers over it, holding it up to her eye, and even smelling the wood.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± was all she said, as she put it in her belt. ¡°You need to come learn the next rune pattern this week.¡±


    Kole nodded.


    Amara finally noticed the presence of the demonkin boy and her eyes grew wide as they locked onto his horn.


    ¡°That¡¯s Doug,¡± Zale introduced. ¡°He¡¯s a part of our team now and will be in the study group too.¡±


    ¡°Your horns are beautiful,¡± Amara said breathlessly.


    Doug flushed, embarrassed. Idly he touched the tip of one with his finger.


    ¡°Antlers, actually,¡± he corrected.


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry! Is that rude?¡± Amara apologized, holding her hand over her mouth and looking from Zale to Kole for guidance.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Doug answered. ¡°What¡¯s rude is when people throw rocks at them."


    They were in the military college¡¯s cafeteria again, as it was the one with staff least put off by Zale¡¯s presence, but the addition of the demonkin foiled that plan, and once again they attracted stares.


    ¡°So, anyone up for hardball again tonight?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Rakin grunted.


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    ¡°Sure,¡± Doug said. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know what hardball is!?¡± Zale gasped.


    Zale excitedly described the game, which didn¡¯t take too long since there were hardly any rules. She spent most of the time describing the teams that would play that night and how they would watch.


    ¡°Sure, sounds fun. I have to go out to the grove for a while, but I can come by after.¡±


    ¡°Great! Let¡¯s all meet on campus at six,¡± Zale said, glaring at Rakin when she said all.


    ***


    After lunch, Kole went back to the library to rest in his new bed. He fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow and woke to the sound of ruffling pages.


    He opened his eyes to see Theral at work at the desk in the room.


    ¡°Welcome back,¡± Kole said groggily


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Theral said, looking up from his books. ¡°I thought I was being quiet.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I spent a few hours deaf today after getting hit by a Thunderwave and sound is a novelty.¡±


    Theral let out a laugh.


    ¡°I can understand that. I was chased through the forest deaf a few times. It was terrifying.¡±


    A few times? How does that happen more than once? Kole thought to ask but was interrupted.


    ¡°So you figure out Thunderwave?¡± Theral asked.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s not even been a week,¡± Kole said, moving to sit up. ¡°It was a goblin sorcerer¡ªor shaman? I copied the spellform over but have no idea how to begin making the path.¡±


    ¡°Only a week?¡± Theral asked, still smiling. ¡°It seemed longer.¡±


    Kole was already getting annoyed with how Theral thought this whole situation was funny. Like he knew some small secret behind each sentence lending it deeper hilarious meaning.


    ¡°You should find the book Arcane Path Finding by Trandrid Hobble,¡± Theral suggested, ignoring the mention of the goblin.


    ¡°You mean that book?¡± Kole asked, pointing to one of the books on the shelf he¡¯d recalled from his first visit.


    Theral turned and spotted the book on the shelf, then laughed harder.


    ¡°Yeap, that one. And while you¡¯re at it you should probably read Unknowable Geographies and Bridges to Power right next to it. They won¡¯t teach you how to make the paths, but¡­ the Arcane Realm is weird and they give you some perspective to comprehend the weirdity of it all.¡±


    ¡°Weirdity?¡± Kole asked, repeating the made-up word.


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    Just as with their last meeting, Kole had the sense this young wizard had a lot more knowledge than one of his age ought to possess, yet he was very clearly not some ancient dragon in disguise.


    What self-respecting dragon would say ¡®weirdity?¡¯


    ¡°Thanks for the advice. Do you mind me asking why you keep showing up here?¡±


    ¡°Nope, not at all,¡± Theral answered, turning back to his studies.


    Kole let out a groan when he realized what he was doing.


    ¡°Why do you keep showing up here?¡± Kole repeated, not amused.


    ¡°I had a run-in with a Primordial, and now I randomly channel the Font and appear here and a few other places.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­I actually just met a guy with a similar problem. He¡¯s a Spatial primal and he can¡¯t stop himself from teleporting.¡±


    Kole saw the humor leave Theral¡¯s face, replaced with rabid curiosity. But, instead of the questions Kole expected, Theral bit his lower lip, as if physically holding them in.


    ¡°So why here?¡± Kole asked, ¡°Were you a student at the Academy or something?¡±


    Bemused for a moment, he processed the question and then replied, ¡°A student? No, but I spent a lot of time learning in this building on my own. I think that¡¯s why I came here. I don¡¯t have conscious control over the ability, but subconsciously my Will pushes me somewhere safe. I¡¯ve never shown up anywhere in danger¡ªso far at least.¡±


    The shift to primal adjacent issues piqued Kole¡¯s interest.


    ¡°Do you have any ideas on how to stop it?¡±


    ¡°Plenty,¡± Theral answered, holding up his book to show a long bullet-pointed list, ¡°but none I¡¯m confident will work. Right now I¡¯m working on building a bridge near the problematic Font.¡±


    ¡°I thought you were already a wizard,¡± Kole asked, confused. ¡°You can¡¯t have two bridges.¡±


    ¡°Says who?¡± Theral asked, in a very teacherly are-you-sure manner.


    ¡°Everyone? No one? You just can¡¯t do it. That¡¯s like asking ¡®Who says you can¡¯t touch the sun?¡¯ If someone did do it, they are dead, but more likely no one has. It¡¯s impossible, or deadly enough that it makes no difference.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a fair point,¡± Theral conceded, ¡°But I think I¡¯m on to something. Possible and impossible are just matters of perspective.¡±


    Kole was taken aback by those words, and realized he¡¯d fallen into a trap he¡¯d so frequently resented others for.


    He¡¯s right. I¡¯m always trying to convince people that I can be a wizard. They just don¡¯t see the issue the way I do and assume that it can¡¯t happen because it hasn¡¯t happened.


    ¡°How does it work?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you if it works,¡± Theral said, stretching. ¡°I was about to get some sleep.¡±


    Kole looked at the clock and saw that he¡¯d overslept.


    ¡°Bah!¡± he shouted, channeling his inner Rakin. ¡°I¡¯m late again!¡±

 Chapter 41: The Forsaken

    Early exploration of the Arcane Realm by the Illusian races was fraught, and hundreds of mages lost their lives. Over time, methods were developed, such as entering the Arcane Realm in the proximity of a Primordial. The early rate of Font discovery was rapid.


    -Tallen Elmheart, Secondary Fonts


    ¡ª


    Everyone but Amara was waiting for Kole as he arrived at the meeting place.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± he apologized. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to sleep so long. Will drain wiped me out.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Rakin answered. ¡°No one expected you to be on time. Let¡¯s get this outing done with.


    ¡°Amara¡¯s not coming?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°No, she wanted to examine your wand longer. She sent a messenger.¡± Doug said, pointing to a rat perched in his antlers.


    The group headed over to the Griffin¡¯s Rest, garnering even more attention now that a demonkin was in their midst.


    ¡°We just need to find a dark elf and a duergar to complete the look,¡± Kole joked. ¡°We can call ourselves ¡®The Forsaken.¡¯¡±


    Doug laughed, but Zale and Rakin shared a worried look.


    ¡°The voidlings weren¡¯t one of the forsaken races,¡± Zale defended when she saw Kole had caught the look. ¡°You bring up a good point. We will need a name for class. Maybe we go with Dragon Cultists? Sorcerers, demonkin, and voidlings all fought alongside the dragons in the Last Dragon War.¡±


    ¡°Pass,¡± Rakin shouted. ¡°I like ¡®The Forsaken.¡¯ It¡¯s short and to the point.¡±


    ¡°For real?¡± Kole asked. ¡°I was only joking¡­¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s clever. Let¡¯s do it.¡± Zale said, now free of any hesitation.


    ¡°The Forsaken it is then,¡± Kole declared.


    The hardball match had already started when the groups arrived. The place was crowded, but their table from before had a sign marking it as reserved.


    ¡°Perks of having a delinquent as a mother,¡± Zale said, grabbing a seat.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to tell her you said that,¡± Rakin said.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, but I¡¯ve got a thing or two to tell Dagmar next time I see her.¡±


    Rakin¡¯s face turned pale and his eyes grew wide.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t!¡±


    Zale only shrugged and waved to the bartender.


    The group watched the match without event. Gray¡¯s team was present, and everyone made an effort to avert their gazes from their corner of the room¡ªeveryone but Doug.


    ¡°Why is everyone at that table staring at us?¡± Doug whispered, pointing to the rival team.


    ¡°It''s a long story,¡± Zale equivocated.


    ¡°No it''s not,¡± Rakin said. ¡°Zale had a crush on the big one, but he''s a wee bit racist. The big one still kind of likes Zale, despite the racism, and the pretty one is pissed because she likes the big one. The skinny one hates Kole because Kole is a phony wizard who can¡¯t use magic and he expects Kole will get us all killed someday.¡±


    ¡°That was kind of long,¡± Doug answered. ¡°Are you sure about the pretty one? She seems the only one to be in a good mood.¡±


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    Kole risked a glance over and saw Mouse smiling, taking sips of her drink and then looking at the cup as if she didn¡¯t believe it to be real.


    Rakin snorted, ¡°I think you tall races all look like deformed mutant children, and even I can tell Esme¡¯s the pretty one. The happy one is Mouse.¡±


    ¡°If you say so,¡± Doug said wistfully as he watched Mouse drink.


    ¡°Oh great. Another avenue for drama,¡± Kole whispered to Zale.


    ¡°Can I offer you kids another round?¡± Gimble, the proprietor, asked after the match ended.


    Everyone declined and thanked him for the evening.


    ¡°Alright, have a good night. Don¡¯t forget about the mixer Sunday.¡±


    ¡°Mixer?¡± Kole asked, but Gimble was already at the next table.


    ¡°It¡¯s an opportunity for adventurer graduates of the Dahn to meet prospective mentees,¡± Zale answered. ¡°You don¡¯t need to be faculty on the staff to mentor a student, but if you aren¡¯t you don¡¯t have much opportunity to evaluate potential students. You should go. I can introduce you around.¡±


    ¡°That would be great!¡± Kole said, more excited for a mixer than he thought possible. ¡°I was kind of hoping your uncle would be interested in me, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I was kind of hoping for that too,¡± Zale admitted. ¡°But, he¡¯s always been flakey. This might be better for you in the long run. Some of the hardball teams will be there too.¡±


    The group left together and parted ways on campus and Kole took a roundabout way to the library. Walking by the librarian¡¯s desk, he was struck by a pang of guilt.


    I really should ask about returning that rune light¡­ but I need it. Best if I ask Amara for a new one first.


    Kole walked through the stacks, on a circuitous route before closing in on the entrance to his new room. Since being granted permission to stay in the room, Kole had widened the opening he¡¯d made in the bookshelf and then dragged his previously borrowed desk in front of the hole to hide it. When he came in sight of the desk, he found a rat waiting patiently atop it.


    ¡°Scram!¡± Kole shouted at it.


    The rat only sat there on its two hind legs, little ratty paws held up as if begging for coins.


    Kole threw the cork from an empty potion vial at it. The rat vanished the moment before the cork stuck, only to reappear in the same spot and resume its pose.


    ¡°Do you need something?¡± Kole asked. ¡°Why am I talking to a rat¡­ actually, most of my friends talk to rats now. Now I¡¯m talking to myself.¡±


    The rat cocked its head sideways as if listening.


    ¡°He¡¯s hungry!¡± Theral¡¯s voice came muffled from the opening.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kole said to himself.


    Did he want to feed the rat? It had made his first week miserable but¡­ it had led him to this room. His fortune had turned for the better since their first run-in, and he could spare some of the hoarded food he had.


    He gave the rat a heel of bread, tossing it on the ground. When the rat dove for the morsel, Kole moved the desk out of the way and ducked behind the cover.


    ¡°You¡¯re still here?¡± Kole asked.


    That¡¯s stupid. Obviously, he¡¯s still here. Kole chastised himself.


    ¡°It would seem so,¡± Theral replied, ¡°I don¡¯t much get to pick when I leave.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you get back to where you were by other means?¡±


    ¡°Not so far as I know. I tried, but I am very, very, very far from where I was.¡±


    When Theral didn¡¯t elaborate, Kole dropped the issue.


    If he wants to be vague and cryptic, I¡¯ll not indulge it.


    ¡°You can take the desk,¡± Theral volunteered, standing up and stretching. ¡°I should probably get some rest. I get a little carried away.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, I know the feeling. How¡¯s your impossible task going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still working on the perspective,¡± Theral answered with a grin.


    Theral let out a long yawn, and then moved to get in his bed. Kole saw that he¡¯d left all his work strewn across the desk.


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± Kole began, unsure how to ask him to clean up his mess without being rude.


    ¡°Oh sorry!¡± Theral apologized. ¡°I¡¯m not used to sharing space anymore.¡±


    Theral held his palm up before him, and his golden-scaled spellbook appeared in his palm, vanishing from the table. When Kole looked at the desk, all the pages on it disintegrated into black smoke which then quickly vanished.


    Kole stared, mouth agape.


    ¡°Goodnight,¡± Theral said, ¡°Wait, it is night? Right?¡±


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Great, don¡¯t worry about keeping me up. I could sleep through the world ending.¡±


    Kole took out his own far less magical spellbook, his worn notebook, and the spellbook that contained Shield and made himself at home. He¡¯d learned two new versions of Magic Missile, and in doing so managed to get the Will cost down to 32 from 40, but he was struggling to rebuild the third. He¡¯d switch over to Shield now to give his mind a break to process his barriers while working on something else.


    Kole worked on the spell until the early signs of Will drain made themselves known. He paused, rubbing his temple, and reached for one of the books Theral had recommended, planning to study through the night, but then thought better of it.


    He had the study group in the morning. While he¡¯d failed to make an impression on Mage Tallen the first time, being a tired mess wouldn¡¯t improve his chances. He looked over to Theral sleeping, a paper blindfold wrapped around his face and he decided to call it a night.


    Kole crept into bed, not sure which of his two roommates was weirder, the time-traveling rat, or the displaced mage with magic paper.

 Chapter 42: Vaults

    By the time of the Flood, no new Font had been discovered in hundreds of years. Lidian Oakcrest¡¯s discovery of the Font of Understanding (dubbed the Community at the time) after the Flood was the beginning of a new era.


    -Tallen Elmheart, Secondary Fonts


    ¡ª


    Saturday at breakfast as he, Zale, and Rakin met, Kole finally got around to asking Zale about the specifics of her silence aura. Amara hadn¡¯t shown, and they¡¯d forgotten to invite Doug.


    ¡°It¡¯s something my uncle helped me with,¡± she explained. ¡°My mother had me tested for magical aptitude when I was young since I was such an¡­ interesting child. They found I had a connection to a Font, but it wasn¡¯t one anyone had heard of. Through some testing with Uncle Tallen, we named it the Void Font.¡±


    ¡°So that silence aura is the first ability you manifested?¡± Kole asked.


    Zale shook her head, her eyes locked on the chopsticks in her gauntleted hands.


    ¡°Flood!¡± she cursed as her finger slipped at the sticks flew from her hands. ¡°Sorry!¡±


    ¡°No one flooding cares if you gods damn curse,¡± Rakin said, exasperated.


    ¡°I care,¡± Zale said, lifting her chin and looking down her nose at Rakin, ¡°It¡¯s not ladylike.¡±


    Rakin and Kole broke into laughter at that.


    ¡°Why is that funny?¡± Zale demanded.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Kole gasped between laughs as he tried to control himself.


    ¡°Forgiven,¡± she said nodding at Kole and then gave Rakin a death glare. ¡°But you¡¯re not. Anyway, no it wasn¡¯t my first ability. My first ability put me into some liminal non-space. I can¡¯t even begin to explain what it¡¯s like. Uncle worked with me to build a mental vault, and once I had¡­ things got murkier.¡±


    ¡°I thought voidlings can¡¯t build a vault,¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°They can¡¯t, which is probably why mine is all weird. Voidling don¡¯t have Will capacities like you all, but they can manipulate Will external to them¡ªwhich you can¡¯t. If I try to channel Will into something, my Will interacts destructively with the environment.¡±


    As a demonstration, Zale took off a gauntlet and picked up a grape. Holding it in her palm, she closed her eyes to focus, and black particles started floating up from the grape until its skin had vanished.


    ¡°That seems useful,¡± Kole observed.


    ¡°It would be if that hadn¡¯t taken all my Will. Unfocused like that, it¡¯s very ineffective. But back to my weird voidy-vault. My vault formed, but it had the aspect of the liminal space. I couldn¡¯t use it to preserve memories, or store Will constructs. He tried to have me build a bridge so I could view the Arcane Realm, but as soon as I tried, I found I could already see it. So, we worked over the summer at finding my Font in the Arcane Realm. Without a bridge, I just kind of showed up in there wherever. We failed, but I found the Font of Sound. Through a lot of experiments, we discovered I could connect to it, and negate sound in an area around me. This was way more Will efficient than what I just showed you. At first, I could only make myself deaf, but we¡¯ve been working to expand my range, and now I can do about an inch around me.¡±


    ¡°Wow,¡± Kole said, unsure what else to say.


    He¡¯d fought back the urge to ask questions through the explanation, and didn¡¯t even know where to begin now.


    ¡°We get it,¡± Rakin complains. ¡°You¡¯re a very special magic girl. Can we go now?¡±


    Just then, the leg on Rakin¡¯s chair gave out, and he fell back.


    ¡°I lied,¡± Zale said to Kole, proud of her prank. ¡°The grape skin didn¡¯t take all my Will, while I was talking dissolving his chair leg did.¡±


    ***


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    ¡°I believe you have all met our newest student, Doug,¡± Shalia said to the class, holding onto the demonkin¡¯s shoulders as she stood beside him.


    Everyone nodded.


    ¡°Great. His great-grandfather was a friend, and he¡¯s actually the reason we started this group,¡± She paused, and turned to Zale, her voice taking on an affectionate tone. ¡°Him, and my little Azalea of course.¡±


    Zale¡¯s face grew black in embarrassment as all eyes turned to her.


    ¡°Stop embarrassing her,¡± Tallen admonished Shalia.


    ¡°You don¡¯t tell me how to parent, and I won¡¯t tell you how to¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ study? Bungle diplomatic liaisons? Burn down forests?¡±


    Tallen clapped his hands and turned to the students.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we start?¡±


    Tallen went around to each member of the group, getting an update on their progress and giving feedback.


    For Rakin, he had set him on a path toward creating a vault but had also given him a text to read by the Enlightened Master Monk Oas, a long-dead member of the Order of the Resounding Silence. He was to learn to make a soul stone. Kole wasn¡¯t sure why that was necessary, but Rakin wasn¡¯t sharing, and he didn¡¯t want to pry. Well¡ª actually¡ªhe wanted to pry but didn¡¯t want to get yelled at for prying.


    Zale told her uncle about her application of sound nullification, and he beamed with pride.


    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± he said, ¡°I heard you got hit by a Thunderwave, I wonder¡­ do you think you could have canceled out the spell itself?¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d you hear that?¡± Zale asked, glaring at her mother who lifted her hands up.


    ¡°No, not her. I have my sources,¡± he said with a mischievous grin.


    ¡°Fine, don¡¯t tell me,¡± she said, then paused to think. ¡°Maybe? I kind of sensed something before the spell was cast, but I didn¡¯t think much of it.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s work on that today then,¡± Tallen said.


    For Doug, he tasked him with building a mental vault, but also tasked him with asking his Grovekeeper for guidance in creating a soul stone using the methods employed by Assuine¡¯s Blessed.


    There were myriad ways to create soul stones, and Tallen was tailoring everyone¡¯s path to their skills. Kole knew a spell existed to create them by force, but the origins and effects of that particular spell were steeped in necromancy.


    Runt was just told to keep working on her vault and given some advice. She both hated and appreciated that. From what Zale told Kole, she¡¯d not been deemed worthy of her clan¡¯s training in wielding the Font of Bonds. That training would have started with the construction of a mental vault, or ¡°The Boundary¡± as her people called it. The hate came from the fact the work itself was mind-achingly dull¡ªliterally. It led to Will drain.


    Amara talked to him a little about her ¡°Understandings,¡± but then they talked about her blasting rod the whole time. He never ended up giving her a primal-related assignment.


    ¡°That¡¯s fascinating,¡± he said when she¡¯d explained her application of the Font of Life to maintain wooden wands. ¡°I look forward to seeing your progress.¡±


    ¡°So, what are you working on?¡± Tallen asked Kole, looking over his shoulder as he read Unknowable Geographies.


    Kole explained his plan to cast Sound magic through his bridge from its default location and how he had the spell component already in his vault but needed to learn to map it.


    ¡°That¡¯s a solid plan,¡± Tallen advised, ¡°In fact, it¡¯s what I would have said myself. Keep it up. Let me know if you have any questions.¡±


    Then, he walked away to cast Sound spells at Zale.


    Kole sat conflicted. He felt both validated and robbed simultaneously.


    Was he brushing me off? Or was this the plan he really would have given? Or is he a fraud, and just claiming Theral¡¯s idea is good because he doesn¡¯t know any better? No¡­ from what Zale explained, he isn¡¯t a fraud, but¡­ why isn¡¯t he being more helpful?


    Unsure of Tallen¡¯s credentials¡ªand motivation to help him¡ªKole resolved to at least make the most of his offer to answer questions and pulled his notebook out.


    He began to write down all the unanswered questions he could think of that were lost when his old notebook was destroyed. He found they flowed back into his memory with surprising ease. A few hours later when Tallen came back, sweating from the exertion of casting Sound illusions at Zale, Kole was ready.


    ¡°You should spend more time with Zale,¡± Tallen said in way of a greeting.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Kole said when his brain couldn¡¯t come up with a way to interpret that.


    ¡°When you practice your spells,¡± Tallen clarified, but he had a knowing smile that hinted that wasn¡¯t all he meant. ¡°It will be good for her to be near you as you practice pathing your Thunderwave spell. She can practice sensing when a wizard connects to a Font.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I thought you meant something else,¡± Kole said with relief.


    ¡°What did you think I meant?¡± Tallen asked with a straight face.


    Kole felt the blood rush to his face, and he fought the urge to turn invisible.


    That is definitely not a healthy coping method for awkward social interactions. He chastised himself. That always seemed to be his first reaction.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that an advanced wizard technique?¡± Kole asked, changing the topic.


    ¡°It is,¡± Tallen agreed. ¡°Most wizards don¡¯t develop the ability until their thirties, but I learned it around 18 after a¡­ magical mishap. I suspect that Zale¡¯s nature as a voidling will let her develop it even sooner.¡±


    Tallen seemed to be in a talkative mood, and Kole took the opportunity to go through his list of questions. He monopolized Tallen¡¯s attention for the remainder of the time. And for the first time, since their last brief interaction had dashed it all, Kole now felt some hope he might have found a potential mentor. Though, he couldn¡¯t help but feel some resentment towards Theral. If Kole had been a little more desperate, Tallen might have been more forthcoming with his advice.


    Don¡¯t be stupid, he told the childish pouting part of himself. Theral¡¯s been nothing but helpful, unlike some other flaky mages.

 Chapter: 43: Grink

    While it is still not known exactly how, it is now clear that new Fonts are being formed. While the gods created the originals by pulling more granular concepts from the all-encompassing Font of Creation, these new Fonts are formed from the combining of Fonts. Some examples include Understand, formed of Bonds, Mind, and Identity; Wind, formed of Force and Air; Illusions, formed of Mind, Light, and Sound.


    -Tallen Elmheart, Secondary Fonts


    ¡ª


    Everyone¡ªminus Runt plus Doug¡ªleft class and headed for a late lunch after the study session.


    ¡°Are you going to look for your sister today? Or work on the rod,¡± Kole asked her, hoping for the latter. Not because he wanted the rod though¡ªwhich he did¡ªbut because he was running through his conversation with Tallen and he really needed to go think through some of the new perspectives.


    ¡°Sister,¡± Amara said. ¡°I need to do something different for a while. Tallen gave me some ideas, and I need to let them ruminate.¡±


    ¡°Was his rune knowledge that extensive?¡± Kole asked.


    It was extremely rare for a wizard to dabble in runes. Both took the same limited resource of Will to study, with marginal cross-applicable gains.


    ¡°No,¡± Amara answered quickly. ¡°He was familiar with the craft beyond the average wizard, but his ideas were very peculiar. Most wouldn¡¯t work, but some just might. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the rune smith that taught him about runes died in a tragic accident of ill-advised experimentation.¡±


    ¡°Yer not half wrong,¡± Rakin said, ¡°My ma¡¯ taught him some, but they both worked closely with an eccentric crafter. He had some peculiar ideas, or so ma¡¯ says.¡±


    ¡°You should hear my mom¡¯s stories about him,¡± Zale laughed. ¡°She once convinced him that someone had polymorphed Tallen into a chicken, and he spent a week carrying it around with him until Tallen returned. In trying to cure ¡®Tallen¡¯, the man invented a potion that formed psychic links with animals, mimicking what Assuine¡¯s Blessed can do to some degree¡ªthough it didn¡¯t boost the animal¡¯s intelligence. Then of course he realized he¡¯d been tricked.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­¡± Amara said, interrupting. ¡°Levar?


    Zale nodded while Rakin grunted in affirmation, but then Zale winced slightly as if she¡¯d made a mistake.


    All the excitement and adoration Kole had seen in Amara when she spoke of Professor Donglefore was nothing compared to what followed.


    ¡°Tell me everything you ever heard about the man!¡± she demanded forcefully as she pulled out a notepad and began to write.


    Rakin and Zale then took turns through lunch telling tales of the long-dead eccentric alchemist cum runesmith that their parents had once traveled with.


    ***


    After a long lunch-turned-interrogation session, Zale excused herself.


    ¡°I have to go do a thing for my mom,¡± she said, gathering her things. ¡°I¡¯ll see you guys tomorrow for the group mixer, right?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Rakin answered. ¡°I got a mentor. Ye couldn¡¯t pay me to go to a ¡®mixer.¡¯¡±


    ¡°I have a mentor too, but I can¡¯t go either,¡± Doug apologized. ¡°I¡¯d like to. But I have to work out in the conclave.¡±


    ¡°I will also not be going,¡± Amara said, feeling no need to make an excuse.


    With each rejection, Zale deflated a little.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there,¡± Kole said, ¡°It¡¯s not my idea of a fun time but I don¡¯t really have an abundance of choices.¡±


    ¡°Okay, see you then,¡± Zale said, cheery once more.


    Everyone finished up and they talked for a little while. Through it all, Kole kept seeing Amara look up to him, working up the courage to say something.


    ¡°Shall we?¡± Kole asked Amara when he realized she wasn¡¯t going to bring up the topic of the search herself.


    Amara smiled in relief and gave a big nod.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go too,¡± Rakin volunteered, causing Kole to double-take.


    Slowly, Kole moved his finger to poke Rakin on the cheek, but the dwarf swatted his hand away


    ¡°What¡¯re you doing?¡± he demanded.


    ¡°Seeing if it¡¯s really you.¡±


    ¡°How would poking me in the face prove that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kole shrugged. ¡°It was the first step in a multiphase investigation. After that, I might have poured water on you.¡±


    ¡°On second thought, maybe I have better things to do,¡± he grunted.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Please come. I was just surprised you volunteered to help,¡± Kole explained.


    ¡°Family is important,¡± Rakin said in explanation. ¡°Don¡¯t poke me again or I¡¯m keeping the finger.¡±


    ¡°Noted,¡± Kole said then turned to Doug. ¡°You in?¡±


    Doug shook his head, his antlers magnifying the gesture.


    ¡°I can¡¯t. I have duties at the conclave.¡±


    ***


    ¡°This way,¡± Amara said with more certainty than Kole felt their predicament warranted.


    Following her latest version of the tracking device, they¡¯d delved deep into the library. They went past the well-lit and populated sections into the outer areas rarely visited by the students¡ªsave for those on deep research projects. The device had bounced around erratically but had generally led them to the library. As they explored, it became less erratic, but still occasionally spun around. It had brought them to this deep section of the library but since they¡¯d arrived it had seemingly led in a circle.


    While the innermost stacks of the library were clearly a series of concentric circles, the layout of the outer rings became less clear, Kole had begun to think the space they explored now was warped by the Dahn¡¯s odd Spatial magic.


    ¡°Ye think yer sisters hiding in a book?¡± Rakin asked.


    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s possible?¡± Amara asked earnestly.


    Rakin sighed.


    ¡°No. I was joking.¡±


    Kole was certain they weren¡¯t in the section of the library that held his door, but the scenery in the unlit sections was familiar enough that he constantly expected to stumble across it. As if on cue, as soon as he thought this, a rat jumped off a shelf to the floor in front them them before escaping between another shelf.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Kole told the group, as he brought his light closer to the shelf the rat had escaped from.


    Peering through the cracks he saw that the light extended far beyond the shelf.


    ¡°There¡¯s a passage back there.¡±


    Gus jumped off Amara¡¯s shoulder and ran through the path the other rat had taken.


    ¡°There¡¯s a door!¡± Amara shouted.


    ¡°It looks like someone pushed these shelves over to block a passage,¡± Rakin said, pointing to the gaps between the shelves on either side.


    Together they¡ªbut mostly Rakin¡ªpulled one of the shelves to the side just enough to allow them to squeeze past.


    Beyond they found a narrow hallway that ended in a door.


    ¡°I knew it!¡± Kole exclaimed before squeezing past the shelves and running through the stacks until he reached where he estimated the space of the secret hall to occupy. Instead of finding a wall, there just stood more rows of books.


    ¡°Knew what?¡± Amara asked when he returned.


    ¡°This part of the library isn¡¯t fully on the Material Realm. Or, it is using a lot of Space magic to bend it.


    ¡°Hurray. You¡¯re smart,¡± Rakin said, deadpan. ¡°Let¡¯s open the door.¡±


    ¡°Should we?¡± Amara asked with concern. ¡°Maybe we shouldn¡¯t be here.¡±


    ¡°Professor Shalia told me that if you can open a door in the Dahn, you¡¯re allowed to go through it,¡± Kole said, recalling the conversation with Zale¡¯s mother. ¡°I thought that was weird at the time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because the Dahn was originally used by the Hardune,¡± Rakin explained. ¡°They made great use of runic oath wards to grant access to their facilities. The Dahn learned from that and decides who it allows in.¡±


    ¡°That seems like a flimsy defense if we get caught being somewhere the faculty would rather not find us,¡± Kole said. ¡°Or if we die in some hidden hole.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be such a grink,¡± Rakin gibed. ¡°I thought you wanted to be an adventurer. Where¡¯s your sense of adventure?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I wouldn¡¯t go. Also, what in the realms is a grink?¡±


    Rakin ignored the question and walked to the door. The door looked identical to the door of the dungeon. Black stone with a shining steel vertical handle. He placed his hand on it gingerly pausing for a second before pushing.


    The door didn¡¯t budge.


    Next, he grabbed the handle and pulled.


    Still nothing.


    ¡°Maybe it''s stuck?¡± Kole suggested, moving up to help.


    They both braced on the door, ready to push on the count of three.


    ¡°One, two, three,¡± they said together, and on three they pushed and the door flew open as if it had never been stuck.


    ¡°Ow,¡± Kole said from the floor where Rakin lay atop him.


    ¡°It didn¡¯t look stuck to me,¡± Amara observed.


    ¡°I must have loosened it,¡± Rakin defended.


    ¡°That must have been it,¡± Kole agreed, giving the dwarf the out.

 Chapter: 44: Ice

    These new Fonts are of a different class from the originals and have some notable differences. The Primordials that arise on the Material Realm for these new Fonts are much less destructive. Creatures living in proximity to these Fonts also develop into Primals at a much faster rate.


    -Tallen Elmheart, Secondary Fonts


    ¡ª


    Kole¡¯s light had followed him behind the shelves and revealed a long hall spotted with doors. The floor was the same white stone as the Dahn, while the doors were all made of simple wood. They opened the first few cautiously but found them all empty. Each was a small dormitory meant for two students. With the self-cleaning magic of the Dahn, it was impossible to tell the age of the place.


    ¡°This must be one of the old dormitories,¡± Amara said.


    ¡°Students used to live in the Dahn?¡± Kole asked.


    Amara nodded.


    ¡°Early on, before the voidlings invaded and they had to pull the building into the Material Realm to prevent incursions, all the students were given the option to live in the Dahn.¡±


    ¡°If it was so dangerous, why do these places still exist?¡± Kole asked. ¡°Is it still dangerous?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    They looked through a few more rooms but found them all equally bare. They continued toward the end, passing over a hundred rooms before the hall opened up into a large room.


    ¡°Can you make the light brighter?¡± Amara asked.


    As soon as she said, light, runes in the ceiling high above illuminated, bathing the chamber in a soft white light revealing the room. Dozens of tables filled the space, identical to those used in the dining halls throughout campus. The place was completely abandoned as if it had been closed one night and simply never reopened.


    Rakin and Kole both jumped at the sudden lighting. Kole reached for his blasting rod, which Amara still had, and Rakin brought his fists up and spun around searching the room. When nothing jumped out at them, they relaxed.


    ¡°Here,¡± Amara said, handing the rod to Kole. ¡°The tracker points to the kitchens.¡±


    Together they walked through toward the kitchen, hopping over the serving counters.


    ¡°It¡¯s cold back here,¡± Kole noted as he felt a breeze.


    ¡°Over there,¡± Rakin pointed.


    In the back of the kitchen, a stone door lay open, with banks of snow pouring out of it. The snow was melting, creating a puddle that constantly drained into a grate below one of the sinks.


    ¡°The refrigeration runes are still active!¡± Amara said with excitement Kole thought the statement didn¡¯t warrant.


    A shadow flickered through the crack of the door.


    Rakin snapped his fist up to quiet the group. Kole froze, looking for what alerted the dwarf, but Amara wasn¡¯t as conditioned to the situation.


    ¡°What is it?¡± she whispered.


    Rakin shot a glance back at Amara and held a finger to his lips then turned to Kole who was on alert. He pointed to Kole, covered his eyes, and then pointed to the far corner of the kitchen opposite the open door, and then took off himself towards the door.


    Kole understood Rakin¡¯s meaning¡ªor at least thought he did¡ªand turned invisible before running around the food prep tables to flank the entryway to the refrigerator. He¡¯d used about half his Will in the study session today but had recovered almost half of what he¡¯d spent since then.


    He saw Amara slink away from the kitchen, back into the dining hall.


    Rakin beat Kole to the door, having run straight for it. When he was still ten steps away, a blizzard of snow shot out the opening, throwing the door wide. Rakin dove behind a counter as the wall of white met him, sending metal pans sailing to the ground in loud clangs.


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    The snow began to spiral, filling the area around the door and a haughty nasally voice yelled through, ¡°Come out, rebel. Submit yourself, and you might get to keep your hands until your trial.¡±


    Kole had never heard someone speak with this strange accent. They were clearly speaking Rilith, but sounded closer to the old speak used in the classical pre-Flood plays than anything he¡¯d ever heard a person speak in conversation. Though he admitted he wasn¡¯t exactly well-traveled.


    Before Kole could decide what to do, Rakin made the choice for him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give ye my hands alright! Right up yer arse!¡±


    Kole fought the urge to laugh at Rakin¡¯s threat, That was terrible!


    Terrible threat or not, Rakin backed his words up, dove over the counter, and charged into the snow, eliciting shouts of alarm from within.


    Before he reached the white cloud a shard of ice shot out at him, but he dove underneath the projectile and kept up his charge. Kole stood in the billowing cold, holding his blasting rod out, searching the snow. Within, he heard Rakin¡¯s angry grunts, punctuated by the decidedly more terrified cries of those he fought, but Kole couldn¡¯t see anything and dared not risk shooting Rakin.


    Kole stood, helpless, as the battle raged, until slowly the sounds of conflict faded and the snow began to disperse.


    Two figures lay unconscious on the floor, partially covered in snow while two more stood over Rakin. The dwarf was encased in ice up to his chest, with his arms each trapped in a spike of ice reaching up to hold him. Snow caked his hair and beard and formed a mask over his mouth preventing him from speaking.


    He fought against the restraints, screaming muffled shouts beneath the ice which Kole was certain were curses.


    The figures standing over him were human-shaped beings with icy blue skin. In place of clothing, armor of ice and cloth seemingly made of snow adorned their bodies. Of the two still standing, one was a man, lightly clad in the ice armor and wielding a spear made of ice.


    The other standing creature was a woman with long white hair dressed in a gown of the purest white. She held an icicle staff and was pointing it at Rakin to maintain the prison against his struggles.


    Both possessed an otherworldly beauty, that rivaled Esme¡¯s enchantment¡ªthough Kole was certain no such magic was at play here.


    The two on the ground were similarly adorned but they were stained all over a deep blue of their strange alien blood. Whether or not these two had been beauties was immaterial, as their faces were destroyed.


    "What in the emperor''s name is this thing?" The armored creature asked in disgust.


    "There was another! Chase after it!" The girl commanded, pointing at Amara who had stood frozen in indecision through the whole conflict.


    The warrior complied and ran after Amara. Kole acted on instinct and regretted the choice immediately.


    What he should have done was wait for the warrior to get a distance away before ambushing the woman, and then take the warrior out before he could return.


    What he actually did was stupid.


    While the armored one was still in the circle of snow surrounding the refrigerator, Kole broke his invisibility as he sent a bolt of Force at him. The magical projectile struck one of the armor plates, causing it to shatter into shards and fly in all directions. Some of the shards flew back at Kole, striking him in the arms and sending him stumbling back in surprised pain.


    It occurred to him in that moment that this was real. Whatever these creatures were, they could kill him and his friends and no professor or magical dungeon magic would save him.


    He clutched his blasting rod as he fell, and sent another bolt blindly at the ice man who was now charging him. This bolt struck true, and the creature stumbled.


    Kole landed hard on his butt, and turned invisible, before pulling himself to his feet on a counter with his good blasting rod-wielding arm.


    The woman looked over at Kole, but quickly turned her attention back to Rakin as he fought the restraints.


    The ice man got back to his feet, using his spear as a crutch, and then waved his hand in Kole''s general direction, conjuring a cloud of snow that clung to Kole, revealing him.


    The ice stung where it touched flesh and he let out a frustrated snarl as he sent his Will back into the blasting rod. He felt the magic channel itself through the device and watched the bolt fly out of its tip just as he felt the rod crumble to bits in his hand. His opponent dodged and jabbed at Kole''s chest with his ice spear. With little thought to the action, Kole constructed Shield and wrenched all of his mental might into forcing his bridge to open to accept the spell.


    The shimmering Barrier appeared before him, and the spear shattered on impact. Kole let the spell collapse as he tried to turn invisible once more and flee, but the man continued his lunge and tackled Kole to the ground where he began to pummel him with his fist.


    Before the pain, the first thing Kole noticed was how cold the body of the man on top of him was. It was as if there was a yawning portal to a frigid wasteland atop him, hungrily sucking up all his body heat.


    Then he felt the pain. Each blow to his face sent pulses of agony through his skull and he threw his arms up to protect his face against the assault.


    Distantly Kole heard a roar and saw the world turn red¡ªthough at the time he thought that was just his vision.


    The pummeling ended and the weight atop Kole vanished. The ice warrior rolled off Kole and rose, pulling a new ice spear out of the melting snow around him. The water rose and froze at his command. He turned to face the foe behind him and saw a raging inferno.


    Rakin stood over the melting corpse of his jailor, his body wreathed in flames, his eyes glowing red and his face twisted in a mad rage. Rakin screamed incoherently and charged the spearman. As he ran the bodies of the other two melted around him.


    The spearman ran to meet Rakin, but the flaming fist of the dwarf turned the spear to steam and continued through its wielder''s chest.


    The ice man stood still for a moment and then began to rapidly melt, starting from the gaping hole in his chest.


    Kole watched all of this in awe. Awe that turned to terror when Rakin turned his rage-filled eyes at him, and he saw no sign of recognition.


    Kole ran.

 Chapter 45: Fire

    Wizards have been eager to devise spells for these new Fonts, seeing the potential to simplify the high-tiered multi-Font spells. Progress has been slowed by the difficulty in finding gates to the Arcane Realm in proximity to the new Fonts.


    -Tallen Elmheart, Secondary Fonts


    ¡ª


    Kole scrambled to his feet and dove behind a counter just as a tongue of fire flew past him.


    "Rakin! It¡¯s me! Kole! Stop!" He pleaded.


    No response came save for hissing as Rakin walked slowly through the wet floor, turning the water to steam with each step


    Kole crawled around the counter, and once he thought he had a chance, broke for the dormitory. He leapt over the serving counter and fell beyond it as flames flew overhead once more.


    I''m dead! I''m dead! I''m dead! What in the realms!?


    Kole had been scared and a little nervous in the fight before, but now he was terrified. In the dungeon, he knew he was safe, which limited how much terror he could experience, and besides that, the goblins were not very imposing. But this was not some man or monster he could potentially defeat. This was a force of nature. He felt the malice of Faust radiating out from the flames, calling to the sorcerous blood within him and promising power.


    He¡¯d read about the evil god¡¯s call, from before the last Dragon War when its power had finally been sealed away, but he never thought he¡¯d experience it.


    Kole ran for the hall, not turning back to see if he was followed.


    "Amara run!" He shouted ahead, hoping she had fled.


    He ran down the hall and heard Rakin following. Doorways passed and the hallway seemed to go on forever as Rakin¡¯s footsteps grew louder. Then, Kole began to feel the heat of Rakin¡¯s flames.


    With no hope of outrunning the inferno behind him, Kole dove into the next open door and slammed it shut behind him. Taking his dagger off his belt, he wedged it under the door the instant before Rakin crashed into it. There was only a single bang, and then silence.


    Kole threw everything in the room in front of the door, first tipping a bookshelf and then pushing both beds. While he worked, the orange of Rakin¡¯s flames glowed through the cracks around the edges of the door. Eventually, the doorknob and his dagger took on a red glow and the room began to smell of burning wood and hear the lapping of flickering flames.


    Then, the banging returned, and the latch broke on the first attempt, weakened by the heat. The door opened two inches before being stopped by the barrier. Flames licked around the door, and smoke quickly filled the room. Before a second bang came, there was a loud crack from beyond, and the fire dimmed rapidly before dying down to glowing embers that in turn winked out.


    ¡°Rakin?¡± Kole called tentatively from where he hid behind a nightstand.


    ¡°No¡ª¡° Amara called back before breaking out into a coughing fit from the smoke. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±


    Kole quickly deconstructed the barrier, and the door fell open to the floor as soon as he removed the bookshelf that had been holding it up. The outside of the door had been completely blackened by the flames and the hinges had fallen loose at Rakin¡¯s resumed assault.


    Rakin lay unconscious¡ªand naked¡ªon the floor before the door. He was covered in bruises and cuts, all still leaking blood on the floor where it landed and sizzled. The knuckles on his hands were completely torn up as if he¡¯d been punching gravel.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Kole asked.


    Amara looked proud for a moment before suddenly growing stricken.


    ¡°Oh no! I¡¯m going to be in trouble¡­¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I took something from the lab to study, a runed device meant to contain lab explosions. It creates a barrier against air in a region allowing¡ª¡°


    ¡°Why are you going to be in trouble?¡± Kole asked, interrupting what would likely be a long explanation of the merits of such a device and the secrets she¡¯d intended to glean from it.


    ¡°They are very expensive. As a safety device, they use very high-quality gems to ensure reliability. I was going to give it back after I studied the runes, but now¡­¡±


    Amara slumped against a wall and slid down it to sit on the floor.


    ¡°Am I going to be expelled?¡± she asked Kole.


    Kole gingerly touched the ground outside the door with his toe and found it bearable before leaping out of the room. He didn¡¯t dare get close to Rakin, but he watched him closely to confirm he was still breathing.


    ¡°I think you¡¯ll be fine,¡± Kole reassured her. ¡°I don¡¯t know who¡ªor what¡ªthose ice people were, but the school is going to want to know about it, and they may forgive a little accidental theft.¡±


    I hope. Kole thought, and reflected that they were about to find out if there was any truth to Professor Shalia¡¯s claims about permission.


    The two sat for a while, wondering what had happened to Rakin as they waited for the floor around him to cool off enough for them to move him.


    ¡°It felt¡­ evil. Like¡­¡± Kole thought, trying to place what he had experienced. ¡°It felt like there was a voice in my head, calling me to destroy. It was easy to block out, but a part of me wanted to listen.¡±


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    ¡°That sounds like Faust¡¯s influence presence,¡± Amara said, ¡°But they sealed that away during the war. Levar himself did it! How could you feel that now?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ***


    When they¡¯d rested, and the ground had cooled, they tried to lift Rakin but found the short dwarf to be incredibly dense. He was too heavy to drag and too short for them to drape across their shoulders without lifting him up off the ground. They dragged him a few feet before giving up entirely.


    ¡°The door¡¯s too far,¡± Kole complained. ¡°We need to find Professor Shalia.¡±


    As if summoned by magic¡ªbecause, well, it was¡ªthe room through the doorway beside Kole vanished, and was replaced with a large and well-appointed sitting room. The walls were the white stone of the Dahn, but they were covered with paintings of people and natural vistas. In the center of the room, Professor Shalia stood in front of an easel, and Zale stood before her, wearing a very expensive gown, covered in lace and gold fit for a noblewoman, not a student or adventurer.


    Kole collapsed next to Rakin on the ground in surprise and tried to make sense of what he was seeing.


    From his vantage point, Kole saw the painting Shalia was working on, and it depicted some unknown human woman instead of Zale. Zale was facing the door and her eyes grew wide at their sudden appearance. Without turning around, Shalia acted on her daughter¡¯s expression, and the silver paintbrush she held grew into a long knife as mist formed around her coalescing into plates of icy armor. By the time Professor Shalia had turned around to face the group¡ªdone in the span of a blink¡ªshe was holding an icy white rapier in one hand and a long knife in the other.


    When the professor recognized the student, her posture lost some of its lethal menace, but she remained alert.


    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± she demanded, the playful mischief typical to her now gone.


    Behind her, Zale fought to get out of the ridiculous gown and resorted to cutting it down the side.


    ¡°We fought some ice men in an abandoned dining hall,¡± Kole explained, once he registered what had happened. ¡±Rakin got trapped and burst into flames then went mad and tried to kill us!¡±


    ¡°Zale, alert Tigereye and go get a healer!¡± Shalia commanded her daughter as she ran to the doorway.


    Zale took off, running out the door without hesitation, looking back at her friends as she did.


    Kole thought Shalia was going to attack him as she ran toward him, and he flinched back. But, each of her steps landed on air, slightly higher than the one before, and she ran over his head in a banking turn down the hall. She picked up speed and a gale began to blow down the hall towards the site of their battle, propelling her on.


    Amara and Kole watched after her in awe. They¡¯d known their friend¡¯s mother had been an adventurer, but knowing and being the target of her murderous ire were two very different things.


    Once she was out of sight, they dragged the unconscious dwarf out of the hallway, marveling at the appearance of the door, and then the opulence of the room. Rich carpets covered the floor, and once he was inside he saw that life-size marble statues of naked men and women lined the wall the doorway had appeared before.


    Once they were inside, Kole collapsed in exhaustion, laying on his back with his eyes closed.


    ¡°Ow,¡± he moaned, aware of the pain now that the adrenaline was fading. ¡°I think I broke my face.¡±


    "At least you got ice on it right away," Amara said from where she stood, marveling at the craftsmanship of the sculptures.


    Kole broke out into laughter despite the pain.


    Amara looked at him confused.


    "What did I say?"


    Zale returned before Kole could explain, with the hulking form of Tigereye behind her. He disappeared into the doorway without giving the other students a second glance. She knelt down by Rakin, placed a yellow berry the size of a thumb in his mouth, and moved his jaw to force him to chew it.


    ¡°Eat this,¡± she said, almost pleading.


    The wounds on Rakin¡¯s body slowly closed as Kole watched.


    ¡°Here,¡± Zale said to Kole, handing him a berry of his own.


    Kole looked at it closely before eating it. Up close the berry had a spiral pattern all along it in alternated shades of yellow, unlike any fruit he¡¯d ever seen. He threw it into his mouth and nearly choked it up, so bad was the taste.


    ¡°Ugh,¡± he said through a gag. ¡°It tastes like moldy feet.¡±


    ¡°Sorry!,¡± Zale apologized. ¡°They don¡¯t always taste good but they will make you feel better. I promise.¡±


    Zale walked over to a cart nearby that had glass bottles filled with liquids of varying hues of amber and red, and then grabbed an ice bucket and scooped up a glass of melted ice out of it.


    ¡°Here you go,¡± she said as she gave it to him. ¡°Tell me what happened. Are you okay?¡±


    Kole explained how they¡¯d found the secret door and the fight inside, describing the icemen in as much detail as he could, trying to not forget a thing.


    Professor Shalia and Tigereye returned shortly after Kole finished. Zale¡¯s mother nodded in approval when she saw that Rakin had been seen to and then turned back to the open door. She placed her hand on the frame and closed her eyes. A moment later, the hallway outside began to drift away, as if the Dahn was splitting in two. As it drifted down and away, Kole briefly glimpsed the black void of nothingness the extra-dimensional sections of the Dahn resided in. Then, the doorway vanished, and Professor Shalia slid something into her artist¡¯s smock.


    Her eyes then fixed on Kole and she said, ¡°Tell me everything.¡±


    The two faculty members stood listening as Kole told the story again. When he got to the part where Rakin turned into an insane fire monster, he paused, looking to Zale for permission to reveal that secret. He¡¯d sensed the Rakin had been hiding something from him, but he¡¯d never suspected it was that he was a Fire primal.


    A Fire primal and an Earth primal? He realized. Is that even possible? Well, I supposed a primal sorcerer wizard isn¡¯t supposed to be possible either.


    Zale nodded, and so Kole continued, leaving nothing out. When he explained how Amara had stopped Rakin with the extinguisher rune, the skinny quarter-elf shrunk in on herself as if he¡¯d just explained how they¡¯d burned down a house.


    ¡°You kids did good,¡± Professor Shalia said when Kole was done, and Tigereye nodded in agreement.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t in trouble?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°No, but you really should have run instead of investigating.¡±


    She kicked Rakin¡¯s sleeping form gently and added, ¡°But I¡¯ll talk to Rakin about that when he wakes up.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure we aren¡¯t in trouble?¡± Amara asked. ¡°For anything?¡±


    Professor Shalia sighed, ¡°Yes. The Dahn must have led you to that hallway for this purpose.¡±


    Looking up at the ceiling and in a louder, irritated voice she added, ¡°But there were better ways it could have gone about alerting the faculty to the presence of interlopers.¡±


    ¡°The Dahn is self-aware?¡± Amara asked in amazement, following Professor Shalia¡¯s eyes up to the ceiling.


    ¡°As much as any ensouled artifact can be. Which is to say, selectively.¡±


    Kole was trying to reconcile the fact that the Dahn was self-aware when Professor Shalia walked over to the dress her daughter had destroyed.


    Tigereye lifted Rakin as a parent would lift their toddler, and carried him out of the room, stopping briefly to talk to Zale on the way. The professors left together, moving quickly to inform others of what had just occurred.


    Kole noticed then that Zale was only wearing a shift. His face grew red and he decided that it was his turn to inspect the ceiling. When Zale turned, she noticed his expression and then noticed her own immodest dress and suddenly she vanished, leaving a cloud of black particles behind that drifted up into the air briefly before disappearing.


    ¡°Zale!¡± Kole shouted, looking around the room frantically for his friend, alerting Amara to her disappearance.


    The runesmith in training had been inspecting the now seemingly mundane doorframe they¡¯d entered, looking through a very small circle of glass banded by metal and mounted to a handle.


    Before either could descend into further panic, black motes manifested as if flowing from a hole in reality and grew into Zale in an instant. Zale reappeared behind the easel, and picked up the painting, clutching it protectively against herself.


    ¡°Get out!¡±

 Chapter 46: Family

    Oan came and created, leaving four behind.


    The four would grow to know what it meant to be divine.


    Waas, the nimble, the greatest artist out of these.


    Aurial the contented, strong and deep like her seas.


    Torc the steadfast, enduring, and strong


    Faust with passions that would lead him to do wrong.


    -Children¡¯s Poem


    ¡ª


    ¡°Did you know she could do that?¡± Amara asked when they were outside the art-filled room.


    At Zale¡¯s insistence, they¡¯d run out and she¡¯d slammed the door behind them. The room they¡¯d entered into was one familiar to Kole. It was the library he¡¯d entered at Theral¡¯s direction and he¡¯d run into Zale¡¯s mother. He looked to where the door he¡¯d entered from should have been and saw it was there. Kole ran over to the door, and pulled it open, revealing a small kitchen, equipped in the manner of the dining hall kitchen he¡¯d just battled in, only smaller in scale.


    ¡°Kole?¡±


    ¡°Oh, sorry,¡± Kole answered, remembering the question. ¡°I was distracted. No, I didn¡¯t know she could do that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Professor Shalia understood the gravity of what I used to disable Rakinar. Do you think I should clarify what I meant about being in trouble?¡±


    Opening and closing the door to the kitchen, Kole absentmindedly said. ¡°No,¡±


    ¡°Open to my room,¡± he whispered, and reopened the door, but still the kitchen remained


    "Why is there a kitchen off a library?" Amara asked.


    "Because Uncle Levar and Tal¡ªlen basically lived here," Zale answered from the open door to the gallery. She spoke quietly, still recovering from the embarrassment and her voice caught oddly when saying her uncle''s name. "There''s a dining hall on the other side. They moved it all to the same floor after a few incidents of falling down the stairs while reading."


    Zale was out of her shift and dressed in a paint-speckled canvas outfit. She walked across the library towards a third door in the room.


    "I''ll be right back," she excused herself leaving the pair to explore.


    Zale returned shortly later wearing a tunic in the style she typically wore to training, only this one was a pleasant sky blue with white embroidery, compared to those plain tan ones.


    "So... Do you want a tour?"


    Both agreed and Zale led them around.


    ¡°My room''s in there,¡± Zale gestured to the door as she walked past.


    Amara walked in, not aware that the pointing wasn¡¯t an invitation to enter.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Zale said, but it was too late.


    If Kole had been told a Kobold had lived in the room, he would have believed it and been worried it had smothered to death beneath a mound of clothes. The room was large, but clothing completely covered the floor. The only surface free of it was the desk and bed along the far wall. Wooden armoires, ornately engraved with flowers and leaves filled the left wall, and clothing spilled out of those as well. The wall on the right was instead covered in paintings, and an easel and stand of paints sat in a small clearing in the clutter. An armor stand stood next to the easel in its one little clearing, and Zale¡¯s armor stood next to it, her sword and a few other weapons mounted on a rack behind it.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Amara said, looking around. ¡°Smells like flowers.¡±


    Zale¡¯s face had turned almost completely black in her odd manner of blushing, and Kole thought she would disappear again at any moment.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ kind of a disaster,¡± Kole said, not knowing any other way to put it.


    ¡°I know,¡± she admitted, her skin starting to return to its regular white. ¡°I never have anyone over.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not really an excuse to live like that,¡± Kole observed.


    ¡°I, uh¡­¡± the black returned, and Zale confessed. ¡°I really like clothes. That and art are the only two things my mother and I really have in common. And I think I mentioned before that she apologizes with gifts.¡±


    ¡°Still¡­¡±


    ¡°I know! Moving on. Amara, please put that down.¡±


    Amara almost dropped the dagger she was examining. It was made of black glass and seemed to glow with an inner light.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°This is the library. Lots of books my mother and her friends gathered over the years. Most they put in the public sections, but they kept a collection.¡±


    Zale¡¯s ploy worked, and Kole completely forgot about the mess as his eyes roamed the shelves. He¡¯d not had long to look the last time he¡¯d been here. Shelves lined the walls of the circular room, and the illusory globe still sat in the middle. A smaller version of the massive crystalline stalactite from the grand foyer came down from the ceiling here, bathing the room in a gentle white light.


    ¡°That¡¯s my mother¡¯s suite,¡± Zale said, pointing to the fourth and final door. Hastily she added, ¡°Don¡¯t go in there.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t necessary though, for Amara¡¯s gaze was transfixed on the illusion in the room¡¯s center.


    ¡°That¡¯s a scrying map of the world. It¡¯s very out of date. Let¡¯s go back to the gallery. We can go through to the dining room and get something to eat.


    ¡°Why do you live here?¡± Amara asked as they walked through the gallery.


    ¡°What do you mean? Lots of faculty live in the Dahn.¡±


    Kole could tell she didn¡¯t want to answer the question, but Amara definitely couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been to Professor Donglefore¡¯s residence. This is much nicer and much larger. Your bedroom was as big as his and he only had three rooms total. We didn¡¯t even see your mother¡¯s suite.¡±


    ¡°My mother¡¯s the headmistress of the art college,¡± Zale said, but it came out more like a question than as a convincing explanation.


    ¡°He¡¯s the head of the crafting college.¡±


    As Amara interrogated her, Zale began looking around the room nervously. Amara seemed offended that her mentor and idol didn¡¯t have comparably sized accommodations. Kole followed her eyes thinking some danger might be at hand, but he realized she was looking at some paintings.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go get some food!¡± Zale said cheerily, ignoring Amara¡¯s question.


    Kole was about to let her get away with it when he spotted a familiar face in one of the paintings. A portrait of an armored dark-skinned man with a bald head, face wrinkled with smile lines, riding a horse and bearing the mark of Illunia on his pauldrons.


    He¡¯d seen that face somewhere before.


    ¡°Did your mom paint all of these?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Umm, yes?¡±


    ¡°Did your mom know all these people?¡±


    Zale was squirming now and was looking right at the same painting. She nodded.


    ¡°How exactly did your mother know Daulf Tutor, Chosen of Illunia, Dragonslayer, and founder of the Academy of Illunia?¡±


    Zale winced, and then she seemed to deflate, all the nervous energy fleeing in defeat.


    ¡°He¡­ was one of my uncles,¡± she said in a lower voice and then let out a groan. ¡°Mom¡¯s going to kill me.¡±


    Now it was Kole¡¯s turn to interrogate Zale


    ***


    ¡°So,¡± Kole said, after a thorough round of questioning, ¡°not only is your mother secretly the mysteriously absent chancellor of the whole flooding academy, she¡¯s also the inheritor of the Dahn¡¯s Bond after Daulf passed, and controls the whole flooding place? And her name is actually Trish, as in Trishalia the Ice Queen? Hero of the Last Dragon War? Didn¡¯t she murder a bunch of kings? How is she alive?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, pretty much. I kind of thought you might have figured it out when I let slip Levar¡¯s name the other day. And she denies the king murdering.¡±


    Amara was about to explode, wanting to ask more questions about Levar, but Kole had already convinced her to table that line of inquiry for later.


    Kole sat in a chair, just trying to process it all, and stared at the other paintings.


    ¡°Wait,¡± he said after a moment¡¯s thought. ¡°If your mother traveled with Daulf, that means she also did with Tal of Storms. Right?¡±


    Zale nodded.


    ¡°But, he hates that title, so don¡¯t use it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t use it?¡± he asked, confused until it clicked into place.


    Tallen is Tal. Tal Tal. Tal who he grew up idolizing. Who saved Illandrios from the outsiders controlling it. Whose father was one of the first Mirage Knights and escaped with one of the Champion¡¯s blades.


    ¡°How in the realms is he still alive? He died, didn¡¯t he?¡± Kole asked the biggest thing that came to mind, though many many thoughts banged at the door to be let out. ¡°He must be over a hundred.¡±


    ¡°He has a peculiar relationship with death,¡± Zale gave as a very non-answer.


    ¡°That¡¯s the opposite of an explanation.¡±


    Zale shrugged. ¡°You¡¯ll need to ask him. It¡¯s his secret to tell, not mine.¡±


    A thought struck Kole. He¡¯d never put much thought beyond frustration toward Zale¡¯s uncle, but now he knew him to be as powerful as Zale proclaimed.


    ¡°Is he going to be mad I know? I assume it¡¯s a secret.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably fine,¡± Zale said after thinking it over briefly ¡°Just don¡¯t tell anyone else. He¡¯s trying to keep a low profile.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°The magical affliction he suffers. He¡¯s trying to learn to control or cure it. Until then, he doesn¡¯t want people to know where he is and rely on him because he won¡¯t always be around to help.¡±


    Kole sat to digest the information, and Amara filled the void with more questions about Levar.


    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± He asked once Amara¡¯s line of inquiry died down, mostly at the insistence of Zale that Rakin had more knowledge of the man.


    Kole pointed to one of a brown-haired man dressed in forest-tone leather with a wolf at his side.


    While he¡¯d recognized Daulf from the statue on campus, and some paintings throughout, this man was unfamiliar. But, the painting stood out from the amount of attention to detail that was put into it.


    ¡°That¡¯s my dad,¡± she said proudly. ¡°Roland.¡±


    ¡°Your dad? Are you adopted?¡± Amara asked.


    Zale turned to Amara, who was beginning to try on even her patience, and firmly said ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°But, he¡¯s a human,¡± Amara said as if Zale could have possibly not known. ¡°And your mother is a half-elf, and you are a half-voidling.¡±


    ¡°I am aware.¡±


    Kole looked at Zale, and then the painting. They did look related if you discounted the whole voidling-human thing.


    ¡°Amara, I think you should drop¡ª¡° Kole began, but Zale interrupted.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I can explain. I never met him, My dad. He died long before I was born. After he did, Mom moved around for a few years, doing odd jobs and helping out where needed. Eventually, she found herself living with the voidlings, and one day she found herself pregnant, and a few days later I was born.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I have a lot of questions.¡±


    ¡°Me too,¡± Amara added.


    ¡°Voidling¡¯s aren¡¯t really beings of our realm. They reproduce when they and their partner desire to have a child, and then one becomes pregnant and a baby voidling follows behind shortly. My mother and father had wanted children, they¡¯d even picked out names, but quarter-elves are rare.¡±


    She nodded at Amara at that.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how, but somehow the same thing happened to Mom. She gave birth to me alone in the night, and immediately knew I was Roland¡¯s, despite him having been gone for decades¡­¡±


    Zale had grown somber as she spoke but then smiled.


    ¡°She says I had his nose and ¡®same respect for authority.¡¯ Mom took me to the dwarves, and raised me with them for a while before coming back to the Dahn with me disguised as a quarter-elf.¡±


    Kole had a lot more questions but held them back. Zale had shared far more than she needed to and he didn¡¯t want to push her further.


    ¡°Thank you for sharing all of this,¡± he said, looking at Amara and holding his hand up telling her to drop whatever questions she had.

 Chapter 47: Pathing

    Riloth and Assuine created with love, while Erebog and Bilieth were born of deceit.


    Illunia the last was born out of Faust¡¯s defeat.


    Bild came far later to help in the fight and sealed the foul brother as his siblings took flight.


    ¡ª


    Amara, Zale, and Kole were eating a light lunch Zale put together with what they had in the kitchen¡ªwhich was very little¡ªas they discussed less historically significant events.


    ¡°I need to put more thought into my own self-defense,¡± Amara volunteered out of the blue, interrupting a conversation about the other two¡¯s alchemy homework.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°''I¡¯m not an adventurer, but when has that adventure cared whose path it comes across?¡¯ It¡¯s a quote from Levar¡¯s biography. He wasn¡¯t an adventurer, but he prepared for the eventualities all his life, and when he got involved in the Last Dragon War, he was pivotal. I think I need to shift the focus of some of my projects, but we¡¯ll see what Professor Donglefore thinks.¡±


    ¡°I suspect he will be very in favor of such a decision,¡± Professor Shalia¡ªTrishalia, the famous adventurer¡ªsaid from the entrance to the dining hall. ¡°I see my little Azalea has spilled the family secret.¡±


    ¡°Only the small ones,¡± Zale joked¡ªor at least, Kole thought she was joking.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m honestly surprised Tal made it two weeks without blowing it himself, but don¡¯t tell Doug or Runt. One doesn¡¯t have an ounce of guile in his antlered body, and the other has too much.¡±


    Kole stood awkwardly when Zale¡¯s mother had entered, suddenly extremely self-conscious. He bowed, ¡°It¡¯s an honor¡ª¡°


    ¡°Nope,¡± she said, and a gust of wind blew Kole¡¯s chair in, forcing him to sit. ¡°None of that. We don¡¯t have time. I need you to go over everything again, in greater detail. This is the second time something like this has happened around you, and I want to know if you¡¯re somehow causing this.¡±


    She held a stack of fine white paper in her hands and passed it out to Kole and Amara.


    ¡°Write down everything you remember.¡±


    Embarrassment and relief filled Kole¡ªand a little pain, the push into the chair hadn¡¯t been gentle. He¡¯d been nervous at meeting Zale¡¯s mother again and was largely happy with how that had gone. He didn¡¯t do well with formality and was pretty sure that Trishalia Mason had some sort of noble title.


    Does that make Zale a princess? He thought as he began to write down his account.


    To his surprise, the words flowed from his mind out onto the page. He didn¡¯t need to struggle to recall anything. It all came back in perfect clarity. Better than perfect he found. When writing about the cloud of snow Rakin had battled within, he could now recall some of the details of the fight he¡¯d been unable¡ªor too distracted¡ªto notice at the time. The girl¡ªfor he now saw that his foes had been around his age¡ªthat had frozen Rakin had summoned ice projectiles to fight. Of the two that Rakin had slain, one had been the source of the blizzard, and the other had been in the process of covering his body with an icy exoskeleton when Rakin had broken his face in.


    ¡°What emperor could they be speaking of?¡± Professor Shalia said to Tigereye as they read over both accounts.


    Tigereye had returned during the writing and waited patiently for them to finish.


    ¡°I do not know. There are no empires outside the seas. These did not sound like sea folk. But, these creatures could be the source of the missing students.¡±


    ¡°Missing students!?¡± Amara jumped to her feet.


    Neither Kole nor Amara had hidden that they¡¯d been searching for her sister in the recounting of events, but until then no one had made mention of it.


    ¡°The fact that we had interlopers in the school and that your tracker led you to them is pretty damning evidence the missing students are related to this,¡± Professor Shalia said. ¡°I know you sent letters last year asking after your sister. We did look, but it is common for students to simply leave. It wasn¡¯t until this week we started to see a pattern in some of the missing students.¡±


    ¡°What pattern!?¡± Amara asked hungrily.


    ¡°They were all primals.¡±


    ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°Including your sister? Three. Your sister was the first. Then one of Tigereye¡¯s primal students from his home. This year we lost a Spatial primal from the Hollow Peak. Students leaving is common, but to lose three primals in a year can¡¯t be a coincidence.


    The pair of college heads asked a few more questions before dismissing them.


    ¡°You two can go,¡± Zale¡¯s mother said. ¡°Don¡¯t spread what you learned today around. We''ll be acting on this, I promise, but we don¡¯t need to start a panic.¡±


    She led them to a door that Kole was certain had led to the kitchen, but when it opened, was a random passage in the library.


    ¡°One last thing,¡± she said before closing the door. ¡°I know you are unlikely to listen, but please leave searching for your sister to us. You got lucky that the creatures you faced were within your means to defeat, but the realms are a large and scary place.¡±


    ***


    Kole¡¯s friends abandoned him shortly after they were dismissed. Zale ran out before her mother closed the door to go check on Rakin, and Amara went to get started on a new blasting rod.


    ¡°With the first destroyed, I¡¯ll probably not be able to get the self-repairing one done this week,¡± she¡¯d said before leaving.


    Which, was fine by Kole. He hadn¡¯t been able to copy the intent for the rune yet.


    Alone, Kole wandered the library until he gathered his bearings and found his way back to the door to his room. Inside he found Theral at work at the desk.


    ¡°Welcome back,¡± Theral greeted him.


    ¡°Same to you,¡± Kole returned.


    Theral had been gone when he¡¯d woken up, though Kole hadn¡¯t heard him leave.


    ¡°How¡¯s your reading coming along?¡± Theral asked.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°It¡¯s only been a day,¡± Kole answered. ¡°But I can see it will help, and a¡­ respected mage I consulted with seemed to think your suggestions to be good.¡±


    Flood, Professor Shalia said don¡¯t talk about Theral, she also said don¡¯t talk about Tal. So, she¡¯d probably be really mad if I talked about one to the other.


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Theral said with a forced laugh. ¡°I only just suggested those books didn''t I? Do you need the desk?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m going to read, and then work on mapping Thunderwave for a bit,¡± Kole said, walking over to his poorly repaired bag which contained the copies of Unknowable Geographies and Bridges to Power.


    Kole paused before picking up the books and looked up to the newly manifested second door in the room next to the desk. He walked over, and opened it, revealing a stone wall.


    ¡°That happened an hour or so back,¡± Theral said without looking up from his book.


    Professor Shalia must have closed it with the other doors. But¡­ an hour ago I was in Zale¡¯s home, and that didn¡¯t open to here. So where had it opened?


    He considered asking Theral, but he wasn¡¯t supposed to tell Theral about meeting Professor Shalia, and mentioning having been in her home would invite questions.


    Kole dove into his study, drowning out the chaos of the day with mind-bending descriptions of the Arcane Realm. He read for a few hours, and then moved to more practical applications of his education.


    Laying in his bed, Kole entered his mental vault. Everyone¡¯s vault took on its own form when created, though most were some manner of house. Kole¡¯s was a library¡ªwhich he supposed currently was his home. The library of his mental vault was a square room with books endlessly expanding up into the sky above. Most of the books were simply facades, but some were not.


    As with anyone¡¯s mental vault, Kole could access his memories within, and if he chose to, he could enhance them to preserve them. Kole had a few choice memories of his parents, preserved perfectly, and regularly maintained, though he never dared to view them. He didn¡¯t think he could handle that.


    His spellform templates too stood preserved in books, but he ignored all that as he mentally walked to his bridge, a free-standing doorway in the center of the chamber.


    He threw the bridge open with just a thought and looked out in the the Arcane Realm. Like the vault, everyone¡¯s mind overlaid some sort of familiar landscape to the undefinable realm of power used by the gods to craft the world. Kole had heard of forests, cities, floating orbs in an empty void, and more, but his was simple. It was another library.


    At first, he¡¯d been a little disappointed to discover his contained another library, but that had quickly faded, replaced with the dread of the realization that he was in fact a primal. In anyone¡¯s representation of the Arcane Realm, the Fonts stood out as imposing beacons of power. For a primal, their Font would be visible in even a bridge-less vault as some sort of defining feature of the space.


    Kole¡¯s vault had been free of any such feature when he¡¯d created it, granting him the false sense of relief that he wasn¡¯t an Illusion primal. But, upon creating a bridge, he found his door opened right alongside the towering monolith of a bookshelf that was the Font of Illusion. He glanced briefly at this Font now before looking out into the expanse of the library before him.


    Bookshelves spread out as far as the eye could see as if he were walking on the inside surface of a massive sphere. Describing it like that vastly simplified the true mind-contorting geometry of the place, but Kole often left the description at that, lest he get a headache or lose the attention of his audience. If he had to describe it further, he¡¯d explain how the sphere seemed to be more than three-dimensional, but even with his recent readings he didn¡¯t have the words to describe the place.


    The vast majority of the bookshelves were not actually Fonts, but other oddities the gods created in their pursuit of persisting beauty and function. Some over-ambitious¡ªor underly cautious¡ªwizards had tried to draw power from these eldritch wells of power, but at best they had died and at worse went insane and took others with them.


    Standing in his doorway, Kole conjured a book to appear in his hand from his vault¡¯s shelves. He accessed the content of it and began to copy the spell template for Thunderwave from it, empowering it with his Will as he traced it in his mind. Once the spell was formed¡ªa matter of a breath in the outside world, but seemingly the act of hours with his skewed perspective of time in a place in which time did not really exist¡ªhe sent it out.


    The magic left him, flying straight for the Font of Sound, where it immediately crashed into a nearby bookshelf and fell apart. Kole let out a mental sigh, and tried again, this time leaving his vault to draw on his vast notes of spellforms to find a way to navigate that first bend.


    ***


    Three hours later, Kole had a spell that could dodge the first two obstacles in its path to the Font of Sound. Two out of how many, he didn¡¯t know. Being ineffable and mind-bending, he couldn¡¯t easily wander around looking for the Font of Sound to chart a course. That would be suicidal. He could follow the path of the spell he cast, as the Font of Sound component built into it honed in on its destination, but if he tried to follow that same path without the spell to guide him, he¡¯d quickly become lost, slipping into some other dimension from his intended path.


    Luckily for him, the spell, free of any sort of need to open his bridge to a new location, and only having a small fraction of a true path built in so far, took hardly any Will to cast, and he was able to work for hours before Will drain set in. Unfortunately, this task was the work of months, and he¡¯d reached his limit.


    ¡°Done?¡± Theral asked from the desk.


    ¡°I think so,¡± Kole answered without opening his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m getting a headache, and I can¡¯t find any components that work.¡±


    Kole pulled out his spellbook, ready to record his findings and ink the spellform for what he¡¯d built so far, but when he opened to the last page of his book, he found it already filled.


    ¡°Flood,¡± he cursed. ¡°I¡¯m out of spellform paper. I¡¯ll need to get some more this week.¡±


    While it would be nice to store the spell¡¯s progress each day, it wasn¡¯t necessary. Spells decayed over time in vaults, but they should last long enough for him to buy more paper in the next day or two, and he could always repair them if he didn¡¯t get paper any time soon.


    Kole moved on to his other school work, deciding he¡¯d best get it all done this weekend so he could dive into his other spellwork with all his attention on Sunday.


    Theral offered Kole the desk, seeing him done with his spellform pathing¡ªa task often done in a comfy chair or bed. At least until the spell was almost complete and at risk of doing anything.


    The first thing he had to do was write an essay on the differences in Riloth worship between the extinct pre-Flood humans of Basin and their surviving orc counterparts. It wasn¡¯t until Kole had finished the entire essay without referencing one of the required readings that he realized something was amiss.


    ¡°What in the realms?¡± he asked aloud, flipping back through the five pages he¡¯d written, complete with citations referencing specific page numbers.


    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± Theral asked, sitting up from either his own wizardly work or a nap¡ªKole had noticed Theral tended to bundle up under the covers when exploring the Arcane Realm.


    ¡°I just wrote a whole essay without looking at any reference material,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem like the best way to write an essay,¡± Theral observed.


    Kole handed it over and glanced over the references.


    ¡°You just recalled these from memory?¡± he asked.


    Kole nodded.


    Theral waved his hand in front of him as if casting a spell, and then looked at the paper more closely.


    ¡°This is magic paper,¡± he said, confidently.


    ¡°This is the notebook I found on this desk when I first found this room,¡± Kole explained, realizing he¡¯d never actually asked if it was Theral¡¯s. ¡°Was it yours?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t put it here,¡± Theral said, flipping it over to review the spine and recognizing it for seemingly the first time. ¡°It was here when I found the room myself but I didn¡¯t need it. I have my own magic spellbook.¡±


    ¡°Magic spellbook?¡± Kole asked.


    Theral nodded.


    ¡°I have a magic spellbook. This is a magic book.¡±¡ªTheral lifted Kole¡¯s journal up in emphasis¡ª¡°If you write spells in it, you will have a magic spellbook too.¡±


    Kole took the book back and examined the paper with a new eye. The paper was the same high-quality paper he¡¯d seen all over the Dahn, all of it exhibiting magical potential.


    ¡°This is made from the magic paper used all over the academy!¡± Kole said. ¡°What else can it do?¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯s for you to find out,¡± Theral said, with a grin that bordered on malicious.


    Theral fell asleep shortly thereafter, suggesting that he hadn¡¯t been working on wizardry in his blanket cocoon, and then at some point in the night vanished in a rush of power. Kole once more felt the connection to the Arcane Realm as his roommate disappeared.


    Kole checked the time. It was late, but it wasn¡¯t too late, and he had no plans for the morning. With the knowledge that his journal had magical paper inside of it, he got to work seeing what it could do, and he began by recording his most recent progress in Thunderwave. He copied first the spellform Theral had provided, and then filled in the new path components around it. Two hours later he was finished and a quick check showed the paper perfectly suitable for storing spells.


    ¡°I guess I don¡¯t need to buy more paper,¡± he said to himself.


    But, as he was packing up his scribing kit preparing for bed, he found the vial of magical¡ªand very expensive-ink he¡¯d just exhausted had been his last one.


    ¡°Flood.¡±

 Chapter 48: Follow the Squirrel

    At her birth, Illunia knew little but possessed a burning desire to learn. Knowledge became her domain, and she sought to experience all that existed. While the other gods were born into the void that became the Arcane Realm, Illunia was born into a world rich with wonders to explore. She traveled throughout the Realm, exploring planets, stars, and moon before returning to Kaltis, for here the gods still labored, creating new wonders each day as they kept the Wardens company.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    Kole slept late and was woken by his second roommate rummaging through his bag.


    ¡°Scram!¡± he shouted, throwing his pillow at the creature, which vanished as the pillow passed through its unoccupied spot before returning an instant later. Then, as if mocking him, the rat leapt off the desk and walked lazily out the door with a hunk of bread in its jaws.


    ¡°That was my breakfast,¡± Kole said weakly.


    Before leaving, he checked the door to Zale¡¯s home and confirmed it still lead nowhere.


    He closed the door and said ¡°Zale¡¯s home.¡±


    When he reopened it, the wall remained.


    ¡°Breakfast,¡± he said, trying again to no avail.


    ***


    With the frequent free meals from Zale, and the constantly free board in the form of a magical bedroom in the library, Kole didn¡¯t feel as bad splurging on breakfast that day. Except, it wasn¡¯t breakfast, at best it was brunch and the kitchen staff shot him rude looks as he walked in just as they were switching the food over from one meal to the other. He shelled the copper and a half¡ªthree times the per meal cost he¡¯d budgeted for when he¡¯d begun to save for this adventure. Though in hindsight, his estimates had been extremely off.


    After the quick meal, Kole set out to find Rakin. He planned to spend the day studying but wanted to check in on his friend. There were a few infirmaries in the school, he just had no idea which one would have Rakin.


    First, he made his way to the martial college¡¯s infirmary. This one mostly dealt with cuts and broken bones, but with Tigereye having been present at the incident, it was possible he was here. Kole asked at the front desk.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, patient records are not available to the public,¡± the female halfling student working the desk said.


    Kole sighed and was planning how to sneak in invisible when the student continued.


    ¡°But, I can tell you there is no one by that name here.¡±


    Kole left and checked with the school in the crafting college next. This one specialized in alchemical remedies¡ªboth in treating alchemical mishaps and using alchemy to treat everything from infections to chronic illness. A male gnome student worked the desk here, so busy in his own studies that Kole had to check to see if he was invisible when the student didn¡¯t respond to his presence.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Kole said louder.


    ¡°Oh, sorry! I was reading this fascinating account of a man whose skin turned into glass. How can I help you today?¡±


    Fascinating¡­ Kole thought, repressing a shudder.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for my friend Rakin. He was in an accident but I don¡¯t know where he went.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± the gnome began but then stared closer at Kole, squinting as he examined his face.


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    In a lower tone, he asked, ¡°Wait, you¡¯re Amara¡¯s friend right?¡±


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°I thought so, but all you tall folk look the same. I¡¯ll check if he¡¯s here.¡±


    The gnome exited through a door behind the desk and Kole took the opportunity of his absence to turn invisible and run around the counter. He skimmed the list of entries in the last day. It was full of students with horrific alchemically induced traumas, such as missing skin, or dissolved bones, but no mention of Rakin.


    Kole returned to the other side of the counter and turned visible just as he heard the gnome¡¯s soft footsteps approaching the door.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry your friends not here,¡± he said as he stepped out.


    ¡°I checked the martial infirmary. Do you know where else he might be?¡±


    The gnome thought about it for a moment and said, ¡°There¡¯s the temple on campus, but that only takes the most grievous injuries, mostly tending to the townsfolk free of charge. You could check the conclave.¡±


    ¡°The conclave?¡± Kole asked, ¡°Where is that? I¡¯ve heard it mentioned but never seen it.¡±


    ¡°The big tree on the green. You just walk through it and bam, you¡¯re in the grove.¡±


    Kole examined his face for signs of deception, but he seemed to be in earnest.


    ¡°Walk? Through a tree?¡±


    The gnome waved his hands in front of his face, wiggling his fingers, and said, ¡°Magic!¡±


    ***


    Twenty minutes and two corroborating conversations later, Kole stood in front of the massive oak tree that dominated the green. Plenty of people lay and played games in its shade, but no one attempted to step through it while he watched. Working up the courage in front of this potential embarrassment, Kole walked to the tree.


    He wanted to turn invisible, but he couldn¡¯t exactly hide that ability out in the open like this. And, if he did step through he would be outed at once as having the spell. And as he¡¯d learned growing up in a town full of Mirage Knights and Illusion primals, the usefulness of invisibility is inversely proportional to the number of people who know about it. Every shop and store back home had means of detecting the invisible, and the spell had only been selectively useful.


    Instead, he tried something new. His conversation with Zale about her Sound canceling aura got him thinking about his own primal abilities¡ªwell, ability. He could make people ignore the presence of an object without making it invisible.


    Could I do the same with myself? He wondered.


    Suddenly vanishing in a crowd could garner undue attention, but simply becoming hard to focus on? By definition, no one would notice. He¡¯d tried hiding objects in the palm of his hand with Zale. If she wasn¡¯t expecting it, her eyes would lose focus, briefly before seeing it again. Out in public, with lots of things to distract, he should just disappear.


    Kole reached out to his seldom-used primal connection to the Font of Illusions.


    When casting Invisibility, which was a sorcerous spell, he¡¯d manifest part of his mind in the Arcane Realm, just outside the Font, and reach within to draw power out into him and the world. Drawing on the Font through his primal abilities was different. It was like waving an arm he didn¡¯t always remember he had.


    No, Kole reflected. It¡¯s like using a gangly tail I don¡¯t know how to control, and can¡¯t see moving because it¡¯s behind me.


    Groping blindly with his primal appendage, Kole grabbed the power and pulled some into him. Instead of pushing it into an object as his instincts dictated, he let the power build up in him. As if water flowing into a sandy hole in the beach¡ªan analogy Kole had not ever personally experienced¡ªthe power filled his body. Once it was full, he dropped the connection.


    He looked around. No one was looking at him, but no one had been looking at him before either. Testing the spell out, Kole approached a couple eating a meal on a blanket nearby. Once he was a few feet away, he felt the slight draw of Will as the magic drew on the Font to divert the attention of the girl. She looked up, right at him, and then looked away, as if she¡¯d not seen him. Kole stopped a few feet away and waited. No one saw him, but eventually, the couple both kept looking over their shoulder, subtly aware something was there, but never noticing him. With each glance, the drain grew exponentially, and satisfied with the results Kole ran away towards the tree.


    The Will drain had been intense. Walking to the students had cost nearly nothing, but once they started looking, it had been as if he was casting Invisibility constantly. The whole exercise had drained half his Will.


    Confident that he at least wouldn¡¯t embarrass himself, Kole prepared to walk through the tree. He touched the trunk lightly, preparing to enter, but as soon as he touched the bark, he was sucked in. His concentration on his primal spell vanished as he felt squeezed all over, and then suddenly he was in a brightly lit forest grove, being menaced by a pair of bark-armored dryads wielding vine whips and wooden spears.


    ¡°What is your business in the grove?¡± they asked in gentle tones that didn¡¯t match the raised weapons.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Rakin,¡± Kole said, hands held out in front of him showing them to be empty¡ªwhich he reflected was not exactly a reassuring posture for a wizard.


    The two relaxed.


    ¡°Welcome, friend of Doug. Please follow the squirrel.¡±

 Chapter 49: The Glade

    Intrigued by the creatures that Assuine created on Kaltis, Illunia asked if she could assist in birthing more. While Assuine had created the plants and animals of Kaltis all on her own, with the aid of Illunia, she was able to create something great and more powerful. Illunia was new to creation and, in her excitement, put a portion of herself into the creature.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    Kole looked from the two wooden women to his surroundings in awe. He was in a large shaded forest clearing. He¡¯d never really been in a forest before, discounting the river trip to Edgewater a few weeks past. The manicured greens of the academy¡¯s campus were familiar to him, as those existed all through Illandrios as well, but a wild forest, even one as cultivated as this one, was something completely different.


    The massive oak he¡¯d stepped through had a twin here in the woods, and it covered an equally large area here as it did on the college green. Not one tree grew below its canopy, and an ankle-deep lawn of flowers and grasses filled the space. Groups of people and animals sat scattered throughout, in conversation, lessons, and games.


    A chattering caught Kole¡¯s attention and he recalled the dryad¡¯s words.


    Follow the squirrel?


    Sure enough, a very impatient-looking squirrel looked at him on the worn path before him.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± he apologized. ¡°Lead the way.¡±


    The squirrel took off without even a chitter of acknowledgment, which Kole thought was rude, but who was to say what squirrel guide etiquette dictated?


    I should ask Doug.


    Kole was led out of the clearing and into the forest. The trees were still massive, though seemed normal in comparison to the monstrosity he¡¯d left. Much like under the canopy of the great oak, people and animals congregated in smaller clearings. He watched as a group of students examined a young deer under the direction of a wizened old halfling, and the deer patiently complied with the prodding of the students.


    The squirrel led Kole down a few turns, until leading him to a large wooden building in the forest. He didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d expected, but it hadn¡¯t been this.


    Maybe beds of roses laid out under trees. He reflected. No, those have thorns.


    When Kole looked back down to the squirrel for guidance, it was gone. He walked up the stairs, noting that while the large building was made of wood, it was like nothing he¡¯d ever seen.


    The wooden buildings of his home were constructed largely from the salvaged remnants of ships that their long-dead guardian had dragged beneath the waves. The wooden buildings of Edgewater he¡¯d seen were of superb quality, all carved neat and square where they weren¡¯t embellished with carvings. This building however hadn¡¯t seen a single blade set to it in its construction.


    What Kole had first taken to be alternating lines of painted wavy lines were actually logs of different woods. The wall looked as if someone had taken trunks of a dozen different varieties of trees, stripped them of their bark, and turned them into clay before stacking them together, smoothing out the seams, and then firing them in place. Inside, the place looked much like any other infirmary. Beds with clean white linens lined the walls, with partitions giving each patient privacy¡ªthough the partitions were made of green leaves instead of sheets. Giant green leaves dangling from vines that grew across the room. Lights glowed on the vines, illuminating the room in a soft white light, and when Kole looked closer at one saw that it was a giant glowing fruit.


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    ¡°Don¡¯t eat, them,¡± A familiar voice said from beside Kole, ¡°They taste like old milk.¡±


    Kole turned to see Zale next to the door, dressed in the same embroidered tunic as the night before. Her hair was a mess, and her white face was growing black around the eyes.


    ¡°Zale! You look, um¡­ tired,¡± Kole said, and then mentally kicked himself.


    Idiot.


    Zale laughed, taking no offense.


    ¡°I am. I¡¯ve been here all night. He woke up a little while ago.¡±


    ¡°Is he okay?¡±


    After a pause, Zale answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know. He¡¯s mad, but I think it¡¯s all directed at himself.¡±


    ¡°Should I talk to him? Or would that just make it worse?¡±


    Zale shrugged.


    ¡°It could help. It depends on what you¡¯re planning on saying.¡±


    They sat talking a little before Kole ultimately decided to stop procrastinating and go check on Rakin.


    ¡°Hello?¡± Kole said, knocking on one of the thicker vines making up the partition.


    ¡°Aye, come in.¡±


    At Rakin¡¯s words, the leaves blocking Kole¡¯s path parted, and he saw the dwarf sitting up in his bed with a stone in his hand, the edges of it warping and rippling as he used his primal magic to contort it.


    ¡°How are you doing?¡± Kole asked after a brief awkward silence.


    ¡°Fine, I just suffocated a little bit,¡± Rakin answered and then gestured around. ¡°Nothing worth all this nonsense. I should be asking how yer doing. I could have killed ye.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡ªso is Amara.¡±


    Another pause and Rakin eventually cursed under his breath.


    ¡°I should probably explain what happened.¡±


    Kole waited patiently as Rakin garnered his courage.


    In a whisper, he continued, ¡°I¡¯m not just a Earth primal. I¡¯m¡­¡±


    He stopped again, looking around nervously.


    ¡°A Fire primal too.


    Even though Kole had figured it was something like that, he hadn¡¯t been sure how that would be possible. Now that he had confirmation of his theory, the weight of it sunk in.


    ¡°That¡¯s not supposed to be possible,¡± Kole began.


    ¡°¡¯Just because something hasn¡¯t happened before, it doesn¡¯t mean its impossible.¡¯¡± Rakin said, throwing Kole¡¯s own words back at him


    ¡°Good point,¡± Kole admitted, smiling.


    He hadn¡¯t realized he¡¯d said that to Rakin too.


    How often do I repeat that? He wondered.


    ¡°I can¡¯t really go into the details, but it¡¯s true. The Faust¡¯s madness calls to me through my connection to the Font of Fire. The new runes around the prison don¡¯t do a damned thing to stop that avenue of it¡¯s influence. Torc shields me some, through my connection to Earth, but if I draw upon Fire, I lose control.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s what Zale meant when she said you had ¡®anger issues,¡¯¡± Kole observed, connecting the dots.


    ¡°Aye. The Hardune didn¡¯t exactly leap at the chance to train a Fire primal, so I was sent to the Order of the Resounding Silence to learn control. You saw how well that worked out.¡±


    ¡°You did save our lives. Without you, those ice people would have killed us all.¡±


    Rakin¡¯s guilt-ridden face scowled further. Kole¡¯s words didn¡¯t have the intended effect¡ªwhich if he was being honest, was typically the case.


    ¡°If ye ask Aunty, if I hadn¡¯t run in ye wouldn¡¯t ta needed my help.¡±


    ¡°Wallow if you want, but we¡ªyou¡ªstopped those¡­ people. The Dahn sent us there. It must have known we could handle it, and because we did, we found what happened to Amara¡¯s sister.¡±


    Rakin snapped his attention to Kole, he¡¯d been looking away and avoiding eye contact.


    ¡°What do ye mean? They found her?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Kole quickly corrected. ¡°They didn¡¯t, but Tigereye said that three primals have gone missing in the last year, and they now suspect it to be a pattern. Maybe those people are Ice primals? Maybe they are the result of experimenting on Primals? I don¡¯t know. We were looking for Amara¡¯s sister and we found these people. It has to be connected.¡±


    Rakin nodded to himself as if he were forcing himself to accept that they hadn¡¯t almost killed his friends for nothing.


    He looked back to Kole, and then asked in almost a whisper, ¡°Do you still trust me?¡±


    Kole was taken aback by the question.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    The vulnerability in Rakin¡¯s face vanished, replaced with irritation.


    ¡°I almost killed ye, ye clod! I kept a secret from ye that coulda gotten ye killed!¡±


    ¡°Oh, that!¡± Kole said, now following. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Bah, yer a moron,¡± Rakin waved and they both started laughing.


    Zale came in later once she heard the laughter and they stuck around talking while Kole ate the lunch delivered to Rakin, which he refused calling it ¡°leafy nonsense.¡±


    As they were leaving, Zale turned to Rakin and asked, ¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t do all of this to get out of the mixer tonight?¡±


    ¡°You caught me.¡±

 Chapter 50: Shopping

    What was meant to be a simple but beautiful beast grew to be what we now call a dragon. Instead of being distraught by her mistake and loss of power, as small as it was, she was thrilled. For the creatures she had helped create had something that no others save the gods yet possessed. The dragons had intelligence and could speak.


    This breakthrough showed the gods the key to the creation of sapient races, and they continued on to create the Illusian races, including humans, dwarves, elves, orcs, halflings, and seafolk¡ªbut that is a different story.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    ¡°So, what¡¯s your plan for today?¡± Zale asked Kole as they walked through the glade back to campus.


    ¡°I ran out of spellform ink, I need to go get some. Then back to studying.¡±


    Zale sighed.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Well, let me guess. You¡¯re planning on running twelve miles, and then sparring until you¡¯ve broken three practice swords?"


    ¡°No, actually. I have nothing to wear to the mixer, so I¡¯m going shopping.¡±


    Kole¡ªwho had very recently seen her room and knew her statement to be extremely false¡ªcocked his head slightly.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she admitted, ¡°I have nothing I want to wear. What about you? What are you going to wear?¡±


    Kole hadn¡¯t considered it.


    ¡°I have a¡­¡±


    He trailed off. He¡¯d arrived with three sets of clothes, and all had been damaged at one point or another. The clothes he¡¯d been wearing on Saturday had been his good pair, but they¡¯d gotten a bit singed.


    ¡°I think I need to buy an outfit.¡±


    Zale smiled wide and maliciously.


    ***


    ¡°His father is a Stormcaller, so it should evocate thoughts of their garb, but his mother was a Mirage Knight, so the muted tones and broken patterns they used can be incorporated as well.¡±


    Zale spoke animatedly with a tailor with whom she was clearly well acquainted. The elderly woman had dropped everything when Zale entered and given her a hug. Kole realized then that it was the first time he¡¯d seen someone touch Zale aside from Rakin or her mother.


    Any feelings of sympathy were quickly squashed as the woman, led by Zale, interrogated him fiercely and began to measure him all over.


    Some time later, Kole sat in a chair, mind in the Arcane Realm trying to cast Thunderwave as Zale and Miranda the tailor fretted over what would be his formal clothing.


    The training did well to distract him from the matter at hand but had the unintended side effect of making the time stretch out as his mind was extended into the Arcane Realm.


    By the time Zale threw a sock at his head, breaking him from his concentration, he¡¯d made no progress on the spell, but he judged at least an hour had passed.


    ¡°We can come back in an hour and your clothes will be ready,¡± Zale said.


    ¡°Great. Do I want to know what I owe?¡±


    ¡°Fifteen silver,¡± Zale said proudly.


    ¡°Fifteen!?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! I got you a discount.¡±


    ¡°Discount? What was the full price?¡± Kole asked stunned.


    He hadn¡¯t actually ever had to buy his own clothing, but he could have sworn it wasn¡¯t this expensive.


    ¡°Forty-five.¡±


    Fifteen silver was fully one-fourth of the money he¡¯d brought with him to Edgewater. Yes, he¡¯d found ways out of actually having to spend any of it for most of the expenses he¡¯d anticipated, but that was still a large sum.


    He wanted to refuse, to ask her to pick something else out, but he found he couldn¡¯t get the words out.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said sullenly.


    ¡°Great,¡± Zale said, some of her joy gone as she noticed Kole¡¯s attitude. ¡°We can come back in an hour and pick up our orders. We can go look for your ink now.¡±


    As they searched for a suitable store that sold spellform ink, Kole asked


    ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask. Why are you going to this mixer? Tigereye¡¯s your mentor, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going as mom¡¯s representative. She¡¯s supposed to go, but she has no intention of picking anyone, so she just sends me to mingle.¡±


    ¡°Any tips?¡±


    ¡°Be yourself?¡±


    ¡°Great¡­¡±


    A few wrong turns later, Zale stopped confidently in front of a storefront. The windows were plastered with sheets of paper, many covered in text, giving the shop the appearance of a vacant establishment.


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    ¡°Here!¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Kole asked. ¡°It looks closed.¡±


    Zale double-checked the sign.


    ¡°Ink and Sundries. This is it.¡±


    Kole backed up and looked at the sign. The words ¡°Ink & Sundries¡± were written in black on a white background


    Wait¡­


    As Kole watched, the black seemed to grow deeper, briefly evoking the emptiness he felt when looking into the void in the Dahn. That feeling quickly vanished, replaced with a subtle Will drain as the ink took on a kaleidoscope pattern of swirling colors.


    ¡°What are you staring at?¡± Zale asked, looking from Kole to the sign and back.


    ¡°The sign, it¡¯s magic.¡±


    Zale squinted back at the sign, cocking her head.


    ¡°There¡¯s a little Will in it, I guess. What do you see?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t know. I¡¯d say it was an illusion, but I¡¯d sense it if it were. It just looks¡­ magical.¡±


    The pair entered the store, and a bell attached to the door rang.


    ¡°One moment!¡± a deep voice shouted from the back in a not particularly welcoming tone."


    Kole and Zale waited, examining the contents. With the paper coating the windows Kole expected the inside to be dark, but Light runes were etched into the ceiling, filling the place with soft white light.


    Racks filled the store, filled with ink, and well, sundries.


    ¡°The name¡¯s accurate at least,¡± Kole whispered to Zale.


    Rows of empty vials, reams of paper, quills, ink chisels, brushes, and a dozen other types of writing, drafting, and scribing implements Kole had only ever heard of filled the shelves.


    ¡°Is that a slide rule?!¡± Kole asked excitedly, running over to a shelf of the things.


    Zale sighed heavily and muttered under her breath.


    ¡°Nerd.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kole asked, fixated on the fine print written onto the devices.


    ¡°Nothing!¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± the gruff voice called, coming out of the back room. ¡°What can I¡ªwhat in the Wardens are you?¡±


    Kole and Zale both looked to the counter¡ªa very low counter¡ªand the ink-stained dwarf behind it. He wore clothes that may have one time not been black, but were now so an uneven and blotchy black. The dwarves¡¯s hair and beard were gray, save of course where they weren¡¯t stained deep black. The appearance of a dwarf surprised Kole, for the man¡¯s voice lacked any sort of Torcish accent, which was odd for a dwarf as old as this one seemed to be.


    ¡°She¡¯s a half voidling,¡± Kole answered for Zale, before she herself could do so.


    She turned to him and gave him a grateful smile.


    ¡°Oh, her,¡± he said, not apologizing for the question or its tone ¡°I heard of you. What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Ink?¡± Kole suggested.


    ¡°I don¡¯t sell just any ¡®ink¡¯ here. I sell the medium on which civilization is being built! Go a block down the road for the stationary store if you want to fill up on school supplies. I don¡¯t got time for children.¡±


    ¡°I need spellform ink,¡± Kole explained. ¡°I¡¯m a wizard.¡±


    The dwarf laughed.


    ¡°Drafting spellforms is a costly hobby. Why don¡¯t you come back when you have a few more hairs on your chin.¡±


    Before Kole could think of a response, Zale pulled his bag off his shoulder and walked up to the counter. She slammed his old, and now completely full spellbook, on the counter.


    ¡°Stop being a danar," Zale said, "he did all this."


    The dwarf reached for glasses hanging on a chain around his neck and perched them on his nose. He turned the book around and flipped through the pages with practiced ease.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± he said, without looking up. "Did you just call me a ''stink hole?''"


    ¡°Did I?¡± Zale asked, confidence gone. ¡°I thought it meant stubborn-headed.¡±


    ¡°Nope, that¡¯s ¡®kanar,¡¯¡± the dwarf answered, still flipping through the pages with genuine interest.


    ¡°Head hole?¡±


    ¡°Yeap. So, you did all this?¡± he asked, looking at Kole.


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Good work. You can buy ink.¡±


    ¡°Thanks?¡± Kole said.


    The words had been complimentary, but nothing about the man¡¯s tone or bearing had been.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take some spellform ink please¡ªand this slide ruler,¡± Kole said, putting the ruler on the counter.


    ¡°Which point quill do you use?¡± the so-far-unnamed dwarf asked.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Kole asked.


    The dwarf sighed and then speaking slower answered, ¡°What is the point size of your quill tip? Eight? Nine? It¡¯s hard to tell from your work.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ um¡­ didn¡¯t know that was a thing.¡±


    The dwarf seemed like he was going to yell, but he caught himself and looked through Kole¡¯s spellbook again. He reached under the counter and pulled out some metal sticks.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how you learned enough to do all this without knowing what a quill point is, and I don¡¯t want to hear your life story. These are nibs, they are a hybrid of the quills you Waatin use and the chisels we use. Try it out.¡±


    Kole grabbed one and examined it closer. The metal tube was larger in diameter than a quill and fit more comfortably in his hand. The tip looked like a quill tip and had a small hole in it. He dipped in in a vial of ink offered to him and drew a few lines on a well-scribbled piece of paper on the countertop.


    ¡°Impressed?¡± the dwarf asked.


    ¡°Very!¡± Kole said finding the nib lasted far longer than any quill would have from a single dip.


    ¡°Great. I¡¯ll throw one in with the ink if you buy a vial. That¡¯s an eight-point tip. Judging by the scale of your work, this should be the best fit for you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Kole said, still marveling at the nib. ¡°Why does the point size matter?¡±


    ¡°I tailor the viscosity of the ink to the tip to minimize running.¡±


    Kole nodded appreciatively.


    ¡°How much for a vial?¡±


    ¡°Two gold,¡± the dwarf said as if it were an entirely reasonable cost.


    ¡°Excuse me? Two gold? For a vial? Like, a vial, not a vat.¡±


    ¡°Yeap.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s absurd! It costs like, a quarter that!¡±


    ¡°Look, kid. I don¡¯t have time for this. Buy the ink or don¡¯t, but you¡¯re not going to find a better price. If you bought it for cheaper, it was probably made out of some poor murdered sorcerer¡¯s bones. Deep whale shit ain¡¯t cheap, and it¡¯s a real danar to work with.¡±


    The mention of deep whales revealed the source of Kole¡¯s disconnect on price. Like clarity potions, the primary ingredient of spellform ink was deep whale excrement¡ªsomething Kole hadn¡¯t actually been aware of until that moment. And, like clarity potions, it seemed that Kole¡¯s sense of value was skewed.


    ¡°Oh,¡± was all Kole could say.


    He pulled out his coin purse from inside his shirt, fished out two of his three remaining gold coins, and placed them on the counter.


    The dwarf went behind the counter, and pulled down a vial of black ink that drew Kole¡¯s attention as if it were glowing despite it seeming to drink in the light.


    ¡°The slider ruler is two silver,¡± he added.


    Kole fished out the coins and placed them woodenly on the counter.


    ¡°Pleasure doing business with you,¡± The dwarf said happily, collecting Kole¡¯s coins.


    As Kole gathered his purchases into his pack, the dwarf asked, ¡°Are you by chance a student of Grand Master Lonin?¡±


    Kole shook his head.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t take adventuring track students as apprentices and I haven¡¯t tested into his classes yet.¡±


    The dwarf scoffed.


    ¡°Adventuring, such a waste of a wonderful penmanship. Come show me what you can do with that nib in a few weeks, and I might have some work for you. If you haven¡¯t lost a hand by then.¡±


    ¡°What kind of work?¡± Kole asked.


    On coming to Edgewater, he¡¯d been resolved to not work, focusing fully on his studies, and with the finds of Zale¡¯s free meals and the free room in the library, it had looked like that would be possible. But now, after visiting only two stores, he was down to a single gold in silver and copper.


    ¡°Testing inks, doing some copy work for customers, sweeping, and things like that. I¡¯m Turwo, Turwo Randin.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Kole, this is Zale. I¡¯ll consider it. I could use the money, but I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll have the time.¡±


    They left the shop. Outside Kole stopped and asked, ¡°Danar?¡±


    ¡°Rakin curses a lot. My Torcish is bad and I mix them up. How about some lunch while we wait for our outfits?¡±


    Kole hesitated, thinking of the fifteen silver he¡¯d have to pay after the meal.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay,¡± she added.


    Kole reddened, embarrassed at his transparency.


    ¡°If you insist.¡±

 Chapter 51: Mixer

    The dragons spread out over the world, exploring the wonders the gods had made, and when the gods followed the creation of dragons with the creation of the Illusian races, the dragons acted as shepherds and guides.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    Kole and Zale bought a meat-stuffed bread roll from a cart and ate in a park while they killed time. Once they were done, they sat in the grass, watching some children play a game of hardball.


    Well, Zale was at least.


    ¡°Are you working on your spell right now?¡± Zale asked disapprovingly.


    With his mind in his vault, it took Kole a moment to register the words.


    ¡°Umm¡­ no?¡±


    ¡°I think I could feel it,¡± Zale said, ignoring his clumsy line. ¡°Do it again.¡±


    Zale closed her eyes and entered her own weird voidling version of the mental vault.


    Kole obliged and sent the modified Thunderwave he¡¯d been building through his bridge.


    ¡°There!¡± Zale shouted.


    ¡°You found the Font of Sound?¡± Kole asked, remembering that Tallen had suggested they train together.


    ¡°No, but I could sense you casting the spell, which is the first step.¡±


    Kole tried casting the spell a few more times over the next hour before he stopped to make notes of what he¡¯d done. He sat up in the grass¡ªhe¡¯d laid down after Zale had realized what he¡¯d been doing, but Zale sat cross-legged in a zen-like pose.


    He wrote some notes down in the margin of his spellbook, wishing he¡¯d thought to bring the journal of magic paper with him so he could try the new ink. He did use the nib however to take his notes and found it was worlds better than a quill.


    ¡°What¡¯s your mental vault like?¡± Zale asked, still inside her own.


    Kole explained his vault, and his perception of the Arcane Realm, eliciting a laugh from Zale.


    ¡°A library in a library? That¡¯s a little on the nose, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Kole shrugged.


    ¡°I like libraries. What about you?¡±


    Zale hesitated, gathering her thoughts.


    ¡°I don¡¯t exactly have a mental vault,¡± she explained. ¡°Voidings can¡¯t form them, and what I can do isn¡¯t exactly what you can do. When I vanish¡ªlike you saw before when I¡­ uh¡­¡±


    Zale blanched¡ªas much as a bone white-skinned woman could blanch¡ªat the thought of her embarrassing scene the day before.


    ¡°When I vanish,¡± she repeated. ¡°I¡¯m actually leaving the Material Realm, going to that place between realms the voidlings came from. But, I keep a mental hold on the Material Realm and can reappear nearby.¡±


    ¡°What does this have to do with your vault?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting to that. When I¡¯m in this place, it feels like I¡¯m hanging from a cliff, and down below I can see for miles. I can see the Arcane Realm from there, it¡¯s like a forest of light beams. Staying there, in this place, is hard. It takes strain to hold onto the Material, and I don¡¯t want to know what happens if I drop. When I created my mental vault, my mind entered this same place, but I wasn¡¯t hanging. I was just floating in the void between Realms, able to see them both. There¡¯s no representation of memories or places to store information like spell construct templates. Just the empty void.¡±


    Kole hung on every word, fascinated by the ability to step between realms. Immediately his thoughts went to the possibility of using the ability to enter sealed pocket realms, but he figured Tallen would be a better person to ask. He voiced his next thought.


    ¡°What happens if you try to make a bridge?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t. My Will doesn¡¯t really work the way it¡¯s supposed to, but that¡¯s a whole other thing. What I can do though, is move where I am in that void. To find the Font of Sound, I honed in on Uncle Tal¡¯s spells until I found the Font. And, while I can¡¯t store spells, paths, or gates in my mind like you can, I can open my vault to that location at will.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how you learned your silence aura?¡± Kole asked.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Zale nodded.


    ¡°I was trying to do the same with you today. Your spell was harder to detect than the ones Uncle used, but I could just barely sense them. I think it will help train my senses, then maybe it will be easier to find other Fonts.¡±


    ¡°That will have to be another time. If I keep going I¡¯ll be stuck with a headache all day.¡±


    The two gathered their things and headed back to the tailor shop where Kole handed over the coins with a clenched fist.


    ¡°Changing room is in the back if you need it,¡± the tailor said, cupping Kole¡¯s hand in her own and taking the coins.


    Kole took his new clothes to the back.


    Maybe I did need new clothes. He reflected as his sleeve fell off his shirt when removing it. A closer inspection showed he¡¯d been burned on the back shoulder while fleeing Rakin.


    His new clothes were nice, but he didn¡¯t think they were fifteen silver nice.


    I doubt anything in this store is. He thought as he sulked over his remaining funds.


    He examined himself in the mirror and the outfit was very similar to the Stormcaller outfits he was familiar with from his father¡¯s wardrobe, but it had silver embroidered accents on the trim. The fabric was various shades of dark blue in a random pattern of irregular shapes, and the cords that bound his sleeves tight at his wrists were also some sort of spider silk cord instead of leather. The cord was made from a single massively thick strand that had been treated to not be sticky.


    When Kole left the dressing room, he could still hear Zale fretting about inside her own changing stall. He sat down and waited.


    And waited.


    And waited.


    Hours? Day? Maybe weeks, later, the door opened and Zale stepped out.


    Her outfit was tailored in the style of the school¡¯s martial school uniforms, but only if one squinted and took liberties with the term ¡®style¡¯. She wore a high-collared emerald green jacket, with the offset buttons standard of the uniforms. Silver embroidery covered the jacket, spreading out from each button and branching out with sharp angles giving the impression she was covered in the crystals of a snowflake. The jacket had a long coat tail which hung low to the floor but flared out making it look somewhere between a cloak and dress. The hilt of a dress sword poked out from the jacket. Her pants were ruby red leather that matched her boots, each free of any adornments.


    Maybe something is worth fifteen silver here. Kole thought.


    ¡°How do I look?¡± Zale asked, spinning around.


    Kole noticed then that her hair was now in a tight braid, and it looked like a rift of darkness splitting her back down the center.


    ¡°Fifteen silver,¡± Kole muttered before he caught himself.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ You look good?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the right answer. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ***


    The ¡°mentor-student introductory gathering,¡± or mentor mixer as everyone actually called it, was held at the Griffin¡¯s Roost. Several were held throughout the year, but the first was always the most populated. As the year went on, the attendees tended to grow more desperate, both the students and adventurers.


    Students needed mentors to join the program, but adventurers needed students as well. The school strongly encouraged its alumni to take on mentees. There was no hard rule on numbers, but the school kept count, and those who flouted the program often received visits from the academy¡¯s staff.


    ¡°Mom loves scaring deadbeat adventurers into being mentors,¡± Zale said as she explained this all to Kole.


    The trip from the tailor to the tavern was short, but their fancy dress drew more attention than was usual¡ªwhich was saying something because people generally fled or froze in fear when they saw Zale, ever-present smile or not.


    A large man in a blue enameled breastplate stood outside the door of the Roost.


    ¡°Papers,¡± he said to a nervous student Kole vaguely recognized from class.


    The student fumbled through his pocket and pulled out a small card.


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole muttered. ¡°I forgot to pick up my school ID.¡±


    Zale sighed and patted Kole on the back.


    ¡°What would you do without me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d have more gold,¡± Kole observed.


    ¡°Na, you¡¯d have to pay for food. Remember?¡±


    ¡°Ho, Zale!¡± the guard greeted amicably.


    ¡°Hi, Mink!¡± Zale waved, ¡°This guy¡¯s with me. He forgot his ID.¡±


    ¡°No problem. How¡¯s your mom?¡±


    ¡°Busy¡­¡± Zale said, leading off. ¡°There was an incident.¡±


    ¡°I heard,¡± The many nodded towards the inn. ¡°It¡¯s a full house. They put out a request for extra security. Can you tell me what happened?¡±


    Zale looked from Mink to Kole, who was trying to not draw any attention to himself.


    Is it good or bad that I caused the events that put the school on high alert? Kole thought, weighing the benefits of speaking up.


    ¡°If Mom didn¡¯t say, I shouldn¡¯t either.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. Go on in¡ªOh I forgot, Harold¡¯s inside. He asked if you were here yet. He told me not to tell you he asked.¡±


    Kole watched as Zale grew nervous and she began to chew her lip, but she quickly banished the look and walked in with a smile.


    ¡°Thanks!¡±


    ***


    Kole learned an important lesson that day. He hated mixers. The place was packed inside with students and adventurers alike. Thankfully, no one was armed or armored. With the tight press, Kole was certain there would be countless injuries.


    Immediately upon entering, Zale was whisked away by people asking after her mother. She tried to introduce Kole to potential mentors, but he was quickly edged out of the conversation as the strong personalities of the adventurers told stories to each other of ¡°Shalia¡¯s¡± exploits.


    Kole noted that while it was semi-public knowledge that Zale¡¯s mother was an adventurer, it was not public that she was the famous adventurer Trish Mason. Zale tried a few more times to introduce Kole to someone, but eventually, he just waved her off and let her talk. It was nice seeing her in a crowd, Kole reflected. She looked truly happy listening to the stories of those around her, and Kole couldn¡¯t remember ever seeing her this accepted anywhere else.


    That didn¡¯t mean everyone in the Roost looked past her voidling heritage though. There were a few who kept staring daggers at Zale from across the room. Knowing Zale¡¯s mother, Kole suspected some were people wronged by her, but others were the familiar looks of hate and fear.


    Kole saw a group of adults that were all varying flavors of wizard, judging by their clothes. Two human men wore formal dress robes, and they looked old enough to have bought them back when they¡¯d actually been in style. Another wore a Stormcaller outfit similar to Kole¡¯s own and the last was an orc wearing the traditional dress of their clan shaman. She wore heavy white furs, spotted all over with the fangs, claws, and horns of various creatures sticking out, like some horribly disfigured porcupine.


    ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± Kole muttered to himself, and walked up to the group.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Kole Highridge.¡±

 Chapter 52: Wasted

    As the races grew and prospered, the dragons grew in knowledge and power alongside them. Like their mother Illunia, the dragons had an innate hunger, a remnant of their connection to Faust through her. Some hungered for knowledge, like her, others for power or wealth.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    The conversation hadn¡¯t gone as terribly as Kole had feared¡ªit had been an abject failure as far as getting a mentor went, but as far as general conversations went, it went well.


    The Stormcaller had recognized both Kole¡¯s garb and greeted him warmly, and asked after his father¡¯s clan name. The wizard didn¡¯t seem to have the resentment some ship clan members did to ¡®sanders¡¯¡ªthat is, clan members who leave the clans to live on land. Or, in Kole¡¯s father¡¯s case, deep beneath the sea.


    The robed wizards had picked up the hints of his Illandrian accent and asked endless questions about his home.


    ¡°I hear the clarity potions actually taste good if the deep whale excrement is fresh. Is it true?¡± one had asked.


    Kole grimaced and shook his head.


    ¡°If anything, it¡¯s worse."


    Eventually, it got around to the topic of mentors, and while they were all very interested in hearing about Kole¡¯s particular magical struggles, they were not looking for a project. The Stormcaller was recruiting for his clan as part of a school-sponsored exchange program where adventuring students can live at sea for the semester. The orc shaman was looking for a student pursuing summoning magic, and the two elderly wizards were just here for the free drinks.


    When it became clear he would find no mentor here, he excused himself politely and sought out a drink of his own while he scanned the room.


    Across the room, he spotted Gray¡¯s group all chatting with a group of adventurers. Gray was animatedly telling a story, holding the attention of the other team, while Mouse was stuffing her face with the little sandwiches going around. Harold kept looking across the room, and following his eyes, Kole found Zale to be the object of his attention. Esme, in turn, kept glancing over her large mug from Gray¡¯s story to Harold, growing more sullen and drunk each time.


    Kole scanned the room looking for anyone giving off a wizardy vibe, and spotted a familiar old man. An old human man, a blue-skinned female Air primal, a gray-skinned orc, and a gnome all sat talking amongst themselves. They were the hardball team he¡¯d watched lose to the team with the druid.


    Come on Kole, it wasn¡¯t so terrible last time. He told himself, working up the courage to approach.


    Thoughts of being left without a mentor and being forced to return home at the end of the year spurred him onward. Everywhere he looked students were approaching teams, introducing themselves. So long as he didn¡¯t do anything ridiculous, he wouldn¡¯t stand out in anyone¡¯s memory.


    Before he could decide, the old wizard waved at him and beckoned him over.


    Kole looked behind himself, and finding no one, realized the gesture was for him.


    ¡°I was worried you¡¯d been petrified,¡± the wizard joked. ¡°I was about to call for a Blessed."


    ¡°Socially petrified maybe,¡± Kole said, extending his hand. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Kole Highridge.¡±


    ¡°Highridge?¡± the wizard asked with a brow raised. ¡°That¡¯s a Stormcaller¡¯s outfit you wear.¡±


    ¡°My father was a Stormcaller, clan Teak, but he left it when he met my mother,¡± Kole explained.


    ¡°Teak, now that''s a strong ship clan name,¡± the wizard said, shaking his hand. ¡°I¡¯m Master Karl Miller and this is my team, the Blue Dragons.¡±


    The rest of the party raised their glasses in salute.


    ¡°That''s an¡­ interesting name,¡± Kole said.


    The wizard chucked.


    ¡°We let my grandson pick the name. He wanted to call it the Blue Ninja Dragons, but that was a bit much.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know adventuring parties picked their own names,¡± Kole said. ¡°I thought they had to earn them.¡±


    ¡°That is true, but we aren¡¯t an adventuring party. We¡¯re a hardball team. I retired from adventuring years ago, and the rest of these aren¡¯t regular members of any parties. Are you interested in the sport?¡±


    Kole thought about his answer. He enjoyed watching the matches, but did he want to play?


    No. That would only take time away from my goals. Any Will spent in a match is Will that could be spent refining a spell.


    He decided on a more diplomatic response.


    ¡°I enjoy watching, but I have a rather full plate with my studies at the moment. Are you looking to mentor a student?¡±


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    The wizard gave a very unwizardly shrug.


    ¡°We are always open to recruiting junior members. We watch the student league each year and offer the winning teams spots, but so does everyone else.¡±


    Kole filed that knowledge away. He wasn¡¯t interested in pursuing hardball as a career like this team, but he¡¯d entertain the idea if it could get him a mentor and allow him to stay in the academy. He excused himself politely and looked for more potential mentors.


    Movement caught his eye, as Harold pushed his way awkwardly through the crowd. Kole followed him with his eyes and watched as he caught Zale¡¯s attention and drew her away from her group. He tried to get close enough to overhear, but couldn¡¯t push his way through the crowd fast enough. When he reached Zale, Harold was gone and she had an uncertain smile on her face.


    ¡°Did you tell him off again?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°No,¡± she said, her smile growing. ¡°He apologized. We¡¯re going on a date. In public.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ great,¡± Kole said, not at all feeling great about it.


    ***


    Kole found he lacked the energy to motivate himself to talk to strangers after that. He walked around aimlessly, taking advantage of the free food and drinks¡ªbut mostly the drinks¡ªand never working up the courage to approach anyone else. As the event began to wind down, Zale found him.


    ¡°Ready to go?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Definitely.¡±


    The pair left, heading back towards campus with various degrees of inebriation.


    ¡°I used to have a magic doorknob,¡± Zale lamented.


    ¡°What?¡± Kole asked, unsure if his own thoughts were addled or if Zale¡¯s words made no sense.


    ¡°I had. A Magic. Doorknob,¡± she repeated slower. ¡°I could open a door to my room from anywhere. It was nice.¡±


    ¡°What happened to it?¡± Kole asked, agreeing that it would be very nice at the moment as he watched the buildings sway around him.


    ¡°I lent it to Harold¡­ Mom didn¡¯t like that,¡± Zale said, but then quickly amended. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t like that! He was going on a trip and it was so he could return quickly. Mom didn¡¯t believe me.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because she thinks everyone is as obsessed with butts as her,¡± Zale said and began to laugh.


    ¡°No, I meant why did you forgive him.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I don¡¯t know. He seemed really sorry. And I still kind of like him¡ªeven if I know I probably shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    The conversation died after that, and Kole couldn¡¯t get his mind off the idea of a magic doorknob, and all the possibilities it could bring.


    ¡°Hey! Look at the void monster!¡± a gruff voice slurred from an alley as they passed.


    Kole and Zale spun around lazily to see the threat.


    A group of four human men walked out into the dim lighting of the street, each holding a glass bottle in one hand and some sort of bludgeon in the other.


    ¡°I thought all of you were all off on yer little island,¡± a less drunk voice called out. ¡°Looks like we are going to teach you lot to stay away all over again.¡±


    Before Kole or Zale could register fully what was happening, the lead man charged at them with his club raised. He swung down at Zale, and she sidestepped out of its path. The club hit the cobblestone road and rang out a loud clunk. Zale gave the overbalanced man a shove, and he fell onto his butt, shattering his bottle.


    ¡°Oh, that was a mistake!¡± the man yelled.


    Kole laughed and Zale giggled.


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you going to kill her?¡± Kole asked the man.


    Dimly he realized that was probably not the smartest thing to have done.


    The other three ran at them as the first regained his feet. Zale kicked him in the face before he could stand, and drew her dress sword, pointing it at the approaching men. Her hand was steady, though she was swaying a bit in her inebriation.


    They paused briefly, but then all at once they threw their bottles at her. When Zale flinched, trying to block the projectiles, one of the men ran at her and tackled her to the ground. She hit the stones hard, and her sword flew from her grasp. The man atop her tried to bring his fist down on her head, but she vanished into a cloud of black dust, and reappeared a moment later a few feet away, still lying on the ground. The fist hit the stones, and Kole heard bones break before the man let out a howl of pain.


    ¡°She is a monster!¡± one of them called.


    If Kole had been more sober, he would have reflected that the violence they¡¯d thus far threatened was rather extreme for a young girl they had only suspected to be a voidling.


    The remaining two had been approaching him, but both turned to look at Zale where she reappeared. Kole took advantage of the distraction and turned invisible.


    ¡°Huh? Where¡¯d her boyfriend go?¡±


    The two heading for Kole looked around wildly, and he picked up the club that the first had dropped. That man still lay moaning, holding his face and a large amount of blood was beginning to pool around him.


    ¡°He ran! Let¡¯s get the voidling!¡±


    All three turned to Zale and began to close in on her. By then she¡¯d regained her feet, but her sword was out of reach. Her eyes locked onto Kole, where he stood invisible, but she didn¡¯t need Willsight to see him, for the club he¡¯d picked up was still visible. He tried to extend the invisibility to the weapon, but his drunk mind couldn¡¯t focus on the already difficult task.


    Zale backed up, arms raised in a martial defense pose Kole had seen her practice.


    All three charged her at once and she vanished to smoke again, causing them to run through her. She reappeared a few feet away. One man reacted quickly and grabbed her wrist. She twisted out of the grip, bending the man¡¯s arm in a direction it wasn¡¯t meant to go. As one of the men moved to swing his club at her as she retreated, Kole swung his own stolen weapon at the man¡¯s head.


    Kole¡¯s target was taller than him, and the blow lacked leverage, but anyone would fall when being struck in the head. The man staggered and then fell, and Kole¡¯s invisibility lapsed.


    ¡°Argh!¡± the fourth man yelled as he swung at Kole.


    Warned by the shout, Kole turned just in time to block the swing at his head. The assailant kept up his attack though. Overhead swing after overhead swing. Kole held the club up over his head, but the man was much stronger than him, and the club flew from his hands, sending Kole to the ground.


    Kole looked and saw that Zale¡¯s assailant had somehow gotten her in a headlock, and for whatever reason she wasn¡¯t vanishing. Reaching into his vault, Kole built the construct for Magic Missile. His drunk mind struggled to open the bridge, but he threw all his remaining Will at the task, and three darts of distorted air shot from his hand into the back of the man holding Zale.


    The man who¡¯d beaten Kole to the ground stopped short, eyes wide in horror at seeing the act of magic. He looked to his companions, and then back at Kole before turning and fleeing. When Kole turned to find Zale, she was tending to the man he¡¯d just shot. She¡¯d cut the back of his shirt open and was applying pressure to the large hole Kole had made in his back.


    ¡°Help these morons!¡± she shouted.


    Kole looked at the two men lying beside him. Both seemed to be breathing, but there was a lot of blood. He noticed then that he was wet. Frantically he checked himself over for wounds but found none. He held his hands up the light and saw them coated in an oily black liquid.


    Oh no¡­


    He stood up and walked more into the light, and saw his expensive ink vial had broken in the fight, and spilled all over his equally as expensive clothes, completely ruining both.


    ¡°Flood.¡±

 Chapter 53: Morning After

    Eventually, this led to strife amongst themselves and between the dragons and men. The dragons did not seek to do harm, but they could not remain with the mortal races without doing so. With heavy hearts, they retreated to the far reaches of Kaltis to live in isolation and conquer these strange new urges.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    The rest of the night after the ambush went by in a blur. The city watch showed up, the screams of the thugs having drawn their attention, though Kole didn¡¯t recall any screams as focused as he was on not dying.


    At Zale¡¯s insistence, he¡¯d helped staunch the wound on the man he¡¯d shot, and they were covered in his blood when the first pair of guards arrived. They were almost arrested for attempted murder, but one of the guards recognized Zale and sent the pair home with a promise to check in on them the next day for a statement.


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky you didn¡¯t kill any of these men,¡± one of the guards scolded them.


    Kole was about to shout something at the guard, but Zale pulled him away.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just go.¡±


    When they were away from the guards, Kole asked, ¡°Why did you let them treat you like this was your fault? Those men are the lucky ones.¡±


    He¡¯d come very close to killing two men tonight and, on reflection, didn¡¯t feel bad about it in the slightest. Much like with the goblins, this was another first with him and he found he didn¡¯t much mind the violence.


    Is this because they were going to kill us? Or am I just some amoral psycho?


    ¡°But it is my fault,¡± Zale said, looking at the blood that was still all over her hands. ¡°I knew this would happen someday if I went out in public without a disguise. It was only a matter of time.¡±


    ¡°Stop,¡± Kole said, halting himself.


    Zale took a few more steps and then turned to Kole.


    ¡°This is not your fault. Anyone who says so is an idiot.¡±


    Kole didn¡¯t know what reaction he¡¯d been hoping for, but Zale turning away from him towards campus wasn¡¯t it.


    He jogged to catch up and they went back to school in silence. Zale disappeared into the art college building, and Kole made his way to the martial college, hoping the showers were open at this late hour. They weren¡¯t but the doors weren¡¯t actually locked, and it was quite easy for an invisible teenager to sneak into an unguarded bathroom at night. As he showered, he marveled at how the black ink and blood seemed to swirl together, refusing to mix as they ran down the drain. He made an attempt to rinse the ink and blood from his new clothes, but it was futile. The fabric itself wasn¡¯t badly damaged, but the sleeves were stained dark brown up to the elbows, and the left side was completely black from the ink.


    Dressed in a borrowed sparring outfit, Kole made his way back to the library and his secret room within. His occasional roommates¡ªmage and rat¡ªwere absent, and he collapsed into bed, asleep as soon as he landed.


    ***


    A persistent buzz woke Kole up what felt like a minute later. He disabled the alarm and began to get ready for his morning run when the events of the night before caught up to him. In the light of the day, he felt a little more remorse for what he¡¯d almost done, but then he pictured Zale¡¯s defeated expression on the way home, and that vanished.


    Those men had been monsters, looking for an excuse to kill someone. If it hadn¡¯t been Zale, it would have been someone else. Maybe a demonkin, or just a dwarf with darker skin they mistook as a duergar.


    He wasn¡¯t sure if Zale was going to be at the training yard that day, but he didn¡¯t want to leave her alone if she was. Kole arrived on time for once and saw that the field had a lot more occupants than the week before. Many of his students from PREVENT were there, running laps around the field.


    Looks like the goblin cave served as a bit of a wake-up call.


    Kole couldn¡¯t say his two weeks of training had produced any measurable results yet, but after running through that goblin cave, he needed no more convincing of the value of physical conditioning. He scanned the surroundings, looking for Zale but didn¡¯t see her. He did however spot the familiar antlered head of Doug running alongside an olive-skinned brown-haired girl wearing Zale¡¯s armor.


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    Wait a minute¡­


    ¡°Zale?¡± Kole asked, waving uncertainly.


    Zale¡¯s eyes widened when she saw him briefly, but then she smiled and waved back uncertainly herself.


    The pair ran up to Kole, and looking at Kole¡¯s feet, Zale said.


    ¡°Good morning.¡±


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Kole asked, not sure what else to say.


    She looked up into his eyes and nodded.


    ¡°Yes. Drop your bag and run. Ten laps!¡±


    Zale didn¡¯t give Kole the opportunity to ask any more probing questions that morning. Any time he broached a topic outside training, a new training exercise occurred to her.


    Along with Doug, Rakin was also out training, him too motivated to push himself from the weekend¡¯s events. To Kole¡¯s surprise, the dwarf was one of the fastest runners there, even without using his Earth abilities to catapult him forward with the ground.


    ¡°He¡¯s using Assuine¡¯s power within his body to fuel himself,¡± Doug explained to Kole, noticing him staring at the speeding dwarf. ¡°The monks call it ¡®ki.¡¯ They¡¯ve learned to claim the power inside of them that druids draw out of nature.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that like¡­ blasphemy or something?¡± Kole asked, eliciting a laugh from Doug.


    ¡°No. Life is Assuine¡¯s gift, and her power is simply a part of life most do not fully utilize.¡±


    Rakin eventually slowed and ran alongside Kole matching his pace.


    ¡°What happened last night?¡± he said, hardly panting even after maintaining his blistering pace for half an hour while Kole alternated between sparring and laps.


    ¡°We¡­ got¡­. attacked¡­ racist¡­ thugs,¡± Kole panted between breath.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Rakin said. ¡°That explains the bracelet. She blames herself?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Stupid girl.¡±


    ¡°If you have breath enough to talk, you could be running faster,¡± Zale barked at Kole as she ran by him.


    ***


    They all met outside the showers before heading to get breakfast together.


    Kole tried one last time to bring up the night before.


    ¡°Stop. Please.¡± Zale said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it. Just drop it. Thank you for what you did. I truly appreciate it, and I will replace the ink and clothes, but drop it.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Kole agreed reluctantly.


    He was about to say she didn¡¯t need to replace anything, but something told him he should just let her do so.


    Amara wasn¡¯t present for breakfast that day.


    ¡°So,¡± Doug asked into the awkward silence once they all sat down with food. ¡°How was everyone¡¯s weekend?¡±


    Rakin burst into laughter, and Zale ignored the question, focusing instead on her gauntleted chopstick skills.


    ¡°We got attacked by some weird frost people in an abandoned section of the Dahn¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Oh. That sounds interesting,¡± Doug said. ¡°Is that a normal weekend activity for you?¡±


    That broke through even Zale¡¯s resolve, and they all laughed at Doug¡¯s question.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it. What did I say?¡±


    After they settled down Kole had explained elemental humanoid attacks were not in fact commonplace occurrences in city life.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Doug said. ¡°I thought maybe it might be. Monster attacks happen all the time back home in the mountains.¡±


    After lunch, Kole and Zale headed to their alchemy lesson in a tense silence, neither knowing how to break it.


    They arrived at class early and sat down in an open area expecting no one to sit beside them. To Kole¡¯s surprise, as the class filled, students began to fill the rows around them. A few did a double take, recognizing Zale¡¯s features if not her coloring, but no one got up to sit somewhere else.


    Kole saw that Zale had a mournful smile, both happy to not be shunned, but feeling the sting of what it cost her to be accepted.


    ¡°Today, we have a guest speaker,¡± Professor Donglefore said, gesturing to a Dryad. ¡°This is¡­ well, she doesn¡¯t have a name we can say, but she goes by Pale Oak. As promised we will soon leave the classroom to get some more practical experience.¡±


    Zale leaned over to Kole, whispering in his ear, ¡°She¡¯s bark naked!¡±


    Kole let out an audible groan as Zale broke out into a giggling fit. The students who¡¯d risked sitting near them all stared daggers at them and scooted away to make it clear they were not associated with the pair.


    ¡°Is there a problem Miss Wood?¡± Professor Donglefore asked from the front.


    ¡°No! Sorry! Carry on!¡± Zale answered, stifling her laughs.


    ¡°Thank you for your permission,¡± the professor said before continuing.


    Kole leaned in close to Zale when the professor¡¯s eyes were gone, and asked, ¡°Your name is Wood?¡±


    ¡°It was my dad¡¯s,¡± she whispered back, a sad smile replaced with a real one. ¡°It took Mom years to figure out what it was. He never told her. He was weirdly private.¡±


    Kole didn¡¯t appreciate the attention from the professor, but he was glad the silence between them had finally been broken.


    The guest lecturer, the dryad who gave a name no one in the room could pronounce, let alone spell, taught on the proper methods of picking broad leaf alchemical ingredients and the methods of preservation. Wednesday¡¯s class would meet in one of the crafting college¡¯s gardens and they would practice on some of the less expensive plants.


    The class was dismissed, with instructions to practice the techniques discussed on the bushes and clover throughout campus in preparation for Wednesday.


    ¡°Do you think Doug could give us tips on this?¡± Kole asked Zale on the way out.


    ¡°You can¡¯t just assume an Assuine worshiper knows how to pick plants. It¡¯s rude¡± Zale said. ¡°But¡­ probably. Yeah. He doesn¡¯t seem to know anything about life in a city, so I¡¯m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he knows everything about the wilds.¡±


    ¡°You know, with a name like Azalea Wood, you could probably pass for a dryad yourself,¡± Kole said as a joke.


    Looking back towards the naked woodland teacher, Zale said, ¡°I don¡¯t know, I think I¡¯d get cold.¡±


    The both tried to stifle their laughter as they left the room.

 Chapter 54: The Workshop

    The gods eventually fled Kaltis to the newly created Celestial Realm. They learned that their presence thinned the barrier between the Realms, allowing Faust¡¯s minions to flood the Material Realm from the Realm of Fauell, which Faust had created in secret with the aid of Bilieth and Erebog.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    While the mood between Kole and Zale had improved slightly, they didn¡¯t hang out after history class. She made a weak excuse and he didn¡¯t press her on it. He spent some time in the crafting hall trying to track Amara down before he relented and asked after her at the front desk of the runesmithing labs


    ¡°Oh, the girl with all the bugs?¡± an attendant said, ¡°She¡¯s in room 141.¡±


    Kole found the room in question buried at the end of a long hallway that felt more like a bunker than a school. All the rooms had thick metal reinforced doors and no windows. Kole knocked on the door labeled 141. When no one answered, he kicked it with his boot¡ªwhich he noticed was still stained with blood and ink.


    I should get these cleaned¡­ or maybe replaced.


    The door opened, and Amara¡¯s face poked out, covered in grime. Her short hair was matted to one side of her head as if she¡¯d slept on it and only just woken. Kole could also make out the faint lines of runes on her cheek, but they looked reversed.


    ¡°Kole!¡± she shouted in greeting.


    ¡°Did you sleep in here all weekend?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°That depends¡­ what day is it?¡±


    ¡°Monday.¡±


    ¡°Yes, It looks like I did. It isn¡¯t by chance Monday morning is it?¡±


    ¡°No, it''s afternoon.¡±


    ¡°Termites. I missed a couple of classes.¡±


    ¡°Are you okay? Do you need to eat? Bathe? You definitely need sleep.¡±


    "There''s no time for sleep, and I ate yesterday," Amara said and threw open the door.


    Kole followed her in and was immediately mystified that space could be both organized and chaotic. There were neatly labeled piles of random materials everywhere. The room was not very large, about the size of Kole''s room in the library. Workbenches lined the walls, and the walls were covered in tools of far more types than Kole could name. There was a cleared workspace on one desk, but every other surface in the room was covered with some tool of the trade. Bundles of wooden blanks, labeled by type, age, and moisture content level. Boxes of rocks, similarly labeled by stone types. Jars of sawdust with trial numbers labeled on them. Dozens of prototypes of as many different projects, all neatly labeled with a white tag. Books of research notes stacked high. It was a mess, but an extremely organized one.


    Amara noticed Kole gaping at the room.


    "Welcome to my lab," she said, gesturing her arms out wide in an awkward gesture.


    Squeek


    Kole turned to the source of the sound and saw Gus''s head sticking out of a tiny wooden house, perched on a stack of wooden crates labeled "Danger! Flammable!"


    "Oh, and Gus''s house," Zale added.


    "It¡¯s very... full," Kole said diplomatically.


    "Thank you. I have something for you!"


    Amara walked over to a chest of drawers, opened one, and pulled out a small emerald.


    "Here," she said, handing it to Kole. "The pattern for the repair runes is in this. Memorize it and give the gem back as soon as you can."


    Kole held the gem up to the rune light in the ceiling.


    "Wow... this must be worth¡ª"


    "Six hundred fourteen gold, three silver, two copper, and eight bits," Amara interrupted. "At least, that''s what the school will charge me if I don''t return it or provide evidence of its destruction in the genuine pursuit of my studies."


    Kole, who was going to say a much smaller number than that¡ªor something vague like "a fortune"¡ªgaped.


    "It was a real pain proving I didn''t mean to break the last one, so please be careful with that "


    "You already destroyed one of these!?"


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    "Yeah," Amara said far too casually.


    "I think maybe I will study this here with you¡ªif that''s okay. I don''t really want responsibility for this thing "


    "Sure. Make yourself at home, but there''s only one chair."


    Before Kole could do that though, Amara gave him a thorough tour of her workshop. She showed him the latest version of her sister''s tracker. She suspected her sister might be in some other place, connected to the Dahn through random openings of doorways. This would explain why the tracker had been so erratic. If doors were opening and closing to places near her sister, the tracker would point to whichever one was closest at any given time. She was building trackers that could lock onto a single source.


    She had ideas, none of which Kole could follow. Nonetheless, he could appreciate the complexity and her talents.


    Next was the in-progress blasting rod, her ants busily at work carving the runes into the surface.


    "This one should be slightly more Will efficient," Amara explained. "But you''ll need to tweak the pattern slightly."


    "And these," she continued, moving on to the next item "are going to be sending stones. Without gems, they won''t last more than a week or be able to do anything but send a single signal, but I think can make improvements over time."


    Then she showed him her own self-defense project, inspired by their near-death experience. The device was currently a small river stone with black ink markings all over it.


    "It''s a portable ward," she explained, "it will be able to create something similar to the Shield spell on command, but that''s only the first step. Next¡ª"


    "That¡¯s a great idea!" Kole interrupted, forestalling a lengthy lecture he''d follow less than half of. "I can''t wait to see it. Is it alright if I sit over there in the corner and work on this?


    He held up the emerald.


    "Of course! Let me know if you need anything."


    "Sure, but after I''m done, we are going to get something to eat and you''re going to take a shower.


    "I don''t..." Amara began to protest but then looked at Gus who was comically covering his nose with his tiny paws. "Oh... I guess I do smell a little¡ª"


    SQUEEK!


    "Okay more than a little."


    "How about you bathe, change, and then we meet for dinner?" Kole suggested.


    "Alright," she conceded with a sign. "But I still have a few hours right?"


    Kole nodded and headed to the corner to get to work.


    While Kole had transferred the knowledge of the blasting rod¡¯s force bolt runes in a single sitting, he could tell that this one would take more work. He''d never attempted to learn a second-tier spell before, but he was familiar with them from his extensive research into spellforms. A single glance at this pattern confirmed that this rune was on a level equal to a second-tier spell.


    Don''t panic. You can do this. You''re a smart, capable wizard who may not be able to cast spells, but sure knows how to learn them


    Kole sighed at his own embarrassing attempt to reassure himself. The first thing he needed to do was clear space in his mental vault. He¡¯d already considered the decision and decided to abandon the cantrip for Light. He had the light rune device from the library¡ªwhich he still needed to have Amara replace so he could return it, lest some consequence arise¡ªand light objects were easy to come by. The Air cantrip however could save his life in a tight¡ªor stinky¡ªspot.


    With a wave of his imagined hand, the book that represented the Light cantrip in his mental vault exploded into a cloud of paper before fading away. Then he got to work, meticulously copying the spell. As Kole was learning in his pursuit of Thunderwave, the task of copying a second-tier spell was a different kind of difficult than creating a first-tier spell from scratch


    All the components Kole needed to add to Thunderwave to make it work were things he was capable of creating, he just needed to put the right ones in the right place. It was like he was writing letters in a language he knew, trying to spell out a word he¡¯d only heard spoken. Except, the word was about a thousand letters long, and if any of them were incorrect, nothing would happen. Occasionally he¡¯d need to look up new components, but he ignored that since it ruined the metaphor.


    Copying spells of higher tiers¡ªor in this case, complicated rune intent¡ªwas different. While most of the mental Will constructions that made up the rune¡¯s intent were simple shapes within the realm of his ability to create, some were more complex. Not only that, there was simply more. The scope of the construct was massive and he didn''t know if he could fit the whole thing in his mind. When he''d first started learning wizardry, he''d struggled to fit cantrips in his vault. Then once those had been mastered, he''d pushed the bounds of his vault to fit first-tier spells¡ªfor all the good it did him.


    He made quick progress in the beginning, but as the construct began to reach the bounds of his mind, he had to slow to not pop the whole thing like a balloon.


    Kole lost himself in the work, only stopping when he felt the onset of a headache from the Will drain. He let his awareness return to the world around him. Amara still worked, stooped over her workbench, and Gus slept in his little house and the ants poured over the new blasting rod. There was no clock or window, but the progress the little creatures had made suggested that it had been a while. That and the rumble in Kole¡¯s stomach.


    ¡°Times up,¡± Kole said, standing and stretching.


    Gus jumped up excitedly and ran across the tables to Amara¡¯s bench, where she continued to work. It wasn¡¯t until the rat had climbed onto her head that she realized Kole was standing.


    ¡°What?¡± Amara asked, looking around bleary-eyed.


    ¡°You need a break,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°I¡¯m fin¡ª¡° Amara¡¯s protestation was interrupted by a large yawn. ¡°Alright, fine. But let me just¡ªouch!¡±


    Gus had bitten her lightly on the ear, drawing a spot of blood.


    ¡°I think he wants you to stop too.¡±


    ¡°He always wants me to stop,¡± she said dismissively. ¡°But¡­ he doesn¡¯t usually resort to biting. I guess we can go.¡±


    ¡°Great, where do you shower on campus?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Shower?¡± Amara asked,¡± I¡­ uh¡­ haven¡¯t thought to check.¡±


    Kole only shook his head, at a loss for words. He knew he had the tendency to get wrapped up in his work, but he¡¯d not forgotten to bathe, only eat.


    Actually¡­ would I know where the showers were if it weren¡¯t for the martial college classes?


    He dismissed the thought.


    Of course I would. Right¡­?

 Chapter 55: Old Book, New Tricks

    Once the gods had left, the races spread across the world, and men and dragons met and interacted once more. By then, the dragons had learned to rein in their hunger. However, the relationship was not the peaceful, cooperative one it had once been, and there existed a distance between men and dragons from then on.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    Kole escorted Amara back to her dorm elsewhere on the crafting college¡¯s part of campus. He asked a female student exiting the building where the girl¡¯s bathroom was, which almost saw him slapped, But, once the girl in question spotted Amara and her obvious need for a shower, the student held back and provided instructions. Kole walked Amara to her room, and then to the bathroom and sat outside while she got cleaned up, and afterward they went to the crafting dining hall for a very late dinner.


    Ten bits down. Kole mourned as he paid the entry fee.


    He¡¯d counted his money as he¡¯d waited for Amara and was down to twenty silver, eighty-five copper, and now two bits.


    Thats¡­ 280.1 copper, or 560.2 meals, or 1.867 more vials of ink.


    He stopped himself before his math could lead him to the inevitable conclusion that he would need to find a job. He knew he would need to eventually, but for now, he could focus on his studies.


    They sat with their meals and Kole let Amara speak about her projects the entire meal. He tried to follow, but it was far beyond him.


    Later that night, after seeing Amara back to her room and getting Gus to promise to bite her if she left without sleeping, Kole returned to his own room in the library.


    I still don¡¯t understand how the Font of ¡®Understanding¡¯ could make that rat so smart. He mused as he made his way back.


    Theral was gone when he arrived, but the rat was there, waiting for Kole¡¯s return. He threw the rodent a bread crust, and it took it with it as it vanished into thin air.


    ¡°Well, at least he¡¯s not eating¡­¡± Kole trailed off as he noticed a mess of bed crumbs on his bed. ¡°Now¡­¡±


    The rat had gone into the past to eat on his bed, free from Kole¡¯s presence.


    Kole brushed the crumbs off his bed, before setting up at his desk. With his focus on Thunderwave, he¡¯d been slacking on his work to improve Magic Missile and Shield, but he felt he was just starting to make progress.


    ¡°One more night¡­¡± he told himself.


    Two hours later, Kole¡¯s study was broken as Theral appeared in the room in a seated position, hand held up to his mouth as if he were about to eat from an invisible fork. He immediately fell on his butt.


    ¡°Flood,¡± he cursed from the ground.


    ¡°Welcome back,¡± Kole said from his desk.


    ¡°Thanks, but I can¡¯t say I¡¯m glad to be here. I was about to eat dinner.¡±


    Theral then walked to the corner of the room where the magical jug lay. He picked it up and waved his hand over his bed before placing the jug on the magical floating disk he¡¯d summoned. Kole watched, mesmerized by the absurdity of it all as Theral pulled out his spellbook and casually ripped a page out. The page folded itself into a bowl, black lines drawing themselves over its surface. He then tipped the jug over the bowl, and a blob of oatmeal poured out, followed shortly by a splash of honey.


    ¡°That jug could do that the whole time?!¡± Kole asked, bewildered by it all.


    Theral turned to Kole, a paper spoon of oatmeal already on its way to his mouth.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ did you need some?¡±


    Kole sighed.


    ¡°What else can it make?¡±


    ¡°Lamp oil, mayonnaise, vinegar, wine that tastes like vinegar, water, beer that tastes like water, honey, and oatmeal. It might be able to do more. You need to think about something to make it appear, but if it can¡¯t make what you want, it just produces this gross black sludge. And if you don¡¯t eat something, it goes away after a day.¡±


    ¡°Can I use it when you¡¯re gone?¡±


    ¡°Go for it, but don¡¯t take it out of the room.¡±


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    Kole let Theral return to his very magical meal and returned to his studying. He¡¯d been about to test a new component of Thunderwave when Theral had arrived.


    He sent the construct through his bridge and felt the spell swerve around the strange non-Font that it had crashed into on his last dozen attempts. Allowing himself a small self satisfied smile, Kole reached for his ink vial to record his latest addition to the spell.


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Theral asked.


    The young wizard was done with his meal, and Kole watched as the paper cutlery vanished into black motes.


    ¡°I¡¯m out of spellform ink.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Theral said, looking around the room. ¡°I don¡¯t have any, but¡­ have you tried using regular ink?¡±


    Kole stared at the clearly wizard who was clearly a prodigy as if he were an idiot.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that strange. You have magic paper in that book right?¡±


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Maybe it can store spellforms with regular ink,¡± Theral said. ¡°I can¡¯t think of a lot of reasons to make magic paper if not for creating spellforms.¡±


    ¡°You mean you can¡¯t think of any reason besides making magic paper bowls and utensils,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Good point, but that was more of a side project of a friend. I had the magical spellbook way before we found that use for it.¡±


    Kole wondered how long this young wizard could have possibly owned that magical book.


    With no better option, Kole gave it a shot. He drew the simplest spell component he knew, using his new nib and old ink. Once that was done¡ªthe work of a few minutes¡ªhe filled it with the intent required, borrowing it from one of the spell constructs in his mind.


    He then held his hand on it and focused, watching to see if the intent decayed. Theral watched too, with eager eyes as if he could somehow see what was happening on the page. A minute passed, then two, but the intent Kole had imparted into the Will remained the same.


    ¡°It worked!¡± Kole exclaimed, not sure if he was more excited by the financial or magical implications of the discovery. ¡°Do you think there are more of these books around the school?¡±


    Before Kole finished the question, he felt the strong magical force that heralded Theral¡¯s departure and by the time he finished turning to face him, the other wizard was gone. Kole returned to the journal. The cover was old and worn, whatever had been written on it long gone, and there were what looked like claw marks across the surface, though there was so much damage to the cover it was hard to make them out.


    Flicking through the blank pages. He immediately began to regret using the journal for something as simple as note taking¡ªthough that had saved him precious hours while doing homework, with the information flooding back into him as he wrote. The journal was thick, and had a large number of pages, but that didn¡¯t mean he could be frivolous with them. In the past, he¡¯d kept a detailed catalog of the spell components he¡¯d needed to do his work of spell reconstruction, but he¡¯d been judicious in his selection due to the cost of recording a spellform component. Now however, he could afford to be a little more¡­ thorough.


    Several hour later, Kole lay passed out at his desk where he¡¯d fallen asleep copying his latest revisions of Magic Missile and Shield over to his new spellbook.


    Some time after that, he stirred as he heard something in his room. He shot up, lifting his face from the pages and taking some of the ink with him, and scanned the room.


    His new and ruined clothes¡ªwhich now that he considered it, he was pretty sure had been missing when he¡¯d returned¡ªwere laying on his bed, folded into a neat bundle with a envelope attached. He spent a moment, making sure this wasn¡¯t a dream before examining it closer. He undid the ties holding the garment together, and held out the shirt. Instead of having been cleaned, the blue fabric had been dyed black all over, the multi-hued blue of the original cloth showing through slightly and resulting in a look that reminded Kole of a cloudy night sky, full of different shades of deep black. The silver accents from before left silver and replaced where they¡¯d been stained.


    The blue pattern of the previous outfit had been a nod to his mother¡¯s magical tradition, but he found he didn¡¯t mind the black. The pants too had been stained black, and the spider silk cords had been dyed scarlet.


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit menacing,¡± he said to himself, unsure if he liked it.


    He reflected that it would pair nicely with his voidling and demonkin companions, he just needed to get Rakin something so they could really live up to the name ¡°The Forsaken.¡±


    Next he reached for the envelope and was surprised by its weight. Turning it over, two gold coins fell out onto the bed.


    He read the note, which was written in elegantly scrawled lettering that was perfectly legible despite the flair.


    Kole,


    Thank you for helping my daughter¡ªthough I expect she would have faired just as well by herself and come home with less blood on her. I cleared up the issue with the guards, and the men will recover nicely in jail, so you don¡¯t have to worry about being a murderer. Though, I would have still cleared it up if they had died. Don¡¯t make a habit of assaulting people on the street, but also don¡¯t hold back when your life is on the line.


    I hope you don¡¯t mind the new color. I understand that you don¡¯t actually need the ink you lost, so I decided to instead return the money you spent on it instead of replacing it.


    -Trish


    P.S. The door will not open to my home without my say so. Stop trying.


    Kole scanned the room again. Someone, presumably Zale''s mother, had snuck in while he''d slept. He didn''t know how he felt about that. She could enter his room at any moment, and from what Zale said, she wasn''t above murder.


    Flood, she kind of just condoned it in the note.


    Not that Kole had ever planned to, but he decided then and there to never hurt Zale in any way that could garner her mother''s ire.


    He placed his new clothes under his bed, and got ready to go back to sleep¡ªin the bed this time¡ªbut stopped himself. He moved the desk, and pushed it a foot over so that it was partially blocking the door to Zale''s home. It wouldn''t keep out a determined intruder, but it''d make a lot of noise.


    Kole''s last thought as he drifted back to sleep was the realization that Zale''s mother could turn into a breeze and likely slip through any crack.


    Maybe I should move.

 Chapter 56: Lost Fonts

    Ensouled artifacts are the rarest and most powerful of all magic items. While they were once prolific and the most common of all magical items, the secrets of their creation were lost during the Flood.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    Minus the changes to Zale''s complexion, things mostly returned to how they were before the eventful weekend, with of course the addition of Doug.


    Doug joined their martial class and practiced with the archers and those learning to fight with hand axes. Zale continued to coach Kole one-on-one, but now with her disguised coloring, people stopped giving the pair such a wide berth. Some even waved as they walked past.


    "Do they think I''m just, like, not part voidling anymore because they can''t see it?" Zale asked Kole, flummoxed when someone gave her a nod of hello in passing as they were cleaning up at the end of class.


    "I don''t know," Kole said. "The ignorant aren¡¯t particularly gifted at critical thinking. They were dumb to fear you before, and they are equally dumb to think you¡¯re suddenly ''safe'' now that you look different¡ªeven if they are technically right to not fear you. They''re right for the wrong reasons, which is still wrong... Right?"


    Zale laughed.


    "I think you''re right. They didn''t really know why they avoided me before, and now it''s easy to forget it ever happened."


    Her smile faded.


    ¡°For them at least,¡± she added.


    On the way out of class, Tigereye gave all the students an update on that week¡¯s dungeon trial. Every group would find themselves in a village on the floating ice sheet of the arctic circle on the 3rd of Erebog. He told the class to "Prepare for the stay" and no further details were provided.


    ¡°Slaggin Faust cursed gopher balls!¡± Rakin cursed at the news.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no stone or earth on the arctic circle,¡± Zale answered for Rakin, who¡¯d stomped off.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Kole said, seeing how that could make the Earth primal a bit upset.


    Hours later in WIZ 105, Kole half listened to a lecture as he reviewed his notes on Magic Missile and Shield. He¡¯d neglected his work on them and needed to get back up to speed before returning to them.


    Eventually, Professor Underbrook¡¯s lecture topic wandered into an interesting category and he focused on the class.


    ¡°The two lost Fonts¡± Underbrook said, letting the words hang. ¡°Creation and Time.¡±


    Time! Kole thought, grabbing his mother¡¯s locket under his shirt.


    Kole had studied the Font some. From what he knew of his mother¡¯s disappearance, he and his father had always suspected the pocket realm she¡¯d been lost in had been connected to the Font of Time in some way. The time his father had spent in there hadn¡¯t aligned with the time that passed outside, and he¡¯d written of other odd Time shenanigans within.


    ¡°Both are considered lost, but for different reasons. The Font of Creation is more of a mystery. While both Fonts were lost to us around the time of the Floods, the mechanisms of those losses are not the same. Traditional wizards with affinities to Time were rare even before the Flood. If any survived wars, the flooding, or battles with dragons, forsaken, and the Avatar, they did not live long enough to see the discovery of the Halkin method of Arcane exploration, gates, and spellforms. That might not have been the end though. Many Fonts were lost in this way but later discovered through exploration of the Arcane Realm in the proximity of the Primordial of that Font. Unfortunately¡ªor possibly fortunately¡ªthe Primordial of Time has never ravaged our planet. Wherever it might reside, it is quite content to stay there and not make its presence known.¡±


    A student raised a hand and was called on.


    ¡°How do we know the Primordial of Time is on Kaltis at all?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good question. Does anyone know?¡±


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    ¡°Pack rats,¡± Kole said without thinking.


    He¡¯d looked into them after his first run-in to make sure they weren¡¯t too dangerous.


    ¡°Very good!¡± Underbrook said, ¡°Yes. Master Wizard Marcus Travin of the Tower of Illunia famously discovered that pack rats drew upon the Font of Time shortly before the repudiation of the Tower by Chosen Daulf. After, much of their secrets were leaked out and we learned of this. Wherever, or whenever the Primordial of Time resides, the pack rats know and are not telling.¡±


    He smiled and winked at the class.


    ¡°Moving on. The Font of Creation is lost by wholly different means. Early reports claim that sometime after the Flood, and before the discovery of the Basin, wizards could no longer access the Font. They reported experiencing something unknown at the time, but now we see is akin to what wizards experience in a runic ward meant to block sections of the Arcane Realm. No one is sure how this occurred. But current evidence suggests that somehow this Font was blocked from us. Was it the gods? Outsiders? Powerful beings? The Primordial of Creation itself? We don¡¯t know, but every wizard has a theory or two if you ask over a drink. I myself am not so conspiracy-minded and suspect it is a result of the Font¡¯s uniqueness as the first Font.¡±


    Professor Underbrook then went on to talk about the spells lost with the Fonts, but that quickly lost Kole''s interest and he returned to his review. The knowledge of spells he would never learn or even see held no interest for him.


    As Kole was packing up his things he sensed someone standing over him. He turned to see Gray looking from the elevated row of desks behind his own.


    "What do you want?" Kole asked in an uninterested tone.


    "I heard you almost got Rakinar killed over the weekend because you can''t do magic and rely on trinkets. Zale too." He said it casually but the words stung.


    "Where''d did you hear something like that?" Kole asked.


    How does he know? Kole wondered.


    He wasn''t supposed to talk about the specifics of what had occurred and hadn¡¯t told anyone. The fact his blasting rod had failed, leaving him helpless was an awfully specific detail for him to have picked up.


    "Your friend Amara TA¡¯s my alchemical materials class. She talked about a ''friend'' of hers who was using a prototype of hers and it disintegrated mid-battle. She tried to be subtle but..." Gray trailed off, seemingly reluctant to say something insulting about Amara.


    "She doesn''t do subtle," Kole finished for him.


    "Yeah... And Mouse saw Rakinar in the Glades infirmary. It didn''t take a genius to put it together, though I don''t know what you fought."


    "Rakin was fine," Kole defended, "He hurt himself... Mostly. And I helped Zale. Why don''t you just mind your own business and I''ll mind mine?"


    ¡°Look, it''s not personal. I don¡¯t hate you. In fact, I really appreciate how you have helped Zale through all the recent¡­ difficulties. It¡¯s just that I know you will get people killed and I want you to realize it too before it¡¯s too late. You''ve been lucky so far, but even Riloth''s Blessed''s luck runs out ¡±


    Kole stopped loading his bag and took a deep breath to steady himself. The repeated claims he was doomed to failure were starting to get to him, especially since he felt Gray was kind of right¡ªfor now.


    ¡°We are at a school. A place to learn. I know I have my limitations, but I¡¯m working on them. If I can¡¯t overcome them, then I¡¯ll get kicked out. The things that happened this weekend? If I hadn''t been there Rakin and Zale might have died. I¡¯m not trying to fool anyone. I¡¯ve been very upfront about my abilities and struggles and I''m doing what I can to eliminate them."


    ¡°Have you though? Been upfront?¡± Gray asked, ¡°You say you¡¯re a primal and a sorcerer, but I¡¯ve never seen you use any magic from either. Are you even a primal, or are you as broken of a primal as you are a wizard?¡±


    Kole didn''t know what to say. Gray was kind of right¡ªagain. It was quite infuriating.


    "I don''t owe you anything. And, if anyone is going to be hurting Zale, it''s your friend Harold."


    Things gathered, Kole left, both to hide his embarrassed face at his last statement and avoid any more of Gray''s sort-of-accurate points about his shortcomings.


    Kole spent the rest of the evening working on his progress of Magic Missile until he¡¯d spent a fourth of his Will. Then he moved on to his less magical coursework. His massive pool of Will was his biggest asset. With it, he could train himself in wizardry two to three times as long as his classmates with their smaller, non-primal or sorcerer-enhanced pools. But, even with that advantage, Kole sought to maximize his Will usage. So long as he was never full up on Will, he¡¯d always be generating more.


    It took about six hours of sleep to recover one¡¯s whole Will capacity¡ªno matter its size¡ªand people naturally recovered anywhere from a quarter to a half of it throughout the day if they started it with none. Kole himself could recover nearly half his Will through the day, even more if he napped¡ªthough recovery while sleeping wasn¡¯t linear, and short naps had minimal effects.


    If Kole started each morning with some sort of Will expenditure and ensured he never capped, he had effectively sixty-five Will to train with through a day. To put that in perspective, other wizards Kole¡¯s age were lucky to have a capacity of fifteen by the time they¡¯ve learned first-tier spells, increased to twenty-five if they had some sort of innate magic.


    His home of Illandrios instilled the importance of efficient Will usage from an early age and utilized its easy access to clarity potions to foster the development of the Will capacities of their young. Though Kole left his home behind to seek the secrets he needed to unlock his potential, he kept their lessons with him.


    He took a break from his study to meet Zale, Doug, and Rakin for dinner to discuss their plans for the upcoming dungeon run, but Kole¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t in it, and he let the others work out the plan. His conversation with Gray had lit a fire under him, and he was resolved to prove the other student wrong.

 Chapter 57: Good Luck

    While the specifics of their creation are lost to the waves, we know that to make an ensouled artifact, the creator must use their own soul stone in its construction.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    After departing dinner on Wednesday night, Kole fell into a fugue state of narrow-minded focus. He worked late into the night on his wizardry. He started with Magic Missile, piecing together the pieces of a dozen spells to rebuild the next version. Whenever he¡¯d hit a wall, he¡¯d take a break¡ªwell, sort of. If he was frustrated with Magic Missile, he¡¯d work on Shield, if he couldn¡¯t find the piece he needed for either, he¡¯d clear his mind with a nice relaxing jaunt through the the mind-boggling non-space that was the Arcane Realm. He worked until his Will was exhausted, only then letting himself sleep.


    The next morning, he jumped right up at the first sound of his alarm, and got right back into his work, sending a few incomplete Thunderwaves into the void to sap himself of some Will.


    Alchemy class went poorly. Zale did great at harvesting the faerie clover they were assigned to pick and turn in as the day¡¯s examination.


    Kole did not.


    He¡¯d forgotten to practice the technique they¡¯d been shown on Monday, and even with Zale¡¯s coaching, he knew he¡¯d be lucky if the dryad didn¡¯t give him a tongue lashing for how he¡¯d ravaged the herbs.


    Someone had knocked over a potted plant at the beginning of the class, and the guest instructor had screamed at him in fury until the student ran away.


    ¡°Do dryads have tongues?¡± Kole asked Zale as he was collecting his harvest.


    He couldn¡¯t recall seeing one in her mouth as she spoke and didn¡¯t really see any rhyme or reason behind human anatomy that they had or lacked


    She stopped her own work and stared at him bemused before saying, ¡°That¡¯s a really weird question. Why do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± he stammered, ¡°I just¡­ forget I said anything.¡±


    ***


    With brief breaks for tedious tasks such as attending classes and using the privy, Kole lived in his room for the next two days, living off the oatmeal output of the magical jug.


    There was one brief attempt to produce something other than oatmeal, but the black sludge that came out filled the room with such an awful stench that the oatmeal with honey was divine in comparison. He skipped his morning training with Zale through this time, needing the time to make up for his late nights. All his efforts culminated in a very late-night trip to the Dahn¡¯s spell range.


    The place was deserted at this hour, and Kole was a little surprised it had even been open. He had just finished what he thought to be the last missing component of Magic Missile, and ran out of his room to the place as soon as he¡¯d finished, without any thought to the time.


    He noted that the hall of rooms was shorter than it had been on his last visit with Gray. The far end of the hall ending in a stone wall where before it had seemed to go on forever.


    I suppose this is a result of the heightened security Zale¡¯s mother spoke of, Kole thought as he stepped into the first room.


    He was rather low on Will, but in anticipation of a breakthrough he¡¯d rationed his Will usage to leave him enough for a single attempt.


    In the training room, Kole focused on the dummy at the far end and sent a portion of his mind to his mental vault. He infused the template he¡¯d spent days constructing with his Will and braced himself for the next step. Connecting the spell to his bridge, he felt the sudden drain as the spell fought against his connection to the Font of Illusions to pull his bridge to some far-flung gate. The Will drained from him, both rapidly and agonizingly slow¡ªdepending on what portion of his mind he focused on. Just as he feared he¡¯d not have enough, the connection snapped into place, and the spell went through his bridge.


    So stunned was he at the success, that he almost forgot to perform the verbal component of the spell, shouting out ¡°Roh-Ka¡± a little louder than was appropriate.


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    The force bolts flew out of his hand but dissipated a few feet away, but despite that, Kole jumped in celebration. The failure had been due to his fumbling with the verbal component, but the spell itself had worked just fine. Judging by the Will he¡¯d had remaining when he came here, and the fact he¡¯d used almost every last bit of it, he¡¯d reduced the cost to around twenty-five Will. If he could keep up his pace, at this rate he¡¯d be able to cast at least two spells in a single battle by semester end. Not an impressive feat in and of itself¡ªfor a wizard at least¡ªbut even the one he could cast was a monumental accomplishment.


    ***


    ¡°Where have you been?¡± Zale asked Kole as he ran into the pre-adventurer battle training class just as Tigereye and Professor Underbrook entered from their own side of the room.


    Kole stifled a yawn. He wasn¡¯t sure how long he¡¯d slept, but it hadn¡¯t been enough and he¡¯d not recovered all his Will.


    ¡°I had a breakthrough with Magic Missile last night. I cast it for twenty-six Will.¡±


    Zale bonked Kole on the head with the quarterstaff she¡¯d brought for him.


    ¡°Ow!¡±


    ¡°That was stupid,¡± she chastised him. ¡°That¡¯s hardly going to help us today, but you being exhausted will definitely harm us.¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± Kole apologized, ¡°I get a little carried away.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll get you a clarity potion you can take inside, but you need to be more careful the night before a dungeon run,¡± Her face softened a little and she added, ¡°Congratulations though. That is good news. Also, Amara gave me this.¡±


    Zale handed Kole a long plain wooden box. Inside he found a blasting rod identical to the one he¡¯d destroyed the week before.


    ¡°She said you need to learn the repairing rune by next week because she¡¯s not going to make another of these just for you to break.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± Kole said, looking over the runed rod.


    He was pretty sure he could figure it out by next week, but he decided to make sure this one didn¡¯t break¡ªjust in case.


    Kole saw that his team had already picked out the gear they needed for their arctic adventure. They didn¡¯t know what they¡¯d be up against, but they knew it would be cold.


    Everyone had thick fur-lined coats, except for Zale who had extra layers under her armor and a fur cloak. She was already beginning to sweat.


    ¡°I hope we go first,¡± she said, fanning herself with a small wooden paddle she¡¯d found in the equipment stores.


    Kole changed into his own cold-weather gear and quickly began to empathize with Zale.


    ¡°Class, before we begin, I would like to speak to you all for a moment,¡± Professor Underbrook said, magically projecting his voice to the room, something he typically didn¡¯t do. Usually, he just yelled, but on this occasion he spoke softly, using magic to ensure his words reached all ears. ¡°It has come to the school¡¯s attention of late that there have been some disappearances amongst the student body.¡±


    A murmur broke out, centered around the team of the missing primal that had insisted their team member hadn¡¯t dropped out.


    ¡°We have identified three students that we believe have gone missing. You may have noticed, but we have enacted stricter security protocols over the past week. Extraneous wings of the Dahn have been closed, and we are working to relocate as many of the extra dimensions wings to suitable locations in the Material Realm. You may notice the tower grow taller in the weeks to come, do not be alarmed, this is normal. A formal announcement will go out today, but I wanted to speak to you all particularly.¡±


    He paused to let his words sink in before continuing.


    ¡°You are all training to be adventurers. You have bravery, spirit, skill, and the will to risk yourselves for others¡ªor coin and glory. This, however, is not your fight. Of all the students in the school, the first years in this class always cause the most trouble. You are not here to prove that you are heroes. You are here to learn to be them. The time will come to prove yourselves, but this is not that time. Do not investigate this. We have the matter well in hand.¡±


    There was a scoff from the murmurers, and Underbrook went on to explain more of the security measures, such as the increased adventurer presence on campus.


    ¡°In less depressing news, we will begin to have post-dungeon education. Students formally in the adventuring program and guest adventurers will be stopping by to assist while Tigereye and I debrief you all. We will then have a group debrief of the dungeon run once everyone has had their turn.


    ¡°Do. Not. Discuss,¡± he said, emphasizing each word and looking over the class, ¡°your time the dungeon with those yet to attempt it. Doing so will result in both groups failing the attempt.


    ¡°Alright, now on to the exciting part!¡± Underbrook shouted. He forgot to disable the magical enhancement, however, and everyone grabbed their ears in pain.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± he shouted again, sans magical amplification. ¡°The first group to enter the dungeon today is also the first group to formally submit a party name. Forsaken, please make your way into the dungeon.¡±


    More murmurs broke out when the name was called, and all eyes immediately shot to Kole and his friends.


    ¡°I guess it was obvious,¡± Doug muttered to himself.


    He¡¯d been on board with the name but seemed to be having second thoughts now as he glanced from the students staring at him, to Zale, who was decidedly normal-looking today.


    Zale seemed to shrink a little as well at the attention.


    They made their way to the door, each carrying a large backpack stuffed with goods and supplies, and stepped in quickly to avoid the attention.


    ¡°Well, that was awkward,¡± Rakin said, as soon as the door had shut.


    Zale turned to Doug, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡ª¡°


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Doug said, holding up his hand. ¡°I¡¯m not upset, and I get it.¡±


    Zale nodded, letting the issue drop.


    ¡°Good luck,¡¯¡± Rakin said, drawing everyone¡¯s attention.


    ¡°What?¡± Kole asked.


    Rakin held up a sheet of paper he¡¯d taken off the podium. It had "good luck" written in Tigereye¡¯s large script.


    ¡°Flood,¡± Zale cursed, not even apologizing for it as she usually did. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to be good.¡±

 Chapter 58: Blizzard

    Reports from before the Flood tell us that ensouled artifacts grow in power alongside their creators. With this magical growth, come physical growth as the item becomes more magnificent in the eyes of its creator.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    Everyone donned their coats and cloaks¡ªexcept for Rakin who instead began to take off the thick woolen clothes he¡¯d been wearing, returning to his normal loose-fitting robe.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Doug asked.


    ¡°I, uh¡­,¡± Rakin stumbled, looking from Zale to Kole. ¡°I don¡¯t need those things...¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay,¡± Doug said as if that was a sufficient explanation.


    Rakin relaxed but looked a little surprised at the ease Doug dropped the issue.


    Zale walked up to the door, and everyone pulled their hoods tight as she braced for the cold.


    She pushed the door open and jumped through¡ªinto a warmly lit tavern. The wooden building has a few sparsely populated tables with a mix of human and halfling guests with a counter in the back.


    ¡°Welcome travelers!¡± a voice called from behind a bar within. ¡°Close the door quick, you¡¯re letting in all the snow!¡±


    Zale walked in and turned around to face the group, her mouth dropping in surprise. Kole ran through next and turned to see what had happened. The door he¡¯d stepped through opened up to a snow-filled village square. The ground was covered in snow where it wasn''t hard-packed into rough ice. A wall of white surrounded their view, the red sun setting just above it. The Dahn was gone.


    Doug and Rakin stepped out next, appearing as if out of nowhere.


    ¡°The door!¡± the innkeeper shouted again


    Kole too gaped in awe, more at the sight of snow than the magical disappearing door¡ªthat was almost trivial to him at this point. He hadn''t even seen rain yet since his time on the surface and hadn''t even hoped to get to see snow. Living under a dome specifically designed to keep out water, the idea of water falling from the sky had a special place in his childhood nightmares.


    The climate of Basin was very warm, with its location on the equator and of course, the giant Fire Primordial-turned-corrupted murder machine trapped in the center. Things had cooled slightly when the prison runes had been upgraded during the Last Dragon War, but it still only snowed on the mountains west of the elven lands, and few non-elves were lucky enough to see that.


    Doug and Rakin both looked on in awe at the white vista.


    "Close the Faust damned door!" the innkeeper shouted, much less welcoming now.


    Zale quickly closed the door, not as enraptured as the boys


    "It¡¯s beautiful," Doug whispered.


    "Aye," Rakin agreed soberly, despite himself.


    Even the grumpy arctic-circle-hating dwarf could appreciate the beauty of the place.


    "You should see the snow on the mountains," Zale said. "Mom took me there a few times. The views are great, the people, not so much. Let''s get to work. Everyone, eyes open."


    That snapped everyone out of their reverence, and they dropped their heavy bags.


    "Sorry about the door," Zale said, approaching the bar. "We just got into town. We''re an adventuring party. We heard there might be work here."


    The innkeeper chuckled but then stopped, confused when he noticed Zale''s own confusion at his laughter.


    "Oh, you''re serious?"


    Zale nodded.


    "The whiteout starts tonight. Everyones going to be stuck in their homes for the next month. It''s going to be as boring as a monastery."


    The four huddled in the corner of the inn, garnering stares from the few patrons.


    "What do we do?" Doug asked.


    "Let''s scout out the perimeter," Zale suggested "Something has to be going on. They wouldn¡¯t send us here to do nothing."


    The group left the inn, and and began to canvas the town.


    "It¡¯s freezing!" Kole whined after only a few minutes.


    He kept looking over at Rakin, amazed that the dwarf was completely unconcerned with the cold.


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    "It¡¯s not as bad as I expected," Zale said, pulling her scarf down and inhaling the crisp air.


    The village was small, with maybe enough homes for a few hundred people. A wall of compacted ice surrounded the place and there were nearly as many glass greenhouses as there were houses. The few people outside were busy performing last-minute preparations for the coming storm. Despite the impending "whiteout," no one much seemed concerned.


    There were no monster tracks outside the walls, there weren''t even guards. When asked why they had an unguarded wall, an old man laughed and told them that even the monsters hide during the whiteout.


    So, eventually, when the snow began to fall and visibility began to drop, the party returned to the inn, cold and confused.


    "Welcome¡ªOh, you''re back," the innkeeper greeted, not exactly happy to see the odd group.


    "We would like some rooms," Zale said, false cheer in her voice. "And sorry about before."


    Doug was last to enter and he slammed the door shut behind him. Zale haggled for the room, and Kole couldn''t tell if the prices were exorbitant because they¡¯d been a bit rude, or because the innkeeper really had them over a barrel with the whole blizzard thing. In the end, they paid three copper a night, but they had to turn over all their provisions toward the inn¡¯s white-out stores.


    ¡°Does anyone actually have money?¡± Kole whispered outside the innkeeper¡¯s earshot.


    Zale fished a sack of coins out from inside her cloak.


    ¡°Unspent credits turn into coins inside,¡± she said, hefting the rather full pouch.


    They¡¯d selected a lot of mundane provisions for the trip, but without the blasting rod, they¡¯d had plenty left over. By then, they were starving and dug into the mystery stew that the innkeeper provided them and made a plan for the night.


    After they¡¯d eaten, they all headed upstairs to the singular room they¡¯d rented. Kole and Doug had tried to insist Zale get her own room, but she shot them down.


    ¡°Never split up when you suspect danger,¡± she explained. ¡°And besides, we couldn¡¯t afford it.¡±


    She did relent to taking the bed, however, and the boys all set up their sleeping rolls on the floor.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the first watch,¡± Kole volunteered.


    Per their discussion, they¡¯d keep watch all night, and start to interview people in the inn the next day for any hint at what was going on.


    ***


    The night passed without incident, and the next morning came and went without any leads. The party had tried starting conversations with the other patrons, but all inquiries into interesting comings and goings were met with blank stares. Interesting things, it seemed, neither came nor went on the arctic circle.


    ¡°So what do we actually know about this place?¡± Kole asked his gathered team.


    ¡°We know quite a lot,¡± Rakin said, pointing to himself, Doug, and Zale. ¡°You were distracted all week.¡±


    Kole grew red.


    ¡°Yeah¡­. Sorry about that.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s not a whole lot,¡± Zale volunteered. ¡°This ¡®whiteout¡¯ thing takes up most of the month of Erebog. It¡¯s something the ice elementals do every year. The towns and cities of the arctic just wait it out, the winds aren¡¯t bad, there¡¯s just zero visibility. The ice primal tribes treat the event as some sort of holiday.¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s the test?¡± Kole asked. ¡°Waiting?¡±


    Three days later, it did in fact seem like waiting was the test. They¡¯d continued to rotate watches, but nothing happened besides the visibility outside dropping to zero as the whiteout started in force. On the third morning, however, they woke to new arrivals in the inn.


    When asked, they revealed they were locals, and that they¡¯d entered the inn through the tunnels that connected all the buildings. Once Doug realized he could get to the greenhouses he¡¯d spotted, he quickly disappeared to study the life cultivated on this barren icy landscape.


    The ice tunnels opened a new avenue for them to explore for adventure, but that too turned up no leads. Zale was disappointed in them all¡ªherself included¡ªthat their previous scouting hadn¡¯t turned up the existence of the passages. That seemed to make Rakin even more unhappy with the situation, as subterranean tunnels were sort of his specialty and his inability to find them here highlighted how out of place he was.


    In exploring the tunnels, they found a large open chamber the village¡¯s children and adults used for sport, and they adopted it as their own training area.


    ¡°If we are going to be here a while, we might as well make some use of the time,¡± Zale said and led them in weapons practice.


    Out of a desire to maintain a state of readiness, she went easy on the physical conditioning and ¡±bonks.¡±


    Later that night in their room, Kole dug through his bag for something he could put on his many, many, bruises and he found his new spellbook. He¡¯d forgotten he had brought it with him. In fact, he was fairly sure he hadn''t. He typically left it behind when going to classes where he wouldn¡¯t have use for it, but since the discovery of his new spellbook¡¯s magical properties, he¡¯d begun to carry it more often.


    Hmm, I guess I did bring it. He thought.


    In the time before the Last Dragon War, a wizard wouldn¡¯t go anywhere without his spellbook on his person. Now, with the dissemination of spellforms, the spellbook was less sacrosanct. Now wizards generally kept them at home if going out for the day, unless they expected to need them. Kole hadn¡¯t thought to bring his on this adventure, him only having two spells, both being already prepared in his mind.


    ¡°How long do you think we will be here?¡± Kole asked the room.


    The question was met with shrugs.


    ¡°The whole month maybe?¡± Zale answered uncertainly. ¡°Either something is going to happen at the end, or waiting is the test.¡±


    In the days that followed, Kole shifted his mindset. He¡¯d been spending his free time trying to puzzle out what could be the purpose of this mission.


    Maybe I need to just treat this like real life, he considered.


    If he were an adventurer, he¡¯d have situations like this plenty. Downtime between activities in which he¡¯d need to stay alert to danger, but with no active pressing threat. He considered how best to approach this. Constant readiness was important, and Zale had already incorporated that into her own training methods, keeping them lighter.


    How can I apply that same mindset?


    The more he considered it, the more he saw similarities to his regular day-to-day life. He already made sure to optimize his Will usage, while striving to stay at a high level of Will to prevent headaches. If he did the same here, only using his Will up entirely at the end of the day, he would constantly be ready for battle.


    Sleeping however was risky, if they were attacked at night, but he did have a potion of clarity. He¡¯d avoided using the costly potions to further his studies since leaving Illandrios, but this was the ideal situation for one¡ªplus the one he had would only work in the dungeon so there was no need to save it. If he kept one near him when he slept, he could quickly recover any missing Will should he be woken in the night.


    So, with his blasting rod and clarity potion positioned next to him on his bed roll, Kole dove back into his studies.

 Chapter 59: Ensouled Artifact

    When the owner of an ensouled artifact dies, the item can be Bound only by someone who has a kinship of some type with the creator. Famously the Sword of Igan has been passed down by the Chosen of Waas.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    Over the next week, the white-out conditions became so bad, that they could hardly tell if it were night or day, only the innkeeper¡¯s clock letting them know the true passage of time. The inn, they discovered in their first ten days, was a marvel that would have fascinated Amara. Runes served to provide lighting, along with heating, throughout the whole place. Alchemically treated metal runes were inlaid in the ceilings and floors to provide this, and a large central gem powered the whole thing. The gem was massive, the size of Kole¡¯s fist, but Rakin seemed as impressed as Kole when he saw it.


    ¡°You should see what the dwarves use,¡± he¡¯d said when shown it in its place behind the bar.


    The innkeeper and its staff pushed their excess Will into the reservoir each night, and there was a standard rate guests could sell their Will for, though the meager coins were not as valuable to Kole as the potential training time the Will represented¡ªnot that the money was real. If this had been outside the dungeon and his life depended on affording a room, he¡¯d have to reconsider.


    Kole fell back into his tunnel vision state of the weekends, only Zale was there to make him go to sleep and wake up at reasonable times. Each morning after breakfast he¡¯d retire to his room and get to work on repairing the next version of Shield. So far he¡¯d created two new versions of Magic Missile of the initial ten he¡¯d discovered, but in the process had ruled out another two as being viable. He was on his second version of Shield, and had not yet ruled out any as potential improvements.


    He started each morning with an attempt to path Thunderwave, expending a small amount of Will, before moving on to Zale¡¯s group training and then breakfast. He spent the rest of the morning performing the lower Will intensity task of combing through his spellforms for pieces he could transfer over to the new version of magic missile. After lunch, he¡¯d move on to Magic Missile until dinner, after which he¡¯d devote his night fully to pathing Thunderwave.


    This neat schedule was, of course, constantly disrupted by life. Zale got into the habit of meditating next to him, in her own odd mental vault, when he worked on Thunderwave, in an attempt to sense the Font he was reaching for. Her mentality, however, was not suited for this task and she¡¯d often distract Kole with questions, or get up randomly and start exercising.


    Doug spent all his free time in the greenhouses, becoming quite popular amongst the locals for his abilities with the plants. They themselves had their own Assuine Blessed, but their Blessing was not as strong as Doug¡¯s.


    Rakin¡­ was irritable.


    ¡°I thought monks were supposed to be patient,¡± Kole whispered to Zale after Rakin had walked off in a huff after complaining about Doug¡¯s body odor¡ªwhich in Rakin¡¯s defense, Kole agreed was pretty bad by then.


    ¡°Not everyone excels at everything,¡± Zale said, but then added. ¡°There is a reason he isn¡¯t actually training at the monastery anymore. He couldn¡¯t handle the isolation. Once he¡¯d learned some control, he was allowed to continue his training here under Master Ahm.¡±


    When Doug wasn¡¯t on watch, or in the greenhouse, he was diligent in his own training. His uncontrolled primal magic manifested in spontaneous transportation, typically occurring during times of stress. Kole had yet to witness it until their second week in the dungeon, when while sparring in the large ice chamber, Doug vanished as he was about to block a blow from Rakin¡¯s fist. The demonkin boy reappeared on the other side of the room, facing the icy wall.


    ¡°That could be useful in battle,¡± Kole observed, seeing how it had saved him from the strike.


    Doug let out a heavy sigh.


    ¡°It¡¯s occasionally useful, but I think that¡¯s more luck than anything deliberate. I can¡¯t sense anything happening until it¡¯s too late to do anything about it.¡±


    The task Mage Tallen¡ªTal, which Kole was still trying to wrap his head around¡ªhad given Doug was to create a soul stone. Doug had researched the Assuine Blessed method and spent a few hours each day meditating on the process.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Rakin too had been tasked to create a soul stone. And since the monk Oas¡ªfounding member and Enlightened Master of the Order of the Resounding Silence¡ªwas also the first person to create a soul stone and discover the practice, Rakin had his own path to the same objective. A path that also included meditating for hours a day.


    Kole had interrogated the two separately, and while he hadn¡¯t understood any of the things they¡¯d said they were doing, he was fairly certain both processes were wholly unique, even if both utilized Assuine¡¯s energy to produce results.


    Zale spent most of her time training, and having not actually brought any study materials, found her own ways to keep up with her schoolwork. She¡¯d occasionally accompany Doug to the greenhouses to practice her harvesting technique¡ªsomething Kole kept telling himself he¡¯d join, but never seemed to get around to. She also would discuss the recent coursework for the alchemy and history classes to not forget it all by the time they left.


    ¡°Here, try this,¡± Kole said, handing her his spellbook.


    ¡°Try what?¡± She asked, examining the book, bemused.


    ¡°It¡¯s full of the magic paper from the school,¡± Kole explained.


    He watched Zale¡¯s face grow serious, and her eyes lost focus briefly, then she examined the book again closer.


    ¡°This is not the paper the school uses,¡± she said, flipping through the pages and looking at each closely.


    ¡°How can you tell?¡±


    ¡°Most of the paper the school uses has the same aura as the Dahn itself¡ªand my mom I suppose since she¡¯s bound it. This paper has a blueish aura.¡± Zale explained, still looking at the book.


    She brought it up to her face and closed her eyes smelling it.


    ¡°Hmm, it smells like a book.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a book¡­¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Zale said, darkening in embarrassment ¡°I can get a sense for auras by smell as well, like Willsight shows colors. The presence of this book smells like a book. That¡¯s odd.¡±


    ¡°What did you mean by most paper the school uses is the same aura as the Dahn?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Some of it has no aura,¡± she said, now holding the book up to the light and looking through the pages.


    ¡°How is that possible?¡±


    ¡°Beats me. Uncle Tal¡­len¡ª she finished awkwardly, looking around the room to confirm if they were alone. ¡°¡ªcan hide his and his ensouled artifact¡¯s aura. Some of the paper the school uses must be his. The school can only produce magic paper because of some crazy enchanting nonsense Levar did with Tal¡¯s spellbook.¡±


    ¡°Tal has a magic spellbook too!?¡± Kole asked in surprise. It seemed like they were far more common than he¡¯d thought after his conversation with Theral.


    ¡°What do you mean too?¡± Zale asked, finally looking up at Kole, her eyes opening wide as soon as she saw him.


    ¡°You bonded this!¡± she shouted, thrusting the book at him. ¡°It¡¯s ensouled!¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Kole asked, looking at the book as if something had changed.


    ¡°Your aura! It¡¯s normally green, but it has lines of blue in it, the same blue as that book. Where did you find this?¡± She demanded.


    ¡°I¡­ uh¡­¡± Kole fumbled, not wanting to explain anything that might expose Theral and risk her mother¡¯s wrath, but also not wanting to lie. ¡°I found a secret room in the library. It was in there.¡±


    Zale chewed on her lower lip as she considered what he¡¯d said.


    ¡°You found the room on your own?¡±


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Does the door move around the Dahn?¡±


    Kole shook his head.


    She thought a little longer before saying, ¡°It¡¯s¡­ probably fine then¡ªwait. Are you living in this room in the library!?¡±


    Kole¡¯s face grew red, and he looked away, answering the question for Zale, who then broke out into laughter.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell Rakin,¡± Kole pleaded, knowing the dwarf would find a way to tease him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t. It explains a lot though.¡±


    The pair talked about the topic of ensouled artifacts longer, Kole still trying to wrap his head around the idea that he had one, and Zale guessing what else it might do. He¡¯d let her use some pages to recall some important notes for class, but the paper had been mundane for her.


    They looked all over the book, but couldn¡¯t find the soul stone that ought to have been set in it if it were an ensouled item. Despite that, Zale was confident in her assessment.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask my Uncle about it when I see him.¡± Zale suggested when they ran out of ideas.


    Which reminded Kole he¡¯d have to meet with the legendary mage soon¡ªif they ever got out of this dungeon trial. He¡¯d sort of forgotten about it during the last week of intensive study, but he was going to speak to Tal of Storms, one of his childhood heroes, the liberator of Illandrios.


    Flood, I¡¯ve already talked to him¡­ and been frustrated with him. Oh no. Did he notice?


    Kole tried to distract himself from the thought.


    I have an ensouled artifact!


    He¡¯d always hoped to find one. What aspiring adventurer didn¡¯t? But to find one now, so soon? It was beyond his wildest hopes and dreams. It only did a few tricks now, but they were extremely useful already.


    What more could it do? Was Theral¡¯s ensouled too?


    Ensouled artifacts were items a crafter had somehow bound their soul stone too, granting the object incredible powers. The art of creating them was lost to the Flood, though the art of soul stone creation remained known. After the death of the original owner, ensouled artifacts become dormant, losing any outward appearance of power or magical adornment until they are found and wielded by one with a similar temperament, values, or goal as their creator. Each had the potential for amazing power and wars had been fought over them.


    Kole stared at the book in his hands.


    ¡°Who made you?¡± he asked it. ¡°And what else can you do?¡±

 Chapter 60: Forgiveness

    Ensouled artifacts, for lack of a better word, choose whom they shall Bond. Those taken through murder rarely Bond with their new owners, unless the creator was of particularly unsavory character. It Is however common for items taken in battle to accept their new owners if the creator was martially inclined.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    ¡°This is the longest month of my life!¡± Rakin shouted to no one in particular sometime into the third week.


    Kole disagreed but kept the opinion to himself. He¡¯d really dove into his magical studies, free of responsibilities and the burdens of other classwork. Despite his efforts, his spellbook had failed to reveal any new abilities, but Zale had assured him that was to be expected.


    By looking at his aura, she could gage how closely he was Bonded with the book, and at this point, there was hardly any evidence of a bond at all.


    ¡°It will grow,¡± she assured him but then added. ¡°Probably.¡±


    He was not reassured.


    Of the four, Kole was the only one to have any measurable progress to show when the end of the white out celebration came around. Two days before the feast that would mark the impending end of the storm, he¡¯d mastered a new version of Shield that cost him 25 Will and in the process he¡¯d ruled out another version of the spell as viable, leaving only 7 more variants to study.


    He also thought he was making progress on Thunderwave, but it was hard to tell. He¡¯d added a lot of pieces to the path component that all felt like he was getting close to the Font of Sound, but in the last few days, he¡¯d hit a wall. No matter how he modified the spell, he couldn¡¯t get it any closer to the destination, and the more he tried, the more the spell¡¯s Will cost increased with no added functionality.


    Kole could have made even further progress, but during the forth week of their stay, the runes in the inn began to experience issues. The Will would randomly deplete completely from the gem, and the building would plunge into darkness while the cold quickly seeped back in. The first time this happened, the innkeeper Gregory¡ªa generally friendly man with whom they¡¯d gotten off on the wrong foot¡ªstomped up to their room and banged on the door.


    ¡°What did you snow-blasted fools do to my runes!?¡± he shouted between bangs.


    Kole was alone in the room at the time answered, dark room now illuminated by his borrowed rune light which he still definitely planned to give back¡ªeventually. Probably.


    It took Kole a while to convince the man he¡¯d not done anything, but it wasn¡¯t until Kole agreed to help refill the Will reservoir gem that the innkeeper relented. The runes went out every day or so for the rest of their stay, and they eventually resorted to keeping it at a low level to prevent excess from being drained. Everyone except for Zale chipped in without getting paid under some local law about emergencies.


    Kole was tempted to ask to see proof of the law¡¯s existence, but he really didn¡¯t want to have to sleep in the ice tunnels.


    The whiteout was expected to last a full thirty days, but it often ran longer. The tradition was for a feast to be held on the thirtieth day to celebrate making it through the confined conditions and to grant an opportunity for people to reconcile from any bad blood that might have developed during the prolonged confinement.


    The day before the scheduled feast, Zale called the team together for a meeting.


    ¡°Listen. If anything is going to happen, it¡¯s going to be tonight, or tomorrow during the feast,¡± she explained.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Doug asked.


    Rakin let out an exasperated sigh and cut himself off from saying something cruel. He¡¯d been short with everyone since they entered the dungeon and accepted the reality of the trial¡ªan expression Kole was certain he would never use again while referring to an ill-tempered dwarf. In Rakin¡¯s defense, Kole acknowledged he¡¯d made attempts to hold his tongue, but in the last few days he¡¯d grown even more irritable.


    ¡°Chaos always seems to strike when you least expect it,¡± Zale explained.


    ¡°But¡­ we are expecting it,¡± Doug countered, still confused.


    ¡°I think what Zale means,¡± Kole said, jumping in. ¡°Is that the feast is supposed to be a point where everyone¡¯s guard is let down? If I was planning some nefarious business, I¡¯d plan for it to happen during a party while everyone¡¯s distracted.¡±


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    Doug seemed to understand then, so Zale continued.


    ¡°So, no training today. Get rest and stay armed at all times.¡±


    Zale had already taken to remaining armed at all times, so the warning was not for her. As a group, they¡¯d discovered a lot of oddities about this dungeon experience.


    There was constant debate among the students of the adventuring program as to whether the events of the dungeon were real or not. Some things, like the sheer depth of details to the whole situation, pointed to the dungeon¡¯s being real. Others, like the fading of wounds, and the odd behavior of the intelligent beings inside left doubt.


    As a general rule, the people encountered in the dungeon treated everyone largely the same, regardless of their race. Doug and Zale¡ªwhen she was undisguised¡ªwere treated the same as Kole and Rakin. If pressed, the people would acknowledge Doug¡¯s race as a demonkin, but they didn¡¯t react as one would expect. Similarly in real life, if someone walked around in full armor carrying weapons in an inn, they¡¯d probably be asked to leave. No one seemed to notice or care when Zale did so, however.


    So, after a long night of no surprises, the four of them sat down for a Whiteout¡¯s End feast in the inn with the town¡¯s full population¡ªfully armed and dressed for battle.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lovely dress you have Marium!¡± Zale said excitedly to one of the younger women she¡¯d met amongst the townsfolk.


    She¡¯d gotten to know quite a few of them in her patrols and general wanderlust.


    ¡°You too Zale! Where did you get that? Is it new?¡± Marium asked in return, pointing to Zale¡¯s sword belt as if it were some fashion item.


    Zale¡¯s smile faded a bit at the reality that this person she was interacting with might not be real. She quickly excused herself and returned to her friends.


    ¡°That was weird,¡± Kole observed, to which Zale nodded.


    ¡°I hope we get out of here today. Anything amiss?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Rakin said.


    He¡¯d gone around the perimeter of the town¡¯s tunnels. His primal magic was mostly useless here, but he still had a very minor version of his tremor sense if he focused on the ice.


    ¡°Same here. Nothing new,¡± Doug said, having interrogated some rodents he¡¯d bribed to keep an eye out for anything strange.


    The group was called to order as the innkeeper came out and made a speech. They were all to travel to the large ice cavern where a table had been set up, and everyone would bring a meal from their own homes to contribute.


    They all made their way down through the tunnels, and found the large room decorated with rugs and tapestries, giving the once barren chamber a very homey¡ªif still large¡ªfeel. The four stayed on edge as they found their seats, but the meal continued on without any apparent disaster.


    When it got to the time of reconciliation, they all listened uncomfortably as the people of the town apologized for what they¡¯d done over the past month, and asked for apologies in return.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I cheated on you Debra!¡± one halfling begged near the end of the public apologies. ¡°Please! Let me come home!¡±


    He climbed up on the table and prostrated himself before a hulking human woman.


    The woman, only stared at him until he slunk back to his chair.


    As if the over-the-top display was a cue, more private one-on-one apologies followed.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t around the last few weeks,¡± a man near Kole¡¯s group said to the woman next to him, ¡°I was mighty ill. I was cooped up in a room at the inn. Couldn¡¯t keep anything down.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s lying,¡± Zale whispered to her friends.


    ¡°How do you know?¡± Kole asked.


    He used his primal magic to make himself unnoticeable, and immediately felt the Will drain as Zale tried to fix her attention on him. Ignoring the drain, he looked at the man who spoke, examining him closely. The man was maybe in his twenties and didn¡¯t look exactly well. He seemed pale and malnourished, and he had a bandage on his left hand up to his forearm.


    Zale realized what Kole had done and stopped trying to look at him.


    ¡°I saw him enter the inn three days ago¡ªfrom outside. He had a big bag and rented a room. He¡¯s a local I¡¯d seen him before in the tunnels. I thought it was odd that he came in from the outside, but I¡¯d seen others step out before.¡±


    They listened as the woman forgave the man, and then they began to flirt.


    ¡°Do you think this is it?¡± Kole asked. ¡°The mission?¡±


    ¡°Gods, I hope so. I need to get out of this ice-blasted Fauell spawned place,¡± Rakin complained.


    ¡°I¡¯ll check out his room,¡± Kole whispered, activating his magic once more to slip out unnoticed. Once clear of the large chamber, he turned fully invisible and made his way back to the inn. A few villagers passed him on the way, carrying items for the feast¡ªmostly fish dishes supplemented with items grown in their greenhouses. Some of the tunnels lead deep beneath the ice, opening to caverns through which the ocean below seeped in, allowing the locals to fish.


    Kole hadn¡¯t ever seen the man enter a room in the inn, but of the six rooms, he knew the occupants of three others, leaving only two to check. One door he found unlocked and empty and the other was locked tight. A quick rummage behind the bar turned up a second set of keys.


    Gingerly, Kole pressed the door open, mind ready to cast Shield as he listened for the click of a trap. When the door was open enough for him to slip in, he ducked his head in to look inside. The room was smaller than the one he shared with his friends, but the largest difference by far was the metal cage in the far corner containing a baby fox made of clear shards of ice.


    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s something,¡± Kole said aloud.


    The fox creature snapped its head in his direction at the noise, and its blue marble eyes fixed right on him. It cocked its head curiously at him, and its tongue lolled out just as any other canine would.


    On close examination, Kole saw the cage was covered in runes, and they were tied into the heating runes on the floor. The fox jumped up to lean against the bars and examine Kole closer but jumped back with a yelp of pain when it made contact and the bars flared red. The contact made the lights of the inn flicker as the Will was diverted to the cage. It was only then Kole noticed how cold the room was.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back!¡± Kole told the fox, as he closed the door and ran back to find his friends.


    He was nearly back when he felt the ground shake and cracks appear along the tunnel walls.

 Chapter 61: Elemental

    It is said that the process of creating ensouled artifacts is lost, but that is not strictly true. Many accounts of creating ensouled artifacts still exist. It is simply that following those procedures today doesn¡¯t result in the creation of an ensouled artifact.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    Kole had to fight his way upstream of the villagers fleeing towards him through the tunnel. An icy wind blew down the caves, carrying the sound of chaos even over the screams.


    When Kole reached the opening to the large cavern, he found his friends standing at the cave opening, facing a twenty-foot-tall roughly humanoid creature made of ice. The proportions were generally human, but much thicker, and it was the same blue-tinged ice crystals of the fox he¡¯d just found.


    The ceiling of the cavern had caved in, and snow was flooding the chamber. The elemental rampaged about, flipping tables, in search of something and ignoring all the people that fled.


    ¡°I found an ice elemental fox thing in that guy¡¯s room!¡± Kole blurted out.


    ¡°Hah!¡± Rakin shouted, ¡°That¡¯s it!¡±


    ¡°What ¡®it¡¯? Zale asked him, sword drawn ready for the elementals attack, should it ever come.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been pissed off all week, and I couldn¡¯t place why,¡± Rakin growled. He pointed to the elemental. ¡°And this thing is making me feel the same way! It¡¯s like its presence is attacking my soul.¡±


    Kole could feel the dwarf radiate heat and the ice of the tunnel floor was to melting beneath him.


    As if it heard them, the head of the giant ice elemental turned towards them.


    ¡°Run!¡± Zale commanded, turning to flee down the tunnel as the creature came for them. ¡°It must be looking for the fox!¡±


    They ran, heading back to the in at full tilt.


    While normally the fastest, Rakin¡¯s uncontrolled heat was melting the ground beneath his feet, causing him to slip and fall behind. The ice behemoth ran after them, each step shaking the cave and bringing chunks of the ceiling down on them. It charged, seemingly unconcerned that it was twice the size of the opening it ran toward.


    When it reached to tunnel mouth, there was no crash or crack as one would expect from the collusion of two masses of ice. Instead, the creature seemed to meld into the walls and floor around it, causing the tunnel to narrow. The dirty white ice walls closed in on themselves until the tunnel itself was gone, leaving a clear icy blue wall that continued toward them.


    ¡°Run faster!¡± Zale shouted, risking a glance back.


    Zale was out front, followed by Doug, with Kole a few strides behind.


    Kole drew his blasting rod and risked a glance back. He saw that Rakin was only a few strides behind him and the wall was twenty yards back. Pointing his blasting rod back over his shoulder as he ran, Kole sent a bolt of Force down the tunnel at the wall. As he looked back, he saw Doug suddenly appear behind him, Kole¡¯s bolt nearly striking him as it flew.


    ¡°Flood!¡± Doug cursed, as surprised by his appearance as Kole.


    Behind Doug, the bolt hit with a satisfying crack, barely audible over the rumbling of the approaching wall, but when Kole risked another glance back, he saw no evidence of any damage and Doug had already overtaken Rakin.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Turn!¡± Zale shouted from ahead, and Kole saw her turn left at the next intersection towards the inn.


    Kole slowed as he approached the turn, the ground slick from the mad dash of those who fled before him. As he turned, he looked at the encroaching wall and watched in horror as it merged with the ice of the tunnel, disappearing from view and heading straight towards the inn.


    ¡°It¡¯s going through the ice!¡± Kole called ahead.


    Zale, sensing something Kole didn¡¯t, dove to the ground, just as jagged icicles grew from the wall, aiming for her head. Doug slid under the obstacles and helped Zale to her feet as they continued on. As they ran, icicles continued to burst from the left wall. Doug hid behind Zale, her armor protecting her from the fragile ice spears, but the assault slowed them enough that Kole and Rakin were able to catch up.


    Rakin charged through the ice, shattering them with his fists, both empowered by the control of his ki and nearly glowing with heat from his uncontrolled fury. The elemental didn¡¯t take kindly to Rakin¡¯s presence and the tunnel began to close in around him, clear blue ice seeping out of the walls and engulfing him as it sealed the way.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back!¡± Zale shouted as she ran at Rakin.


    Just as she was about to reach him, she vanished into a cloud of black, only to reappear moment later, dimly viewed through the ice running on. Rakin was soon completely swallowed by the ice, but Kole and Doug watched as he fought back within. The dwarf gave up any semblance of control over his Fire abilities, and flames began to wreath off of him, melting the ice around him and creating a pocket of water. The outside of the elemental seemed to panic, as it tried to retreat into the walls.


    ¡°Run!¡± Kole shouted, but it was too late.


    The water within the elemental cage rapidly turned to steam, and then the elemental exploded, sending a shock wave of icy shards everywhere.


    ¡°Bo!¡± Kole shouted, stepping between Doug and Rakin.


    A Shield appeared before him, a dim flicker in the poorly lit tunnel, only visible as it diverted the shards of deadly ice and steam around them.


    The shards melted into the floor around them, merging with the ice, as a fiery Rakin emerged from the steam, no sanity left in his eyes.


    ¡°What in¡ª¡° Doug began, but Kole pulled him along down the hall.


    ¡°Run!¡±


    Rakin began to chase them, but the ice elemental wasn¡¯t done. The tunnel above him collapsed, and he was crushed under a pile of ice.


    Kole and Doug stopped, looking around for signs of attack.


    ¡°Is he¡ª¡° Doug once more began, bow drawn uselessly pointing at the walls around him.


    He trailed off when he saw the steam rising from the pile of icy rubble as it collapsed in on itself. Kole and Doug watched on in awe as Rakin burst from the pile, only to be struck down by another chunk of ice from above.


    ¡°Who do we shoot?¡± Doug asked Kole, who was also pointing his blasting rod around uncertainly.


    Seemingly forgotten, they watched as the Fire primal fought against the malicious tunnel. With each strike of ice he took, Rakin¡¯s flames seemed to dim a little, but the malice in his eyes stayed hot.


    Through the chaos, they heard Zale¡¯s shouting.


    ¡°I have it!¡±


    Rakin paused, in his rage against the elemental, turning toward the familiar voice, but his momentary calm vanished when he spotted the small ice elemental in her arms.


    ¡°Argh!¡± he screamed and ran at his cousin.


    The ice too then noticed Zale, and the attacks on Rakin ceased. A clear streak, much diminished from what Kole originally fled slid into the wall in pursuit, dashed to Zale through the ice, quickly outpacing Rakin whose traction had only worsened after the battle and his increased heat. An icy arm reached out of the ceiling above Zale, and the fox climbed up her, yipping happily as it jumped into the hand and then disappeared into the ceiling.


    ¡°Rakin! Calm down!¡± Zale shouted, drawing her sword.


    The dwarf didn¡¯t listen and continued to lurch toward Zale. Steam rose, filling the tunnel as the water boiled in the pools of Rakin¡¯s feet


    ¡°Sorry!¡± Kole shouted as he sent his Will into the rod.


    A bolt flew across the tunnel, striking Rakin in the back, and causing him to stumble again. Where he fell, the ground melted further, creating a pit several inches deep. Kole sent another bolt at him as he tried to rise again, toppling him once more, and by then the steam was too thick for Kole to see anything but a red glow. Zale took the opportunity of the first two falls to close in on Rakin, and using her Willsight to see through the steam, she struck her cousin on the side of his head with the flat of her sword.


    ¡°I think he¡¯s out!¡± Zale called through the steam, and shortly after the red glow began to die down.


    Doug and Zale moved in cautiously. Up close, they saw Rakin, as he lay in a small pool of rapidly cooling water on the icy floor.


    ¡°We need to find a better solution for this if it¡¯s going to keep happening,¡± Kole said as he examined Rakin.


    The water was tinged red with his blood as he bled through dozens of wounds, both from Kole and the elemental.


    ¡°What the Fauell was that!?¡± Doug demanded. ¡°I know that¡¯s not a normal dwarven thing¡­ right?¡±

 Chapter 62: Back to Reality

    While ensouled artifacts can no longer be created, soul stones can be used to enhance and empower enchantments, but the secret to this process is closely guarded by enchanters, and this author will not risk their ire by publicizing their secrets.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    With Doug¡¯s help, Zale dragged the unconscious Rakin through the tunnel up to the inn. A crowd had formed there, people cowered in fear in the corner furthest from the stairs to the tunnels.


    Sighs of relief, and one noticeable groan, broke out through the huddled mass as the four young adventurers climbed the steps.


    ¡°Is it gone?¡± a woman asked, desperation clear in her tone as she clung to the man next to her¡ªthe man whose room had held a captive elemental.


    He squirmed under the glare Zale and the other shot him.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zale said curtly.


    The man looked from Zale to the woman next to him and back, hope growing in his eyes that he might have escaped.


    ¡°Phillip stole a baby ice elemental,¡± Zale said with a small evil smile.


    Everyone¡¯s eyes snapped to the man.


    ¡°I¡­ uh¡­¡± he stammered. ¡°No! She¡¯s lying!¡±


    The door to the inn suddenly shifted. Where previously it had been a simple wood door, covered in wool tapestries to add insulation, now the black stone door of the Dahn took its place.


    ¡°Looks like we can leave,¡± Kole said, but none of them moved to the door.


    Zale sighed and shook her head.


    ¡°One second.¡±


    She walked to the crowd that was in the process of forming a mob around the man.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill him!¡± Zale shouted, drawing everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°We¡¯ll take him out of town, exile him.¡±


    Phillip, who was beginning to calm down at Zale¡¯s pronouncement blanched at the end


    ¡°But the storm!¡± he protested.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± Zale said, dismissing his very legitimate concerns. ¡°You stole that fox through the storm. You¡¯ll manage. Lets go.¡±


    ¡°My coat!¡± he shouted, as the crowd pushed him to the door.


    Zale grabbed the stumbling man by his collar and dragged him out of the inn. Someone threw a thick coat at the man and they disappeared into the Dahn. Kole and Doug followed, dragging Rakin behind them.


    When they entered the Dahn, the door closed behind them.


    Kole looked around the room, seeing that their belongings from their room had been transferred out into this ready area.


    ¡°Where¡¯d the guy go?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°He.. Uh¡­¡± Zale began, not making eye contact. ¡°He vanished as I dragged him through the door¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°I thought I should save him from the mob, but¡­ did I just kill him?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know,¡± Kole answered. ¡°Was he even real?¡±


    ¡°They have to be!¡± Doug asserted, but then less certainly asked. ¡°Right?¡±


    They sat, talking over their experiences with the people inside the dungeon, mostly Doug and Zale, since Kole had just studied the whole time. After a short while, Rakin stirred.


    ¡°Rakin?¡± Zale whispered.


    ¡°Aye,¡± he moaned. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°I think the flaming murdery guy before was you too,¡± Kole observed, earning a weak swat from the dwarf.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the Fauell out of here,¡± Rakin said.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kole said, remembering something.


    He pulled a potion from his bag and drank it, only wincing slightly at the taste.


    ¡°Those won¡¯t work outside.¡± He said. ¡°Do you want to change?¡±


    All eyes turned to Rakin, whose gray monk robes were stained red with blood. His beard, which was normally neatly combed and trimmed, was a mess, and he was covered in bruises.


    ¡°Nah,¡± he said.


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    They limped out of the room, not sure what to expect. They¡¯d been gone a month.


    Could time really have passed so differently? Kole thought.


    Professor Underbrook stood outside the door waiting, all the students beyond turning over to look at their exit.


    ¡°Shhh,¡± the halfling teacher said, holding a finger to his lips. ¡°Let¡¯s go talk about your experience.¡±


    He led them to one of the side rooms, while Tigereye let another group of students in. Kole didn¡¯t know any of the students, but he recognized one of the girls in the group as being a primal from the first session.


    The room they were led to was a small comfortable sitting room, furnished with a few large, overstuffed leather couches. A small colored glass sphere sat on the coffee table in the center.


    ¡°There are refreshments over there if you¡¯d like. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all a bit chilled,¡± Underbrook said, gesturing to a cart of rune-heated carafes.


    Doug ran right over and made himself a cup of tea, while everyone else made themselves comfortable.


    ¡°We have about ten minutes to discuss your results, but before we do. Do you have any questions for me?¡±


    ¡°Lots,¡± Kole said, getting a chuckle from the professor. ¡°Did you watch us somehow?¡±


    ¡°In a way. When you return to the ready room, the Dahn produces a crystal. Anyone with a bit of training and a mental vault can quickly review the events in a matter of moments.¡±


    The friends looked uncomfortably at each other, each trying to recall if they¡¯d done anything they wouldn¡¯t have wanted to see. Rakin had told Kole that all of his professors were aware of his particular magical affliction, so they were not worried about that secret. But, privacy is a blessing for impulse-driven teenagers, prone to rash decisions as they are.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look like that,¡± the professor said, ¡°The Dahn only shows us the bits relevant to your education. Trust me, we don¡¯t want to watch everything a bunch of teenagers do for a month.¡±


    The awkward energy vanished, and Kole felt that maybe he¡¯d save any further questions for later.


    ¡°No more questions? Great. Let¡¯s move on to your performance. You all scored a four out of five,¡± he held up his hand to forestall any protests. ¡°Before you protest, a four is a great score. Fives are reserved for only the most spectacular performances. We didn¡¯t grade the goblin cave, but if we had, no one would have earned it in either attempt. A five really requires a team to go above and beyond, for instance, convincing the goblins to release the captives freely, and then getting them to move out of the region.¡±


    ¡°Has something like that happened?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°That specific example? No, the Dahn never repeats dungeons. But, you all did quite well. You used your downtime productively while staying vigilant¡ªfor the most part.¡±


    Underbrook stared at Kole at the last statement.


    ¡°Sometimes one can focus too much on their studies,¡± he continued. ¡°You also handled the conflict with the elemental well. Save for Rakin¡¯s, ahem, hidden talents, your group was poorly suited for this particular foe, but you all did well in investigating the falsehood. Great job Zale at getting to know the locals. That¡¯s an invaluable skill. Never underestimate the locals. Just because they need your help, doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t help you.¡±


    Zale beamed at the praise.


    ¡°Doug, you did well to help in the greenhouses, had that been a real situation, your aid would have left them with great surpluses in the coming harvest.


    ¡°Rakin, you did well, especially in such a hostile environment. I know you lost control in the end, but sometimes its necessary to go all out when other¡¯s lives are on the line.


    Rakin only gave a nod, acknowledging the praise, but he didn¡¯t seem to believe it. Underbrook turned to Kole last.


    ¡°And you, I must say, I¡¯m impressed. I confess I didn¡¯t truly understand the full weight of your condition. May I see your spellbook?¡±


    Kole handed his spellbook over, reluctantly, as if the professor intended to steal it.


    He flipped through the worn journal, looking at the items Kole had copied over from his old book and his new additions. The professor only seemed concerned with the book¡¯s contents, not the book itself and Kole judged he hadn¡¯t seen the revelation that it was an ensouled artifact.


    ¡°Such work! I know Lonin hates adventurers, but how could he pass you up? How many spells have you reconstructed and learned these past three weeks?¡±


    Kole didn¡¯t know how to react to such outward praise. He counted on his fingers as he thought through the weeks.


    ¡°Five? Six? It¡¯s hard to say since I don¡¯t finish them all.¡±


    ¡°Six!? Thats wonderful. The most we expect to learn in the first semester in WIZ 105 is two, but it¡¯s usually only one since they enter with two. You really have a gift for spellforms and spell theory.¡±


    Could this be it? Kole thought but didn¡¯t dare to hope.


    ¡°You have a real uphill battle, but I think you might just get there.¡±


    He stopped the praise there, and abruptly changed the topic, crushing Kole¡¯s burgeoning hopes of a mentor.


    ¡°So what did you do wrong?¡± he asked.


    The students looked from him to each other, unsure.


    He proceeded to outline where they could have done better, such as helping evacuate the townspeople more before fleeing the elemental. He also told Rakin that he ought to have investigated his odd sensation more when the fox elemental had appeared.


    ¡°Your magical senses shouldn¡¯t be ignored. If you see smoke, there''s probably fire. Always investigate anything out of the norm.¡±


    They discussed minor things for the few remaining minutes before Underbrook had to leave to get the next group. Each group would be inside for 5 minutes, and the professors would alternate their debriefs, giving a small window to talk over each student¡¯s performance in the immediate aftermath.


    The class had twenty groups, of four to five members for a class total of ninety. After leaving, they went over to the showers to get cleaned up. They weren¡¯t as dirty as after the goblin adventure and its sewer tunnel jaunt, but they were very sweaty and covered in cuts from the ice. The wounds had already begun to heal, leaving only the crusted blood and sweat.


    After getting cleaned up, they sat in one of the clusters of desks in the room and waited for others to join them. Gray¡¯s group had followed them, and by the time Kole¡¯s group had showered, they saw them leaving Tigereye¡¯s debrief. Zale and Harold exchanged shy waves, while Gray and Kole avoided eye contact. After twenty minutes, the desks had begun to fill up with students who both had and hadn¡¯t had their dungeon run, and an older student came in to begin a discussion. The student looked to be around eighteen, and he already bore scars on his face from some clawed creature. The discussion was interesting and unstructured. Many people were still exhausted from their dungeon run¡ªthe wizards and primals most of all as bodies rapidly recovered stamina after the dungeon while Will did not.


    The student teaching the session posed situations to the class, outlining combat situations and asking what tactics would be best to handle them. Zale was one of the primary contributors to the discussion, and she seemed to be competing with Harold to get the best answers.


    When Kole realized that no one was enforcing engagement with the lesson, he put his head down on his desk and fell asleep. He was exhausted and really didn¡¯t want to consider the best way to light trolls on fire when in a wet swamp.


    Though, as he fell asleep, he realized the information would probably be useful someday.

 Chapter 63: Grades

    For ages untold, the gods worked across Kaltis, creating wonders great and small. Even the presence of Faust¡¯s creations, Erebog and Bilieth, was tolerated in those happy days following the battle. After Illunia and Assuine created the first dragons, the other gods desired to create a thinking race of their own, but they quickly found that without Illunia and Assuine¡¯s aid, the creations failed. It was in these trials that many dangers that still roam Kaltis today were created.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    ¡°Gather ¡®round!¡± Underbrook¡¯s magically amplified voice boomed, waking Kole from his slumber.


    He bolted up, looking around for danger at the sudden outburst, though no one noticed as everyone had begun to congregate around the two professors.


    ¡°This week, we are doing something else new!¡± Underbrook announced with cheer. ¡°I¡¯d like to give my dear Ganik worshiping colleague Tigereye here the privilege to share this wondrous addition.¡±


    Tigereye looked on as Underbrook spoke, unamused by his theatrics.


    ¡°You were all graded,¡± Tigereye said, meeting Underbrook¡¯s volume without magical aid, though lacking the showmanship. ¡°We made a leaderboard. Here are the results.¡±


    A burst of colored lights flew from Underbrook¡¯s hands, into the air, accompanied by whistles and pops. Distantly, Kole sensed the lights and sounds drawing on the Arcane Realm, a brief flicker that was gone as quickly as he felt it.


    He reflected on the sensation. It felt similar to what he¡¯d sensed whenever Theral vanished, only more familiar. The magic was clearly not powerful like Theral¡¯s teleportation spell, so why could he sense it?


    Illusion?  He thought, but discounted that. Few had created any wizard spells that drew upon that Font, all instead still using the illusion spells of the past that drew on the Fonts of Mind, Light, and Sound, in different combinations to get the desired result.


    Light and Sound. He decided. Those Fonts were connected to Illusion. He had sensed the weak spell through his connection to the Font of Illusions.


    As he thought this, everyone else was whispering amongst themselves. Behind the illusion, up on the wall, a formerly bare section of stone was now replaced with a list of names and numbers.


    <ol>


    <li> Ice Picks 9</li>


    <li> The Forsaken 8</li>


    <li> Risen Dahn 7</li>


    </ol>


    After the top three, there were a large number of teams with 6¡¯s, and then a handful of teams with lower scores.


    ¡°This is the leader board,¡± Underbrook said. ¡°We have included your grades from the week prior, though we didn¡¯t share those with you then.¡±


    Kole looked around his classmates to see that all those around him were looking at him and his friends.


    ¡°Second place!¡± Zale said, trying to muster some excitement from a distracted Kole, grumpy Rakin, and aloof Doug.


    Kole saw that one of the other groups getting attention was Gray¡¯s.


    Great¡­ Kole thought. He didn¡¯t think beating Gray publicly would help their dynamic any.


    ¡°I bet the Ice Picks are Sleet¡¯s team,¡± Zale mused, getting a "hmmp" of agreement from Rakin.


    ¡°Sleet?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s an Ice primal. I bet they got a 5 today. I know they did well last week, but I doubt they got the 5 then.¡±


    As if listening in, Underbrook continued, ¡°The Ice Pick group, lead by Sleet Icecliff, received the class¡¯s first 5. Sleet, using her knowledge of the local environment and local customs, immediately caught the elemental thief as he returned to town, and returned the baby elemental to its blizzard.¡±


    Sleet Icecliff? Kole thought, stifling a laugh at the name. He¡¯d known the girl¡¯s name had been Sleet, which in itself wasn¡¯t too bad, but the clan name of Icecliff on top of it was a little too on the nose.


    That set his mind wandering on some terrible names his parents could have given him.


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair,¡± someone whined in the crowd.


    ¡°You¡¯re right!¡± Underbrook agreed enthusiastically. ¡°And neither is life. Sometimes a party specializing in fire magic fights a group of trolls, and other times those same trolls eat a purely martial group. You¡¯re all unique. How you choose to apply your talents is as important as what those talents actually are. Don¡¯t pursue missions you are incapable of completing.


    ¡°So, if there¡¯s no further adolescent whining, I will continue.¡±


    He paused as if inviting another complaint, before continuing.


    ¡°The Forsaken and Risen Dahn teams both received fours, for both using their ample free time effectively and finding a solution to the elemental problem. The Forsaken, lead by Zale Wood¡ª¡°


    Rakin and Kole shared confused looks behind Zale as she beamed, but both shrugged, not really wanting to be considered the team lead.


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    Underbrook spoke on through their exchange. ¡°¡ªdidn¡¯t realize the threat the young elemental posed, but due to their familiarity with the population, they quickly found the target of the elemental¡¯s rampage and reunited them, battling the elemental quite capably as they sought out the fox.¡±


    Murmurs broke out among the students and all eyes turned to Zale¡¯s team at the claim they¡¯d fought the elemental with any degree of success.


    ¡°The Risen Dahn, lead by Gray Holder, quickly found the elemental fox when it entered the tavern, bringing it to the town¡¯s attention. When the elemental attacked, the target was clear, and they quickly turned the creature over, preventing any large disasters.¡±


    Underbook continued on, highlighting deeds of particular merit other lower scoring teams achieved, and used a crystal to project scenes from the event, though none showed Rakin in his battle against the elemental. Many of the groups completely failed to halt the elemental¡¯s rampage before it found the fox in the inn, but they were still able to earn up to a 3 from how they handled themselves prior to the failure.


    Kole had known the elemental to be terrifying, but watching it destroy the inn with hardly any effort really highlighted why all the other teams were impressed by Underbrook¡¯s pronouncement.


    When Underbrook dismissed the class, they all headed to the dining hall for a much-delayed lunch.


    ***


    Amara met them at the dining hall with a gift in hand. But, on learning they¡¯d experienced a whole month in the dungeon in a single morning, she quickly forgot about those and pestered them with questions.


    ¡°Did you notice any seems in reality? Did you all experience the time dilation at an equal rate¡ªwait, what is your rate of Will recovery any different than usual?¡±


    She pummeled them with questions, not even waiting for an answer before thinking of a new one. They answered as best they could between bites, but it had all seemed rather ordinary from their perspective.


    ¡°Actually¡­¡± Zale said, interrupting one of Amara¡¯s questions, ¡°I did experience something strange.¡±


    All eyes turned to her and she went on.


    ¡°When I shifted into the void, it felt different. Normally it feels like I¡¯m hanging from a cliff over a bottomless pit, with the Arcane Realm away in the distance, but this time I felt like I was floating. I could see the Arcane Realm and the Material Realm out there, but I wasn¡¯t at risk of falling away.¡±


    ¡°What, so we were like, already in the void?¡± Kole asked. ¡°The Ethereal Realm?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zale said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Uncle Tallen about it tomorrow. But, It wasn¡¯t the ethereal, I¡¯ve been there, and used my ability, and it felt different from that.¡±


    This admission to having been to the Ethereal Realm invited another barrage of questions from Amara, to which Zale knew very few of the answers. In the end, Amara wrote down all her questions in a notebook, intending to ask Mage Tallen the next day.


    The prospect of asking the questions to the companion of her own hero, the master runesmith Levar, seemed to invigorate her.


    ¡°I¡¯m out of here,¡± Rakin said, once he¡¯d finished his meal and grown tired of the interrogation.


    ¡°I should go too,¡± Doug said more politely, ¡°I have to get back to the Glade, that frozen wasteland was exhausting, being so detached from Assuine¡¯s power.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to let them?¡± Kole asked Zale, surprised she wasn¡¯t trying to push them all into another social outing.


    Rakin shot Kole a threatening glare.


    ¡°Yeap!¡± Zale said, cheer wiping away the interrogation-born weariness. ¡°I need to get ready for a date.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kole said, remembering now about Harold. It had been a month


    He hadn¡¯t wanted to go do anything, so he was uncertain why he felt so disappointed. In fact, he was very eager to return to his room and review his old spellbook. He¡¯d made a lot of progress the last month, but he hadn¡¯t had access to all his spellform samples and notes, and he thought he could knock out another version of Magic Missile tonight if he pushed it. He also had to do some research into his progress on Thunderwave before getting a chance to talk to Mage Tallen the next day.


    ¡°Good,¡± he said, after a pause. ¡°I have to do some spellwork tonight anyway.¡±


    Zale shook her head disappointed.


    ¡°You just spent a month doing that! Don¡¯t you want to, I don¡¯t know, go outside?¡±


    Kole glanced out the window and then shook his head.


    ¡°No, I need to get back to the library.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to study the runes,¡± Amara reminded Kole. ¡°I think I¡¯ll have the new repairable version ready this week.¡±


    Kole made a note to try to remember to get around to her workshop before the end of the weekend.


    ¡°Oh wait!¡± Amara quickly added, ¡°I almost forgot!¡±


    She pulled out her bag and produced four stone disks.


    ¡°I made these,¡± she said, passing them out.


    Kole examined his closely and noticed similarities in design to the tracking device Amara had made, though he didn¡¯t recognize any runes¡ªnot that he thought he could even if they were the same. The disk was divided into four pieces with simple non-rune lines. Each section had a Light rune on it, but beyond that, Kole was lost.


    ¡°I got a hold of some very small gem fragments, and fashioned these with them.¡±


    At the mention of the gem, Kole saw that the disk did indeed have a very tiny ruby set in the center, almost invisible, its size so small.


    Holding her own up, Amara explained the function.


    ¡°It took me all week, but I was able to get the runes simple enough to fit the intent in those gems. If you put a finger onto any of the sections and imbue it with Will, the corresponding rune will light up on everyone else¡¯s device. I¡¯ve established a code using all sixteen possible binary permutations¡ª


    Rakin held up his hand, stopping her.


    ¡°Nope, too complicated,¡± he said.


    His tone was brusk, but he was inspecting the device with obvious interest.


    ¡°Ignore him,¡± Zale said, giving Amara the courage to continue.


    ¡°Sixteen possible combinations to signal different messages.¡±


    She passed out a slip of paper with a chart and cleverly laid out system. There were messages for places to meet, The library, dining hall, Roost, and the study group hall, as well as indications as to how urgent the request was from immediate-life-threateningly-dangerous to whenever you get the chance.


    ¡°They will only last a couple weeks if we don¡¯t use them every day and try to prearrange things as we have. I couldn¡¯t afford any alchemically treated materials for a side project like this,¡± Amara explained, looking down sullenly as if the durability was a great failing on her part.


    ¡°These are great!¡± Kole encouraged. ¡°That¡¯s plenty of time, and it will be great in emergencies.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, this is amazing!¡± Zale added.


    Amara looked up, her remorse disappearing at the praise.


    Rakin even shook his head in a noncommittal approval. They talked about their plans for the devices a while before breaking up to go about their Friday afternoon plans.


    ¡°Just so everyone knows,¡± Zale said before they all left, holding up her device. ¡°I can¡¯t actually power runes, so I can¡¯t send messages with this.¡±


    At the pronouncement Amara¡¯s head jerked to Zale, questions seemingly about to burst forth from her mouth.


    Zale held a hand up, a gesture that seemed very effective at forestalling Amara¡¯s tirades.


    ¡°You can ask me about it tomorrow. I have to go get ready.¡±


    Amara deflated, but sullenly agreed to add the questions to the list she¡¯d already started.


    As he left, Kole was beginning to feel bad for Mage Tallen, and the interrogation he was in for.

 Chapter 64: On Voidlings

    Learning that their involvement was required, Assuine and Illunia approached each of their siblings and, with them, created the Illusian races. The two goddesses worked with Torc, deep in his earthen shell, and created the race of dwarves. The dwarves were made to be a strong and enduring race, like their progenitor.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    Kole spent the remainder of that Friday holed away in his room, alone. With the time dilation of the dungeon, it felt like ages since he¡¯d seen Theral. He had a lot of questions for the other young wizard after a month¡¯s work, and he expected he would surprise the older boy with all the progress he¡¯d made in such a short time.


    ***


    The next morning, Kole arrived at the basement of the art college early¡ªpartially because he feared getting lost, but mostly because he was worried about being late for a study session led by Tal of Storms.


    Gods, Tal of Storms.


    Kole still couldn¡¯t believe it and spent a lot of time rerunning all his past interactions with the man through his mind, afraid he¡¯d done something to offend the famous wizard thought to be dead.


    It had still taken Kole longer than he expected to find the instrument strewn room once in the basement, but he arrived at the study group just on time. Thankfully, Tal of Storms seemed to be as punctual as Kole of the Library. When he entered, Zale was talking excitedly with Runt while the rest of the group were waiting at desks, looking though their notes. Amara was furiously reviewing a few pages of notes he knew to be questions for Tal.


    Kole walked up to her, and whispered, ¡°Remember, Doug and Runt can¡¯t know who Tallen is.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­¡± she said, clearly having forgotten.


    ¡°Did you give it away already?¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­ I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    Kole got comfortable at a desk nearby and tried to lose himself in reviewing his own questions for the day while trying to not listen as Zale told Runt all about her picnic date with Harold.


    A subtle hiss alerted Kole to the arrival of Tallen. Kole didn¡¯t detect the Arcane Realm being tapped for the arrival, unlike when he did at Theral¡¯s.


    Just how powerful is Theral¡¯s teleport? He wondered, wishing he could ask Tal about it.


    He thought back to Underbrook¡¯s spectacle spell and how he¡¯d almost sensed it. He was getting better at sensing the magic of others, far sooner than is to be expected for someone of his age, but his case wasn¡¯t exactly typical.


    ¡°Hello everyone,¡± Tallen greeted casually as if he¡¯d simply walked in instead of teleporting. ¡°Shalia is busy addressing some urgent school-related business, so I¡¯ll be handling today alone.¡±


    ¡°Oh no.¡± Runt said, deadpan.


    Ignoring the comment, Tallen went on.


    ¡°As I understand it, some of you had a bit of extra time on your hands since our last gathering. I look forward to seeing your progress.¡±


    Zale went first, explaining to her uncle about her experience with the void, and Kole saw something light up in the older wizards eyes. Kole knew that look. He¡¯d had it himself countless times in the last three weeks¡ªseven if you count the dungeon. Whatever Zale had experienced was the key to something Tal had long worked at.


    Tallen interrogated her at length about the experience, and Amara stopped trying to butt in to ask questions and began taking notes instead.


    ¡°Did you know that it¡¯s much easier to enchant objects in the ethereal realm?¡± Tallen asked no one in particular.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Amara said, as if everyone knew¡ªwhich by the looks on everyone else¡¯s faces they did not.


    ¡°Do you know why?¡± Tallen asked, turning to Amara.


    At his attention, she began worrying the object in her hand, some half-carved stone cylinder. But, instead of being intimidated by the attention as Kole might have been, she spoke with great confidence, the topic being in her purview.


    ¡°I read Levar Burh¡¯s treatise on it. He speculated that the proximity to the Arcane Realm facilitated the drawing on the Fonts, and the distance from the Material Realm reduced the interference from interfering Fonts.¡±


    ¡°You are well read. He¡¯d have liked you,¡± Tallen said with a smile, and then grimaced slightly and risked a glance toward Runt who was not paying attention to his words.


    Not gifted with guile it seems, Kole thought, remembering Zale¡¯s mother¡¯s surprise that Tallen hadn¡¯t already let slip his own identity before Zale did.


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    Amara positively beamed at the comment, and Kole thought she was about to pass out.


    ¡°But, I think he might have missed something,¡± he continued. ¡°I have a theory¡­ but it will take some more studying before I can test it.¡±


    Amara then inundated Tallen with questions about Zale, her abilities, and her lack of abilities when it came to using Will


    ¡°The voidlings don¡¯t have Will,¡± Tallen explained, ¡°But they can interact with it. We can¡¯t do that. The only Will we can use is the Will we generate. We can sense it, but just because we can smell something, it doesn¡¯t mean we can do anything to the odor. The gods are beings of pure Will, they harnessed their power to create the Fonts, incomprehensible tools of power which they used to craft the Material Realm and everything within it. But, when they made the Illusian races, they put more than just the excess Will into us. They put a spark, a tiny fraction of a sliver of a fragment of their own beings, able to generate its own Will. That¡¯s our soul, and it allows us to wield our own Will, harness it, and use it as a tool to interact with the Fonts.


    ¡°The voidlings were not created by our gods. They don¡¯t have that spark¡ª¡° he held his hand up to forestall a question ¡°¡ªand before you ask, that doesn¡¯t mean Voidlings don¡¯t have souls, and I know for a fact Zale has one. Anyway, whatever created them, achieved a similar result as our own gods, only through different means. They were created outside of anything we¡¯d even call a Realm, and as such can operate and interact with our Realm without the restraints of being bound to it.


    ¡°They are beings entirely of something else, something akin to Will. They do not generate it, they are it and with it, they can interact directly with the Fonts or the Will of others.


    ¡°We are like a scribe, writing on paper with a quill. The ink pot is the Font, the quill our Will which we use to channel its power, and the paper the Realm on which we write. We can only write by putting them all together, but the Voildlings are not so constrained. They can break our quills, stick their fingers in the ink, and smear it all over the page. Some very skilled can even alter the ink we have already laid down to form words of their own.¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we mess everything up with our own hands?¡± Doug asked when it was clear the explanation was over.


    Tallen turned to the demonkin.


    ¡°Because that would ruin the analogy,¡± he said kindly. ¡°So let¡¯s just pretend like I had a good answer. The better question is why can the Voidlings interact with Will as they do. No one knows. My answer is just the leading theory based on observations.¡±


    The group discussion moved on to the progress reports of others. Runt was making slow progress on creating her own mental vault, while Doug and Rakin both thought themselves close to producing soul stones after their month of isolation.


    Tallen dismissed everyone else before asking Kole for an update.


    ¡°You all probably don¡¯t want to hear us talk about wizardry, so you can go get to work on your tasks.¡±


    He looked at Kole, studying him curiously, and then asked, ¡°So, in light of your recent revelation, do you have any questions for me?¡±


    Kole had plenty but led with the simplest one.


    ¡°How are you not dead?¡±


    Tallen chuckled.


    ¡°I¡¯ve died, more than a few times, it just hasn¡¯t seemed to take so far, but I think you meant something else.¡±


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a secret. Sorry. I can¡¯t really share. But, I¡¯m not some lich or immortal. I¡¯m fairly certain if you killed me this instant, I¡¯d remain so. ¡°


    Next Kole asked about his experience in saving Illandrios from the outsiders, and Tallen gave a brief summary of the tale, filling in many details and contradicting others from the story he¡¯d grown up learning about.


    ¡°Anything else before we get back to the topic at hand?¡±


    Kole worked up his courage and decided to just go for it.


    ¡°Will you take me on as your apprentice?¡±


    Tallen winced slightly at the question, regret on his face.


    ¡°I was afraid that was what you were going to ask,¡± he said, regret clear in his voice. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I can¡¯t. Not because I don¡¯t want to, but because I can¡¯t commit to always being around. If I were to take you on as an apprentice, and I was forced to leave for some reason or other, you would be dropped from the program. And trust me, I won¡¯t be able to stick around here for too long.¡±


    ¡°Well that would be better than never getting in,¡± Kole countered.


    ¡°Only if you don¡¯t get in,¡± Tallen shot back. ¡°Have more faith in yourself. You¡¯re making progress, and you have only been here three weeks. Be patient. You¡¯ll find a mentor. I know it. If I agreed to do it, you¡¯d stop looking, and it would only be a matter of time until you got dismissed.¡±


    Kole sensed much more certainty in Tallen¡¯s words than he expected. He really did believe Kole would find one and wasn¡¯t just saying it to placate him.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Kole said, trying to not sound sullen, but not succeeding. ¡°While you¡¯re here. I need some help with a few things.¡±


    Kole updated Tallen in detail about his progress with Thunderwave.


    ¡°I seem to have hit a wall,¡± he said after a lengthy summary of his last month¡¯s study. ¡°No matter what I add to the spell, it doesn¡¯t seem to get closer to the Font. Is there a spell component I¡¯m missing?¡±


    ¡°Almost certainly,¡± Tallen answered. ¡°There¡¯s essentially an infinite number of spell components, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s your problem. Cast the spell.¡±


    Kole cast the spell, sending the incomplete spell construct into the Arcane Realm. Tallen watched him do so, his eyes looking past Kole, unfocused.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± he said after the spell had dissipated without any apparent effect. ¡°You seem to have directed the spell into a bit of a dead end. Every piece you add to the spell takes it a step closer to the Font of Sound, but when traversing a maze, you don¡¯t always walk towards the center, and sometimes there are dead ends. You need to backtrack, take some components off the spell, and try again¡ªthough I recommend starting over from scratch. The spell you have is already getting up there in complexity to the peak of a first-tier spell. I suspect you took your misturn early on.¡±


    ¡°Start over!?¡± Kole balked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to, but I strongly recommend it. Don¡¯t worry, it will be much faster the second time.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°Suit yourself,¡± Tallen said with a shrug, ¡°But you did ask me for advice, and I do actually know a thing or two about this.¡±


    Kole wrestled with the decision. He could keep going, but did he have time to risk it? If he truly did need to start over, he only had eleven weeks until finals. If he counted the dungeon, he¡¯d had seven weeks already. If spell complexity was a sign of whether or not he was on the right path and if he chose better next time, he¡¯d know if he¡¯d failed in another six weeks or so, less if he moved faster as Tallen suggested. He could maybe try two more times before the end of the year.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Kole conceded, ¡°I¡¯ll start over¡­ but I¡¯m saving my old spell.¡±


    Tallen smiled, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t expect anything else.¡±

 Chapter 65: Tal of Storms

    Torc was happy with his creations and allowed them to reside within the earth he¡¯d become, but he felt that something was missing. While the dwarves embodied his enduring nature and passion for building, Torc saw that they did not share his passion for progress. The dwarves could plan and build, but they never strove to innovate beyond improving their crafts.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    Kole didn¡¯t let Tal escape with only one pointer. He showed him all his work on reconstructing Shield and Magic Missile.


    ¡°Good job, you are making remarkable progress,¡± Tal congratulated him.


    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Um¡­ you¡¯re a smart young lad?¡± Tal added, uncertain of what Kole was asking for.


    ¡°I want advice!¡± Kole demanded.


    ¡°Oh! Advice. That makes sense. I do really think you are on the right track. Let me see the other versions you are working on.¡±


    Kole produced the spellforms he¡¯d removed from the old spellbooks he¡¯d found in the library. For a while he¡¯d kept the whole book with him, but he eventually decided no one but he would find value in these old spells and removed the pages for his own convenience. The pages were nested in the back of his spellbook now.


    Tal flicked through them, comparing them with Kole¡¯s latest fully repaired spell forms, making thoughtful noises and squinting at them.


    He pulled two out and handed them to Kole.


    ¡°Toss these out, these spells won¡¯t actually work.¡±


    Kole took them, inspecting them for what Tal saw, but was unable to see it.


    ¡°Here,¡± Tal said, putting two spellforms on the table. ¡°Try these next.¡±


    The older wizard placed his fingers on a few of the spell forms, and his eyes grew distant. He repeated it a few times in quick succession.


    ¡°That should help,¡± he said once he¡¯d finished. ¡°I imbued the constructs I recognized off hand, but you¡¯ll have to do the rest yourself.¡±


    Kole stared in awe from the wizard to the spellforms and back. The man had just saved him weeks possibly more, depending on how long he would have worked futilely on those incomplete spells.


    Was it this easy? Could I have just asked him before?


    ¡°Any more questions?¡± Tal asked with a knowing smile.


    ¡°Ummm, what do you know about ensouled artifacts?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of an open-ended question. How about you tell me what you want to know.¡±


    Kole hesitated only a moment. If Zale was right and he¡¯d begun to Bond to this book, he didn¡¯t need to fear Tal taking it from him. Everyone knew only artifacts made by the evil and cruel could be stolen through betrayal and deception. He didn¡¯t think he was some paragon of virtue, but he seriously doubted he¡¯d be able to Bond something like that. He gestured to his spellbook.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Zale told me this is an ensouled artifact and that I¡¯ve begun to Bond to it. I thought it was just a book made of the magic paper they use throughout the school.¡±


    ¡°May I?¡±


    Kole nodded, and Tal picked up the book, flipping through its pages.


    ¡°I think she¡¯s correct,¡± he said, as he looked closely at the ink. ¡°This paper is perfect. Does it produce its own ink yet?¡±


    ¡°Yet?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°I just meant to say, I assume that¡¯s something it could do eventually. Ensouled artifacts gain abilities as your Bond grows. A book producing its own ink, and creating more pages seems like something it would gain the ability to do.¡±


    ¡°Have you encountered another magic spellbook like this before?¡±


    ¡°I have stumbled on magical spellbooks a time or two,¡± he said, trying to hide a grin. ¡°They are rare, but as you interact with the powerful, you encounter a concentration of magical artifacts. Did it have any messages from the previous owner?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± Kole said, for the first time realizing that to be odd.


    Who would create an ensouled artifact, then never use it, leaving it blank?


    ¡°¡­ it must have been erased. Maybe with its bearer¡¯s death?¡±


    ¡°That seems possible, but I think that too might be something that¡¯s revealed over time.¡±


    They spoke a while longer, theorizing on what he might do to learn more of its magics. Kole mentioned some things he¡¯d seen Theral do with his, such as creating origami objects at will. He spoke as though they were ideas he¡¯d just had.


    ¡°By now, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised by anything an ensouled artifact did,¡± Tal said, the conversation reaching a lull. ¡°I think you already know this, but I would be remiss to not say something. Don¡¯t let it be widely known you have that. While it is common knowledge that artifacts can¡¯t be stolen and used, that doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t be stolen and sold. It¡¯s been known to happen, though it only works if the recipient wasn¡¯t involved in the murder or theft. You are not yet able to defend yourself from the types of people who traffic in such work.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Kole said, at a loss for words.


    He was used to hiding things, he was even good at it, but he hadn¡¯t thought this needed to be a secret, but he hadn¡¯t considered the resale angle.


    Tal excused himself, going to speak to Amara who had been eagerly waiting for her turn to press him with even more questions. Kole excused himself when Amara began to run some of her ideas for self-defense items by him.


    He got to work immediately, starting over with Thunderwave from the beginning. Starting over hurt his sense of progress. The last month with no distractions had been great, and he¡¯d planned on spending the entire weekend pushing himself to finish the spell, but now that didn¡¯t seem likely. He almost reconsidered but¡­ Tal hadn¡¯t taken him on as an apprentice, but he had finally given Kole actual detailed advice. It would be foolish of him to ignore it now.


    Zale noticed Kole practicing Thunderwave and came to sit near him, meditating to sense the Font.


    Sometime later, Kole was pulled from his vault by a nudge.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Rakin said, already walking out of the room.


    Kole noticed then that the room was empty save for them.


    ¡°Where¡¯d everyone go?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°They left. Zale went to go ¡®train¡¯ with Harold,¡¯ Rakin said, doing air quotes with his hands when he said ¡°train.¡±


    ¡°And everyone else?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m not your secretary. Next time I might just let you stay here all night.¡±


    Kole smiled at the dwarf¡¯s comments. His surly nature was starting to grow on him.


    Instead of being disappointed at being left, Kole found himself excited. He had a whole weekend of uninterrupted studying ahead.


    Back in his room, Kole was pleased to find it vacant of rat and human residents. He poured himself a bowl of oatmeal from the magic jug and got to work.


    ***


    Sometime late on Sunday night, a bleary-eyed Kole stumbled into the shooting range in the Dahn. Completely devoid of Will from the weekend-long study session, he held a clarity potion in his hand, debating on whether or not to take it. He only had three, and he was saving them for important occasions, but... he really wanted to try it.


    Before he could think better of it, he chugged the potion, and basked in the banishment of his headache and lessening of his fatigue.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said to himself, rubbing his hands together.


    He extended his hand out to the target and spoke the verbal components of the newest version of Magic Missile.


    ¡°Roh-Ta-Ko.¡±


    He sent the spell through his bridge. The pull of the Font of Illusions was noticeably less, and before he¡¯d even finished, he knew he¡¯d succeeded.


    Three bolts of magic shot out of his hand in quick succession, poking coin-sized holes in the practice dummy


    And then, he did it again.

 Chapter 66: Atrophy

    Trying once more, Torc created the gnomes. In them, Torc found the capacity for invention that the dwarves lacked. Where the dwarves were stout and strong, the gnomes were nimble and weak. The two races, ever pragmatic like their god, found they complemented each other and together filled Torc¡¯s body with wonders of strength and cunning.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    ¡°Ow!¡± Kole yelled as he got slapped on the head by Zale while he was running laps in the morning.


    ¡°Wake up!¡± Zale yelled at him as she ran past.


    Calling Kole¡¯s pace ¡°running¡± was really stretching the word. He¡¯d only gotten two hours of sleep after his late-night success before his alarm woke him for Zale¡¯s training. He was pleased to find that he hadn¡¯t lost any of the stamina he¡¯d built in the dungeon¡ªwhich only really confused him further about the place¡¯s mechanics.


    ¡°What kept you up this time?¡± She asked him when they were sparring.


    ¡°You¡¯re uncle gave me actual advice this time. I spent the whole weekend learning a new Magic Missile,¡± he said, unable to keep from smiling. ¡°I cast it twice last night.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Zale exclaimed as she swung at him.


    He moved to block with his staff, but before he made contact, Zale vanished in a puff of black motes.


    He spun around, in shock before realizing what had happened. Then, Zale appeared at his side, facing the same direction she had been when she left.


    ¡°Darn it!¡± she cursed¡ªwell, cursed for Zale. ¡°I thought I¡¯d be able to appear behind you.¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Kole said. ¡°But, that¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± she said, proud. ¡°Harold suggested it.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ that''s¡­ great¡ªI guess.¡±


    ¡°I know. Isn¡¯t it? I think I can get the hang of positioning, but my orientation will take some work.¡±


    Their morning training wrapped up shortly after that. By then, it was the fourth week of the school year, and they were no longer the only first-year students out for early morning training. Those still not present were not likely to make it through the semester


    ¡°Oh, I almost forgot,¡± Zale said, pulling an envelope from her bag on the way to Alchemy class.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Kole asked, looking it over.


    The envelope was nothing special, save for the water stains on it in a few locations. ¡°Kole Teak, Student at the Academy¡± was written in a rough hand on it.


    Zale shrugged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Mom gave it to me to give to you.¡±


    ¡°Why is she getting my mail?¡± Kole asked, suddenly very concerned.


    ¡°Would you rather I go to the registrar and put down your living situation so you can receive it directly? Besides, it wasn¡¯t even technically addressed to you.¡±


    ¡°Um, I guess this is better,¡± Kole said, taking the letter. ¡°Teak was my father¡¯s ship clan.¡±


    Kole opened the envelope and read.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Kole,


    We returned to your home port recently. All the ships were asked to produce their passenger logs, starting on the day of your embarkment. Obviously, there was no record of you. Just thought you¡¯d be interested to know.


    M


    ¡°What¡¯s it say?¡±


    ¡°Did I ever tell you how I left Illandrios?¡± Kole asked, instead


    ¡°On a ship?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no.¡±


    Kole quickly recounted the tale of his flight from his home, leaving out the embarrassing parts, like the fish fight, and the poo barrels. He¡¯d never told Zale the specifics of his departure. He¡¯d been¡ªwell, he¡¯d tried to be¡ªsecretive about his past when he arrived, but now in light of what Zale revealed about her own family, it was silly of him to think he couldn¡¯t trust her, and it was about time he returned her honesty.


    After explaining it, he showed her the letter.


    ¡°Who¡¯s M?¡±


    ¡°Meech, I assume. He¡¯s kind of a smuggler-spymaster-fixer,¡± he explained.


    ¡°Hmm, I wonder if Mom knows him,¡± Zale mused.


    ¡°I know she has a¡­ colored past but why would she know him?¡±


    ¡°She dabbled in piracy over the years,¡± Zale answered as if it were nothing.


    ¡°How in the realms is your mother allowed to teach children?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, she¡¯s great with kids, and a surprisingly good teacher when she wants to be, but we¡¯re getting off track. Why do you think you¡¯re being searched for?¡±


    ¡°I have no clue. I don¡¯t even know why they tried to stop me from leaving. It could be my uncle trying to find me but¡­ he doesn¡¯t have the influence to get the floating city above to interrogate ships on his behalf.¡±


    ¡°You never talk about your uncle¡ªor really your family at all¡­¡± Zale said, inviting Kole to share.


    ¡°It¡¯s not so much a secret, as that I don¡¯t have a lot to share. My mother was lost in a pocket realm when I was young, and finding her became my father¡¯s obsession. Mine too, especially when he disappeared looking for her.¡±


    Zale put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. They were almost at the garden where that day¡¯s alchemy class would be held.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to pry.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s alright. Amara knows about it. It just never came up,¡± Kole forced a smile and added, ¡°Besides, your family is a lot more interesting. I only have the one uncle. I¡¯ve lost count of yours.¡±


    She laughed, and his forced smile turned genuine, and they walked into class together.


    That first alchemy class set the tone that would define Kole¡¯s fourth week of school. While he¡¯d made amazing progress this past week in his wizardry, to say that his botany skills had atrophied would falsely imply they¡¯d ever advanced beyond his grossly incompetent state.


    Pale Oak kicked him out of the garden almost immediately, on seeing how he was handling a mundane grass she¡¯d assigned him to practice on.


    Sitting outside the garden, studying a book on the proper methods to harvest plants, he reflected.


    I really should have used that extra month to do more than study magic.


    Later in history class, he¡¯d completely forgotten all the details of the previous week¡¯s discussion, and he sat lost during the lecture trying to follow. He took notes but would need to dedicate time to rereading his old ones¡ªat least the ones that had survived the ink spill and he¡¯d been able to rewrite into his spellbook when it had just been a journal.


    The thought brought another memory to mind. Tal had mentioned that his spellbook would likely produce extra paper.


    Had it already? He wondered.


    He pulled the spellbook out, and flipped through the pages, counting them. The book had exactly 200 sheets in it. Then he recalled he¡¯d removed two pages¡ªback when he¡¯d not known it to be an ensouled artifact. He flipped back to where he¡¯d been when he wrote the essay, but there was no sign of the missing pages or new ones in its place.


    Was there 202 pages, or did it repair itself?


    He spent the remainder of the class recounting the pages, confirming his count of 200, and then he removed one from the back as an experiment, tucking the page safely in his old filled spellbook in case it didn¡¯t replace itself.


    ¡°Next week, we will be moving on to an analysis of the pre-Flood road systems of the Basin and what they tell us about the politics of the lost civilizations here. Be prepared for an exam on the topics covered thus far.¡±


    A groan went out through the class, loudest by those who were also in Pre-Adventurer Battle Training.


    On Tuesday, Kole walked into Martial 101 somewhat confident he hadn¡¯t fallen behind here at least¡ªthough, he had started behind the rest of the class and was yet to catch up.


    Tigereye announced to the students of Prevent, that their next dungeon run would take place aboard a ship, and asked them to prepare accordingly. This pronouncement elicited a storm of cursing from Rakin just like the mention of the ice sheet had.


    ¡°The man has it out for me!¡± Rakin grumbled as they ate after class.


    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± Zale said ¡°You know they don¡¯t pick the locales.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t?¡± Kole asked, surprised at the news.


    ¡°No, the dungeon changes on its own every week. Each time, Tigereye and Professor Underbrook go through it and see what¡¯s in store for us.¡±


    ¡°The Dahn has it out for me then!¡± Rakin amended.


    ¡°Probably,¡± Kole said, earning a glare from the surly dwarf.

 Chapter 67: Offset Gates

    With Aurial, deep in her waters, Assuine and Illunia created the race of seafolk. The seafolk were a people content, like their god. They did not long for wealth or power like the races that were to come after but lived simple lives beneath the sea, which provided for all their needs.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    WIZ 105, typically Kole''s favorite class, seemed to have chosen to pile on his difficulties. The class was a general study of first-tier wizardry with a focus on combat applications. As such it covered topics from spell construction to the types of magic best used in any given situation. Kole was more than qualified for the topics on spell construction, his skill in the matter had even caught the eye of Professor Lonin. There was, however, one area of spell construction he was wholly inept at, both in knowledge and ability.


    Offset bridge spell construction.


    Kole listened on as Professor Underbrook spoke about the topic and the amazing advances it provided wizards, terror growing throughout. If any sort of practical test was required, he was doomed.


    "The earliest spells were crude constructions, bulky spell effects guided to the Fonts of traditional wizards using winding roundabout paths. Without spellforms to study or a formal system of Will measurements from the time, it''s hard for any to judge how efficient their spells were compared to modern spells, but we do know that wizardry in its infancy couldn''t hold a candle to sorcery.


    Kole thought it strange that no one had bothered studying traditional wizardry. He''d read through some of the old spell books Theral kept in his room, and it hadn''t seemed as hard as he expected to recreate the spells from the text descriptions¡ªthough he¡¯d only dabbled in his attempts. Was it really such a disregarded field?


    "The discovery of the gates was a cornerstone of modern wizardry, but the discovery alone wasn''t enough to truly revolutionize the art. Gates allowed any wizard to learn any constructed spell, regardless of their own affinities. However, the nature of the Arcane Realm made gates and paths difficult to communicate with others, making collaboration impossible.


    "With the development of spellforms, the concept of which the Coterie of the Midlian Empire learned from the dwarves, wizardry exploded, and wizards supplanted sorcerers as the premier magic users."


    Professor Underbrook sent his illusory explosions into the air to emphasize his words.


    "The Flood halted the progress, and the Tower strangled innovation, but since the Disavowment of the Tower and the end of its influence in the Last Dragon War, that ended. Spellforms quickly became wildley known, no longer hoarded jealously, and ideas were shared openly.


    "It''s from this time we learned to create support structures in spell constructs to make them more efficient, pathing techniques were developed, and verbal and somatic components were made highly efficient. All of these reduced the average Will cost of a spell by a quarter! But, it was the offset gate technique that we are learning about today.


    He went on to explain the technique in great detail, but to Kole, it boiled down to this:


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    Wizards could open their bridge to a specific part of the Arcane Realm, i.e. a gate. Something Kole could only do with extreme Will expenditures. They learned that with a little more Will, they could open the bridge to a location near a gate, closer to the target Font from which they wished to draw power. This allowed the path component and the spell effect component to be much simpler. Since Will cost is multiplicative, the dual reduction was amplified.


    Unless you were Kole¡ªor a primal of any sort he supposed.


    That "little" bit of extra Will was amplified to some amount so high, that he''d yet to successfully open an offset gate, and he''d even tried after his Will surpassed 40. It was only after Kole discovered spells predating this method that he''d gained any hope of being a wizard.


    Before this newest method, spell construction theory had already been making the spells simpler and more unwieldy, relying on the developments of complicated pathing techniques to make up for the difference, resulting in higher efficiencies. and so had begun Kole''s journey through wizardry''s past.


    ¡°So, for your assignment,¡± Underbrook said at the end of his lecture, ¡°I want each of you to create the spellform for an offset gate.¡±


    Kole winced, but it wasn¡¯t so bad, he could make spellforms, he just couldn¡¯t cast them.


    ¡°I have decided that it would be in all of your best interest if I added more study into spell construction into the curriculum. So, we will be using these as the basis to create a spell for the second semester of the class.¡±


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed aloud, drawing attention from those around him, and a mocking smile from Gray.


    ***


    The rest of the week, Kole spent all his free time trying to catch up on classes, meeting sporadically with the others on his team to discuss a plan for the upcoming sea journey.


    In one of these meetings, Kole finally got around to asking Doug for help in harvesting plants.


    They went to the Glade, through the great tree, and found some wild plants to practice on. Zale accompanied them, seeking to improve her abilities as well.


    Kole was terrible, but Doug was a far more patient teacher than Pale Oak.


    ¡°She¡¯s a bit of a hard head for a dryad,¡± Doug admitted when Kole spoke of his experience. ¡°But, in her defense, you are quite terrible.¡±


    ¡°Thanks¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s not that complicated,¡± Doug assured him.


    ¡°You know that doesn¡¯t make me feel any better, right?¡±


    ¡°Sorry. What I mean is, I learned as a kid.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to make me feel worse?¡± Kole asked, genuinely confused why what Doug was getting at.


    ¡°I mean, I grew up in the forest, and learned as a kid. You grew up in Illandrios. Did you even have plants?¡±


    Finally seeing Doug¡¯s point¡ªas obscured as it was¡ªKole nodded in understanding.


    ¡°A few, but we were taught to leave them alone.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my point, it¡¯s not hard, everyone else just had a head start.¡±


    If Kole improved any that day, he couldn¡¯t tell but was grateful for Doug¡¯s assistance.


    Once they¡¯d packed up and prepared to leave, Doug stood by, not moving to guide them out.


    ¡°Something wrong?¡± Zale asked.


    Kole looked around the clearing, searching for a threat.


    ¡°No, I had a question. I needed advice,¡± Doug said, scratching at the base of his antler.


    ¡°How would I go about courting Mouse?¡±


    ¡°Mouse?¡± Kole and Zale both said in surprise.


    Zale recovered from her surprise first.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you knew each other,¡± Zale said.


    ¡°We have a few classes together,¡± Doug answered. ¡°She¡¯s just¡­ so wonderful.¡±


    Zale gave a thoughtful hum.


    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s a difficult question. She¡¯s¡­ a bit different.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I know,¡± Doug said, getting over his embarrassment.


    ¡°What would you do back home?¡±


    ¡°Back home? I¡¯d probably be getting married soon, arranged by my parents with another tribe of demonkin. I was thinking, maybe I would give her this.¡°


    Doug pulled out a long-wrapped object from his bag.


    ¡°Gifts are good,¡± Zale said, taking the parcel.


    She unwrapped it and froze, cocking her head as if it would change what she held.


    ¡°A¡­ carrot?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s perfect! Look, it¡¯s a hybrid, purple and orange! And see how the colors blend?¡±


    Doug took the carrot from Zale, and began to show her all the marvels of his ¡°perfect carrot.¡±


    ¡°So, what do you guys think? Do you think she¡¯ll like it?¡±


    Kole and Zale looked at each other, and Kole shrugged.


    Zale finally answered, ¡°You know... She just might.¡±

 Chapter 68: All Aboard

    Riloth, with the help of his sisters, created the humans, who embodied the storms of Kaltis that Riloth created and loved. They had the capacity for great power but left destruction in the wake of their passions. Eager to see what else he could create, Riloth asked his sisters for another try and this time the orcs were born. Like humans, the orcs were a people ruled by their passion, but the orcs were not as covetous of wealth as their siblings. Instead, the orcs hungered for glory, driving them ever toward conflict.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    "Good morning class!" A chipper Underbrook greeted them when he walked in. "Let''s get started, we''ll go by class ranking."


    As the first-ranked team, the Ice Picks, gathered their gear for their shot at the dungeon, Kole stood around with his friends.


    "Did you guys hear about the flood?" Zale asked them.


    Kole turned to Zale, a serious expression on his face.


    "I grew up in a subaquatic city forced to isolate itself from the world for 700 years. Of course, I''ve heard of the Flood."


    The joke earned a snicker from Doug and a groan from Rakin.


    "Ha. Ha," Zale said, unamused. "There was a flood in the Dahn. One of the classrooms filled up with water, when the professor went to open the door, it all poured out. Some weird crab-fish-tiger monsters came out and some of the adventurers stationed on campus took them out."


    "Tiger-crab-fish?" Kole asked.


    "Crab-fish-tigers," Zale corrected.


    "That''s weird. Like the rat-goblins I fought."


    "Goblin-rats," Doug corrected, earning a grin from Zale and a glare from Kole.


    Kole sighed heavily, really wishing he''d gotten the order right the first time.


    "Can we talk about the crazy-extra-dimensional incursions and not adjective orders?" When no one corrected him, he continued, "Does this happen every year?"


    Zale and Rakin both looked at each other and shook their heads.


    "Not that we''ve heard of," Zale said. "And we definitely would have heard of it. Mom does seem a little stressed out lately."


    "Should we be concerned?" Kole asked.


    "Probably? But what can we do? The place is overrun with adventurers, and Uncle Tal-len is still around and he''s... pretty formidable."


    They discussed the topic as they picked out their gear. They took a large supply of ginger and some other alchemical products meant to combat sea sickness. Much of their¡ªwell, Doug with Amara''s aid¡ªresearch went into finding cures for seasickness that didn''t hamper one''s combat strength or react poorly with other more commonly used potions.


    Rakin knew he would need the treatments on the sea, and Doug had never been aboard a ship to know, so they were playing it safe. While Amara had finished Kole''s new blasting rod, complete with self-repairing runes, Kole had yet to master the rune intent. He''d had to spend far more time catching up on his other classes and hadn''t been willing to spend any of his remaining time away from working on his spells.


    The newest rod could cast ten bolts by Amara''s estimate before falling apart. On handing the rod to Kole, Amara told him to bring it back in one piece or he could make his own next time. With his capacity around forty Will, and each blast of the rod costing 4, Kole had to keep close count or risk destroying it.


    Hopefully, this won¡¯t be another long run. He thought.


    When the Ice Picks left the ready room, everyone fought to catch a glimpse of the party as they were escorted to their debrief. They looked haggard, but everyone always looked exhausted after leaving. Kole couldn¡¯t make out any clues as to what they went through.


    ¡°Gravely shite,¡± Rakin cursed.


    ¡°What?¡± Zale whispered to the dwarf.


    ¡°The Forsaken, you¡¯re up!¡± Underbrook announced before entering the debrief with the Ice Picks.


    ¡°Ekord¡¯s beard wasn¡¯t braided when they went in,¡± Rakin said, ¡°They must have been in there a while.¡±


    Kole reflected on the dwarf, and couldn¡¯t recall the status of his beard.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s not a mid-battle-dwarven ritual,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°No,¡± Rakin answered simply.


    It was too late for them to change their plan, so Kole did a quick check to make sure his spellbook was in his bag before stepping into the ready room. If they were going to have some extra time on their hands, he was going to make good use of it.


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    ***


    When they stepped through the door, they found themselves on a dock, about to board a rather large trading ship¡ªwell, large by non-ship clan standards. Compared to the Willowbrook, the towering ship the Damsel¡¯s Dragon was merely a skiff. The quartermaster at the gangplank greeted them as if they¡¯d been contracted adventurers for the journey.


    ¡°You sure you want to wear that aboard?¡± the salty old sailor said to Zale, eying her very shiny and very heavy metal armor. ¡°You go overboard, yer staying overboard.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me,¡± Zale said, ¡°I have my tricks.¡±


    ¡°Yer funeral¡ªthough there won¡¯t be a body for an actual funeral I suppose,¡± he said and then gave directions to their lodgings.


    They¡¯d been given a section of the hold with four hammocks and retractable privacy screens between them. While the space was cramped, they at least didn¡¯t have to sleep stacked atop each other like the lowest-ranking crew.


    ¡°You know,¡± Zale began, looking around the damp hold, ¡°when Mom talked about the glamorous life of being an adventurer, she left out the part about the lavish quarters.¡±


    They spent the first day getting acquainted with their surroundings. There were two additional teams contracted to guard the ship, and they had rotating eight-hour shifts of responsibility. Being the last to board, they¡¯d been tasked with the night shift. The journey was expected to take around six weeks, sailing from Hawk¡¯s Nest to a floating mat out in the ocean.


    Rakin let out a few choice curses at the discovery of that news. As soon as they left port, he grew ill and began to chew on ginger whenever he wasn¡¯t actively vomiting. They¡¯d only had enough points for three potions to completely counteract seasickness, but each only lasted a day, and were to be saved for battles. Thankfully, Doug handled the sea fine, except for when his antlers got caught in some low rigging. He spent as much time as he could on deck, marveling at the expanse of the open ocean. He¡¯d grown up in forested mountain foothills and had never had cause to pass beyond the range and see the ocean. Kole, who too had lived a life of limited experience, was not as impressed by the sight, having done his share of gawking on his trip to Edgewater.


    Why stare out at the sea when I could be working on a new spell? He thought.


    The quarters were cramped, and Kole really wished he could cast Theral¡¯s Floating Disk spell to create a better table than the broken crate lid he¡¯d found and sat on his lap. While adventurers were valued on a ship, space was valued more, and he could find nowhere to set up where he wasn¡¯t in somebody¡¯s way. Thankfully, the ship¡ªand really every ship that wanted to discourage candles¡ªwas outfitted with an abundance of Light runes, allowing Kole to at least see.


    If only he could block out sounds like Zale to ignore Rakin¡¯s piteous moans. After a few days, Rakin¡¯s groaning lessened, as he began to try to fight the sickness with the arts he¡¯d learned in the monastery. Kole wasn¡¯t sure if the dwarf was improving, or just managing to hold in the pain better.


    Zale quickly befriended the crew, and became quite popular, learning the rapier style of the sailors in their downtime. She forced Kole to spend at least an hour of his free time each day on the deck, training in some manner.


    The other adventurers fascinated Kole. They interacted with them daily, far more often than with the villages of the last dungeon. He struggled to believe that they weren¡¯t real people. Every one of them was a seasoned adventurer with their own knowledge and experience to share.


    Zale and Doug spent the most time training with them, seeking their advice, but none were wizards and Kole eventually lost interest when the initial novelty of their existence wore off. The ship had one wizard, and he was a crotchety old man who only knew the spells required to keep the sails full and put out fires.


    The party spent their nights from 8 pm to 4 am patrolling the deck on watch¡ªexcept for Rakin who sat meditating to mitigate the sickness, potion at the ready should disaster strike. After their shift, they joined the crew for breakfast before going to bed.


    They woke around noon, ate breakfast for lunch, and then trained with the evening shift of adventurers, and then Kole would sneak away to study his magic.


    Well, not just his magic. If the school was teaching him anything¡ªand it was teaching him a whole lot¡ªhe was realizing he needed to better control himself. Yes, he had a looming deadline by which he needed to learn a third spell, but he also had to pass his other classes, and with each day that went by it looked like he had a better chance to learn the spells than pass alchemy.


    He dedicated an hour every day to reviewing his material for history and alchemy. While he didn¡¯t have his textbooks or notebooks from those classes, he had something almost as good¡ªwell, significantly better depending on the context. One of his first tasks was settling once and for all whether or not his spellbook could produce more pages and the verdict¡ªafter counting the pages half a dozen times to be sure¡ªwas that it could. He¡¯d ripped out a page, and still 200 remained.


    He then numbered all the remaining blank pages to see what would happen if the book was full. When he tried opening it to the back, he found the last page blank, and when he turned back, he was on page 200. Labeling the last page 201 and recounting though still resulting in a count of 200. He experimented for a while and found that he if thought of every page number before turning the page, he could reach a count of 201, which was not useful in and of itself, but it did reassure him that pages wouldn¡¯t somehow be lost.


    The study made him realize something he¡¯d not noticed before. The book had always seemed to open to the page he¡¯d intended, ever since he first started writing in it. Whether he was looking for a spellform or a new page, whenever he opened the book he opened to the page he wanted. While he was a fair hand at guessing the page to open to, the infallibility of the act ought to have alerted him to the book¡¯s magical properties long before Zale¡¯s revelation.


    So, confident that he wasn¡¯t wasting his magical paper, he began to write down all he could remember of his lectures from his classes, and to his surprise, he found he could remember them verbatim.


    Now if only there was a garden I could practice in. He thought, then immediately regretted it, fearing he¡¯d just doomed them to a months-long stay on the floating mat they were sailing towards.


    The time Kole spent studying magic was split between his three spells, but he focused on Shield, trying to apply the advice Tal had granted him before the dungeon spat them out. If he could show he¡¯d made such rapid progress, maybe he¡¯d change his mind,


    Though, maybe the whole time dilation thing will lessen the accomplishment. Kole thought.


    The first four days of the voyage carried on in this simple pattern. On the fifth night on watch, Kole stood on a platform staring out into the blackness beyond. The platform sat just below the sails but a dozen feet from the deck meant for giving defenders an elevated platform. Doug sat with him, bow at hand, and Doug quizzed Kole about plants to keep themselves alert¡ªthough it was having the opposite effect on the wizard.


    It was Zale¡¯s cry that pulled Kole out of his plant-induced stupor,


    ¡°Activate the alarm!¡± she shouted, ¡°There¡¯s something in the water!¡±

 Chapter 69: Night Shift

    Waas created the elves, who shared her love of crafting beautiful works. However, the elves were too serious for her liking, and she asked if she could create once more. With her sisters¡¯ aid, she created the halflings, a whimsical folk who better embodied her playful nature. The elves, a prideful people, felt betrayed by this, though she had meant no offense. Believing their god had spurned them, the elves turned their back on their mother and worshipped Assuine instead.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    Kole jumped to his feet at Zale¡¯s shout. Knowing her unable to trigger runes herself, Kole slapped his hand into the mast, touching the signal rune that ran down its length and trickled his Will into it. The rune was simple, and meant to sound the alarm across the ship should anyone activate it¡ªno matter their skill at Will manipulation.


    Red light illuminated the deck suddenly, meant to preserve the dark vision of the fighters while granting some small sliver of visibility, and a low-pitched alarm began to sound.


    At the first hum of alarm, a swarm of winged beasts burst from the sea and dove toward Zale. Silhouetted by the sky, Kole thought the creatures to be manta rays that somehow flew, but as they entered the meager light, he saw their long barbed tails and wide maws of needle teeth. They made no sound as they descended.


    Doug and Kole had jumped to their feet as soon as they¡¯d heard the alarm, and at the appearance of the beasts, both shot into the swarm.


    As densely packed as they were, each struck down a beast before they reached the rail. Kole hit one in the wing, blasting a hole in the thin membranous limb large enough to prevent flight, driving it down into the ship¡¯s side where it crashed with a wet thud. Doug¡¯s arrow struck home, taking one in its cruel mouth and killing it instantly.


    Zale fell back from the rail and drew the rapier she¡¯d been training with of late, along with a simple wooden buckler from a rack, maintained and ready for just such occasions. She ducked under the first monster, pushing it away with her shield, and swiped at another as they flew over. But, there were far more than two, and the next bit at her outstretched arm, quickly releasing as it found the arm coated in steel.


    The orderly swarm broke apart after the first wave and spread out across the ship searching for targets. The sailors on duty had run for weapons of their own at the first alarm, and arrows were shooting into the sky, most missing. Those that did strike, usually hit wings, but the arrows didn¡¯t produce holes large enough to noticeably impact their flight.


    ¡°Cloakers!¡± Rakin called, as he ran into the fray, tossing aside the empty vial of his potion.


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    The cloakers flew above the deck, out of distance from those on the ground until they could come down behind them. After the first sailor was picked up in such a manner and dragged over the rail, they all grouped up back to back. Rakin found Zale, pairing with her while pulling two batons from his robe. While Rakin¡¯s reach was far shorter than Zale¡¯s, he could jump. As a monster flew over them confident in its safety from the melee-armed creatures below, Rakin leapt up into the air, striking it from below with one of his stone batons. The cloaker fell to the deck, where Zale was waiting to pierce its eel-like head.


    Kole and Doug stood back to back as well, firing into the swarm as opportunities presented themselves. The creatures quickly identified them as a threat and began to swarm around them.


    ¡°We need to get down!¡± Kole shouted as they began to close in.


    Doug leapt from the platform, and Kole dove down to his belly, turning invisible as he fell. The demonkin boy landed on the deck below in a graceful roll, while Kole¡¯s small dive knocked the wind from him.


    But, it worked, and the cloakers flew just over his head.


    Invisible, he climbed down the ladder to the perch, trying to recall the number of times he¡¯d used the rod, afraid he¡¯d break it.


    By the time he reached the deck, Doug stood between Rakin and Zale, firing arrows into the flying monsters as the other two kept them at bay. Distantly Kole heard the other adventuring parties battling somewhere else on the ship and he looked around for some way he could help. The sailors had fallen into groups to better defend each other, and they¡¯d cut loose ropes, allowing the sails to hang loose and obstruct the flight path of the monsters.


    Over the din of battle, a cry of pain rang out, and Kole spun around to see a lone sailor trapped under a cloaker as it bit into his shoulder. Kole pointed his blasting rod and sent his Will into it, striking the monster through its torso. The shot didn¡¯t kill it, but it allowed the sailor to throw it off. Grabbing an ax meant for cutting the lines of boarders, the now visible Kole ran at the cloaker,


    ¡°AHHH! ¡°He screamed as he ran, ax raised high.


    He chopped into the monster¡¯s back, and repeated again, and again with dull thuds. With each swing, the ax twisted in his grip, until he was striking with the side of the weapon as if it were a mace, but by then, the monster was dead and Kole was covered in its foul black blood.


    The groan of the nearby sailor brought him back to himself, and he moved over to bind the man¡¯s wounds.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it!¡± Doug shouted, pushing Kole¡¯s fumbling hands aside.


    The trio had moved closer during the mad hacking to cover him.


    Kole let Doug take over, and recovered his rod from the deck, taking his place.


    The swarm had lessened by then, and their blood lay all over the deck. Kole only fired twice more with his rod, missing both times, before the skies were empty of their foes.


    Once sure the threats were gone, the group walked around the deck to make sure no one was in need of aid. The mood on the deck was grim, two sailors had been lost, both taken overboard by the cloakers. Despite the losses, each one of them brightened at Kole¡¯s group¡¯s passing, giving nods and words of thanks to them for their part in the ship''s defense.


    Unlike some¡ªprobably most¡ªKole didn¡¯t seek to be an adventurer for the fame or praise. He had a singular goal, to find his parents and it drove him in all things. But, as the sailors hid their weariness to show their appreciation for his help, he felt something stir inside him, a desire for respect he¡¯d not known he¡¯d wanted¡ªor maybe needed.

 Chapter 70: Emerald

    Bilieth and Erebog, while tolerated, were not loved. Not approached to make a race of their own, they performed experiments in secret to uncover the missing piece of creation. They created many horrors in their pursuit before realizing their goal was beyond their abilities. From these experiments, the feralkin were born. Learning from their own creation, they captured the races of the other gods and began to warp them. Through these defilements, many more horrors were brought into the world. However, what came next was even worse. The siblings finally succeeded in their goal and created the races collectively known as the forsaken.


    -Unnamed Dwarven Text


    ¡ª


    The next day, they rested, forgoing training and studying in anticipation of another attack. The cloakers were a known threat, and when they appeared they often harried ships until they reached the safety of port. The crew¡¯s spirits were low, as they expected more nights like the one they¡¯d just had.


    The watches of the adventurers were adjusted so that the day shift started four hours early and the night shift four hours late. They each then had 12-hour shifts, allowing for two groups to be on watch at night when the threat was greater.


    Once his potion wore off, Rakin alternated his time between meditating and staring longingly at the remaining two potions. He had the self-control to not down them needlessly to banish his misery, but not to forget about them. Aside from the battle against the sea sickness, Rakin had an inner battle with his primal powers. If he let slip his fire here, the ship wouldn¡¯t survive the heat long, and would quickly go up in flames.


    ¡°I thought I was getting better,¡± he moaned at the beginning of the next shift. ¡°But, I was just getting used to the misery.¡±


    Kole had used his spellbook to help him recall the battle and count how many times he¡¯d used the rod. He¡¯d been surprised with how vivid the recollection was when writing down the details of the events and had to consider how this feature could be useful in the future.


    He found he¡¯d fired four times, but that only left six more uses in the rod before it fell apart on him, and he would prefer to stop at nine lest he risk breaking it earlier than expected. He had dropped the rod once and worried that could have harmed its integrity.


    After finding this out, Kole spent some time that first day alternating between working on Shield and Thunderwave, but he couldn¡¯t focus. The thought of those manta ray monsters returning made each expended grain of Will feel like a risk.


    Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll be able to use it all. Kole thought as he considered his limited rod uses.


    ***


    When darkness fell on the sea, the crew of the Damsel turned the deck lights on high and remained on high alert. Kole¡¯s party started their shift, joining the day shift who remained active.


    Kole had thought long about his plan for the day and decided to utilize his Invisibility in the absence of any offensive magic. The night before had shown the cloakers relied on sight to find their prey, and Kole planned to take advantage of that.


    The creatures were smart enough to recognize a person with a crossbow as a threat, but only if they could see it. Kole wasn¡¯t particularly gifted with the crossbow¡ªas the deck crew was quick to point out that day as he practiced¡ªbut it didn¡¯t take much skill to hit the massive flying beasts.


    The ship had a stock of broad head bolts designed for use specifically against flying creatures of the sea, and the crew assured him his aim would be good enough if he could remain undetected.


    So, with a crossbow in hand, Kole stood on the deck looking out into the sea, Invisible and waiting as night set in.


    Rakin was once more experiencing the effects of the sea, while Zale and Doug were walking the perimeter, scanning the sea with their enhanced visions. Zale¡¯s Willsight let her spot the creatures as they neared the surface, and Doug¡¯s ability to see in the dark made it possible for him to see the dark shapes beneath the water.


    On this night, however, it was a halfling on the ship¡¯s crew that raised the alarm. As enhanced as Kole¡¯s friends¡¯ vision was, they couldn¡¯t compete with two dozen sets of eyes set to scanning the sea.


    At the alarm, everyone on deck, adventurer and sailor alike, drew their weapons and fell into groups near the center of the deck. The cloakers had only been interested in taking captives as prey, so there was no need to defend anything but each other.


    Kole had asked why they couldn¡¯t simply hide below deck, but the sailors knew that wouldn¡¯t work from past encounters. The cloakers were not common, but everyone at least knew someone who¡¯d battled them. When the crew abandoned the deck, the semi-intelligent monsters would trash the deck to draw out prey. They knew that if they caused enough destruction someone would come out and offer themselves up on a platter.


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    The second night saw Kole using his Will exclusively to turn Invisible, though he did use one of the few remaining blasts of his rod to save Doug when a cloaker snuck up on him. For that night¡¯s battle, Zale and Rakin stood a few paces apart with Doug between them firing arrows at the flying monsters. Rakin only took a small sip of the potion that night, which just barely made him combat-ready.


    Kole stood Invisible, off to the side, and fired a crossbow bolt whenever he drew a line on a cloaker flying straight over him.


    While Invisibility was both cheap and easy for Kole to cast, keeping it up was a delicate struggle, and the focus it took to aim and fire the crossbow, coupled with the shock of the firing never failed to break him from his invisibility. When this happened, Kole would dive into the safe pocket Doug sat in and reload, occasionally picking up an ax and finishing off the dying cloakers on the deck.


    The cloakers came at them all night in waves. Dozens would swarm the deck, and then they would disappear, reappearing minutes or hours later. With each wave, the crew would kill dozens, but the next attack would come seemingly undiminished.


    Doug took out the most monsters out of any of the combatants aboard the ship. The cloakers avoided the reach of melee fighters, only getting in close if they thought they could grab a sailor and take them overboard. Usually, this happened when a sailor broke from their group for one reason or another. The archers and crossbowmen of the crew and adventuring teams were given a wide berth when ambushes fell.


    Despite the crew¡¯s strategy, they lost two more men that night over the edge, and a few more to injuries. As soon as the sun rose, the crew relaxed and went down to a skeleton crew manning the sails as everyone rested for the next night.


    Kole passed out as soon as he reached his bunk, exhausted from both Will drain, and the physical exertion of loading the crossbow and swinging the deck ax.


    ***


    Kole was woken sometime later by Zale.


    ¡°The other adventuring parties are about to discuss a strategy for tonight. We¡¯re wanted.¡±


    He made his way up on deck and found nearly all the crew gathered around the command crew and adventurers. The sailors parted for Zale and Kole, giving them appreciative nods.


    ¡°Why are they attacking us?¡± someone asked.


    ¡°Fauell if I know!¡± the captain shouted. ¡°They¡¯ve been known to do this. Mindless attacks, seemingly without end. No matter their losses.¡±


    ¡°Then we need to turn back,¡± one of the other adventurers said to the captain.


    ¡°We can¡¯t,¡± the captain said with a sigh. ¡°You were paid to defend this ship, so you need to do it.¡±


    This argument had clearly been going on for some time, and Kole was just catching the tail end of it.


    ¡°So,¡± the captain continued, ¡°If there¡¯s no more complaints, let¡¯s have a productive conversation.¡±


    What followed could generously be called a discussion, but was mostly a group of adults¡ªand four adolescents¡ªyelling their own opinions. Zale eventually got everyone¡¯s attention when she vanished into black smoke and reappeared on top of a barrel.


    Kole could tell even she was surprised by her success at appearing where she¡¯d meant to, but she didn¡¯t let that stop her. The feat distracted everyone enough for her to impose some order on the group, and eventually, a plan was established. The crew and adventuring teams then broke up to practice and prepare their own parts, and Kole was left alone on the deck, not having been given anything to do.


    ¡°What about me?¡± Kole asked Zale, catching up to her.


    ¡°Honestly?¡± she said, ¡°I think you should go work on your spells. If this is going to keep happening for the whole month, you could make some real progress. Thunderwave would be incredibly useful. Your tactics last night were effective enough, so go try to unlock something new.¡±


    Kole nodded and went below deck, disappointed though he knew that hadn¡¯t been a dismissal. His tactics the night before had been good. He had taken out three cloakers and harmed even more with his shots, not even counting those he finished off that fell on the deck.


    He tried to see Zale¡¯s suggestion as the vote of confidence in both his prior performance, and potential magical improvements it was, but he couldn¡¯t help but have a bit of a pity party as he sat below deck, listening to Rakin¡¯s moans beside him and the frantic feet above deck.


    Luckily for Kole, his self-doubt couldn¡¯t compete with his narrowed-minded focus, and he quickly lost himself in his work.


    He spent the remainder of that day pathing Thunderwave, taking the occasional break to work on Shield. He was closest to a breakthrough on Shield, but it wouldn¡¯t be the most useful. He¡¯d found that switching between spells allowed part of his mind to work on other issues, much like taking walks let him clear his head¡ªnot that he remembered to do that often.


    With only an hour left before his shift, Kole slammed his spellbook shut. He wasn¡¯t close to making any usable progress on either spell, and he¡¯d begun to grow frustrated. He¡¯d known this would happen before even starting the study session, but like with his dismissal before, he couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed.


    His eyes caught on the blasting rod on his makeshift desk of stacked crates, and it brought him back to when he¡¯d first met Amara.


    I never asked her how she knew I was there, he realized. It was probably Gus. He decided after some thought.


    ¡°I wish I had that stupid gem,¡± He mumbled to himself out of frustration, not that he¡¯d ever have taken that out of the crafting building and risked losing it.


    Done studying for the day, Kole took his spellbook and moved to put it back into his bag, but when he opened the back, his eyes caught a glint of green in the glow of the light runes.


    He froze and then reached into the bag unbelieving. He found a small smooth cut object inside, and his sense of the Will within proved his suspicions right, even before he drew it out.


    In his fingers, he held Amara¡¯s emerald, filled with the intent of her repair runes.


    ¡°What in the realms?¡± Kole whispered.


    ¡°Stop flooding talking to yerself!¡± Rakin cursed, throwing a pillow at Kole.

 Chapter 71: Duldrums

    Kole stared at the gem in his hand, mind racing as to how it got there.


    Did Gus sneak this into my bag? Amara? No...


    He was certain he¡¯d returned the gem to Amara and left right after. It definitely hadn¡¯t been in his bag as he¡¯d entered the dungeon.


    ¡°I asked for it¡­¡± Kole said to himself.


    ¡°Ye sure did, now shut it!¡± Rakin moaned.


    ¡°No, Rakin wake up!¡± Kole said, getting the dwarf¡¯s full attention. ¡°Look at this!¡±


    Rakin rose groggily, sensing something in Kole¡¯s tone that pushed away his typical surly nature.


    ¡°That¡¯s a fine-cut gem,¡± He said, examining it with an expert eye. ¡°Where¡¯d you get it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s from the crafting college. It has the rune intent for the repair function on my blasting rod. But, I left it in the crafting college. I¡¯m certain.¡±


    Rakin thought about it for a moment.


    ¡°You asked for it?¡±


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°And you found it right after?¡±


    Kole nodded again.


    ¡°I want more seasickness potions,¡± Rakin said, looking up at the ceiling expectantly.


    When nothing happened he muttered a curse and then said, ¡°It was worth a shot. I think the Dahn gave that to you.¡±


    ¡°The Dahn? But¡­¡± Kole trailed off before coming to a revelation. ¡°The dungeon is the Dahn.¡±


    Now it was Rakin¡¯s turn to nod.


    ¡°Where in the crafting college did you leave the gem?¡±


    Kole described the room he¡¯d found Amara in and Rakin nodded more emphatically.


    ¡°That part of the college is actually in the Dahn. For some reason, the school brought this to you.¡±


    ¡°It can do that?¡± Kole asked, even though it very clearly could.


    Rakin stared at Kole as if he were an idiot.


    ¡°The Dahn conjured world, complete with living, thinking, beings, and no matter how long we spend here, five minutes will pass outside, and any injuries we experience will disappear while any physical gains will remain. And yer surprised it could move a wee little gem from a room to your bag?¡±


    Kole was actually more surprised that the Dahn had paid enough attention to him to move the gem, not the fact that it moved the gem itself, but he didn¡¯t think Rakin would care about the distinction. Instead, he asked another question.


    ¡°Have you heard of it doing this before? In the dungeon I mean?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Rakin said without having to think about it. ¡°In fact, previous attempts to teleport items into the dungeon have failed. We should talk to Zale about this.¡±


    Kole agreed, and he moved to leave their bunks. Rakin went to follow him but stumbled after a step and lost his balance.


    The dwarf had regained some of his vigor at the discovery, but his body was still suffering. After some more cursing and help from Kole, they made their way to the deck where Zale was helping prepare for the night¡¯s events.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anything like this,¡± Zale said, examining the gem with amazement, after Kole had explained.


    ¡°Actually,¡± Kole said, recalling something. ¡°In the arctic circle. My spellbook was in my bag, but I was fairly certain it wasn¡¯t there when I¡¯d entered.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Zale pressed.


    ¡°Pretty sure..¡±


    ¡°Well, even if we discount that, there¡¯s definitely a pattern of the Dahn taking notice of you,¡± she said.


    ¡°A pattern?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. The goblin-rats appeared near you, and you found that door to the ice people,¡± Zale said, listing things off on her fingers. ¡°Then, when Rakin was hurt, a door appeared to my mom¡¯s studio. Now the spellbook and the gem.¡±


    ¡°And you think it¡¯s all connected?¡± Kole asked. ¡°Are all the attacks my fault somehow?¡±


    His mind raced, trying to think if he¡¯d done anything that could have possibly caused it, but then he laughed at himself.


    What could I have done to cause cross-dimensional incursions in an artifact of the Dahn¡¯s power?


    ¡°No¡­¡± Zale said, confused by his laughter. ¡°But, I think the Dahn is¡­ I don¡¯t know. Giving you training opportunities? Preparing you for something?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m being tutored by a sapient school?¡± Kole asked, ¡°If so, I think I have some complaints about its methods.¡±


    Zale shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m just guessing. But¡ª¡° Zale began but Kole interrupted her.


    ¡°Your uncle might know.¡±


    Zale¡¯s skin darkened in a blush, and she smiled.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    They talked it over a little longer but began eventually talking in circles. Ultimately, they were just guessing, but they were fairly certain the school had noticed Kole. They were unsure whether or not the events surrounding him were caused for him, or if the school was simply tweaking the events to give Kole opportunities, but Kole had decided not to let them go to waste.


    He was eager to go back to his desk and study the gem, but the crew had begun to gather in preparation for the night¡¯s battle.


    Oh yeah¡­ Kole thought.


    In all the excitement, he¡¯d forgotten about the whole ¡°constant threat of doom¡± situation he was in.


    They joined the crew for a light dinner and afterward, they set out to their stations in preparation for the assault


    ***


    Kole stood high in the rigging, scanning the sea around the ship in anticipation. The captain had navigated them to a shallow region and they¡¯d weighed anchor just before dark and sent the ship¡¯s light boats out to float around, each equipped with lanterns in their beds and light runes inscribed on their bottoms, illuminating the sea and sky.


    The ship had a runesmith, charged with maintaining the runes required to keep a modern ship functioning, and placing light runes on the bottom of a lifeboat was within his skills, though he cautioned them all they¡¯d not last the night.


    Kole scanned the sea with a looking glass, checking each pocket of light for signs of attack. He fought the urge to examine his vault as he stayed vigilant.


    His eyes caught a flicker of a shadow beneath a boat.


    ¡°Attack!¡± He yelled as he activated the alarm and then turned invisible.


    He¡¯d been tasked with the lookout, not because of any ocular gifts he might have¡ªin fact, many of the sailors had Blessings from Riloth and other patron gods of sailors that made their vision far superior to his own.


    No, the reason Kole was on the lookout was for his ability to climb down the rigging without getting swarmed by the cloakers. He was halfway down the fifty-foot descent when the leathery-winged creatures filled the air around him. While the monsters couldn¡¯t see him, he feared they could hear the pounding of his heart as the adrenaline coursed through him. He¡¯d volunteered for the duty confident he¡¯d be safe, but that confidence did little to stem the terror of the moment.


    Ranged attacks filled the air as he reached the ground, all the sailors and adventurers taking pains to not fire toward the central mast. The sound of flapping wings and curses of men filled the air, growing louder as Kole descended. The cloakers made no sounds, even in death, besides that of their flight.


    As soon as Kole¡¯s feet hit the deck, Zale called out a signal.


    ¡°Clear!¡±


    All the ranged attacks halted, and the wind around them stilled before picking up again, only this time blowing down towards the deck.


    The ship¡¯s wizard, only able to cast a handful of spells, was quite adept at those few. The spell normally meant to push the ship through the seas when the winds were weak, now blew down upon the deck at ten times its normal force. The cloakers¡¯ wings stilled comically as they fell out of the sky like stones, only Kole had never seen a stone fall as quickly as the monsters did.


    The gust only lasted a moment, but the crew stood ready, Kole included. They descended on the stunned creatures with swords, axes, and clubs, and they slew dozens of them in moments. Those that had survived the downdraft made half-hearted attacks at the crews, but the archers kept them at bay.


    Silence fell over the deck after the brief slaughter, before someone let out a cheer. The cloakers had fled¡ªfor the moment. The crew got to work cleaning up the deck. They threw the bodies overboard and scrubbed the slick blood clean while the adventurers and more skilled combatants of the crew stood watch around the deck.


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    There was silence for a few hours, but then the lights of the lifeboats began to wink out one by one. Kole, who¡¯d returned to the lookout, climbed down quickly to report the occurrence, but everyone below already knew.


    ¡°Attack!¡± a sailor shouted from the bow, but followed it with a scream as he was set upon by three cloakers.


    Everyone fell into their groups to prepare for the next round. Despite the slaughter of the first assault, the number of enemies seemed undiminished. They continued on into the night. The wizard only had two more wind spells in him that night, and the cloakers had learned to avoid the spell, flying high and spread out, relying more on ambushes than on overwhelming swarms to catch their prey.


    Kole did good work with his ambushes from invisibility, but after a few attempts, he decided to save his Will. He had just enough left for a Magic Missile, and the unerring accuracy of the spell could save a life.


    The opportunity to use the spell never came though. The waves continued through the night, and the crew fended each off with limited casualties.


    When the first rays of sun peaked over the horizon, and no attack had come in half an hour, the crew let out an exhausted cheer. The skeleton crew of the day shift came up on deck and urged the combatants to rest as they set to work readying the ship for sailing


    ***


    Kole woke hours later, Will restored, but still not fully recovered from the night¡¯s battle. Throughout the battle, he¡¯d longed for the blasting rod, but did not let himself use it, lest he destroy it. Now, he drew the emerald from its place at the bottom of his bag, clutched it in his hand, and entered his mental vault to get to work at mastering the rune intent needed to power the repair runes on the rod.


    A grind defined his progress best. He¡¯d originally feared the task of mastering the complex rune beyond him, but even in his failures, he¡¯d gained hope. When he fumbled and the template fell apart in his mind, it was always because he rushed, never because the work itself was beyond him. So, he stilled himself, marshaled his patience, and began to meticulously copy the rune, one construct at a time.


    ***


    Rakin pulled Kole out of his study hours later by placing a hand on Kole¡¯s shoulder to alert him without disrupting his focus. As rude as the dwarf could be, he would never let his attitude get in the way of the party¡¯s safety¡ªor at least, Kole thought Rakin strived for that level of control. There were of course the times when the dwarf¡¯s anger and desperation took over and he turned into a fiery monster of death, but so far that had worked out surprisingly well for them.


    Kole felt the hand and gave up on the piece he¡¯d just begun, not finding it worth continuing. As his attention came back fully to his body, he realized how hungry he¡¯d become.


    ¡°What time is it?¡± Kole asked the dwarf, who was looking better than he had the day before.


    The threat of battle, it seemed, was doing good in Rakin¡¯s fight against the sea.


    ¡°You have about ten minutes to eat before we get to our stations.¡±


    ***


    That night went much the same as the one before. Only the cloakers started wary of the wizard¡¯s spell. The crew saw more casualties, but they made it through the night and began to plan for ways to better their positions.


    Each night, Kole and his friends passed out after battle, only to wake up and get right to work. Kole focused on studying, prioritizing the rune work but still forcing himself to work on his spells a bit each day. He made steady progress on them all, chipping away at the rune intent for the rod, piecing together a new version of Shield, and fumbling blindly about in the Arcane Realm on Thunderwave.


    Rakin made progress of his own. Finally, the control of his body¡¯s ki surpassed his dwarven-born incompatibility with ship life and his seasickness became entirely manageable.


    Zale spent most of her time split between training, and brainstorming plans to help each night. After a few days, she forced Kole to join them on each deck for at least a half hour each day.


    ¡°You¡¯ll turn into a wet noodle if you spend all day studying!¡± she scolded him.


    Which Kole thought was a bit of an exaggeration. He was spending each night loading and firing a crossbow broken up by chopping fallen monsters to bits with an ax.


    In all the struggling Doug discovered a new ability. Arrows had quickly become a dwindling resource. The ship had been prepared for some level of attacks, but not this many. A large portion of the crew had been assigned to making arrows and bolts from whatever they could scavenge from the ship. Doug was also fairly skilled at making arrows already but after hours of splitting barrels and crates into blanks and then shaving those into dowels to serve as arrow shafts he was struck by inspiration as he observed Rakin molding the small amount of stone he¡¯d brought with, using his earth primal abilities.


    Doug scoured the ship¡¯s stores, listening to each crate barrel and eventually the walls of the ship itself until he found what he was looking for.


    ¡°Here!¡± he shouted excitedly to a group of curious sailors that had begun to follow them. He was pointing to one of the defensive walls built at the front of the ship to serve as protection for ship-to-ship combat.


    Without asking, Doug touched the wood and pulled a chunk off the side like he was pulling a bit of dough out of a larger mass. He then pulled it and it lengthened into a perfect arrow shaft.


    ¡°This wood is fresh,¡± Doug explained to Kole and the rest of the group as the commotion drew their attention. ¡°It still has a trickle of Assuine¡¯s power in it, and I can use that to shape it.¡±


    The crew had protested at first but relented when they saw the ease with which he was pulling arrows out of the side of the ship.


    The wood of that particular section of the ship was a temporary repair done by the crew itself recently after an attack, and they hadn¡¯t had the chance to replace it with properly seasoned wood.


    Collectively, the group would gather to discuss plans for better defenses. Whether it was an aspect of the dungeon, or the crew was simply slow, others seemed loathe to suggest strategies, so it was up to the four young students.


    Weeks passed, attacks coming each night. The cloaker attacks never lessened in intensity. The intelligent yet suicidal monsters identified the ship¡¯s wizard as the source of the killing wind near the end of the first week, and they opened an attack one night with an all-out assault. The wizard survived, but barely, and he was confined to the ship¡¯s infirmary.


    This forced the students to develop a new strategy. They instructed the crews to rig sail cloths and nets up on the masts, ready to be pulled down on the monsters.


    The first night with the nets they killed more monsters than in any battle prior, but the next night the cloakers attacked the rolled-up sails, tearing them to shreds. Sailing slowed after that, as the crew had to scramble to repair the sails, and then spend time each day stowing them on deck to protect them. They kept up the net assaults, but all the spare sail cloth was needed if they were ever to reach their destination. With the loss of the wind wizard¡¯s aid, the damage to the sails, and the time they lost each day setting them up and taking them down, their original four-week voyage was expected to take eight.


    As they traveled, the attacks continued, each side altering tactics, but neither significantly changing the results. The ship and its defenders had the upper hand, with ranged weapons and magic, but the cloakers had seemingly unending numbers. Rarely was a crew member successfully taken overboard, and most of the casualties had just been wounded, and soon they were able to reenter the rotation.


    Fatigue was the real enemy. The cloakers came, fresh each night, but the sailors were being worn down in spirit if not in body. At Kole¡¯s suggestion, they ship tried fielding smaller crews, feeling out if the cloakers would swarm and overwhelm them. The attackers had grown more cautious after the attacks with the wizard and sails, and no longer committed in such overwhelming force. The first night with a crew reduced by a third, they had the crew on hand below deck ready to surface if the cloakers resorted to attacking the ship once more, or the defenders couldn¡¯t hold. But to everyone¡¯s relief, those on duty held and rotations were established, giving everyone a night off every third day.


    In the fourth week, Kole finally completed copying the rune intent into his vault, running up on deck in the middle of the day shouting.


    ¡°I did it!¡± he said, holding his blasting rod above his head in triumph.


    ¡°Finally,¡± Rakin said with a sigh.


    By then, the dwarf had completely fought off his seasickness and had returned to training, even finding time to work on developing his soul stone Tallen had assigned him. Doug too had begun work on his in-between building and repairing arrows.


    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Zale said, smacking Rakin on the leg with the flat of her rapier.


    ¡°Ow!¡±


    It cost Kole 10 Will to repair the rod, and each shot took 4. He judged that his Will capacity had increased at some point recently¡ªwhether it was on this journey, or his stay in the arctic circle he couldn¡¯t tell¡ªand he now had 46, an absolutely massive amount for a wizard of his age.


    That night, Kole felt renewed vigor as he blasted cloakers from the sky. His weapon wasn¡¯t any more lethal than a bow or crossbow, but he could fire the rod with greater speed and accuracy and could do so from within a group of his friends without fear of striking them by mistake. His newly regained offensive power got to his head though, and Kole exposed himself as he ran to finish off a downed cloaker with the small ax he kept on his belt at all times.


    ¡°Down!¡± Doug yelled at Kole as he spotted the ambush Kole missed.


    Kole dove, rolling to face his unseen attacker. He lifted his hand and spoke the words of Shield.


    ¡°Roh-ka¡±


    A faint translucent barrier appeared above him as he lay on the deck just in time for a cloaker to crash into it. The monster was stunned by its soft fleshy target suddenly becoming an impenetrable dome, just long enough for Kole to swing at it with his small ax.


    Covered in the blood of the cloaker, Kole retreated to the safety of Zale and Rakin¡¯s weapons.


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯m getting too cocky,¡± he said between pants as he recovered his breath.


    ***


    ?


    The fourth week saw more than just Kole¡¯s new martial potential. More shortages arose.


    The boats could no longer sustain the runes that they used to illuminate the sea. Runes were destructive, the energy coursing through them weakening the material they were placed in, and wood was a poor medium for the craft. The boats only lasted this long because each day the ship''s carpenters and the runesmith would shave off the old runes, and re-carve them. Eventually, the boats¡¯ hulls could take it no more, and they began to sink beneath the waves, one by one each night. They considered running barrels to replace them, but each boat had taken an expensive gem to store Will and power the runes, and those were better used to illuminate the deck itself than throw into the sea.


    When the crew ran out of metal they could safely fashion into arrowheads without the ship completely falling apart, Rakin directed the crew to rip up the floor on the lowest deck to get to the massive blocks of stone that served as the ship¡¯s ballast. He used his primal magic to mold the blocks into stone arrowheads, sticking the arrow shafts into the end to secure them as if he were pushing meat onto a skewer.


    Food grew scarce as they neared the end of their expected time at sea. The ship had prepared enough for potential delays, but the nightly battles increased the appetites of the men, and rationing was a distant second thought to the demands of hungry men fighting each night for their lives. The cloakers kept any potential fish away from the ship, but the crew found that cloakers themselves were okay eating.


    Through it all, Kole and his friends pressed on. Part of them knew this wasn¡¯t real, that they could simply raise their hands and give up to get out of the toil, but each of them had their own reasons to stick it out.


    Once he¡¯d conquered the sea sickness, Rakin was a dwarf transformed. He reveled in the battle each night, taking out his frustrations on any cloaker that flew in range of his weapons or fists.


    Doug marveled at the sea. Each spare moment he had, he spent staring out into the endless expanse. Kole had been amazed by the sight for a few days on the Willowboom, but looking at Doug¡¯s reverence, he felt like he was missing something.


    Kole stood next to him from time to time, squinting out towards the horizon, but he never saw it.


    Zale loved the experience, despite the trials. Each meal found her encouraging the crew and her friends. She¡¯d made a name for herself in the nightly battles and daily planning, and a word of compliment or encouragement from her would straighten even the most weary sailor.


    For Kole, the extra time to work on his spells was invaluable. Once he completed his rune, he dove headfirst into developing a new shield.


    Kole had had occasion to cast Magic Missile during a few battles, and he¡¯d found each cloaker could only take a single bolt from the spell before crashing into the deck. Through practice, he learned to send the bolts at multiple targets. While a single cast of the spell cost the same as five blasts of the rod, it was three simultaneous and nearly guaranteed kills Kole quickly added to his arsenal each night.


    By the sixth week, he¡¯d completed his next version of Shield, having reduced the cost from 25 Will to 21, but still progress for Thunderwave was slow.


    And then, on the first night of the seventh week, no attack came. The crew stayed alert, on edge the whole of the night, but even the waves were placid, lazily lapping against the ship as it drifted through the sea.


    When the sun rose the next morning, they all broke out in cries of joy and cheer.


    Kole looked around the deck expectantly for the door to the Dahn to appear and it was because of this he was the first to spot it.


    The black tail of a cloaker, as thick around as Kole¡¯s waist snaked over the diminished bow wall and onto the deck, pulling a celebrating adventurer overboard, only for the man to reappear a moment later, pierced on the sword-sized teeth of the giant cloaker climbing onto the deck.


    ¡°Attack!¡± he shouted, but there was no need, the screams of the sailor had been alert enough.

 Chapter 72: Entangled

    Kole watched stunned at the massive monster. He¡¯d grown used to the smaller cloakers, having battled them for weeks with hardly an injury, but this giant brought back the initial fear he¡¯d overcome, and then some.


    It closed its mouth on the adventurer, silencing its cries, and when it opened its mouth once more only gore-stained teeth remained. A second tail shot over the edge, wrapping around the foremast pulling the cloaker fully onto the deck. Two more tails quested out, searching for victims to knock into the sea.


    The creature¡¯s wing-like appendages came down onto the deck, acting as legs, and it used them to lift its head up to a height suitable for biting off sailors¡¯ heads.


    The crew fled from the bow of the deck, some having the presence of mind to fire their weapons at it as they ran. The appearance of the creature had been sudden, and it knocked overboard two more of the four-man adventuring party that had served on the evening watch. The last member of the crew, an ax wielding orc let out a roar of anguish and charged at the maw. It succeeded in dodging a tail swipe only for the cloaker to collapse atop of him, crushing him under its bulk.


    As that occurred, Kole and the rest of the crew not immediately around the invader came to their senses. Rakin and Zale shared a look before running at the enemy, Zale drawing her bastard sword for the first time outside of training since they entered, and Rakin even picked up a large boarding ax from the ground.


    Doug began firing arrows at the cloaker, but the stone-tipped projectiles they were left with by then couldn¡¯t pierce its hide. Still, Doug and the ship¡¯s crews continued to fire at the cloaker.


    Kole too joined into the attack, sending an experimental blast from his rod into the monster¡¯s side. To his relief, the attack left a gaping wound the monster¡¯s pale red blood poured from. Doug noticed the damage immediately and sent an arrow into the hole Kole had made.


    ¡°Wow!¡± Kole couldn¡¯t help but say, impressed by the shot.


    Doug blushed, embarrassed by the praise, but his next shot failed to repeat the feat.


    The cloaker turned, using its four tails to pull on the masts and rigging to position itself, presenting its back to the arrows. By then, Rakin and Zale had reached it and were dodging the tails as they struck out at the pair. Learning from the mistake of the orc, the two kept away from the mouth and focused on taking swipes at the tails as they dodged their swings.


    Three of the remaining four adventurers joined them up front, while the fourth joined in with the ranged assault. Kole continued to make holes in the cloaker¡¯s hide, and the skilled archers¡ªand less skilled sailors¡ªaimed for these with mixed results. Kole had to stop after blasting his eighth hole in the monster¡¯s side. He¡¯d tried to aim for his own previous targets to widen the openings or cause internal damage, but his aim wasn¡¯t so great. He took solace in the fact that he hadn¡¯t missed the giant sea monster with any of his attacks.


    After his eighth shot, Kole ducked behind a mast and used the remainder of his Will to power the repair rune, pausing to still himself and focus his mind lest he make a mistake and destroy his weapon.


    Unlike casting a spell, there was no feedback when he sent the Will out of him, and he had to examine the rod mid-battle to make sure it had worked.


    It seems fine? He thought, not feeling confident at all in his ability to assess the integrity of runes while a giant manta ray monster attacked his friends. Not that he felt the monster attack had any bearing on his rune assessment abilities.


    Before returning to the fray, Kole downed his sole clarity potion. He jumped out, ready to continue his attacks, but noticed that the five melee combatants had been reduced to three as two of the adventurers were missing, but so was one of the cloaker¡¯s tails. Two feet below where the tails left its body, a jagged cut bled over the deck, Rakin¡¯s ax still stuck into the cartilage of the appendage. Rakin now stood the focus of the cloaker¡¯s ire. Spending all his focus on ducking and dodging the tails as they swiped for him.


    Zale tried to capitalize on the monster¡¯s tunnel vision and landed an overhanded swing on one of the tails, but her blade only made it a third of the way through the tough flesh. The tail surged in response to the attack and threw Zale over the edge of the deck.


    Rakin let out a roar, but managed to contain his fiery fury and Kole¡¯s heart lurched in his chest before he remembered that this was the dungeon and that she¡¯d likely appear safe in the Dahn before her armor could drag her to the bottom of the ocean.


    Will she be soaked? Kole wondered idly despite the battle.


    He shook away the thought and reassessed. The arrow attacks had slowed as the archers tried to conserve their arrows for good shots on the holes in the hide. Kole could have continued but felt that wouldn¡¯t be enough. It was then he noticed the cloaker¡¯s odd behavior.


    As it attacked Rakin and the rapier-wielding elven adventurer it kept its back to the archers. When its targets moved out of sight, behind it, fanned all three of its remaining tails out to try to strike blindly at the hidden enemy, but it never turned to face them.


    ¡°Its face is vulnerable!¡± Kole shouted to Doug and the other archers.


    Doug nodded, and Kole turned invisible, running down the deck toward the bow of the ship. Rakin¡¯s fists and the rapier would have little chance of striking the eyes or mouth of the cloaker. Kole watched Rakin, amazed as he approached at the dwarf¡¯s speed and agility. Whenever Kole thought him trapped by an incoming swipe of the tail, the dwarf moved its body in a way Kole could hardly comprehend to bend out of its way.


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    The elf was nimble too, but that was to be expected. To see the dwarf move with grace was incongruous with his demeanor and stature. Kole had to slow as he neared the creature as the deck was slick with blood from the tail stump, which itself had stopped bleeding by then.


    At Doug¡¯s command, the archers had completely stopped firing while Kole was invisible near the battle. Kole kept to the rail, gripping it dearly as he tried to get around to the monster¡¯s front He hadn¡¯t realized it until then, but the flailing of the giant cloaker was rocking the ship.


    A loud splintering crack rang out followed by the squalling wail of twisting wood as one of the masts finally gave way under the force of cloaker¡¯s pulls as it used it to maneuver. The cloaker pulled itself forward in a lurch of its two other tails. The foremast fell quickly but then slowed as the rigging caught hold. The ropes couldn¡¯t handle the weight, however, and they snapped one by one and the mast toppled into the sea.


    Heedless of the danger of the falling mast, the elf took the opportunity to slash at the body of the cloaker as it flew past him, leaving a long shallow gash along its side. Robbed of the mast it had been using to leap around the deck, the creature¡¯s movements slowed as it used its tails on the smaller fixtures and structures at the bow of the ship.


    Once certain the mast wouldn¡¯t swing back at him, Kole continued his run into the fray. The ship¡¯s swaying slowed as the cloaker became less mobile, and Kole quickly covered the ground and the eyes of the cloaker came within view as he stood along the rail, twenty feet from where Rakin battled the tails.


    Kole had considered his options on the way over on his method of attack. Magic Missile as a spell was incredibly useful when he needed to hit a creature, the spell had a homing component that unerringly sought the creature targeted by the spell. Unfortunately, when the target moved, the spell didn¡¯t let Kole choose where exactly on it he wanted to hit. If he aimed at a bullseye of an archery butt, he¡¯d hit it every time, but if someone threw the target into the air, his bolts of force would follow after it until it hit the first part it caught up to. With the cloaker moving about, the Force bolts of Magic Missile would spread out and hit the beast all over.


    So, Kole had settled on using his blasting rod. His aim was okay, but the eyes were large, and he could get close. He inched closer, watching the pattern of the tail attacks and choosing a route obstructed by the debris of the deck that made tail attacks unlikely.


    ¡°Create an opening for me!¡± Kole shouted to Rakin, once he was as close as he dared.


    The dwarf complied immediately, while the elf looked a little confused but battled on. Rakin let out a very unmonkly roar and ran at the cloaker¡¯s face with a jagged piece of wood. He ducked under one tail, leapt over another only to be knocked back by the third, sending him flying into a pile of sail and rope left over from the collapsed mast.


    Kole saw his chance the moment after Rakin was struck, aimed his rod at the cloaker¡¯s open mouth, and sent power into the rod. The purple blast of force shot straight past the swordlike teeth and disappeared into the darkness of its gaping maw. While Kole couldn¡¯t see the impact of his strike, the effect was immediate, and the cloaker reared in pain briefly before dropping flat to the ground. It scanned the deck and quickly saw the now visible Kole.


    Kole dove, turning invisible as he did, narrowly missing the tail that struck the rail he¡¯d been near. He scrambled across the deck, slipping in the blood as the tails of the cloaking crashed down on the deck indiscriminately searching for the invisible gnat that had caused it pain. Kole ran towards the archers in the hopes of the cloaker moving to face him but the cloaker blindly attacked in the area he¡¯d been in.


    Invisible, duh! Kole chastised himself. Standing on a crate, Kole let his invisibility lapse and fired another blast at the cloaker. The blast struck it on its wing, leaving another wound, and the cloaker snapped around to face Kole, finally giving the archers a line of fire on its vulnerable face.


    Kole risked a glance to the archers, but they were holding their fire. Doug heldan arrow drawn, eyes closed in focus.


    ¡°What are they waiting for!?¡± he asked aloud.


    As if on cue, Doug loosed the arrow. Kole turned back to the enemy just in time to see a tail coming for him.


    ¡°Roh-ka,¡± he shouted, placing his hand before him as he cast the newest version of his Shield spell.


    The semi-translucent barrier appeared before his outstretched palm, and Kole couldn¡¯t help but close his eyes as the limb came for him.


    There¡¯s no way this will stop it, He thought as he accepted his imminent expulsion from the dungeon.


    Had his eyes been open, he would have been shocked to see the tip of the tail strike the shield, only to be deflected up and over him.


    When he wasn¡¯t dead in the next instant, Kole had the presence of mind to open his eyes in time to see the after-effects of Doug¡¯s arrow. It hadn¡¯t struck the cloaker at all, but the other new construction wall at the bow he¡¯d not yet cannibalized for arrows. Where it struck, the wood warped and melted, flowing into the form of roots and shot out to the cloaker.


    The monster left Kole alone as it began to battle the ship itself. The wood began to wrap around the creature, pulling it to the deck, but more importantly, holding it in its current orientation.


    ¡°Loose!¡± someone shouted from behind Kole and heard dozens of arrows rushed over him at the trapped enemy.


    Most hit what served as the creature¡¯s face, bouncing harmlessly to the deck, but enough struck true, and the eyes of the beast slammed shut, arrows sticking out between the lids and leaking pale white liquid.


    The cloaker lost all semblance of control and began swinging its tails blindly, striking all over the deck. Kole joined in the ranged barrage with his blasting rod. Rakin took the opportunity to charge, now wielding an ax. He dodged his way to the creature¡¯s head, stuck as it was to the deck, and landed a heavy swing into its left eye. Before he could draw the ax out, a tail struck him and threw him back. The elf made an attempt to do the same as Rakin, but his sword pierced the monster¡¯s flesh, finding nothing critical and he too was thrown.


    Kole began to lose hope. Even with the monster trapped, they couldn¡¯t kill it. He racked his brain trying to think of something they could do when he saw something climbing cresting over the edge of the ship.


    Kole stared in awe¡ªfor more than one reason¡ªas a very pale and very naked young woman climbed onto the deck behind the cloaker and pulled out the ax Rakin had left in its tail stump. The cloaker lashed a tail back at the sensation, But the new attacker vanished into black mist only to reappear a moment later on the cloaker¡¯s back, ax in hand. She took two bounds forward, navigating over the woods that strained to hold the cloaker down, and brought the pick end of the ax down in an overhead swing


    For a moment the cloaker spasmed, tails writhing for a moment as its wings bucked against the restraints before the monster collapsed onto the deck. The surviving crew and adventurers let out a cheer and Zale looked on from the back of the cloaker with triumph. That is until she realized her unclothed state. In the act of vanishing out of her armor, she left her clothes and disguise bracelet behind.


    Her skin immediately darkened in embarrassment¡ªsomething in the moment before he looked away Kole learned was a full body reaction. Zale vanished again, reappearing out of sight behind the cloaker.


    ¡°Someone get me some clothes!¡± she shouted.

 Chapter 73: Private Incident

    Some of the crew tripped over themselves to run below deck to fetch Zale clothing. While they ran, others tended to the injured crew. Few required tending though. Those that the cloaker¡¯s tails had caught hadn¡¯t survived. All the surviving wounded were covered from splinters from the monster¡¯s destructive rampage.


    ¡°Door!¡± Rakin shouted, drawing Kole¡¯s attention away from the monster corpse.


    ¡°Awww,¡± Doug said, disappointed. ¡°I was really looking forwards to seeing the floating mat.¡±


    Rakin ignored Doug¡¯s complaints and Zale¡¯s situation and walked through the door.


    ¡°I guess he hasn¡¯t developed a love for the sea,¡± Kole said to Doug.


    The taller of the three boys waited for the crew to come up with clothes for Zale. She came out from behind the cloaker dressed in one of her spare sets of clothes, sans boots which were somewhere below the waves.


    ¡°Sorry, I¡ª¡° Kole began but Zale interrupted him.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t going to talk about it,¡± she said firmly. ¡°Ever.¡±


    Kole and Doug nodded, and they headed through the door.


    Zale shot Rakin a look as she entered the ready room, and he bit back whatever comment he was going to make.


    ¡°Nice job!¡± he said instead.


    ¡°Thank you, you too.¡± She said and turned to Doug. ¡°Did you conjure those entangling roots?¡±


    Doug nodded proudly.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if it would work, but I¡¯m very glad it did.¡±


    They told Zale about what had happened while she¡¯d been in the water, as they collected their belongings which had made their way to the room.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Zale asked everyone before she opened the door.


    They all nodded, and she added in a menacing tone.


    ¡°Not. A. Word.¡±


    The three boys all gave deeper nods, and even Rakin held in a comment.


    Outside, the class was still mingling, waiting for the guest instructor to show up. Tigereye met them and led them to their debrief.


    ¡°Welcome back,¡± Tigereye said once they¡¯d all been settled.


    Zale had made herself a cup of tea from the refreshments in the room and had wrapped herself in a blanket.


    ¡°I saw your¡­ performance,¡± he began, causing Zale to blush once more. ¡°And I was very impressed.¡±


    Rakin, who¡¯d been holding in a hundred different jabs could no longer hold it in.


    ¡°Ain¡¯t she a bit young for ye?¡± he said and then burst out into laughter.


    No one laughed, and everyone glared Rakin. He lifted his hands up in surrender.


    Tigereye continued, pretending like the comment hadn¡¯t been made.


    ¡°Underbrook and I did not expect any group to slay the cloaker matriarch. We planned to award scores based on performance on the nightly battles. You have surpassed our expectations. Fives are reserved for groups that perform above and beyond expectations. This qualifies. Congratulations.¡±


    Tigereye went on to explain and praise the specifics of each of their performances. He was impressed by Kole¡¯s foresight in bringing the stone¡ªsomething Kole hadn¡¯t actually done but refrained from correcting.


    ¡°None of you wasted the extra time you were given. Each of you left with a new spell or ability. I am proud of you.¡±


    He looked at Zale specifically when he said the last line, and she beamed, embarrassment forgotten under his praise.


    Tigereye didn¡¯t seem to be one to give out praise lightly, and Kole was glad to receive it, he felt a pang of jealousy at Zale¡¯s reaction. Tigereye would be her mentor, and she was assured a place in the program next year. He wanted that. Someone to guide him, help him.


    He pushed down the jealously and tried to recapture the feeling of triumph he¡¯d just had, but it was gone, soured by his reaction.


    The group left the debriefing room and went over to where the Ice Picks were lying on the ground and sat next to them. As they walked, Kole realized they were all swaying a bit.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°I think I still have my sea legs,¡± he observed.


    They all joined the Ice Picks, and sat in silence, all exhausted and not wanting to risk talking about what had occurred and being overheard. Tigereye had once more stressed the importance of not giving away what happened in the dungeon and no group wanted to fail over something as small as that.


    After a half hour, a guest instructor came in and began a lecture about the ethics of adventuring and the responsibility of the adventurer to those in danger. The lecture was more of a group conversation, with the instructor asking questions to the students, and then having others poke holes in their logic. Kole would have been more interested if he wasn¡¯t so exhausted.


    When all the groups had had their turn, Tigereye got everyone¡¯s attention and they gathered for the group debriefing.


    ¡°Let¡¯s cut right to the fun part,¡± Underbrook said to the class and gestured to the leaderboard.


    <ol>


    <li> Ice Picks 13</li>


    <li> The Forsaken 13</li>


    <li> The Risen Dahn 11</li>


    </ol>


    Murmurs broke amongst the students at the change. Everyone had known the Ice Picks had received a 5 on the arctic circle dungeon, so for Kole¡¯s team to have tied them, they¡¯d have needed a 5 today.


    ¡°Now, first we¡¯d like to apologize,¡± Underbrook said, speaking over the chatter. ¡°It¡¯s very unusual for the Dahn to produce time-dilated dungeons more than once a semester. Normally, we don¡¯t let the students know if this will be the case, to encourage you to prepare for the unexpected but¡­ it has been noted by our colleagues that most of you experienced downturns in your academic performances after your stint in the arctic. As such if this happens again, we will let you know in advance.¡±


    The students let out a collective groan at the suggestion they might have another long period in the dungeon, but Kole perked up at it. His main concern was finding the time before the end of the semester to complete his spell. If he had an additional extra month, he was certain he¡¯d meet his goal in time.


    ¡°So, onto the grades. As those of you with math skills and memories may have deduced, the Forsaken have received a 5 this week.¡±


    Underbrook continued, talking over the new round of chatter.


    ¡°Tigereye and I didn¡¯t actually expect anyone to defeat the cloaker matriarch. A 4 was to be given to any group that made it through to that battle with all their members intact¡ªno easy feat I assure you. The Forsaken,¡± Underbrook smiled at the name, ¡°used their time aboard the ship to not only prepare and plan for each night¡¯s attack, and each of them learned a new skill, spell, or ability in that time that allowed them to defeat the cloaker matriarch.¡±


    ¡°Can we see the fight?¡± someone asked.


    ¡°No!¡± Both Tigereye and Zale said in unison. Tigereye firmly¡ªclosing the issue¡ªwhile Zale had shouted in reflex and panic and shrank in embarrassment after.


    ¡°There was¡­ a private incident in the final battle, so unfortunately we will not be able to show it to you,¡± Underbrook explained to the disappointed class.


    Zale sagged in relief next to Kole, and Underbrook continued speaking of and showing highlights.


    Aside from Kole¡¯s group, only three others made it to the matriarch¡¯s battle with all their members alive, though only the Ice Picks and Gray¡¯s team made it there with everyone in fighting condition. Most of the groups didn¡¯t survive the nightly attacks long enough, and it was only the groups that devised and implemented strategies and sourced new arrows that made it through.


    Groups that made it to the matriarch with any member standing, got 3s and most groups fell into this. Four groups received either a 1 or a 2, the 1s reserved for groups that not only failed to make it to the end but underperformed in the nightly defenses. Underbrook shared some of the more impressive feats, and Zale looked over to Harold proudly as they showed him cleaving through one of the matriarch¡¯s tails.


    ¡°Bah, I did that too,¡± Rakin grumbled.


    ¡°Before we dismiss for the week, does anyone have any questions?¡± Underbrook asked after completing the group debrief.


    ¡°What in the god¡¯s names were those cloakers doing!?¡± A student shouted out, clearly still troubled by the events.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Underbrook said. ¡°We don¡¯t really know.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± the same voice asked, outraged.


    ¡°What I mean is, cloakers are a mystery to us. They didn¡¯t exist before the Flood, and no one has really been sure why their young swarm ships like that. There are theories, but nothing¡¯s been proven.¡±


    ¡°How often does this occur?¡± another student asked.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s quite rare. It maybe happens to one ship a year¡ªat least, that¡¯s all we hear about. I suppose it could happen more often and the crews are just lost¡­ but the attack you all experienced was on par with the most intense attacks recorded. You all really should be proud of yourselves.¡±


    Underbrook looked at one particularly disheveled group, and then amended with a grin, ¡°Well, most of you at least.¡±


    The class dismissed after that, and Kole and his friends stood around each other, no one speaking.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Zale began breaking the ice. ¡°Are you all okay if we don¡¯t do anything tonight?¡±


    ¡°Yer the only one who ever wants to do anything after these blasted dungeons,¡± Rakin grumbled.


    Kole didn¡¯t agree with the sentiment in general of Rakin¡¯s statement, but on this particular occasion he really wanted to get to the crafting college and return the very expensive emerald he¡¯d somehow acquired.


    ¡°I should really bring that gem back to Amara,¡± Kole said, only slightly regretful.


    He was also a little tired of being around people this past month, even if he¡¯d spent most of each day alone studying.


    Doug only shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get back to the Glade.¡±


    Zale smiled in relief that she¡¯d not hurt anyone¡¯s feelings.


    ¡°Great! See you guys tomorrow!¡± she said and then spun around.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± she shouted, waving to Harold who was waiting for her by the door.


    ¡°Bah,¡± Rakin said and spat on the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t like that guy.¡±


    Bah indeed, Kole agreed silently.


    ¡°Why?¡± Doug asked, looking from Rakin to Harold, ¡°He seems nice enough.¡±


    Kole was about to respond but realized he didn¡¯t know why he didn¡¯t like Harold, he simply didn¡¯t. He¡¯d thought it was because he¡¯d hurt Zale, but she¡¯d forgiven him.


    Should I? He wondered. But found he couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t appreciate Zale,¡± Rakin said, ¡°we¡¯ll see if he sticks around whenever she comes to her senses and stops wearing that stupid bracelet.¡±


    Kole found himself nodding in agreement.


    ¡°Now if ye¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯m going to go bury myself in the dirt.¡±


    Rakin left after that, leaving Doug and Kole looking at each other confused.


    ¡°Is that a dwarf thing?¡± Doug asked Kole.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Kole answered honestly.

 Chapter 74: The Lost Prince

    The King: Send my wife away, to the country. How can she die in her room if she is not there?


    The Seer: Distance is a flimsy shield against the power of fate.


    The King: Then we shall burn down the royal suites. As soon as she is gone from the city, burn the palace down.


    The Seer: As you wish my king.


    -Act I of the Keyhole of Time


    ¡ª


    Kole really wanted to sleep, eat, and shower after the battle, but the weight of the emerald compelled him to seek out Amara. He also knew he should probably shower, eat, and then sleep, as was the more responsible order, but he was just so tired, and the magic of the Dahn seemed to keep his bed clean, so there would be no harm.


    Wait a minute¡­


    He looked down at his filthy clothes, one of his two remaining sets, and now only suited for the rag pile. He hadn¡¯t had to get his clothes cleaned since he moved into his room, and had only just noticed now, and realized the room must have also been cleaning his clothes.


    ¡°If only it¡¯d repair them,¡± he mumbled.


    He¡¯d worn clothes provided by the school early on in the dungeon, but those had eventually gotten destroyed, and when it was between his own clothing and sail cloth replacements, he¡¯d elected to wear his own.


    The same gnome attendant as his first visit greeted Kole as he entered the workshop building of the crafting college. Or at least, he thought it was the same student. He was ashamed to admit he was terrible at telling gnomes apart, but in his defense, he¡¯d only ever seen a few.


    As he walked down the hall, he paid close attention to the details of the building, as he tried to figure out where the building on campus ended and the Dahn began. Now that he was looking, it was quite obvious.


    While most of the doors in the building were wood or metal¡ªthe metal doors often accompanied by large warning signs¡ªthe door to the hallway where Amara¡¯s workshop led was the stone door Kole had come to associate with the magical doors of the Dahn. Not all the stone doors in the Dahn were portals to other areas or pocket realms¡ªor so he thought¡ªbut all the portals to other areas or pocket realms had been stone doors like this one.


    As usual, Kole felt no difference as he passed over the threshold and he wondered how far he¡¯d traveled in that single step.


    He navigated to Amara¡¯s door from memory and knocked hard on the metal, but no one answered. He tried the handle but found it locked. He placed his ear on the door, but couldn¡¯t hear anything through the thick metal.


    ¡°Hello!¡± he yelled, pounding on the door with his fist.


    It was possible Amara wasn¡¯t there, but it was far more likely that she was simply engrossed in something and not paying attention. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard the gentle scratching of tiny claws on the bottom of the door. He waited a little while longer, and a flustered Amara answered the door, combing back her hair out of her face with her hands.


    ¡°Oh! Kole! Hi!¡± she said, as if she¡¯d not heard the knocks. ¡°That must be why Gus attacked my hair.¡±


    Gus perched on her shoulder, looking at Kole proudly.


    Can rats be proud? He thought, despite being certain he¡¯d read the posture correctly.


    ¡°I wanted to bring this back,¡± Kole said, offering her the emerald.


    Amara¡¯s eyes grew wide and she sagged in relief.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you took that!¡± she said, snatching it back. ¡°I was looking everywhere for that thing.¡±


    Kole looked past her and saw the ordered chaos of her lab was now just regular chaos.


    ¡°About that..¡± Kole began and then explained his last month to her.


    ¡°The Dahn teleported this from my lab into your bag on a ship at sea!?¡± Amara said amazed.


    ¡°It seems like it,¡± Kole said, ¡°But I suppose it could have put it in the bag in the ready room. But, I¡¯m still not sure whether or not the place beyond the ready room is real, though I have no idea how it could exist otherwise.¡±


    They sat in her messy workshop, and speculated for not the first time about how the dungeon might function, but as always settled on ¡°weird ensouled artifact magic.¡± Unlike sorcery, wizardry, enchanting, or runecraft, which all drew on the Fonts in recognizable and decipherable ways, even the least of ensouled artifacts tended to bend the learned¡¯s understanding of magic and the Dahn was far from the least. It had been constructed by a dragon, using its own soul stone, and gifted to the dwarves before it eventually fell into the hands of Daulf to eventually become the Academy of Illunia.


    ¡°Grandmother hates cloakers,¡± Amara said offhandedly.


    ¡°She does?¡± Kole asked, surprised.


    Lidian Oakcrest was a famous naturalist. The famous naturalist and he thought it odd she¡¯d hate a creature. From what works of hers Kole had read, she seemed to appreciate something about all creatures.


    ¡°Mhmm,¡± Amara said as she was focusing on the emerald, filling it with some new rune intent now that Kole was done with it. ¡°She could never figure out why they behaved the way you experienced. She theorized that they were displaced from their homes in the deep of the original oceans by the increased sea pressure of the Flood, but she could never prove it since.¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± Kole said, thinking. ¡°They looked a bit like some creatures I remember seeing through the dome back home. Flat bodied and alien looking.¡±


    They talked about small things for a while longer, until Kole eventually excused himself. His quick drop-off had turned into a social visit, and he really wanted to get some time alone to do¡­ something.


    He was pretty exhausted and for the first time in as long as he could remember, he just wanted to relax.


    What would I even do?


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    As he walked back to his room¡ªtrying and failing to get a door to appear in the section of the Dahn he was in¡ªhe tried to think of what he used to like doing in his free time and came to a shocking realization.


    Do I not actually have any hobbies?


    ***


    By the time Kole left Amara, it was past dinner time, and Kole treated himself to a meal in the dining hall. After months at sea and the bland rations that came with it, the thought of oatmeal wasn¡¯t particularly appealing¡ªeven if it was free.


    After eating alone, Kole walked through the library in search of his room but paused looking at the books.


    He went up to a librarian who was busy inspecting books for damage.


    ¡°Excuse me, but is there a fiction section?¡± he asked.


    He had remembered he¡¯d used to enjoy reading stories¡ªboth fictional and real¡ªabout adventurers and their feats. It had been years since he¡¯d read for pleasure, and today seemed a good day for it.


    The librarian directed Kole to the shockingly large section of the library dedicated to fiction.


    Seeing the surprise on Kole¡¯s face, she explained.


    ¡°The founders of the Academy had an appreciation for fiction and stocked the library with much of it even as they filled it with books of academics and magic.¡±


    She left Kole to browse, and he looked over titles for a while before giving up and grabbing one at random. The Lost Prince.


    Kole flipped through the pages on his way towards his room and began to regret his choice. It seemed to be a bit of a romance.


    Why in the realms is this type of book in the Dahn? He asked himself. He considered going back, but elected to just return to go straight to bed.


    But the Dahn had other plans for him. Inside his room, he found both his roommates to be present, and in a one-sided conversation.


    ¡°You make it seem so easy¡ª¡°


    Kole heard Theral speaking to the pack rat, which was sitting at the corner of the desk. Theral stopped speaking as soon as he heard Kole.


    ¡°Am I interrupting a private conversation?¡± Kole joked, trying to hide his irritation. He¡¯d really wanted to sleep by then.


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Theral said, ¡°Just me venting my frustrations at a semi-willing audience.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why the Dahn hasn¡¯t gotten rid of all those creatures,¡± Kole said as he collapsed onto his bed.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s grateful to them,¡± Theral said after a moment¡¯s consideration.


    ¡°Grateful?¡± Kole asked, sitting up, surprised at the answer.


    ¡°Yeah, I, uh¡­¡± Theral began, as if trying to remember. ¡°heard a story about a battle that took place in the Dahn. Some demons had found a way in and a ranger empowered a pack rat to help fight them off.¡±


    ¡°When was this?¡± Kole asked intrigued. ¡°There have been more incursions lately.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it was quite a long time ago¡­ probably,¡± Theral answered quickly, waving away the question.


    ¡°Have you heard about the latest incursions?¡±


    When Theral said that he hadn¡¯t, Kole filled him in on what he¡¯d experienced. When he was finished, Theral seemed about to ask a follow-up question, but then thought better of it and instead asked.


    ¡°How¡¯s your spell work going?¡±


    Kole gave him a rundown of the past month and a half, explaining how he¡¯d been in the dungeon and how time moved differently there. Kole could tell Theral really wanted to know more about the dungeon, but he sat silently, not interrupting despite the curiosity evident on his face.


    Kole thought it strange but was exhausted and didn¡¯t want to get into it.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t work on Thunderwave at all?¡± Theral asked.


    ¡°A little, but learning the rune took priority and I was closest to learning Shield.¡±


    Theral nodded.


    ¡°So how is Thunderwave progressing?¡±


    Kole gave him a summary of his troubles.


    ¡°I spoke to another wizard familiar with traditional wizardry, and he recommended I start over and take some different paths, so I did, but I feel stuck again.¡±


    They discussed it a while, and Theral pulled out his spellbook, removing a few pages from them with individual spell components drawn on them.


    ¡°Here, these components might help,¡± he said, handing them over.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Kole asked, taking them despite his question.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s nothing see? I can just make copies. Magic spellbook and all.¡±


    Theral showed Kole his spellbook, which was open to copies of two of the components he¡¯d just given him.


    ¡°Yours can copy spellforms!?¡± Kole asked, shocked.


    That wasn¡¯t supposed to be possible¡ªor at least, no one had ever done it he corrected himself which wasn¡¯t the same thing as he himself liked to remind people.


    Theral looked a little embarrassed.


    ¡°Yeah, it is a very powerful item."


    Kole could tell Theral didn¡¯t want to talk about it, so he asked a different question.


    ¡°How do you know so much about traditional wizardry? Where are you from?¡±


    Theral considered answering at all before finally giving in.


    ¡°I grew up traveling with my parents. My mother was a Stormcaller and trained me in wizardry and sorcery, but she¡¯d left her clan before she¡¯d learned enough. When they passed, I had to get by studying on my own and found myself with a lot of free time and easy access to traditional spellbooks.¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± Kole began, not sure what else to say about Theral¡¯s parents


    People had spent most of his life consoling him for the loss of his parents and he¡¯d hated it, nothing anyone said ever made him feel better¡ªand they weren¡¯t even dead so it made their words all the more frustrating.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, it was a long time ago.¡±


    Theral then spotted the book Kole had taken from the library.


    ¡°Is that The Lost Prince?¡±


    ¡°Umm, yeah¡­ you read it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just the other day actually. Though I¡¯ll admit it wasn¡¯t very good.¡±


    Kole was about to jump in and mention that he too didn¡¯t care for the more romantic sorts of fantasies, but Theral continued.


    ¡°It¡¯s the weakest of Sibil Earnherst¡¯s books by far. His knowledge of the Midlian Kingdom was¡­ very inaccurate and he seemed to jump from action to action scene with no dialogue between whatsoever.¡±


    Kole nodded along politely, listening as Theral recommended a few other books by the author that were better.


    ¡°Well, I really need to get some rest,¡± Kole said, interrupting. ¡°It¡¯s been a long¡­ day.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sorry. Of course!¡± Theral apologized. ¡°None of my friends appreciate adventuring novels, so its rare I get to discuss them.¡±


    Kole moved to get ready for bed, turning invisible to change clothes. Theral politely turned away, despite the invisibility, paid extra close attention to his book.


    Once he¡¯d changed, he laid his ragged clothes out on the floor to examine the tattered remains of them.


    ¡°You want me to fix those?¡± Theral asked, turning around to face Kole again.


    ¡°You can? I mean, I wouldn¡¯t be against it.¡±


    Theral made quick work of the clothes, first casting Clean on them, then Mend. All in all it took five minutes for the clothes to restored to a nicer state than they¡¯d been in before he¡¯d left home.


    ¡°Wow! Thanks!¡± Kole said, holding up his clothes, relieved he¡¯d not have to buy another set.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, I had to use up all my Will before bed anyway.¡±


    Kole nodded in understanding. It was rare he didn¡¯t spend all his Will when studying at night, but with Will capacity increasing proportionally to Will expenditure, it was an essential practice for wizards to exhaust as much Will as they could each night sleep. He considered his own remaining Will. He had about thirty left and determined a cantrip would be enough to exhaust his Will before bed.


    He cast the cantrip for the Font of Barriers, which simply required him to cast the Shield spell, leaving out the actual spell component and only opening the gate and forming the path.


    A translucent barrier appeared just before his palm as he said the words of the spell, ¡°Roh-ta-ko.¡±


    Before the cantrip was completed, he realized how dumb he¡¯d been.


    The cantrip he¡¯d expected to cost him 30 Will, only cost him around 10.


    Of course!


    Shield only cost him 20 Will now, obviously the cantrip cost would have gone down alongside the spells.


    ¡°You okay there?¡± Theral asked. ¡°You look¡­ happy and mad.¡±


    Kole explained, earning a laugh from Theral.


    ¡°I¡¯ve done a thing or two like that. Being goal-orientated when it comes to learning magic tends to blind you to anything but the goal. That Barrier cantrip can be quite useful in battle,¡± Theral said. ¡°You should practice with it. It won¡¯t block everything, but it can stop most things. And it¡¯s free¡ªwell, cheaper for you I suppose.¡±


    Kole tested out the cantrip for the Font of Force, pushing a book off the desk from a few feet away, and found its Will cost too had gone down. He cast it a second time to use up the last of his Will, thanked Theral for the advice, and lay down for bed.


    As he lay, he realized how late it had gotten. He¡¯d meant to sleep early but now he was going to be exhausted for group the next day.


    No, he thought, stopping himself from getting mad at Theral.


    The young wizard had given him advice and tutelage he would have killed for a month back, and he was excited to apply his knowledge. His last thought before bed was a hope that Tallen would be as helpful as his mysterious roommate had been.


    Not likely¡­

 Chapter 75: Thief

    [The queen now showing her pregnancy, stands in a room supervising workers as they move furniture.]


    The Queen: Move the dresser over there a few inches. It was just touching the window.


    Handmaiden: My queen, you must rest. You should not concern yourself with the decorating of a room.


    The Queen: Oh but I must. I was stricken when my husband sent me away. I so longed to give birth in the home that we had made. When word reached me of the fire, I saw it as a sign. If our home was gone, I will recreate it here and surprise his majesty when he arrives for the birth.


    -Act II of the Keyhole of Time


    ¡ª


    Kole heard arguing as soon as he opened the door to the study group room.


    ¡°Stop using it for a day and see what happens!¡± Rakin yelled. ¡°See what he thinks.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to test him!¡± Zale shouted back. ¡°He doesn¡¯t care. And it makes everything simpler.¡±


    ¡°Yer hiding who ye are!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk!¡± She shot back, and then they both turned to see Kole entering and grew quiet.


    Zale waved, and Rakin gave a grunt of greeting and then they went to separate sides of the room.


    ¡°Everything alright?¡± Kole asked, moving to her side of the room.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Zale said, clearly lying. ¡°Your clothes don¡¯t fit.¡±


    Kole looked down and realized the pants Zale had helped him buy stopped just above his ankle. He looked at his sleeves and saw they were too short as well.


    ¡°Ah flood,¡± Kole cursed. ¡°I¡¯m going to need to buy more. How did this happen so fast?¡±


    ¡°It must be all the time we¡¯ve spent in the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Did you get any taller?¡± Kole asked, looking at her closely.


    ¡°No,¡± Zale answered quickly. ¡°Unlike some people, I¡¯d realize it if my clothes didn¡¯t fit.¡±


    ¡°Why did I grow? Is this another weird Dahn thing?¡±


    Zale rolled her eyes.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re a fifteen-year-old boy. I probably won¡¯t get much taller than I am now.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Kole said. ¡°Yeah, I guess everything isn¡¯t about magic. But¡­ it is weird that we grow in there. Am I sixteen now? My birthday¡¯s in two months¡­¡±


    ¡°Something tells me no one is going to count time spent in a time-dilated dungeon.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡±


    Just then, a door opened and the bustling of a busy street could be heard beyond it. Kole looked over just in time to see Runt ducking in and slamming the door behind her. She pulled the handle off the wall, and the door disappeared.


    ¡°What¡¯d you steal now?¡± Zale asked with a sigh.


    Runt grinned and winked at Zale.


    ¡°A heart.¡±


    ¡°Ew, no thanks,¡± Zale replied as Runt moved to a seat in the room.


    ¡°Does she have her own magic door handle thing like you used to have?¡± Kole asked Zale.


    Zale nodded.


    ¡°Why does she get one?¡±


    ¡°She lives in New Lakeside. She says it has ¡®better night life¡¯ and that there are ¡®way less nerds.¡¯ And, she doesn¡¯t have one so much as she keeps stealing them.¡±


    ¡°Fewer nerds,¡± Kole said, absentmindedly correcting Zale.


    ¡°You¡¯re proving my point!¡± Runt yelled from her seat, from which she could apparently hear the whole conversation.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Your mom lets her?¡± Kole asked, ignoring Runt.


    He¡¯d only interacted with the girl a handful of times, but he could see why Zale didn¡¯t get along with her¡ªeven disregarding the forced rivalry.


    ¡°It¡¯s sort of a training exercise¡­ I think. She could just make them not work for Runt if she wanted.¡±


    ¡°Kole Highridge!¡± a cold official-sounding voice called out.


    Kole turned and was surprised to find it had come from Professor Shalia.


    ¡°Um¡­ yes? Present?¡±


    ¡°We need to talk,¡± she said, gesturing for Kole to take a seat.


    ¡°Do I look like a receptionist?¡± she asked.


    Kole looked her up and down. She was wearing a loose-fitting white linen shirt, red leather jacket, high-leather boots, and a vaguely triangular hat.


    ¡°You kind of look like a pirate¡­¡± Kole said, again without thinking.


    He groaned internally. Have I always had a loose tongue?


    The professor smiled.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I was going for. So, we can both agree, I am not a receptionist and am a dashing pirate.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°So, why do I keep having to deal with your correspondence?¡± she asked, walking in a circle around him in his seat and dropping two letters on a table, one open and the other sealed.


    Kole caught himself from answering, saying something along the lines of ¡°I never asked you to do that,¡± but he had the presence of mind enough to tell that wouldn¡¯t be helpful.


    Luckily, she never expected an answer and instead pointed to the open letter.


    ¡°That one was directed to the chancellor of the school,¡± she began.


    Again, Kole refrained from pointing out that was in fact her, so she only had to deal with two of his letters total.


    ¡°It requested I find one ¡®Kole Highridge¡ªpossibly going by Kole Teak¡ªand contained a very accurate sketch of you. The letter laid out some very serious claims of theft.¡±


    ¡°Theft?!¡± Kole asked. ¡°What did I steal?¡±


    He wracked his brain trying to think of what he could have stolen, but Professor Shalia pulled a familiar amulet from inside her jacket.


    ¡°My amulet!¡±


    Kole felt in his shirt, both upset and impressed by the theft.


    I didn¡¯t feel her take that at all!


    ¡°So you admit you stole it?¡± she said, one eyebrow raised.


    ¡°No! It¡¯s mine. It was my mother¡¯s¡ªis my mother¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°The letter is very clear that all your family¡¯s possessions now belong to this Lord Cyril Underhill,¡± she said, taking on a highbrow accent as she spoke the name. ¡°He did agree to allow you to keep any other possessions you might have taken¡ªso long as you agree to stay away and return the amulet.¡±


    Kole stood up, too angry to remain seated.


    ¡°He can¡¯t do that. My mother is alive.¡±


    His mind raced with the implications.


    This must be why I was chased. Did he want this the whole time? Is this why he helped? To get this?


    Despite his anger, Kole was a little impressed by the planning if Lord Underhill had spent years supporting Kole to get this ensouled artifact. The cost he¡¯d paid to finance Kole over the years was nothing compared to the price of an ensouled artifact.


    Dropping the interrogation and taking on a gentler tone, Professor Shalia continued.


    ¡°I know you believe this, but if the letter is true¡ªwhich you seem to have just confirmed, then my hands are tied¡ªand not in the fun way.¡±


    Zale let out a fake gag behind Kole at the last comment while Runt laughed.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Kole began but had nothing. Defeated, he continued, ¡°It¡¯s all I have to go on. It¡¯s all I have left of them.¡±


    ¡°I think I might be able to help,¡± Tallen said, having appeared at some point during the brief interrogation.


    Relief filled Kole at the words, which surprised him. He¡¯d not have been so reassured from Tallen¡¯s offer of help a few weeks back, but now¡ªwell, now Kole knew who he was, and he had proved a little helpful of late.


    ¡°That¡¯s an ensouled artifact,¡± Tallen said, pointing to the amulet.


    Kole nodded. He¡¯d only recently learned that but wondered how Tallen knew. One ought not advertise they had an ensouled artifact if they couldn¡¯t defend themselves from thieves, and Kole looked cautiously over at Runt who had perked up at the pronouncement.


    Well, I guess I¡¯ll worry about her if I get to keep it. He thought, decided to put off that problem for later.


    Professor Shalia relaxed a bit at the claim, and didn¡¯t ask how Tallen knew, but seemed to trust that he had a solution.


    ¡°In Illandrios¡ªand most of the world¡ªit¡¯s illegal to transfer ownership of an ensouled artifact that¡¯s still Bound to somebody. Even if the seller consents,¡± Tallen explained. ¡°You must sever the Bond before a transfer can be made¡ªif you can. If your mother is still alive, then he can¡¯t take that from you.¡±


    Kole hadn¡¯t been aware of that law, but the finer parts of ensouled artifact ownership hadn¡¯t exactly been on his self-assigned curriculum back home.


    ¡°And she¡¯s still alive?¡± Professor Shalia asked, genuinely surprised. ¡°I thought he was just a hopeful idiot.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Tallen said but then corrected, ¡°Well, maybe. That amulet is still Bound to someone, and if Kole has had it all this time and it isn¡¯t Bound to him¡ªwhich it is not¡ªthen it must still be connected to his mother¡ªor maybe his father.¡±


    Tallen¡¯s words quickly pushed out his irritation at being called an idiot by the chancellor of the center of learning for all of the world.


    ¡°They¡¯re alive?¡± he asked, disbelieving, and surprising himself with the disbelief.


    He¡¯d always told himself they were alive, and Zale had even said as much, but coming from Tallen¡ªTal of Storms¡ªit cemented the belief in a way he hadn¡¯t relieved he needed.


    ¡°Probably,¡± Tallen hedged and gestured for the amulet. ¡°Let¡¯s see if I can find them.¡±


    Professor Shalia tossed Tallen the amulet, and he closed his eyes as he cast a spell.


    Nothing visibly happened, and Tallen looked disappointed. He then cast another spell, again with no visible effect, but he had a small smile after casting it.


    ¡°Whoever is Bound to this is alive¡ªobviously¡ªbut I can¡¯t find them. You say they got lost in a pocket realm?¡±


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Well, that would do it. I did confirm the person who is Bound to this is connected to you in some way, which I¡¯d say about confirms your parents are alive.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Professor Shalia said, smiling deviously. ¡°I¡¯ll go tell Lord Oldballs to shove his writ up his butt.¡±


    All the students¡ªsave for Zale, who rolled her eyes¡ªin the room broke out into laughter and looked at the head of the school with mixed looks of surprise.


    ¡°What?¡± she asked, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to comply. But I have responsibilities. And my secretary will probably word it more professionally.¡±

 Chapter 76: Pocket Realms

    [The king disembarks a carriage in the drive of the country estate and bursts through the front doors. On seeing the interior of the renovated country estate, he falls to his knees and weeps.]


    Handmaiden: Is it not to your liking? The queen went to great lengths to recreate the rooms to match the lost palace.


    Labored screams ring out from offstage, and then cease.


    -Act III of the Keyhole of Time


    ¡ª


    ¡°So,¡± Tallen said, also unamused by Shalia¡¯s antics. ¡°Back to Kole here¡¯s missing parents.¡±


    Shalia didn¡¯t look cowed, but took the hint and relinquished the spotlight.


    ¡°What do you know about their pocket realm?¡±


    ¡°Not much,¡± Kole confessed. ¡°My father left some notes.¡±


    Kole gave Tallen a summary of what he knew, which was very little. The pocket realm had been a desert wasteland with signs of a lost society. Nothing had lived in it¡ªor so his parents had thought when they discovered it¡ªbut underground in one of the ruins they¡¯d found trap-laden halls populated by sand elementals. His father had escaped, barely, but Kole didn¡¯t know the specific details of the dangers that had caused them to run. His father hadn¡¯t liked to talk about it.


    ¡°So, how do you think your parents survived in such an environment?¡± Tallen asked after Kole had shared what he¡¯d known.


    ¡°My father thought time passed differently inside¡­¡± Kole said, voicing the idea for the first time and connecting it to his own recent experiences.


    Tallen¡¯s eyes lit up at the mention of time, but he stayed silent.


    Kole continued, ¡°When he escaped for the first time, the guide who¡¯d brought them to the pocket realm¡¯s entrance had gone, and so had all signs of their camp, despite only a few hours having passed inside. When he got back to civilization, he¡¯d realized it had been gone for months.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Tallen said, thoughtfully. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can dig up. I¡¯ve done some study on pocket realms myself, and I¡¯m not an expert but I know enough. This seems to be either a dragon or Midlian pocket realm. If it was created by an outsider, it would have been a lot less coherent. I¡¯m leaning towards dragon since there was a focus on elementals. The Midlian realms tend to have more horrific hybrid monsters. Where was the entrance located?¡±


    ¡°The first time, in the eastern desert,¡± Kole answered, referring to the small patch of desert east of the orc city of Orinqth. ¡°I don¡¯t know where it reappeared the second time, my father was more secretive by then.¡±


    Tallen nodded as if he expected the answer and reassured Kole that he¡¯d look into it.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably not always connected to the Material Realm. If it were, we might have gotten a faint result from the divination on the amulet.¡±


    Kole deflated, crestfallen. He chastised himself for his brief window of hope. Without the pocket realm connected to this one, it would be impossible to find it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look like that,¡± Tallen said, noticing his shift in mood. ¡°No offense to your father, but if he found the pocket realm, I¡¯m certain I could.¡±


    Kole seemed to keep forgetting that Zale¡¯s ¡®Uncle Tallen¡¯ was in fact a famous mage out of legend, and he gave himself a mental smack in the head. Then, Tallen added unhelpfully, thinking aloud.


    ¡°But¡­ it¡¯s also possible your father didn¡¯t find it, and simply died in his search.¡±


    Tallen quickly noticed his words had once more deflated Kole and added, ¡°But, like I said. I¡¯m probably better than him¡­¡±


    ¡°How about we start the discussion?¡± Zale asked, saving her friend and Uncle from the awkward conversation they¡¯d become trapped in.


    ¡°Great idea!¡± Tallen said, clapping his hands together.


    Kole allowed Tallen to disengage. He knew the mage had meant well by his meandering word vomit, and overall he felt good about the situation.


    He opened his uncle¡¯s letter as Tallen got the other student¡¯s attention.


    Kohlyn, Kole,


    I hope this letter finds you at the Academy of Illunia. I know you¡¯ve spoken of attending, and I pestered the guard until they gave me back your journals. I found your plans. I¡¯m disappointed you felt the need to hide them from me, but in hindsight, I see why you would have feared my response. I¡¯ve been reflecting a lot of late.


    I know I have been hard on you. I¡¯m sorry. I still don¡¯t know if what you seek is possible, but I hope you find what you are looking for at this school. Know you are always welcome back home, but you should stay away until things die down.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Be careful. Lord Oldhill is looking for you and likely knows where you are. He asked about your mother¡¯s amulet.


    Don¡¯t let him have it. Hide it.


    It¡¯s not safe to discuss this in a letter, and maybe you¡¯ve figured it out by now, but the amulet is valuable.


    I¡¯ve never told you this, but I¡¯m proud of your dedication. I don¡¯t agree with your decisions, but I respect your commitment to your goals and the work you¡¯ve put toward them. I hope you prove me wrong.


    -Uncle Jaryn


    Kole wiped his nose with his sleeve and found his cheeks to be wet as well. His uncle¡¯s words hadn¡¯t exactly been gushing with praise, but it had been praise¡ªpraise he¡¯d wanted to hear his whole life.


    ¡°Well, that warning came a little late,¡± Runt¡¯s voice came from just over Kole¡¯s shoulder.


    He spun around, nearly knocking her over but she jumped back out of his way.


    ¡°Whoa! Sorry!¡± she said, holding her arms up in a placating gesture. ¡°It was a bit sappy for my taste, but I haven¡¯t exactly been modeled healthy family dynamics back home.¡±


    Kole clutched his amulet protectively.


    Is she trying to get this? He wondered, remembering how she¡¯d perked up at the revelation of what it was.


    ¡°That was private,¡± Kole said as a weak rebuke.


    ¡°Well, I happen to like private things,¡± Runt said, raising her eyebrow suggestively.


    Already suspicious of the girl, instead of growing flustered Kole knew for certain Runt was trying to get his amulet.


    ¡°You just called me a nerd,¡± Kole said tucking the amulet away.


    ¡°Well, maybe I¡¯m into that sort of thing,¡± Runt lied extremely convincingly, though Kole saw through it. ¡°How about we¡ªOW!¡±


    Whatever Runt was going to suggest was interrupted when she got struck in the head by a book. She spun around to find Zale staring daggers at her.


    ¡°Leave him and his amulet alone,¡± Zale told her.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Runt said with a sigh.


    She relaxed, her posture completely changing. It was only then he realized how elaborate her deception had been. The thief in training already had amazing control over her mannerisms and she¡¯d altered her own to come off friendlier to Kole. She walked back to a desk and sat down, to listen to Tallen as he discussed soul stones with Doug and Rakin.


    ¡°I finished mine yesterday!¡± Doug said, triumphantly lifting a rock in the air.


    To Kole¡¯s eyes, the soul stone looked like a slightly mossy riverstone¡ªwide, smooth, round, but with a green fuzz on part of it. Only, on closer inspection, the stone was slightly transparent and the green section was opaque all the way through.


    ¡°Bah!¡± Rakin shouted in frustration.


    ¡°Were you two racing?¡± Tallen asked, amused by the dwarf¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°No,¡± Rakin said, producing his own stone. ¡°I made mine too, I just wanted to have a more dramatic reveal.¡±


    Doug and Rakin told Tallen how they¡¯d worked on their soul stones through the journey, but how they were unable to create them inside the dungeon. On returning to a more comfortable environment after the six-week voyage, they were quickly able to finalize the process.


    ¡°Do you think this has something to do with the dungeon?¡± Amara asked.


    Tallen considered it for a moment before answering.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. The soul stone is something produced from one¡¯s self. There are many ways to pull the soul into the Material Realm, but those methods don¡¯t create the soul stone any more than a prybar creates the nail it pulls from a board. More likely the methods these two used were weakened by their distance from earth and nature.¡±


    Rakin and Doug both nodded in agreement at the assessment. Rakin¡¯s stone appeared to glow, though it emitted no light of its own. It appeared to be at first glance a dark orange¡ªalmost red¡ªcitrine gem, uncut and caked with stone. The lumpy stone had dark stone clinging to it, but like with Doug¡¯s stone, what at first appeared to be on the surface, actually ran through the whole of the stone.


    ¡°So what do we do with these now?¡± Doug asked.


    ¡°Funnily enough, we are going to make amulets,¡± Tallen said.


    He went on to explain what he¡¯d planned. While soul stones couldn¡¯t be used to make ensouled artifacts any longer, they were still valuable for making less fantastic magical artifacts. The dwarves used soul stones as the heart of every stone golem they created and often used them to power runes.


    At the mention of using them to power runes, Amara stared hungrily at the stones in her friend¡¯s hands.


    Aside from the dwarves, enchanters could use soul stones as part of the crafting process to produce and sustain more powerful enchantments¡ªthough this was not as popular since a soul stone could be recreated so long as the person whom it belonged to still lived, causing the existing one to vanish, not only removing the enchantment from the weapon but often causing it to fail catastrophically. Because of this, soul stones of the confirmed dead were used almost exclusively for this.


    ¡°So what are you going to do with these,¡± Amara asked after the lecture about soul stones wound down.


    She¡¯d been hanging on every word and Kole knew she was going to seek out a means of creating one of her own as soon as she could.


    ¡°I almost forgot! Sorry, I can get carried away¡ªor so I¡¯ve been told,¡± Tallen apologized, and Kole struggled to connect this sort of scatterbrained man with the Tal of legends. ¡°I had an¡­ acquaintance¡ª¡±


    Kole sighed, frustrated at the vaguery. Even after learning the big secret of Tal¡¯s identity, Zale and her family were still being evasive about some things.


    ¡°¡ªwho devised a method of using soul stones to power protective wards in a more active way. I thought about using these to simply block off the Fonts from you two, but that would only be a bandage on the problem and would not allow you to learn control. For Rakin, he had a means to filter out Faust¡¯s influence, which I think we can modify to work for our unique situation. For Doug, we will need to add a delay so your magic manifests slower and gives you the opportunity to channel it. I tried both these methods on my own issue with varying degrees of success, but my problem is more severe than you two, so I suspect they will work fine.¡±


    Dozens of questions flickered behind Amara¡¯s eyes, as she debated what to ask first. Settling on one she blurted out, ¡°Who will make such a thing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been considering it,¡± Tallen said, then paused to think. ¡°I should probably go to Kalkin¡ª¡°


    Kole had never heard of the name, but the way Amara¡¯s eyes bulged out even further¡ªsomething Kole hadn¡¯t thought possible before¡ªhe assumed him to be suitably famous.


    ¡°But¡­ the dwarves always make so much of a fuss when I visit and I¡¯d rather not.¡±


    Rakin let out a grunt of agreement.


    ¡°He¡¯d rather spend years locked in a room than be the center of attention for a day¡± Professor Shalia said from the side of the room, not looking up from where the letter draft she was writing Oldhill.


    Tallen¡¯s eyes lost focus and he seemed to be reflecting fondly on some memory the comment had triggered.


    ¡°We all have our vices,¡± Tallen said back to her, as if secreting oneself away was some guilty pleasure. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯d prefer not to go to the dwarves. So I thought I¡¯d look around the Academy. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a talented rune crafter here somewhere.


    Looking to Amara he asked, ¡°Do you know of any?¡±


    All that escaped Amara¡¯s lips was a strained screeching sound of disbelief, reminiscent of one of Gus¡¯ squeaks.

 Chapter 77: Doohicky

    It was long theorized that extradimensional spaces, also known as pocket realms, could be created using the power of the Fonts. The Fonts, after all, where used by the gods to create the Realm as we know it and the Illusian races had full access to these tools of arcane might. The primary difference, in this context at least, between the gods and men was simply a matter of scale.


    -Pocket Realms, From Theory to Fact


    ¡ª


    Kole hadn¡¯t thought it possible for Amara to look any more distressed than she had been at the mention of Kalkin, but when Tallen revealed he had never heard of her mentor Donglefore, Kole thought she would pass out right then and there.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tallen asked Amara with genuine concern.


    ¡°PROFESSOR DONGLEFORE!¡± she shouted in a mix of excitement and outrage once she recovered her voice.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Tallen stammered and looked around the room for aid.


    Professor Shalia was intent on her writing, but Kole could tell she was laughing at her friend¡¯s discomfort.


    ¡°He probably didn¡¯t want to inconvenience the professor,¡± Kole said, jumping in to aid the other mage. ¡°A project like this could distract him from the important work he¡¯s doing.¡±


    ¡°Yes! That. Exactly,¡± Tallen said, quickly, grabbing the lifeline.


    Amara¡¯s outrage faded, as she bought the weak excuse.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± She insisted. ¡°He would be delighted to work on a project such as this, especially with¡ª¡°


    ¡°A good friend of the chancellor,¡± Kole cut in before Amara revealed the secret of Tallen¡¯s identity in front of Doug and Runt¡ªthough after spending months with Doug in the dungeon, Kole thought the ranger could be trusted with the secret.


    Tallen gave Kole a nod of thanks, and Amara put her hand over her mouth.


    ¡°Yes, that.¡± She said, unconsciously mimicking Tallen¡¯s own response to Kole¡¯s help.


    God¡¯s, these two¡­ Kole thought, shaking his head.


    Tallen and Amara then began to discuss the details of his designs, and the pair became blind to the rest of the room.


    ¡°Mage Tallen,¡± Kole said, interrupting.


    Tallen looked up to Kole.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Can we discuss my magic?¡± Kole asked.


    He¡¯d discussed Doug and Rakin¡¯s issues only, forgetting Kole, Runt, and Zale completely.


    ¡°Oh! Sorry! Of course,¡± Tallen said then turned to Runt. ¡°Runt, keep working on your vault. If you don¡¯t create it by the end of the semester break, we will start private tutoring sessions.¡±


    The face of disgust Runt gave at the threat of extended time with the scatterbrained mage proved the lie to her words about liking nerds.


    Kole quickly gave Tallen a summary of his progress over the sea voyage and showed him the spells he had created. Tallen seemed the most interested in hearing about Amara¡¯s runes, but Kole managed to steer the conversation away from runes.


    ¡°This is good work,¡± Tallen said, examining the spellform for Kole''s newest Shield.


    Kole beamed at the praise and listened intently as Tallen gave him some pointers on where to go next.


    ¡°How about Thunderwave?¡± Tallen asked, moving on.


    A little embarrassed, Kole hesitated to answer.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t really made any progress,¡± Kole finally admitted. ¡°I think you were right in that I needed to start over, but progress has been slow.¡±


    Tallen patted Kole on the back reassuringly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your progress is impressive, but I would try to diversify your study more. The mind grows dull if it wears away at the same task for too long. Why don¡¯t you work on Thunderwave here with Zale today?¡±


    Kole left the two socially inept geniuses to their rune discussion began to work on pathing Thunderwave as Zale tried to detect his connection to the Font.


    ***


    Kole lost himself in his pathing, putting his mind fully into his vault as he watched the path of his spell as it left his mind to traverse the Arcane Realm. By the time Zale poked him to get him out of his trance, he was feeling good about his ability to create the spell.


    ¡°Where¡¯d everyone go?¡± Kole asked Zale, realizing they were alone.


    ¡°They all had to go catch up on their school work after being away so long¡ªexcept Amara who went off to introduce Uncle Tal to Donglefore,¡± Zale answered, then smiled. ¡°I¡¯d want to see the three of them in a room if I didn¡¯t think that room would become a death trap.¡±


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed. ¡°I forgot about homework.¡±


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    He tried to recall what he had to do. He had to write about some plant harvesting nonsense and start to develop an offset gate spellform by Tuesday, but couldn¡¯t remember what the history assignment had been.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget the history quiz,¡± Zale corrected.


    Kole let out a groan. He had forgotten about the history quiz.


    ***


    Kole and Zale ate on Zale¡¯s coin.


    Or is it on the school? Kole wondered though he wasn¡¯t going to ask. He decided that, much like how one shouldn¡¯t look a gift horse in the mouth, it was also inadvisable to ask how much it cost.


    After they ate, they went to the library to study. Kole decided to get the alchemy assignment out of the way first, otherwise he was likely to put the whole thing off until it was too late.


    ¡°You know,¡± Zale said, as Kole grumbled, ¡°For someone who literally lives in the library, you¡¯re a terrible student.¡±


    Kole looked around nervously at her comment, but everyone around them was intent on their own studies.


    ¡°Oh relax, no one can hear us.¡±


    ¡°Wait, really?¡± Kole asked looking around. He could hear people walking around and talking to the librarian at the desk.


    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s sound wards around each table. They default to being one way but you can switch them off entirely or block sound going in and out.¡±


    Zale pointed to the rune inscribed into the floor around the table. Kole had noticed them but taken them to be decorations if he¡¯d noticed them at all.


    Kole pulled out his notebook turned spellbook turned notebook again and began to think out his essay for alchemy. As he began to write about the finer points of harvesting plants, once more he found the words flowing easily. Not only could he recall the details of every lecture and book he¡¯d read on the topic as needed, the nib made the physical act of writing far simpler. He was writing so fast¡ªwith minimal pauses to dip his nib and no stopping to look anything up¡ªthat his hand began to cramp after only five minutes.


    ¡°Ow,¡± he said, clasping his hand and pausing his writing.


    He noticed then that Zale was staring at him, shaking her head slightly.


    "That''s just not fair. You hardly pay attention in class and then can just remember it all perfectly when you do the homework."


    ¡°What? Do you think this is cheating?¡± he asked sheepishly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ probably not,¡± Zale answered after some thought. ¡°Ensouled artifacts are kinda exceptions to all the rules. If it were a sword or something, you¡¯d be able to use it in the dungeon¡ªthough not in training against other students. It¡¯s weird that it¡¯s a book, but I don¡¯t see why that should stop you from using it.¡±


    ¡°Probably not isn¡¯t exactly reassuring. I¡¯d rather write the essay the old-fashioned way than risk getting kicked out.¡±


    ¡°No one¡¯s going to get kicked out without it running through mom¡¯s desk¡ªwell, Kelina¡¯s desk, her assistant who does all the actually running of the school. She¡¯s a bit of a fan of creative cheating¡ªwhich I don¡¯t think this is¡ªso you¡¯ll probably be fine.¡±


    Slightly reassured, Kole went back to work and was done with the mind-numbingly dull essay on harvesting mildly useful alchemical reagents.


    After that was done, he asked the librarian for the location of books on offset gates and began to read. The topic was surprisingly interesting to Kole, despite the fact the knowledge served him no practical use. While he¡¯d had no love for spellform theory back home, and only pursued it to achieve his goals, once he¡¯d come to the Academy and started to see tangible and rapid results, he found he actually enjoyed it.


    I guess people like what they are good at, he mused.


    He read through the books, not bothering to take notes as he would normally to help cement the knowledge in his mind and finished much faster than he expected.


    Then, he pulled out his spellbook and got to work. The assignment wasn¡¯t actually that hard. All he had to do was start to plan out the spell, using the general frameworks he¡¯d just read about. He¡¯d already had experience creating paths for Thunderwave, and an offset gate required a similar mindset. Navigating the Arcane Realm required some extra-dimensional thought and took a lot of work to get used to.


    For traditional wizards, before the invention of spellforms, they would write down spells as a series of instructions on how to form each component of the spell effect. It was a laborious process full of odd words made up for the task, but manageable. Before common gateways to fixed locations in the Arcane Realm had been discovered, wizards would take on apprentices with similar arcane affinities to their own, which meant their bridges opened up to similar locations in the Arcane Realm and their paths could be shared to some degree. If two wizards with different affinities wanted to share spells, they¡¯d have to copy over the spell effect, and path out the spell themselves¡ªa process Kole was currently struggling through.


    The path components, even for wizards of identical affinities were far more difficult to capture in something as mundane as language. To do so with the path components took ten times the amount of words to explain and took proportionally longer to master than the spell effect.


    When gates were discovered¡ªshareable landmarks in the Arcane Realm wizards could open their bridges to and thus share identical spells¡ªthey proved equally as complex as paths. Why spells could not be passed directly, the process took weeks or months for master wizards and years for apprentices. It wasn¡¯t until spellforms were invented as vessels to store the complete pattern of a spell that gates really caught on and revolutionized wizardry¡ªjust in time for the world to flood and all that knowledge to be hoarded by the surviving wizards.


    All this was to say that most wizards¡ªespecially those at Kole¡¯s age¡ªhad little experience actually building spellforms, since they were so easy to come by. Why spend hours tweaking a spell when you could spend half an hour learning a new one? Kole had spent years studying every detail of the spells he could find to rebuild them, learning the intricacies of their construction. And now, with his developing understanding of the mind-bending layout of the Arcane Realm, this would be easy¡ªeven if the end result would be useless for him personally.


    ¡°I have to go,¡± Zale said to Kole, interrupting his work on his offset gate spellform.


    ¡°Already?¡± Kole asked, disappointed.


    Zale sighed.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been here four hours and you haven¡¯t said a word for the last two.¡±


    ¡°No, we were just talking about¡­ uh¡­ arcane permeability?¡±


    ¡°No. You were mumbling about it under your breath as you wrote.¡±


    Kole gave an embarrassed smile. He hadn¡¯t realized he¡¯d gotten so sucked into the work.


    I need to try to sneak into Professor Lonin¡¯s classes, He considered, but then thought better of it. No that didn¡¯t work out well last time. Maybe I could audit.


    ¡°Well, it is a frustrating variable.¡±


    Zale rolled her eyes but smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I have plans with Harold.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ okay. Bye, I guess.¡± Kole said, disappointed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, I could have left and you wouldn¡¯t have even noticed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that!¡± Kole quickly corrected, feeling the need to explain his disappointment away with a lie. ¡°I was just hoping to get another free meal.¡±


    Why did I say that?! He screamed internally. He¡¯d just made a point of not bringing up the mooching of meals, and now he¡¯d just blurted it out when hadn¡¯t even really been thinking about it.


    Despite Kole¡¯s internal horror, Zale laughed.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ll treat you tomorrow. Use Amara¡¯s doohicky to tell everyone to meet for breakfast tomorrow. It¡¯s about time we used them for something.¡±


    ¡°Doohicky?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Zale said, ignoring Kole. ¡°See you then!¡±


    And then she left. She¡¯d packed up her stuff before getting Kole¡¯s attention, and now alone Kole decided to head to his room. The oatmeal the jug produced wasn¡¯t terrible, but he¡¯d been meaning to pick up some nuts and dried fruit to mix in some variety.


    ¡°The rat will probably just steal that too,¡± Kole grumbled to himself. ¡°Stupid time-traveling rats."

 Chapter 78: Looking Up

    Prior to the first dragon war, extra dimensional spaces were objects of theory. Even the Spacial master of the Hollow Peak, formerly know as Altian, could only compress space, never create it. Their crowning achievement, the hollowed out mountain cave in which they¡¯d crammed a city, had only expanded the region within.


    -Pocket Realms, From Theory to Fact


    ¡ª


    Kole spent a productive night alone alternating between work on Thunderwave and Shield. He¡¯d been tempted to keep working on the offset gate spell when he got back to his room, but he judged he had done more than enough to satisfy the poorly defined requirements of Professor Underbrook¡¯s assignment.


    He couldn¡¯t say exactly how he could tell, but he was certain he was getting close to completing his path for Thunderwave. The spell¡¯s cost was getting higher, trending up towards 10 Will, and while that was expensive for the first-tier spell it was, he¡¯d take anything at this point.


    As always working on Shield was a slow and unrewarding affair, but he thought he had a good estimate of what the cost of the spell would be, and he estimated 16 Will, another improvement from his current 20. He¡¯d tested himself, and his Will capacity had increased to 46, up 3 since he left home only two months back. The rate of improvement was extremely impressive¡ªeven taking into account the extra 10 months Kole had lived in the dungeon.


    So, it was with great self-discipline that Kole went to sleep at the almost reasonable time of half past midnight and woke up just in time to be only a tiny bit late for the breakfast engagement he himself had scheduled.


    Before diving into studying, Kole had reviewed Amara¡¯s code list and sent out a message on the little runed device for everyone to meet in the morning at the martial college dining hall. He couldn¡¯t signal what for but figured they¡¯d pick that up from context.


    Amara and Zale were waiting for him outside when he arrived. Kole had to do a double take, and Zale was standing around in all her voidy glory.


    ¡°Good morning!¡± she said cheerfully.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the new look¡ªer¡ªold look?¡± Kole asked.


    Zale bit her lip and winced slightly before answering.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to say Rakin¡¯s right¡ªbecause he¡¯s not¡ªbut he might have brushed upon a good point in his irrational hatred for Harold.¡±


    Kole didn¡¯t think Rakin¡¯s hatred for Harold was at all irrational, but he did admit to himself that Harold¡¯s affiliation with Gray might be coloring his opinion. He couldn¡¯t think why else he felt such a strong dislike for a guy he¡¯d never even really spoken to.


    ¡°And what point was that?¡±


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t let the opinions of some racist drunks dictate how I live my life. I can look however I want, and most of my new clothes go with my natural skin tone.¡±


    Kole noticed then for the first time that Zale was wearing a burgundy jerkin over a white shirt. Kole knew very little about fashion and didn¡¯t see how the outfit wouldn¡¯t fit with the olive skin tone¡ªexcept he thought he knew that a jerkin was men¡¯s apparel.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Kole said with a shrug.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    He knew if he said anything more than that, he¡¯d say something stupid or embarrassing, so he ended it at that.


    ¡°Great, let¡¯s eat,¡± Zale said.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Doug and Rakin?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Lost and not coming I¡¯d assume¡ªor Doug could have misunderstood my code,¡± Amara said, causing Zale and Kole to both laugh.


    ¡°What¡¯s funny?¡± Amara asked looking at the pair. ¡°Doug often gets lost on campus and doesn¡¯t seem very good at ciphers, and Rakin doesn¡¯t like spending time with people.¡±


    ***


    Amara spent most of the meal explaining the wonders of Mage Tallen¡¯s proposed projects, taking small breath breaks, and occasionally feeding Gus morsels. She¡¯d arranged a meeting between Professor Donglefore and Tallen and was extremely nervous.


    ¡°Professor Donglefore can probably keep a secret,¡± Zale told Amara. ¡°But, try not to spill the beans as to Uncle¡¯s identity.¡±


    ¡°Spill the beans?¡± Amara asked.


    Zale sighed and looked to Kole for help.


    ¡°I¡¯m with her, that¡¯s a weird one."


    Hoping to change the topic¡ªever so slightly¡ªKole asked Amara if she¡¯d seen the silencing runes in the library.


    ¡°No! But they are on my list!¡± She said excitedly, rummaging through her bag and pulling out a literal list. ¡°I reviewed the schematics of runes across campus¡ªthe public ones at least¡ªand created a schedule to review them all.¡±


    Kole quickly lost track of Amara¡¯s explanation of the ones she wanted to see most and noticed that Zale was just nodding her head politely as she stared across the room.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s your plan for today?¡± Zale asked Kole, jumping in at a lull in Amara¡¯s lecture.


    ¡°I was planning on working on finding a spell¡ª¡°


    ¡°Great, no plans,¡± Zale said, interrupting what she saw as no plans at all. ¡°You need more clothes. Honestly, it¡¯s a little embarrassing. Your clothes so far have been just past acceptable, but now they are worn and don¡¯t even fit.¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t that bad,¡± Kole defended but then looked at his wrist to find his sleeve ended four inches before it.


    Zale raised a dubious eyebrow.


    ¡°Well, what about Amara?¡± Kole asked, pointing to the crafter with heavily stained clothes.


    ¡°She¡¯s a lost cause,¡± Zale said. ¡°Anything I bought for her would be destroyed in a week.¡±


    Both turn to Amara, who just nodded in acknowledgment, unoffended.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Kole conceded, ¡°But I¡¯m giving you a budget.¡±


    Zale¡¯s eyes sparkled at that.


    ¡°I do love a challenge.¡±


    ***


    Kole quickly began to regret his decision sometime after the third store Zale took him to.


    He¡¯d given her a budget of five silver and told her he needed three outfits. In the end, they went back and forth between five different tailors as Zale haggled and dug for cheap fabric in their offcut and scrap piles until she was happy she¡¯d created a few ¡°passable¡± outfits. After all five silver had been spent, Kole walked away with a new shirt that fit, and the receipt for the rest which would be ready within the week.


    In Kole¡¯s opinion, the best purchase of the day had been five glass jars with clamping glass lids and enough nuts and dried cranberries to fill two of them. With the two gold he¡¯d gotten back for the spilled ink, he was still just above four gold, and at the rate he was spending, he thought he¡¯d have enough to make it through the rest of the school year.


    ***


    On his way back to campus Kole reflected that the last four hours had felt longer than his previous stint in the dungeon and resolved that next time he needed to go shopping, he could probably turn invisible and duck away and Zale wouldn¡¯t even notice. As he thought this, he saw a herd of six-legged horses with scales running across the campus being chased by a mix of faculty and students.


    ***


    With the chaos on campus, the library was nearly deserted, and Kole probably could have snuck his jars to his room without magic if they hadn¡¯t kept clanging against each other and drawing attention. With each sound, someone would turn to look towards him before looking away and he felt the slight drain of Will as his magic diverted their attention.


    Back in his room, he fought the urge to work on the assignment from Professor Underbrook, surprising himself once more at how fond he¡¯d become of the practice. Instead, he began another long night of spellwork, full of new insights into pathing from his newfound area of magical interest.


    As he sat eating a palatable meal of honeyed oatmeal with nuts and fruit, he reflected on his first four weeks of school which he¡¯d just finished. Even with the fact that it had been far longer than four weeks, they had been more productive than he¡¯d ever hoped for when planning out his journey here.


    While he ate, he heard the squeak of his smaller roommate coming from below his bed. He turned to see a frustrated rat circling the sealed jars, trying to get at the food Kole had brought.


    He smiled to himself. Things were starting to finally look up.

 Chapter 79: Busy

    The Dahn, or Tower in Torcish, was the first proof we had that extra-dimensional spaces could be formed. The ensouled artifact was created by the silver dragon Tomvian as a place to facilitate education and the pursuit of knowledge. Tomvian was a white dragon, turned silver after accepting the Pact of Bild. He created the Dahn and gifted it to the dwarves who later died in battle against the Avatar.


    -Pocket Realms, From Theory to Fact


    ¡ª


    Kole arrived at the training field on the Monday morning of the fifth week of class cautiously optimistic. He had no prospects for a mentor yet, but he¡¯d only really looked the one time, and since then he¡¯d made great progress on his magic. Surely he would be able to convince some wizard that he wasn¡¯t a lost cause when he showed what he could do.


    His mood was further improved after talking with his friends¡ªanother improvement from his life prior to departing Illandrios.


    Despite all the positivity Kole was feeling, he was utterly miserable by the time he completed his first lap around the training yard.


    In the last six weeks aboard ship, he¡¯d neglected his physical conditioning, and now all the hard work he¡¯d put in over the last four to eight weeks¡ªdepending on how you measured time¡ªhad been lost.


    ¡°I. Hate. You.¡± He said between breaths at Zale as she raised her eyebrows knowingly as she ran past him.


    She had pressured him aboard the ship in the last dungeon session to do more than just practice with his quarterstaff, but he¡¯d declined. He still stood by his decision, as his improved magic skills had been critical in the fight against the cloaker matriarch, but it was little solace as his sides burned and he fought for breath.


    After the hour of training, Kole lay in the grass, moaning, while Doug and Zale spoke over him. Zale was back to using her disguise bracelet and appeared to be a half-elf girl with olive skin and brown hair. Kole tried to tell if that somehow matched her tan training clothes, but quickly gave up.


    ¡°So how did it go?¡± Zale asked Doug eagerly¡ªand with even breath to Kole¡¯s frustration, ¡°Did she like the gift?¡±


    Kole wracked his brain to remember what Zale was talking about.


    What gift?


    ¡°Oh did it ever!¡± Doug said.


    ¡°The carrot?¡± Kole asked from the ground, and Doug nodded.


    ¡°She loved it. She ate it right in front of me.¡±


    ¡°And¡­ that¡¯s good?¡± Zale asked, uncertain but genuinely happy for Doug.


    ¡°For sure. We are going on a date later this week.¡±


    Zale let out a small squeal of excitement, ¡°I¡¯m so happy for you. When¡¯s your date? Where are you going? What are you going to wear?¡±


    ¡°Later this week¡­¡± Doug repeated, confused at the question.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t plan anything?¡± Zale asked, confused.


    ¡°No we did, we will have a date later this week,¡± Doug replied, as if it clarified this.


    ¡°You know what?¡± Zale said, dismissing her bewilderment. ¡°You were right about the carrot thing. Have fun.¡±


    ¡°Did ye all hear about the horses?¡± Rakin asked, showing up at the tail end of the relationship talk, seemingly by coincidence, but more likely by design.


    ¡°I did,¡± Kole said, raising his hand from where he still lay on the ground. ¡°I saw them last night."


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    ¡°Me too,¡± Doug agreed, ¡°They have a few in the Glade and they''re studying them. They are like nothing anyone has ever seen. They aren¡¯t letting students get close yet, but they were amazing!¡±


    Zale, usually on top of all the comings and goings on campus looked at her three friends lost.


    ¡°What happened?¡± She asked


    ¡°Ye didn¡¯t hear?¡± Rakin asked in disbelief. ¡°It¡¯s all anyone was talking about last night!¡±


    ¡°I was¡­¡± Zale began, then looked away. ¡°Busy.¡±


    ¡°Bah,¡± Rakin shouted. ¡°I¡¯m sure ye were ¡®busy¡¯ all right.¡±


    Zale blushed¡ªher magic bracelet making her skin grow red as a normal non-voidling person would.


    Kole stood up then and drew the attention off of Zale as he told everyone what he¡¯d seen on campus the night before.


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s another incursion thing?¡± Kole asked the group, but looked at Zale.


    She nodded slowly, ¡°It could be. There are a few doors to the Dahn under the art building. I want to see these horse things for myself.¡±


    ***


    The group discussed their plans to try to get a closer look at breakfast once Amara had joined them. When she admitted to having also heard about the horse creatures, Rakin gave Zale a piercing glare which she ignored.


    ¡°Do you think this is related to my sister?¡± Amara asked.


    No one replied, and they all looked at each other uncertainly.


    ¡°It could be,¡± Kole said, the first to speak. ¡°I think we need to see these things. Everything else has been some weird hybrid creature. Even the ice people could count as that.¡±


    They began to make plans to get a glimpse, the first step of which was for Zale to ask her mother if they could.


    ***


    Kole turned in his essay at alchemy class, hopeful that with the aid of his spellbook he might actually pass the class. A hope that was dashed when the teaching assistant handed him a slip. The piece of paper instructed him to seek tutoring for harvesting herbs outside of class hours and provided a list of names of students who offered such services. There would be a practical on Thursday and the dryad teaching the class had apparently barred him from returning to her lessons without the endorsement of an Assuine Blessed that he wouldn¡¯t mutilate any more plants.


    Kole stuffed the paper into his pocket, and Zale laughed when he told her about it.


    ¡°I told you to ask Doug ages ago,¡± she said, unhelpfully.


    ***


    ¡°Now class,¡± Professor Gromck said after a brief lecture on the primary agricultural products in the pre-Flood Basin. ¡°Please remove everything from your desks save for a writing implement and paper or parchment. We will begin our quiz shortly.¡±


    The class let out a collective groan, Zale being one of the few students to abstain.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why everyone¡¯s asked so shocked,¡± she said with a shrug when Kole gave her a look of disappointment.


    Kole moved everything from his desk, keeping only a few pages he pulled from his spellbook. He briefly used his primal magic to perform the act unnoticed. He wasn¡¯t so much concerned about the possibility that using his magic paper was cheating¡ªhe didn¡¯t even expect that it would work removed from the book. His concern was that other students would see him pulling sheets out of his spellbook at all. Before he¡¯d used it as a notebook, but once he¡¯d learned he could recall lectures at his leisure, he¡¯d begun to use his class time to work on reviewing his spellforms, quickly taking notes on the lecture after the fact¡ªmuch to Zale¡¯s annoyance. This method of using the spellbook to recall the knowledge, helped him retain the information more solidly and took much less time.


    If anyone noticed him removing sheets from what was now clearly his spellbook, he would garner questions that would ultimately reveal he was either fabulously wealthy and able to use expensive spellform paper for a quiz, or that the item was magical and possibly ensouled.


    Best if he avoided that entirely.


    As Professor Gromck began to write the first question on the board, and Kole began to write his first answer, he realized he¡¯d been terribly mistaken.


    The paper hadn¡¯t lost any of its magical properties.


    Zale let out a heavy sigh next to Kole as she noticed his smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s just not fair,¡± she grumbled.


    ¡°Eyes to your own paper Miss Wood!¡± a teaching assistant yelled from the aisle.


    ***


    Kole arrived at Martial 101 the next day dreading the conditioning, but was pleased to find that many of his fellow PREVENT students had also suffered from their extended time on the ship.


    ¡°I have a few announcements today!¡± Tigereye said after gathering the students after the class. ¡°First. We will be starting a tournament next week. Prepare. There will be three brackets.¡±


    This was met with a mix of excited whispers and groans, Zale and Kole contributing respectively.


    ¡°Second,¡± Tigereye began but then paused with a look of regret. ¡°For the students in Pre Adventurer Battle Training, you will be experiencing another extended session in the dungeon. Details are on the papers here.¡±


    He gestured at a stack of papers a teaching assistant held up.


    This announcement was met with groans and discussion, no excited whispers.


    Kole heard the whole range of the stages of grief around him.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°Again?¡±


    Zale forced her way through the crowd and quickly came back with a sheet of paper with the details.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to be guarding a caravan down the road for a month,¡± she said disappointed.


    ¡°Finally!¡± Rakin said, looking to the ground in a gesture of thanks to Torc, the god of earth.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too excited,¡± Zale said smiling. ¡°We are going to be riding horses.¡±


    ¡°Bah!¡± Rakin said and spat.

 Chapter 80: Not a Sadist

    The Dahn surfaced in the early days of the Last Dragon War after being discovered and Bonded by Daulf Dragon Slayer, Chosen of Illunia. Since then, largely theorized to be due to the events of the war itself, pocket realms of more varieties have made themselves known.


    -Pocket Realms, From Theory to Fact


    ¡ª


    Discussion amongst all the PREVENT students for the remainder of the week was centered around the impending dungeon trial. Few saw it as the opportunity Kole viewed it as, and many students contemplated skipping. Skipping, it seemed, was frowned upon, but didn¡¯t result in an immediate expulsion from the class, though the loss of the grade made passing the class with a skip difficult, and a team wouldn¡¯t look kindly on a member who left them down a man.


    Kole shifted his focus to preparing for another extended time in the dungeon that week. While he had never ridden a horse before, he expected it would be difficult to study actual books¡ªunless he knew Theral¡¯s floating disk spell to act as a movable desk. So, he instead planned to focus solely on Thunderwave as he traveled. In preparation for this, Kole studied the books Theral had recommended and even found a few more on the topic of pathing traditional wizarding spells deep in the unlit corners of the library.


    Kole arrived at WIZ 105 in high spirits. He hoped that Professor Underbrook would go over more spellform construction theory, and if he was being honest he was proud to show off his work.


    His good mood was dashed when he heard Gray¡¯s voice while he was still outside the hall.


    ¡°Yeap, Master Kilgan sent me the letter this morning. I start private lessons with him next week.¡±


    Kole managed to keep his groan of frustration internal as he walked into the room and sat without making eye contact.


    ¡°Oh yes,¡± Gray said proudly, answering a question Kole didn¡¯t hear. ¡°he was very impressed by my swordsmanship and thought my Ice sorcery had potential.¡±


    Kole had heard of Kilgan and he thought he¡¯d met him at the mixer, but he couldn¡¯t remember anything about the wizard. He wracked his brain trying to remember when an idea struck.


    He pulled out his spellbook and began to write, and as he did, the details came back to him. As soon as he wrote ¡°Master Kilgan¡± on the page, the little he knew about the wizard came back to his memory. The wizard was in his forties but had premature graying hair. He was a spellsword who specialized in movement magic and had a sorcerous affinity for the Font of Barriers. The wizard was part of an adventuring team Kole hadn¡¯t learned the name of but knew this because they occasionally competed in the hardball circuit.


    Well, that¡¯s useful, Kole thought to himself, once more glad he didn¡¯t seem to have a page limit on the book. Such trivial uses of the ensouled artifact wouldn¡¯t be worth the use of a page otherwise.


    Kole pretended to study his spellbook as he avoided looking in the direction of Gray and his audience. As the only two first years in the class, most of the students in the class were older than Kole and Gray, and either weren¡¯t going for the adventuring track and didn¡¯t need a mentor or already had one.


    ¡°Good afternoon class,¡± Professor Underbrook said from the front of the classroom where he¡¯d suddenly appeared. ¡°Let¡¯s talk a little more about spellforms.¡±


    And just like that, Kole¡¯s good mood started to come back.


    ***


    Kole listened intently to the lecture on spellforms, but was a little disappointed, and he didn¡¯t learn anything new. He enjoyed the challenge of applying his spell crafting knowledge to a new frontier¡ªeven a useless frontier¡ªbut it appeared his understanding of the topic far surpassed the introductory lessons Underbrook was giving.


    ¡°Turn in your notes on your plans for your offset gates on your way out, I¡¯ll review them and get them back to you Thursday.¡±


    ***


    ?


    ¡°You¡¯ve never ridden a horse before!?¡± Zale asked in disbelief when Kole mentioned it offhandedly at dinner.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have them in Illandrios,¡± Kole said. ¡°It can¡¯t be that hard? Right?¡±


    The fit of laughter Rakin broke out in would haunt Kole the rest of the week alongside his aching muscles.


    ***


    Kole went with Doug to the gardens after dinner, that the young demonkin spent a frustrated couple of hours pounding into Kole everything he was doing wrong. It felt odd to Kole, for the normally passive Doug to be so assertive on the topic.


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    ¡°I see why Pale Oak kicked you out,¡± Doug said, after having Kole demonstrate alone the first time.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be that bad, can I?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d have said no before but now¡­¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Avoiding eye contact Doug said,


    ¡°We better not waste any time.¡±


    ***


    Wednesday morning at morning practice, Kole found Zale waiting for him, but she wasn¡¯t dressed in her normal sparring clothes, instead, she wore tighter-fitting clothes that offered less maneuverability.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Kole asked confused, looking for the others. ¡°Where¡¯s everyone else?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them,¡± Zale said with a mischievous smile. ¡°We are going to teach you to ride a horse.¡±


    Zale led Kole to another practice yard where students trained in mounted combat. This yard was far larger than the one he normally used, and two brown horses were waiting for them. Kole wasn¡¯t familiar with horses, but in his estimation, they were¡­ definitely horses.


    ¡°I, uh, like the color?¡± Kole said unsure what else to say when Zale gestured proudly to them.


    Zale laughed at what she thought was a joke and began to instruct Kole on how to mount and dismount the large animals.


    An hour later, Kole limped out of the changing room, unsure how he would be able to get through the rest of the day. He was used to feeling sore, but at least in the past the aches had felt earned.


    I thought horseback riding was supposed to make travel more pleasant. He thought to himself and thought he might much prefer walking.


    ¡°So how did he do? How many times did he fall?¡± Rakin asked eagerly at breakfast.


    Zale looked from Rakin to Kole and smiled proudly.


    ¡°Zero times, he actually did pretty well for a first time,¡±


    ¡°I did?¡± Kole asked at the same time Rakin asked ¡°He did?¡±


    Zale nodded, and Kole felt a disproportionally large sense of pride.


    ¡°Bah,¡± Rakin said, disappointed, but not angry.


    ¡°If it makes you feel any better, everything hurts,¡± Kole offered.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a sadist,¡± Rakin said, but it did actually seem to cheer him up a bit.


    ***


    As Kole moved to enter the greenhouse where his alchemy practical would occur, Pale Oak stood outside the door greeting the students as they came in.


    When she saw Kole, her eyes narrowed.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± Kole said, trying to project confidence.


    ¡°Do you have proof of your lessened incompetence?¡± she said, ignoring Kole.


    Kole produced a piece of bark Doug had given him as ¡®proof,¡¯ and he sensed Pale Oak¡¯s disapproval lessen slightly as she took it and examined it.


    ¡°Doug was not on the list of students I gave you,¡± she said, somehow getting that from the piece of wood.


    ¡°He¡¯s a friend,¡± Kole explained. ¡°We are on a team for PREVENT.¡±


    She warmed a little more at that.


    ¡°Assuine be praised, he should keep you from committing any atrocities when you go out into the field.¡±


    ¡°I assure you, I have no plans whatsoever to ever harvest any plant if I can find any excuse to avoid it.¡±


    Kole went into class, and Pale Oak came in later and gave everyone their instructions for the practical. They would each be given a pixie coriander plant and were to harvest the leaves, seeds, stems, and roots, each following the techniques explored thus far.


    While Kole knew he didn¡¯t perform well, he was fairly certain he hadn¡¯t committed any crimes against nature and was really hoping his written classwork would be enough to see him pass.


    Maybe I can sign a contract promising never to attempt harvesting herbs? He wondered as he considered his options.


    He received his essay back as he turned in his mutilated herbs and the full marks he received gave him some hope he would pass.


    Likewise in history, he received full marks on his quiz, Gromck even called him out by name as he passed the papers back and praised him for his insightful views on the impact of the introduction of magically enhanced grain on the then-nomadic orc tribes.


    ¡°Cheater,¡± Zale mouthed as she glared at him over her own respectable if not perfect score.


    ***


    That night, the Forsaken gathered in the library to prepare for their dungeon stint. From the brief, they knew to expect a three-week journey through feralkin-infested territory.


    ¡°Kobolds,¡± Rakin spat the word out. ¡°Nasty little buggers.¡±


    ¡°It could be goblins,¡± Zale offered.


    ¡°Nasty little buggers,¡± Rakin repeated.


    ¡°Gnolls?¡± Doug said, joining.


    ¡°Nasty big buggers.¡±


    ¡°Bogles?¡± Zale said,


    ¡°I think we can safely say Rakin¡¯s not a fan of feral kin,¡± Kole cut in.


    ¡°Nah,¡± Rakin said, ¡°I don¡¯t mind lizard kin.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t those live in the swamps?¡± Zale asked.


    Rakin nodded.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t ever been to the swamps,¡± Zale said.


    Rakin nodded again.


    ¡°And I don¡¯t ever plan to,¡± Rakin said proudly. ¡°Live and let live.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve encountered all those then?¡± Kole asked. ¡°Gnolls, Bogles, Kobolds?¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Kole asked confused. ¡°Didn¡¯t you spend the last 10 years in the monastery? Is the mountain infested?¡±


    ¡°Aye, but I traveled with me foster ma for a few years when I turned fifteen.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t fifteen?!¡± Kole asked, surprised.


    He¡¯d assumed the dwarf was the same age as the rest of them.


    Rakin let out a belly laugh that sounded a lot like his exclamations of ¡°Bah.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s twenty five,¡± Zale answered Kole on Rakin¡¯s behalf. ¡°Dwarves age slower and their adolescence starts at twenty.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kole said, thinking.


    After a moment he turned to Zale ¡°Wait, are you like thirty? Elves age slower too, and voidlings don¡¯t age at all.¡±


    Zale glared at Kole.


    ¡°Do I look thirty?¡± she asked, the correct answer very clear in her tone.


    Rakin¡¯s laughter increased as Kole gave his denial.


    ¡°No! That¡¯s why I¡¯m surprised that you¡¯re thirty!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not thirty! I¡¯m fifteen!¡± Zale shouted at Kole.


    ¡°I¡¯m thirty,¡± Doug said, raising his hand from the side.


    Everyone turned to him, speechless, laughter and anger forgotten. The silence was broken when Doug couldn¡¯t contain his grin, and they all broke out into laughter this time.


    When they settled down, Kole had a thought.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to be sixteen next week, if you count the time in the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Does that count?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I grew taller, right? It¡¯s got to count.¡±


    They got further sidetracked as they theorized how they all tried to do that math and determine how old they each were with the dungeon trips factored in. Needless to say, very little preparations were made for their trial that night.

 Chapter 81: Inattentive

    If the Material Realm were a bubble, pocket realms could be thought to be smaller bubbles clinging to its side. Their contents are separate from the larger bubble, but made of the same air. As they are separated from the environment beyond, they are also separated from the air within the larger bubble. Much like with bubbles, if the surface of a pocket realm were to be pierced, it could pop, releasing its contents into the void. If, however, the membrane between the smaller bubble and the larger were to be destroyed, the contents of the realm would vomit forth into the Material Realm.


    -Pocket Realms, From Theory to Fact


    ¡ª


    Tigereye broke the students up into three groups by levels of proficiency after the morning warm-ups on the second class of the week. Kole¡¯s group was by far the least physically imposing, and Kole recognized his fellow as coming from crafting and magically focused curriculums. All the prospective wizards from PREVENT were there save for Gray, who was in the advanced group with Harold, Zale, and Rakin.


    Kole spotted Doug¡¯s horns poking up over the crowd of the intermediary students. He was one of the best in the class with his bow, but this trial would be with melee weapons, and he was proficient with his dual hand axes, but not on the level of Zale and Rakin.


    Gray¡¯s presence in the advanced group surprised Kole. He knew the boy was talented, but he¡¯d never really seen him fight outside that one instance with the goblin-rats.


    Or was it rat-goblins¡­ He wondered.


    The rules were laid out, and class this day would be a sparring heavy warmup day for the tournament that would occur the next week. There would be a four-round double elimination tournament, with a losers bracket winner facing the undefeated member of the winner¡¯s bracket.


    Sparring weapons runed for tournaments would be used, that could detect how severe a hit was. The weapons had a light rune on them that grew brighter as you landed blows on your opponent, the light turning from white to green when you had won. Tigereye didn¡¯t go into the details of the function.


    I should ask Amara how they work, Kole considered, but then thought better of it. Zale can probably give a more succinct and understandable answer.


    There would be no prize for winning, but performance would factor in heavily in one¡¯s passing of the class. During the warmup sparring, Kole found that he wasn¡¯t the best in his group, but he was far from the worst. Most of those in his group also used quarterstaves, but one dwarf who was blessed by Bild wielded a mace and shield¡ªwhich Kole thought was rather unfair, and a few others of noble bearing had rapiers.


    ***


    Kole asked Zale how the weapons worked after they cleaned up.


    ¡°They don¡¯t,¡± she said with uncharacteristic grouchiness.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°They don¡¯t work for me, at least, my opponents don¡¯t,¡± she explained. ¡°They work by absorbing some of the Will when they make contact with a person, and somehow reading the response of the person struck. When I get hit with one, they just sort of break.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Voidyness I guess. My Will doesn¡¯t play well with runes,¡± she explained.


    ¡°How will you compete then?¡±


    Zale¡¯s frown turned into a cocky smile.


    ¡°It won¡¯t matter if they don¡¯t hit me. They just use the old school tournament scoring system in my matches.¡±


    ***


    In WIZ 105, professor Underbrook gave the students an in class assignment as he discussed the offset gate project with each student one by one.


    ¡°Kole, this is simply wonderful,¡± Underbrook said when Kole came up to his desk.


    He spoke louder than Kole would have preferred and could feel the eyes of his classmates boring into his back.


    ¡°I know Master Lonin has his rules and principles, but he¡¯s being a fool to ignore your talent.¡±


    ¡°Any chance you can change his mind?¡± Kole asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his tone.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve suggested it a time or two at staff meetings,¡± Professor Underbrook said.


    ¡°You have?!¡± Kole said, surprised.


    ¡°Oh yes. He had a keen interest in your progress.¡±


    ¡°He does!?¡±


    Underbrook smiled, and now it was Kole who was too loud.


    ¡°Oh yes,¡± Underbrook affirmed. ¡°The top students in PREVENT are a regular topic of faculty discussion, but Lonin specifically asked after you. I think he was a little disappointed your group has been performing so well in the dungeons. I suspect he hoped you drop out.¡±


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    ¡°Can you¡ª¡° Kole began but Underbrook cut him off.


    ¡°We¡¯ve gone a little off-topic. If you want to ask Master Lonin to reconsider, you¡¯ll have to do that yourself. I¡¯ve already talked his ear off about you enough. Let''s discuss your classwork here.¡±


    Kole explained his plan for the spell.


    ¡°That will actually probably work!¡± Underbrook said after Kole had finished.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the point?¡± Kole asked, confused.


    Underbrook waved his hand and then lowered his voice conspiratorially.


    ¡°This exercise is mostly just an introduction. I don¡¯t actually expect any of you to actually succeed in creating a unique offset gate, only try. That¡¯s why learning it isn¡¯t a requirement.¡±


    Bolstered by the praise, Kole took pride in Gray¡¯s glare as we walked past him back to his seat, where he ignored the class assignment and continued his prep work for Thunderwave for the next day¡¯s dungeon delve.


    ***


    Kole¡¯s group met up in the library after dinner once more to prepare for their caravan, but quickly realized they didn¡¯t really have much they could prepare, and the conversation drifted back to the strange horses.


    ¡°Did your mom say we could see them?¡± Doug asked hopefully.


    Zale shook her head.


    ¡°No, but she didn¡¯t tell me not to.¡±


    ¡°How is that different?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°It means she probably wants me to sneak out and see them. Anyone up for it?¡±


    Doug¡¯s hand shot up, and Rakin sighed, raising his hand begrudgingly.


    ¡°You have the weirdest relationship with your mother,¡± Kole observed, raising his own hand last.


    ***


    So, just after dusk, Doug escorted his three teammates through the great oak and into the Glade. The dryads guarding the tree let them pass without issue, nodding in recognition at everyone but Kole, who they gave what he could best describe as a stink eye.


    ¡°Did Pale Oak tell the other dryads about me?¡± Kole asked in jest once they were beyond earshot.


    ¡°Oh yes,¡± Doug said, ¡°She really doesn¡¯t like you, but she thanked me for helping you.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Kole said, unsure of what to say.


    ¡°Dryads are surprisingly big gossips,¡± Rakin said.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Doug began to defend them, but then conceded, ¡°Kind of true.¡±


    The group walked through the main path through the woods someway until Doug led them behind another building of similar construction to the infirmary, logs that seemed to be molded together. The Glade was fairly empty at this time of night, save for the occasional nocturnal creature roaming about.


    Doug led them then through the forest, and they backtracked until they came to a secluded clearing filled with the six-legged horse creatures, all sleeping. Instead of a fence, brambles grew thick around the clearing to keep the creatures inside.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any guards,¡± Rakin whispered.


    Kole couldn¡¯t either, but he could hardly see at all on the moonlit night.


    ¡°Owls,¡± Doug said, pointing to the trees.


    ¡°How do we distract them?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°I could start a fire,¡± Rakin suggested, in what Kole thought was a joke, but it was hard to tell.


    ¡°No,¡± Doug said seriously.


    ¡°I could just sneak up invisible,¡± Kole suggested more helpfully.


    ¡°Yes, but we all want to see,¡± Zale said, not outright dismissing the idea.


    Doug shook his head, a very noticeable gesture with his antlers amplifying the movement.


    ¡°Owls have incredible hearing, you¡¯d need to do more than be invisible.¡±


    ¡°I could do something¡­¡± Kole started, not confident in his idea.


    ¡°The out-of-focus thing?¡± Zale asked.


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Can you affect others with it?¡±


    ¡°Maybe?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s try,¡± Zale said, extending her hand.


    Kole took it gingerly, and closed his eyes, focusing on Zale¡¯s hand and reaching for the instinctual power of the Font of Illusions. He had decided early on in life he¡¯d not waste his Will developing the skills to wield it, instead dedicating himself to the more broadly applicable art of wizardry¡ªas hopeless as that may have seemed at the time.


    His invisibility spell was sorcery, and he couldn¡¯t even begin to unpack how that spell functioned, but as he focused now on the Font of Illusions with his neglected primal powers, it felt more substantial than he remembered it.


    Not more powerful, or more present, but more in some way. He could notice nuance to the power where before it was just a blunt thing. Like, he¡¯d always seen it as a rope, but only now he realized a rope was made up on many little strings.


    Why do I notice this now? He wondered


    But then a lesson came back to him from Tallen, as he¡¯d taught them about the difference between Voidling Will and a normal person¡¯s Will.


    Manipulating Will was like using a tool, and growing in proficiency with the tool would make one more proficient in all its applications. Right? And¡­


    He considered more how much time he¡¯d spent working on his spellcraft of late. The hours experimenting with Thunderwave and piecing together spells. In the last few months, he¡¯d spent almost every last bit of his Will studying. Casting spells was an okay way of gaining control, but the Will expenditure to knowledge gained was skewed towards spending rather than learning. But, creating spells? Exploring the Arcane Realm? Those cost very little Will, and were extremely educational.


    Sorcery was blind instinct, unknowable until the mind jumps to it and then only blindly repeatable. Wizardry was about knowledge. Primal magic was all about applied intuition, something Kole had never gained alongside his abilities as literally every other primal ever had, but maybe it could be approached with knowledge when intuition failed.


    Kole dove into his vault, and looked out the door of his bridge, examining the Font of Illusions. If he¡¯d been a non-defective primal, his Font would have been visible to him upon the creation of his vault, and he¡¯d have been able to study and learn from it from the start, but his hadn¡¯t appeared. When he¡¯d created his bridge, it had been right there, dominating his view of the Arcane Realm, and he¡¯d been distraught but had never considered that maybe he could learn to wield it better even without the intuition.


    So, Kole tried now, drawing on the power of the Font to divert attention from himself. He felt the power as it ran through him, not going to his skin as he¡¯d expect, but to the center of his being. He felt as his Will began to drain slowly as his friends looked at him. He felt as his mind reached out to theirs and gently pushed their attention away.


    He tried pushing this magic into Zale, through his hand, but nothing happened.


    I can do it with stuff. He considered, remembering how he could infuse his Will into objects to connect them to his power.


    He thought through the implications further. It wasn¡¯t so much that he included the objects into himself. He could make people ignore an object in his hand while not ignoring him. So, he could direct what people noticed.


    What¡¯s the difference between me and a group other than scale? He considered.


    So, instead of adjusting the ability, or pushing his Will out into Zale¡ªsomething that wasn¡¯t even possible, he instead adjusted his mindset. He kept the ability active, and instead thought of him and Zale as a pair, not as two individuals.


    Instantly he felt the Will drain double.


    ¡°Arg¡± Rakin grumbled. ¡°This is giving me a headache.¡±


    ¡°It worked!¡± Kole said proudly, releasing the ability.

 Chapter 82: Naming

    When Faust¡¯s influence originally began to corrupt the dragons, shortly after their births, the dragons fled to the far reaches of the world to protect the Illusian races from their newfound covetous desires. Many dragons returned to the world of men after mastering their urges, but many more did not. Some that disappeared had discovered a way to pierce the veil of the realm and hide in the void beyond. Those that did brought the Material Realm with them and pocket realms grew around them, even persisting long after their deaths. Most dragons who embarked on these endeavors are thought to have perished in battles against the denizens of the void.


    -Pocket Realms, From Theory to Fact


    ¡ª


    ¡°I think I can do it,¡± Kole said, after dropping the primal skill.


    ¡°Do you have a name for that?¡± Zale asked. ¡°Something flashy, like¡­ the invisilator.¡±


    Everyone stared at Zale, surprised at her terrible naming ability¡ªeven Doug who thought Mouse was a totally reasonable name for a girl.


    Zale considered it further after noticing the looks.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± she conceded. ¡°He can already turn invisible, so it wouldn¡¯t make sense.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the problem with it,¡± Rakin said.


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of like a camouflage,¡± Doug noted. ¡°It makes you hard to notice.¡±


    ¡°It more deflects attention,¡± Rakin corrected.


    ¡°Aura of unimportance?¡± Zale suggested.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t need a spell for that,¡± Rakin quipped and then fought to hold down his laughter.


    ¡°It¡¯s like he kinda fades into the background,¡± Zale said, thoughtfully.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t need¡ª¡° Rakin began but Kole cut him off.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think now is the time for this discussion,¡± Kole pointed out in a whisper.


    When the group seemed to be sufficiently chastised, Kole went on.


    ¡°I think this will work, but we need to be quiet and stay low. I can divert attention to myself the distance, but it will take more Will to divert any attention to us all than it would for me alone.¡±


    ¡°I can separate undergrowth, make our passage quieter,¡± Doug suggested.


    ¡°I can make myself completely silent,¡± Zale also volunteered, though without her armor she was capable of moving very silently from her mother¡¯s tutelage.


    They quickly tested whether or not Doug and Zale¡¯s magics would work while Kole¡¯s was active, and they found only Doug¡¯s worked, Zale¡¯s reacting destructively with Kole¡¯s and draining a chunk of both of their Will before dispelling the effect entirely.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Zale apologized.


    They then tested Rakin¡¯s primal abilities, just to see if it was a Blessing vs primal thing, but found his worked okay.


    ¡°Voidyness,¡± Zale said, again apologetically.


    They discussed briefly how best to manage this and decided Doug would walk in front to clear the ground, with Kole following behind holding his shoulder. Zale and Rakin would follow, hands on Kole¡¯s back to keep contact.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can divert all the attention of the horse things when we get close. A few owls are easy¡ªprobably¡ªbut a whole herd is another matter.¡±


    ¡°I can calm them,¡± Doug said confidently. ¡°They¡¯re alien, but they are still connected to Assuine. If we can get among them, the owls won¡¯t see us.¡±


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    ¡°Well, let¡¯s give it a shot,¡± Zale said cheerfully. ¡°What¡¯s the worst that can happen?¡±


    ¡°We get trampled by six-legged horse?¡± Kole suggested.


    At the same time, Doug said, ¡°We could get expelled.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we¡¯ll be fine,¡± Zale said, waving away their concerns. ¡°Mom¡¯s never going to let someone get expelled for sneaking around. It¡¯s kinda her thing.¡±


    ¡°What about the trampling?¡± Kole asked.


    All eyes turned to Doug.


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t do that,¡± he said, with confidence, but then looked back at the strange creatures. ¡°Probably¡­¡±


    ***


    It all went surprisingly well.


    Doug parted the brambles, and they all scurried forward.


    Kole watched the grass and undergrowth part around them, still amazed at Doug¡¯s abilities. The plants all sprung back up behind them as if nothing had occurred. Doug¡¯s control over the plants didn¡¯t last long, and it was only because they huddled so close that they could all fit inside the area of the spell.


    As they scurried, Kole focused on his ability and the idea that they were all a group, waiting for any sign of attention. Once they were out in the open, he sensed a weak presence and allowed the Will to drain from him as the stimuli that alerted the owl faded. The effort had been harder than usual, but manageable.


    ¡°Fade!¡± Kole said excitedly, then bit it back.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good name¡± Zale whispered from behind.


    While happy to have settled on a name, Kole¡¯s esteem for Zale¡¯s naming judgment had gone down a bit and her approval actually made him rethink it briefly.


    As they passed through the open, he struggled with the effort of deflecting the owls¡¯ attention on such a large group. The horse creatures were asleep, and if not for that, Kole doubted he would have been able to maintain the Fade.


    ¡°I¡¯m running out of Will,¡± Kole said when they were still twenty feet from the herd.


    ¡°Drop down,¡± Doug commanded.


    Everyone fell to the dirt, and Kole let go of the ability.


    Instead of flatting the grass around them, now it rose above them, slowly shifting to conceal them from view.


    ¡°The herd should block the most of the owls¡¯ view now,¡± Doug said as he crawled forward on his belly. Everyone followed.


    As he crawled, Kole was glad he¡¯d placed a new order for clothes. He was wearing his best outfit¡ªa relative term¡ªand this excursion would see them soiled and torn.


    When he got a few paces from the herd, Doug jumped up from hiding and whispered something soothing to the sleeping animals. The nearest scaled beast opened its eyes, and immediately found Doug, but didn¡¯t react with alarm.


    Doug approached and began to gently pat it as he spoke to it. The rest of them remained in the grass, watching Doug interact with the herd. The animals had six legs and scales, as Kole had noticed before, but up close he saw their heads looked more like a lizard¡¯s than a horse¡¯s, though the features were rounded and distinctly lacked the hallmarks of dragon heritage such as sharp bone structures with horns jutting from the ridges. Their feet were clawed, and they had long scaled tails that whipped around like an excited dog upon Doug¡¯s arrival.


    ¡°What do we call them? They are horses with six legs.¡± Zale whispered to Rakin and Kole. ¡°Sexahorses? Sexaquines?¡±


    ¡°Maybe we don¡¯t focus on the six aspect,¡± Kole suggested and Rakin snickered, unable to contain his laughter.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Zale said, in a tone that would have been accompanied with crossed arms if she wasn¡¯t lying in the dirt. ¡°You think of something.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Kole said, thinking. ¡°Reptiquines? Scalequines?¡±


    ¡°Ooo, those are good,¡± Zale said. ¡°Way better than mine. You¡¯re good at this naming thing.¡±


    Despite his assessment before that Zale¡¯s judgment on naming was suspect, that compliment struck home and he felt a small sense of pride.


    Doug came back to the group, the scalequines as Kole mentally dubbed them having gone back to sleep.


    ¡°They frighten easily,¡± he explained. ¡°We should go and talk in the woods.¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± Kole began, embarrassed. ¡°How do we get back? I¡¯m out of Will.¡±


    ***


    Twenty minutes later, Kole and his friends lay in the forest, worn out and filthy from the long and cramped crawl back through the field. Staying in Doug¡¯s area of affected grass had been difficult, making the already strenuous effort miserable.


    ¡°The creatures,¡± Doug began.


    ¡°Scalequines,¡± Zale interrupted.


    ¡°The scalequines,¡± Doug said, giving the name a smile of approval, ¡°are all lost and confused. They are from a more arid place, and have never seen creatures like us before.¡±


    ¡°Humans? Demonkin? Elves?¡± Kole asked, trying to capture what he meant by ¡®¡±us.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t explain it well, but they thought we were some weird half-formed` versions of the bipedals they were used to, but animals don¡¯t have the best vocabulary at best, and Assuine¡¯s power wasn¡¯t as effective at granting these beasts intelligence for communication as it ought to have been.¡±


    ¡°So they are from some other world?¡± Zale asked, eyes wide.


    ¡°It seems so,¡± Doug affirmed.


    They discussed it more as they walked back to the great oak in the Glade.


    ¡°So,¡± Kole said summarizing, ¡°the goblin-rats¡ª¡°


    ¡°Rat-goblins¡± Zale corrected.


    ¡°No, it was goblin-rats,¡± Rakin said, correcting her correction.


    ¡°The goblin-rats,¡± Kole began again, not at all certain goblin-rats had been the earlier agreed-upon name. ¡°The ice people and the fish things were all kinda like stuff we recognize, but different, just like the scalequines. The scalequines are from a different place¡ªrealm world?¡ªbut is it the same one?¡±


    ¡°Good questions,¡± Zale said, ¡°We¡ª¡°


    ¡°We should ask your uncle,¡± the three boys said in unison cutting her off.


    Even in the dim light, Kole could see Zale¡¯s undisguised face darken in embarrassment.

 Chapter 83: Abrupt Chaos

    <div>


    With great care and an equalization of pressure, it is possible to pierce the membrane of a bubble to gain access to its contents. Likewise, pocket realms¡ªand the Material Realm itself¡ªcan be accessed from beings beyond our Realms. The membrane of the Material Realm is strong, the great dragons of old only just able to break out in their flight. As such, the Material Realm is largely protected from outside invasion. The voidling incursions of the Last Dragon War being an exception, as they were aided by the fel dragons within in service to Faust. Now without this aid, most incursions into the Material Realm are made first through Pocket Realms with their weaker membranes.


    <div>


    -Pocket Realms, From Theory to Fact


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    Zale showed mercy on Kole and his companions by allowing them to skip her Friday morning practice after their late-night excursion. Kole didn¡¯t study at all upon returning to his room, only packing his bag for the next day¡¯s dungeon excursion before collapsing to sleep. Theral had been present and asleep, but the other young wizard was gone when he woke. His new clothes had been delivered throughout the week, but he elected to pack his old ones for this extended dungeon run, dressing in a martial training uniform and only bringing his own as a backup.


    <div>


    The mood in the PREVENT room was somber as the students stood in dread of another weeks long mission.


    <div>


    ¡°How was everyone¡¯s night?¡± A chipper Zale asked the team.


    <div>


    ¡°How are you not exhausted?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°I didn¡¯t stay up for hours studying when I got home.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Well, neither did I¡­ this time at least,¡± Kole defended.


    <div>


    ¡°Then it must just be the rest of the week of late nights catching up to you.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Did you talk to yer mom about last night?¡± Rakin asked.


    <div>


    Zale shook her head.


    <div>


    ¡°She was gone last night. She left a note. Uncle Tallen had asked her to go get something to help with his project.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°She left with all that¡¯s going on in the school?¡± Kole asked surprised.


    <div>


    Zale shrugged.


    <div>


    ¡°She said she¡¯d be back in a couple days, and if Uncle Tallen can figure out his problem and stick around, he¡¯d be better at resolving these issues than her.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Did you ask him about our theory?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°He¡­ wasn¡¯t around,¡± Zale said reluctantly, but then quickly added. ¡°But I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll see him tomorrow.¡±


    <div>


    While Kole¡¯s team, the Forsaken, was tied for first with the Ice Picks, that other team was the reigning leader, so they had the dubious pleasure of entering the dungeon first. Five minutes later, the whole class watched in dread as they exited, exhausted, dust-covered, and looking like they hadn¡¯t eaten in days.


    <div>


    ¡°Forsaken!¡± Underbrook called. ¡°You¡¯re up.¡±


    <div>


    They stepped out of the door in the ready room, out onto a dry grass plain with a small city in view in the distance. They were among a group of carts, and a man was walking up to the driver of each and providing instructions. He immediately noticed the new group and walked over in a huff.


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    <div>


    ¡°Finally! You damned adventurers are always late! Come on now! Get your gear in the wagon and find your horse.¡±


    <div>


    He then walked on, ignoring them. After stowing their gear in a nearby wagon, they found four unattended horses and mounted up, the caravan departing shortly after.


    <div>


    It was early morning when they left the unfamiliar town, and the road led them out through plains equally unfamiliar to them all. Kole stared out at the endless expanse of rolling grasses, amazed that there could be so much space in the world after a life in a bubble.


    <div>


    While Rakin and Kole stayed close to Doug, allowing their horses to follow his and freeing their focus for remaining mounted, Zale moved up and down the column gathering information.


    <div>


    ¡°We are going to some town named ¡®Bith¡¯,¡± Zale explained.


    <div>


    None of them had heard of the place before, and they suspected it might not actually exist outside the Dahn, as the terrain around them was wholly unfamiliar to them. While grass plains existed in the Basin, the mountains that held back the oceans would be visible from them, and the horizon was as flat as the land around them in all directions except for a singular rise off in the distance.


    <div>


    ¡°The journey is four weeks, and the caravan has its own guards. We were brought on due to rumors of a hostile tribe of gnolls in the area.¡±


    <div>


    Zale had already established watch shifts with the caravan guards, and they had decided the adventurers would supplement their watch.


    <div>


    So, with all that settled, Kole got to work on completing his progress on Thunderwave.


    <div>


    Or at least, he tried. He quickly found that entering his mental vault, was a lot harder to do while maintaining your balance on horseback.


    <div>


    ¡°Flood,¡± he cursed, and Rakin who¡¯d been paying attention chuckled at his expense.


    <div>


    An hour and a gold coin¡ªa fake dungeon-generated one¡ªlater, Kole was lying semi comfortably on a stack of rice sacks, mind questing out into the Arcane Realm. He spent the whole day working at it, neglecting meals as he pushed his spell ever onward towards the Font of Sound.


    <div>


    He left his trance when he felt the cart stop for the night, and was surprised to find that Zale was now driving his cart.


    <div>


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he asked.


    <div>


    ¡°I figured I¡¯d piggyback on your training and try to sense the location of the Font of Sound.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°How¡¯d you get the driver to let you sit there?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I just asked¡­¡± Zale said, bemused.


    <div>


    Kole let out an exasperated sigh and joined the caravan for dinner before beginning his shift on watch.


    <div>


    The first week of the journey was much the same as the first day. Kole spent the days working on Thunderwave. The night watches were split in half, and they rotated through four-hour shifts in pairs, walking the length of the camp each night, everyone save for Kole using their enhanced vision to keep the perimeter safe beyond the sight of the fires. While Kole had suspected they hadn¡¯t been on Kaltis by the lack of mountains, the presence of a second massive moon in the sky confirmed that suspicion that first night.


    <div>


    On the eleventh day, as Kole built and sent his spell construct for Thunderwave through his gate for seemingly the millionth time, he had a brief awareness that something different had happened before chaos ensued.


    <div>


    Distantly, he heard Zale shout in alarm as she dove off the wagon, and then he felt his Will drain from him in the instant before the power flowed through him.


    <div>


    An ear-splitting crack filled the air, followed by the roll of thunder, and the canvas covering of the wagon Kole lay in flew into the sky just as the wood supporting it shattered.


    <div>


    The horse pulling the cart bolted, and Kole didn¡¯t have time to revel in his triumph as he searched for a handhold amongst the sacks of rice. Kole heard the caravan around him descend into chaos as horses bolted and drivers fought to get their animals under control. His wagon did not slow though, and he finally got leverage to pull himself up and see the disaster of a caravan his own horse was fleeing. The wagon bounced like mad as it traveled over the plains, off the road, and Kole was contemplating leaping out when he noticed an antlered rider coming out toward him.


    <div>


    Kole dove back into the wagon, and held on for his life, and it only took a few moments for Doug to catch up and calm the animal Kole¡¯s spell had terrified.


    <div>


    A sheepish Kole returned to the caravan to the glares of a hundred peeved guards and merchants.


    <div>


    ¡°I learned a new spell!¡± Kole said proudly.


    <div>


    No one said a word, only staring in a mix of anger and disgust until Rakin stepped forward.


    <div>


    ¡°We noticed.¡±

 Chapter 84: Caravan

    <div>


    [A picture of two children holding hands and flying in a bright blue sky]


    <div>


    A is for Air primals who soar through the skies, they hail from Revan the castle that flies


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    After everyone had gotten through yelling at Kole and they¡¯d gotten back on the road, Kole sat in the back of his wagon while Zale drove it, Doug and Rakin riding on either side.


    <div>


    ¡°How¡¯d you know to jump out the way?¡± Kole asked after he finally stopped apologizing.


    <div>


    ¡°I could sense it!¡± she said excitedly, suddenly remembering about the development in all the chaos. ¡°I thought I wasn¡¯t making any progress, but I guess it much harder to sense a failed casting than a successful one. My whole back seemed to tingle and I knew I had to get out of the way.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Did you find your way to the Font of Sound yet?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    Zale shook her head.


    <div>


    ¡°But I think it will be easier to find now if you can keep casting that spell for me.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°The Will cost is around 15. I can only cast it about three times a day, four to five if I cast it once or twice in the morning and let my Will recover through the day and I don¡¯t use it for anything else.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Peh, only three? That¡¯s nothing!¡± Rakin said, disappointed.


    <div>


    ¡°I think you have a skewed view of Will capacities,¡± Kole said, not taking offense. ¡°How much do each of you have?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, around twenty-one?¡± Rakin said uncertainly.


    <div>


    ¡°Same,¡± Doug and Zale echoed


    <div>


    Kole nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s because you are all primals,¡± he explained. ¡°Anyone else our age would have 10, maybe 12 if they started training young. Sorcerers and primals have around 20 by the time they¡¯re our age. I have 45¡­ ish. I can cast this spell three times a day, which is about what Gray and the other wizards in PREVENT can do as well.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°So you fixed your problem?¡± Zale asked, happy for him.


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Kole said, though not with disappointment. ¡°Well, I found a work around, I just need to work at it more. I should be able to make this spell cost way less. I was bumbling through the Arcane Realm to complete the spell, but now that made it, I can simplify the path and reduce the cost. The books I read showed the traditional wizardry had far more Will efficient spells than those that proliferated from the spread of spellforms. Only in the last twenty years have offset gates allowed modern wizards to match their efficiency.


    <div>


    Rakin began to snore loudly, pretending to be asleep.


    <div>


    Kole sighed.


    <div>


    ¡°That means I might be able to cast this spell for as little as three Will, I just need to put in the work.¡±


    <div>


    Rakin actually seemed interested then.


    <div>


    ¡°Really?¡± he said, snapping to attention. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a lot.¡±


    <div>


    They all had experienced the Thunderwave the goblin had unleashed in the cave in one capacity or another, and Kole having that ability on hand would open a lot of possibilities for their group¡¯s offensive capabilities.


    <div>


    Kole nodded and then remembered something and began counting on his fingers.


    <div>


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zale asked.


    <div>


    ¡°I think it¡¯s my birthday¡ªif you count the time dilation.¡±


    <div>


    Kole¡¯s birthday was on the first day of the first month of the year, Oaan 1st. Oaan was the name the gods gave to their progenitor long after he¡¯d left them to their own devices, and Kole¡¯s parents had thought his day of birth to be a lucky one.


    <div>


    ¡°What!? No! I forgot!¡± Zale said in distress. ¡°I had a gift!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You did?¡± Kole asked, surprised.


    <div>


    He couldn¡¯t remember the last gift he¡¯d gotten for his birthday. It wasn¡¯t a tradition in Illandrios, but it was in the ship clans, so Kole¡¯s father had given him birthday presents. After he¡¯d disappeared however, that had stopped.


    <div>


    Kole noticed Doug¡¯s look of concern.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Kole told him. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect anything.¡±


    <div>


    Doug relaxed, relieved he¡¯d not made some large social bumble. He was always uncertain of how things went outside his small mountain community but was quickly coming to learn that things weren¡¯t all that different.


    <div>


    ¡°Good,¡± Rakin said, and they all laughed.


    <div>


    Zale left the group, taking a horse and riding up and down the caravan planning something after Kole¡¯s birthday declaration.


    <div>


    When they stopped for the night, Kole was surprised at the speed at which Zale produced a cake from one of the supply carts.


    <div>


    ¡°That was on the cart?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Nope, but I bribed one of the cooks to make this instead of bread.¡±


    <div>


    The caravan had a few wagons dedicated to food prep. While they were making a long overland journey, each of the caravan drivers was merchant of some at least moderate wealth, and they had a certain level of comfort they wished to contain. With the advent of runed powered ovens and stoves, portable cooking stations were feasible, if not exactly cheap.


    <div>


    Zale tried to get everyone in on singing the for Kole in honor of his birthday, but everyone in the caravan was still angry at him from before, Doug didn¡¯t know the words, and Rakin was¡ªwell, Rakin.


    <div>


    ¡°When are all your time-displaced birthdays?¡± Kole asked the others as they ate a cake that was rather dry without any frosting.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t like to agree with Runt,¡± Rakin began regretfully, ¡°But¡­ I have to admit she¡¯s right and ye are a massive nerd.¡±


    <div>


    No one else had any idea and was not particularly interested in doing the math as Kole explained it.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    <div>


    The journey continued on without event for a few more days. The group would train together each morning for a short while, and then again when they stopped at midday. Kole would cast Thunderwave for Zale once at each morning practice so she could try to find the Font of Sound, and he would try new versions of the spell each time, to see if he had been able to reduce the cost any. This was of course done far from the caravan.


    <div>


    One time they tested Zale¡¯s silence aura against his spell and found the ability successfully negated Kole¡¯s spell, but it cost Zale a large portion of her Will. Overall the first two weeks of the journey were relaxing and uneventful, save for the events the friends caused themselves.


    <div>


    All that ended on the first night of the third week.


    <div>


    Kole was woken by shouts of alarms, and he grabbed his quarter staff and blasting rod as he fumbled out of he bed roll and crawled out from beneath the wagon he slept on. The weather was warm and most slept under the stars, but looking up into the endless void of space was a bit much for the boy raised under a dome.


    <div>


    He fumbled out from under the wagon to see the camp coming alive, torches and magical lights being lit all around. Kole activated his floating light rune, and ran towards the source of the alarm. The caravan had circled their wagons to form a camp in the center, but not all were added to the perimeter, lest it become too large to effectively defend. Kole had been sleeping under a wagon in the center and now ran to the outer ring.


    <div>


    Guards stood in the gaps between wagons while the merchants took up arms to strike down on any intruder daring enough to crawl beneath.


    <div>


    Kole couldn¡¯t see the cause of the alarm, but he heard the sound of battle beyond. The clang of steel and banging of wood accompanied by cries of pain and strange yipping howls. He saw Doug standing on a pillar of earth, raised from the ground just tall enough to give him a line of sight over his wagon, and he went to join him.


    <div>


    As he neared, he saw something dark under the wagon coming for them, and without thinking he pointed his rod and sent a bolt of magic into it. The figure yipped in pain, and lunged out, only to receive an arrow to its back, finishing the job Kole had started. In the light of his runed device, Kole saw the creature was a gnoll, a hyena twisted into the shape of a man and given some level of intelligence by some god or wizard of time lost and set out onto the world.


    <div>


    ¡°Go out there!¡± Doug told Kole, gesturing beyond. ¡°They need help!¡±


    <div>


    Kole didn¡¯t know why his going out there would be the best use of his talents, but he trusted Doug and ran for an opening.


    <div>


    ¡°Let me through!¡± he called to the caravan guard holding a spear at the ready.


    <div>


    The spearwoman stepped aside, and Kole jumped through the opening into madness.


    <div>


    The grass was on fire all around, illuminating the battlefield. Gnolls prowled around the perimeter of the light, while Rakin and Zale stood back to back fend off six. While Kole¡¯s research had said gnolls wore armor and weapons into battle, there was no sign of either before him tonight.


    <div>


    Zale saw Kole and gave him a nod of acknowledgment as she said something to Rakin. Kole watched the fight, inching closer to line up a shot while staying close enough to the wagon for Doug to give him cover. Rakin and Zale had been trying to move closer to the wagons, but the gnolls weren¡¯t allowing it.


    <div>


    Kole waited for the opportunity and when it came sent a bolt of force into the back of the nearest gnoll. The ferakin stumbled, and Rakin punched it in the face, shattering its skull moving into an earth magic assisted leap out of the ring. Absently Kole noted that the creatures seemed smaller than his research suggested.


    <div>


    Behind him, Zale vanished into black motes, and reappeared outside the ring just behind Rakin as they ran for the safety of the wagons. Seeing the pair flee, those circling in the dark broke out in chase, loping on all fours to quickly overtake the pair. Kole saw the gnoll closing in on his friends and ran to join them, building his newest spell in his mind as he ran. A gnoll came for Kole, trying to intercept him, but on of Doug¡¯s arrows struck it in the leg, vines suddenly erupting from the shaft and binding the leg to the ground.


    <div>


    Kole ran to meet Rakin and Zale, Rakin was in the lead and as soon as Kole passed him, the dwarf halted his run, and pivoted, to the side, the ground erupting beneath his feet and completely reversing his momentum. He landed next to Kole just while Zale was still five strides away, with a pack of gnolls closing it.


    <div>


    ¡°Silence!¡± Kole shouted.


    <div>


    He gave her what he thought was enough time for her to recieve the message and act on it¡ªwhich felt like an eternity in the battle¡ªand unleashed Thunderwave, sending the spell out through his bridge, and holding his hands out before him to better aim the spell¡¯s effect.


    <div>


    While from his perspective, the spell only sounded like the thunder one heard while in a storm, the effect on the other side of his hands was another matter entirely. Zale ran through it and past him unaffected, but the gnolls on her heels were not so lucky.


    <div>


    Ten gnolls followed, and half of them had their momentum halted and were thrown back a few yards, the rest stumbled, slowing and clutching their ears in pain and letting out yips of pain. Those thrown back didn¡¯t rise to their feet, but those that stood standing paused only a moment before charging at Kole with feral madness in their eyes.


    <div>


    Rakin and Zale took advantage of the halted charge and ran at the remaining five. Before they reached them, an arrow from Doug reduced their number to four, and Kole finished a second off with a blast from his wand. He then scanned the surroundings to see if any more were closing in, but as far as he could see in the flame-lit night, the gnolls were either dead or fleeing from the sound of his spell.


    <div>


    When he looked back, Zale and Rakin were fighting the three remaining gnolls. The creatures had no weapons or armor to deflect Zale¡¯s blows, but she was forced on the defensive as two took turns ducking in at her from opposite sides. Despite her advantage of having a weapon, if not for her armor, she¡¯d quickly have been covered in wounds.


    <div>


    Rakin was wrapped in a close quarters brawl with his lone enemy, ducking under its swipes and bites to land blows on its torso, but whatever power he had to enhance his body had faded and his attacks were no stronger than a trained boxer.


    <div>


    Kole didn¡¯t trust his aim with his blasting rod to not strike either of his friends, but he didn¡¯t have to.


    <div>


    He built the spell for his latest version of magic missile, and fired three unerring purple force darts at one of the gnolls facing Zale. They dropped the already wounded creature, and Zale capitalized on the opening to land a downward blow on the other. Seeing Zale free of her foes, Rakin swept at the legs of his opponent, throwing it off balance in time for Zale to finish it off.


    <div>


    Immediate threats dealt with, the three closed in on each other, Kole in the middle, the dwarf and voidling scanning the darkness for enemies. Kole had enough Will for a single invisibility or rod blast and had his clarity potion at the ready, but he¡¯d only brought two and didn¡¯t want to use it if the battle was over as it seemed to be.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s circle!¡± Zale shouted, and the three began to run the perimeter looking for others.


    <div>


    They didn¡¯t encounter any more gnolls until they reached the far side of the circled wagons where one of the wagons had somehow been knocked over, and guards stood atop it fending off the gnolls trying to climb over it. With the help of Zale and Rakin below, they drove the remaining few off, and Kole sent a blast from his rod at the fleeing gnolls for good measure before immediately regretting the expenditure of his last bit of Will.


    <div>


    ¡°Oww,¡± he groaned, rubbing his head.


    <div>


    Zale and Rakin turned to him, clothing pristine and unmarred, and then looked at themselves in their blood-stained and torn clothing and both let out a laugh.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, did ye get a headache?¡± Rakin asked, feigning concern. Then in a feigned shout, he said, ¡°We need a Blessed! This wizard has a headache!¡±


    <div>


    Kole couldn¡¯t help but laugh, and they went back into the circle to see where they could be of use. He was full of good cheer until the light hovering over his shoulder suddenly flickered, and then went dark and fell to the ground where it disintegrated into dust.


    <div>


    ¡°Flood,¡± he cursed. ¡°I guess I don¡¯t have to give that back anymore.¡±


    <div>


    Back in the ring of wagons, all the cots had been commandeered and set up as a hospital. Ten men and women lay wounded, while two more were at rest on the ground, bodies fully covered in blood-stained sheets.


    <div>


    With no real skill to help, the three returned to the perimeter and joined the guards on watch.


    <div>


    When the sun rose without further incident, the four adventurers were ushered back to wagons that had been cleared out for them, bed rolls set up atop some of the less pokey trade goods. The guards had taken shifts sleeping the rest of the night, but the four friends hadn¡¯t joined them.


    <div>


    As Kole walked through the gathering caravan to find his resting place, he found that the hostile looks he¡¯d been receiving since the Thunderwave incident had all been replaced with looks varying from tolerance to gratitude.


    <div>


    He felt a flicker of warmth in his chest at the latter looks, but a large part of him wanted to say something clever about how they shouldn¡¯t have doubted him, but he couldn¡¯t think of anything that didn¡¯t sound petulant and settled on stoic silence and nods.


    <div>


    He lay down in the back of his assigned cart and was asleep as soon as his head hit his rice-filled pillow¡ªfor about five minutes. As exhausted as he was, he apparently wasn¡¯t tired enough to sleep in a bumpy wagon.

 Chapter 85: Gnolls

    <div>


    [A picture of lightning striking the tip of an island mountain in a storm.]


    <div>


    B is for Bond primals from the Iron Vein isle so remote, they share their home with a breed of Bond primal goat. The tribe is a strong noble warrior folk, and to them, honor and courage are no joke.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    The caravan guards began patrolling around the circle of the wagons each night that followed, and the adventurers in training joined them in pairs. No attacks came over the next week, as the lone mountain in the distance grew larger and larger.


    <div>


    Kole spent his free time working on improving Thunderwave. Now that he¡¯d completed the spell¡¯s path to the Font from his bridge¡¯s natural opening location, he could try to find shortcuts that would reduce the cost of the spell. He¡¯d made little progress though, only shaving a few fractions of a Will off by the end of a week and resolved to research the process more when he returned. The pathing components he¡¯d learned had been general ones, applicable for navigating around a variety of obstacles in the Arcane Realm each, meant to help complete a spell before improvements could be made. Now, armed with a completed path, he needed to learn more efficient solutions to his specific problems. He was also vaguely aware that the spell component itself could be modified in some instances to simplify the spell as a whole.


    <div>


    He hadn¡¯t read up on this yet¡ªotherwise he¡¯d simply recall the information by copying it into his spellbook. Instead, he¡¯d had a conversation with Theral about it, which he¡¯d of course written down verbatim with the aid of his magical book in hopes it would give him some insight.


    <div>


    ¡°Spells are like umbrellas,¡± Theral had said. ¡°You know what those are¡­ right?¡±


    <div>


    Kole had rolled his eye at the comment and nodded, not sure if that had been a dig at his dome life origins or a genuine concern he might be unfamiliar with the popular device.


    <div>


    ¡°Good. Well, for umbrellas, if you want to fit them into a building, you can either find a bigger door to walk through or finagle it in with some effort and time to squeeze it in. Alternatively, you could redesign the umbrella to be collapsible and simply close it and take a direct path. With the nature of spell Will costs being multiplicative¡ªnot additive¡ªbased on the path and effect components, the decrease of the path and the expense of the path can decrease the overall cost while being a net increase of the two parts.¡±


    <div>


    Kole had been thoughtful after the explanation, and Theral, misinterpreting the silence added, ¡°Two times two is four, but one times three is three.¡±


    <div>


    And then, Theral had disappeared, frustratingly in the middle of the conversation.


    <div>


    So while armed with only the general theory and no specifics, Kole was studying the spellforms he had access to in his spellbook for ways he could alter Thunderwave so it could more directly navigate the arcane realm. He was making very little progress.


    <div>


    Zale had thrown herself into her own magical study. Her senses had increased greatly in the past few weeks, and she could now detect even Kole¡¯s failed Thunderwave attempts without straining to focus as she needed before. This sensitivity though only applied to the Font of Sound. She couldn¡¯t sense at all when Kole cast the cantrip for the Font of Air, an experiment that cost Kole two-thirds of his available Will for the day.


    <div>


    On top of that, she¡¯d discovered that the area she could affect with her silence aura had increased alongside her awareness of the Font, though the two might not actually be related. Her aura could now extend six inches from her in all directions, not enough to include another person but it suggested that might one day be the case. In experimenting with the extended bubble, she found that sound could still exist inside the aura¡ªsomething she¡¯d been aware of but had no application for when it only extended an inch around her. Now she could activate the aura, hold her hand close to the mouths of others, and hear what they had to say.


    <div>


    ¡°Runt¡¯s going to be so mad when she learns about this,¡± Zale said with uncharacteristic malicious glee.


    <div>


    Rakin and Doug continued training in their own ways as well, with less noticeable progress. Doug had¡ªunbeknownst to Kole at the time¡ªunintentionally teleported a few times during the battle against the gnolls, most of them landing him somewhere inconvenient but at least once had saved him from a blow he¡¯d been unable to avoid. That last occurrence had given him some small hope that he was gaining the ability to control his magic. Kole was fairly certain it was a coincidence but kept that opinion to himself.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    <div>


    With the mandate from Pale Oak to make Kole less of a scourge upon Assuine¡¯s creations, Doug would direct Kole to plants he found during their traveling and have him harvest them under the ranger¡¯s careful supervision.


    <div>


    And so, they traveled on, adventurers resting fitfully in the back of the carts by day, and watching the darkness beyond camp by night.


    <div>


    Three weeks into their journey, Kole was walking the perimeter with Zale, holding a torch in place of his lost rune light¡ªa travesty he¡¯d yet to get over¡ªwhen suddenly the world grew silent.


    <div>


    Zale noticed it first, and she drew her sword, scanning the darkness beyond their light. Kole only realized he couldn¡¯t hear anything when Zale¡¯s sword left her sheath without a sound. Before either of them knew what was happening, roots burst from the ground beneath their feet and held fast to their legs. Zale immediately began to hack silently at the roots with her sword, but the slashing weapon lacked the heft to bite deep. Kole drew his rod, and scanned the darkness around them, catching the shifting blackness of movement beyond his vision. He held his rod in one hand, and torch in the other, running through his options, realizing quickly all he had was his rod. Thunderwave was a spell entirely of sound, while Shield and Magic Missile required verbal components to cast.


    <div>


    Fade? Could we hide? He thought as he pointed at the darkness.


    <div>


    Zale, seeing something Kole couldn¡¯t yet detect stopped swinging her sword readying herself for a charge Kole saw come shortly after. Gnolls, standing tall and wearing leather armor and wielding clubs¡ªa stark contrast to the near-feral beasts from before¡ªadvanced into the bubble of silence.


    <div>


    Kole fired a blast of his rod into one of them, where it struck its leather armor with hardly an effect. He tried to gesture to Zale to flee with her vanishing ability, but she closed her eyes, focusing on something instead. A moment later, the air around them seemed to erupt in pain, and then sound returned to the world. Kole couldn¡¯t describe what had hurt or how he¡¯d felt the pain, but only that he¡¯d experienced some sort of full-body agony for a moment that quickly vanished. The gnolls and Zale had experienced it too from the looks, but Kole quickly threw thoughts of the phenomenon aside as he began to cast Thunderwave.


    <div>


    The gnolls¡¯ eyes widened in recognition a moment too late, and as the thunder roared from Kole¡¯s hands, the warriors were thrown back. Zale vanished in a cloud of motes, and reappeared a pace towards the gnolls where she ran at them to capitalize on their tumble. She reached one and pierced its leather armor before it could rise, and then retreated back. Kole fired another blasting rod bolt, striking armor once more on the gnoll¡¯s arm, but clearly harming the creature¡¯s ability to wield its club.


    <div>


    Behind him, Kole could hear the camp reacting to the sound of his spell, and more battles broke out around them.


    <div>


    ¡°We have to get out of the open!¡± Kole yelled to Zale as he scanned the darkness for more foes as Zale faced off against the two remaining gnolls.


    <div>


    It was because of this, Kole caught the lick of flame a moment before it came streaking toward them.


    <div>


    ¡°Bo!¡± he said firmly, raising his hand to intercept the spell as he stepped closer to Zale to cover her in his protection.


    <div>


    The mote of flame grew as it flew at them, the size of Kole¡¯s torso by the time it impacted his shield. The Firebolt exploded on impact, clearly outlining the faintly visible dome, the flames wreathing around the sides of the protection and warming the air around the pair.


    <div>


    Zale wasn¡¯t as protected as Kole, and let out a hiss of pain at the heat, but the gnolls who were closing in were far less lucky. The flames singed their fur, and that had to give a precious moment to beat them out, a moment Zale capitalized on to land a surprise blow on the one Kole had injured. It raised its weakened arm in defense, but it gave out under the weight of Zale¡¯s blow, dropping the club and taking the sword to the neck.


    <div>


    Kole had enough Will left to use the blasting rod once or turn invisible, and he chose the latter, hand bringing a potion of clarity to his mouth as soon as he finished drawing upon the Font¡¯s power.


    <div>


    The headache of Will drain surged only briefly before the relief of the potion¡¯s renewal overtook him. Now invisible, Kole ran towards the source of the firebolt in the darkness. Another bolt shot past him, revealing the caster out there to have moved, and saving Kole from taking the blast despite his invisibility. Zale saw the bolt coming, and stepped out of the way, easily dodging it even as she battled the last gnoll.


    <div>


    Strafe, Kole reminded himself, recalling one of Underbrook¡¯s lectures on magical combat.


    <div>


    Kole reoriented and ran to the new location. His ears found this target before his eyes and he homed in on the sound. As he drew closer, his poor human eyes finally caught sight of his foe. A gnoll stood chanting. At first Kole thought it some feathered monster with patches of fur and skin all over, but quickly realized it was covered in trophies. Its gray streaked fur was knotted around the mementos of what Kole presumed to be victims, and it stood with eyes closed, chanting words Kole didn¡¯t understand but knew to be the verbal components of some tribal spell.


    <div>


    The sound of battle filled the night, and Kole had no fears of being heard by the gnoll as he closed in with his rod drawn. He got within a few paces before stopping, aiming his rod at the gnolls head. The shaman¡¯s nose flared, and its head turned to look in Kole¡¯s direction, but it was too late. It had just enough time to yip in surprise as Kole¡¯s use of the blasting rod made him visible once more, the bolt shooting from the device and striking the enemy spell caster in the face.


    <div>


    He took a moment to ensure the gnoll had truly died. He almost hadn¡¯t believed it was that easy and had really expected his blast to miss once the gnoll had smelled him.


    <div>


    Satisfied the shaman was dead, Kole turned back to Zale, and found her standing over three dead gnolls, watching the darkness for signs of new attackers.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Kole shouted, and the ran to join the others in battle.

 Chapter 86: Taken

    <div>


    [A gold dragon and a red dragon fighting in the sky.]


    <div>


    D is for dragon, the first children of the gods, but their connection to Faust placed them at odds. The power of the betrayer corrupted their minds, and to preserve all the races they fled to protect the frailer kinds. Once protected by the power of Bild__¡¯s metallic sheen, the pacted dragons grew stable, rational, and pristine.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    The attack had only been a raid, they discovered quickly after returning to the ring of wagons. The gnolls had attacked, stolen supplies, and then retreated. Zale and Kole had faced the strongest battle, and Kole was beginning to suspect he¡¯d been targeted.


    <div>


    ¡°They must have observed that first attack,¡± Kole said. ¡°They cast silence on me, which disabled our ability to raise the alarm, and my ability to fight. If it wasn¡¯t for Zale doing¡­ something, they would have caught the camp completely by surprise.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°They were much larger than the others,¡± Doug observed.


    <div>


    ¡°I think those were their young, maybe some sort of trial?¡± Zale suggested. ¡°I thought I read something about this but¡­ I never finished reading that part.¡±


    <div>


    Zale began to blush.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember that,¡± Kole said, thinking over their discussions. They did their research together and shared any important parts. He thought he¡¯d remember something like that.


    <div>


    ¡°I was studying with Harold, and then we got distracted.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Sure,¡± Rakin said, making air quotes. ¡°Distracted.__¡±


    <div>


    Zale pushed the dwarf, but she might as well have shoved a wall for all it did to him.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that, we started training.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Sure,¡± he said again, ¡°Training.__¡±


    <div>


    Zale was as dark from her strange method of blushing as Kole had ever seen her, and her face looked almost like holes in reality with facial features imposed on it.


    <div>


    ¡°Can we get back to the raid?¡± Kole asked, jumping in to save Zale. ¡°What did you do to that silence spell?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, that,¡± Zale said with relief, embarrassment already fading. ¡°I sensed that spell as soon it was cast. When I realized I couldn¡¯t escape I tried something I thought I could do back in that goblin cave, and figured this was a good time to try it out. I sent my Will into the spell, and kind of broke it.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Ye broke a spell?¡± Rakin asked in disbelief. ¡°Just like that?¡±


    <div>


    Zale nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°Not just like that,¡± Kole corrected. ¡°It was horrible. It hurt, but, like, everywhere and nowhere at once.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Zale said. ¡°Sorry about that. I felt that too, it was pretty awful. I don¡¯t know what that was. We should¡ª¡°


    <div>


    ¡°Ask your uncle,¡± the three boys said in unison, and Zale darkened once more.


    <div>


    Just then a commotion broke out in the camp.


    <div>


    Through the chaos, Kole heard shouts of ¡°They¡¯re missing.¡±


    <div>


    The four ran to the center of the chaos, and Zale went to the captain of the caravan guard.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°They did a head count and came up short,¡± the man said wearily. ¡°We are trying to find out who¡¯s missing.¡±


    <div>


    A few moments later, a guard ran to the captain.


    <div>


    ¡°Merchant Korin is dead, his family is missing. No bodies or sign of them.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Krod,¡± the captain said, using a curse Kole had never heard before.


    <div>


    Where in the fauell are we? Is this even real? He wondered.


    <div>


    The lack of mountains on the horizon had suggested that they weren¡¯t in Basin, but that was easy to forget. The strange curse brought this thought back to mind.


    <div>


    ¡°So, this is it? The real test?¡± Rakin said, looking at the others.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t spoil it,¡± Zale said, Rakin¡¯s words taking her out of the excitement of the moment.


    <div>


    The four volunteered to search for the missing people while the guards protected the caravan. Zale acquired a clarity potion from a potion merchant in the caravan, which helped her recover what she¡¯d lost in dispelling the silence, while Rakin had found some sort of endurance potion that he assured them would help him recover some of the ki he used.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    <div>


    Kole had his second clarity potion still, but would only use it in dire needs. It had been hammered into him at a young age back in Illandrious that the overuse of clarity potions could be harmful in the long term, even fatal. But, the most immediate reason to not do so was Will poisoning.


    <div>


    Most people¡ªwizards, sorcerers, primals, and even runesmiths¡ªcould safely use twice their Will capacity in a day without experiencing harmful side effects, but beyond that Will poisoning occurred. Each person¡¯s tolerance was different, but exceeding it would cause them to be unable to channel or manipulate Will for days. It was temporary, but short of a life-or-death struggle, was not worth the risk. Even with abundant access to affordable clarity potions, Kole had never been tempted to push his boundaries. Squeezing an extra bit of Will out of a day wouldn¡¯t be worth the loss of the next week.


    <div>


    So, Kole had a second potion, but would only use it if he had to. A third would only cause him to get sick and be more hindrance than help.


    <div>


    While they begged for supplies, Doug had gone out into the darkness around the camp in search of signs of the gnolls¡¯ retreat. It hadn¡¯t been hard to find. He led them down the trail on foot, no lights lest they give away their approach. Kole could only just make out the ground beneath him in the dual moonlight, but he trusted Doug and his friends¡¯ abilities to navigate in the dark.


    <div>


    It seemed like they traveled for hours, but Kole knew that to be a trick of the mind, his body couldn¡¯t have supported the pace they had run at for more than a half hour. Eventually, the flat plains grew inclined, and before Kole knew it they were navigating around large rock outcroppings.


    <div>


    ¡°Stop,¡± Doug whispered.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember the mountain being this close,¡± Zale observed.


    <div>


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t,¡± Rakin said confidently, with no explanation, but no one questioned his assurance.


    <div>


    ¡°The trail stopped,¡± Doug said.


    <div>


    ¡°Stopped?¡± Kole asked, ¡°Or you lost it?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s just gone,¡± Doug said.


    <div>


    He gestured back to where they¡¯d come from.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s not behind us anymore either.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Was it an illusion?¡± Zale asked.


    <div>


    This time it was Kole¡¯s turn to confidently answer.


    <div>


    ¡°No, I would have been able to tell.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What do we do then?¡± Zale asked the group, opening the floor to suggestions.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯ll lead,¡± Rakin said, relishing the opportunity to explore this rocky expanse.


    <div>


    They fell in behind the dwarf, and followed him through the increasingly large field of rocks. A mountain now blocked the stars before them, and now even Kole was certain it hadn¡¯t been there this morning.


    <div>


    ¡°There¡¯s tunnels,¡± Rakin said in a whisper, his eyes closed. ¡°I can feel movement below, deep. Its faint but somethings digging.¡±


    <div>


    They drew their weapons, Rakin pulled a staff out of a boulder next to him, shaping it as he drew it out. The dwarf¡¯s pace picked up and grew more certain as they traveled, and he stopped next to the largest boulder they¡¯d yet seen, twice Kole¡¯s height.


    <div>


    ¡°Under here,¡± Rakin whispered.


    <div>


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed, seeing the dark opening beneath. ¡°I hate caves.¡±


    <div>


    He¡¯d brought a torch along, but¡ªas Kole had quickly decided after the failure of his light rune¡ªtorches sucked.


    <div>


    ¡°Link up,¡± Rakin said, holding out a hand to Zale. ¡°If I say so, Kole, do yer Fade thing.¡±


    <div>


    Kole nodded, and he headed into the darkness with an unlit torch at the ready. They traveled down into the depths, the only sound Kole heard was the shuffling of their feet and the pounding of his own heart. The dusty smells of the scree-filled incline were replaced quickly with the damp earthy smell of the underground.


    <div>


    Kole felt his hand squeezed by Zale ahead, and immediately drew on the Font of Illusions to Fade their presence. He thought he heard the sound of rhythmic tapping, and when it stopped, he felt the slightest drain on his Will as his spell diverted the attention of a creature up ahead. The tapping resumed and Kole felt another squeeze.


    <div>


    ¡°Big spider,¡± Zale whispered to Kole.


    <div>


    ¡°How big?¡± he asked, very much regretting his decision to come into this cave. No grade was worth this.


    <div>


    ¡°Big.¡±


    <div>


    They traveled a bit further, and then Zale halted them.


    <div>


    ¡°I can¡¯t see up ahead,¡± she said, bewildered.


    <div>


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Rakin asked, ¡°The tunnel goes on a ways then turns.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°My Willsight,¡± she said. ¡°I can see the walls in shades of gray, but it¡¯s almost like there''s no Will at all up ahead.¡±


    <div>


    Rakin shuffled ahead, leaving the other¡¯s behind, and came back a moment later with a hand full of silk.


    <div>


    ¡°Spider webs,¡± Rakin said. ¡°It¡¯s coating the walls. I felt my Will drain when I touched it, and¡­ something more.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Oh boogers,¡± Zale said, cursing¡ªsort of. ¡°Mage slayer spiders.¡±


    <div>


    Rakin let out a string of dwarven curses as well.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s bad?¡± Doug asked.


    <div>


    ¡°They drain Will,¡± Zale explained. ¡°They live off it, grow off of it. Their webs channel it into them. If they are big enough, they can sense through their webs.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°The one I saw before was small,¡± Rakin explained. ¡°So there must be more than one.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Do we burn the web then?¡± Kole asked. ¡°We can¡¯t walk through it, and if it¡¯s big enough that it can sense the destruction, do we even have a chance?¡±


    <div>


    Kole heard no answer.


    <div>


    ¡°Did you nod?¡± Kole asked, after an awkward pause. ¡°You know I can¡¯t see right?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Sorry, yeah. We¡¯re dead if it can,¡± Zale answered audibly.


    <div>


    ¡°Great, let¡¯s just get this stupid cave over with then,¡± Kole said. ¡°The sooner we get eaten, the sooner we can go back to class.¡±


    <div>


    Kole didn¡¯t wait for agreement and began the tedious task of lighting his torch.


    <div>


    Once lit, Kole examined the walls as his eyes adjusted. The cave was narrow but tall, like a capped-off crevice. Spider webs covered the walls shortly ahead of them, and looking up Kole saw they completely covered the roof of the cavern.


    <div>


    After his eyes had adjusted, Kole took the torch and walked ahead, waving it about into the webs. The thin strands burned as the fire got close, shriveling up and darkening where the flames got near like recoiling tentacles. As he reached the thicker webbed section, the flames ignited fully, allowing the flame to propagate and travel down the cavern, lighting it ahead of them even as the cave filled with smoke. Through the light of this spreading flame, they saw the tunnel split and branch ahead.


    <div>


    ¡°I can see again,¡± Zale confirmed after the flames had left their view.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Rakin said, cloth over his mouth as he followed the flames. ¡°We lost the element of surprise, but there¡¯s no reason to keep them waiting.¡±


    <div>


    The flames quickly outraced their own pace, and they followed the charred halls it left in its wake. The webs had gotten thicker as they went, judging by the amount of ash and soot that they passed through.


    <div>


    ¡°There¡¯s chaos up ahead,¡± Rakin whispered, eyes closed and focusing on the vibrations of the earth.


    <div>


    They continued on, faster now, Rakin guiding them through side passages seemingly at random. He paused, and signaled silently that there were enemies around the corner, and they all prepared for battle. Once everyone had given a nod, Zale gave the order


    <div>


    ¡°Go!¡±

 Chapter 87: Found

    <div>


    [A picture of two dwarves dancing, with ribbons of stone flowing around them.]


    <div>


    E is for Earth primals, the dwarves call them Stoneweavers. These primals are made of Torc¡¯s most devout believers.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    Rakin and Zale burst out of the cave, Kole and Doug following further behind. As Kole rounded the corner, the cave opened into a vast cavern at least a hundred feet around and extending far beyond what the light of the flames could reveal. The fire they had set loose now spread up the walls, burning their way upward in a ring, but hundreds of small spiders were at work battling the encroaching flames¡ªsmall being a relative term, for these spiders had bodies ranging from fist-sized to the size of a large cat. Larger spiders labored above, grabbing man-shaped cocoons, and shuffling them to safety up above.


    <div>


    As soon as they entered, spiders broke off from the task of fighting back the flames and ran to intercept Rakin and Zale. Individually the spiders were of no threat to the two, but in a swarm, it was impossible to keep them all at bay. Kole and Doug shot at the mass as it came, while the cousins made low-sweeping attacks to fight back the encroaching horde. As spiders made it past their guard and began to climb, they ripped them off.


    <div>


    Rakin faired better than Zale, splitting his stone staff in two and using it as small clubs, before eventually abandoning them entirely. Zale¡¯s bastard sword was great for killing the swarmed spiders in droves, but useless once they climbed on her. Doug and Kole diverted their efforts to attack the larger spiders that began to enter the frame of their smaller brethren, and Kole scanned the walls above for their target and signs of further assaults. Dimly he saw chaotic movement up above, disrupting the orderly transfer of cacoons he¡¯d noticed on entering.


    <div>


    Zale and Rakin began to retreat back to the cover of the cave mouth, Rakin now slapping the spiders on his body against his ki-reinforced skill. The spiders on Zale had, failing to pierce her armor, begun to wrap her in webs.


    <div>


    Kole watched in horror as Zale stumbled, falling back against a wall of web that had somehow remained unburned. As soon as her back touched the webs, they turned black, fading into the black motes Zale herself vanished into, taking the webs that surrounded Zale with them. The destruction traveled up the wall a dozen feet before stopping, and something up above let out a blood-curdling screech.


    <div>


    Everyone froze, even the spiders, and Zale looked back to her friends with an almost apologetic look.


    <div>


    ¡°Voidyess,¡± Kole whispered for her.


    <div>


    As if the words broke the trance, the spiders broke into movement again, only this time they all went for Zale. Even the ones on Rakin leaping off of him to get at her. Spiders began to dive from above towards her, descending on lines of silk-like archeologists descending on a rope into caverns.


    <div>


    They swarmed her, spiders as large as dogs joining in, but Doug managed to pick up move of these on their descent. Kole thought he heard a man¡¯s shout from somewhere, but discounted it as Rakin moved to help her.


    <div>


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kole called, stopping him. ¡°Silence!¡±


    <div>


    Rakin halted, jumping out of the wait. Trusting that she¡¯d been able to do it, Kole cast Thunderwave, and stepped into the swarm. While spiders have the ability to cling to nearly any surface, that ability apparently doesn¡¯t help when their internals are turned to a liquid paste. All of the spiders before Kole were blown off of Zale, crashing into the cavern wall behind her. The spell in echoed off the walls, deafening everyone, Kole included. The few spiders that survived the blast died upon crashing on the impact at the end of their flights.


    <div>


    Once clear of the spiders, Zale jumped back to the safety of her friends, and Kole saw the extent of her wounds. She was completely covered in blood from hundreds of small wounds, and Kole was shocked the Dahn had yet to whisk her away.


    <div>


    ¡°Above!¡± Doug shouted, losing another arrow.


    <div>


    Kole followed the flight of the arrow and saw it strike a spider with a body the size of a boar. The arrow struck with little effect, but vines quickly sprouted from the wooden shaft and began to twine around it. While Doug¡¯s shot had taken out one, more followed.


    <div>


    ¡°Rahhh!¡±


    <div>


    A deep echoing shout of battle came from high above and rapidly approached. A man, naked save for the scraps of spider silk that still wrapped him in areas descended out of the darkness above, using the webs to arrest his fall. The man was covered in tattoos of a familiar pattern, the symbol for the Font of Bonds clear on his chest, and the magical tattoos of the Iron Vein tribes snaking out from there.


    <div>


    ¡°Hawk Talon?!¡± Zale asked in bewildered recognition.


    <div>


    Safe behind Rakin and Zale, Kole directed his rod blasts at the descending spiders. As the Iron Vein tribesman¡ªHawk Talon¡ªdescended, he began to pummel spiders as he passed them in a rage. The tattoos on his body with an orange light, and despite his gaunt emaciated appearance, Kole heard the carapaces crack under his bare-handed blows.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    <div>


    ¡°Gah!¡± Doug shouted from behind Kole.


    <div>


    All three turned to see a spider perched on the demonkin¡¯s antlers, blood dripping from its fangs as Doug clutched the bloody wound on his shoulder.


    <div>


    Kole reacted first, flicking his rod up and sending a blast of force into the spider, but to Kole¡¯s shock, the spider vanished, reappearing on the cavern wall above them His shot struck Doug¡¯s antlers taking a few tine¡¯s with it. Doug shouted in pain and fell even with the spider removed.


    <div>


    ¡°Sorry!¡± Kole shouted, pointing his rod up at the spider and shooting it again, this time obliterating it.


    <div>


    ¡°They teleport!¡± Kole shouted. ¡°Are they supposed to teleport?¡±


    <div>


    Doug didn¡¯t reply, passing out instead. Passing out but not vanishing.


    <div>


    ¡°Guys! We have a problem!¡± Kole called to Zale and Rakin who held the line, Hawk Talon having finally reached the.


    <div>


    ¡°Doug¡¯s not vanishing!¡± Kole yelled. ¡°The Dahn¡¯s not taking him!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Retreat!¡± Zale called, and Rakin and the giant man complied, falling back and keeping the spiders at bay. While Zale¡¯s presence had driven the spider¡¯s into a fervor, the arrival¡ªor apparent escape¡ªof the Bond primal had driven the spiders mad and they completely abandoned their efforts to halt the progress of the flames to get at them.


    <div>


    Kole ran to Doug and began staunching the wound in his shoulder. When the three others reached him. Hawk Talon assessed Doug briefly before kneeling down, and throwing him over his shoulder as Kole would a child.


    <div>


    Well, a really small child, Kole thought, reflecting on his own strength. Maybe a baby.


    <div>


    ¡°Go!¡± Zale urged them on.


    <div>


    Kole cast around, looking for his torch, finding it mercifully still ablaze on the ground. Even with his burden, Hawk Talon beat Kole to it, snatching it up and leading the way out of the cave.


    <div>


    Kole fell in behind him, blasting the mass of spiders through any openings he saw through Zale and Rakin, who had fallen back to the cavern mouth.


    <div>


    ¡°Thunderwave!¡± Zale shouted to Kole.


    <div>


    Kole reached for his potion of clarity even as he saw Rakin touching the stone of the wall beside him, eyes closed in focus.


    <div>


    Kole downed his potion, and Rakin dove behind Kole, finished with whatever stoneweaving he¡¯d employed. Kole moved to cast his spell, only to find the rejuvenated Will he¡¯d been expecting missing.


    <div>


    Only then did he realize that the potion he¡¯d just taken had only been water.


    <div>


    Then it all came together. The loss of the train, the arrival of the unexpected mountain, Zale¡¯s and Doug¡¯s not being saved from their Dahn, the presence of a classmate, the potion returning to water.


    <div>


    ¡°We¡¯re not in the dungeon!¡± Kole shouted, even as he reached for the extra clarity potion he always kept with him for emergencies.


    <div>


    He downed the potion in a practiced gesture, savoring the distinct¡ªif still terrible¡ªflavor of the potion he¡¯d brought from home.


    <div>


    ¡°Now!¡± Kole shouted to Zale, who instead of using her silence aura, vanished into black motes.


    <div>


    The swarm she¡¯d kept at bay surged at her disappearance, and Kole unleashed his spell.


    <div>


    The spell roared out from Kole¡¯s palm, sending the spider back, only for the growing mass behind them to halt their flight and keep them close. But, the roar of the spell wasn¡¯t the last of the sounds. Over the alien screeching of the giant spiders, the sound of cracking stone rang out, followed by the rolling rumble as the cavern collapsed before Kole, sealing the spiders away from them.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the Fauell out of here!¡± Rakin shouted, pulling Kole along and into the darkness.


    <div>


    They ran, but no spiders pursued them. Kole followed after, using the remainder of his recently refilled Will capacity to cast the cantrip for the Font of Light. A glowing orb of light appeared in Kole¡¯s palm, providing a weak illumination, but more than enough for him to navigate the small cavern.


    <div>


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed, rubbing his head at the headache with his free hand.


    <div>


    The cantrip, which would have cost next to nothing for any other wizard had cost Kole 30 Will. Kole, who had neglected his cantrips, having long assigned them to the role of ¡®slightly useful but way too expensive,¡¯ realized he¡¯d need to rethink that in light of recent events.


    <div>


    I just cast Thunderwave for 15 Will¡­ why should a Light cantrip cost me 30?


    <div>


    He mentally noted to look into that once his life wasn¡¯t in peril.


    <div>


    Finally, they exited the caves and Kole was brought from his poorly timed reflection the sight of the stars, and the two roughly shaped moons shining brilliantly in the sky.


    <div>


    ¡°Two moons?!¡± he said aloud. ¡°I know I grew up underwater, but that doesn¡¯t seem right.¡±


    <div>


    Zale and Hawk Talon, who were tending to Doug both looked up noticing as well. They stood up, Doug seemingly stabilized by their calmer demeanor.


    <div>


    ¡°We should get away from this case, the rocks,¡± Hawk Talon suggested, exhaustion clear in his tone.


    <div>


    The glow of his tattoos had ceased, and he now had an exhausted posture to match his appearance. Despite his state, he helped Zale lift Doug, and they carried him down the boulder-strewn mountainside. No spiders attacked them in their descent, but they continued in silence, despite their burning curiosity at Hawk Talon¡¯s presence. Kole had pieced together that he must have been the missing primal student from Tigereye¡¯s homeland, but how that was possible was beyond him.


    <div>


    At some point, Kole noticed that the sky had lost its strange moons, and the one that remained looked familiar. He turned around to find the mountain that they¡¯d just descended had vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, the lone mountain on the horizon from their caravan journey returning to its original location.


    <div>


    ¡°Guys,¡± Kole said, getting everyone¡¯s attention.


    <div>


    They all stopped, looking at him, and then past him to the missing mountain.


    <div>


    ¡°What in the realm,¡± Zale said in wonder, everyone else looking equally confused.


    <div>


    And then, behind Zale, a familiar black stone door appeared out of nowhere, free-standing in the prairie they now found themselves in.


    <div>


    Kole, having just gotten everyone to look at him, now pointed behind them all.;


    <div>


    ¡°I think we should go through that before anything else happens,¡± Kole said, running to the door before he finished speaking.


    <div>


    ¡°Good idea,¡± Hawk Talon said, and they all ran through the door, into the ready room of the Dahn.


    <div>


    Kole didn¡¯t wait to gather their belonging, and as soon as the door was closed behind them, he opened the outer door the Dahn and stepped out into a different sort of chaos.

 Chapter 88: Speculation

    <div>


    [An image of a starry sky filled with multicolored lights between the stars. The lights and stars form the shape of Kaltis.]


    <div>


    F is Fonts, the pillars of the reality, they embody the concepts from thinking to gravity. They started with creation and refined it from there, and they govern the world from the seas to your hair.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    The classroom that had once been dedicated to the furtherment of adventuring education had been filled with dozens of devices, both magical and runed, along with the staff to man them. Armed men and women stood at the ready just beyond the door, and when it opened, Kole was trapped in some sort of magic spell, unable to move.


    <div>


    ¡°Kole?¡± a familiar voice said from the sea of faces all staring at him.


    <div>


    Kole tried to respond but found it difficult to even move his jaw to speak.


    <div>


    ¡°Let them go!¡± the same voice commanded, and the wizard who¡¯d trapped Kole and his friends released the spell. ¡°Get that point medical attention!¡±


    <div>


    Kole collapsed at the spell¡¯s sudden disappearance, and only once he was on the ground did he connect the voice with a name.


    <div>


    ¡°Master Lonin?¡± he said weakly, voice lost in the chaos.


    <div>


    A blur of activity followed, and it wasn¡¯t long after that Kole and his friends found themselves. In the medical ward of the Glade. Teleportation had been used in their transfer, but Kole couldn¡¯t exactly remember when it had happened, nor did he remember receiving all the wounds that the Assuine Blessed halfling healer was currently tending to.


    <div>


    Kole and his friends¡ªand Hawk Talon¡ªwere all in the same room Rakin had been sent to after the run-in with the ice people, only the living dividers had been set up to create a large open room with leaves able to come down to give each bed privacy. A healer was seeing to each of them, with Doug and Hawk Talon each receiving extra scrutiny.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± Rakin protested, pushing away the human woman who was trying to administer some potion to him.


    <div>


    ¡°It will help you calm,¡± she assured him.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t need ta calm down!¡± he shouted, not exactly helping his case, but he didn¡¯t seem to mind. In a calmer¡ªbut still angry¡ªtone he continued. ¡°It will be fine.¡±


    <div>


    The woman relented, and she left, the healers tending to Zale and Kole following her. Before the friends could speak, Grand Master Lonin, Professor Underbrook, Professor Donglefore and Tigereye entered the room with two other people he remembered from the adventurer mixer event.


    <div>


    The dryad seeing to Doug tried to bar their entry but relented quickly as she noticed that the Arch Druid of the Glade was among their number.


    <div>


    Please give us the room,¡± the Arch Druid, a slender elf woman said gently.


    <div>


    Kole stared at her in wonder. He¡¯d seen a few elves around Edgewater, but they¡¯d all seemed rather haughty, above the measly human city they found themselves in. This elf however fit the the image of elves Kole had built in his mind the the stories of his childhood.


    <div>


    She was only five feet tall, but he fair-skinned delicate features drew attention from the hulking behemoth that was Tigereye who stood beside her.


    <div>


    ¡°The patient,¡± the dryad began, but the elf waved away the concern with a graceful flick of her wrist.


    <div>


    ¡°Have no worries. I will see to him personally.¡±


    <div>


    The dryad sagged in relief, and she and the three remaining healers left the room.


    <div>


    True to her word, the Arch Druid moved to Doug, and placed her hand on his shoulder. After only a moment, Doug stirred and then opened his eyes as if waking from a sleep. Content with her work, she moved over to Hawk Talon. After examining him for a moment, she whispered to the room-dividing plant beside her and then plucked a berry-like fruit that grew at her request.


    <div>


    She placed the small fruit in Hawk Talon¡¯s mouth and massaged his throat for him to swallow. The young man¡¯s color darkened to a healthy tan from the sickly pale, but the changes didn¡¯t stop there. His gaunt face filled in even as his emaciated muscles grew, growing to the normal musculature one would expect for a man of his size, and then beyond to the obscured bulk typical to his people.


    <div>


    He woke suddenly, eyes scanning the room in a panic, calming immediately on sight of Tigereye.


    <div>


    In a gentle voice, the Arch Druid spoke apologetically to the gathered professors.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    <div>


    ¡°I can heal the body with Assuine¡¯s gifts, but the mind is beyond even Assuine¡¯s purview. That will take time and care.¡±


    <div>


    Tigereye approached, quickly but somehow gently and not predatory.


    <div>


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked simply.


    <div>


    Hawk Talon gave a nod, and Tigereye relaxed slightly¡ªvery very slightly, he never seemed to be relaxed in non-emergency situations.


    <div>


    ¡°What in the Wardens¡¯ names is going on?!¡± Rakin demanded breaking the silence.


    <div>


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Zale said, lifting herself on an elbow. ¡°What¡¯s with the welcoming ceremony?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You four have been missing for four weeks,¡± Grand Master Lonin said, stepping into the center of the room. ¡°And you, young Hawk Talon, have been missing for half a year.¡±


    <div>


    The pronouncement was met with silence, which once more Rakin broke.


    <div>


    ¡°Well¡­ that explains it.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You four failed to return from the dungeon on the Friday of the fifth week of classes. We gathered all the appropriate staff to investigate the manner, save for the chancellor. It is now the Thursday of the ninth week of classes.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Why not Mom?¡± Zale asked, breaking the anonymity Lonin had been granting Zale¡¯s mother, who was not publicly known to hold the position.


    <div>


    The news was apparently new to Hawk Talon, who gawked at Zale, lost for words.


    <div>


    ¡°She¡¯s missing as well,¡± Lonin explained. ¡°A man who claimed to be your uncle said she¡¯d left on some mission at his request, but he too disappeared, even though he insisted on joining in the research endeavor.¡±


    <div>


    Zale didn¡¯t know what to say at that.


    <div>


    Of all the times for Zale¡¯s secret legendary mage of an uncle to disappear. Kole held himself back from saying.


    <div>


    Instead, he looked at Zale, meeting her eyes and reading the same thoughts written there.


    <div>


    ¡°Now, please,¡± Lonin said. ¡°If you would be up to it, tell us what happened.¡±


    <div>


    And so they did. Zale explained their time in the dungeon, stopping when the professors asked questions, Doug and Kole often jumping in to answer.


    <div>


    When Zale explained how they¡¯d used her powers in conjunction with Kole¡¯s Thunderwave, Underbrook and Lonin both looked impressed and Kole had to hold back a laugh as he saw them each restrain themselves from asking follow-up questions.


    <div>


    She continued on to the cave, and Kole jumped in to stress his belief they¡¯d left the dungeon at that point. They all listened, enraptured by the tale of the battle.


    <div>


    ¡°We found a large chamber in the cave, filled with mage slayer spiders,¡± Zale said, getting to the battle. ¡°Hundreds of them, from the size of rats to huge boar-sized ones up above.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Hundreds?¡± the Arch Druid asked disbelieving. ¡°And not all infants? This can¡¯t be.¡±


    <div>


    Kole refrained from sharing his views on calling things that have already happened impossible. Doug spoke up instead.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± he said. ¡°And that¡¯s not the only strange thing. They were drawing on the Font of Space.¡±


    <div>


    This drew Lonin and Underbrook¡¯s attention back fully, both their head snapping to Doug.


    <div>


    ¡°Explain,¡± Lonin demanded.


    <div>


    Doug wilted under the interrogation but tried his best.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m a Spatial primal. I could sense their use of space magic, and saw at least one teleport.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°How?¡± Lonin said, conferring with Underbrook. ¡°Were these truly mage slayers? Or some other breed of magical spider? A crossbreed? No, never mind, let¡¯s finish the tale.¡±


    <div>


    Zale quickly chronicled their escape and Kole¡¯s realization they¡¯d left the dungeon. She explained the strange sky, and then the appearance of the door.


    <div>


    Speculation broke out once more between the two wizards and Professor Donglefore on the nature of the experience and the spiders.


    <div>


    ¡°Maybe Hawk Talon could shed some light on this,¡± Tigereye suggested, bringing attention to his neglected student.


    <div>


    ¡°I do not know¡­¡± he began, ¡°I¡­ I think the spiders were drawing on my powers. I think¡­ I think I was taken because of my powers.¡±


    <div>


    The speculation grew silent, and Hawk Talon had the rooms complete and total attention. In the simple halting ways of his people, Hawk Talon told his story. He wasn¡¯t a great orator, but everyone hung on each of his slowly spoken words.


    <div>


    ¡°I was walking back to my bunk late. I had been training alone. Something caught me near the stables.¡±


    <div>


    He pointed to a scar on his neck, two puncture marks much like Doug now bore, only much larger and further apart.


    <div>


    ¡°I felt a pain and then fell asleep. I woke in a cocoon. I could not move. I struggled to escape but I could not draw on my tribe¡¯s Bond for strength. The webs drained me of my Will. If I drew on the power, the spider¡¯s stole it from me along with my Will.


    <div>


    ¡°You say I was gone for six months but I do not feel it has been so long. I slept a lot, but not that much. I thought I would slowly starve, but then something changed. The drain lessened, and I felt the spider draw less deeply on me.


    <div>


    He stopped, closing his eyes as if trying to bring it to mind.


    <div>


    ¡°Someone else was there with me, but I could never make out her words. I only know that her arrival saved me from being slowly consumed. When the fire came, I had my chance to escape and took it.¡±


    <div>


    Grand Master Lonin asked a few follow-up questions, but he had no more details to share. Lonin then produced a stack of familiar white paper and quills, and passed them out.


    <div>


    ¡°Write down everything you can remember,¡± he said to them all. ¡°Hold nothing back.¡±


    <div>


    Kole began to write on the magic paper employed by the Academy and quickly realized the sensation of memory recall it granted was a weaker version of the enhancement his own paper granted him. While he mostly only used it now to recall class lectures and passages from books, he''d found that while doing so he could remember the most minute of details. If need be, he could draw a seating chart of the entire class of any given lecture, even if he¡¯d not noticed consciously at the time, even the people behind him he was certain he hadn¡¯t looked at.


    <div>


    This paper however only let him remember with perfect clarity the things he¡¯d experienced. He considered taking his own book out and using that in its place, but he didn¡¯t want to draw further attention to the book.


    <div>


    Instead, he wrote down all he could recall, noticing in his writing that the two celestial objects he¡¯d taken to be moons had not actually been that at all. They¡¯d been massive floating chunks of land, far closer to him than what his eyes had told him that chaotic night.


    <div>


    ¡°Where in the realms were we?¡± he asked himself allowed after writing that revelation down.


    <div>


    ¡°That,¡± Professor Donglefore said, ¡°Is precisely what we wish to know.¡±

 Chapter 89: Amulets

    <div>


    [A painting of the classically styled images of Waas, Torc, Faust, and Aurial kneeling before a glowing white featureless figure depicting Oan]


    <div>


    G is for gods, the children of Oan, he made them before leaving for reaches unknown. They created the Fonts with each other''s assistance and used them to build our very existence.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    Once the papers had been collected, and the professors had read them, they asked the students if they needed anything.


    <div>


    ¡°Where¡¯s my mother?¡± Zale asked.


    <div>


    ¡°We do not know,¡± Tigereye answered, sympathetically. ¡°We looked. But, you know her.¡±


    <div>


    Zale nodded and grew pensive.


    <div>


    Kole didn¡¯t really feel like now was the time to ask, but he figured it was best to rip the bandage off.


    <div>


    ¡°Are we going to be dropped from the Academy or disqualified from the adventuring program for missing four weeks?¡±


    <div>


    Professor Underbrook let out a laugh, bordering on a giggle.


    <div>


    ¡°If we dropped students from the adventuring program every time they got wrapped up in an adventure that took them away from class, we¡¯d have lost all our best graduates.¡±


    <div>


    Kole felt relieved at the words but didn¡¯t know how he¡¯d ever be able to pass his classes now.


    <div>


    Reading the concern, Underbrook continued, ¡°We will arrange for tutoring and an altered curriculum along with assigned work for the semester and summer breaks.¡±


    <div>


    This revelation soothed Kole¡¯s worry, even giving him hope at the mention of private tutoring. Rakin didn¡¯t share that sentiment.


    <div>


    ¡°Faust cursed slag!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°If that will be all,¡± Donglefore said, ¡°There are some people who are waiting to see you and then you must rest.¡±


    <div>


    Kole noticed then that Hawk Talon had fallen asleep at some point during the writing session. He was feeling healed but could use a good rest himself.


    <div>


    The professors left, and then a strange mix of students entered the room. Amara came in, accompanied by Gray, Mouse, Herald, and Esme. Esme and Gray stayed by the door, while the other three ran eagerly to a bed. It took a moment for Kole¡¯s brain to catch up with his eyes.


    <div>


    Intellectually it made sense that Harold and Mouse would be here, but Amara¡¯s presence among them confused him. He couldn¡¯t recall the girl ever interacting with anyone who hadn¡¯t initiated the conversation.


    <div>


    Mouse ran to Doug¡¯s side, and Harold to Zale, while to his surprise, Amara ran to the space between Doug and Rakin¡¯s beds.


    <div>


    ¡°Doug! Rakin!¡± she said excitedly. ¡°You¡¯re finally back!¡±


    <div>


    Doug gave her a polite and uncertain wave, before returning his attention to Mouse.


    <div>


    ¡°Why?¡± Rakin asked bluntly.


    <div>


    Amara pulled out her back, and pulled out two small wooden boxes, putting one on each bed.


    <div>


    ¡°Your amulets are done!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Oohhhh,¡± Kole said aloud, the scene finally making sense.


    <div>


    Of course, that¡¯s why she¡¯s so excited. She¡¯s been holding onto those for weeks. Wait¡­ he thought with growing concern. What else has she been up to in her workshop?


    <div>


    He made a mental note to check and make sure she hadn¡¯t gotten too carried away.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    <div>


    Amara¡¯s pronouncement brought Doug¡¯s attention momentarily away from Mouse, with whom he had begun speaking excitedly, starting with the Scalequines.


    <div>


    Rakin snatched his box out of the bed and snapped the lid open, he eyes growing wide. He pulled the amulet from the box, and Kole saw that the flaming stone soul stone had been surrounded by three bands of metal of different colors, each a different type of metal and engraved densely with runes.


    <div>


    The chain too had runes on each link, which Amara pointed to proudly.


    <div>


    ¡°My ants did the work on the links. Normally they need to use costly magics to enlarge the chains while they work on them.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°It looks like the Hardune¡¯s symbol,¡± Rakin said, admiration clear in his voice.


    <div>


    The Hardune, the once secret dwarven society that took up the mantle of imprisoning rogue Primordials once the gods left Kaltis, had a symbol representing the planet itself.


    <div>


    The three bands represented the three gods Torc, Waas, and Aurial who formed the planet out of their bodies to imprison the god Faust, the god of flame and evil that to this day resided in the planets heart.


    <div>


    Doug pulled his out, and looked disappointed to find his looked almost the same.


    <div>


    ¡°What? Is something wrong?¡± Amara asked alarmed, noticing his concern.


    <div>


    Kole was impressed she¡¯d picked up on the look at all.


    <div>


    ¡°No¡­ I just thought they were tailored to us. I was expecting something more in line with Assuine.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Amara said firmly, ¡°There were no conceits to form, only function. The triangle was the perfect shape to contain the permeable containment runes, the control runes, and the extended field runes. The connection to the Hardune is purely a coincidence.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°How does it work?¡± Rakin asked, eagerly.


    <div>


    ¡°Put it on,¡± Amara instructed them, and they both obeyed. ¡°The soul stones were required to control and power the permeability and range of the protection. Without them they would have been beyond your ability to control and anyone¡¯s ability to craft. You can block out the power of your Fonts by Willing it to be so. You should start with low levels to feel out your abilities. Rakin should work on not losing control, while Doug must learn to sense his instincts that reach for the Font.¡±


    <div>


    They both thanked her sincerely, and she beamed, prouder than Kole had ever seen her.


    <div>


    ¡°So,¡± she said, casually. ¡°What have you all been up to?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Amara,¡± Kole said, cautiously, not believing what he was about to ask was necessary but also certain it was. ¡°You do know we¡¯ve been missing for four weeks right?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been that long¡­ Right?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°How much class have you missed?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    She did some math in her head, looking up.


    <div>


    ¡°No more than two weeks. Three tops,¡± she said. ¡°I thought you guys were only gone for a week or two. I spent some time trying to find you, playing with trackers, but when those didn¡¯t work, I moved on to other projects. Professor Donglefore excused me from some classes to work on the necklaces, and I just sort of lost track of the days I guess, and didn¡¯t go back.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°We have good news!¡± Zale said excitedly from her bed. ¡°We have a lead on your sister.¡±


    <div>


    This derailed Amara from any more rune talk, and she and Gray¡¯s team all listened with rapt attention to Zale¡¯s recounting. Kole had never realized Zale had a flare for storytelling, but it was clearly something she¡¯d practiced.


    <div>


    Kole split his time watching the faces of the listeners. Esme just looked bored and uninterested, glaring at Zale when she paid her any attention. Harold watched Zale proudly, with the occasional concern evident on his face.


    <div>


    Mouse and Doug whispered commentary through out it all, the little of which Kole picked up suggested they were discussing the flora and fauna he¡¯d seen on his trip.


    <div>


    Gray looked concerned at first for Zale, but when she got to the first attack, he looked at Kole¡¯s way accusingly and then gapped in awe as Zale described his magical exploits¡ªsans the illusion abilities. He looked from Zale to Kole in disbelief, and Kole could see him restrain the urge to call Zale a liar.


    <div>


    ¡°And then we ran out the door into the PREVENT room and were brought here,¡± Zale said in conclusion


    <div>


    ¡°And now, they will all be going to sleep,¡± a soft voice said at the door.


    <div>


    All eyes shot to the speaker. The Arch Druid had stepped in silently and unknown and at some point and waited patiently for Zale to finish the story.


    <div>


    Mouse seemed shrunk in on herself, while all the others gave outward signs of respect. They said their goodbyes, Gray and Kole staring daggers at each other across the room and left.


    <div>


    ¡°Hmm, smells much better in here,¡± Rakin noted, and Zale threw a pillow at him, striking him hard in the side of the head.


    <div>


    ¡°Nice throw,¡± Doug complimented.


    <div>


    And then, they too settled down to sleep, joining Hawk Talon who¡¯d not even awoken for the arrival or departure of the other team of students plus Amara.


    <div>


    ¡°Good morning!¡± Zale shouted cheerily, waking Kole and Rakin.


    <div>


    ¡°Good morning yerself!¡± Rakin shouted, rolling over and covering his head with the extra pillow Zale had so graciously given him.


    <div>


    ¡°Was that supposed to be an insult?¡± Zale whispered to Doug, who was with her in the middle of the room.


    <div>


    Groggily, Kole sat up. Zale and Doug were cleaned up, dressed in new sets of clothes, and were back with food already.


    <div>


    ¡°Why so early? We don¡¯t have to go to class anymore. Right?¡± Kole asked, siding with Rakin.


    <div>


    ¡°First,¡± Zale said, holding up a finger. ¡°It¡¯s already 7, so I did let you sleep in. Second, we still need to go to PREVENT and meet with tutors. Third, it¡¯s Monday, which means it¡¯s time for training, and without any classes for the rest of the day, we can finally get some real work done.¡±


    <div>


    Rakin and Kole both let out a groan.

 Chapter 90: Gear

    <div>


    [A picture of a stereotypical mage wearing a pointed hat and colorful robe.]


    <div>


    M is for mage, a title of honor for wizards and mages but it''s lost its significance through all of the ages. Once a title for the greatest of all, it is now a name for magicians great and small.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    Three hours later, Kole lay in the grass, gasping for air. With the martial training yards full, Zale had made them run through the forest around the glade, and on top of being exhausted, he was covered in scratches and cuts. Everyone else was fine of course.


    <div>


    Kole was of two minds on his current situation. On one hand, he was glad he¡¯d gotten out of the tournament that was being held in Martial 101, on the other, he¡¯d learned Zale had been assigned as their group¡¯s tutor in place of the class. She set a brutal standard.


    <div>


    Zale herself had informally started her mentorship with Tigereye and would work with him and check in on them from time to time and administer their final exams.


    <div>


    She had decided the group lacked real-world experience, they¡¯d set out through the forest for the day, Doug acting as both guide and tutor as they navigated the woods, traveling towards the mountain foothills.


    <div>


    ¡°Lunch is ready,¡± Doug said, pulling Kole¡¯s attention away from his aching sides.


    <div>


    While he¡¯d malingered, the rest had prepared lunch of some rabbits Doug had caught along the way.


    <div>


    ¡°So, any news on yer ma?¡± Rakin asked Zale as they ate.


    <div>


    ¡°Not really,¡± Zale said, covering her mouth as she talked while chewing. ¡°She left a note. She went to get something for Uncle Tal¡¯s project, but she expected to be back by now. Uncle Tal didn¡¯t leave a note, which probably means his problem flared up again.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What exactly is his problem?¡± Kole asked, hoping to get an answer finally.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I can¡¯t say really,¡± Zale said regretfully.


    <div>


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you call him Uncle?¡± Doug asked Rakin, earning looks of confusion.


    <div>


    ¡°What do ye mean?¡± Rakin asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Well, you and Zale call each other cousin. Shouldn¡¯t he be your uncle too?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Rakin said firmly. ¡°She calls me cousin.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Yea.. But you let her and never complain about it,¡± Kole pointed out. ¡°From you, that¡¯s basically a roaring endorsement.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Bah!¡± Rakin shouted, ¡°whatever. I don¡¯t know the man. I ain¡¯t going to call him ¡®Uncle.¡¯¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You referred to Zale¡¯s mother as Auntie didn¡¯t you?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s different,¡± Rakin defended.


    <div>


    ¡°How?¡± Kole pressed.


    <div>


    ¡°I know her. I like her. I never met Tallen until recently and he¡¯s a bit too much like ye for me liking.¡±


    <div>


    Kole thought he should be offended, but then decided to take being compared to Tal of Storms semi-favorably was a compliment.


    <div>


    They got back on topic, throwing theories around as to where Zale¡¯s mother might be, but came up with nothing promising.


    <div>


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a pocket realm,¡± Zale said. ¡°If she wasn¡¯t the school would have found her, or she¡¯d have been able to get back into the Dahn fairly easily. Runt even looked for her a bit an came up with no leads.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Well Flood,¡± Kole cursed, trying to lighten the mood. ¡°Parents in pocket realms are rather difficult to find¡ªand I¡¯m something of an expert on the topic.¡±


    <div>


    They cleared up the makeshift camp after that and headed back to the Glade. Doug had Kole lead them back as a training exercise, a task at which he failed miserably.


    <div>


    With each choice, he heard Rakin snicker or snort in amusement.


    <div>


    ¡°You¡¯re rather good at navigating a forest for a dwarf,¡± Doug observed.


    <div>


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin said. ¡°Me ma made me learn. She learned from Zale¡¯s sorta-da. She learned the peril of lacking the ability to travel above ground.¡±


    <div>


    They let Kole fumble a little while longer before jumping in and showing him the path they¡¯d taken. This time, they only traveled it for a short while, before turning and taking them on a much shorter route back to the Glade. The three-hour trek of the morning had actually only taken them a half-hour¡¯s walk back.


    <div>


    ¡°Thank the gods,¡± Kole groaned as civilization came into sight. Then, after a moment of realization, he asked. ¡°Were we just a short walk from the Glade the whole time?¡±


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    <div>


    Everyone save Kole broke out into laughter.


    <div>


    They parted ways after returning to the Glade. Doug was going to spend time with Mouse, while Zale had to get ready for a date with Harold.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s taking ye out on a Monday? How romantics,¡± Rakin said, earning a kick from Zale


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go check on Amara,¡± Kole said, feeling the need to put some sort of plan forward for the day. ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯s been eating as much as she should been since we¡¯ve been gone.¡±


    <div>


    Zale and Doug gave approving nods.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯ll come too,¡± Rakin said, receiving shocked looks from everyone.


    <div>


    ¡°What?¡± he asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Why?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°I got to eat too, don¡¯t I?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ you don¡¯t like other people,¡± Kole said, dumbfounded


    <div>


    ¡°Whatever gave ye that idea?¡±


    <div>


    Kole gestured vaguely at Rakin¡¯s whole body.


    <div>


    ¡°Bah!¡± the dwarf shouted, throwing his hands in the air. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll eat alone.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°No. I¡¯m sorry,¡± Kole apologized. ¡°You should come.¡±


    <div>


    Rakin nodded, in response, and then dropped the topic. They made plans to meet at the martial dining hall and split up to get cleaned up and ready.


    <div>


    ¡°I think that makes you Rakin¡¯s best friend,¡± Zale whispered to Kole when the dwarf was out of earshot.


    <div>


    ¡°What? Me? No. Why?


    <div>


    ¡°Well,¡± Zale said, considering. ¡°Him agreeing to go with you means you¡¯re his friend. Assuming Doug and Amara are also his friends, I know he prefers you over them, which makes you his best friend.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What about you?¡± Kole asked. ¡°And why do you think he prefers me?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°We¡¯re family, it doesn¡¯t count. And you are¡­ less aloof than those two. All four of you are yokels, strangers from far-off islands, mountain valleys, undersea cities, or the deep Torack, but you and Rakin have adjusted to life here the best and he doesn¡¯t have a lot of patience.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he a monk? Isn¡¯t patience supposed to be sort of their thing?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°There¡¯s a reason he¡¯s not at the monastery anymore.¡±


    <div>


    They parted ways at the entrances to the men¡¯s and women¡¯s changing rooms, and Kole went in to wash what felt like a month of grime off of him.


    <div>


    Sometime later, Kole found himself outside the door to Amara¡¯s workshop. A table stood outside her door, a new addition, with a tray of uneaten food on it.


    <div>


    Kole knocked loudly, and to his surprise heard a loud chime from within. A moment later, Amara opened the door. She looked irritated at first until she noticed it was Kole.


    <div>


    ¡°Kole!¡± she shouted happily.


    <div>


    ¡°What was that sound?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Doorbell!¡± she explained excitedly as she pulled him inside and closed the door.


    <div>


    She pointed at the back of the door where a series of runes had been carved.


    <div>


    ¡°Professor Donglefore got angry that I didn¡¯t hear him the first few times he came by, so I added this.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Clever. I came to see if you wanted to get dinner with me and Rakin, but I saw the food outside¡­¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, yeah. Professor Donglefore started getting that sent when he realized I¡­ lost track of time.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°How much time have you been spending here exactly?¡± Kole asked, taking in the lab for the first time.


    <div>


    The room was as full as ever, but there were a lot more ongoing projects. Kole saw three gourds housing ants where before Amara had only had one, and all three were set on workstations with items at the ready to be runed.


    <div>


    ¡°More ants?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    Amara nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°Yes! I got the queen to make two more so we can split the colony. I¡¯m working on training different colonies in different techniques. So far though there¡¯s been a lack of signs of specialization.¡±


    <div>


    Amara then led Kole on a whirlwind tour of her projects. She showed him prototypes of the chains she¡¯d worked on for Doug and Rakin¡¯s amulets, class projects she was still tinkering with despite not having gone to classes in weeks, and material durability tests she¡¯d devised to test her ideas on using the Font of Life to repair runed materials.


    <div>


    She was most fascinated by the last one, though to Kole it was by far the least interesting. The setup was a series of dowels of equal length and diameter. Each was runed with simple Will transference runes, and was being used to channel Will in a loop from one gem into a light rune. Weights were set up on each one.


    <div>


    ¡°So far ,I¡¯m doing the controls, but soon I will start to incorporate the regenerative runes on them all.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Kole asked, pointing to a belt full of pouches wrapped around the hips of a sewing dummy.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh! Thats my adventuring gear,¡± she explained in the same excitement with which she¡¯d talked about the tensile strength of rune rotted wood. An excitement Kole had mentally calibrated to mean ¡°boring rune stuff¡± so it took a moment for his mind to catch up with the words.


    <div>


    ¡°Adventuring gear?¡±


    <div>


    Amara nodded and showed him what she¡¯d developed.


    <div>


    ¡°After the incident with Rakinar and those ice people, I realized I needed to be more proactive in my self defense, so I made all this.¡±


    <div>


    She showed him a variety of items, all made in the same manner as Kole¡¯s rod. To keep the costs down, she would keep the rune intent in her mind, and empower them manually to use them all.


    <div>


    ¡°This is my own version of the fire suppressors I used to stop Rakinar,¡± she showed him, holding up a dense rune-covered polyhedron the size of a grape.


    <div>


    ¡°I have the intent up here,¡± she said, tapping the side of her head. ¡°There¡¯s a filament inside, which acts as an inhibitor. Once powered, the filament weakens under the stress of the intent allowing the effect to take place. It¡¯s a three-second timer, but if I throw it, the shock triggers it early.¡±


    <div>


    Kole listened, amazed at the complexity of it all, and Amara kept going, excited to have an audience. She shoved five of the devices into Kole¡¯s hands and moved on.


    <div>


    ¡°This device I call a blinder,¡± she said. ¡°It is a capacitor charged light rune that well¡­ blinds. It flashes bright, and its great against creatures with dark vision¡­ I assume. It can also create a loud sound, and I can activate one or both.¡±


    <div>


    These too got put into Kole¡¯s hands, and he had to clutch them to his chest to keep a hold of them all.


    <div>


    ¡°This is a shield!¡± she said, holding up a device that looked like a small bowl with a rod stuck through the inside. Amara held it by the rod, pointing the hemispherical part at Kole, and he saw it was covered in runes.


    <div>


    ¡°This one is reusable, unlike those which I throw. It needs to be repaired with a repair intent, but I keep that stored here¡±¡ªshe pointed to a chest in her workshop¡ª¡°not here¡±¡ªshe tapped her head.


    <div>


    ¡°It creates a barrier, much like your Shield spell, but it¡¯s smaller, and the force of the blow is transmitted through the device, so I shouldn¡¯t go blocking swings from golems any time soon.¡±


    <div>


    This too she shoved into Kole¡¯s overloaded arms. Kole looked at Gus, watching from his miniature house with what he thought was a mix of pity and amusement.


    <div>


    ¡°And this!¡± she said, pulling out a blasting rod from a holster on the belt, ¡°is my blasting rod!¡±

 Chapter 91: Snake Hyenas

    <div>


    [A picture of a mountaintop with a cutout showing the city of Hollow Peak within. Above the city floats a black orb symbolizing the Primordial of Space that resides there.]


    <div>


    P is for Primordials, the Fonts manifest in the realm. Some exist in harmony while others overwhelm. If people or beasts can live alongside them for years or decades, then primals may crop up in their children somedays.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    ¡°What can it do?¡± Kole asked after a long silence.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, well, it¡¯s the same as yours, but more efficient,¡± Amara said.


    <div>


    ¡°Which reminds me! I have a new one for you. I got the Will cost of the blast down to 2 Will. It¡¯s a tiny bit less powerful, but more efficient overall.¡±


    <div>


    She put the rod into the holster and went over to a stack of what Kole had thought to be dowels, but were actually finished blasting rods. She dug through the pile, muttering until Gus jumped down, dug through the pile, and pulled one out.


    <div>


    ¡°Here,¡± Amara said, thrusting the rod at Kole. ¡°I have the new intent somewhere. It shouldn¡¯t take too much to modify the old one to work for this one.¡±


    <div>


    Kole looked from his full hands to the rod, and back.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh! Sorry!¡± Amara apologized, quickly taking all the items from Kole and putting them back into the pouches.


    <div>


    After his hands were cleared and Amara had found the gem with the rune intent he needed, Kole spotted something familiar.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Kole asked, pointing to a device that looked like a scaled up tracking rune.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s the tracker I made to try to find you,¡± she said casually.


    <div>


    ¡°You made a tracker to find us?¡±


    <div>


    She nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°It didn¡¯t work¡ªor well, it worked as well as the one I made to find Anitha, which makes sense if she was captured by those spiders. I took it back out last night and have been working on it more. Now that I know she was taken to some some pocket realm through the Dahn¡¯s doors, I can refine the design so we can go looking for her.¡±


    <div>


    She made eye contact for the first time since he entered the room, and the lost all the confidence she¡¯d built up during her detailed explanations of her passions.


    <div>


    ¡°If you¡¯re still willing to help look that is,¡± she added.


    <div>


    Kole thought over what they¡¯d been through and what he¡¯d said he¡¯d help with.


    <div>


    He¡¯d committed to helping her before he know the extent of it all and since then they¡¯d all agreed to leave it to t he school¡¯s staff. But, he found that he didn¡¯t really care about those developments.


    <div>


    The school¡¯s tried to help, but haven¡¯t actually made any progress.


    <div>


    He¡¯d had faith in Zale¡¯s mother and Tal to find a solution, but now they were missing. Maybe even missing in search of Kole and his friends. It seemed that he and his friends were the only people making any progress towards finding the missing students and they¡¯d stopped actively trying.


    <div>


    It¡¯s almost as if the Dahn is trying to push us onto this task. The thought, originally meant as a jest took Kole aback once he considered it.


    <div>


    Could that be?


    <div>


    He realized then that he¡¯d never answered Amara.


    <div>


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll still help, and I think everyone else will be willing to as well, once we talk to them about it at least.¡±


    <div>


    It didn¡¯t take much to convince Amara to go get dinner with Kole. On the way, he learned that Professor Donglefore had arranged for food deliveries to Amara¡¯s workshop when he learned she¡¯d been neglecting meals.


    <div>


    ¡°He said I was ¡®one of those people,¡¯¡± she explained. ¡°It sounded like a bad thing, but he was smiling, so I don¡¯t know.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What about classes?¡± Kole asked. ¡°Are you going to be in trouble for missing so many?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not sure. Professor Donglefore would have said something if I was in trouble. Wouldn¡¯t he?¡±


    <div>


    Kole saw her absolute faith in her mentor warring with the sudden thought she might be in danger of losing his mentorship. How she¡¯d not thought about this over the past month he couldn¡¯t believe.


    <div>


    ¡°You should probably ask him about that the next time you see him,¡± Kole suggested.


    <div>


    Kole found Rakin waiting impatiently outside the martial hall. The dwarf looked irritated as usual, but Kole thought that just maybe it was less than normal as he reflected on Zale¡¯s words.


    <div>


    If this his how he treats his friends, I wonder how he treats his enemies. He wondered, but then scenes from the battle against the ice people came to mind and he thought that maybe he already knew the answer.


    <div>


    ¡°Finally,¡± Rakin said when Kole and Amara got near.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t actually think I¡¯m late,¡± Kole said, looking at the setting sun to gauge the time.


    <div>


    Amara pulled a small device out of her pocket, checked it, and said the time confidently,


    <div>


    ¡°6:05¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Alright, so I¡¯m not that late,¡± Kole amended.


    <div>


    ¡°Nice doohicky,¡± Rakin said, ¡°Can you make one for him?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Of course!¡± Amara said with excitement, ¡°I just need a gem fragment. There¡¯s a new method of creating clocks that use the internal structure of the gem used to store Will as the means of keeping track of time!¡±


    <div>


    Kole cut her off before she got too excited, ¡°I don¡¯t think I could afford that. How did you?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I said I needed it to time experiments so he provided me an additional gem,¡± she said, a little deflated at the lost opportunity.


    <div>


    Kole reached into his money pouch with the same forlorn regret he had whenever he had to spend any amount of coin but then had a revelation.


    <div>


    I missed four weeks.


    <div>


    He did some quick mental math. With the return of his gold from the ink, the magic spellbook replacing the need to buy the expensive ink altogether, the free room in the library, and the missing month of, well, existence, he could now afford his expected expenses for the remainder of his first year.


    <div>


    With less regret than he¡¯d felt in a long time, he placed his 10 bits on the counter and walked in to enjoy a meal, vowing not to overeat to get his money¡¯s worth¡ªthough he was still going to sneak as much food out as he could, just because he was no longer destitute didn¡¯t mean he needed to be spendthrift.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s she doin here?¡± Rakin asked in a hushed tone, pulling Kole from his thoughts after they¡¯d gotten their meals.


    <div>


    He looked up to see Zale, sitting alone at a table, in her natural voidy state with her hair done up in an overelaborate fasion and dressed in a fancy dress Kole would have guessed was classified as a gown, but he admitted he didn¡¯t know what made a gown different from any other type of dress.


    <div>


    They went up to her table, and Rakin spoke first.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What are ye doin here?¡±


    <div>


    She looked up, surprised to see them, the whites of her eye¡¯s having veins of black in them the same way a non-void person¡¯s would be red.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh nothing,¡± she said sullenly. ¡°Harold had to cancel last minute. Something important came up and he had to reschedule.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What came up?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°He forgot he was going to help Gray with something,¡± she explained with a sigh. ¡°He said it wasn¡¯t his business to share but that he¡¯d completely forgotten when he¡¯d made plans and that we should reschedule.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Well that sounds like a load of mole shite,¡± Rakin said and Kole found himself agreeing.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why you don¡¯t like those guys,¡± Amara said between mouthfuls of food. ¡°They seemed nice enough. They helped me look for you guys when I used my tracker.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°They did?¡± Rakin and Kole asked in unison.


    <div>


    Amara nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°Yeah, and we fought these weird snake hyena things in the Dahn. It was crazy.¡±


    <div>


    Amara told them about her adventure with far less enthusiasm than she¡¯d explained the effects of moisture content on the material properties of wood, telling the story between bites as if it were a chore.


    <div>


    Harold had recruited Amara to help search for them once it was clear they¡¯d been missing¡ªAmara wasn¡¯t sure how long that¡¯d been after the actual incident. She¡¯d begun to create a tracker for Kole, using the blasting rod she¡¯d created for him as the target of her tracker.


    <div>


    When they¡¯d gone to look, Harold¡¯s whole team had joined. The tracker jumped around a lot as usual but ultimately led to the dungeon room.


    <div>


    It was only when she reached parts where her rune knowledge was relevant that she put any semblance of excitement in her voice.


    <div>


    ¡°I realized I could block out that signal to the tracker by scribing a rune on the floor outside the room to block the connection. It would only last a short while, but it led us deeper into the Dahn.¡±


    <div>


    They¡¯d snuck past some barricades and guarded halls until they¡¯d reached a deserted training hall at the end of another abandoned dormitory.


    <div>


    ¡°Then the hyena monsters attacked. I had a blasting rod and killed one, but Gray¡¯s team killed most of them. By the time we¡¯d killed them all, the trace blocker had failed. We tried again through the weeks, but they kept leading us to old sections of the Dahn and we didn¡¯t find anything before the rune ward failed. Eventually, we got caught reapplying the runes and were forced to stop our search.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Did you tell anyone about the hyena snakes things?¡± Zale asked.


    <div>


    ¡°She said snake hyena,¡± Rakin corrected, earn an eye roll from Zale.


    <div>


    Amara nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°After we got caught, we told Tigereye about them but they couldn¡¯t find the hall we¡¯d taken.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Hmmm,¡± Zale said, thinking. ¡°I heard about other weird animals showing up while we were gone but not about the snake hyenas.¡±


    <div>


    Zale emphasized ¡°snake¡± and glared at Rakin challengingly.


    <div>


    ¡°The scalequines came back, and now the Glade has a big herd. Then there were some weird rabbit-looking things.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Do we think this is related to our recent experience?¡± Kole asked, more himself than the others, because he continued without giving them a chance to answer. ¡°It kind of fits. There were the goblin rats when we faced the goblins in the dungeon, then the ice people before the blizzard. There were weird fish in a classroom before we went on the ship and these scalequines could have lived on a prairie like we traveled through. Every time the dungeon shifted locations, the creatures that showed up sort of fit the environment we saw. Then, when we were gone for four weeks and the dungeon was never shifted, the creatures that arose all still fit the prairie theme.


    <div>


    ¡°The place we went to¡ªwith the weird floating stuff in the sky. That could be where all the creatures are coming from. The environment matched the prairie of the dungeon, and somehow we crossed over while inside. But why? Was the Dahn leading us there? Or is it some coincidence?¡±


    <div>


    Kole¡¯s explanation was met with silence, as his friends absorbed the idea.


    <div>


    ¡°We should probably tell someone¡­ right?¡± he asked, looking around.


    <div>


    Zale bit her lip as she wrestled with something.


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± she said after a while.


    <div>


    ¡°No?!¡± Rakin asked, staring at Zale in shock. ¡°Why not? I mean, I¡¯m okay with it, but I¡¯m surprised ye are.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Mom¡¯s gone. So is Uncle Tallen. The staff remaining are trying, but they haven¡¯t gotten close to finding the missing primals. Whether or not it¡¯s our own doing or the Dahn¡¯s nudging, we found Hawk Talon. If we tell them about this discovery, they might turn the dungeon off entirely, then we won¡¯t have a way to find Amara¡¯s sister.¡±


    <div>


    They debated the pros and cons of bringing in the school¡¯s faculty but ultimately decided to wait. The tracker always led to the dungeon, and Amara had been avoiding that section and searching for another path. They could always try to find a way past the team guarding the door if their attempts failed¡ªso long as the dungeon didn¡¯t shift away.


    <div>


    ¡°We can ask Harold and his team to help us search!¡± Zale said after they decided to keep their theory a secret¡ªfor the time being at least.


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Rakin and Kole said in unison.


    <div>


    ¡°Why not?¡± Zale asked, growing a little heated.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust em,¡± Rakin said, and Kole nodded in agreement. ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight with people I don¡¯t trust.¡±


    <div>


    Zale didn¡¯t press the issue. Rakin¡¯s opinions of her old friends were a well-debated topic, and his point was valid. Instead, she looked sullen, looking down at her outfit and remembering why she was there in the dining hall at all.


    <div>


    ¡°So,¡± Kole asked into the silence. ¡°What were you planning on doing tonight? Maybe we could all go together?¡±


    <div>


    Zale looked up, excitement in her eyes replacing the meloncoly.


    <div>


    ¡°We were going to a play!¡±

 Chapter 92: The Keyhold of Time

    <div>


    Almost an hour later, Kole stood across the street from the theater dressed in his fancy storm caller outfit with his Fade ability active and drawing on a small stream of his Will. He was pretty sure he could easily sneak in while invisible, but the ease at which his friends had accepted the challenge against him gave him second thoughts. After all, they knew what he could do better than anyone but himself.


    <div>


    When a bell rang in the distance, signaling it was 8 o¡¯clock, Kole walked across the street, dispelling his Fade ability to better navigate around others. He¡¯d long known that sometimes being unseen was an impediment to moving quickly, as no one walked out of the way for you.


    <div>


    He walked toward the entrance. There was a large staircase with four booths at the foot, each booth had a ticket vendor. The theater wasn¡¯t busy, but of the few that were entering, many walked past these without stopping, so now Invisible, Kole did the same.


    <div>


    At the top of the stairs, he waited patiently for a door to open and then slid in quickly before it closed.


    <div>


    Flood. He cursed internally as he saw the other side of the door.


    <div>


    Opposite the entryway was another series of booths, each next to a turnstile that was locked unless opened by the operator. All but one were closed, with shutters coming down from the ceiling to seal them of completely.


    <div>


    I could probably crawl under it. He considered, but with only a single entryway, the trickle of people was regular enough that he¡¯d risk getting stepped on and revealed.


    <div>


    ¡°Gorin Ambleford,¡± a high pitched halfling said to the man at the booth, drawing Kole¡¯s attention. ¡°I ordered my ticket ahead.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir,¡± the attendant said, ¡°Those are at will call on the outside of the building.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Oh fiddle!¡± the halfing cursed jokingly. ¡°See you in a bit!¡±


    <div>


    That could work, Kole thought, getting an idea.


    <div>


    He ran out the door, not caring that others would see it open seemingly of its own accord, and turned visible as he rounded the corner at the base of the stairs. He¡¯d seen the will call booth while he¡¯d waited outside, and moved right for it.


    <div>


    ¡°Name please sir?¡± the bored attendant asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Harold,¡± Kole said confidently.


    <div>


    ¡°Harold what?¡± the attendant asked, even as she flicked through a box of tabbed cards with letters written on them.


    <div>


    ¡°Harold¡­¡± Kole began and then trailed off


    <div>


    Flood, what in the fauell is his last name?


    <div>


    ¡°Harold Harold?¡± the attendant asked, smiling. ¡°Sorry Harold Harold, but there was only one set of tickets on hold for a Harold, and they¡¯ve already been picked up.¡±


    <div>


    A little embarrassed, Kole left and decided to try his luck with crawling.


    <div>


    He moved back to the top of the stairs and waited, looking out the window for a lull in traffic. It took five minutes of waiting for an opening Kole felt he¡¯d be able to run through. During that time, he heard an ear-piercing shriek somewhere else in the building, drawing the attention of the idle staff beyond the turnstile.


    <div>


    Amara he guessed as he moved to crawl under the rotating bars.


    <div>


    Thankfully, the sound in the distance drowned out any Kole made shuffling along the ground, and as soon as he was through the sound ended abruptly.


    <div>


    ¡°Sorry about that noise sir, go right ahead. You better hurry, it¡¯s about to start.¡± Kole heard from above.


    <div>


    He rolled to the side to get out of the way just in time to avoid being trampled by the man who¡¯d approached without Kole hearing. The man had a brisk pace and ran down the hall to get his seat.


    <div>


    Kole got to his feet, and walked down the hall, only dropping his invisibility when he was out of sight of the booth.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    <div>


    After that, it was a simple matter of finding a deserted section with open seats. He pulled out his signal device, ready to signal that he was done, only to find that Zale had already signaled her victory. Zale couldn¡¯t actually activate the runes on her device, but Amara had thought of a way around that.


    <div>


    Amara had taken Zale¡¯s device and imbued it with her own Will, signaling to the others that Zale had won. Then, she had Zale try to power it. As Amara had expected, Zale¡¯s attempt disrupted the active signal, and it winked out. So, when Kole looked and saw that none of the signals were lit, he knew Zale had won.


    <div>


    Despite the loss, he was glad that she was the one to beat him. The whole ordeal had been for her benefit after all.


    <div>


    Kole walked out onto the mezzanine, quickly found Zale¡¯s in the empty, and made his way to the open seat beside her. The mezzanine was completely empty, all the ticket holders had taken the much better seats in the near-deserted show.


    <div>


    ¡°Congratulations,¡± Kole said as he flopped into his seat. ¡°How¡¯d you do it?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Years of infiltration training and the ability to walk through walls,¡± Zale said, smiling.


    <div>


    ¡°I see why Runt is jealous,¡± Kole said.


    <div>


    ¡°She¡¯d kill for either of our powers,¡± Zale said, and Kole wasn¡¯t sure if she was joking or not.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯d give them to her if it meant I could be a regular wizard,¡± Kole said wistfully.


    <div>


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that. You¡¯re doing amazing! You can cast Thunderwave as well as many times as anyone else could, and you haven¡¯t even started to refine it yet.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Kole answered after a moment¡¯s consideration.


    <div>


    He¡¯d spent his whole life frustrated at the limitations placed on him by his primal ¡°abilities¡± but now that some of those had been circumvented, he had the potential to leap past his peers.


    <div>


    About a minute late, Rakin joined them and this time Kole couldn¡¯t tell if the dwarf was feigning his grouchyness or not. Amara arrived, eventually, but the play was well into the first act when she slipped into the back, scooping Gus off the ground and onto her shoulder as she ran to them.


    <div>


    ¡°I need to hide!¡± she hissed at them.


    <div>


    She ran towards them, and then dove to the ground, hoping the seats would hide her. A moment later, an usher came in, alert and looking around.


    <div>


    ¡°Excuse¡ª¡° the usher began, but Rakin cut him off.


    <div>


    ¡°Quiet! We¡¯re watching the play!¡± he shouted.


    <div>


    ¡°My apologies!¡± the usher said quickly, before retreating.


    <div>


    As soon as the door closed, they all broke out into laughter


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± Rakin said as they walked out of their seats.


    <div>


    ¡°What don¡¯t you get?¡± Zale asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Kindness and empathy?¡± Kole said, jumping in with suggestions.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯ll show ye kindness and empathy,¡± Rakin grumbled.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s a terrible threat,¡± Zale said.


    <div>


    ¡°Bah! That¡¯s not the point. I don¡¯t get the damn play. Why didn¡¯t they just¡­ I don¡¯t know, lock the queen up somewhere once they saw the vision of her dying in her rooms.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the queen would have much liked being locked up,¡± Zale said. ¡°This is a historical retelling too. By all accounts, the king loved his wife. It seems he did that the best way he could.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t he explain the situation to her then?¡± Rakin asked.


    <div>


    ¡°I imagine he didn¡¯t want to worry her,¡± Kole said, ¡°And besides, once the vision was seen, there was no way around it¡ªso long as it was a true vision of the future.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Why not?¡± Rakin asked. ¡°What¡¯s the point of seeing the future if ye can¡¯t change it?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You can¡¯t ¡®change¡¯ time,¡± Kole explained. ¡°There used to be a debate on the topic but in the last hundred years it¡¯s all mostly died down as the theory of the Immutable Timeline has become more and more accepted as fact.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What in Torc¡¯s name is that?¡± Rakin barked as they entered the foyer of the theater.


    <div>


    Despite the low attendance, the foyer was crowded as everyone left at once. Rakin¡¯s yell drew looks, and Kole thought he saw a familiar face, but when he did a double take it was gone.


    <div>


    Harold? Kole thought, but dismissed it, thinking the other boy was just on his mind too much of late and he was just mistaken.


    <div>


    ¡°Every moment that ever happened or will happen occurred and will occur only once. There is no changing history.¡±


    <div>


    Rakin didn¡¯t say anything until they got outside, and then he pointed to a tree growing in a small garden.


    <div>


    ¡°That can¡¯t be right. Yer saying that if I went back in time and cut down that tree over there, I¡¯d come back and it wouldn¡¯t be cut down.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What I¡¯m saying is, that if you went back in time and cut down that tree, and then came back to this moment, we would still see that tree as we see it right now.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°How?¡± Rakin pressed.


    <div>


    ¡°Any number of ways,¡± Kole said, counting on his fingers. ¡°Maybe that tree dies every morning and regrows to what we see now. Or, it¡¯s an illusion, and the tree we are looking at can¡¯t be cut down, so you¡¯d only go back in time and fail to cut it. Or, a druid comes by after you cut it down and regrows it. Or, you go back in time, get run over by a horse, and die before you can complete the task. Any number of things could happen to prevent you from doing what you are trying to do.


    <div>


    ¡°But, all we know for certain is that we see a tree from this vantage point. We don¡¯t know that there really is a tree there. You could have, for instance, gone back in time, cut the tree down, and replaced it with an illusionary tree that could vanish this very moment.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°So I can cut the tree down?¡± Rakin asked, trying to follow.


    <div>


    ¡°Nothing says you can¡¯t cut down the tree,¡± Kole said. ¡°Only that no matter what you do, we would still have seen what appeared to be a tree from our vantage point up to the moment you went back in time.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Bah! Time travel is stupid,¡± Rakin said, giving up on the matter.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s what uncle always says,¡± Zale said idly.


    <div>


    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s not so bad then,¡± Rakin conceded.

 Chapter 93: Student Affairs

    <div>


    [A picture of a coffin propped up against a wall, opened to reveal a clown.]


    <div>


    V is for vampires but have you no fear, for these creatures are myth, not real, it¡¯s clear. They may sound scary and ready to bite, but they should not cause you to fear the night.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider''s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    On the way back to campus, everyone explained their own methods of trying to gain entry. Kole left out the part about going to will call though. He didn¡¯t actually know if Harold had ordered his tickets ahead or not, and he had only caught half a glance at the person he thought might have been him. Neither were enough to make the sort of accusation that would hurt Zale


    <div>


    He did, however, plan to look into it, resolving to get Rakin¡¯s help.


    <div>


    Amara¡¯s attempt to gain entry into the theater had been, as Kole had guessed, the source of the loud noise. She¡¯d found a back door, and Gus had snuck inside through a crack and found a key. Then she¡¯d left an alarm device by the door and used it as a distraction as Gus scouted ahead. From the way she told it, the only reason she¡¯d been caught was because of the alarm.


    <div>


    Zale had used her disguise bracelet to hide her voidy complexion, and walked in through a backstage door with an air of confidence, using her vanishing ability to pass through a wall to get into the spectator section.


    <div>


    ¡°This complexion does not go with this outfit though,¡± she¡¯d complained. ¡°I don¡¯t know how I didn¡¯t draw any attention.¡±


    <div>


    Rakin had found a stone chimney and climbed it using his earth magic, and then snuck in through an upper window. His problem had been finding an unlocked one. The one he did find eventually was a dressing room, and he had to wait for the actor to get called to the stage before he could sneak in.


    <div>


    ¡°So, what do I win?¡± Zale asked after they¡¯d all finished their stories.


    <div>


    ¡°Bragging right?¡± Kole suggested.


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± she said firmly. ¡°I get to pick the next thing we do as a group.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Ye already do that!¡± Rakin complained.


    <div>


    ¡°Great! So you agree that¡¯s my job,¡± Zale said triumphantly.


    <div>


    When they got near the main tower of the Dahn in the center of campus, Kole parted ways with his friends to go inside.


    <div>


    ¡°Where¡¯re ye goin?¡± Rakin asked Kole.


    <div>


    ¡°My room...¡± Kole said, confused at first before suddenly remembering that Rakin and Amara didn¡¯t know he lived in the library.


    <div>


    ¡°Kole lives in a secret room in the library!¡± Zale burst out as if she¡¯d wanted to spill the secret for months¡ªwhich Kole now suspected she had very much wanted to do.


    <div>


    ¡°Bah, ye would,¡± Rakin said, not even bothering to tease him about it.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s smart!¡± Amara added. ¡°That must save a lot of time. I recently moved into my workshop for similar reasons.¡±


    <div>


    All eyes turned to Amara at that.


    <div>


    ¡°You¡¯re living in your workshop?!¡± Zale asked, aghast.


    <div>


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Amara answered, not seeing the problem.


    <div>


    ¡°Next to all your dangerous experiments?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°They aren¡¯t that dangerous,¡± Amara defended weakly.


    <div>


    ¡°You¡¯re moving back into your room tonight, or I¡¯m telling Professor Donglefore.


    <div>


    ¡°Please don¡¯t!¡± Amara begged. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right.¡±


    <div>


    Gus on her shoulder seemed relieved at getting to leave the dangerous room.


    <div>


    How does a rat look relieved? Kole reflected on the thought.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    <div>


    He examined Gus closely, but couldn¡¯t really identify anything to his posture that gave off the impression.


    <div>


    Is this some aspect of Understanding? Kole wondered but stopped himself from asking.


    <div>


    Conversations with Amara about her font rarely ended with fewer questions than they started.


    <div>


    So, Kole excused himself as Zale went off with Amara to help her move back into her old room.


    <div>


    As he walked away he heard Amara say, ¡°It¡¯s okay, only moved two sets of clothes, I didn¡¯t need more than that anyway.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Waas save me,¡± Zale muttered to herself. ¡°You¡¯re worse than Kole.¡±


    <div>


    Kole returned to his room and found it empty, surprised at his disappointment. Now that he could cast Thunderwave, he was eager to show the ability to Theral¡­ though he¡¯d be unable to do so in their room and the other boy strangely refused to leave it.


    <div>


    He checked the time.


    <div>


    Maybe just a little¡­ he thought, eyeing a book on spell path optimization theory on Theral¡¯s shelf.


    <div>


    But, as he reached for the book his sore muscles from the morning¡¯s excursion stopped him, reminding him of what was to come.


    <div>


    ¡°Maybe I just go to sleep,¡± he told himself.


    <div>


    Three miles into the five-mile ¡°warm-up¡± the next morning, Kole was beginning to regret many of his life choices, but going to bed early was not one of them.


    <div>


    The five-mile warm-up was followed by an hour of sparring, which after a short break to stretch, was followed by agility training.


    <div>


    ¡°Why are we running through the holes in a ladder?¡± Kole asked after he¡¯d tripped for the third time.


    <div>


    ¡°Because ye keep tripping!¡± Rakin chided him. ¡°If this were a trip wire ye¡¯d be dead.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kole said from the ground. ¡°I guess it¡¯s not just torture then.¡±


    <div>


    Next, they moved on to something Zale called ¡°bear crawls,¡± where they loped across the training yard on all fours, without touching the ground with their knees.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡­ is¡­ this¡­ supposed¡­ to¡­ help¡­ with?¡± Kole asked between gasping for breath after.


    <div>


    Rakin spat, his spit brown from the inhaled dust churned up from the exercise.


    <div>


    ¡°Nothing, this is just torture.¡±


    <div>


    They trained from their normal 6 AM start time through the end of when their Martial 101 class would have ended. The tournament was in its final week, so many of the training fields were left open as the other students crowded around the remaining competitions.


    <div>


    Breakfast was a silent affair, as everyone was too exhausted to do anything other than eat, and once they were done, they made their way over to the student services offices on the edge of campus to go get their assigned tutors for their makeup curriculum.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s see here,¡± the elderly gnome behind the counter said, looking through a box of tabbed cards in front of him. ¡°Doug Peak, Azalea Wood, Rakin Tokar, and Kole Teak¡­ Here we are!¡±


    <div>


    He found the cards, read a number off of each, and then copied those numbers onto a blank sheet of paper. After each number was written, text appeared, written rapidly as is by an invisible quill, filling out the pages with information.


    <div>


    ¡°Here you are,¡± the gnome said, passing them each a sheet.


    <div>


    A quick read told them all they¡¯d received each other¡¯s sheets, and they waited until they were out of earshot of the kindly old gnome before switching.


    <div>


    ¡°Do they use this magic paper for everything here?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°As much as they can,¡± Zale said. ¡°The Dahn produces a lot each day. Mom hates paperwork. Her assistant Kelina pretty much does all the administration work for her now but before she had her she used it to reduce her workload. Once the school at large learned about it, every department was clamoring for their share. There¡¯s a whole department dedicated to distributing and administering it.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°As fascinating as this paper talk is,¡± Rakin said dryly. ¡°Can we figure out what we need to do?¡±


    <div>


    Kole looked through his paper and got a bit of a surprise.


    <div>


    Next to Martial 101, Rakin and Amara¡¯s names were written as his tutor, which he expected. A Korin Kalis was listed next to his history class along with a time and place to meet. Next to Alchemy 101, Doug and Amara¡¯s names were listed along with Pale Oak. While the last one was a bit of a surprise, the real shock was the names written besides WIZ 105


    <div>


    Professor Underbrook and Grand Master Cyril Lonin.


    <div>


    We looked over his friend¡¯s sheets and saw that each of them had direct one-on-one tutoring for their own focuses as well. Doug had a session with the Arch Druid¡ªsomething he was visibly sweating nerves over. Zale had lessons with Tigereye and Rakin had his with his mentor, Master Ahm. In that context, Professor Underbrook¡¯s name was no surprise, but Lonin¡¯s presence on the list made him both nervous and excited.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Right?¡± Zale asked after Kole showed them his list.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kole said. ¡°Do you think he might have changed his stance on adventuring students?¡±


    <div>


    His friends looked at each other, none knowing the wizard well enough to make a guess.


    <div>


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll find out Saturday,¡± Kole said, looking over the schedule.


    <div>


    Professor Lonin had scheduled him in for Saturday morning lessons, in place of the study group. The rest had nothing scheduled for that time, and Kole wondered if the timing was a coincidence.


    <div>


    ¡°I got ta go,¡± Rakin said, looking at his schedule. ¡°Master Ahm doesn¡¯t approve of tardyness.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Aren¡¯t monks all about patience,¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Ye try tellin him that. See how it goes.¡±


    <div>


    Rakin left, and Doug and Zale also excused themselves, having to go meet with their tutors.


    <div>


    ¡°See you at 3,¡± Zale said to Kole.


    <div>


    They both had the same tutor for history and would be meeting then.


    <div>


    Kole then stood alone, with the next few hours free for the first time in what felt like months, and he grew a bit excited


    <div>


    Time to study! He thought excitedly and then grew embarrassed even for himself at the thought.

 Chapter 94: Tutors

    <div>


    [A comical picture of a werewolf standing upright after having stepped on a rake, the handle of which swung up to strike its snout.]


    <div>


    W is for werewolves, the lycanthrope cursed. Of Kaltis¡¯ monsters I¡¯d say they¡¯re the worst. But have you no fear, dear child of mine for what they lack in kindness, they also lack in mind.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    Kole ran back to his room in the library. He had five hours to study if he skipped lunch, and he didn¡¯t want to waste any of it. He didn¡¯t know what would be required of him to pass his classes now that he w as receiving private tutoring, but he didn¡¯t expect it to be significantly different from before. He needed to be able to cast three spells in a day to pass WIZ 105 and he was getting close.


    <div>


    With a capacity of 46, Magic Missile and Shield each costing around 20, and Thunderwave costing 15, he had to either increase his capacity by 10 in the next 4 weeks¡ªextremely unlikely unless he fell into a year-long stint in the dungeon, at which point his task would be easy¡ªor he¡¯d have to make his other spells collectively 20% more efficient. A daunting task, but a possible one.


    <div>


    So, he dove into his studies as soon as he got back to his room, digging into the book Efficient Pathing for the Traditional Wizard, not even noticing the return of the furrier of his two roommates until he started rummaging through his pack for food.


    <div>


    After a few hours of reading, with the occasional jaunt to the Arcane Realm to perform some tests, Kole felt that his mind had begun to circle a bit, so he switched over to working on Magic Missile. The process of reconstructing damaged spellforms was far from the creative endeavor that was creating new versions of Thunderwave, but the familiar task was almost a comfortable form of rest that allowed his mind to wander.


    <div>


    As he worked, copying spell form components from his references books into his newest version of the spell, he thoughts returned to Zale.


    <div>


    Should I tell her what I saw? He wondered. But did I really see anything? It could have been anyone. Harold does have a very generic and boring face¡­


    <div>


    Mind free to wander, he debated internally before eventually he had to stop working on Magic Missile at all, returning to Thunderwave just to occupy his mind fully, resolving to talk to Rakin about it as soon as he could.


    <div>


    Kole¡¯s alarm went off, breaking him from his focus¡ªeventually. Deep in the depths of his mental vault, the sounds of the world were easy to ignore. So, with only a little bit of dead-on sprinting despite his weariness, Kole made it to the office shared by the history teaching assistants in the academics building.


    <div>


    ¡°You¡¯re not late!¡± Zale said with a smile.


    <div>


    She¡¯d been free of her disguise this morning, but now once more had her illusion active to appear as a normal half-elf after getting changed after practice.


    <div>


    Zale noticed Kole giving her appearance a once over and shrugged.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know this guy, and figured it was best to not make him uncomfortable,¡± she said, and then added. ¡°And I¡¯m meeting Harold later and can¡¯t wear this with my other complexion.


    <div>


    She gestured at the clean white tunic she was wearing, ornate with golden embroidery.


    <div>


    ¡°It makes me look like I¡¯m walking around topless,¡± she admitted, blushing slightly.


    <div>


    The door opened, revealing a young orc in wrinkled scholarly robes.


    <div>


    ¡°You¡¯re not a human,¡± Zale said, dumbly. ¡°I mean! I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m Zale, I¡¯m also not a human!¡±


    <div>


    She fumbled trying to recover from the verbal vomit, growing more embarrassed as she went.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± the orc said in a practiced tone. ¡°I get it a lot. Korin Kalis is a very human name. I¡¯m adopted. I¡¯m studying my people¡¯s ways under Professor Gromk. Please come in.¡±


    <div>


    They entered the cramped room. It had a small window and a single desk. The shelves that lined the walls as well as the desk were covered in stacks of paper and books.


    <div>


    ¡°Sorry about the mess,¡± Korin apologized. ¡°I share the office with a few other teaching assistants.¡±


    <div>


    He cleared the stacks of papers from the two guest seats, and after looking around the room for a place to put them, gave the stack a quick perusal before dropping it in the trash can.


    <div>


    ¡°Flooding Percival,¡± he muttered under his breath.


    <div>


    ¡°Please sit,¡± he said in a louder voice, directed to them. ¡°Let¡¯s get you up to speed on a few thousand years of pre-Flood history.¡±


    <div>


    Korin began by verbally quizzing each of them to understand where they were in the class¡¯s planned curriculum. After that, he assigned them each a few books to read and assignments to go along with them. Afterward, he spent the remainder of the time asking them questions and leading a discussion of pre-Flood orc clan conflicts, making sure each of them contributed.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯ll be honest,¡± Korin said before they left. ¡°You two are probably going to be fine. The final exam will be an essay, and then you¡¯ll be interviewed by Professor Gromk or a teaching assistant about it afterward. I could keep meeting with you two and practicing those types of discussions, or you can just do the assignments and we can all keep this hour free.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s do the second one,¡± Kole said quickly, before Zale could volunteer them for any extra work.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    <div>


    ¡°Fine,¡± she agreed.


    <div>


    ¡°Great!¡± Korin said, his exhausted and overworked face finally showing a flicker of energy. ¡°Come here every Tuesday then at three to turn in your old assignment and get a new one. I¡¯ll be here during the normal scheduled times if you have any questions.¡±


    <div>


    Outside the office, Zale frowned at Kole, but before she could complain, excused himself.


    <div>


    ¡°I have tutoring with Professor Underbrook in fifteen minutes. Got to run. Would hate to be late!¡±


    <div>


    Professor Underbrook¡¯s office was in the Dahn, on the floors above the library, though Kole never walked up any steps to get there. The halfling wizard¡¯s office was much larger than the cramped one Kole had just left, but equally as cluttered, with spellforms and spellbooks all over along with maps and random odds and ends Kole thought might be trophies from the professor¡¯s career as an adventurer.


    <div>


    ¡°Ah, Kole! Is it that time already? Do come in,¡± Underbrook greeted Kole as he knocked. ¡°Please make yourself comfortable, just throw that stuff on the other chair there.¡±


    <div>


    Kole did so, and sat, expectedly.


    <div>


    ¡°So, you may wonder why I have chosen to tutor you personally,¡± Underbrook said, and Kole nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°You may also wonder why Lonin is also tutoring you,¡± Underbrook added.


    <div>


    Kole nodded faster.


    <div>


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Underbrook admitted. ¡°He said he¡¯d meet with you on his days off. No explanation, only said that he¡¯d cover the spellcraft areas of the curriculum. And since he¡¯s the boss, and that¡¯s the boring part I didn¡¯t complain.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Do you think he¡¯s going to offer to mentor me?¡± Kole asked, voicing the hope he¡¯d been afraid to even consider.


    <div>


    Underbrook hesitated, but then said, ¡°No, probably not. His rule on adventuring is very firm. I brought it up again after your miraculous return, and he said ¡®He¡¯d not have needed a miraculous return if he¡¯d not gone off on some frivolous adventure.¡¯¡±


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair!¡± Kole complained, ¡°We had no control over that!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I agree, but you see, he''s the boss, so I just nodded along,¡± Underbrook said with a smile.


    <div>


    ¡°So, since the Grand Master is going to handle the theoretical aspects of the class, let¡¯s talk about the practical.¡±


    <div>


    They pair moved on to discuss Kole¡¯s final plan for the spells he would seek to learn over the next year. Underbrook revealed his final requirement for passing the class would remain unchanged, he¡¯d need to demonstrate the mastery of three first-tier spells, but part of the class also required Kole to plan out a path for his future magical studies.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what specifically I will learn next, but I¡¯m going to focus on either a Light or Mind spell,¡± Kole explained, sharing his recent decision.


    <div>


    ¡°Hmm, smart. So, you¡¯ve decided to embark on the path of traditional wizardry?¡± Underbrook said, seeing Kole¡¯s aims.


    <div>


    Kole nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°Yes. Creating Thunderwave was a lot faster than my work on Magic Missile and Shield. The spell started with a comparatively lower Will cost, and I have room to improve it. I¡¯m starting to suspect that I wont be able to get Magic Missile or Shield below 15 Will each, and Thunderwave began there.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Wise decision,¡± Underbrook agreed. ¡°While you may have a staggering large Will capacity for your age, you must still be judicious in how you use it to further your wizardry. So, any thought as to which spells?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I need to replace the blasting rod, so some sort of offensive Light attack. I¡¯ve read up on it some, and there are a few, but I¡¯ve yet to decide which.


    <div>


    ¡°Have you put any thought into second-tier spells?¡± Underbrook asked.


    <div>


    Kole hadn¡¯t and admitted as much.


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Kole began. ¡°Lately I¡¯ve actually been thinking about going back to cantrips. All those I know are based on the offset gate spells I learned back home. With the progress I made with Magic Missile and Shield, I should be able to cast Force and Barrier cantrips for a much more reasonable cost if I base them off of those. For Thunderwave, I could probably cast one for the Font of Sound for free as they are intended.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Underbrook acknowledged. ¡°Wizardry is not always a march upward and onward. Sometimes we must look back to from which we hail with new eyes. So, what do you see when you look forward to the second tier?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Those have always felt so beyond my immediate concerns I¡¯d never put much serious thought into which I¡¯d learn¡ªaside from Clean of course.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Of course,¡± Underbrook agreed. ¡°So why don¡¯t we talk about it now?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Well,¡± Kole said and then stopped to consider. Thinking aloud he continued. ¡°I picked Thunderwave on the assumption I¡¯d have a relatively easy time pathing to the Font of Sound due to its connection to the Font of Illusions. That proved correct, so Light and Mind are options. A single-target offensive attack from one of those three should really be my next priority, but after that¡­ something to debilitate? Phantasmal Force could be an option. Or something to deal with groups of smaller enemies without having to get up close, like Shatter. My mobility is bad, and I don¡¯t see that improving so it would be best if I could stay at range. I¡¯ll also need to see how my friends develop so I can pick spells that fit best with them.¡±


    <div>


    Kole had never voiced the thought aloud that he hoped to stick with his current team beyond the current semester and found that he had no doubt in the matter at all. In the few months they¡¯d spent together, they¡¯d built a bond through their trials and no part of him doubted or feared they would choose different teams as he once might have.


    <div>


    He went on to explain how Zale¡¯s abilities allowed her to be immune to his Thunderwave.


    <div>


    ¡°Well that is a powerful combination,¡± Underbrook agreed. ¡°Have you put any thought into supporting the team in similar ways?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I have,¡± Kole said, after thinking a moment and finding that to be the case. ¡°I think if I learned a Light spell, Zale could trace the connection back to that Font. I could then do something similar with her, like making a flare she¡¯s immune to, or possibly an offensive radiant beam attack I didn¡¯t have to fear hitting her with in melee. At higher levels of Mind magic there are spells that befuddle everyone in an area, if she could block those as well, it would be a powerful combination.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Underbrook said as he contemplated. ¡°Have you put any thought into anyone besides Ms Wood?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Umm¡­ No.¡± Kole began and found himself blushing. ¡°It¡¯s just that her ability is so useful.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Underbrook said with kind smile. ¡°Well, think on it. You have yourself a Spacial primal Blessed by Assuine, and a Stoneweaver with¡­ a touch more. They may be working on mastering their abilities, but trust that they each will overcome their own impossible hurdles as you seem to be doing.¡±


    <div>


    Underbrook looked at Kole knowingly as he skirted around Rakin¡¯s connection to the Font of Fire.


    <div>


    ¡°One last question before I give you back your evening. Have you considered making any spells? The Illusion Font is new and some inroads have been made. You could try adapting your traditional methods to the newer forms of spell construction.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I¡­ hadn¡¯t really considered that lately,¡± Kole said, the embarrassment of before gone to be replaced with a new one. ¡°At first I wanted nothing to do with the Font. Illusions are a force multiplier in battle, but the force I could multiply was zero with my magic how it was. I¡¯d tried learning a modern Illusion spell back home, but it obviously hadn¡¯t worked. Now¡­ I could probably figure one out, but I¡¯d rather spend the time elsewhere. There are a small handful of Illusion Font spells, but there is a vast library of Sound, Mind, and Light spells going back a thousand years or more. Until I can craft spells myself from scratch, I think I''m better served to stick to the proven methods of the pre-Flood traditional wizards.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Well, I think that has given you enough to noodle on for now. Come back Thursday with at least a few ideas on your next spell which we can discuss.¡±

 Chapter 95: More Tutors

    <div>


    [A silhouette of a man laughing]


    <div>


    X is for Xoctule the shadowing figure, is he a god, or something much bigger? His wants are as unknown as his whereabouts, but of one thing there can be no doubts. The one thing about Xoctule that is known to be true, is if you think you know Xoctule I don¡¯t want to know you.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    Kole spent the night after his meeting with Underbrook returning to his magical study, pushing a new batch of intrusive thoughts out of his head.


    <div>


    Why did Lonin want to help him now? Why hadn¡¯t he put any plans in place for new magic based on Doug and Rakin? What spell should he look for next?


    <div>


    The best way to deal with these thoughts, he¡¯d found, was to ignore them and focus on Thunderwave. Maybe it wasn¡¯t the healthiest of coping mechanisms, but on this day it paid off, and Wednesday morning before meeting his friends for training, he cast a Thunderwave at the newly reduced cost of 14 Will.


    <div>


    Kole gave his friends an update on his meeting with Underbrook as they ate a post training breakfast.


    <div>


    ¡°Why does Lonin want to see you?¡± Zale asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Probably to shower me with praise and take me on as his apprentice,¡± Kole said.


    <div>


    ¡°I like the positive thinking,¡± Zale said. ¡°But why do you really think?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Kole said.


    <div>


    Kole had a wide open morning before he was scheduled for tutoring with Amara followed by Pale Oak and Doug. As much has he knew Pale Oak hated him, it was the first session he was the most nervous for. Amara was extremely knowledgeable, but focused was not a term he¡¯d ever use to describe her.


    <div>


    Amara, it turned out, was a great teacher¡ªso long as the topic was rune related, or rune adjacent. Professor Donglefore had tasked her with teaching Kole the basics of alchemical material sciences that were to be covered in the class, and as it was something of her specialty, she proved a great teacher¡ªwith only a small very minor almost insignificant caveat.


    <div>


    Her lectures were more rapid-fire barrages of information fired directly at one¡¯s face. Thankfully for Kole, he had a magic spellbook he could use to perfectly recall. So, after a forty-five-minute ¡°lecture¡± Kole found himself taking notes for twice that time, using his magic book-enhanced recall to pull out the pertinent information, writing it on paper and cementing it into his own mind.


    <div>


    Unfortunately for Kole, that method didn¡¯t work as well for the rest of his Alchemical tutors.


    <div>


    ¡°Welcome, Kole,¡± Pale Oak said when Kole entered the greenhouse, speaking his name with the same disgust he imagined she used when discussing various types of tree rot.


    <div>


    ¡°Good evening Pale Oak,¡± Kole said with a small bow of his head. She had no title, and Pale Oak was not actually her name, and as such he felt a little uncomfortable not addressing her with some form of respect.


    <div>


    The dryad made a tsk sound like that of a dry twig snapping.


    <div>


    ¡°We bow only to the wind,¡± she chastised Kole. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with. Your friend Doug here has assured me you have been practicing in your time in the dungeon, so please. Do not disappoint.¡±


    <div>


    Pale Oak gave Kole some instructions, and he got to work pruning and plucking a variety of grasses, earning the occasional groan reminiscent of strained wood as he narrowly avoided mistakes.


    <div>


    ¡°Passable,¡± she said when he was done with less disdain than before. ¡°Your final assignment will be to gather all the ingredients for a weak herbal remedy. You have four weeks. Doug will prepare you for your theoretical exam.¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    <div>


    The dryad gave a curt nod, and then left the greenhouse, where she immediately left the path to walk up to a tree and then continued straight into the tree as if it were a doorway, disappearing from sight into its bark.


    <div>


    ¡°Wow,¡± Doug said, speaking up for the first time. ¡°She really doesn¡¯t like you. What did you do to that plant?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I think if I knew, she¡¯d be less angry with me.¡±


    <div>


    Kole finished his days of tutoring with optimism for the remaining three and a half weeks. He really needed to cram to get his spells lower enough to cast. Back in his room, he was surprised to see both his roommates had returned. It had been over a month since he¡¯d seen either after all, and Kole had been missing for much of it.


    <div>


    ¡°Good evening,¡± Kole greeted Theral. ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°It has?¡± Theral asked. ¡°I suppose so. How are things going with your projects¡±


    <div>


    Kole dove right into catching the other young wizard up. He¡¯d long ago learned Theral was reluctant to share much of anything about himself outside of his magical knowledge, and in return was completely uninterested in anything regarding Kole¡¯s personal life.


    <div>


    ¡°So,¡± Kole said, after catching him up. ¡°I was hoping to ask you if you had any more of those old spellforms you could let me copy.¡±


    <div>


    Asking a wizard for a spell is not the taboo it once was before the Disavowment of the Tower, but, it was still a bit brazen of Kole to simply ask.


    <div>


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Theral said, scrunching his face as he thought in a familiar manner Kole couldn¡¯t place. ¡°I don¡¯t have a lot of Sound or Light magic spellforms. I do have a few Mind spellforms you could take a copy of, however.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°May I?¡± Theral said, gesturing to Kole¡¯s spellbook.


    <div>


    Kole handed it over, uncertain what Theral was planning but not suspicious of his motives. Theral, with his ability to teleport, could have stolen the spellbook any number of times in Kole¡¯s sleep.


    <div>


    Theral summoned his spellbook into his open hand, and then lowered it, the book remaining in place, floating. He opened his book up to the center, and pulled the page out, not even bothering to look that it was the correct one. He then laid Kole¡¯s book on the room¡¯s desk and opened it to the back.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if this works,¡± Theral said, looking at Kole.


    <div>


    He placed the sheet inside the book, near the end, and closed the cover. Kole watched in surprised delight as the oversized sheet shrunk to the dimensions of his smaller, more worn, spellbook. Theral opened it up again, and showed Kole the new addition to his spellbook.


    <div>


    ¡°How did you know that would work?¡±


    <div>


    Theral shrugged.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s something my spellbook could do, I took a guess it would work for yours. Give it a try with something else.¡±


    <div>


    Kole looked around for a scrap of paper and eventually took the tutor schedule out and stuffed it in before closing the cover on it. When he opened the book back up, the page had become bound within.


    <div>


    ¡°Neat!¡± Kole said triumphantly.


    <div>


    Theral chuckled.


    <div>


    ¡°Neat indeed. That one took me a while to figure out,¡± Theral agreed, and then went back to the original topic. ¡°That is a spellform for Mind Spike. It¡¯s a first-tier spell. The spell uses a somatic component tied to the gate. You shouldn¡¯t need it since you won¡¯t use a gate, but it could have unforeseen effects on the spell. I didn¡¯t make it myself. I also have a Light spell, that¡¯s probably going to work for you better than most of what you¡¯ve encountered. It only costs 2 Will, so if you master it with your affinity to the Font, I imagine it might almost work like a cantrip for you.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Kole said, grateful.


    <div>


    He had realized after mastering Thunderwave, that the library in the Dahn was full of old spells of Sound, Light, and Mind he could reconstruct as he had with Magic Missile and Shield, but the idea of doing that yet again was not one he relished, for even after he¡¯d reconstructed the spell, he¡¯d still have to create the path.


    <div>


    ¡°Where did you find such old spells from?¡± Kole asked, hoping for a secret cache he could mine¡ªbesides Theral himself that is.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, every now and then I stumbled upon a wizard with a few spells to share,¡± Theral said noncommittally. ¡°I don¡¯t have any offensive Light magic, but I recommend looking up one Galok Lightsmith. He was a traditional wizard¡ªand a Blessed by Tin Lan. If you can find any copies of his old spellbook, you can recreate the spell the old-fashioned way and path it yourself. I think that would be faster than that reconstruction method of yours. For sound, I actually have just the thing.¡±


    <div>


    Theral produced a sheaf of papers from his spellbook, and put it on the desk. Kole pounced on it eagerly, before deflating as soon as he saw the first page.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Theral asked, confused.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t speak Torcish,¡± Kole said.


    <div>


    The page Theral had produced were covered in the tightly packed scrawl of some gnome or dwarf of old.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Theral, the pages vanishing into black motes. ¡°Sorry, you don¡¯t want to get it translated. It¡¯s more likely to kill you than work, but it would most likely just be a big waste of time. You should look into a Ma¡ªFlood!¡±


    <div>


    Kole felt the powerful magic of Theral¡¯s magic gathering a moment before he let out a curse, and then the helpful wizard disappeared, leaving Kole along with the pack rat that had been patiently watching them through the whole conversation. Ignoring the rat, Kole dove into the spells he¡¯d just received.

 Chapter 96: Confession

    <div>


    Few on Kaltis can say their life hasn¡¯t been drastically altered for the better because of the deeds of Mage Tallen Elmheart. Fewer still can they boast that Tallen put them on the path to greatness¡ªor at least out of the path of destitution.


    <div>


    Foreword of Tallen Elmheart A Biography by Rail Dahnchild


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    After an hour of indulging himself in the shiny new spells available to him, Kole forced himself to return his attention to refining Magic Missile and Shield. He had three versions of Magic Missile left from his initial ten as well as four versions of Shield. He¡¯d hoped to talk to Tallen on his return about which of these he should use as the basis of his next version, but that hadn¡¯t worked out. But, after all his recent experience and study into spellforms, Kole thought he had a handle on it. Based on his experience thus far, he was fairly certain a number of the spells he had left would be steps backward. He was now much more familiar with the spellforms associated with offset gates and could recognize when a spell used them, but he had long ago passed up all use of those techniques in his journey into wizarding past.


    <div>


    His recent experience with pathing Thunderwave had also taught him a lot. One of the issues causing Kole¡¯s increased Will expenditure¡ªaside from the fact that he needs to open the gate at all¡ªis that some pathing techniques are inherently tied to the gate. Essentially, a pathing technique is a set of instructions for the spell to travel through the Arcane Realm, avoiding obstacles that would rip it apart. While the older methods Kole had been studying used directions relative to the spell¡¯s current position, the newer spells often used the gate to determine a frame of reference. It was the difference between telling someone to walk straight out their front door ten feet and then turning 90 degrees to the left versus telling them to head away from their house, and then turn right until they are traveling parallel to the front of their home.


    <div>


    With that knowledge in mind, Kole found that only one of each of the spellforms lacked these gate-referenced directions so those became the basis of his¡ªhopefully¡ªfinal versions of each. So, with mildly renewed vigor and sufficient distraction to forget about Harold, Kole worked far later into the night than was advisable.


    <div>


    The next morning, Kole was extremely tempted to use one of his two potions of clarity to mitigate his sleep deprivation, but it only took twenty minutes of physical conditioning for his sleepiness to become the least of his aches. After the exhausting training, the day went by surprisingly fast for Kole. Zale forced him to use the hour allotted to history tutoring to actually work on his history classwork, but once that was done Kole dove back into his wizardry.


    <div>


    At his meeting, Kole told Underbrook his plan to learn either an offensive first-tier Light or Mind Spike, which he had ¡°found¡± a suitable spellform for. He also told the professor that he would seek out a second-tier Mind spell meant to disable an opponent. Underbrook was pleased with the decisions, and Kole used the remainder of the time discussing the pros and cons of various spells¡ªthough they both ultimately agreed Kole¡¯s final spell choices would be driven by which older spells he found most intact.


    <div>


    ¡°Where¡¯s everyone else?¡± Kole asked Rakin as he found him alone in the dining hall after his meeting.


    <div>


    Rakin shrugged.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about Doug and Amara, but Zale¡¯s studying with Harold. They¡¯re in a class together.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kole said, taking his seat across from the dwarf. ¡°I need to tell you something about Zale.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I already know. Don¡¯t worry about it. I don¡¯t care,¡± Rakin said.


    <div>


    ¡°You do?! How? Did you see him too?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°See who?¡± Rakin asked, face scrunched in confusion.


    <div>


    ¡°Harold!¡± Kole said, nearly shouted.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    <div>


    ¡°Ye have a crush on Harold?!¡± Rakin asked.


    <div>


    ¡°What? No!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I mean, it''s fine if ye do I guess, but it¡¯ll make things weird with Zale. I thought ye hated the guy,¡± Rakin said.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a crush on Harold,¡± Kole said firmly.


    <div>


    ¡°Alright, then I have no idea what ye were going to say. I thought you were going to tell me you had a thing for Zale¡ªwhich I already knew.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You knew?¡± Kole asked confused again. ¡°How could you know?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Aye, it was pretty obvious!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°No, I mean you couldn¡¯t know, because I don¡¯t like Zale¡ªin that way I mean.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Bah!¡± Rakin shouted and began to laugh.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Kole demanded, beginning to feel a little flustered.


    <div>


    ¡°Are ye lying because ye think I¡¯ll be mad? Or do ye really not realize ye have a crush on her?¡± Rakin asked once he¡¯d gotten control of himself. ¡°I already told ye I¡¯m okay with it. It¡¯s her mother ye should be afraid of.¡±


    <div>


    A bolt of terror went through Kole at the thought of Trishalia the Ice Queen¡¯s displeasure at his dating her daughter. He tried to banish the idea.


    <div>


    But I don¡¯t like Zale, it¡¯s fine.


    <div>


    But, instead of convincing himself he didn¡¯t like Zale, his mind quickly raced to ways he could win her mother¡¯s approval¡ªor at least avoid her ire.


    <div>


    Wait¡­


    <div>


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed quietly, earning more laughter from the dwarf.


    <div>


    ¡°I think I like Zale,¡± Kole said aloud, and then his eyes grew wide and he looked around the room wildly, earning more laughter from Rakin.


    <div>


    ¡°Told ya,¡± Rakin said after swallowing a bite of food, having resumed eating during Kole¡¯s internal battle. ¡°So what were ye going ta tell me?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You¡¯re just okay with it?¡± Kole asked, surprised the dwarf didn¡¯t have any insult or warning prepared.


    <div>


    Rakin sighed.


    <div>


    ¡°I probably hate ye the least of all the people here. She could do worse. She is doin worse. Bah, Harold. Sniveling tal.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Tal?¡± Kole asked, confused at the mention of his not-uncle.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, yeah. Tal means weasel in Torcish,¡± Rakin said, playing with the metal band he always wore. ¡°Me ma teased him ta no end over it. After the war, a bunch of dwarves named their kids Tal, so there¡¯s a whole generation of weasel dwarves running around. Idiots.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Can I tell you now?¡± Kole asked, exasperated.


    <div>


    Rakin gave a ¡°go ahead¡± gesture, circling his finger.


    <div>


    ¡°Not my fault ye don¡¯t speak Torcish,¡± Rakin said. ¡°It¡¯s right useful to know.¡±


    <div>


    The mention of the language reminded Kole of the pages of Sound magic that sat just beyond his reach due to the language barrier. He pushed the thought aside to finally get back on topic.


    <div>


    ¡°I think Harold was at the play with someone else when we were sneaking in,¡± Kole explained,


    <div>


    Rakin looked up from his food, face serious, and Kole told him about his attempt to get the ticket from will call.


    <div>


    ¡°And then when we were leaving, I thought I saw him out in the crowd ahead of us, but I couldn¡¯t have been sure. At the time I told myself I was seeing things,¡± Kole said. ¡°But I can¡¯t stop thinking about it.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Of course, ye can¡¯t,¡± Rakin jabbed. ¡°Yer in love with me cousin.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Hey! I never said that. I just like her is all,¡± Kole defended. ¡°And you just called her your cousin.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Bah,¡± Rakin said, ignoring Kole¡¯s comment. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Harold¡¯s a real danar¡ª¡° Rakin chuckled to himself, having used the torcish word stink head Zale had accidentally coined as an insult ¡°¡ªbut he¡¯s not so sneaky. He¡¯s usually very upfront about his idiocy.¡±


    <div>


    Kole was surprised to hear the dwarf defend the boy he so regularly denigrated.


    <div>


    ¡°So you think he didn¡¯t do it?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that. I said it was unlike him.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What should we do then? Tell Zale?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, ye¡¯d like that wouldn¡¯t ye?¡± Rakin asked, ire suddenly in his voice. ¡°Break her heart and be there to pick up the pieces huh?¡±


    <div>


    Kole¡¯s eye grew wide and he leaned back, afraid the dwarf had been hit by a sudden bout


    <div>


    ¡°What? No!?¡± Kole said desperately.


    <div>


    ¡°Bah-ha-ha,¡± Rakin laughed, dropping the anger. ¡°I¡¯m going to like this.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Kole said sullenly.


    <div>


    ¡°Why don¡¯t ye just follow him?¡± Rakin asked, getting back to the topic.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a good idea.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°There, do that. Tell me what ye find, and if he really is a weasel we can kill him and throw his corpse into the rivers.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°That seems excessive,¡± Kole said.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s for his own good. Who knows what Aunt Shalia would do if she found out.¡±


    <div>


    Kole¡¯s emotions were in a bit of a state of turmoil at the moment, but they settled as a cool streak of terror on Harold¡¯s behalf, and suddenly he found more reasons to hope the boy wasn¡¯t cheating on Zale. The revelation would devastate Zale, obviously, but he thought the news of Harold¡¯s horrible disappearance would hurt her even more. Plus¡ªhe didn¡¯t want Zale¡¯s mother to get any practice killing her daughter¡¯s suitors.

 Chapter 97: Elementals

    <div>


    When this author was a child, she was invited to join a burgeoning school in the then-nowhere town of Edgewater by a then-unknown mage. I almost declined.


    <div>


    Foreword of Tallen Elmheart A Biography by Rail Dahnchild


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    For the first time in what felt like months, Kole woke up and didn¡¯t immediately head to the training field. Instead, he got up, went to the showers, and met his friends for a quick breakfast before they were to head out to their PREVENT class.


    <div>


    While the dungeon trips had been canceled, the class itself hadn¡¯t been. When the school had been put on high alert due to the incursions, large numbers of adventuring alumni had been asked back to campus. As such, there was an abundance of groups able to help in the training of young adventurers. Each team had been assigned a group of graduates who would oversee some aspect of their training for the remainder of the semester.


    <div>


    So, it was because of this that Kole and his team found themselves in front of another non-descript door deep in the basement of the art department.


    <div>


    ¡°Why are we down here?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Tigereye said to meet here. He¡¯s not a man of many words and didn¡¯t elaborate,¡± Zale explained.


    <div>


    Zale opened the door, and they stepped out into a small circular room, the walls lined with identical doors. Professor Underbrook and Tigereye stood in the middle, turning to the students as they entered looking as if they¡¯d just been deep in conversation.


    <div>


    ¡°Welcome, students!¡± Professor Underbrook greeted them. ¡°Welcome to the doors of wonder!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°The what?¡± Doug asked.


    <div>


    Zale sighed.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s just a room with teleportation doors,¡± she explained.


    <div>


    ¡°I stand by what I said,¡± the halfling said, crossing his arms. ¡°Teleportation is a wonder.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°We will be going to the mountain passes today,¡± Tigereye said, interrupting his partner¡¯s theatrics.


    <div>


    Professor Underbrook sighed this time.


    <div>


    ¡°Very well. We¡¯ve found an adventuring request uniquely suited to your group¡¯s abilities¡ªwell, not yours Kole, sorry. Minor earth elementals have been raiding the demon kin villages at the foot of the eastern mountain range.¡±


    <div>


    Doug perked up at the mention of his people and his home region.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s not your village,¡± Underbrook said, reassuring him. ¡°We will take you nearby, and it will be your job to track them down and eliminate the threat. You¡¯ll even get the reward.¡±


    <div>


    The mention of a reward perked Kole¡¯s interest, which had quickly dwindled after Underbrook¡¯s comment.


    <div>


    ¡°Any questions?¡± The professor asked, looking at the students expectedly.


    <div>


    ¡°Is everyone else doing something like this?¡± Zale asked.


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Tigereye answered simply.


    <div>


    ¡°Then why are we?¡± Kole asked the follow-up Zale was holding back out of respect for her mentor.


    <div>


    ¡°Because you¡¯re special,¡± Underbrook said, smiling.


    <div>


    ¡°Really?¡± Doug asked, hopefully


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Tigereye answered again.


    <div>


    ¡°Well, fine. You four are a special case,¡± Underbrook said, revising his statement. ¡°The other groups are doing missions in the area with adventuring parties. You four have missed a lot of class, so you require our more direct instruction, but you also have Ms Zale on your team, and I understand you are already familiar with the Dahn¡¯s ability to create portals. So, I have scoured the surface of Kaltis for tasks I felt would best accelerate your education in these trying times.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What happens if we get in over our heads?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about that,¡± Underbrook said. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine¡ªprobably.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°And if we¡¯re not fine?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°We¡¯ll be around, don¡¯t worry about it too much. I can teleport you out if you¡¯re about to get yourselves killed. Now is that all?¡±


    <div>


    It was, and they all went through the door out into the bright morning of the mountain glade beyond.


    <div>


    Pop!


    <div>


    ¡°Ow!¡± Kole shouted, rubbing his ears.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh yeah! I forgot. It¡¯s best if you keep your mouth open when teleporting to help equalize the pressure differential. We are a lot closer to sea level here,¡± Underbrook explained.


    <div>


    To emphasize his point, he pointed to the mountains above, and Kole saw the massive waterfall in the distance where the ocean broke through Basin¡¯s mountain walls to form one of the rivers leading to the Plume Lake at the heart of the continent.


    <div>


    ¡°Well, good luck!¡± Underbrook said, grabbing the calf of Tigereye and they vanished.


    <div>


    ¡°Where¡¯d they go?¡± Doug asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Nowhere,¡± Kole said with a smile. It was his turn for once to ruin someone else¡¯s invisible fun. ¡°They¡¯re invisible.¡±


    <div>


    Kole had sensed them drawing on the power of the Font Illusions, Underbrook¡ªit seemed¡ªhad learned the newer version of the spell that drew on it directly instead of simply blocking light and drawing on that Font.


    <div>


    ¡°Are ye sure?¡± Rakin asked, looking from Kole to where the professors were. ¡°When yer invisible, I can sense you with me tremor sense. I can¡¯t detect them at all.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s probably some form of Greater Invisibility that can draw on the Mind aspects of the Font,¡± Kole explained.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    <div>


    ¡°Kole¡¯s right,¡± Zale said.


    <div>


    She pointed right at someone, ¡°I see them right there with my Willsight.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Nicknacks!¡± came Underbook¡¯s disembodied curse. ¡°You primal children are no fun. Get going or I¡¯ll think of something less fun for you all to do!¡±


    <div>


    Kole was fairly sure he heard a low rumble as well from the same direction.


    <div>


    Was that Tigereye¡¯s laugh? It sounded like landslide.


    <div>


    The four students left their professors alone and started heading up the mountain. Doug led them quickly, finding paths for them and occasionally stopping to ask animals for news of the stone elementals.


    <div>


    As they traveled, Kole kept looking over his shoulder, the sense of Underbrook¡¯s connection to the Font of Illusions following him and making him very aware that he was being watched. While it should have been comforting, it was unsettling. Eventually, they climbed past the tree line and the barren slope of the mountain spread out before them in both directions.


    <div>


    ¡°That way,¡± Rakin said, pointing confidently to a direction Kole thought was southeast, but growing up with a stationary glowing object in place of a sun, he was still getting used to using it for navigation.


    <div>


    Does it set in the east or the west again? He wondered but decided to not ask Doug¡­ again.


    <div>


    ¡°Stop,¡± Rakin called after a while, kneeling down to listen to the ground. ¡°I think there¡¯s a cave around here somewhere.¡±


    <div>


    Kole was gaining an appreciation for the endurance training Zale put them through each day, and he wasn¡¯t that tired despite the climb. But, he now realized they¡¯d never done any of it on inclines, and his legs and butt were beginning to ache from the unfamiliar strain.


    <div>


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Zale asked Kole.


    <div>


    ¡°Yeah, my butt is just sore,¡± Kole said, rubbing said butt. ¡°I¡¯m going to regret suggesting this, but I think we should do some training on stairs or something.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Good idea,¡± Zale agreed.


    <div>


    ¡°Why are ye watching his butt?¡± Rakin asked his cousin and then raised an eyebrow at Kole knowingly


    <div>


    Oh no¡­ I should have seen this coming, Kole thought as he and Zale both blushed, Kole turning red and Zale black.


    <div>


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t!¡± She defended. ¡°He hardly even has a butt!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°They¡¯re comin!¡± Rakin shouted to the others as he stood out in the open next to Zale who stood beside him on a hastily constructed wooden platform.


    <div>


    The cave was a few hundred yards up the mountain from where they stood at the tree line. Doug himself stood high in a tree, while Kole too was perched up above, if less loftily.


    <div>


    Moments after Rakin¡¯s shout, the ground around him rippled, as if it were a sheet with an animal running below it. Mounds formed in four places, and gnome-sized stone creatures burst from the ground. While they were diminutive like gnomes, they lacked heads, and had thick stone limbs, giving them a hulking appearance despite their small size.


    <div>


    Rakin hit the first with a kick and Kole winced internally with sympathy as the dwarf¡¯s shin struck the elemental, but to Kole¡¯s shock, the elemental stumbled back as if harmed by the attack. Beside him, Zale wielded a shield and mace Tigereye had brought with him and given her after sharing the mission¡¯s objective. She swung the mace with¡ªto Kole¡¯s untrained eyes¡ªthe same skill and grace she wielded her bastard sword, and her first strike broke an arm off of her target.


    <div>


    Aside from Zale and Rakin¡¯s grunts of exertion and the ringing of steel on stone, the battlefield was silent. Doug let loose an arrow as soon as the elementals had been visible, but his first shot bounced off his target ineffectively. Kole waited, not trusting his aim at such a distance they¡¯d settled on him using Magic Missile to guarantee his Will was spent to some purpose.


    <div>


    The elementals seemed somewhat blind to Zale, up on her perch. They knew she was there, but her swings were not dodged, or even blocked. But after receiving two blows each, the pair of elementals on her began ripping apart her platform, the small figures flinging the logs away with surprising strength.


    <div>


    Zale vanished from the top in a cloud of black motes, appearing in the air behind where she stood, facing her attackers. On her way down the small drop, she brought her mace down on the single-limbed elemental, breaking off its other arm. The elemental faded into the ground, disappearing, and Zale stepped toward the second.


    <div>


    Rakin traded blows with his two foes, focusing primarily on dodging the slow but powerful strikes. Kole noticed that he used his earth primal abilities less than usual. Normally he utilized the earth around him to propel his movements, making his leaps faster and further and making his charges more impactful. Now, he used only his ki-enhanced speed to jump and weave around his enemies, only landing strikes when opportunities arose. And, when he did hit, these punches left visible dents in the stone, though the impacts were silent to Kole¡¯s ears.


    <div>


    Kole wasn¡¯t sure, but he suspected Rakin to be using his primal magic solely to enhance these attacks.


    <div>


    Doug¡¯s arrows continued to land with no effect, but his accuracy had improved as he gained a feel for the range and wind. It was then that he pulled a freshly carved arrow out of his quiver. The arrow had a bodkin arrowhead, pulled from an old arrow in his quiver, and the fletchings were freshly donated from a falcon he¡¯d befriended during their preparations. The arrow struck one of Rakin¡¯s foes, and vines burst forth from the attack, wrapping around the elemental while reaching toward the ground.


    <div>


    The elemental reacted immediately and ripped the arrow out of its stony body, and threw it, but the vines clung to its arm briefly before getting ripped off and thrown by its other arm. Rakin had used the momentary distraction to land a series of punishing blows on his other opponent and then jumped back before he could be flanked.


    <div>


    Kole took the opportunity of Rakin¡¯s retreat to cast Magic Missile, and three darts of force, shot through the air, piercing the faltering elemental in quick succession. The creature fell apart under this barrage and crumbled into jagged rocks and dust.


    <div>


    Oh no! Kole thought, seeing what the death of an elemental looked like and realizing that Zale hadn¡¯t defeated her first enemy.


    <div>


    She was locked in a back-and-forth with her second elemental, taking blows on her armor so she could get in and land her own. Despite her larger reach, the elementals were short and she had to bend low to get at them. While Rakin¡¯s enemies were fighting him in a stand up battle, the earth elemental facing Zale was using the ground itself as if sunk in low to dodge her blows, even traveling through the earth to appear behind her.


    <div>


    ¡°Zale! It¡¯s hiding!¡± Kole shouted.


    <div>


    Kole had one Magic Missile left in him and held it at the ready. Seconds after his shout, the earth behind Zale erupted as the limbless elemental returned¡ªnew limbs freshly regrown. It continued from the ground into a charge at Zale and would have struck her if not for her ability to vanish. She disappeared, and the elemental traveled through where she had stood to crash into its ally.


    <div>


    Before Zale reappeared, Doug began to loose an arrow, but let out a curse. Kole risked a glance to see that Doug was gone. He scanned his surroundings and saw the demonkin boy sat in the dirt a few yards away, arrow unfired and on the ground beside him.


    <div>


    The elementals seemed to perk up, sensing the newcomer onto the ground, and one of the two facing Zale broke off, disappearing underground to get Doug. Zale reappeared, just in time to engage the second before it could give chase.


    <div>


    Doug recovered to his feet, and fired his ensnaring arrow at Zale¡¯s enemy, just before a stone elemental burst forth before him. The arrow flew true, and the vines began to wrap around the target. Zale didn¡¯t give the elemental the opportunity to rip the vines free, pummeling the small stone enemy as it clawed at the entangling vines.


    <div>


    Be it some sort of new ability, or chance, Kole didn¡¯t know, but Doug vanished before the elemental could land its body blow on him, reappearing instantly a ways up the mountain.


    <div>


    Kole took the opportunity of the nearby and unobstructed enemy and sent three shots from his blasting rod in quick succession. Only two struck before the elemental retreated beneath the ground, but both took out sizable divots from the surface of its body.


    <div>


    With only one to face, Zale and Rakin both finished off their singular foes, and ran to Doug to guard him, but the fourth elemental never resurfaced.


    <div>


    ¡°Flood,¡± Rakin cursed,


    <div>


    He closed his eyes, and dropped to the ground to listen before breaking out into a sprint towards the cave, the earth lifting beneath his feet to launch him ahead. Near the cave mouth, he jumped, landing a punch into the stone ground as he touched down.


    <div>


    The last elemental burst forth from where his punch landed, and put up a brief and ineffectual defense as Rakin pummeled it to stone.


    <div>


    ¡°Good job!¡± Zale shouted, and let out a cheer.


    <div>


    In the distance, Rakin collapsed into the dirt and lay down as if asleep.


    <div>


    ¡°I know!¡± he shouted back, as if he were insulted he could have done anything but.

 Chapter 98: Incident

    <div>


    Many people say many things about Tal of Storms. Some can say that he was a great hero, others a monster.


    <div>


    Foreword of Tallen Elmheart A Biography by Rail Dahnchild


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    ¡°Congratulations,¡± Underbrook¡¯s voice said in all the student¡¯s minds. ¡°There has been an incident on campus Tigereye has been called upon to help resolve. Make your way to the village to collect the reward, and we will collect you from there later today.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Flood,¡± Rakin cursed. ¡°I don¡¯t want te walk anymore.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Zale asked him, going to his side.


    <div>


    Despite the apparent ease the dwarf had battled the minor earth elementals, his hands and legs were covered in cuts.


    <div>


    ¡°Aye, just exhausted.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯ll catch something to eat,¡± Doug volunteered, before disappearing into the trees.


    <div>


    Zale and Kole then began preparing a fire to cook whatever Doug caught. Kole had been wholly unfamiliar with the life skills required to survive on the road as an adventurer¡ªhaving grown up in his subaquatic home with nothing but city nearly up to the boundary¡ªbut Zale had been making progress in educating him.


    <div>


    By the time Doug came back with some already-skinned rabbits and something else Kole couldn¡¯t identify without the fur or skin, they had a campfire ready to be lit.


    <div>


    ¡°Shoot,¡± Zale cursed.


    <div>


    Kole laughed at her childlike curse, earning a challenging glare.


    <div>


    ¡°Sorry, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring anything to start a fire with,¡± she admitted.


    <div>


    ¡°I got it,¡± Rakin said, coming over with what Kole thought might have been eagerness.


    <div>


    ¡°I figured something out,¡± he said once he was close.


    <div>


    He knelt down next to the fire pit, closed his eyes, and scrunched his face in focus and strain. Then, in his outstretched palm a small flame appeared, like the flicker of a candle without any taper to support it.


    <div>


    Quickly Rakin stuck his hand into the firepit, and the prepared kindling quickly lit.


    <div>


    ¡°Wow!¡± Zale said, ¡°You did it! And you didn¡¯t try to kill anyone!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Yet,¡± Rakin said, with a bit of hostility in his voice that Kole didn¡¯t think was a joke.


    <div>


    ¡°With this,¡± Rakin continued, clutching his amulet, ¡°I can do that much without losing meself. I¡¯ve been working on it with me master all week.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Good job,¡± Kole said, trying to be genuine, but praise was not something with which he was particularly comfortable or practiced.


    <div>


    ¡°Hmmph,¡± Rakin grunted out what Kole thought was an appreciative one.


    <div>


    Hmmm, maybe I am learning Torcish, Kole thought in jest.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯ve been making progress too,¡± Doug said, as he began to spit the meat. ¡°I can sense when I¡¯m about to teleport. I can¡¯t do anything about it, but knowing it¡¯s coming helps. I was able to hold off that shot, which would have missed if I moved before firing.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You seemed to teleport away from an attack,¡± Kole pointed out. ¡°Was that on purpose?¡±


    <div>


    Doug began rubbing at the base of his antler, a sign Kole had begun to associate with the demon kin boy being embarrassed.


    <div>


    ¡°No, its just more likely to occur if I¡¯m terrified.¡±


    <div>


    They talked over their experience as they ate, and once they were ready to go, Rakin tried¡ªand failed¡ªto will the fire to extinguish.


    <div>


    ¡°How are we going to prove to the village that we took care of the elementals?¡± Doug asked as they were heading out.


    <div>


    ¡°They won¡¯t just believe us?¡± Zale asked, genuinely surprised.


    <div>


    Doug shook his head solemnly, antlers swaying.


    <div>


    ¡°My people are not trusting of outsiders,¡± he said, voice tinged with sadness. ¡°We have been wronged and betrayed countless times. My own presence might help, but more likely¡ªif no one recognized my name¡ªthey¡¯ll think me some fool adolescent with wanderlust.¡±


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    <div>


    ¡°But aren¡¯t ye?¡± Rakin asked, earning a swat from Zale.


    <div>


    ¡°Ow! Not with yer damned gauntlets!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°How do they feel about voidlings?¡± Zale asked Doug, playing with her bracelet.


    <div>


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to ask you, but¡­ since you brought it up, it might be best if you used your disguise.¡±


    <div>


    Zale nodded and activated her disguise bracelet. Kole tried to sense the magic of the item, but for whatever reason he was unable to detect it.


    <div>


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I tell when you use that?¡± Kole asked Zale.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s enchanted to hide its magical presence,¡± Zale explained. ¡°Mother got them for infiltration work for herself years ago but found them unreliable. They aren¡¯t detectable, but any place with half an ounce of security has anti-magic fields, and they get disrupted.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Will these work?¡± Rakin asked, interrupting, showing the others some rusty red gems. ¡°They¡¯re heart stones of the elementals.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°The whats?¡± Zale asked.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s like a soul stone,¡± Kole explained. ¡°But from an elemental. They don¡¯t generate Will like a soul stone, but they are used to summon elementals by wizards.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Can you learn to do that?¡± Zale asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Probably not¡­¡± Kole began, not really sure how the spells worked but doubting it. ¡°but maybe Rakin can?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Rakin said when all eyes turned to him. ¡°I don¡¯t exactly have a master Stoneweaver I can ask do I?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Those should work,¡± Doug said, interrupting.


    <div>


    Doug claimed to know the way, and everyone followed him down the mountain and into the woods. His ability to navigate the forest was as great as his ability to traverse the city was terrible and in seemingly no time, Kole could smell the scent of burning wood and cookfires.


    <div>


    ¡°Halt!¡± A voice commanded from ahead.


    <div>


    Kole searched his surroundings but didn¡¯t see who was calling.


    <div>


    ¡°State your purpose.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I am Doug Peak, of the Zialrock clan to the east.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°And your business?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°My friends and I have dealt with the four minor earth elementals you placed a bounty on.¡±


    <div>


    What Kole thought was a bush parted up ahead, revealing a group of demon kin with loaded crossbows. They lowered the weapons as the false brush shifted.


    <div>


    ¡°Have you proof?¡± The voice, a tall purple-skinned demonkin with rams horns asked.


    <div>


    Doug produced the stones Rakin had given him and threw one underhanded at the man, where it landed right before him. He then held the other three up to show the number.


    <div>


    ¡°Hmmm,¡± the man said, examining the stones. ¡°We thought there were only three. Well, come on in then, and make sure your Illusian friends mind their manners.


    <div>


    He spoke the word ¡°Illusian¡± with disdain, and made no effort to hide his contempt. Kole didn¡¯t think he could blame the man though. The demonkin had been treated as nothing more than vermin and pests for most of their existence, either being ruled by demons and spent as fodder in their short-lived reigns of terror when summoned to Kaltis, or being hunted out of retribution by the victims of the acts the demons forced them to commit.


    <div>


    The village was small and cleverly hidden. The trees grew thicker as they walked, and the undergrowth with it. They reached a large brambled hedge, and Kole spotted a palisade through the leaves and vines. The thorny hedge opened, and they were led into a forest clearing with a few dozen small cottages and a large central meeting hall. Aside from the fact everyone had horns and their skin varied in hue from red to purple, it looked exactly as Kole would picture a secluded forest village¡ªnot that he¡¯d seen any before.


    <div>


    ¡°Wait here,¡± they were commanded.


    <div>


    A few minutes later the speaker returned with an older demon kin whose horns had broken off near the base.


    <div>


    ¡°Welcome young adventurers,¡± came his weathered voice. ¡°I have your reward here, but I must ask you to leave immediately after. We are grateful, that you¡¯ve helped us, but it would be best if you didn¡¯t linger.¡±


    <div>


    Kole didn¡¯t expect this, even with Doug¡¯s warning. He recalled the feeling he¡¯d gotten at helping the people of the dungeon trials, and he had sort of been looking forward to the adoration they¡¯d receive upon completing their first real life quest.


    <div>


    This was far from that. He looked around again, and took in the village. This time he noticed more. The clothes on all the villagers were ragged, the kids all wearing articles too large or too small, and some more patch than original cloth. The walls were spotted with fresh timber in a dozen places where they¡¯d been repaired after recent attacks, and everyone looked tired.


    <div>


    The headman handed Doug the pouch, and he took it mechanically.


    <div>


    ¡°They should keep it,¡± Kole said, before he realized he was doing so. ¡°We can keep the stones, Amara might find use for them, but they need that coin more than us.¡±


    <div>


    Doug looked at Kole, and nodded appreciatively, and Zale hummed in approval.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s very generous of you,¡± the headman said, taking the pouch back and making no attempt to convince Kole otherwise. ¡°But even still, it would be best if you didn¡¯t stick around.¡±


    <div>


    And so, they left and found a nice clearing to sit and wait for their professors to come and retrieve them.


    <div>


    ¡°Well that was a sad sight,¡± Rakin said, once they¡¯d gotten far from the village. ¡°Is that what yer homes like?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Doug answered. ¡°My village was prosperous and isolated. We have stone walls and a strong militia able to keep the monsters of the wilds at bay. This village¡­ I don¡¯t know how it even survives out here. Those elementals were not that tough right?¡±


    <div>


    Everyone nodded in agreement. They were hardly hardened veterans, but despite this having actually been a life or death experience, Kole had found he hadn¡¯t been that scared.


    <div>


    They talked about their experience a little more in facing the elementals, until Professor Underbrook appeared before them.


    <div>


    ¡°Surprise!¡± he shouted, and they all fell back at his sudden appearance.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, I crack myself up,¡± he said, ¡°Ready to go?¡±


    <div>


    They collected themselves, and Zale put a hand on Rakin¡¯s shoulder to help him steady his anger. Kole had noticed the dwarf had been a little on edge since creating that small flame, and he was happy to see Zale had taken note as well.


    <div>


    ¡°Great,¡± Underbrook said, after they¡¯d agreed. ¡°Time to go.¡¯


    <div>


    The professor took a metal rod out from his belt, and held it up in the air before pulling it towards him. As he did so, a door appeared attached to the handle, showing the chamber they¡¯d left through earlier that day.


    <div>


    ¡°In you go, I have some more weird hyena monsters to hunt down.¡±

 Chapter 99: Mole Chase

    <div>


    In this biography, I will not try to paint him in any light but the truth, but here in the foreword I will say this:


    <div>


    When that young mage looked at me, and offered to help me, I saw that he genuinely cared about me and my friends. It shocked me then, and to this day still surprises me with all the more I learn. As he prepared to fight the war that would follow¡ªwith the fate of Kaltis on their shoulders¡ªhe and his friends stopped to help a group of nobody urchins find a fresh start.


    <div>


    Foreword of Tallen Elmheart A Biography by Rail Dahnchild


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    Underbrook left shortly after explaining his absence. There had been another incursion of the snake hyena monsters, and his aid had been required.


    <div>


    ¡°So¡­ the dungeons probably still open to that same plain then, right?¡± Kole asked the group once they were alone.


    <div>


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Zale said. ¡°If we are right.


    <div>


    ¡°Want to go check it out?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Yeah but¡­¡± Zale began but then glanced at the doors around them. ¡°let me get something first.¡±


    <div>


    She ran to one of the doors, grabbed the handle, and pulled. Instead of opening, the door vanished revealing bare stone, and Zale was left holding the handle. She held it up triumphantly.


    <div>


    ¡°How¡¯d you do that?¡± Kole asked, even as he went up to another door to try himself.


    <div>


    ¡°You just have to want it to work,¡± Zale explained, ¡°If of course you¡¯ve been picked by mom to be able to do it at all. I was kicked off my list after I gave mine to Harold, but it looks like she returned the privilege without telling me before she left¡­ or since she¡¯s been gone.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Could she do that from afar?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zale said, then began to chew her lip. ¡°I don¡¯t even know where she is. I¡¯m starting to get worried. She left a note that she had to go get something for Uncle Tal, but she hadn¡¯t seemed too worried about it and thought she¡¯d be back in a day or two.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Maybe we can have Amara build a tracker?¡± Kole suggested, but Zale shook her head immediately.


    <div>


    ¡°You can¡¯t track mom, she¡¯s got some sort of anti-divination item or Blessing or something. I never got the sense she could turn it off at will.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°She¡¯ll be fine,¡± Rakin said, ¡°Aside from me ma, yers is the toughest I know, but¡­ maybe we send me ma a message to let her know she¡¯s missing.¡±


    <div>


    While Kole suspected the first part of Rakin¡¯s statement was meant to reassure Zale, it was the mention of his own adopted mother that helped.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea!¡± Zale said, her worry gone.


    <div>


    Rakin excused himself to go get word to his mother.


    <div>


    ¡°Wait, aren¡¯t we going to search for Amara¡¯s sister?¡± Kole asked before the group broke up.


    <div>


    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± Zale said, ¡°I have plans. But I¡¯m free tomorrow. Let¡¯s meet up at the study hall room and start our search from there.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I¡­ also have plans,¡± Doug said after a moment.


    <div>


    ¡°Bah!¡± Rakin shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll help, let the lovebirds go and waste their time.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I could reschedule,¡± Zale suggested in a tone that suggested she¡¯d really rather not.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Kole said. ¡°Just go, we¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Okay, but don¡¯t go through any magic doorways without us,¡± Zale said, gesturing at Doug and herself with the rod she still held.


    <div>


    They separated with plans for Rakin to meet Kole outside Amara¡¯s workshop in an hour ready to explore.


    <div>


    ¡°What did your mom say?¡± Kole asked Rakin as they traversed the hallways to Amara¡¯s workshop.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    <div>


    ¡°She said she knew what Zale¡¯s ma was going after, and told me she was already working on it. She was¡­ a little mad.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Why?¡± Kole asked


    <div>


    ¡°Well, I never told her I was out of the dungeon,¡± Rakin confessed. ¡°No one had told her I¡¯d even gone missing in fact.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°How mad is a ¡®little mad¡¯?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°She went to the effort to use a Sending scroll to yell at me.¡±


    <div>


    Kole let out a low whistle. A scroll of Sending was valuable, and to use one to just yell at Rakin was an expensive way to get your point across.


    <div>


    When they got to Amara¡¯s door, it only took a few heavy bangs from Rakin to bring her to the door.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, hey!¡± she said, surprised to see them. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Are you ready to go look for your sister?¡± Kole asked, ¡°It¡¯ll just be us today, but Doug and Zale will help tomorrow.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Of course!¡± she said, ¡°Just let me get my things and clean up what I was working on.¡±


    <div>


    Kole watched in a trance as Amara ran around her workshop, touching and manipulating half a dozen works in progress as she went.


    <div>


    ¡°How many projects are you currently working on?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°In total? Or today?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Either? Both?¡±


    <div>


    She looked up in the air as if counting a list written on the ceiling behind Kole.


    <div>


    ¡°Twenty, but only seven today.¡±


    <div>


    She grabbed her gear off the mannequin, put on her belt, and then grabbed up Gus as she walked out. The rat as always looked relieved to get out of the workshop.


    <div>


    To start, they headed over to the dungeon entrance chamber on the off chance that the staff had stopped manning the opening after Kole and his team had emerged.


    <div>


    They had not.


    <div>


    From what Kole remembered from their initial exit, it seemed the amount of people flittering about in the room had increased if anything.


    <div>


    One of the researchers within caught sight of them and came to meet them at the door.


    <div>


    ¡°Amara, you¡¯re not snooping again are you?¡± the human woman said.


    <div>


    Judging by her age¡ªonly a few years older than himself¡ªand the familiar tone she used, Kole guessed she was an assistant to Professor Donglefore.


    <div>


    ¡°No!¡± Amara squeaked out.


    <div>


    The woman raised an eyebrow not believing her at all.


    <div>


    ¡°Well, then you better move along,¡± she said, looking over her shoulder. Then added in a whisper ¡°And be careful this time.¡±


    <div>


    Amara nodded, turned around, and quickly walked away, leaving Rakin and Kole to catch up.


    <div>


    ¡°Well that was a waste of time,¡± Rakin grumbled.


    <div>


    ¡°No it wasn¡¯t,¡± Amara said, already fiddling with a device.


    <div>


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Nope,¡± Amara said, transfixed by her task.


    <div>


    Kole weighed his curiosity against the potential long-winded explanation. The former won out.


    <div>


    ¡°Why wasn¡¯t it a waste of time?¡±


    <div>


    Amara looked up at him with a familiar smile and fire in her eyes.


    <div>


    ¡°I figured it out!¡±


    <div>


    Several minutes later, Kole thought he sort of kind of understood what Amara had done. While they¡¯d been standing outside the door, her ants had been busy at work altering the runes on her tracking device ever so slightly to block out the strongest connection to her sister. Once that had been isolated and ignored, the tracker would then look for the next closest signal.


    <div>


    She¡¯d had to devise this system herself. While tracking runes were common, no one had ever had to track a person who was simultaneously multiple distances away from the tracker.


    <div>


    There were a few downsides. With the ad hoc nature of the runes, Amara had to manually power the device herself with the custom intent developed to block the new pattern. She could eventually place that into a gem, but it was likely the signal would change before she could finish.


    <div>


    So, they followed the signal through the Dahn. Frequently stopping and changing directions as the signal either disappeared completely or changed directions on them. As before, it led them deep into the library, but after a few hours of searching, they had to call it a night.


    <div>


    ¡°This is a rabid mole chase,¡± Rakin said after the signal had changed directions once more.


    <div>


    ¡°A what?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°A rabid mole,¡± he explained. ¡°They go crazy, digging through tunnels and compromising the structures. So ye chase them, but they keep escaping through the maze of tunnels they already made.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°How do you catch them then?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°We just get a Stone weaver to crush them in their tunnels.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Well, that works I suppose.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I think I know what to do,¡± Amara said, interrupting.


    <div>


    ¡°Really? The mole thing gave you an idea?¡± Kole asked eagerly.


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Amara said flatly. ¡°That was dumb, they should just put runes around the tunnel exits to kill the moles when they exit. There must be more than one way to my sister. This device is not equipped to handle the additional paths. At first, I thought the doors were just moving, but I¡¯ve now determined there are simply more than two paths total¡ªalso the doors are still moving.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Well, that sounds like a pain in the arse,¡± Rakin said.


    <div>


    ¡°I think I can figure it out, but I need to go check the dungeon signal again to see if it changed.¡±


    <div>


    They left the library with surprising speed, Kole could have sworn they¡¯d spent far more time walking toward the edges than it took to exit. When they got to the door to the dungeon chamber, they found the door completely gone, only a small team of porters remained in the hallway outside loading crates onto a cart.


    <div>


    ¡°Where¡¯d the door go?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, that?¡± one of the men in workers coveralls said, pointing to the wall. ¡°I¡¯m not sure where it is now, but the eggheads said they were going to ¡®isolate the dungeon¡¯ to see if it made all those weird scaley horses stop showing up. And the snake dog things.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed, and Rakin agreed with his own stream of Torcish words.

 Chapter 100: Profesor Lonin

    <div>


    [A picture of a wizard putting a worm on a fishing hook using magic.]


    <div>


    C is for Caster, a general term, from men who cast magic to those who fish with a worm.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    Kole went back to his room that night after their fruitless search to prepare for his morning session with Lonin. He didn¡¯t know what to expect, but he wanted to be ready in case the opportunity for a mentorship arose.


    <div>


    So, he spent the night sorting through what Theral had given him. If pressed, he would say his plan was to learn the version of Mind Spike he had, and then search for Shatter and Radiant Bolt, hopefully picking up an actually usable Light cantrip to go with it. He also wanted to find a usable Sound cantrip, but he expected to do that in his free time before the end of the semester.


    <div>


    ¡°Ha,¡± he laughed at himself, thinking he would have any free time not already devoted to the pursuit of casting three spells in a day.


    <div>


    Kole had exercised restraint and only stayed up to the reasonable hour of midnight, so it was with only a modicum of exhaustion that Kole stood outside Lonin¡¯s office before the appointed hour with a full belly from a breakfast he actually paid for.


    <div>


    He¡¯d reasoned a rumbling belly wouldn¡¯t do when talking to the head of the wizard college, and money wasn¡¯t as tight as it had once been thanks to the weird timeline of the dungeon.


    <div>


    Thoughts of altered timelines brought his mind back to his parents, trapped in a pocket realm, possibly outside of time.


    <div>


    Does time move at all for them? He wondered. Could I be older than them when we are reunited? Or will they be ancient and gone by the time I reach them?


    <div>


    It was with these distracted thoughts that Lonin found him outside his door. Kole had been early for once, it seemed.


    <div>


    ¡°Good morning Kole,¡± Professor Lonin greeted Kole jovially.


    <div>


    Kole went to greet him in return but stifled a yawn.


    <div>


    ¡°Ah, not a morning person I see,¡± Lonin said with a chuckle. ¡°Often a shared trait amongst the brilliant.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°And the obsessed,¡± Kole said after his yawn, finding himself put at ease by the Grand Master Wizard¡¯s tone.


    <div>


    ¡°Well yes, but there¡¯s a lot of overlap between the two groups.¡±


    <div>


    Lonin opened the door and gestured for Kole to enter.


    <div>


    Inside, Lonin directed Kole to a pair of couches on the side, not the desk they¡¯d spoken at before.


    <div>


    Once they were settled, Lonin began.


    <div>


    ¡°So, I bet you are wondering why I have agreed to tutor you in this class. Am I on the mark?¡±


    <div>


    Kole nodded in agreement.


    <div>


    ¡°Well, for the purposes of transparency,¡± Lonin began. ¡°I have not changed my mind. I won¡¯t offer a mentorship to a student pursuing the the adventuring program.¡±


    <div>


    Kole deflated in on himself, his burgeoning hope dying once more.


    <div>


    ¡°But, my offer still stands, and I hope this hour each week will convince you to change your mind and drop this adventuring nonsense.¡±


    <div>


    He paused, dropping some of the levity.


    <div>


    ¡°We thought you and your friends dead. But, there was this strange man at the dungeon door when all the staff gathered to try to recover you. When pressed, he said he was Mage Tallen and Professor Shalia¡¯s acquaintance, and he had a vested interest in helping recover you lot. Professor Donglefore was familiar and he quickly proved himself invaluable to the effort¡ªbut then he disappeared.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°We were wondering where he went,¡± Kole said, absentmindedly in his internal wallowing.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    <div>


    ¡°Ah, so he spoke the truth,¡± Lonin said, jumping on the confirmation. ¡°Well, he spoke highly of you and mentioned he was helping you a bit with some of the more traditional methods of wizardry. Is he your mentor?¡±


    <div>


    Kole shook his head, and then couldn¡¯t help but let out a laugh.


    <div>


    ¡°He said he would be, but he couldn¡¯t guarantee his continued presence.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Hmmm,¡± Lonin said, considering. ¡°He seems either prescient or flaky.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I think a bit of both,¡± Kole said.


    <div>


    ¡°Indeed. Wel, I heard of your progress from both Professor Underbrook and this Mage Tallen, and I¡¯m impressed. I hope to use this time to convince you of the value of my field, but the purpose of this time is to ensure you don¡¯t fail this semester. You have made remarkable progress, and I think that with just a bit of help, you will pass this semester. But, next semester it will be upon you to find a proper mentor, or you won¡¯t be accepted into the program, no matter your class scores. And as I said before, my offer still stands¡ªeven if you refuse until the last moment. So long as you pass your classes that is¡ªthe important ones at least. I respect Tigereye greatly, but you could fail his classes. I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    <div>


    Kole warred internally. He was still crushed that Lonin hadn¡¯t changed his mind, but he was willing to help. It was like being given a life raft that took you from one vanishing hill in the Flood to a slightly taller one.


    <div>


    Lonin watched Kole patiently, and when the struggle seemed to subside, he asked, ¡°Have you any questions?¡±


    <div>


    In answer, Kole took out his spellbook and plopped it into the coffee table between them.


    <div>


    ¡°Loads.¡±


    <div>


    Kole used every minute of the allotted hour. Lonin asked Kole a few questions about spellcraft theory before judging his knowledge on the topic well beyond the topics covered in the course, assuring him that he would have no issue on the final exam. Then Kole returned the favor by reviewing his plans for Magic Missile and Shield.


    <div>


    At first, Professor Lonin acted as if Kole had handed him a used rag from the privy when looking at the combat-oriented spell, but quickly he picked up on the depth of Kole¡¯s work and grew engrossed in the technical details of the spells¡ªif not their applications. He had little to correct, Kole¡¯s meticulous progress was largely free of errors, but he did have suggestions that would speed up Kole¡¯s efforts. He provided Kole with the intent of a few spell components Kole had yet to track down, each one saving him hours of work.


    <div>


    Lonin even asked Kole about his progress with pathing Thunderwave.


    <div>


    ¡°You really want to know about that sir?¡± Kole asked in surprise.


    <div>


    The modern methods of pathing spells were far more methodical and formulaic than the traditional. It was as if modern wizards were like well-prepared explorers from a faraway land, equipped with maps and rune-powered bearing devices, while the traditional wizards were more like natives of the land, exploring the next region over, using their experience to navigate any obstacle they might encounter.


    <div>


    Traditional pathing was more art than science, but even artists had a tool suite, and that was the aspect Lonin wanted to hear about. So, Kole explained his process, and the professor listened intently, examining the collection of spell components Kole used as references while pathing.


    <div>


    ¡°This spellbook is remarkable,¡± Lonin said, when their conversation came to a close. ¡°Wherever did you get it?¡±


    <div>


    Kole froze. The professor wasn¡¯t asking in any way that felt avaricious or scheming, but the topic was one Tallen had hammered home to avoid.


    <div>


    But, despite the professor''s insistence that Kole¡¯s life¡¯s ambition was a folly¡ªsomething Kole was just barely able to overlook¡ªhe liked him. He trusted him. Short of murdering Kole to take, it, the professor couldn¡¯t take the spellbook, and even if he had some doubts about the professor, there was no way he judged him that incorrectly.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s an ensouled artifact,¡± Kole admitted, going out on a limb. ¡°I found it tucked away in the library.¡±


    <div>


    The professor''s eyes grew wide, and he looked at the book with new reverence.


    <div>


    ¡°Ah, that explains it. I was wondering how you could have afforded such a thing.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°That''s it?¡± Kole asked. ¡°You just take my word for it?¡±


    <div>


    The professor laughed.


    <div>


    ¡°Of course, this is a magical academy,¡± he said. ¡°This kind of thing is known to happen from time to time. Students and faculty have a history of stumbling on ensouled artifacts they are capable of Bonding. We aren¡¯t sure where they all come from though.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You don¡¯t?¡±


    <div>


    The professor shook his head.


    <div>


    ¡°Occasionally one is discovered with a traceable identity, but when this happens their last recorded location is often unknown.¡±


    <div>


    Kole pressed him on the topic a while longer, but the topic really was a mystery and he had no more answer.


    <div>


    ¡°So, if you could forgive my impertinence, what can it do?¡±


    <div>


    Kole, eager to show off, showed him.


    <div>


    Afterward, Lonin chuckled.


    <div>


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t know you found this after the entrance exam, I would have thought you used it to get such an outstanding score.¡±


    <div>


    Noticing the look of worry Kole gained, he quickly added, ¡°But, that would have been permissible. Ensouled artifacts are a part of you, it would be as wrong to restrict their use as it would a primal¡¯s abilities. Speaking of, what exactly does your primal nature contribute to your spell repertoire.¡±


    <div>


    While Kole had been in a sharing mood, this was where he drew the line. Illusion magic was less powerful the more people knew to look for it. He wasn¡¯t going to let the secret slip beyond his circle of friends.


    <div>


    ¡°Like I said, forgive my impertinence. No need to answer. Your secrets are your own and I¡¯ll admit you shared more than you needed to today.¡±


    <div>


    And with that, the hour they had together was up, and Kole was shown to the door, mind a whirl with what he¡¯d learned.


    <div>


    He had a lot of work to do¡ªafter the day''s search at least.

 Chapter 101: Stink Bugs

    <div>


    [A picture of a baby playing in the snow with a fox made of icicles.]


    <div>


    I is for the Ice tribes, the people of the north. They lived in the white before the Avatar came forth. Primals they all be, every last one from the oldest grandma to the youngest son.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    Kole met up with his friends for lunch, and they all caught each other up on their recent experiences.


    <div>


    Kole told them all about his meeting with Professor Lonin, sharing all the details save the talk of wizardry.


    <div>


    ¡°So, yer uncles gone for sure then,¡± Rakin said looking to Zale.


    <div>


    ¡°It looks like it, but he could be back any day,¡± she said, forcing hope into her voice that she didn¡¯t feel.


    <div>


    ¡°Where exactly does he go?¡± Kole asked. ¡°It must be far, I can feel him teleport, the magic is so strong. I can¡¯t even feel Professor Underbrook¡¯s teleport.¡±


    <div>


    Zale seemed to shrink in on herself, and even Rakin grew stony.


    <div>


    ¡°We can¡¯t say¡± Rakin answered for them both.


    <div>


    ¡°Is it somewhere we can get a message to?¡± Kole pressed.


    <div>


    Rakin only shook his head.


    <div>


    Amara then gave them an update on the work she put into her tracker. She didn¡¯t have a solution for their problem, but she claimed to have made some improvements. Kole tried to follow, but nothing she said seemed like a meaningful addition.


    <div>


    Then, Zale killed the mood by talking about her date with Harold.


    <div>


    ¡°Mission-critical topics only,¡± Rakin said dryly, to which Zale stuck out her tongue, which was the same deep void black of her hair.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s go search for Amara¡¯s sister,¡± Kole said, jumping on the opportunity to put an end to the topic.


    <div>


    They began their search in the library after confirming that the dungeon door was still sealed.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s not sealed,¡± Zale explained as they stood in the hallway where the door had been. ¡°The dungeon chamber isn¡¯t behind this wall, the door was a portal to where the dungeon sat in the Dahn.¡±


    <div>


    Amara then plied Zale with lots of questions about the Dahn¡¯s structure and shape, all of which answers Kole was very interested to learn¡ªunfortunately, Zale didn¡¯t know them.


    <div>


    Their search was slightly less of a wild goose chase¡ªor mole chase, depending on who you asked. Kole had suggested the phrase ¡®flying fish hunt¡¯ and only received strange looks.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s an idiom!¡± Kole had insisted.


    <div>


    ¡°Something around here is an idiom, that¡¯s for sure,¡± Rakin said in reply.


    <div>


    They were led deep into the library, and this time,¡ªwhether due to Zale¡¯s presence or chance¡ªthey reached a doorway to an abandoned dormitory once more. This one was different from the one they¡¯d visited previously, as made evident by the lack of scorched ruins.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    <div>


    ¡°Be careful everyone,¡± Zale said, drawing her sword once they entered the room.


    <div>


    To avoid strange looks while walking through the library with weapons, Kole followed the group through the library¡¯s entrance while invisible, holding his quarterstaff, Zale¡¯s sword, and Doug¡¯s bow.


    <div>


    They traveled down the hall without event, coming to another dining hall, identical to the one in which they¡¯d faced the ice people. They checked the ruined ice box and found it free of other realmly invaders.


    <div>


    Following the tracker, they made their way down the dormitory hall that led from the opposite side of the dining hall.


    <div>


    A dozen steps in, Doug signaled them to stop, sniffing the air even as he did. It was then Kole noticed the stench, and Doug pointed to an open door deeper in.


    <div>


    They went forward as a group with Amara waiting far behind until it was clear, Zale was wearing her plate, which had garnered odd looks in the library, but wasn¡¯t the strangest sight the Academy¡¯s students had seen on campus even that week. Despite the armor, Zale¡¯s silence aura made her completely silent.


    <div>


    Kole watched her creep along, impressed by the trained grace she walked with even when her silence was guaranteed. Through their training, Rakin had discovered that Zale¡¯s silence aura even made her footsteps through stone invisible to his tremor sense, but the area where she stood turned into a blind spot for him. Not as noticeable as a footstep, but noticeable all the same if he was on alert.


    <div>


    Kole was practiced at walking silently, but to be safe employed his Fade ability to encourage any potential listeners to ignore any sound he Rakin and Doug might make, though the other two boys hardly needed the added benefit.


    <div>


    We are oddly well-equipped for sneaking around. Kole considered as he watched Zale creep ahead in front.


    <div>


    Normally, adventuring parties had to keep their heavy fighters in the back while the stealthier members scouted ahead, splitting the party with potentially fatal results. They, however, could spring an ambush, leading with their most durable member. Sure, she couldn¡¯t actually hear anything when in the front, but with Rakin and Doug nearby to signal her, it was a small price to pay.


    <div>


    Suddenly Rakin poked Kole in the stomach, gently.


    <div>


    Kole looked from Zale to the dwarf, who was staring at him reproachfully. When it was clear from Kole¡¯s face that he had no idea what earned the poke, Rakin opened his eyes wide, put on a vacant stare, and let his jaw drop as if he were in awe of some sight, then he cocked his head to his cousin.


    <div>


    Kole suddenly felt like the tunnel was growing hot, and he was certain it wasn¡¯t Rakin.


    <div>


    Have I been starrng? Did she notice? Pull yourself together.


    <div>


    He shook his head, to clear his thoughts and then nodded to Rakin. The exchange had taken only a moment and Rakin quickly caught up to Zale in the front, Doug only looking at them both, not understanding what had just occurred.


    <div>


    They got to the door, and everyone hugged the wall. The smell had grown much worse, and Kole had to fight himself from retching. He couldn¡¯t even begin to describe the smell, but it was by far the worst thing he¡¯d ever smelled in his life¡ªand he¡¯d once locked himself into a barrel of giant lobster excrement.


    <div>


    Kole signaled that he hadn¡¯t felt any attention on them with his Fade ability before Kole dropped it to turn invisible and peek his head through the door. This whole maneuver was a tactic they¡¯d practiced during their group training time, but that training hadn¡¯t prepared Kole for the sight beyond that door.


    <div>


    Carnage filled the room that had once housed students. Yellowish-green liquid coated the walls, looking to have been smudged as if someone had tried to clean it. Mingled among the broken furniture of the room, broken shards of carapace littered the floor with one giant human-sized insect lying in the middle of it all. The creature had the head of a man, only it was black, and made of the same hard shell material that lay strewn around it. The creature had once had six limbs but was missing a leg and one of its four arms.


    <div>


    Once Kole saw the features of the mostly intact monster, he recognized that some of the broken shells were in fact the limbs, heads, and torsos of similar creatures. And, judging by the residue on the last semi-whole creature¡¯s face, some amount of cannibalism had been at play.


    <div>


    Obviously, Kole threw up everywhere over the scene, breaking his invisibility.


    <div>


    Zale and Rakin rushed in as soon as he appeared, and not hearing the retching that led up to the reappearance, Zale didn¡¯t see the stream of vomit coming that Kole spewed all over her back.


    <div>


    Whether or not the sight and smells alone would have made Zale throw up will never be known, but the addition of the stench of Kole¡¯s vomit and the sickly wet warmth as it seeped through her armor pushed her over the edge, causing her to begin retching herself. Distantly, in the back of his mind as he recoiled in horror from both the scene and his own actions Kole noticed a familiar black stone door disappear from the rear wall of the room.

 Chapter 102: Theory

    <div>


    [A picture of a wizard looking at a cut perplexed with a large question mark over his head.]


    <div>


    H is for healing, the magic divine, its workings complex beyond wizardry design.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s the worst thing I¡¯ve ever experienced in my life,¡± a freshly clothed Zale said as she stepped out of the free-standing door to her room, and back into the abandoned dining hall well away from the stench.


    <div>


    ¡°Sorry again,¡± Kole said, for at least the tense time.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± Zale began, but stopped herself from saying ¡®fine.¡¯ ¡°Let¡¯s just agree that this didn¡¯t happen.¡±


    <div>


    She gave her cousin a stern look at that.


    <div>


    ¡°What didn¡¯t happen?¡± Rakin asked.


    <div>


    ¡°The throwing up,¡± Amara said, less than helpfully, causing everyone, to laugh lightly.


    <div>


    ¡°So, what did you find?¡± Kole asked Rakin, ready for a change in topic.


    <div>


    Whether it was from his dwarven heritage or monk training, Rakin had been largely unaffected by the stench and had looked through the room for any clues as to what had occurred.


    <div>


    He¡¯d found that not all the shell had been carapace, some of it had been armor, identical in color to the shell, and crafted to fit it down to every contour. The creatures also had swords, daggers, bows, and shields, enough to equip every head they found with one of each. There had been six heads in all.


    <div>


    Rakin couldn¡¯t explain how, but he sensed some sort of resonance in the armor with the Font of Earth. Something he explained happened with enchanted items that drew upon the Font, but Zale¡¯s Willsight assured them that the weapons bore no such thing.


    <div>


    The weapons had been unlike any they¡¯d ever seen¡ªwhich didn¡¯t mean much for Doug, Kole, Rakin, or Amara, but was saying something when coming from Zale.


    <div>


    ¡°These swords are designed for jabbing between those shields,¡± Zale said, lifting a weapon and making quick practice jabs.


    <div>


    Kole looked at the shields. They were similar to tower shields but had a gentle concave curve on the left side.


    <div>


    ¡°If they held them together, they could form a tight wall and pin cushion anyone that got close.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the ant people be the pin cushion in that situation?¡± Rakin asked. ¡°Since all the ¡®pins¡¯ are sticking out of them?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Kole agreed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really work. The people getting stabbed would be poked once in one spot by a single soldier ant, while the pin cushion implies they are being stabbed from all over.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Hedgehog?¡± Doug suggested.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Rakin said, clapping his hands.


    <div>


    ¡°Are you done?¡± Zale asked, staring reproachfully at the three boys. Amara was fiddling with some device and ignoring the interplay.


    <div>


    None of them replied, and Rakin gave a gesture for her to continue.


    <div>


    ¡°So kind,¡± she said, dryly. ¡°I was going to say, I¡¯ve never seen weapons like this before, but I¡¯ve heard of their use. The Midlian Empire employed tactics like this in their regular legions. They had their conscripts, who were given shovels and thrown into the dragon fire as fodder, their elite units designed around powerful magic users or weapons, and then their legions. The legions were the professional army of trained soldiers, all trained to function as interchangeable parts. Their griffin riding flame spitting battle mages might have gotten all the glory, but the legions were the ones that did most of the real work when it came to conquering their neighbors.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Why don¡¯t people use these tactics anymore?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°The tactics are terrible against monsters. Since everyone settled on Basin, there hasn¡¯t exactly been a lack of space or resources. Legions are bad at fighting monsters, dragons, and crazy blood-crazed sorcerers. Those were the main threats after settling, and modern problems required modern solutions.¡±


    <div>


    He¡¯d heard of the Midlian legions, though he¡¯d never given them much thought. His own home had once been known for its military might before the Flood, with elite units called squares built around powerful mages, with rank-and-file soldiers with their own magical talent used to fill out the ranks and compliment the magical core.


    <div>


    They also had their knights, the most talented warriors of the city, granted magic through the Bonding of the ensouled blades of powerful sword mages of the past.


    <div>


    While Illandrios had never been a city to conquer others during their time above water, they¡¯d had their fair share of clashes with the other cities around them¡ªor so Kole¡¯s people had rediscovered after finding the histories lost to them when they rejoined the world.


    <div>


    Their squares had been meant to deal with the more mundane armies while the knights supported their arch mages to deal with the elite threats of their foes.


    <div>


    ¡°It looks like they ate each other,¡± Rakin said, interrupting Kole¡¯s reflection. He¡¯d been examining one of the fragments of chitin as Zale spoke about the weapons. At the words, Kole felt his gorge rise once more.


    <div>


    ¡°They were trapped in that room,¡± he continued, now that he¡¯d gained the attention of the room. ¡°The stone walls are covered in fresh scratches. I think they were trapped and resorted to eatin each other. But the door was open when we got there.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What about the door?¡± Kole asked, picking up on the specific mention of the walls.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    <div>


    ¡°Aye, that¡¯s what I was about to mention. The door was fine.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Was the whole wall scratched, or was there an unmarred section opposite the door?¡± Kole asked getting an idea of what might have happened.


    <div>


    ¡°No¡­¡± Rakin said, not following. ¡°The walls were scratched everywhere. There was one really deep attempt.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I saw the door disappear right as I entered the room,¡± Kole explained. ¡°It didn¡¯t have any gore splatter on it like the rest of the room. That could be explained by magic, but if the wall behind it was damaged as well, that means the door wasn¡¯t there when they tried to escape and eventually killed each other. Either door.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°The Dahn trapped them!¡± Zale shouted out as she put the pieces together.


    <div>


    ¡°The signal shifted just as you ran into the room,¡± Amara added.


    <div>


    ¡°Why did it let them in at all?¡± Rakin asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Who¡¯s to say it ¡®let¡¯ them do anything?¡± Kole asked, putting together a theory even as he spoke. ¡°We know incursions have been happening. The Dahn obviously doesn¡¯t want to endanger its students. So far, the dangerous ones have all happened in isolated areas like this. The scalequines appear in the halls but are quickly herded outside. Those fish appeared in a classroom, but it was empty. The only other dangerous ones were the ice people and the rat goblins.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Goblin-rats,¡± Doug, Rakin, Zale, and Amara corrected in unison.


    <div>


    ¡°The goblin-rats appeared right by you though,¡± Zale pointed out after Kole didn¡¯t react to the correction.


    <div>


    ¡°That was the first one though, wasn¡¯t it? And it occurred in an area known to be vulnerable to incursions from outsiders. Maybe that was the first and they¡¯ve directed them away from students ever since.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What about those snake-hyenas?¡± Doug asked.


    <div>


    Zale nodded enthusiastically, ¡°Those all appeared in places they could be dealt with quickly. Either near adventuring parties on patrol, or in rooms where they are stuck, but visible.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°And,¡± Kole said, growing confident in the theory, ¡°We only keep finding them because we are searching for Amara¡¯s sister¡ªwho is trapped wherever these things are from. There must be a constant opening and closing of doors to this place all over the Dahn. That¡¯s why our tracking is so erratic.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°That would explain it,¡± Amara said.


    <div>


    ¡°So, is the Dahn trying to direct us away from these things, or towards them?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    No one had an answer. Kole was leaning towards the latter, seeing as they¡¯d not died facing anything.


    <div>


    ¡°So¡­ do we tell anyone about this?¡± Kole asked instead.


    <div>


    Everyone looked at Zale, who began to chew her lip.


    <div>


    ¡°Well¡­¡± she began, dithering. ¡°The Dahn seems to have it pretty under control. And if we told anyone, they¡¯d probably stop us from coming back out here.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°So that¡¯s a no,¡± Rakin answered for her.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan then?¡± Kole asked. ¡°Do we keep running around like maniacs trying to find another door, or wait to see if this one reopens?¡±


    <div>


    Rakin sniffed the air, testing it.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not stick around here,¡± he said, despite having handled the stench the best out of all of them. ¡°How do we know the door will open here again?¡±


    <div>


    Once more Kole thought he was going to throw up at just the mention of that horrible stink.


    <div>


    ¡°It opened here at least twice,¡± Kole said. ¡°Once when the soldier ants got stuck, and now. It seems a safe bet that it might happen again.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s set the tracker up here to alert us if the door reappears, linked to signal devices I made earlier,¡± Amara suggested.


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    ¡°How will we get back before it closes though?¡± Doug asked.


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    ¡°My door?¡± Zale suggested, more as a question than as a plan. ¡°I can leave it here, and if the alert goes off, we can meet at my rooms, and travel out into here.¡±


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    ¡°What if something tried to break through into your house?¡± Kole asked, earning a laugh from Zale.


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    ¡°I¡¯d like to see something try to get in. Mom told me some stories, and I¡¯m confident nothing short of a powerful magic user could get in.¡±


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    ¡°How long will it take to get the alert set up?¡± Kole asked turning to Amara.


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    ¡°I already did it,¡± she said, confused by the question.


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    ¡°What? When?¡± Kole and Zale asked in sync.


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    ¡°I started like, half an hour ago? While you were changing. Then finished during some argument about spikey ant people? It seemed simple enough.¡±


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    She produced her new device, which looked like the larger tracking disc and signaling disk had been glued together crudely.


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    ¡°It¡¯ll only work once,¡± Amara said as if that were some great failing.


    <div>


    ¡°But,¡± she added hastily as if an apology. ¡°I can make a better one later.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I think this will do nicely,¡± Zale said, slapping Amara on the shoulder reassuringly, but the contact only confused her.


    <div>


    Before leaving the abandoned section of the Dahn, they hid the door in the runed refrigerator, and using tables and chairs set up barricades in the halls leading to the room the door appeared.


    <div>


    When they opened the door to the refrigerator, the runes were still active, though no food remained. Judging that the cold of one of these rooms is what allowed the home of the ice people to connect to the Dahn, Amara disabled the runes before they left.


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    ¡°I thought ye reopen the door for three days after opening it,¡± Rakin said, after Zale had done just that.


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    ¡°That¡¯s only if I open it from outside the Dahn. Internal travel I can do more frequently.¡±


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    ¡°Why don¡¯t we just carry the rod around then and open it to here when the alarm goes off?¡± Kole asked.


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    Zale chewed on her lip in thought.


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    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I will be able to reopen it to here if we close it,¡± she said finally. ¡°I can¡¯t open the door to anywhere in the Dahn, just a few places I¡¯m familiar with.¡±


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    They filed out into Zale¡¯s home, and they all made themselves comfortable on the couches in the central library chamber.


    <div>


    Doug looked around wide-eyed at the place.


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    ¡°You live here?¡± Doug asked, amazed at the rich room.


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    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Zale said uncomfortably, looking around. ¡°Did no one tell him?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Tell me what?¡±


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    ¡°Zale¡¯s ma is the chancellor of the school,¡± Rakin as he walked into the kitchen to help himself to something to eat.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh! Does this mean we can tell him that Zale¡¯s uncle is Tal of Storms?¡± Amara asked eagerly. ¡°I hate keeping secrets.¡±


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    Rakin let out a groan, while Kole rubbed his face and Zale¡¯s ever-present smile grew wide and uncertain.


    <div>


    Amara picked up that she¡¯d done something wrong, as she looked to all three of them. She covered her mouth as a look of horror began to take hold on her face.


    <div>


    ¡°Yeap,¡± Zale said quickly, forcing cheer. ¡°that¡¯s exactly what it means.¡±


    <div>


    Doug took the news of Tallen¡¯s identity well. As it turned out, his demonkin tribe had become the adopted home of Eric of Hollow Peak after the Last Dragon War. Eric had been the first to break free of the Hollow Peak and discovered the world hadn¡¯t completely flooded. During the Last Dragon War, he¡¯d had a run-in with Tal and Zale, and Rakin¡¯s parents. Doug hadn¡¯t known Tallen was Tal, but he¡¯d been raised on stories of the mage and knew all about him.


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    He was more surprised to learn Zale¡¯s mother¡¯s role.


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    ¡°She doesn¡¯t strike me as the administrative type,¡± he said after settling down over the Tal revelation.


    <div>


    ¡°She¡¯s not,¡± Zale said, ¡°She has staff for that.¡±


    <div>


    After they ate, Zale looked over to Amara who seemed to be fidgeting more than usual


    <div>


    ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Yeah, why?¡± Amara answered as she tapped her fingers on the table.


    <div>


    ¡°She wants to go work on the permanent tracker,¡± Kole said.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, yes.¡± Amara agreed. ¡°Can I go now?¡±


    <div>


    Once they¡¯d had a plan for finding her sister that not only didn¡¯t involve running around like rabid moles, but she¡¯d grown, which meant that instead of her mental planning jumping around from project to project, it obsessed over one.


    <div>


    ¡°Sure,¡± Zale said, pointing to the door that had led to the kitchen. ¡°That will take you to the room we met for study group.¡±


    <div>


    Amara nodded, and excused herself, quickly running out the door. After she was gone, the rest excused themselves to go about their own plans. Kole for one had had enough excitement for the day and was looking forward to digging into his work. He had a lot to work on before that door opened again.

 Chapter 103: Progress

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    [A picture of a giant with a crown holding a fist over his head.]


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    J is for Jarls, the kings of the giants, who can rule over their kin as autocratic tyrants.


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    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


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    ¡ª


    <div>


    Kole spent the rest of that weekend cloistered in his room, only leaving for the occasional bathroom break¡ªthough he limited his water consumption to reduce the need for even that. By the end of Sunday, he didn¡¯t have a new version of Magic Missile or Shield ready, but he knew the tasks were within his reach.


    <div>


    Without classes, the weeks that followed became a blur and lost all their structure to Kole as he dove headfirst into magic. Each morning he woke up, went to Zale¡¯s training, rushed through whatever tutoring he had to do, and returned to his room to study. The only reason he didn¡¯t give his other schoolwork a half-hearted effort was because his spellbook made doing the work so easy.


    <div>


    If only I could make the book write the words themselves, he wished one day while nursing a hand cramp. While Kole studied, Amara went with Zale one day to replace the alarm device with something more permanent. Her tracker still showed doors were open somewhere in the Dahn, and the continued emergence of scalequine herds and strange rabbits that begun showing up on campus reinforced that. The rabbits had feathers but were largely rabbit-shaped, except for their front legs mirrored their hind legs and they could jump in any direction. For PREVENT, they were taken on more missions by Tigereye and Underbrook, to clear out threats just strong enough to be too much for a village, but not too strong for them. Each time they were offered a reward, they declined, as each far-flung village seemed more destitute than the one before.


    <div>


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t there another door here?¡± Underbrook asked the group the first time they returned to the door chamber. ¡°Very curious.¡±


    <div>


    He hadn¡¯t pushed the issue, only smiling at Zale extra wide as he ushered them through another door.


    <div>


    By the end of the eleventh week of class, two weeks after they¡¯d found the soldier ants, Kole finally felt like his goals were within his reach as he completed the last version of Shield. As he¡¯d hoped and expected, the final Will cost of the spell was 18. Short of making his own spell from scratch and navigating all the way from his natural bridge opening to the Font of Barriers, a task he estimated to be far beyond him, it seemed he¡¯d found the limits to spells outside his affinities to cast. The version of Shield he¡¯d built had the most archaic components available to him.


    <div>


    His traditional wizardry made progress too. While he¡¯d not yet gotten Thunderwave below 14 Will, he figured out that he could indeed cast a cantrip for the Font of Sound. The cantrip, which was called Message after he looked up the effect in a reference book, allowed him to throw his voice somewhere else within range. For a minuscule amount of Will, he could tap into the Font of Sound, hold his hand up to his mouth, and send his voice out.


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    He of course used it to torment Rakin as they did their morning conditioning. He cast the cantrip as he ran, and made the sound of his ragged breathing appear just over the dwarf¡¯s shoulder. Kole had to restrain himself from laughing right into Rakin¡¯s ear as he watched him give strange looks to everyone he passed. Kole would have kept it up for weeks if Zale hadn¡¯t eagerly asked him what he was doing.


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    ¡°I can sense that!¡± she said excitedly as she ran past him, the sound also appearing next to Rakin across the field.


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    Rakin stopped, and his eyes fixed onto Kole, and even from thirty feet away Kole thought he could sense the malice.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh,¡± Zale said, following Kole¡¯s eyes when he stopped. ¡°Sorry, Kole. Don¡¯t be like that Rakin. You deserve worse.¡±


    <div>


    Rakin heard the sound through the spell and continued running, and now it was Kole¡¯s turn to look over his shoulder.


    <div>


    Kole wasn¡¯t the only one to make progress over those first two weeks of waiting. Doug and Rakin practiced with their Fonts daily. Rakin became able to produce larger flames, while keeping the rage he felt at the drawings to a minimum. It got to the point where he could easily light a fire without feeling anything but his natural surlyness, and if he risked getting a little unhinged, he could wreath his fist in flames for nearly a minute.


    <div>


    Doug¡¯s progress was less noticeable. He discovered that if he closed his eyes when he sensed a teleportation coming along, he could stop it from happening altogether. Closing one¡¯s eyes during battle wasn¡¯t the best way to stop the involuntary action, but it was better than randomly appearing before an enemy.


    <div>


    Zale continued to train with her sound aura, finding Kole while he pathed Thunderwave, and trying to reinforce her connection to the Font.


    <div>


    ¡°Hit me with Thunderwave,¡± she told him one day during training.


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    Kole was used to the request and did so without hesitation.


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    He built the spell construct, sent it through his bridge, and felt it channel through his body out into the world where¡­ nothing happened.


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    Kole looked at his palm as if the spell had somehow gotten stuck in it. When he looked up at Zale, she was grinning ear to ear.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


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    ¡°What did you do?¡± he asked, amazed.


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    Counterspell was a third-tier spell for a wizard, and from what Kole had read, it felt nothing like what Kole had just experienced.


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    ¡°I ate it!¡± she said proudly. ¡°Well, sort of. I connected the spell to my Font.¡±


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    ¡°You found your Font?¡± Kole asked, even more surprised.


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    Zale had been exploring the Arcane Realm using her own strangely voidy methods that differed greatly from Kole¡¯s but he¡¯d never heard her update him on any progress.


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    Growing dark in embarrassment, Zale admitted, ¡°I found it a few days ago, but I didn¡¯t want to tell you until I could do that. I felt like it would be possible ever since we fought those gnolls but it seemed too far-fetched.¡±


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    ¡°That¡¯s amazing! That''s a third-tier spell!¡±


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    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not that big of a deal. It only works for Sound spells.¡±


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    Kole admonished her modesty and set plans in place for her to get connected to even more Fonts¡ªas soon as he was sure to pass the semester at least.


    <div>


    Their alarm went off four times during those next three weeks, each time Kole was studying alone. Kole raced out of his room as soon as he heard the whistling of the alarm¡ªa feature added when everyone apparently missed the first one, the color on the run devices not exactly being noticeable in one¡¯s pocket or backpack.


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    Invisible, he ran out of the library, making efforts to avoid people but occasionally his wake would disturb papers as he ran past. He wouldn¡¯t call himself an athlete, but their endurance training had begun to bear notable fruit.


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    Distantly he recalled running away from the bullies of his childhood, holding his cramping sides as he tried to stifle his breathing as they passed the ally he¡¯d ducked into.


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    Despite his new ability to run more than a minute without wanting to pass out, he never made it to Zale¡¯s in time to enter the portal¡ªnone of them did. Twice, Zale had been in her room when the alarm went off and could have made it through the door and into the abandoned section of the Dahn, but they¡¯d all sworn to each other to not enter unless they were all present.


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    Each time, Kole would return to his room to resume his studying, but not without trying to get that door in Zale¡¯s home to open to his room.


    <div>


    Despite Kole spending most of his time in his room, Theral was only an occasional presence, the other boy¡¯s teleporting had begun to become less frequent. To Kole¡¯s eye, the boy looked more tired than usual and aged, as if whatever he was struggling with when outside that room had caused him to get years older in a matter of months.


    <div>


    Maybe he also fell into a time-dilated magical gateway into a maybe-alternate-reality maybe-illusion. Kole joked to himself.


    <div>


    With each appearance, Kole picked his brain for help on pathing and used him as a sounding board for his discussions with Lonin.


    <div>


    ¡°So, you found yourself a mentor?¡± Theral had asked one day as they discussed the few offensive Light spell options Kole had gone over with Lonin.


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Kole admitted. ¡°But, I¡¯m hoping I can wear him down.¡±


    <div>


    Kole had skipped the now weekly mentor-mentee mingling events that were happening in the lead-up to finals. He figured that having a mentor was next semester Kole¡¯s problem, and this semester Kole had very little sympathy for his future self.


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    ¡°Ha!¡± Kole said, holding his empty palm out one Saturday morning.


    <div>


    Without study group, and no longer searching for portals, they¡¯d extended their training to Saturday mornings, though this training focused on cross-training each other. Rakin taught hand-to-hand combat, Doug taught them woodcraft, and Zale taught them some of the roguish tricks her mother had educated her with her whole life.


    <div>


    ¡°You did it!¡± Zale said excitedly.


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    She¡¯d been teaching them sleight of hand and were working on back palming cards, which was to hold them with the back of your fingers so an empty hand could be displayed to others. Palming had been the first trick, and they¡¯d all picked it up quickly.


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    At the start, Kole had experimented with Fade to make the palming easier, and it had, allowing him to do a poor job but still get the card hidden. Through that, he¡¯d also found that through repeated exposure his Fade ability stopped working. Now, if he tried to hide something from his friends¡¯ attention, they¡¯d not only be unaffected but find their attention towards the object heightened as they somehow felt failed ability against their minds.


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    Kole was the first to pick up back palming¡ªor so it appeared.


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    ¡°The cards not behind his hand!¡± Rakin shouted, able to see it from his perspective.


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    Zale squinted one eye as if she was trying to figure it out, but then her smile grew larger.


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    Kole let the card reappear in his hand. He¡¯d learned to make an object invisible.


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    Sorcerers manifest new spells through need. When a sorcerer was in danger¡ªor in this case deeply frustrated¡ªand had sufficient potential built up, they had the chance of learning a new spell.


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    Potentially is a vague way of saying they¡¯d mastered their current abilities. The new spell was more likely to be an evolution of a current spell if one could molded to accomplish the task, and if not a new one would manifest from one of the other Fonts with which the sorcerer had affinities.


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    So, while Kole was getting frustrated trying to hide the card, if he¡¯d been connected to the Font of Space, he might have instead manifested the ability to teleport the object out of his hand.


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    So far, Kole¡¯s sorcerous spells had all been improvements to his invisibility spell. It had started as a chameleon spell and gotten better until it was true invisibility. Now, it seemed, he could make other objects invisible, while not making himself so. He¡¯d long since been able to make objects he held invisible along with him, but never alone.


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    ¡°So, ye just learned a new spell? Just like that?¡± Rakin asked.


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    Kole nodded, as he made the card appear and disappear in his hand. The Will cost was the same as turning himself invisible, which he thought was odd, but at only 3, it was incredibly low.


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    Then, suddenly there were two cards in his hand.


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    ¡°What in the realms?¡± Kole asked in disbelief. ¡°I don¡¯t think I did that.¡±


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    ¡°I did that!¡± Doug shouted excited himself now.


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    ¡°You duplicated my card?¡± Kole asked, but then realized the truth as Doug answered.


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    ¡°I teleported the card out of my hand! Since I got the amulet with my soul stone, I¡¯ve only been focusing on trying to gain control of my involuntary teleporting. I never tried using the Font for anything else until just now when Kole gave me the idea.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Great job! Both of you! We should celebrate¡­¡± Zale said excitedly but then trailed off. ¡°Actually, I have plans today, but we definitely should.¡±


    <div>


    Then, the card in Rakin¡¯s hand burst into flame.


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    ¡°Yay, look at me,¡± he deadpanned, causing everyone to break out into laughter.


    <div>


    Rakin smiled and then saw his joke land. After that, to not feel left out, Zale used her own ability to dissolve the card into dust by infusing it with her Will as she¡¯d once shown off in collapsing Rakin¡¯s chair leg.

 Chapter 104: Harold

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    [A picture of a towering tentacle dwarfing a city port, flailing to remove the sand that coats its suction cups.]


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    K is for kraken, the rulers of the seas, they come and they go where ever they please. It¡¯s only by luck they¡¯ve left us the land, for you see they are not fond of sand.


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    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


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    ¡ª


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    After the sleight of hand training had veered off course, Zale had dismissed them early.


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    ¡°Ye look like mole shite,¡± Rakin commented as they walked out of the study hall room they¡¯d been training in.


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    Zale had left through a door to her home, while Doug had run ahead, eager to meet up with Mouse and show off his ability now that he had extra time on his hands.


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    ¡°Why are half your curses rodent-related?¡± Kole asked, dodging the question.


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    ¡°I don¡¯t know, why are all yer saying about fish and whales and crabs?¡±


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    Kole conceded the point, though felt he didn¡¯t use as many references as the dwarf. They walked in silence, as Kole hadn¡¯t answered until he thought he could hear Rakin¡¯s disapproval in each footstep.


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    ¡°I do feel a little ragged,¡± Kole confessed.


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    ¡°Have ye been sleeping?¡±


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    ¡°Enough,¡± Kole answered truthfully.


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    He was deep into practicing his wizardry, and adequate sleep was necessary to generate enough Will to keep his work moving ahead.


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    ¡°What have ye been eating?¡±


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    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Kole said realizing that he¡®d been subsisting on plain oatmeal for that past week, the fixings he¡¯d collected have run out the week prior. ¡°I could probably use a real meal.¡±


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    They made plans to meet for dinner, and Kole ran off to his room to work on his wizardry. He expected to finish off Magic Missile this weekend and was excited to fully focus on his last task of getting Thunderwave down to a more affordable cost.


    <div>


    Kole returned to his room to find Theral there. He greeted the other sorcerer and told him about his recent development.


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    ¡°That¡¯s lucky,¡± Theral said after hearing the tale. ¡°My mother tried to teach me a new spell through frustration, but it didn¡¯t take, so she went back to the more traditional methods.¡±


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    Theral had a whistful smile as he spoke, and Kole got the sense that his mother was no longer around. Despite the potential touchiness of the topic, Kole had to ask.


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    ¡°You trained your sorcery? That¡¯s barbaric! No one does that anymore.¡±


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    Theral¡¯s smile grew.


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    ¡°My mom was¡­ demanding, but it worked.¡±


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    Theral told him how his mother had trained him to a tree to learn to cast Mage Armor¡ªwhich had failed¡ªand how she¡¯d attempted to drown him to learn Water Breathing¡ªwhich had also failed.


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    ¡°I can see how it might have fallen out of favor I guess,¡± Theral admitted, after recounting all his near-death experiences. ¡°But, I got a few good spells out of it.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Why though?¡± Kole asked. ¡°Why not just focus on learning wizardry from spellforms instead? You had a bridge, right?¡±


    <div>


    Theral got a weird look on his face, which Kole noticed he got when their topics trended away from the pure discussion of magic and wizardry and into the events outside this room.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say they were hard for us to come by at the time, and this was the best means we had available to us.¡±


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    Kole wasn¡¯t sure what to make of that diplomatic evasion.


    <div>


    Was he trapped somewhere? An island?


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    Then, as often happened mid-conversation, Theral vanished, and Kole went back to his work.


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    Kole was surprised not to find Rakin waiting for him outside their usual dining hall.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    <div>


    Am I that late, or just early? He thought.


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    A look at the clock within showed that he was on time, at least on time for when he thought he was supposed to meet. Kole decided to go in and check and make sure he wasn¡¯t mistaken and saw Rakin sitting at a table talking to a very done-up voidy Zale in a dark green dress.


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    ¡°Hey,¡± he said awkwardly as he joined them.


    <div>


    ¡°Hi!¡± Zale said, seemingly happy but her eyes looked a bit darker.


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    Rakin grunted, and Kole sat next to him.


    <div>


    ¡°I thought you had plans tonight,¡± Kole asked and managed to bite back a shout when Rakin stomped on his foot.


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    ¡°I did,¡± Zale said. ¡°But Harold had to cancel. He and Gray are in the finals for the tournament in the martial college and Gray is making him train tonight.¡±


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    To Kole¡¯s ears, she sounded disappointed, but not hurt by it. Kole¡¯s mood soured at the mention of Harold and worsened at Gray¡¯s name.


    <div>


    Zale must have noticed because she spoke up.


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    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that. I know you don¡¯t like them, but it¡¯s very important. Harold still needs to get a mentor and doing well will guarantee him one.¡±


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    ¡°Why do you look so upset then?¡± Kole blurted out and was about to smack himself in the face when Rakin stomped on his foot to chastise him.


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    ¡°She was just telling me how she¡¯s worried about her ma,¡± Rakin explained and then lowered his voice slightly. ¡°And ye forgot that ye were supposed to go do that research we discussed.¡±


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    ¡°Research?¡± Kole asked, confused, but before Rakin could stomp his foot a third time, he realized what the dwarf meant.


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    Follow Harold!


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    Rakin must have seen in Kole¡¯s expression that he got the point, for the third stomp never came.


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    ¡°My research!¡± Kole said, jumping to his feet, his chair flying out behind his straightening legs, the legs making a loud screeching sound as they rubbed against the wooden floor.


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    Kole ran out of the dining hall, but he was pretty sure he heard Zale laugh amongst the murmurs of surprise, which caused him to smile briefly before he remembered what he was about.


    <div>


    He wished he could stay and help console her. Worrying about one¡¯s missing adventuring parents was something he was quite experienced with after all, but Rakin¡ªfor all his grumblyness¡ªcould do a decent job of it too.


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    Kole ran to the martial training yards first to find Harold, hoping that there was some truth to his excuse to get out of his date with Zale.


    <div>


    The yard was far more active than Kole expected for the late hour. He¡¯d passed the place before at night and only seen one or two pairs training, but tonight there were dozens, all sparring hard with training weapons.


    <div>


    Distantly Kole was aware that all the years of the martial college were having a tournament, probably something Zale had said that he¡¯d not paid attention to.


    <div>


    Kole turned invisible before entering the yards, and the third group he checked was Harold and Gray. Gray had a training rapier while Harold wielded a real shield and training bastard sword.


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    Kole was used to seeing Zale wielding the large blade and had grown accustomed to how large the weapon was compared to her frame, but now seeing it held by the hulking form of Harold he was reminded how odd Zale¡¯s ability to use the weapon was.


    <div>


    Is that a strange voidling thing? He wondered.


    <div>


    Kole crept closer to try to overhear any conversation that the pair might have, but it was only the grunts of exertion. He noticed that Harold was wearing the nice military jacket he¡¯d been wearing the night of the mixer, which matched Zale¡¯s story of a last-minute cancellation, but Gray¡ªwho had supposedly requested the help¡ªwas just wearing his everyday clothes and not training gear.


    <div>


    Kole couldn¡¯t be certain which, but Gray had learned a new spell at some point. He was jumping out of the way of Harold¡¯s blows far too fast to be natural. Each leap sent him farther than should have been possible. Running through the options in his head, he guessed it to be some sort of jump enhancement,


    <div>


    ¡°Are you going to talk about it?¡± Gray asked after sidestepping a series of Harold¡¯s blows, the last one glancing off his Mage Armor spell.


    ¡°You said you were ¡®tired of hearing me whine,¡¯¡± Harold said, stopping his barrage.


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    ¡°Well, I¡¯d rather listen to you whine than let you beat me to a pulp. Why did you cancel with Zale?¡±


    <div>


    Harold didn¡¯t answer at first, inspecting his shield for damage.


    <div>


    ¡°She came without her illusion again,¡± Harold said with a sigh.


    <div>


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t mind that?¡± Gray said uncertainly. ¡°I saw you two the other day around the Glade, you definitely didn¡¯t seem to mind then¡ªthough, it was hard to tell with you both¡ªow!¡±


    <div>


    Harold interrupted whatever Gray was going to suggest by slapping his knee with the side of his wooden blade.


    <div>


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about her like that. Nothing happened.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Gray apologized, hands raised in surrender. ¡°I¡¯m just trying to understand.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what she looks like,¡± Harold said, heavily. ¡°I was only ever mad that she hid it from us but we''ve talked through that¡­ I just can¡¯t handle the way people act around us when we are out.


    <div>


    ¡°The looks people give her¡ªus, the things people say to her. I just can¡¯t handle it. And she doesn¡¯t seem to care! I don¡¯t get it. I just want to smash those people¡¯s faces in.¡±


    <div>


    Harold punctuated the statement slamming his sword into the rack.


    <div>


    ¡°She won¡¯t let me say anything to anyone, but she won¡¯t hide either. I just don¡¯t know what to do.¡±


    <div>


    Kole waited, listening as Gray gave terrible advice, and then left when it became clear Harold was just going to dither and whinge.


    <div>


    He had some things to tell Rakin, and a decision to make on what to do about Zale.


    <div>


    Kole couldn¡¯t find Rakin after leaving Harold, so he went back to his room to think things over and work on his wizardry. Having never actually eaten during his planned dinner with Rakin, he had another bowl of oatmeal, vowing to at least run out to the shops to buy more food this week.


    <div>


    His study quickly distracted him from thoughts of Zale and Harold, and when his alarm went off telling him it was time to sleep, he did so eagerly. His Will was getting low, but he was close to finishing his last version of Magic Missile.


    <div>


    When his alarm went off again¡ªboth times set to optimize his Will regeneration¡ªhe went right back into studying and a mere five hours later, Kole was the proud owner of a new-to-him old-to-the-world version of Magic Missile.


    <div>


    Grrrggle


    <div>


    And a rumbling belly.

 Chapter 105: Final Prep

    <div>


    In her meadow, tall and strong, Serune basked beneath the sun. Tended by her friends the druids, she knew them all, every one.


    <div>


    Through the years druids came and went, but here they had a home. Human, dwarf, elf or orc, once even a small gnome.


    <div>


    Serune swayed and sang with joy from morning to the eves. Her friends would dance and sing a song their own to accompany the tree¡¯s.


    <div>


    The Sea Tree by Stelar Leafblossom


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    Kole decided it would be best to eat something before trying his latest spell. Things could go wrong if one messed up a spell casting, not something that was common with spell templates stored in one¡¯s mind, but it did happen when people made new spells¡ªor reconstructed them from dozens of various sources. A full belly and a clear mind would see the chances of a mistake minimized.


    <div>


    So, once he was fed, Kole went to the spell range to test his latest spell. The place had been further reduced since his last visit, now a hallway with only six rooms set in it. He found an open one and stilled his mind before sighting down the target dummy at the opposite end.


    <div>


    Tracing the template he¡¯d painstakingly reconstructed, first on paper and then in his mind, he built the spell. Once it was complete he held it in his thoughts, examining it one last time before throwing it through his bridge for it to make its way to the Font of Force.


    <div>


    As usual, opening the bridge to the relevant place of the Arcane Realm took more from Kole than would have been required by any other wizard¡ªunless there was another Illusion primal-sorcerer-wizard running around¡ªbut the door opened nonetheless.


    <div>


    And then, three shimmering bolts of force shot out of his hand to the targets in rapid succession.


    <div>


    ¡°Huh,¡± he said, noticing that these bolts were more visible than the last version. ¡°That¡¯s different.¡±


    <div>


    He knew every version of the spell he¡¯d learned had slight variations in the effect as well as the larger variations with the pathing he was specifically trying to improve, but he¡¯d not noticed any tangible differences in the final spell.


    <div>


    Hoping that maybe this version had more power to make up for the improved visibility, Kole ran up to the dummy, only to be disappointed to find the damage pattern indistinguishable from the other versions.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh well,¡± Kole said, feeling a little let down.


    <div>


    That is until he slapped himself on the forehead.


    <div>


    What are you thinking?


    <div>


    He was moping that his newly improved 18 Will Magic Missile he¡¯d developed over a few months was only as good as the 30 Will version he¡¯d spent literally years on.


    <div>


    As he walked out of the range, he tried to drum up the sense of pride and accomplishment he¡¯d had during the first casting of the spell, but, it wouldn¡¯t come. Instead, he found relief.


    <div>


    This moment marked a change in his life. He was relieved to finally be done with the two reconstruction projects he¡¯d spent the last years of his life obsessing over. Now, with traditional wizardry revealed to him and the library of the Dahn at his disposal, he could finally dive into the pursuit of it at full speed.


    <div>


    ¡°Shite weasel,¡± Rakin cursed when Kole recounted the conversation he¡¯d heard as they ran around the training yard.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kole said, ¡°it¡¯s basically the least horrible reason he could have for standing her up. I thought he was cheating on her with that Esme, I think she has a crush on him.¡±


    <div>


    Rakin spat.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s the problem. It¡¯s making it a little harder to hate him. What are ye going to do?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Why is this up to me?¡± Kole asked. ¡°You¡¯re as invested in this as me.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Yer the one that loves her.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Whoa! No one said the ¡®L¡¯ word, I said I liked her.¡±


    <div>


    "That''s also an ''L'' word," Rakin pointed out.


    <div>


    The topic died, unsettled, as the ¡®her¡¯ in question noticed them talking and not running.


    <div>


    ¡°Get moving!¡± she barked, in the very-not-cheery voice she only used when in charge of their training.


    <div>


    This was the last week of classes¡ªor in their case tutoring¡ªbefore finals began. Kole was fairly certain he would pass Alchemy, Doug and Amara¡¯s help along with his spellbook got him confident that, even if he desecrated the practical, his written scores would see him at least pass the class.


    <div>


    For History, he knew he¡¯d be fine, and Zale assured him he¡¯d improved enough with the quarterstaff to pass. In reflection, he¡¯d been in a lot of battles this semester, and while he¡¯d seen the benefit of the quarterstaff in his first battle against goblins, he¡¯d not had to use one much. But, that had more to do with his allies¡¯ ability to keep his enemies away, and less to do with his own skills.


    <div>


    The PREVENT final¡ªfor which they did not yet have any details¡ªwasn¡¯t really worrying him either. He trusted his team completely, and they¡¯d been in actual life-and-death situations and come out on top.


    <div>


    The class that really worried him was wizardry. He¡¯d been all but assured by Underbrook and Lonin that he¡¯d ace the written final, but he also needed to demonstrate three spells to pass. He¡¯d asked, and potion usage was not permitted during the final practical, and by his math, he was still 5 Will short of doing so. His capacity, as last measured was 46. With Magic Missile and Shield bottomed out at 18 each, he needed to get his Thunderwave down from 14 to 10¡ªa possible if difficult task he¡¯d yet to master.


    <div>


    Thankfully, he¡¯d gotten Underbrook to schedule his practical for the last possible day of finals week, after even the PREVENT final that was supposed to be the last.


    <div>


    ¡°So, I¡¯m going to go lock myself in my room until I get this down,¡± Kole told his friends as they ate breakfast Monday morning.


    <div>


    ¡°How is that different than normal?¡± Rakin asked.


    <div>


    Speaking quickly as if to sneak it in, Kole said, ¡°With Zale¡¯s permission, I want to skip the morning training.¡±


    <div>


    Kole wasn¡¯t sure what he expected her response to be, but it wasn¡¯t silence.


    <div>


    Sheepishly he looked up at her to see her chewing her lip.


    <div>


    Eventually, she asked, ¡°How badly do you need to cram?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Really, really badly.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Alright, but on two conditions,¡± she said, holding her gauntleted hand up, delicately holding chopsticks she¡¯d only just been able to use wearing them.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    <div>


    ¡°You need to eat¡ªlike actual meals, not oatmeal¡ªwith us once a day,¡± she said.


    <div>


    Kole nodded in agreement. He already planned to go get some real food for his room to hold him over.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s the second condition?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Bathe,¡± she said.


    <div>


    ¡°What!? I always bathe!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Yeah, but only after training. You don¡¯t do it otherwise,¡± Zale explained.


    <div>


    ¡°We train every day!¡±


    <div>


    Zale held her hands up in surrender, ¡°I just wanted to make sure you continue to take care of yourself. Sometimes, people can get tunnel vision.¡±


    <div>


    Zale snuck a glance at Amara as she said this. Amara had been dragged out of her workshop each morning to meet them for breakfasts, afterward Zale occasionally helped her remember to clean up.


    <div>


    Kole took in his room. There was a stack of books on the floor next to his bed and a crate of food under the bed. There were no time-traveling rats or roommates in sight, and he had four days before he needed to go anywhere.


    <div>


    He sat down, flipped open a book, and got to work.


    <div>


    Squeek.


    <div>


    He looked down to see a rat inspecting his crate. But, instead of being irritated, Kole smiled. Today, he came prepared.


    <div>


    He reached into his box on the desk, pulled out a handful of berries, and tossed them to the rat, who abandoned the crate and pounced on the small fruits.


    <div>


    After asking around¡ªDoug and Gus via Amara¡ªhe was informed rats preferred berries to most other foods.


    <div>


    The rat, with a berry in its mouth, gave Kole a squeak Kole could have sworn was a ¡°thank you¡± and then vanished.


    <div>


    ¡°Do I understand rats?¡± Kole asked aloud but dug into his book before he could overthink the implications.


    <div>


    Amara¡¯s Font was nothing but a headache.


    <div>


    Kole soon discovered that having the chance to focus fully on one task was not the same as having the ability to do so. Even through his previous cram session to reach the final versions of Magic Missile and Shield, he took breaks to read up on pathing theory or even made some small attempts to progress Thunderwave and learn the Message Cantrip.


    <div>


    So, after two days straight of concerted effort on pathing, Kole sat up with a groan.


    <div>


    ¡°I need a break.¡±


    <div>


    His statement was met by a squeak as his pack rat companion woke up from its own nap at the sound of his voice. The rat, after having been fed berries, had decided to stick around. And, since it had refrained from digging through his stuff, Kole had decided to allow it.


    <div>


    For lack of a better word, Kole¡¯s mental feet hurt. Each time he sent Thunderwave out through the bridge, he followed it with his mind, and now the part of his brain that was responsible for that specific magical task was aching. He had the Will to spare, but not the will it would seem.


    <div>


    In the past when this occurred, Kole would just go work on something else, but now he had nothing else to work on. His eyes scanned the room and settled on a book. The Collected Works of Galok Lightsmith, The First Chosen of Tin Lan.


    <div>


    He¡¯d tracked the book down with the librarian¡¯s aid after Theral had mentioned it but had only ever given it a cursory perusal. Enough to know the spells he wanted were in there, just not enough to have actually started on any. After a brief, and not very hard fought internal battle, Kole reached for the book.


    <div>


    Just a tiny break, he said to himself.


    <div>


    BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ BZzZzzssssss


    <div>


    Kole¡¯s alarm went off telling him it was time to go meet his friends for lunch¡ªand apparently also get a new alarm. The device had been a temporary one, made without a gem or alchemically treated materials, and it ought to have failed long ago in the semester, only his disappearance from reality for four weeks had allowed it to last this long.


    <div>


    He¡¯d seen Amara tinkering with some in her workshop and was fairly certain she could be convinced to part with one to replace this. He could afford a replacement, but why spend money when you had a rune-obsessed friend willing to do the work for free?


    <div>


    This is where his mind went when the alarm went off before he realized the implication. His short break from pathing Thunderwave had turned into a three-hour deep diving into the construction of a new cantrip.


    <div>


    It had started innocently enough. He¡¯d looked through the book, trying to make some sense of the esoteric descriptions of the spell construct template he¡¯d need to build. He¡¯d never really looked into traditional wizard spellbooks before. Intellectually he knew that they were prose descriptions of spells that wizards could use to communicate their shape and structure to other wizards, but in reality, he hadn¡¯t known what that looked like.


    <div>


    What he found, while reading, was that the words resonated with him in a way he couldn¡¯t articulate. While he couldn¡¯t say how he knew what a ¡®quarter twist double inversion repel¡± was, he found that he did know what it was. Furthermore, with the help of his magical spellbook, he could draw the spellform for it with perfect recall. Now, not all of the spell components in the book were ones he knew from his life of spell reconstruction, but enough were that the process went far quicker than it had any right to.


    <div>


    He¡¯d only recently been emboldened by the speed he¡¯d adapted Thunderwave from the spellform Theral had given him, but that pace couldn¡¯t be matched without finding similarly preserved spellforms. Without those, his pace with new spells he pathed himself would be on par with his pace for Magic Missile and Shield. While he wouldn¡¯t need to copy the path components over, he¡¯d still have to reconstruct and repair the spell while also pathing the spell himself. But now, he found that the years of glacial progress had uniquely prepared him for this very task.


    <div>


    Quick though, was a relative term. The spell he was working on was spread across dozens of pages, and he was almost through the first. A task he¡¯d expected to take him a week of intermittent work. Kole had found the spell Radiant Bolt, a first-tier spell that shot a beam of bright light out at a target to burn them and temporarily illuminate them.


    <div>


    Eventually, during this time, his mental pathing feet had felt recovered, but, instead of returning to his work on Thunderwave, Kole had an idea he decided to indulge. He¡¯d recently learned to cast the cantrip Message by opening his bridge and sending essentially an empty spell construct out to the Font of Sound. After pathing a whole spell to that Font, guiding the skeleton of one had been simple.


    <div>


    So when he was working on this new spell, he thought, why not just do that first?


    <div>


    And that¡¯s why he¡¯d spent the last hour trying to unlock a version of the Light cantrip that he could cast without exhausting three-fourths of his Will.


    <div>


    Kole explained all of this to Zale and Rakin, with Amara-like energy, as they stared at him with blank stares over lunch.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s like he¡¯s been cooped up alone for a month, not a day,¡± Rakin commented when Kole¡¯s summary of his progress had wrapped.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s just be glad the alarm broke after going off, or we wouldn¡¯t have seen him for weeks.¡±


    <div>


    Kole didn¡¯t think that was fair, but for some reason didn¡¯t feel right denying it.


    <div>


    And so the week went, Kole¡ªwith a new Amara-supplied-alarm¡ªwould wake, study until lunch, and then study until bedtime, jumping from Thunderwave pathing to altering the structure of the spell, to pathing the Light cantrip, dabbling in the reconstruction of Radiant Bolt when he felt like he needed to mix things up for fun.


    <div>


    ¡°I did it!¡± Kole said triumphantly to his friends as he met them for breakfast before their last PREVENT session of the semester.


    <div>


    ¡°Did what?¡± Zale asked as she delicately scooped the flesh out of her grapefruit with a spoon held in her articulated gauntlets.


    <div>


    ¡°Yer going to pass your magic class?¡± Rakin asked at the same time.


    <div>


    ¡°Well, no¡­¡± Kole said, losing some of his excitement. ¡°But, I¡¯m closer. Thunderwave costs 13 now, and I just need to get it down to 10.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What did ye do then?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°This!¡± Kole said, sticking his palm out, an orb of light appearing in it.


    <div>


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t ye do that before?¡± Rakin asked, cocking his head to the side as he stared at the orb.


    <div>


    ¡°Not like this,¡± Kole said, and the orb vanished, only to reappear again.¡±


    <div>


    There was a loud clank as Zale clapped her hands together in excitement.


    <div>


    ¡°Great job!¡± she cheered, and Rakin gave a curt nod.


    <div>


    With all eyes on him, Kole was the only one to see Doug as he touched ripped-up pieces of spinach one at a time, vanishing them.


    <div>


    Kole thought it strange but ignored it as he showed off. He went to grab breakfast and made it back just in time to figure out where all those greens had gone as Rakin spit out his mouthful of oats.


    <div>


    ¡°Bleh!¡± he shouted. ¡°Who put this shite in my food?¡±


    <div>


    For the last session of PREVENT, the students were instructed to meet at the Griffin¡¯s Roost, and the place was packed with students when Kole and his friends arrived. Zale spotted Harold and his group at a table and swung by to say hi before rejoining them.


    <div>


    They found themselves in an empty booth and waited for their teachers to arrive. It didn¡¯t take long as Underbrook and Tigereye appeared suddenly in the center of the room, their appearance accompanied by a quiet roll of thunder for effect.


    <div>


    ¡°Good morning class!¡± Underbrook shouted, amplifying his voice. ¡°Today, we will announce the details of the final and have special training to prepare you just for it!¡±


    <div>


    The students all grew silent and found seats.


    <div>


    ¡°Your final exam will be a hardball battle royale! And to prepare, we will be watching the one that¡¯s about to begin!¡±


    <div>


    Excited chattering filled the room, as the students discussed the announcement interrupted by Underbrook.


    <div>


    ¡°And, last, but certainly not least, snacks and drinks are on the Academy!¡±


    <div>


    The chatter broke out into cheers, only to be interrupted once more, only this time by Tigereye¡¯s naturally and unenhanced booming voice.


    <div>


    ¡°One drink each. Then you pay yourselves.¡±

 Chapter 106: Finals

    <div>


    One clear day, sky full of sun, her friends came to her in tears. Interrupting the song and dance they told Serune of their fears.


    <div>


    For years the water in the world had steadily been rising. That it never stopped to them was both alarming and surprising.


    <div>


    The druids had hoped that before now the water would have halted. They tried and failed and still it rose, so to Serune they bolted.


    <div>


    They came to say goodbye and to thank her for her song.


    <div>


    They had one last dance, and one last tear and began to move along.


    <div>


    The Sea Tree by Stelar Leafblossom


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    Kole¡¯s finals schedule was less than ideal. First thing Monday he had his WIZ105 written exam, followed immediately by his written alchemy exam, with a two-hour break before his history exam.


    <div>


    Despite the packed schedule, Monday was the easier day for him. His martial exam would be on Thursday, along with his alchemy practical.


    <div>


    Kole blazed through the WIZ105 exam. When he finished, there was still an hour and a half left of the allotted two hours, so he spent a few minutes trying to double-check his work to no avail. As he reviewed the math and other work, his mind followed the same chains of thought as before and he couldn¡¯t review it objectively.


    <div>


    It¡¯s probably fine, he thought before standing.


    <div>


    All eyes in the room shot to him as he stood.


    <div>


    ¡°Raise your hands for questions, please.¡± The teaching assistant proctoring the exam said boredly from the front of the room.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m done,¡± Kole said.


    <div>


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    <div>


    Kole nodded and really wished he¡¯d Faded before standing to avoid all the attention. At his nod, a groan went out through the class.


    <div>


    He scooted out down the row of seats, getting even more looks, and turned the sheet in before walking out, embarrassed by the scene. The questions had been written on the board, and he¡¯d answered them on paper from his spellbook, but even without that aid, none of the topics would have been difficult for him to answer. The magic paper had just made it faster.


    <div>


    He killed time on the green, trying to path his latest modified version of Thunderwave as he lay in the grass looking at the sky.


    <div>


    His alchemy exam, while not as easy for him as his WIZ105, hadn¡¯t been too hard either, thanks to the magic paper allowing him to recall lectures. He was confident he¡¯d get top marks and knew he would have at least passed without the magical aid.


    <div>


    History was a similar story. Perfect memory made recalling lectures simple, but he did have to argue his stance on the possibility of a missing race having been present among the pre-Flood denizens of Basin. Kole argued for it, as he liked the idea of there having been some elusive race that vanished without a trace, not because he particularly felt the evidence was strong¡ªthough there was enough evidence to make a case.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    <div>


    And, once that was done, he went off to lose himself in his training once more and by the time he had to stop for his day of practical exams, he had successfully gotten Thunderwave down to 12 Will.


    <div>


    The alarm had gone off once more, but Zale and Amara had been in their own finals, so by the time the two girls reached the three boys waiting outside the door to Zale¡¯s home in the basement of the art department, the signal had stopped.


    <div>


    Later in the week, his martial exam was embarrassing, but Kole had been assured he¡¯d passed. He had to spar with the other quarterstaff students and had come out solidly in the bottom of the middle. The top spots had been dominated by Rakin and a few other martial students who specialized in the weapon for one reason or another, but Kole had done about average for the rest of the class that had been stuck with the weapon for one reason or another. Thanks to Zale¡¯s training, he had the strength and endurance to handle the round-robin style tournament, and he was able to beat a few students who were actually more talented than him as he faced them near the end.


    <div>


    Thankfully, Pale Oak was not administering his alchemy practical, and he thought he did a halfway decent job harvesting the various plants that were required of him. The teaching assistant in charge only gave a small pitying look as Kole turned it in as opposed to the look of horror he¡¯d feared.


    <div>


    Kole ran out of the exam back to his room to get back to Thunderwave, and by dinner time on Friday, had gotten Thunderwave down to 11 Will.


    <div>


    ¡°Only one more to go!¡± Zale said excitedly at dinner.


    <div>


    Kole had needed a break after the breakthrough and elected to meet everyone. The dining hall had a festive atmosphere, as most of the students¡ªsave for the PREVENT ones¡ªhad completed their exams. Zale was only stopping by to say hi, before going out to celebrate with Harold.


    <div>


    When Zale excused herself to go, Kole followed her before he could think to stop himself. Zale wasn¡¯t wearing her illusory disguise that day, and he didn¡¯t want to see her get hurt again.


    <div>


    ¡°Zale wait,¡± he said catching up.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked, concerned.


    <div>


    Kole took a moment to figure out what he actually wanted to say.


    <div>


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked again.


    <div>


    ¡°Just press him why,¡± he said, voicing a half-completed thought.


    <div>


    ¡°What?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Harold,¡± Kole said. ¡°If he bails on you again. Don¡¯t accept his excuses. You deserve a real answer.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Zale said, not sure how to respond.


    <div>


    Kole had the urge once more to turn invisible to escape the silence that followed¡ªsomething he¡¯d not thought of doing in a while, he proudly realized.


    <div>


    Zale excused herself when Kole didn¡¯t follow up with anything else, and Kole too went on his way to put in more time on Thunderwave.


    <div>


    Saturday morning, Kole begrudgingly met the other for breakfast for their pre-PREVENT final discussion. He¡¯d gotten close to pathing the latest modifications to Thunderwave, and he hoped this would drop the cost from 12 to 10. He¡¯d yet to make such a large improvement in a single iteration, but he thought he was starting to get the sense of it and he was feeling optimistic.


    <div>


    Kole was the last to arrive. Zale was present with her illusion bracelet engaged, and as such her eyes looked a little red. They made eye contact when he sat with his food, but she only gave him a small tight smile before turning back to Amara with whom she was speaking.


    <div>


    Kole ate mechanically, half his mind in the Arcane Realm pathing the spell. He had his two clarity potions with him. While he wasn¡¯t supposed to use them during the final, he planned to use all his Will preparing, engage in the PREVENT battle royale, take another, and then hopefully cast three spells in front of Underbrook to pass the class. Will poisoning be damned, if Kole could pass he¡¯d manage to be cut off from his magic for the following week to recover¡ªthough he had no idea what he¡¯d do with himself for that week if his Will was deprived of him.


    <div>


    As Kole was about to take another bite of the dire chicken egg steak¡ªa disc cut out of a hardboiled egg from a dire chicken¡ªall their pockets began to emit the buzz of alarm that signaled the portal had opened.


    <div>


    They all looked up and froze before bursting into action.


    <div>


    ¡°Follow me!¡± Zale shouted as she ran out of the dining hall.

 Chapter 107: Portal

    <div>


    Not wanting to be left alone, Serune had a strange notion.


    <div>


    If she could float and take her friends, they__¡¯d need not fear the ocean.


    <div>


    Jumping on the wild idea they began to plan and think.


    <div>


    How can they make Serune a ship to sail atop the waves, and not fall below and sink?


    <div>


    They prayed to Assuine for wisdom, for guidance and her aid.


    <div>


    And at dawn the next day they all knew the knowledge for which they¡¯d prayed.


    <div>


    The Sea Tree by Stelar Leafblossom


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    They raced through the dinning hall after Zale, gathering looks as they did. They¡¯d come prepared for the PREVENT final, and as such all had their weapons and gear with them. The sight of a fully armored young woman was hard enough to miss without the antlered demonkin, dwarf, human, and quarter elf trailing behind.


    <div>


    ¡°This way!¡± Zale said, leading them to the art building, their alarms still buzzing as they ran.


    <div>


    Zale led them through the front doors and immediately turned down a side hall. The receptionist at the front desk hadn¡¯t expected an armed and armored woman to run at her this morning, and could be forgiven the shout of terror she let out at seeing Doug¡ªa mighty and feared demonkin¡ªfollowing in her wake.


    <div>


    They ran down narrow halls to the basement of the building, down a familiar route Kole knew took them to the study hall room. Zale had provided them with a few locations of magical doors to her home across campus for them to meet at when alarms were raised so Kole had never thought to use the study hall as a route of entry.


    <div>


    Zale barreled through the musical instruments that filled the room, creating discordant clangs, twangs, and crashes as her armored form battered the fragile devices aside. Rakin and Doug followed closely in her wake as Kole trailed behind and Amara lagged even further back.


    <div>


    Kole ran right through the door into the study hall room, chairs and tables were strewn all across the floor of the room, but this didn¡¯t register to Kole in his focus, and he jumped over those that he could and ran around those he couldn¡¯t until he reached Zale¡¯s home.


    <div>


    By the time Amara made it through the final door, Zale¡¯s hand was on the handle ready to go, but then, the buzzing stopped.


    <div>


    ¡°Flood!¡± Kole cursed, Amara and Rakin joining them with creative curses of their own.


    <div>


    What is a frass walker? He wondered, in response to Amara¡¯s.


    <div>


    Then his mind caught up to the moment.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡­ happened¡­ in there?¡± Kole asked between gasps, pointing back to the study hall room.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    <div>


    All eyes turned back to it and grew wide as they too registered the chaos. The entire room was destroyed. Chairs and tables were everywhere, and daggers littered the floor, along with the dried remnants of dark liquids, some of which Kole was sure were blood.


    <div>


    Zale pulled her hand away from the door, taking the handle with it and the door vanished behind her. She ran out into the study hall chamber and her eyes scanned the room, everyone followed at their own paces relative to their levels of exhaustion.


    <div>


    ¡°Look up!¡± Doug said, pointing.


    <div>


    Above, in the high ceilings of the room, large tangles of webbing covered the ceiling, and individual threads hung down from them of varying thicknesses.


    <div>


    ¡°Here!¡± Rakin said, lifting a desk, revealing a spider the size of his head crushed beneath it.


    <div>


    ¡°Runt!¡± Zale called out, holding a dagger up that she recognized.


    <div>


    She took off down a hall, following the trail of gore. The stains led out through one of the other doors in the room.


    <div>


    From the pattern of the chaos, it was clear that the fight had centered around that door, and it opened up into a hallway to another unused section of the Dahn. They ran past door after door, following the dripping blood and ooze from both the captured Runt and Spiders, finding smaller dead spiders whose bodies gave out on them as they went.


    <div>


    ¡°Where does this lead?¡± Kole asked after they¡¯d been following the trail for what felt like hours but had only been a few minutes.


    <div>


    ¡°Who knows where anything in this damned place leads!¡± Rakin shouted in frustration.


    <div>


    Then, they smelled it. The stench that Kole knew he¡¯d never forget. They all sniffed the air together and picked up their pace. The smell led them to the dormitory hall from the opposite end of the dining hall, and they followed it to the room they¡¯d just left.


    <div>


    They burst into the room, expecting battle but found it just as they¡¯d left it. Kole hadn¡¯t looked at the room since Rakin had cleared it out, but there were new stains on the stone leading to the bare wall. These were much fresher than the rest, and Doug quickly pointed this out to everyone confirming his hunch.


    <div>


    ¡°What do we do? Zale asked after they¡¯d retreated from the stink.


    <div>


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t change anything,¡± Kole said.


    <div>


    ¡°What? How?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°They took Runt, because they needed her,¡± Rakin said, putting the pieces. ¡°We took a Bond primal from them, so they took another. We just have to wait¡ª¡°


    <div>


    There was a hissing sound, followed immediately by the resumed buzzing of the alarms. A tiny door popped into existence on the wall, and grey, stutteringly. Growing larger, then retracting in size before surging up again, as if someone was inflating a balloon while someone else tried unsuccessfully to suck the air out as it filled.


    <div>


    They all watched in awe as the door grew to the standard size for the Dahn¡¯s magical doors, and it seemed to stabilize, but looking closely Kole saw the edges were shuttering.


    <div>


    ¡°Its not stable!¡± he announced.


    <div>


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Amara asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Go through!¡± Zale said, not waiting for anyone to agree.


    <div>


    She pulled the door open, and leapt through, into the wide open prairie of their last dungeon trial. No one hesitated to follow her through, and as soon as Amara passed through the door, it vanished leaving them alone in an empty field, alarms still buzzing in their pockets.


    <div>


    ¡°Can somebody turn that blasted sound off!¡± Rakin asked in a loud whisper.


    <div>


    ¡°Why?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°Because we¡¯re not alone!¡± Rakin said, pointing to behind Kole, where a large tent encampment was visible, illuminated by the light of hundreds of magical floating flames.


    <div>


    Everyone dropped to the ground, laying flat in the prairie grass.


    <div>


    ¡°Done,¡± Amara whispered, having done something to the detector to silence all the buzzing.


    <div>


    ¡°What do we do?¡± A wide eyed Amara asked the others.


    <div>


    ¡°Which way is it pointing?¡± Kole asked her.


    <div>


    It was easy to forget that the tracker had actually pointed to Amara¡¯s sister this whole time, and not the portals itself.


    <div>


    In answer, she pointed straight at the camp.


    <div>


    Cursing ensued.

 Chapter 108: Encampment

    <div>


    The druids began to use their magic. Now full of hope, not panic. They worked their powers on their friend so their songs and dance would have no end.


    <div>


    From bark to to hull, from trunk to mast, Serune transformed and into the sea she swam at last.


    <div>


    With sails of leaves she rode the breeze and with her friends, traveled the seas.


    <div>


    The Sea Tree by Stelar Leafblossom


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    ¡°Maybe she¡¯s not in the camp,¡± Kole suggested, in a whisper. ¡°She could be on the other side.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You''re right!¡± Amara said loudly before catching herself and continuing in a whisper, ¡°I can calculate the distance by marking the angle and moving perpendicular to the bearing!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What about the camp?¡± Zale asked. ¡°Even if she¡¯s not in it, we can¡¯t ignore this.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Can¡¯t we?¡± Rakin asked.


    <div>


    ¡°That is a mobilization,¡± Zale said, gesturing toward the tents. ¡°In the middle of a field, that¡¯s connected to our home.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Fair,¡± Rakin conceded.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯ll go check it out invisible,¡± Kole volunteered. ¡°Someone else help Amara with her math.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯ll cover you,¡± Doug said. ¡°I¡¯ll see your passage in the disturbed grass. I can fire on anyone who might chase you.


    <div>


    Kole saw Zale and Rakin nod in agreement by the light of the two moons of the same prairie they¡¯d spent a month in.


    <div>


    Turning invisible, Kole walked toward the camp at a slow pace, taking care with each footstep. He couldn¡¯t see well, but the flat grassland was easy to navigate blindly so long as you moved carefully.


    <div>


    The camp before him grew larger, and he realized it was much larger than he¡¯d originally guessed once he could make out patrolling figures in the shadows. The tents were actually surrounded by a giant earthen berm and people walked along its top.


    <div>


    The grass within a hundred yards of the crude wall had been trampled flat, and when they reached the edge, Doug stayed back.


    <div>


    Cautiously, Kole advanced over the cleared land, mindful of his steps as he scanned his surroundings for patrols, but all he heard was the beating of his heart and the gentle crush of grass underfoot. When he was only sixty feet away, he got a good look at one of the guards and noticed something uniquely familiar.


    <div>


    The guard had four arms.


    <div>


    Soldier ants! Kole realized. Or is it ant soldiers?


    <div>


    Just then the gentle breeze that had been blowing through the plains, causing waves in the grass shifted and blew towards the camp. Kole saw the foot-long antennae on the insectoid twitch and some random tidbit about ants Kole had learned from Amara came to mind.


    <div>


    Ants could smell using their antennae.


    <div>


    Rapidly he backpedelled, before turning around and running back to the grass.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    <div>


    Why does every flooding creature have some stupid fish rotting way to detect invisible people?! Kole ranted internally as he ran.


    <div>


    He stumbled a few times before he reached the high grass, but maintained his invisibility through it all.


    <div>


    ¡°Soldier ants!¡± Kole hissed as he reached Doug.


    <div>


    The demonkin squinted into the darkness.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they saw you,¡± he said, putting Kole at ease.


    <div>


    ¡°Smelled,¡± Kole corrected. ¡°The wind shifted and their antennae caught scent of me.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Doug said, considering. ¡°I didn¡¯t know ants could smell.¡±


    <div>


    Kole was a bit surprised that he knew something about nature the Assuine Blessed didn¡¯t.


    <div>


    Seeing the surprised look on Kole¡¯s face, Doug answered the unspoken question.


    <div>


    ¡°Ants can¡¯t talk, even with magic.¡±


    <div>


    While that answered one question, it opened up many more, only these were for Amara, and he¡¯d long ago stopped asking questions about that particular topic.


    <div>


    Stupid Font of Understanding, he thought.


    <div>


    A part of him thought he¡¯d not be as frustrated with his lack of comprehension of the Font if it went by a different name.


    <div>


    The pair made their way back to the others, staying low in the grass.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s the soldier ants,¡± Kole said and then told them what he¡¯d seen in more detail.


    <div>


    ¡°At least they smelled better this time,¡± Kole said, adding at the end for some levity.


    <div>


    ¡°Well we have good news,¡± Zale said. ¡°Amara¡¯s math showed that her sister is far away, so we can go around the encampment¡ªthough I don¡¯t know what we are going to do about the enemies themselves.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Are we sure they''re enemies?¡± Doug asked.


    <div>


    ¡°I think,¡± Kole said, interrupting. ¡°We are getting ahead of ourselves. We¡¯re here for Amintha and Runt. If we find an answer to the ants, great, but let¡¯s keep it to one near-impossible goal.¡±


    <div>


    The others agreed, and they started the uncomfortable process of circling the camp while remaining crouched beneath the grass. Uncomfortable for everyone but Kole that is. He simply turned invisible and walked.


    <div>


    It took nearly an hour, creeping along as they went, but they made it around the encampment, Kole¡¯s invisibility failed halfway through the journey, but by then they had edged far enough away from the camp that he remained visible.


    <div>


    Once beyond the camp, they turned to follow the bearing straight to their targets. This bearing eventually brought them to a road that had been built into the prairie


    <div>


    The last time they¡¯d been in this place¡ªthe dungeon, with the two moons and lack of surrounding mountains, not the strange land outside of it with the floating chunks of land¡ªthey¡¯d traveled down a road nothing like this one. The caravan had taken a wheel and hoof-worn path of dirt through the ever-present grass, while this road had been constructed through magic.


    <div>


    A smooth band of raised dirt stretched out as far as they could see in both directions. It was completely clear of any plant growth, and when Kole knocked on it with his knuckles, it felt rock solid, though a determined stab with his dagger proved it to be densely packed dirt.


    <div>


    Rakin examined the road carefully. Rubbing his fingers along it, smelling it, and then placing his ear to it.


    <div>


    ¡°Something''s coming!¡± he called in a low whisper, and they all retreated into the grass.


    <div>


    Doug called the grass to close in over them, and Kole used his magic, hoping that it was effective against antennae-based perceptions.


    <div>


    The incoming vehicle was far off, for it took another few minutes for Kole to even see it in the low light of the morning. The caravan traveled without light, and he spotted a line of wagons going out into the distance. When they got close, Kole saw the familiar six-legged figure of scalequines drawing otherwise normal-looking supply wagons. Normal looking if you ignored the ant person driving it forward.


    <div>


    In the low light of the coming dawn, Kole noticed that this ant person was smaller than both the dead and devoured ones they¡¯d seen pieces of and the complete ones he¡¯d seen on the walls of the camp. This one was downright scrawny by comparison, with limbs no bulkier than Amara¡¯s if Kole had to make a bet.


    <div>


    Six wagons traveled past them, each drawn by two scalequines and driven by a single ant person, which Kole internally labeled worker ants. Kole sensed a pull on his Will as the antenna of one of the passing-by workers twitched, but only briefly.


    <div>


    Wow, he thought to himself reflecting on how much the brief draw had cost him. He estimated almost as much as casting a first-tier spell, and in only half of a second. That was a lot of Will. Is this proportional to their perception? Or is something else going on?


    <div>


    After the wagons had passed, they waited until it was clear to continue on, but Rakin signaled for them to stop, the moment before chaos broke out.

 Chapter 109: Ambush

    <div>


    Serune sailed the waves around the world but no land did they find. They made new friends along the way, each a strange new kind.


    <div>


    Whales and fish and birds and men, the new ship loves to see them all.


    <div>


    And one day after long years they found and made landfall.


    <div>


    The Sea Tree by Stelar Leafblossom


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    They halted at Rakin¡¯s signal, but then Kole heard a mutter and felt the veil between realms split as someone drew upon the Font of Sound, but just as quickly as it appeared, he felt it vanish. Ahead Zale had spun to face the source and channeled the power of the Sound spell into her own Font of Void.


    <div>


    Behind him, by the caravans, he heard the cracking booms of three more Thunderwaves, firing in rapid succession.


    <div>


    Zale ran towards the source of the magic, while Rakin drew out his stone batons in a defensive pose, keeping himself between Amara and the unseen threat.


    <div>


    Ahead of them, bracketing them in a semi circle six furry dog-like figures rose from the grass.


    <div>


    ¡°Gnolls!¡± Amara shouted, unhelpfully.


    <div>


    But, more helpfully she had her blasting rod drawn and followed the statement with a blast at the nearest of the six, missing narrowly


    <div>


    Kole sent his own blast after her, towards the source of the sound magic, striking his own target before Zale reached it. He felt it drawing on the Font of Sound once more, but it was looking at the group of them, and not Zale who was charging it.


    <div>


    While Kole trusted Zale, he didn¡¯t know if she had it in her to counter a second spell, and he shoved Amara aside as he shouted, ¡°Spell!¡±


    <div>


    Doug and Rakin leapt away themselves, but they weren¡¯t as quick to react, and the bone-rattling explosion of sound that rang out around them send them both to their knees clutching their heads.


    <div>


    Before the sound robbed Kole of his hearing, he heard a battle raging behind them at the caravan. A glance as he dove showed the supply wagons had been filled with soldier ants, which were now locked in battle with their own pack of gnolls.


    <div>


    We have just the worst timing. He reflected


    <div>


    As everyone else recovered, Zale continued her charge at the Sound-attuned caster. Two warriors moved to intercept her, but she vanished into motes. They spun around looking for her, but when she didn¡¯t immediately reappear, they broke for the rest of the group.


    <div>


    Kole smiled at their mistake and sent another blast at the lead one to draw their attention. His bolt hit home, causing the gnoll to take a staggering step, but they continued on with only more eagerness.


    <div>


    Zale reappeared behind them a moment after, and unseen by the two she¡¯d just bypassed, decapitated the surprised caster before he could finish whatever spell he was chanting.


    <div>


    Rakin recovered first, even before Amara, who had only been knocked down, and he ran to meet the enclosing gnolls. Five remained, but at the shout of surprise the caster let out, two more that had not yet reached the group made their way for Zale.


    <div>


    Doug¡¯s arrow took one of them in the shoulder, causing it to drop his club, and Zale pounced on the opening, downing it in a rapid flurry of slashes, even as its companion landed a clubbed blow on her armored back.


    <div>


    ¡°Get that one!¡± Rakin shouted to Amara, gesturing to one of the gnolls that were closing in on them, separate from the two engaging from the caster. Amara got to her feet, and sent another blast at the indicated target, this time striking it square in the chest. The blast didn¡¯t fell it, but the one Kole sent at it next did.


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    <div>


    Rakin engaged his two targets, nimbly ducking the clumsy swings of their clubs, landing his own more deft punches as occasion permitted. Zale was locked in battle with her second foe, with Doug risking shots whenever he saw an opening.


    <div>


    Having seen Amara¡¯s aim¡ªor lack thereof¡ªKole coached her to wait.


    <div>


    ¡°Rakin will maneuver himself behind them, then fire,¡± Kole said, and then took advantage of one such moment, Amara following.


    <div>


    Both blows stuck the same gnoll in the back, killing it, and with only one left Rakin pummeled it to submission in an all-out flurry of blows.


    <div>


    By the time he was done, wiping blood off his fists, Zale was coming back to the group.


    <div>


    ¡°We need to go before that battle ends,¡± she said pointing to the still raging gnoll-on-ant battle around the wagons.


    <div>


    Kole couldn¡¯t make out all her words over the ringing in his ears, but he got the gist of it, and they all ran through the plains, keeping low in the grass until the caravan was far out of sight.


    <div>


    ¡°What in the Waas¡¯ sky is going on here?¡± Zale asked once they were far and away.


    <div>


    Kole was taken aback by the mention of the deity the elves abandoned.


    <div>


    Catching his look, Zale asked, ¡°What?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I just didn¡¯t know you followed Waas.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Ye don¡¯t need to follow a god to curse in their name,¡± Rakin put in.


    <div>


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a curse,¡± Zale defended. ¡°It was a plea. I do worship Waas. I just don¡¯t talk about it a lot.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s weird about that?¡± Doug asked.


    <div>


    ¡°The elves in general, don¡¯t like Waas,¡± Amara answered.


    <div>


    ¡°And Zale¡¯s mother¡ªhistorically and publicly¡ªhad opinions about the gods in general, and Waas in particular,¡± Kole said, filling in the rest.


    <div>


    Zale sighed, heavily.


    <div>


    ¡°She¡¯s come around about that, even before I was born. But, I¡­¡± she paused, chewing her lip. ¡°Have an uncle¡ª¡°


    <div>


    Kole and Rakin groaned.


    <div>


    ¡°Of course you do.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°But this one¡¯s more of a great uncle!¡± Zale amended hastily. ¡°Mom called him uncle growing up. My grandpa was Waas¡¯ Chosen, and he had¡ª¡°


    <div>


    ¡°The Sword of Igan!?¡± Kole questioned excitedly, cutting her off as he recalled the famous blade from his recent reading of Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts. The blade was an ensouled artifact created by one of Waas¡¯ Chosen, but in creating the weapon from his soul stone, he inadvertently Bound Waas¡¯ celestial to it as well.


    <div>


    The Wardens, in their constant battle to imprison Faust within the planet, didn¡¯t have the power to spare to empower chosen as the other gods and demi-gods could. Instead, they commissioned their celestial servants to Pact with one they deemed worthy. A Pact that¡ªapparently¡ªconnected on a soul level.


    <div>


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Zale confirmed. ¡°My mom called the celestial ¡®Uncle Windy Pants¡¯ as a kid.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Trish, the Queen of Ice, and possible killer of monarchs, called a celestial messenger of a god Uncle Windy Pants?¡± Kole asked, dumbfounded.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s actually really in character if ye know her,¡± Rakin said.


    <div>


    ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s not the point of all this. When my Willsight developed, I could see him, and he taught me about Waas as I grew up. I found her teachings to my liking.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Back to my original question,¡± Zale said, brushing aside the revelation she might be the inheritor of a weapon of legend. ¡°What¡¯s going on here? Mage slayer spiders kidnapping primals is one thing¡ªa big thing, but you know, a thing¡ªbut an army of ant men, gnolls, a magic road. This is a lot.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin agreed. ¡°And, I didn¡¯t sense any Earth magic from that battle. The ants might ta used that road, but they didn¡¯t make it¡ªor they¡¯re dumb, and just let those gnolls kill ¡®em. The road felt a lot like that armor. Not magical, but made by earth magic.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°So,¡± Kole said, counting on his fingers. ¡°We have weird ant people, a gnoll tribe raiding the ant people, and then the spiders raiding the school. How is any of this connected?¡±


    <div>


    No one had an answer, but as often happened, speaking about the problem served to gather his thoughts.


    <div>


    ¡°These strange creatures are probably from another realm,¡± Kole said, earning no objections as he listed what they already knew, or at least suspected. ¡°The creatures that appeared on campus have all been loosely related to whatever environment the dungeon had created last. It seems like these creatures are using the dungeon as a vector into our realm. The dimensional membranes of pocket realms are weaker than that of the Material Realm¡¯s, and who even knows what the dungeon is.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°But what about the spiders?¡± Doug asked. ¡°Mage slayers are from Kaltis.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°And who made the road?¡± Rakin added.


    <div>


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Kole confessed.


    <div>


    ¡°So, basically, we know nothing new,¡± Rakin summarized.


    <div>


    ¡°Basically,¡± Kole confirmed.


    <div>


    As they spoke, they¡¯d been walking through the empty prairie, but at some point during their conversation the grass had ended, replaced with dried craggy earth and stone.


    <div>


    ¡°Guys,¡± Rakin said, interrupting. ¡°Look up.¡±


    <div>


    They did and saw the dual moons gone, replaced with the floating chunks of land that filled the sky.

 Chapter 110: Unstable

    <div>


    The druids rejoiced to have land to roam, they ran and danced in revel.


    <div>


    Serune looked out towards the sea, for her heart now longed to travel.


    <div>


    Her friends begged to to come and stay, to join them in this land.


    <div>


    But Serune now lived for the sea, which they could understand.


    <div>


    The Sea Tree by Stelar Leafblossom


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    They examined the debris-laden sky above them. At first glance it looked like the giant moon of the last world had exploded, leaving debris floating in the sky, but after closer examination, and with the light of day¡ªwhich came from a sun that seemed to be nestled in amongst the other floating chunks¡ªthey saw that each had its own unique makeup.


    <div>


    While many chunks were lush and green, while others were dull tan or blank white broken up with lines of black. Kole squinted to get a better look, but it was hopeless. From their relative position to the ¡®sun,¡¯ the only lighted surfaces they could see were the further ones located opposite the glowing orb of fire.


    <div>


    The sight mesmerized Kole, as he stared. The sight of the orb gave him a pang of longing for home. While it wasn¡¯t the same as the stable orb of light that illuminated Illandrios, it was close and near and surrounded by something other than open sky. Unlike the sun of Kaltis which was an unfathomable distance away surrounded by endless nothingness.


    <div>


    Kole had grown use to the lack of a ceiling¡ªsomething some Illandriosian¡¯s never could get under control¡ªbut there was something comforting about a busy sky.


    <div>


    ¡°I think we should get off the road,¡± Zale suggested, having only spared the sky a glance before taking in the more immediate surroundings.


    <div>


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin said. ¡°The magic of this road and the armor match the feel of this place. Someone might be able ta sense use on it.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°We need to go that way,¡± Amara said, pointing to their right, in a direction they¡¯d certainly not been heading a moment before.


    <div>


    Kole looked behind them, and saw the road stopped abruptly. He walked back to where it ended, a few feet away, and reached out his hand. It didn¡¯t disappear, but he did feel the odd sensation of a breeze from his hand to his elbow that he didn¡¯t feel over the rest of his body.


    <div>


    He moved forward a bit more, leaning to put his head in front, and suddenly the landscape shifted back to the prairie.


    <div>


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s neat,¡± he said, once he pulled his head back. ¡°There¡¯s a portal here.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°That explains the change in bearing,¡± Amara said.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going,¡± Zale said, heading off any discussion Kole and Amara might have about all the magical nonsense going on.


    <div>


    They traveled through the barren landscape, towards an unfamiliar mountain outcropping in the distance. Once they¡¯d grown over the majesty of the sky, something they couldn¡¯t take in on their first visit in the night, Rakin pointed out a rocky outcropping, to the left of their current heading.


    <div>


    ¡°I think that¡¯s the place we saw the spider before,¡± Rakin said.


    <div>


    They were now heading to another¡ªseemingly indistinguishable to Kole¡¯s eyes¡ªrocking outcropping.


    <div>


    ¡°Either yer sister moved, or she wasn¡¯t in the first one.¡±


    <div>


    They picked up their pace once a target had been identified, and after a suggestion from Doug, they traveled to the left of their target for some time to get out of the direct path from the outcropping to the portal.


    <div>


    Slowly the outcropping grew until it loomed over them. As it grew, they could make out signs signifying the presence of its inhabitants. Webs lay strung between the rocks in a few spots high above, and they even spotted a bird struggling to free itself from one¡ªthough the word bird was used generously, as with all the creatures presumably from this realm, it had extra limbs and fur instead of feathers.


    <div>


    As they watched, a spider twice the size of the bird came out and bit it, ending its struggle, then two more smaller spiders came out to join it and help wrap the prize and drag it out of the web.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s not how spiders behave,¡± Doug said absently. ¡°Even before, I never really thought about it but that was a lot of spiders of different ages in one place. It wouldn¡¯t be strange to see a lot of spiders from the same clutch, but they¡¯d either eat each other or separate after a while. Not stick around for generations.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Honestly,¡± Zale said. ¡°The weird spider family is the least weird thing out of all of this. Should we be concerned about being seen?¡±


    <div>


    Doug shook his head.


    <div>


    ¡°Spiders can¡¯t see well, they usually just live on their webs and use those to detect the presence of food. They might have some low level of tremor sense on the ground though.¡±


    <div>


    They continued on, being careful with each step to make sure there were no webs hidden about, and in their careful examination of the ground noticed as the strange patterns in the dirt of a spider¡¯s passage grew denser.


    <div>


    ¡°They¡¯re all leading that way,¡± Doug said, pointing to the right of their current bearing.


    <div>


    ¡°Maybe we don¡¯t go right into the basement entrance this time,¡± Kole suggested.


    <div>


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin agreed.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s follow the tracker closer,¡± Zale said, taking charge.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    <div>


    As they walked the rocks strewn about grew larger, and soon webs became an issue, strewn about.


    <div>


    ¡°I think these are detached from the rest,¡± Zale said, looking at them closely. ¡°The webs before were invisible to my Will sight in the dark. These look like any other mundane material.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s try to avoid them all the same,¡± Kole cautioned, earning nods of agreement.


    <div>


    Unfortunately, Doug¡¯s antlers had different ideas, and he got tangled up in the next web they came across, thankfully to no alarm they could tell.


    <div>


    The slope grew steeper as they continued onward, following the tracker, until they were no longer walking and instead climbing. Rakin would use his Earth primal abilities to form hand and footholds for the others, and Kole did his best not to look down.


    <div>


    Despite the urgency of their mission, it took them until midday to reach a large ledge. No one had been keeping track of time, but by the time the flaming orb was directly overhead, it seemed to be about six hours after dawn.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s rest, then we can explore ahead,¡± Zale said, putting some of her armor back on which she¡¯d removed to better climb.


    <div>


    They¡¯d long since drank through any water they¡¯d had on them, and Kole collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.


    <div>


    Rakin didn¡¯t rest, however, but examined the walls of the ledge.


    <div>


    ¡°This was made with Earth magic,¡± he said. ¡°But¡­ not like the road or the armor.¡±


    <div>


    After far too short of a time¡ªin Kole¡¯s opinion which he kept to himself outside of a small groan¡ªRakin stood up and ushered them onward. The ledge they¡¯d landed on looked to be some sort of lookout, and there was a narrow crack of an opening that went deeper into the mountain. Some webs hung around the opening they¡¯d climbed through, but not beyond those.


    <div>


    ¡°Wait,¡± Amara whispered, scratching numbers on the stone beside her. ¡°Amintha is 200 feet that way.¡±


    <div>


    Amara pointed just to the right of the direction the crack led.


    <div>


    ¡°Give or take 10 feet, the resolution on this tracker isn¡¯t that exact, and calling even the ones place a significant figure is being generous.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Are ye certain?¡± Rakin asked, earning a firm nod.


    <div>


    ¡°To a range of 190 to 210 feet.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Do we go in?¡± Kole asked the group.


    <div>


    ¡°Or¡­ we could get help from some adults,¡± Zale suggested.


    <div>


    She¡¯d long been uncharacteristically onboard with the skulking they¡¯d been doing, agreeing to keep it away from the school¡¯s staff, and Kole was taken aback by the suggestion, but not because it was out of character.


    <div>


    ¡°How?¡± Kole asked, not against the idea of bringing in some adventurers.


    <div>


    The important part after all was rescuing Amintha and Runt, not doing it themselves. They¡¯d kept the adults out of it thus far because they doubted their ability to find this place, but now that they had found it, Kole wasn¡¯t conceited enough to think they were the best people for the task.


    <div>


    ¡°With this,¡± Zale said, pulling out the door handle that would take them back to her home in the Dahn.


    <div>


    ¡°Will that work here?¡± Kole asked, gesturing up at the strange sky.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she answered. ¡°but I¡¯d feel a lot better testing it here and now than when we run out of here with two rescued teenagers with a swarm of spiders in tow.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Good point,¡± Kole agreed. ¡°Anyone else have a problem with going to get help?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°And maybe some water,¡± he added after a moment of silence.


    <div>


    No one said anything, only nodding in agreement which intensified with the mention of water.


    <div>


    ¡°Alright,¡± If this works, I¡¯ll run to my mom¡¯s room and get a message to Tigereye. You all stay here and guard the door and I¡¯ll be back.¡±


    <div>


    Zale took the handle, held it out before her, and then pulled.


    <div>


    Though Kole had only seen this happen a few times before, this time seemed off. In the past, Zale pulled seemingly without effort, the door manifesting immediately. This time, however, Zale¡¯s arm seemed to meet resistance, as if she were pulling open a door while someone stood on the opposite side pulling it shut.


    <div>


    With a groan of effort, she yanked it back, and the door appeared, but it didn¡¯t look stable. The frame seemed to ripple and vibrate and flicker in and out of existence, like the door they¡¯d entered through in the smelly dormitory.


    <div>


    Finally, Zale managed to heave the black stone door open and cautiously let go of the handle, expecting it to slam shut.


    <div>


    It didn¡¯t, but that was only a slight reassurance.


    <div>


    ¡°The door''s not stable!¡± Kole said, pointing out the obvious. The last door stayed open for what? A few minutes? We have to move now!¡±


    <div>


    Zale took off into her house while the others stood guard. With no time to make a new plan in light of the unstable door, they had to make the best with what they had.


    <div>


    Kole ran in, quickly grabbed a familiar ice bucket, and brought it out to the others. They passed it around, each taking a drink from the melted water within.


    <div>


    By the time it was empty, Zale was back with a piece of paper in hand and a quill.


    <div>


    She shoved it at Kole.


    <div>


    ¡°Write a message to Tigereye!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Why me?¡± Kole asked, even as he took it from her.


    <div>


    We fnd Runt + Amintha in the dungn mage slyr spdr nest door in Zale¡¯s hose not stble


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s a hose?¡± Amara asked, reading along.


    <div>


    ¡°I think we need to go for it,¡± Zale said hurriedly ¡±We can¡¯t wait and risk the door closing.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Oh house!¡± Amara said.


    <div>


    ¡°Can you close it and reopen it later?¡± Doug asked.


    <div>


    ¡°No, there¡¯s a cool down. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    <div>


    They didn¡¯t argue further, but gathered their weapons and headed into the crag. Kole used his new cantrip to summon a white orb of light in his palm.


    <div>


    ¡°Watch out,¡± Zale said pointing up. ¡°This web is connected!¡±


    <div>


    At the mention, Kole realized he felt a slight drain on his Will. He looked up, and the walls were lightly covered with webbing, but nothing so dense as the caverns they¡¯d seen on their last visit. The passage was narrow but they managed to squeeze through it.


    <div>


    Doug had told them that spiders don¡¯t hear, so much as sense the vibration of sound in the air. As such, if they kept their noise level low, Kole¡¯s Fade ability would likely help them avoid detection by any spiders that didn¡¯t see them¡ªso long as they avoided the webs. But, he found when he tried to use the ability, his light orb winked out.


    <div>


    Oh yeah¡­ Kole thought to himself. It took years of practice for wizards to cast even a cantrip while maintaining another magical effect. Apparently, this applied to using primal abilities while holding a cantrip active. This was common knowledge¡ªand something he¡¯d known¡ªit had just never come up for him before that moment.


    <div>


    He let the light fail and put his hand on Rakin¡¯s shoulder to serve as a guide. As he reactivated Fade, he realized he had been dumb to even try to hide the group while carrying a beacon around in his hand.


    <div>


    So, Kole put all his focus on the Fade ability, trying to sense when and if his Will drained more to alert him of a spider¡¯s presence. This was made difficult by the constant drain from the webs.


    <div>


    The narrow opening ended suddenly, coming out into a stone tunnel large enough for two people to walk side by side, comfortably even¡ªif they didn¡¯t mind rubbing shoulders. The tunnel went off in the direction and seemed to curve gently to the right in the direction the tracker pointed, with occasional branched passages on the left.


    <div>


    ¡°This place was dug out with magic,¡± Rakin said as if confirming a suspicion.


    <div>


    Ducking into some of the passages, they found a mix of crated goods, random weapons, and armor. Others led to more tunnels away from where the tracker pointed, and they ignored those. The bulk of the armor matched what they¡¯d seen on the soldier ants, and Kole suspected that the crates originated from the caravans they¡¯d seen.


    <div>


    After exiting the third such room, Zale let out a shout and jumped back into the room even as she brought her sword down on the dog-sized spider that had so surprised her.


    <div>


    She easily cleaved the giant arachnid in two, but as soon as she did, shrieking filled the air.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh flood,¡± she cursed, and they all began to run.

 Chapter 111: Amintha

    <div>


    Some chose to leave once more with her, to travel far and wide.


    <div>


    This is the story of how a tree came to live upon the tide.


    <div>


    The Sea Tree by Stelar Leafblossom


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    They sprinted down the tunnel, Zale in the lead, the spider¡¯s shrieks echoing around the hive as they searched for the intruders that had killed one of their own. The tunnel began to branch more, but they kept on the bearing they knew led to Amintha. Kole had no idea how the spiders knew they killed one of them, and a part of his mind was running over that thought, but the larger parts of his brain were alternating between panic and awe.


    <div>


    This, was in part, due to the view he now saw through the openings on the right wall. As they ran, the walls became rougher, eventually having holes large enough that they could look out. Beyond, he could spy glimpses of a massive central chamber, completely coated in the white webbing of the mage slayer spiders, and atop it swarmed a writhing black mass of eight-legged monsters.


    <div>


    ¡°Duck down!¡± Kole called, pointing out the irregular cracks. And their mad dash became more of a lurching crawl with intermittent sprints.


    <div>


    ¡°In here!¡± Zale said, ducking into the next opening they came across. Unlike the other rooms and the halls, the ceiling of this room was completely covered in webbing. Kole felt the drain on his Will intensify as they entered, and he checked to make sure he still had his two clarity potions at the ready.


    <div>


    Unlike the other rooms, filled with random collections of loot, this one was more organized. Six raised stone blocks lined the far wall, and three of them bore the still bodies of people. One who was immediately familiar to the group.


    <div>


    ¡°Runt!¡± Zale shouted, running over to her side.


    <div>


    The webs from the ceiling hung down over her and surrounded her like a canopy bed.


    <div>


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kole shouted before she could touch her.


    <div>


    Zale pulled up short, shooting him an impatient and questioning look.


    <div>


    ¡°They don¡¯t seem to know where we are yet if we touch them, they will,¡± Kole explained. ¡°Can you see if she¡¯s alive?¡±


    <div>


    Zale looked back at Runt, squinted in the way Kole had come to recognize as her straining her Willsight, and she nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°So is that one,¡± she pointed to the next bed over. ¡°But not the dwarf.¡±


    <div>


    The next bed held another human-sized body, but this one was much more heavily obscured by the webbing. The third had even thicker webbing, but the form beneath had the distinct stocky build of a dwarf.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s find Amintha, then come back here,¡± Kole said, earning nods from everyone.


    <div>


    ¡°She¡¯s probably in the next room!¡± Amara shouted, unable to modulate her voice from the terror and excitement.


    <div>


    Zale led them back out, glancing back at Runt just before exiting. In the brief moment they¡¯d spent in the room, the shrieking beyond had grown louder.


    <div>


    When they reached the next room, the sound was so loud now that Kole expected them to be set upon any moment. A woven sheet of web covered this door, completely blocking the view inside.


    <div>


    ¡°In there,¡± Amara said confidently.


    <div>


    Kole used the last of his swiftly draining Will to turn invisible, before drinking one of his two remaining potions.


    <div>


    ¡°Let''s go fast,¡± he said. ¡°They¡¯ll know we¡¯re here as soon as we touch that door.¡±


    <div>


    Zale ran at the door, as soon as she touched it, the webs disintegrated into the black motes they had on her last visit to a mage slayer spider den. In sync, all the shrieking surged in a loud cry.


    <div>


    They ran into the room and found a single stone block, once more topped with the unconscious form of a teenage primal. One identical to Amara.


    <div>


    Amara let out a cry of her own, ran to her sister¡¯s side, and began ripping ineffectually at the webs. In her tunnel vision, she neglected to take in the room. While this place was similar in setup to the last chamber, with the hanging webs and block, it was more well-furnished. The stone had white bedding, woven of spider silk, and a table and chair sat in the corner of the room with some books on it. The biggest difference, however, was the large hole in the wall through which a spider the size of a donkey climbed out. Beyond they had a clear view of the roiling mass of black on white.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    <div>


    ¡°Spiders!¡± everyone save Amara cried together, for the large spider was covered by many smaller ones.


    <div>


    Zale looked from Amara to the spider, and made a decision, running to the girl¡¯s aid.


    <div>


    Rakin ran at the incoming spider, even as it pulled itself into the room to cling to the ceiling. As he ran, his fists began to glow orange as flames flickered around them.


    <div>


    Losing the invisibility he¡¯d just cast, Kole shot at the giant spider. Before his bolt even reached it, some of the smaller ones had already broken off to crawl across the ceiling to the trio of quarter-elven girls.


    <div>


    Doug fired into this group, each arrow taking out more than one, as they crawled over each other to get to their target.


    <div>


    When Zale reached the bed, she didn¡¯t slow, instead jumping over it and through the webbing that hung over it. Like the door, the webs vanished into motes, and Zale landed in a roll on the other side. The retreating webs revealed Amara¡¯s sister was healthy, and clothed in the white fabric made from the webs, just like the blankets.


    <div>


    Zale moved to scoop the girl up as the others held off the spiders.


    <div>


    Rakin leapt at the spider with his flaming fists, but the spider vanished, reappearing on the ground near the hole, the few spiders still clinging to it teleporting with it.


    <div>


    Undeterred, instead struck the ceiling, the loosely strewn webs bursting instantly into flames and racing towards the opening. The large spider teleported back up onto the ceiling and tried to rip the webs down, but Kole and Doug shot blasts of magic and arrows into it, pushing it back long enough for the fire to grow beyond its ability to stop.


    <div>


    Unable to stop the flame, it set its sights back on the dwarf that started it. It set back as if to leap, and Rakin brought his hands up in a guard, but instead of jumping, it vanished once more, appearing behind Rakin.


    <div>


    As if sensing the movement, Doug turned his drawn bow, a moment before the spider vanished, and shot at the space it would appear in. Doug¡¯s arrow struck the spider as it jumped at Rakin, the arrow rapidly growing into vines on impact and binding two of its right legs together.


    <div>


    With the loss of function from the limbs, the spider¡¯s strike at Rakin turned into a tackle, and the dwarf rolled backward wrapped in the spider¡¯s legs like a bird in a cage. The mandibles of the spider lashed out at Rakin even as the legs poked at him, and he put all his focus into deflecting and dodging the onslaught.


    <div>


    While the boys fought the large spider, the flame from the ceiling got close to the girls as they fended off the smaller spiders that sought to kill Zale. Once more the spiders crawled over her, and she ripped them off, throwing them on the ground to stomp on them. When she noticed the wardrobe had burst into flames, Zale ran at the burning structure, and vanished into motes just before impact, reappearing a moment later by the bedside. The spiders were not so lucky and were carried by their momentum into the fire.


    <div>


    By then, Amara had dragged her sister across her shoulders and was staggering towards the door.


    <div>


    As the fire burned the webs in the room, Kole felt the persistent drain on his Will lessen. He watched helplessly as the spider and Rakin wrestled, not trusting his aim to not hit his friend, but in his hesitence saw that the fire spreading out from the room was not deterring more spiders from entering.


    <div>


    Kole ran to fill the opening, building the construct for Thunderwave in his mind as he did. Spiders poured in on the walls and floor, making their way for Amara, now completely ignoring Zale, the target of all spider ire thus far.


    <div>


    Before they could fully enter the room, however, Kole unleashed his spell. A loud crack rang out, deafening in the stone room, and half the spiders were thrown back out into the massive chamber beyond. Those that remained were larger, from the size of a cat to a large dog, able to cling to the stone despite the force of the spell. The smaller of these, however, only lived long enough to collapse as whatever constituted internal organs in a giant spider failed.


    <div>


    Of the three remaining, Kole went at them with his quarterstaff before they could collect themselves.


    <div>


    With the casting of the spell, the sound of battle had been replaced with a tinny whine, so Kole was surprised to find the largest mage-slayer spider dead and Zale clutching a bleeding arm when he turned around.


    <div>


    Rakin stood beside her, wrapping her arm in a scrap of spider web cloth, and Doug was busy pulling Zale¡¯s bastard sword from the cephalothorax of the behemoth.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here,¡± Kole distantly heard himself say.


    <div>


    Amara was leaning against the door frame, her sister on the ground, the small girl already unable to carry, despite her and her sister being identical.


    <div>


    I guess I¡¯d struggle to carry another me around, Kole thought.


    <div>


    They converged on the door, and Zale crouched down next to Amintha, Rakin, and Doug lifting the girl, and draping her across Zale¡¯s shoulders.


    <div>


    In a practiced manner, Zale used her good arm to grab Amintha¡¯s legs and squeezed her arms beneath her own, holding her tight.


    <div>


    ¡°More spiders!¡± Rakin yelled, pointing down the tunnel, opposite the direction of their escape route, though to Kole it sounded like a muffled shout.


    <div>


    They ran back towards the room with Runt and the other captive, risking glances behind. Kole¡¯s light did not illuminate very far, and the curved nature of the tunnel didn¡¯t afford a clear view, but already a few larger ones were visible at the edges of the light, having outstripped the others.


    <div>


    Finally, the door was in sight, and Rakin halted, pulling Kole to a stop with him.


    <div>


    ¡°Get them to the door!¡± he shouted. ¡°We¡¯ll hold the tunnel.¡±


    <div>


    Before Kole could protest¡ªthough Kole found in that moment that he had no protestations at all¡ªRakin stepped between Kole and the coming spiders and began examining the wall with his eyes closed.


    <div>


    After touching the wall in half a dozen places, tiny cracks began to appear on the tunnel¡¯s surface.


    <div>


    ¡°Cast Thunderwave on my say so!¡± he called, pushing Kole back and then sliding behind him.


    <div>


    Kole nodded and stood with his quarterstaff in hand as the black wave came into view.


    <div>


    ¡°Gods, I hope you know what you¡¯re doing,¡± Kole muttered, even as he prepared the spell.


    <div>


    While his hearing was still recovering, he could have sworn he heard Rakin say ¡°Me too,¡± but he chose to ignore it.

 Chapter 112: Illusory Gains

    <div>


    [A lit candle on a black back drop.]


    <div>


    L is for Light, the Font that grants sight. Everywhere by day, and crucial by night. The power seems gentle, and pleasantly warm, but with enough power can melt an ice storm.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic_


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    At first, it looked like Kole¡¯s light spell was receding as the black wave of spiders came, the walls floor and ceiling simply turning black, but as they got closer he could make out the shapes of individual spiders.


    <div>


    ¡°Now!¡± Rakin shouted, when the spiders were still ten feet away.


    <div>


    Kole released the spell, sending it through his bridge, where the main focus of his mind was to both speed up his casting of the spell and to avoid dwelling on his potential impending doom.


    <div>


    The light went out as the Thunderwave manifested. As soon as he felt the spell completed, Kole brought back his light and saw the tunnel around him cleared of spiders to the extent of his light¡¯s reach, the wave of concentrated sound having been amplified and focused by the tunnel, sending the creatures farther back than Kole expected.


    <div>


    The absence of spiders was only temporary, however, and the black wave came on, crawling over the corpses of their allies.


    <div>


    Kole heard Rakin shouting something, but he couldn¡¯t make it out. It was only after he¡¯d been pulled back onto his butt and the cave in front of him collapsed, filling the air with dust that he realized it had been ¡°get back!¡±


    <div>


    While Kole tried to recover his bearings, blinded by the dust and his light only making the issue worse, Rakin stepped in front of him, relying on his tremor sense to battle the small spiders that were able to cross through the gaps in the collapse. With nothing else to focus on, Kole was distinctly aware that he no longer felt the drain of the webs after the collapse.


    <div>


    By the time the dust had settled and Kole could see, the dwarf was covered in dust caked on by the blood and guts of the hand sized spiders he¡¯d been crushing by the dozen. But, on close inspection, Kole saw that some of the blood was red and Rakin hadn¡¯t gotten out unscathed.


    <div>


    ¡°I saw bigger ones through the cracks double back,¡± Rakin said. ¡°The little ones all started fighting each other just before it happened.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t they teleport through?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, lets just get out of here.¡±


    <div>


    They reached the others, who were in the process of loading a emaciated human girl onto Doug¡¯s back, Runt secured already on Zale¡¯s.


    <div>


    ¡°Amintha¡¯s at the door,¡± Amara said, standing by nervously, her eyes darting back and forth down the tunnel in both directions.


    <div>


    ¡°The spiders are looking for another way around and I can¡¯t collapse another tunnel,¡± Rakin said, moving to take the girl from Doug.


    <div>


    ¡°Torc save us,¡± Rakin said, ¡°I feel them coming.¡±


    <div>


    They ran down the tunnel, towards the door, and when they passed one of the branches they¡¯d not explored before, Kole caught a glimpse of three dog-sized spiders coming for them.


    <div>


    In an instant, the three spiders set back and then leapt for him.


    <div>


    Before they could reach him, however, Kole had already cast another Thunderwave, and without anything to hold onto, all three were thrown down the tunnel. Amara¡¯s rune light shone in a narrow beam down the tunnel, farther than Kole¡¯s could extend, and the spiders flew well beyond it¡¯s view.


    <div>


    ¡°Well if any are left, they know where to find us,¡± Kole shouted, to the others.


    <div>


    As if he¡¯d summoned, them, more spiders stepped out of the darkness. Doug sent an arrow down the tunnel. It landed on the ground, and vines sprung from it, growing to restrict the path.


    <div>


    ¡°That was my last one,¡± he said, showing an empty quiver.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    <div>


    ¡°Aya!¡± Amara shouted, throwing something down the tunnel.


    <div>


    ¡°Look away!¡± Kole warned everyone, even as he moved to cover his abused ears and squeezed his own eyes shut.


    <div>


    Even turning away, his lids lit up red at the flash behind him, and a bang echoed down the hall.


    <div>


    They didn¡¯t wait to see what the results were, and they ran, reaching the crag before the spiders came back into view. Zale went through first, switching Runt¡¯s position so her arms were draped around her shoulders. Rakin did the same with his passenger, but the girl¡¯s legs dragged behind him on the ground like a cape.


    <div>


    They all piled into the crag, squeezing in, but slowed by those in front with burdens.


    <div>


    While they still had halfway to go Rakin cursed.


    <div>


    ¡°Zale, go silent,¡± Kole whispered, and he activated his Fade.


    <div>


    Everyone stopped, and Kole closed his eyes, fully entering his vault with his mind as he visualized his group as being a part of himself. In his vault, he saw as power flew in through his bridge from the Illusion Font that dominated the view. The energy struck him, and then green tendrils of light flowed from him, out to the walls of his vault where it disappeared. While the sight was new, the sensation wasn¡¯t and Kole could feel as his power tried to dissuade the spiders from following the sounds that they heard.


    <div>


    Kole felt the drain increase rapidly, just as it did right before his friends broke free of the effect in their training. He pushed more of his focus into the spell but to no avail.


    <div>


    In the stretched time of his vault, he moved to construct a Thunderwave, but he knew even before he began that he lacked the Will.


    <div>


    Then, old instincts only very recently beginning to fade reared their head, and he left his vault, drawing on his sorcerous ability to appear before the Font of Illusions. His mind began to draw the power from the Font to turn himself invisible, but Kole fought against his own instincts.


    <div>


    He would not save himself if he couldn¡¯t save them all.


    <div>


    But still, the power called to him, and there had only ever been one shape his soul knew to mold it into. A single spell that was the whole of his sorcerous heritage. Desperately he tried to shape the power into something, but it slipped from his grasp the more he tried to hold it.


    <div>


    Until it didn¡¯t.


    <div>


    Just as his Fade was about to fail, with only a scrap of Will remaining, Kole felt something within him click. Something he hadn¡¯t felt since he¡¯d unlocked the ability to turn invisible all those years ago.


    <div>


    The power that had been slippery, now molded itself, seemingly of its own accord into a shape Kole couldn¡¯t comprehend.


    <div>


    Not sure what was about to happen, Kole¡¯s mind thought back to the collapsing tunnel, longing for the power to bring this narrow passage down on the spiders about to come down it. He felt the power drain from him, and in the darkness, nothing happened.


    <div>


    He waited, hearing only his own breathing, and that of his friends. Then, there was the rhythmic tapping of spider legs, far beyond, but then they stopped.


    <div>


    Tap. Tap tap. Tap tap tap tap.


    <div>


    And then they retreated, and there was once more only breathing.


    <div>


    Up ahead, he heard his friends moving. And he followed blindly, nearly crying out in joy as the tunnel began to glow with the light of the opening.


    <div>


    ¡°How did you collapse the tunnel?¡± Doug asked him as they entered the light.


    <div>


    ¡°I did?¡± Kole asked, not sure at all what he¡¯d done.


    <div>


    ¡°He didn¡¯t¡± Rakin said, surely. ¡°I woulda felt it.¡±


    <div>


    A splitting headache rocked Kole then, and he knew that he¡¯d exhausted his Will and he was still maintaining a spell, though he still didn¡¯t know what it was.


    <div>


    He took his last potion of clarity, and reveled in the sensation of restoring his Will.


    <div>


    ¡°Guys!¡± Zale shouted. ¡°The doors stuck!¡±


    <div>


    All eyes shot to Zale, where she stood in front of the door. She pulled with all her might, but the door wouldn¡¯t budge. The edges were still flickering unstably, but whatever strength Zale had used to open it before having left her in the battle.


    <div>


    ¡°Shhhhh!¡± Rakin hissed, commanding everyone to silence.


    <div>


    He crouched down, bending to place his ear on the ground.


    <div>


    ¡°There¡¯s something big coming,¡± he whispered.


    <div>


    Kole drew upon his Font once more, Willing the group huddled around the door to be ignored.


    <div>


    Immediately he felt his Will drain rapidly, as something was coming right for them with intent.


    <div>


    In panic, he sent his mind back to the Font of Illusions, and drew on whatever mysterious power had saved him before.


    <div>


    Not knowing what to do with it, Kole once more thought about the collapsing rocks of the tunnel as the power went through him. Through squinting eyes, Kole looked out the opening of the ledge. The bright sky seemed darker than it had a moment before, and there were strange faint lines all around it, as if he were looking through a semi-transparent image of some pattern his mind couldn¡¯t place.


    <div>


    Then, a segmented leg became silhouetted in the opening. Each segment of the leg was as long as Tigereye¡¯s leg, and then another came. And another, and another, followed by mandibles the size of Zale¡¯s swords, and a head covered in six eyes as large as Kole¡¯s head. The eyes took in the opening. Pausing to take it all in.


    <div>


    And then, it moved on. Its massive body completely blocking the light of the opening as it passed through.


    <div>


    As the silhouette of the spinneret disappeared below the edge, Kole sagged in relief, and everyone joined in.


    <div>


    They sat there for three minutes, no one risking a sound until Kole couldn¡¯t take it any longer. He stepped outside the strange brown overlay and turned to see that a giant pile of collapsed rocks stood where his friends and the door ought to have been.


    <div>


    ¡°Huh,¡± he said, not sure what else to say of it. ¡°That¡¯s neat.¡±


    <div>


    Kole, it seemed, had created an illusion.

 Chapter 113: Prophecy

    <div>


    [A picture of the same starry sky from the Font page, but with more colored lights randomly scattered on the planet.]


    <div>


    N is for the New Fonts, though they may be quite old, they range from the Wind to metals like Gold. We¡¯d discovered the Fonts created by gods, but compared to those these seem at odds.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    The illusion remained active for ten minutes before fading, the strand of control Kole had over it degrading until it fell apart in his mind.


    <div>


    They spent that ten minutes fruitlessly trying to pry open the door, as spiders came and went. There had been a noted loss of coordination among the spider hive, but this loss seemed directly tied to the size of the spider.


    <div>


    Smaller spiders roamed aimlessly, fighting each other if they got in the way, while the dog-sized spiders and up were still obviously searching for them.


    <div>


    In the first ten minutes, three hand-sized spiders¡ªthe smallest they seemed to come in and a particularly horrifying size on a visceral level for reasons Kole couldn¡¯t articulate¡ªroamed into the illusion, thinking it a pile of rocks they could build a web on. Each froze momentarily after failing to contact the expected rocks, and a quick boot stomp from the nearest hiding student was quick to end them.


    <div>


    Two larger spiders came in as well, crawling along the perimeter, searching for them, but not bothering to inspect the stone pile in the center of the opening.


    <div>


    When the first illusion failed, Kole recast it immediately and judged he would be able to cast it six times total, giving them an hour.


    <div>


    Why might they need any hour? Well, Zale was still unable to open the door to the Dahn. They all tried their hand at it, but no one could so much as make it budge. They even gathered the strong silk of the spiders, bundled it into a cord, and wrapped it around the door handle with everyone giving it a pull, but still, it held.


    <div>


    Three casting of what Kole had dubbed ¡°Silent Image¡± later, Zale was ready for another attempt.


    <div>


    She looked around at her friends before gripping the handle, braced her foot on the pillar of stone Rakin had pulled from the ground to provide some leverage after some of his Will had recovered, and heaved.


    <div>


    The door moved every so slightly, and the sound of frantic discussions filled the otherwise silent ledge.


    <div>


    A sound, that would quickly draw attention.


    <div>


    Kole ran up to the door and looked through the crack to see Tigereye, Lonin, Underbrook, Donglefore, and some other faculty Kole recognized by face but not by name.


    <div>


    ¡°Help us!¡± Kole shouted. ¡°The doors stuck!¡±


    <div>


    Kole grabbed the webbed cord that was still tied to the handle and began to pull, joining in the effort with Rakin and Doug who jumped to it.


    <div>


    They felt a deep thud as the bulk of one of the professors joined the effort, pushing. And, slowly but surely the door swung open.


    <div>


    As soon as it was open wide enough for a person to squeeze¡ªa non-Tigereye person that is¡ªRakin dove to the ground in front of the opening and raised the stone up to prevent it from swinging shut on them.


    <div>


    Zale kept the door in a death grip, sweat pouring down her face, and Kole moved to drag the unconscious mystery girl in through the doorway¡ªthough her identity was no longer unknown to them after sitting by her form for half an hour. Zale had recognized her as Shalin, the missing Space primal from their PREVENT class.


    <div>


    Once he had her in, Kole collapsed to the floor, exhausted.


    <div>


    ¡°Spiders!¡± came Zale¡¯s shout through the door.


    <div>


    While Tigereye couldn¡¯t fit out the opening, his arm could, and as soon as Rakin had dragged Runt within his reach, he pulled the girl into the Dahn as if she were a child. Amintha came next, and Tigereye pulled her in just as quickly.


    <div>


    Doug followed next, having to duck his antlered head at an odd angle to maneuver through the opening¡ªthough the motion had a well-practiced look to it. Rakin dove in next, and then Zale vanished into motes as a spider lunged into view.


    <div>


    ¡°Zale!¡± Kole shouted in alarm, thinking for a moment the spider had caused her to vanish somehow, even though he immediately knew the folly of the thought.


    <div>


    She reappeared a moment later in front of the door, just as the stone ledge holding it open gave way. The slamming door smacked her backside with a damped clang as it struck her armor, and sent her flying into the room to land atop of Kole.


    <div>


    ¡°Ow,¡± they both said in unison and then broke into a joint laughter.


    <div>


    As soon as the door had shut, it vanished. The handle was all that remained, and it kept it its momentum as it flew across the room to strike a neatly dressed woman in the leg.


    <div>


    ¡°Sorry Kelina,¡± Zale said from the ground, saying the name of her mother¡¯s personal assistant.


    <div>


    The woman gave a long suffered sigh.


    <div>


    ¡°Your mother has done worse, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re alright.¡±


    <div>


    Kole didn¡¯t think the woman sounded particularly glad. If he had to place a bet as to whether or not she¡¯d ever been glad about anything, he would have put his money on ¡®no.¡¯


    <div>


    It was then that the professor noticed the identity of the first girl to pass through.


    <div>


    ¡°Shalin?!¡± Tigereye said, ¡°Runt?!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Two Amaras?!¡± Professor Donglefore exclaimed.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s my sister Amintha,¡± Amara said triumphantly.


    <div>


    ¡°They need medical attention!¡± Zale shouted, her mind back on the matter at hand. ¡°Mage slayer spiders had them held like Hawktalon!¡±


    <div>


    Two of the watching crowd closed in and started to tend to the trio.


    <div>


    ¡°We must get them to the Glade,¡± the halfing male of the duo said. ¡°Assuine¡¯s power is weak here.¡±


    <div>


    Tigereye ran to a door on the wall and pulled it open to reveal a small closet. He pushed through the hanging clothes and the door beyond, to reveal a nondescript cabin.


    <div>


    ¡°This is in the Glade!¡± he said.


    <div>


    The halfling gave a disapproving look and ran through. Tigereye and others moved to help bring the injured students out and into the forest beyond the cabin.


    <div>


    Once they were all once more in the healing cabin in the Glade, Zale gave the professors a summary of their exploits, starting with their theory that the dungeon was connected to the incursion after learning the scalequines had continued to arrive while they were missing in the plains dungeon.


    <div>


    At this, Underbrook put his face in his palms and ran them down his face, ¡°Oh gods. I really should have noticed that.¡±


    <div>


    Grand Master Lonin shook his head disapprovingly at him.


    <div>


    Underbrook caught the gesture.


    <div>


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not just on me. I¡¯m pretty sure one of those reports you make me fill out had the details of the dungeons outlined in them,¡± he defended himself.


    <div>


    Then it was Lonin¡¯s turn to look embarrassed.


    <div>


    ¡°Ah, yes. Those,¡± he said. ¡°I may not have kept tabs on the progress of the PREVENT class as closely as I should have.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Zale said, feeling no shame in interrupting the teachers. ¡°Amara improved a tracker to find her sister.¡±


    <div>


    They recounted their failed attempts to find the door.


    <div>


    ¡°We think that incursions were occurring all over the Dahn, basically all the time,¡± Kole said, jumping in. ¡°Each time, a new path to Amintha opened up, and the tracker couldn¡¯t handle it. But not every path resulted in an incursion¡ªor at least, the Dahn dealt with most of them.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Explain,¡± Lonin said, jumping on the last statement,


    <div>


    Zale then explained the room with the soldier ants, and how they believed them to have been trapped inside until they starved¡ªate each other¡ªand then starved once more.


    <div>


    ¡°Then,¡± Zale continued. ¡°Kole realized the doors must have been opening to common locations, so we placed a stationary tracker there and waited.¡±


    <div>


    She went on to describe their mad dash from breakfast that morning and then provided details about the camp Kole hadn¡¯t realized she¡¯d even picked up on.


    <div>


    ¡°It sort of reminded me of the Midlian castrum camps,¡± Zale said, after detailing all she had seen to an interested Tigereye and a group of now very bored mages and artificers.


    <div>


    ¡°The rampart, the tent layout, even the side. It was almost exactly two thousand feet across.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Did you see any signs the ant people were creating these portals?¡± Lonin asked, bringing the topics back in line with what he judged most important.


    <div>


    ¡°I think these portals are appearing and congruences between the Material Realm and that strange place where we found the spiders,¡± Kole explained. ¡°Whether or not it¡¯s a natural effect or a deliberate one, I don¡¯t know, but these ant people are trying to use them. We had the ice people show up in a freezer. And the scalequines used up no campus.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What does a dormitory have to do with a field?¡± Underbrook asked.


    <div>


    ¡°That, I think, was the Dahn,¡± Kole said. ¡°We never saw where the door opened to when the ant people came out, but when we went through, it was just outside the camp. I think the Dahn opened the doorway for us, and put it somewhere close. It probably opened inside one of the barracks tents. A barracks is, after all, a lot like a dormitory.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°So,¡± Underbrook said heavily, ¡°An enemy is mobilizing around potential portal locations. The prophesy is true then.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Prophecy?!¡± Kole shouted.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh stop being dramatic,¡± Lonin chastised Underbrook. ¡°It was a warning from Chancellor Mason. ¡°When the first incursion occurred, and the adventurers were brought in. Zale¡¯s mother¡ªrather cryptically¡ªgave the staff a warning that a large-scale battle might occur in the city in the near future.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°That does sort of sound like prophecy, right?¡± Underbrook asked, turning to the students for support, where he found none.


    <div>


    ¡°Let¡¯s discuss this after we hear the whole story,¡± Lonin said.


    <div>


    Zale went on, explaining the raid of the road, and the gnolls raid on the caravan. Then, Kole described the transition point between what they thought was the dungeon and this other Realm.


    <div>


    He described the floating islands as best he could and the flaming orb within them. Then Zale took over again, describing the search, rescue, battle, and subsequent chase in a far more positive light than Kole felt the experience deserved.


    <div>


    ¡°You say the illusion fooled the spiders?¡± Underbrook asked Kole when he described his new spell.


    <div>


    Kole nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°Astounding! There must be some mental component to it since spiders do not rely heavily on sight.¡±


    <div>


    Finally, they reached the end of the tale, and the professors asked if there was anything else they thought important before they left to give them rest¡ªwith the promise that they¡¯d have to write down their recollections later on the magic paper.


    <div>


    ¡°I think I might have something,¡± Kole said before he could think better of it. ¡°I think I know why all this was happening¡ªthe spiders at least, not the ants.¡±


    <div>


    When he received only looks of interest and not the dismissal he expected, he continued.


    <div>


    ¡°I think the spiders were capturing primals for their connections to the Fonts. Each of the missing students was set up on some sort of bed with webs drawing Will from them. Amintha is from the Font of Understanding, and the spiders in that mountain seemed to act more like ants than arachnids. Shalin is a Spatial primal, and we saw the spiders teleport. Hawktawlon, and then Runt, are Bond primals, and¡ªI don¡¯t know¡ªmaybe that was the glue holding the whole thing together.¡±


    <div>


    Tigereye was nodding along at the explanation, and when he didn¡¯t dismiss Kole¡¯s theory at the mention of his own Font, he took that as¡ªif not confirmation¡ªproof it was plausible.


    <div>


    ¡°I think you might be right,¡± Lonin said, after he too looked to Tigereye and received a nod. ¡°But that is a topic for another day. We have much to deal with already. Before we go, do you have any questions for us?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Any news from my mother?¡± Zale asked, with some fear in her voice.


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Tigereye said simply.


    <div>


    ¡°But, I wouldn¡¯t be too worried about her¡± Underbrook jumped in to soften the words of his hulking friend. ¡°There is the prophecy and all.¡±


    <div>


    Grand Master Lonin sighed, and then said in a long-suffering tone, ¡°It is not a prophecy, but¡­ you are correct. I suspect she will be okay.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Why?!¡± Zale asked, desperate for any scrap of hope.


    <div>


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Lonin began, and then turned to the other staff, hoping for one of them to answer in his stead.


    <div>


    When no one did, Kelina stepped into the group, from where she¡¯d been standing on the side taking notes.


    <div>


    ¡°When your mother told everyone about this¡­ foretelling, she told the school to prepare for an attack but she said, I quote ¡®But don¡¯t try too hard. I have it on good authority that I¡¯ll arrive at the head of a mighty army and save the day.¡¯ End quotes.¡±


    <div>


    Kelina spoke in a precise and clipped manner, but when she quoted Zale¡¯s mother, she did an impeccable imitation of her cocky and flippant tone.


    <div>


    Zale smiled at that.


    <div>


    ¡°Well, that does sound like her,¡± Zale said, and visibly relaxed.


    <div>


    Kole resolved then and there to press Zale for details on this ¡®prophecy.¡¯


    <div>


    She must know something about it if that was enough to ease her worry over her mom.


    <div>


    ¡°Anything else?¡± Lonin asked.


    <div>


    ¡°So, I¡¯m guessing we missed our last finals,¡± Kole said, in equal parts jest and desperation.


    <div>


    The room grew silent, and then Underbrook spoke in an uncharacteristically serious tone, ¡°You¡¯ve been missing for five years.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°What?!¡± Kole and all his friends shouted in unison, just as Underbrook shouted ¡°Ouch!¡±


    <div>


    Tigereye had smacked the smaller professor on the side of the head, and from the sound of the impact, not gently.


    <div>


    ¡°Now is not the time,¡± Tigereye scolded him.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to lighten the mood,¡± Underbrook said. ¡°Finals were delayed, due to most of the staff having to partake in a search and rescue operation. So, good news! You get to compete tomorrow!¡±

 Chapter 114: Final Finals

    <div>


    Amintha, Runt, and Shalin didn¡¯t wake that night or the next morning by the time Kole¡¯s team had to leave for their final.


    <div>


    ¡°Got any of those magic berries?¡± Rakin asked Doug as he hobbled out of bed.


    <div>


    ¡°Those are rare and have a short shelf life,¡± Doug said. ¡°If they have any, they save them for life and death injuries. Not sore bottoms.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Why¡¯d I get one before?¡± Rakin asked.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Doug said with a shrug. ¡°They probably thought you were going to die.¡±


    <div>


    They gathered their gear, which was conveniently all in the room since their recent adventures, and hobbled towards campus.


    <div>


    All the students for PREVENT were gathered in the foyer in the Dahn, and they were the last to join. The room grew silent on their entry, and all eyes turned to them. The looks they got varied greatly. Some were irritated, while others were excited to see them. The larger portion seemed to be leaning toward irritation.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t think people are happy we delayed this,¡± Rakin stage whispered.


    <div>


    At that, most of the irritated people suddenly found the floor or wall to be very interesting.


    <div>


    Kole found Harold¡¯s face in the crowd, relief and anger warring on his face. Gray beside him shook his head disappointed, and pulled Harold back into their discussion.


    <div>


    ¡°Great, you¡¯re all here!¡± Underbrook¡¯s voice boomed. ¡°Line up! You¡¯ll each be escorted to a door, which will take you out into the wilderness. That is your goal. Spread around the forest, there is an undisclosed number of hardballs. Get as many as you can back to your starting location. Anything goes, but keep in mind, the world is watching.¡±


    <div>


    At the last sentence, an illusion appeared in the air above their heads, showing a vast pinewood forest.


    <div>


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Rakin asked. ¡°Stage fright?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Zale tried to reassure him. ¡°This will be good for you! It will be a chance to show off for prospective mentors.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s also a great way to embarrass ourselves in front of prospective mentors but that¡¯s not it,¡± Kole explained. ¡°I don¡¯t want to broadcast the details of my Illusion magic to the world. It¡¯s a lot less useful when people know what to look for. Fade already doesn¡¯t work on any of you.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Just use your rod then,¡± Zale suggested. ¡°Not to be dismissive, but that should be more than enough to deal with our classmates.¡±


    <div>


    Kole considered it. His Will capacity was double to triple that of the rest of his class, and the blasting rod Amara had made for him was something that would be beyond most of their means to buy¡ªhis own too. It paid to have a prodigy innovator rune smith friend sometimes. Amara had powered the repair rune for him that morning so he could conserve his Will for the hardball battle royale, and he could cast a Shield and Magic Missile now in a pinch.


    <div>


    Most of his other wizard peers could cast three to four spells by now and would be relying more heavily on their martial training. In their strategy discussions prior to their impromptu adventure, Zale had told them to expect the martial students to hold the front lines, while Blessings and magic were saved for critical moments.


    <div>


    Kole looked back up at the illusion above, realizing that he couldn¡¯t sense the magic in it as he could with the last few illusions he¡¯d seen cast.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    <div>


    Weird. He thought, but his mind was too occupied to dig into it.


    <div>


    Beside him, he saw Zale fiddle with his bracelet, and her complexion changed from stark white to olive tan, her hair changing from black to brown.


    <div>


    ¡°Why are you doing that?¡± Kole asked, suddenly brought out of his reflection. ¡°Is it because of something he said?¡±


    <div>


    Kole pointed in Harold¡¯s direction, noticing then that Doug was over there talking with Mouse before the event.


    <div>


    ¡°No!¡± Zale said quickly. ¡°Well, yes, but not for what you think¡ªor what I think you think.¡±


    <div>


    When Kole didn¡¯t answer, and Rakin gave her a disapproving glare, she continued.


    <div>


    ¡°I did what you said. Harold bailed on me again, and I pressed him for an explanation. Finally, he opened up and told me the truth. He¡¯s been canceling whenever I went out all voidy. I should have seen it¡ª¡°


    <div>


    ¡°It''s not yer fault he¡¯s a git!¡± Rakin interrupted, but Zale continued, ignoring him.


    <div>


    ¡°¡ªearlier. When I¡¯m like this, as you¡¯ve noticed, people can be rude. Well, we have a difference of opinion on how that rudeness should be handled. I think jerks should be ignored, Harold prefers to teach them lessons. We¡¯d talked about it, I thought it was settled, but he couldn¡¯t handle it. We broke up. He accepts that I want to be myself, but he can¡¯t hold back when he sees people being¡­ well, racist I guess.¡±


    <div>


    Kole had known Harold¡¯s side of it, and if he was being honest with himself, it was actually a really solid reason to justify his behavior. But now, hearing Zale talk about it with sympathy in her voice, he started to feel something about the situation other than the mix of anger and jealousy that usually dominated his emotions when on the topic.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s that got to do with now?¡± Rakin asked.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m doing it for Kole,¡± she said.


    <div>


    ¡°What!? Me? why?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Eyes of the world,¡± she said, imitating Underbrook tone. ¡°I don''t want to ruin your shot at a mentor."


    <div>


    With a smile, she gestured to herself and added, "And besides, my mother taught me to always use a burnable identity when operating on the public stage. There aren¡¯t a lot of quarter-elf half-voidlings running around who look as good as this.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Aye, that sounds like her.¡± Rakin agreed.


    <div>


    ¡°Through your doors!¡± Underbrook announced, putting an end to the conversation.


    <div>


    ¡°Thank you¡± Kole said to Zale when he caught her attention as they stood outside their door.


    <div>


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± she said with a big smile. ¡°But you¡¯ll have to make it up to me somehow.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I thought you just said you would have done it anyway. Your mom¡¯s thing and all that.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I did, but she told me to not give out for free what people are willing to pay for,¡± Zale said.


    <div>


    ¡°Yer mom was teaching ye to be a prostitute?¡± Rakin asked and then burst out into laughter.


    <div>


    Zale grew flush, and her eyes went wide.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh Waas, that can¡¯t be what she meant. Can it?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Definitely not,¡± Rakin said. ¡°Otherwise she woulda let Harold keep that door handle and charged him for it.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I told you! Nothing happened!¡± Zale shouted.


    <div>


    ¡°Guys!¡± Doug said, standing in the forest outside their door. ¡°We need to go!¡±


    <div>


    Adventure tends to find people at inconvenient times. That¡¯s one of the core tenets of PREVENT the professors had been trying to hammer home. Sometimes you have a month-long stint in an inn before an ice elemental attacks, and other times you fall from the frying pan and into the fire.


    <div>


    On one level, it made the final Kole was taking a better test, but on another more practical level, it was really inconvenient.


    <div>


    The first sign things weren¡¯t going to go well was the hobbled pace most of them walked with. The second sign was the blinding headache Kole had when he tried to cast Shield when an arrow came out of the woods.


    <div>


    ¡°Bo-ahh!¡± he shouted in pain.


    <div>


    The arrow struck him, and he vanished, reappearing in a room with two other students he recognized vaguely from class.


    <div>


    Though, that recollection came later, as he was writhing on the floor in pain.


    <div>


    ¡°Will poisoning,¡± Underbrook said sympathetically as he examined Kole.


    <div>


    The ongoing match was going on above him, but looking at anything caused his headache to get worse.


    <div>


    ¡°How many clarity potions did you use yesterday?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Two,¡± Kole answered, knowing that had been a risk.


    <div>


    ¡°Ah, well. That¡¯ll do it. Most people can handle twice their Will capacity, no problem, but no one your age should get off using triple scot-free.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°So¡­ does that mean I failed PREVENT?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    Underbrook let out a jovial laugh.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that. Your group still has a chance without you, but even if they don¡¯t, I think you¡¯ve all earned some extra credit.¡±


    <div>


    As they spoke, students kept appearing in the room as the magic of the hardball match whisked them to safety.


    <div>


    ¡°Crag-loving ditch weasel!¡± Rakin cursed as he appeared.


    <div>


    ¡°Extra credit you say?¡± Kole asked, thinking that they might need it.

 Chapter 115: Final Rankings

    <div>


    [A picture of the head of a female elf poking out of a thicket with a deer beside her.]


    <div>


    R is for rangers, Assuine¡¯s agents, they protect her woods and gather reagents. Some wield great power, while others small, but they all serve their goddess and give her their all.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    As with all competitive hardball matches, the PREVENT final hardball battle royale was heavily bet upon. The class rankings weren¡¯t publicized, but a few cheap bribes to confirm the accuracy of the information ensured that all the bookies had enough information to base odds on. The Ice Picks and Risen Dahn were favored to win, as both had ended the semester tied for first.


    <div>


    The Forsaken weren¡¯t third, but they still had decent odds. They had been tied for first before their disappearance, but the lack of information around that made people reluctant to give them the odds they probably deserved.


    <div>


    Their no-show status at the originally scheduled match and subsequent reappearance and admittance had the bookies split. Some moved the odds in their favor, while others zigged where they zagged.


    <div>


    In either case, it didn¡¯t matter. The Forsaken did not win. While Kole¡¯s Will poisoning saw him out early, Rakin didn¡¯t last much longer, his body not fully recovered from the night before, and he suffered a leg cramp. A leg cramp he valiantly fought through, but in the end he couldn¡¯t keep up and was taken out by a bolt of lightning.


    <div>


    Zale held her own for a while longer, but Zale too was exhausted. She ended up misting out of her armor to free her from the burden of it when she had to slow¡ªwithout losing the clothes this time¡ªbut that only bought her a little more time before she too fell.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    <div>


    Doug, well, Doug did great. He hadn¡¯t exerted himself as much as the others and the battle royale was in his ideal environment. He supported the team, keeping hidden in the undergrowth, parting the brambles to give covering fire before disappearing as effectively as Kole could only to reappear elsewhere.


    <div>


    When Zale fell, he vanished into the forest to hunt out a hardball. Asking a few birds, he found one ball hidden in a disgruntled robin¡¯s nest, and proceeded to evade capture until he could get it back to his door, and then destroyed it. Afterward, he hid, not exactly sure on the rules, and not wanting to risk the team getting eliminated.


    <div>


    So, with a single point, the Forsaken scored in the dead center of the class, or as dead center as you could in an even number of teams. They came in 11th, which was a respectable score but wouldn¡¯t have been enough to place them in the top of the class.


    <div>


    But then there was the ¡®extra credit.¡¯


    <div>


    ¡°I would like to congratulate the Ice Picks on their victory in hardball royale,¡± Underbrook said to the gathered students in the Griffin¡¯s Roost during the after-party. ¡°And, Tigereye would like to announce the top classes of the first semester of PREVENT!¡±


    <div>


    Underbrook sent illusory lights into the air again, and Kole still felt no connection to the Fonts through his casting, telling him he probably was still suffering from Will poisoning.


    <div>


    ¡°Just some boring fine print,¡± Underbrook said quickly. ¡°Rankings are not indications of whether or not you as an individual passed. Individual evaluations will be held at the end of the year.¡±


    <div>


    With none of the fanfare, flair, or flares of his associate, Tigereye read out a list, starting at the bottom. With each name, Kole expected to hear their own but it didn¡¯t come.


    <div>


    ¡°The Risen Dahn, third place,¡± Tigereye said, and the room grew silent with bated breath. One could even think Tigereye was adding a dramatic pause if they didn¡¯t know him.


    <div>


    ¡°The Ice Picks, second place.¡±


    <div>


    The tavern broke out into chaos, and it was only due to Tigereye¡¯s booming voice that anyone could hear the pronoucement of The Forsaken as the top team in the class.

 Chapter 116: To Amara

    <div>


    [A picture of a robbed man, with fire and lightning arching over his body shaped like serpentine dragons.]


    <div>


    W is for Wizard, the masters of magic, they have a history both storied and tragic. While now noble scholars who better our understanding they once ruled the Basin from Lake Side to Landing.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    ¡°Congratulations,¡± a deep voice came from behind Kole.


    <div>


    He turned to to see Hawktalon behind them, with a big smile.


    <div>


    ¡°I am glad¡ª¡° he began to say but then grew silent and his face grew as white as a sheet as he caught sight of Amara beside Kole.


    <div>


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Zale asked him, jumping forward to steady him.


    <div>


    ¡°H-h-h-er,¡± he stammered, extending a shaky finger at Amara.


    <div>


    Amara turned around, confused, looking to see who was behind her, and Rakin, Kole, and Doug did the same.


    <div>


    ¡°I saw her!¡± he shouted, crazed. His voice immediately drawing the attention of the room. ¡°I thought it was a nightmare! She worked with them!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Me?¡± Amara said, ¡°Are you with the crafting college?¡±


    <div>


    Something snapped, in Hawktalon, and Zale must have noticed it, and she pushed his shoulder ad hooked his ankle, sending him to the ground before he could do something rash.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    <div>


    ¡°Monsters!¡± Hawktalon shouted as he fell. ¡°She¡¯s working with the monsters!¡±


    <div>


    Hawktalon began to thrash, and Rakin and Harold jumped in to assist Zale in restraining him, but the Iron Vein tribesman was a match for all three.


    <div>


    Before he could break free, however, Tigereye arrived on the scene and drew upon his Font to Bond the boy to the tavern floor. Hawktalon continued to thrash, and the nails in the wood began to squeak as he began to sift them.


    <div>


    ¡°It was all her! It was all her idea!¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Calm yourself,¡± Tigereye said.


    <div>


    The two struggled, but eventually, Hawktalon regained his composure.


    <div>


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Amara whispered to her friends.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡ª¡° Zale began, but Kole interrupted her.


    <div>


    ¡°We need to check on Amintha!¡± Kole shouted


    <div>


    Zale looked at Kole, and nodded, then pulled a rod out of her red jacket. The handle of the Dahn door didn¡¯t seem like it should have been able to fit within, but Kole didn¡¯t have time to dwell on that. A black stone door appeared before them, and they ran through, into Zale¡¯s home, and out through the closet in the cabin in the Glade.


    <div>


    They burst out the door, and past the two dryad guards that now stood on either side.


    <div>


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill us!¡± Doug shouted, running behind to catch up.


    <div>


    Recognizing Doug, the dryads relaxed before they attacked the students. They ran through the Glade until reached the medical cabin. Inside they found Amintha¡¯s bed empty.


    <div>


    By the time Amara arrived¡ªfar after everyone else from her lack of endurance training¡ªZale was holding a sheet of paper, her hands trembling.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s for you,¡± Zale said, handing it over. ¡°I didn¡¯t read it.¡±


    <div>


    Amara took the note, and read it silently, and then tears began to roll down her cheeks.


    <div>


    Zale ran to comfort her, pulling her into a hug. Amara stiffened at first, but then crumpled into the embrace, dropping the note.


    <div>


    Kole picked the note up and read it.


    <div>


    Amara,


    <div>


    You ruined everything just like you ruined everything back home. Don¡¯t look for me.


    <div>


    Amintha


    <div>


    ¡°Oh danar,¡± Kole whispered, after he read it. ¡°This isn¡¯t good.¡±

 Chapter 117: Roommate

    <div>


    [A picture of a wooded glade where a dryad is relaxing against a tree as a bird nests on her head.]


    <div>


    T is for trees, so tall and mighty, they house the dryads and birds small and flighty. Some trees can talk, while others can rove, but they all find themselves home at the Grove.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    There was a brief flurry of chaos following Amintha¡¯s disappearance and the implications therein. Another search mission was executed across campus, and this time Kole got to witness it. The visiting adventurers scoured the campus, most heading into the Dahn to examine its far flung halls, but some explores the outer buildings which as Kole well knew by now were also connected to the central building through magical means.


    <div>


    Professor Dongeflore borrowed Amara¡¯s tracker¡ªwhich they¡¯d noticed had stopped working¡ªand tried to improve the design to get it working, but nothing he could do could get it tracking.


    <div>


    Divination magic was used on Amara, to try to find her sister, but that too produced no results. Kole¡¯s team made a half-hearted effort to join in the search, but once they were told not to by the staff, they quickly agreed to watch over Amara. They were exhausted, and while they¡¯d been riding high on the success of their second successful rescue¡ªpossibly third and forth if you counted possibly real girls and elemental foxes¡ªthe hardball match had shown them that they had met and exceeded their limits and needed rest. By then, even Doug was exhausted.


    <div>


    With the campus in chaos, they retreated to Zale¡¯s house, where they sat around playing a card game to distract Amara. She¡¯d never played before, but her analytical mind quickly picked it up and provided a good distraction.


    <div>


    Once Amara settled down, and Zale had run returned with a catering cart laden with food, Kole decided it was time to broach the elephant in the room.


    <div>


    ¡°Amara,¡± he said, waiting for her to look at him. ¡°I think your sister might have been working with the spiders.¡±


    <div>


    She fiddled with her cards, flicking them nervously for a moment before saying, ¡°I do too. It¡­ fits.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°How?¡± Doug asked, looking between the two.


    <div>


    ¡°The spider¡¯s behavior?¡± Kole asked more than said, looking to Amara for confirmation.


    <div>


    Amara nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°Even if the spiders could borrow the power of our Font, Understanding is shared through the desire to be understood. The spiders couldn¡¯t have learned to cooperate like an ant colony unless they had someone who knew how one functioned and wanted to teach them.¡±


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    <div>


    ¡°And the room,¡± Zale chimed in. ¡°She had a nice room, nice clothes.


    <div>


    ¡°But how?¡¯ Rakin asked. ¡°Hawk didn¡¯t go missing ¡®til after yer sister. How¡¯d she get the spider ta not eat her?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°She always wanted to get out of the hive back home,¡± Amara said, not really answering the question. ¡°She came here because it was the only excuse she could come up with to be allowed to leave. I expect she went pocking around in the depths of the library and stumbled on a door to the mage slayer. If she was caught and kept alive in a cocoon¡ª¡°Amara shuddered at the thought¡±¡ªeventually she could have reached through to the spider through our magic, especially if the spider was drawing the power from her.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Then why¡¯d they need Hawk?¡± Rakin asked.


    <div>


    When no one answered, Kole spoke.


    <div>


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe it made the connection stronger? There was that third captive, the dead one on the end. Maybe they were a Bond primal and it was needed the whole time? Or maybe it helped her spread the connection to the other spiders?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Nah,¡± Rakin, said. ¡°That was a stoneweaver. I¡¯d bet me beard on it. Those caves had been carved out with Earth magic¡ªproper Earth magic, not that weird stuff on the road and armor. Wherever those spiders were before that crazy place, they caught a dwarf.¡±


    <div>


    They talked about it some more and eventually moved on to lighter things, until one by one they went off to find a couch or bed to sleep on. There¡¯d been an unspoken agreement to not leave Amara alone that night.


    <div>


    Before going off to her own room, Zale did something, touching a small crystal on the wall, and while Kole couldn¡¯t exactly pinpoint what, the room somehow felt more dangerous.


    <div>


    She caught him watching.


    <div>


    ¡°Extra security,¡± she said. ¡°I expect the headmasters are going to enact some of their emergency powers over the Dahn and cast off as much of the extra-dimensional portions as possible. I expect only the library will remain, and that will have tightened security.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Kole said, happy to hear the school was going to do something, but not happy to learn it would be harder to sneak into his room.


    <div>


    While the Chancellor of the school had given him tacit agreement to stay there, he didn¡¯t think the librarians would take his word for it.


    <div>


    ¡°That¡¯s good, I suppose.¡±


    <div>


    He¡¯d been meaning to ask Zale something¡ªwell, lots of somethings, but this something was more relevant¡ªand being alone he went for it.


    <div>


    ¡°Why did that prophecy put you so at ease with your mom¡¯s situation?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    Zale stiffened, visibly clamming up as she contemplated what to say. In the end, she settled on saying little.


    <div>


    ¡°I can¡¯t say,¡± she said apologetically, but when she saw the disappointment on Kole¡¯s face, she hastened to add, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you! I do! Totally and completely!¡±


    <div>


    Kole felt a flutter in his chest and the earnestness in that statement, that pushed away the minor letdown of not receiving an answer he¡¯d fully not expected to get.


    <div>


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell anyone. I think in the whole world, only mom, Aunt Dagmar, Rakin and I know this. But I can say this. It¡¯s not a prophecy or anything like that, there have been times when my mom has been inexplicably right about things yet to come. She has a proven reliable source that has given her a heads-up a time or two. She wouldn¡¯t send that note with such confidence if that wasn¡¯t the case here.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Thanks, for trusting me,¡± Kole said, not sure what else to say.


    <div>


    Zale left then, to her own room, and Kole walked into a room he thought to be the privy, and found himself back in his own room as well.


    <div>


    ¡°Umm,¡± he said, looking back and forth from his bed to the room Zale had just left through. The door on the opposite side, which had once led to the library, was now gone.


    <div>


    Suddenly, Kole was very glad Zale¡¯s mother was missing, because he didn¡¯t want to have to explain this at all.

 Chapter 118: The Final

    <div>


    [A picture of a city build on a rocky island, below which you can see the outline of windings tunnels carved into the rock.]


    <div>


    U is for Understanding, a Font newly found, it was discovered when a ship struck solid ground. The people of Stonehaven have long since been primals, and their ant friends have covered their islands in tunnels.


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    The next morning, Kole had awkwardly explained that her bathroom disappeared, and his room had appeared in its place. Playing it safe, he¡¯d slept on a couch that night, but in the morning, his room was still there.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine,¡± she said, unconcerned. ¡°There¡¯s at least four more around her somewhere.¡±


    <div>


    Kole thought it odd that she both didn¡¯t care that the bathroom was now gone, and she didn¡¯t know exactly how many were in her home.


    <div>


    ¡°But,¡± she said, looking suddenly stricken. ¡°I don¡¯t think Mom is going to like this.¡±


    <div>


    While Kole had suspected as much, hearing Zale confirm it didn¡¯t help his nerves.


    <div>


    ¡°How sure are you that she¡¯s coming back?¡± Kole asked, only partially in jest.


    <div>


    The week that followed was both the dullest and most stressful of Kole¡¯s life.


    <div>


    Underbrook had told Kole he¡¯d have to take his final exam as soon as his Will poisoning faded. There was actually an official policy on the matter, the policy being zero tolerance. Students had used Will poisoning as an excuse to delay exams in the past, and the school had simply decided to draw a hard line. It was a rare enough occurrence that it only happened intentionally¡ªor to the exceedingly wealthy and careless who pulled out all the stops to cram for a final exam. In the later case, the school didn¡¯t have a lot of sympathy for the rich using their advantages to put themselves ahead.


    <div>


    Kole was stressed, because he knew he was going to fail, and bored because he couldn¡¯t for the life of him do anything about it. With Will poisoning, he couldn¡¯t access Will for anything. Even attempting to read a spellform gave him a splitting headache and resulted in him disrupting the intent in the spellform.


    <div>


    So, he read. He read about spellform construction theory, pathing techniques, and anything else he though might be helpful. His plan was to get ass prepared as he possibly could, so that the moment his ability to manipulate Will came back, he could crack out a new version of Thunderwave and then pass the test. He even spent almost all his coin to have a clarity potion at the ready to take before the test.


    <div>


    So, when Kole woke the next morning and was able to summon a cantrip light, he flopped right back down on his bed to get to work.


    <div>


    Sometime later, Zale was banging on his door.


    <div>


    ¡°Professor Underbrook is looking for you,¡± she called.


    <div>


    ¡°Flood,¡± he cursed.


    <div>


    He¡¯d failed. He wasn¡¯t close to completing this spell and had spent well over half his Will that morning in the desperate attempt.


    <div>


    Despondent, he rolled out of bed and drank the Will potion he bought. Not only was he going to fail, but now he had to waste that potion to even be able to cast two spells. His best hope now was that Underbrook would extend his leniency a little further.


    <div>


    Maybe if I cast Thunderwave twice, and then Shield he¡¯ll let me pass. He knows I can cast Magic Missile, Kole thought, but knew it wasn¡¯t likely.


    <div>


    He skipped breakfast, and lunch, and ran off to Professor Underbrook¡¯s office.


    <div>


    ¡°If it isn¡¯t my favorite student!¡± Professor Underbrook said when Kole knocked.


    <div>


    Kole was taken aback by the comment and resisted the urge to look behind him.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m your favorite student?¡± Kole asked.


    <div>


    ¡°No, but I thought I¡¯d flatter you,¡± Underbrook answered. ¡°You had to go and ruin it by asking though. But, I am interested in seeing that Silent Image spell of yours, and you are top of the list of most interesting students¡ªif you exclude my PREVENT groups. That Sleet Icecliff lived a fascinating life. You should get to know her.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Can we get this test over with?¡± Kole asked sullenly.


    <div>


    ¡°Hmm, I take it from the tone you didn¡¯t get that Thunderwave sorted out?¡±


    <div>


    Kole shook his head.


    <div>


    ¡°Well, let''s head to the spell range,¡± Underbrook said, extending a hand.


    <div>


    As soon as Kole touched his finger, Kole felt a pressure in his magical senses as Underbrook tried to bring him along in a Teleport.


    <div>


    Kole let the magic take him, and suddenly he was in a field.


    <div>


    ¡°Where are we?¡± Kole asked, having expected to appear elsewhere in the Dahn.


    <div>


    ¡°Welcome to the new spell range!¡± Professor Underbrook said with his typical flare, but his face was devoid of the emotion in his voice.


    <div>


    Sullenly he continued, ¡°We had to seal off the spell ranges in the Dahn. They were a high-risk area.¡±


    <div>


    Kole looked around and noticed there were dummies set up at regular intervals, and behind them, a group of students were casting spells at them under some temporary canopies.


    <div>


    ¡°Here¡¯s as good as any,¡± Underbrook said, gesturing around.


    <div>


    ¡°Cover your ears,¡± Kole said.


    <div>


    Underbrook cast a spell, and Kole felt him drawing on the Font of Sound.


    <div>


    Kole built the construct for Thunderwave in his mind, tracing the pattern he¡¯d painstakingly built, taking pains to ignore the half-constructed version next to it.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    <div>


    The spell went out, and the power came back in an instant. The crack rang out in the field and echoed off the trees a moment later, adding to the cacophony, of the young wizards around him.


    <div>


    ¡°Good job,¡± the professor said. ¡°Next?


    <div>


    Kole asked leaned down, picked up a rock, and then threw it straight up in the air.


    <div>


    ¡°Bo,¡± he said, lifting his hand to deflect the falling stone.


    <div>


    The rock struck the faintly visible barrier and fell to the ground beside Kole.


    <div>


    ¡°I appreciate the fare,¡± Underbrook said. ¡°But I could have fired a spell at you. What¡¯s next?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I know Magic Missile, but I¡¯m out of Will,¡± Kole explained. ¡°I could cast another Thunderwave. Could that count? You know I know Magic Missile. Or maybe Silent Image?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°You know sorcery doesn¡¯t count,¡± Underbrook admonished him, not swayed by the spell he had wanted to see.


    <div>


    Kole considered casting Invisibility. Unlike Silent Image, no one knew about it, so it could have been a wizard spell as far as they knew. But, they could find out easy enough by asking him to impart the spell structure into a gem, and what would he do then? And besides, he¡¯d had weekly meetings with Underbrook, he wouldn¡¯t buy it for a moment that he did this in secret.


    <div>


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just give Magic Missile a try?¡± Underbrook encouraged Kole.


    <div>


    ¡°Alright,¡± Kole said.


    <div>


    Kole built the spell in his mind, spending roughly a fourth of his remaining Will as he built the spell. For a regular wizard, this would have been the end of the demand on his Will, but for Kole, it took an extra effort to open his bridge to a gate. Will he didn¡¯t have.


    <div>


    In as sulkily of a manner as he could while still properly enunciating and imbuing the sound with Will, Kole said the words, ¡°Roh-ta-ko.¡±


    <div>


    Verbal components were tied to the gate part of the spell, and he moved his bridge as he spoke. The bridge resisted, as usual, but Kole poured all his Will into the bridge, up to the point he expected to fall short, but then he kept going, and the gate snapped into place.


    <div>


    Three bolts flew out if his hand, and into the dirt in front of him, as he¡¯d not even aimed, so low had his expectations been.


    <div>


    ¡°What!?¡± Kole said, shocked.


    <div>


    He looked at his hand, turning it before him as if it had the answer.


    <div>


    ¡°I thought that might work,¡± Underbrook said.


    <div>


    ¡°Why?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Will poisoning,¡± Underbrook said, ¡°It¡¯s not something we tell students, but usually those who suffer it usually end up with a bit more Will to spend after.


    <div>


    ¡°Why?¡± Kole asked again, like a small child.


    <div>


    ¡°We don¡¯t want to encourage the practice. Taking too many clarity potions can prove fatal, and prolonged Will poisoning can cause lasting harm.¡±


    <div>


    Kole¡¯s mind had immediately gone to doing the math of what a week cost him in study, and how quickly the extra Will would help him catch up.


    <div>


    I got at least 2 extra, and lost a week¡­


    <div>


    He settled on one week every 140 days would see him progressing his Will capacity while maintaining the same amount to use for study. Then he realized that Underbrook might have had a point.


    <div>


    ¡°Well, congratulations,¡± Underbrook said, shooting a magical light into the air that exploded into a burst of colors. ¡°You pass! Now go see Lonin, he wanted to talk to you before you got on with your break.¡±


    <div>


    Kole stood nervously outside Lonin¡¯s office, working up the nerve to knock. He¡¯d had to walk back from the spell range¡ªUnderbrook having not elected to give him a ride back¡ªand it had given him ample time to reflect on events.


    <div>


    He¡¯d done it. After a massive head start as a child only to crash into a wall, he was a proper wizard now. At the age of 16, he had the unheard-of Will capacity that had to be close to 50, the knowledge of how to learn new spells, and now that he¡¯d passed, the opportunity and time to learn them. Having three spells at his age was not the feat of a prodigy, only the gifted, but he was only getting started.


    <div>


    His dream to become an adventurer would happen¡ªso long as he could find a mentor. And then, he¡¯d start the search for his parents in earnest.


    <div>


    Mentor, He thought, looking at the door. Did he change his mind?


    <div>


    Before he could work up the courage to knock, the door opened.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you have a good reason to just stand outside my door, but I would prefer it if you came in,¡± Grand Master Lonin said, ushering Kole in toward a couch.


    <div>


    ¡°Sorry sir,¡± Kole said. ¡°I¡¯m just in a bit of a shock from the morning.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Ah yes, Peabody told me you passed with an increased capacity. Congratulations.¡±


    <div>


    Peabody?¡± Kole asked, not recognizing the name.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, I mean Professor Underbrook,¡± Lonin said, ¡°Don¡¯t let it slip you know his name. He¡¯s not fond of it.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine why,¡± Kole said, with a smile.


    <div>


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not because of why you¡¯re thinking,¡± Lonin said, ¡°It¡¯s a human name. His parents weren¡¯t the most educated and thought the name referred to a peapod. But let¡¯s forget I let that slip and get onto what brings you here.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Have you reconsidered taking me on as an apprentice?¡± Kole asked, not expecting to like the answer.


    <div>


    ¡°Have you reconsidered becoming an adventurer?¡± Professor Lonin asked back, with equally low expectations.


    <div>


    ¡°No,¡± Kole said firmly. ¡°I need to do this to help my parents. If I had failed¡­ well, I would have considered working with you, becoming fabulously wealthy, and then hiring an adventuring team someday but I didn¡¯t fail. And besides, recent events have suggested that I might actually have the knack for it.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I must say, you may just,¡± Lonin said. ¡°And that is why I asked you here. To extend an offer. I know that you passed the first semester, and I know that you¡¯d hoped that your showing in the PREVENT final might earn you the attention of a mentor. I¡¯d like to formally offer you an apprenticeship.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I know we failed pretty bitterly, but I think I still have a chance,¡± Kole said. ¡°Especially since I can now prove my case isn¡¯t hopeless.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°That you can, and I do expect you will be able to find someone to sponsor you, especially with what Tigereye and Underbrook have in mind to replace the dungeon, but I would like to make my case once more.


    <div>


    ¡°You may find a mentor who will teach you the ways of being an adventuring wizard, but you will not find one that will be able to offer much insight into your means of spell casting. No one uses traditional wizardry anymore, and while I don¡¯t personally delve into it, I am likely the leading expert in it due to the overlap of my own areas of focus.¡±


    <div>


    Professor Lonin¡¯s focus on spellform theory was tangentially related to traditional wizardry at best, and if he was the leading expert in the field, then Kole likely was on his own. But was he?¡±


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯ve met two wizards who studied the art,¡± Kole said, in a mix of protest and hope.


    <div>


    ¡°Ah yes, that Tallen fellow, but where is he?¡± Lonin asked.


    <div>


    ¡°He¡¯s a bit unreliable,¡± Kole said, realizing the same could be said about Theral.


    <div>


    ¡°Yes, well. I wanted to extend the offer now so we could spend the break catching you up on some of your fundamentals before switching your focus to theory from application.¡±


    <div>


    Kole considered it, really considered it. Could he? He could focus purely on wizardry. He could search for his parents, and then fund an expedition to save them. Or, he could take Lonin¡¯s offer, and switch tracks at some point later on.


    <div>


    But, he didn¡¯t want to do any of that. He thought back to the feeling he¡¯d had in the dungeon when he¡¯d saved people, and when they had helped that village of demonkin. He wanted more of that. He wanted to help people, not just his parents, but the world. His home only existed¡ªor at least existed free of mind control from an outsider horror¡ªbecause of the acts of adventurers. He wanted to do the same for others.


    <div>


    No, he couldn¡¯t take what was being offered¡ªeven in deceit. Professor Lonin had only been helpful to him, even if he kept his distance, and he wouldn¡¯t plan on betraying him either.


    <div>


    He would stay the course. Continue in PREVENT and hope to find a mentor. If he failed, then he would consider Lonin¡¯s offers. It¡¯s not like he¡¯d get expelled for washing out of one class.


    <div>


    ¡°I see you have made your mind up,¡± Lonin said, having been watching Kole through his introspection.


    <div>


    Kole nodded.


    <div>


    ¡°Thank you for the offer, really, but I have to decline. I need to try, and if I fail, I hope you won¡¯t take offense at being my plan B.¡±


    <div>


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Lonin said magnanimously. ¡°I wish you all the best, and only a tiny part of me hopes you fail.¡±


    <div>


    They shared a laugh, and Kole left the office of the headmaster of the school of wizardry feeling optimistic about his future.

 Chapter 119: White As Snow

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    [A picture of a landscape with a bright blue sky, over a field full of yellow flowers with the sun clear in the sky.]


    <div>


    Y is for yellow, while only a color, this author thinks it a one like no other. From daisies to rainbows to the sun in the sky, you will surely miss it if you must tell it goodbye.


    <div>


    -Sally Rider¡¯s ABCs of Magic


    <div>


    ¡ª


    <div>


    ¡°Three wheat makes a city!¡± Amara shouted, slamming a card down on the table. ¡°I win!¡±


    <div>


    The discovery of board games¡ªsomething not known on Stonehaven, but a regular staple of Kole¡¯s own childhood, had awoken a fierce competitiveness in the typically passive Amara. What had started with a card game the night of her sister¡¯s second disappearance had turned into an obsession and they¡¯d spent almost every night of their break thus far playing progressively more complicated games to keep Amara from falling into a state of despondency¡ªor more likely a tunnel vision marathon of invention culminating in some equally ingenious and horrifying device.


    <div>


    As Kole looked on at the triumphant Amara, and grumbling Rakin, he wasn¡¯t sure if this was better.


    <div>


    ¡°We¡¯ve created a monster,¡± Zale said, but she was smiling proudly at the monster she made.


    <div>


    Amara had quickly become dominate of the group, while Doug was still trying to get his head around the rules. ASide from Amara, Kole was consistently the second best, while Zale and Rakin each had the odd game they excelled at while being decent at the rest.


    <div>


    Rakin, however, was a very sore loser.


    <div>


    ¡°It¡¯s not fair!¡± he shouted, as the lights in Zale¡¯s home suddenly turned red, and a high pitched alarm sounded three times before going silent.


    <div>


    ¡°Intruder!¡± Zale shouted, running to her room to grab her weapon while Kole did the same, running to his own room which had been absorbed into Zale¡¯s home.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    <div>


    Kole came out with his blasting rod in hand to see Zale with a sword and shield and had supplied Doug a bow. Amara stood in the center of the three of them, her own blasting rod in one hand, shield device in the other.


    <div>


    ¡°Upstairs,¡± Doug whispered, pointing up, and Kole thought he might have heard light footsteps.


    <div>


    Then a shrill voice called out, growing clearer until he heard,


    <div>


    ¡°Snow princess, snow princess, must find the snow princess!¡±


    <div>


    Then, up above on the second level of the cylindrical library that made up Zale¡¯s home, a diminutive figure peered over the edge. It could best be described as a frozen kobold. Like, a kobold that had been constantly sprayed with water as it stood out in the chill wind of the north.


    <div>


    It continued its muttering, until it spotted them


    <div>


    ¡°White as snow!¡± it shouted, and leapt over the rail, clutching something in its clawed hand.


    <div>


    Kole, Doug, and an Amara who was becoming increasingly more proficient with her rod, all let loose on the felling monster


    <div>


    Zale pushed Amara out of the way, and Rakin and her stood on either side of its intended landing spot.


    <div>


    Rakin¡¯s eyes had grown red with fire when he¡¯d seen the creature, and as it landed with the sound of crushing ice.


    <div>


    Kole briefly thought he was smiling before Rakin¡¯s flaming fist crashed into its chest.


    <div>


    Everyone stared at Rakin then, weapons ready, Amara switched her rod out for an extinguisher rune device in case there was a repeat of their last ice encounter. But, the dwarf took a deep breath, and the fire guttered out.


    <div>


    ¡°I¡¯m okay,¡± he said, more of a growl than words as he fught against the anger.


    <div>


    ¡°White as snow,¡± the melting kobold said on the ground, holding up what they now saw was a charred scroll. ¡°Daughter of the Queen of Frost.¡±


    <div>


    And then it died, rapidly melting into a dirty puddle.


    <div>


    ¡°Mom?¡± Zale said snatching the note from the watery mess.


    <div>


    She undid the scroll, more black charred pieces crumbling away. Half the scroll was missing


    <div>


    Azalea,


    I¡¯m okay do not worry. I have discovered any enemy your uncle warned of from a


    travel is dumb. I¡¯m working to subvert their efforts, but you must prepare the school. This kobold is Flake, the least stupid


    He has details on the attack to come. Paper that won''


    o come by here but here is what I can share. Dagmar found me, she is here with


    realm and has been for 800 years.


    with an elemental army.


    to breach the membrane between realms. I cannot leave, I


    dded myself in the leadership of the ice people (the same Rakin battled) here while Dagmar is fomenting rebellion


    slaves.


    Love


    Mom


    <div>


    Zale read the note aloud¡ªwhat remained of it¡ªtears rolling down her face.

 Chapter 1: Puzzle

    Riloth 19th, 720 AF is a day all know by name if not by date. The Day of Heroes. While for most, it was a day like any other, others were not so lucky. Many like to mark the Day of Heroes as the beginning of the Last Dragon War, but that is not correct. It is more accurate to say that Illunia 15th, 720 AF was the real start of the war, as it was the day the Fel dragons coordinated an attack on the Hardune that nearly wiped them out. This is due to the surface-centric nature of most Waatin[1] scholars.


    [1] Waatin: Torcish for surface people.


    -Day the Heroes by Erol Vondermin


    <hr>


    "No! That doesn''t make any sense!" Amara yelled, snatching the piece of paper out of Doug''s hands.


    While everyone else in the Academy was celebrating Landing and the festivities leading up to it, Kole and his friends had spent the time cooped up in Zale''s home trying to piece together the marred fragments of the letter Zale''s mother had sent via the strange icy Kobold creature Rakin had melted.


    They''d all banded together, putting their minds to the task, but some had gotten way more into it than others.


    "Amara," Zale said in a disapproving tone for not the first time.


    "Sorry," Amara said, shamefaced.


    "And?" Zale asked expectantly.


    With the air of a child being forced to repeat something for the hundredth time--even though it hadn''t been more than twelve--Amara said, "''I appreciate your efforts, but I don''t think that''s correct.''"


    "What did he write?" Kole asked.


    "I don''t want to taint your minds by reading it out loud," Amara said, words that from anyone else might have been meant as an insult, but were from her simply a scathing assessment of the quality of work.


    Instead of coping in a healthy fashion with the revelation her sister was an evil spider-loving primal kidnapper, Amara had instead decided to become obsessive. And, she wasn¡¯t being too picky in the topics she¡¯d chosen to obsess over. Strategy games, mysteries about other realmly invaders, it didn¡¯t matter. If she could delve into a task with her mind to forget her worries, she would. She¡¯d even become fixated on finding a better method to gather crumbs.


    After Kole¡¯s room had been magically moved to adjoin Zale¡¯s, it had been suggested by Zale that everyone else move in as well. Amara had resisted, but when it had been made clear the suggestion hadn¡¯t in fact been a suggestion at all, she relented. And they¡¯d all quickly discovered she was a terrible roommate. Despite the seemingly chaotic layout of her workshop, she was very concerned with the cleanliness of the shared spaces.


    Apparently, it was very difficult to properly focus a colony of ants to get any work done when they found crumbs, and it took her weeks to get them to stop trying to forage.


    "Maybe we take a break?" Rakin suggested from the couch, where he was ''meditating'' on the idea.


    Personally, Kole thought the dwarf''s meditations looked a lot like a nap, but he wasn''t going to say anything if Zale wasn''t willing to. While the dwarf''s adopted mother Dagmar had been mentioned in the letter, his excitement over the mystery had only lasted a few days.


    "Let''s read the note again and see what comes to mind," Zale suggested instead, earning a groan from Rakin.


    "''Azalea, I¡¯m okay do not worry. Blank, an enemy your uncle warned of, blank, travel is dumb.'' That first blank has to be something along the lines of her having found an enemy, right?"


    Everyone nodded.


    "Something is dumb, but she calls things dumb all the time, so that''s not really going to narrow it down," she continued with more nods.


    "''I''m working to subvert their efforts, but you, blank."


    "We still think this is related to the ''prophecy,'' right?" Kole asked, receiving his own nods. "Then I think this is probably related to the imminent attack. She probably told us a day or something to prepare for."


    Kole sighed and then added, "If only it hadn''t been burned."


    Without opening his eyes, Rakin said from the couch, in his own tired and repeated tone, "I already said I was sorry. Next time I''ll let the ice monster kill ye all before I try to melt it."


    "''Blank, kobold is Flake, the least stupid of blank. He has details on the attack to come," Zale said. "so, she introduced her... minion."


    "If a kobold is the smartest she could find, I''d hate to see what else she has working for her," Rakin joked from the couch.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    "Maybe he was a genius kobold, and we''ll never know, because he melted," Kole said, and when Rakin didn''t react he added, "When you murdered him."


    "Bah," Rakin said, "I''m done talking about that."


    "''Paper is hard to, blank''" Zale continued. "So, she probably explained why the note was s short, and why she had to use a kobold to begin with. Any disagreement?"


    Shakes now, instead of nods.


    "''Dagmar found me, she is here with me--''" Zale continued, only to be interrupted by a half-hearted cheer and a lazy fist pump from Rakin.


    "''The Midlian empire--''" Zale read on, ignoring him.


    "Are a bunch of evil jerks?" Kole suggested, interrupting with a smile.


    "Yes, but probably not what she was saying," Zale replied.


    "It wouldn''t be out of character," Rakin observed.


    "It would be if paper was scarce and she was writing a message. Look at how cramped the writing is," Zale explained, holding the note up, showing the small cramped letting squeezed into the small piece of paper. "Mom would never waste space on a joke when she wasn''t even flourishing her letters."


    "''The Midlian empire--''" Zale read again, loudly continuing, "super long blank, coming back with an elemental army.


    "Oh, yeah. That''s probably connected despite the long blank," Rakin admitted.


    "Stop joking around!" Amara shouted, she''d been shouting a lot lately. "We already talked about this. The ice people mentioned an emperor. They are related to the empire."


    "Didn''t someone say something about the Midlian empire recently?" Kole said, trying to remember some mention at the edge of his brain. "Aside from the ice people."


    When no one could recall, Doug asked, "Why can''t we use magic to repair the note again?"


    "Identity Font based repair spells won''t repair text," Kole said, absent-mindedly as he tried to remember who had mentioned the Midlian Empire. "We''d need time-based repair spells and I don''t think anyone in the Academy knows any."


    Kole pulled out his spellbook, which was in reality an ensouled artifact, and starting thinking as he starting writing. The book had helped him recall class lectures with perfect memory, maybe he could get it to help him here.


    *The last time I heard about the Midlian Empire from my friends--prior to this week was


    Kole''s nib hovered over the page in anxious anticipation for only a moment, when the words came flooding into his mind.


    when Zale spoke about the legion structure of the soldier ants.


    "The soldier ants!" Kole shouted triumphantly.


    "Oh yeah," Zale said, rubbing her face. It was getting late, and they were all a little ragged. "I forgot. I know we are assuming this was all connected, but they aren''t elemental¡ªthey didn''t smell like elementals."


    "Actually," Rakin said from the couch, sitting up.


    Zale glared at him challengingly, but he raised his hands in surrender.


    "I''m being serious this time," he said and waited for Zale''s look to fade. "There was all the Earth magic around the ants. The weapons and the road were definitely made by using the Font of Earth."


    How could this be related? Kole wondered, trying to fit the pieces together. They¡¯d fought elemental people and strange hybrid creatures, but what did they have to do with one another?


    He thought through all the interactions, and an Idea began to form.


    ¡°Those ice people had a...¡± Kole began, but then paused to think of a charitable word, ¡°Low opinion on dwarves.¡±


    ¡°Not anymore they don¡¯t,¡± Rakin said, grinning at his past killing.


    ¡°I mean to say, the Midlian Empire was very structured, basically a caste system,¡± Kole said.


    They¡¯d researched the lost empire in the past week as part of trying to parse the letter. While the Midlian Empire had been known widely for its cruelty in the pursuit of knowledge, they were also awful in their treatment of non-humans, and anyone else they conquered They had conscript armies, but the human ones were at least trained and equipped. The non-human conscript armies were simply a means for the empire to dispose of their less desirables. The system was set up to breed enmity between the humans and non-humans of the conquered nations, eventually granting citizenship to some of the humans after enough service. Citizenship, though, had tiers to it as well, and the longer one¡¯s family had been a citizen, or the rank of the official that granted it played parts in their complicated caste system that pit the masses against each other.


    ¡°If those Ice elemental people were the elite of this empire remnant force, then maybe there are Earth elemental elites as well, and these soldier ants were their army.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense to me!¡± Amara said excitedly. ¡°Doug, you should have ideas more like¡ª¡±


    Zale gave her a look, and Amara put her hand over her mouth, realizing that maybe she wasn¡¯t being helpful.


    ¡°Moving on then,¡± Zale said. ¡°¡®Long blank, between realms. I cannot leave, I¡¯ve embe, blank, the same Rakin battled) here while Dagmar is blank, bellion amongst the dwarven slave.¡±


    ¡°Well, we think ¡®embe¡¯ is supposed to be ¡®embedded,¡¯¡± Zale said, repeating what they¡¯d settled before. ¡°So, that, and the mention of the people Rakin battled, AND the ice kobold minion, suggests strongly that my mother, the ¡®queen of ice¡¯ is trying to subvert the empire¡¯s goals in this other place.¡±


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin agreed with a mischievous smile. ¡±And me ma is a freedom fighter. That¡¯s so undwarfly of her.¡±


    Kole thought that phrasing was a bit odd, but didn¡¯t know enough about dwarven culture to be sure, so he kept his mouth shut.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s probably the gist of it,¡± Kole said, getting sounds of agreement. ¡°Should we, I don¡¯t know, tell an adult?¡±


    ¡°Probably,¡± Rakin said at the same moment Zale said, ¡°Definitely."


    As they walked towards the door that led back to the new headquarters of the Academy¡¯s defenses set up in the foyer of the Dahn, Kole turned to Amara.


    ¡°What did Doug say that was so bad?¡± he asked.


    ¡°He said, ¡®living in cities is dumb,¡± Amara said


    ¡°It is!¡± Doug shouted as he ducked his antlers under the door frame.

 Chapter 2: Parade

    The initial assault was meant to completely remove the Hardune, opening up their paths beneath Basin for the Forsaken to infiltrate deep into the interior. The Forsaken were nearly destroyed, but some few Hardune remained. The Forsaken had gained deeper access to Basin, but they¡¯d not snuck in unnoticed.


    -Day the Heroes by Erol Vondermin


    ---


    ¡°Hmmm,¡± Professor Underbrook hummed exaggeratedly as he reviewed the document Kole had handed him.


    The five students watched the diminutive professor intently as he read it.


    ¡°Hmmm, hmm, hmmm,¡± he hummed some more.


    Kole watched his eyes trace the short note where he¡¯d summarized their theories and saw as he looked it up and down, reading it multiple times.


    After what felt like an eternity¡ªnot helped by the ¡®hmming¡¯¡ªthe professor pocketed the note and looked at the group.


    ¡°Well, good job. It matches what we came up with ourselves,¡± he said.


    The congratulatory words deflated the students¡¯ excited mood.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t be like that,¡± Underbrook chided them. ¡°We¡¯ve been working at this too and have far more resources than you five. Why do you think we made you all recount your recollections after all your harebrained misadventures on magic paper? Do you think we just filed it away in your permanent record and forgot about it?¡±


    ¡°Sorta?¡± Rakin said, half joking.


    ¡°Nothing is new then?¡± Kole asked, not wanting to admit he¡¯d wasted the last week for no benefit.


    They¡¯d alerted the faculty to the ice kobolds incursion, and given a report when it had occurred. Kole knew the school had been at work in tandem with the students, but after their success in ¡®saving¡¯ Amintha the week before where the school had failed, he¡¯d fallen into the trap of thinking himself more capable than the combined might of the Academy of Illunia.


    ¡°Well, this bit about subservient races isn¡¯t something we considered,¡± Underbrook said after thinking for a moment. ¡°You might be onto something there. It would explain how the soldier ants tie into all the elemental nonsense. They may serve some earthen elemental masters.¡±


    Kole felt relieved that they¡¯d added something.


    ¡°Is there anything you can tell us about what you uncovered?¡± Amara asked, desperate for more information on the riddle.


    Underbrook looked over each shoulder, where other faculty and adventurers filled the room about their business, considering what to share¡ªand to see if anyone would hear him share it.


    ¡°We think the Midlian Empire is preparing to come back from wherever they are,¡± Underbrook said conspiratorially, holding one hand up to his mouth in an exaggerated gesture to shield his words from the nearest faculty. ¡°People theorized the Emperor had survived the Flood somehow. Too many of his powerful allies had all vanished without a trace when a little water shouldn¡¯t have been an issue for them. If that''s true, and this place you discovered through the dungeon is where they ran off to, then they are mobilizing to come back. We¡¯ve gotten reports in the last few days of incursions like those we¡¯ve seen, all over Kaltis. Strange new creatures are showing up seemingly out of nowhere. But, seemingly isn¡¯t actually. The locations roughly line up with known pocket realm congruencies. We think the Empire is using pocket realms as a bridge to come back.¡±


    The professor watched the students¡¯ reactions expectantly.


    ¡°Flood,¡± Rakin said in a curse after processing the words.


    ¡°Flood indeed,¡± Underbrook agreed.


    ¡°What are we doing about it?¡± Zale asked.


    Professor Underbrook shrugged.


    ¡°We¡¯ve informed the governments in Basin we are on speaking terms with. The Mayor of Edgewater is making preparations with our assistance, but we are just an academy. As an institution, we will not be the vanguard of this coming war¡ªno matter what your mother might think. Though, I suspect many of our alumni and faculty will be, in their capacities as adventurers and mercenaries.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t help?¡± Kole asked, surprised by what he knew of the Master Wizard.


    ¡°Oh, I never said that,¡± Underbrook said slyly. ¡°The school may not be the vanguard but it has a long history of working to coordinate the disparate efforts of the squabbling nations of Kaltis. I have access to magic teleporting doors. I won¡¯t be at the vanguard. I¡¯ll be wherever the fun¡¯s at.¡±


    Rakin looked around the room of people studying maps and books.


    ¡°And that''s here?¡± he asked, a very bushy eyebrow raised.


    Underbrook¡¯s grin faded slightly.


    ¡°Unfortunately no. There is yet no fun to be had, so I continue on in my duties as an attentive professor. But, speaking of fun, you five should go have some. Tomorrow is Landing¡¯s Eve. From the note and your combined complexions¡ªMiss Wood excluded¡ªtells me that the lot of you have been confined to a room this past week worrying over a note we had already deciphered,¡±


    Kole, who while not as into the whole endeavor as Amara, had thought the past week to have been quite enjoyable, was confused at first about the professor''s words.


    ¡°Fun?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Oh yes,¡± Underbrook said, smacking his forehead dramatically. ¡°You¡¯re from Illandrios, I suppose they don¡¯t celebrate Landing Day there. You have some whale poo festival right?¡±


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Yeah...¡± Kole said, not really wanting to defend the Festival of the Great Migration after recent barrel-related experiences.


    Zale¡¯s face lit up at the revelation that Kole was wholly unfamiliar with the festival.


    ¡°You¡¯ve never celebrated Landing Day?!¡± She asked but didn¡¯t wait for an answer. She grabbed his hand, and Rakin¡¯s beard and ran back through the door to her home. ¡°Let¡¯s go! We have so much to do!¡±


    Some time later the group was on the roof of the Griffin¡¯s Nest, watching a procession of costumed individuals and decorated wagons parading before them.


    ¡°Why are so many people dressed up as animals?¡° Kole asked as an actual bear walked past them on two legs, waving to the crowd.


    Kole strongly suspected that to be an Assuine Blessed, and not a real bear¡ªthough sapient bears were a thing.


    Zale answered while Kole went on a mental tangent trying to determine the difference between a person transformed into a bear and a bear granted intelligence.


    ¡°It¡¯s to celebrate the Basin and all its bounty,¡± Zale explained. ¡°The wagons are decorated as the ships that bore their ancestors to Landing.¡±


    Kole looked at the ships with a new eye. Very few of them were of the ship clan design he was most familiar with, but even to his untrained eye, he could tell nearly every ship came from a different nation. Some of the ¡°ships¡± were lifelike illusions passing by, while others were wagons decorated with painted cloth and everything in between. A good third of them were wooden miniatures with wheels mounted on the side, complete with sails.


    ¡°The nations of the world took to the sea when the Flood reached their homes, and they used whatever they could,¡± Zale continued. ¡°The coastal nations took to their fleets, but when the water reached the inland nations, they threw together anything they could get to float.¡±


    She pointed to a wagon that just looked like a box with a little house built on top of it.


    ¡°The floating city above your home probably started out as a giant lashed-together a series of barges from some landlocked nation that roamed the sea until the currents brought it to Basin. ¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Amara asked, pointing to what looked to be a tree molded into the rough approximation of a ship, though this one was made from painted fabric with bark glued to the side.


    ¡°That¡¯s a sea tree!¡± Doug said excitedly. ¡°Some of Assuine¡¯s Blessed worked to shape ancient trees into a form that could take to the seas. Some were even awakened!¡±


    ¡°What happened to them all?¡± Kole asked, surprised he¡¯d never heard of the living ship.


    ¡°Most returned to the land when they found Basin and lived in the Conclave, but a few preferred the life of the sea and are still out there.¡±


    As Doug spoke, a horn sounded in the distance and excited cheers broke out among the spectators.


    "What now?" Kole asked.


    "Now," Zale said, pausing dramatically. "The monsters come out."


    As if on cue, at Zale''s words the parade picked up its pace and the crowd began to cheer. Model ships and costumed people continued to pass for another few minutes until Kole started to hear howls and other strange cries.


    The last ship finally passed, one Kole recognized as a Ship Clan design, and right behind it came a mob of more costumed individuals, only these were dressed as the monsters of the wild. Feralkin, dire beasts, harpies, and more all followed the ''fleeing'' crowd, pretending to be just on their heels.


    While Kole was not familiar with the details of Landing Day and the events preceding the Flood, he was very familiar with the dangers of Basin, even now 700 years after its settlement. The wilds between city-states were still infested with monsters and dangerous animals, and back the place was only sparsely populated by orc tribes, he could see how it would have been much worse.


    ¡°That¡¯s why a lot of people decided to stay at sea,¡± Zale explained, for Kole¡¯s benefit, though he¡¯d guessed as much. ¡°After living on sea for 50 years, monster-infested land was a lot less appealing if you¡¯d grown used to the life.¡±


    Amara nodded.


    ¡°My home of Stone Haven was settled mostly after our ship had found Basin. Some of the ships chose to stay at sea, but many preferred the desolate island to the monster-infested Basin.¡±


    ¡°Desolate, giant ant-infested island,¡± Rakin corrected.


    ¡°Infested has such a negative connotation,¡± Kole said, in Amara¡¯s home¡¯s defense.


    He¡¯d grown accustomed to her smaller ants¡ªthough the thought of them now brought back memories of the horrible stench of the soldier ants.


    The parade ended as they spoke, with a large illusion of a red dragon bringing up the tail, symbolizing the greatest threat that was found on Kaltis after the Flood, the dragons that had succumbed to Faust¡¯s corruption through the Avatar. The illusion breathed fire into the sky, and Kole thought he could actually feel the heat from it along with the roar. At that realization, he felt the tinge of connection the magic had to the Arcane Realm, and realized it must be an illusion drawing of the Font of Illusions, not simply on the Font of Light.


    He closed his eyes, entering his mental vault, and sure enough he saw the intrusion of the mental aspected magic entering his vault to influence him. The library that his mental vault had manifested as was filled with a hazy cloud, and Kole focused, expending some of his Will to displace the Will in the space. His own Will was invisible to his eyes, and the cloud dissipated, and with it, he no longer felt the heat of the illusion¡¯s fire, though he still saw the dragon and heard its roar, as those were drawing on the Light and Sound aspects of the Font of Illusions, and not simulating an effect using Mind magic.


    They¡¯d covered Mind magic defenses lightly in his WIZ 102 class the semester before, but not in any great depth. Kole knew that if that had been an actual Mind attack, pushing the influence away would have been more difficult, and as untrained as he was, he¡¯d not likely have been able to defend against one, but it was nice to see a practical application to what he¡¯d learned.


    I should have Zale see if she can use that against Silent Image, he resolved.


    ¡°Can we go home now?¡± Rakin asked once the dragon had passed.


    ¡°Of course not!¡± Zale chastised him. ¡°We have to go to the boat race!¡±


    Rakin let out a groan but followed as Zale led them on.


    On the way, they¡¯d bought some street food from a vendor. Instinctively, Kole almost passed, but then he remembered himself and decided to indulge. After the events of the last semester, the school had offered Kole additional financial support in recognition of his deeds. They wouldn¡¯t go so far as to pay him, but they gave him a meal plan, offered him a free room in one of the off-campus dormitories, and told him he could get whatever school supplies he needed within reason from the faculty supply master¡ªeven spellform ink if he could prove the need for school work.


    Unfortunately, Kole had a free magic room provided by the Dahn itself, and with his magic spellbook, he no longer needed even the expensive paper and ink. He¡¯d tried to instead negotiate stipend but had been refused.


    ¡°We can¡¯t be seen paying students for reckless behavior,¡± Kelina¡ªZale¡¯s mother¡¯s assistant¡ªhad said. ¡°If people knew the why behind the assistance we are offering, there would be a rush of students in financial trouble going off to do stupid mischief.¡±


    Kole had asked then why Kelina had even offered this to him, and she sighed heavily before saying, ¡°Professor Shalia had left instructions to help in such a manner if you ended up doing something ¡®sufficiently stupid without dying.¡¯¡±


    Kole hadn¡¯t pressed after that but had just accepted the gift, grateful that Zale¡¯s mother had arranged for it. Only later did he begin to worry that she might have ulterior motives.


    Well, I guess it''s good that she missing, for now, Kole consoled himself.


    So, it was with that newfound financial security that Kole gladly handed over the copper coin for the hunk of mystery meat on a stick which he ate as they walked toward the river.

 Chapter 3: Sand

    The dragons¡¯ forces regrouped for a follow-up assault. And, on Riloth 19th, just over a month later all their plans met mostly failure. On this day, the few remaining Hardune members exhibited extraordinary success, with small groups of dwarves and gnomes defeating much larger groups of forsaken. Nearly all the Hardune outposts keeping the forsaken out of Basin were recaptured, the rest taken shortly after.


    - Day the Heroes by Erol Vondermin


    ---


    The five ate their food on a sandy beach on the river bank, as they watched groups of children fighting to build boats out of random assorted materials and tools they were provided. The children ranged from six years old to people Kole¡¯s own age, but age didn¡¯t necessarily correspond to performance.


    After he¡¯d finished eating, Rakin lay back down into the sand, closed his eyes, and spread his arms and legs wide, in a way that reminded Kole of the starfish that occasionally made their way through the dome of his home.


    ¡°Ahhh,¡± Rakin said, after taking a deep breath. ¡°I love sand.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to get sand all over my house!!¡± Zale yelled at him.


    She and everyone else were sitting on a blanket Zale had brought.


    Kole had noticed previously that Zale¡¯s home had noticeably been exempt from the magical force that seemed to keep everything else in the Dahn clean, but he¡¯d never asked why. If it had been like the rest of the magical building, Amara¡¯s recent crumb obsession would have likely fallen on something else.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± Rakin reassured her.


    As he spoke, the sand rippled around him under his control, as if it were only a thin layer of sand on a vibrating surface.


    ¡°Why is your house always dirty?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Zale asked, snapping her head in Kole¡¯s direction, ¡°My home is immaculate.¡± She said, and then quickly amended, ¡°¡ªoutside my room. Are you also concerned about the foraging behaviors of ants?¡±


    Kole, who¡¯d immediately regretted his choice of words, chose to collect his thoughts before uttering a defense. He was learning.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± he began, ¡°I misspoke. Why doesn¡¯t the magical cleaning force of the Dahn clean your house as well?¡±


    ¡±Forgiven,¡± Zale said, nodding approvingly at the apology.¡± My mom turned it off¡ªeverywhere but her rooms that is. She said children needed to learn to do chores so they can learn self-discipline. So I have to clean everything.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like your mom,¡± Kole said.


    Zale sighed.


    ¡°She was very much not herself when I was little. She¡¯s not great with little kids. She read a bunch of books on parenting when I was little to make sure I didn¡¯t grow up to be ¡®an entitled kobold.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Well, she must have figured it out at some point then,¡° Kole said. ¡°I would say you¡¯re probably not a kobold.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Zale said, smiling. ¡°She got some help from Dagmar, she¡¯s a great mom, but even the best moms can raise a Rakin.¡±


    Suddenly, a spray of sand flew over them, covering them everywhere in the coarse, rough irritating grains.


    They all jumped to their feet, yelling at Rakin.


    ¡°What was that for?¡± Doug demanded. ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what yer talking about, it musta been the wind,¡± Rakin said, still laying down, but unable to hide a smile.


    Eventually, Zale convinced Rakin to clean them off using his Earth magic, and they had a fun time watching children slowly sink beneath the river¡¯s surface, only to be rescued by sea folk waiting below. Zale explained that the boat race was supposed to be in remembrance of the chaos of the Flood as everyone struggled to build ships.


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    As Kole watched the children play and the spectators gawk, he didn¡¯t think very much solemn reflection on a global tragedy was going on.


    They spent the rest of the night walking around the city, receiving many strange looks whenever anyone noticed Zale¡¯s skin, but less than usual due to all the costumes. One person came up to Doug and complimented him on his deer costume before they noticed his tail and ran away at the realization he was a demonkin.


    ¡°It¡¯s always nice to have one¡¯s antlers complimented,¡± Doug had said when asked if he was upset.


    As the festivities began to wind down, the five headed back to campus and their temporarily shared living space.


    THUMP THUMP THUMP


    ¡°Wake up!¡± a muffled voice shouted through the door.


    Kole rolled over lazily and checked the time.


    5:00 AM


    What? he thought groggily before his wits returned to him.


    ¡°If this is another Landing tradition, I¡¯ll pass!¡± Kole yelled through the door.


    ¡°It¡¯s not! I promise!¡± Kole heard Zale¡¯s shouted reply.


    Kole got himself out of bed and trudged over to the door. He opened it to reveal Zale, dressed in her armor, and holding a sword.


    ¡°It¡¯s time we started training again!¡± she said cheerily.


    Kole let out a groan, and for the first time in the week since his room had been relocated, missed his old rat roommate.


    Zale went ¡®easy¡¯ on their training that day, or so she claimed. They began with an ¡®easy¡¯ two-mile run around the training yard, before they went on a trek through the forest wearing backpacks full of rocks, and finished it up with some ¡®light¡¯ sparring.


    Kole had decided that Zale might be a little out of touch with the state of a normal person¡¯s physical limits. Either that or Kole was really out of shape.


    ¡°So,¡± Zale said over breakfast. ¡°Today there¡¯s the Landing¡¯s Eve dance festival, and the Landing¡¯s Eve nature walk, and then the lantern lighting.¡±


    ¡°Is it a participating dance, or a watching dance?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Participating!¡± Zale said, misreading the intent of Kole¡¯s inquiry.


    ¡°I... think I am going to pass,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°What? Why?¡±


    ¡°Oh good, I didn¡¯t want to go either. I¡¯m out too,¡± Rakin said.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re not,¡± Zale said, turning to Rakin. ¡°Kole? Why?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m exhausted,¡± Kole said, realizing that Doug and Rakin didn¡¯t seem to be. ¡°How about I go to the other stuff? The nature walk. No, the lantern thing.¡±


    Zale bit the inside of her cheek a little disappointed, but then took in Kole¡¯s condition.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she conceded. ¡°But don¡¯t be late for the lantern festival. We¡¯ll do it on the Griffin¡¯s Roost¡¯s roof. Be there at seven.¡±


    Kole found that he had more energy than he thought when he began walking back to his room to renew his studies. He reflected that maybe he could push himself further in training if he focused better on the goal of it all.


    He was eager to get back to his room so that he could finalize his work on Thunderwave. In hindsight, at the end of the semester, he hadn¡¯t been as close to his breakthrough of a 10 Will version of the spell as he¡¯d hoped and expected. In between their games and deciphering over the last week, Kole had made time to continue his work. In the end, it needed another week of work, and if it hadn¡¯t been for the surprise increase in his Will capacity as an after-effect of the Will poisoning, he wouldn''t have had any hope of passing WIZ 102


    So, with this in mind, Kole returned to his room and got to pathing the spell.


    Eleven hours later, Kole had it¡ªor at least he thought he did. He¡¯d long ago decided that it wouldn¡¯t be wise to test spells out in his room in the Dahn. He ran out of his room, into Zale¡¯s home, and then out through the door to the foyer of the Dahn, which on the eve of Landing Day, was deserted as everyone was preparing for the lantern show with their families.


    For the first time in a while, Kole thought of his uncle, and a pang of regret went through him. He¡¯d always meant to write him, but something always seemed to get in the way.


    Well... studying got in the way, he admitted to himself, vowing to write to him that night.


    He was halfway through the green of campus when the bell rang for seven


    Flood, he cursed internally and then changed his direction.


    While he knew he¡¯d been running late to see Zale, he hadn¡¯t thought he¡¯d been that late, and he¡¯d been planning to stop by the spell range for just a quick moment.


    As he turned toward the Roost, he took in the deserted campus.


    ¡°Hmmm.¡±


    Before he could second guess his poor choices, Kole traced the new spell template in his mind and sent it into the Arcane Realm.


    The power came through him immediately, and a loud crack echoed off the buildings and trees around him as thunder roared, through all the loose grass clipping up into the air.


    ¡°What are you doing!?¡± a male voice shouted.


    Kole spun around to see two armed adventurers running at him with weapons raised.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± Kole shouted, hands held in the air. ¡°I was just testing a spell.¡±


    The two men stopped and shook their heads in frustration.


    ¡°Wizards,¡± the man said under his breath. ¡°Don¡¯t cast spells on campus! You know we are on high alert, right?¡±


    Oh yeah... Kole said, realizing belatedly that the deserted campus was probably not as empty as it appeared

 Chapter 4: Lanterns

    The Hardune were not the only people to shine on Riloth 19th. Many of the heroes of the Last Dragon War made their debut on the world stage, and many more folk tales were born.


    Cork the Many is a pack rat, blessed with intelligence by his Assuine Blessed mother. Through his efforts, he saved a the Village of Eval and in doing so stopped the summoning of a major demon.


    -Day the Heroes by Erol Vondermin


    ---


    ¡°I told ya he''d be late,¡± Rakin said smugly as Kole burst through the door onto the roof.


    ¡°You say that like any of us didn''t believe you,¡± Zale said, waving to Kole.


    ¡°I learned a new spell!¡± Kole proclaimed proudly. ¡°Thunderwave for 10 Will!¡±


    Kole decided it would be best if he left it there. There was no need to mention his ill-advised test and the adventurers.


    ¡°Of course he did,¡± Rakin said, rather unimpressed.


    ¡°That''s great!¡± Zale said at the same time, genuinely happy for him. ¡°That¡¯s going to be useful in whatever replaces the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Any news on that?¡± Kole asked, receiving a shrug in reply.


    ¡°You know Tigereye isn¡¯t going to tell me and give me an unfair advantage.¡±


    While Tigereye was Zale¡¯ mentor for the adventuring track, honesty in fairness and in competition were not just important to him but central tenets of his worship of the demigod Ganik.


    Kole finally took in the roof and noticed their group was far from the only one present on top of the tavern that served adventurers. While there were a few people there their own ages they were all accompanied by some adventurer or another, while Kole¡¯s group was the only group of non-adventurers.


    Each group had their own paper lanterns of drastically different designs. While the ones Zale had gotten for the group were simply rectangles with a candle within, the variety Kole saw suggested that designing your own lantern was a major part of the holiday.


    Kole recognized the plain ones Zale had as the basic ones on sale at some of the street stalls they¡¯d walked past on their travels that day.


    The nearest adventuring group had lanterns that looked to be giant origami birds with no provision Kole could see for a candle, while another group had what appeared to be a perfect glass sphere two feet wide. Others existed somewhere in between those extremes and Kole¡¯s, the majority simply being painted versions of the standard design.


    ¡°So what do we do?¡± Kole asked Zale, taking his own.


    ¡°Can we design our own next year?¡± Amara asked, speaking over Kole and marveling at one paper lantern that had no candle provision but was covered in runes.


    Zale nodded.


    ¡°Yeah. I usually do, but it slipped my mind this year,¡± she explained. ¡°And now, we wait for the fire to be lit in that tower, and then we all light our own.¡±


    The lantern lighting was meant to symbolize the efforts made by the early discoverers of Basin to spread its location to those still trapped at sea. In a great gesture of commonality and goodwill towards all, most of those who discovered Basin unloaded those who wished to return to land and took evidence of its bounty out to sea to show others the way to dry land. In the decades of flooding, all old allegiances had fallen away, buried under the seas with the borders that defined them. Aside from those that resorted to piracy, the world had become a more peaceful place as ships worked together to survive.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Doug?¡± Kole asked, looking around until he spotted the boy¡¯s antlers in the corner of the roof.


    ¡°He¡¯s with Mouse,¡± Rakin said derisively


    ¡°Stop that,¡± Zale said, swatting his head, ¡°I know you have your issues with Harold, Gray, and Esme, but Mouse is a perfectly lovely girl.¡±


    While generally gentle and kind¡ªoutside of battle at least¡ªKole noticed that Zale often went out of her way to swat at her pseudo-cousin.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Rakin said with a sigh, ¡°There¡¯s just something odd about her.¡±


    Zale went to speak, but then stopped and looked over to the pair, and then shrugged.


    ¡°Be that as it may, she doesn¡¯t deserve your attitude,¡± Zale said, conceding the point.


    Kole hadn¡¯t interacted much with the girl, but she did seem excessively, well, mousey.


    Kole spent some time looking over the other lanterns and looking around the rooftops around them. The lanterns on the other rooftops also varied greatly in design, but while the lanterns atop the Griffin¡¯s Roost employed a large degree of magical construction, those on other rooftops appeared to be more mundane.


    The rooftop across the way from them rose a few stories taller, and all the lanterns appeared to be larger and richly painted with scenes Kole took to represent the bounty of Basin.


    He examined the lanterns closely, and then the people holding them. His eyes grew wide as he recognized a face¡ªone he¡¯d expected to never see again, before he spotted a second familiar and equally unexpected stop up beside the first.


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    ¡°Corbyn?¡± Kole said aloud, dumbfounded, before turning invisible out of pure instinct, not caring about revealing the ability.


    Oh, Flood! He cursed internally at the sight of the boy and his father beside him. OH FLOOD! he cursed again, looking around to see if anyone noticed his disappearance A quick glance revealed that no one was paying attention to him, but he ran behind a hanging cloth divider set up to give some semblance of rooms on the roof before turning visible.


    ¡°What are ye doing?" Rakin said, walking around the covering with Zale and Amara following.


    ¡°Corbyn Oldhill and his father are across the street,¡± Kole whispered.


    ¡°Who? And why are ye whispering? They some sort of Sound primals or something?¡±


    ¡°Umm, good point,¡± Kole said in a normal tone. ¡°No, they aren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the bully right?¡± Zale asked, the one whose father paid for your living expenses and then took all your stuff?¡±


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Why do you think he¡¯s here?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. To enroll? To experience the holiday? To find me?¡±


    ¡°Ye think yerself that important do ya?¡± Rakin said, smirking.


    ¡°Yes, well no.¡± Kole began.


    He grasped the ensouled locket of his mothers he wore under his shirt.


    ¡°But this might be if it''s what they are after.¡±


    ¡°How do they know you¡¯re alive?¡± Amara asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Kole asked, confused.


    ¡°Well, when you disappeared, the school sent a letter home telling your family you had died. Based on the letter from Meech, they probably found out.¡±


    ¡°My family thinks I¡¯m dead!?¡± Kole asked, suddenly really regretting neglecting to write to his uncle.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡± Amara asked, puzzled, but then paled as it dawned on her. ¡°Oh... did I not mention that? Umm, I think Kelina had told me to tell you to write to your family, but... I might have forgotten.¡±


    Kole rubbed his face with both hands and held back saying something that might upset Amara. She¡¯d gone through a lot of late, and even aside from that she wasn¡¯t the best at executive functioning.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll write to him tomorrow. He can¡¯t think I¡¯m any deader, right?¡±


    Rakin laughed, and Amara took the joke as a sign she wasn¡¯t in trouble, though Kole could tell she didn¡¯t understand the humor from her expression.


    Actually, I don''t see why it''s funny either, Kole realized and experienced another pang of guilt.


    ¡°So, they think you¡¯re dead?¡± Zale said, more a question than a statement. ¡°Then they probably are looking for the amulet. I¡¯ll check with Kelina when she¡¯s back from her holiday and see if they asked after you.¡±


    ¡°Do you think she, or the school, would have told them I was alive?¡± Kole asked, not having even considered the possibility before Zale''s comment.


    ¡°Definitely not. Mother has strong opinions on privacy she ensures the school follows,¡± Zale assured him.


    ¡°That seems out of character,¡± Kole pointed out, though he was relieved.


    Zale gave a slightly pained smile and played with her hair.


    ¡°Well, sort of. She doesn''t respect anyone''s privacy, but she''s a firm believer that everyone else should respect each other''s privacy. I''m fairly certain she runs a planet-wide network of spies and informants, but she''s never admitted to it.¡±


    ¡°Why the ¡®strong opinion¡¯ then?¡± Kole asked, learning even more things about Zale''s mother that both terrified him and made him a little relieved she was missing in another realm¡ªhopefully applying her decades of experience in spying and subterfuge subverting an enemy invasion and not tormenting her daughter¡¯s potential suitors.


    ¡°¡®It''s bad for business,¡¯¡± Zale said, mimicking her mother''s cocky smile and manner of speaking perfectly.


    Around them, the groups began to move around and handle their lanterns. Kole turned to the tower to see a light lit and saw as it slowly began to float into the sky.


    Zale passed out their lanterns and Rakin followed her, lighting each with a poke of his burning finger.


    All over the city that he could see lights began to flicker to life, first sporadically but then quickly every rooftop and window he could see was aglow with lights of all colors.


    A few rose rapidly up into the sky, powered by something more than a mere candle, but they were followed by a rising tide of light and soon covered the sky.


    Everyone watched in silence as the sky was lit ablaze. It reminded Kole of the time his parents had woken him in the night to see the migration of the glowing jellyfish as they passed over his dome.


    He''d not thought about that night in years, and the memory brought a tear to his eye. He looked around quickly, wiping the tear away, hoping that no one saw, only for his eyes to meet a similarly misty-eyed Zale.


    She stepped closer and placed an arm around him, and they stood there together in their grief, watching as the lanterns slowly disappeared into the interior of Basin.


    He felt the sudden urge to say something to Zale to reassure her that her terrifying mother would be okay, but no words came. Instead, he stood there, content in the knowledge that he was no longer alone, and knew that Zale felt the same.


    He heard a quiet sob behind him and saw Amara too was crying¡ªa common occurrence this last week that had started to wane. Zale reached out to her and offered her a hand as well, but Amara shook her head, forcing a smile of gratitude even as she stepped away from the touch.


    Gus climbed up from behind her onto her shoulder, and they turned back to the sky, each remembering something of their past.


    They all returned home after the lanterns had disappeared over the horizon. Some magic had been spun to pull the lights away from the city, and Kole assumed¡ªwell, hoped¡ªthat someone out there was going to ensure they didn¡¯t set the ground on fire. Having grown up underwater, the idea of a wildfire was completely unknown to him, but he was intelligent, and saw the potential dangers.


    By the time they got home, it was very late. Kole was weighing his options on what bit of magic he should work on next when Zale gave him a disapproving look.


    ¡°What?¡± he asked, turning around to make sure she was looking at him.


    ¡°You aren''t planning on studying tonight are you?"


    As that was exactly what he¡¯d been planning, and he sensed that it would be unwise to admit as much, he lied.


    ¡°No?¡±


    He lied poorly that is, stating it more as a question than an answer.


    Zale raised an eyebrow, and Kole repeated more firmly.


    ¡°No,¡± this time, probably not lying.


    ¡°Good,¡° she said with a mischievous smile. ¡°We have a lot to do tomorrow, and it starts early.¡±


    Zale walked into her room, and as Kole walked to his own, his mind raced over what could be in store for him.


    Training? Holiday stuff? Special holiday training?


    He checked the time and saw it was almost midnight, and decided maybe it would be best if his second ¡®no¡¯ hadn¡¯t been a lie.

 Chapter 5: First Landing

    The Phantom Nesni, a thief with a strange array of gifts, and a stranger outlook on life, saved King Kalin from an assassination attempt by Forsaken forces. Single-handedly thwarting a massive covert infiltration of the king''s match-making ball.


    -Day the Heroes by Erol Vondermin


    <hr>


    Kole woke to the repeated ringing of a bell. A rare but familiar sound from his home, indicating a fire and calling all nearby wizards and sorcerers to aid in the fighting of the flames. It was ironic that, while surrounded by water, fires remained a huge threat. The nature of the dome was such that no water could pass through it in either direction unless certain preparations were made. This meant that the city was very dry, and very prone to fires. Fortunately, any trained wizard could make short work of a mundane fire, and Illandrios was full of those.


    Fire! Kole thought, jumping out of bed.


    He ran to his desk, grabbed his spellbook, and ran through the door out into the common area of Zale¡¯s home.


    ¡°Fi¡ª¡± he shouted as he saw Zale ringing a large handbell.


    ¡°Land ho!¡± she shouted.


    ¡°Yer,¡± Kole finished weakly, stopping his mad dash.


    ¡°Bah!¡± Rakin shouted, walking in. ¡°It''s too early for that!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s seven!¡± Zale said, pointing to a clock. ¡°I know you get up before now.¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± Rakin said. ¡°And I spend the morning meditating so I don¡¯t burn ye all to death when ye get on my nerves doing stupid shite like ringing giant bells inside the house!¡±


    Zale¡¯s righteous posture melted a bit at Rakin¡¯s legitimate excuse.


    ¡°Oh, sorry, but... now that you¡¯re down it''s fine, right?¡±


    Rakin looked like he was going to say something, but then chose against it, saying instead.


    ¡°I think I can manage not killing ye all for a day, but don¡¯t make a habit of this or I¡¯m moving back into my monk¡¯s cell.¡±


    Kole had seen Rakin¡¯s room in the martial college residences for students of monastic orders, and to call him an ascetic was generous. All the rooms around his at least had sleeping pads, but Rakin had discarded his, preferring instead to sleep on the bare stone.


    Though Kole did admit, that was probably more comfortable for the Earth primal than any flimsy sleeping pad would be. He¡¯d seen Rakin lie on the ground, only to stand up to reveal a depression contoured to his back.


    All that was to say, that the threat to leave really showed how much the dwarf valued his alone time if he was willing to leave the comparative luxury of Zale¡¯s home, complete with indoor plumbing and magic lights for a barren stone room with a chamber pot.


    ¡°Great!¡± Zale said, inflated once more on holiday spirit. ¡°First, we¡¯ll do gifts, then breakfast, and then a nature walk, followed by an early dinner...¡±


    Kole zoned out as Zale described all the things she had in store for them, and looked back longingly at his room. But, the words caught up to him.


    ¡°Presents?!¡± He asked interrupting. ¡°I didn''t get anyone anything. Was I supposed to?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine,¡± Zale assured him. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯d know. I bought something for everyone and then a little something for myself.¡±


    Relief spread through him, but that was quickly followed by guilt as Zale came out with some boxes and cloth pouches.


    ¡°Rakin first!¡± Zale said, handing him a wooden box.


    ¡°Yay,¡± Rakin said in the tone unfitting the word, taking the box,


    He opened it up to reveal a straight razor.


    ¡°It¡¯s for your head,¡± she said quickly, ¡°not your beard.¡±


    Rakin¡¯s beard was trimmed short, and neatly trimmed, something Kole had never seen on another dwarf.. His hair was also trimmed very short, kept so by some sort of sheers.


    The dwarf relaxed slightly at that.


    ¡°You always trim it, but I thought you¡¯d want to give shaving it a chance again, ¡± Zale explained.


    Rakin looked thoughtfully from the gift and back to Zale before saying, ¡°Thanks" in what Kole thought was sincerity.


    ¡°Why is your beard short?¡± Amara asked with no tact. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, but was told it would be rude, but since Zale just brought it up it''s okay right?¡±


    Kole cringed inwardly and hoped Rakin had been mostly joking about the murder thing.


    Instead of blowing up, Rakin sighed.


    ¡°It is rude to ask,¡± he said. ¡±But I¡¯ll tell ye anyway since I know ye don¡¯t mean to be rude. The short beard is a concession. Me order requires their members shave their head and beard, and well, everywhere else. I can¡¯t shave me beard, and I refused to do any of it. But, I found there was a reason to their requirements. Hair made channeling one¡¯s Ki difficult for deeply technical reasons I won¡¯t get into. After a few years of failure, I relented and trimmed my beard down to a length I could manage. If ye haven''t noticed, I¡¯m not exactly popular around dwarves on campus. This is part of it.¡±


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    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you shave your head before?¡± Amara asked.


    ¡°I did actually...¡± he began.


    ¡°He cut himself horribly and then gave up,¡± Zale said, grinning at his displeasure.


    ¡°Aye, I did¡± he admitted. ¡°But now I can make my skin a bit tougher, so it''s worth another shot.¡±


    ¡°Now that we¡¯ve delved into the depths of the strange dwarven body hair customs, let¡¯s move on,¡± Zale said, passing out gifts to the others.


    Doug went next, opening a radish. It was a big radish, but still a radish which Kole thought odd. What was stranger was the excitement Doug had for it.


    ¡°This is great!¡± he said.


    Kole looked to Zale for some sort of reasoning.


    She shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s a green radish, and it''s funny shaped. I saw it in the market and thought he¡¯d appreciate it.¡±


    Kole didn¡¯t know radishes weren¡¯t supposed to be green and then recalled Doug¡¯s excitement over the weird carrot he¡¯d bought for Mouse.


    Kole simply nodded, as if he understood, but didn¡¯t expect he ever would and he was fine with that.


    Next Zale got Amara a little wooden trinket with toggles on it, each labeled.


    ¡°It¡¯s a reminder device,¡± she explained. ¡°You reset all the toggles in the morning, and then flip them to done when you complete them throughout the day.¡±


    Amara read them out loud, ¡°Brush teeth, breakfast, lunch, dinner, bathe, sleep.¡±


    Gus climbed up on her shoulder and looked at it intently. He seemed more excited about it than Amara did,


    Amara looked at Gus, and then said with a shrug, ¡°If you think so.¡±


    She turned to Zale and thanked her.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re a much better gift giver than Amintha. She always gave me things she wanted, and then ended up using them more than I did.¡±


    The festive mood died down a bit at that. Amara had begun talking about her sister a lot more since her disappearance, never really having shared details about her beyond the fact that she was missing prior to their ¡®rescue¡¯ of her. The picture she was painting through the childhood tales was one that suggested she¡¯d been a villain long before she¡¯d fallen in with a swarm of Will-stealing spider monsters.


    Gus moved to comfort Amara again, and Zale redirected everyone¡¯s attention to Kole to move on.


    It was Kole¡¯s turn.


    Everyone looked at him as he played with the cloth bag in his hands.


    ¡°Go on,¡± Zale encouraged him.


    He drew the string and pulled out a leather pocket.


    Zale watched him expectantly as he looked at it, holding it up and then turning his head sideways as if seeing it from a different angle would help him understand what it was.


    ¡±Do you like it?¡± Zale asked eagerly.


    Kole really, really, wanted to say yes, but he ad no idea what it was. Idly he thought that Doug¡¯s weird carrot would fit inside of it, and then had to hold back a laugh at the thought of ¡°Doug¡¯s weird carrot.¡±


    Finally, he asked, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°It''s a holster for your blasting rod!¡±


    ¡°Ohhh,¡± Kole said, his eyes now recognizing it for what it was. ¡°That''s why a carrot would fit.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Yes! It¡¯s perfect,¡± Kole said. ¡°Thanks! I don¡¯t know why we didn¡¯t think of getting one sooner. I feel bad, none of us got you anything.¡±


    Doug joined in the apology, and while Amara and Rakin examined their gifts.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Zale said.


    Kole moved to put the holster on, earning a disapproving tisk from Zale.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a belt holster, those ruin the lines of an outfit,¡± she said, snatching it from his hand before he could fasten it to his belt. ¡°And it''s best to keep your weapons hidden, as my mother always says.¡±


    She opened the front of Kole¡¯s ship clan tunic, revealing a loop of cloth he was certain hadn¡¯t been there before.


    Well, fairly certain, he corrected.


    She quickly tied the holster to the inside of the shirt and then closed it up, all before Kole¡¯s mind could react to the potentially intimate act.


    ¡°There! Try it out,¡± she said, handing Kole a long spoon from the table.


    Kole slotted the spoon into his shirt and then had to rotate it, handle down to fit.


    ¡°Perfect! Now, let''s eat.


    ¡°Has that loop always been in my shirt?¡± Kole asked as they walked to the table.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t remember then you don¡¯t get to know,¡± Zale said. ¡°Maybe this will teach you to pay more attention to your wardrobe.¡±


    She took another look at Kole¡¯s shirt, and then grabbed the spoon through the fabric, tweaking it slightly.


    ¡°There. Wear it like that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not an answer. Are you able to sneak into my room too?¡± Kole asked again.


    Zale walked away, not answering, leaving Kole to wonder if there was anyone who couldn¡¯t access his ¡®secret¡¯ magic room.


    Zale had prepared¡ªor gotten someone else to prepare more likely a large breakfast spread they all dug into as they talked over their meal. As she continued to outline all the tasks for the day, Kole couldn¡¯t help but ask a question that had been brewing.


    ¡°Do you do this stuff every year? All these festivities seem a bit out of character for your mother.¡±


    Zale¡¯s smile grew wistful, and her voice lost some of its animation.


    "We do," she said. ¡°My grandpa made a big deal of celebrating the holiday for mom when she was little and living among the elves. She stopped celebrating it after he died but started again when I was born. It¡¯s always been something special we did together, and she¡¯d tell me stories about her parents as we did it all.¡±


    She paused in reflection for a moment before adding, ¡°She did, however, always make sure to incorporate training into the activities. I made sure to leave that out, so you don¡¯t need to worry about the food being poisoned or the carollers pulling a knife on you as you walk through the forest.¡±


    Kole, who had been thinking of ways to try to get out of the day''s activities, suddenly felt even more guilty. Distantly he wondered if constant guilt was a normal part of celebrating holidays, or if he was just bad at all of this. He¡¯d celebrated some holidays back home with his Uncle, but the two of them never did much for any of them, and as a kid, little was expected of him.


    Uncle Jaryn! Kole remembered again. I need to write him a letter.


    Kole excused himself briefly to go do just that. With all that Zale had in store for them the rest of the day, he would be lucky if he had any time at all to himself later, let alone time to write a letter.


    ¡°No studying!¡± Zale shouted as Kole walked into his room.

 Chapter 6: Nature

    Dalwin Casawallow 701AF to 756AF


    Male, 252 lbs (estimated after removal of growths)


    While mining under the effect of a turtle shell-based endurance potion on a troll skin-based minor regeneration potion to treat an injury, tumorous growths rapidly began growing all over his body, quickly resulting in death. Examination of the scene suggests the reaction of the previously approved combination of potions was catalyzed by either the presence of coarse limestone dust or the shellfish his partner was eating on break. Attempts to replicate this effect on rodents have been inconclusive and this combination has been marked as inadvisable.


    -Pains and Deaths Recorded, An Alchemist''s Reference, 48th Ed


    ¡°I hate nature,¡± Kole said as he swatted at another fly.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Zale asked, turning back to him.


    She was far ahead of him, walking next to Rakin and Doug while Amara and Kole lagged behind. Kole took some solace in the fact he was outperforming Amara, but that was tempered by the sympathy he felt for her obvious discomfort.


    ¡°Maybe we should eat here!¡± Kole shouted back.


    For most of his life, ¡°nature¡± was a few parks throughout the city and the narrow band that lay between the city and the dome. He thought he¡¯d enjoyed nature. He¡¯d even been amazed by it a few times since his arrival on the surface. And, if he was being honest, nature wasn¡¯t the problem, hiking was.


    They¡¯d been walking for a few hours, making their way through the forest towards the mountain foothills. It seemed like the whole city was out in the forest that day, taking picnics wherever. But, as they traveled further, the sight of others became less and less frequent.


    Zale almost said no, but then looked Amara up and down and let out a reluctant ¡°Sure.¡±


    The picnic Zale had packed wasn¡¯t as elaborate as the breakfast, but it wasn¡¯t too far off.


    It was as Kole was about to take a bite of some overly garnished duck that the pleasant break to a not-so-pleasant hike came to a close.


    Four figures came out of the path they¡¯d just taken and to Kole¡¯s surprise, he recognized them. That¡¯s not to say he knew them, only that their faces were ones he¡¯d seen before.


    ¡°Shalin?¡± Zale said, disbelieving at first, then shouted ¡°You¡¯re okay!¡±


    The group noticed them then and stopped dead in their tracks. Kole now recognized the girl in the lead as Shalin, the Spatial primal they¡¯d rescued from the spiders. He forgave himself the lapse, as the last time he¡¯d seen her she¡¯d looked near death while now she looked as if she¡¯d never been kidnapped by Font connection stealing spiders led by an evil twin¡ªwhich was a very specific look that tended to stick in one¡¯s memory.


    With her was a hulking girl of a similar age to them all, covered in tattoos with a shaved head marking her as a member of the Iron Vein Tribe, a dwarf wearing the tan robes of those Torc Blessed, and a gnome.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Kole had no idea how to judge the age of the last two, but he thought they seemed to be adolescents from their appearance, though what that meant in years he had no clue. And while he was fairly certain the dwarf was a Blessed of Torc by the outfit, the button-up shirt and crisply ironed pants of the gnome gave him no clue as to the gnome¡¯s role in the group.


    He looks sort of familiar, Kole though, knowing he knew him from PREVENT but couldn¡¯t remember any specifics about him. I really need to make an effort to learn to differentiate gnomes.


    ¡°Zale?¡± Shalin said once she got over the surprise of being recognized.


    She seemed happy at the revelation until her eyes fell on Amara, sitting beside her and her expression darkened.


    ¡°So it''s true,¡± Shalin said, all levity gone.


    ¡°What¡¯s true?¡± Zale asked, but then her mind caught up and realized what she must have meant. ¡°This is Amara, not Amintha.¡±


    Zale gestured at Amara, stopping herself from placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder at the last moment.


    ¡°How can you still be around her after all her sister did?¡± Shalin demanded, stepping forward.


    ¡°Because her sister didn¡¯t,¡± Zale said, as if pointing out the obvious because she was doing just that. ¡°Amara didn¡¯t do anything¡ªno. That¡¯s not right. Amara never stopped looking for her sister and is the only reason you, Hawktalon, and Runt are alive.¡±


    At the mention of Runt, the disapproving look on the Iron Vein girl¡¯s face turned to anger.


    ¡°It does not matter,¡± the Iron Vein girl said in their characteristic deep and halting manner of speech. ¡°They are twins. Bonded. She should have seen the evil in her sister''s heart. The failing of one twin is the failing of the other.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous!¡± Kole shouted before he could stop himself.


    Public debates on moral responsibility were very low on the list of social interactions he was comfortable engaging in. So low in fact that it hadn¡¯t even been on the list until that moment.


    ¡°Hawktalon said you were friends with her, but I didn¡¯t think it was true,¡± Shalin repeated, ignoring Zale¡¯s rebuttal. ¡°I never believed what people said about you Zale. Even when you started spending time with the demonkin. But, now, defending her? Maybe I was wrong.¡±


    A quick glance at Doug showed the demonkin boy¡¯s head bowed, accepting this condemnation as he had many others without the desire for conflict.


    ¡°Take it back,¡± Rakin said sternly, jumping in for the first time.


    Kole looked at the dwarf and crawled back in surprise at the barely contained rage he saw on his face. As Kole watched, smoke began to rise around Rakin¡¯s hands as he fought to hold back his flames. Rakin didn¡¯t seem as keen to let the comments stand as Doug.


    Shalin looked Rakin up and down, her eyes growing wide in recognition.


    ¡°So that''s true too! You are a Fire primal. How is that even possible? A voidling, a Fire primal, a demonkin, a crazy bug person, and...¡± Shalin trailed off as she examined Kole, looking for something nefarious about him to tie him in with the rest, but found nothing and continued on.


    ¡°Did you even rescue me?¡± she asked, voice dripping with accusation. ¡°Or was it all just some plot to gain credibility? To pass PREVENT after being gone for months?¡±


    Zale looked shocked, unable to find words at the sudden turn.


    ¡°Your performance at the final was terrible. Was that it? You knew you were going to fail, so the hive girls let you ¡®rescue;¡¯ me?¡±


    Kole had interacted with people who lived in their own realities, blind and deaf to the truths of the world around them, but he¡¯d never seen one spin up that reality on the fly and then latch onto it as truth as he was witnessing then.


    ¡°Apologize,¡± Rakin demanded. ¡°Now!¡±


    Shalin let out a laugh, and chaos ensued.

 Chapter 7: Brawl

    Wallow Willowwaddle 412AF to -


    Male, Halfling 74 lbs


    A beekeeper by trade, Wallow was taking a potion of serpentine grace created with the concentrated essence of kobold kidneys. The potion was a regular part of his beekeeping arsenal which he used to perform his harvest without disrupting the hives. One day, Wallow was bitten by one of his bees, and the arm swelled up to six times its normal size. Wallow survived the bite, but forever after, if that arm was stung, it would once more swell to the absurd size. Further study of this phenomenon revealed that kobolds have a severe bee allergy that can be temporarily passed on through ingestion of any part of their body save their scales.


    -Pains and Deaths Recorded, An Alchemist''s Reference, 48th Ed


    Rakin broke into a charge, flames trailing from his hands, the ground lifting beneath his feet to propel him forward.


    The Iron Vein girl, who had been watching him, broke into a run as well to meet him. The distance between the two groups was only forty feet, and they met in the middle. Rakin tried to dodge around her to get to Shalin in his blind rage, but the girl grabbed hold of his shirt, lifting him from the ground and throwing him back towards Kole¡¯s group.


    Rakin hit the ground in a roll, and sprung back up, this time running straight for the tattooed warrior.


    Behind them, Kole saw the other two preparing for a fight. Kole risked a quick glance to Zale and Doug and saw them standing at the ready but unsure what to do.


    Flood, flood, flood. Kole cursed internally.


    He reached into his shirt, feeling the holster, and drew out...


    He looked from his target to his hand and saw he held a wooden spoon.


    Flood.


    Kole began crafting a spell in his mind but then stopped himself.


    What am I doing?


    He watched as Rakin and the giant of a girl fought with their fists, but no one moved to aid either side. It was just a fight among students¡ªmagically gifted students, but students nonetheless.


    ¡°He¡¯s a Faust-cursed Fire primal too?¡± Shalin said in disbelief. ¡°You lot really are the forsaken.¡±


    ¡°AHHHHHH!¡± Zale screamed as she ran at Shalin.


    Kole looked at Doug, who had his bow drawn, but no arrow nocked.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± he asked, equally unwilling to shoot fellow students, even if they were racist jerks.


    Kole felt a flicker of something tingle at the back of his neck.


    Without thinking, he spun around, back towards the brawl, constructing the mental construct for a spell as he did so.


    He thrust his palm out in front of himself and said. ¡°Bo.¡± Infusing the words with his Will, creating a conduit for the magical energy other than his body.


    A semi-transparent dome appeared before his hand, just as three beams of red light streaked across the battlefield toward him and Doug.


    Two struck his Shield, the barrier flashing red briefly, but the third went for Doug. Kole felt the intense heat billow around his shield, as he heard Doug shout out in pain.


    ¡°Are you insane?¡± Kole asked, looking at the gnome wizard who¡¯d just cast a second-tier spell at him. ¡°That could kill someone!¡±


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The gnome only smiled and began casting another spell. By then, Zale had reached Shalin, and the two girls were locked in a fistfight, far less physically impressive than Rakin¡¯s but impressive in its own right.


    Shalin was faster than Zale, and kept ducking out of her punches, so Zale had tackled the other girl to the ground. But, before Shalin hit the ground, she vanished, reappearing a few moments later a few feet away. With Zale on the ground, Shalin jumped on top of her, but then it was the part-voidling girl''s turn. Zale vanished in a short-lived cloud of black motes, appearing in the same spot, this time on top of the fallen Shalin.


    The two girls continued to roll around, wrestling and conserving their primal abilities when caught in a bad hold. Zale was the better wrestler, stronger and better trained, but it seemed that Shalin had more uses of her magic to her name.


    Kole ducked behind a tree, as three more streaks of light flew past him, striking trees and charring their trunks.


    Kole saw that Amara was hiding further in the forest, and was already moving to extinguish the budding fires with her runed gadgets¡ªall while staying out of sight from the crazy gnome


    Doug now had an arrow nocked, but he had a bad burn on the side.


    ¡°Entangle!¡± Kole called out to Doug.


    Doug drew back his bow, and lined up a shot, but then winced, holding it a moment longer before he vanished. Kole heard the snap of the shot firing a moment later, outside his vision, and began to do some math.


    Scorching Ray, second-tier, at least 8 Will. He must be a second-year student if he has that spell and isn¡¯t in my classes, or he¡¯s a prodigy...


    He ignored that last thought. If this gnome was a prodigy, Kole probably would have remembered his name... probably.


    So he¡¯s down at least 16 Will. If he¡¯s a sorcerer, he has 35 max.


    Kole decided that the other student likely only had two shots left to him, and settled on a plan.


    Around him, he heard his friends locked in battle, and it didn¡¯t sound like it was going well.


    What¡¯s the dwarf doing...


    He turned invisible. It wasn¡¯t an ability he wanted to get out, but he hoped he could banish the spell behind another tree, disguising his means of travel.


    He left his spot and ran across the clearing towards the gnome.


    Rakin and the Iron Vein girl were still trading blows, neither making much effort to dodge the other¡¯s attacks. The girl held a shattered log, while Rakin used his fists. The tattoos on the girl had started to glow green, and she was dripping with sweat from her proximity to the Fire primal.


    Chunks of wood seemed to be stuck to Rakin, covering his body and restricting his movements. The wood, however, was burning as the air around Rakin shimmered with his uncontrolled power.


    Well, that''s not good. Kole thought, hoping Amara saved some extinguishers.


    Zale and Shalin still rolled around, neither using magic now, and they had moved closer to the gnome in their fight.


    The gnome held his hand at the ready, focusing on the tree Kole had just left, and behind him, Kole saw what the dwarf was up to.


    Just a few feet away, roots were reaching out of the ground, trying to pull him down, but the ground itself seemed to be flowing away from the roots. Doug continued to fire Assuine-empowered arrows at the dwarf, but each that grabbed hold was quickly ripped from the ground as the earth spit it out. The result was a dwarf covered in vines, able to move around, but getting more encumbered by the moment.


    Kole made it to a tree a few feet from the gnome, and ducked behind it, banishing his invisibility and activating Fade.


    He stepped out from behind the tree, already building another spell as he ran at the other wizard. The spell came together, but it was slower than he expected, like he was trying to write his name with a quill that weighed five pounds¡ªdoable, but surprisingly difficult.


    As he did it, he felt the Will drain as Fade tried to tell the gnome that there wasn¡¯t in fact a human wizard running at him. The ability failed, and Kole suddenly felt the weight gone, he completed his spell just as the other wizard began to cast his own.


    ¡°Silence!¡± Kole shouted, hoping Zale had the Will left in her as he thrust his hands in front of him and sent his spell construct out into the Arcane Realm.


    A crack of thunder roared before him and echoed back at him off the trees around him. Whatever the gnome was going to cast, ended as the dapperly dressed diminutive figure flew across the field. The spell hit the dwarf as well, but his stout frame resisted the push, though the gnome that crashed into him a second later served to knock him over.


    Zale, it seemed, did have a small reserve of Will in her, because Shalin let out a scream of pain and clutched her ears as the spell hit her, and Zale capitalized on that to pin the other girl to the ground.


    The dwarf, wrapped up in vines as he was, was unable to recover his footing, and flailed around the ground, the vines on him grabbing onto the gnome and restraining him as well.


    ¡°Make him stop!¡± Kole heard a desperate plea, and turned to see the severely burned Iron Vein girl gasping for breath as she fought to keep the rabid Rakin at bay.

 Chapter 8: Not Fair

    Esther was a female elf in her mortal life, a descendant of Waas the goddess of air and creativity. Esther took after her divine ancestor and personified beauty even amongst a people with as strict and unforgiven a beauty as the elves. Her ascension was less dramatic than most, as she ascended one day while walking through the city, the combined adoration of all around her finally building up within her enough to ascend.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    In the end, it took a combination of Amara¡¯s fire suppression devices and Doug¡¯s magic to subdue Rakin.


    Amara threw her¡ªnew and now gem-free¡ªfire suppression device at Rakin, immediately exhausting the flames wreathing off of him, but the dwarf simply stepped out of the runes effect and continued his assault. The Iron Vein student kicked the significantly shorter dwarf in the face with the sole of her foot, sending him tumbling back into the airless pocket where Doug¡¯s arrow caught him. Devoid of air, the vines didn¡¯t burst into flames as had the wood scraps stuck to him before, but they darkened and died as they spread around him.


    Rakin fought at the vines in his blind rage, all the while gasping for breath and trying to escape the airless bubble, but whenever he managed to get near the edge, a giant foot kicked him back in.


    ¡°What is happening here?¡± A deep voice boomed, drawing all eyes away from the unconscious dwarf.


    ¡°He¡¯s a Fire primal!¡± Shalin shouted, pointing to Rakin as she rubbed her ear with the other.


    Kole held back the urge to defend the group, taking Zale¡¯s lead in dealing with her mentor.


    Tigereye shook his head in disappointment taking in the scene. The dwarf and gnome were cutting themselves free of the vines, while his kinsmen lay in the grass with her eyes closed and face wincing with each breath she took.


    ¡°Parrot Song, Zale, come,¡± Tigereye demanded, walking away from the group, not waiting to see if they obeyed.


    They did. The Iron Vein girl¡ªParrot Song¡ªlet out a moan of pain as she lifted herself off the ground to follow, and Zale limped after him as well.


    Kole watched as the two girls stood erect like soldiers before the head of the martial college. Tigereye turned to Zale first, asking questions. Even through Parrot Song¡¯s obvious physical pains, Kole could tell that irritated her. She stared at Tigereye with almost reverence.


    When he turned to Parrot Song, all expression left her face. Tigereye asked her a few questions, to which she nodded, and then she spoke a little before they came back to the group. Despite her expressions from before, Parrot Song was trying to hide a smug smile on their way back. Zale, for her part, was working to hide her own misery under a smile.


    ¡°Kalka¡¯s fist, go receive medical attention,¡± Tigereye said, dismissing them. ¡°Forsaken, go home and report to the Dahn tomorrow for disciplinary action.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kole said in disbelief. "That¡¯s not fair! They started it!"


    ¡°Did they?¡± Tigereye asked Kole, raising an eyebrow.


    Kole looked to where Rakin lay unconscious and then remembered the events leading up to the fight. Shalin had started the confrontation, but Rakin had made it violent.


    ¡°No...¡± Kole said trailing off.


    Shalin laughed.


    ¡°What about the hive creature?¡± Shalin asked, pointing accusingly at Amara who still stood back by the tree line.


    ¡°What about Amara?¡± Tigereye said, stressing the name.


    ¡°Is she going to be punished?¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°What for?¡± Tigereye asked.


    Shalin began to say something else cruel but realized she had nothing to accuse the girl of save preventing a forest fire.


    ¡°So,¡± Shalin said, turning to Kole instead, speaking funny behind a swollen lip. ¡°Demonkin, voidling, and Fire primal. So what are you? Dragon blooded? I bet you hear the call and are just itching to burn the world.


    Kole winced internally, as she was at least partially correct. He was a dragon-blooded sorcerer, but he¡¯d only felt the call of Faust once and distantly, and it was when a fully enraged Rakin had been chasing him.


    He couldn¡¯t imagine what Rakin was facing each time he had to resist the power.


    ¡°Shalin,¡± Tigereye said sternly. ¡°Help your team.¡±


    The Spatial primal girl spat out blood and walked to help untangle the two boys.


    Kole and Zale moved to tend to Rakin, while the other team cleared out. He was covered in the black soot residue of the wood Parrot Song had stuck to him, but even through that Kole could see cuts and lacerations. Despite that, his pulse felt strong.


    ¡°How did you know?¡± Amara asked into the silence.


    ¡°Parrot Song drew on the Bond,¡± Tigereye explained.


    Kole had looked into what he could on the Iron Vein tribe after meeting Runt. She¡¯d been cast out from her tribe, and he¡¯d been curious about what could have caused that¡ªthough not curious enough to ask her.


    The Iron Vein tribe, on top of being mostly primals, had another magic to them. The small island nation has a disproportionate amount of ensouled artifacts, having discovered the art of crafting them before the Flood. During the Flood, their chieftain had created a powerful ensouled totem that allowed him to draw on the item for strength. Through the study of their primal magic, they learned to Bond the whole tribe to the totem, allowing the tribe to further empower their leader, and even grant power to other warriors.


    Every tribe member gained tattoos as a right into adulthood¡ªexcept for those like Runt who were cast out. The elite warriors gained tattoos allowing them to draw on the tribe¡¯s strength while shunting away the pain of battle. Most, however, simply gained those allowing them to give their strength and take on a portion of the pain.


    So, as Parrot Song drew on the Bond to fight against the pain of her burns, Tigereye had felt it, and somehow knew where to go.


    ¡°Will she be in trouble? Parrot Song? For using the Bond like that?¡± Zale asked, now that Amara had broached the subject.


    ¡°No,¡± Tigereye said, looking at the scorched earth around Rakin. ¡°It was warranted.¡±


    Tigereye lifted Rakin, carrying the short but heavily built dwarf as one would carry a small child, and they made their wait back to campus.


    After a while, Tigereye split off with Doug towards the Glade to get Rakin medical attention.


    ¡°The Archdruid will see to your punishment,¡± Tigereye told Doug.


    Doug¡¯s whole body deflated, his tail going limp, and Kole thought he saw the tips of his antlers droop down slightly, but he knew that was just a trick of his eyes. It seemed that First Landing was not a holiday the Conclave observed, and Doug would be getting an early start on the disciplinary action.


    Right? he thought. He knew absolutely nothing about most animals that didn¡¯t live below the surface, but he was fairly certain antlers couldn¡¯t move.


    ¡°Should we go with Rakin?¡± Kole asked Zale.


    She shook her head.


    ¡°He¡¯ll be fine, but when he loses control like that he¡¯s usually out for the rest of the day.¡±


    Despite the long walkout, the trip back to campus was short, and they made it back to the Dahn before dinner.


    The central tower of the Academy of Illunia was much changed visually from the weeks prior. When the nature of the other-realmy incursions had been discovered, the faculty with some level of control over the Dahn¡¯s defenses activated them all in Chancellor Shalia¡¯s absence.


    Over the course of a week, the tower began to rearrange its inner workings to bring them into the Material Realm. Dormitories long since uninhabited were shunted off into the void or absorbed for their material. As this went on, the top of the tower grew wider as the library and other essential non-shuntable rooms were brought in.


    While the Dahn was now fully in the Material Realm, that didn¡¯t mean it started to conform to trivia things like the laws of physics. But, in the Dahn¡¯s defense, those laws were largely suggestions when the Font¡¯s of Space and Gravity were being drawn upon directly.


    The pair trudged through, avoiding eye contact, and went straight to the door that led to their home¡ªso long as Zale or Kole were the ones to open it. For everyone else, it opened into a storage room.


    Inside the foyer, which was typically teaming with staff preparing for the seemingly inevitable yet unknown attack, was nearly deserted, with only a small team working during the holiday.


    They made it in without being interrupted, and Kole went straight to his room, grabbed his blasting rod, and stuck it in his holster, not wanting to go through all that again.


    Tap


    He pulled the rod out, and then removed the spoon, throwing it out of his room where it clattered across the joint living space.

 Chapter 9: Discipline

    Maximilian Amadeus Derringer the 9th, or Max the Mad as they call him now, is one of the rare demi-gods who ascended¡ªnot through great deeds of heroism or destruction¡ªbut a concerted campaign of annoyance. Gifted with an incredibly powerful Sound affinity¡ªdue in part to his bloodline as a descendant of Riloth¡ªMax devised a plan to ascend. He was born near the end of the Age of Heroes, when the mechanism of ascension had been discovered. When he learned of his divine heritage, he set out a plan to maximize his renown. He figured that if being feared or loved by thousands could cause a god to ascend, annoying millions should work as well.


    It is worth noting that his birth name was Winton Clark, but he changed it to add to his legend


    Max went to every major city in the cradle of the Illusian races, armed with his Sound magic, and an instrument of his own invention¡ªa kazoo. He played the instrument for hours on end, projecting the sound all over the city. It only took 4 cities, three arrests, and one near execution, but in just under a year, Max went from unknown sorcerer of little renown, to demi-god. The specifics of his domains are debated, but the few recorded to have been Blessed by him were all people who accomplished great deeds via unorthodox means.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    <hr>


    As Zale predicted, Rakin was released the next day, not even receiving any magical healing, his injuries being mostly superficial.


    Each member of Forsaken was given a disciplinary task suited for their skills.


    Zale was assigned to tutor a particularly bratty noble born first year in the rapier¡ªillusion bracer active to prevent starting an incident. The student wasn¡¯t in adventuring track but many such students came to the school to learn to manage their holdings and the other skills required for life of a noble.


    Doug was assigned to tending to the pincer vines, a strain of carnivorous plant that fed on insects and small birds, but snacked on any person who got too close.


    Rakin didn¡¯t speak of his own punishment detail, only saying that it was assigned by his mentor Master Ahm, and that the monk seemed to take great pleasure in Rakin¡¯s misery.


    Kole, as was no surprise to anyone, was assigned to the library.


    ¡°I have other useful skills,¡± Kole said, when his friends had pointed out the inevitability of that assignment.


    ¡°Name one,¡± Rakin said.


    In response, Kole turned invisible.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure that''s the type of skill the faculty are interested in exploiting,¡± Zale said diplomatically.


    His task was to go through the spellbooks the school¡¯s library had recently acquired, and document the spells within. This task, typically assigned to Professor Lonin¡¯s students, was generally reserved for third years, so in some respects, it was a great honor. But, in other, more realistic and sane respects, it was boring. Very boring.


    At first, Kole hadn¡¯t minded, finding it a great opportunity to discover a few novel spellform components, but as he spent more and more in a library and not actually studying, the more he began to grow stir-crazy¡ªa new sensation for the bookish student.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    After the first day of work, when he was let go at dinner, he skipped the meal for the day, instead using the time to search through the book on Light magic Theral had recommended he find. The book itself was a copy of the spellbook of the famed Galok Lightsmith, a man in a similarly unique situation as Kole.


    Galok was a wizard with a strong affinity for Light, and was Blessed by his friend Tin Lan when Tin Lan ascended to demi-godhood. The Blessing further enhanced his connection to the Font of Light, allowing him to create works of Light magic no others have been able to replicate.


    While Kole¡¯s confluence of magical conditions wasn¡¯t the same as Galok, he was a highly focused wizard, and Theral had recommended he look at Galok¡¯s spells. If he had to look through hundreds of years of traditional spellbooks on Light, why not pick the universally acknowledged best?


    Kole spent his time sorting spells through the day, and then working on his own magic deep into the night¡ªand occasionally during work hours, as he did still want to maximize his Will usage. Letting his Will stay topped off while he worked, losing out of the passive regeneration was just not something he could suffer on top of being trapped in a library forced to work instead of study.


    Kole spent the first week of his disciplinary rotation in isolation, falling back into old habits that had only been broken by Zale¡¯s insistence on maintaining a training schedule. While he did see his friends each night briefly in their shared home, when he explained his need to stay up late just to have enough waking time to use up his Will they let him bow out of the morning training they were still doing.


    ¡°Really"?¡± Kole had asked as Zale let it go without complaint. ¡°No lecture?¡±


    ¡°Wizardry is your primary asset. If there is only time for that or physical conditioning, that takes priority. We don¡¯t want to stop your progress, but you really should find time to go for walks in between your studying.¡± Zale explained, and then added. ¡°And, I don¡¯t lecture.¡±


    The last statement earned a bark of laughter from Rakin.


    ¡°I do?¡± Zale asked, eyes growing wide in horror ¡°Like my mom?¡±


    Rakin nodded, and Zale let out a groan.


    So, in between spellbooks, Kole would read a page of Galok¡¯s, working slowly but steadily to recreate the spell Radiant Bolt.


    Despite his distractions, Kole was by far the most productive member of the library¡¯s work crew. He had actually begun working on his own spellcraft in an effort to slow his pace to match that of the oldest worker and not stand out too much.


    The other student workers were anywhere from 17 to 20, and he outperformed them all, quickly indexing the spells in each spellbook, and noting any particularities of interest in their construction that one might desire to reference. The existence of these notes in and of themselves was a great discovery for Kole, and once he¡¯d read through the methodology, he was certain he¡¯d be able to use them to speed up his pathing.


    Not all were doing the task as a punishment. Other students in Loni¡¯s program were assigned the task as a form of study, while others were simply being paid. Kole weighed the option of doing more of this work for money at a later date, but he was¡ªfortunately¡ªpast the desperate financial straits he¡¯d been in just a month prior.


    So, while he hated that the work kept him from fully diving into his work on Radiant Bolt, it wasn¡¯t a total waste of his time.


    He worked at it up until New Year''s Eve, when the head librarian came up to him, sober expression on his face. The librarian was a halfling man, dressed in well tailored but simple browns, which fit the halfling sensibilities of expensive apparel without standing out too much in the poorer clothing typical to a librarian.


    The head librarian, Gophin Barkburrow was directly in charge of their work group, but aside from the initial introduction, he¡¯d not done more than check up on them all week.


    ¡°What did I do now?¡± Kole asked, mentally running through what he¡¯d done.


    He handed Kole a slip of paper. He looked at it, and saw a standardized message form, but written on the magic paper he¡¯d become very familiar with.


    <hr>


    12-30-821 13:45 Administrator Kelina Carver


    Send Kole Teak to my office immediately.


    <hr>


    Oh no! Kole thought now certain he¡¯d done something horrible, and was completely unsure of what it could be.

 Chapter 10: Family Matters

    Haylock of the Depths was a male seafolk before his ascension. Using the power of his divine bloodline, he hunted the great creatures of the deep, and his legend grew. He was known all over the pre-Flood seas, and even the surface races heard tales of him saving ships. While he was a renowned hunter for decades, it wasn¡¯t until he slew a kraken assaulting the now-lost seafolk city of Atelay that he finally ascended. He is known to Bless great hunters, and has not kept his Blessings to the seafolk.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    ---


    Kole ran through the library, out into the Dahn foyer, and then through the series of doors and halls that would take him to the administrative wing. He¡¯d been there before when visiting Professor Lonin and knew that Zale¡¯s mother¡¯s assistant Kelina had an office there as well. Her position was technically just ¡°assistant¡± but Kole knew she actually did all the work of running the school while Zale¡¯s mother snuck off on adventurers and follies.


    The office was second from the end, the last one being reserved for the chancellor, but Kole gave even odds that it was either an art studio or completely empty, filled sheet-covered furniture.


    His unsettled worry as to what the meeting would be about almost pushed him to check, if only to delay the inevitable and give him time to think of what he needed to make up an excuse for.


    Finally, Kole worked up the courage and knocked on the door.


    A moment later, the door opened silently, and a deep and angry voice could suddenly be heard where before there was silence.


    ¡°Where are you going? I demand answers!¡±


    Wow, that is impressive sound dampening, he thought Oh, right. Magic building.


    He was about to laugh at his own stupidity when his brain caught up to his ears, and he realized he recognized the voice.


    ¡°I trust that this will answer all your questions to your exacting standards,¡± Kelina said dryly as she pulled the door open.


    Kole froze, as the stone doorway swung away to reveal the face of his Uncle Jaryn, dressed in wrinkled travel clothes, still caked with salt spray from his journey.


    His uncle stared back, fury not silenced as they both stood watching each other.


    ¡°Ummm, I meant to write a letter,¡± Kole said weakly, realizing he¡¯d forgotten to after the ordeal with Shalin. ¡°I did actually write it. I just forgot to send it.¡±


    Jaryn let out a gasp, finally breathing as a tear streaked down his face. He covered the distance in a blink, wrapping Kole up in a hug. In that embrace, Kole realized how much he¡¯d actually grown this past-sort-of 14 weeks, as he was now the same height as his uncle.


    Kole shook his head, banishing his incessant inner monologue, and then hugged his uncle back, joining in the crying.


    Sometime later, the two sat in the chairs of Kelina¡¯s office, the administrator having excused herself to grant the two privacy.


    Where do I even start? Kole wondered.


    Part of him had imagined variations of this moment, where he would show his uncle that he¡¯d been wrong and that Kole could be a wizard. But, then in that moment, where his only family remaining¡ªin the Material Realm at least¡ªbefore him, all he wanted to do was to sit there in his presence.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Kole started.


    ¡°What for specifically?¡± Jaryn asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kole said, then gestured around. ¡°Everything. Running away, not letting you know I wasn¡¯t dead.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry too,¡± Jaryn said after a pause. ¡°For everything as well. For not listening to you and supporting your goals.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Kole asked, not expecting that. ¡°How¡¯d you find out I figured it out?¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Now it was his uncle¡¯s turn to look confused.


    ¡°Figure what out?¡±


    ¡°Wizardry,¡± Kole said, holding a hand out before him and casting the Light cantrip, conjuring a ball of light in his hand.


    Then, he cast the Sound cantrip message and projected a whisper into his Uncle¡¯s ear.


    ¡°I can do it now. You didn¡¯t know?¡±


    Jaryn¡¯s look of confusion grew briefly more intense before his eyes grew wide and he jumped to his feet/


    ¡°You did it!¡± he exclaimed and ran over to embrace Kole once more.


    After they¡¯d both settled down from another emotional episode, Kole asked, ¡°Why did you apologize if you didn¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°I apologized because I was wrong, but that didn¡¯t mean you were necessarily right¡ªyou were right, it seems, obviously¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t my place to dictate your life. I should have supported you, no matter how dumb your plan seemed.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like the best parenting technique,¡± Kole observed, pushing his welling emotions away with jest. ¡°What if I wanted to be an excrement harvester?¡±


    ¡°I should have offered to buy you a shovel,¡± Jaryn replied, ¡°there''s good money in that.¡±


    There was an uncomfortable pause as the two sat there, unsure what to say.


    ¡°So,¡± Jaryn said, breaking the silence. ¡°Kole Teak? What happened to Kohlyn Highridge?¡±


    Kole blushed and rubbed his head nervously as he thought where to begin.


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± he said and then started at the beginning.


    Kole told his uncle everything, from his initial escape through via the excrement barrels, his stowing away on the Willowboom, and his subsequent meeting of Amara.


    He explained his enrollment, and brief but dashed hope that Grand Master Lonin would take him on as an apprentice, and saw genuine pride in his uncle¡¯s eyes as he realized how exceptional Kole actually was.


    Jaryn listened intently as Kole described his classes, his friends, and his progress in his own personal studies. The only thing he held back was the real identity of Zale¡¯s uncle Tal, as that wasn¡¯t his secret to tell, even to his Uncle.


    As Kole described his friends, his uncle let out a big laugh.


    ¡°Got your first crush then, huh?¡± he asked after Kole had spent a disproportionate time talking about Zale¡¯s voidyness.


    ¡°What?! No!¡± Kole denied out of instinct, turning red in embarrassment. But, then thought better of the poor lie.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± he said instead. ¡°But let¡¯s not make a big deal about it.¡±


    Kole¡¯s uncle held his hand up, performing a rhythmic twitching of his fingers in a crude imitation of the somatic component of Silence, the sign children used when swearing themselves to secrecy in Illandrios.


    He went on to describe their search for Amintha, and all the weird other-realmly adventurers leading up to his apparent death.


    By the time Kole got around to the final ¡°rescue¡± of Amintha, his uncle was listening with his jaw agape.


    ¡°You¡ª¡± he began, stumbling for words. ¡°Silent Image! I¡ª¡±


    He paused to collect himself and then started over.


    ¡°I¡¯m proud of you. Your mother would be proud of you.¡±


    Oh, Flood! Kole thought, realizing he¡¯d forgotten the most important part of his whole semester.


    Tentatively, he reached into his shirt and pulled out his mother¡¯s amulet¡ªher ensouled amulet.


    His uncle looked at Kole curiously for a moment before he recognized it, then his eyes bulged and he looked from Kole to the necklace.


    ¡°You have that!?¡± He asked forcefully. ¡°You''ve had that? This whole time?¡±


    Kole nodded sheepishly.


    ¡°Dad gave it to me before he left. He told me to keep it with me.¡±


    Jaryn put his face in his palm and took a deep breath, muttering.


    ¡°That man.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s alive,¡± Kole said, handing the necklace over.


    Jaryn¡¯s head snapped up, and he grabbed the necklace, turning it over in his hand.


    ¡°How do you know?¡± He demanded, turning it over in his fingers, and examining it. ¡°It looks as it always had before she Bound it.¡±


    ¡°Zale and her uncle can see the aura of it,¡± Kole explained. ¡°They said it''s still Bonded, and not to me, so it must be her.... or dad I guess.¡±


    ¡°No, not him,¡± Jaryn said, still fixating on it. ¡°He¡¯s got not a drop of connection to Illusions. This wouldn¡¯t pick him.¡±


    He looked up, right into Kole¡¯s eyes, voice trembling on the verge of some withheld emotion.


    ¡°How certain are you that they are right,¡± Jaryn asked. ¡°Not how much you want them to be, or how much your affection for this girl colors your judgment. How certain are you?¡±


    ¡°Completely,¡± Kole said, but saw that his words didn¡¯t convince his uncle.


    ¡°Zale¡¯s uncle is... a wizard of great renown. I¡¯m not allowed to share his secret, but If I told you his name¡ªif you¡¯d even believe that¡ªyou¡¯d trust his judgment.¡±


    ¡°Her uncle? This flaky mage who vanishes on a whim?¡±


    Kole nodded.


    Jaryn sat in silence, taking in the revelation that his sister may yet live until tears once more dripped down his cheeks.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Kole. I¡¯ve just been so.... wrong.¡±

 Chapter 11: Jaryn

    Jupin the Jolly, the demigod of revelry was a dwarf in his mortal life. Not many would expect a dwarf descended from Torc to have such a domain, but Jupin was a brewer in a dark time of need for the children of Torc. When the gods pulled back from the world to reduce Faust¡¯s agency, Torc also went silent. A people used to communing freely with their god didn¡¯t adapt well to that god¡¯s sudden absence.


    Jupin invented mead shortly after Torc departed, and while it didn¡¯t solve the dwarves'' problems, it made them better able to cope. Jupin ascended without ever leaving his brewery, their appreciation of his invention so great, that his name on each keg was enough to awaken his divinity.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    Once more, Kole¡¯s reaction wasn¡¯t as he¡¯d imagined when daydreaming about this moment. Instead, he just felt weary, as if the last five years of toil caught up to him in an instant. He was happy, but he¡¯d been happy since seeing his uncle, and the admission that his uncle had been wrong did nothing to buoy his happiness.


    ¡°Who knows about this?¡± Jaryn demanded, almost manically, holding up the amulet.


    Kole hesitated before answering, wondering if sharing the existence of it with his friends might have been a mistake, but then banished the thought.


    I can trust them, he told himself. I¡¯ve trusted them with my life already, and they¡¯ve not let me down.


    ¡°My friends¡ªall four, Zale¡¯s mother, and her uncle,¡± Kole said, but then added when he saw the look of worry on his uncle¡¯s face. ¡°I doubt they¡¯ve told anyone. They¡¯re extremely secretive.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ve gathered,¡± Jaryn said dryly, obviously not convinced. ¡°Tell no one else, and swear them to secrecy. Men kill for less, and unless you can defend it, you shouldn¡¯t let any know you have it.¡±


    Oh yeah... Kole said, feeling at the spellbook in his bag at his side.


    ¡°About that...¡±


    Twenty minutes later, after Jaryn had settled down over the revelation that his nephew had Bound his own ensouled artifact, he got back to what he¡¯d been about to say.


    ¡°About your mother¡¯s amulet,¡± Jaryn said, pulling his eyes away from the spellbook Kole had been displaying.


    As an Illandrian and a Mirage Knight, Jaryn was extremely knowledgeable about wizardry, without being a wizard himself, and he¡¯d been thoroughly impressed by all the capabilities Kole had shown the book to have.


    ¡°I believe that¡¯s why Oldhill is after you. I suspected he thought you had it, but I¡¯d thought it lost with your¡ª¡± Jaryn paused, the word catching in his throat as he was still internalizing the evidence of his sister¡¯s survival. "¡ªmother. But it seems he had knowledge I lacked. I always wondered why he supported you all these years. I didn¡¯t want to press, as he provided for you what I couldn¡¯t as a soldier, and no matter how I investigated, I found no scheme behind his actions. He claimed to be doing so out of remembrance of your mother, they once had a.... relationship, but I didn¡¯t buy it.¡±


    A horrible thought occurred to Kole at that instant, one he¡¯d never considered.


    ¡°He¡¯s not¡ª¡± Kole began.


    Jaryn saw the look on Kole¡¯s face and barked out a laugh.


    ¡°Your father? Illunia no, you¡¯re the spitting image of your father and Oldhill looks like a weather boot. Your mother and Oldhill had an unofficial arranged betrothal before your mother ran away to the sea with your father. When she returned, she came back with you in her arms and the matter was settled as amicably as these things ever are. Oldhill had been married himself by the time she returned.


    ¡°I suspect he supported you to get the estate when your parents were declared dead. It¡¯s a shame the family holdings are lost, but I¡¯d give them all again if it meant your mother lived.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Jaryn smiled mischievously then said,¡°You, however, are in for a lecture when we rescue her, and she learns you lost her home to debtors.¡±


    Kole grew pale. He¡¯d never once considered the ramifications of actually reuniting with his parents. Concepts like discipline and lectures were so foreign to him.


    Gods, that will take getting used to. He thought, but then realized it was unlikely he¡¯d be able to save his parents until after he¡¯d reached his majority.


    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten sidetracked,¡± Jaryn said, ¡°Let me start over.


    ¡°After you left, Oldhill went into a furor, upending the home. He even had it dismantled partially to search for the amulet. When nothing turned up, he sent men after you¡ªhence my letter. I tried to get a leave of duty to go after you, but I suspect Oldhill pulled some strings to get that request denied. When the news of your disappearance came, I tried again and was denied. I tried getting assigned to a surface rotation to go awol and find you, but even that request was denied. So, I waited until the holiday leave¡ªno one requests Landing day off¡ªand came here as quickly as I could. I actually have to return tomorrow or I will be marked as a deserter. It was worth it when I thought this school had let my nephew die in some mad classroom, but now that you are alive, I need to consider our futures.¡±


    ¡°Futures...¡± Kole said, not having given much consideration to his own beyond finding his parents, and not certain his mother would be furious he¡¯d lost the ancient ancestral home.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about the estate,¡± Jaryn assured Kole, reading his face. ¡±If your parents are found alive, then the ruling of their death will be annulled, and any subsequent ruling retried. Your debts will transfer back to your parents, and Oldhill will have to petition to collect once more. Your parents will be given time to pay.¡±


    ¡°So... I should probably become fabulously wealthy before saving my parents from an impossible fate trapped in a pocket realm?¡± Kole asked, trying to lighten the mood.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Jaryn said, seriously. ¡°That would certainly help save you from your mother¡¯s wrath.¡±


    Knock


    ¡°I¡¯m sure this is all very touching,¡± Kelina said, entering, the knock hardly even a courtesy. ¡°But I have to be about the business of running a school, and I am sure there are other rooms that could be used for this reunion.¡±


    ¡°Sorry ma¡¯am,¡± Jaryn said, abruptly standing at military attention.


    Kelina raised an appraising eyebrow at Kole¡¯s uncle, and Kole lout out a groan.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t,¡± Kole whispered so just his uncle could hear.


    ¡°If only I had the time,¡± Jaryn said, ushering Kole out of the room, giving Kelina a parting look, finding she was looking back.


    ¡°What happened to what¡¯s her name?¡± Kole asked once they were in the hall. ¡°The one with the rash?¡±


    Jaryn sighed.


    ¡°We broke up two years ago, and it wasn¡¯t a rash, it was a magic tattoo. And I was seeing someone, but she broke up with me when I became obsessed with avenging the death of my missing nephew.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kole said, at a loss for words.


    ¡°So... what do you know about this Administrator Kelina?¡±


    ¡°I know that she¡¯s the assistant to Zale¡¯s mother, who you really don¡¯t want to get on the bad side of.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well. That does complicate things,¡± Jaryn said, taking his nephew¡¯s request to heart.


    The two may be uncle and nephew, but the age gap between them was not large. Kole¡¯s grandparents had died young, and his mother had taken her much younger brother on as her ward. When Kole¡¯s mother vanished, Jaryn had been only twelve and had mostly helped keep Kole alive and fed as his father neglected them both in his pursuit of his wife.


    When Kole¡¯s father had disappeared, Kole and Jaryn had been nine and sixteen respectively, and Jaryn had just been made a squire to a Mirage Knight. By the time Kole had left home, his uncle had become a Mirage Knight in his own right, attached to the Illandrian military. Kole¡¯s mother had been trained as a Mirage Knight as well, but as the head of their house, she¡¯d never entered military service, as each high house filled their own roles in the city''s governance in war and peace, making military obligations politically tricky.


    In fact, if it hadn¡¯t been for Oldhill¡¯s absorption of their family holdings, Jaryn would have had to resign from the military to serve as the Highridge family steward until Kole reached his majority.


    Kole and Jaryn talked of less world-shattering things as they walked around campus without any direction in mind. Jaryn told Kole about the last three girlfriends Kole had not been aware of in his single-minded focus on studying magic.


    Jaryn in turn asked some pointed questions about Zale, that Kole was very embarrassed to answer. As they walked idly through the school, they came across the martial yards, where even late at night there were students dueling.


    ¡°So....¡± Jaryn said, taking Kole in. ¡°You say you¡¯ve been learning how to fight?¡±

 Chapter 12: Spar

    Wookan the Dead¡¯s people, the Hooadin lived in a barren and inhospitable region of the pre-Flood Kaltis realm. While the environment was harsh, the region had very low monster activity, and they chose to face the ravages of the savanna plains over those of claws and teeth.


    As a culture, the Hooadin abhorred waste of all forms. They also had little regard for the gods. These two cultural facets built on each other to create a unique advantage. When the Hooadin died, their spirits chose to stay in the Ethereal Realm, forsaking the peace offered by traversing to the Celestial Realm to either live on for eternity with the gods or brave rebirth.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    ¡°No Invisibility,¡± Jaryn said, as he was examining the training rapier he¡¯d selected. It was a metal blade but with a blunt edge and runes that further dampened the blow if they made contact with an enemy while giving off the signal for a hit. The sword was expensive, reserved for the higher level students and official duels, but getting into the locked weapons cabinet had been a simple task for the Mirage Knight.


    As one might guess, infiltration is a large part of the training a group of Illusion warriors endure.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Kole said, inspecting his own, mundane and unruned quarter-staff.


    It was for the best, despite Kole¡¯s resigned tone. It would hardly be a test of Kole¡¯s talent if the two Illusion primals just ran around blindly swinging at the air.


    They stood twenty paces apart in an empty dueling ring,


    ¡°When the coin lands,¡± Jaryn said, getting a nod from Kole.


    He flicked a copper into the air, and they both watched it intently as it tumbled to the ground.


    Drawing lightly on the Font of Illusion, Kole Faded, as he reached into his shirt to pull out his blasting rod, putting his staff in his off-hand, and forced his Will to trace the pattern of the blasting rod stored in his mind. The effort was more difficult due to the active Fade, but he had the time.


    As soon as the coin landed with a metallic ping, he sent the intent into the wand, the Fade falling apart as we couldn¡¯t maintain the focus and activate the blasting rod together


    While Kole had been scheming, so had his Uncle. As soon as he¡¯d flipped the coin, two illusory versions of Jaryn had appeared beside him, one tracking the coin with his eyes, while the others held their rapiers at the ready.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Flood Kole cursed internally, trying to guess which had been which.


    Center watching the coin? No, too obvious.


    He sent his bolt at the one on the left.


    When the coin landed, all three had burst into motion towards Kole, and the target of Kole¡¯s bolt ducked out of the way, the other two not breaking their stride.


    Flood! Kole thought again as he backpedaled to maintain a gap.


    Changing tactics, Kole cast Magic Missile, sending each bolt at a different illusion. Kole saw the surprise on his uncle¡¯s face as the three bolts split, one traveling to each copy.


    All three hit their targets, the two on the outside disappearing as Kole¡¯s magic passed through them, while the center one grunted in pain and ran on, only a few feet away from Kole.


    Kole let his blasting rod drop to the ground where he hoped it would roll away safely, grabbing his quarterstaff with both hands.


    His uncle, smiling despite the pain of the wound he¡¯d suffered, came in with a swing even Kole could tell was being held back.


    Kole blocked the far from optimal swipe from the rapier, and when his uncle followed up with a thrust he knocked that aside as well.


    With each contact, Jaryn picked up the pace and aggression of his offense, pushing Kole to the limits of his abilities with the quarterstaff.


    Kole sensed as his Uncle began to draw on the Font of Illusion, and while Kole didn¡¯t know what was about to come, he made an educated guess.


    Just as Jaryn thrust an open palm up, Kole did the same, closing his eyes


    A blinding flash of light shone out of Jaryn¡¯s palm, and Kole saw it as a red glow through his closed eyes.


    ¡°Bo,¡± Kole said, calmly following up his literal blind guess, with a Shield to block the stab he expected to follow.


    Kole opened his eyes as soon as the glow faded and saw his uncle recovering from the tip of his rapier glancing off the Shield he¡¯d summoned.


    Taking advantage of the moment, Kole cast Thunderwave, catching his Uncle on unstable footing. The roar of thunder echoed off the buildings and sent Jaryn into a tumble.


    The Mirage Knight turned the uncontrolled push into a tumble, and when he regained his footing, there were once more three of them.


    Kole felt the sudden crash of a Will drain head ache, as he brought his staff up to defend.


    Kole got lucky, choosing the correct illusion to block the first attack from, but when he tried to counterattack, he was quickly disarmed with a flourish he¡¯d thought he¡¯d learned to defend against from Zale, but clearly he¡¯d been wrong.


    Kole stood still, hands raised in surrender, as three identical rapiers pointed at his neck.


    ¡°I give up,¡± Kole said, smiling despite the loss.


    ¡°Amazing!¡± Jaryn said, smiling himself, the swords in the hands of the two on the left vanishing as they clapped slowly, while the one on the right slipped his through his belt.


    ¡°That¡¯s not your sword,¡± Kole said, pointing to the newly sheathed weapon.


    Jaryn brought his finger up to his lips and made a shushing sound, mimicking the somatic component for Silence.

 Chapter 13: Explosions

    Wookan was a descended of Erebog. Upon learning of these people who¡¯d forsaken the gods, the god of death sought them out in human form to see if they could be recruited to the cause of freeing Faust from his prison. They were not interested, but Erebog lived among them in disguise for some time nonetheless before leaving the Realm with all the other gods.


    Wookan lived his life as a warrior of great skill but little renown. Cursed was he to be born with a skill set in a time where it was not required. His people had no neighbors, and saw war as the ultimate waste of resourced. While he had some renown for his skills in life, it wasn¡¯t until after death that he ascended to become a demi-god.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    <hr>


    Kole walked around campus aimlessly with his uncle talking about everything, big and small that had happened over the last few months. It was strange for Kole, as if some wedge between them had been lifted, but more so like it had never been there at all. He¡¯d always loved his uncle, but they¡¯d never really talked like this.


    He reflected as they walked. Part of it was that Kole was not older, but that was likely the least of the changes. The revelation about Kole¡¯s mother and Kole coming into his abilities removed the two largest topics of conversation they¡¯d defaulted to arguing about over the years, leaving them with the opportunity to discuss anything and everything.


    They walked late into the night, only realizing the hour when the skies exploded.


    A series of whistles preceded a rolling wave of booming explosions, followed by star bursts of light that rained down over the city. Screams came from the rooftops around them.


    Kole and Jaryn both dove for cover, Kole trying to cast Shield, but finding he lacked the Will. When the explosions continued, but weren''t followed by the crashing of collapsing buildings, both peaked out from where they¡¯d jumped for cover¡ªKole behind a large decorative boulder and his uncle under a stone bench.


    The lights continued to fill the sky, but they noticed now, that they were coming from the roof¡¯s themselves and not being fired upon the city as Kole had first thought. Furthermore, he noticed that the screams he¡¯d heard hadn¡¯t been those of people fleeing in terror at their certain doom, but ones of joy and laughter at the spectacle.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Jaryn said, excitedly smacking Kole on the back. ¡°Fireworks!¡±


    ¡°Fire whats?¡± Kole asked, realizing they weren¡¯t a threat, but not sure what they actually were.


    ¡°Fireworks¡± Jaryn repeated. ¡°It''s a relatively new thing on the surface. We were briefed on them as they have military applications. They use that blasting powder the gnomes developed and metals. They fire them into the air for celebrations.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Kole now recalled that Underbrook¡¯s own celebratory illusions had looked just like these fireworks, and now realized the halfling had been emulating them.


    ¡°Oh," Kole said, far less enthusiastic ¡°Why not just use magic?¡±


    To emphasize the point, Kole, casting Silent Image, using the last of his slightly recovered Will, conjuring a frozen image of the exploding sky over a miniature of the city, Dahn prominent in the center.


    In response, Jaryn created an exact copy of Kole¡¯s illusion right beside it, only his moved. The fireworks flying up from the roofs, exploding, and fading, all accompanied by the sounds of explosions that were weak imitations of the ones above.


    ¡°Show off,¡± Kole muttered.


    ¡°Yours is nice too,¡± Jaryn said, ¡°But I think there''s something to be said about the real ones.¡±


    Jaryn gestured at the sky.


    ¡°You can feel them, each explosion. It makes your body reverberate.¡±


    Kole realized then that he could. As each exploded, he rippling waves of pressure all around him.


    ¡°I suppose,¡± Kole conceded. ¡°But it seems like a waste. And, the smell...¡±


    The smell of sulfur filled the air now, and was growing worse by the moment.


    The two sat down in the grass, and watched the show. The fireworks continued for a few more minutes, before the pace picked up, every roof seemingly firing all they had at once, completely lighting up the campus as if it were day with larger explosions than they¡¯d seen up until then. The rapid fire reached a crescendo as a final volley went up from all the rooftops in a single synchronized launch, and the sky erupted into a cloud of brilliant light, as if looking into the sun, followed by complete silence.


    The silence lasted for only a moment, as roars of cheers went up from all around the city.


    ¡°I guess that means it''s new years day,¡± Jaryn observed. ¡°Which means I really need to get going,¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°My ship leaves for Hawk¡¯s Nest in four hours, I need to get to the port if I¡¯m to make my ship back to Illandrios in time.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right,¡° Kole said, disappointed.


    He¡¯d told his uncle about the magic doors Zale had access to in his retelling, and his uncle had inquired about any routes back to Illandrios. This had actually been something Kole and Zale had discussed, and while Zale was certain there were doors to Illandrios, and even Hawk¡¯s Nest, she hadn¡¯t had access to them even before the recent security upgrades.


    "I¡¯ll promise to write this time," Kole said, then corrected himself with a grin. ¡°Well, I promise to try to remember.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s better if you don¡¯t¡± Jaryn said seriously. ¡°Lord Oldhill thinks you¡¯re dead. It''s probably best if we keep it that way.¡±


    ¡°I might have a means of getting around that,¡± Kole said, getting an idea. ¡°The Willowboom. I¡¯ll direct letters to you through him and I expect he¡¯ll be able to get them to you. I¡¯ll write him and see if he can arrange for a pickup on your end.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± Jaryn said.


    He¡¯d asked a lot of questions about Meech when Kole had recounted his story. The Mirage Knights after all were trained in espionage and that had a lot of overlap with whatever it was that Meech actually did.


    They talked for only a little longer, and then embraced each other in a hug before parting for the foreseeable future.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to visit, but I won¡¯t have leave for some time,¡± Jaryn promised, before vanishing from Kole¡¯s vision.


    ¡°Paranoid much?¡± Kole called into the darkness.

 Chapter 14: Back to School

    Sometime after his death, undead hordes began to encroach on the savanna the Hoodin called home. Desperate for aid, the Hooadin called heavily on their ancestors. They called on them for advice, training, and direct aid. Wookan was called daily. He gave guidance to all that asked it of him, and with each summoning his legend grew just a bit. It wasn¡¯t until the Hooadin learned to manifest spirits for battle that Wookan gained the renown to ascend. In a desperate move, as the horde was about to overwhelm their final redoubt, a great ritual was performed, tearing the veil between material and ethereal. Wookan led an army of the dead to defeat the undead, saving their people.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    <hr>


    ¡°Hardball,¡± Professor Underbrook said, spreading his hands out in front of him as he spoke, illusory explosions going off above his head¡ªsomething Kole now recognized to be fireworks.


    His display was met with blank stares. As the second semester class of Pre Adventurer Battle Training sat in a lecture hall waiting for class to begin, the professor had appeared before the class in a magically unnecessary puff of smoke and said the word with great enthusiasm and spectacle.


    While the previous semester class had met at the end of each week, the schedule had inexplicably been changed to Monday mornings. No one was taking it well, even Zale, who¡¯d been angry it messed with their training schedule.


    ¡°Nothing?¡± Underbrook said, cocking his head to the side.


    He lowered his hands, and sighed.


    ¡°Fine. You¡¯re all too serious. No appreciation for flare.¡±


    In a bored voice, he droned, ¡°Welcome to the second semester of Pre Adventurer Battle Training. I am your professor, Professor Underbrook. Due to unforeseen events caused by other-realmly invaders, magic towers that defy space and time, and the requisite caution that much be taken when these things occur, you will obviously all not be going into the dungeon this semester.¡±


    He was once more met with silence.


    ¡°It was decided that the best manner in which to provide this class the opportunity to practice the tactics we teach without getting horribly maimed, killed, or maimed and then killed, would be to have a hardball tournament throughout the semester. Each team will compete on a biweekly¡ªevery other, none of that twice a week nonsense¡ªin a tournament that will be broadcasted out to all of Basin.¡±


    Finally, the class broke out into excited murmurs.


    ¡°Finally,¡± Underbrook said to himself under his breath, but then interrupted the class. ¡°Attention please.¡±


    Once everyone had quieted down he asked, ¡°Alright. Any questions?¡±


    Hands shot up all around the gathered students.


    ¡°You,¡± Underbrook said, pointing to a halfling girl.


    ¡°Why are you broadcasting the matches?¡±


    Kole had wondered that himself. He knew that there was a hardball league through the school, but those games weren¡¯t ever broadcasted out magically.


    ¡°Money,¡± Underbrook said. ¡°Any other questions?¡±


    More hands shot up, and he pointed to another student.


    ¡°What?¡± they asked simply.


    Underbrook sighed again, but was smiling.


    ¡°I think he missed tormenting us over the break,¡± Kole whispered to Rakin beside him, earning a grunt of agreement.


    Or, at least a grunt Kole thought was agreement. Kole was getting better at interpreting Rakin¡¯s grunts¡ªprobably. He honestly wasn¡¯t quite sure but the grunt seemed to have more nuance than he¡¯d originally thought.


    ¡°The protective magics you see on the professional hardball circuit are extremely expensive. They allow professionals to go all out without fear of permanent death or dismemberment. The student leagues are heavily regulated to prevent students from getting hurt. If we had you all running around with sparring weapons and shield devices, you¡¯d all have a lot of fun and learn a whole lot of nothing. The school negotiated terms with the professional hardball league. They agreed to start an amateur league on a trial basis, and broadcast the games, offering to fund the protection magics needed to let you go all out as you would have in the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Permanent death?¡± a voice asked without being called upon.


    ¡°Some Blessed of Ganik are always on hand in the recovery rooms of professional matches in case someone¡¯s teleportation effect goes off too late. Their god allows them to revive anyone who died in friendly competition¡ªif they get there fast enough.¡±


    ¡°How often does this happen?¡± a stricken voice shouted out over the murmuring that broke out.


    ¡°Hardly ever,¡± Underbrook said, rubbing his forehead in frustration. ¡°I think you are all missing the point.¡±


    The class did not agree, and he spent the next five minutes fending off questions about the specifics of the league¡¯s protection magic.


    Kole¡¯s mind raced at the possibilities.


    Their last¡ªand quite brief¡ªexperience with hardball had been a complete and utter failure. Going into that he¡¯d had hopes of performing so well he caught the eye of a potential mentor, but their failure had put an end to that brief hope.


    He¡¯d planned to spend the holiday inquiring after mentors, but the failure coupled with the punishment detail had kept him from that. On reflection, he¡¯d thought it probably for the best they¡¯d gotten out quickly, and still managed to pass. He hadn¡¯t had to make the difficult decision on risking outing his invisibility or not to pass.


    But now, that was once more a concern. His Invisibility and Silent Image spells were far more powerful if no one knew he had them.


    Am I being paranoid? Who am I hiding these things from? Kole thought briefly, before recalling his uncle¡¯s words.


    Oh no. The Oldhills.


    He thought he stood a good chance avoiding Corbyn if he could get a hold of his class schedule¡ªsomething he already had a plan for. If he should happen to see him, a simple Fade would seem him blending into the crowd. But... if he were to appear in a broadcast of the hardball matches, it wouldn¡¯t be so easy to remain anonymous. Especially if word got out about his primal abilities. Surely even Corbyn would put two and two together if he heard of a first year student casting Invisibility.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°After the end of last semester and the break, enough students remain enrolled to make up 16 four man teams,¡± Underbrook announced, getting tired of all the repeated questions about personal safety.


    ¡°Each team will have a match every other week. On the off weeks, you will be assigned or taken to deal with a local threat. Those of you with mentors already will have your mentors¡¯ assist your groups in these tasks. The tournament will be single elimination, but as we need you all to keep practicing¡ªeven the losers¡ªthose who have been knocked out will be paired against each other.¡±


    ¡°What do we get if we win?¡± a familiar voice called out, and Kole looked over to see Gray, an eager smile on his face.


    They¡¯d done well in the hardball battle royale, and the other young wizard was clearly eager to prove themselves.


    ¡°What?¡± Underbrook said, in mock affront. ¡°Is the joy of victory insufficient?¡±


    Gray only raised an eyebrow, knowing the professor better than to take that at face value.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Underbrook conceded, dropping the act. ¡°There will be a monetary prize for the winners, but I don''t know what. It¡¯s based on whatever revenue the broadcast brings in, and they deduct the cost of all the magical protections needed from the pool.¡±


    That was met with a clamor as all the students started talking to their teams in excited chatter.


    ¡°Now,¡± Professor Underbrook called, using magic to amplify his voice. ¡°Let''s go over the rules and general tactics.¡±


    <hr>


    The rules, as Kole had learned from Zale, were extremely basic.


    <ol>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Get the ball to your goal.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">The match ends when the ball or the other team is destroyed.


    At the end of the match, whoever scored the most wins, unless one team was completely eliminated, then the remaining team wins by default.</li>


    </ol>


    The basic strategy basically every team employed was to score once and then destroy the ball.


    While those were the rules of hardball, there were some league specific rules to make the games more entertaining.


    In the event of the ball''s destruction with a tie score, the match continues until a team is eliminated. Some lower leagues simply end the match when this occurs but Underbrook was of the opinion that wasn''t any fun, so he''d petitioned for the elimination rules be used.


    Some magics were also regulated by the league. Spacial magic was limited when the ball was held. If your team has the ball, you can''t teleport more than a few dozen yards closer to your goal than your teammate closest to the ball. You also couldn¡¯t teleport to within a certain range of the ball, a distance which varied based on the arena.


    These rules were magically enforced by the protective magics used and if they are violated the perpetrator was eliminated¡ªthough those magics themselves made violating the rules cost additional Will, acting as a warning to players that might not be fully aware of their surroundings.


    Aside from that, anything else was allowed¡ªeven magics that would otherwise be illegal such as mental domination, not that that would be an issue for their level of competition.


    They were also allowed to bring whatever equipment they wished, and the school would provide access to equipment and gear like they had in the dungeon.


    Despite knowing he could recall the rules with perfect clarity later on, Kole took attentive notes. He was going to win.


    As they walked out of class Kole and his team received more sidelong glances than usual¡ªif you defined usual as the significant but not constant amount they''d received near the end of the previous semester.


    Having a party voidling and demonkin on your team while simultaneously disappearing for months tended to draw the occasional glance.


    ¡°So, that was an easy class,¡± Zale said as they walked out.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going for a jog,¡± Kole said, seeing where she was going with the leading statement and beating her there.


    ¡°I''ll get you into the cafeteria after,¡± Zale said, attempting to appeal to his cheaper sensibilities.


    With a sly smile, Kole pulled stack of paper slips out of his pocket and waved it in front of her.


    Meal vouchers.


    ¡°You have lost that power,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Zale said, accepting defeat. ¡°No morning training on Mondays, but I still expect you all every other morning. You don''t want me to use the Dahn to get you out of bed in the morning. Mom found a lot of creative uses for the Dahn¡¯s defense systems as a parenting aid and I think I could employ them if need be.¡±


    ¡°Is she serious?¡± Kole whispered to Rakin, who only shrugged.


    ¡°I wouldn''t put it past her ma.¡±


    <hr>


    After PREVENT, Kole killed an hour waiting for his history working on Radiant Bolt in a grassy patch of campus as Zale sat beside him, eyes closed trying to sense his connection to the Font of Light.


    He¡¯d started his work on the spell creating a Light cantrip that didn¡¯t require a gate. The task had been a lot simpler than he¡¯d feared. He¡¯d already known the spell intent for the Font of Light from his existing Light cantrip. So, he opened his bridge, and sent that tiny mode of intent imbued Will into the Arcane Realm.


    Nothing had happened, but he hadn¡¯t expected it to on the first try without any path¡ªthough he¡¯d had some small hopes of it.


    After that, it only took him a few days of pathing in between work on other spells and tasks to path the tiny little effect. Now, with a cantrip not based on an offset gate he could cast a Light cantrip at will, for no Will


    He was still growing used to the novelty of it, and he found himself idly casting Glow, the name for the Light cantrip, as he walked around campus.


    After he¡¯d completed that, he¡¯d moved onto learning Radiant Bolt. By this point, he¡¯d already constructed the spell construct in his mental vault. Unfortunately, he¡¯d had to remove Magic Missile from his mental vault to have space to store this one, even if it was still incomplete. His mental vault could only currently hold the templates for four spells, and the other three slots were occupied with Shield, Thunderwave, and his Blasting rod rune intent¡ªthe last wasn¡¯t technically a spell template, but they both operated on the same principles and took up the same spot in his mind.


    The spells he removed were safe in his spellbook, and he could reform the templates in his mind given a little time to review them, but if he had the sudden need to cast Magic Missile, he¡¯d be out of luck. Similarly, the Will intent for the repair runes on his blasting rod were not stored in his vault, but now that he¡¯d learned the pattern once, it only took him a short trip to Amara¡¯s workshop to relearn it and repair the rod. He was, in the process of trying to make a spellform for the intent that was otherwise stored in a gem, but he wasn¡¯t making much progress.


    Unlike spellforms which could store the Will intent of spells in an inert shape for later review, the shapes that stored rune Will intent were the ones that activated the effect. No one had tried to find runes that could store the intent without activating them¡ªor at least, no one had succeeded. So, all rune intent was stored in gems, which could hold any Will with intent stably without the need to discover the complex arcane geometries of a spellform.


    So, Kole sat in his mental vault¡ªmentally at least¡ªand repeatedly sent his incomplete Radiant Bolt through his bridge, in an attempt to discover a route from his own, personal, unique bridge into the Arcane Realm to the Font of Light. It had been a simple task to do with the cantrip, the spell effect being so small it dodged and slipped past most obstacles in the Arcane Realm with ease. But, the more complex or powerful the spell effect, the more difficult the task.


    After his experience in pathing Thunderwave and now Glow, his hopes were high. having pathed once to the Font, he felt he¡¯d have a better¡ªwell¡ªfeel for it, though he couldn¡¯t articulate why if pressed.


    Traversing the Arcane Realm was often like that.


    ¡°Oh! I felt something!¡± Zale said excitedly from beside him in the grass. ¡°Did you just do something?¡±


    ¡°Ummm,¡± Kole began, waffling between simply saying no, or teasing Zale.


    Before his realization he had feelings for his friend, he¡¯d have made a joke, but now...


    Will she take that as flirting? Will it be flirting? Do I want it to be? Do I want her to know its flirting?


    He¡¯d begun to over think things a bit.


    In the end, he settled on, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Oh darn.,¡± Zale cursed¡ªat least, a curse for her. Then she muttered ¡°Maybe it was gas."


    ¡°What?¡± Kole asked, not quite hearing her.


    ¡°Nothing!¡± Zale said quickly, pale white skin darkening a shade in embarrassment. ¡°Look at the time! We need to run to history!¡±

 Chapter 15: Midlian History

    The ritual had a devastating side effect, however, and the spirits that passed through became trapped, slowly losing their sanity. The Hooadin saved their people but at the cost of their ancestors. The spirits were forced to travel to the Celestial Realm, or submit themselves to destruction. When Wookan submitted himself to be destroyed, his people begged him to go to the Celestial Realm on the off chance he could return. He refused, and in that refusal, his people¡¯s respect for him grew so great, he ascended to the status of demi-god, and in the greatest of ironies traveled to the celestial realm.


    While the Hoodin people still forsake the gods, there is one demi-god they revere, and he in turn greatly Blesses his people.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    <hr>


    Kole and Zale were very early to their history class, and they got good seats. Well, good if you asked Kole, who had strong opinions that being just off to the left of the center of the classroom was the ideal spot to avoid being noticed for either slacking off or brown-nosing.


    As usual, no one sat beside them. This semester, the avoidance seemed to have less malice than before. When people avoided her in the first semester, there was an air of fear to it all, but now it seemed more of a subconscious habit. When Zale went out with her illusory disguise bracelet¡ªusually simply so her skin and hair better matched her outfit for the day¡ªall the avoiding ceased, even from people that recognized her and knew she was half voidling.


    ¡°How long until the mean looks return?¡± Zale asked Kole in a whisper.


    People turned to look at her at that. Zale was a poor whisperer, and not for the first time Kole saw yet another reason her mother had chosen not to take her on as an apprentice in the arts of subterfuge. She still taught her daughter her tricks of course, only some stuck better than others.


    ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Shalin,¡± Zale said heavily. ¡°She¡¯s going to spread rumors that we were in on the kidnappings.¡±


    ¡°No one will believe that,¡± Kole said. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous.¡±


    Kole looked around at the people who were avoiding them and thought about how quickly they forgot about Zale¡¯s nature when she wore a disguise.


    ¡°Or maybe not...¡± he amended.


    ¡°Mm-hmm. And, I know that Parrot Song won¡¯t say anything after Tigereye told us not to, but I don¡¯t trust the rest to not spread word about Rakin. That¡¯s not going to be good.¡±


    ¡°Yeah...¡±


    ¡°Good morning class,¡± the professor said from the front of the room. ¡°I¡¯m Professor Albert Moonsuckle and I¡¯ll be teaching you all about Midlian history.¡±


    Kole looked to the front of the room at the voice. The speaker was a slender man who looked to be in his seventies, but the slight points to his ears that marked him as a half-elf suggested him to be far older.


    The elderly half-elf chuckled quietly to himself.


    ¡°I suppose you all know that though¡ªyou signed up for the class after all.¡±


    A commotion broke out in the corner of the room as one student, realizing he was in the wrong lecture, tried to squeeze his way out of the row.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    The professor paused speaking, putting on a kindly smile as he waited for the student to leave.


    ¡°Well, let''s get to it then,¡± the professor said, turning to the chalkboard.


    ¡°This class will be an overview of the Midlian Empire, from its humble origins as a small Kingdom, to the great machine of evil it became before the Flood mercifully erased them from the world.¡±


    The professor wrote a general timeline on the board.


    ¡°We will start our study on the origins of the Midlian family and their rise to prominence during the Age of Heroes. We will then study how they consolidated power and followers after the gods departed the Realm circa 1550 B.F. There was to be a week to study the wars of annexation as the small clan conquered their neighboring human settlements for the Midlian Kingdom¡ªthe records from this time are scarce and not terribly interesting. The bulk of this course will cover the expanse of the Midlian Empire in the five hundred years leading up to the Flood.¡±


    Kole was taking notes, once more in spite of the fact he could simply do so later. This was not typically a history class that could be used as a credit to qualify for the Adventuring Track of the Academy of Illunia¡ªtypically those revolved around pre-Flood Basin history, as that was the most relevant to the threats and regions that an adventurer might face.


    But, after their realization about the true meaning of Zale¡¯s mother¡¯s note, they¡¯d ask for permission to take a class on Midlian history. Professor Underbrook and Tigereye had been quick to agree that the history of the once-feared empire might be gaining relevance in the near future and had allowed the change.


    They¡¯d stopped short of requiring all students to take the class, as at this point the Midlian aspect was speculation¡ªwell-founded speculation, but speculation nonetheless. There was no need to cause a mass panic at the thought of the return of the evil empire before they had any actual proof¡ªand even then, it might still be best to keep it on a need-to-know basis.


    While Kole¡¯s home of Illandrios had joined in the coalition against the Midlian Empire before the Avatar¡¯s Reign, most of the pre-Flood history was lost in the city¡¯s nearly seven hundred years of isolation below the sea. They¡¯d made efforts to recover their history from outside resources since they rejoined the surface world, but Kole hadn¡¯t spent much¡ªor any¡ªtime reading those histories.


    After class, Kole and Zale headed to lunch in their usual haunt, the cafeteria in the martial college.


    The workers at the desk waved Kole and Zale in as they usually did.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kole said, getting their attention. ¡°I have a voucher!¡±


    Kole handed the slip of paper to the cashier, who took it uncertainly.


    ¡°You sure?¡± they asked, looking from Zale to the paper. ¡°I was already going to let you in.¡±


    ¡°Ummm,¡± Kole began, unsure if he was sure now.


    He''d been told his food cost would be covered, but he''d only been given a week or two worth of slips.


    I¡¯m sure there''s a way to get more, he told himself. But his frugal nature fought against reason.


    ¡°Yeah...¡± Kole said, letting go of the slip as he realized he''d still been gripping it.


    Inside Kole surveyed the place for an empty seat, and his eyes met with Gray, who was sitting with Harold.


    Kole immediately looked away and they found somewhere to sit where neither had to face the other pair.


    ¡°Still weird between you too?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s getting better,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s weird to go from friends to dating, weirder still to try to go back.¡±


    That comment sent Kole through a mental rabbit hole of conflicting teenage emotions.


    Zale excused herself after eating for a martial combat class she apparently shared with Harold, and met up with him at the exit.


    Kole remained, working on Radiant Bolt some more to kill time before his next class.


    As Kole rose to leave, he saw Gray doing the same, and despite trying to slow his pace to not run into him, the two met at the exit.


    Despite that, they left without speaking to each other.


    After walking beside each other through three turns on campus, Kole finally asked, ¡°Wizardry 205?¡±


    Gray nodded, and they continued on together through campus.


    This is going to be a long semester, Kole thought.

 Chapter 16: A Less than Hostile Chat

    As the Flood waters began to cover Kaltis, the Hoodin people once more relied on their connection to the Ethereal to survive. The people crafted a great ritual and left the Material Realm for the Ethereal. For years, they traveled the Ethereal Realm, their few remaining ancestors protecting them from the threats native to that land, until eventually, they found the mountains that boarded Basin, discovering the dry land within.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    <hr>


    After walking together for five minutes in silence, Gray worked up the courage to say something Kole could tell he¡¯d been wrestling with the whole walk.


    ¡°I¡¯m... sorry,¡± Gray said, first slowly then quickly as if he¡¯d fought to push the words out before expelling them rapidly to get rid of them.


    Kole stopped walking, as one does when the unexpected occurs on a clear blue day.


    ¡°What?" Kole said, brain struggling to catch up.


    Gray¡¯s face darkened in irritation at being forced to repeat the apology.


    ¡°No, sorry. I heard you,¡± Kole said, allowing him to relax. ¡°I just... what?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying I was 100% wrong in my judgment of you when we first met¡ªyou really could have become a massive liability to your team. But I didn¡¯t have to be just an ass about it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s...¡± Kole began.


    Stop talking before you know what you¡¯re going to say! he yelled internally.


    Finally, he collected his thoughts, ¡°a fair assessment I suppose. You were an ass, but you weren¡¯t really saying anything I hadn¡¯t heard a thousand times¡ªusually accompanied by dead fish.¡±


    ¡°Dead fish?" Gray asked.


    Kole explained his run-ins with Corbyn Oldhill growing up.


    ¡°For real?¡± He asked, not believing the stories. ¡°That wasn¡¯t bullying, those were murder attempts.¡±


    Kole rubbed the back of his head as he reflected.


    ¡°Yeah... but on the bright side it made your tongue-lashing seem pretty mild,¡± Kole joked.


    ¡°Corbyn...¡± Gray said, repeating the name.


    ¡°He¡¯s in one of your classes?¡± Kole asked, because, of course that would happen in this enormous school.


    Gray nodded.


    ¡°There¡¯s a Corbyn in my fencing class. We met this morning. He¡¯s not bad, but he also didn¡¯t seem like a sociopath.¡±


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed, wondering what to do.


    How do I get him to not mention me? Do I tell Gray I¡¯m hiding from him? Can I trust him?


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Gray said, reading Kole¡¯s expression. ¡°I won¡¯t tell him where you are.¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t even know I¡¯m here,¡± Kole blurted out, jumping on the opening. ¡°He thinks I¡¯m dead after the whole disappearing for a few months thing.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Gray said,


    ¡°I¡¯ll be honest,¡± Kole said, making a decision. ¡°I don¡¯t trust you enough to know the details, but apparently his father wants something that belongs to my parents. Something that I¡¯m going to use to find them someday and have no intention of giving to him.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Gray considered, then asked, ¡°Did you steal it?¡±


    Kole shook his head.


    ¡°It still belongs to my mother. In fact, Zale¡¯s uncle used it to divine that she¡¯s still alive.¡±


    ¡°Really?!¡± Gray asked, snapping to look at Kole.


    Kole remembered then that Gray¡¯s parents had been adventurers who had died.


    How long had Gray laid awake at night, dreaming up scenarios via which his parents could have survived? Kole thought. If I was more adept at this sort of thing I probably would have led with that.


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Gray asked, this time he stopped. ¡°Zale has an uncle?¡±


    Kole spent the rest of the walk trying to get Gray to stop asking about Zale¡¯s uncle. Apparently, she¡¯d never spoken of him to her childhood friends, which raised some questions in Kole¡¯s mind.


    When the pair got to class, they both eyed their preferred seating locations, before silently agreeing to part.


    They¡¯d extended olive branches, but they weren¡¯t friends. Kole looked over the faces of the class and saw a few he recognized from the last semester, but most were new, and none¡ªsave for Gray¡ªwere from their PREVENT class. Though, a few other first-years were in the class. He''d been fairly certain before he disappeared for two months the previous semester that Gray and he were the two most advanced Wizards in their group¡ªat least when it came to theoretical wizardry¡ªbut now he was sure. There was always the chance one of his fellow PREVENT students was an extremely gifted high-affinity sorcery with amazing control of a Font, but that was more a gift of birth than a sign of wizarding genius.


    Though Kole''s own talents were primarily accidents of birth, he didn''t spend much time reflecting on the hypocrisy. He was, after all, a very hard worker and without that he''d have nothing to show for his magical heritage.


    Professor Underbrook reappeared with his typical flair.


    "Good afternoon class! Welcome to WIZ 205, Combat Wizardry. Who wants to fight?" he asked, conjuring a ball of fire in his palm as he surveyed the students.


    When no one volunteered, he dismissed the fire.


    "Fine. You are all no fun. But the offer stands,¡± Underbrook said. ¡°This semester, we will be learning combat applications of spells. To facilitate that, Fridays will be dedicated to magical dueling. Come with Will to spare.¡±


    Murmurs broke out among the students at the pronouncement, and Kole felt a smile creep onto his face.


    This wasn¡¯t on the syllabus, he thought.


    ¡°Now, some of you might be wondering why that isn¡¯t on the syllabus,¡± Underbrook said as if reading Kole¡¯s mind.


    ¡°We don¡¯t want to encourage students to take the class for the sole purpose of dueling. Mondays and Wednesdays will be split between spell theory and magical combat tactics. We will also cover Mind magic defense. You must all achieve a certain level of mental defenses to pass this class.¡±


    That was met with a groan, one Kole joined in on. Mental defenses weren¡¯t something specific to wizards. Anyone with a mental vault¡ªand a penchant for torturing themselves¡ªcould train their mind to resist outside influence, but there was a reason few people did so. It was miserable.


    Underbrook went on to provide more details on each area, and when he was done speaking, Kole felt a lot better about his chances of passing this semester. The practical final for this class would require Kole to duel a professor and show a certain level of ability in offense, defense, and utility magic in battle. While Kole didn¡¯t think he¡¯d pass if forced to do that battle now, he was confident in his ability to meet the task by year-end¡ªso long as he didn¡¯t vanish for a few more months, but the chances of that occurring seemed rather low.


    Class was dismissed without homework, and Kole was very excited to find he had a homework-free afternoon to spend working on his magic.


    But, he was making progress at a good pace and could afford the breaks, and that was enough¡ªor so he told himself when Zale banged on his door later that night, threatening him with additional conditioning exercises should he choose to stay up too late.


    The next morning, Zale judged that he probably had gone to bed.


    ¡°But,¡± she said, chewing her lip and cocking her head to the side as she examined him. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell. You always look tired.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± Kole said, but then stopped himself from convincing her that his current tired-looking state was out of the norm.


    He had in fact gone to bed¡ªthough, he had taken a page out of Theral¡¯s book, and done a few pathing exercises in bed until he fell asleep.


    Zale was merciful that morning as they did their exercises, choosing to focus on weapons instead of conditioning.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t we running,¡± Kole asked, when they went straight to the weapons racks.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Zale had said with a wry grin. ¡°Tigereye will take care of that.¡±


    ¡°Throw up on your own time Garvin!¡± Tigereye said, in what was objectively a booming shout, but for him was simply his speaking voice.


    Garvin, a boy Kole vaguely recognized from PREVENT, was kneeling on the side of the path, throwing up his breakfast as their morning conditioning entered into its second hour.


    Kole was now extremely grateful to Zale, who in her foresight had stopped him from getting seconds of breakfast and recommended everyone eat something light.


    He did, however, wish she¡¯d warned them what Tigereye had planned.


    ¡°Five more laps then water,¡± Tigereye spoke-shouted. ¡°I will get you all back to your pre-holiday form in no time.¡±


    Then, despite Zale¡¯s precautions, it was Kole¡¯s turn to join Garvin.

 Chapter 17: Auto Broom

    An eternal being of fire roamed the world destroying nations, and in men¡¯s pursuit to kill it, they destroyed the world instead.


    For centuries after the Flood, the fate of the Avatar of Faust was unknown. The great water elemental summoned to defeat it failed, and with its destruction came the Flooding of the world.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    Kole didn¡¯t think he had it in him to even walk as he limped towards the showers. True to his word Tigereye pushed them hard through the whole torture lesson he had the audacity to call a class.


    But despite his weariness, he pushed himself to shower as quickly as possible. As miserable as he was, he was starving and his next class began in under an hour.


    <hr>


    Kole made it to his class, Arcana 156 on time¡ªif a little sweaty. While he hadn¡¯t thought he had it in him to run, he found he could dig a little deeper after getting a meal in him.


    Arcana 156: Basics of Spatial Magic was an elective Kole had chosen this semester. With recent events, it seemed extra topical and relevant, but he¡¯d been planning to take this before he¡¯d even enrolled in the Academy as the first step in tracking down and eventually accessing his parents'' pocket realm.


    Professor Kevin Tailor taught the class, and he was a primal¡ªa Space primal, as one would expect from the subject matter.


    The professor had the innate ability to open portals through space with the flick of the hand and used it liberally throughout the lecture. He sat at his lectern as he taught, drawing diagrams with chalk on the lectern, only he created a portal in front of him that allowed him to write on the black board. As he wrote, the portal moved across the board leaving his neat handwriting and drawings in its wake. On one occasion, he dropped his chalk, and instead of reaching down to catch it, he created two portals on the floor. The chalk fell into the first and flew out of the second, sailing back up to his waiting hand. His use of portals was constant, utilizing them for any task that a portal could make slightly easier.


    And somehow, despite all of that, he had the presentation and flair of an oyster. He didn¡¯t use the ability for show, or even acknowledge that it was anything but completely mundane. He didn¡¯t teleport across the room to wake a sleeping student. He used it to pick up chalk and write on a blackboard while maintaining good posture.


    Through it all, he delivered a dry and highly technical breakdown of the basics of the Font of Space, making even intra-dimensional travel and pocket realms full of weird magic seem mundane.


    Gods, Underbrook must hate this man, Kole thought, as he wondered how much of a terror the halfling professor would be with such abilities.


    Once more, Kole found himself taking notes¡ªnot because the topic was of great interest, but because it was the only way he could stay awake.


    <hr>


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a prototype!¡± Amara said excitedly as she arrived late to dinner, said prototype in hand.


    ¡°It looks like a blasting rod,¡± Kole observed, examining the blasting rod shaped runic device Amara was pointing around at the group.


    ¡°It is!¡± she exclaimed, excited at the correct guess.


    All four of them pushed away from their meals at once, ducking under the table and holding their hands up before them.


    Kole began constructing Shield in his mind, though refrained from powering it and wasting the Will¡ªhe was, after all, planning on studying later, and he didn¡¯t really think Amara was going to shoot him.


    Well, he was sort of sure at least.


    ¡°Put it away!¡± Zale shouted from below the table.


    Around them, people turned for the source of the commotion, but then turned away when they saw their group was at the heart of it. The Forsaken were gathering a reputation, and they lost interest wen they saw the source was them. Kole wasn¡¯t sure if that was good or bad.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Amara assured the rest. ¡°It¡¯s an auto broom!¡±


    ¡°A what broom?¡± Kole asked, peaking above the table to make sure Amara had complied.


    The blasting rod¡ªor ¡°auto broom¡±¡ªsat on the table.


    ¡°Auto, like automatic. It¡¯s a broom that you don¡¯t have to sweep,¡± she explained.


    ¡°Okay...¡± Kole said, then remembered Amara¡¯s recent fixation on crumbs.


    ¡°Can¡¯t magic already do this?¡± Zale asked. ¡°Clean, Unseen Servant, things like that.¡±


    Amara nodded and said, ¡°But not everyone can cast those spells. If I could sell these, people could clean without costly magics!¡±


    Rakin pointed to the large emerald set in the center.


    ¡°So instead they¡¯ll get costly runic crap?¡± he asked.


    Amara grew flush.


    ¡°I¡¯m working on that with a different project...¡°


    "Show us how it works!" Zale asked, jumping in to distract her and staring daggers at Rakin.


    Sometimes the dwarf forgot they were trying to keep the flighty girl¡¯s attention away from darker thoughts. He¡¯d gotten better at holding his tongue around Amara, but better was not perfect.


    ¡°You just point it at a mess,¡± Amara said, picking it up and pointing it at an empty plate. ¡°And channel a little Will and¡ª¡±


    Without warning, a focused blast of wind exploded from the end of the blasting rod, sending the near empty plate flying across the table, taking the one behind it with it along with all the silverware and glassware in its path. The blast of wind died almost immediately, but the sound of crashing crockery and cutlery followed.


    ¡°¡ªthe mess is gone...¡± Amara finished.


    She froze, eyes wide uncertain what to do like a deer freezing before a predator.


    There was a moment of silence as everyone watched in disbelief, before Rakin broke out into a deep laugh.


    ¡°Bah hah hah!¡±


    <hr>


    Two hours later, the group was excused from the kitchen. After creating a mess and destroying school property, they¡¯d been assigned punishment details working in the kitchen. They all had the option of foisting the blame on Amara, but in unspoken agreement decided to split the consequences between them and not let Amara work a whole shift in a kitchen alone, mind free to spiral into despair at thoughts of her sister.


    They¡¯d found that when Amara was left alone, it was best to leave her in an environment where she could occupy her mind.


    ¡°I forgot to ask before,¡± Kole said to Zale, as she escorted him to his Astronomy class. He had no idea where the observatory was for his Astronomy 201 class, and had meant to spend the time after dinner looking. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t Gray know about your ''uncle?¡¯¡±


    ¡°How do you know Gray doesn¡¯t know about my uncle?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°We sort of had a conversation on the way to class this morning,¡± Kole confessed reluctantly, not really sure why he was reluctant at all to admit that.


    ¡°Oh no... did anyone see you? Did you hurt him?¡± Zale asked, suddenly concerned.


    ¡°What? No. We just talked. He actually kind of apologized,¡± Kole said. ¡°Why would we have fought?¡±


    ¡°Umm.. I¡¯m not sure. It¡¯s just where my mind went. Why did you mention my uncle?¡±


    Kole explained the interaction, and the mention of her Uncle Tallen, though he made it clear he¡¯d given no name or description that would shed any light on the identity of the famous mage.


    "So, why didn¡¯t you tell them about him?" Kole asked.


    Zale bit her lip, thinking, and Kole pushed away thoughts at how much he was beginning to like that gesture on her face.


    Eventually, she answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know. It just never really came up? And then by the time it was sort of relevant it would have been weird to mention him. He only showed up irregularly when I was little. When I was 10, he became a more frequent visitor, but by then, it was easier to just not mention him. When I met you, he was already a permanent fixture, so it wasn¡¯t as weird.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to tell them?¡±


    ¡°I probably should,¡± Zale said with a sigh. ¡°If he ever shows up again. They know a bit about my mom¡ªnot all of it, but enough that I could tell them that Uncle Tal used to adventure with her¡ªthough that won¡¯t endear him to them at all.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Mom was really mad when I gave Harold that door knob,¡± Zale explained. ¡°For a couple of weeks, the Dahn started sending Harold to random places in Edgewater and beyond when he went through doors.¡±


    Zale looked around conspiratorially before saying the next part to assure they were alone.


    In a whisper she continued, ¡°Once, he left a shower and walked out naked into the middle of the market.¡±


    Kole channeled his inner Rakin as he laughed heartily at the thought of Harold¡¯s misfortune, but the laughter ended when the realization sunk in.


    ¡°Umm... How do you think your mother will feel when she finds out my room got attached to your house?¡±


    Zale¡¯s face grew serious.


    ¡°I think it might be a good idea to start looking for a way to move the door,¡± she said.


    ¡°And if we can¡¯t?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°You could always move into the dorms. Right?¡±


    For the first time since the offer of free room and board was made after their ''¡°rescue¡± of Amintha, Kole was seriously considering taking the offer.

 Chapter 18: With Fire

    All around Kaltis, the seas rose, and still the Avatar roamed destroying whatever lay in its path. Nations fell, even those not in the direct path of the destruction, trapped as they were between the rising seas and the raging wildfire.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    Astronomy 101 was an introductory class required for essentially all divination classes. While not all forms of divination required tracking the stars, enough used them that not having any knowledge on the subject left one at a large disadvantage. As part of Kole¡¯s plan when enrolling, he hoped to learn enough divination to be able to search for his parents. With Tal¡¯s offer to help look, Kole had put those plans aside¡ªtrusting in the legendary mage to do what would take Kole years to even learn enough to try. But with that same mage¡¯s disappearance, Kole reverted to his original plan.


    While the class was introductory and none of the other students had any formal education on the stars, there was a stark difference between ¡°any formal knowledge¡± and ¡°any knowledge at all.¡± For most of Kole¡¯s life, growing up in a city buried beneath the waves, the stars were as alien as they were to the giant lobsters that roamed the oceans floors.


    It was with great effort he held back his surprise at even the most mundane of revelations, such as the fact that most stars were distant suns, and a small handful were actually other planets not nearly as distant.


    So once more, Kole found himself engrossed in note taking, not wanting to miss a detail, for he was quickly realizing that even the basics were foreign to him.


    <hr>


    Throughout the week Kole contemplated sharing his astral revelation with his friends, but he was almost certain Rakin would make fun of him. There was a small chance the dwarf knew as little about astronomy as he did, but the risk of derision wasn¡¯t worth the potential conversation. Even if the dwarf didn¡¯t know, he wouldn¡¯t be as fascinated at the idea as Kole was.


    Throughout the week, Kole found himself glancing up at the sun, trying to comprehend how far a star must truly be for them to appear as mere pricks.


    Aside from unadvisedly staring at the sun, Kole spent his first week of the second semester as he¡¯d first expected his schooling to be, going to classes, practicing his magic when he could, and not getting involved in any crazy adventures or battles.


    He quickly found that this was rather boring.


    ¡°And those are the best three ways to fight a troll using magic if you don''t have access to Fire magic,¡± Professor Underbrook said, concluding his lecture.


    He gestured offhandedly to a raised hand, and asked in a bored tone, ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°But you said all those things wouldn¡¯t kill a troll at the start of the lecture,¡± an older student Kole didn¡¯t remember the name of said, visibly confused.


    When Underbrook continued to look at him expectantly, the student continued.


    ¡°How are you supposed to kill the troll then?¡±


    ¡°With. Fire,¡± Underbrook said, punctuating each word. ¡°I strongly recommend everyone always have access to fire magic if you think there¡¯s even the slightest chance you¡¯ll see a troll. That or a way to run away. They won¡¯t chase you if they lose sight of you.¡±


    Underbrook waited another moment and then said, ¡°Well, if no one else wants to repeat my own lesson back to me, does anyone want to fight me?"


    The room continued in silence. Kole looked around and saw all the other students had a sudden keen interest in reviewing their notes. His eyes met Gray¡¯s who was also scanning his classmates, and both boy¡¯s hands shot up into the air.


    ¡°I will!¡± they said in unison.


    The bored expression left Underbrook¡¯s face, replaced with an eager smile. He pointed from Gray to Kole as he spoke a rhyme, switching with each syllable.


    ¡°Halfling, razzling, dazzling, loo. What¡¯s a hungry halfling to do? If he eats he¡¯ll have to chew. And later on he¡¯ll need¡­ to¡­ poo.¡±


    For the last three sylibals, he slowed down, going from Gray, to Kole and then back to Gray on ¡°poo.¡±


    ¡°Looks like you¡¯re the lucky poo Mr. Holder,¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Thanks?¡± Gray said, gathering his things and rising.


    ¡°Oh, it''s quite the honor, I assure you,¡± Underbrook said. ¡°Now, come up front, and let''s fight.¡±


    Kole made his way up to the front, checking his holster and confirming that it held his blasting rod and not a spoon.


    Despite many of Kole¡¯s classes being outside the Dahn after the school had shunted away most of its extra dimensional spaces, this classroom was in the Dahn proper, and as such had certain amenities. Underbrook had explained earlier that the wide flat area between the chalk boards and the seating had an antimagic field that could be activated to protect the class from any duels that took place.


    The fighting area was long and narrow, only thirty feet wide and twice that across, but as Underbrook had explained it, ¡°This class is about technique, and the best way to master magical technique is when you have nowhere to run or hide to cover for your lack of skill.¡±


    Kole wasn¡¯t sure he agreed with how the professor phrased it, but he did see the merit in divorcing the tactics and strategies of PREVENT from the pure magical combat of a duel. He had other classes to hone his body, and teach him to use his environment. In such an open and bare landscape, he would truly be pitting his own magic against his classmates¡ªor in this case his teacher.


    Gray went to the front of the class, calmly, but he looked back to his things.


    ¡°Can I use my rapier?¡± Gray asked, looking back to the professor.


    Underbrook nodded, and Gray went back to his seat and grabbed his sword.


    Armed, Gray returned to the front of the room.


    ¡°You may cast any preparatory spells you wish,¡± Underbrook said, removing something small and metal out of a pocket.


    Gray cast two spells in quick succession, neither of which Kole could identify from the verbal components Gray spoke or the somatic gestures that accompanied them, but the effect of the second spell was immediately apparent when a translucent shimmer appeared around Gray.


    I guess he figured out Mage Armor, Kole reflected, remembering their first conversation.


    Remembering the sparring match he¡¯d spied on, he guessed the other spell to be the physical enhancement that let Gray leap around so quickly.


    Kole looked to Underbrook to see what preparations he was performing with the tiny wand-like device he¡¯d drawn but saw that the halfling was using the small metal stick to file down his nails.


    Of course, Kole thought with a sigh.


    Gray noticed around then too and laughed.


    ¡°You can begin whenever,¡± Underbrook said.


    Gray took a step back, and then ran two forward before leaping. His jump sent him soaring through the distance between them in a blur, enhanced by his movement spell.


    As he landed in front of Underbrook, he pressed his rapier forward in a thrust, which Underbrook met with an open palm.


    ¡°Bo-Rak,¡± Underbrook said, as a Shield appeared before his palm, stopping Gray¡¯s attack cold.


    ¡°Ah, Jump,¡± Underbook said appraisingly, even as Gray leapt backwards.


    As he sailed back, Gray thrust his offhand forward, the air around it turning to frost as he did so coalescing into a jagged shard of ice that flew at the professor.


    Despite himself, Kole was impressed with Gray¡¯s performance so far already, especially his casting of an Ice Bolt with his non-dominant hand.


    This time instead of blocking, Underbrook vanished, and the Ice Bolt shattered on the wall behind him with the sound of breaking glass. As soon as Gray landed, he spun around looking for his opponent, who was behind him.


    Underbrook, waiting for Gray to find him, spoke the words of another spell as soon as the student did.


    ¡°Roh-t-ka,¡± Underbrook spoke thrusting his own hand forward, sending three bolts of force at Gray


    ¡°Bo-Rak!¡± Gray shouted, a little too forcibly, conjuring his own Shield.


    Despite Underbrook¡¯s telegraphing the attack, Gray¡¯s overloud verbal component disrupted the casting and the Shield flickered to life a moment later than it should.


    The first of the three bolts struck Gray, passing through the shimmer of his Mage Armor, and striking him in the gut. The Shield solidified just as it passed, stopping the next two bolts.


    Gray clutched his stomach with his free hand but no blood dripped from the spot.


    ¡°Training Magic Missile,¡± Underbrook announced to the class. ¡°All the pain, none of the lasting damage.¡±


    Realizing he wasn¡¯t dying, Gray¡¯s grimace vanished, and then so did he.


    He reappeared behind Underbrook, rapier swiping down.


    Underbrook however, was expecting this move and already turning when Gray appeared.


    Underbrook lifted a hand, and a small magic barrier appeared in front of his palm which he used to deflect the attack.


    Gray kept up his attacks, as Underbrook back-pedaled, using small barriers in each hand to deflect Gray¡¯s swipes.


    After traveling the length of the room in retreat, Underbrook clapped his hand in front of him, the clap turning into a thunderous boom as the halfling cast Thunderwave.


    Gray tried to block the spell with Shield, but either the spell was ineffective against Thunderwave, or he was too slow and he was sent flying back across the room.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± Underbrook said, giving an approving nod. ¡°Any questions?¡±


    ¡°What was that little shield?¡± Gray asked from the floor, even as the rest of the class shot their hands up to be called upon.


    ¡°Buckler,¡± Underbrook said, casting another spell.


    A Force Disk appeared below Gray, lifting him into a standing position.


    ¡°It''s the cantrip of the Font of Barriers,¡± he continued. ¡°It can¡¯t stop the full brunt of a strike, but there¡¯s no reason to waste Will on a first-tier spell when a cantrip can do it for free.¡±


    He looked to the class, holding his hand out before him, a blasting rod appeared in his palm.


    ¡°Don¡¯t neglect practicing with cantrips,¡± he said, holding the rod up. ¡°The cantrip for the Font of Space is Conjure and can be used to summon items from on your person to your hand. Handy in battle and for when you want to get a pebble out of your boot¡ªwhich is incidentally also useful in battle.¡±


    In his other hand, a ball of light appeared.


    ¡°Glow isn¡¯t as bright as a first-tier Light spell, but it gets the job done. For homework, I want each of you to think over the combat applications of all the cantrips you have access to and come prepared to use them. Class dismissed.¡±

 Chapter 19: Study Hall

    The coastal nations took to the seas early, taking with them the knowledge of ship building and naval navigation.


    The land locked nations moved inward as the ocean came to their shores, and brutal battles ensued as dry land became more and more scarce.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    Despite there being a marked lack of adults to oversee the study group for primals, Zale insisted they all show up in the training room Saturday morning.


    ¡°We need to set aside time to focus on our magics,¡± Zale said, when everyone¡ªincluding Amara¡ªhad protested.


    ¡°Don¡¯t we do that every day?¡± Rakin asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Amara said, earning a glare from Rakin.


    ¡°I do,¡± Kole shouted, raising his hand high and smiling.


    ¡°It¡¯s either this, or we go for a ten-mile run,¡± Zale said, ¡°And I don¡¯t think that would be wise before our hardball match tonight.¡±


    Kole didn¡¯t think that was the only alternative, but decided to not press the issue.


    They relented, and Kole was relieved that they didn¡¯t have to walk across campus back to the art college to get back into their study room. Zale simply opened a door that Kole was certain had previously opened to a closet, and the training room appeared.


    ¡°Oh, hey,¡± came a voice from within.


    Inside the door, the room was much improved from the last time they¡¯d seen it¡ªthat time having been in the wake of Runt¡¯s kidnapping by a swarm of giant magic spiders with a psychic connection to their friend¡¯s psychopathic twin sister.


    The webs were gone, and the broken furniture had been removed though not replaced.


    Aside from the cleaning, there was one more significant change in the addition of a cot, sofa, and other sundry items one would expect to find in a living space.


    Kole didn¡¯t recognize the voice and drew his wand as he took in the room.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re alive,¡± Zale said, with what Kole thought was forced cheer. ¡°Hey Runt.¡±


    Recognition caught up to Kole¡¯s ears, and he realized it was Runt, only the girl had spoken without her usual cocksure attitude, sounding uncertain for the first time in his interactions with her.


    ¡°What are ye doing here?¡± Rakin asked, not forcing any cheer.


    ¡°I was waiting for you guys,¡± she said, more in line with her usual surety.


    ¡°Here?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°Well... I did also need a place to lie low. I may have overestimated a new skill I was working on after the whole spider event, and I thought it best to stay out of New Lakeside for a while. And...¡± she trailed off, uncertainty returning.


    ¡°I wanted to thank you all for saving me,¡± she finished, looking at exactly none of them as she expressed gratitude. ¡°You didn¡¯t need to save me. I wouldn¡¯t have saved me if I was you.¡±


    ¡°We were actually trying to save my sister,¡± Amara said, correcting Runt as she would have corrected Kole for making a mistake in a discussion about runes¡ªwithout malice or reproach but out of a strong desire for accuracy in all things.


    ¡°Right...¡± Runt said, wholly in uncharted territory. ¡°So, thanks. If there''s anything I can do to help you guys. I owe you.¡±


    Zale caught Amara¡¯s eye and gave her a look that Amara had come to recognize meant she¡¯d made a large social gaff.


    ¡°Sorry?¡± Amara said, clearly unsure what specifically had been the problem.


    ¡°You don¡¯t owe us anything,¡± Zale said, giving Amara a stern look. ¡°We did want to find you, and we would have done it had Amara¡¯s sister not been responsible¡ªnot that we knew that at the time.¡±


    ¡°But we wouldn¡¯t have been able to find you if that had been the case. So it''s good. Right?¡± Amara added quickly, trying to recover.


    Runt rolled her eyes and Zale palmed her face and rubbed her eyes in frustration giving up.


    ¡°Either way, I owe you,¡± Runt said.


    ¡°Can you steal a student''s class schedule for me?¡± Kole asked, jumping on the offer.


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Runt said, once more in her comfort zone. ¡°But that''s pretty specific and weird.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking to avoid a student named Corbyn Highridge and need to know where he¡¯s going to be so I can not be there.¡±


    ¡°Highridge? That¡¯s an Illandriosian name. What did you do, steal his whale shit?¡±


    ¡°No, he wants something I have, but he thinks I¡¯m dead and now he¡¯s trying to find it. I¡¯d like to keep the idea that I¡¯m dead going,¡± Kole explained while still remaining vague.


    ¡°Did you steal it?¡± Runt asked with sudden interest.


    ¡°No, it''s mine.¡±


    ¡°Flood, I thought I might have underestimated you,¡± Runt said, devoid of interest as suddenly as it had arrived. ¡°Sure, I can do that. Do you want me to tail him too and tell you his routine?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d do that?¡± Kole asked, surprised.


    Runt shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s good practice. Shalia¡¯s gone, and I can¡¯t go back to New Landing anytime soon.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be great,¡± Kole said, relieved to have a semblance of a plan in place more detailed than ¡®avoid Corbyn''.


    ¡°So, you nerds here to study?¡± Runt asked, looking them over. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave you to it.¡±


    Before anyone could say anything, Runt had slipped through the door to their home, and closed it behind her.


    ¡°Darn it,¡± Zale cursed¡ªsort of. ¡°I¡¯m not supposed to let her in there.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    They spent an hour where each shared where they were at with their primal issues. Having been living and training together for the past month, none of what they disclosed was new to the group but having it all spelled out in the open served to both keep one accountable for their own progress and give the others the chance to make a suggestion.


    Amara had done nothing to improve her control of the Font of Understanding, despite the recent discovery of her sister¡¯s use of it to co-opt a hive of mage slayer spiders into doing her bidding. Though with her mental state, no one pushed her, and they let her use her sharing time to discuss her plans for the next revision of her broom.


    Kole was really fascinated by the possibilities of her Font, despite his previous desire to think about the confusing topic as little as possible. The way Amintha had gotten a group of spiders to work together with ant-like cooperation suggested that Amara might be able to use her abilities to help other non-Understanding primals work together better.


    While Amara wasn¡¯t part of their team for class, she was definitely part of their group, and he suspected she¡¯d be pulled along with them the next time some extracurricular adventure swept them up. It would be good if they started to see where she could fit in.


    But, not yet, Kole told himself as Zale politely interrupted Amara¡¯s lecture.


    ¡°Doug,¡± Zale said, giving him the room, ¡°what are you working on?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve given up on trying to stop my involuntary teleportation,¡± Doug admitted. ¡°Now that I can tell when they are going to occur, I can try to fight them when they happen, but meditating on it isn¡¯t going to help. I¡¯ve started trying to learn how to do something intentional. Kole¡¯s trick of vanishing the card inspired me to try to do something similar. I¡¯ve heard that the cantrip for the Font of Space lets wizards summon an item from on their person to their hand, so I¡¯m going to try to do that with arrows. It¡¯s an easy next step that would be really useful in battle.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea,¡± Zale said encouragingly. ¡°Any progress?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Doug said, though he didn¡¯t seem embarrassed by the fact.


    Next it was Kole¡¯s turn, and he admitted he¡¯d put zero thought into his primal abilities.


    ¡°I just think, for now, my time and Will is better spent on my wizardry,¡± Kole told the group. ¡°Wielding the Font of Illusions does seem to be getting easier, and I¡¯m guessing that''s due to my improved skill in wizardry. I think it''s best I focus on my immediate issues, and when I have time to tinker with primal magic, I¡¯ll be far better equipped to deal with it.¡±


    No one protested, and Rakin was up next.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying ta improve my control,¡± he said, and in demonstration held a stone in his upturned palm.


    The stone rippled and morphed itself from a smooth river stone into a more jagged design with a spiral of wide fins.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°A flower,¡± Rakin said, as if it was obvious.


    ¡°No, it''s not,¡± Doug said.


    ¡°Bah! I said I was workin¡¯ on it,¡± Rakin shouted, tossing the stone at Doug who ducked under it easily.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to expand my aura range,¡± Zale said, going last. ¡°I can sort of stretch the effect if I think about it, and it seems to get a little easier each time. If I could cancel out sound in a large bubble, that could be extremely useful.¡±


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin said with a nod, ¡°Ye¡¯d be a nightmare for anyone using verbal spells.¡±


    Zale nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m working with Kole to get access to the Font of Light, I expect I¡¯d get a darkness aura if I can find it. That will be of limited use with my current range, but if I can make it large and see through it with my Willsight, I could make anyone who got close to me blind.¡±


    ¡°Is this why Runt hates you?¡± Kole asked. ¡°You do seem to have the perfect skill set of a thief.¡±


    ¡°More like an assassin,¡± Rakin said, earning a swat.


    ¡°No,¡± Zale said, not even looking to Rakin as she hit him playfully. ¡°We never liked each other. The magic is just a new reason. Honestly, if I could trade abilities with her, I would. You saw how tough Parrotsong was fighting Rakin the other day. If I could have that strength, I¡¯d be unstoppable.¡±


    Kole tried picturing Zale with the tribal tattoos of the Iron Veins, and then began to wonder to what extent those tattoos covered their bodies, which led him to other thoughts that caused him to blush.


    ¡°Well let''s get to work then, shall we?¡± he said, standing up, hoping to hide his embarrassment.


    They spent an hour doing light primal training before Kole said he¡¯d have to stop. He¡¯d a very good idea of his Will recovery rates, and he knew that if he spent anymore, he¡¯d not recover it in time for their match that afternoon.


    Zale, Kole had learned, recovered her Will much faster than she had any right to, so it wasn¡¯t something she had to watch as closely¡ªnot that her passively sensing Kole draw upon the Arcane Realm cost her any.


    Rakin¡¯s own fine control practice took small amounts of Will, and cost him none of his Ki, but he still took Kole¡¯s stopping as a cue to give up his own efforts.


    Doug¡¯s attempt to conjure an arrow to his hand had resulted in nothing more than a headache and a slight drain in his Will, but Doug¡¯s Will supply wasn¡¯t something the Blessed had to worry about either, since activating Assuine¡¯s Blessings hardly took any of the Blessed¡¯s Will, instead being fueled by the goddess¡¯ power in the world. Once he could actually control his ability to teleport, his Will would become an asset.


    Amara, who¡¯d just been sketching plans in her notebook, was the most reluctant to stop when they all broke for lunch.


    ¡°Have you two made any progress on your mental vaults?¡± Zale asked Doug and Rakin as they cleaned up.


    ¡°No... why?¡± Doug asked.


    Zale sighed.


    She turned to Rakin, who was using his magic to push all the sand that had escaped back into the fighting pit, in a manner that seemed a little too focused.


    ¡°Rakin?¡± she asked, tone stern but knowing.


    He gave the sand a big mental push, and it billowed into a cloud which drifted towards the pit.


    ¡°I... forgot,¡± he finally admitted.


    ¡°Mental vaults are important!¡± Zale scolded them both.


    ¡°Why?¡± Rakin asked.


    Zale, who¡¯s mental vault didn¡¯t really function due to her voidy nature, opened her mouth to explain but found no words came out.


    Kole thought for a second that she¡¯d activated her silence aura, but the slight tilt to her eyebrows told him she didn¡¯t have an answer.


    He jumped in.


    ¡°If you¡¯re a primal¡ªa non-sorcerer one at least¡ªyou can see your Font from your vault without building a bridge. You can use that access to better understand how your abilities work. It will let you see the magic in a way you could only intuit before.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Rakin asked, as if that weren¡¯t an amazing thing Kole would have loved to be able to do.


    As an unprecedented primal sorcerer, Kole lacked that deep connection to the Font of Illusions, his vault lacking access to the Font. Instead, when he opened his bridge, he found his vault just outside of the Font, while he imagined Rakin would find his bridge¡ªif he ever bothered to make one¡ªinside the Font of Earth.


    Or would he? Kole wondered, considering his duel primal nature.


    ¡°No one knows what yours would do,¡± Kole said. ¡°You have two Fonts. That¡¯s unheard of. Will you have access to both? Or none like me? Vaults are useful for more than that. You can use them for memory enhancement, defenses against mental magic, or even help multitasking. I¡¯ve been working on keeping my awareness of my surroundings while in my vault, and I¡¯m finding I can almost carry on two lines of thought at once.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Rakin said. ¡°Find me a book or something.¡±


    Zale smiled, and mouthed ¡°thank you,¡± to Kole, who couldn¡¯t help but smile back.


    You¡¯re smiling too much! Stop smiling so wide? Oh no... now I¡¯m thinking about it too much. How do I smile?


    Rakin pointed to Kole.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with his face?¡±


    ¡°Who do you think we¡¯ll face tonight?¡± Kole asked the group as they ate.


    ¡°I hope it¡¯s Gray¡¯s team,¡± Rakin said, rubbing has hands together. ¡°I¡¯d love to punch Harold in the face. Or Esme in the face. Or Gray in the face.¡±


    ¡°Not Mouse?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Na, she¡¯s alright,¡± Rakin admitted, giving Doug an approving nod. ¡°A bit weird though.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be them,¡± Doug said, ¡°Mouse said they are up next week."


    ¡°I¡¯d say I hoped it was Shalin¡¯s team,¡± Kole said, ¡°But I¡¯m not sure we¡¯d win against them.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that,¡± Zale said. ¡°You didn¡¯t have your blasting rod, and I didn¡¯t have my sword or armor. And Rakin got goaded into losing his cool.¡±


    ¡°Literally,¡± Kole said, interrupting.


    ¡°Aye,¡± the surly dwarf agreed.


    ¡°I think he¡¯d stand a chance at beating them to the ball,¡± Zale finished. ¡°And we could go all out without fear of killing them.¡±


    They finished their meal, idly speculating on who they might face and what environment that might be in. Since learning of the parameters of PREVENT¡¯s practical training this semester, they¡¯d spent no small amount of their free time researching optimal hardball tactics¡ª¡®they¡¯ being primarily Zale, but she then forced the information into her teammate¡¯s heads under threat of additional morning conditioning. So, while they had no clue what they would see, they had some clue as to what to do if they encountered any of the typical hardball environments.


    Despite all the preparation, Kole couldn¡¯t help but be nervous. Their last match at the end of the previous semester had been a disaster. They¡¯d avoided attention from the failure due to the battle royale nature of the match. Their team had just been one mediocre team among many, but now their performance would be front and center, victory or defeat.

 Chapter 20: Tolbolts Rangers

    The coastal nations took to the seas early, taking with them the knowledge of ship building and naval navigation.


    The land locked nations moved inward as the ocean came to their shores, and brutal battles ensued as dry land became more and more scarce.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    Despite there being a marked lack of adults to oversee the study group for primals, Zale insisted they all show up in the training room Saturday morning.


    ¡°We need to set aside time to focus on our magics,¡± Zale said, when everyone¡ªincluding Amara¡ªhad protested.


    ¡°Don¡¯t we do that every day?¡± Rakin asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Amara said, earning a glare from Rakin.


    ¡°I do,¡± Kole shouted, raising his hand high and smiling.


    ¡°It¡¯s either this, or we go for a ten-mile run,¡± Zale said, ¡°And I don¡¯t think that would be wise before our hardball match tonight.¡±


    Kole didn¡¯t think that was the only alternative, but decided to not press the issue.


    They relented, and Kole was relieved that they didn¡¯t have to walk across campus back to the art college to get back into their study room. Zale simply opened a door that Kole was certain had previously opened to a closet, and the training room appeared.


    ¡°Oh, hey,¡± came a voice from within.


    Inside the door, the room was much improved from the last time they¡¯d seen it¡ªthat time having been in the wake of Runt¡¯s kidnapping by a swarm of giant magic spiders with a psychic connection to their friend¡¯s psychopathic twin sister.


    The webs were gone, and the broken furniture had been removed though not replaced.


    Aside from the cleaning, there was one more significant change in the addition of a cot, sofa, and other sundry items one would expect to find in a living space.


    Kole didn¡¯t recognize the voice and drew his wand as he took in the room.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re alive,¡± Zale said, with what Kole thought was forced cheer. ¡°Hey Runt.¡±


    Recognition caught up to Kole¡¯s ears, and he realized it was Runt, only the girl had spoken without her usual cocksure attitude, sounding uncertain for the first time in his interactions with her.


    ¡°What are ye doing here?¡± Rakin asked, not forcing any cheer.


    ¡°I was waiting for you guys,¡± she said, more in line with her usual surety.


    ¡°Here?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°Well... I did also need a place to lie low. I may have overestimated a new skill I was working on after the whole spider event, and I thought it best to stay out of New Lakeside for a while. And...¡± she trailed off, uncertainty returning.


    ¡°I wanted to thank you all for saving me,¡± she finished, looking at exactly none of them as she expressed gratitude. ¡°You didn¡¯t need to save me. I wouldn¡¯t have saved me if I was you.¡±


    ¡°We were actually trying to save my sister,¡± Amara said, correcting Runt as she would have corrected Kole for making a mistake in a discussion about runes¡ªwithout malice or reproach but out of a strong desire for accuracy in all things.


    ¡°Right...¡± Runt said, wholly in uncharted territory. ¡°So, thanks. If there''s anything I can do to help you guys. I owe you.¡±


    Zale caught Amara¡¯s eye and gave her a look that Amara had come to recognize meant she¡¯d made a large social gaff.


    ¡°Sorry?¡± Amara said, clearly unsure what specifically had been the problem.


    ¡°You don¡¯t owe us anything,¡± Zale said, giving Amara a stern look. ¡°We did want to find you, and we would have done it had Amara¡¯s sister not been responsible¡ªnot that we knew that at the time.¡±


    ¡°But we wouldn¡¯t have been able to find you if that had been the case. So it''s good. Right?¡± Amara added quickly, trying to recover.


    Runt rolled her eyes and Zale palmed her face and rubbed her eyes in frustration giving up.


    ¡°Either way, I owe you,¡± Runt said.


    ¡°Can you steal a student''s class schedule for me?¡± Kole asked, jumping on the offer.


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Runt said, once more in her comfort zone. ¡°But that''s pretty specific and weird.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking to avoid a student named Corbyn Highridge and need to know where he¡¯s going to be so I can not be there.¡±


    ¡°Highridge? That¡¯s an Illandriosian name. What did you do, steal his whale shit?¡±


    ¡°No, he wants something I have, but he thinks I¡¯m dead and now he¡¯s trying to find it. I¡¯d like to keep the idea that I¡¯m dead going,¡± Kole explained while still remaining vague.


    ¡°Did you steal it?¡± Runt asked with sudden interest.


    ¡°No, it''s mine.¡±


    ¡°Flood, I thought I might have underestimated you,¡± Runt said, devoid of interest as suddenly as it had arrived. ¡°Sure, I can do that. Do you want me to tail him too and tell you his routine?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d do that?¡± Kole asked, surprised.


    Runt shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s good practice. Shalia¡¯s gone, and I can¡¯t go back to New Landing anytime soon.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be great,¡± Kole said, relieved to have a semblance of a plan in place more detailed than ¡®avoid Corbyn''.


    ¡°So, you nerds here to study?¡± Runt asked, looking them over. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave you to it.¡±


    Before anyone could say anything, Runt had slipped through the door to their home, and closed it behind her.


    ¡°Darn it,¡± Zale cursed¡ªsort of. ¡°I¡¯m not supposed to let her in there.¡±


    <hr>


    They spent an hour where each shared where they were at with their primal issues. Having been living and training together for the past month, none of what they disclosed was new to the group but having it all spelled out in the open served to both keep one accountable for their own progress and give the others the chance to make a suggestion.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Amara had done nothing to improve her control of the Font of Understanding, despite the recent discovery of her sister¡¯s use of it to co-opt a hive of mage slayer spiders into doing her bidding. Though with her mental state, no one pushed her, and they let her use her sharing time to discuss her plans for the next revision of her broom.


    Kole was really fascinated by the possibilities of her Font, despite his previous desire to think about the confusing topic as little as possible. The way Amintha had gotten a group of spiders to work together with ant-like cooperation suggested that Amara might be able to use her abilities to help other non-Understanding primals work together better.


    While Amara wasn¡¯t part of their team for class, she was definitely part of their group, and he suspected she¡¯d be pulled along with them the next time some extracurricular adventure swept them up. It would be good if they started to see where she could fit in.


    But, not yet, Kole told himself as Zale politely interrupted Amara¡¯s lecture.


    ¡°Doug,¡± Zale said, giving him the room, ¡°what are you working on?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve given up on trying to stop my involuntary teleportation,¡± Doug admitted. ¡°Now that I can tell when they are going to occur, I can try to fight them when they happen, but meditating on it isn¡¯t going to help. I¡¯ve started trying to learn how to do something intentional. Kole¡¯s trick of vanishing the card inspired me to try to do something similar. I¡¯ve heard that the cantrip for the Font of Space lets wizards summon an item from on their person to their hand, so I¡¯m going to try to do that with arrows. It¡¯s an easy next step that would be really useful in battle.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea,¡± Zale said encouragingly. ¡°Any progress?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Doug said, though he didn¡¯t seem embarrassed by the fact.


    Next it was Kole¡¯s turn, and he admitted he¡¯d put zero thought into his primal abilities.


    ¡°I just think, for now, my time and Will is better spent on my wizardry,¡± Kole told the group. ¡°Wielding the Font of Illusions does seem to be getting easier, and I¡¯m guessing that''s due to my improved skill in wizardry. I think it''s best I focus on my immediate issues, and when I have time to tinker with primal magic, I¡¯ll be far better equipped to deal with it.¡±


    No one protested, and Rakin was up next.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying ta improve my control,¡± he said, and in demonstration held a stone in his upturned palm.


    The stone rippled and morphed itself from a smooth river stone into a more jagged design with a spiral of wide fins.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°A flower,¡± Rakin said, as if it was obvious.


    ¡°No, it''s not,¡± Doug said.


    ¡°Bah! I said I was workin¡¯ on it,¡± Rakin shouted, tossing the stone at Doug who ducked under it easily.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to expand my aura range,¡± Zale said, going last. ¡°I can sort of stretch the effect if I think about it, and it seems to get a little easier each time. If I could cancel out sound in a large bubble, that could be extremely useful.¡±


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin said with a nod, ¡°Ye¡¯d be a nightmare for anyone using verbal spells.¡±


    Zale nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m working with Kole to get access to the Font of Light, I expect I¡¯d get a darkness aura if I can find it. That will be of limited use with my current range, but if I can make it large and see through it with my Willsight, I could make anyone who got close to me blind.¡±


    ¡°Is this why Runt hates you?¡± Kole asked. ¡°You do seem to have the perfect skill set of a thief.¡±


    ¡°More like an assassin,¡± Rakin said, earning a swat.


    ¡°No,¡± Zale said, not even looking to Rakin as she hit him playfully. ¡°We never liked each other. The magic is just a new reason. Honestly, if I could trade abilities with her, I would. You saw how tough Parrotsong was fighting Rakin the other day. If I could have that strength, I¡¯d be unstoppable.¡±


    Kole tried picturing Zale with the tribal tattoos of the Iron Veins, and then began to wonder to what extent those tattoos covered their bodies, which led him to other thoughts that caused him to blush.


    ¡°Well let''s get to work then, shall we?¡± he said, standing up, hoping to hide his embarrassment.


    They spent an hour doing light primal training before Kole said he¡¯d have to stop. He¡¯d a very good idea of his Will recovery rates, and he knew that if he spent anymore, he¡¯d not recover it in time for their match that afternoon.


    Zale, Kole had learned, recovered her Will much faster than she had any right to, so it wasn¡¯t something she had to watch as closely¡ªnot that her passively sensing Kole draw upon the Arcane Realm cost her any.


    Rakin¡¯s own fine control practice took small amounts of Will, and cost him none of his Ki, but he still took Kole¡¯s stopping as a cue to give up his own efforts.


    Doug¡¯s attempt to conjure an arrow to his hand had resulted in nothing more than a headache and a slight drain in his Will, but Doug¡¯s Will supply wasn¡¯t something the Blessed had to worry about either, since activating Assuine¡¯s Blessings hardly took any of the Blessed¡¯s Will, instead being fueled by the goddess¡¯ power in the world. Once he could actually control his ability to teleport, his Will would become an asset.


    Amara, who¡¯d just been sketching plans in her notebook, was the most reluctant to stop when they all broke for lunch.


    ¡°Have you two made any progress on your mental vaults?¡± Zale asked Doug and Rakin as they cleaned up.


    ¡°No... why?¡± Doug asked.


    Zale sighed.


    ¡°Because that was the next step in your training plan by Uncle Tal,¡± she said. ¡°You were supposed to start on that right after making your soul stones.¡±


    She turned to Rakin, who was using his magic to push all the sand that had escaped back into the fighting pit, in a manner that seemed a little too focused.


    ¡°Rakin?¡± she asked, tone stern but knowing.


    He gave the sand a big mental push, and it billowed into a cloud which drifted towards the pit.


    ¡°I... forgot,¡± he finally admitted.


    ¡°Mental vaults are important!¡± Zale scolded them both.


    ¡°Why?¡± Rakin asked.


    Zale, who¡¯s mental vault didn¡¯t really function due to her voidy nature, opened her mouth to explain but found no words came out.


    Kole thought for a second that she¡¯d activated her silence aura, but the slight tilt to her eyebrows told him she didn¡¯t have an answer.


    He jumped in.


    ¡°If you¡¯re a primal¡ªa non-sorcerer one at least¡ªyou can see your Font from your vault without building a bridge. You can use that access to better understand how your abilities work. It will let you see the magic in a way you could only intuit before.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Rakin asked, as if that weren¡¯t an amazing thing Kole would have loved to be able to do.


    As an unprecedented primal sorcerer, Kole lacked that deep connection to the Font of Illusions, his vault lacking access to the Font. Instead, when he opened his bridge, he found his vault just outside of the Font, while he imagined Rakin would find his bridge¡ªif he ever bothered to make one¡ªinside the Font of Earth.


    Or would he? Kole wondered, considering his duel primal nature.


    ¡°No one knows what yours would do,¡± Kole said. ¡°You have two Fonts. That¡¯s unheard of. Will you have access to both? Or none like me? Vaults are useful for more than that. You can use them for memory enhancement, defenses against mental magic, or even help multitasking. I¡¯ve been working on keeping my awareness of my surroundings while in my vault, and I¡¯m finding I can almost carry on two lines of thought at once.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Rakin said. ¡°Find me a book or something.¡±


    Zale smiled, and mouthed ¡°thank you,¡± to Kole, who couldn¡¯t help but smile back.


    You¡¯re smiling too much! Stop smiling so wide? Oh no... now I¡¯m thinking about it too much. How do I smile?


    Rakin pointed to Kole.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with his face?¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°Who do you think we¡¯ll face tonight?¡± Kole asked the group as they ate.


    ¡°I hope it¡¯s Gray¡¯s team,¡± Rakin said, rubbing has hands together. ¡°I¡¯d love to punch Harold in the face. Or Esme in the face. Or Gray in the face.¡±


    ¡°Not Mouse?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Na, she¡¯s alright,¡± Rakin admitted, giving Doug an approving nod. ¡°A bit weird though.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be them,¡± Doug said, ¡°Mouse said they are up next week."


    ¡°I¡¯d say I hoped it was Shalin¡¯s team,¡± Kole said, ¡°But I¡¯m not sure we¡¯d win against them.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that,¡± Zale said. ¡°You didn¡¯t have your blasting rod, and I didn¡¯t have my sword or armor. And Rakin got goaded into losing his cool.¡±


    ¡°Literally,¡± Kole said, interrupting.


    ¡°Aye,¡± the surly dwarf agreed.


    ¡°I think he¡¯d stand a chance at beating them to the ball,¡± Zale finished. ¡°And we could go all out without fear of killing them.¡±


    They finished their meal, idly speculating on who they might face and what environment that might be in. Since learning of the parameters of PREVENT¡¯s practical training this semester, they¡¯d spent no small amount of their free time researching optimal hardball tactics¡ª¡®they¡¯ being primarily Zale, but she then forced the information into her teammate¡¯s heads under threat of additional morning conditioning. So, while they had no clue what they would see, they had some clue as to what to do if they encountered any of the typical hardball environments.


    Despite all the preparation, Kole couldn¡¯t help but be nervous. Their last match at the end of the previous semester had been a disaster. They¡¯d avoided attention from the failure due to the battle royale nature of the match. Their team had just been one mediocre team among many, but now their performance would be front and center, victory or defeat.

 Chapter 21: After Party

    Illandrios, the center for magical learning outside the Midlian Empire, created a great dome around their city, able to hold back the seas.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    ¡°Bah!¡± Rakin shouted as soon as they appeared. ¡°Ye guys took all the fun parts.¡±


    Some attendants waiting in the room for them checked them over but then left as soon as they realized they were completely unharmed.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t really all that fun,¡± Kole said, thinking back over the events.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Doug agreed. ¡°They were kind of...¡±


    ¡°Bad?" Kole suggested, earning a nod from Doug, exaggerated by his antlers.


    ¡°That¡¯s not very nice,¡± Zale chastised the boys. ¡°They were perfectly adequate.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t ye kick two of their butts alone?¡± Rakin asked.


    ¡°Me being spectacular doesn¡¯t detract from their abilities,¡± Zale said.


    ¡°Careful, yer mom¡¯s showing,¡± Rakin teased, causing Zale to blush.


    ¡°But really,¡± Kole said, ¡°They weren¡¯t very good, right?¡±


    Zale chewed her lip in indecision, before sighing.


    ¡°No, they weren¡¯t very good,¡± she conceded. ¡°Their grades in the class weren''t bad last semester, but... I think we might be well above the curve.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t we already know that?¡± Rakin asked. ¡°We did come in first place last semester.¡±


    ¡°Well, maybe I should say, the curve is a lot flatter than we realized,¡± Zale amended ¡°Us, the Ice Picks, and the Risen Dahn are probably a good deal ahead of the rest.¡±


    ¡°What about that insufferable hag Shalin?¡± Rakin asked, ¡°That Parrotsong could take a beating¡ªfrom what I remember at least.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say,¡± Zale said. ¡°Their score didn¡¯t account for Shalin after she went missing. Any Bonded Iron Vein like Parrotsong is going to be a force of nature, and I hear she has a Blessing as well."


    Doug nodded, ¡°Yeah. I see her around the Grove sometimes. She has a strong affinity for animals, birds in particular, but also has a lot of control over wood.¡±


    ¡°And the wizard?¡± Rakin asked, turning to Kole.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kole said. ¡°I don¡¯t have any classes with him, but he was better than this last guy for certain.¡±


    ¡°How long have you been able to swim through sand?¡± Doug asked, turning to Rakin.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, half an hour? An hour?¡± Rakin said, looking up as if checking the position of the sun despite being indoors. ¡°I¡¯ve never been around that much sand before. It was so easy to manipulate, I just had a hunch. But I wouldn¡¯t call it swimming. More like, crawling through sludge that¡¯s kinda smooshing ya onward. It definitely gave me some ideas to try.¡±


    ¡°Poetic,¡± Zale said flatting, face turned up in disgust at the description.


    ¡°Are we supposed to be sitting here?¡± Kole asked, looking around the empty ready room.


    ¡°Maybe we were supposed to follow those healers out?¡± Doug said.


    The four looked between each other and ran out of the room in search of some sort of adult.


    And some sort of adult is what they found. Professor Underbrook was waiting for them in a central chamber that branched out to various other ready rooms.


    "How¡¯d you all like my sand bowl?" he asked eagerly as they greeted him.


    ¡±Your sand bowl?¡± Kole asked.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    At the same time, Rakin said, ¡°It was great.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my sand bowl. I devised all of the match environs for this year''s tournament. I think you¡¯ll find a bit of my own personal flare with each one.¡±


    Kole and Zale let out a shared groan.


    ¡°The decoy balls were your idea then too?¡± Kole asked, earning a proud grin.


    ¡°I tried to get a sandworm, but it would have stretched the budget,¡± Underbrook said.


    Aside from a congratulations on their performance and a ¡°see you Monday¡± from their professor, the team was a little underwhelmed at their welcome as they left. There would be a monetary prize for the finalists, but the first round rated nothing more than words.


    <hr>


    Later that night, the four teammates plus Amara walked into the Griffin¡¯s Roost with a round of applause and teasing cat-calling whistles. Before meeting at the tavern for dinner, they¡¯d all gone back to their home to get the sand out of their¡ªwell¡ªeverywhere.


    Rakin, despite having literally swam through the stuff, was the least grimy due to his ability to will the dust off himself, but even he was still pretty grimy.


    Kole had learned there were many, many, many, perks to having one¡¯s bedroom attached to an actual home as opposed to a dark and forgotten corner of a library. Some of these were simple pleasures, such as not having to sneak in and out, not needing to hide one¡¯s food from time-traveling rats and being able to go to a dedicated room to relieve oneself and forgo the use of a chamber pot. But of all these benefits, the pinnacle was the access to a shower.


    While not generally one to waste time on trivialities when that time could be better used for things like studying, Kole had made an effort to find the time each day to shower in Zale¡¯s home if he didn¡¯t already do so after morning training.


    His regular bathing had even attracted the attention of a certain sand-loving dwarf.


    ¡°Are ye showering so much ¡®cause of Zale?¡± he¡¯d asked Kole with a conspiratorial smile.


    ¡°What? No?¡± Kole said, a little too defensively. ¡°Why? Did she say something?¡±


    At the Roost, the freshly bathed team entered to a roar of applause, and many, many offers of food and drink on the tab of the resident adventurers.


    ¡°This is great!¡± Zale said to Kole. ¡°You should go ask around for a mentor!¡±


    There were few things Kole could think of that seemed less appealing at that moment then walking up to strange wizards and asking them to take him on as an apprentice.


    ¡°Maybe we just celebrate tonight, and I¡¯ll try to get a feel for who¡¯s interested today?¡± Kole asked more than suggested.


    Zale looked around, and then back at Kole. Noticing his reluctance she said, ¡°Good idea.¡±


    "Why was the other team so bad?" Amara asked, once they¡¯d been seated and Zale had fended off two groups of adventurers who had given their congratulations on the win and their condolences on her missing mother.


    ¡°They weren¡¯t terrible,¡± Zale began, only to be interrupted by Rakin.


    ¡°We¡¯re just great.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Zale agreed reluctantly. ¡°Pretty much.¡±


    Amara then asked a bunch of questions about the nature of the runes used in the arena¡¯s magic, earning looks of confusion from everyone.


    ¡°There were runes?¡± Kole asked her, trying to recall if he¡¯d seen any.


    Amara looked at them all stricken, at a loss for words.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Kole said before Amara passed out in utter shock.


    He pulled out his spellbook and began to write about his experience in the ready room. Immediately, the ensouled artifact''s magic went to work enhancing his memory, and he began to sketch out a few simple runes he suddenly remembered seeing.


    Amara moved to snatch the book from him, but Kole pulled it back just in time.


    ¡°I think you could probably just go to the room yourself and study them,¡± Kole suggested. ¡°There wasn¡¯t any security.¡±


    The ready rooms for the arena had been set up in an empty building on the outskirts of campus, and no efforts had been made to secure the building, so Kole didn¡¯t think they were secret.


    Amara¡¯s eyes lit up at the possibility.


    ¡°Tomorrow,¡± Zale said, reading the expression on her face.


    ¡°Of course, you¡¯re studying in a bar,¡± a very disappointed Runt called, suddenly appearing beside their table, a stack of paper in hand.


    ¡°What?¡± Kole asked, then realized what she meant, and put his spellbook away. ¡°No, this was about the hardball match.¡±


    ¡°Sure it was. You¡¯re a nerd. That¡¯s fine. Look, I really don¡¯t care. I got the schedule of that psycho,¡± Runt said, handing Kole a stack of sheets. ¡°And I got his entrance exam.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Kole asked, taking the papers.


    ¡°Yeah. He did okay. Above average, but no genius,¡± Runt said.


    Kole took her word for it, and didn¡¯t go through the stack, only looking at the schedule on top. He was a little disappointed that Corbyn wasn¡¯t a complete failure, but he¡¯d already known the boy to be at least competent back home.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± He said.


    ¡°I still need to tail him to get his actual schedule, but this should help you avoid him this week.¡±


    ¡°This is perfect, thanks! You did it so fast too. You don¡¯t have to do any more.¡±


    Runt held up a hand to stop him.


    ¡°It''s nothing, really. The security at that school is a joke.¡±


    ¡°You only say that because my mother whitelisted you on half the school''s defensive measures because you kept triggering them!¡± Zale said, already aggravated by this brief encounter with Runt.


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t mind?¡± Kole asked, ¡°I thought you said the nightlife here was terrible.¡±


    Runt looked around the tavern and wrinkled her nose.


    ¡°I¡¯ll manage,¡± she said, ¡°And besides... I think it¡¯s best if I stay around the Dahn. I¡¯ve heard reports of those weird animals popping up in other cities, but the occurrences have died down here. I¡¯d like to avoid a repeat of¡­¡±


    Runt trailed off, looking at Amara meaningfully, who was engrossed in the runes in Kole¡¯s spellbook and ignoring the conversation.


    That statement drew everyone¡¯s full attention.


    ¡°Weird animals?¡± Kole and Zale asked in unison.


    Runt sighed and rubbed her forehead and muttered under her breath, ¡°Adventurers.¡±

 Chapter 22: Truce

    Assuine¡¯s Conclaves took the forests that they loved, and wove them into great mats that still float to this day across the ocean.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    ¡°Explain!¡± Zale demanded.


    Runt, who was still standing in front of their table sighed again, looked around and pulled up a chair in an unnecessarily showy manner. She pulled the chair towards her with a jerk of her foot, spinning the chair into place, facing away from the table.


    She plopped herself down, legs around the back rest, and arms crossed atop it.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she said, ¡°But you¡¯re all asking for trouble. I¡¯ve gotten reports through some of Shalia¡¯s information network about more strange hybrid animal creatures appearing around Basin.¡±


    ¡°How do you have access to that?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°I am her apprentice,¡± Runt said haughtily. ¡°I manage a small part of it as part of my training. I¡¯ve been giving what information I can to the academy staff in her absence.¡±


    ¡°The professors know about this and didn¡¯t tell us?¡± Kole asked, looking at his friends with a tad of self-righteous outrage.


    ¡°Eh, why would they?¡± Rakin said with a shrug. ¡°We¡¯re just students.¡±


    Kole¡¯s sense of reason caught up with his¡ªapparently¡ªburgeoning sense of pride, and he realized his outrage had been a little unjustified.


    ¡°Where did these hybrids appear?¡± Amara asked, suddenly joining the conversation.


    Runt closed one eye, considering before listing, ¡°New Landing, Orinqth, and a half dozen places out in the wilds.¡±


    ¡°There were reports of missing primals in New Landing and Orinqth!¡± Amara said, jumping to her feet.


    ¡°Whoa, calm down there ant girl,¡± Runt said.


    ¡°How do you know about that?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve paid for an information broker to tell me about any reports of missing primals to get a clue about Amintha. It¡¯s apparently fairly common, so none of the reports so far had been anything worth going on. What were the dates?¡±


    Runt listed the dates of the occurrences, and Amara pulled a sheet of paper out of her bag.


    ¡°They are the same day!¡± she shouted, getting the attention of other patrons. ¡°We need to go find her!¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Slow down Amara,¡± Zale said, gesturing for her to sit. ¡°That was a week ago. She¡¯s not there now. Let''s talk this through.¡±


    ¡°When did you have time to hire an information broker?¡± Doug asked. ¡°You were obsessed over your broom thing, and we were very good at keeping you distracted¡ªow! Who kicked me?¡±


    ¡°I did,¡± Rakin confessed without any shame.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Amara said, looking at Rakin. ¡°I knew what you were doing. I¡¯m not that oblivious. And I can obsess over two things. I didn¡¯t think to keep an eye out for hybrid creatures though, that was smart.¡±


    Amara pulled a map out of her bag as well, which had two marks already on Orinqth and New Landing.


    More forcefully than Kole was used to seeing her in anything but discussions of runes, Amara looked to Runt and said, ¡°Mark on this map where the hybrids appeared with the dates. Zale¡¯s right, Amintha is probably long gone, but there were patterns with the last incursions here and there will be more. If we can find the location to a portal in a place primals went missing, we can find a path to her.¡±


    ¡°But why?¡± Runt asked, not rejecting the command. ¡°She¡¯s awful.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s my sister,¡± Amara said, as if it were obvious.


    ¡°But, she was so mean t¡¯ya,¡± Rakin said. ¡°Why do ye want ta see her?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Amara said, looking from the map, her face set in determination, but the hint of a tear welling up in her eye. ¡°She needs to be stopped, and I need to help do it.¡±


    Runt just shook her head, disappointed.


    ¡°Sure, it''s your funeral. I¡¯ll get you the information¡ªand ask around about missing primals.¡±


    Kole watched his friends. Zale was chewing her lip, looking from Amara to Zale with worry. Rakin looked angry, and Doug looked like he¡¯d rather be elsewhere.


    ¡°We¡¯re not really doing this are we?¡± Kole asked. ¡°Hunting her down across Basin? No, beyond Basin. Another realm. I know this worked out last time, but that was pretty dumb of us to try to handle alone.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to do it alone,¡± Amara said. ¡°I just need to help. I don¡¯t have to single handedly catch her. I can¡¯t just sit around and wait while she¡¯s out there hurting people.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Kole said. ¡°I¡¯ll help, but how are we going to do anything more than mark up a map.¡±


    ¡°We can!¡± Zale said, having overcome whatever inner turmoil she¡¯d been fighting. ¡°I found doors!¡±


    ¡°You what?¡± Doug asked, just as Runt said ¡°You did?!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! I was going to tell everyone this morning but...¡± Zale turned to run, and her excitement died down. ¡°Runt was there and I didn¡¯t want her to know.¡±


    ¡°Oops,¡± Kole said for Zale.


    ¡°Oops indeed,¡± Runt said with a smile. ¡°If you show me where they are, I can be a lot more helpful gathering information.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Zale said, defeated. ¡°But you need to promise me you won''t steal anything while using them. The last thing I need is you leading a group of guards or thugs through my house¡ªagain.¡±


    ¡°That only happened like, twice, before your mom kicked me out,¡± Runt said, dismissing her concerns.


    ¡°You lead them through my room both times!¡± Zale shouted.


    ¡°It¡¯s not my fault the doors keep switching around!¡± Runt yelled back.


    ¡±Umm, excuse me,¡± Doug said, raising his hand.


    He was trapped in the far corner of the booth.


    ¡°If we¡¯re done celebrating, can I go? I promised Mouse I¡¯d¡ª¡± he said, before vanishing mid-sentence.


    His antlered head appeared ten feet away, next to a table of adventurers, who drew their weapons at the sudden appearance of a demonkin. Doug¡¯s head spun around quickly trying to regain his bearing after the sudden shift in perspective.


    ¡°Meet her¡± he finished, just as the adventurers put their weapons away, recognizing Doug and now familiar with his affliction after the broadcasted hardball match.


    Doug¡¯s inadvertent antics broke the tension, and Zale sighed. She stuck out her hand to Runt.


    ¡°Truce?¡±


    Runt met her grip, but scrunched up her nose and reluctantly shook.


    Now free of the rear corner of the booth, Doug waved uncertainly.


    ¡°Bye?¡±

 Chapter 23: Radiant Bolt

    While it is still unknown and heavily debated as to how the dwarves knew to prepare Basin for the Flood, it is universally accepted that without that action, the Illusian races would have been lost to the Flood.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    The party broke up shortly after Doug¡¯s departure, and they all headed back home.


    On the way, Kole thought over the implications of their encounter with Runt.


    Are we really doing this again? He asked himself over and over, unsure how he felt about it.


    The larger sensible part of him that preferred to spend as much time studying to improve his wizardry thought they should just take whatever information they found straight to the Academy¡¯s staff. But the smaller¡ªyet rapidly growing¡ªpart of him that had gotten a taste for adventuring wanted to... he wasn¡¯t exactly sure, but he was certain meekly turning over information to adults to handle the problem for him wasn¡¯t it.


    He wasn¡¯t being stupid, at least that''s what he kept telling himself. Their plans weren¡¯t to thwart the possible invasion of the Midlian remnants from whatever other Realm they¡¯d hidden in all these years. They just wanted to find Amintha. Sure, she was terrifying, in the uncanny way she looked exactly like the sweet and innocent Amara while being a literal sociopath who¡¯d capture other people imprison and drain for power, but she¡¯d lost all that power, and as far as they¡¯d seen and heard from Amara, she wasn¡¯t individually powerful.


    By the time they got back home, Kole had mostly talked himself around to being okay with the decision they¡¯d made to investigate these occurrences, but he couldn''t help but wish Tal and Zale¡¯s mother were here.


    ¡°What¡¯s everyone want to do now?¡° Zale asked when they got home.


    ¡°Bed,¡± Rakin said, walking past her.


    Zale nodded to Rakin, unconcerned by his rejection.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got so much work to do,¡± Amara said, holding up a notebook she¡¯d been sketching in the whole walk back.


    None of them were certain what she was doing. She¡¯d explained what she¡¯d been working on in detail on the way back, but that had been the problem. It had been in exacting detail and none of them had the knowledge in runecrafting to see the bigger picture.


    Zale nodded at that and looked to Kole hopefully.


    While part of Kole had been worrying over their plans to find Amintha, another part of his mind had been reviewing his spell construct in his mental vault. Mental vaults, while essential for wizardry, served purposes even for people who constructed them without the intention of ever crafting a bridge. As he¡¯d explained to Rakin, he was working on gaining some of these benefits.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a new variant of Radiant Bolt I¡¯m going to try,¡± he said.


    ¡°Oh, okay,¡± Zale said, disappointment evident.


    What did I do? Kole wondered.


    She¡¯d not cared when Rakin and Amara had left, so he¡¯d taken that as leave to be a hermit as well.


    ¡°I can¡ª¡± he began, but Zale shook her head.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± she said, forcing a smile. ¡°Just don¡¯t stay up too late.¡±


    ¡°I promise,¡± Kole said with every intention of keeping his word.


    Too many hours later, Kole fell asleep. He¡¯d begun working at his desk, reviewing the spellform he was constructing for Radiant Bolt on paper even as he worked on the construct in his mind, but after a while he¡¯d moved to his bed to begin work on his pathing.


    At first, he would leave his vault bringing his awareness back to reality after every attempt to monitor the time. But as his work progressed, he sensed he was getting close and his patience left him. With each failed attempt of the spell, he dove back in tweaking the spell and trying again.


    Closer and closer, his spell made its way to the Font of Light, until... he fell asleep.


    The next morning, Kole woke up confused after having vivid dreams of success in his spell casting. Without checking the time, or even getting out of bed, he dove right back into it once realizing the success he¡¯d experienced had been a dream.


    And some unknown time later¡ªunknown to Kole at least, but five hours to his friends who¡¯d long since stopped waiting for him to get up¡ªKole sent his spell construct into the Arcane Realm, and a brilliant bolt of golden light shot out from his hand and hit the ceiling before dispersing.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°I did it!¡± he shouted, but no one was around to see it.


    At that point, Kole realized he¡¯d not seen the pack rat around since the Dahn had tightened its security, or Theral for that matter.


    Is that a coincidence or related? he wondered.


    Finally, Kole got out of bed, with a rumbling stomach and went out into the communal living area to find it empty. The clock showed it to be almost dinner time.


    He went back to his room, got dressed, and went to find some dinner, but somehow his feet found their way to the spell range. Which was an accomplishment as the spell range was quite a way off campus after that section of the Dahn had been closed off.


    While the spell range was no longer complete with openings into the void for students to safely cast extremely destructive spells into, it still had some magical trappings. The target golems, for one, were what Kole was after in his trip here. From his research Kole knew Radiant Bolt caused the target to feel a whole body burning sensation that wasn¡¯t caused by fire or affected by fire resistance. The pain came from inside out¡ªwhich to Kole seemed horrible. The spell also cast the target in a wreath of golden light for a few moments after it struck, illuminating the space around them and making it harder to obscure oneself and impossible to turn invisible.


    Kole was tempted to find a way to cast it on himself and then test it, but the whole ¡®burning from the inside out¡¯ thing quickly ended his curiosity.


    Kole found the spell range to be fairly active at dinner time on a Sunday, unlike the last time Kole had completed a spell and rushed out immediately to test it. Of course, that time had been in the middle of the night.


    He eventually found a bay with the target style he was looking for, a golem that had an enchantment on it that let it simulate the effects of striking a person. Many spells, when cast on inanimate objects, didn¡¯t have their full effect in force. Lightning magic, for example, was more likely to strike a living target than a rock. Dummies like these let wizards practice their magic fully, without having to find willing targets.


    Kole lined up his shot, pointing his index finger at the target dummy thirty feet away, built the construct for the spell, and sent it out through his bridge. The beam of golden light appeared at the tip of his finger, and flew across the field, striking the dummy in the chest. The range was lit by magical lights, but Kole turned them off quickly after hitting, to see the dummy emitted a gentle golden glow, illuminating the space around it for five feet.


    Kole smiled to himself, taking stock of his Will. That spell had definitely taken less than 10, but more than the 5 that would mark it as a first tier spell. Being a traditionally cast spell he¡¯d literally just created, the Will cost was not optimized. He knew from his reading and discussions with Theral and Tal, that if he put the time in, he could get the cost of first tier spells down as low as 2 Will, but 3 to 4 was more likely as the Font of Illusions was his highest affinity, and Sound and Light magic were a bit further from his bridge.


    The spell description also stated that this spell was effective over one hundred feet. Kole turned the lights back on, each sitting below a dummy illuminating the target. He found the one sitting at the hundred-foot mark, pointed, and fired. The beam of light streaked across the field once more in an eye blink, and missed the dummy by¡­ quite a bit. He watched the beam briefly light up the night up to the one hundred and forty foot mark before it grew too diffuse to be called much of anything.


    ¡°Well Flood,¡± he cursed.


    Magic Missile, which had a similarly long range, didn¡¯t require Kole to aim so much as envision what he wanted to hit and generally point in its direction. This, he realized, would take some more practice.


    Two more times he cast the spell, finally striking the target on the fourth attempt.


    ¡°Woo!¡± he shouted in celebration, earning a few curious looks from those at the bays besides him, but Kole recognized none of them from his classes.


    At least I didn¡¯t try to turn invisible, he reflected.


    His go to response to unwanted attention and embarrassment had always been to turn invisible and hide. He wasn¡¯t sure when that had started to fade, but he hadn¡¯t even considered it in that moment¡ªthough he had grown a bit red in embarrassment at the attention.


    But, what seventeen-year-old boy wasn¡¯t embarrassed regularly by his own actions?


    8 Will, he decided, after gauging how much he¡¯d spent.


    He was now very low on Will, but could probably cast the spell a fifth time if he wanted to walk around with a headache the rest of the day.


    Kole looked up at the sky.


    Well, the rest of the night, he corrected.


    From the morning¡¯s work, he figured he¡¯d spent about 6. So with a capacity of 48, he guessed the spell to be between 7 and 9. He¡¯d long since gotten fairly proficient in guessing Will costs.


    While Kole was frugal with his money¡ªthough others would simply call him cheap¡ªhe was extremely discerning in his use of Will. The typical means of measuring a spells cost was to cast the spell into a special runic device meant to measure the expenditure. That, in Kole¡¯s opinion, was a good way to waste Will that could better be spent practicing magic, so he¡¯d tried hard to learn to gauge his usage without it. It also helped that¡ªdue to his own particular struggles in opening gates artificially increasing spell costs¡ªthose gauges never truly worked for him.


    But Kole liked to think it was his judicial usage of Will that let him gain the skill.


    Gurgle


    Kole felt at his stomach, telling him it was time to find a meal.


    He made his way back to campus, but his friends were nowhere to be found. Belatedly he thought to check the signaling devices Amara had made, but ever since they¡¯d all moved in together, they¡¯d gotten out of the habit of using those, and he¡¯d left his back in his room.


    So Kole ate alone and then headed to the library to finish up the classwork for the week ahead, proud with his accomplishment and excited to see how he could further reduce the cost. But that was for tomorrow, for tonight he had to write a paper about the Midlian Empire.


    While history was not his favorite topic, he found himself somewhat eager to begin. The purpose of history classes as part of the adventuring track curriculum were to prepare prospective adventurers for the dangers they might face in forgotten ruins, or even help them uncover them. But now with the potential that the Midlian Empire was still very much alive and poised to invade, Kole found researching the topic had an allure similar to when studying goblins or other foes he might face.


    Though, as Kole read about the horrible atrocities committed in the name of magical study, that allure was replaced with no small amount of dread.

 Chapter 24: Void of Light

    While many took to the seas and thrived for decades, a slow decline in the quality of life set in as resources such as metals became scarcer and scarcer. With each shipwreck, or floating mat sunken to incurable disease, countless irreplaceable treasures were lost. Trade with the seafolk was not enough to combat the loss. The often aloof people had little need for the metals so vital to life above the waves.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    The next morning, Kole sat silently and took the scolding from Zale for his late night.


    ¡°Even Amara went to bed at a reasonable time!¡± she said, pointing to the quarter elf girl who was busy pushing crumbs around the table with small blasts of wind from a tiny blasting rod.


    ¡°I still finished my history paper,¡± Kole defended, ¡°I hadn¡¯t realized how awful the Midlian Empire really was. And now, after writing that paper in my spellbook, it''s difficult to forget.¡±


    Kole rubbed his head as he spoke. His spellbook helped him recall perfectly anything he¡¯d read when trying to write about it, but he hadn¡¯t realized until writing about the horrors of the Midlian Empire that enhanced memory could be a double-edged sword when one wished to forget the finer details of morally ethical research methods.


    ¡°And I learned a new spell,¡± Kole said, casually dropping that in the end.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s no excuse¡ª¡± Zale began, but then stopped herself. ¡°You did?¡±


    ¡°Bah hah!¡± Rakin laughed at his cousin¡¯s sudden turn about.


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°Radiant Bolt,¡± Kole said proudly.


    Zale quickly finished her breakfast, courting the bounds of what was proper and ladylike while trying to finish so they¡¯d have time to see the spell before PREVENT began. Having no such similar qualms as hammered in by an occasionally sadistic mother, Doug, Kole, and Rakin simply ate quickly, made a mess, and ran off.


    Looking up from her prototype, Amara realized she¡¯d been left alone, but on seeing the mess her friends had left behind, she smiled and began to attempt to clean it up. Hiding inside her shirt, Gus watched in horror as Amara blew another plate off the table.


    ¡°Oops!¡± she said, and then wished she had Kole¡¯s ability to turn invisible.


    ¡°Hmmm,¡± she hummed, before pushing the idea away.


    <hr>


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Kole asked Rakin, who was standing in front of him, arms wide.


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin affirmed, ¡°Hit me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it''s a fiery burn though,¡± Kole said. ¡°It might hurt.¡±


    ¡°I can take it,¡± Rakin said.


    Kole looked to Zale, who gave a shrug.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Kole said, pointing his finger at the dwarf. ¡°Get ready.¡±


    A beam of light shot out of Kole¡¯s hand, striking Rakin in the chest, who was only a dozen feet away. The glow intensified as it hit him, swirling around him like a nebula, illuminating the space.


    ¡°Krool eating weasel¡± Rakin cursed, as the gold light suffused him.


    ¡°Not. Fiery.¡± he gasped as the light faded.


    ¡°What was it like?¡± Kole asked, eagerly.


    ¡°Pain.¡±


    Rakin sat down; some amount of pride lost from the experience.


    Seeing her cousin¡¯s mood, Zale raised her hand.


    ¡°Me next,¡± she said.


    Kole looked from Zale to Rakin, panic in his eyes. ¡°I... um. I¡¯d rather not.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Zale demanded, mock offense in her voice. ¡°Because I¡¯m a girl?¡±


    ¡°Well...¡± Kole began, ¡°Kind of? It looks like it really hurt.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s sweet,¡± Zale said smithing. ¡°But, we both know I¡¯m tougher than you,¡° Zale added, no malice in her tone.


    ¡°I know. I just... It was kind of fun hitting Rakin...¡± Kole said, gesturing at the defeated dwarf.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°Think of it as magical study,¡± Zale said. ¡°I could almost sense a connection to the Font of Light when you cast it on him. Maybe if you hit me with it, I can get a better sense of it.¡±


    Kole looked at her face, trying to see if she was lying, but gave up. Zale never really lied about anything, though she selectively omitted details the truth and when she did that it was painfully obvious.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Kole said, ¡°But only once.¡±


    Zale nodded and got herself in a ready stance with hands balled into fists.


    Kole pointed his finger, built the construct for the spell in his mind, double checked it to make sure it was right¡ªwhich it was because he was simply copying the template he¡¯d just created, giving it no time to degrade. Then checked her surroundings to make sure¡ª


    ¡°Do it!¡± Zale commanded.


    Kole sighed and pushed the spell out into the Arcane Realm.


    The light appeared from his finger and struck Zale in the stomach.


    ¡°Waas!¡± Zale gasped, closing her eyes and invoking the name of her goddess.


    She took a step back, and the glow of golden light began to spread around her, but then stopped, receding back to the point of origin in her belly where it vanished.


    Zale opened her eyes, huge smile across her face.


    ¡°I did it!¡± she said. ¡°I found the Font of Light. Hit me again!¡±


    ¡°Bah!¡± Rakin shouted, now in a worse mood.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Kole asked.


    Despite her claim, the spell had definitely harmed her, and she was unsteady on her feet.


    She nodded, and then in answer, she disappeared, replaced by a Zale sized void of absolute darkness.


    ¡°See?¡± she said, voice coming out of the void.


    The darkness aura seemed larger than Kole remembered the silence aura being, though that had been hard to quantify, only discernable if one put your head near her until the sound vanished. The bubble seemed to expand from her nearly a foot in all directions.


    ¡°That¡¯s really spooky,¡± Doug said, chiming in for the first time.


    Around them in the green behind the lecture hall where they had PREVENT lectures, their antics had already started gaining attention, but the replacement of Zale with a black void finally drawn the eyes of everyone around them.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Kole said, giving up. ¡°Ready?¡±


    The black void wavered slightly at the top.


    ¡°Did you just nod?¡± Kole asked. ¡°You know we can¡¯t see you. Right?¡±


    ¡°Sorry! Yes. Ready.¡±


    Kole fired another beam of light at her, and it struck the black void, where it completely vanished.


    Zale then reappeared, smile wider on her face. All the apprehension about firing a spell at her vanished as Kole saw how happy it had made her.


    ¡°Do it again!¡± she demanded.


    Kole complied, and this time, as he sent the spell into the Arcane Realm, he felt it being sucked into the void as the power tried to manifest into the world.


    He felt that he could try to fight against the sensation, pitting his Will against Zale¡¯s to see if he could force the spell into being, but held back, not wanting to hit her with the effect again.


    Returning his full awareness to the world around him, he saw Zale, somehow smiling even wider than before.


    PREVENT that day was split into two parts. The first was reviewing the recordings of the Hardball matches, just as they would with the dungeon delves the semester before. This time however, nothing was done to preserve privacy, as the whole match had already been broadcasted far and wide.


    Kole¡¯s team was shown as an example of how important the environment can be when planning for an encounter.


    ¡°Rakin here, as a primal of Earth, was uniquely suited for the arena, and had he not waited for his teammate, could have single handedly won the match,¡± Professor Underbrook explained.


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair,¡± a student said in class.


    Underbrook smiled maliciously.


    ¡°I know I¡¯ve told you all this before, but life isn¡¯t fair. Get used to it.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± another student said. ¡°The Forsaken destroyed Tobolt¡¯s Rangers.¡±


    Murmurs broke out over that comment, and Kole risked a glance at the other team, all sitting together on the opposite side of the room. They¡¯d look mollified at Underbrook¡¯s initial statement that one member could single-handedly turn the tide of a battle if they were specifically suited for the task, but whatever face that statement had let them save was lost when called out on their defeat.


    ¡°Thank you for your deft and critical analysis Darvin,¡± Underbrook said dryly. ¡°Yes, the Forsaken did win, not due to a single member¡¯s ability, but through superior skill. In fact, Rakin didn¡¯t even assist in the fighting, and Zale took down two combatants while Kole and Doug each took down one. I hope the class is as gracious and caring with their analysis of your match this coming weekend.¡±


    The statement seemed to help divert the attention from Tolbot¡¯s Rangers towards the rude student, and Underbrook continued with the lecture.


    <hr>


    ¡°We should go talk to them,¡± Zale said, after class.


    ¡°Who?¡± Rakin asked. ¡°Looking around.¡±


    Zale only swatted him on the back of the head as she looked at Kole.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Kole said, resigned.


    They made their way through the departing students to the other team who were huddled.


    Zale, in her non-voidy guise, approached them first.


    ¡°Hi Valspin,¡± she said, approaching the male of the team who¡¯d wielded a sword and shield.


    She extended a hand.


    ¡°Good match.¡± she said.


    Valspin looked at her hand, then at Zale¡¯s earnest face, and smiled.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be modest,¡± he said, taking the hand. ¡°You destroyed us.¡±


    The comment broke the tension, and the archer broke in.


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know how you fired that fast,¡± she said, turning to Doug. ¡°I¡¯m Savil, by the way.¡±


    The rest introduced themselves. The wizard, Devin, was a second year as Kole had suspected, while Kalin the mace wielder was Blessed by some god of combat Kole hadn¡¯t ever heard of.


    ¡°No hard feelings,¡± Valspin said, after a round of introduction. ¡°You four placed top of the class last semester. There was some grumbling about it, but we can see it wasn¡¯t favoritism. You earned it.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Zale said.


    ¡°But you four better win it all, or it''s going to mess up our rankings,¡± Kalin said.


    ¡°We''ll try not to disappoint,¡± Zale said, as the groups parted.


    "And don¡¯t worry,¡± Valsin said as a parting word. ¡°We don¡¯t believe any of the nonsense Shalin is spreading.¡±


    The four stopped dead in their tracks.


    ¡°What sort of nonsense?¡± Zale asked cautiously.


    ¡°Oh, you know, that your friend¡¯s twin sister was behind all the abductions, and that Rakin here is a Fire primal,¡± Valspin said, laughing at the idea of it. ¡°Giant teleporting spiders? It¡¯s absurd.¡±


    Zale put a hand on Rakin¡¯s shoulder, as the dwarf began to tense in rage.


    ¡°Well,¡± Zale began. ¡°There might be some truth to that.¡±

 Chapter 25: Green Rotten Eggs

    Mountains on distant planets¡ªwhen viewed with the aid of magic¡ªappear in patterned ranges that extend across the planet¡¯s surface. The mountains of Kaltis differ from all that we have observed. They are the remnants of the chaotic battle between the Wardens, Torc, Waas, and Aurial. The land that would become the Basin was once a large ring of mountains formed in the conflict.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    Zale explained their side of the story to the other students, glossing over the statement about Rakin¡¯s connection to the Font of Fire.


    The other four students listened raptly, as Zale clarified what had occurred at the conclusion of the last semester. By the time she¡¯d finished done explaining, the other students seemed a bit withdrawn.


    When Zale was done, Valspin tried to reassure them.


    ¡°Even if what she said was technically true, it wasn¡¯t okay for Shalin to say all that. Especially after you all saved her.¡±


    Zale just shrugged, lifting her hands in a ¡°what can you do?¡± gesture.


    Valspin stuck out his hand again.


    ¡°No hard feelings,¡± he said, and Zale took it.


    ¡°That bitch,¡± Rakin spat as they walked out of the classroom.


    ¡°Aye,¡± Zale said, mimicking her cousin.


    ¡°Defensive magic,¡± Professor Underbrook said, talking to the class. ¡°Is what separates a living wizard from a dead one. Some of you may end up siege wizards in an army, safely blowing up your enemies from a mile away, but what good is a Fireball when your enemy is about to stab you in the gut?¡±


    Underbrook paused, as if expecting an actual answer.


    ¡°Ummm... no good?¡± a student said from the front.


    ¡°Exactly! Unless of course you¡¯re fine taking yourself out with them,¡± Underbook said.


    ¡°Shield and Mage Armor. These are the bread and butter of wizard defenses. Shield for when you see the attacks coming, and Mage Armor for when you don¡¯t. What are some other spells useful for defense?¡±


    No one spoke up, and Underbrook pointed to students at random.


    ¡°Gray,¡± he said.


    ¡°Umm, Ice Armor?¡± Gray asked.


    ¡°Yes, good. What are its benefits over Mage Armor?¡± Underbrook asked,


    ¡°It can explode and hurt attackers who land a blow,¡± Gray said with more confidence.


    Next, he pointed to Kole.


    ¡°Kole?¡±


    ¡°Ummm, Mirror Image? Blur?¡± Kole said, with equal confidence.


    ¡°What are the pros and cons of each?¡± Underbrook asked quickly.


    ¡°Mirror Image makes copies of the caster that can trick enemies into attacking nothing and destroying the copy, while Blur makes you generally harder to hit,¡± Kole explained, also gaining confidence.


    ¡°Why pick Mirror Image when Blur seems much better?¡± Underbrook asked.


    ¡°Blur requires concentration while Mirror Image does not,¡± Kole said, guessing at the answer.


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Underbrook said. ¡°Concentration. Who among you can cast another spell while concentrating?¡±


    Underbrook looked over the class, three students, all second years, raised their hands.


    ¡°Cantrips?¡± Underbrook asked. ¡°Who can cast a first tier?¡±


    All the hands went down.


    ¡°I expect every one of you to be able to cast at least a cantrip while concentrating on a spell by next year if you wish to continue in this course. For now, a concentration defense is a liability. You¡¯re giving up the ability to attack to defend. Defensive concentration spells are powerful, but high risk. If your enemy breaks through your defense, you¡¯re likely to lose the spell and make you vulnerable for a follow up. It¡¯s better that you have passive spells that protect your offensive abilities. This is why Mage Armor and Shield are such a potent combination. Neither require concentration, and they supplement each other. Now, why might someone learn spells other than these two?¡±


    This was once more met with silence until finally Kole answered.


    ¡°Affinities?¡± he said.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Underbrook said. ¡°A sorcerer, such as Gray, with an Ice affinity would benefit more from Ice Armor than he would spending the same amount of Will of Mage Armor. Others might wish to wear armor, making Mage Armor useless.¡±


    ¡°I would like each of you to think this week over a passive defensive spell you could learn this semester and compare the spell to Mage Armor. Weigh your options, and next week decide which you will learn.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Also, be ready. Wednesday, we practice mental defenses.¡±


    That was met with a collective groan.


    <hr>


    ¡°So, you¡¯re going to learn Mirror Image,¡± a voice asked Kole from behind as he was leaving class.


    ¡°Probably,¡± Kole said, looking back to see Gray.


    They¡¯d not spoken since the previous Monday.


    Kole winced internally at the admission. He¡¯d tried to keep the Font of his primal abilities a secret, but he admitted he¡¯d done a poor job. Anyone in class that thought about it for more than a moment would likely be able to guess from his planned spells. Thankfully, few people had believed Gray when he¡¯d claimed Kole to be a primal the first semester. Kole could cast Magic Missile and Shield after all, something that was impossible for a primal. While they¡¯d not believed Kole to be a primal, they had no issue believing Gray¡¯s claim that Kole had some soft of magical defect limiting his ability to cast spells.


    ¡°You going to learn Ice Armor?¡± Kole asked, pushing aside his irritation.


    ¡°Probably,¡± Gray said, smiling.


    There was an awkward silence, then Gray spoke.


    ¡°I wanted to let you know, Shalin¡¯s been spreading rumors about you guys.¡±


    Kole sighed.


    ¡°I heard,¡± Kole said. ¡°Before you ask, it¡¯s basically true. Except the part about Amara and us being complicit.¡±


    ¡°Whoa,¡± Gray said.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Kole agreed.


    ¡°So... that Forsaken name is really on the nose then,¡± Gray said, hesitating before attempting a joke.


    ¡°That was the point of the name,¡± Kole admitted, ¡°Though, I didn¡¯t know about Rakin¡¯s abilities at the time.¡±


    Before Kole realized what was happening, he found himself talking to Gray as they left class. Both had been heading to the library, and it wasn¡¯t until they sat down at the same table to study, that both boys realized what had just happened.


    They then proceeded to spend the next three hours studying in slightly awkward silence. Both unsure how to handle the potential friendship, and perfectly content to study alone.


    <hr>


    The rest of the week went by in a blur as Kole spent every free moment attempting to improve the efficiency of Thunderwave and Radiant Bolt, while also trying to wrap his head around Galok Lightsmith¡¯s version of Mirror Image.


    From the spell¡¯s description, it functioned much the same as the Font of Illusion his uncle cast using his primal powers, only less flexible. This version would allow Kole to conjure two illusions on casting, increasing by one for each higher tier he cast it as if he learned to over-channel the spell. The versions would disappear if disrupted by an attack, but unlike his uncle¡¯s version, they wouldn¡¯t act independently, instead each would function as a¡ªwell¡ªmirror image of Kole.


    The spell was purely one of the Font of Light, and as such, the illusions wouldn¡¯t have any of the mental or audio reinforcement that Kole¡¯s Silent Image spell had. Briefly, Kole had tried to find a spell from the Font of Illusions itself, but as the Font had only recently been discovered, all the spells created to draw upon it functioned by use of offset gates and employed many spellform techniques intrinsic to those gates. As such, Kole couldn¡¯t simply strip the gate aspect from the spell without rendering it completely useless.


    I¡¯m better off just creating the spells myself, he told himself as he left the library.


    In Martial 102, Kole continued to muddle through the lessons. Despite knowing the value of them, he still couldn¡¯t bring himself to enjoy the sparring. The classes did also make him realize that he¡¯d dropped his quarter staff in the desert of the hardball arena and it han¡¯t been returned after the battle.


    Zale gave him a hard time about it, but told him he¡¯d have to buy a new one himself after losing the one she¡¯d given him.


    After Arcane 156 that day, Kole made his way over to the faculty supply master. He¡¯d been given a pass that gave him a blank check¡ªwithin reason¡ªto the contents within, if he could explain his academic need for it and he wasn¡¯t found to abuse the access, such as selling what he got.


    He was pleasantly surprised to find that if what he needed wasn¡¯t in stock, they would get it. The older gnomish clerk behind the counter was surprised at Kole¡¯s pass, but once proving it was valid, took little convincing that Kole needed a new quarterstaff, two sets of training clothes, one of the floating runic lights from the library, and a dozen other sundry items that caught Kole¡¯s eye.


    So, Kole left the basement of the administrative building with full arms and a large smile.


    This is going to be difficult not to abuse, he reflected, grateful that he no longer needed to purchase magical ink or paper. That would have tested the limits of the school¡¯s generosity.


    Throughout the second week of classes, Kole found himself back at the supply master, collecting other small items he might need.


    ¡°No, you cannot have a wand,¡± the exasperated gnome supply master, one Gindlethumb Eaveswallow, said.


    He¡¯d become progressively less enthused with each of Kole¡¯s visits, and twice had double checked the validity of the pass.


    ¡°Worth a try, have a nice day!¡± Kole said, leaving with some jars he planned to fill with food from the cafeterias.


    Just because he was no longer destitute, it didn¡¯t mean he was going to start wasting money.


    Wednesday at Wizardry 205, Kole and Gray grouped up together to work on mental defenses. Each pair of students was given a runic device that influenced the mind of the person across from them. The effect was minor, only making the target perceive the world around them to be a green hue and for everything to smell like rotten eggs.


    ¡°Enter your vault as fully as you are able to while maintaining awareness of your surroundings,¡± Underbrook had explained to the class. ¡°When the attack comes, it will appear like colorful wisps. Your task is to push them away with your own Will. If you succeed, the mind-altering effect should disperse. A partial success will allow you to see past the effect while not fully ridding yourself of it.¡±


    Kole and Gray took turns going back and forth, finding the task to be challenging, but looking around found they were having better success than their peers¡ªif the plugged noses and facial expressions were anything to go off.


    ¡°Those of you with experience in battle are likely better suited for this task,¡± Underbrook had explained. ¡°The average wizard has little need to maintain awareness of one¡¯s surroundings fully in the brief moment it takes to cast a spell. But even a lapse of a moment is enough for someone to stick you in the butt with a sword.¡±


    This split awareness was something Kole had long worked on without even thinking about it. To him, it was obvious he¡¯d need to maintain his awareness while casting spells, but he hadn¡¯t realized it would have other benefits or that this wasn¡¯t obvious to everyone. Kole found that he and Gray were matched in this ability. Both could perceive the world while in their vault, but any interference, such as a kick¡ªor in one case a sneeze¡ªwould see them either lose their awareness of their surroundings or send them out of their vault. Thankfully, they could choose which they wished to lose.


    Underbrook continued to lecture the class as they worked to alter the perceptions of their partners.


    ¡°This is just the first step in mental defenses. Like a Firebolt, mental spells can be blocked, dodged, or countered. This is learning how to dodge. We will learn to improve your defenses later. This involves focusing on where the breaches in your vault occur and reinforcing them with Will. At first the effects will be minimal, but eventually this will reduce the avenues of attack your enemies have and give you more time to react. For weaker foes, it will completely block out their attempts. Currently, it takes 1 Will of your own effort to block 1 Will of your enemy''s effort¡ªor at least it should if you¡¯re not entirely hopeless. Reinforcing will tip this scale in your favor, giving you home field advantage.


    Upon leaving class that day, Kole could have sworn the grass outside looked greener than it had before, and he couldn¡¯t help but sniff at his surroundings.

 Chapter 26: First Duel

    This ring of mountains was not complete however. While no one knows why they began so early, the dwarves¡ªled by the Hardune¡ªprepared Basin for the coming Flood. Decades before the Avatar even escaped, they began their work of filling the low points along the circular mountain range.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    ¡°Are you nervous?¡± Zale asked Kole as he moved his food around his plate at lunch while Amara did the same with food on the table using her prototype auto broom.


    Her blasts of air had become more controlled, and she no longer sent plates or silverware off the table, though napkins were another story entirely.


    ¡°I guess?¡± Kole said. ¡°If I could turn invisible, it would be easier.¡±


    In the past week, he¡¯d made definite progress on improving his spells. Radiant Bolt had been reduced from 8 Will to 7, while Thunderwave had gone from 10 to 8.


    ¡°I know I have the offensive power to overpower my opponents. But if I cast Shield once, that¡¯s nearly half my Will. The Barrier cantrip Buckler will only cost 10, but that effect is hardly worth the cost.¡± Kole explained.


    ¡°Don¡¯t all your opponents have, like, 30 Will max?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°Yeah, but their spells are also way cheaper,¡± Kole said, bordering on whining. ¡°The standard cost of a first-tier spell with modern wizardry is 3 to 4 Will. My cheapest spell is 8.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just use your blasting rod?¡± Zale suggested.


    ¡°No...¡± Kole began. ¡°Maybe? I wish I had one of those shield artifacts Amara made.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you want a new device?¡± Amara said, joining the conversation as soon as runes came up.


    Kole, who hadn¡¯t really considered it as an option until voicing the desire thought it through. From his research, he knew Radiant Bolt and Thunderwave could each cost less than 4 Will. At which point, a Shield would serve him much better than a weaker Force blast from a runic device.


    ¡°You¡¯d do that?¡± Kole asked.


    Amara looked from Kole to her broom project, an internal battle going on behind her eyes.


    ¡°Ow!¡± Amara said, looking down at Gus who¡¯d nibbled lightly on her wrist.


    The rat was looking up at the girl with what could only be described as a glare of disappointment.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Amara said, with less enthusiasm than Kole would have expected from a potential new project, ¡°I have spares but... I should really rethink the design for you. I¡¯ll have it tomorrow. I¡¯ll bring the gem to the study group so you can learn it.¡±


    Feeling better about his prospects, Kole ran to class early to see if his rod would be allowed.


    <hr>


    ¡°Sure,¡± Underbrook said, after considering for a moment. ¡°You don¡¯t have a gem in it, so I don¡¯t see the problem. It''s actually harder to use that than to just cast a spell.¡±


    Relieved¡ªslightly¡ªKole sat and waited for his turn.


    ¡°Kole Teak and Peer Forester,¡± Underbrook called to the front shortly after class began.


    Kole and Peer, a taller human boy who was at least a year older than Kole, both headed to the front.


    ¡°As a reminder,¡± Underbrook explained as they walked down. ¡°This room is part of the Dahn. Don¡¯t worry about hurting each other, there are magical precautions in place that put the hardball circuit¡¯s safety record to shame.¡±


    ¡°The hardball circuit has a poor safety rating?!¡± Kole asked, turning to Underbrook in horror. ¡°I could have killed someone?¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that, it hardly ever happens,¡± Underbrook said, dismissing Kole¡¯s concerns. ¡°But I like that your head went to hurting others, and not you yourself getting hurt.¡±


    ¡°So, the duel goes until both of you are out of Will or one of you is deemed incapacitated by the Dahn. If you run out of Will but still have an active offensive spell effect you are not out until that fails. I have no interest to see two lanky teenagers slapping each other. That¡¯s Tigereye¡¯s thing.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Underbrook paused for a reaction, but when none laughed at his much more imposing colleague, he gave his ¡°you all are zero fun¡± sigh and carried on.


    ¡°You will feel the pain of the hits you take, but that will be all in your mind. But... since your mind is where the concept of pain originates, I guess it is real. Have fun!¡±


    Kole stood thirty feet across from Peer, waiting for the match to be called. He drew his blasting rod out of his sheath, and the other boy¡¯s eyes grew wide.


    ¡°That''s cheating!¡± he shouted, pointing.


    ¡°It''s not!¡± Underbrook said, but when seeing that his answer wasn¡¯t sufficient, he sighed.


    ¡°It¡¯s a blasting rod, not a wand, and it doesn¡¯t even have a reservoir gem. Kole here has the rune intent in his mind and is using it¡ªessentially¡ªas a crutch. It¡¯s basically a single Magic Missile bolt that can miss, you can knock out of his hand, and you can see exactly where It''s going to go because he has to point the damned thing.¡±


    After that description, Kole suddenly felt a lot worse about the blasting rod that had once been such a lifesaver. He was very glad he¡¯d already decided to replace it before coming here and hearing that.


    Across from Kole, Peer¡¯s expression grew more confident. He¡¯d likely heard stories about Kole and his team, but like many students had sought reasons to discredit them. As Kole had long since known, teenagers don¡¯t like it when others are better than them and are always looking for confirmation that they really aren¡¯t. Shalin was likely busy giving reasons to everyone far and wide, and Underbrook¡¯s statement had only reinforced the beliefs Peer had desired to be proven true.


    ¡°Go!¡± Underbrook shouted, and they both broke into motion.


    Both students thrust their hands forward at the call, Kole with his blasting rod in hand, while Peer¡¯s palm was facing up, fingers forked with his ring and pinkie finger together pointing to the side while his index and middle finger pointed at Kole


    Peer spat out the verbal component of his spell in a quick staccato, ¡°Roh-Ta-Kee.¡±


    The translucent force darts shooting at Kole a moment after Kole¡¯s single dart shot out of his rod.


    Peer¡¯s eyes grew wide at the incoming projectile, and instinctively he cast Shield, while in Kole¡¯s opinion he could have just stepped to the side.


    ¡°Bo-Rak!¡± Peer spat, a little too forcibly in Kole¡¯s opinion.


    Why am I being so critical? Kole reflected.


    Kole¡¯s blast hit the barrier, causing the faintly white dome to glow purple as his magic diffused through it. While Peer could have side stepped the bolt, Kole wasn¡¯t so fortunate.


    ¡°Bo,¡± Kole said, his reluctance to spend 18 Will on the spell evident in his tone.


    Peer¡¯s Magic Missiles crashed into Kole¡¯s shield, and Kole made an executive decision. Sitting back and trading Shields would not be in his best interests.


    So, he pointed his rod at Peer, sent another blast at the boy, and charged.


    Peer panicked. He cast another Shield as soon as the first failed, intercepting the next two bolts Kole sent his way. He tried to cast another spell in the time between castings of Shield¡ªsomething Kole was certain he himself could manage if he was wasteful enough to cast two shields back to back¡ªbut Peer lacked the confidence to time it precisely and his shield effects overlapped each other.


    Kole ran at Peer, screaming a battle cry while not even realizing it and keeping up his barrage of bolts. He covered the distance, sending two more blasts at Peer while he did so. And, as he got near, it looked to all as if Kole was going to tackle the other student.


    Instead, Kole dropped his rod, and brought both of his hands together, clapping in front of him and then opening them up as he sent the construct for Thunderwave out into the Arcane Realm.


    The room erupted with a roar of thunder, and Peer, who had begun to backpedal as Kole got close, cast his fourth Shield of the duel.


    The wave of sonic energy rippled out from Kole, and around the Shield, finding Peer behind the barrier and sending him flying backwards. Peer slid across the floor, letting out a cry of pain.


    The boy clutched his ears where he landed but didn''t get up. Kole looked uncertainly from his opponent to Professor Underbrook.


    ¡°Did I win?¡± he asked, genuinely unsure if the Dahn had deemed him the winner or not.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± Underbrook said, examining Peer. ¡°He¡¯s not completely incapacitated, but he does seem to be in more pain than he can bear. You can shoot him again if you want.¡±


    Kole simply stood, watching the other boy, finding no desire to fire at him while he was down.


    Peer, whose hearing had been damaged from the spell finally looked up, surprised that the duel was still going on. Seeing Kole looking down over him, he lifted his hands in surrender, and the duel ended.


    ¡°Kole is the victor,¡± Underbrook announced. ¡°As a reminder, the Dahn will let you fight until you would be physically incapacitated from your injuries,¡± Underbrook explained, ¡°But, simple pain is not enough to pull you from the match. If Mr. Forester had knocked his head during that fall it would have ended, but if you can push through your pain, you can recover a victory after a bad blow.¡±


    Kole walked up to Peer, who was still on the ground, and offered him a hand up. Peer hesitated only a moment before taking it.


    ¡°Good job,¡± he said, rubbing at the phantom pain in his ears. ¡°I thought you were going to tackle me.¡±


    Kole looked to Underbrook, ¡°Would that be allowed?¡±


    Underbrook shrugged, ¡°Sure, Gray got to use his sword, but something tells me wrestling is not a part of your planned skill set.¡±


    It hadn¡¯t occurred to Kole until that moment that wrestling might be a valuable skill to learn, but he could definitely see the benefits.


    I should ask Zale to teach me though, before immediately thinking better of the idea.


    He returned to his seat, inexplicably blushing to all those watching him, vowing to ask Rakin instead.

 Chapter 27: Orinqth

    As the waters rose, the dwarves continued their work, keeping just ahead of the rising water at times.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    Kole lay on a couch in the study hall room while his friends trained around him. While to a casual observer, it appeared as if he was napping, he was actually hard at work. Amara had come through and provided him with a runic shield bracelet that morning and given him the emerald gem with the runic intent within for him to copy into his vault.


    Copying the intent, which had the complexity of a first-tier spell was an easy task compared to the work Kole had been doing in replicating spell constructs from what at first glance appeared to be the mad ramblings of long dead wizards but were in reality highly complex ideas forced into the inelegant medium of language.


    As such, he was nearly done when someone slammed a sheaf of paper on his chest.


    ¡°Wake up!¡± Runt said, sitting on the other end of the couch from him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sleeping,¡± Kole defended, sitting up.


    ¡°Sure,you aren¡¯t. You¡¯re ¡®studying¡¯ right?¡± Runt said, making air quotes for the word.


    Kole gave up trying to convince her otherwise, partly because he was pretty sure she was just giving him a hard time.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± he asked instead.


    ¡°A report on Corbyn,¡± she said, ¡°Also some more reports of weird incursions, another missing primal human, and some missing phase spiders.¡±


    She gained everyone¡¯s attention at that. Zale was sitting next to Doug, eyes closed trying to sense his Font as he too fumbled about mentally trying to access it.


    Rakin had been in the sand pit, working on exerting control over the small particles from a distance.


    ¡°Where?¡± Amara demanded, from where she¡¯d been tinkering on another device.


    ¡°The Hollow Peak¡ªfor the spiders. Orinqth, for the people,¡± Runt said, ¡°There¡¯s an Air primal missing, but people go missing there all the time, and it could be unrelated. There was, however, also an appearance of weird smokey vulture things. They were setting fire to the plains around the city and feasting on the charred animals that couldn¡¯t escape the flames.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s horrible,¡± Doug said, ¡°Did anyone stop them?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Runt said, unconcerned.


    Kole looked over his friends¡¯ reactions to the news. All acted as expected¡ªAmara eager, Doug worried about the animals, and Rakin a little bored¡ªbut Zale seemed off. Her brow was slightly furrowed in some internal contemplation.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Kole said.


    Zale bit her lip, debating one final moment, then said, ¡°We could probably go there. Like, right now.¡±


    ¡°We can?!¡± Amara asked.


    Zale nodded.


    ¡°I know of a door to Orinqth,¡± Zale said.


    Now it was Runt¡¯s turn to look excited, ¡°You were holding out on me.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Zale said, dismissing Runt.


    ¡°Well? Let''s go!¡± Amara demanded, walking towards the door back to their home.


    ¡°Wrong way,¡± Zale said. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Zale led them out a side door of the room, through a seemingly random series of doors and short hallways.


    ¡°The space is weirdly compressed now that the Dahn pulled everything back in,¡± she explained at the absurd layout. ¡°It¡¯s easier to reconfigure it later if it keeps the same general layout but makes everything really tiny,¡± she explained.


    Kole was only partly listening, instead focusing on the emerald in his hand. He was almost done copying the shield bracer intent, and as they were about to go somewhere where that might prove very necessary, he was keen to finish it. Unfortunately, he¡¯d had to make a decision to make room for this ability in his mental vault. In the end he¡¯d decided to remove Shield. He¡¯d considered removing his blasting rod, with only space for four spells or rune patterns, it was best he not have two of the same functionality.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The barrier this bracer produced would be less of a hemisphere than Kole¡¯s Shield spell, and the kinetic force of any stopped attack would be transmitted through the bracelet into Kole¡¯s arm. Amara had modified her bracelet design to fit instead on a bracer to better support this transference of force, as her original designs had caused cuts on her arm as the bracelet had dug into her arm.


    After what felt to Kole like a hundred doors, Zale stopped them.


    ¡°Finally!¡± Runt said. She¡¯d been taking notes on their passage to better find her way to this door again in the future, and Kole suspected that Zale may have taken them the long way around.


    ¡°This will take us out into the cellar of a seedy tavern,¡± Zale told everyone.


    ¡°Do they know they have a portal to the Dahn in their basement?¡± Kole asked.


    Zale shrugged.


    ¡°Can we wait a minute? I almost have this done,¡± Kole said, holding up the emerald.


    Everyone agrees, and a few minutes later Kole said,


    ¡°Someone punch me.¡±


    Rakin and Runt immediately moved to do so, and Kole had to jump back, empowering his bracer with the intent he¡¯d just copied.


    A foggy white translucent barrier appeared before him, slightly less transparent than his Shield spell, but far more repeatable. Runt and Rakin¡¯s fists both hit the barrier at the same time, and Kole stumbled back as the joint force of their blows passed through his arm.


    ¡°Ow,¡± Kole said, rubbing his wrist.


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin agreed, rubbing his own knuckles. ¡°I shoulda reinforced me hand.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad you didn¡¯t¡± Kole said.


    Amara had told Kole the bracer would take about 4 Will to conjure, and he judged that to be right¡ªnot that he doubted Amara when it came to runes.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said.


    They stepped through the door into a dark room, Rakin and Zale taking the lead with weapons drawn. Zale had her rapier with her, but no shield or armor, while Rakin was essentially always armed and armored.


    ¡°Light,¡± Zale said from within the portal.


    Kole conjured an orb of light into his hand, using the cantrip Glow, having left his new light rune device in his room.


    The globe illuminated a wedge into the room beyond, showing a seemingly abandoned cellar. They made their way to the stairs to find the trap door up stuck. Exploring more, they eventually found a cellar door to the outside. This door too was stuck, but Runt, Zale, and Rakin together were able to force it open.


    They all filled out and found that the seedy tavern that had once housed this cellar was now a burnt out husk, the building having collapsed in a fire and now was slowly being consumed by vines.


    No one noticed their emergence from the cellar. The buildings on either side hadn''t been spared from the fire, and they too looked abandoned.


    ¡°This way,¡± Runt said, seeming to know where she was, and where they needed to go.


    She led them out of the alley, and out into a bustling market street, populated primarily by orcs, with hues from dark gray to light red. The buildings were all wood or mud brick, none around passing two stories, but looming over them all in the distance was the fabled Arena of Orinqth, temple to Ganik, the orcish demigod of competition.


    The arena itself was massive, and unlike everything around it was constructed of black stone. To Kole¡¯s disappointment, Runt looked briefly at the arena, using it as a landmark, and then walking the complete opposite direction from it.


    ¡°This way,¡± she said once more.


    They followed her through the streets, the condition of the homes and quality of the wares on sale steadily declining. Kole began to sweat in the heat as the sun began to reach its zenith overhead.


    They stopped only briefly to buy something to eat at a market stall. Eventually, the buildings began to thin. Dirt roads replaced cobblestone, and then tents replaced the wooden buildings. Contrary to what Kole expected, the quality of the surroundings improved. The tents were massive constructs of bleached hides, decorated elaborately with scenes of battles in vibrant color. Where the orcish people in the city wore modern clothing of woven fabrics, the little clothing the orcs of this area of the city wore was made of hide, leather, and bone.


    They made their way through this area, and as they walked, the tents once more grew smaller and smaller, but they didn¡¯t grow any less elaborate in their decorations, until finally, they could see the endless plains before them.


    ¡°What now?¡± Rakin asked, turning to the three girls.


    Runt shrugged, gesturing at a burned patch of grass in the distance.


    ¡°The bird things were over there.¡±


    Amara had out her latest version of her tracking device and was staring at it in thought.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have a signal,¡± she said.


    ¡°We could wait,¡± Zale suggested. ¡°Find a tavern broadcasting the hardball match and see if anything comes of it?¡±


    No one protested, and Runt led them back into the city. She led them through the tents, and into a district where the ratio of orcs to non-orcs suddenly flipped.


    ¡°They aren¡¯t going to be showing an amateur hardball match anywhere in Orinqth proper,¡± Runt explained. ¡°They have standards.¡±


    ¡°Well, this is familiar,¡± Zale said as Runt led them to a tavern with a familiar sign of a griffin sitting in a nest.


    They tried to walk in, but a human man at the door stopped them.


    ¡°Sorry. Adventurers only,¡± he said politely but firm.


    ¡°We¡¯re students in the adventuring program at the Academy of Illunia,¡± Zale said.


    ¡°Then why are you here?¡± he said, not believing them.


    ¡°We¡¯re on an adventure!¡± Doug said proudly, earning a smile.


    Zale took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, reluctant to do what she was about to.


    ¡°My mother¡¯s an acquaintance of Gimble in Edgewater,¡± Zale said, ¡°Shalia? You know her?¡±


    ¡°Aye, I know of her, but I also know of her daughter, and you very clearly aren¡¯t her.¡±


    Zale let the illusion drop disguising her as a part elven girl, revealing her true coloring.


    ¡°Oh, Flood,¡± The man said, stepping back suddenly, but not reaching for his weapon.


    ¡°Can we go in?¡± Zale asked, ¡°Are you showing the student matches? Our friends are competing.¡±


    The bouncer looked inside quickly and then nodded.


    ¡°Of course, go on in,¡± he said quickly. ¡°You aren¡¯t gunna...¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t say anything to mom,¡± Zale assured the man, stepping past him.


    The man visibly relaxed, wiping away sweat that had suddenly appeared on his brow. And once more, Kole tried to rethink his feelings towards Zale.


    Is she worth dealing with and risking her mother¡¯s potential wrath? he wondered, but as he watched her walk into the tavern in full voidyness, completely unconcerned with the looks she attracted he couldn¡¯t convince himself otherwise.

 Chapter 28: Leaves of Avas

    The Scar was formed when the Avatar broke through the barrier range, and the Hardune enlisted the aid of the scattered remnants of the Imperial Coterie to seal the gap with a great work of Barrier magic.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    Runt took the opportunity to ¡°deal with some business¡± when the others went inside, promising to find her own way back to Edgewater ¡°eventually."


    The group attracted much attention as they walked in and situated themselves at a table. Doug gave a big wave, uncomfortable with all the attention and unsure what to do with it. Kole, Faded just a little, but he was certain none of the attention was on him.


    They weren''t questioned on their credentials again, and they ordered and got settled at a table, waiting for the match to begin. The place had a completely different layout to the one in Edgewater, but the atmosphere was identical. The building was only one story, with no rooms, and half the space for tables, but the cliental were the same mishmash of adventurers from all walks.


    Just like in Edgewater, the match appeared in a large illusion above them. It started with a wide shot of a meadow; twenty yards wide with the stone ball in the center on a plinth. A forest surrounded the meadow, and then the image split to show the Risen Dahn in another clearing and four Assuine Blessed student¡¯s Kole recognized by sight but didn¡¯t know the names of.


    ¡°Leaves of Avas,¡± Zale supplied. ¡°From a village near the Conclave.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re pretty good,¡± Doug said, taking in the forested surroundings. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to go well for them.¡±


    The match started with a flare in the sky, and both teams ran for the middle. On the Leaves¡¯ side, two of their members turned into birds. Their bodies shrank over a handful of seconds, their clothing and weapons melding into them as they went until a crow and a blue jay stood on the ground. They took off, flying ahead while the other two turned into a wolf and lynx before running on, the forest parting around them.


    ¡°Oh yeah, they''re screwed,¡± Rakin said, smiling.


    Mouse led her team through the forest, parting the woods ahead of them far better than Doug could do for his own team, the branches staying parted until Esme passed through in the rear. Kole noted that this was the first time he¡¯d seen the girl, Blessed by a demigod of beauty, without the effects of her glamour. The magical effects were not transmitted through the illusion spell that displayed them now. He found that, despite himself, the glamour might not have been entirely necessary for attracting his eye.


    Kole looked to Doug and saw the demonkin boy watching intently as his girlfriend ran into a battle against a group far more suited for the environment than her own.


    The birds reached the ball quickly, but stayed in the branches, waiting for their teammates to arrive.


    ¡°That¡¯s dumb,¡± Zale said, ¡°They should have ambushed the other team and got them caught in the forest.¡±


    Doug nodded in agreement.


    The wolf and lynx reached the forest, and wasted precious time as first the wolf and then the lynx tried to pick the stone ball up with their mouths. Neither succeeded, and finally one of the birds flew down, turning back into a human girl.


    She picked up the stone in one hand, and a voice called from the forest.


    ¡°Pass that here!¡±


    The girl looked at the stone, then up to Esme.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty heavy,¡± she said, already under her charm. ¡°I¡¯ll bring it over.¡±


    The wolf growled, and the lynx let out a roar, but the girl walked over toward Esme.


    Gray suddenly appeared between the animals and their traitorous teammate, Blinking in with his rapier drawn as Harold lumbered in from the side.


    The wolf broke to the right to intercept Harold, while the lynx pounced at Gray. Harold met the wolf¡¯s bite, bashing its head to the side with his shield and following up with a slash. The wolf let out a yelp and collapsed to the ground, transforming back into a human boy who rolled away, regaining his feet. In his human form, he still had a bloody slash across his side that was darkening his leathers around the wound. The clothing itself was unharmed.


    Gray met his own attacker, thrusting his open palm out before him and speaking the words for Shield. The barrier appeared between him and the pouncing cat and stopped its flight. Before the cat could even reach the ground, Gray thrust his rapier forward through the barrier, lancing the lynx in the shoulder. The cat however, recovered quickly from the midair attack, and as soon as its claws hit the ground it jumped on Gray again, this time pinning the wizard to the ground.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    The cat clawed at Gray, his Mage Armor protecting him from immediate death, giving him enough time to Blink away to the edge of the clearing. The lynx looked around, muzzle stained with blood as it had found a gap in the armor a moment too late.


    Before the druid in cat form could find a new target, Mouse suddenly appeared behind it, transforming from her mouse form into her human one, and jumping onto the large cat¡¯s back and stabbing it repeatedly with her daggers. The cat let out a shrill roar, and tried to throw Mouse off her back. Mouse however would not be tossed and she was forced to transform back into her human form. Mouse lost her grip on her weapons as her opponent¡¯s form shifted suddenly, and the two began to wrestle in the grass.


    The crow, upon seeing its teammate walking the ball to the enemy, cawed, flew at Esme and began pecking at her face.


    ¡°What!? Stop it Fior!¡± the enthralled girl yelled. ¡°It¡¯s Esme! From class!¡±


    The enthralled girl paused at that for a moment, and looked at the ball in her hand with confusion and then suddenly her thoughts became clear, and she looked up at Esme with horror at what she¡¯d almost done.


    ¡°I lost her!¡± Esme shouted, shielding her face with one hand as she drew her short sword with the other.


    She began swinging blindly at the crow, but the bird moved surprisingly fast for such a large form.


    When the illusion showed a close-up of this battle between girl and crow, Rakin let out a satisfied chuckle.


    ¡°Peck her nose off!¡± he shouted, gaining looks from the other patrons.


    The girl with the ball began to transform into a bluejay, the object of everyone¡¯s desire disappearing with her shifting form.


    ¡°That¡¯s cheating!¡± Kole found himself saying, despite knowing that there were essentially no rules in hardball.


    ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± Zale said, not taking her eyes away from the battle.


    Esme finally landed a solid blow on the crow, sending it crashing to the ground, a raven haired boy appearing there.


    ¡°Bird!¡± Esme shouted, taking the opportunity to take in her surroundings.


    Harold was fighting against the former wolf boy, who was wielding a wooden staff, Mouse was still wrestling the former cat-girl, and Gray was recovering his feet after teleporting away.


    ¡°Shoot true!¡± Esme commanded, looking at Gray, speaking the magic of her Blessing into the words.


    Gray seemed to recover some of his strength as he stood up straighter. Watching the bluejay fly away, he took a moment to steady himself, and then cast his hand forward pointing ahead of the bird¡¯s path.


    A jagged spike of ice appeared before his hand, flying up into the air. The bolt met the bird twenty feet above the ground, and when it hit, the bird grew rapidly back into her human form, ice spike still protruding from her side. She maintained her forward trajectory and continued downward, only now she fell towards the ground. Screaming as she fell the brief distance, her outstretched arms touched the ground in front of her and she vanished.


    Mouse¡ªwho was being choked by her opponent who sat on her chest¡ªsaw the bird¡¯s fall, and suddenly transformed back into a mouse, disappearing in the grass. Her opponent transformed back into a lynx, the act taking more time for her than it had taken Mouse, and she began sniffing at the grass to find the other girl.


    Distracted as she was by watching Gray¡¯s efforts, Esme didn¡¯t see it coming when the former crow boy shot her with an arrow, causing her to immediately vanish.


    By then, Harold had dispatched his opponent, causing him to disappear with a swipe that would have cut his arm off at the shoulder. He¡¯d outmatched his opponent with weapons alone, but the Assuine Blessed had kept snaring Harold¡¯s feet with roots and capitalized well on the advantage. Harold was fighting free of the vines that still grasped him as he looked around.


    Gray had lost the strength Esme¡¯s words had briefly granted him, and he was clutching at his bleeding shoulder with one hand as he limped for cover behind a tree. Harold ran for Gray, even as the lynx prowled about, sniffing the ground to search for Mouse.


    The former crow fired arrows at Harold as he ran towards Gray, but the warrior hid behind his shield as he ran. Once he reached Gray behind the safety of the tree, he touched his neck, and the wound healed beneath his hand.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know he could do that,¡± Kole said aloud.


    Blessings of healing were rare¡ªoutside the insane demigod of competition who liberally passed out the ability while only letting it work on wounds gained in battle. The more sane gods could only grant the power to their Blessed who had selfless hearts on top of their alignment to the deity¡¯s path.


    Kole didn''t remember what god Harold followed, but he was certain it wasn''t Ganik, God of the Contest.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a secret, you literally never asked me about him when we were dating,¡± Zale said, taking her eyes from the scene to look at Kole.


    Kole suddenly felt very uncomfortable.


    ¡°I... uhh... was taking my lead from Rakin, who wasn¡¯t a fan,¡± Kole said, looking to the dwarf for help.


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin said, taking Kole by surprise by backing him up. ¡°I told him ye were besotted with a moron who had no redeeming talents.¡±


    ¡°Well, maybe next time you¡¯ll trust my judge in character,¡± Zale said, looking back to the illusion, smiling.


    Gray and Harold had broken out from cover, Harold running for the lynx, while Gray ran for the archer. As the archer broke from cover, Gray vanished, appearing beside him and stabbing him with his rapier. The blade pierced the archer¡¯s side, but he didn¡¯t vanish. Instead, a ball of flame appeared in his hand, and he punched Gray in the face. Gray jerked his sword, and then both boys vanished.


    The lynx broke from its search for Mouse and engaged Harold in a one on one confrontation. As soon as the cat had turned to face Harold, Mouse rose up out of the grass, hidden behind a tree, and ran for the ball, snatching it up without Harold or the Lynx noticing, and running through the forest back to their base, not making a sound as the trees and underbrush parted silently around her.


    The battle against the wolf Blessed had been tougher on Harold than it had appeared, and he was mostly on the defense against the lynx¡¯s attacks. The two held each other off, the large cat easily dodging the few tired swings Harold gave out, until Mouse made it back to her starting location, scoring a point.


    The match however, didn¡¯t immediately end, and Mouse stared at the ball in confusion, before remembering that she had to destroy it to end the match. What followed was Mouse slamming the stone ball against the stone platform they¡¯d appeared on. On her third attempt, the ball broke in half, and the illusionary projection vanished.

 Chapter 29: The Lemon Hall

    The native Illusian population of Basin was predominantly orcs in the east. The center of the Basin had been arid scrubland. A great chasm sat at the center, and the few small rivers that formed from the accumulated rainfall disappeared into its depths Once the ocean levels rose enough to flow over the low points left in the mountains, great rivers formed, quickly rejuvenated the land. The chasm filled with water, creating the Great Plume Lake at the center. The Great Plume, a mystery until only recently, formed by the Avatar itself, trapped deep in the bowels of the chasm by the Hardune.


    -A Brief History of the Flood by Albert Moonsuckle


    <hr>


    "That..." Amara began, looking at Doug. ¡°Didn¡¯t go super well for them. You four did much better.¡±


    She then looked to Zale, holding her hand up to shield her mouth from Doug and attempted to whisper, ¡°Are they not very good?"


    ¡°Hah!¡± Zale laughed, and Doug joined in. ¡°They did great! I wouldn¡¯t want to face four of Assuine¡¯s Blessed in a forest.¡±


    Amara didn¡¯t seem to believe Zale and looked to Rakin and Kole for confirmation.


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin said reluctantly. ¡°Those animal kids might as well of turned into blind moles for all the good they did with their shapeshifting.¡±


    ¡°They should have just grabbed the ball and ran,¡± Zale said. ¡°Leaving three behind to delay. They didn¡¯t know who they were up against, but they should have known no other group could have matched them in that environment.¡±


    Doug nodded.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t have caught up to any of them, and I don¡¯t think anyone in the class can fly,¡± he said.


    ¡°Not well enough to get through those trees,¡± Zale said. ¡°There¡¯s an air primal boy, Wentin, his skins very dark so it''s easy to miss the blue hue.¡±


    ¡°Well¡ª¡± Kole began, but Amara bolted upright, and jumped out of her seat.


    ¡°A signal!¡± she shouted, making her way to the door, only sparing a glance back at her friends.


    They all pushed out their chairs with a loud screech as they stood. Zale fished a handful of coins out of her coin purse and threw it on the table.


    Kole quickly did the math in his head as he saw the coins spinning.


    ¡°That¡¯s way too much!¡± Kole protested, but Zale grabbed him by the arm as he tried to collect the gold coin she¡¯d tossed out.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be cheap!¡± she said, yanking him after Amara.


    ¡°Bah hah!¡± Rakin laughed, downing his weird mushroom drink before running out. Passing Kole up he looked at his friend and shrugged. ¡°Rich girls.¡±


    Outside, Amara¡¯s common sense caught up to her eagerness, and she stood anxiously waiting for her friends. But once they were all out she started running through the streets, chasing the path as pointed out by her device. Their running caused quite the commotion, especially as people caught sight of Zale with her voidling completion, and she reactivated her disguise to make their passage slightly less noticeable.


    The tracker was generally pointing back out to the plains, far enough away that it hardly shifted when they travelled perpendicular to the bearing. After a frustrating amount of backtracking out of alleys, Zale took the lead, retracing the path they took with Runt as their guide. Once they reached the tent section, they broke off once more toward the correct heading.


    Amara was the weakest link when it came to endurance, and their mad dash slowed to a light jog by the time they reached the plains.


    They jogged on, not in the direction of the burnt section as they expected, but into a section of tall dry grass, higher than even Doug¡¯s antlers. Doug took the lead, the grass parting for him, only to be trampled down by the four following him.


    ¡°Motes!¡± Amara cursed¡ªor at least Kole thought it was a curse. ¡°I lost the signal.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± Rakin said, pushing his way to the front, ¡°Follow me!¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Kole asked, trusting his friend, but still wanting to know why Rakin was so confident.


    ¡°I can keep a bearing,¡± Rakin said.


    Kole shut up and followed Rakin in what seemed to him to be a pretty straight line. Only after he turned back did he see that the path they trampled through the grass was a perfectly straight line. Better even than the progress from when they were following the tracker as he saw that in the distance their trail began to waver.


    They continued blindly at a walk, slowing down now that they knew the portal to be gone. After nearly half an hour of walking, they came to a large, trampled clearing in the grass twenty feet across.


    Doug immediately bent low on entering the clearing, investigating the ground. The crushed grass parted at his gesture, revealing the dirt below.


    ¡°I think these were those soldier ants,¡± he said, looking up from the footprint.


    Despite their ant bodies, the soldier ants had humanlike feet, and had worn sandals. These tracks¡ªaccording to Doug¡ªmatched those.


    ¡°What does this mean?¡± Doug asked.


    ¡°This plain must be similar to wherever another ant army outpost is,¡± Kole said. ¡°It sort of looks like what we saw when we first passed over.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Do you think they opened it on purpose?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°Probably not? The birds flew out before, and I can¡¯t see Anitha have worked alongside the ants to open this if she was responsible for the missing primal. My guess is that this is another natural congruency. Whatever is happening with these portals, I think they are naturally occurring to some degree. Maybe the empire forces are using the phenomenon to stage an attack, but they don¡¯t seem to be controlling them¡ªat least not yet.¡±


    Doug checked the clearing, but found nothing else, only more of the same footprints.


    ¡°It looked like they formed a perimeter and then fell back through the portal here,¡± he said, gesturing to a line in the grass. ¡°They didn¡¯t venture out, just defended.¡±


    ¡°So, this is something they¡¯ve seen before and have a procedure for,¡± Zale mused. ¡°We should report this.¡±


    Everyone agreed, but a tiny part of Kole felt remorse at the thought of turning this information over, but then the horror of fighting through a spider infested mountain came back to mind and that faded.


    Yeah, we should definitely report this. He thought.


    ¡°Can you unflatten the grass?¡± Zale asked Doug, gesturing to their trail.


    Doug looked and then grimaced, shaking his head. ¡°Not after you guys did that.¡±


    Zale blushed, and asked ¡°If we were more gentle could you hide a path?¡±


    Doug considered it and then nodded.


    ¡°Great, let''s go out further into the grass, and I¡¯ll open a door home. You can hide it and we can keep it out here for a while and check up on the portal.¡±


    Getting no objections, Doug led them through the grass, walking slowly, concentrating hard to keep the grass away from the group as they walked through. He took careful steps, instructing them all to step only where he did, and Kole couldn¡¯t help but keep turning back in amazement as the grass stood back up behind them.


    After only fifty feet, Doug stopped.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do any more. Is this enough?¡±


    They all looked around, not able to see any sign of their path.


    ¡°One second,¡± Zale said, vanishing into black motes.


    She reappeared a few seconds later, up in the air, her feet ten feet off the ground, and immediately fell to the ground, falling to her side in a roll as she made contact.


    ¡°Ow!¡± she shouted, despite the seemingly graceful save.


    ¡°I could see the clearing but not our path,¡± she said. ¡°There are some other tiny clearings here and there, so this one shouldn¡¯t stand out if no one sees the door.¡±


    Zale pulled the handle out of her jacket and opened a door back to the Dahn. The door opened smaller than usually, just tall enough for Kole to step through with his head bowed while Doug would need to finagle his antlers through with concerted effort. One by one they squeezed out into an unfamiliar room, a large circle with doors lining the walls.


    ¡°What''s this?¡± Kole asked, not recognizing the room.


    ¡°The Lemon Hall,¡± Zale said proudly.


    ¡°The what?¡± Kole asked.


    Rakin groaned, and rubbed his face in dread at what was to come, while Zale smiled.


    ¡°It¡¯s a liminal space,¡± she explained.


    ¡°A lemon what?¡± Doug asked.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Zale said. ¡°Once mom and her team had a lot of permanent door set up, they made a room dedicated to it. Someone¡ªprobably Uncle Tal¡ªcalled it a liminal space and someone else¡ªprobably one of my parents¡ªmisheard it as Lemon Hall Space, and it stuck.¡±


    ¡°I like it,¡± Amara said, looking around.


    ¡°The pun or the name?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Both.¡± Amara said, firmly.


    ¡°Can you open any of these?¡± Kole asked.


    Zale shook her head.


    ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°You can restrict access to people with less privileges than you when you open doors, and I¡¯ve never been able to go through these. I only opened the door here now because this room has extra defenses.


    ¡°Who has more privileges than you?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Mom, for one, she has the highest. Uncle Tal is probably next, along with Dagmar. After that it¡¯s the college heads. I¡¯m somewhere around the level of a college head¡ªdepending on how mom feels about me on the given day. That¡¯s why I could steal the doors Underbrook set up.¡±


    ¡°Steal you say?¡± Kole said, jumping on the admission of guilt.


    ¡°Borrow!¡± Zale said, blushing as she hastily corrected herself. ¡°Its not stealing if I¡¯m allowed to take it.¡±


    ¡°Sure it isn¡¯t,¡± Rakin said, joining in.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you do this before when we had the door in the dormitory?¡± Kole asked, changing the topic for Zale¡¯s benefit.


    ¡°I... umm,,¡± Zale began, looking away in a different type of embarrassment. ¡°Sort of forgot about it. I¡¯ve never needed to use it before.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Rakin said, in an uncharacteristic show of encouragement ¡°It worked out.¡±


    They made their way out of the room, the exit taking them straight to their common living space. Once they were all through, Zale closed the door, opening it again to the foyer of the Dahn where the defense was being organized. The Dahn had been partly rearranged, and now more doors lined the walls, some leading to halls with rooms for more private discussions, while others opened to disparate locations across Kaltis.


    ¡°This is still mind-bending, and I¡¯m a Space primal,¡± Doug said, rubbing a headache.


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin agreed, ¡°But yer a broken one.¡±


    I guess that was all the encouragement he had in him for the day, Kole reflected.


    Doug took the comment in stride, smiling, and they all went through.


    A small illusion filled one corner of the room, with a group of adults huddled around it. When the five got closer, they saw that it was another Hardball match. In it, the Ice Picks were completely dominating another team Kole only recognized the faces of, but no names.


    ¡°Why are the matches so one-sided¡ªignoring terrain advantages,¡± Kole found himself asking.


    ¡°Seeded brackets based on the standing from last semester,¡± Tigereye said from behind, his booming voice causing Kole¡¯s heart to skip a beat.


    They all spun around to see the imposing form of their teacher, who¡¯d snuck up on them despite his bulk.


    ¡°What bad news did you bring this time?¡± he asked their group.


    ¡°We don¡¯t always bring bad news,¡± Zale defended. ¡°Just... sometimes.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± Tigereye conceded. ¡°Which is it today?¡±


    ¡°Medium news?¡± Kole tried, earning a small smile from the serious man.


    They explained what they did, correlating Runt¡¯s intelligence on strange incursions with missing primals, and going to the first one that came up that they had door access too.


    Tigereye waited patiently, withholding judgment until they finished their explanation, with Doug¡¯s findings on the footprints.


    ¡°That matches what we have seen elsewhere,¡± Tigereye said.


    Kole relaxed internally at the lack of reproach in Tigereye¡¯s voice.


    ¡°There have been occurrences like this all over,¡± He spoke in his short halting sentences, pausing briefly before deciding to share more. ¡°We have connections with the major city states. Most are coordinating. These incursions are picking up in pace. Few have led to violence. Those that have seem to be mistakes. The enemy is not ready to attack.¡±


    ¡°Has anyone gone through?¡± Kole asked, then added hastily. ¡°Besides us?¡±


    Tigereye shook his head.


    ¡°Not yet. We are trying.¡± He said, then turned to Amara.


    ¡°Does Professor Donglefore know about your continued work with your tracking?¡±


    Amara, who had been holding the tracking device, nervously examining it, quickly stowed it as if she could hide the evidence they¡¯d just confessed to having.


    ¡°No,¡± she said quietly.


    ¡°Tell him,¡± Tigereye commanded. ¡°He should make more.¡±


    Amara¡¯s shame quickly flipped to elation at the prospect her idea would be an innovation to her mentor and looked around the room eagerly.


    ¡°He is not here,¡± Tigereye added. ¡°You can go find him now if you wish.¡±


    She took off, not even saying goodbye.


    In the end, they didn¡¯t get off without a lecture. Tigereye cautioned them to be careful in chasing these leads.


    ¡°I will not demand you stop,¡± Tigereye said. ¡°Shalia would not ask that of you. But I ask you be careful. Do not act rash because you think you are solely responsible for this.¡±


    He gestured around at all the staff at work¡ªthose at least that weren¡¯t watching the match.


    ¡°You are not.¡±

 Chapter 30: Return to Roost

    Ensouled artifacts bend the long-established rules of magic. While casting a spell, a wizard must draw from one or more specified Fonts, carefully guiding each Font to create the desired effect. Primals have more intuitive and unstructured control over the magic of the Font they channel, but with each effect they only draw upon the one Font they are connected to. Ensouled artifacts have the flexibility of both and the limitations of neither.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    ¡°I¡¯m going to the Griffin¡¯s Roost,¡± Doug said as soon as Tigereye dismissed them. ¡°Mouse wanted me to meet her there for dinner to either celebrate or commiserate.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with,¡± Zale said, and then turned to Kole expectantly.


    Kole¡¯s natural inclination was to decline any social overtures when the alternative was studying, but he caught himself before doing so.


    He quickly weighed his choices.


    Go study and be alone, or spend more time with Zale?


    Even with the prospect of Harold and Gray¡¯s presence, he found the scale to be far more balanced than he would have expected.


    In a moment on uncharacteristic self reflection Kole thought, Am I becoming less obsessed with my magic, are those two guys growing on me or do I like Zale more than I think? Maybe all three? No, probably just the last two.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go,¡± he said, coming to a decision.


    He could always stay up really late again after all, and he vowed not to promise that he wouldn¡¯t if Zale asked. Though, he had his doubts how well that condition would hold up if she threatened him.


    She does take after her mom in that way at least.


    ¡°I¡¯m out,¡± Rakin said, and walked out.


    ¡°No. Wait. Don¡¯t Go.¡± Zale said quietly with a straight face as Rakin walked away.


    ¡°Where does he even go when he¡¯s alone?¡± Kole asked, long since wondering what the anti-social dwarf did in his free time.


    ¡°Rakin?¡± Zale said, surprised at the question. ¡°He trains. That¡¯s pretty much all he ever does.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Kole asked.


    He knew his friend was talented, but he really had no frame of reference for the abilities of a student of the Order of the Resounding Silence. Nor did he know what their training entailed.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Zale said, ¡°He doesn¡¯t really have any hobbies. He meditates a lot, works through his forms, practicing his primal control, and ever since I pushed him to work on his mental vault last week, he¡¯s dedicated an hour to that every day. A half hour in the morning and a half hour at night.¡±


    ¡°That... doesn¡¯t seem in line with his general personality,¡± Kole said.


    Zale shrugged.


    ¡°He likes being difficult, but mostly he just likes to rile people up. He needs to maintain control at all times, or he could go mad. I think he likes to poke at others so they lose their cool as some sort of revenge against the world¡ªor he gets it from his mother. She¡¯s as bad as mine. You saw what happens when he loses control. It¡¯s been like that most of his life, and he used to have episodes weekly. It''s better now, but he wants to master it. He has to prove it to the dw¡ª¡± Zale cut herself off and then said. ¡°Those back home that he can.¡±


    <hr>


    For the second time that day, Kole walked into an establishment called the Griffin¡¯s Roost. This time, they were greeted kindly at the door, and walked in to cheers as some of the patrons recognized them.


    Ever since the PREVENT classes had begun competing in a hardball league, the adventurer patrons had taken to celebrating any that entered. It had started as a jest, the seasoned warriors acting as though the students were famous competitors from the real hardball circuit, but the act lost its joking air as some of the groups gave outstanding performances.


    ¡°The Forsaken!¡± a voice cheered as they walked in.


    Zale smiled, and let her illusion drop, regaining her natural white and black visage. Doug looked from Zale to the eyes on them, and then waved.


    Kole tried to draw upon his Fade ability, but found the attention on him so great, he couldn¡¯t even attempt the magic and simply lost a chunk of Will for his efforts.


    ¡°Flood,¡± he cursed at the waste of Will, ignoring that succeeding on casting it would have wasted it equally as much for little actual gain.


    The greetings were followed with offers of free drinks. Offers which Kole gladly accepted, his frugal nature overwhelming his desire to avoid social interactions.


    As Kole drank a free ale, from some province he¡¯d never heard of, bought for him by a gnome covered in rune crafted gear, he reflected that free drinks tasted better.


    Zale bought my drinks too though, he considered, not able to recall the last time he¡¯d paid for one.


    Before he could delve too deeply into that, Zale dragged him away to go congratulate the Risen Dahn.


    The other team had occupied a corner booth, all four of them sitting around talking, with two older adventurers standing in on the conversation. They were discussing some of the choices of the match, Harold and Gray contributing mostly, while Esme was fixing her hair with a small compact mirror. Mouse was sitting in the corner, nibbling at her food and looking like she¡¯d rather not be a part of the conversation.


    ¡°Doug!¡± Mouse exclaimed when she saw them approach.


    Trapped in the corner, she looked to her left and then her right and then rapidly shrunk down, disappearing below the table. As a mouse, Mouse ran between the two amused adventurers and turned back into her human form just before reaching Doug. The two embraced.


    ¡°You did great!¡± he said, lifting her up and spinning.


    Mouse let out a very mouse-like squeak.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± she insisted and began pulling Doug out of the tavern.


    Doug looked back helplessly as his girlfriend dragged him away. When Kole waved bye with a smile, he seemed to relax and let Mouse take him.


    ¡°What do they actually do when they go off together?¡± Gray asked loudly.


    Kole found himself answering without thinking.


    ¡°After the whole thing with the carrot, I decided not to try to dig too deep into that relationship,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Same,¡± Zale agreed.


    ¡°What carrot?¡± Harold asked, looking between the two.


    Kole had grown comfortable talking with Gray after the last two weeks of class, but he realized suddenly that this was the first time he¡¯d ever spoken to Harold. Looking at the other boy, Kole found that all the dislike he¡¯d felt for him was gone.


    Ever since eavesdropping on his conversation with Gray, Kole¡¯s disdain for Harold had lessened, as he finally understood the reasoning behind his issues with Zale¡¯s voidling nature. It hadn¡¯t been him having a problem with Zale. He¡¯d simply not been able to handle other people¡¯s reactions to her in a way Zale appreciated. That revelation hadn¡¯t made Kole like Harold anymore, and he¡¯d still disliked the boy greatly, but even then Kole knew that to be jealousy.


    Now, he stood next to Zale as Harold looked at her hopefully, and he found he wasn¡¯t jealous anymore. In fact, he felt nothing one way or the other toward Harold.


    Gray turned out not being so bad, he thought to himself. And Zale seemed to think Harold was a better guy.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    On some level, Kole had decided to give Harold a chance when he¡¯d agreed to come at all, but in that moment, he consciously chose to leave his past, Rakin-influenced biases behind.


    ¡°Let me tell you about the carrot,¡± Kole said, telling the group about Doug¡¯s strange attempts to court Mouse.


    The conversation flowed from that to the hardball match. Kole and Zale found themselves seated next to the three other students shortly after. The two adventurers that had been with them had excused themselves when the topic had moved away from hardball toward strange teenage relationship.


    ¡°So...¡± Gray began during a lull in conversation, looking at Kole. ¡°I heard you were having issues finding a mentor. Any luck after last week?¡±


    Kole took a drink to buy time to think over his answer.


    ¡°Not really,¡± he said, wincing a little. ¡°I was hopeful Zale¡¯s Uncle would take me on, but he¡¯s gone. There¡¯s not a whole lot of wizards specializing in traditional wizardry around looking to take on an apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Not a lot, or none?¡± Gray asked.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t performed an exhaustive search, but there are at least two. But one¡¯s like 19, and they aren¡¯t around very often,¡± Kole said, remembering Theral, who he¡¯d not seen in weeks.


    A man who he was explicitly forbidden of speaking about by Zale¡¯s terrifying mother.


    Oops, Kole thought, silently wishing Gray wouldn¡¯t press the topic.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see if my mentor knows of anyone,¡± Gray offered, but he didn¡¯t have a lot of confidence in his tone. He turned to Zale then, smiling maliciously. ¡°But, speaking of your uncle, why have you never told us about him?¡±


    ¡°Good question,¡± Harold said, joining in.


    Zale darkened as she blushed at the attention, and she copied Kole in taking a deep drink as she collected her thoughts.


    ¡°So, he¡¯s not actually my uncle,¡± she began, and then proceeded to speak around the truth as she told them about her eccentric but selectively present uncle.


    <hr>


    Kole had a surprisingly good time with Gray and his team. Most of it he thought was because he was also with Zale, and part of him even enjoyed morning conditioning since she was there¡ªa very, very, small part.


    Over the past two weeks he¡¯d discovered he got along well with Gray if they could both get over the awkwardness of their¡­rocky start. They had a similar dedication to both learning wizardry and becoming an adventurer. They were even trying to be adventurers for similar reasons, both having lost their adventuring parents at a young age. There were a few other wizards in their PREVENT class, but Kole and Gray were the two with the most advanced theoretical understandings of the art, and likely the top two when it came to combat.


    Theory and practice went hand in hand when learning wizardry but applying that practice to combat took more than just raw magical talent. It was difficult to keep one¡¯s focus in the heat of battle, and some of the most gifted wizards couldn¡¯t focus enough to even cast a Firebolt when faced with a charging troll.


    Oftentimes, the best battle wizards were the most decisive and level-headed, not the prodigies¡ªthough raw magical power did help. Once you had the ability to blow up creatures with a thought, it really came down to controlling one¡¯s mental state, and the massive Will pools and ingenious spell constructs of the prodigies gave no advantage if they used their brilliant minds to panic or their great magical talents to teleport away.


    All that is to say, in even a school full of students learning to be every stripe of wizard, Kole and Gray were a very specific breed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel so good,¡± Esme said, daintily holding her hand over her mouth as she rubbed her stomach.


    ¡°Harold, do the thing!¡± An inebriated Gray said as they swayed back towards campus.


    ¡°What thing?¡± an equally drunk Kole asked.


    While Gray and Kole were both unique magical talents, they were also teenagers who¡¯d been in a tavern full of patrons sending them free drinks without end. They¡¯d gotten a little carried away.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Zale said, joining in¡ªalso drunk, ¡°Do it!¡±


    ¡°Do it! Do it!¡± Zale and Gray chanted together.


    ¡°Do what!?¡± Kole demanded.


    ¡°Healing!¡± Gray shouted, and the looked around embarrassed and covered his mouth, as if he could recall the shout. In a whisper he continued ¡°He can cure drunkenness.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Harold said, firmly, though also slightly slurred. ¡°I won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Awww,¡± Zale said disappointed, but gave up.


    ¡°Why not?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Keev doesn¡¯t appreciate that,¡± Harold said, referring to his god, one of the many demigods who Blessed those who sought to do good as adventurers.


    Demigods were beings with the blood of the god¡¯s in their veins, who went on to do great and or terrible things, gaining renown, fame, and or infamy. This combination of recognition and divine heritage allowed people to ascend to godhood. Fortunately for the Illusian races, the vast majority of these descendants chose to pursue good, and after ascension, Bless those who did the same. Either that or it was far easier to ascend through fame than infamy. There were competing theories, but all they knew for certain was that the good and neutral aligned demigods greatly outnumbered the outright evil ones.


    In their inebriation, the students took a shortcut back to campus their more sober selves would have avoided¡ªor at least created Lights before entering.


    ¡°Ow!¡± Gray said, as he bumped into a crate in an alley, then he began to laugh at himself.


    ¡°Here,¡± Kole said, opening his palm as he tried to cast the Glow cantrip.


    He found that in his current state, manipulating his Will was quite difficult. Like trying to grab hold of a slimy and wriggling live fish.


    On his third try he got it, and the white light flooded the alley, revealing that they weren¡¯t alone.


    ¡°Oh! Hello there!¡± Zale said, cheerfully waving at the two men in front of her.


    Kole stared at them confused for a moment and turned around to find two more behind them.


    Harold put his hand on her shoulder, and it glowed gently for a moment. Zale¡¯s face sobered, and her smile faded into a determined expression as the drunkenness left her.


    ¡°Oh,¡± she said more seriously, as she noticed the clubs in the hands of the four.


    Harold quickly poked Kole and Gray, cleansing their minds with his Blessing before moving to Esme. Suddenly clear headed, Kole looked around again to take in his surroundings.


    The four men had continued to close in as Harold sobered them up.


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed, turning to Zale. ¡°Again?¡±


    Zale was in her disguise now, having reactivated it when they left to avoid a situation just like this.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t my fault,¡± Zale said, spreading her arms and gesturing at herself to emphasize her disguised appearance.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault last time,¡± Kole said, though it wasn¡¯t the time or place for him to bolster her self esteem.


    Harold gave Kole an appreciative nod despite the situation.


    ¡°Drop your stuff and run, and no one needs to get hurt,¡± one man said, brandishing a club, the tip of which was stained a darker brown than the rest.


    ¡°This happened before?¡± Gray asked, looking between them.


    ¡°You don¡¯t remember?¡± Kole asked, a little irritated. ¡°You were really mad at me after. Said it was my fault.¡±


    Gray¡¯s face fell.


    ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that.¡±


    Clunk, clunk, clunk.


    ¡°Ahem,¡± the spokesman for the thugs said, tapping his club on the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t think you lot are taking this seriously enough. I¡¯m going to count to five, and you can either drop everything you have on you, or we¡¯ll take it from you.¡±


    Zale moved to reach into her jacket and looked around.


    ¡°One!¡± the man said loudly.


    ¡°Try not to kill them this time,¡± Zale said.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t die!¡± Kole said, affronted.


    ¡°No thanks to you!¡±


    ¡°Two!"


    Zale vanished into a cloud of black motes, and Kole turned to face the speaker. The two men that had come up from behind were standing close to each other. They had closed in as they threatened the students, and were now only ten feet away. Zale and Kole were in the back, with Harold and Gray in front of them, and Esme in the very front. Beyond them were two more thugs who were blocking their exit.


    As soon as Zale vanished, Kole had begun constructing Thunderwave, very glad Harold had consented to heal their drunkenness after his experience with Glow. By the time he¡¯d spun to face the men, the spell was completed, and he sent it though his bridge. As soon as he did, his light winked out as he lost his mental hold on the cantrip.


    A loud crack of thunder echoed through the alley, and Kole faintly heard the men crashing into wood in the aftermath. His night vision ruined by the brief light, he couldn¡¯t see what had become of them, but his hearing hadn¡¯t been totally lost.


    Behind him, he heard Esme shout a command.


    ¡°Take off your pants!¡± followed by the jingling of what sounded like belt buckles.


    In front, the two men tried to regain their feet, and he heard the shuffling of broken planks and then a shout of alarm as Zale reappeared in their midst and proceeded to kick them back to the ground.


    Kole cast another Glow spell, and in the light of it saw the two men he¡¯d hit with Thunderwave hastily crawling away from Zale on all fours.


    On the other side, Gray and Harold charged the two now pantless men, screaming a battle cry.


    ¡°Arghh!¡± they shouted, running at the pair.


    The two men both stepped back instinctively at the sudden charge, tripping on their pants and falling onto their bare bottoms. On the ground they fought to lift their pants back up, but one quickly gave up and ripped them off, turning and running, leaving his accomplice and trousers behind.


    The lone straggler curled up into a ball once he¡¯d realized he would not get away, covering his head with his hands.


    Gray and Harold had slowed as soon as the first man had fled, and they came to a stop before the cowering thug.


    ¡°Well, that was anticlimactic,¡± Harold said.


    Esme let out an exaggerated sigh.


    ¡°It usually is once boys start to take off their pants,¡± she said, looking at the bare bottomed thug appraisingly and then shaking her head.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go home,¡± she said, stepping around him, ¡°I¡¯m exhausted, and somebody removed my buzz. I wasn¡¯t drunk, unlike you four slovens.¡±


    Harold shook his head in annoyance. Kole had though that there had been something between the two last semester. Rakin had been certain Esme had like Harold, and that maybe have been true, but whatever affection had been seemed to have vanished over the break and she¡¯d been cold and distant to the Blessed.


    Twenty minutes later they were at the entrance to the art building that Zale usually used to get into her home.


    ¡°Bye,¡± Zale waved to the others as she walked inside with Kole.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Harold asked, pointing at Kole.


    ¡°Home?¡± Kole asked, confused by the question.


    ¡°Together?¡± Gray asked, raising his eyebrow.


    Harold¡¯s face darkened, and Esme had a small smile of enjoyment at what was about to occur.


    ¡°No!¡± Kole and Zale shouted together.


    ¡°Kole, Rakin, Doug, and Amara all moved in after my mother went missing and Amintha escaped,¡± Zale hastily explained.


    Esme¡¯s smile faded, and she scrunched her nose in disappointment, while Harold visibly relaxed.


    Then it was Harold¡¯s turn to give a mischievous smile¡ªsomething that didn¡¯t seem right on his usually earnest face.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure your mom won''t be mad two boys moved into your house while she was gone,¡± he said.


    ¡°She¡¯ll understand, ¡° Zale said with little conviction. ¡°Right?¡±


    She looked at those around her, and Gray and Kole avoided eye contact.


    ¡°I¡¯m a bit worried about that myself,¡± Kole admitted.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± Zale asserted, forcing confidence she clearly didn¡¯t feel.

 Chapter 31: New Tricks

    While ensouled artifacts tend to have strong preferences for Fonts that match the affinity of their creators, they are not limited to those. Attempts to isolate the Font¡¯s ensouled artifacts draw upon has shown that not only do they draw on multiple Font¡¯s to create a magical effect, but they also have redundancies. An ensouled artifact that creates fire will not only draw on the Font of Fire, but the Fonts of Heat and Destruction as well, meaning that even in a zone isolated from the Font of Fire, the fire effect could still manifest¡ªthough it would be muted.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    Kole woke up and groaned rolling out of bed.


    Checking the time, he saw it was still early. He knew he¡¯d stayed out late, and drank too much, but he felt fine.


    Why aren¡¯t I miserable? He wondered.


    Then the events of the night came back to him, and he remembered Harold¡¯s healing.


    Despite himself¡ªand the company¡ªhe¡¯d had a lot of fun the night before. But through the whole night, he¡¯d been very aware that he¡¯d been harming his ability to work on his wizardry the following day. He had a very detailed understanding of his own Will recovery rate and knew how to optimize it to allow him to get the most amount of work done. That detailed knowledge told him that drinking alcohol¡ªeven a little, but especially in excess¡ªhindered his Will recovery.


    But now in his room following a night of excess, he felt fine. Better than fine in fact, he felt good, and his Will was topped off.


    Suddenly full of excitement that his day wouldn¡¯t be wasted, he quickly got dressed, threw his spellbook in his bag, and ran off to get something to eat before spending the rest of the day studying.


    Kole made it to the library without having to make any excuses to his friends about wanting to spend the day in isolation. He wasn¡¯t ashamed of his likely unhealthy commitment to studying at the expense of social interactions, and his friends understood it wasn¡¯t personal, but it was always awkward to talk about and he preferred to just avoid the interaction at all.


    Plus, a part of him knew that if he really was neglecting his responsibilities, his friends wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer when he tried to turn them down. This was a reassurance, but also a nagging fear, that this time would be the time they told him he needed to take a break.


    Once in the library, Kole began to plan his day. In his past life back home, he¡¯d not really had the luxury of diversifying his spell work. He¡¯d be lucky to have even one spell to work on with the amount of time and effort it took him to find and rebuild them.


    Now ever since his breakthrough discovery with traditional wizardry, he¡¯d found that pursuing multiple projects helped him get more for his efforts. Grinding away at the same spell pathing task had diminishing returns as the session went on. If he could take a break from a spell after hitting a wall, he found when he returned, he could approach the problem from a fresh perspective.


    He had two spells he still needed to improve. Thunderwave and Radiant Boll, which cost 8 and 7 Will respectively. He knew they could get as low as 3 or 4 Will, and he was determined to get them there, but he couldn¡¯t focus solely on these.


    As part of WIZ 205, he had to learn a defensive spell. He¡¯d been between Blur and Mirror Image, but the brief battle the night before had made up his mind on that matter. He¡¯d not had a lot of experience in the past having to cast a spell while concentrating on another. He¡¯d only had the ability to cast two spells in a day for less than a year, and he¡¯d not been in combat situations before then that would require such a thing.


    The night before, his light going out when he cast Thunderwave had been really inconvenient. He knew he could practice, and one day be able to maintain concentration on a spell while casting others. But he could more immediately resolve the problem by simply learning spells that didn¡¯t require his concentration to maintain. This made the choice between Blur and Mirror Image easier.


    Blur made his body hard to distinguish and hard to hit, also making his attacks hard to block, but it required he maintain concentration on it. And besides, as far as concentration spells went, Invisibility worked better as well at doing both those things. Mirror Image only lasted a minute, but the illusory duplicates persisted until the time was up, or they were disrupted by an attack. The choice really had been obvious, as he had little offensive capabilities without using his magic, but he¡¯d still waffled between the two until now.


    Another thing that battle had taught him was the need for a Light spell that didn¡¯t require concentration. Even the basic light cantrip for Light required a part of his attention constantly to remain active. These duration Light spells were common, and he knew they existed in a dozen different varieties, he just had to learn one. He had the runic devices he could use, but he didn¡¯t want to be dependent on any more items than were necessary.


    So, cloistered away in a deserted corner of the library, Kole worked on his wizardry. He began by looking through the test of Galok Lightsmith¡¯s spellbook. As expected, the ancient wizard had a version of Mirror Image, but before he began painstakingly trying to recreate it, he read through the seemingly nonsensical description of the spell.


    He began his task by going for the low hanging fruit. Some of the nonsense in the spell description were familiar to Kole and he spent a few minutes doodling the approximate spellform components that corresponded to passages in the spell.


    In his use of his new spellbook, he¡¯d learned the nuances of its memory enhancing properties. If he tried to recall anything from after he¡¯d found and Bonded to the book, he could recall the event with perfect clarity if he tried to write about it. This allowed him to create transcripts of lectures he only half paid attention to.


    Similarly, if he needed to write about a topic, he could recall any readings he''d done perfectly¡ªincluding details he¡¯d seen but not paid conscious attention to such as the page number he¡¯d found the information on. These together made academics effortless.


    When it came to wizardry, it functioned much the same. If he needed to draw a spellform component he¡¯d drawn at any point after Bonding the spellbook, he could do it from memory without needing to reference the spellform he¡¯d originally copied it from. This rapidly accelerated the pace at which he could create spellforms for spells once he¡¯d mastered the mental construct and needed to scribe the spellform.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    When learning new spells, be it through pathing them or recreating them out of traditional spellbooks, he first always created them in his mind, only putting them to paper once he¡¯d completed them.


    Kole was likely the youngest wizard alive that had ever done this task of creating a spellform for a spell construct that lacked one. The art was was not a common one and was only practiced by wizards who were creating new spells¡ªa task reserved the elite or the reckless, but usually both. Traditional wizards didn¡¯t do this, because spellforms hadn¡¯t existed. Contemporary wizards didn¡¯t do this because they learned all their spells from spellforms.


    Kole¡¯s current task of drawing spellform components was a means of jogging his memory, not an attempt to create the spellform in full. Doing so without knowing the complete spell was asking for mistakes. As he read through the spell, he¡¯d begin to draw some of the spellform components he thought might fit. As his spellbook filled his mind with the details, he could quickly tell if they were right or not.


    Over the course of an hour, Kole had filled a whole page with a random hodgepodge of spellform components. When he stopped to take in his progress, he¡¯d drawn over a hundred, and of those twelve were a part of the spell he needed.


    ¡°Twelve out of twelve hundred,¡± Kole sighed, exaggerating, but not by much.


    He went over them, touching each of the spellform components he meant to keep. Idly, he began tapping his nib on the page.


    I wish I could erase these other ones, he thought, not particularly wanting to redraw the twelve he needed.


    He then recalled another wizard with a magic spellbook similar to his, using the pages covered with runes to create cutlery.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I?¡± Kole asked aloud.


    He touched a spellform component he didn¡¯t want and pictured it disappearing.


    And just like that, it was gone.


    A huge smile filled Kole¡¯s face as he poked the components he didn¡¯t need, one by one, watching them disappear.


    ¡°Boop. Boop. Boop,¡± he found himself making sound effects with each one.


    Then he touched one he meant to keep, and it vanished.


    ¡°Flood,¡± he cursed, rubbing his sore hand.


    He began to draw it out again, but stopped, looking from his finger to his nib.


    ¡°Could I?¡± he asked himself.


    Gently, he placed the tip of his finger on the page and pictured the component he¡¯d just erased coming back. As he lifted his finger, there it was.


    ¡°Whoa,¡± he said, looking at his finger in awe as if it had just summoned a Fireball.


    Kole spent the next twenty minutes in furious experimentation and discovered the mechanics of this new feature.


    He could make anything disappear if he touched it. He could make anything reappear so long as it existed in his spellbook already.


    Any letter he could reproduce and most words, though if he wanted to make a new word appear, he¡¯d have to do it letter by letter. This he discovered by trying to write made up words by rubbing his finger across the page.


    By simply dragging his finger across the page, words and sentences appeared at the speed of thought. As a test, Kole quickly made the opening paragraph of the adventure novel The Lost Prince he¡¯d read appear and found he could write it out verbatim in seconds.


    Next, he moved back to spellforms, a little afraid that it wouldn¡¯t work and a little nervous at the implications if it did. He quickly found the limitations were similar. If the spellform had been written into the spellbook, he could have it appear with a thought.


    More significantly, it appeared already imbued with the intent of the components of the spell.


    After discovering this, he leaned back, taking in the implications of this. Before coming to the Academy, he¡¯d have said that copying spellforms like this was impossible, but seeing the magic paper at the entrance exam had destroyed that notion.


    Now, he could copy spellforms at will. The time savings was only the smallest benefit of this discovery¡ªthat and the marked decrease in hand cramps in Kole¡¯s future. The largest implication was the Will savings. Imbuing intent into a spellform took a lot of Will. Spellforms didn¡¯t contain a lot of Will, but the act of creating them burned up far more than what remained in the page at the end.


    And now, Kole didn¡¯t have to do that anymore. Well¡ªnot as much as he quickly discovered.


    He could only copy spellforms that were already inside the spellbook. As a test, he ran to the shelf with the old forgotten spellbooks and picked out a spell at random.


    Lingering Odor


    Second-Tier Mind spell.


    This spell will cause the air within a 15 foot area to take on the odor of the casters choosing for 24 hours. Anyone within the area will smell the odor faintly but will not be able to deduce the source. As a Mind spell, strong mental defenses will prevent the spell from taking effect.


    He quickly read the spell before putting it into his spellbook.


    ¡°No one will miss this one,¡± he said to himself, more trying to convince himself of the fact than because he believed it.


    Despite his words, his mind kept thinking of good uses for the spell.


    He pulled the page out carefully, and placed it inside his spellbook as he had with Theral¡¯s spells.


    After checking that the spellform had been integrated into his spellbook, he examined the pattern on it and picked out a component he didn¡¯t know, guaranteeing it hadn¡¯t already been written into the book by him.


    He willed the component to appear on the page opposite, and the shape appeared. But when he checked the shape lacked the intent.


    If is because I didn¡¯t write it? Or because I don¡¯t know it?


    He double checked the version he¡¯d inserted into his spellbook and found the intent still within the arcane symbols.


    Next, he Willed a random component of the spell Thunderwave that Theral had given to appear, and the strange squiggly shape drew itself beneath his finger, the ink seeming to bleed out of the page. This shape too lacked the Will imbued information that held the sliver of the spell.


    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t write it,¡± Kole said with a sigh.


    He¡¯d briefly dreamed of shoving every spellbook from the forgotten section of the library into his spellbook and reaping the rewards of decades of accumulated knowledge. Though, in hindsight, that likely would have caught someone¡¯s attention, even if that section seemed abandoned.


    As a final test, Kole copied the shape of a component he wasn¡¯t familiar with, and then transferred the Will from the old book to his new copy, putting a finger on each and quickly recreating the unfamiliar intent. Once finished, an act of only a few moments, he touched the paper beside the symbol, and willed another to appear. It did, containing the same intent.


    Kole stood up, and began to pace, thinking through how he could use this to his advantage.


    A short time later, Kole found himself in the old spellbook section of the library once more. He looked through the index in search of Mirror Image and found dozens of entries. He picked the oldest three, pulled the books from the shelves to confirm the Will inside them hadn¡¯t deteriorated, and brought them back to his table.


    Next, he did something he felt quite bad about, but not bad enough to stop himself from doing it. He carefully tore the pages out of Galok¡¯s and put them into his own spellbook. He normally wouldn¡¯t have done this, but there had been seventeen copies of this particular book in the depths of the library, and none of them seemed to have been touched in decades.


    And then, he was ready.


    He pulled out the first copy of Mirror Image and set it next to his spellbook and began to painstakingly draw the first component of the spellform.


    Fifteen minutes later, it was done. He¡¯d drawn a tiny fragment of the great swirling mass of lines that made up the spellform of the second-tier Light spell. He copied the intent of that piece over, and then looked at the largely blank page before him.


    ¡°This is going to take forever,¡± he said, but then had another idea.


    Do I need to actually draw it? Or imbue it?


    He decided to do something else he felt really bad about. He didn¡¯t think anyone would miss these copies of Mirror Image, but he was certain they would be missed more than the odor spell.


    ¡°Maybe I test that one,¡± he said before going forward with his plan.


    He looked back to the Lingering Odor spell, found another component he didn¡¯t know, and willed it to appear on the page opposite. Then, he copied the small fragment of Will over to the copy. After that was done, he willed a third copy of the shape to appear beside the other, and this time he sensed the intent within it immediately.


    ¡°Whoop!¡± he cheered, and then looked around in alarm at his own outburst.


    He relaxed as there was no one in this section, and aside from the natural noise dampening effect stacks of books had, this library was further silenced via magic.


    All trepidation he¡¯d had was now gone, and he carefully tore the first copy of Mirror Image out of the spellbook and placed it into his own.

 Chapter 32: Hideous Laughter

    While it is not possible to confirm this, it is theorized that ensouled artifacts are still able to draw upon the lost Font of Creation despite all attempts by wizards to find or draw upon the Font having ended in only failure. This is evidenced by the fact discontinuous ensouled items can create materials that remain even if the Will connection to the item that created them has been severed.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    Several hours later, Kole was done. He¡¯d place all three versions of the spell into his spellbook and copied all the components, one by one, imbuing the intent after each.


    While copying the intent for his seventeenth component, he felt a flicker of recognition in his mind and a part of Galok¡¯s mirror image spell came to him.


    Is this it? he thought.


    He finished copying it, and then willed the part of the text to appear below the spellform on the page.


    ¡°Tangental segmented hemispheres under the moonbow of a sixth band,¡± he read aloud as he examined the component with his Will sense.


    It sounded like utter nonsense, but the words meant something to the portion of his brain that had been seeped in the ineffability of the Arcane Realm. He checked the intent of the spell component and compared it to the words.


    It matched.


    Eagerly, he flipped back to the copied entry of Galok¡¯s, and he willed the line he¡¯d just discovered to erase. But then in a moment of panic, willed it to reappear.


    He sighed in relief. It wouldn¡¯t do if he could erase that permanently. It could always be copied over, but that would create extra work and introduce room for error.


    One piece of thousands done, Kole got back to work copying.


    As we went, more and more components began to resonate with him. By the time he¡¯d finished the first spellform, half of Galok¡¯s entry was erased.


    Moving to the second, it went more quickly, as a large chunk of this spellform was identical to the last and he could simply copy it over to the new page instantly. By the end of that spellform, only a quarter of the spell¡¯s text remained.


    He did the third, and that went even faster still, but this left him with still about ten percent of the spell unfinished.


    Kole jumped to his feet, and then lost his balance and almost fell as the blood suddenly rushed to his head. He steadied himself and moved to check the time before stopping himself.


    Knowing the time would only give me a reason to stop, he thought. And, judging by his empty stomach, he really ought to take a break.


    But he couldn¡¯t. He was so close.


    He ran to the spellbooks again and pulled three more down and returned to his desk. With no hesitation this time, he ripped out the pages and shoved them into his spellbook and resumed his copying.


    It took two more trips to the shelves, but eventually he had it. He¡¯d created a complete spellform record of a traditional wizard spell in....


    How long? he wondered.


    ¡°Definitely less than a day, but more than 10 hours,¡± he said, answering his own mental question. ¡°Probably, less than a day at least.¡±


    He was very, very tired.


    Regardless of the hour count, he¡¯d just done in a day¡ªprobably¡ªwhat had taken him two months to do with Radiant Bolt.


    Yes, he still needed to map the spell, but looking at the relevant copies of Mirror Image he¡¯d just copied, he suspected there were some insights to be had inside their paths.


    He suspected that once he got close enough to the Font, the final parts of these paths could see him through the tricker sections.


    He was tempted to start right then, but his stomach let out a loud protest, and he decided he should probably go.


    Without checking the time¡ªas that would only kill the great mood he was in despite his physical condition¡ªKole left the library. The campus was deserted, and he made it home without seeing a single soul. Inside the common area a plate of food was waiting for him with a note.


    I hope you had a productive day. But don¡¯t miss PREVENT tomorrow or I¡¯ll see you make up for it Tuesday morning.


    -Zale


    The food was just some bread and cheese, but Kole devoured it quickly, pocketing the note before falling asleep the second his head hit his pillow.


    <hr>


    The next morning, Rakin and Doug literally dragged Kole out of bed at Zale¡¯s orders. Kole felt slightly betrayed by the Dahn that it let them in but he didn¡¯t make a stink over it.


    What am I going to do? He wondered, Kick the wall?


    ¡°Drink more,¡± Zale said, refilling Kole¡¯s coffee cup for the third time. ¡°Water too.¡±


    He didn¡¯t particularly like the stuff, but when Doug had said the same, Zale had seemed offended, so he just politely choked down the bitter brown liquid. He didn¡¯t want her to look at him with the disappointment she¡¯d shown Doug, and some gross mud water was a small price to pay.


    His thoughts kept going back to the night before, and he was eager to begin pathing, but he hadn¡¯t slept well and had hardly regained any Will.


    As Zale poured him a fourth cup of coffee, something inside him snapped, and he came to a decision. He pulled out his last potion of clarity and downed it in a single gulp.


    His mind suddenly cleared, his exhaustion fading to a mild drowsiness that was manageable, and his Will returned full to him. Along with that came clearer thoughts.


    That was probably a big waste, he thought, looking at the empty vial.


    But the regret vanished as soon as his mind returned to his discovery the night before. He was eager to get back to work, and the day would have been lost without the potion.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Besides, he hadn¡¯t spent any money since the end of last semester and didn¡¯t foresee needing to. He could probably buy another potion in town or get them from the academy store¡ªthough he might have to pay some of the cost. Barring that, he could send for cheap ones from his uncle via Meech¡ªor find a door back to Illandrios and go buy them himself.


    ¡°Much better,¡± he said.


    ¡°A bit extreme, ain¡¯t it?¡± Rakin asked.


    Now with his full faculties, Kole found the sudden desire to explain what he¡¯d discovered.


    ¡°I had a breakthrough with my spellbook last night,¡± Kole said, with excitement bordering on manic glee.


    He flipped open the book to his Mirror Image spellform and showed them all proudly.


    ¡°That''s... really pretty?¡± Zale said, complimenting the arcane shapes.


    ¡°I made this last night,¡± Kole explained. ¡°All of it. I copied a traditional wizard spell and recreated it as a spellform That took me two months to do for Radiant Bolt.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good then?" Zale asked.


    ¡°Very. I expected this to take me another two months. Now I just need to path it, which I expected to take another month, but I might even have it done by the end of the week if the rest goes as well as this.¡±


    His friends nodded appreciatively at his words, but it frustrated Kole to no end that they didn¡¯t fully understand the implications of what he¡¯d just revealed. A part of him wanted to go tell someone-anyone, who would appreciate the gravity of it.


    His mental list consisted of Theral and Tal, who were both missing, Professors Lonin and Underbrook, and Gray.


    The people he most wanted to tell were missing. Underbrook would be interested, but not excited about the discovery. He wondered briefly if this would change Professor Lonin¡¯s mind about taking him on but didn¡¯t want to get his hopes up again. The head of the college of wizardry would certainly be interested in the discovery though, and Kole vowed to show him. Eventually. First, he had to use the discovery to its fullest.


    He debated the rest of breakfast if he should tell Gray but decided against it. They¡¯d mended the bridge that had been burned last semester, but he wasn¡¯t going to go share any actual secrets with him.


    ¡°Mental defenses,¡± Tigereye said before the assembled class after they¡¯d gone over the performances of the weekend¡¯s hardball match.


    Professor Underbrook congratulated Gray¡¯s team for winning an uphill battle and admonished the Leaves of Ava¡¯s to work on their teamwork, reinforcing Zale and Doug¡¯s assessments of the match.


    Tigereye¡¯s words caused a groan to go up through half the class, causing the other half to look around in confusion.


    ¡°Everyone must learn to defend against mental attacks,¡± Tigereye explained. ¡°So, let us practice.¡±


    The professors divided the class into two groups, those with mental vaults, and those without. The ones without mental vaults were led to a corner of the room with Professor Underbrook, who gave them a brief rundown of mental techniques to use to push against assaults without the aid of a vault. He then surprised them all by casting Hypnotic Pattern. Without exception, the entire group became enthralled, and he pulled out a book and began to read as he maintained the spell, waiting for the students to break free.


    Tigereye¡ªsurprisingly enough¡ªprovided more detailed instructions, none of which were new to Kole or Gray as they¡¯d gone over this in WIZ 205. They paired up once more in front of a small runic devices meant to attack the other¡¯s mind and took turns defending.


    Kole was surprised at the number of students that had mental vaults. All the primals it seemed had them, as well as a good handful of the pure martial students. Zale had joined the mental vault group with a little apprehension. While she¡¯d gone through the steps to create one under the guidance of her uncle, hers hadn¡¯t exactly turned out as expected. Seeing as her mentor was the leader of this group and knew the details of her condition and didn¡¯t stop her, she judged it okay.


    She paired with Kole and they sat across from each other with the stink rune between them.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go first I guess,¡± Kole said, and Zale agreed.


    She closed her eyes to focus, and then gave him a curt nod to signal she was ready.


    Kole activated the devices and watched as Zale¡¯s nose wrinkled at the imagined smell. He thought it was adorable but refrained from saying anything.


    ¡°You take me on the nicest dates,¡± Zale teased him. ¡°Where are we? The sewers?¡±


    Kole¡¯s eyes bulged, and he almost dropped the effect at Zale¡¯s comment.


    She¡¯s teasing you idiot! he told himself. Say something!


    ¡°Um, well...¡± he began stalling for time to think up a rejoinder. ¡°I thought I¡¯d surprise you. Sewers aren''t so bad. I hung out in a few, back home. And besides, you only ever take me to the training yard.¡±


    Eyes still closed, Zale¡¯s brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to martial a defense against the magic.


    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± she said, ¡°I took you shopping, to a tavern, a play, and an extra dimensional realm. Those are all wonderful date activities.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll concede the shopping and tavern, but we took you to the play because Harold stood you up, and if anyone brought us to the extra dimensional realm it was Amara¡ªor maybe Amintha.¡±


    ¡°Fair,¡± Zale said.


    She bit her lip in focus, and then opened her eyes.


    ¡°There!¡± she said triumphantly.


    ¡°There what?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°I destroyed the effect,¡± she said.


    ¡°You what?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know,¡± Zale said, giving a shrug and smiling despite her words. ¡°It took me a while to find you intrusive Will, but once I did, I sent a little wisp of Will at it. As soon as it touched yours it shriveled up and died.¡±


    ¡°That sounds really useful,¡± Kole said. ¡°Can you try just flooding the vault with a thin fog of your Will?¡±


    While they hadn¡¯t learned how to do these, they¡¯d gone over a high-level overview of the advanced mental defense techniques in WIZ 205. This was one of them.


    He figured if simply touching his effect with her own Will destroyed it, she could just make her mind an impenetrable fog of corrosive Will.


    Zale chewed her lip, considering, then closed her eyes. After only a minute she spoke.


    ¡°Try again.¡±


    Kole did, and after a few moments Zale asked, ¡°Did you do it?¡±


    Kole had and said as much.


    ¡°Well, I guess that works then,¡± Zale said proudly. ¡°Thanks for the tip! But don¡¯t think you''re off the hook. Next date better smell nicer.¡±


    Kole focused on the magical discovery to avoid over thinking her words that were almost certainly a joke.


    She¡¯s joking... right? No, stop.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure it does,¡± Kole said, surprising even himself.


    They then sat there staring at each other for a moment before the silence got the best of Kole.


    ¡°We really need your uncle to come back,¡± he said, bringing back to the topic of class. ¡°He¡¯d want to see this.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Zale agreed. ¡°He¡¯d be very excited about this.


    ¡°My turn,¡± Zale said, and then frowned.


    ¡°Wait, you can¡¯t use this thing at all can you?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°No. I can¡¯t.¡± Zale said. ¡°I could break it pretty easily though.¡±


    But just before they could do anything, Tigereye came to their group and handed Zale a small wand.


    ¡°Here,¡± he said, quietly handing her the device so as not to draw attention to her particular weird Voidling Will situation.


    While Voidlings didn¡¯t interact with Will in any way similar to the way the natives of Kaltis did, Zale hadn¡¯t fully inherited that trait. She had Will, it just seemed to be, for lack of a better term, negatively charged. Whenever she tried to imbue it into a runic device, she caused it to fail.


    ¡°Can you use a wand?¡± Kole asked.


    Zale nodded.


    ¡°Mom taught me,¡± she said, spinning the thin device in her fingers.


    Wands, unlike blasting rods, were not runed devices. They were enchanted. While a blasting rod was simply a piece of alchemically treated material with runes engraved in it to produce a singular effect, wands contained in themselves the magic of the effect they produced.


    Blasting rod users provided one hundred percent of the Will used to power then, wand users simply willed the wand to fire the effect already within.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Zale asked.


    Kole entered his vault, and then nodded, bracing for the smell.


    But it wasn¡¯t a smell that came, but the sudden urge to burst out into laughter.


    It was so unexpected that he couldn¡¯t control it even a little. As everyone around him was retching and gagging, he started giggling and then laughing.


    Zale looked at the wand, then Kole, and then at the class around them, and activated her silence aura, leaning in close so Kole¡¯s mouth was within range. Lost in his magic induced hysteria, Kole didn¡¯t notice, but he would have appreciated the gesture if he had.


    Eventually he regained his focus between gasps for air, and he found the thread of orange that had wormed its way into his mind. By then, he was lying on the ground, clutching his sides in pain from the laughter. He brought the full force of his Will down on the thread like a hammer, and suddenly felt in control of himself.


    He opened his eyes and took a deep breath and saw that Zale¡¯s hand was held up just in front of his face.


    She noticed that he¡¯d stopped convulsing and let her aura lapse.


    ¡°You silenced me?¡± he asked.


    Zale chewed her lip and looked around, then said in a low tone, ¡°You started out giggling, but eventually started braying like a donkey.¡±


    Kole sat up, looked around, and then put his head in his hands and rubbed his face.


    ¡°A little warning about the effect would have been nice,¡± Kole moaned, trying to bury the embarrassment. "

 Chapter 33: Icon

    If a wizard conjures a globe of water, the water will vanish after the Will sustaining it fades. If someone were to drink that water, it would draw upon the Will of the drinker to maintain itself until it has left the body, whereafter it would vanish. Stilbore¡¯s Decanter, an ensouled artifact able to create liquids, however, has no such limitations. This decanter, when filled with a liquid, will create a nearly limitless supply of whatever filled it, limited by the daily Will capacity of the artifact. The liquid generated persists indefinitely.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    As soon as Kole was free from PREVENT, he sought out the first quiet study spot he could find. That ended up being the shade of a small tree on the green. Not his preferred study spot¡ªbut desperate times. Some might enjoy studying outside on a cool day in the shade with a nice breeze, but Kole would always prefer the quiet and dimly lit library to a park. The wind blew pages, bugs liked to crawl over you, and there were always people running around and laughing.


    Now, Kole didn¡¯t begrudge people enjoying themselves in a park, he just didn¡¯t see why anyone would go there to do serious studying.


    So, as comfortable as he could be given the circumstances, Kole settled down against a tree and opened his spellbook. As always, the magical book opened to the exact page he wanted¡ªMirror Image.


    With the discovery of his spellbook¡¯s ability to aid him, he¡¯d gone about this all a little backwards. Normally, when reconstructing a traditional spell, one built the spell in one¡¯s mind, following the instructions laid out in the spellbook. Spellforms, after all, hadn¡¯t existed back then. Even with the invention of spellforms, the process of learning traditional spells remained unchanged. Everyone who sought to learn a traditionally recorded spell created it in their mind first, only writing it as a spellform once they confirmed they¡¯d copied it correctly¡ªand this only happened in the transition period where both tradition and modern wizardry were practiced side-by-side.


    Crafting spellforms was a highly specialized skill set few wizards bothered to master. It involved knowing a vast amount of spellform components and having the patience to learn or create the ones you lacked.


    But thanks to Kole¡¯s spellbook, he had the spellform in front of him. Now all he had to do was copy it into his mental vault. The hardest part of all that was deciding which of his spells to clear to make room for the new one.


    Kole had considered this all morning and had settled on removing the Will intent for his blasting rod. With the improvements he¡¯d been making to Radiant Bolt, the rod would soon be obsolete, and was at this point redundant at best. The only thing in the rod¡¯s favor was that the barely visible bolt of Force was a lot more subtle than the glow golden bolt of Radiant Bolt


    Since he had the spellform for Mirror Image before him, he could always swap it out for the rune intent before the next hardball match, or even duel, if he needed. It was only when one was learning a traditional spell the¡ªwell¡ªtraditional way that stopping in the middle of learning a spell would be a large set back. The typical way of handling this was storing the work in progress spell in a gem, but Kole wasn¡¯t exactly drowning in wealth.


    So, with a thought, Kole dissolved the Will construct in his mind, and started building a new one.


    Kole quickly lost track of time. It wasn¡¯t until he felt someone poke his forehead that he opened his eyes to find Zale staring at him disappointed.


    ¡°I missed class?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You missed class,¡± she agreed.


    ¡°Can I borrow your notes?¡± he asked hopefully.


    Zale let out an exaggerated sigh.


    ¡°Fine, but this new spell better be worth it,¡± she said, extending a hand to help him up. ¡°Food?¡±


    Kole joined Zale for lunch, and after spending the first five minutes sneaking glances at his spellbook in his bag next to the seat, she sighed.


    ¡°You can work on it now,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you when it''s time to go to class.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Kole said, slamming his spellbook onto his desk and diving back into the process of copying the spell.


    This would be Kole¡¯s first second-tier wizard spell. Silent Image was a second-tier spell, which gave him the assurance he had the ability to learn it, but that spell hadn¡¯t needed to be studied. His sorcerous instincts had simply discovered it in a moment of need. While wizardry and sorcery were learned through different means, a mage¡¯s ability to cast sorcery generally correlated with their ability to cast wizardry¡ªunless they were a bad wizard. While Kole¡¯s primal nature made casting spells difficult, he knew he was a skilled in all the arts of wizardry. While he wasn¡¯t a prodigy, he had more experience constructing spell templates that wizards twice his age, and all that hard work was finally paying off.


    On top of the reassurances his sorcery gave him, his ability to store Amara¡¯s blasting rod repair rune intent also confirmed that he was ready, as that had been beyond the difficulty of a first-tier spell.


    He had no idea how long to expect this to take but was dedicated to pushing through it.


    Sometime later, an hour and sixteen minutes to be exact, but Kole was oblivious to that, he felt another forehead poke.


    ¡°I¡¯m so close to finishing,¡± Kole said, whining a little.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°Feel free to skip class,¡± Zale said, gathering her own classwork she¡¯d been doing while he¡¯d stared out into space with his hand on his book.


    As strange as that sounded, it was a common occurrence on campus, and even in the martial college dining hall Kole wasn¡¯t even the only person doing the same. Many students had mental vaults, and used the time in the dinning hall to do some studying that required the use of them.


    Reluctantly, Kole stowed his spellbook and went to class. Briefly, he tried copying the spell to his memory as he walked, keeping his hand on the spellform in his bag, but he was not yet proficient enough at splitting his awareness between his vault and reality to allow him to do it while also trying to learn a new spell. Which was probably for the best, as far as his having a social life went. If studying wizardry ever became that accessible, Kole would never stop while so long as he had the Will to keep going.


    In class, they continued their discussion on the use of mental vaults as defenses against Mind magic, but they didn¡¯t do any practical work. Professor Underbrook explained how the long term repeated repelling of mental attacks reinforced the walls of the vault, making them appear more real and lifelike.


    For those untrained in mental defense, when they inspected the material of their mental vaults, they would see just a solid color, lacking any details such as wood grains or textures. The more Will a person poured into their vault as they built a defense, the more realistic it all appeared.


    Kole had read something similar about bridges. When it first appears, it¡¯s just a solid color that matches whatever motif the vault took on when created. Kole¡¯s¡ªlike most people¡¯s¡ªwas a wooden door frame, but the wood was really just featureless brown if he had the presence of mind to focus on it. Experiments in making bridges larger than necessary only had the tangible result of making them appear more detailed without conferring any additional benefits. A larger bridge didn¡¯t make spells any more powerful, or aid in pathing.


    ¡°Please turn in your reports on the merits of your selected defensive spell on your way out,¡± Underbrook said as he moved to erase the board.


    There was a report?


    Kole was certain¡ªwell, pretty sure¡ªthere hadn¡¯t been a written assignment. He looked around and saw everyone else in a similar state of panic, and relaxed.


    A moment later, Professor Underbrook began to giggle to himself.


    ¡°That was a joke,¡± he said. ¡°See you Wednesday. Bring the report then.¡±


    Still, no one moved to leave.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a joke. Now go.¡±


    Kole took off, eager to finish his work.


    It was just after dinner¡ªa bowl of oatmeal eaten in his room¡ªthat Kole completed his mental construct for Mirror Image. He sat back, marveling at the shape of it. But only for a moment, for he was eager to move on to the next part.


    He powered the spell with his Will, and threw it through his bridge, mentally chasing it to see its path through the Arcane Realm.


    The spell immediately crashed into some obelisk of unknowable energy, and Kole added the first corrective component to his path.


    He continued on as he had when pathing Radiant Bolt and Thunderwave, his spellbook not seeming to aid him with the task since he wasn¡¯t writing in it. Briefly he tried crafting the spellform to use the book¡¯s memory enhancement ability to help him draw on the knowledge within, but that didn¡¯t seem to help.


    After a few frustrating hours where his progress was good, but nothing special, he sat at his desk both in his room and mentally in his vault, thinking.


    Part of him recognized how ridiculous his impatience was. He¡¯d done months of work in days, and now was getting irritated by having to resort to his normal speed for pathing¡ªa new ability in itself which had finally allowed him to become a real and proper wizard.


    But even recognizing the ridiculous of it all, he still wanted to do better.


    If only I could read the book in my vault. He thought. Maybe then I can...


    Something tickled his memory. He left his vault and pulled out his nib. While he could now write in his spellbook by just running his finger across the page, he still liked to physically write at times. He found it helped him think.


    He began writing about ensouled artifacts, letting the spellbook bring to mind readings he¡¯d done on them after discovering he had not one, but two. He thought of mental vaults and their connection to the magical items, and suddenly recalled what had been at the edge of his mind.


    Icons!


    When one Bonded to an ensouled artifact, an icon would appear in your vault¡ªa manifestation of the connection and potential access point to its power.


    Kole dove back into his vault and looked around eagerly for his spellbook.


    Flood, he cursed internally as he saw shelf after shelf of books, stacked as far as he could see.


    It can¡¯t be hidden, he thought, traveling through space.


    After doing a lap and finding nothing, he stopped near the desk he used that sat before his bridge. He looked at a section of shelf next to his desk and willed his spellbook to be on the shelf there.


    And just like that, a perfect representation of his spellbook appeared.


    Well, that was easy, he thought as he walked over to it.


    The book felt just as it did in reality, which was odd as there was normally very little in the way of physical sensations in the vault. He opened it up, and found it contained everything just as if he was reading it in the real world.


    Is that all you can do? he asked himself.


    He brought the book to the desk, opened it up, and began to rebuild Mirror Image and then sent it through his bridge. The spell took off, and he followed it again, watching it avoid a few obstacles before failing.


    Back out at the desk, he thought over what he¡¯d seen. As he pondered a way to avoid it, he considered casting the spell again to better see it fail, but realized he didn¡¯t have to.


    His spellbook could let him remember exact details if he wrote them down outside, what could it do in here where even without an ensouled artifact he could store memories for better recollection?


    Lifting the book, and closing his eyes, blocking out all sensations in the real world and his vault, he tried to remember the spell.


    And just like that, the memory flooded back into his mind. He saw the spell fall apart, and could slow down its destruction to examine it more closely. Over and over he watched the failure, and while doing so he caught something he¡¯d never would have seen even after a dozen castings. While the spell hit some strange element of the Arcane Realm before falling apart, it had only clipped it. A slight alteration of the path would see the spell just narrowly missing destruction.


    Kole thought through the potential modifications, and found dozens spring to mind with his spellbook¡¯s perfect clarity.


    Well... this is new.


    Picking out the one that fit best, Kole added it, and tried again.


    And again.


    And again.

 Chapter 34: Cutting Corners

    Wizards can use their connections to their ensouled artifacts to empower their magic. When Bonded, the soul of a wizard and their artifact are joined. As far as magic is concerned, the artifact and the wizard are one and the same. The cantrip Conjure is the most common exploit for this connection. While the cantrip normally only allows the caster to summon an object already on their person to appear in their hand, it allows the caster to summon their ensouled artifact to them from anywhere in the Realm.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    Kole woke up to loud banging on his door. He was exhausted, but despite himself, he was excited to go about his day.


    ¡°Coming!¡± he shouted, getting out of bed and changing quickly.


    Before opening the door, he cast two quick spells, and then stepped out of his room.


    ¡°Why are there two of him?¡± Doug asked.


    Rakin squinted, and looked between the two identical copies of Kole that had emerged from the room.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one,¡± Rakin said, relying on his tremor sense. ¡°But I can¡¯t tell which is real.¡±


    Zale¡¯s eyes glazed over a little as she activated her Willsight, and she stopped looking from one copy to the other and then looked straight between the two and smiled.


    Kole smiled back, as shown by the two illusory copies, and they both waved to Zale. Rakin then came closer to examine the two copies, but as he got close to one they both leaned in and poke him on the nose.


    ¡°Boop!¡± Kole said, as the contact broke his Invisibility spell, revealing him in the center.


    While the copies all moved identically to Kole, they did orient themselves correctly. So, as Kole looked at Rakin and reached toward his face, both visible fingers converged on the same point. When he looked at something far away, all their eyes fixed on the same point.


    Kole¡¯s Uncle¡¯s Mirror Image, as granted by his primal abilities, allowed him to freely control each Illusion independently. While this was probably something Kole could replicate someday by creating a higher tier version of the spell, the standard one he had would serve him well enough.


    Rakin didn¡¯t react to the boop, only furrowing his brow deeper.


    ¡°That was clever, but I''ll get ye back,¡± Rakin said, and then smiled.


    The smile looked out of place on the dwarf¡¯s face and Kole felt suddenly uncomfortable.


    ¡°I know you said you were close,¡± Zale said, ¡°But I didn¡¯t expect you to finish so soon. How late did you stay up?¡±


    ¡°Only ¡®til one or two,¡± Kole said. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to go that fast either, but I learned to use my spellbook in a new way.¡±


    Kole went on to explain his discovery of his spellbook¡¯s new ability to help him learn magic.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about wizardry, but that seems like kind of a big deal,¡± Zale said.


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°It is, and it isn¡¯t,¡± he said, shaking his hand in the air. ¡°It¡¯s extremely useful for learning traditional wizardry, but I doubt anyone but me and some magical historian will care for that. The bigger aspect is improving the efficiencies of spells. If any other wizard in the world¡ªand I mean that literally, any other¡ªhad this spellbook, they could make breakthroughs in spell efficiency by amassing a large library of spellforms and optimizing with those. But for anyone else to have this book, I¡¯d have to be dead, and I¡¯d prefer that to not happen.¡±


    ¡°I would also prefer that,¡± Zale said. ¡°Do you think it''s a risk letting the knowledge out?¡±


    ¡°Your uncle already told me not to tell people I have this,¡± Kole said, holding the book up. ¡°Underbrook, Tigereye and Lonin know, but I feel that¡¯s not a concern. Maybe I don¡¯t tell them about this new ability though.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Rakin asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t ye want him to be yer mentor?¡±


    ¡°I did, but he made his conditions on that very clear,¡± Kole explained.


    He¡¯d thought on this long last night and decided against it.


    ¡°He¡¯s already offered to take me on if I fail to find a mentor, and he was very clear he¡¯d not support me in this program. If he knew about this, he¡¯d only be more determined to snatch me away for a life of research.¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Rakin said, deadpan. ¡°How would ye ever survive being trapped in a library, forced to study spells day in and day out¡ªow!¡±


    Zale swatted Rakin.


    ¡°It''s the principle,¡± Kole said. ¡°I¡¯m learning wizardry for a purpose¡ªto help people, my parents and others¡ªI want to be an adventurer. I like it, and I think I¡¯d be good at it. I could become a fabulously wealthy wizard and pay peasants like you to do all my bidding, but that isn¡¯t what I want.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to be fabulously wealthy?¡± Zale asked, then paused, choosing her next words carefully. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to brag, but¡­ it¡¯s really nice.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not against it. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll stumble on some hoards here and there once we set out on real adventures,¡± Kole said, inadvertently expressing his desire to stick with his friends as a formal group after graduation.


    The topic had never come up explicitly. Only a small number of teams stuck together after graduating, most people instead being recruited into an established team as a rookie member. One major reason adventurers served as mentors was to recruit new junior members.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hold off making plans for our futures until after we actually enter the program,¡± Zale said diplomatically.


    Kole knew Rakin had spoken of returning to the dwarven city where he grew up occasionally, and Zale¡¯s mother had expectations of her. He didn¡¯t take the awkwardness as rejection, but only as his friends being unable to commit. Their parents were famous adventurers in their own right. They likely had connections and plans for them beyond this school.


    While he intellectually knew this wasn¡¯t a rejection of him personally, the admission disappointed Kole. Instead of dwelling, however, he vowed then and there that he would strive to be a wizard worthy to tag along on whatever elite futures Rakin and Zale had ahead of them.


    Doug could probably come too.


    <hr>


    Kole took to Martial 102 with a new vigor. While he knew he was nothing special with the quarterstaff, he also knew getting hit in the side of the head with one by an invisible opponent flanked by two illusions was a very effective form of attack, and he wanted to improve.


    He still wanted to keep his ability to turn invisible under wraps, but that didn¡¯t mean he wouldn¡¯t use it if his life depended on it. Even without turning invisible, the spell made him harder to block. Upon his first casting of the spell, he¡¯d discovered that he could Will the illusory clones to appear anywhere he wanted relative to himself within about 10 feet, and he could make them move closer or further away as the spell remained active.


    <hr>


    Kole¡¯s renewed enthusiasm for learning the quarterstaff didn¡¯t apply to his class of Spatial Magic. Despite having the ability to treat distance as more of a suggestion, Professor Tailor was still able to make magic seem mundane and dull. Even Kole struggled to pay attention, and that was with him having not one, but two strong personal reasons to learn more about Space magic.


    With his parents missing in a pocket realm and portals opening to other pocket realms all over the planet, the knowledge was directly useful to him. But still, Kole struggled to focus.


    Also, he realized. I have two friends with unstable connections to the Font of Space.


    Kole was under no illusions that he¡¯d learn something in a 100 level course that would help Doug or Theral, but learning more about the magic that afflicted them was something he was very interested in.


    So, despite all the deeply personal reasons Kole should be able to pay attention, on top of the fact that he just generally liked learning about anything, but particularly magic, Kole found himself in his mental vault planning to write notes from the lecture later with the use of his spellbook.


    He reviewed the spellform for Radiant Bolt with his new abilities in mind. With Mirror Image Kole had used his spellbook in two ways to path the spell. The first, filling the book with lots of copies of the spell to quickly draw to mind relevant path components, wasn¡¯t immediately available to him as he sat in the lecture.


    The other, reviewing the spell''s destruction with perfect recall, was. Kole already had hundreds of failures in his mind, ready to review. He spent what felt like hours in his vault reviewing failed attempt after failed attempt of casting Radiant Bolt, not looking to create a new path for the spell, only improve the efficiency of the path he¡¯d formed.


    In his mind, he reviewed every past failure and then the successes that followed, finding he¡¯d often overcompensated with his spell path to avoid an obstacle when a slight nudge would have done just as well for less. It was as if, instead of simply stepping over a puddle in the street, Kole was going around a block to avoid stepping on it. Most changes weren¡¯t that extreme, but many were.


    To test his findings, he took the spell and removed the last part of the path that guided it the last bit into the Font, guaranteeing that it would fail to cast no matter what improvements he made. Then, he left his vault to find that he still had half the class left.


    Kole then continued modifying the spell as his memories found flaws. At first, he only made a single tweak at a time before testing it, but when his first four modifications worked on the first try, he began to do more at once. Occasionally, Kole would look around to see if anyone could sense what he was doing, but in a class full of first year students¡ªmost of which weren''t even wizards¡ªno one had the ability to sense his failed castings.


    By the time Kole the class was dismissed, Kole had performed all the improvements he could on the spell without trying to fundamentally alter the route it took through the Arcane Realm. Eager to test it in full, he ran out to the spell range.


    When Kole got there, his first thought was to wonder why it was so busy. All the ranges were occupied by students, staff, and mixed groups of both there on lessons. It took Kole a moment to realize that this was the first time in months he¡¯d been here during the day, most of his other visits occurred after late night breakthroughs.


    ¡°I might have a bit of a problem,¡± he said quietly to himself, though he wouldn¡¯t admit as much to Zale.


    If I did that, she¡¯d probably give me a bedtime.


    Kole knew of bed times as a concept, but having been raised by an obsessed father and then an uncle who was hardly older than himself and hired help, he couldn¡¯t remember ever having such a thing.


    He eventually gave up trying to find an empty stall and just waited to take over one which contained a particularly exhausted looking wizard a few years Kole¡¯s senior. As he waited, he watched as the older student cast Firebolts at a target sixty feet away. His aim was good, and Kole used the opportunity to try to sense the Fire magic.


    He failed.


    As a sort of grand finale, the student started casting a higher tier spell, and Kole almost thought he felt the touch of the Arcane Realm for the briefest moment. A tiny mote of orange light flew across the range, hitting the dummy, and exploding into a massive ball of fire.


    All around students gave polite claps at the large explosion, and the wizard gave a mocking bow before vacating the stall for Kole.


    Kole didn¡¯t feel like he could compete with that¡ªnot that anyone was expecting him to or even still watching¡ªso he decided to make this fast.


    He built his improved Radiant Bolt and then realized he¡¯d never repaired the final portion. Quickly he pulled out his spellbook, reviewing that section and replaced the missing component at the end. Once done, he rebuilt the spell and sent it out his bridge.


    A flash of golden light flew out of his hand, striking the golem, briefly wreathing it in a gold glow.


    Kole closed his eyes to get a better sense of his remaining Will, and judged that the spell that had cost him 7 Will to cast this morning, now cost around 5.


    That much for an hour''s work!? he marveled.


    He¡¯d struggled for weeks to reduce the cost of Thunderwave as much and still hadn¡¯t hit his target last semester. Even now the spell still cost him 8 Will.


    The realization hit him like a bolt of lightning.


    ¡°I can do it again!¡± he shouted.


    He ran out of the spell range to find the nearest place to work. Once more he found himself beneath a tree, but he didn¡¯t dwell on the fact as he returned to his mental vault and began to review his memories of pathing Thunderwave.

 Chapter 35: Copies

    Some wizards have learned to incorporate their spells into their casting, allowing them to use the artifact as the origin of the spell. A common application of this is using ensouled weapons as delivery devices for otherwise weak short range cantrips such Shock. Other wizards have crafted spells that required the ensouled artifact to cast. If a wizard has bonded an ensouled artifact with a strong connection to a Font, that artifact can serve as a focus for spellcasting, and spells crafted to take advantage of that connection can be cast with greatly reduced cost and complexity.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    ¡°What''s wrong with yer face?¡± Rakin asked Kole as he came in late to join them for dinner.


    Kole felt his face in concern for a moment before stopping himself.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a jerk,¡± Zale chasized her cousin. ¡°He¡¯s happy.¡±


    Kole hadn¡¯t been able to stop smiling since he¡¯d left the spell range and his face was beginning to hurt. He¡¯d spent a few hours there that afternoon, working on Thunderwave, and after that ran off to the library to copy more spells into his book to reduce the cost of all of his spells.


    ¡°I had another breakthrough,¡± Kole said, trying and failing to contain his smile.


    ¡°New spells?¡± Rakin asked, sounding actually interested.


    Kole shook his head.


    ¡°Radiant Bolt and Thunderwave now both cost about 5 Will,¡± Kole said proudly.


    Rakin let out an impressed whistle. Without context, making a first tier spell cost 5 Will wasn¡¯t a notable feat. 5 Will was basically the threshold that established what was and wasn''t a first-tier spell once properly optimized.


    But the process of optimizing took months, and Kole had done it in days. On top of that, Kole¡¯s massive Will reserve meant that he could now cast these spells far more times than his classmates could cast their cheaper modern 3 Will first-tier spells.


    ¡°Yer magic book do that for ya?¡± Rakin asked.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Kole said, excited for the chance to explain. ¡°I found I could review¡ª¡±


    ¡°Ahp!¡± Rakin said, raising his hand to stop Kole. ¡°I¡¯m happy for ye, but I don¡¯t really care about the details.¡±


    Kole looked at Zale, who blushed slightly and sunk in her chair.


    ¡°I¡¯m sort of with him on this,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m probably happier for you than he is though if that¡¯s any consolation.¡±


    Kole found that it was, and just nodded, keeping the explanation to himself. He knew how they felt after all. He¡¯d been on the receiving end of more than one of Amara¡¯s explanations.


    ¡°So are you just planning on staying in your room studying for the rest of the week, or will you be able to hangout outside of training?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°Training is not ¡®hanging out¡¯,¡± Kole said, not answering her question.


    Zale frowned, and looked to Rakin for support.


    ¡°It totally is!¡± she insisted.


    ¡°Sure, if yer a sadist,¡± Rakin said, laughing to himself.


    ¡°It is!¡± Zale insisted again.


    ¡°So you admit you''re a sadist!¡± Kole said, joining.


    Zale¡¯s mouth opened and shut, as she grew more flustered, and then she gave up, sinking back down into her chair.


    ¡°I just like training with you guys,¡± she said, defeated.


    She dabbed lightly at her eye, as if catching a tear. In a tone that put a pit in Kole¡¯s stomach she continued.


    ¡°And I thought you guys liked spending time with me.¡±


    Kole and Rakin both looked at each other uncomfortably for a moment before both speaking at once, denying they didn¡¯t want to spend time with her, until Zale started to shudder.


    Oh no... Kole thought, but before he could beat himself up over it too much, Zale began to let out laughs.


    ¡°I got you!¡± she said, pointing at Rakin.


    ¡°Aye, ye did,¡± the dwarf admitted, hands in the air. ¡°Turnabout is fair play.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Kole demanded, relieved he hadn¡¯t actually made her cry.


    ¡°You called me a sadist!¡± Zale insisted.


    ¡°I stand by that,¡± Kole said, and the trio spent the rest of the dinner debating whether or not Kole deserved the prank.


    After dinner, Kole ran into the library to get a few new spells. He started with collecting old spellform copies of Radiant Bolt and Thunderwave, and once he had a large pile, began perusing the old spellbook catalog for others that might be of interest.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    After an hour, he had a rather large stack of spellbooks, each with a strip of paper from his own spellbook protruding out the side marking the location and name of the spell he saved.


    Kole sat down to begin copying spells into his spellbook, and a thought struck.


    ¡°Wait...¡± he said aloud.


    Am I really going to rip pages out of all these spellbooks?


    He eyed his stack of spellbooks,


    He¡¯d been in a bit of a mania when he¡¯d ripped out Mirror Image and justified it to himself despite knowing it was wrong. But now, there were dozens of spellbooks here.


    He hummed thoughtfully.


    ¡°Maybe...¡±¡±


    With his spellbook open to a blank page, he flipped it over and lay it atop the spellform for Radiant Bolt he was copying. After leaving it there for a moment, he pulled it back up, only for the page to remain blank.


    He tried again, this time pressing down on his spellbook, as if the ink would imprint onto the page. In his mind, he pictured the ink spilling from one page to the other, and when he flipped it over, there was a perfect copy of the spellform in his book¡ªonly it was mirrored.


    ¡°Flood,¡± he cursed.


    An idea came to him, and he flipped the page, placing his palm on the back side of the page he¡¯d just copied over, and willed the ink to bleed through to the other side. Still amazed by the way the ink flowed in his spellbook, he watched in awe as the black liquid seemed to bleed out of the page, before drawing itself out over the paper, leaving a spellform in its wake.


    With one spell copied, he quickly labeled the page with the source, and moved onto the next, trying not to feel too bad about not thinking of this before he¡¯d destroyed the other spellforms.


    After six spells, he found he didn¡¯t need to flip the page to reverse it; a quick drag of his finger across the spell form would do so just as well, but faster. And soon the daunting pile of spellbooks on the table was gone, transferred to a stack on the floor, waiting for the library¡¯s magic to sweep it away.


    Kole left the library in high spirits, despite having to go to class, because now he knew that wherever he went, he could take the library with him.


    This is probably going to get out of hand, he reflected, having enough self awareness that this might have developed into a problem.


    Kole spent all of Astronomy class copying over spells from one page of his spellbook to the next, reviewing each component before willing a copy to appear and then learning the small mote of imbued intent before depositing it back down in the book.


    As he went, he found he was gaining a better understanding of what each unknown bit of these spell components actually did. He could always sort of deduce the purpose of a spell component from the context of it within the spellform, and if he built it in his mind he could see what it did, but now, his spellbook enhance mind was drawing upon all the little details of his years of study, and giving him insights.


    When class was dismissed, Kole ran home and secluded himself.


    <hr>


    ¡°Turn in your defensive essays on your way out,¡± Underbrook announced, and Kole¡¯s heart sank.


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed.


    ¡°You forgot to do it?¡± Gray, who¡¯d been Kole¡¯s partner in mental defense training again, asked.


    ¡°Yeah...¡± Kole said.


    He hadn¡¯t told Gray about his explosive growth as of late. The other boy still didn¡¯t know about his ensouled artifact, and they weren¡¯t exactly friends yet¡ªthough it did seem to be heading in that direction. Even then, a secret like that wasn¡¯t one he planned to share with anyone but his team. Each of them had saved his life in one way or another, and he knew he could trust them to keep his secret.


    While he didn¡¯t think Gray would turn back to his antagonistic ways, he wasn¡¯t certain. Zale trusted him, but she¡¯d kept things from him as well.


    And also, Kole thought, what if he gets jealous?


    Kole didn¡¯t think him to be the jealous type, but Kole knew he¡¯d be jealous if someone else could do what he¡¯d just learned. While the magic of the spellbook was uniquely suited to help his extremely niche situation, he didn¡¯t doubt for a moment it wouldn¡¯t be immensely useful to any other wizard. Kole was certain if his needs had been different, the spellbook would have met the challenge.


    ¡°Goodluck,¡± Gray said earnestly, as he fished his own essay out of his bag.


    Kole waited for everyone to leave before he approached the professor who was using a spell to collect the papers. A spectral hand was picking them up one at a time and stacking them in a manner much slower than two real hands would have managed.


    ¡°Professor,¡± Kole said, getting his attention.


    ¡°Oh let me guess,¡± Underbrook said, ¡°Giant ant people ate your homework?¡±


    Kole smiled.


    ¡°No, from what I can tell, they preferred to eat each other,¡± he said, but then had to stop himself from retching as the memory of the smell came back to him.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Kole said, after he¡¯d settled himself.


    ¡°Are you really?¡± the professor asked, grinning. ¡°So, why didn¡¯t you do your assignment?¡±


    ¡°I... uh, got a little distracted,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Hmmm,¡± Underbrook said, talking to himself quietly with a mocking smile. ¡°The student tries a bold new strategy. Brutal honesty in admitting they simply forgot to do the assignment. Let¡¯s see if that pays off for him.¡±


    To Kole he said, ¡°Distracted doing what?¡±


    In response, Kole cast Mirror Image, and two duplicates appeared alongside him.


    ¡°Learning the spell,¡± he said, unable to hide his grin.


    ¡°Distracted indeed...¡± Underbrook said, his mocking smile gone and replaced with genuine interest.


    He was intrigued how¡ªafter struggling so long to learn any spells at all¡ªKole had suddenly learned a second tier spell in a week and asked Kole to explain.


    Kole held nothing back¡ªsave his initial destructive form of spellform copying where he tore a page out of school property.


    ¡°So, let me get this straight,¡± Professor Underbrook asked after Kole had finished his account. ¡°You want to know if you can get credit for writing an essay debating the merits of two options by instead learning a spell?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Kole said, ¡°But when you put it that way it sounds silly.¡±


    Underbrook smiled, and Kole couldn¡¯t tell if it was mocking or sincere.


    ¡°Explain your reasoning for picking Mirror Image over whatever your other choice was.¡±


    Kole did, telling the professor how he was between Mirror Image and Blur, but ultimately chose Mirror image due to the lack of concentration.


    ¡°Alright, you at least thought it through,¡± Underbrook said. ¡°Best I can do is just not count the essay towards your grade. If you¡¯d just learned this spell because it was easy, I would have given you a zero.¡±


    Kole was a little disappointed in the professor¡¯s reaction. If he was being honest, he thought the halfling with a penchant for spectacle would have been more impressed.


    Reading Kole¡¯s disappointment, Underbrook said, ¡°I take it you don¡¯t want Professor Lonin knowing about your new ability?¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡±


    ¡°I know him, and if you¡¯d told him he¡¯d already have found some way to convince you to drop out of the adventuring program,¡± Underbrook said. ¡°And since you¡¯re still here, you haven¡¯t told him and likely aren''t planning on doing so.¡±


    ¡°I do plan to tell him eventually...¡± Kole said, trailing off.


    Kole did want to share the discovery with the head of the wizard college. He just didn¡¯t want to deal with the ramifications of that at the moment.


    ¡°I¡¯d put it off as long as you can,¡± the professor advised. ¡°He¡¯s really going to want you to drop out if he finds out. In fact, I¡¯m going to forget all about this conversation the next time he asks after you.¡±


    ¡°So,¡± Underbrook asked, as Kole was about to leave. ¡°Have you put any thought into your future spell repertoire?¡±


    Kole, who¡¯d been a little focused on his immediate potential growth, hadn¡¯t and said as much.


    ¡°Well, give it some thought before the next class and let''s talk,¡± Underbrook said, then collected the assignments from the spectral hand that had clumsily been gathering papers, and then vanished, teleporting away.

 Chapter 36: Less Lethal List

    Most notably, Gileon the Bulwark created a host of Barrier spells that he cast using his artifact the Three Fold Breastplate. While Gileon had a weak affinity for the Font of Barriers, the strong connection of the breastplate he Bonded allowed him to specialize in the area of magic he¡¯d otherwise had little talent in.


    -Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts


    ¡ª


    The week continued as it began for Kole. He spent every spare moment studying, only stopping when he ran out of Will or Zale physically took the book out of his hands to force him to eat or sleep. There was one notable time that she gave him back the spellbook, and told him to take notes on all the lectures he zoned out through, and he spent an hour doing that, realizing in the process that she was right. He¡¯d missed the assignment of a few essays on top of the one for Underbrook, and he knocked those out quickly¡ªto Zale¡¯s frustration


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair,¡± she sighed as he did the work far faster than she could hope to. ¡°You didn¡¯t even pay attention!¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s pretty fair,¡± Kole said. ¡°Nothing is stopping anyone else from randomly stumbling on an ensouled spellbook.¡±


    In his duel on Friday, Kole refrained from showing off his ability Mirror Image. He didn¡¯t need it to defeat the student he was facing and wanted to save it as a surprise for the next day¡¯s hardball match. Similarly, his Silent Image spell still secret, and he was hoping to save his illusory magic for critical moments in a match.


    Growing up, he¡¯d partially blamed it for his mother¡¯s failure to escape the pocket realm that held her. But he¡¯d softened his stance on Illusion magic over the past few months. He¡¯d always thought if she¡¯d been a ¡°real mage¡± she¡¯d have been able to escape. That had influenced a lot of his decisions to avoid training as a Mirage Knight, but looking back without that bias, he was still happy with his choice.


    Even without his spellbook, he now knew he¡¯d made the right decision. Even before his recent discovery of its abilities, he¡¯d largely resolved his bottle neck, finding a workaround to learn spells from traditional spellbooks and avoid the gate based spells he couldn¡¯t cast.


    The accelerated rate was, frankly in Kole¡¯s opinion, absurd. He expected that before the semester was over, he would know more spells than anyone else in his age group, the notable downside being they¡¯d all be of the Light, Sound, or Mind Font¡ªthough, there was nothing stopping him from learning spells outside that if he chose to accept the restrictive costs. The reason his learning outstripped his peers wasn¡¯t just because of the spellbook. Kole had spent the last five years of his life using all his Will solely for the purpose of learning spells. While his peers were practicing with spells, squandering their Will to improve their proficiency, Kole was at work, day and night, learning more and more spell components using his extra-large Will capacity.


    When learning a new spell from a spell, it usually took wizards weeks of work to practice and internalize each component of the spellform. After a wizard learned the spell, they could rebuild it much faster. Kole¡¯s endless toil of learning without fruit was now paying off as each spellform he create was filled with familiar intent he could rapidly relearn.


    His spellbook¡¯s benefits for rapid learning could even be applied to traditional spells from Fonts other than those he had an affinity for, he¡¯d just have to copy the gate component from a modern spell, and then path it from there. The spell would cost would still be large, but he expected he could improve on his previous lower limit of 18 he¡¯d hit for Magic Missile and Shield.


    Per Underbrook¡¯s request, he¡¯d been thinking over what spells to learn next in his free time but hadn¡¯t settled on many. The limiting factor was his mental vault¡¯s capacity. Currently he could store four spells in his mind, which was slightly above average for his age.


    His vault contained Radiant Bolt, Thunderwave, and Mirror Image, the rune intent for Amara¡¯s shield bracer taking up the fourth slot. Invisibility and Silent Image being sorcery spells didn¡¯t take up any slots, and neither did his primal ability Fade. Any other spells he learned, if he wished to cast them, he¡¯d have to replace one of the above four, and he was struggling to find anything worth a spot.


    By Friday, Kole had reached the limits on the improvements he could make to Radiant Bolt and Thunderwave¡ªand as he¡¯d yet to determine what spells to learn next, he¡¯d decided to learn a Light spell to replace his dependency on runic likes. Looking through the spell indexes, he¡¯d found one that lacked concentration and allowed him to cause an object to emit bright light for an hour. While he didn¡¯t have room for it when going into potential battle, it was a far more useful spell for his day-to-day life as a student than, say, Thunderwave, so he¡¯d kept it prepared in place of that destructive spell, planning to switch it out before duels, hardball matches, or trips in search of Amara¡¯s sister.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    He still debated what spells to learn next. But any time he had to spend thinking¡ªnot fervently optimizing spells¡ªZale occupied, preparing them for their next hardball match.


    They didn¡¯t know for certain who they¡¯d be facing, but the options were more limited now that half the class had been relegated to a loser¡¯s bracket.


    <hr>


    Saturday morning Kole walked into the study hall room, paging through the frankly absurd number of spells he¡¯d copied through the week.


    ¡°Any news?¡± Zale asked, and Kole looked up to see that Runt was waiting for them in the room.


    ¡°A couple leads,¡± Runt said, throwing a stack of paper onto a table.


    Amara ran over to it, reading the first page and then flipped through the rest. After looking through half the stack she dropped it and looked at Runt.


    ¡°There''s only writing on the first sheet,¡± she said, confused.


    Runt shrugged.


    ¡°It''s not dramatic throwing down a single sheet. It wasn¡¯t a long list,¡± Runt said.


    Zale sighed and said, ¡°It''s a thing my mom does.¡±


    ¡°It works really well with blackmail,¡± Runt added.


    Zale looked over the single page and reviewed it.


    ¡°I think I can get a door to Rowen,¡± Zale said, pointing to a name on the list where another primal went missing in the region. ¡°We can check it out tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°We really should move these meetings to Sunday,¡± Kole said, ¡°With the hardball matches, we can¡¯t do a lot of training, and if we get a lead, we can¡¯t pursue it right away.¡±


    Everyone agreed to the suggestion, and they got on with their low impact training.


    ¡°Before I forget,¡± Zale said, catching Kole¡¯s attention and pulling out a small bag.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°A gift... sort of,¡± Zale answered.


    Kole¡¯s mine raced at what it could be or why she¡¯d be giving him something at all but drew a blank.


    Before he could get too carried away in his thoughts, she placed it in his hand, and he felt the familiar shape of a vial beneath the fabric of the bag.


    ¡°It¡¯s a clarity potion,¡± Zale said.


    Kole pulled it out to see a metallic vial.


    Seeing the confusion on Kole¡¯s face, she explained, ¡°Its nerestet¡ªdwarven steel that doesn¡¯t react with, well, anything. It¡¯s far more practical in battle.¡±


    ¡°This is really expensive,¡± Kole said, referring to both the vial itself and its contents.


    ¡°Mom had it lying around, and I figured we¡¯d need it today.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Kole said, after realizing he¡¯d not spoken for a while.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± Zale said, and then more seriously added, ¡°Really. Don¡¯t. Mom will probably be okay with it, but she might seek repayment in some stupid pranking way.¡±


    They moved onto their training after that.


    Doug spent the time trying to force a connection to his Font. He was far from having a completed mental vault, but with the runed soul stone and months of practice, he felt he was close to a breakthrough.


    ¡°I think I can almost force a teleport,¡± he explained. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to direct it, but it''s a start.¡±


    Rakin continued to work in the sand pit, sitting in the sand cross legged with his eyes closed, sand lifting around him into a dust cloud. The effort was causing strain on him, and he sweat as he worked. But slowly he was able to get the dust cloud to rotate around him, eventually obscuring himself completely.


    Zale forced Kole to sit near the dust cloud as she sat between both him and Rakin, trying to find a connection to the Font of Earth, and whatever Kole was working on.


    ¡°What are you working on?¡± Zale asked after forcing Kole to sit uncomfortably close to the dust.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kole said, flipping through his spellbook revealing a seemingly endless stream of copied spell forms. ¡°I need to pick a new spell, but since my vault¡¯s full, it''s hard to decide which.¡±


    ¡°What are your choices between?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Shatter could be a good long-range area of effect spell,¡± he explained, counting off spell options on his fingers. ¡°If I can get the cost down to 8 like I did Mirror Image, that could replace Thunderwave. But that¡¯s already down to 3. Scorching Ray, similarly, could replace Radiant Bolt¡ªif I can get the cost down low. Alternatively, I could learn some utility spells. I learned a new version of Light which is more useful in day-to-day. I could create a less lethal list of spells to keep prepared around campus. Mindspike would be a good non-lethal option to employ the next time someone in the city or on campus picks a fight.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm,¡± Zale said, considering, ¡°I like the alternate spell list idea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the way I¡¯m leaning as well,¡± Kole said, ¡°Plus if I learn Mind Spike you can ¡®listen¡¯ for the Font of Mind.¡±


    Zale perked up.


    ¡°¡®Listen?¡¯¡± she asked with a smile. ¡°I like that. And after seeing what Esme did, I wouldn''t mind being able to nullify Mind magic.¡±


    ¡°Was that an intentional pun?¡± Rakin asked from his meditation. ¡°Because if it was, I¡¯m gunna hit ye.¡±


    Zale ignored the threat, and Kole could tell by her embarrassment that the pun hadn¡¯t been intended.


    Kole had been on the fence, but Zale¡¯s agreement pushed him over and he opened his spellbook to the written-out copy of Mind Spike he¡¯d taken from a traditional spellbook of a mentalist wizard long dead.


    As he did so, he tried to convince himself the real reason he chose that option was that he knew it was objectively the best one, and not because it would mean Zale would be more incentivized to spend time close to him.

 Chapter 37: The Baronets

    Rettew the Myriad was an Assuine Blessed human who dabbled in wizardry before his ascension to godhood. Before they called him mad, many called him eccentric. He held a passion for all of Assuine''s creations. While he admired Assuine, he also saw ways her initial designs could be improved upon. At first, he did little things. He took the bioluminescence from the creatures of the ocean depths and Torac and spliced it into bugs so the surface dwellers could experience the beauty they''d otherwise miss out on.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    ¡ª


    The dimly lit ready room of Kole¡¯s surroundings vanished, replaced with the scorching noon day sun and overwhelming roar of a crowd.


    The sudden shift was disorienting, and it was only Zale stepping in front of him with her shield upraised that saved Kole from being taken out by an early spell.


    ¡°We¡¯re in the Orinqth arena!¡± Zale shouted.


    The words allowed Kole¡¯s mind to catch up. Llooking around at the sea of faces rising around him, beyond the flat expanse of unbroken sand, Kole recognized that she was right.


    He could see the similarities to the architecture he¡¯d seen before, but even seeing the place from outside couldn¡¯t prepare him for finding himself suddenly within the massive structure.


    Zale held her shield above them, and Kole attempted to draw on his Fade ability to sneak a look around her, but the instant he thought about drawing on the power, he felt the overpowering attention of the crowd shatter the attempt, like reaching for the last piece of bread from a basket only to be trampled by a horde of thousands of... really hungry things.


    Kole¡¯s mind was still reeling, and he couldn¡¯t think of a decent analogy.


    Rakin kicked the sand at his feet and using his magic caused the spray to spread out into a cloud, just large enough to obscure them. He next dropped down into the sand, and began forming a barrier, sculpting the sand into a chest high wall with his hands, and when he moved on the wall remained.


    As he did that, Zale spoke quickly.


    ¡°We are up against the Baronets!¡±


    She¡¯d briefed the team on all the groups they might face today and Kole actually remembered this one.


    The Baronets was a team of four young heirs to different Baronies in the region of Tilias. Each was a fairly capable fighter in their own right, but their main strength was the wealth their families were willing to throw after their ambitions to become adventurers.


    Knowing who they were only told Kole that he didn¡¯t know what to expect, for just like with every dungeon delve last semester, the team had arrived with a fresh array of enchanted and runed equipment. The only constant each time being the ensouled artifact shield their leader bore.


    ¡°The dust is going to follow me,¡± Rakin said, finishing up his wall. ¡°Zale and I will charge them, give us covering fire!¡±


    Kole and Doug both gave sounds of agreement and moved to hide behind the newly constructed sandstone wall.


    Kole couldn¡¯t see through the cloud of dust and had to hold his collar up to breath, but he knew Zale and Rakin had begun to move when the dust floating around him suddenly began to drift to the ground instead of unnaturally swirling as it had been.


    He waited a breath before peeking a look around the corner. Rakin and Zale were visible as vague shapes in a cloud of dust that was charging across the distance between them and the other team. The pair were running off to the side of the enemy to give Kole and Doug a line of sight, and as soon as Kole saw the reflection of light on steel through the clearing cloud he sent a Radiant Bolt at the gleam.


    The other team was just at the edge of his range, and his bolt passed through the cloud of dust, transforming from a brilliant beam of light to a section of glowing dust before vanishing.


    Flood! Kole cursed himself, knowing he¡¯d missed as there was no lingering glow of a struck target.


    ¡°Down!¡± Doug shouted as he fired an arrow high into the air.


    Kole ducked behind the wall while throwing up his arm while empowering this shield bracer. Above him in the air, there was an explosion where Doug¡¯s arrow hit a projectile that had be lobbed over the obscurement. The arrow struck, creating a billowing cloud of fire, but that flame coalesced into burning liquid that continued towards them.


    Doug had jumped behind Kole after losing the arrow, and the liquid struck the magical barrier, parting around it and splashing into the sand on either side. Despite the shield, Kole felt the heat hit him in a wave. The ground around him had turned to molten glass, leaving only a small pocket to stand in while retaining the cover of Rakin¡¯s wall.


    Doug jumped back out and began firing arrows while Kole started to construct another Radiant Bolt. Kole jumped to his feet to find the cloud of dust had finally dispersed. Rakin and Zale had covered the distance and were now engaged with two of the melee combatants.


    Zale was facing off with another armored student, his gear both more ornate and all encompassing. They circled each other, trading blows and taking hits to their plate to get an opening. Rakin seemed to be dancing with a foe of his own, the other combatant practicing a martial art similar to Rakin¡¯s. But judging by the unnatural way his muscles bulged, with purple veins pulsing beneath, he seemed to require alchemical enhancement to counter Rakin¡¯s Ki powered strength.


    For whatever reason Kole couldn¡¯t discern, Rakin was making no use of his primal abilities to aid him in fighting the other monk.


    Off to the side, two other foes stood, alternating between watching their allies and risking glances to Kole and Doug. One wore full plate and a magical tower shield floated around him, while bandoliers and satchels covered the other and he held a short sling in his hand.


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    The vial draped student flung another project towards Doug and Rakin, only this one Doug shot out of the air far enough away that the molten alchemist¡¯s fire splashed harmlessly into the sand.


    The crowd around them roared with each blow the melee combatants exchanged, but when Doug shot the second arrow in full view, not obscured by the cloud, they erupted and Kole could feel the sound shaking his bones, almost forcing him to lose his spell.


    As soon as Kole crested the wall, the student in full plate pointed a stick at him. Kole sent his Radiant Bolt at him and dove back down and once more conjured his shield barrier, just in time for an explosion of flame to billow around the wall and his shield.


    ¡°Fireball!?¡± Kole couldn¡¯t help but scream in surprise.


    How much was that wand? he thought before more usefully wondering how many charges it might have left.


    ¡°I did it!¡± Kole heard Doug¡¯s shout of triumph, somehow audible above the roar of the crowd.


    He looked around to find Doug, but he wasn¡¯t anywhere to be seen.


    Before risking another look, Kole cast Mirror Image, and readied another Radiant Bolt. While Kole would have struggled to get around the alchemist¡¯s fire heated sand before, the fireball had trapped him in place now. Luckily the ground on his side had was obscured by the wall, and no one could see that the sand his duplicates stood in was glowing orange.


    As soon as Kole¡¯s head extended above the wall, a bolt of force came at him, and Kole sent his own golden blast of light back in return. The force bolt went for the center copy of Kole, which was a duplicate, but Kole ducked anyway. His own magic projectile was blocked by the floating shield, which began to emit golden light.


    Standing, Kole saw that Doug had traveled across the arena, clear across the molten sand, and was running down the boy laden with jars. His target backpedalled, filling the ground between them with dozens of gold worth of consumables to bar the demon kin¡¯s path. Doug¡¯s bow was missing, and he was running with his hatchets out.


    Kole ducked back down, considering a plan to get out of the area of heated glass. He tested a portion with his toe, and while it was manageable for a moment, he didn¡¯t think he could get out before whatever mechanism governed the teleportation system deemed him too harmed to compete.


    Instead, he decided to continue to provide covering fire. Jumping back up, Radiant Bolt at the ready, Kole found the battlefield had changed drastically in the short time he¡¯d been down. Rakin was now completely ablaze, as one of the alchemist fire vials had struck him, exploding and covering him in burning liquid.


    Zale continued to battle against the more heavily armored foe, who had skill to back up his wealth. Or Kole briefly considered as he noticed the unnatural speed the other student moved with, the wealth to use alchemical enhancements to make wealth and skill one and the same.


    To Kole¡¯s surprise, Rakin didn¡¯t rage, but instead acted as if the flames weren¡¯t real. The other martial artist he¡¯d been fighting had run when it had become clear attacking would only result in a burn, and Rakin chose not to chase, instead heading for the wand user with the floating shield.


    The martial artist, however, was running right for Kole. Unleashing his stored spell, he sent it right at the charging attacker. The boy tried to sidestep out of the attack, but unexpectedly to both the attacker and the caster, three Radiant Bolts¡ªone from each illusory copy¡ªstreaked across the arena, converging.


    Had that happened before? Kole wondered, unsure. He felt like he would have noticed if it had.


    One bolt was dodged, but the other two struck, one of which was the real one. The wealthy monk stumbled but turned it into a roll, continuing to run at Kole¡ªnow a glow with an inner light. Before Kole could cast another spell, he was on him, leaping over the hot sand and haggard sandstone wall at Kole in a flying kick.


    Kole abandoned the Radiant Bolt he¡¯d been casting and instead powered his shield bracer. A foot struck hit the barrier, and Kole felt the full force of the weight of the other student¡¯s leap transmitted through the bracer, knocking Kole to the sand. His attacker wasn¡¯t as lucky, and bounced off the barrier, landing in the hot sand where he rolled and jumped out of it, falling in the cooler sand a safe distance from Kole.


    The exposed skin on the martial artist was seared red, lightly burned by the still hot sand, but not hot enough to send him out. Despite the burns, he didn¡¯t waste a moment before attacking again. He took two steps back, and then took another running jump at Kole.


    Somewhat more prepared, Kole steadied his feet, taking a bracing stance Zale had taught him to use in combat. Once more the kick deflected off the shield, but this time both Kole and his opponent recovered better. Kole only sand deeper into the sand, while the attacker planted one foot in the hot sand and jumped over the dangerous area.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to run out of Will before I run out of kicks Kole!¡± the other boy shouted.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure... you!¡± Kole said, embarrassed he didn¡¯t know the other students name,


    The other boy jumped again, and they repeated the dance twice more.


    ¡°How are you casting that spell so many times!?¡± he exclaimed between pants. His burns were starting to grow more and more severe and hindering his movement.


    Kole risked a glance to see that Rakin had vanished at some point, and it was Doug and Zale against the two plate armored enemies.


    ¡°The bracer!¡± Kole heard his foe exclaim, and turned back to see him pulling something out of his pocket and tossing it to Kole before he could react.


    Kole began channeling the intent into his bracer for a shield, but before he could finish, thunder erupted from the small object, hitting Kole with a familiar wave of intense sound, throwing him back across and over the heated sand. The unburned sand softened his fall slightly, but when he lifted his hand to prepare to block the next attack, his bracer crumble to nothing and fell off.


    That¡¯s one way across the hot sand, Kole thought even as he scrambled to recover.


    His whole body ached, every joint in pain like he¡¯d swung a metal rod at a stone wall over and over. Distantly, Kole was aware that blood was dropping down his ears, but he ignored the pain¡ªor at least tried to.


    His enemy ran at him, taking long jumps over the sand, only landing lightly before gracefully leaping again. Kole fought his woozy head to construct a Thunderwave, but the spell kept falling apart in his mind. After the second leap, the distance between them halved, Kole tried again with Radiant Bolt, but both the spells were too new for his addled brain and aching body to complete.


    Leaping into the air a third time, Kole¡¯s opponent turned the jump into a spinning kick, and some long practiced part of his mind reached for a spell that wasn¡¯t there¡ªShield. But, to Kole¡¯s bewilderment, he found the spell template somewhere in his vault. A place both familiar and unfamiliar.


    He didn¡¯t waste time overthinking it and channeled his Will into this unexpected spell template, finding it to function exactly as expected. The spell formed in an instant, and the translucent barrier appeared before Kole, draining the last of his Will. A wave of mental fatigue washed over Kole, just as the kick hit the barrier. Unlike last time, the force of the blow wasn¡¯t transmitted through the bracer, and Kole didn¡¯t even feel the impact.


    The attacker didn¡¯t benefit from this change. To his credit, he overcame his surprise at the shield¡¯s appearance despite the broken bracer, and he tried to turn the kick into another roll. But instead of the shield moving with the impact and cushioning his blow as it had before, this time it didn¡¯t budge, and Kole heard the snap of breaking bone over the ever present cheering of the crowd.


    Kole retreated, pulling the vial from Zale out of his satchel, but stopped himself. He noticed that his Mirror Images were still up, and his opponent was lying in the sand clutching his leg.


    Instead, Kole walked up to the downed student, and held his hand out. Instead of casting Radiant Bolt, he conjured a light cantrip in his hand and pointed it at the downed boy.


    ¡°I yield!¡± the boy shouted, and vanished, whisked away by the magic of the arena. And then Kole was taken as well.

 Chapter 38: Celebration

    As he progressed in his magics, he began to grow bolder. Most of his experiments failed with the deaths of his subjects, and he mourned each loss deeply, both for the failure of the experiment, but also for the loss of life. To this day, Assuine¡¯s Blessed cannot answer why she never removed her Blessing from Rettew, despite all he did. The best case is, that despite ramifications of his experiments, he did it all from a place of passion for Assuine¡¯s gifts.


    Eventually, his experiments grew too unruly to be ignored, and he was run out of the city he¡¯d made his home. He ventured out into the wilderness. No one knows where he went, or what he did while out there, but it is believed the majority of magical creatures classified as ¡®formed creatures¡¯ by Lidan Oakcrest were created by him.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    ¡ª


    Kole found himself suddenly back in the ready room, barely able to see in the sudden darkness. The smell of burnt alchemics filled the room, overpowering him.


    ¡°What happened?!¡± Zale asked, part nervous and part excited.


    Kole took a moment to orient himself. Three adults were in the room tending to their wounds. Kole was the least injured, with just a few minor burns. Rakin stood with a towel around his waist, and was in the process of scrubbing the caked-on soot which was the source of the odor.


    Doug too wore burned clothing, but he was also covered in a white sticky material he was fighting to remove. It was all over him, even webbing between his antlers, occasionally dripping down over his face. He¡¯d pull it off of his arm only for it to get stuck on his hand. Eventually he walked up to the wall and began scraping it off his hands onto the stone.


    ¡°Stop that!¡± one of the attendants yelled at him. ¡°We have a way to dissolve it.¡±


    The attendant handed Doug a bottle, and it disappeared into the glob of goo that surrounded his hand.


    Zale was being treated for burns, and as Kole¡¯s eye¡¯s adjusted he could see that a large portion of her hair on the side of her head had burned away.


    ¡°Are you okay!?¡± Kole found himself asking, ignoring the question and forgetting about Doug¡¯s semi-humorous situation.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine,¡± Zale said, though she rubbed at the bald spot on the side of her head and frowned. ¡°Rakin over there did this.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Kole asked, turning to Rakin.


    ¡°I was on fire,¡± Rakin said with a shrug. ¡°Zale was struggling with her opponent, wrestling on the ground. They were punching each other in armor like a bunch of morons. So I tackled him. I landed a top them both, and when the other guy vanished then I fell on her.¡±


    ¡°How did you get out then?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Suffocated,¡± Rakin said, shrugging. ¡°I was holding me breath the whole time I was on fire. Alchemical flames suck up all the air. Me magic ones don¡¯t.¡±


    Zale smiled now at a thought, getting over her sadness at the lost hair.


    ¡°You should have seen the face of the guy with the shield,¡± she said. ¡°When Rakin lit on fire, he turned his back on him for a second, but once Rakin started charging, he panicked. He shot another Fireball at Rakin with that wand of his, and when Rakin came through the flames even more of fire, he just vanished. He yielded!¡±


    ¡°Me first opponent had some sort of anti magic field on him. I couldn¡¯t use any of me primal magic,¡± Rakin said, explaining why he¡¯d fought as he had.


    Zale nodded, ¡°I couldn¡¯t vanish either, or use my darkness ability.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m glad whatever that was didn¡¯t get near me,¡± Kole said, adding with a malicious grin, ¡°My opponent yielded too.¡±


    ¡°I teleported on purpose!¡± Doug shouted suddenly interrupting Kole, as if he¡¯d just remembered. ¡°I couldn¡¯t direct it, but I saw the Fireball coming and just made myself not there!¡±


    ¡°Could you do it again?¡± Kole asked.


    Doug closed his eyes, focusing hard, and then he vanished, the white goo that had been attached to him crashing to the floor.


    Kole looked around and saw him in the corner of the room, hand clutching the vial.


    ¡°I did it!¡± Doug explained, holding up the vial.


    ¡°Give that back if you aren¡¯t going to use it!¡± the attendant who¡¯d handed it to Doug yelled at him. ¡°Its very expensive.¡±


    Chastised, Kole walked over to the woman, antlers hung low, his joy at his achievement already stolen.


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    ¡°So...¡± Rakin said into the silence. ¡°Did we win?¡±


    ¡°We did!¡± Kole said.


    Kole then finished his explanation about how he¡¯d repeatedly shielded against his opponent, and in the end bluffed, leaving out the part about casting Shield unprepared. He was eager to share the news, but not around the attendants. Blessed of Ganik wouldn¡¯t spread news gathered in the service of their duties to their insane god of competition, but he didn¡¯t know for certain if that''s who these women were.


    After determining the four were all alive and healed well enough, the attendants left them to their own devices in the room.


    ¡°Dinner?¡± Zale asked.


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin agreed, ¡°I¡¯m starvin.¡±


    ¡°Before that,¡± Kole said, ¡° I need to tell you something.¡±


    All eyes turned to him, and Kole told them the full story of how his bracer had been destroyed, and he cast Shield despite it not being prepared.


    ¡°And that¡¯s a big deal?¡± Doug asked. ¡°Ow!¡±


    Rakin had flicked him hard in the side and shouted, ¡°Of course that¡¯s a big deal ye antlered dinbadan!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit harsh,¡± Kole said. ¡°I think... What''s a ¡®dinbadan?¡¯¡±


    ¡°It''s like, most gravel head, or something,¡± Zale answered for Rakin while giving him a warning look. ¡°And he¡¯s still a little on edge from the fire.¡±


    Rakin took a deep controlled breath and then said, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a big deal,¡± Zale said to Doug, far more kindly. ¡°How do you think it happened?¡±


    Kole pulled his spellbook out of his satchel, which he¡¯d taken with him into the hardball match in his satchel along with his potions. He¡¯d meant to buy a potion vial belt, but had never gotten around to it. And when he¡¯d gone to take his spellbook out before the match, he¡¯d felt a large pang of regret to part with it and decided to keep it on him.


    He wasn¡¯t concerned it would break. Ensouled artifacts were extremely durable and could recover from any damage that wouldn¡¯t have already outright killed Kole.


    ¡°I think it was this,¡± Kole said, holding it up.


    He then went on to explain the familiar sensation. How when he¡¯d gone for the spell, he¡¯d found it in a part of his vault newly familiar to him. Over the past week, he¡¯d spent countless hours in his vault, reviewing his memories through the icon of the spellbook there. And in his moment of need, when he¡¯d gone searching for a spell that wasn¡¯t there, how he¡¯d found it within the icon.


    ¡°That¡¯s a big deal,¡± Zale said, stating what everyone was now thinking.


    ¡°It is,¡± Kole said, looking at his spellbook with new eyes.


    He¡¯d already thought it did more than he could ever hope for, but with this... things would change. The aspect that made wizards so valuable over sorcerers was their ability to prepare for any situation. A sorcerer¡¯s individual spells might be more flexible given their arcane signatures, but a wizard could cast anything¡ªwell, a wizard that wasn¡¯t also a primal could.


    The limiting factor on a wizard is the amount of spells they can hold prepared in their mind. A problem Kole had only recently started to wrestle with, now that his learning had outpaced his capacity.


    And now? Well, now it didn¡¯t matter. At all.


    Suddenly the implications of that overwhelmed him. He moved to cast an unprepared spell, but found that his Will was still spent.


    ¡°I wish Uncle Tal was here,¡± Zale said, earning nods and an ¡®aye¡¯ of agreement.


    ¡°I know you probably want to go bury yourself in books after that, but I also know you¡¯re out of Will,¡± she continued. ¡°So. Dinner.¡±


    <hr>


    Once more their entrance into the Griffin¡¯s Roost was met with a round of applause and offers of drinks. Amara met them there, and they celebrated being one of two undefeated teams so far. The Ice Picks were the second, having won their own second match that day. There were two more matches to go the next week for those that had won their first match, after which would be the semi finals.


    They¡¯d yet to see a match of the Ice Picks outside of the scenes Underbrook displayed in class, but they planned to watch those they could find to learn up on their potential opponents.


    Amara was only a little irritated at Kole¡¯s admission that the bracer she¡¯d made him had been destroyed, and she promised to bring a spare when they met up in the morning. She was more excited to learn that Kole would potentially be able to test four runic devices at once, should he find his ability to cast from his spellbook truly without limit.


    ¡°Are ye gunna to go try to court a mentor?¡± Rakin asked Kole.


    ¡°What?¡± Kole asked, confused at the question.


    His mind was still racing over the possibilities his spellbook was about to afford him, and he had little mental processing power for anything else.


    ¡°Are. Ye. Gunna. Find. A. Mentor,¡± Rakin said slower, gesturing to the bar.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kole said, getting his meaning. They¡¯d just done very well for a second time in a row, and he¡¯d been the last member of their team left standing.


    He thought it over and realized he had a bit of a problem. His spellbook.


    To get a mentor, he¡¯d have to fully explain his situation and limitations. If he did that, he¡¯d also need to explain his new found ability to bypass some of the main issues with traditional wizardry. If he explained that, he¡¯d have to share the secret of his ensouled artifact spellbook.


    Can I just go telling people about my spellbook? he asked himself, despite knowing the answer already.


    ¡°I... don¡¯t think I can,¡± Kole said finally.


    He explained his reasoning to the group.


    ¡°Oh, no!¡± Zale said, grasping the irony of the situation.


    ¡°I think I might have to go tell Lonin about it. Maybe he could find someone trustworthy on my behalf and get them to agree before revealing my identity.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s worth a try,¡± Zale agreed.


    A large part of Kole was relieved to have an excuse not to go from stranger to stranger trying to sell himself as a viable apprentice, despite his deficiencies.


    They spent a while longer celebrating, Gray¡¯s team joining them some time in. Before it got too late, Kole excused himself. They¡¯d made plans to meet early the next day. They¡¯d first check on the door in Orinqth they¡¯d left behind for signs of Amintha, before following up on another lead.


    Kole was surprised and a little disappointed that Zale didn¡¯t try to stop him from leaving. But when he turned back to the group as he was walking away, he saw her watching him go with a small smile. When she noticed him looking, she gave him a shooing gesture, and then held her hands in front of her face like they were a book. After which she just waved.


    He waved bye in return, and ran off to see what he could now do.

 Chapter 39: Headlong

    His isolation ended when his magnum opus escaped from the wilds to terrorize civilization. Combining drake, snake, and troll biology, Rettew created the hydra of legend. With the body of a drake, the head of a snake, and the regeneration of a troll, the beast escaped his control and attacked a small village. In an effort to stop it, the villagers tried to slay it, but with each attempt to do so, the hydra grew additional heads. For years it roamed the outskirts of civilization, Rettew pursuing it, always trying to coax it back home while innocents fled its destruction.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    ¡ª


    The first thing Kole did on returning to his room was cast the first-tier Light spell he¡¯d unprepared in preparations for the hardball match. Unlike in his grasping for Shield in battle it took him a moment to figure out how to do it.


    There was a bit of a mental shift required. Normally his mind went in on itself to cast a spell from a prepared template in his vault. But with this new ability he had to reach out to his spellbook¡¯s icon inside his vault. Without fully entering the vault, he couldn¡¯t relive memories like he¡¯d done while using it to improve his pathing, but he could access the spellforms within it.


    Playing around with it more, he found he could access anything within the spellbook that was imbued with Will. Meaning the deep memory unlocking ability the spellbook granted was still held from him when only lightly entering his vault, but any Will intent was free for him to find. If he wasn¡¯t already using the spellbook to write his spellforms in, he¡¯d be able to access those easily to write on any paper.


    He tried looking for the rune intent for the repair runes for his blasting rod and bracer, but they weren¡¯t there¡ªnot that he expected them to be. Those had never been written in his spellbook, and being runes and not spells, he had no idea where to even begin in finding the stable components that would hold their intent without activating them.


    Common wisdom was that stable components that could hold rune intent didn¡¯t exist, and while Kole wasn¡¯t one to be told something was impossible, he bowed to the knowledge of the expert runesmiths on this one. He¡¯d discussed it once with Amara, and she¡¯d seemed convinced, and he trusted her judgement¡ªso long as it was in relation to runes.


    Kole only had a little Will to work with, not enough to make much progress in learning new spells but enough to rearrange the spells in his vault. In talking to Amara, he¡¯d decided to dedicate the four slots in his mental vault to rune intent. She would develop a few options for him to keep on hand to fill the gap his Font restrictive repertoire left.


    As Kole tried to decide what best to spend his time on, an idea struck him.


    I wonder, he thought, even as he dove into his vault.


    Once inside, he went to the icon of his spellbook and brought to mind one of the countless time¡¯s he¡¯d studied the rune intent imbued emerald with the blasting rod¡¯s components in it.


    He¡¯d relived moments a dozen times trying to fully understand the bizarre geometry of the Arcane Realm, why couldn¡¯t he do the same to review a memory of something as comparatively simple as some rune intent?


    And he found that he could. As soon as he accessed the memory, he saw the familiar shape of the Will. He tried pulling the intent from the memory, placing it in his vault, but that failed. All he could do was copy it over as he would a spellform cast in a page before him but even that was a monumental discovery.


    It took nearly half an hour, but he got it done. To confirm his effort, he fired a blast of force into the floor of his room. Immediately afterward he realized that might have been a mistake. He looked around the empty room, expecting the walls to crash in on him, but he was met with still silence.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°I think I miss the rat,¡± Kole said to himself. ¡°And Theral.¡±


    With that casting, Kole was out of Will, but still riding high on the discovery of his new found ability, he needed to do more. His hands moved to the potion of clarity, but he stopped himself.


    ¡°No,¡± he said, needing the words to be spoken aloud to take hold.


    This wouldn¡¯t be a good use of the potion. Back home he¡¯d often used potions to extend a night of study, but that wasn¡¯t something he could afford up here on the surface. Instead, he went to his other old standby. The library.


    <hr>


    Kole needed to do some research. He¡¯d sought information on ensouled artifacts in the past, but hadn¡¯t really dived into the practical applications of a magical spellbook.


    Before him, he had two books, Deckard¡¯s Compendium of Ensouled Artifacts, and Wizards and the Ensouled.


    The first was everyone¡¯s go to reference when researching ensouled artifacts. He found a few references to ensouled spellbooks, but they contained little advice or guidance on how to use his.


    Wizards and the Ensouled was a more recent work. It was a detailed list of accounts of wizards using their magic to enhance ensouled artifacts. A lot of wizards hard developed magic specifically meant to interact with their ensouled artifacts, and Kole wanted a hint of what he could do. He¡¯d seen Theral use his spellbook as a reservoir of runed pages, and he wanted to look into that eventually, but he knew if he suggested that to Amara he¡¯d never get the book back and she¡¯d never get anything else done.


    There was a lot of high level magic in the books, all far beyond Kole¡¯s ability to use at that moment, but he did come away with some ideas. The best takeaway was to learn the Spatial cantrip Conjure. The simple cantrip would normally allow a wizard to summon an item from on their person to hand, so long as that item wasn¡¯t enchanted, and had a sufficient amount of the wizard¡¯s Will within it.


    The range of the spell was limited to a few inches, except for when it came to ensouled artifacts. For those, the range started at a few dozen feet, and only went up from there. There was one report of an archer that created an ensouled arrow, using his soulstone as the tip. He created a vault and learned wizardry just so he could Conjure the devastating missile back to himself. Kole wondered what would compel an archer to make an ensouled arrow he wouldn¡¯t be able to recall.


    Other stories told of wizards that could Conjure their artifacts back miles. So, Conjure went to the top of the spells Kole would learn.


    He also found reports that spells meant to affect the self could also affect just the ensouled artifact¡ªeven if it was at a distance. He tested this by making his spellbook turn invisible as it sat on the table and found it surprisingly easy. This wasn¡¯t something he couldn¡¯t already do by touch, but he could probably think of some use for it eventually. Making three copies of his spellbook on the desk was probably also something he could do, but lacked the Will at that moment to try it out. That he determined would be very useful if he could somehow find a way to make the illusions unique like his uncle. Having the ability to write in one book while two more were open for reference would be really helpful, even if he could already recall everything perfectly.


    Once he¡¯d determined he¡¯d gotten everything he could out of those books, and had a plan in place for his future studies, Kole copied a few versions of the oldest spellforms for Conjure he could find into his spellbook, and then went to bed at the completely reasonable and early hour of 1 o¡¯clock in the morning.


    <hr>


    Kole managed to hide his tiredness the next morning as they ate breakfast and planned their day. As she promised, Amara brought Kole a new shield bracer, which fit exactly as the previous one had. He inspected the runes carved into the wooden cylinder and marveled that it had been made by ants.


    Together they headed to the room of doors which Zale called the ¡®Lemon Hall¡¯ and stood eagerly outside the door to the outskirts of Orinqth.


    ¡°Tracker reader?¡± Zale asked Amara, who nodded in return as she stared intently at it.


    ¡°Why are we going back here?¡± Kole asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t Amara make more trackers for the school to monitor these places for doors?¡±


    ¡°Those ones don¡¯t work as well,¡± Amara said. ¡°The range isn¡¯t as long because we couldn¡¯t replicate my connection to my sister.¡±


    ¡°So what?¡± Rakin asked, ¡°We¡¯re gunna see if the adventurers missed something and run in headlong ourselves if they did?¡±


    They all looked at each other before Zale said, ¡°Pretty much.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Rakin said, shrugging. ¡°Just checking.¡±


    Zale opened the door revealing the grass taller than even Doug¡¯s antlers. As soon as it opened a crack, the indicator on the tracker stopped its aimless pointing and pointed straight through the door.


    Amara let out a squeal of excitement and ran out into the grass.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Zale shouted after her. ¡°I was joking! Let¡¯s get the adults!¡±


    But it was too late, and Amara was out in the grass.


    ¡°Danar,¡± Rakin cursed, and ran out into the grass, everyone else trailing behind, trying to keep up.

 Chapter: 40 Camping

    To stop the beast, Rettew created even more beasts, hoping they would be the key to capturing it peaceably. The griffin, hippogriff, chimera, sphinx, and many more beast were created in his endless chase.


    Eventually, the fear and terror the hydra instilled into the world was directed at the crazy man that kept following it, sowing even more chaos in its wake. This renown awakened the divine blood within his veins, and he ascended to demi-godhood as the god of passion, half-baked plans, and animal husbandry.


    Little is known about his personal life, but his neighbors from the town that first exiled recalled he¡¯d often say. ¡°When things get out of hand, make more hands.¡±


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    ¡ª


    Kole couldn¡¯t recall Amara ever running so fast in the short time they¡¯d known each other, to the point he suspected that she might have taken some sort of alchemical enhancement.


    They chased after her out the door, easily following the trampled path she left behind in the grass. Kole focused on watching the ground for hidden sink holes and pits, so he hardly noticed when the eight-foot tall green grass vanished, suddenly replaced with an endless span of brown knee high grass.


    ¡°No!¡± Amara shouted from ahead.


    Kole looked up, taking in the surroundings. Gone was the blue and cloudless morning sky, replaced once more with the sky of floating islands.


    ¡°Oh Flood,¡± Kole cursed.


    ¡°The rift was one way!¡± Amara said, ¡°I tried to come back!¡±


    They all looked behind them and saw nothing but more grass with mountains in the distance.


    ¡°Ah Krool,¡± Rakin cursed. ¡°Any more bad news?¡±


    ¡°The tracker just lost its signal,¡± Amara said, holding it up.


    ¡°As soon as we entered?¡± Kole asked.


    Amara shook her head.


    ¡°It was pointing that way,¡± Amara said, pointing out into the empty fields. ¡°But it went away just before you guys arrived.¡±


    ¡°Are we trapped?¡± Doug asked, ¡°Because I¡¯m supposed to meet Mouse later, and I don¡¯t think she¡¯d like it if I were trapped in a pocket realm.¡±


    That comment broke the tension, and everyone¡ªeven Amara¡ªlaughed.


    ¡°What''s so funny?¡± Doug asked. ¡°She really doesn¡¯t like being stood up.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re fine,¡± Zale said, pulling something out of the small bag she wore when in armor.


    ¡°I brought the Dahn door handle before you idiots ran off into the unknown,¡± she said.


    ¡°So, we can go back now?¡± Rakin asked.


    ¡°No!¡± Amara shouted, and Kole felt himself agreeing with her.


    What''s wrong with me? he thought.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really looking to get lost in a pocket realm either,¡± Zale said. ¡°I don¡¯t know about you four, but I was looking forward to the end of year dance, and I don¡¯t want to miss it because I¡¯m being held captive by the remnant of the Midlian Empire.¡±


    Kole was disappointed at the prospect of returning, but his mind grabbed hold of something else she said.


    ¡°End of year dance?¡± he asked. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    Zale turned to Kole and furrowed her eyebrow.


    ¡°How do you know about that? It''s literally all any of the students are talking about.¡±


    ¡°I uh, only mostly talk to you four¡ªand Gray I guess,¡± Kole said. ¡°And I¡¯ve been busy the last week.¡±


    ¡°Even I know about it,¡± Amara said.


    Ouch, that''s not a good look for me. Wait...


    ¡°Are you involved in making runes for it or something?¡± Kole asked.


    Amara beamed, ¡°Yeah! I¡¯m coordinating the rune lighting. It''s going to be colorful.¡±


    Ah, well that makes a lot more sense.


    Zale took the handle and moved to pull the door open, but the handle didn¡¯t budge.


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Zale said, pulling at the rod but it wouldn¡¯t move. ¡°I can¡¯t open it.¡±


    ¡°Let me try,¡± Rakin said.


    Zale let go of the rod, but instead of floating, it fell to the ground. Rakin lifted it, inspected it, and then tried to mime opening the door to the same lack of effect. The rod locked in place and couldn¡¯t be moved so long as someone was trying to pull it open.


    Everyone tried in turn, but no one could open the door.


    ¡°This is different than last time,¡± Kole observed, trying to not panic but focus on the magical problems at hand.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Zale agreed. ¡°Last time it was hard to open the door, but it opened some.¡±


    ¡°It seems like we are in the same place,¡± Kole said, gesturing at the familiar yet alien scenery. ¡°Could it be a distance thing?¡±


    Zale shook her head.


    ¡°No, it''s harder to open the door in pocket realms, but unless something is blocking it, we should be able to get back.¡±


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    ¡°So...¡± Doug began, looking at Kole and Zale. ¡°I¡¯m probably going to miss my date tonight. Right?¡±


    ¡°Probably,¡± Zale said, but then gestured around. ¡°But maybe you can find a weird alien wildflower to make up for it.¡±


    Doug lit up at that idea and began looking around. As Zale, Kole and Amara talked out their theories on why they might be trapped Doug searched and found a wildflower he thought would work.


    As they continued to talk, he got bored, and began to practice his spatial magic, attempting to teleport the flower from one hand to the other.


    It didn¡¯t work.


    ¡°Ummm, guys,¡± Doug said, interrupting the conversation that wasn¡¯t going anywhere.


    ¡°What?¡± Zale asked, trying to hide her frustration.


    ¡°I think something is blocking Spatial magic,¡± he said, pointing to the flower. ¡°I can¡¯t teleport it.¡±


    ¡±Oh,¡± Zale said.


    ¡°That would do it,¡± Kole agreed. ¡°But I think I can confirm that.¡±


    He pulled out his spellbook, flipping to the spellform for Conjure he¡¯d just copied over. He couldn¡¯t cast the spell yet, but he didn¡¯t need to for what he was about to attempt.


    He pulled just the intent for the Font of Space out of the center of the spellform and opened his bridge in his mind. He pictured the Font, like he would at the start of casting a spell, but when he did so, the tenuous link that normally formed to pull the spell to the Font didn¡¯t appear.


    Opening his eyes, Kole said, ¡°He¡¯s right. It¡¯s blocked.¡±


    They all tried checking whichever magics they had access to and found that only the Font of Space was blocked.


    ¡°Could this be a coincidence?¡± Rakin asked, looking at Kole, but Amara answered instead.


    ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°No, there is no natural phenomena that would only block a single Font. In the rare instances this does happen, whole regions of the Arcane Realm are blocked.¡±


    ¡°So we can stop it,¡± Rakin said, nodding and rubbing his hands together, eager at an outlet to vent his ever present simmering anger.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like we have much of a choice,¡± Zale said. ¡°Anyone against following the direction of that tracker and seeing if it leads to a way out?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m okay with it, so long as you lead,¡± Kole said, and then added, realizing that could have been interpreted differently than he meant. ¡°Or anyone¡ªjust not Amara.¡±


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin said in agreement, and they set off into the plains.


    ¡°We should have brought food,¡± Kole said, after walking for what felt like hours.


    ¡°There¡¯s burrowing animals all over if ye want one,¡± Rakin offered, and Kole couldn¡¯t tell if he was joking.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen plenty of weird rabbit things,¡± Doug added.


    Kole looked around, as if he¡¯d been missing something obvious, but didn¡¯t see anything.


    ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about water,¡± Zale said. ¡°Who knows how long we are going to be here.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s got to be water somewhere,¡± Doug said. ¡°I can try asking.¡±


    ¡°Asking who?¡± Amara asked, joining in.


    ¡°The rabbit things,¡± Doug said, as if it were obvious.


    They agreed to try it, and Doug went off to find a rabbit thing to talk to¡ªor maybe eat. Kole felt a little weird about how casually Doug switched from wanting to eat to wanting to converse with the creatures, but he was trying not to judge. He¡¯d be fine eating them, but he also couldn¡¯t grant them some level of sapience by his mere presence.


    Sometime later, Doug came back with an orange-red furry bundle hanging over his shoulder.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t look like a rabbit,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Fox thing,¡± Doug said holding it up. ¡°The rabbit things told me where to find this.¡±


    At first glance it appeared like a normal fox, but then Kole noticed that what he thought was a bushy fox tail was actually the head, and what he original thought to be the head was... another head.


    Doug got to work gutting the creature as he shared what he¡¯d found out.


    ¡°There¡¯s a river that comes down from those mountains,¡± Doug explained. ¡°There are also people here, but I don¡¯t know what they look like. The rabbit things didn¡¯t have eyes.¡±


    While he worked, he kept cocking his head whenever he found something within the creature he hadn¡¯t expected.


    ¡°I hope you like liver, this thing has like, four,¡± he said when he started laying the butchered meat out on a large stone.


    ¡°How are we going to start a fire to cook this if there¡¯s people here?¡± Kole said, and then realized the question to be dumb.


    ¡°Bah hah ha!¡± Rakin laughed, as he picked up one of the livers in his hand.


    His hand began to glow with heat, and the organ cooked in his hand. After only a minute, he took a bite, and then grimaced.


    ¡°Maybe a longer, lower heat,¡± he said, chewing the burnt meat.


    Through trial and error, they figured out a system for Rakin to cook the meat, where he heated the stone the meat sat on, treating it like a skillet.


    While they cooked and ate, they laid out a loose plan. They¡¯d go toward the river and then follow it at a distance with Kole¡¯s Fade ability active until they found signs of people. If the people weren¡¯t giant ants, they¡¯d consider talking to them.


    ¡°I¡¯m turning this off,¡± Zale said, deactivating her illusion bracelet.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have¡¯ta ask us,¡± Rakin said. ¡°I don¡¯t think ye should ever use it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easier walking through a city when people don¡¯t flee in terror or throw stuff,¡± she said.


    When the illusion shut off, he looked from Zale to Rakin, but he was unsure why. There had been something about both of them that he¡¯d subconsciously sensed as being the same, but now that was gone. They were suddenly different in some way he couldn¡¯t put his finger on.


    Weird, he thought, putting the notion aside.


    ¡°Is it ever going to get dark?¡± Kole asked, looking at the ball of fire up in the sky.


    Just as in their last visit, the giant floating masses in the sky floated around and behind the sunlike object, showing the scale of the object not to be as large as it first appeared.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like it,¡± Rakin said.


    They took a small break and then set off towards the river, following the crude directions Doug had been given. Once they found it, they filled what they had with water, took long drinks, and moved back a safe distance from it and followed it upstream. The river wasn¡¯t particularly large, only a dozen feet across, but it was the third largest river Kole had ever seen¡ªor the smallest, depending on how you looked at it. Kole had, after all, only ever seen three rivers.


    They continued for another few hours before Rakin told them it was time to stop. By then, the mountains in the distance were much closer, and the grass they¡¯d been walking through had started to thin out.


    ¡°It¡¯s night,¡± he said.


    ¡°How can you tell?¡± Doug asked, squinting at the bright light.


    ¡°Internal clock,¡± Rakin said, tapping the side of his head.


    Doug disappeared as they attempted to make a camp with no suppliers. Rakin used his Earth magic to create depressions in the ground to hide them from sight, and the rest stood around trying to look busy since they had nothing else to do. Doug came back shortly with another of the strange two headed foxes, a pair of the blind bunnies, and something that looked like potatoes.


    They chatted quietly as they ate, trying to distract themselves from the idea that they might be trapped in this alien realm. Their conversation was interrupted when Gus let out a squeak and ran into the coveralls that Amara wore.


    ¡°Big bird!¡± Amara said, looking around for a place to hide of her own.


    All their eyes went up to the sky, and Doug found it first, pointing toward the mountain. Once it had been spotted, Amara pulled out a telescoping device like a spyglass and looked through it.


    ¡°It¡¯s a winged person!¡± she said.


    ¡°Huddle close,¡± Kole commanded even as he began casting a spell.


    Instead of entering his vault, Kole sent a part of his mind into the Arcane Realm, where it appeared besides the Font of Illusions. Following his sorcerous instincts, he drew from the power, shaping it into a form that was both alien and familiar. Alien because unlike a wizard spell, he couldn¡¯t tell you what a single part of it did, yet the spell was etched into his very being, and he couldn¡¯t forget it if he tried.


    It seemed to take him a minute, but when Kole'' brought his attention back to the world, hardly any time at all had passed. He reached out, and a semitransparent gray dome appeared around them, absent one moment, and suddenly there the next.


    Even knowing what it was, and having cast it himself, Kole was surprised at the sudden appearance. He¡¯d summoned an illusion of one of the giant rocks they¡¯d passed in this field, and from within it looked like a lumpy magical shield.


    They sat in silence with bated breath, waiting for something to happen. Gus risked a glance outside as the spell was reaching its expiration and reported that the flying creature was still overhead.


    After Kole recast the spell for the first time, the sound of chewing broke the silence. Everyone turned to see Doug, who¡¯d begun to eat the potato-like root he¡¯d dug up.


    He looked back at them confused, and then as if he got it, held the nibbled food out offering to share. When no one took him up on the offer, he shrugged and took another bite, going back to eating.

 Chapter 41: Grafting

    The sea drakes were more nuisance than monster before the Flood. The magical beasts were a creation of Assuine, a precursor to her eventual triumph in creating the dragons. The sea drakes, as their names imply, are draconids that live within the ocean. They are serpentine in appearance, lacking limbs and wings. The beasts consume metal, not for energy but for material to grow their scales. The metals they eat make their way to their scales, forming into alloys. The composition of the scales of any two sea drakes are completely unique.


    -Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    Kole had to recast Silent Image twice more before they were confident the bird creature was gone. By then, they¡¯d all given in to Doug¡¯s example and finished eating, sitting in silence as they chewed on their strange alien foods.


    After that, Rakin got to work deepening the shallow holes for them to sleep in while Doug coaxed some of the grass nearby to drape over them, allowing them to have cover from above should the bird come out once more while they slept in shifts.


    As Kole lay down in his strange half buried bed, he didn¡¯t even need to fight the urge to take out his spellbook and study. Staying up late while he had classes the next day was one thing, but when the lives of his friends would be on the line, he found the choice to be a simple one.


    Kole slept through the night, no one waking him for his turn at watch.


    ¡°Rakin and I don¡¯t need as much sleep,¡± Zale said in the morning when Kole asked after it.


    Rakin could enter some sort of meditative state that let him rest in a shorter period of time, and Zale could get by just fine on a few hours of sleep¡ªthough she wasn¡¯t sure if that was from her elven or voidling heritage.


    They could sleep, and couldn¡¯t avoid it forever, but they were able to forgo it easily enough for a few days.


    Hopefully no more than a few days, Kole thought to himself.


    The morning meal was once more strange animals and strange roots, and they continued their journey with an eye to the sky.


    It didn¡¯t take them long to find signs of inhabitation after that. Hidden by a hill that had blended into the mountain behind it, they found a large and neatly organized camp, with little figures walking up and down the orderly rows.


    In the center of the otherwise densely packed camp, they saw a large opening, and in the center of it stood a stone large plinth, thirty feet tall, with other large stone structures lay out around it in the pattern that seemed vaguely familiar to Kole.


    Two rivers met just between them and the camp, where they formed the river that they¡¯d followed to this place. Both rivers came down from the mountains in the distance. Besides the rivers, large crews worked, moving earth with shovels and wheelbarrows, excavating a trench intended to alter the river''s flow.


    The work reminded him of ants pushing the dirt out of their hills, letting it pile up outside.


    ¡°They are ants,¡± Kole said at the thought, recognizing the familiar giant forms.


    ¡°Get down!¡± Zale hissed, pulling Kole and Amara down by their shirts.


    They lay on the ridge watching the camp for signs of notable activity. Amara took out her runic spyglass and watched the camp, reporting what she saw. The device was once more one of her wooden runic devices, free of any alchemical reinforcement, but dependent on a repair rune etched into it to keep up its function.


    ¡°How many runes do you have stored in your vault?¡± Kole asked Amara when he noticed her fixing it.


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    He himself only had space for four runes or spells and had to return to Amara to relearn the repair intent when his equipment needed to be fixed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Amara said.


    Her eyes went vacant for a moment and then she said, ¡°Eight.¡±


    ¡°Eight!?¡± Kole asked in shock, barely containing a shout.


    Amara just nodded like it was nothing. Eight was a lot, as much as Journeyman wizard could hope to have by the time they turned twenty five. Ignoring the ridiculous discovery of his spellbook, Kole could only store four.


    He¡¯d always had a high opinion of Amara¡¯s skill in her chosen art, but he realized then that he might have been underestimating her still.


    As they watched the camp, they saw large groups of soldier ants march in and out at regular intervals, leaving by one of the two roads that came into the camp. Occasionally wagons entered, driven by smaller ant people.


    "I see normal people!¡± Amara said, having gone back to her watch.


    Only she could use the device, so they were relegated to listening to her relaying what she saw.


    ¡°No...¡± she said. ¡°Not normal. They look like they are made from stone.¡±


    ¡°Are they golems?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°No, they¡¯re people sized. They¡¯re wearing armor too, and clothes over it.¡±


    Kole tried to squint to see, but it was hopeless.


    ¡°They went into a big tent,¡± she said after a few minutes of tracking the progress.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Doug asked the question everyone was thinking.


    Through their journey, Zale, Kole, and Doug had regularly checked to see if the Font of Space was still blocked and continued to do so as they walked. While the Font had certainly been blocked before, Doug had begun to feel more and more uncomfortable as they walked toward the camp in a way he couldn¡¯t really describe, but which they all took to mean they were nearing whatever was causing the blockage.


    ¡°I could go and investigate Invisible,¡± Kole suggested.


    ¡°The ants will smell you,¡± Amara said, shooting down the idea.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t rush this,¡± Zale said. ¡°We have access to food and water, and we can hide from their sky patrols. Let''s just watch and see if we can find a pattern or opening.¡±


    ¡°Or,¡± Rakin said, holding up a hand. ¡°I set the plains on fire, and we see what happens.¡±


    ¡°I would rather we didn¡¯t,¡± Doug said, and then added. ¡°If we are voting.¡±


    ¡°Bah, yer all no fun,¡± Rakin said, rolling onto his back from where he lay. ¡°I¡¯m going to meditate. Wake me when we need to fight stuff.¡±


    With no better options at hand, they prepared for an extended stakeout.


    Amara kept up her watch on the base, while Zale occupied herself studying the patterns of the camp. Using some paper from Kole¡¯s spellbook, she took notes on the comings and goings of groups, noting the direction they took and their size¡ªoccasionally asking Rakin for the time, which he provided to the minute without opening his eyes.


    Doug busied himself collecting long grasses and weaving them into a sort of blanket to cover themselves with to hide them from above.


    As they sat watching, Kole¡¯s mind kept returning to what Amara had said.


    ¡°The ants will smell you.¡±


    His Invisibility spell was of the Font of Illusions, and as such had a mind aspect to it¡ªor at least, it could. Rakin¡¯s ability to track Kole with his tremor sense implied it only made him invisible to vision despite the Font¡¯s potential to do more. His Silent Image spell was an illusion of light, but it also worked on other levels, appearing in the mind of those less reliant on sight as what he wanted in every way but physical touch.


    Could I use Fade while Invisible? he wondered.


    He turned Invisible, and then moved to activate Fade. As soon as he drew on the power, the Invisibility collapsed, his mind unable to hold both abilities in his mind at once.


    Nope.


    Kole tried again, this time stopping the sorcerous aspect of his mind outside the Font of Illusions. He closed his eyes in the real world and with his mind still by the Font, he activated Fade. Doing so with his mind split was an effort, but the primal ability was a simple one, and he was eventually able to activate it. Then, he cast Invisibility, and just as before, felt the Fade vanish.


    He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to do it. Concentrating on multiple spells at once was something only Master wizards could do, and even then, not all of them. But he wasn¡¯t trying to make it work, he was trying to watch it fail.


    Once more he tried, this time beginning with Fade, and pausing halfway through. Tenuously he held onto the half-formed ability and began to cast Invisibility. This time the casting was much, much, harder.


    Both the spells fell apart in his mind, and he let out a sigh and tried again.


    Kole attempted a dozen times before taking a break, each failing but all in their own unique ways. He wasn¡¯t sure what he was trying, grafting his primal ability onto his sorcerous spell, was even possible. But being a primal and a sorcerer was thought to be impossible, and Kole was a wizard now on top of that, so he tried not to let the fact that no one had ever done this before distract him.


    He didn¡¯t let the failures deter him, he¡¯d expected to fail after all, success hadn¡¯t been the point¡ªthough he admitted to himself that it would have been nice. No, his failures served a purpose beyond mere practice. With a large variety of failures behind him, Kole went into his vault flipped over the mental icon of his spellbook and began to review the memories.

 Chapter: 42 Infiltrate

    Before the Flood, their access to metals was restricted to the few surface deposits of ore they could find¡ªand the metal to be found in their fellow sea drake¡¯s bodies. Their growth was slow. Once the world flooded, vast cities of metals became available to them, and the population of the sea drakes boomed as they no longer had to fight each other for metals.


    -Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    Developing never before seen magics was a tricky sort of work that couldn¡¯t be done in a single day. In fact, it took Kole five whole days before he managed to do it. Luckily for Kole, they were trapped in a strange realm with nothing to do but sit and wait.


    The success came while Zale was busy going over a summary of her findings. In watching the camp, she¡¯d taken exhaustive notes on their patrol schedules and had a good idea of the camp''s strength. 8,000 soldier ants made up the encampment, with only four of the stone people serving as the leadership. Patrols constantly moved in and out all day, each led by one of the stone people. With this knowledge, Zale established that there would be a point for forty-five minutes every day where the camp only had one stone man.


    All that information told them one thing, they were in trouble. There was no way they could sneak through that camp. Zale was pretty sure she could make her bracelet disguise her as one of the stone people, but it would be a stone person that had her features, and she suspected the camp would be a little wary of a random teenage stone girl showing up in their camp.


    When Kole suddenly disappeared from where he was laying on the ground as Zale was relaying her findings with an air of hopelessness, no one noticed.


    He had to fight down a cheer of success as he climbed to his feet. Everyone minus Amara¡ªwho was surveilling the camp¡ªwas sitting in a circle talking. Kole walked right into the middle of the group and clapped his hands.


    Everyone reacted to the sound, but after looking around for a moment and seeing nothing, went back to their conversations.


    ¡°Hello?¡± Kole said, waving his hand in front of Zale¡¯s face despite knowing she couldn¡¯t see it.


    ¡°Kole?¡± Zale asked, once more looking around, but this time with her eyes glazed slightly as she took in the world with her Willsight.


    The first time Kole had turned invisible in front of Rakin and Zale, they¡¯d seen him through their extra senses. Zale smiled and waved to Kole, and he let out a big sigh.


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair, you literally see magic,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Who¡¯re ye talkin to?¡± Rakin asked from behind.


    Kole spun around to face the dwarf.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Kole?¡± Rakin asked, squinting as if that would make his invisible friend appear.


    ¡°Right here,¡± Kole said, stamping his foot on the ground.


    Rakin¡¯s eyes snapped to Kole¡¯s direction when he spoke, and he scowled deeper.


    ¡°Did ye just teleport?¡± Rakin asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Kole said. ¡°I¡¯ve been standing here the whole time.¡±


    ¡°I didna sense ye on me tremor sense until ye spoke to me.¡± Rakin said, stroking his short trimmed beard.


    Moved to the side, making efforts to stay silent, and Rakin began looking around again.


    ¡°Where¡¯d ye go?¡± the dwarf asked.


    ¡°It seems like if I¡¯m trying to hide from you, I disappear from your tremor sense,¡± Kole said, and Rakin turned to face him. ¡°But if I talk, you can sense me.¡±


    They continued testing the ability further, Zale eventually fetching Amara, who had Gus try to sniff Kole out. In the end, so long as they didn¡¯t physically touch him¡ªwhich would cause the spell to end anyway¡ªthey couldn¡¯t find him if he didn¡¯t wish to be found.


    They each tried the mental defense exercises they¡¯d learned in class¡ªeven Amara had learned some in a class she took on mental vaults for the non-wizard. With the defenses active, the invisibility¡¯s attention hiding aspect failed, and non-sight senses like smell could then pick up on him.


    ¡°That¡¯s extremely effective,¡± Zale said admiringly.


    Kole had felt elated at his success, but Zale¡¯s praise brought that up to another level.


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin said in agreement. ¡°So are ye going in now, or later?¡±


    ¡°Flood,¡± Kole cursed, having largely forgotten the purpose of his recent experiments.


    Kole walked slowly towards the camp, his heartbeat thrumming loudly in his ears as his adrenaline coursed through him.


    At least I know they won¡¯t be able to hear it, Kole consoled himself.


    Despite being fairly certain he¡¯d not be detected with his new enhanced invisibility, Kole had taken some precautions to further reduce the chance. Having been laying out in the dirt for three days under the light of a pseudo-sun, Kole had gotten a little stinky. He¡¯d gone off to the river and cleaned himself and his clothes before setting off on this mission. It was unlikely they¡¯d sense him where Rakin and Gus couldn¡¯t, but it wasn¡¯t worth testing fate.


    Crossing the river was his first challenge. The river by the camp was impassible, with workers digging away near its bank day in and day out¡ªthough with e never setting sun, there was no discernible difference from day in or out.


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    What does ¡®day out¡¯ even mean? Kole thought as he was wading through a shallow section where the river had grown wide and shallow enough to cross.


    While the camp was at the joining of two rivers, a bridge allowed the ant people access to the bank opposite the hill Kole and his friends had staked out. The bridge was formed of sculpted stone pulled up from the earth as one continuous piece free of seam or crack. The seamless construction reminded Kole of the stoneweaver works he had seen in the city. It was guarded by two soldier ants, each standing perfectly erect, their blank eyes staring out into the distance.


    Kole held his breath as he passed them, expecting them to sound an alarm at any moment. But the pair continued their silent vigil, not sensing him at all. By the time he made it across, he thought his heart was going to burst, it was beating so fast, and he had to stop himself and to calm down. If he allowed himself to get too flustered, the spell could fail, and that would give him a real reason to panic.


    After settling his nerves, Kole moved on towards the camp, keeping just to the side of the road.


    The camp was surrounded by an earthen rampart, with a deep ditch dug on the outside. As Kole got close, he could tell that some more Earth magic had been used to aid in its construction, because the slope of the walls was far too steep and smooth to have been constructed by the means he saw the ants working outside.


    He¡¯d originally planned to scale the wall as it looked climbable from afar, but up close he realized that wouldn¡¯t be happening. Instead, he stood by the gate¡ªa massive iron thing set into the earthworks on either side¡ªand waited. It didn¡¯t take long for a cart drawn by scalequins and driven by one of the smaller ant people to come out of the gate, and Kole ducked in behind it before the gate even began to close.


    Aside from the residents all being seven foot tall ant people, the camp beyond the gate was exactly what Kole would have expected to see after reading up on the Midlian Empire. While they¡¯d been pretty sure of the origins of these strange ant people, Kole was certain now.


    Either the empire turned into ant people, or they conquered some ant people and made them their soldiers, he thought.


    Kole navigated through the camp, heading towards the large tent they¡¯d seen the stone people walk into. He had a general idea of the layout from looking at it from atop the hill, and he¡¯d been certain it conformed to the standard Midlian Legion camp.


    On his way to his target, Kole passed through the central area of the camp, with the stone plinth, and had to stop, performing a double take. The thirty-foot tall stone pillar was a perfect replica of the Dahn. And once he¡¯d realized that, he recognized the other shapes.


    ¡°It¡¯s the campus,¡± he said aloud to himself before he could stop it.


    He looked right to left, but no one was nearby.


    Is it a battle map? he wondered.


    Unable to pass this by, Kole moved over to investigate. On the edge of the clearing, one tent was open wide towards the miniature campus. Kole headed over, giving all the ant people working on the replicas a wide berth. Within, he saw tables of maps and diagrams. On closer inspection, they were all detailed maps of the city. The largest and most prominent document Kole saw without touching anything was a heavy marked up map. The map originally had shown two rivers near a mountain, but someone had gone over it with red ink, redrawing the lines of the waterways.


    Kole compared the map to the ones around him, and quickly realized what it was.


    They are sculpting the river to match the path of the ones around Edgewater! But why?


    Kole was eager to unravel the mystery but had spent long enough lingering. Looking everything over once more so he could recall it all with the aid of his spellbook, Kole left the tent and headed toward his target.


    The large tent served as the command tent. Kole didn¡¯t know what he was looking for exactly, but he figured something able to block access to the Font of Space from miles away wouldn¡¯t be easily missed. Going by that logic, the command tent was a bust. Kole was easily able to sneak in behind one of the countless couriers that came and went at all times.


    Table lined the inside of the tent and glass globes illuminated the place, emitting an orange light, similar to a torch. Kole tried to sense the magic from one as he got close but when he felt the heat of it realized it wasn¡¯t Light magic but Fire.


    The stone man inside the tent was dressed in armor that Kole was certain denoted some lofty military rank, though he had no clue which. The man appeared human, if you ignored the fact his skin looked to be made of a tan rock and his hair a darker shade of the same. Despite that, he moved just as any other man would, but a quick glance at the reinforced furniture in the room suggested that to be a result of incredible strength.


    Kole made sure to stay as far from the man as possible. While Rakin couldn¡¯t sense Kole with his tremor sense, Rakin hadn¡¯t literally been made out of stone, and Kole suspected this man might have more acute senses.


    Once it became clear the rather spartan tent lacked his quarry, Kole tried to get a glimpse of one of the dispatches that came and went a seemingly endless tide.


    Unfortunately, the dispatches were not written¡ªif that indeed was what they were. Each courier that entered gave the tent¡¯s sole occupant a stone chit and took one in return. The stone man would hold each in his hand thoughtfully before grabbing a fresh one from his pocket, holding it for a moment and giving it to the courier.


    The only clue as to what this army was up to were the maps spread out over the tables, but even that wasn¡¯t helpful in the specifics. They depicted every major city in Basin, the one of Edgewater prominent amongst them all on the table before the commander. Obviously, they were planning some sort of invasion, Kole knew that already. What he didn¡¯t know was how or when they planned to do it.


    Up close the man seemed aged. If he were human, Kole would have guessed him to be in his sixties, but who knew how long these creatures of earth could live.


    Once he was certain that the room was empty of his goal, Kole snuck out behind the next courier.


    Where to next?


    Kole surveyed the tents around him. Their plan had obviously been flawed, and in hindsight the presence of the people in charge didn¡¯t mean much, but it had been all they had to go on. But now in the thick of things, Kole had to adjust.


    He spent a while walking up the rows of identical tents, marveling at what he saw. Soldier ants everywhere, going about their day-to-day lives. Some worked at forges, repairing arms while others talked in bars in a strange clicking language Kole couldn¡¯t understand¡ªthough he always felt just on the edge of comprehension.


    In this wandering, Kole came across a tent completely ringed with guards. The tent wasn¡¯t particularly large, half the size of the command tent he¡¯d been in before, but that still left it twice the size of the rest of the tents. This tent boasted six armed soldier ant guards.


    Kole had grown confident in his invisibility and nearly walked right in through the flap before catching himself.


    Best I don¡¯t let them see the flap open on its own.


    Kole didn¡¯t have to wait too long for a soldier ant to come up to the tent with a sack in two of its four arms. The guards gave him a once over and waived him in, and Kole barely reacted fast enough to run in behind him. He had to push the flap open slightly to make it in, but no one noticed the slight alteration to the closing.


    Within glass orbs of fire dimly lit the room just like the command tent. By that light Kole could make out what seemed to be a pale human with black hair half buried in some brown potato sacks


    The soldier ant took his sack into the tent, and tossed it in toward the man in the middle and shouted a word Kole was almost certainly ¡°eat¡± but with a few clicks thrown in.


    Is this some far drifted Rilith? he thought, certain he¡¯d understood the word.


    The man in the center looked at the soldier with disdain, but then his eyes turned and focused on Kole.


    Gods! Of course, he could see me!

 Chapter 43: Spatial Block

    The sea drakes grew massive in this time, and soon took to taking down ships for their precious metals on board. While these beasts killed thousands in their hunting of ships, their existence contributed to the continued survival of the exiles at sea. For fifty years, the sea drakes were the only means the survivors of the Flood had to restock on their supply of metal, and crews of ships quickly began to specialize in hunting the beast.


    -Lidian¡¯s Manual to Magical Fauna, 283rd ed


    ¡ª


    Kole swore internally just as his mind put the pieces together of what he was really seeing.


    Kole originally thought the person in the center had black hair, but once the head moved and the hair trailed behind it like a mist did he realize what it was.


    Voidling! Which means he can see me like Zale.


    Once that first hurdle was tackled, his mind placed the rest of the crazy tapestry together. What he¡¯d initially thought to be a few stacked sacks was actually the body of a giant spider, the torso of the voidling ending where the spider body began. The body of the spider was covered in bristly hairs, much different from the smooth and slender legs of the giant mage slayers.


    Kole froze, as if that would make the monstrous man lose track of him. The man reached into the sack, staring past the guard at Kole and began to eat handfuls of the sacks contents until the guard turned to leave, satisfied.


    Every instinct told Kole to run, but if the voidling wanted to alert the guard to Kole¡¯s presence, he would have already. Then Kole noticed the irons, one attached to each of the eight legs, locking them to the ground, with another around the neck. Each was etched with runes, and the pale white flesh around the metal had been rubbed raw turning black, and black wisps leaked from the wounds up into the air.


    The guard left, and Kole stood there waiting, uncertain what to do.


    ¡°Come here,¡± the spider man whispered, and Kole found himself obeying though not due to any magic.


    At least, he was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t magic.


    ¡°What are you?¡± Kole found himself asking.


    ¡°A monster,¡± the voidling said, smiling mournfully. ¡°Though some of your kind likely thought I was always a monster.¡±


    The creature spoke with a refined, well educated voice, and Kole imagined if he closed his eyes he could picture this man giving a lecture at the academy.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Would that I knew, but alas, I do not,¡± the monster said. ¡°I was in the void, and then I wasn¡¯t. I was awake, then asleep, and then¡ª¡± he paused, gesturing at his lower body ¡°¡ªthis.¡±


    ¡°Are you the source of the Spatial block?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Oh, is that what this was?¡± the voidling asked, looking back at his spider body and lifting a leg as if to get a better view. ¡°Likely so.¡±


    ¡°Could you stop it? End the blocking?¡± Kole asked, finally having a glimmer of hope that they¡¯d return home.


    ¡°Alas, I cannot,¡± the voidling said, dousing the small hope for an instant. ¡°But, you could.¡±


    ¡°How?!¡± Kole asked, barely containing a shout.


    ¡°Simple really,¡± the voidling said in a very amiable tone. ¡°Kill me.¡±


    ¡°What? No! I can¡¯t!¡± Kole said.


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    The voidling started to laugh quietly to himself, trying to keep the volume low.


    ¡°Of course, I finally meet the one human who won¡¯t try to kill me,¡± he said with some mirth.


    ¡°My friend¡¯s half voidling¡ªsort of¡ªI can¡¯t kill you. You''re a person,¡± Kole said, feeling the need to explain himself.


    ¡°While I am fascinated to learn about this friend of yours, I really must insist you kill me,¡± the voidling said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry though, you will just be killing this shell. I will return to the void and rejoin the cycle of rebirth.¡±


    Kole found himself walking closer to the man as they spoke in an effort to keep his voice down, and now he could reach out and touch him if he just extended a hand.


    ¡°Take that dagger, and stick it here,¡± he said, touching his heart.


    Kole wrestled with the decision.


    Can I do this? He wants me to. And doing so will let us get home.


    He tried to work himself up to it.


    ¡°I¡¯m Kole,¡± he said, extending a hand, his body once more acting and leaving his mind to catch up.


    ¡°I¡¯m Dorian,¡± the voiding¡ªDorian¡ªsaid, shaking Kole¡¯s hand.


    At the contact, Kole¡¯s invisibility spell ended.


    Kole pulled out his belt knife, and tried to work himself up to it.


    ¡°One question, if you would afford me the courtesy,¡± Dorian said, holding up a finger. ¡°When you say your friend is a half voidling, do you mean part of her body is a voidling like me, or she is of mixed breed.¡±


    ¡°The second one,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Hmmm, I¡¯d like to have met her, but, alas,¡± Dorian said, guiding Kole¡¯s hand with the knife up to his chest. ¡°I can go slightly incorporeal before the runes in the collar kick in. It should make the stab easier.¡±


    Before Kole could ask for more time or back out, Dorian let out a scream of pain and turned partially to black mist.


    ¡°Grink!¡± Kole cursed, borrowing one of Rakin''s in the heat of the moment.


    He thrust the dagger forward just in time for Dorian to reappear, the dagger wedged firmly in his chest.


    ¡°Run,¡± Dorian said with his last breath, before collapsing in the dirt.


    Kole spun around to see that six ant men were blocking the door. If this had been an adventure book, Kole would simply slash a hole in the side of the tent and run, but Kole was certain he¡¯d not be able to get the knife out of Dorian¡¯s chest before the ants got to him, let alone flee with it.


    Instead, Kole cast a spell. Sending the mental construct out into the Arcane Realm, Kole extended a hand in front of him, and thunder erupted from his hand, sending all six of the guards flying out the tent flap along with everything else on the entrance half of the tent. One of the glass fire orbs shattered where it hit the ground, and the fire inside flew around the tent like a crazed bird trying to escape a home. Every time it hit the wall, the canvas lit, until the whole thing was ablaze.


    Kole didn¡¯t stop to watch, and ran out through the opening his spell made. All around him, he could see the camp mobilizing. The six soldier ants that had come for him all lay dead, their green insides leaking out through the cracks that covered their carapaces.


    Note to self, Thunderwave works really well on giant ant people Kole thought, trying not to think about the fact he¡¯d just killed seven beings in under a minute¡ªreal live, not dungeon generated people.


    Kole used his enhanced invisibility once more, vanishing into thin air just as reinforcements came around the corner to investigate. The tent he¡¯d just left burned, and the flying entity of fire continued on from tent to tent, lighting three more aflame before winking out of existence.


    The camp descended into chaos as all the soldier ants tried to either fight the flames, or find the intruder, and Kole took advantage of that to make for the ramparts. From the inside, the mounds of earth had an easy gentle slope, and Kole sprinted up one, stopping only long enough at the top to not leap off the edge. He slid down the smooth surface, and ran towards the bridge, clutching his satchel to his side.


    The fire fighting efforts were not going so well, as the light of the flame grew. More flame spirits had escaped, and were taking up the effort of their liberator to burn the tents of those that had held them captive. By the time Kole made it to the bridge a quarter of the camp burned. As Kole watched, a dust cloud gathered, billowing up on an unfelt wind, covering the whole camp in a moment, and then it all condensed onto the flames, smothering them out in a matter of seconds.


    Soldier ants came running out of the gate behind Kole, and those on the bridge moved to block access to it.


    ¡°Krit and krool,¡± Kole cursed, again borrowing one of Rakin¡¯s curses.


    He ran straight for the bridge, and when he was a few paces out, dropped his Invisibility, casting Thunderwave. The two guards jumped back at his sudden appearance out of nowhere, and then flew back as the force of his spell hit them. They crashed into the bridge, their carapaces, weakened by the spell, breaking open, and their insides poured out over the bridge.


    Kole had to fight back the urge to vomit as the memory of the smell from the dormitory returned to him once more. The way clear before him, Kole turned invisible one last time, and vanished into plains.

 Chapter 44: Invasion

    Keev¡¯s origin as a demi-god of heroics was simple, though that doesn¡¯t take away from his achievements. He grew up the son of a wealthy merchant, but strove to use his position to help others. When it became clear he had no penchant for commerce, his father squired him to a knight of the kingdom of Avinor, with whose king he had a trade relationship. Keev distinguished himself in saving the king of Avinor from an assassin at a banquet and was fully knighted at the age of fourteen. From there, Keev went out as a knight errant, helping any and all he saw. He slew no dragons, and won no wars, but he travelled the world humbly doing good, until one day he ascended after rescuing a child¡¯s cat from a tree.


    -Excerpt from Wicket¡¯s Guides to the Pantheon.


    Kole ran as fast as he could back towards his friends, once again grateful in the moment for all the torture Zale and Tigereye had forced him to endure these past months. For not the first time he vowed internally not to grumble as much during those training, but he suspected this vow would be as effective as the last few.


    By the time he made it back to the hill, what little that had construed their camp had been packed up and everyone wore all the gear they¡¯d taken off over the past week.


    ¡°You did it!¡± Zale congratulated him as she saw him approaching in her Willsight.


    ¡°It worked?¡± Kole asked, banishing the spell.


    The sight of Zale brought flashes of the spider voidling he¡¯d just killed, and he grimaced at the memory.


    Doug nodded at the question and a rock he held in his palm vanished.


    ¡°What¡¯re we waitin for?¡± Rakin asked.


    Zale moved to pull the handle open, when suddenly the ground around them shook.


    ¡°Uh oh,¡± Rakin said, looking at the ground.


    ¡°Something is happening!¡± Doug shouted, as if they didn¡¯t all feel the shake. Then he added to clarify ¡°Something Spacey!¡±


    They all turned toward the camp, and watched as a tear formed in reality. It began as a flickering in the sky above the camp, but elongated toward the ground, replacing the alien sky full of floating islands to the familiar blue sky of their home. Not only was the sky familiar, but so was the skyline. The rip revealed a view of Edgewater as seen from the harbor, the tower of the Dahn soaring high above everything else.


    ¡°I think I know why they were blocking the Font of Space,¡± Kole said, putting the pieces of what he saw in the came together in his mind.


    He¡¯d at first suspected the block was to prevent attacks, but now realized it was meant to prevent the rift from opening prematurely. They were staging an invasion, but weren¡¯t yet ready to attack.


    ¡°Ye think?¡± Rakin said.


    Zale opened the door, and turned to Rakin


    ¡°We have to warn the city!¡± she shouted. ¡°Go sound the alarm.¡±


    Rakin took off, drawing on both his Ki, and his Earth magic to propel him along. He disappeared down the hall and out of sight.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Amara asked.


    They looked out over the camp, and saw the rift opening up further and further, inching towards the rivers on either side. As they watched, it touched down. The unarmored worker ants that had been digging fled from its descent, but they were too densely packed, and those that were touched by it passed out into the Material Realm.


    As the rip descended, they saw the harbor market below, the people¡¯s morning of trading suddenly interrupted by the rift in the sky. Everyone ran in panic, fleeing towards the safety of the city¡¯s walls.


    The ants that went through looked just as panicked as those on the receiving end of the invasion, and they too cast about looking for safety of their own.


    ¡°Follow me!¡± Zale said, taking charge and leading them through the door.


    After the last of them was through, she took the rod, sealing the path back and led them through a series of doors until one of them took them out of the magically lit Dahn into the dark familiar damp of a cellar.


    Kole summoned an orb of Light in his hand, lighting up the small space.


    ¡°Is this another tavern cellar?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Yeah, mom says they make good places to leave doors,¡± Zale said, drawing her sword and shield and making her way up the stairs as she spoke. ¡°Limited foot traffic, easy to blend into the crowd and hide you just came out of nowhere, and most tavern owners are open to keeping secrets for coin.¡±


    She stopped at the door listening, and then nodded.


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    ¡°We are in the dock district,¡± she said, ¡°I don¡¯t hear chaos up above, so we can¡¯t be too close. Everyone ready?¡±


    They all nodded, and exited the cellar. The tavern above wasn¡¯t yet aware of the chaos unfolding above. An older man with an apron turned at the noise of their exit, and held his hands up in surrender.


    ¡°I work for Shin,¡± Zale said, listing what Kole assumed to be yet another alias of her mother. ¡°The harbor is under attack, send people through the door in the basement to safety!¡±


    At the name, the man settled until the rest of the statement caught up to him.


    ¡°Everyone to the cellar!¡± he yelled, and to his credit he went towards the front door.


    They followed, exiting out into the street where people were standing in silent awe of the rift in the sky. It was far enough away that only the floating islands and orb of light could be seen, and not the army of giant ants down below.


    ¡°It¡¯s an invasion!¡± Zale shouted, ¡°There¡¯s safety in the basement here!¡±


    Kole and his friends didn¡¯t wait around to see if anyone listened, but ran towards the rift.


    I need to run more, Kole found himself thinking as he began to flag.


    For all the improvements he¡¯d made in the past months, he had nowhere near the endurance of Zale who¡¯d trained her whole life.


    He turned to Amara, amazed she was able to keep up, and saw her pulling a yellow potion out of her belt.


    ¡°Endurance. Potion,¡± she said, panting between each breath.


    ¡°Can I have one?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t,¡± she said, pausing to down the small vial. Here exhaustion vanished, and her breathing steadied and she finished. ¡°They don¡¯t mix well with clarity potions.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Kole said, suddenly remembering all the horrible deaths he¡¯d learned about the previous semester in alchemy.


    He did a quick internal count of his morning''s events and determined he¡¯d spent 26 Will, leaving him with about 22 before he needed to take the potion Zale had gifted him. As they rounded the block to gain a full view of the harbor, he was suddenly very certain he would need it.


    A giant tear in reality, a mirror to the one they¡¯d seen on the other side rose from the street that lined the harbor, up into the sky, the real sun rising behind it, casting the sky in a crimson red. The orb of light that acted as a sun for that otherworld was visible through the rift, giving the appearance of a malevolent vertically slitted eye, the floating islands making up its iris. The sight sent chills through Kole.


    In the time it¡¯d taken them to get here, the soldier ants had gone from a confused force to reluctant invaders. The soldiers were creating a perimeter, pushing back all the stalls and buildings immediately around the portal, and were already at work ripping up the stones of the market to pile up ramparts around the breach.


    Kole and his team stopped, looking over the surroundings for some place they could help. People were still fleeing, and the ants were sending advance parties after them. The ally they¡¯d exited before was one avenue of escape the ants had yet to control.


    ¡°Doug and Amara, can you find a roof?¡± Kole asked, pulling his quarterstaff off his back sling. ¡°Thunderwave works too well on these for me to stay at range.¡±


    ¡°Follow me,¡± Doug said, taking Amara by the hand, and heading into a building beside them.


    Zale looked at Kole, and nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    <hr>


    Zale and Kole planted themselves in openings between buildings only ten feet across. As fleeing survivors saw them, they redirected toward them. The ants followed. By then, the friends were not the only people standing to fight. All around the harbor pockets of resistances had formed, the city guard having pulled together, joined by sailors who¡¯d not had the fortune of being aboard their ships. The ships by then had all left dock, floating out a safe distance from shore carrying with them anyone who they could pull aboard. They now sat in the middle of the river, watching the battle unfold.


    Archers and wizards on deck fired occasionally at the shore, but the ants showed no desire to push out toward the water. A perimeter was forming between the buildings, but it wasn¡¯t even or complete, and the ants were pushing up some streets unopposed while stymied at others.


    The first soldier ant, clad in familiar armor and wielding two swords and a shield with the fourth hand free, ran at Kole and Zale.


    ¡°I got it,¡± Zale said, and Kole took a step back, Thunderwave at the ready.


    ¡°Be ready for a bang,¡± Kole told her as she ran to meet the ant.


    The enormous soldier held a shield out toward Zale as its two arms swung down on top of her.


    Zale vanished into black mist for a moment, the unexpected lack of a target causing the soldier to fall forward. She reappeared an instant later, and spun around, stabbing her sword into the back of the ant¡¯s neck, in the gap above its armor and beneath its helm.


    ¡°Gods be praised!¡± a woman shouted as she ran past them in the opening they were protecting. Kole noticed then that there were people all around watching them and waiting for openings to flee into.


    ¡°Come on!¡± Kole shouted, encouraging them to come before the next attack came.


    Having seen the death of their eager companion, more soldier ants followed, this time keeping rank. A group of four approached them in a steady march, shields held up in an interlocking manner with small gaps perfect for quick jabs of their swords.


    ¡°I think maybe you should take this one,¡± Zale said, falling back to within the ally.


    Kole looked from side to side, and saw the gap was just narrow enough for his Thunderwave to fill.


    Zale held her ground as the four approached. Kole risked a glance up at Doug and Amara and saw them surveying further out, selectively firing at soldier ants as they got close to fleeing civilians and leaving Kole and Zale to their own devices until they needed help.


    ¡°I''m going silent!¡± Zale called as the ants were a few paces out of the alley and then the shifting sounds of her armor, already hardly audible over the battle, vanished entirely.


    She stood her ground as if ready to fight to the death and the ants came to meet her. Kole didn¡¯t give them a chance to make a single attack, and unleashed Thunderwave on the pair. Three of the four flew back out into the open market clearing, while the fourth¡ªthe one directly in front of Zale¡ªonly took a step back before recovering on a knee.


    Zale capitalized on the stumble and took a step forward into its suddenly open guard and pierced it between a gap in its armor. Despite the wound, the ant stood fully, lifting the sword out of Zale¡¯s grasp.


    ¡°Cheese¡± Zale cursed¡ªsort of¡ªand stepped back drawing her short sword up into a guard position with her shield.


    ¡°Cheese?¡± Kole asked, even as he cast a Radiant Bolt, sending it into the face of the ant soldier before them.


    The sudden flash of light¡ªand likely also the searing pain of the attack¡ªleft the soldier reeling, and Zale quickly finished it off.


    The pair was amassing quite the pile of dead soldiers, and it wasn¡¯t going unnoticed. Beyond, the soldiers grouped in much larger numbers, and Kole caught sight of something he¡¯d forgotten about.


    The earthen men had come marching out of the portal, all four of them, each mounted atop an armored scalequin, and the ramparts around them quickly transformed from piles of dirt, into gleaming stone walls.

 Chapter 45: Flame and Stone

    Of the Bladed Knights of Illandrios, the Mirage Knight is the one most widely known. Many outside of Illandrios could be forgiven in thinking the cities connection to the Font of Illusions was the origin of this knightly order, but the Mirage Knights are the inheritors of a legacy that predates the discovery of the Font of Illusions


    -Bladed Knights by Kysin, the 195th High Librarian


    ---


    A mote of flame streaked across the battlefield towards the four emerging leaders of the enemy force, accompanied by a magically projected crackling.


    A familiar magically projected crackling.


    The flame struck the four and exploded, sending soldier ants flying in all directions¡ªincluding back into the rift. Kole looked around, following the path of the mote to find Professor Underbrook flying in the air, his robes billowing around him dramatically in the breeze as he conjured yet another Fireball in his hand.


    Below him, coming out of a series of very familiar doors, each freestanding in the middle in the road, came Tigereye, leading an eclectic mix of adventurers. Some exited through the door and took to the air, or found a building to climb, but most followed after Tigereye¡¯s charge.


    Tigereye let out a bellow as he ran, and Kole heard it even over the sound of battle. As he ran, his exposed tattoos took on an orange glow. While he was still fifty feet away from the enemy, he threw his hatched into the waiting line of soldiers. The stone hatchet cleaved through an upraised shield, passed through the chitinous head of the soldier holding it, and buried itself in the chest of the next soldier in line.


    Then Tigereye vanished, reappearing with his hand around the hatchet. He kicked at the chest of the soldier, freeing the weapon, and began to destroy the orderly ranks of soldier ants from within. The carnage mesmerized Kole as he watched his martial combat professor completely and utterly destroy the tight formation. The ants tried to rally and build a circle around him, but whenever he touched one of the shields, he imbued it with the primal magic of the Font of Bonds, causing it to stick to whatever it next touched.


    You might imagine that having the shield bind together would make an impenetrable ring, but you would be wrong. Instead, the shields became an unruly mass, a ring that those holding it couldn¡¯t release. Tigereye danced within the center, teleporting in and out every time he threw his hatchet, and by the time the army he¡¯d been leading got to him, very little left remained living of the small army he¡¯d dove into.


    He looked around at the carnage he¡¯d created, and gave a curt nod to himself, before running deeper into the fray, an army of¡ªif not equally¡ªsufficiently terrifying adventurers in tow.


    As Tigereye raged, people still fled, now forgotten by the soldier ants in the face of a force of enemy combatants. Amidst the battle, Kole spotted small portals opening right besides groups of fleeing civilians. The portals moved, engulfing the surprised people, before sealing and reopening besides another group. Once the portal opened so that Kole caught a glimpse inside, and he was both surprised and not surprised by who he saw beyond.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Professor Tailor, the most boring professor Kole had ever had on any topic, stood on the green of the campus, casually ripping holes into reality miles away, plucking people from the field of battle, and depositing them safely on campus. And despite all of that, he still had no flare. He just lazily waved his hands about and politely asked people to clear away so he could rescue others.


    Underbrook wasn¡¯t being so subtle. He continued to broadcast his voice over the battlefield as he taunted the enemies. When the flames had cleared from his opening salvo of Fireballs, he left out a few Torcish curses Kole had definitely heard Rakin say. Kole took that to mean that the enemy commanders were still alive.


    All the while Kole fought with Zale to keep the ant people from fleeing, for they were trying to leave the area now that the full force of the Academy and city of Edgewater had arrived. Multiple times Kole was forced to use another Thunderwave to clear a group of enemies off Zale and a barricade of the dead built up in a ring around the alleyway. Kole had long since become too engrossed in the battle to think about the awful smell that still haunted him, but he knew that if he survived, he¡¯d have nightmares about it.


    Eventually, due to primarily the efforts of Professor Tailor, the area cleared of survivors. Doug and Amara began to provide covering fire, no longer busy saving the defenseless. Doug entangled large groups that tried to get close, leaving them easy picking for the roving bands of adventurers. The city guard had taken after Kole¡¯s team and regulated themselves to barricading the lost section of the harbor to prevent further incursions, leaving the routing of the enemy to the more magically equipped adventuring teams that had arrived on the scene.


    Kole was far too busy to watch the battle at the center, but the one-sided commentary of Professor Underbrook gave him a good approximation of the flow of battle. Underbrook single-handedly downed two of the stone men, forcing them to flee, before Tigereye¡¯s force fought through to them. The ground shook, and pillars of stone shot out of the ground, only to topple and crash onto the combatants of both sides indiscriminately.


    A wizard Kole couldn¡¯t see switched from Fire to Lightning and Underbrook loudly called him a moron for all the battlefield to hear. The wizards quickly sorted themselves out and began shooting force projectiles at the center of the battlefield. The earth men retreated under the assault, back into the portal as their impromptu fortress collapsed around them. It took a little while for the bulk of the forces to climb over the ruins of the walls¡ªand longer still for the heated stones to cool enough to be walked on, but when it was clear the battle was won and over, Kole ran out towards the rift.


    He spotted Underbrook, still flying above and directing the teams of adventurers as they established a perimeter around the rift. Teams were already at work clearing the dead¡ªthe soldier ants to a large pile and the people to neat orderly rows.


    I suppose the soldier ants are people too, Kole reflected morosely as he waded through the field of death he¡¯d had no small part in creating.


    He watched Underbrook work, wallowing in guilt.


    This is all my fault, he thought.


    Underbrook finally stilled for a moment and Kole cast Message, the cantrip for the Font of Sound at the flying wizard.


    ¡°This is Kole, I was through the portal. This wasn¡¯t an intentional assault.¡±


    He didn¡¯t count the words, but he knew he was well under the limit. Underbrook¡¯s head swiveled around, finding Kole immediately, and he flew down toward him.


    ¡°Explain yourself,¡± Underbrook said. ¡°And it better be good, because you missed an entire week of classes.¡±


    ¡°This was all my fault,¡± Kole began, and began to recount the tale of the past week.


    <hr>

 Chapter: 46 Report

    The military of Illandrios always had a strong basis in magic, While no successful military on Kaltis could protect their home long without magical support, Illandrios formed their armed forces around their magical units, while most nations used their magic to support their larger mundane armies


    -Bladed Knights by Kysin, the 195th High Librarian


    ---


    Kole gave Professor Underbrook an abbreviated summary and then the professor excused himself to go update those actually in charge. It seemed that the halfling professor wasn¡¯t in command when it came to things such as establishing a defensive perimeter and determining how to seal up a dimensional rift.


    ¡°Let me go tell the egg heads,¡± Underbrook had said, after getting Kole¡¯s summary. ¡°Wait here, they¡¯ll want to talk to you when things settle down.¡±


    Kole sat on some rubble waiting and watched as the defense formed around the rift. He felt the need to do something to help, but aside from having no Will left with which to do anything, he also was fairly certain he¡¯d fall down if he tried to stand.


    It had been a very long day. A long week in fact.


    Rakin found them all and judging by the charred remnants of green ichor all over him, he¡¯d done his own share of fighting.


    After sitting for what felt like hours, a portal in space opened in front of them, and two familiar professors stepped out.


    Ah, eggheads means smart people, Kole thought, finally placing the unfamiliar term that Underbook had used.


    Professors Donglefore and Lonin stepped out, moving from the command center in the Dahn to the front of the battle with the air of Professor Tailor¡¯s Spatial magic. To Kole''s surprise, Professor Tailor stepped out as well, looking around at the destruction with a sad expression on his face¡ªthe only expression other than mild boredom Kole had ever seen on that face.


    Professor Tailor noticed Doug and did a double take, before pausing to take in the demon-kin Spatial primal. Doug for his part was doing his best to remain unnoticed.


    Does he not know about Doug? Kole wondered, vowing to follow up on that later.


    ¡°Ah, Kole,¡± Professor Lonin said, giving Kole a warm greeting despite his evident weariness. ¡°I should have expected it was you when Professor Underbrook didn¡¯t give me the name of the student in question who provided the intelligence.¡±


    ¡°Why would he hide that?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°We were in...¡± Lonin began, and looked around to make sure the portal was closed before continuing. ¡°Mixed company. We try not to let those outside the school know too much about any individual student, lest they become a target of intrigue upon graduation. It¡¯s one of the Chancellor¡¯s policies I agree with whole heartedly.¡±


    Kole didn¡¯t miss the unspoken acknowledgment that Professor Lonin disagreed with many of Zale¡¯s mother¡¯s rules.


    ¡°Now, tell us in greater detail what occurred,¡± Professor Lonin said, and they all listened intently as Kole began the tale again.


    When Kole mentioned the impetus of their adventure¡ªnamely, Amara running off headlong into a field of grass¡ªProfessor Donglefore chuckled quietly to himself and shook his head, looking at Amara with no small amount of mentorly affection.


    So, he really does get her I guess, Kole thought.


    He¡¯d always wondered how any mentor could put up with Amara¡¯s... Amara-ness, but it appeared the master runesmith was familiar with eccentric students with varying levels of selective hyper-focus.


    Kole explained their journey, removing any mention of Doug¡¯s aid with the animals, as both he didn¡¯t think it relevant to the issue, and he sensed his friend didn¡¯t want the spotlight at that moment. He did however mention that Doug had been the one to determine that the Font of Space had been blocked. This caused all the professors to focus on Doug briefly, but they didn¡¯t interrupt.


    Kole explained what he saw in the camp, both from above with the river restructuring and what the maps depicted.


    ¡°How did you sneak past an army of bipedal ants?¡± Donglefore asked, interrupting.


    Kole had hoping no one would ask, but in hindsight, it was a rather impressive feat to simply skip over.


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    ¡°I can turn invisible,¡± Kole said.


    He wanted to keep that ability a secret, but there was no stopping it from sharing it here. He trusted the professors to not spread it around after the precaution they took at naming him a part of all of this. But he also knew it wouldn¡¯t remain a secret forever. If keeping it a secret meant they¡¯d lose a hardball match, he¡¯d already decided he¡¯d use the spell. The decision to not reveal the ability was made when that was largely all he could do, but now his arsenal had greatly expanded.


    As willing as he was to let that ability slip, he still vowed to keep the specifics of his primal nature as secret as possible. No one would believe him at this point since he very clearly was a wizard, and as everyone knew primals couldn¡¯t be wizards. A lot of students had known that he was a primal but hadn¡¯t known the Font. But these students had stopped believing him to be one at all once he¡¯d started demonstrating access to multiple Font.


    The knowledge being public would only put scrutiny and distrust on him, as Mirage Knights didn¡¯t have the best reputation, being equal parts spy and soldier.


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be enough to fool ants,¡± Donglefore insisted, then added, ¡°unless they lacked the enhanced sense of smell typical to ants.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t,¡± Amara added, and Kole had to restrain a giving her a reproachful look.


    Kole sighed. Professor Lonin already knew he was a primal of Illusions, so he supposed it couldn¡¯t hurt to tell these other two professors.


    ¡°I was able to link my primal ability to the spell, enhancing it. It makes me invisible, and harder to detect by all other senses¡ªI don¡¯t think it would work on creatures that didn¡¯t rely on sight at all.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating!¡± Lonin said, and Kole could tell he had a lot of questions he wanted to ask but was restraining himself due to the important matters at hand.


    ¡°You¡¯ll want to hear the rest,¡± Kole said, taking the opportunity to get back on topic.


    Kole realized as he spoke that he¡¯d never told Zale about what he¡¯d seen inside that tent. She gasped in horror at the description of the hybrid spider voidling, and Kole stopped speaking to see that she alright. When she gave him a nod to continue, he did.


    Professor Tailor became extremely interested in the details of the spider body, asking questions Kole couldn¡¯t answer without the aid of his spellbook.


    ¡°One second,¡± Kole said as he entered his vault.


    He went to the icon within and thought back to the hybrid voidling spider. A pang of guilt went through him as he saw the man he¡¯d killed once more.


    ¡°It¡¯s covered in brown hairs,¡± Kole said, eyes closed. ¡°Is it hair if it''s on a spider¡ªnever mind. There¡¯s two darker brown lines running down its body.¡±


    He heard Professor Tailor curse, and Kole opened his eyes to see something had lit a fire within the normally bored looking professor.


    ¡°They¡¯ve been stealing the phase spiders,¡± Professor Tailor said, clenching his hand in a fist. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    Professor Tailor vanished, without even a portal, and they stood around for nearly a minute in awkward silence until he suddenly reappeared.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said, much calmer now. ¡°I had to report that news back to the Hollow Peak. Continue.¡±


    How far is that? he wondered.


    He knew the Hollow Peak to be at least as far away as Illandrios. A powerful teleportation spell of that caliber should have registered on his arcane senses.


    Shouldn¡¯t it? I can sense Theral¡¯s teleportation. How much further could he be going?


    Kole saw the professors waiting and finished his tale.


    ¡°Oh, so we just need to break the Spatial congruency,¡± Donglefore said after Kole had finished his summary.


    ¡°It¡¯s unlike any Spatial congruency I¡¯ve ever heard of,¡± Professor Tailor said. ¡°The simple physical similarities shouldn¡¯t be enough to produce a congruency.¡±


    The two professors argued for a while, Lonin chiming in occasionally, and Kole was proud that he followed a large portion of what they were discussing.


    ¡°We either need to destroy their replica on the other side, or break it some other way on our side,¡± Lonin said, trying to end the discussion that had become a bit of a circular argument between two children.


    As Kole had suspected, Professors Tailor and Underbrook did not get along.


    In the end they decided to do the latter, as the majority of the enemy army was busy fortifying their camp even further just on the other side of the rift. Breaching that defense would be hard enough, let alone altering the course of the rivers beyond.


    ¡°Are we in trouble?¡± Rakin said, catching the professor''s attention for the first time. ¡°Or can we go?¡±


    Donglefore and Tailor turned to Lonin who stroked his beard considering.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave that up to your mentors to decide,¡± he said, ¡°But as you do not have one Kole, we¡¯re overdue for another talk.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Kole said, dread rising in him.


    He knew when they spoke, he¡¯d have to tell Lonin about his spellbook if he wanted help in finding a mentor. This would reinvigorate his motivation to get Kole to change his plans.


    ¡°You¡¯re not in trouble Amara,¡± Donglefore said, ¡°But I¡¯d like your help with something now if you feel up for some experimental rune craft.¡±


    ¡°I do!¡± Amara said, jumping to her feet from the rubble she¡¯d been sitting on¡ªclearly exhausted¡ªa moment before.


    With energy Kole knew he couldn¡¯t have mustered after that battle, Amara ran off to work with her mentor.


    Tailor left as well, opening a portal to an area closer to the rift. The professor gave Doug a stiff, almost uncertain, nod before closing the portal behind him. And Lonin simply walked away, though Kole suspected he was more than capable of teleporting away in the manner typical of professor Underbrook.


    ¡°So,¡± Zale said once they were alone, ¡°Anyone up for breakfast?¡±


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin said. ¡°I¡¯m sick o¡¯ eating weird animals.¡±


    ¡°I need to find Mouse and make sure she''s okay,¡± Doug said, ¡°And also apologize for being gone for a week.¡±


    Kole was filled with a mix of conflicting emotions. First and foremost, he wanted to go and study more spells. After that he really wanted to bathe.


    When he looked up to Zale to say he would pass, he found his other desires crumble away, easily forgotten at the sight of the hopeful look on her face.


    ¡°I could eat,¡± Kole said, ¡°But... maybe we go get washed up first?¡±


    They all looked over each other and their varying levels of gore stains and broke out in laughter at the idea of doing anything but bathing.

 Chapter 47: Mollys

    The arch mages of Illandrios were the flashiest and more memorable assets, each supported by armies of lesser mages and soldiers, but they were not their only core magical force. While the means of crafting ensouled artifacts has been lost, many nations integrated the items into their society in the century between the discovery and loss of the art.


    -Bladed Knights by Kysin, the 195th High Librarian


    ---


    ¡°What¡¯s this place?¡± Kole asked, as Zale brought them to, not to the Roost as he expected. but a small shop near the tailor they¡¯d once visited together.


    They had gone back to campus to clean up, and now Zale was dressed in her ¡®spare outfit¡¯ while Rakin and Kole wore the training clothes available to the martial college students. Zale¡¯s spare outfit was one of many she kept in a rented locker in the dressing room of the martial college. She wore riding boots with tight linen pants tucked in and a heavily embroidered linen shirt which Kole was fairly sure was called a blouse, but he was not really interested in asking and getting educated on the differences in clothing names. Over that she wore a blue vest that hung low in both the front and back, almost like a cape combined with a scarf.


    I could probably try to remember the differences if I used my spellbook, Kole considered, but decided against it.


    He knew would just forget again.


    A pastel awning fronted the establishment, under which sat two tables, neither occupied at the moment. Through the wide glass window, Kole saw a room filled with more tables, but all were empty. A lone woman in a black apron stood inside, looking out the window towards the harbor with evident concern.


    ¡°Molly¡¯s!¡± Zale said, giving the woman inside a big wave.


    Molly¡¯s? Kole thought over the name of the restaurant. It seemed familiar but he couldn¡¯t recall where he¡¯d heard the name but gave up.


    Zale must have mentioned it. he thought, but that didn¡¯t seem to be right.


    The woman started, knocked out of her introspection at the movement. It took her a moment to recognize Zale¡ªwho was in her disguised state after the morning''s battle.


    ¡°Best not to aggravate people who are already on edge,¡± Zale had said when she¡¯d activated the illusion outside the dressing room.


    Kole had sensed the magic activate, looked between Zale and Rakin, sensing a resonance between them suddenly where there hadn¡¯t been one.


    Does Rakin have an illusion? Kole wondered.


    When the woman recognized Zale, she smiled back, and moved to open the door, which had been locked and barred.


    Kole thought that a futile gesture with the giant glass window but didn¡¯t feel the need to mention that.


    ¡°Zale!¡± the woman said, putting her hands over her heart. ¡°It''s been ages! Who are your friends? What have you been up to?¡±


    Zale introduced them to Molly, the titular owner of Molly¡¯s, and they were ushered in.


    ¡°Boy, does it feel good to just sit down in a building and not in a hole in a field in an alternate dimension,¡± Kole said, leaning back in his chair once they were seated, and Molly had gone off to get them food without even asking for their orders.


    ¡°Aye,¡± Rakin said.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit surreal,¡± Zale said, gesturing around. ¡°Being here after that battle¡ªand the week over there.¡±


    They three grew quiet at the mention of the battle.


    ¡°Why not the Roost?¡± Kole asked, eventually to break the silence.


    Zale laughed.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to go there for breakfast,¡± she said, taking an embroidered napkin off the table and laying it over her lap.


    Kole copied the motion, and Rakin grunted, doing the same, but putting a lot of effort into making it seem like he didn¡¯t want to.


    ¡°This place is the best breakfast in the city,¡± Zale said. ¡°We just don¡¯t have time with our morning trainings to ever come.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d come here with you over training any day,¡± Kole said.


    Kole felt Rakin nudge him under the table, and when he looked at the dwarf he was raising his eyebrows approvingly. Only then did Kole realize his words could have been interpreted as an overture to a date.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Zale said, chewing her lip. ¡°Tempting. The last place you took me led to an inter dimensional invasion, but you aren¡¯t getting out of it that easily. I saw you running when you were invisible. Your form really could use some work.¡±


    ¡°There are forms to running?¡± Kole asked, genuinely unsure if she was joking or not.


    Zale and Rakin both laughed at the question, now certain they were laughing at his question, and not at Zale¡¯s comment.


    ¡°You have a lot to learn,¡± Zale said. ¡°Maybe we can come here for dinner instead.¡±


    Kole froze for what felt like an eternity, until Rakin nudged him under the table, and he let out a weak, ¡°Sure.¡±


    Sure?! He yelled at himself internally.


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    Zale didn¡¯t seem to notice the lame response, and they moved on to other topics, like the punishments they expected to receive at what was going on between Professor Tailor and Doug.


    ¡°Do the primals of the Hollow Peak not know about Doug?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°Some of them do,¡± Zale said. ¡°My mom reached out to them on his behalf, but they refused to help him.¡±


    ¡°So, Tailor wasn¡¯t asked?¡± Kole asked.


    ¡°I think he''s new,¡± Zale said. ¡°At least, I don¡¯t remember him from before this semester. I vaguely remember a gnome taught the Spatial curriculum but can¡¯t remember who.¡±


    Eventually the food came out, which took a while as they hadn¡¯t actually been open and the ovens and stoves had all been off.


    Kole ate a large meal of eggs, breakfast meats and some round sweet breads covered in a sugary sauce he¡¯d never seen but were delicious.


    ¡°What are these?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Pancakes,¡± Zale said.


    ¡°No, we have those in the cafeteria, they are hard and round,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Yeah, those are garbage pancakes,¡± Zale said. ¡°Hardly edible if you¡¯re not a dwarf.¡±


    Kole looked to Rakin to see him react to the dwarf comment, but the other boy smiled at the crack and kept eating.


    That''s weird, Kole thought. Rakin wasn¡¯t one to take a joke without throwing one back.


    The thought vanished a moment later when Molly brought more coffee and fruit flavored syrup.


    ¡°What do you mean you¡¯re closed!¡± a voice vaguely familiar to Kole shouted front the door. ¡°There are people sitting right there!¡±


    Molly stood at the door, attempting to politely turn away a potential customer.


    ¡°We are closed due to the incident at the docks,¡± she said. ¡°These people assisted in defending the city and are personal friends.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s redicu¡ªKohlyn?¡± the voice said, and something clicked in Kole¡¯s mind,


    "Oh no," Kole whispered.


    ¡°I know them!¡± Corbyn said, pointing to Kole, who continued to look down at his plate.


    Corbyn pushed his way past Molly and moved over to sit with the three of them.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t dead!¡± he said, as if he were happy to hear the news.


    He sat down at the end of the table, turning a chair around to sit on it backwards with his legs straddling the back and arms resting on the top, oblivious to the death glares both Rakin and Zale were giving him.


    ¡°And you helped defend the city!?¡± he continued. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡ªMolly, I¡¯ll just have a coffee.¡±


    He gestured to Molly when he said that. Molly, who did notice the expressions on Zale¡¯s and Rakin¡¯s faces, looked to them for a cue of how to proceed.


    Kole¡¯s brain by that point had essentially shut down. On the ship over, he¡¯d daydreamed about going back and confronting Corbyn, but ever since he¡¯d arrived, he¡¯d not even thought about the boy¡ªbarring the realization when he¡¯d spotted him in Edgewater and the plans he¡¯d made to avoid him.


    Suddenly it came to Kole where he¡¯d heard of Molly¡¯s. It had been in the dossier Runt had given him on Corbyn¡¯s movements, marked as a place to avoid on mornings. He¡¯d forgotten about it as he¡¯d never once gone out to breakfast and hadn¡¯t considered it pertinent to memorize.


    Oh, Flood, I should say something, he thought, as he stood there in silence.


    It wasn¡¯t that he was afraid of Corbyn. After facing death multiple times over the past few months, the thought of being bullied was laughable¡ªeven if Corbyn¡¯s form of bullying bordered on homicide. No, he was unsure how to proceed because Corbyn was acting nice. Well, nice to Kole, he was being rather rude to Molly and ignoring Zale and Rakin completely.


    ¡°I was quite sad when I heard you¡¯d died,¡± Corbyn continued. ¡°I must¡ª¡±


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Kole asked, interrupting, having finally gotten his thoughts together. ¡°Why are you acting like we are friends?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Corbyn asked, the question shaking the casual confidence he¡¯d had. ¡°Well¡ªI know we weren¡¯t exactly friends, but we¡¯ve known each other our whole lives. We can be friendly.¡±


    ¡°The last time you saw me, you tried to kill me,¡± Kole said.


    He spoke without any heat or anger, but simply stated it as a fact.


    ¡°Oh, it wasn¡¯t that bad. It was just a game,¡± Corbyn said.


    ¡°You swung a club at my head while I was lying on the ground, and if I hadn¡¯t cast Shield, you might have killed me,¡± Kole said, once more free of emotion.


    ¡°No it¡ª¡± Corbyn began, but then stopped himself. He took a deep breath and then started over with a different tactic. ¡°Look¡ªwhen I thought you¡¯d died, I realized I might have been a bit of a jerk.¡±


    Rakin, who¡¯d just been silently glaring at Corbyn the whole time couldn¡¯t contain it anymore and let out a bark of a laugh.


    ¡°A bit?¡± he said.


    Corbyn turned his head to Rakin briefly and then looked away back to Kole, disregarding him entirely.


    ¡°I should apologize,¡± he went on.


    Well, this is unexpected. Kole thought.


    His mind immediately went to Gray, who¡¯d apologized in a similar manner. Gray, who despite Kole¡¯s initial reservations was becoming a friend.


    Could this be similar?


    ¡°No,¡± Kole said, answering his internal question aloud.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Corbyn asked, now completely thrown out of his comfort zone.


    ¡°No,¡± Kole repeated. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to apologize. I just want you to go away. I don¡¯t hate you, I don¡¯t want anything from you. I just want to go about my life, not thinking about you at all, like I had all of first semester.¡±


    Corbyn¡¯s face went through a riot of emotions, and Kole risked a glance to Zale to see her looking at him, positively beaming. Rakin still looked mad.


    Finally, Corbyn¡¯s face settled on a variation of someone stooping down to talk to their lesser.


    ¡°Fine,¡± he said. ¡°I can give you that. But I¡¯ll need the amulet you stole from my father back. Give it to me, and you¡¯ll never see me again. I¡¯ll just go home. I don¡¯t see what the appeal is about the surface world anyway.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°No?¡± Corbyn echoed.


    ¡°No,¡± Kole said, and left it at that.


    ¡°Give me back our property!¡± Corbyn insisted, his act of superiority gone.


    ¡°It¡¯s not yours,¡± Kole said. ¡°It¡¯s mine. I didn¡¯t steal it.¡±


    ¡°Of course you did!¡± Corbyn shouted. ¡°Everything you own is ours. Why do you think my father supported you all those years? It didn¡¯t make any sense to me, but it''s all clear now. He played you for a fool. Now all the Highridge family belongings, lands, titles, and artifacts belong to the Oldhills.¡±


    ¡°Not this,¡± Kole said, grabbing the amulet he always wore beneath his clothing, and then immediately regretted it.


    I probably shouldn¡¯t have done that.


    Corbyn¡¯s eyes lit up at the motion.


    ¡°Give it to me now, and we won¡¯t have to have a repeat of the last time we met,¡± Corbyn said, in way of threat.


    Kole looked at Corbyn and couldn¡¯t help but begin to laugh.


    Corbyn grew red and fought to contain a shout of rage as Kole tried to settle down.


    Finally, Kole schooled himself.


    ¡°I would say the last time was a draw at best,¡± Kole said, suddenly feeling far more confident than he had in his entire life. ¡°And I¡¯ve been learning a lot here. What have you learned over the past few months?¡±


    Corbyn was thrown by Kole¡¯s confidence, and despite his mounting rage, he managed to hold back from openly challenging Kole to a fight.


    ¡°Fine,¡± he said, after collecting himself. ¡°You¡¯re nothing. I don¡¯t need to resort to violence to get what is mine. I¡¯ll bring it up with the school. My father is an acquaintance of the mysterious chancellor and Grand Master Lonin is my personal tutor. I¡¯ll get the amulet from you that way and see you expelled.¡±


    Kole, Rakin, and Zale all looked at each other for a moment before breaking out into a roar of laughter.


    The laughter was so loud, they couldn¡¯t hear Corbyn¡¯s threats. The boy stood there posturing. When Kole began gasping for breath and grabbing his cramping belly, the laughter having continued so long, Corbyn stormed off slamming the door behind him.


    ¡°Gods,¡± Zale said, wiping tears from her face. ¡°I hope his father does know mom. She would have so much fun putting that jerk in his place.¡±


    Zale''s smile faded a bit at the mention of her mother, but she turned to look at Kole, and he thought he saw that twinge of sadness disappear.

 Chapter 48: Options

    Soul stones, when used to create an ensouled item, use the affinities and skills of the creator, and the intent of the object they are crafted in to create an ensouled artifact with a purpose. The less focused purpose an object has, the more nebulous and tailored towards the makers need the artifact becomes. This also has the effect of making the artifact pickier about who they bond.


    -Bladed Knights by Kysin, the 195th High Librarian


    ---


    Kole, Zale, Rakin all went home after breakfast and returned to their own rooms to rest. Kole attempted to study a little bit before bed but passed out with his face in his spellbook. When he awoke a little while later, he rolled into bed without checking the time.


    No one woke him, and he slept through the whole day, and into the next morning. His body was exhausted from a week living in a ditch under constant threat of death. Tired as he was, there were limits to how much he could sleep in, and once he had crossed the sixteen-hour threshold, he woke.


    ¡°Ouch,¡± He groaned. His body ached both from the week he¡¯d just had and lying in bed for so long.


    He checked the time, and saw it was early in the morning. The campus would be deserted this time on a Sunday, and even Zale and Rakin would still be asleep.


    A smile grew on his face at the revelation he had the whole day to himself. He probably had homework, but he¡¯d missed a whole week of class, so no one would expect him to turn it in tomorrow. The professors would still be busy dealing with the rift.


    Kole quickly changed and ran to go to the library, stopping just as he realized that it was so early the cafeteria would be closed. He stopped to pour a bowl of oatmeal from the magic jug and then took off to bury himself in spell work.


    With everything that had happened in the week prior, Kole had a lot of things he wanted to accomplish. His spellbook could help him in so many ways, but he needed to decide what to work on and in what order lest he bounce around from project to project, doing a lot of work but getting nothing done.


    He reviewed the developments.


    His spellbook could help create new spells in several ways. It let him rapidly convert traditional spells to spell forms via a combination of enhancing memory and copying instantly the shape of any spell component already in the book.


    Once those spell forms were created and he¡¯d stored them in his mental vault, the memory enhancement let him complete the spell in record time using minimal amounts of Will and making the final spell incredibly Will efficient. The ability to relive the failure of each spell in perfect detail, allowed him to alter the path just enough to make it work without over correcting. Lastly, the enhanced memory helped sort through the massive mental library of spellform components he¡¯d learned over the years to find an existing component that did what he needed.


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    And on top of all that, he¡¯d recently learned how he could apply his primal abilities to his sorcery, and he was eager to see what else he could do with it. He knew sorcery and wizardry could be combined, though he¡¯d never investigated that in much detail once he¡¯d learned it wouldn¡¯t help him. If primal magic and sorcery could be combined, and sorcery and wizardry could as well, it stood to reason that primal magic and wizardry could too.


    But that was a research task for later. He would first capitalize on his spellbook¡¯s proven ability aid before going out into uncharted territory.


    First, he made a list of spells he could learn by tier.


    Cantrips:


    ¡ñ Conjure, Font of Space


    Well, he began to. After writing out the singular cantrip he wanted to learn so he could summon his spellbook to him should he lose it he realized something.


    I have never tested the Font of the Mind cantrip.


    He pulled a spell primer out and looked up the ability. The cantrip was called Emote and allowed him to project an emotion at the people around him.


    ¡°That could be useful,¡± he said as he read, thinking of the conversation with Corbyn. ¡°Could I project a sense of utter disinterest?¡±


    That matter settled; he went back to his list.


    After writing the start of the list, he thought back to his emergency casting of Shield which had unlocked his spellbook''s new ability. He added it and Magic Missile to the list as well, deciding to see if he could improve them any further with his new skills.


    For good measure, he added Mage Armor to the list as well. If he could get those spells down to reasonable levels, he could probably get a working version of Mage Armor to resolve one of his larger weaknesses.


    1st Tier


    ¡ñ Mind Spike, Font of Mind


    ¡ñ Hideous Laughter, Font of Mind


    ¡ñ Sleep, Font of Mind


    ¡ñ Alarm, Font of Sound


    ¡ñ Shield, Font of Barrier


    ¡ñ Magic Missile, Font of Force


    ¡ñ Mage Armor, Font of Barrier


    He moved onto second tier spells, listing everything he¡¯d considered of the past month.


    2nd Tier


    ¡ñ Shatter, Font of Sound


    ¡ñ Darkness, Font of Light


    ¡ñ Darkvision, Font of Light


    ¡ñ Mental Phantom, Font of Mind


    ¡ñ Mind Lash, Font of Mind


    ¡ñ Burning Rays, Font of Light


    ¡ñ Blink, Font of Space


    Blink he added in along the same vein he added Mage Armor. If he could cast it for a reasonable price, being able to teleport would save his life.


    Darkvision was at the top of his list, however. Being the sole person in the group unable to see in the dark grew tiresome, and if he could make do in the darkness, their group would become even stealthier.


    He expected the following week to be a busy one, and he wanted to have a tangible result for today''s work. Instead of pursuing Darkvision, he began work on Mind Spike.


    Late on Sunday night¡ªor possibly early Monday morning¡ªKole walked across a deserted campus back to his bed.


    ¡°I missed when my room was in the library,¡± he muttered as he rubbed his aching head.


    He¡¯d completed the spell and was fairly certain he¡¯d gotten it right. Only he¡¯d not been able to test it. Mind magic altered the mind, so without one to practice on he¡¯d have to wait until he found a willing subject before he could confirm his results.


    Back in the common area of the house, Kole found a paper wrapped bundle with a note.


    Kole,


    I hope you aren¡¯t reading this too late, but I¡¯m sure you are. I figured you wouldn¡¯t eat today without anyone to stop you, so I brought you this from the cafeteria.


    -Z


    Kole unwrapped the bundle to find a sandwich, which he devoured on the way to his room where he laid down.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to be home,¡± he said.


    He realized something that had been true for a while, but he had never internalized until that moment.


    This is my home.

 Chapter 49: Excused Absence

    Ensouled rings may greatly enhance the wizardry of their creator, but that same ring may never find a bearer to awaken its magic once its creator dies. Weapons and armor however have clear purposes, and are far more likely to Bond new wielders after the passing of their creators. Once this fact was discovered, the archmages of Illandrios became more intentional with their artifacts.


    -Bladed Knights by Kysin, the 195th High Librarian


    ---


    ¡°Good morning class,¡± Professor Underbrook said to the gathered PREVENT students.


    They were all gathered on a roof of a large warehouse in the harbor district, looking at the rift in the distance.


    ¡°Last week¡¯s hardball tournament has been postponed for obvious reasons,¡± Professor Underbrook announced. ¡°Until the rift has been sealed, all the league hardball competitors have been drafted to man the defenses. While you are all not technically part of the league, we have decided this would be a good opportunity to broaden your education. While for the most part, adventurers travel the world, taking jobs as they please, there will come times when you have no choice. Sometimes your morals will compel you to abandon your plan to aid a small village in the path of a troll rampage, other times the fine print on a hardball league contract you signed without reading will do the same.¡±


    The class laughed at the last comment.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a joke,¡± Underbrook said, a malicious smile growing on his face. ¡°Those of you who advance to the full Adventuring Track will have to take multiple classes on contract law.¡±


    The laughing died away, replaced with groans.


    ¡°Each of you will be assigned a rotation on the walls that have been formed around the rift. You will be in the company of an adventuring team or members of the school staff. Use the opportunity to learn from a seasoned adventurer. We don¡¯t expect another incursion, since this one was clearly an accident, but if one does come, do your best to stay alive. Now, let''s talk about the invasion,¡±


    ¡°How do we know it was an accident?¡± A voice Kole recognized as the gnome wizard from Shalin¡¯s team asked.


    Isem something, Kole thought, trying to remember the name. Bomblebum? No... Gods, I can¡¯t remember gnomish names for the life of me.


    ¡°Good question, Mr Bobbledun¡± Underbrook said.


    I was close. Kole reflected, and then grew nervous as his mind caught up to words of the question.


    He looked at Underbrook, wondering if his part in the disaster would be revealed.


    ¡°We know the mechanism of the incursion,¡± Underbrook said, neglecting to mention the source of that knowledge. ¡°The soldier ants, as we have come to call them, were preparing to invade by means of a ¡®spacial congruency.¡¯¡±


    He spoke the last two words with disdain.


    ¡°If you want to be bored to death with the details of that, go talk to Professor Tailor. The important bit is this, they didn¡¯t mean for it to open now, and their safeguard against it opening failed early due to the heroic actions of agents of the Academy.¡±


    ¡°Someone opened it on purpose?¡± Shalin shouted. ¡°Who?!¡±


    Kole began to grow red.


    Does she know? He thought. How could she? No. She might suspect though.


    To avoid drawing attention from his blushing, Kole activated his Fade ability, lest anyone pay attention to him. He felt barely any attention on him and was relieved to see being a single face in a crowd counted as being hidden to the ability¡¯s parameters.


    If Kole had more self-awareness, he would have taken note the lack of attention on himself. He often thought his peers were thinking of him, when in reality, unless he made a spectacle of himself, they were all too busy worrying about the same thing for whatever their own individual insecurities were.


    ¡°Would you have preferred the enemy army got to continue on with their plans and sprung their attack after preparing for a few more weeks?¡±


    Underbrook asked the leading question as he would have any other genuine question to the class.


    ¡°No?¡± Shalin said, thrown off by the question.


    ¡°So, what should they have done?¡± Underbrook asked, but then continued, turning this into a teachable moment. ¡°There will be times you must make difficult decisions in this line of work. Often, no matter what you choose, people will die. You can¡¯t let the fact that your actions will result in the death of innocents stop you from doing the right thing if your inaction will result in even more death.¡±


    Underbrook let that sink in, before projecting an illusion of the battle above the class.


    "With the hardball matches canceled, I took it upon myself to record the battle using some of the equipment loaned to us by the league,¡± he said.


    He went over the battle in detail, showing both the mistakes and impressive feats that had occurred throughout. Any mention of Kole and his friend¡¯s involvement was thankfully omitted. Throughout the viewing, he pointed out various ways the enemy army suffered by the sudden appearance of the portal, notably that most of the soldiers that had fallen through in the first wave bore no weapons.


    Watching the overview now, Kole saw that they¡¯d been lucky. None of the enemies they¡¯d faced had borne any sort of ranged weapons. He remembered seeing bows and crossbows in the camp, but none had been with the first wave forced through the rift. By the time the enemy had organized enough to send troops through intentionally, the perimeter had been established and all the surviving civilians had been evacuated.


    Professor Underbrook even deigned to show a few short moments of Professor Tailor saving people and turned it into a teachable moment.


    ¡°Now this is something I want you to all take to heart,¡± he said, as he showed a portal opening, saving a family before closing immediately. "See that wooden expression?"


    He paused the illusion, showing a close of Professor Tailor¡¯s face, set in its natural resting bored expression.


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    ¡°When people are in danger, you need to make them feel safe, even if they aren¡¯t. It¡¯s always important to keep morale up. Look at this face,¡± he said, causing the illusion to zoom in. ¡°Would this make you feel safe?¡±


    ¡°Flirt, crack a joke, or casually chat up the people you are saving. Scared panicked people are far less likely to survive than calm ones. And if none of those are your style, nothing cuts through tension like a well-timed fart. Stressed people can¡¯t fart. You need to relax to let one loose.¡±


    The rest of the class went over more practical means, but Underbrook seemed dedicated to ensuring his students learned the value of flare in adventuring, and he continued to make digs at the other professor throughout.


    When the class was dismissed, Kole caught Underbrook¡¯s attention before he could teleport away.


    ¡°What can I help you with?¡± Professor Underbrook said, once everyone had left but a few other students with questions, plus Kole¡¯s friends.


    ¡°I was wondering if I could test a spell on you,¡± Kole said.


    ¡°Oh, well,¡± Underbrook said, surprised. ¡°That¡¯s not what I was expecting. Which is it?¡±


    ¡°Mind Spike,¡± Kole said


    ¡°And when did you start learning Mind Spike?¡± Professor Underbrook asked, single eyebrow raised.


    ¡°Yesterday,¡± Kole said.


    Professor Underbrook¡¯s second eyebrow shot up to join the first, the inquisitive expression turning to shock.


    He collected himself and muttered, ¡°Stupid magic books.¡±


    Then louder he said, ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Kole built the spell and sent it out into the Arcane Realm. He watched the halfling¡¯s face carefully for any sign that it worked, and saw as he winced slightly, closing one eye and squinching his face. The wince passed, and he tilted his head side to side, stretching his neck.


    ¡°Good job,¡± Professor Underbrook said, ¡°You¡¯ve gone from a freak of nature that can''t cast any spells, to one that learns them far, far too quickly. Has Lonin found out about this yet?¡±


    ¡°Sort of...¡± Kole said, ¡°Some of it came out when I gave him a report of the... incident. He wanted to meet with me once all this rift stuff settled down.¡±


    Underbrook laughed, and then gave Kole a sympathetic look, ¡°Good luck refusing his offer this time.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Kole said. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know how it goes.¡±


    Kole and Zale found that their absence from their history class and all other classes to have been excused with a note from the school administration. While they wouldn¡¯t be punished, they would have to catch up on the work they missed.


    They¡¯d been handed a stack of required readings and notes they¡¯d need to catch up on, as details of the missed assignments.


    In WIZ 205, Kole had missed an assignment to start work on a defensive spell, but as Kole had already learned his required defensive spell for the year, he was still ahead. He was, however, behind a whole session of mental defense training and would have to make that up at some point through the week.


    ¡°Where were you guys?¡± Gray whispered to Kole as he sat down next to him.


    Kole was surprised by the question, as he was going through his history readings, trying to get them down so he could focus on his wizardry, but also feeling the strong need to read them due to the recent relevance of the Midlian Empire.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say if you don¡¯t want to,¡± Gray said, misinterpreting Kole¡¯s surprised silence as hesitance.


    Kole briefly considered not telling Gray, but his recent run in with Corbyn served as a great contrast by which to judge Gray¡¯s behavior. Part of him had still been uncertain about his budding friendship with this person who had once tormented him, but Gray had had a legitimate¡ªif misplaced¡ªreason for his concerns, and on being proven wrong had shown genuine remorse. His actions too had never gone beyond words of warning to people he thought Kole might put in danger by his incompetence.


    Corbyn had no good reason to dislike Kole and had literally tried to kill him. Then, when confronted with Kole, had shown little remorse or self-awareness about the severity of his actions, and then demanded Kole hand over the only thing he had left of his parents.


    They were not the same.


    ¡°We were looking for Amintha,¡± Kole said after looking around to ensure no one was listening in. ¡°Amara ran ahead and entered that other realm again, and the rift we entered through closed behind us. We were trapped there all week until... yesterday.¡±


    Gray¡¯s eyes lit up as he understood the implications.


    ¡°You guys were the agents?¡±


    Kole nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s one way of putting it,¡± Kole confirmed.


    Before they could talk more, Professor Underbrook started the class.


    ¡°Time for some mental defense training!¡± he said with sadistic glee, and everyone let out a collective groan.


    Kole was tempted to ask Gray if he could use Mind Spike on him during the training, but decided it wouldn¡¯t be good to knock him unconscious if the spell¡¯s full force struck him. He also didn¡¯t particularly want to explain how he suddenly knew the spell after being stranded in another realm without access to spellbooks for a whole week.


    My life sure has gotten strange, Kole reflected.


    After a full hour of mind aching defense training performed while Underbrook lectured about the ways to identify creatures with mental offensive capabilities, class was dismissed.


    As Kole walked out, Professor Underbrook intercepted him and handed him a note.


    ¡°Good luck,¡± he said, and then teleported away.


    Kole unfolded the note.


    Kole Teak,


    You have been summoned to meet with the Headmaster of the Wizarding College at 2:15, on the 3rd day of Waas, in the year 821 A.F.


    -Timon Toonivus, assistant to Grand Master Cyril Lonin, Headmaster of the Academy of Illunia¡¯s College of Wizardry.


    Kole read the note over, laughing that the signature was longer than the note itself, even with the addition of the full date. He tried to recall meeting Lonin¡¯s assistant, but he couldn¡¯t recall ever meeting the man.


    With wizard college classes no longer taking place in the Dahn itself with the reduction of use on extra planer spaces, Kole had to jog to get to the office in time.


    As he ran, he was pleased to note that the light jog wasn¡¯t even winding him, as it would have been at this point the previous semester. He stilled long to learn the spell Teleport. Even with the cost increase due to his primal nature, travelling great distances in an instant would be very useful.


    Someday, he vowed, knowing third-tier spells were a way off.


    Kole got up to Lonin¡¯s office, surprised to see that the building had been rearranged. Before his office door had opened to a hall filled with other doors, but now there was a reception area set into the hall, with a desk beside the door manned by a middle-aged male gnome.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± the gnome said, after Kole had stood there for a few moments decided what to do.


    ¡°I have an appointment,¡± Kole said, handing over the note.


    The gnome, presumably Tomin, inspected the note, reading it carefully, as if checking if it were authentic.


    After he was satisfied with it, by whatever criteria under which he was scrutinizing it, he admitted Kole.


    ¡°He¡¯s ready for you,¡± he said, gesturing to the door.


    Kole let himself in to find Professor Lonin looking out a window through which the harbor rift was still visible. Kole didn¡¯t recall looking out the window the last time he¡¯d been here, but he was pretty sure the mountains had been in the background, not the harbor.


    The idea of a moving window intrigued him, and he quickly entered his vault to review the memory there using his spellbook. Doing so he found that the window had in fact faced north towards the mountains, and now faced southeast toward the harbor.


    In hindsight, a moving window was one of the less impressive magical feats he¡¯d seen the Dahn do.


    ¡°-for coming on such short notice,¡± Lonin said, as Kole brought his awareness back to reality.


    ¡°No problem,¡± Kole said, taking the safe bet he¡¯d not missed much of the introduction. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re busy with¡ªwell¡ªthat.¡±


    Kole gestured out the window.


    ¡°Not just that,¡± Professor Lonin said with a heavy sigh. ¡°You don¡¯t realize how much work someone does until they suddenly disappear. Miss Woods¡¯ mother, as flighty as she might appear, was doing a lot to keep this ship afloat. Kelina does much to cover for the absence, but I¡¯ve had to take on an assistant just to keep up on everything.¡±


    Kole nodded in understanding. Zale¡¯s mother didn¡¯t seem to be the type suited for the role of chancellor, but in hindsight her air of flippancy was likely an affectation. She was, after all, a world-famous adventurer over a hundred years old. While it appeared she delegated everything to those around her, more likely she was dealing with larger issues behind the scenes, assigning the more mundane tasks to her subordinates.


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t come here to hear an old man complain,¡± Lonin said, clapping his hands together once. ¡°Let¡¯s discuss you and your recent developments. Have a seat.¡±


    Here goes nothing, Kole thought, deciding to lay everything out and pray that the professor chose to aid him and not convince him to leave his chosen path.


    Kole complied, and he began to tell the Grand Master wizard all about his new developments involving his spellbook.