As Purity got closer, the stone wall at my back crept toward me. Escape over the wall was out of the question. That was what the grounder was waiting for. I couldn't wait it out, either. Any conversation with Purity would end with me being collared and then killed once the elf got her information. The only viable option was to fight. It was a poor option, and I was terribly outclassed.

I dodged a fireball only to get pushed forward by the energy of it exploding against the wall. Fire scorched at my back. The smoke was gone, and I could see Purity smiling brightly. She was in a tight black outfit that looked made of tiny scales of a draconic beast. She looked like a beautiful nightmare with her wild, thick hair, red lipstick, and fire around her hand.

"You have been trouble," Purity said with her warm, powerful voice.

I hardly heard her. I pull all the runes I can from my bandolier and throw them. Darkness explodes first, followed by electricity, creating a bright flash and loud boom. After the lightning came fire and ice. The explosion of the two energies sent ice shards in all directions. I failed to dodge a nasty shrapnel and took a deep cut below my eye. Before I could let out a groan, the silencing rune exploded.

For a split second, heavy breathing filled the mana-less air. The quietness shattered as I charged Purity, firing my ax pistol and drawing Light's Edge. The smoker continued to smile as she deflected all of my shots with her saber. Charging was a terrible choice. Too late. I couldn't disengage. I fired one more shot, flipped the pistol around, and used it to block the elf's downward cut. Purity quickly pulled her blade away and attacked again, forcing me to step back. She launched a combo of swings, slashes, and stabs. I blocked a few with my sword, ax, and body. The body blocks were less by choice and hurt a bunch.

Purity stepped and slashed at my midsection. I rolled backward to avoid the blow. She took two quick steps before I could get to my feet and kicked me in the face. My head shot back, flinging blood and teeth with the motion. Another kick sent me to the ground. As my face bounced off the pavement, searing hot pain stabbed through my back. Once, twice, thrice.

My vision threatened to go dark. It took all my willpower to stay awake. Though my eyes were blurred, I could see one injury on Purity. I lost badly, but I got a hit in. The jester kicked me one more time in the gut, bloodying her black boot. My involuntary slight almost broke her smile. That was until she reached for my neck and placed a collar on me, followed by a hood.

"Worthless piece of shit," was the last thing I heard before a muffling script activated.

For a small moment, I thought of setting off a bunch of exploding runes and ending this cycle. That seemed like a wasted life. As my body was stripped and carried away, I closed my eyes and sunk deep into meditation. In my mindscape, I replayed my entire visit to Coalville repeatedly. Runes and the pistols were my only saving grace. It sort of bothered me that I had to rely so heavily on superior firepower to survive. The fact that I lost anyway didn't help my mood either.

Purity's sword skill, like her cultivation rank, was in a completely different realm. I fired multiple shots at her, and she cut them to pieces. I'd seen good melee fighters before. This was the first time I felt so beneath a skill level. Not even my old squad leader Kalani could keep up with Purity's blade—and he was the son of a sword master… well, he couldn't when I was with him. Who knew where the bloody bloke was now with his skills.

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I fought through several renditions of the alley brawl. Out of a hundred fights with Purity, I never managed to land a hit on her other than with my opening pistol salvo. In my scenarios, I'd deal more damage if I fired both my pistols at her simultaneously. It was never enough to be significant; more importantly, the success was all in my head. I didn't trust the scenario would play out much like it did in reality. Still, it was good practice, and I felt like I was learning a few techniques from the expert swordswomen.

During my meditation, I had moments when flashes of pain shook my mindscape. I learned to dull out the actual pain, making the flashes more of a warning than anything else. There was a bit of temptation to break my meditative state to get information on the Jesters and what they were doing to me. However, the thought of being present during a questioning session with Purity sounded like the absolute worst. I was locked in my mind, and I wasn't leaving.

When I wasn't sparring with Purity, I drilled through my katas and did my best to implement the techniques I had picked up from my drill partner. It was a combination of footwork and sword combos that extended my foundation.

My domain was tested several times as well. I primarily used the mages warring in the Bloodwoods for my test. I occasionally used the encounter with the fire sage when I met her back in the tavern. Along with my domain, I practiced all of my mana techniques, pushing them to their limits.

My list of skills was growing. I had ice armor, dome, wall, shield, and fog for defense. Offensive skills included summoning and manipulating water, which included its forms as solid, liquid, and gas. I could freeze and flood. In my fog, I could nearly disappear. My awareness could connect to distant water sources. Water mended my wounds, aided my travel, and allowed me to manipulate other materials to a degree if they had enough molecules attached to them. I practiced my manipulation technique a bunch and was happy with my progress. I was a long way away from when I was trying to roast a boar with my skills.

After what felt like a month of training, I decided to pay my resident parasite a visit. I blinked through the labyrinth of my mind palace into a dressed-up dungeon I left Cal in. The flayen looked much better. His flesh was still pale, but his body wasn't as ragged, and he no longer curled up in a slump of defeat. He seemed to be meditating.

I didn't interrupt his session, sitting and meditating beside him until he woke from his trance. The delay worked to my benefit. In all my training, I'd given little thought to do with Calypso. I tried several times and came up empty, facing walls of unknowns and doubts. Being next to the mind mage has already worked to clear up the fog.

I needed Calypso as an ally. He had training and information that would be beneficial to me. The flayen was my connection to the recursion. It would be best to work with him rather than against him. Above all, I needed his help protecting my memories. Cal promised he could slow the degradation process down. Perhaps together we could make further loss as minimal as possible. However, to do that, I needed to be able to trust the parasite completely. Trust was the barrier I'd been unable to find a way through.

Sitting next to the flayen, I concluded that trust may be unnecessary. Perhaps there was a way to completely bind the entity to me, and if not to me, maybe an oath. I waited patiently until Calypso woke from his trance. His eyelids flickered until they slowly opened.