Flying over the landscape with Cho, there was something Levin had noticed over his days of travel to Inuvik City with Mei – the land gets drier the farther north they go. Up north, the forests aren’t as dense and the trees aren’t as green, and the farm towns dotted all through the rolling plains at the heart of Trurok aren’t quite as big.
And while the changes had been very gradual during their days of travel, the changes in landscape were far more striking beyond Inuvik City. The river carrying nutrient-rich mountain soil right through the heart of the city and its dense farmland made something of a demarcation in the land, the last and greatest bastion of vibrant green in Trurok. Beyond that river, the land quickly succumbs to a dry, withering heat. The thick grass gives way for yellowed shrubbery as the rolling plains transition into rocky and barren mountains.
And one such mountain, steep and treacherous, currently featured a colossal woman and silver bird racing up the side. Without the thick plant cover to fight through, Mei was able to freely leap up with agility that belied her size. Naturally, Cho was unaffected either way as it rode a warm updraft towards the peak.
Levin already knew what was waiting for them above, thanks to Cho’s spying during Levin’s trip to Inuvik Academy. The tip of the mountain was fairly wide and flat, at least in comparison to the rest, making it a good area for a group to use for sparring practice – at least, that’s what the six up there now seemed to think as they traded blows with wooden equipment.
More precisely, only four of them were sparring, and of those, three had wooden swords. The fourth jabbed away with a real spear, the tip wrapped in a thick leather. Away from them a short distance, the fifth member of the group trained alone with his bow and a quiver of arrows propped against a rock.
But Levin’s focus was mostly on the sixth member, the clear leader of the group. While the five in training each seemed to be around twenty years of age, the tall, hawk-eyed man watching over them looked to be around forty. Occasionally he would correct the forms of the younger members, offering them guidance though he carried no weapon of his own.
Mei and Cho’s approach went largely unnoticed, up until the monstrous duo reached the peak. As Mei clambered up the precipice, she came face to face with the Mage Hunters while Cho circled around casually. Mei grinned at the shocked expressions on all six, showing a toothy smile as she waved a hand.
“Intruder!” roared the young man with the spear, throwing off its protective cover and charging straight at Mei.
“Miki, don’t!” shouted the older man.
However, he was already descending upon Mei with a rapid flurry of spear attacks. Mei, expression unperturbed, snaked out in a flash of speed with both arms to latch onto the spear with one and grab Miki’s clothing with the other, and then swiftly pivoted down to slam him into the ground.
“Oof!” grunted Miki as he made contact with the hard stone and was held in place by Mei’s vastly superior strength.
“What do you want?” growled the large man who had previously ordered Miki to stop.
Far away in Inuvik Academy, Levin let out a sigh only he could hear. “Some start to an alliance this is,” he thought, dropping Cho out of the sky and landing the bird with force onto Mei’s shoulders, but she didn’t so much as flinch.
“We’re not here to hurt anyone!” Levin shouted through Cho’s speakers. When talking through Cho, there was no need for him to use his own mouth – he could write and transmit the message with his Y-Link, and Cho would speak the words in a synthetic, digitized voice.
“Mei, let him go,” Levin said, switching languages, and Mei complied, releasing him and taking a few steps away. She looked up, shooting Cho a glare that said You’re supposed to pretend I’m deaf, remember?
The others watched warily, holding their practice weapons at the ready as Miki clambored back to his feet.
“Who… What are you?” the older man asked, walking forward and placing himself between Mei and the youths.
“My name is Levin, and this is Mei. We came to propose an alliance,” Levin said.
He paused for a moment, examining Mei and Cho up and down before addressing his companions with eyes locked on the newcomers. “All of you, bring Uki up here.”
The five behind him ran off without another word, disappearing down the side of the mountain and leaving their leader alone with Mei and Levin at the peak.
“My name is Takt,” he said. “But since you’ve sought us out, you must know that already. I’m more interested in what manner of creature you are, Levin. I’ve heard only the most powerful of magical beasts, like the dragons of eras gone, are capable of speech.”
“This bird is not me. I’m a normal human, and use Cho here to communicate over long distances.” Levin said.
“Then you’re a mage?” Takt asked, eyes narrowing.
Levin hesitated. Of course that was a natural conclusion for Takt to draw, and Levin had no idea how to refute it. Claiming they were travelers from another dimension with unbelievable technology probably wouldn’t be particularly convincing either – not to mention dangerously revealing. So he settled on a half-truth, an admittance that would hopefully make them seem more genuine.
“That’s right, I’m a mage with Inuvik Academy. Myself and Mei are the last survivors of a group that was wiped out by the Lightning Corp, and I only became a mage after that in order to get revenge. So I’m not like the other mages, but I understand if it’s hard to trust me,” Levin said.
"You leave me little choice, Levin. From your position, you could ruin everything I’ve worked towards with ease. And even if you don’t intend to, the Academy won’t take it lightly if they find out one of their own is cooperating with us. Your very existence is a threat to us, and yet you won’t even show your face. So yes, it is a little hard to trust you.”
“I promise I won’t reveal anything to Inuvik Academy. And we have a lot to offer in a – ”
“The word of a mage means little to me,” Takt snapped. “If you want to win our trust, go burn Lethridge and its precious resources to the ground. We want to destroy Inuvik Academy just as much as we want to destroy the Lightning Corp. Don’t think we’ll go for some half-assed alliance.”
“No, our grudge is not with Inuvik. I won’t stop you from attacking them, and I won’t tell them your secrets, but I also won’t help you fight them. And our main target isn’t even Silla – right now we’re just asking for help to kill someone named Azaadi. We can start our alliance small,” Levin said.
Takt roared with laughter, throwing his head back in a wild fit. “Just Azaadi? Only Blackbolt Silla’s right hand man, and the third strongest mage in all of Trurok? Yes, I’m glad your demands for us are so easy!”
Levin blushed, immediately grateful Cho’s metallic exterior would not reflect his embarrassment. True, Levin hadn’t known Andrew’s killer was that important, but it also wasn’t about to stop him. But what to say now? How to pierce this unexpected resistance?
“Takt!”
A new voice came from below, as the five youths who had left earlier returned with an elderly woman in tow. Her white hair was tied back loosely, revealing a weathered face as she walked over towards Takt, the others hanging behind with weapons in hand.
“Hello Uki. Meet Levin, a mage from Inuvik Academy. You’re talking to him through that bird,” Takt said. “He wants an alliance to take down the Lightning Corp.”
“The bird’s name is Cho,” Levin said. “You’ll be seeing it a lot, so I suggest you remember the name.”
“Oh? You speak as though our alliance is already decided,” Uki said. “What do we gain from helping you?”
“You get Mei,” Levin said, gesturing with Cho’s wings to the woman beneath it. “I promise you, she’s strong enough that together you could even fight Azaadi.”
“A bold claim,” Takt said, switching his gaze from Cho to Mei.
Of course, Mei hadn’t said a word this entire time. And aside from Levin’s brief command, she hadn’t understood a single word, either.
“Sorry about this, Mei, but it’s for your own good,” Levin thought to himself.
“Takt, maybe you noticed that I spoke to Mei in a different tongue earlier. She actually does not speak your language at all – I was hoping she could get lessons from one of you. And in exchange, you can take her with you to Triple Lily,” Levin said.
“How do you know about Triple Lily?” Takt said.
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“The same way I found you, flying overhead with Cho and eavesdropping. From the sky I can listen in on anyone, anywhere, and they’ll think I’m just a bird. Perhaps that will interest you?”
Takt and Uki shared a look. “And the mages won’t notice the Source?” Uki asked.
“No,” Levin said. “I could spy on Silla himself with this.”
“Absurd,” Takt said. “What rank of mage are you? How long have you been cultivating?”
“Rank…?” Levin said. “Oh, um, you’ll have to excuse me – I’m still a novice with this language myself. I’m not sure what word that is.”
“Shoot. I can’t let them figure out I was lying earlier or they’ll never trust me.”
“Wisp, Smoke, Cloud. Those are the ranks of a mage. Surely you’ve heard those words? Or maybe you’re just an acolyte?” Takt said.
“Wait,” Uki said. “When did you two come to Trurok?”
Takt looked at her in surprise. “You think they were involved in that incident a few days ago?”
“What incident?” Levin asked. He didn’t have a good feeling about this.
“A little over a week ago, the Lightning Corp hit something hard. No one’s quite sure what, since it was fairly deep in their territory, but the rumbling could be felt even here. You two wouldn’t be related to that, would you? Is that where your grudge comes from?” Uki said.
“Yes, I think that was us,” Levin said.
“Then you’ve only just joined the Academy!” Takt exclaimed. “So were you lying about being a mage, or about becoming one because of Silla?”
“Crap,” Levin thought as he scrambled for something to soothe Takt. “I guess I’m no good at lying.”
Fortunately, Uki seemed less bothered.
“Are the rumors that Tulimak is dead true?” Uki asked.
“What?” Levin said. “She even knows about Tulimak?” he thought to himself.
“No one’s seen him since that incident, whatever it was. For Tulimak, that’s quite strange, though the Lightning Corp has been quite reclusive lately in preparation for Silla’s breakthrough,” Uki said.
“Mei fought him, and killed him. I didn’t realize he was important,” Levin said.
“You really are new here, aren’t you?” Takt said with a sigh. “If Azaadi is Silla’s right hand man, then Tulimak was the left. His loss is a major blow to the Lightning Corp.”
“Then why do you look so unhappy about it? Don’t you Mage Hunters want to destroy them?” Levin said.
“We are the Mage Hunters, Levin. Tulimak was no mage,” Uki said. “Though it was his choice to align with them.”
“And without him, I’m the only Smoke-level warrior left in Trurok,” Takt said. Levin thought he looked lonely. “Are you certain he’s dead?”
“Oh, are you asking about his self-healing? I was surprised, honestly. At first it looked like Mei killed him in one hit, but he just kept coming back. I only saw the very beginning and end of their fight though, so if you want to know the details you’ll have to teach her to speak,” Levin said.
“Killed him in one hit? Tulimak?” Takt said, eyebrows raised, examining Mei with a new look in his eyes.
“It would be great if you could try to teach her your warrior magic too,” Levin said.
“You mean a weapon art? She beat Tulimak without one?” Takt said, a smile toying at his lips. “Interesting.”
“Then I take it you're willing to work with us?” Levin said.
“Perhaps I misjudged you earlier, Levin. But let me warn you – if you continue down the path of a mage, you will one day become a mage. You might think you’re different now, but I can’t count the number of acolytes I’ve met who thought they would one day become a hero of justice. They either die, or turn out like all the others,” Takt said.
Levin nodded his head, before remembering Takt couldn’t see him. Cho nodded instead.
“If we’re going to teach Mei for you, then there’s something you’ll need to do for us as well,” Uki said.
“Of course. What is it?”
“As you said, we are planning on attacking Triple Lily in the coming weeks. Mei will help with the attack itself, but I want you to monitor the place with this bird. That includes after our attack, so don’t think this will be a quick job. I want you to consider this a test – if we’re satisfied, we’ll be willing to work with you,” Uki said.
“I accept. I leave Mei in your care,” Levin said. “Let me explain things to her.”
Levin switched languages. “Mei, they agreed to our alliance. You can stay here with them, now.”
Mei looked up at him, cocking her head as she craned her neck backwards, but saying nothing.
“I’m sorry, Mei. I told them the truth, they know you’re not deaf. There's no point in pretending anymore.”
“What!” Mei roared, grabbing Cho’s legs and ripping the bird from her shoulders. With a herculean heave, Mei slammed Cho down into the stone, holding down the man-sized robot with ease.
“You shit bird! I’ll kill you! That’s not what we agreed!”
“Takt said he’s the strongest fighter in Trurok, and he’ll teach you how to use a weapon art like what Tulimak did. But if you want that, you’ll have to learn the language first,” Levin said.
Mei slammed her fist down, right past Cho’s mechanical head and into the mountain itself, hard enough to shake the stone beneath everyone’s feet. Takt and the others looked on, eyes wide.
But Mei stood up, releasing Cho from her grasp as the disturbed rock settled. She leaned back, letting out a maniacal bout of laughter that slowly trailed off.
“Fine. You win this round, Levin,” Mei said, walking away.
With the sun shining high in the sky, the Mage Hunters began to descend the mountain with their newest member in tow. Soaring up on streams of wind, Cho watched them go for a minute before setting off in the direction of Inuvik Academy.
***
“I’m a fucking idiot, falling for this bird-brained scheme,” Mei thought to herself.
Come on, didn’t that little shit know who she was? Bloodhound Mei? The single highest earning bounty hunter in the entire Milky Way? If you must know, she had been tossed out into the void of space without any protection no fewer than six times – and it was only that few because her targets eventually realized it didn’t work.
And now some brat only alive through sheer luck expected her to sit down and practice her ABCs like a goddamn kindergarten student? What a laugh. The very idea made her feel like she would vomit.
But she had to admit that Levin got her good this time. Pissed though she was, it didn’t stop her from appreciating Levin’s trick on a strategic level. Of course she could acknowledge the objective value in learning the language of her new, and likely permanent, home. That didn’t stop her from dreading the hours, days, years of awkward struggle it would take to learn a new language from scratch.
“I can just pretend to go along with it if it sucks too much,” she thought, laughing to herself as she followed along behind the Mage Hunters. Levin might have won this battle, but Mei always won the war.
They had descended about halfway down the mountain, the Mage Hunters bounding down with practiced, familiar movements. Mei kept up with ease, of course, and was impressed at how well Uki could do the same in the dangerous terrain. She was clearly not a trained warrior like the other six, but still had little difficulty keeping up with the rest of them even with her age.
Now they came up to a particularly rough section, a jagged crack running right through the mountain before them. To Mei’s surprise, Takt and the others began to climb down into the ravine, stepping one after the other down a mapped out path through splitting stone. Not one to be deterred by a little danger, Mei followed.
She immediately noticed that darkness wouldn’t be a problem. Embedded in the rock walls all around were tiny flecks of light, and Mei hypothesized it to be the raw form of the light stones she had seen in the strange laboratory cave with Levin. Though each source of light was little more than a dim speck, the collection of them all together illuminated the shadowy ravine like stars on a cloudless night as Mei plunged further down.
It had been disguised from above, but at the bottom the crack clearly fed into a cave system, the exact size of which Mei could only guess. Mei squeezed her massive frame through with some difficulty, but the rock opened up some as the cave tunnel went deeper. Unlike the carefully manicured, artificial tunnel Mei and Levin had found previously, this one branched out at random with enough side paths that Mei soon found herself wondering if she could remember the route back on her own.
Uki said something to Takt, who then took a side path along with the junior members. Mei made to follow, but Uki placed a hand on her back and led her away down a different route. Several hundred yards away, the cavern opened up into a wide room with some simple furnishings. A rough, thick carpet covered the expanse of the mostly flat ground, and Uki led Mei over it to a small wooden table with a mix of wooden chairs and flat rocks scattered haphazardly around.
Uki pulled one of the chairs over to the table, then gestured to her side.
“Please have a seat.”
Mei’s jaw nearly dropped out of her skull as she stared bug-eyed at elderly woman before her. She turned the words back over in her head, but the sounds were completely unfamiliar – yet she somehow understood their meaning.
“Huh?” Mei said, realizing she had just plopped down on a rock, her body moving almost unconsciously.
But before she could figure out what had just happened, Takt came in, carrying a bundle of parchment, ink, and brushes in his arms. He set them down on the table, and Uki took a seat next to Mei, preparing a brush.
Mei scoffed. She glanced up at Takt, who had turned to leave already, and a mischievous smirk pulled up the corner of her mouth. Staring at the man’s thickly muscled back, the fresh memories of her battle with Tulimak played back through her mind – the rush of adrenaline, the metallic smell of blood, the thrill of fighting an opponent that could actually keep up. No matter the trials that followed, Tulimak was a partner she would not soon forget.
Eyes fixed on Takt, Mei abruptly rose, her chair tumbling backwards and thumping softly into the carpet. Mei clenched her fist, shoulders forward as she took a deep breath, lifting her foot and –
“Mei, focus on this,” Uki said.
Mei froze. Again she understood, and again her body and mind responded to Uki’s commands instinctively. On a piece of parchment, Uki had begun writing out characters, her brush flowing in a relaxed script.
She began to sound out the mora, pointing to each character in turn. Mei fell into a trance as she listened, righting her chair and sinking into it as all thoughts of battle exited her mind, replaced by Uki’s hypnotic, calming voice, like that of a mother singing her child to sleep.