The following morning, Pax wasn't the only one to groan and object when Incedis roused them out of their sleeping sacks. After a somewhat harrowing escape from the capital that took them through sewers much nastier than Pax remembered back in Thanhil, they’d made it outside the walls.
Once outside Salman’s walls, they'd traveled through small, underground tunnels until they made it far enough away that the wall guards could no longer see them. Talpa had loved the tunnels, while almost everyone else had aching necks and backs from stooping for so long. The tunnels had been nothing fancy, the fresh dirt evidence that they'd been dug recently and wouldn't be left intact for long.
The rebels had brought Quarrybrook’s portable altar to a freshly dug dirt chamber and pushed everyone through as quickly as possible. It made sense that they didn’t want to lead pursuers to the location of the hidden underground base outside the walls if someone had an active map synced to one of them.
Despite the primitive location, everyone had been eager to go through the process and remove the chance of being tracked. Despite expecting a surprise, Pax found the process had been almost identical to his original binding with the academy altar. The Quarrybrook one recognized he was still a light mage student and let him access the specialized menu that allowed him to keep his secrets hidden.
Pax wondered what would happen when he was no longer considered a student. Would the altar have a hidden menu for full light mages? Or would he be so powerful by that point that he wouldn’t need such protections?
After finishing, though, he couldn’t deny the relief he’d felt. Thankfully, despite their staggered timing and different paths to escape the capital, everyone made it to the underground base by early evening.
Pax had been relieved to see both of the other Team Tribal crews arrive intact. Once everyone he cared about was safe, Pax had been ready to collapse and recover from the harrowing day.
Except Incedis had different plans. There were still a handful of adult beasts in the cages, and he recruited the entire Team Tribal to help get them all Tamed before morning. With them leaving town, the rebellion didn't have anyone local left with experience in the Taming business. Besides, it was only departing rebels who could risk being seen with adult beasts.
At least Incedis had them all work together to help disguise Pax’s importance to the Taming process. For each Taming, they'd switched to have a different member of the team take the lead. Plus, the help of all the other pets, as well as mana from his friends, made the process easier. Hopefully, they’d been successful in keeping him from receiving too much attention.
And now, after too little sleep, dawn had arrived, and it was time to leave. They’d heard plenty of beast noises outside throughout the night, but thankfully, the concentration of people in the nearby capital drew the attention of most of them. Plus, the higher-level mages had taken turns on watch, likely ready to use a variety of shielding and stealth spells to protect them if necessary.
“Why do we have to get up first?” Amil muttered as he glared at the other rebels still sleeping comfortably in their bedrolls that covered most of the floor in the once spacious main room.
“Separate and stealthy, remember?” Rin kept her voice low and didn't bother looking up as she quickly stuffed her supplies into an inventory box.
“Breakfast rolls.” Bryn passed out the still-steaming food wrapped in waxed paper, one to each of them.
That perked Amil up, and he gave her a muttered thanks as she moved on to feeding their companions from a different section of her heated inventory box. Pax hurried to finish cleaning his stuff up and getting his armor on. When he finally finished, he bit into the spicy mixture of eggs, sausage, and peppers filling the wrap and let out a moan of pleasure. “This was money well spent,” he said past the mouthful of food and aimed a grateful nod at Bryn.
She gave him an amicable smile as she and Tasar checked the straps on each other’s armor.
“Everyone ready?” Incedis asked in a quiet voice as he walked up to them.
Pax glanced over, glad to see Mage Eldan by his side. Between the two senior mages, they should be able to handle any challenges they encountered on their trip.
Someone stepped up behind the two senior mages. Pax did a double take. It took him a moment to realize that the young warrior in a full set of leather armor was the street kid, Kai.
Incedis noticed his gaze and shrugged. “He's decently skilled with a knife, so we gave him a set. Other than that, we're hoping the leather armor will keep him safe long enough for one of us to come to the rescue if he gets in trouble.”
Kai stiffened at the words and glared at both Incedis and Pax. “I don't need your help. I can keep myself safe.”
Mage Eldan smacked him across the back of the head with a quick shush as she pointed to all the people still sleeping. Kai scowled at her, but subsided.
Pax stifled a smile, remembering his own first encounter with the air mage right after their Awakening back in Thanhil. Amil snorted, probably remembering the same thing. But he kept quiet, too busy finishing his breakfast.
Pax turned away from Kai with a shrug, knowing it was useless to argue. He'd have been confident in his own skills, too, before he'd seen the truth of what lived outside the city's walls.
It only took a few more minutes before they were climbing up the ladder to the exit. Between their months on the Purge and many nights on various walls, they'd learned how to get ready quickly and efficiently.
As they climbed toward the base’s entrance, Pax cast his Sphere to check for any nearby dangers. “Coast is clear with my spell,” he called up to the older mages and Bryn and Tasar, who were ahead of him.
Incedis nodded back down at him before continuing to climb out of the base. A few moments later, they emerged into the cool dark of the emerging dawn. They naturally moved into their usual defensive formation. Incedis and Eldan did a fast scout of the surroundings before coming back. Bryn and Tasar, with their two stonepaws, had their shields out and heads up, ready for anything. Kai’s head kept moving, trying to take it all in, his eyes alight with excitement and interest at the new environment.
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Pax saw scuffed-up ground, paw prints, and other signs that beasts had passed this way during the night. Glancing back toward Salman, he saw a pair of slumped silhouettes of beasts that had made it pretty far from the walls before dying. The crews wouldn’t come out this far to collect them, but private scavenger crews might.
Turgan? Pax did his best to make his Echo voice soft.
Pax? You guys already left?
Yep. We’re up top and leaving. Pass the word that there are a few dead beasts within sight of the entrance and keep an eye out for scavengers when it’s your turn to leave.
Got it. Vitur with you, Pax.
Thanks. You too. We’ll see you there in a week or so.
And that was it. Incedis and Eldan motioned for them to move closer. Before Pax could ask, he felt a pulse of air mana fall over them all. His muscles twitched, suddenly feeling faster and more energetic.
When the mana fled again, Eldan grimaced and shook her head. “It's been a while since I did a group like this. Enjoy the Fleet Feet. We’ll see how often I can do it during the day while we travel.”
Dahni raised a tentative hand. She nodded at him curtly, obviously impatient to get going.
“I've got a regeneration boost I can cast on you. Plus, Neptid just evolved a boost to healing and regeneration over time for allies who are close to him. Would that help?”
A slow grin spread across her face, and she turned to give Incedis an appreciative glance. “You weren't kidding when you said this was a powerful group of students.” She turned back to Dahni. “Yes. That would help me keep the buff up without having to resort to potions. When I'm out in the Wilds, I only use potions for fighting. The last thing I want is to be at my potion limit when an emergency happens. So, some passive regeneration is perfect. It just might help us beat all the other crews to the base.”
Then she frowned at Kai, and he wilted under her gaze. “Unless he slows us down too much.”
Pax could see Kai struggle not to object to her words as his face flushed hotly. But he stayed quiet until she turned away.
“Neptid’s buff also heals.” Dahni moved in close to speak to Kai in a reassuring tone. “It should take care of worn-out muscles or injuries, so you’ll be faster and last longer than usual. If you're lucky, this trip will boost your Endurance, if not some of your other stats.”
Kai nodded a grudging thanks to Dahni as Incedis turned to the others. “Everyone with scouting abilities, use them. Preferentially straight ahead and to either side. I'll do a quick check behind us once or twice a day. Got it?”
“Eris and I have north.” Rin tossed Eris into the sky. She flapped her powerful wings with a joyful cry and took off to the north.
“I've got beneath us and some to the sides.” Pax really didn't want to stumble over any sleeping nests of beasts during this trip. He stretched his Sphere out to its limits, planning to pulse it frequently so he could make his mana last longer. Depending on how well Neptid's new buff worked, Pax might keep his spell continuous for a few stretches during the trip.
Incedis nodded. “Eldan and I will take turns scouting at range to the sides and occasionally ahead when Eris needs a break. Everyone ready?”
When there were no objections, he turned and began running at a pace that seemed easy to start, but Pax knew would quickly become harder. Kai became short of breath in only a few minutes.
Mage Eldan glanced over and laughed at them being out of breath. “Bet you didn't think two old relics like us could outrun you. That's why they say age and stats always trump youth and enthusiasm.”
“It doesn't bother you that a group of first-year students can keep up with you?” Rin asked with a droll tone while keeping a straight face.
Eldan let out a sharp bark of laughter as she glanced over at Rin and grinned. “You make a good point. Maybe Incedis and I should go all out and see how well you keep up?”
Rin seemed to consider the idea, but Amil hissed for her to be quiet. She subsided, but Pax knew the exchange would only motivate her to push herself harder. At their low level, they were constantly at a disadvantage against the powerhouses in the world around them. None of them liked it. Hopefully, the coming time in the ruins to focus on their training would give them a boost.
By the time they stopped for lunch, everyone was ready for a break. Over the course of the morning, they'd worked through the kinks of keeping up a steady jogging pace across all kinds of terrain. The route they traveled was very much off the beaten path. They followed narrow trails and sometimes had to break through the brush and scrub of wilder terrain.
Pax was surprised how many of their skills and abilities came in handy against the environment. Dahni used his Seismic Pulse and Earth Barrier to help clear the way ahead. Rin used her Levitate when they needed to span small gaps. Amil’s Blaze Infusion on his ax helped cut through any stubborn vegetation that got in their way.
But mostly, they ran around obstacles, always choosing speed first. And by sending Eris up frequently, they could make adjustments ahead of time to avoid the worst hindrances.
Now, they all chowed down on their lunch, sensing Incedis wouldn't give them any more time than necessary. Pax chased the spicy sandwich down with a satisfying drink of his favorite voca juice from the chilled canteen he kept in his inventory for just such occasions.
Incedis cleared his throat to draw everyone's attention. “Now that we've worked out how to travel well together, I'm changing things for the second half of the day.”
Pax and his friends exchanged surprised looks but kept quiet, waiting for Incedis' explanation.
“I'm afraid Pax has been neglecting his training and we need to address it immediately.”
Pax opened his mouth to object, seeing confusion and outrage from his friends too.
Incedis shook his head and waved off their objections. “I didn't say the neglect wasn't without reason. Accomplishing our goals in the capital stretched everyone here to their limit. But now, that's all done. We have the next week with nothing on our agendas but running. I am confident that Pax can add some training to that without difficulty. What do you think?”
Amil grinned and nodded to Incedis, looking thrilled not to be the object of the mage’s attention. “Of course he can. Our Pax can do anything.”
“Are you sure you don't want to train all of us while we run?” Pax aimed a frown at Amil and the others.
“I think they can wait until we arrive at the base. We'll need them to stay alert for dangers while you and I will stay at the center of our formation while we run and work. Besides, the more you advance, the better you can help them in the future, right?”
Pax groaned as around him, his friends all nodded in agreement. Even Tasar looked amused.
“Now, my tentative plan is to work on training up your elemental understanding while we run. When our mana gets down to half, we'll switch over to planning your build. You’ve been neglecting your evolution choices for way too long.”
Rin nodded at that and reached out to swat his shoulder with an I told you so look.
“Then, in the evenings, you’ll get out your light manual, along with that old copy of a mage to study until you can't keep your eyes open anymore. Hopefully, you'll be able to unlock at least one new chapter and advance your knowledge. We need every scrap of information on how you can strengthen the rest of the rebel mages. Sound like a good plan?”
Pax swallowed hard, but nodded. He knew Incedis was right. He'd let the urgent tasks in the capital take precedence over his personal training. Pax was still no closer to helping his friends unlock their secondary mana types, and the secret was likely in the manual he hadn't studied enough.
But thinking about bringing Fenix out in the middle of their nighttime camp in the Wilds made him shudder. The old mage had spent centuries in the same workshop. How would he react to the drastic change? Maybe having the work of helping Pax advance through the workbook would distract him?
“Well, it’s time to get going again.” Incedis stood up and brushed his hands off before aiming a devious smile toward Pax. “But first, I spent a bit of time and money collecting a few training aides for Pax before we left town. Would you all like to see them?”
Everyone but Pax nodded eagerly. Incedis pulled a large, rugged inventory case out and set it down carefully with a heavy thud on the ground in front of him. Everyone leaned forward to get a better look.
Pax didn’t like the look on Incedis’ face. He was pretty sure whatever his mentor had planned for him, it wouldn't be easy.