“You’re almost there!” Koren shouted encouragingly.

And indeed, I was almost to my destination, which happened to be the top of a very tall tree that I was climbing. Bare-handed.

It wasn’t part of the plan, which had already been modified once when I’d tripped over a golem’s severed arm as we were leaving the giants’ encampment and been reminded of the runes I’d seen the golems etching into the trees. After I explained what I’d seen, Koren had insisted we investigate.

Then the plans changed again as soon as Koren spotted the abnormally large tree I now found myself in.

I was coming to believe he might be part squirrel, in addition to vorian and telandrian.

He had immediately stopped us, gleefully pointing out the monstrosity and telling me to take off my gloves and climb it.

I had instead taken off the top half of my armor—since it didn’t seem I could unsummon just the gloves and I wasn’t about to do this bare-arsed as well as bare-handed—and left it at the base of the tree with Koren and Vyrania. I had been a little chilly when I’d started the climb, but now I was beginning to sweat despite the cold.

Koren’s technique for pushing mana more effectively through my body turned out to be simple enough that he could explain it to me as we walked.

Before, I had been simply shoving the mana through myself, only giving it the vaguest of directions. His method was more reactive, following the path of least resistance, which changed constantly, so you had to focus, pay attention, and alter the path the mana took.

It was less physically demanding, but more mentally taxing. It felt closer to guiding the mana through a labyrinth with constantly shifting corridors, rather than pushing and blazing your own path through whatever weak spot you came across.

According to Koren, doing this while climbing a tree would help focus me and learn the method more swiftly.

“You’re joking,” I’d asked.

He’d simply smiled at me.

I had been skeptical, but I had to admit it was easier to focus with all the adrenaline the threat of death had dumped into me.

I climbed, digging bare fingers into thick bark that only a day before would have torn off my flesh, but which now only shoved a splinter under a fingernail, dumping even more adrenaline.

It was a win-win all around.

As I yanked the splinter free with my teeth, the tree swayed back and forth ominously, like it was going to snap at any moment, which, you guessed it: more adrenaline.

To distract myself, I looked up at my destination as I continued my climb.

I couldn’t see much since the tree reached into the low clouds of the floor. I wasn’t even sure how much more headroom the floor had.

“Don’t stop!” Vyrania encouraged.

“How can you even see me?” I shouted back. All I could see was about twenty feet of tree branches before they faded into the icy mist.

“Your vision improves at Iron. So hurry up and get Copper.”

“It’s not like it’s here waiting for me at the top.”

“You never know,” Koren said.

I climbed the rest of the way.

I had to admit, when I reached the very top of that tree, I felt amazing, as though I’d achieved some grand, rarified accomplishment.

My head was just above the clouds and I could see them stretching out all around me, like I was in a sea of them. It was beautiful. And strange that they didn’t go all the way to the ceiling.

Then the branch I was holding onto snapped.

“Oh bal—”

I fell, first bouncing off then breaking through branches on the way down as I picked up speed, frantically trying to arrest my descent, but every branch I managed to grab onto simply snapped or slipped from my grip.

The fall felt eternal, but lasted only a few seconds.

“Oh dear,” I heard, then I slammed headfirst into the ground.

‌

∎ ∎ ∎

Vyrania slapped my back. “Nearing Copper already.”

In response, I only groaned.

Despite falling from a many-story high tree and straight onto my head, I was still alive.

I hadn’t broken any bones, and didn’t even have a concussion. Other than feeling a bit sore, I was completely fine.

It was amazing.

Mainly that was because my fall had been broken by many a tree branch and the fact that I’d fallen into a giant snowdrift, but partly it was due to the mana I’d been pushing through myself protecting me.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“I can’t believe the difference mana makes,” I said. “And so quickly.”

“The road to Copper is a short one,” Vyrania agreed.

Koren was just grinning stupidly at me.

“You meant for me to fall, didn’t you?” I asked him.

He put a hand to his chest. “Me?” he said indignantly. “I am not some enigmatic old master giving out cryptic, apparently unrelated tasks that put his students in harm’s way just to teach them a valuable lesson about the value of fear and stress and pressure in advancing ranks.”

“You did just have him climb a giant tree barehanded,” Vyrania pointed out.

“Whose side are you on?” he asked her suspiciously.

She shook her head, then turned to me. “You’re nearly there. A little bit more and you’ll reach Copper.”

“How will I know?”

Koren chuckled. “Oh you’ll know.”

“That doesn’t sound promising.”

“Better than what happens at Iron,” Vyrania said.

Koren grimaced, nodding in agreement.

“Can I please have my armor back now?” I asked. Despite my improved cold resistance, I was starting to get uncomfortable, the sweat that evaporated from my skin leaving me with a chill.

“Absolutely my boy, absolutely.”

He stared at me.

I looked around. “Uh, am I supposed to find it?”

He chuckled. “Oh no no no no no no no, no. You’ll never find it.”

I stared at him.

He stared back, the both of us now bare-chested.

Vyrania rolled her eyes.

Finally he let out a barking laugh. “Until Copper!”

I didn’t laugh.

‌

∎ ∎ ∎

“With just my fists?” I asked.

Vyrania nodded.

“Well,” Koren said, smiling at me, “he can use his feet too if he wants. Or his teeth.”

“The student takes after the master,” Vyrania mused.

“Thanks,” I said insincerely as I stared down the embankment at the monster they wanted me to kill. I was more worried about it biting me.

Frostbite Worg

Giant-class Monster

Level: 7

It was in a gully at the bottom of the hill, about a hundred yards from a dense forest filled with frozen and rotten trees, that we absolutely did not need to enter to follow the path of runes we’d discovered. In fact, this was slightly out of our way even.

“I don’t know,” I said hesitantly, looking at the monster. It was sniffing about, perhaps scenting for prey. “We’re supposed to be investigating the runes. We’re getting a little off track here.”

“What are you talking about?” Koren asked incredulously. “We’re following them.” He looked at Vyrania. “Want to bet bounty points they lead us to the key Rilen’s map showed?”

“No,” she answered flatly.

“What if it bites me?” I asked.

Koren still hadn’t given me my armor back. I was half-tempted to unsummon then resummon it, but he did seem to be trying to help and teach me, and maybe this was some Mister Miyagi thing, so I bore it. Plus, I was getting used to the cold, using my mana to keep the upper half of my body warm, my armor taking care of the lower half.

“The whole point,” Koren said, “is that you kill it before it does.”

I grunted. My Contract card was nearly ready again, but I wasn’t eager to test it in battle. Or waste it. I’d soon be able to use it to try to get home.

In retrospect, if I were being honest with myself, I had already decided home wasn’t where I wanted to go. Not yet. Not till I got more powerful.

“You’ll do great,” Koren said. “Like I said, it’s a drone, not an avatar. No one on the outside is controlling it. Perfect first foe for you to vanquish.”

“You’re sure no one’s controlling it?” I asked.

“Oh without doubt,” he agreed. “I’m not trying to get you killed.”

“Could have fooled me.”

I couldn’t tell the difference between drone and avatar, but Koren could. Something to do with their mana being different. He was good at reading it thanks to his Copper awakening which allowed him to literally see mana, among other benefits. Everyone could sense mana, but his Copper awakening was the difference between being able to feel heat, and being able to see a thermal-camera view of the world. And of course there was the other ability he picked up while almost getting hanged.

Oddities with the giants aside, being a drone meant I could identify them safely, as they weren’t smart enough to detect it. Or at least to know what the feeling meant, in any case.

“We’ll practice feet later,” Koren whispered to me. “If that helps you feel better.”

“It doesn’t. Seems kind of tough for me. Level seven? I’m only level one.”

Koren put a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Off you go.” He pushed me forward.

It wasn’t a hard push, and I only stumbled forward a step or two.

The problem, was that we were standing atop a hill, which I began tumbling down.

I hit a few rocks on the way down and a frozen bush lashed a stinging blow to my face, but didn’t cut into my mana-enhanced flesh.

I came to a stop flat on my back in a small drift of snow, surprised and winded, but otherwise unhurt.

“See,” Koren said, loud enough for me to hear. “He’s fine.”

Vyrania made a reply I didn’t catch.

Then I heard a growl and looked up just in time to see the worg lunging at me.

I rolled out of the way and started to get up, but it was on me in an instant, biting into my butt and dragging me toward the dark woods.

“Ahhh!” I cried as I clawed at the snow, trying to get away.

“Fight!” Koren called down to me. “This is a test of your fighting ability, not your flight response!”

I centered myself, then tried to twist around, wildly flailing at the beast as it dragged me further toward the woods.

“I think it’s bringing him to its pack,” I heard Koren comment lightly.

“I can’t hit it!” I called up at him.

“Sure you can. You’re not trying hard enough. I believe in you!”

I grunted and increased my efforts. We were getting dangerously close to the woods, and I was growing increasingly worried about the worg’s pack.

While where it was biting hurt, I could tell it hadn’t pierced my armor or skin. Yet.

I didn’t doubt that it was capable of it.

Stuff it, I thought as we entered the darkness of the forest, and summoned my staff of flame.

I twisted, aimed, and jabbed the end of it as hard as I could into the worg’s eye.

It let out a sound like crackling leaves and leapt back, hissing at me.

“What are you, a cat?” I quickly got to my feet, which was easier on the frozen ground under the dead canopy than it had been in the snow.

“Cheater!” Koren called out from his vantage atop the hill. Apparently he could still see me even though I was now in the dark of the woods.

I ignored him, waving my flaming staff in the air to ward off the worg.

The monster didn’t seem all that injured. If it had a weakness to fire, my staff wasn’t strong enough to reveal it.

Then it leapt without warning.

I swung my staff, connecting solidly with its face.

This did little to slow it down and it slammed into me, knocking us both to the ground.

At least this time it’s facing me, I thought, then rethought that as it snapped at my neck.

“If you bite me you’ll die!” I blurted out, then mentally cursed at needing an incantation, which I struggled to get out as I held it at bay as it snapped at my neck; a battle I was losing. “Let Fate’s ledger our covenant bind!”

Contract failure: insufficient rank and mana for effect.

“I mean you’ll become confused!”

It stopped, staring at me. I noticed its eyes were a brilliant blue.

“Wow, that actually wor—”

Then it bit into my neck.