Triss pushed his hand on the illusory raft to push himself up again. Walking on water? He couldn’t even think of that possibility himself. The raft shattered into pink shards of light as Triss fell back into the water. Randall had shot off midair while carrying his armour, so Triss wasn’t in a situation where he would actually sink. But he hated swimming.

Insomnia was moored off some distance away from the shore. Shaw and the rest of the crew were staying back and they would row boats to set up camp later.

The party that had to actually delve into the Threat’s territory were already on the shore with the exception of Triss. Tala was also carried by Randall due to her missing appendage. Veles could walk on water through some creative use of magic but it didn’t make sense for him to expect Triss to be able to do the same thing on the spot with his own magic.

Yet, he still tried to practice on the way. It annoyed him and hurt his confidence that he couldn’t meet Shaw’s unrealistic demand before they had left Klatakos.

He would have to hop through the illusory structures by projecting them as soon as they dissipated so he could move in the short while they had lasted. The shatters only affected his hearing but it still made him miss his mark because of not being able to feel the raft as well with touch. He missed the time to launch himself off before they dissipated every time. He would’ve removed all ill effects from the skill, but it wouldn’t work at all without that aspect of it.

The harder challenge was actually propping himself long enough to start a sprint on the water. One hand was already occupied with the dagger and getting on it to launch himself to the next illusory structure was near impossible. He had succeeded a few times purely with luck.

On the shore, Tala was busying herself by attempting to provoke Eupi now that they were finally on land.

“What, too scared now that you’re out of your element, hh—mmmmph?!” Her attempts were cut short by Veles silencing her, though.

“Do all of you have an external… What do you call it? Mana stores?” Eupi asked as she ignored Tala.

Veles looked towards the open waters and responded. “The kid can’t sustain himself with mana alone.”

Eupi tilted her head and looked both disappointed and confused. “Is he that untalented?” She asked.

“No, that sort of magic has been lost, at least in the scope of utility magic. The hunk of metal over there,” Veles said as he pointed at Randall, “relies on his own Class for the same function. There was simply no one to educate the kid amongst the crew, and it was too risky for the three of us to share. He won’t understand the value associated with it nor will he comprehend the risk of sharing.”

“Absurd. But that makes things easier for us if the rest of the world has regressed to that extent,” Eupi commented.

“You understand, then. There is enough time for him to learn after leaving the others behind,” Veles said.

“You aren’t any different from those bastards from the Ruin Watch, you know?” Eupi remarked.

“If your claim refers to efficiency, I will not deny it,” Veles responded.

“It just means that you Scholars are all shitsacks like they were. Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Eupi said.

“And here I was impressed when you had called them bastards,” Veles retorted.

Eupi growled at Veles. “I will rip your head off myself if I find you treating my people the same way, shitsack.”

“The deal has been made, woman. Go fetch them already, I’ve waited too long as it is,” Veles scoffed.

Eupi flew following the comment by heading in Veles’ direction. She laughed as he fell over and then disappeared out of everyone’s sight.

Veles hissed after getting back up. He then unsilenced both Tala and Randall.

Randall felt his neck and found himself relieved of the pressure that had blocked his voice.

“T-t-thank—” he spoke before he was interrupted.

“It will be important for you to communicate as our scout going forward. Do not speak unless spoken to, understand?” Veles ordered.

Randall nodded with a tear in his eye. He had truly been broken.

A short while after, Triss hopped onto the beach and took a moment to catch his breath. He solved the problem by just endlessly creating illusions underneath his feet, even as they shattered. He was almost out of mana by the time he had reached the others as that was horribly inefficient.

He walked over to find his armour and found Tala seated by the side.

“Oh, you might wanna dry up,” she stated and a rock a little away spontaneously burst into flames.

Triss went over to the combustible stone and warmed himself up before putting on his armour and bandolier. He was just glad her Class seemed to be somewhat normal with the flames and didn’t question the situation.

He checked for his belongings and found both the soap and waterskin still attached. The bracelet and dagger were already on him. But there was something missing.

“Uhm, I think the book is still on the ship,” he told Veles.

“Stop worrying about such useless things, I’m the one who wrote it. You can get it back after we return,” Veles responded bluntly.

The next few hours were spent with Triss practicing what Veles called ‘sustenance magic’, and with it a cycle of charging and spending the mana stored in his bracelet.

It was surprisingly easy but it was yet another thing he would never know about without the Scholars’ insights. It was similar to the Heart magic that he had used to restore his stamina but it felt more ‘fulfilling’ to him, in effect. He couldn’t grasp the theory of it at all until Veles had directly forced the magic on him, though. It became intuitive after that.

Does this mean that I don’t need any more of that smelly paste? Triss pondered. It was bizarre to him that Sarva didn’t know something like this even though he was a healer.

----------------------------------------

A loud sound resounded at the shore as a heavily armoured knight fell down from the sky. Triss’ practice was interrupted and Tala was caught off guard during her nap. Randall picked up his halberd and prepared for a fight.

The knight was seen hovering slightly above the impact spot after the dust settled. Soon after, six more objects fell from the sky and impaled the earth around him. The objects were then pulled out by an unseen force and hovered above the knight. They were six identical greatswords.

The armour that the man wore was a pitch black and so were the blades. Unlike the armour of Lahally’s Glyph Knights, however, it reflected no light and there was no sheen. The only opening was a thin eye slit through which one could barely see the man’s glare. A faint black smoke could be seen rising from the surface of the armour and weapons.

His burly figure pronounced his heavy armour. The proportions left no room for speculation, he was Human. There were no horns nor was he thin enough to be High Human. For good measure, the lack of wings proved he was neither a Harpy nor a Falca.

He floated to Veles and descended to the ground, swords following him. He was almost at the Scholar’s eye level with the armour enhancing his height.

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The knight then put his right arm on his chest. It appeared to be a greeting.

“Halai—cough—Hello, Scholar, forgive my lack of...” He pondered for a moment as if looking for the right word, “...practice.”

Veles waited and gave the man more time to think and speak.

“The Old Common is seldom spoken here,” he voiced slowly. His words were grating and loud.

“Your visage reminds me… Are you perhaps the King of the Thousand Swords?” Veles asked.

“I am at a loss,” the knight voiced and paused for a few more seconds. “I am Mikke of the Sword, but I rule over no such kingdom.”

Mikke looked up to the sky and thought a bit more before speaking.

“Yes, that Kingdom is no more. I am a mere descendent of the line,” he said.

“It pleases me to know my forefathers and their works are remembered across the vast ocean,” he added, referring to his equipment.

“You may call me Veles,” the Scholar said.

Mikke performed the same gesture from earlier again. “Mister Veles, it is a pleasure.”

“If you are the only one, then let’s move. It’s been long enough,” Veles replied without any courtesy.

“I ask of you to wait a little longer,” Mikke requested. “My companion is slower and it adds up over such far distances.”

“My companions, on the other hand,” Veles replied as he turned his attention to the gawking Triss and Tala, “are completely incapable of any sort of flight. We ought to leave now to make up for the time they will lose us. Your companion can surely spot us.”

Mikke observed the two of them. “I see… I concur, then. This would take longer than I had considered,” he said.

“Good, you understand. Lead,” Veles ordered.

Mikke then floated up and moved northwards. Triss had to get into a light jog to follow the man’s pace. His other companions had no problem walking due to their larger stride. He also didn’t think they would leave before the rest of their crew had arrived and set up camp and the day was exhausting enough for him as it is.

They approached a forest and Mikke rose above the trees to continue. Veles followed as he also seemed to have a bizarre method to float on anything as proven by his ability to walk on water and now on air. Randall could only move in straight line bursts in the air, so he walked slightly ahead of Tala and Triss.

“Why do the people here still speak Elvish? It doesn’t look like there are any High Humans here,” Triss wondered out loud to try and pass the boring affair after half an hour in the forest.

Tala groaned. “Ugh, it’s just the common language that everyone spoke when the Elves were around, only the High Humans think it belongs to the Elves.”

“R-right,” Triss stammered. He wasn’t comfortable around Tala at all.

The boring walk became awkward as well for him. They moved silently until sunset when Mikke and Veles fell and floated down, respectively.

“The beasts will begin their hunt soon,” Mikke told them.

“Is it too much for you to carry one of them?” Veles asked. “We can’t keep wasting time like this each night.”

“It is possible, Veles. But you would have to wait for my companion in that case. I cannot depart without her,” Mikke responded.

“Fine,” Veles said. “Clear the trees around,” he ordered.

Mikke accepted and each of the six greatswords spread out around him laterally. They proceeded to shoot out towards the trees and returned after half a minute. The trees around them all fell in random directions.

“I said clear, not cut down,” Veles commented.

Tala sighed and kneeled down. Her arm touched the ground and molten streaks extended in directions all around her.

An eruption followed from the ground around them and all the fallen trees were completely incinerated. Molten lava spewed around them, which quickly cooled down as Tala deactivated her magic.

Triss was taken aback by the sight. That magic was eerily like that of the Threat’s. It couldn’t have been a coincidence when it came to the Scholars, he reasoned. And I thought her Class was normal…

“Kid, you still need more practice if you don’t want to be a liability. Take care of everything else until Mikke’s companion arrives,” Veles said.

Tala then started another rock bonfire and slept next to it. Triss reluctantly nodded and kept a watch.

Which beast would attack after that? He complained internally. Normally, devastating magic with fire involved would be enough to scare away nocturnal beasts, but Tala’s magic was peculiar. It demented the surroundings in a way that natural lava couldn’t accomplish. It screamed of a threat that needed to be eliminated at all costs to the beasts’ instincts. The Threat’s favourite flavour of magic was copied rather well by her Class.

It did not take long for the first beast to attack. It came from above as a large predatory bird swooped down on the group. Triss hesitated for a moment thinking it was Mikke’s companion but its figure became much more clear as it neared, and so did its hostility.

Fortunately for Triss, gravity didn’t matter much to his wraiths. The ghastly wyrms flew up right at it and the bird crashed right into the ground as its senses were robbed. It squawked in pain and Triss ended what had now appeared to be a horrifyingly giant bird with a few slashes of the lightsword.

He looked up to see an entire flock of those birds coming down at them. Mikke and Randall stepped forward as they were almost certain that Triss couldn’t deal with a group of that size. The birds were rushing with some sort of wind magic as far as Triss could guess. They were certainly capable of using magic thanks to the surge of records that he had felt, and it just seemed logical for such massive beasts to support their flight.

A single slash of his luminescent dagger sent out a wraith for each of them. Contrary to the expectations of the two armoured men, all the birds had collapsed in the wake of blinding pink light. Most of them died on impact and it was easy enough for Triss to dispatch the rest as they struggled with broken appendages.

The surprise element of his wraiths had worked out immensely in his favour. He probably couldn’t beat that flock if they didn’t fly straight down together like they had. Aiming with the skill of his was still a problem. It was hard to adjust their trajectory the farther they went.

What really irked Triss about the whole affair was walking on the solidified lava. It was uncomfortable and reminded of his days in the Lightguard, days that he wasn’t fond of remembering anymore.

Mikke floated up to Triss and asked a question. “Could I inspect your weapon?

“Uh, okay,” Triss replied and handed over the dagger apprehensively.

“It is a focus, yet… I see. It is only modeled after a blade,” Mikke lamented and handed it back.

“It’s not metal but it’s still sharp,” Triss retorted almost like he had taken offence.

“Quite so, child. But would you ever cross its path with another’s blade?” Mikke asked.

“Not if it’s a blade that’s a dozen times bigger and covered in weird magic,” Triss replied.

“You seem aware of the flaw but still cling… to its physical capability,” Mikke said and brought out a dagger of his own from… It looked like the blade was a part of his armour that he had just detached.

He handed it to Triss for him to inspect and spoke. “A good dagger would parry a claymore without complaint.”

“I get it, blade elitist,” Triss snided and handed it back. He didn’t even give it a good look.

The conversation ended as they both spotted some beasts approaching them slowly. A group of feral deer it looked like, at least according to Triss’ limited knowledge on wildlife.

The problems with his skill became more apparent with this group. They moved out of the way of the wraiths before they shattered and made their way up Triss quickly. They set themselves up for failure as they grouped together, though.

A single large wraith with a particularly wide shattering had brought the animals to their knees. They were much more resilient than what Triss had faced so far, only Eupi could resist more than that.

He switched to the lightsword and cut them apart one by one. Mikke admired watching him dispatch the beasts as they seemed to just fall without making any sounds, not even when their bodies hit the ground.

Eventually, a few of the supposedly deers charged at him after overcoming the agony. Triss was knocked over and he had to use his dagger to block the animal’s fangs as one of them pounced over them. As if trying to prove a point, he cut its head open without any magic whatsoever. Triss was beyond the point of caring about yet another splatter of blood on his armour.

Another problem with the wraiths was that he couldn’t use it in full effect in close proximity as it would hurt him just as much. Finishing the encounter with a few more timely slashes of his lightsword, he walked away from the site to find a stream. They had been following one on their path so far in the day, so it wasn’t hard to find.

The blood would just fall off the glass dagger without clinging it, as would any other dirt that got on it. He cleaned the hilt and took out the bar of soap. He shredded a powder from the brick and mixed it with the water to wash out the blood that was sticking to his skin. It was a regular way for him to pass the time after dealing with the land serpents in the Dungeon on Klatakos for two weeks.

He remembered to sustain himself with the magic he had been taught earlier in the day and headed back to the site. It seemed relatively quiet after all that had transpired.

Maybe I don’t need to wash up again, Triss wondered before he perceived another presence heading towards them from the sky. I need to ration the soap better, he lamented internally. He hoped that there wouldn’t be any more blood.

He shot out two wraiths in the general direction of that presence but he had vastly underestimated how far away it was. The wraiths ended up hitting their target to his surprise as he had also underestimated its speed.

The creature slammed into the ground a short distance away from him with much more dust than Mikke brought up with his own landing. A few fallen black feathers came into his view from the visibility that Tala’s fire had offered him.

Mikke rushed to the impact site immediately after. Triss realised that he could have made a mistake as one of Mikke’s swords floated next to his head and scraped his neck.