A cool, cleansing sensation of Aes swirled through Jace’s channels and core, like he’d just jumped into a pool after a warm summer’s day. When it passed, everything felt fresher. His eyes weren’t so heavy, and his mind wasn’t so tired.
If it worked, his hyperspace jump card would be off cooldown. It was time to finish the fight.
Swivelling his shoulder to the side, he dodged the darkling’s next jab. With an exertion of intent, he ejected the cleansing card back into his hand, then dropped it right away. That left only the hyperjump. He clenched his fist shut around the hyperjump card.
When Jace socketed the hyperjump, he was ready for the technique to activate immediately.
With a surge of power, he snapped across the room. He held his arms up and tried to concentrate on where he was going, but he overshot it and ended up with his nose only an inch away from the wall of the windmill.
A trail of scorched wood and sparks glimmered behind him, and the darkling was only a trail of bone chunks and a smudge of coal-black flesh.
He fell to his knees, panting. His sleeves had been completely shredded from his elbow down, and the skin on the outsides of his forearms had completely stripped away. Blood trickled down them and dripped onto the floor—not to mention a slowly building sting that he had to press his eyes shut to get under control. Like rugburn but ten times worse.
“Jace!” Lessa shouted, sprinting across the second floor of the windmill. She’d picked up the Cleanse technique card he had ejected. “Alright, alright! That was sweet!”
He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
“Well, it was more excitement than I’m used to having!” She passed him the card he had ejected. “Take it.”
He crossed his arms. “You could have been killed.”
“Meh, not with its attention on you.”
He shook his head, then leaned back against the wall. He wanted to know the exact wording of his new card. He ejected the hyperjump card, then socketed the Cleanse card. Focussing all of his thoughts on it, he willed the sheets to return. After a few seconds, they flashed into existence.
[1/1 Technique Card(s) socketed. Manifest manually?]
“Yes,” Jace said, holding his hand out. The new technique card appeared, floating above the palm of his hand. It wasn’t as rusty or crumpled as the hyperjump card, but it was just average. Utilitarian plastic, simple metal wiring with angular junctions and adjustments. There were a few runes carved in the center, and they still glowed red hot from use.
When Jace looked at the card, his sheets requested, [View details?]
“Yes,” he said again.
[Technique description: Once every twenty (20) hours, cleanses all channels in a two (2) meter radius. Removes char buildup and spiritual strain, and resets cooldowns of all other technique cards Legendary grade and below.]
“Long cooldown for it, though,” he muttered.
“Yeah, but once you build your foundation and socket more cards at once, you’ll be able to use them all one after another,” she said. “You better keep it.”
“We’ll see what your mechanic friend says,” he said. He wasn’t going to steal a card, especially not if it’d draw any more unwanted attention to himself.
“Right! Him!” Lessa spun around, then ran down the stairs to the bottom floor of the windmill. Jace followed close behind, nursing his stinging forearms.
“We cleared out your big pest!” Lessa exclaimed to the mechanic. The candlefolk man had been waiting outside patiently, but concern painted his face.
Jace stood a few steps behind, keeping silent. He swapped his technique cards while Lessa explained what had happened. She embellished the tale a little, but it gave time for Jace to present the windmill’s Cleanse card to the man.
“Ah!” the mechanic said, grabbing the card and examining it. “Thank you, but you’re welcome to keep it. Wizard? Wielder? I’ve never met any of your kind before, son, and I could’ve sworn the stories the other shirefolk told about Kinfild were made up.”
“I have never once made anything up!” Lessa exclaimed. Jace didn’t believe her.
The mechanic continued, “You’ve earned the card, and you’ll probably need it more than I will. I have a few of them—none as clean and functional as that one, though, but they’ll tide us over ‘til the cardsmiths return in a few orbits.”
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Jace nodded thankfully, then pulled his backpack off his back. Since he couldn’t socket the second card, he tucked it into the backpack’s front pocket. He looked at Lessa and whispered, “Now, we really need to get back. Kinfild has to be getting worried about me, and he’ll send people out to search.”
Lessa thanked the mechanic again, then they set off.
As he and Lessa walked back to the main road, she said, “Alright, I’ll admit it. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw you. Kinda mopey and all. But that was some good stepping up!”
Jace rolled his eyes. Backhanded compliments could go both ways, but he resisted the urge.
“I’m serious!” Lessa exclaimed. “You did well!”
Jace didn’t speak again until they reached the trail again. “I might only be able to take one card, but if you’ve got some kind of magic, can’t you socket it?”
“Some kind of magic. That’s the key phrase.” She fell into step beside him. “Candlefolk basically have a spiritual sense, and that’s it. No core, no channels—certainly no interface with the Split.”
“So you can’t use my second technique card?”
“I’ll never cultivate Aes like you can,” she said. “So, no.”
“I guess that’s what you meant about me being lucky…”
“Yep!”
He nodded. It didn’t exactly feel like it, ripped from his home and all, and slapped with an ultimatum of advancement, but he didn’t know how this world worked. “Lessa, is it true that Light-Path Wielders are…illegal?”
“In all of the great star-empires, yeah.”
“Star-empires?”
“What, you thought that the galaxy was unified or something?”
Jace narrowed his eyes, but kept walking. “Yeah, I kinda did.”
“There are a bunch of star-empires. Sometimes they fight, sometimes they don’t. But about ten years ago, the various empires all unanimously declared Light-aspect Paths illegal to pursue and follow. They’ve been hunting down and killing anyone who does it.”
Jace gulped. “Why?”
“No idea.”
“Can I just…not use light-based techniques?”
“Hyperspace is a subset of Light, but sometimes, you can use pure-aspect Aes. But I doubt you’ll be able to get by on just pure Aes.”
Another point against him, then. He crossed his arms across his chest and picked up the pace. “How many people here know that it’s illegal?”
“Uh…me? Kinfild. Lord Randnook might? It’s not exactly common knowledge out on a little grassball like this, but Kinfild used to tell me galactic news all the time. Now, if you go to a big city-planet and use your abilities? You’ll have all eyes on you.”
Jace delivered a slow nod. “Thanks for the heads up.”
“Any time! Does this make you want to take me with you, now?”
He couldn’t help but chuckle. With a soft smile, he said, “I wish I could give you an answer. But we’re almost back.” They reached the top of a tall hill—the last hill before they reached the river valley and the inn.
“Ohh…that doesn’t look good either,” Lessa whispered.
Jace peered down into the river valley, staring directly at the inn. A cluster of people had gathered in front of the building, and Kinfild stood at the center. Was he gathering people to search for Jace?
Like Jace needed any more attention. He needed to stop them before it got out of hand.
He broke into a run. Ignoring the trail, he sprinted down the slope and took the most direct route—even if it meant cutting through a patch of waist-high wheat and splashing through a small pond.
He slipped through the cluster of candlefolk gathered in front of the inn, dodging their flaming tails and turning side-to-side to avoid bumping into them.
When he emerged from the crowd, he ran to Kinfild’s side.
“Oh, there you are!” Kinfild said. His voice was calm—at least for the moment. Jace exhaled in relief. No one would fuss over him. That was the last thing he needed.
However, Jace had dropped himself straight in the center of attention, and now everyone stared at him. Even Lessa, who had slipped to the front of the crowd as well, looked his way.
“This,” Kinfild said, motioning to Jace, “is the worldjumper I was telling you about.”
Not good.
Jace straightened up and tried to look confident. He wasn’t sure how they expected him to look, but standing tall with straight shoulders and a strong posture had to help.
Then he looked at Kinfild and whispered, “I thought—”
“We were just discussing our plans for the future—and what should be done with you,” the Wielder whispered. “I couldn’t keep your identity hidden forever, and now seemed like a better time than any to tell them who you are.” He nudged Jace’s ankle softly with his staff, then spoke so softly that Jace could barely hear it over the faint breeze: “I didn’t tell them what your potential Path would be.”
Jace lowered his arms. Great.
“The worldjumpers are arriving,” Kinfild announced, this time speaking to the entire crowd. “We’ll get a new one every orbital cycle, and so on. It’s a bad omen on its own, but now, the darklings are leaving the forests at night. Something is happening—perhaps they’re being goaded out—and I need to get to the bottom of it.” Kinfild grabbed Jace’s shoulders and pushed him forwards, back into the focus of the crowd. He addressed the candlefolk when he said, “Which is why I’m leaving the worldjumper in your care.”
“What?” Jace hissed, looking over his shoulder. “That wasn’t what—”
“I cannot take you with me,” Kinfild whispered. “If it’s dangerous here, it will be worse on other planets. I’ll leave the list of tasks for you, and with the help of the candlefolk, you should be able to improve your foundation a little. I’ll find my answers and I’ll come right back.”
“What happened to the rush you were in?” Jace demanded. “What happened to being out of time?”
“You’ll only slow me down,” said Kinfild. “I’ll return safe and sound. Then, your training can continue.”
Jace narrowed his eyes.
That wasn’t the deal, and that wasn’t good enough.
No matter what, Jace wouldn’t let himself stay cooped up any longer.