– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 215, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 98 –

The two rubber balls bounced off the wall in Terry’s room. They flew back towards Terry’s outstretched hands…

When the balls were an elbow’s length away, they transfixed in the air.

Terry smiled at the progress he had made in this exercise during the past weeks before examining the transfixed positions more closely.

Terry tilted his head. The ball from his left hand had come noticeably closer than the one on the right.

Off-hand is still slightly more sluggish when extending the reach…

Terry waited for the spell to stop and then pulled the balls towards his hands, using the bidirectional attraction imprints in his gloves.

Afterwards, Terry threw only the left ball and repeated the exercise with just his off-hand.

The ball bounced off the wall and transfixed more than an elbow’s length away in the air.

Terry squinted at the transfixed ball in thought.

Not a reach problem. Not a casting speed problem. Probably just a muscle memory thing that only becomes apparent when dual casting.

Terry sighed. “Well, then. Good to know that spells and spears have something in common.”

I need some exercises to get rid of the subconscious bias with dual casting, similar to Ma Isille’s exercises for dual wielding…

Terry pulled the ball back towards him and then made a note in his notebook to document his current reach and reaction times.

Next to Terry were two mana containers into which he was constantly guiding his excess mana. The reach practice did not require that much mana and Terry would run through his reserves quickly when practicing the more intense burst techniques, when training throughput to increase the resilience of his mana channels, or when sparring with Sigille.

Although sparring might be a decidedly misleading term. One-sided pummeling, really.

Terry had celebrated when he had finally made Sigille move. What came afterwards, however, still made him feel sore all over, even though the bruises had long healed.

After he had forced her to move once, she had never again limited her own movement. She was taking an active role and attacked. Recently, she had even started using a few common magic items to increase the pressure on Terry.

Sigille had explained to Terry once that his combat practice matches should broaden his experience.

His spars with her other disciples were to deepen his techniques and correcting flaws.

The matches with Sigille, by contrast, were for facing an opponent much stronger than himself – a chance to go all out as well as routinizing the drive to push back without flinching.

Terry put the cap back on his pen and glanced at the clock on the table.

Most of the other Guardians had already begun to leave the Outpost or prepare their departure. The season was coming to an end, which meant that most students would rotate to another outpost.

Thena, Clayson, Tara, and Derek had left the day before, together with Instructor Palmer. Harrison had left even earlier with an Instructor that was also a follower of the Bright Lady.

All in all, this had left a hole in Terry’s daily training schedule since all his usual sparring partners were already gone. However, Sigille had said she would have a new combat practice match prepared for today.

With whom though? I thought I had already faced all the candidates. Repeated match again?

There aren’t many Guardians left to begin with…

It’s not Isabella again, is it? Please no. She was supposed to leave together with Instructor Rachel.

Terry wondered and closed his notebook.

***

“Any restrictions for the match?” asked Terry. “Or alternative victory conditions?”

Still not sure how well I am doing in her ongoing challenge…

“No, not today,” replied Sigille in a casual tone. “I’ll act as the referee anyway and may shout some instructions when I feel like it.”

Sigille smiled at Terry with a familiar glint in her eyes that caused a tingle in Terry’s spine.

“You just go into the arena and do your best.” Sigille slapped Terry on the back and left.

Terry ignored the pain from Sigille’s ‘light’ slap and narrowed his eyes while moving towards the arena.

When Terry stepped into the arena, he could sense a mana cloak vanish to reveal a mana signature that seemed like many different signatures blending into one.

Terry’s eyes widened at the sight of Matteo facing him in the arena. He had not heard that Matteo was back.

“Begin!” Sigille’s voice jolted Terry out of his daze.

“Crap!” Terry burst his mana and barely dodged an incoming blue lightning bolt.

Terry sprinted to the side with clenched teeth. The attacks arrived too quickly for him to stop his burst.

Need to get closer!

Terry changed his course and tried to move in an arc to continue his approach while dodging the incoming attacks.

“DAMN!” Terry had to roll to the side to evade a lightning bolt that was timed perfectly to interrupt his run.

Terry’s mana sense blared in alarm at the follow-up. Instinctively, Terry summoned a tertium slab and transfixed it barely in time to block the blow.

Terry used the temporary reprieve to take a deep breath and lower his mana consumption by stopping the burst.

I need a plan.

Terry did not know how well Matteo’s general mana sense was developed, but he did know that Matteo’s sense for elemental mana from the core system was spectacular.

While behind the cover of the tertium slab. Terry retrieved his lightning spear from his storage bracelet.

Before Terry was ready for his own plan, his attention was drawn to the sky above himself.

When he realized what was happening, Terry groaned and hurriedly retrieved another tertium slab to transfix above himself.

Half a second later, a bright lightning bolt rained down from above. Unfortunately for Terry, some of the lightning forked and spread out around the slab.

Fortunately, these weaker remnant threads only caused a bit of a stinging pain for Terry.

Terry hurled his lightning-aspected spear to the right and then dashed to the left with bursted mana.

Please fall for the feint. Please fall for the feint…

“Crap.” Terry’s eyes widened when he saw the terrain in front of him. Apparently, Matteo had used some mana abilities to reshape the earth and put obstacles in his path while Terry was distracted.

Terry exhaled a sharp breath and rushed forward, regardless. He used his bidirectional attraction glove to pull the lightning spear back to him.

Terry recalled his spars with Harrison. When he sensed the incoming lightning again, he summoned a cheap metal spear and rammed it into the earth to use it as a deflecting lightning rod.

When Terry saw the blue flash, however, his instincts told him to dodge and block despite his prepared lightning rod.

The blue lightning narrowly bypassed the lightning rod and impacted on Terry’s transfixed tertium slab.

Right. Matteo’s lightning affinity is special. Even without the spirit-infused purple lightning, he has some ability to guide it without requiring spellwork.

Terry returned his spear to his storage bracelet. He summoned several throwing needles and placed them onto his sheath belt. With two more throwing needles in hand, he dashed forward.

When the next lightning reared its head, Terry hurled his throwing needles into the path between himself and Matteo in the hopes that one of them might block the bolt early to allow Terry to get closer.

Terry’s third transfixed needle caught the lightning bolt by a stroke of luck.

Terry was running between two high earthen walls as he felt a small smile tug at the corner of his lips…

The smile vanished when the earthen walls turned liquid and a vast mass of mud collapsed onto Terry’s head.

Terry used his imprinted items to lift himself out of the mud while concentrating on his mana sense to not suffer an attack when leaving the cover of the earth.

To his surprise, Matteo had approached of his own accord, which did not ease Terry’s tension one bit.

Terry burst his mana and gasped for air as soon as he had made it out of the mud. He hurriedly placed some tertium slabs for protection and jumped back from where he could sense Matteo.

Ugh… The mud is really a drag on my mobility…

Terry scowled, grit his teeth, and then dashed forward once more… only to be bombarded by a barrage of rock projectiles.

“ARGH!” A rock had hit Terry on the inside of his knee. The rock wasn’t too fast, but it still took Terry off-guard.

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He had been dodging the projectiles from the front by relying on his eyesight while his mana sense had allowed him to dodge projectiles from the back.

Damn it. He is releasing the mana for some of the propelled rocks from behind! The rocks already have enough momentum and this way, I can’t sense them by their mana.

Terry grunted and quickly started releasing mana pulses like he had done in his match with Rosheen. While it was not comparable to actually sensing or seeing the mana projectile directly, it was better than being completely blind.

Matteo soared up into the air and spat a giant wave of fire at Terry.

The instincts from Terry’s combat practice against fire mages kicked in and he rapidly unleashed a broad disruption discharge.

While fire could be moved faster than rock, the lack of mass and inertia also had its downsides. In contrast to rocks, fire on its own did not have any momentum to carry it forward without mana.

Unfortunately for Terry, the fire had obstructed the ice hail that followed.

Some of the ice melted due to the lingering heat of the fire. While Terry appreciated the falling water washing off some of the mud, the lightning that followed was much less appreciated.

Crap crap crap.

Terry cursed inwardly and prepared himself mentally for a world of pain.

***

Terry lay sprawled on the ground from pain and exhaustion. He would rather face a dozen inscribed earth giants than to repeat a match against Matteo.

While Sigille’s instruction sessions were not exactly pleasant, she had never used her divine hammer inscription and without it, she was mostly using a close combat style that Terry felt somewhat comfortable with.

Better a one-sided pummeling than to not even get close without a chance to do anything…

Matteo’s barrage of sheer endless mana abilities was the worst kind of match-up as far as Terry saw it. The mana abilities were cast too quickly and without proper spell structures to disrupt preemptively.

“I hope you didn’t mind the surprise,” said Matteo, who was approaching with his hand on the hilt of the heartseeker dagger. “Ma asked me to make you sweat.”

Terry only responded with a pained groan.

“Glad you’re back, my son.” Sigille jogged over. “I hope you didn’t break your little cousin. If Little Silly finds out, I can’t protect you.”

Matteo raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t it you that told me to not go too easy on Cousin Terry?”

“That may be, but that does not mean I wouldn’t try to deflect responsibility if Little Silly gets angry.” Sigille grinned cheekily. “And if she were to start a fight, I wouldn’t know what to do. I still see the little chipmunk clinging to my armor whenever I see her.”

“Anyway, enough nonsense,” exclaimed Sigille.

*Plop* Sigille let herself fall to sit on the ground.

“How was the hunt?” asked Sigille.

Matteo shrugged and sat down as well. “So and so. Lots of vile necromancers and cursed creatures have been eradicated. From the perspective of the death hunters, very successful, but…” Matteo clicked his tongue with a dejected look in his eyes. “Still no proper trace of Anand.”

“Meh, you can’t expect any more,” said Sigille. “Any hunt that leaves the world a better place is a good hunt.”

“Still…” Matteo shook his head. “There had been rumors about a necromancer that summoned a ‘tamed’ elemental from a dimensional gate. I really thought this would lead somewhere, or hoped at least.”

Sigille’s eyes narrowed. “Where?”

“Central plains, south of the Shrieking Hollow,” replied Matteo, who then shook his head. “But when we searched the location in question, all we found were the remnants of a deathcult that had been destroyed by an unknown party shortly before arrival.”

Terry groaned again while trying to sit up.

“Need some healing?” asked Matteo.

“Look at you coddling your little cousin.” Sigille snickered and then looked at Terry. “Matteo’s lightning has disturbed your mana flow. You should be able to handle that without external help. Start guiding your mana more consciously near the joints and circle it more slowly around your lungs.”

Terry nodded and did as instructed before he turned to Matteo. “Thanks, I’ll be fine.”

“Is Cadence ready for departure?” asked Matteo.

“Yeah, I’ve already talked to her, which reminds me.” Sigille turned to Terry. “I have decided that you’ll accompany us as well.”

Terry sat up straight at this announcement.

“Most of the people I trust have already left the outpost and will be out for the next seasons,” explained Sigille.

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here alone with just Whaka Dhruv,” Sigille sighed. “I trust Dhruv would fight tooth and nail to defend you if it comes down to it, but he is not one for retaliation or holding grudges.”

Sigille clicked her tongue. “Unfortunately, this means that some pest beetle might try something when Dhruv isn’t looking. I would rather keep you close to watch over you myself.”

Matteo snorted amusedly. “And?”

Sigille glanced at Matteo and then back at Terry with a grin. “And Dhruv’s style doesn’t really match yours. This way, I can keep an eye on your training progress as well.”

Good luck, Whaka Terry. Terry smiled warily.

“Wait, what about the mission quotas?” asked Terry.

“You are already ahead for at least a season, given the number of missions you took the past few weeks and the number of courses you had signed up for,” replied Sigille. “Besides, you’ll technically be part of some missions. Not all, mind you.”

“We usually pick a few travelling missions that we can do while on our way to the primary mission locations,” elaborated Matteo.

Sigille nodded. “We can pick a few that will work as instruction missions. You’ll get the ring again and then have a chance to participate under supervision. For those that are not suitable, I will either have one of us stay back to spar with you or there will be another trusted person to keep you company.”

“‘One of us’?” asked Matteo. “Does Cadence already know about that idea?”

“No, but I figure she will be a good spar for Terry as well,” replied Sigille. “Experience to face a more advanced channeler and all.”

“Aside from that,” started Sigille with a shrug. “I hope Cadence will see it as a chance to integrate into our group. You or I will stay back sometimes as well, so the other will work with Cadence alone. Hopefully, that will make her feel less like a third wheel.”

Sigille frowned slightly. “Don’t get me wrong. She is still a cultist and way too infatuated with the witch, but I figure we need to find some way to work together. After Cadence’s support in Syn, I believe she at least deserves this much of a chance.”

Matteo shrugged. “No complaints from me.”

“Any pressure from the Guild regarding the first proper mission?” asked Sigille.

“Probably the same as for you,” said Matteo. “Bunch of new dungeons in the east. They still give the highest priority to dungeon pioneering pressure-wise, but since the pay from the Guardians as the client does not really match, a lot of the pioneering missions have queued up again.”

Sigille snorted. “Yeah, I wonder if they are waiting for someone or something.” She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, I wonder what the Wastes they would do if I were ever to really retire or if you stopped taking these missions for this pay.”

Sigille grumbled: “Everyone wants the resources from a new dungeon, but no one wants to actually take the risk for the initial dive or be willing to pay so that others might.”

“Anyway, I’ve had a look at what other missions with less than favorable conditions have queued up at the Guild,” said Matteo.

Sigille raised her brows. “What’s the trend?”

“Worse than last year again,” replied Matteo. “More missions from clients that cannot pay much. The remaining Guildheads also seem to become more and more demanding. The average reward for the piled up missions is higher than last year, while the risk and required time investment seems roughly the same to me.”

“To be expected after so many Guildheads have left the empire.” Sigille nodded with a dark expression. “I figure the increase in missions is also due to the pullback of the army.”

She sighed tiredly. “Anyway, I’ll get some input from Dhruv and then we can pick the missions accordingly. We can choose the route so that we reach the scoundrel’s dungeon scavengers in time for Little Emily’s adulthood ceremony.”

Matteo chuckled.

“Which reminds me, will you really not warn the little angel?” asked Sigille. “I know it’s a dungeon scavenger thing and I can’t just tell her father what to do, but… You know you’re like an elder brother for Little Emily.”

“It’s not that bad,” said Matteo. “And it does teach a valuable lesson.”

“That her father is a scoundrel?” guessed Sigille.

“That you need to be careful about when to let down your guard,” said Matteo. “Part of adulthood and such.” Matteo shrugged. “At least that is what Wallace told me when I went through it.”

Sigille raised an eyebrow and stared at Matteo in silence.

“And I actually have prepared something for Emily,” said Matteo sheepishly. “Unlike me, she won’t have to deal with it for weeks.”

“I knew you were a big softie.” Sigille smiled warmly. “Alright, then we’ll do a bit of a tour and then we’ll visit Wallace’s group in time for the ceremony.”

“Actually, there seems to be a pioneering mission not far away from the dormant dungeon that should be their current scavenging ground,” interjected Matteo.

Sigille nodded. “Then perhaps we can even arrive a bit early, leave Terry with Wallace for a bit and after everything is done, we can escort Emily to the outpost and I’ll introduce her and Dhruv.”

“Uhm…” Terry only became aware of the sound when it had already escaped him.

“Hm? Anything on your mind, Terry?” prompted Sigille.

“Just…” Terry hesitated. “The dungeon.”

“Ahh…” Sigille considered her words. “The dungeon scavengers only comb through dormant dungeons. No need to worry. It is exceedingly rare for a dormant dungeon to become active again and, more importantly, it is easily detectable and generally progresses in stages.”

“What they are doing is more similar to mining mana crystals,” said Matteo. “Only without the fees of mining mana crystals. Admittedly, more of a legal grey area. They search for crystals, cores, or other materials that have been left behind when the dungeon turned dormant.”

Matteo rolled his eyes. “Mine a mana crystal or dive into an active dungeon and you have to let Tiv take its cut. Find a mana crystal in a dormant dungeon, however, and… Well, no applicable regulations. You get the idea.”

“Better than the other scavengers at least,” grumbled Sigille. “Those that roam the Wasted Zone more often than not are just bandits in disguise.”

“Wallace and his group took me in after they had found me in the dormant dungeon by chance,” said Matteo. “It took a few days before Ma caught up with us and I had no desire to go back to the Guardians then. So I joined the dungeon scavengers for a few years.”

“Damn witch,” growled Sigille unhappily.

“They are not exactly combat-oriented, but you could learn a few things from them, Terry,” remarked Matteo.

“Please don’t learn too much from Wallace though,” grumbled Sigille with an exaggerated look of horror.

Matteo snickered and looked at Terry. “Don’t mind Ma Sigille. I think she is just disturbed by the notion that Wallace has become like a father to me.”

“Well, that is a disturbing thought,” said Sigille exasperatedly. “Why did you have to speak that out loud? That elf is just…” Sigille’s grumblings turned barely audible. “Damn cheeky for someone with the defensive ability of a twig.”

Matteo smiled and shook his head.

“But…” Terry bit his lower lip. He had truly started to look at Sigille and Matteo as whaka. “What about the dungeon pioneering? What about veil tears?”

“Ahh…” Sigille realized it was not the dormant dungeon that Terry had been worried about, and her expression softened. “Look, Terry. I’ve read the works of Samuel and I think there are few that could match his knowledge about dungeons… but his experience is also seen through the lens of trauma.”

Sigille lowered her gaze and took a deep breath. “What happened to Little Olgorn was a tragedy, but while Samuel is absolutely correct in principle, I think he has lost some perspective. I have seen my share of dungeons…”

Sigille caught Terry’s gaze. “I have seen my share of veil tears.”

Terry’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I have seen seven in my life,” said Sigille. “Two of them together with Matteo.”

Terry glanced at Matteo, who only nodded at him.

“The tear that took Little Olgorn’s life was an exceptional anomaly,” said Sigille. “Of the tears I’ve encountered, two were already dealt with by the dungeon before I even managed to lay eyes on the hellspawn. In the others, it felt more like an alliance with the dungeon. There was not much coordination, but the dungeon focused entirely on the hellspawn while allowing me to get in a few hits myself.”

“I have encountered stronger hellspawn in the Wastes and what I have seen matches some of Samuel’s descriptions.” Sigille shook her head. “But I have never personally experienced a tear that overpowered a dungeon to the point that the dungeon turned mad.”

Sigille paused in thought. “I am not saying it isn’t possible. I am saying that there is a difference between possible and probable.” She sighed. “Survivor’s guilt is horrible and it can distort your perception significantly.” For a second, she glanced at Matteo.

Sigille looked back into Terry’s eyes. “You know, I really like one of Samuel’s metaphors for the dungeon: ‘The Realm’s First Line of Defense.’ Olgorn gave his life defending not only his whaka, but also our entire realm.

“If the dungeon had lost that encounter and failed to seal the tear, then that would have meant another invasion point for hellspawn to come through. Another dungeon that can’t recover on its own. If the dungeons are defending our realm, if they represent the first line of defense, then shouldn’t we do our part?

“If that’s where the fight is, then that’s where I intend to be.” Sigille nodded to herself while speaking.

Terry pondered Sigille’s words while Sigille and Matteo continued discussing possible missions for the way.

***