"No more questions. I want to rest now," Irwin said, lying back on his new, comfy bed and closing his eyes.

After a few moments of more questions, Olban fell quiet with an annoyed grunt.

Finally, Irwin thought.

Olban had been far too interested, going as far as getting up and demanding to see his card's tattoo. It was such a not-done request that Irwin had been startled and just looked at him until the taller, brawnier youth seemed uncomfortable and returned. Something about the way he had asked confused Irwin, but he was too tired to process it.

"Fine, fine. But you have to show us what you can do soon," Olban said.

Irwin didn't respond, hoping Olban would shut up. Besides, he sounded way too interested. Irwin didn't want anyone to find out he had a card that looked common but wasn't. If his mother was right, it could prove lethal, and even if she wasn't, it didn't seem wise. He'd only wanted to tell his family at first anyway.

As the room turned quiet, the pain in his foot seemed to increase, and he realized that he really had to check his feet. Just one minute, he thought, relaxing for a moment.

The next thing he knew, someone was shaking his shoulder.

"Are you dead or something? Wake up!" Olban said, shaking him again. Greldo stood behind him, shrugging helplessly.

"Wu- wah," Irwin said, trying to fend off the persistent shaking. "I'm awake. Let go!"

"Good, because we have to leave," Olban said as he stepped back.

Irwin blinked his gritty eyes, and his body screamed at him that he should ignore anything and simply stay in bed.

I hope we only have to listen, he thought as he looked to the side.

A tall, bored-looking man with long red hair stood there, scratching at what looked like the start of a beard, thin and unevenly distributed.

"Yeah? Finally decided to wake up?" he said, sounding annoyed. "You do realize this isn't an inn, right? You are here to learn and help protect the peninsula!"

Irwin nodded, forcing his protesting body out of bed. He recoiled as soon as he put his weight on his feet, remembering what he should have done. For a moment, he thought about just trying to ignore it, and then a jab from his heel made him cringe. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the others and took off his boots. His thin, pale yellow socks, stained and stuffed from years of wearing and fixing, were marred by dark red stains on multiple spots.

"Shit," he whispered as he tried to pull one off, only for it to stay painfully stuck to his foot.

"What are you-" the man began as he stomped forward before seeing Irwin's foot. "Ah. Well, great. Of course, I get the broken one."

Before Irwin could pull them back, the man grabbed his ankles with disgust and yanked his socks off. Irwin held back a startled scream of pain, his eyes watering. It didn't help when he saw his feet. They were riddled with blue, green, and yellow bruises and stained with partially dried-up blood. Large blisters covered the sides, back, and bottom, with fresh blood welling up where the socks had been torn free.

Still, as bad as they looked, they looked as if they were days old instead of from the previous day.

They healed, Irwin thought, wondering if you could even call it that. Looking around, he saw Greldo looking at his feet, frowning slightly.

"Fantastic. You can't walk like this," the man snapped.

Irwin quickly turned to him, seeing the man glare at him as if it was his fault.

"I'm sorry," Irwin croaked, wiping his eyes as he saw the four others stare at him.

"Yes. So am I," the man grunted. "Fine, let's get you fixed up before we start."

Before Irwin could respond, the man lifted him and held him under one arm like a bag of potatoes. As he was hoisted away, Irwin saw Olban snigger while Twintin and Greldo looked horrified. Halfway to the door, the man was already struggling.

"I can carry him," Daubutim rumbled as he stepped forward. He was only slightly taller than the sorcerer but nearly twice as wide in the shoulders.

"Good," the man said, grunting in effort.

Irwin felt the man release him, and he barely had time to raise his hands before he fell on his hands and feet. He cried in pain as another few blisters burst, and he rolled on his side, grabbing his feet.

"Sorry," the man said as he looked away. Irwin thought he saw a nasty smile, and he gritted his teeth, holding back a string of curses. He was no stranger to being bullied or beaten, and he had no idea if the man was their teacher. If he angered him even more, things would become way too hard for him.

Daubutim knelt beside him, and a moment later, he was lifted again, but much more gently this time. Daubitum felt like a rock, unmovable and stable, and he seemed totally unfazed by Irwin's weight, little as it was.

"Are you alright?" Daubutim asked, looking at him with dull eyes.

Irwin just nodded, which seemed enough for Daubutim, who turned to the carded man.

"Right. Follow me," the man grunted as he stomped off, followed by the rag-tag bunch of youths.

Irwin frowned as he glanced at Daubutim. "How old are you?" he whispered.

"Turning fifteen next crossings of the moons," Daubutim said.

He is younger than me! Irwin thought, barely believing it.

That meant that while he looked like a twelve-year-old at fifteen, Daubutim looked like he was eighteen at fifteen.

Life's just not fair, Irwin thought with a weary sigh.

"Now that you're all awake, and-" the man began before stopping in his tracks.

Olban, who had been walking close behind him, bumped into him, causing the man to scowl angrily.

"Why are there only five of you?"

"There was a sixth girl, but she didn't want to be with us," Olban said, his annoyingly squeaky voice cracking halfway into a somewhat deep rumble. Everyone looked at him, and his ears turned red.

"Don't know why that keeps happening," he muttered, looking to the ground.

"Great… So a group with a broken one and a missing one?" the man growled. "Where did the girl go, and what did she look like?"

"Teal hair and a big scar on her left cheek," Greldo said. "A bit taller than me," he added lamely when the man frowned.

"Alright, we will get that sorted at the same time then. Now, I was going to tell you what you need to know, but I hate repeating myself, so I'll only tell you a few things and wait until she's found."

He began marching off again, and everyone hurried to follow behind.

"So, my name is Johnathan, which you will call me. No John, or Johny, unless you want to get into trouble," he said as he glared across his shoulder as if someone had already done as such. "I've been here for over seven years and am a full-hand." At this, he raised his left hand, back facing them so they could see the three cards that sat there. Intricate lines wrapped around the tattoos, binding them together to show they were not just linked but combined into one, the requirement to be called a full-hand.

"Now, you are probably wondering why I don't have any more cards, and I'll tell you to shut up and wait till you have been here for a year or longer. If you can't figure it out by then, come ask me so I can have a laugh."

Great, this guy must have been trained by Mouldir, Irwin thought as he looked at the sorcerer walking away.

Wait, was he technically a sorcerer? Mouldir had said they would become sorcerers upon gaining an uncommon card. Was that what he was waiting for? It seemed likely… Then again, if he just collected another two common cards, he was allowed to leave! Why didn't he? With seven years here-

As Irwin pondered, he almost fell asleep again and was startled awake when Daubutim put him down.

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They were in a large room with oddly black floor tiles and walls covered in shelves filled with glass jars, satchels, and books. Beds lined the walls, and he was on one while a slim, silver-haired woman, barely an adult and probably only a few years older than them, inspected his feet.

"Why did you not come sooner instead of walking around with this for days?" she asked as she gently prodded one of the bruises.

Irwin blinked in surprise. "What? We-"

"He didn't have the time. We had to get here yesterday, and things got heated when some of the nobles tried to hide away their children," Greldo said.

As everyone turned to his friend, Irwin wondered why Greldo had said that. Didn't he realize that he had only gotten his feet mangled the previous day- Oh! His sleepy mind finally caught up with what was happening. His feet had healed too fast!

Wait, does Greldo suspect something? He looked at his friend, but Greldo was staring at the others, answering questions about what had happened.

"You can tell us about that later," Jonathan said, interrupting them. He turned to the silver-haired woman. With an awkward smile, he waved at Irwin's feet.

"Do you think you can heal him up, Gwyneth? I'm supposed to get them ready for their first training-portal today."

"Today? Are you crazy? These kids need at least a month of practice before-" Gwyneth exclaimed, only to fall quiet and grimace.

"Ah… right," she said.

Irwin saw a quick look of sadness in her eyes as she looked at him, but it was gone just as fast. That didn't do anything to stop his budding fear from growing, however. Were they going into a training portal today? From Gwyneth's reactions, this seemed more than a little abnormal, and knowing they should have had months of training before made it worse.

Taking a deep, weary breath, Gwyneth turned to his feet, inspecting them for a moment.

"It shouldn't be too long ago, so it should work. I'll fix them now." She turned her gaze to Irwin, smiling at him reassuringly. "This is a one-time thing. Normally, it would cost you one cardbead to get minor injuries not sustained in a portal healed. Also, if you want healing that I can provide, next time, come and see me right after it happens! My skill works best on fresh injuries."

Irwin nodded dumbly, wondering what cardbeads were supposed to be.

Gwyneth smiled at him. "Don't worry, okay? It won't hurt, and it'll be fine!"

She placed her hands on his feet, seeming unbothered by the blood and matted bits of sock. The back of her left hand began glowing a dim red. The light seemed almost syrupy as it oozed over his foot, warming his feet where they touched it. The blisters started closing, the bruises fading, and a few minutes later, all that remained of his injuries were stains of dried blood.

"Incredible," Irwin whispered as he wiggled his toes, which were as good as they had been. No, better even! Then he looked at the girl's hand, trying to get a glimpse of the card she'd used. She only had two, but besides noting they were intricately combined, he didn't get a good look at the image.

"Good, that went better than I'd thought," she said, sounding both weary but also somewhat surprised. She looked up, a curious glimpse in her eyes as she inspected Irwin's small frame. A crease came between her eyes, then she got up and stretched.

"Right. Now, you better hurry along! And remember, next time, I expect a Bead for my troubles!"

Sure, as soon as I know what those are, Irwin thought.

"Gwyneth, there's one more thing," Jonathan said, causing the young woman to look at him. "Their sixth is being a problem and is somewhere in the tower on her own. Can you alert the guards to search for her and bring her to training room sixteen?"

"Ugh… this is some group you have here," Gwyneth muttered as she gave him a sympathetic smile.

Jonathan smiled back, straightening up. "Oh, it's fine. I can deal with it!"

"I'll alert the guards," Gwyneth said with a nod. "Now, I need to prepare some more salves."

"Alright," Jonathan said as he motioned for Irwin to move.

Oh no, my boots, Irwin thought as he felt the cold tiles on his sole. As he looked around in panic, Greldo stepped forward, holding out his boots, what remained of his socks stuffed in. Putting them on was a disgustingly wet affair, but wearing his boots without them would get him back here way too fast.

A minute later, they were following Johnathan, who seemed far happier than before. He still ignored all their questions. The hallways all blended together, and as they finally reached a larger room with doors on all sides and two corridors leading away, he knew he was utterly lost. The back wall was covered in racks with staffs and clubs in different sizes, slings, bows, and even a few whips. Irwin hadn't seen such a large assortment of weapons except from his quick glances in the smithy.

"Alright," Jonathan said as he stopped before a door numbered eighteen. "Normally, you get a week or two of theory and explanations, then six weeks of combat training before ever setting foot in a room like this, but there's no time for that. You are unlucky that none of you have two cards, or things would have been easier, especially with only five. I had hoped the guards would have brought your sixth by now, but she must either be resisting or somehow hidden. No matter… Listen closely."

He pointed over his shoulder. "This is called a practice portal, and it was created by the craft master from the fifth tower. Before you ask, no, I don't know how. I just know they have powerful cards. There's a legend that says Gelwin himself created some of these, but that could just as well be an old wives' tale. Inside, you will find an encounter that mirrors something you will find in a common portal. Most of the time, it means fighting Imps or Galubs, but you may come across-"

"Fighting," Twintin squealed, taking a step back and shaking her head fearfully.

"Yes. What else did you think we did in portals?" Jonathan snapped. "You fight the monsters within while searching for the linchpin, which you will destroy or kill to close the portal."

"But the stories say there are puzzles and-"

"Those are some of the uncommon and above portals," Jonathan said as he raised a finger. "Now, no more interrupting!"

Twintin wilted as Jonathan continued.

"You can not be injured or die in these training rooms. Instead, when you come out, your injuries will be healed, and if you die, you will just pop back out. However, you will still feel pain! So, I know that two of you," he pointed at Daubutim and Olban, "have combat cards. Make sure you use them. The rest of you can pick out some weapons and just learn as you go."

"Learn what?" Greldo muttered as he looked at Jonathan with a pale face. "You can't just shove us in here without explaining more! We don't even know how to use weapons!"

"There is no helping that," Jonathan said. "Mouldir has ordered that everyone was to be tossed in on day one so he could find those with high potential as fast as possible, train those up, and send them out to close portals."

"Can we at least get a sword?" Olban asked, his voice rising in pitch.

Irwin sighed, knowing the answer but keeping his mouth shut.

"No. When you enter, anything besides items made of leather and plant fibers and stuff like that vanishes. So, make sure you leave any metal objects like coins, weapons, jewelry, or otherwise here before stepping in.

Irwin suddenly recalled the handful of copper he had with him. Why hadn't Jonathan told them earlier that they would go into a portal? Then he could have left them in their room!

"Where… where do we put those things?" Olban asked as he licked his lips and looked around worriedly.

"You were supposed to leave them in your room," Jonathan said incredulously.

"You- … Nobody told us!" Olban cried.

Jonathan's face darkened.

"Right. I might have forgotten with all the commotion," the carded man said. "Fine. For this once, I'll hold your items."

Nobody moved as they all gaped at him, and Irwin saw the reluctance he felt mirrored on the other's faces.

"Take it or leave it!" Jonathan said as he stepped away from the door. "I don't believe any of you even has anything worth stealing but to set you at ease. Stealing is punished severely here, as some of you will undoubtedly soon find out. I wouldn't dare, nor should you, if you know what's good for you."

Irwin shared a look with Greldo, who was pulling something from his waist, a rather ornate belt with metal studs that Irwin had never seen him wear. He also had a small pouch.

Where did he get those things? He'd have to ask him later.

Still, there wasn't much else to it, and he sighed. I hope he gives them back, he thought as he pulled the coins from his pocket and stepped towards Jonathan.

The other held out his hand and then looked at the nine coppers in disdain. With a snort, he put it in his pocket.

"Nine coppers for Brokenfoot," he said.

"I'm Irwin," Irwin said, annoyed.

"And I don't care," Jonathan replied as he took the belt and pouch from Greldo. He blinked as he weighed the pouch on his hand before nodding at Greldo.

How much is in there? Irwin wondered. Greldo was as poor as he was.

A minute later, everyone, except for Olban, had handed some items to Jonathan. Olban was still fidgeting, seemingly unhappy, while the others were picking out weapons. Irwin grabbed a sling, hoping he could use it, pocketing as many stones as he could before taking a small bat.

"Either give it now or go inside and lose it forever," Jonathan finally snapped, glaring at Olban.

"Alright… but… if you don't give it back, I'll-" Olban whispered before pulling a thin chain from around his thick neck. A golden, gleaming locket with an eye on it appeared from below his shirt, and everyone's eyes, including Jonathan's, widened.

"An eye of Yilda," Twintin whispered.

"Where did you get that?" Jonathan snapped as he stepped forward threateningly.

"It's mine! I got it from my father before coming here," Olban said, gripping the locket against his chest as he took a step back. "He's a... he's..." Olban frowned and shook his head but looked at Jonathan as if he'd fight if the other even threatened to take it.

Jonathan stared at Olban for a while, then nodded. "Fine. I hope for your sake that's true. I'll hold that for you, and you will get it back, but I will have to report it to the guards."

"Alright," Olban whispered as he reluctantly handed the locket over.

Jonathan looked at it for a moment before placing it in the pocket of his vest instead of his loose pants.

"If it's really yours, you can be at ease," he said, suddenly sounding a lot less angry. "I'll make sure nobody takes it."

Then his eyes narrowed, and he pointed at the door.

"Now grab a weapon, get in, and do your best. You have eight tower hours to train today, and depending on how you do, you will be sent to one of the classes."

Irwin looked at the door, swallowed, and took a halting step forward.

What if your card isn't common... what will happen? a tiny voice shouted in his mind.

He hesitated, then shoved it down. What else could he do? Besides, everything about his cards looked screamed common - that had to mean something, right? It had even looked like a common when he got it from Bronwyn.

Daubutim moved past him and pulled open the door. A swirling red portal hung behind it, causing the dull, burly boy to stop in his tracks. The others huddled beside him, sharing looks of panic and fear.

"In, or I'll toss you," Jonathan said.

Irwin was about to step forward when Greldo beat him to it.

"See you on the other side," his friend whispered before jumping into the portal. He vanished in a swirl of yellow.

Irwin shivered, steeled himself, took a step forward, and jumped in.