Tala woke early the next morning—well before the sun was up outside, and only a little before it would rise within Kit—and immediately moved through her stretches.

The sun outside and the sun within her sanctum were coming closer to being in harmony as summer approached, and that lent to a feeling of greater coherence between life in her sanctum and the ‘real world’ outside.

I think I might set the synchronization on the internal environment to mirror outside for a bit. It would be nice to feel like they were at least in the same reality.

-That would likely help you feel more at home here, yeah. We’ve never really delved into the main systems of this place. The manuals we were given were mainly for the peripherals.-

Yeah… what did they say? Start using the systems and more information will be provided?

-I hope that it wasn’t going to be provided by them or…-

She snorted a laugh. Right you are. That would be unfortunate.

As to that morning, Master Clevnis had asked to meet with her first thing in the morning. So, after they’d clarified what that meant, Tala had been sure to leave Kit on an outer wall of the Gredial compound so he could find the entrance with ease.

She’d also notified Mistress Petra that she’d have a guest for breakfast.

Tala had gotten her bath the night before—once she got Kit placed—and so she was feeling pretty relaxed, even as she felt the vibrations that indicated a knock on Kit’s front door.

She reached out and opened a watchman’s hatch in a non-existent door in the air. “One minute, Master Clevnis.”

“Certainly, Mistress Tala.”

She closed the hatch as she turned in place, then hesitated. I’ve… I’ve never done that before.

-That’s true. It’s a fairly obvious use of your connection, but still a new one.-

Tala grunted, then shrugged, willing herself to the dining room.

Mistress Petra was just finishing up breakfast when Tala appeared. “Good morning, Mistress Tala. I’ll be out of your hair in but a moment.”

Tala smiled to the older woman. “There’s no rush, Mistress Petra. I appreciate how helpful you’ve been of late. Well, how helpful you always are, really.”

“But of course.”

Tala opened an exit on one wall and gestured for Master Clevnis to step inside.

The man hesitated for only a moment before saying something under his breath and stepping through.

Tala was distinctly able to catch his words: “I do not consent to any bond.”

The Refined stopped just inside, seeming to examine himself thoroughly. “Fascinating. You were quite correct on the nature of this space it seems.”

Mistress Petra wiped her hands on her apron and came out from the kitchen, giving a deep bow. “Master Clevnis, welcome to Mistress Tala’s sanctum.”

The Refined jerked his head to regard the woman but quickly adjusted, instantly calming, a smile spreading across his features. “Ahh, you must be the fantastic cook who was so kind as to provide myself and my unit with food last night.” He gave a small bow her way, eyes flicking toward Tala. “It was Mistress Petra, correct?”

“That was me, yes. My family and I live and work here.”

“Fascinating.”

“It is.” She seemed to misunderstand his meaning. “I’ve never much explored higher level dimensional spaces, though my husband has told me enough about them. I must say that he undersold the majesty and utility they are capable of, if anything.” She chuckled. “I’d not have believed you if you told me that a year ago, let me tell you true.”

The unit leader’s smile increased slightly. “Indeed.”

“Ahh, but silly me. Breakfast will be done shortly, and I’ll leave you to your time.”

Master Clevnis gave another bow before turning and taking in the room around him. “A building within a dimensional storage. It seems so unnecessary, but I suppose I can see the utility. Familiarity of surroundings is maintained, if nothing else, and with others in here, it allows for privacy and segregation of spaces for various tasks.”

Tala stepped a bit closer, so that they might not be disturbing Mistress Petra, “Yes, the arcanes have many… oddities to their holds. Some are ridiculous, but there are others that we might learn from and implement, at least in some cases.”

The man was nodding. “When you don’t soul-bond such a space, it becomes much more utilizable, though it does limit it in other regards. I suppose like all things, there are no solutions, only tradeoffs.”

She gave a rueful smile, “So I’ve heard, but we can discuss that over breakfast, and that will be soon enough. Take a moment to look around.”

He smiled and did just that, panning his gaze around the room, taking time to examine his surroundings more closely, a frown building. “The door out…?”

“Oh, that’s usually in a bunker outside, but I can call it to wherever I wish it to be.”

He grunted. “That’s…” His words faded as he really looked out of the massive windows. He stepped closer to the glass, seemingly without realizing that he was doing so, eyes flicked back and forth, trying to take it all in. “That’s not an illusion.”

His words were barely above a whisper, but Tala decided to respond regardless, “No, it isn’t. We can walk some of it later, if you wish.”

“I might like that… So, this is what you were keeping to yourself, with regard to ‘out of Alefast’ missions? We can use this as a nightly place to stay?”

She grimaced slightly. “Maybe. I don’t know how the integrity will hold up under five more Refined in here.”

He nodded. “Ahh, so you haven’t gotten around that limitation entirely.”

“Master Simon—Mistress Petra’s husband—is somewhat of an expert, and he’s running some tests. He should have more information in the next few days.”

“Master Simon…” Master Clevnis tilted his head to the side. “Where have I heard that name before? I’m not usually familiar with most below Refined unless there’s something notable about them.” He did seem a bit embarrassed at the admission.

“He was working under Master Queue.”

“Oh! Yes, and Mistress Elnea was working with him as well. The head of the Bandfast Archon Council.”

That’s right, she helped recommend him, and she did say she wanted one of her own to be researching here.

-You weren’t really in the mind-space to properly process all of that, I suppose.-

Neither of us were, apparently.

-Ahh, the dangers of being of one mind.-

Mistress Petra brought over a large tray, and laid out the various dishes for Tala and a well-orchestrated plate for Master Clevnis. “Pardon my overhearing, but yes, Mistress Elnea has been good to my husband, and me as well. She’s encouraged us to move toward Refining. We’ve gotten the inscriptions, but it’ll be a short while before we’re ready for any of the sessions.” She cleared her throat. “But you didn’t ask, and I’m butting in and taking your time. I do hope you enjoy your breakfast.”

“Thank you, Mistress Petra.” They both responded, nearly at the same time.

The woman departed, and Tala and Master Clevnis sat.

Master Clevnis placed his hands on either side of the plate, flat on the table. He took a moment to draw in a deep breath before smiling and speaking quietly. “Thank you.”

Tala smiled, “She does make quite excellent fare.”

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He directed his smile at her in return, and they dug into their food.

The conversation hit a lull while they ate, the deliciousness of the meal more than occupying their thoughts.

He easily finished before her and took his dishes to the kitchen.

“Excuse me, Mistress Tala, but where should I place these? Is there a sink I can clean them in?” He looked around and frowned. “I didn’t see Mistress Petra clean the cookware, but the cleaning seems to be done.”

“Oh, Kit does the cleaning. Just set your plate with the clean ones in that marked off square of counter, and you’ll see.”

He gave her an odd look but complied. An instant later, he grunted. “Automatic cleaning? That seems a bit extravagant.”

Tala shrugged. “It might be, but Kit just eats the remnants.”

“And Kit is… your storage?”

“Yes. We were able to determine that Kit is actually a creature born in the void. She came to Alefast, here, disguising herself as a dimensional storage, likely with the intention of eating all she could before she was banished. Or it could have been something else. I suppose I shouldn’t pretend to understand exactly what a creature of the void might want.”

Master Clevnis’s eyebrow twitched.

“That said, the little pouch took a liking to me, it seems. We get along great now.”

The Refined looked around, seeming a bit tense.

“Relax. From what Master Simon has determined, Kit is mostly the entrance and an underlying framework behind the reality within this space. If she wanted to move—let alone eat—you, she would have to get your permission or overcome your magical weight.” She hesitated, taking a sip of endingberry juice to get some crumbs out of her mouth. “With what I’m learning, I think Kit could dump you into the Doman-Imithe if she wished, and you’d be hard pressed to stop her, but beyond that, you’re in no danger.”

He seemed to tense a bit more, before shaking his head, taking a deep breath, and returning to the table. “You seem to lead a truly interesting life.”

“Well, ‘if you pay the entry fee,—’”

“‘—you might as well stay for the show.’” He grinned, finishing the old saying. “I can understand that. It is a bit fatalistic, though.”

“Only if it kills me.”

He cocked his head, his smile fading just a bit.

She sighed. “I’m not trying to die… at least not anymore. I’m seeing Master Nadro when I can, though our meetings are usually Archival these days.”

Master Clevnis’s smile grew once more, “He’s a wonder, isn’t he? Probably the oldest living human, and yet he fills his time with helping others.” He hesitated. “You know, actually some of the Academy faculty might be older, but I don’t think they really remember anymore.”

Tala grunted, moving on to another dish of magic-packed food. “With mundane human memory, I suppose that could become a problem.”

“Indeed. We weren’t designed to live forever, so if we manage it, we better do all the upgrades we can.”

She chuckled at that.

“Well, as delightful as this has been thus far, I did have a purpose for wanting to meet up with you.”

She nodded, waiting for him to continue.

“We’ve found that it is useful to do after-fight discussions. Yesterday was a big one for you: Your first fight as a defender during a waning.”

She nodded again—still chewing—and gestured for him to go on.

“Very well. Obviously, you did well. You defeated the threat with minimal collateral damage.”

“The wall?”

He grinned. “The wall, yes. Not ideal, but not unexpected. It took less than a gold to fix. Those things are resilient beyond belief and as self-repairing as they can be made to be to boot. In that general area of information, I don’t think pay was ever discussed, but that’s for after the fight discussion.”

Tala ‘hmmed’ her agreement.

“So, in the fight. The magical resonance wasn’t ideal, but when you took that hit, magical resonance was the least-bad outcome. I’m glad it didn’t turn you to paste. The second resonance, generated when you closed in for your attack on the cyclops, was a good tradeoff. It let you deal with the main threat before ancillary enemies arrived. Generally speaking, two quick, similarly sized resonant bursts won’t be much more noticeable than a singular of equal size. Space them out too much? Yeah, that’s a lot worse.”

Tala snapped up a piece of bacon.

“You have a through-spike, and you use it regularly, but you don’t seem to have fine control over it.”

She grimaced, at the mention of shortfall in her training. “Never saw a need.”

“That’s fair, but you should train it regardless.”

“Isn’t this a bit off topic?”

“Yes and no. Training with it will help your dexterity and multi-tasking. That’s something Mistress Kaeti will help with too, right?”

She nodded.

“Good. Here’s how it connects. Now that you are on a defensive unit, your fights—including your fight last night—will be recorded to the Archive. That one was shown to the watchers in the battle-view restaurants, and will be available to a lot of other places within Alefast in the coming weeks.”

“Really?” Tala hadn’t really considered it would be that widespread.

He grinned. “My girl, you weren’t alive when the last waning happened, so this is likely news to you, but waning fights become the talk of human civilization every cycle. They fade from prominence when each waning concludes, but I promise you that there are businesses scrambling in every human city to get access to show the waning fights to their customers. Traditionally, they’d have another five or so years, but the pace of this cycle has caught everyone off-guard. Regardless, we’re all going to be known, at least a little bit, by the time this waning ends.”

She really hadn’t considered that. I’m not really sure I want that.

Alat scoffed. -You literally mapped your magics on the tales of legend. You wanted to be one of them, a warrior of myth and power. This is part of that path, Tala.-

She couldn’t really argue with that. Well, she could, but it would be pointless.

Master Clevnis continued, “They’ll play the best fights from previous wanings, especially those that include defenders who are here for this one. The Academy also generally has a surge in enrollment during wanings, which helps us keep everyone safe. The notoriety we’ll get isn’t precisely the fame of bedtime stories, but it can be a big deal.”

She groaned. “I hadn’t planned on that.”

He shrugged. “You can still back out, but I don’t think you will.”

She shook her head. “You’re right, I won’t. This seems like something I both need and want to do.”

“Good. Now, let’s get a bit more technical. When you fight, you are mobile, but not really. You try to fight as a mobile fighter, but you lack true mobility.”

“What do you mean? I mean, you said ‘mobile’ a lot, but I don’t know that I grasped your point.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough. I think what I mean is this: You’re incredibly mobile by mundane standards, but you’re basically just using your physique to move about. There’s limited utility there when fighting more advanced opponents. Additionally, your big attacks treat you as a stationary combatant. Your siege-orbs are effectively a siege engine firing upon your opponent. Impressive, but you don’t need to be anywhere near them, nor factor in their movement or what they’re doing. Mobility doesn’t matter. For your dissolution, you have to stop in place and breathe out a concentrated stream for best effect. In that case, you can’t be mobile, and that makes the magics less effective.”

She grunted. “I suppose I can see that. What can I do about it?”

“Well, those are two different problems, and they aren’t the only ones that we need to address. To start, let’s talk about what you can do, and I mean everything. I even want to know about things you tried in the Academy that seemed useless, so you left them behind long ago.”

She smiled. “It’s going to be a long day.”

“Well, we’re back on shift pretty soon. We can talk on the way, and the others can handle anything that comes up this cycle.”

“Right, we were on standby through the night?”

He shrugged. “We were. We’ll get you an emergency beacon today. That’ll call you if you’re on standby and needed. Don’t expect it to go off for at least a few years, but don’t ignore it either.”

“Understood.”

“As to your capabilities, the others will join us in the discussions as they each have unique perspectives and valuable insight. I’ll take notes on what you’ve got in your corner, and we’ll utilize all that we can, and probably see if we can add a few tools.”

Tala nodded. “That makes sense.” She glanced at the food still on the table before her. “I can eat while we walk.”

“Alright then.” He stood. “Let’s take a quick moment and talk about the pay.”

She grinned, “Yeah, about that.”

“It’s a standard, non-negotiable rate. One gold ounce per day, plus the harvests whenever you take down magical creatures. With such powerful creatures, the harvests are generally pretty worthwhile. All that, minus repair costs incurred to fix damage which could have been reasonably avoided.”

“Like that wall?”

He scrunched his face slightly. “Honestly, I think you’ll only be charged a small portion of that. Like I said, it wasn’t a bad outcome, even if it wasn’t ideal.”

“Alright.”

“Beyond that, the pay is two gold per day if we’re out on assignment beyond the city walls. There is a one hundred gold death benefit to your next of kin. This bypasses any debts or other obligations or claims on your estate as a whole. It is meant purely as a boon to your recipient.”

Tala was surprised by that, but thought she understood. The point was to ensure that those left behind were cared for, not to just remove a bit of debt that a now-deceased Refined had incurred.

“Additionally, there are bounties for specific tasks completed, but those are too nuanced and numerous to outline quickly. All this and more is in the Archive, and I can make sure you have access to look through it at your leisure. Does all that sound agreeable?”

Well, no food or lodging budget, so it is actually a bit less than the most I could make as a Dimensional Mage and Mage Protector on a daily basis. But I couldn’t run those shorter routes all the time, so it’s better on average, in the long run. Plus, I get to stay in one place for a bit, as long as I want to. “Yeah, that sounds agreeable.”

“Great! Now, let’s get out of here and you can tell me about what you can do.”

Alat? I think I could really use your help here.

-Yeah, I figured. I’m starting to get everything organized, but you’ve… we’ve experimented with a LOT of things. Give me ten minutes to collate and get this into some sort of coherently structured order.-

Alright, what do you suggest I do until then?

-I’m not going to devote brain power to that. Pick something randomly and go with that.-

Fair enough. Tala reached out and opened the door, which appeared before her as she did so, letting them out onto the street. “Well, the first thing that comes to mind is a twist on a dimensional prison.”

Master Clevnis regarded the new door with obvious scrutiny, then seemed to process what she said, frowning as he followed her out of Kit, “Alright, that definitely sounds interesting, go on.”