No sooner had the drone finished its sentence then Kyle felt it. Waves of power rippled across the frozen plains, and Kyle struggled to keep his grip on the egg. He turned to see a winged form fast approaching from the city, wreathed in a mist of white flame. As it closed in, Kyle could make out a lithe, thin shape with two enormous wings. The dragon was covered in opalescent white scales, from its head down to its whip-like tail.

Ice cracked as it landed, two large horns that reminded Kyle of a bull sticking out on either side of the beast’s head. It stood just shy of three meters tall, smaller than Kyle expected a dragon would be. Still, there was no mistaking the presence it gave off. Piercing blue eyes regarded Kyle, and it opened its jaw, revealing a line of sharp, serrated teeth. Its voice was the rumble of an avalanche. “You did well, human. The egg is intact.”

Remembering his lessons, Kyle averted his gaze as he held up the egg in still-trembling limbs. “Yes, your excellence. May I consider the delivery complete?”

“Your task was to ensure safe delivery to the city. That is as yet undone. Consider it fortunate the elders spurred me to act, otherwise your life would likely have ended here.”

The dragon turned; wings poised to take flight. “I will resolve the issue of Ger’Sinh and his flock, then return. Complete your task, human.”

Kyle simply nodded, rose, and took his first shaky steps towards the egg’s final destination. Curiosity warred with reason as he considered activating IDENTIFY to get a measure of the creature before him, and reason won out. Kyle knew all true dragons were born at C Grade, and there was no doubt in his mind that he’d just met the genuine article. Any risk of offense, and Kyle could find himself disposed of as easily as the man with the orange eyes. Ger’Sinh, Kyle thought, wanting to at least remember the man’s name.

The fact that a bona fide C Grade dragon knew the man’s name, much less that it came to handle him personally, spoke to the danger Ger’Sinh posed. In Kyle’s eyes, the whole point of the Archdrake Supremacy’s structure was so that dragons could focus on their growth and cultivation, leaving the administrative work of day-to-day governance to subordinates. A true dragon showing up to handle something like this personally was unusual.

He hadn’t taken more than five steps before he paused, unable to move. For a single, sickening moment, everything seemed to stop. He heard a grinding, shrieking sound, and it felt as though space itself had been torn. Then, with a peal of thunder, everything snapped back to normal. Against his better judgment, Kyle turned to look. The space that Ger’Sinh and the birds had occupied was simply gone.

Judging by the terrifying roar of anger that followed, this development was not the dragon’s doing. Giving one more primal roar, the beast took to the skies, leaving a trail of frozen mist in its wake. “Any idea what’s going on with that, C.H.A.D.D.?”

[NONE WHATSOEVER DR. MAYHEW.]

“Did you get scans?”

[I HAVE RECORDING OF THE MOMENT WHEN EVERYTHING WAS PAUSED, BUT MY SENSORS ARE INADEQUATE TO THE TASK OF IDENTIFYING THE COMPONENTS OR MOVEMENTS OF MANA ON THAT SCALE.]

“Can you show me?”

The drone obliged, a projection appearing before Kyle. The dragon was mid-flight, condensing an orb around its front claws that would have executed the trapped rebel and his birds in a flash. Suddenly, everything stopped. The orb dissipated, and the space around Ger’Sinh and the D Grade birds warped, then vanished, leaving nothing but empty space.

The recording cut off, and Kyle could only stare. He’d felt the complexity of using spatial movement techniques with the Transportation Array, which had plenty of drawbacks of its own. For something to be able to target those areas with such precision and power was absolutely mind-boggling to him. I’m such a small fish in this pond. A shiver of cold broke him from his stupor, and he trudged across the frozen land to the city gate where a crowd had gathered.

“State your business!” A shrill voice called from a guard post near the main gate. A goblin, and a weak one from the looks of it.

“I’m here to complete a delivery.” Kyle’s voice carried with it his bone-weariness, and he was thankful for the nav bracelet which sent the details of the mission to the waiting guard.

“We’ll have a representative with you shortly. Given the… unusual circumstances, we will not be able to allow you passage into the city.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Kyle toyed with the idea of objecting, particularly given their difference in power, but knew it was the wrong decision. Instead, he stood out in the cold for what felt like hours until the gate opened and a delegation came out to meet him. A goblin less than a meter tall in trailing purple robes approached, flanked by two guards. She took out a small monocle, examined the egg, and gestured for the guards to take it without so much as a word.

Kyle got a notification on his nav bracelet that the delivery was complete, and that extraction would take place shortly. After the stress of getting to this point, the whole interaction felt incredibly anticlimactic. More than anything, though, Kyle was simply exhausted. I’ve got the best nap of my life waiting for me.

After being teleported back to the Insititute’s foyer, Kyle was cleared to leave, receiving a message on his nav bracelet that he barely registered. The important piece was that he successfully completed Phase Two of his Practicum, and that he had time to rest before Phase Three started.

Soon, he was greeted by the familiar sight of his apartment, disheveled desk exactly where he’d left it. After taking a long shower, Kyle whipped up a stew of exotic mixed vegetables with some poultry, which he was looking forward to eating far too much. He let out a sigh of satisfaction after tasting the rich, spicy broth, and turned to his robotic companion as he poured a bowl.

“C.H.A.D.D., while I’m eating would you mind pulling up footage of the encounter with Ger’Sinh? If the dragon hadn’t shown up, I’m not sure we would have made it out.”

[CERTAINLY, DR. MAYHEW. WHILE BRAIN SCANS DON’T INDICATE ANY TRAUMA, I DO WANT TO REMIND YOU THAT WE HAVE OTHER MEANS AVAILABLE FOR PROTECTION AND ESCAPE.]

Kyle paused to swallow a mouthful of spicy stew before responding. “I know, but I didn’t want to count on them. Besides, the egg might have gotten broken if we’d used them.”

The drone conceded the point, and Kyle watched the entirety of his skirmish multiple times. He’d been taken by surprise far more often than he should have, between his and C.H.A.D.D.’s various means of detection. Even if he’d cheated to get to the battlefield, Ger’Sinh was a great example of the types of opponents Kyle needed to be able to handle.

Once his stomach was full, he cleaned up; mind already developing ideas and plans to better deal with enemies like this in the future. For now, however, he collapsed into his comfortable bed, drifting off to a dreamless sleep.

~~~

Suierrillax observed the chaos in the proctor’s room continue to froth, long after Mayhew had been extracted. While she understood the magnitude of the interference, she was still left scratching her head about the sheer level of madness occurring. It was over and done, and they had to move on.

As a junior proctor, many of the responsibilities surrounding Mayhew’s Practicum had been taken out of her hands after Phase Two had gone sideways. The seniors, including Rupiniax, were all far more interested in trying to prove their usefulness to the higher-ups than actually evaluating Mayhew. As far as they were concerned, he was a minor player in the grander scheme of the recent developments, a sentiment with which Suierrillax strongly disagreed.

Had it not been for Mayhew’s exemplary performance against Ger’Sinh, the beastmaster responsible for no fewer than a dozen high-profile terror attacks across Supremacy planets, the layers of the scheme never would have been revealed. Why the mysterious Backer decided to show their hand in some D-Grade conflict was beyond her, but now that was all the senior proctors were focused on.

That left Suierrillax to watch the remaining applicants conclude their duties. As usual, nearly two-thirds of the applicants who made it this far had already failed and returned. A handful of deliveries had also been completed, many of which were far simpler affairs than the one Mayhew had gotten sucked into. Arhades had naturally completed his delivery with little trouble, and though it was taking them longer, both Tillienne and Jax Cain were still putting up impressive performances.

Tillienne’s group consisted of members of two feuding clans, who were each actively trying to sabotage the other. While she wasn’t able to convince them to put all the bad blood behind them, after watching her cleave through a hulking lizard, they were willing to keep the peace. The large, shambling creatures that attacked their group were powerful, but straightforward. Tillienne’s abilities both in leadership and combat were more than up to the task, and Suierrillax expected the delivery would be done shortly.

Jax Cain, on the other hand, had one of the more complex situations she’d seen. It was an urban delivery, and he was tasked with coordinating a delivery team riding small personal transports instead of a larger caravan. The otherwise timid young man rose to the occasion beautifully, earning the buy-in and trust of his team in short order. What’s more, he tuned his lightning-based skills down to be non-lethal against the poor and desperate people who tried to mob them for the crystals they were delivering. By doing so, he avoided becoming the cause of greater civil unrest.

Suierrillax prepared the same note that she had for everybody who had succeeded in Phase Two.

[Applicant],

Congratulations on the successful completion of Phase Two of your Practicum. We will send out messages when all applicants have either passed or failed this phase, where we will detail the expectations for Phase Three. Phase Three will begin exactly one cycle after the completion of Phase Two by the final applicant, so be advised that you will have time to rest, recover, and prepare as necessary.

We look forward to your continued success.

Satisfied her work was done, she turned her attention back to the screens. While proctor work was often hectic, this had been far more eventful than she’d ever expected. One thing was certain; Suerrillax was going to follow Mayhew’s career with interest. She couldn’t shake the feeling he was the fulcrum to something, and she was excited to see what it was.