I was sitting in the middle of a concrete box, crosslegged, while three small orbs of fire floated around me, flitting back and forth, until one came way too close to my sleeve. In an instant, the flames were flung away from me, acting like fish startled by a rock thrown at them.

Though in this case, the being startled was me. [Ember] might not have been a particularly powerful spell, to the point where it was barely even useable in combat, but it could still easily set my clothing on fire.

I still needed to practice with these, though. Learn how to move things with my mind and avoid stray thoughts igniting things I would very much like to remain unburnt. That would make learning and using the next few flame spells easier, and it was safer experimenting with these than, well, [Fireball].

Closing my eyes, I took a few deep breaths before holding out my right hand, palm-up, and cast [Ember]. And again. And one more time.

The three balls of flame bumped into each other and bounded away slightly before returning to their original position above my palm, a constant cycle of jumping and returning, to a constant background of low cracking sounds, as though wood in a fireplace were breaking.

I could have stared at the spectacle for hours, but I wouldn’t be making that mistake again. My eyebrows were still growing back from the first, last, and final time I’d let it “run.”

So I mentally grasped the first flame and gently pulled it to the right, keeping a tether on it to guide it past my back so that it would eventually appear to the left of me. Then, I sent the second one on its way, and then, finally, the third one, trying to keep them stable, keep them moving, and keep me intact, while reading the few pages strewn on the floor before me.

Copies of the pages containing the exact flame spell I was trying to learn, separated from the book to ensure that if I accidentally lit the whole thing on fire, it would be easier to replace.

[Spell gained: Flamebolt]

And there went my concentration. At least I’d gotten the reflexive pushing away off spells when something went wrong down pat, adding a few more scorch marks to the multitude that already littered the reinforced walls that surrounded me.

… most of those were also my fault. Across the last three days, I’d been focused on killing time in between teaching people using [Knowledge Trade]. Sure, I’d spent some of that time sleeping, taking random catnaps across the day because my circadian rhythms were already shot to hell, and trained with whichever members of the Fioanna were around a couple of times, getting my ass kicked in a matter of seconds each time.

But most of my time was spent in this specific room.

I raised my hand off my lap, palm facing towards the wall, and cast [Flamebolt], a tongue of flame leaping away and striking the concrete in an instant, creating a noticeably larger and darker scorch mark. Nothing that got even remotely close to causing actual damage, but nevertheless a very impressive showing compared to what I’d achieved previously.

A couple more [Flamebolts] splashed off the wall before I calmed down and tried doing the last exercise again, just with an entirely new difficulty level.

First, make the larger orb of flame, second, have it floating above my palm until I have it under a small degree of control, then … then avoid accidentally frying Mia when she bursts in unexpectedly.

The [Flamebolt] managed to avoid flying out the now-open door by mere centimeters, but my sister still yelped, ducked, and dropped into a defensive posture while her helmet and sword manifested on her head and hand, respectively, making it look as though she were about to hack me to pieces.

We both stared at each other for a couple of seconds before she finally straightened while banishing her gear, giving me a flat look.

“Really?”

“Procedure is to knock before going into a training room,” I replied, equally flatly, before chucking another [Flamebolt] into the wall behind me.

“Yeah …” Mia sighed. “So, new spell?”

I nodded and got to my feet. “Wanna learn it?”

She nodded enthusiastically and I sent it her way using [Knowledge Trade]. It’d been off cooldown for almost an hour by now, but all the students had already been taught and Fionn wasn’t around for me to mooch more spells from.

In exchange for me giving her the stronger flame spell, as well as some of the others I’d learned, she sent back some of the training she’d received while going treasure hunting, and a rundown of what our armory now contained. They’d found one of the most famous missing legendary treasures in German history, and it was barely even a big deal anymore. And that, on its own, was very, very impressive.

“So, why’d you come here?” I wondered.

“We were hoping Fionn could make sure that nothing about the treasure is cursed, and figure out what the lance of Saint George actually does,” Mia shrugged.

“Oh, he’s off holding a speech at an army base, I think. Something like ‘magic is real, magic is powerful, here’s how you beat it.’ I don’t know.”

I shrugged. “How have you two been?”

She mirrored my shrug. “Same as always, anytime I think I know what I’m doing, Dietrich shows me that I really don’t.”

I grimaced as I led the way back towards the lobby, knowing exactly what she was talking about. Unfortunately.

Sure, when being taught something by another person, that person was obviously better than you at the thing you were being taught, but normally, it wasn’t that obvious.

Teachers in school knew what they were talking about, they were supposed to, at least, but it wasn’t like they introduced themselves to their students by taking a quiz with everyone about the things that would be covered over the course of the school year and then comparing their answers to the predictably abysmal scores belonging to the kids.

But when being around ancients, most interactions tended to show just how insurmountably wide the gap was between them and us, and that wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.

Eventually, we reached the lobby, where Dietrich was already waiting, sitting on a chair, a gorgeous and obviously magical spear resting across his legs.

Ascalon, obviously. I had no idea who’d forged that thing, though, to be fair, I hadn’t looked any more deeply into it than a couple of cursory Google searches. But the much bigger question was, well, what could it do?

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I mean, there were some attributes it absolutely had to have: supernatural sharpness to pierce a dragon’s scales, supernatural durability to ensure that it didn’t snap at any point in the fight … then what? What powers would have helped him kill a dragon?

Something that instantly killed the target after a solid strike, something that allowed it to hit harder or maintain momentum when attacking … I don’t know. Plenty of options, but it would be kinda hard to figure out what it could do experimentally unless we had specific power to check for. Which we didn’t.

“Who’s going to be using that thing?” I wondered.

“Depends on what it can do,” Dietrich announced. “I think most of us have weapons we are comfortable with; someone would only be wielding it if its ability, what is the word … ah, right, synergizes with it.”

I just nodded, without commenting. Wasn’t much to say there. And I knew exactly what he and Mia had been doing while I’d been studying, so the conversation became more “generic small talk” than anything else, though the topics there soon dried up too, simply because we’d spent so much time around each other than even the generic stuff had been talked about to death.

Really, it reminded me of family dinners when Mia and I had been young. Quiet, but a companionable sort of silence … at least when mom hadn’t tried to get an actual conversation going again.

I shook my head a little as if that could somehow banish the intrusive thoughts.

Thankfully, it was at this point that Fionn walked in through the door, presenting an incredibly strange sight in the suit he’d apparently chosen to wear for the occasion. It would have looked good on him if it hadn’t clashed so utterly terribly with the usual image he presented.

“Good afternoon, Dietrich, Ms. Vogt,” he greeted as he approached, then pointed at Ascalon. “Could I see that for a second?”

“That’s why we brought it,” Dietrich announced as he rose to his feet and handed it over. “So, what does this weapon do?”

Fionn turned to me. “Tristan, what is the strongest attack spell you have?”

“[Flamebolt].”

“Cast it on me, please.”

So that’s what I did. I not only trusted that he knew what he was doing, but I also believed he was capable of preventing a disaster even if things went even more terribly than I ever could have imagined.

The tongue of flame leaped from my palm, and looked to be on the perfect trajectory to ruin that nice outfit of his, when it simply winked out the instant it came within an arm’s reach of him. No, literally an arm’s reach. I’d have bet money that the point where it vanished was the exact precise point where it could have struck him, had he had his hand outstretched.

Yeah, the dragon-slaying lance hard-counters a dragon’s elemental attacks. Who could have guessed that? Not me, obviously … but everyone else, probably

“Does that work on everything, just magic, or elemental effects only?” Mia asked.

“Elemental attacks, regardless of the type or source,” Fionn explained.

“Does that include thrown rocks?” I wondered.

“Momentum is retained when the attack cannot be dispersed entirely,” Fionn replied.

The four of us went back and forth for a while, asking and answering about specific use cases, but the general point stood: most elemental attacks that didn’t involve physical projectiles that had existed prior to the attack could be completely nullified.

Though Fionn got the fright of his life when Mia projected her blade through the defensive orb. Apparently, he had expected “space-bending” to count as elemental.

Overall, the consensus seemed to be “if you’re not sure, experiment by generating a near-miss.”

Mia and Dietrich wound up heading off with Fionn to do … something; I’d already retreated back upstairs to finish what I’d started.

***

[Spell gained: Fireball]

Oh, fucking finally.

I sighed, and let myself slump backwarks onto the ground. [Fireball] was the magical equivalent of a Molotov Cocktail with a dash of “grenade.” Big flash, small shockwave, fire everywhere.

Now, catching on fire was far from the “instant death” many movies or video games portrayed it as, especially when dealing with the supernatural beasties that were my primary concern right now, but a lot of living beings rightfully feared it.

Plus, it was my first serious ranged magic attack that didn’t involve me maneuvering myself into a position where I could open a portal above someone and dropping something on their head.

And finally, the shockwave should be able to do at least some damage against statues. Assuming they were made of rock, which was fairly brittle and should take damage from the concussive impact. Metal … metal would be trickier, but I’d figure out a way to deal with that, too. And then I’d figure out something that wasn’t me going “Mia, could you handle this please” and then running in the opposite direction.

“I’m done,” I announced as I stepped out into the corridor, my voice loud enough to be heard inside the other personal training rooms, causing two of their inhabitants to join me.

Hjalmar and Antoinette had continued to prove that they were indeed the best of the current crop of magic students, so we’d each learned a seriously advanced spell. Then, I’d learn theirs, teach them mine, and then we’d go our separate ways until someone learned something the others didn’t.

So I used [Knowledge Trade] and we wound up pulling off an incredible performance of “synchronized wincing.” Ow. I mean, I loved the Skill, but its usage on this particular trick … too useful to not use, but that didn’t mean I didn’t hate it.

[Spell gained: Lightning Lance]

[Spell gained: Telekinesis]

But my newly enhanced abilities definitely soothed my aching skull.

As did the next, unexpected, upgrade.

[Myth(ical) Mediator Lv. 29 -> Myth(ical) Mediator Lv. 30]

And the even more unexpected gain for that.

[Physical Overhaul gained]

So, what the actual fuck did that …

I froze, literally froze, arms and legs seizing up as I stood in the middle of the road. It was what I imagined the result of sticking a fork in a toaster felt like. I just stood there, unable to move, stuck in place like a startled cartoon villain who’d discovered the hero in his lair. One second, two seconds … and suddenly I was freed again, the motion I’d been about to make before the “overhaul” had struck happening without any input on my part, sending me careening into the nearest wall.

“Ow,” I deadpanned as I landed on my ass, rubbing my forehead. So, what had that gotten me other than the lost respect of my peers?

As I waved off the various concerned stares, I got to my feet and pulled up the System window for the overhaul

Physical Overhaul (universally gained at Level 30)

Level 30 is the first threshold for a general boost, overhauling the user’s physique, correcting most generic genetic damage, enhancing the immune system, strengthening all bones, muscles, organs, etc, lengthening lifespan and improving long-term memory to match.

Caution: movement may be difficult to control for a few minutes. (This upgrade is not given if the user is expected to fight during that time)

Yeah … awesome. No, seriously, zero sarcasm here, this was fucking amazing!

I turned to the side so I was no longer staring at the wall, then looked down at my hand as I opened and closed it a few times until clenghing it into a fist. I could feel the strength in even those muscles. It wasn’t to the point of being able to compete with an actual physical Class holder like Mia even if they didn’t have the overhaul, but what I imagined athletes to be able to do.

An overall upgrade, the first of multiple if I was reading that correctly, and it was amazing. Very amazing, beyond helpful. Potentially even more so than the third Capstone I’d expected to get at Level 30.

But if Level 30 wasn’t the last one in my third Class, when would I get the next Capstone? I hoped it was soon, because those were ridiculously good.

And speaking of Capstones, they grew stronger not every time I hit max Level in another Class, but got a boost anytime I hit a Level that was a multiple of 10.

Just like that, my number of daily portals had increased from two to four. More potential travel, more abilities for troop movement, and a general gain in utility.

For example, I could risk being utterly outside of everyone else’s reach, spending one portal to return to Europe, then use a second, directed by my other Capstone, [Ambassador’s Instinct] to reach whoever I needed to transport, then to go where they were needed to be with a third one, and then even have a fourth one left over.

Sure, I could have left with just the two portals, hell, I’d left with only one daily portal, but that was how things worked, wasn’t it? You could do something perfectly well with what you had, but once you got used to having a slight buffer, the thought of suddenly not having access to said buffer anymore and things coming down to the wire again … that was more than a little terrifying.

So, no more excuses, no more actual reasons to not do this. Time to introduce myself to some more people with the power to change the fucking world. s

Time to go east.

Time to go to Mongolia.