“How are we going to get out to the ruins?” Alex asked, “Are you going to carry us with your Domain?”

“Oh, no,” Mrs. Stirling replied, “Dale could do that, but I’m not as proficient with flying. We’re going to jump.”

That didn’t answer Alex’s question at all, and he opened his mouth to say so.

“I conjure panels of force to propel you,” Mrs. Stirling cut him off, “You’ll get used to it pretty quickly.” She created an example to show them, jumping several feet into the air off of it.

The demonstration wasn’t that impressive, since she could jump higher than that from a standing start. Her display got the idea across, though.

“Now, you’ll have to stay within a few hundred feet of me, or else I can’t conjure quite as effectively. I’ll be keeping track so that you travel faster if you fall behind and slower if you forge ahead, but try to avoid tripping. I can easily catch you if you fall, but I imagine it won’t be fun.” Mrs. Stirling warned them, she was almost certainly overemphasizing the danger. They hadn’t been supplied with any protective gear, since they weren’t at risk while she and her husband were there to protect them. “You’ll get used to it pretty quickly. Now, jump!”

Alex jumped off the walls, a pane of force energy appearing underneath him before he could start the hundred-foot drop to the ground.

Alex’s jump was more of a stumble. The pane of force pushed against him, propelling him forward, but he mistimed his jump. The result was him nearly falling over in midair, as the air rushed past him. It would’ve been embarrassing if his friends had fared much better. He landed on another conjured platform that Mrs. Stirling put in their path. This one didn’t eject him, thankfully, and he looked over at his friends as he landed.

Jess had managed it slightly better than Alex, stumbling but landing on both feet compared to his need to take a knee. It had likely been luck as much as skill, but she smiled a bit at the initial success.

Becca had landed the jump on her heels. She failed to catch her balance and fell back, screaming as she did. Knowing that Mrs. Stirling would catch her didn’t make falling over while hundreds of feet in the air a pleasant experience.

Muhammad staggered and pitched forward, having misjudged the platform. He ended up on all fours but jumped back to his feet smoothly.

Anthony handled it perfectly, but he didn’t count because he’d probably done this before.

“Not bad,” Mrs. Stirling said, “You kids should get the hang of it quickly.” While she spoke, Mr. Stirling forged ahead. They didn’t need a scout, but it wouldn’t hurt, either. The couple hadn’t lived so long by avoiding the extra steps.

Alex looked back and saw they were more than a hundred feet away from the city walls after a single leap, their first jump off the wall hardly counted. He’d been able to feel the distance he was making as the wind blew past him, but it was still a bit of a shock to have jumped so far.

“That was awesome!” Muhammad laughed. He was in position and ready to jump again. They all were, besides Becca, who was breathing heavily as she stood back up.

“Becca, you okay?” Alex asked. Just stumbling had been freaky enough, he could imagine that her fall had been a significantly scarier experience.

“Just give me a second,” Becca replied.

Once Becca nodded that she was ready, Mrs. Stirling counted them off, and they all leaped off the platform together. This time, Alex looked down sooner to prepare himself instead of staring out into the plains surrounding the city. This let him time his second jump better, but also made for a startling experience as he stared down at the ground hundreds of feet below him with no apparent safety system.

Alex wasn’t afraid of heights, but some fear was just rational in this situation. The apprehension made him cautious, and he managed several jumps in a row before the group all came to a halt again as Jess stumbled and fell off a pane. The combination of her fall and the force sent her spinning through the air, but Mrs. Stirling moved too fast for Alex to track and caught Jess in her arms.

The rest of the group surrounded the two of them as Mrs. Stirling created a large platform and set Jess down.

“Do you need a moment, dear?” Mrs. Stirling asked, “I know how frightening that can be the first few times.”

“No, I’m good,” Jess shook herself before walking forward to the end of the large platform that had been conjured beneath them. Mrs. Stirling didn’t argue, and the group set off again after Muhammad walked over to stand beside Jess supportively.

Before Jess’s tumble, Muhammad had been jumping a bit ahead, enjoying the thrill more than the rest of the group. Now, he moved alongside her, matching her pace to provide a semblance of security.

They had another few false starts over the next few minutes, even though Mrs. Stirling began to conjure the planes they would land on earlier so they had more time to prepare. Mrs. Stirling reassured them that it was fine, but it was a bit embarrassing when Alex was the cause of a stop. The gaps between stumbles were growing, however.

Finally, the group didn’t have any more falls for a while, and Alex quickly got into a rhythm. As he adjusted to the height, the fear faded and was replaced with exhilaration. It was an amazing experience, soaring over Illinois at high speeds as they made their way to Chicago. He let his thoughts rest for a bit, just enjoying the trip.

His thoughts returned to the upcoming emplacement, and he found himself at a loss. He had no idea what he wanted to do.

Eventually, Mrs. Stirling called a break. It wasn’t the most tiring activity, but thirty minutes of leaping and waiting and leaping had started to take a toll. Especially on the less fit members of the group.

“You all picked that up quickly,” Mrs. Stirling complimented, “I don’t normally transport untiered for obvious reasons, but you fell less than I expected.” As she spoke, Alex looked out into the distance, unsurprised to see a glimpse of the Chicago skyline. It was directly ahead, although they had veered slightly off course at one point. He was astounded by how fast they were moving, more than half the journey was already gone.

“Now, I’m sure you all know what to expect when we reach the city, but I’m going to go over it again,” Mrs. Stirling stated, “It can be a difficult sight.”

None of them interrupted while she paused for a second, so she continued, “The old city is a ruin, but it’s worse than most cities. Monsters from trial overflow instinctively seek out human civilization, but Chicago had things worse than that. Back when Earth was a Competitor, the city was turned into a special type of trial. The worst of it wore off at the end of last century, but it was still a difficult Tier 3 trial. David, Dylan, Micah, and I cleared it a few months back when David first returned.” Alex hadn’t heard about that, he’d been under the impression that Tier 3 combat trials were normally left alone.

“Don’t trials just repopulate their monsters after they’re cleared?” Jess asked, curious. Alex was surprised by the information as well, he’d never heard about the old city being a trial. The city leadership had kept that information under wraps. Probably because they weren’t proud of having their home turned into a trial they hadn’t been able to clear until recently. Not the kind of thing he imagined they would want to advertise.

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

“Not all of them,” Mrs. Stirling replied, “Something to worry about if we become a competitor planet again in the future. The point is that Chicago is in a state of extreme disrepair, almost every building has been destroyed. David cleaned up a good amount of the debris, but it’s still a lot to take in.”

New Chicago had plenty of art depicting the old city, and Chicago was a source of pride for many of the oldest residents. Alex could understand why Mrs. Stirling was warning them, making sure they didn’t expect the city as it was in the paintings and movies, but he doubted any of them would be surprised. Sure, they were young, but they weren’t that naive.

Alex had heard his instructors talk about how it was only a matter of time until they took back the old city plenty of times. Come to think of it, maybe the instructors had used that phrasing because it was a trial for so long.

He returned to focus on the conversation as Mrs. Stirling finished answering a question from Muhammad about the destroyed buildings, “When we reach the city, you’ll see it for yourselves. I just wanted to make sure you knew what to expect. Things will move quickly once we’re in the city because Dean expects us back before nightfall. We won’t waste time before starting the emplacement events.”

The choice to not use the word ritual was odd, but Alex assumed it was a decision by the academically minded Imprinted. He could see why they would want to distinguish this from normal emplacement rituals.

The group resumed moving not long after, and they found their rhythm much faster this time. The wind picked up slightly, but Alice seemed to be protecting them from the worst of the chill. Still, Alex grew a bit cold as they moved.

It wasn’t long before they got a real view of the ruins, and Alex was taken aback despite the warning. The contrast between the skyline he’d seen so many times in art and media and the mess of buildings that had fallen into each other was stark. The city wasn’t even recognizable as Chicago, in his mind.

They got even closer, and Alex realized that either David was slacking, or cleaning up a good amount of debris wasn’t enough to make a visible difference. Plenty of roads were blocked by rubble which seemed to have been moved into defensive positions. A sign that the trial here had been populated by intelligent monsters. If they wanted to walk, there would be several bottlenecks that pigeonholed them down a specific path.

The fact that so many of these barriers were still intact was likely because it wasn’t a particularly effective measure against Imprinted. Mrs. Stirling alone could circumvent them for her entire party. Thanks to her, they didn’t have to worry about the rubble and simply leaped over it as they made their way down Michigan Avenue.

“Where’s David?” Alex asked, surprised that they hadn’t seen him yet.

“I’m here.” Came a voice from behind him.

Alex was right about to jump when he heard the voice, and he leaped nearly straight into the air as he twisted around to find the source. Sadly, momentum couldn’t be denied that easily, even though they’d slowed down after entering the ruins. He ended up spinning out of control thanks to his jump and landed hard on a platform that appeared underneath him.

“Really?” Mrs. Stirling addressed the air, as David hadn’t shown his face yet.

“I need to have fun somehow.” The voice came from the air in the middle of the group. Was the man invisible? “I get lonely, now that Plato’s in the city.”

“He’s been in New Chicago for a day,” Mrs. Stirling replied with a snort, “and I spoke to you a few hours ago.”

The group got their first glimpse of David Alvarez as he walked around the corner of the block. He was walking on the ground, for some reason, and Alex was immediately struck by the man’s outfit. It was intensely magical, almost shining even in Alex’s eyes.

As the man walked closer, Alex noticed the rest of him too. David was nearly unnaturally flawless, somehow managing to barely avoid being too perfect. His hands had slight callouses that spoke of hard work and hours spent training, but somehow they didn’t make the appendages seem rough. Instead, it worked with other features to make him appear dependable. Alex hadn’t been worried before, but after seeing David he was immediately struck with a sense of confidence. This was a man who knew what he was about. A man they could rely on.

David’s hands weren’t his only eye-catching feature. He had well-groomed facial hair that gave him a distinguished air, a reminder of his centuries of experience. He was significantly shorter than Alex but didn’t act his height. His confidence and posture were almost enough to make Alex feel like the short one.

“David’s looks are magically enhanced,” Mrs. Stirling’s voice cut through Alex’s thoughts, “Don’t get lost staring at him.”

“You’re into cosmetic magic?” Becca asked David as the man continued to approach. He was less than ten feet away at this point, having somehow crossed a decent distance in a few seemingly normal steps.

“It comes naturally,” The man grinned at them, he had very nice teeth, “You’d be Becca, I believe?”

“Yes, sir,” Becca replied.

“Good, do you have any questions before things begin? My understanding was that Dean walked you through the process back in the city?” Alex hadn’t gotten that rundown, but he knew what to do when it was his turn.

“It’s very similar to an emplacement ritual on my end,” Becca replied, “I’ll take a seat, gather my thoughts, and wait for my soul to connect with my body. All of the complex work is on your end.”

David nodded at her, “Correct. Should you gain a particularly large amount of Connection, Perception, or Sensitivity, I’ll use my mana type to help you focus. If you show signs of trying to form a mana type, I’ll use it to have you enter the path.”

“And if our physical attributes rise to a dangerous threshold?” Anthony asked.

David nodded, “You kids did your research. That won’t be an issue. Dylan and I are both capable of healing you through any self-inflicted wounds. Now, I’ll have Becca go first, then Alex, then Anthony.”

With this covered, the group split up. Alex was surprised when David told them they had left enough room after they were only five feet away from Becca. Emplacement rituals normally had their own room, and this was supposed to be a much less controlled situation. It just went to show the difference a Domain made, five feet of space was David being cautious.

“Are you ready?” David asked.

“Yes.” With this, Becca sat down on the ground with her legs crossed. The space was cleared off so she was just sitting on what had once been a nice road. No one suggested a conjured seat.

What followed was incredibly anti-climactic, on Alex’s end. He sat on a conjured platform with the others while David and Becca did the work. David didn’t even show a sign of strain as he started, just stating that he was raising the density. Becca reacted nearly immediately, her eyebrows raising as she looked around and sniffed loudly.

“Oh, that’s weird,” Becca said out loud. No one replied, letting her focus on her task. David remaining quiet meant that her attributes shouldn’t be a problem. There was no real time limit, thanks to David’s ability to move environmental mana into place, but they were all eager to see her succeed.

It took nearly a full ten minutes before Becca got used to the new sense. Alex only recognized that moment because she closed her eyes to focus. She spent the next nearly twenty minutes carefully inscribing runes that Alex couldn’t see. She didn’t match her record in the illusion chamber, instead taking advantage of the time she had. Knowing her tendency to worry, he was sure she checked and rechecked multiple times before she opened her eyes.

The rest of them hadn’t spoken at all while she completed the process. The scene hadn’t grown boring enough for anyone to risk interrupting even as it had approached a half hour spent in silence. They waited for her to say something as she stood to her feet, but she kept them waiting for a moment longer to brush herself off.

“I think it’s all properly in place,” Becca said, speaking to the Imprinted who would be able to tell.

“Yes, you can accept the prompt.” David nodded.

She did so, not bothering to verbalize. Then her eyes glazed over as she started to work through the several notifications awaiting her.

“Did it work?” Alex asked.

“Yes,” She confirmed, “Let me read my notifications. It’s a lot of information.” There were several shouts of excitement and congratulations. But they let Becca read.

David spoke while Becca read, “Her Perception and Toughness both rose a decent amount, but the two are probably the safest attributes. She wasn’t at any risk of injury thanks to the Toughness. Overall, a resounding success.”

Becca quickly finished reading and grinned at the rest of them. They mobbed her, coming in for a group hug. “I got the Epic Achievement,” She repeated. The excitement in her voice was obvious.

After a minute, David interrupted them, “Congratulations are in order, but I’m sure you’ll have plenty to celebrate later. Alex?”

Alex took a deep breath, stepping back from the group. Game time.