The walk back to Kunora from Duncan’s Subject Trial was filled with endless playing… no, testing. He was testing his new Abilities. Either way, he was extremely excited about how well [Sword Bond] paired with [Quintessential Armory]. Every five seconds, he would summon one of his three bound swords into existence somewhere in a three-meter radius around him, then immediately teleport to it with an activation of [Sword Bond].
While testing… definitely testing… he discovered some of the hidden intricacies of both [Quintessential Armory] and [Sword Bond]. First, he couldn’t summon his swords from [Quintessential Armory] in any position he wanted. Any sword he summoned away from his hand would arrive with its blade pointing directly down.
The second thing he discovered about [Quintessential Armory] was that he couldn’t summon a sword directly inside or next to an opponent. At one point, he’d wandered close enough to Cinder for his new elven nephew to be within the three-meter radius of [Quintessential Armory]’s summoning effect. Naturally, Duncan tried to summon one of his crafted swords directly next to Cinder, with the blade already in contact with his skin. To Duncan’s annoyance, the sword not only didn’t appear where he wanted it to, it refused to leave his extradimensional space at all until he directed it to appear further away from Cinder. In the end, it seemed whenever he summoned a sword anywhere other than his hand, no part of that sword could be within one meter of someone else.
When he inquired about this peculiar limitation, and after Cinder had calmed down about being the subject of Duncan's tests, Neta provided an explanation.
“Countless people have made it their mission in life to study the ins and outs of the realms. They’ve discovered that the Realms try to keep Abilities somewhat fair. There should always be a way to counter an Ability, whether it be dodging, blocking, or directly opposing it with another Ability. What could anyone do if you were able to summon swords directly on top of them with no warning? The Realms likely determined that one meter provides enough warning for people to react.
[Sword Bond] was definitely more challenging to understand than [Quintessential Armory]. Bonding to a sword and being able to feel its location were straightforward; it was the teleporting that made the Ability much more complicated.
It took Duncan almost the entire trip back to the city gates to grasp how the teleports worked. Whenever he teleported to one of his bound swords, he’d always appear holding that sword in his dominant hand, that being his right. If he already had something in his right hand when he activated a teleport, whatever he held would stay where he’d originally been. If he held something in his left hand, then it was fine. He’d appear with the new sword in his right hand and the original item in his left.
This wasn’t always a good thing, especially if he ever bound a sword that required both hands to wield. So he spent some time to practice sending whatever he held into his [Quintessential Armory] just before teleporting.
He also discovered that one of the rules that applied to [Quintessential Armory] also applied to [Sword Bond]’s teleport effect. When he arrived at his new destination, no part of him, including anything he held, could be less than a meter away from someone else’s body. If he tried to teleport too close to someone, the Ability wouldn’t activate.
Thinking back to Neta’s earlier explanation, it made sense. If he could appear a meter away, already holding a sword longer than a meter out at his opponent, that would be slightly unfair. He’d just have to be careful not to summon his swords too close to other people.
After he’d finished his tests, Duncan explained his discoveries to his masters, both of whom nodded like everything made sense. “What about the radius for your teleports?” Cinder asked.
“Uh, three meters,” Duncan replied, slightly confused since he thought he’d already mentioned it.
“You said three meters is the maximum radius of your [Quintessential Armory] summoning, not your teleport,” Cinder explained. “You’ve only tried teleporting to a bound sword immediately after summoning it from your armory. What if you leave a bound sword somewhere, move away from it, and then teleport to it?”
It took less than two seconds for Duncan to summon a bound short sword, stick it point first into the dirt between the cobblestones of the road, and dash five meters away. An instant later, he was back, holding the short sword down at his right side. “Nice,” Duncan whispered excitedly to himself. He tried the same thing, except he moved eight meters away this time. He again arrived back at the sword stuck in the ground. Two tests later, he found that ten meters was the limit of the small radius mentioned in [Sword Bond]’s description.
“Why couldn’t it just tell me the radius was ten meters?” Duncan asked out loud after he’d found the limit. “Both [Quintessential Armory] and [Sword Bond] say they have a small radius, but one is three meters and the other is ten.”
“The Realms don’t often give exact numbers in Ability descriptions for anything but cooldowns,” Neta said. “A lot of scholars think it’s to encourage experimentation and mastery. I personally think the Realms don’t always know exactly how every Ability works. There are so many different Subjects, and no two Subjects are truly the same because no two people have the same exact intent. Then you start introducing different Ability Slips and various Ability upgrades through the tiers, and who knows what an Ability might end up being able to do.”
Duncan nodded his head. He supposed he’d want to test the exact working of his Abilities for himself regardless of what the descriptions said. No description could explain every way an Ability could be used, so he’d make sure not to rely only on what the Realms told him about his Abilities.
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“Personally,” Neta spoke up with an interested tone, “I’m excited to see how [Zenith] boosts your other Abilities. Will it increase the summoning radius of [Quintessential Armory]? Will it temporarily increase the number of bonded swords you can have with [Sword Bond]? Will it decrease cooldowns and mana costs? You’ll have a lot of testing to do.”
Duncan only felt excitement at Neta’s words. Duncan was having fun getting used to his new magic and was excited for more. Plus, he still had a whole other Subject to start testing out. He was beginning to realize just how vital his SWORDSMITH Subject would be for his future growth. The radial summoning effect of [Quintessential Armory] only worked with swords he crafted himself. If more of his Abilities synergized with [Quintessential Armory] like [Sword Bond] did, he’d likely want to use swords he’d crafted almost exclusively. The realization excited Duncan. He was a sword fanatic. More of an excuse to hone his swordsmithing was a win in his book.
Unfortunately, in his fascination and excitement to test his new magic, he’d forgotten that the two Abilities he was testing relied on his internal mana to activate. Despite the listed small mana cost to both summon and teleport to one of his bound swords, he’d been doing it a lot.
The consequence of his forgetfulness was a slightly less-than-graceful teleport, followed by an extreme bout of dizziness and mental fatigue, resulting in a very much less-than-graceful face plant onto the road just outside the city gates. From his new vantage point, Duncan could hear not only the laughter of Neta and Cinder but also all the guards and travelers in the area.
Spitting out some of the dust he’d eaten during his fall, Duncan sat up and, in a defeated voice, asked, “I guess it’s a little late to ask how low mana and mana regeneration work, right?”
Both of his masters just kept laughing.
***
Duncan had already regenerated his entire mana pool by the time they passed through the front gate of the O’Leon estate. Phevona and Boetin, her master, were already there when the trio arrived. The look of victory that covered Duncan’s friend from head to toe told him everything he needed to know about how her own Subject Trial had gone.
As the two groups approached each other in the courtyard outside the main house, Duncan noticed Boetin was giving him a strange look. “Duncan… O’Leon? What did I miss?”
“See, Duncan,” Cinder said. “Identification Abilities.” Phevona’s expression turned from one of victory to confusion, so her father continued. “Duncan has officially been adopted into the O’Leon house.”
Phevona’s expression changed again at his words, first into shock, then happiness. “What? Why didn’t I know about this.” She ran forward to give Duncan a hug that was noticeably stronger than the one she’d given him that morning before they parted ways outside Kunora. “I always wanted a brother,” Phevona exclaimed.
Duncan’s already beaming smile grew almost out of control. “Who said anything about being your brother,” he said. “I personally always wanted a great-niece, and now my wish has come true.” Phevona, who had been animatedly slapping Duncan on the back during their embrace, froze. Seconds passed, and only Neta’s not-so-restrained laughter could be heard in the courtyard.
In a movement faster than any tier zero could have possibly made, Phevona separated from Duncan. “What?!” The shriek was loud enough to bring Pheobe out of the main house and into the courtyard with a burst of her tier nine speed.
“What’s wrong?” Pheobe asked, looking over everyone in the courtyard. She relaxed after seeing everyone was okay and feeling the tier one power coming off Duncan and Phevona. “It looks like you both succeeded. Phevona, what’s with that look?”
“Ask your new uncle-in-law,” Phevona responded, pointing at Duncan.
“Oh! You accepted.” Pheobe happily walked over to Duncan and gave him a hug of her own. “Welcome to the family, uncle!” She said the last word with a knowing tone.
“Am I the only one who didn’t know about this?” Phevona yelled.
“Of course, dear,” Pheobe said.
“Yup,” Cinder happily responded.
“Boetin didn’t know,” Neta added.
At Phevona’s disgruntled look, Duncan decided to add some salt to the wound. “Didn’t you know our family is fond of pranks?” He asked with a straight face.
Phevona’s fist passed through the space Duncan had been just a moment before. She looked around to see him standing three meters away, holding one of his swords with a grin once again splitting his face in two.
“You are so lucky I haven’t gotten my first Slip yet,” Phevona said through gritted teeth. Later, she’d be excited to learn about Duncan’s new Abilities. For now, though, she was just aggravated she’d given her old wand to her master and that none of her new Abilities were useful until she had some actual combat Abilities.
“Speaking of your first Slip,” Pheobe said, now holding onto the Slip the family had decided would be Phevona’s first. “Let’s see what you get?”
“Yes! Please be something I can use to strangle my new great-uncle.”
Duncan started running.
***
The mood in the main house that night was one of celebration. After Phevona used her first Slip and proceeded to chase Duncan around the estate in an effort to test her newest Ability, everyone assembled in the kitchen and dining room. It took another hour for Dean and DJ to arrive, along with Dean’s master, Zebona, and his mother, Jen.
All three of the young delvers had successfully completed their Subject Trails. They immediately started talking about their new Abilities with each other, but their masters and parents brought an immediate stop to it. There would be plenty of time to plan and train. Tonight was a night of celebration.
So, that’s what they did. Cinder made a feast unlike anything Duncan had seen. Monster meat, three different kinds of bread, magical vegetables, and more covered the bar in the kitchen for everyone to enjoy. More than one glass was filled with various spirits, most of which were deadly to anyone under tier eight.
Laughter and stories filled the house as the group celebrated long after Dintarnum’s sister moons rose in the night sky. Duncan, Phevona, and Dean all told the stories of their first delves. Everyone drank in every detail along with their beverages, and some of the more experienced delvers even told the stories of their own Subject Trials.
It was a night Duncan would have loved to share with his family back on Earth. However, he was happy to now have a family on Dintarnum who could share it with him in their stead.
Long after midnight, all those not named O’Leon left the estate. Dean was forced to carry his drunken mother while DJ had Zebona draped over his back. Dean waved back at Duncan and Phevona, promising to come by the next evening to start making plans.
Then, it was only the family. Each of them had their own spot in the living room. Neta sat in a plush chair at the head of two equally comfortable couches. Duncan and Phevona sat in one while Pheobe and Cinder took the other. Countless nights over the last two years had been spent in this exact configuration.
“I think it’s about time I tell you more about my family,” Duncan said nervously. “I know I’ve mentioned my parents and siblings back on Earth, but there are some things I haven’t told you all.”
Despite knowing what he’d see, Duncan looked around at each member of his audience. There was only acceptance and the slightest bit of concern. Not concern for any of them, concern for Duncan. Concern for what he’d been through and maybe what he was still going through.
He took a deep breath, letting go of the last of his apprehension, then began his story. “Apparently, it all started when my birth mother, Rhona Tell, met a noble boy named Roger Mayfield at the Academy on Earth.”