After the excitement of the first twenty-four hours with Tem, every bird call or rustle of leaves in the trees has me jumping at shadows. As much as he doesn’t want to admit it, Tem tenses up at the same sounds; the fight with the wraith lord has taken something vital out of him. Still, he’s a veteran of scouting and survival, and his training keeps us both on track.
“Steady, Nuri,” he murmurs, his eyes scanning the forest ceaselessly. “Keeping watch is wise, but you have to pace yourself. Reacting to every little thing without discretion will wear you down fast. Don’t defeat yourself in your own mind before an enemy even appears. I promised to teach you to hunt and to fight, and despite my earlier teasing, I won’t let you die before you can stand proud on your own two feet.”
I forcibly drag my attention away from the treeline and meet his eyes, smiling although I don’t feel like it. “My teachers all agree that it will take me a long while to gain competency, so I’ll take that as a sign that we have a lot of living still to do.”
“I like your interpretation of things,” Tem says, cracking a slight smile. “Let’s push on for a while longer. There’s a meadow in a cleft between two foothills up ahead, if my memory holds. We’ll camp there for the night. Assuming all goes well, we’ll practice weapons and combat after dinner. A good workout will help clear our minds and prepare our bodies for rest.”
We soon reach the campsite, and it’s as well-suited for our purposes as Tem recalls. Steep, obsidian-colored cliffs on either side of the grassy meadow obscure us from view and provide some shelter against the wind. A storm is picking up, and even though the [Expert Scout] assures me that it won’t be overly severe, I’m grateful for something to break up the wind. I’ve had enough discomfort lately, although I can banish cold with a simple flex of mana.
After a quick dinner, Tem rolls his shoulders and begins to warm up, stepping through basic forms with fluid, practiced movements. He’s calm, precise, and faster than anything I have fought to date. His movements aren’t as showy as Zviad’s, but he’s never caught out of position. I’m not sure how he’s recovered so quickly, even with the potion for accelerated healing, but it’s obviously a much higher grade than anything I’ve seen before.
“Ten attacks, and then we’ll analyze your methods. Don’t expect to actually hit me; I am extremely averse to taking damage. You probably couldn’t lay a finger on me even if you had a movement Skill, so don’t feel bad about it. Just do your best, and don’t overcompensate to try to score a cheeky blow. It’s not going to work, so don’t bother.”
“Got it.”
“I don’t think you do,” Tem says, a smile playing on his lips. “But please, feel free to try anything you’d like.”
“Huh. So, I don’t have to worry about hurting you? You’re basically a training dummy in that case. Guess I’ll go all out.”
“Close enough,” Tem chuckles.
I join him in laughter, then explode forward without drawing a weapon, jabbing at his jaw with a straight right. Immediately, I launch a low kick at his leg, and follow up my jab with a cross and then a third punch. He flows out of the way like it’s the easiest thing in the world for him to avoid my desperate punches and kicks, and simultaneously slaps me on the back of the head just hard enough to send me tumbling into the mud.
“Good instincts, attacking before you’ve drawn your knife. Against someone around your level, that might be enough to knock an opponent over and then end it with a blade. But this isn’t about winning, Nuri. Tonight is about assessing where you’re at with your fighting. Don’t confuse training with testing; you need to learn through repetition over time.”
I step back and drop my hands to my side. I nod seriously, wipe the sweat off my brow, and take up a more traditional stance with my hands guarding my face.
“Wait. Let’s get you a suitable weapon,” Tem says, picking up a stick from the firewood we’ve collected for the night. He snaps off a few stray twigs, then tosses the makeshift staff to me. “There. Sword or spear; up to you. We’ll practice both before the night’s over.”
I activate my [Lesser Manasight] as we spar, hoping to glean some key insights into the way mana empowers Tem in speed and agility. But no matter how fast he evades, he doesn’t light up in my senses. A rising sense of excitement wells up within me. Before, I couldn’t be sure, since I didn’t have any mana sensing Skills yet, but now I’m certain that he’s moving without using a single drop of mana. It matches the way he moved previously when he dragged me through that odd, shifting, monochromatic un-reality. Is he tapping into an alternate energy source? If not mana, then what?
A glimmer from the far end of the meadow catches my eye, and I falter in my attack. I blink, clearing away distractions, and limber up to continue our spar, but the nagging sense of adventure never stops. I have no idea what natural formation or phenomenon would shimmer in my mind like this.
“Nuri! Your brain freeze up?”
I shake off my distraction and regrip the staff Tem cut for me. I bring it back up into an offensive stance, angled across my chest. The next three thrusts all miss, his body bending in ways that don’t seem possible, but I slide my back foot forward in a semicircle and unleash an overhand strike that almost connects. As much as I can’t stand Zviad, his footwork helps a lot in combat. I owe him that much.
“Not bad, not bad. You’re still fixated on something, though. What’s eating at you?” Tem asks me.
I gesture behind him with my chin, not taking my eyes off the wily [Scout]. “Something’s lighting up like a bonfire in my [Manasight].”
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Tem snickers. “That’s the oldest trick in the book. You think you’ll actually get me to look behind my back?”
“No, although I wish I’d thought of that trick. I’m genuinely worried. You haven’t noticed it?” I squint at Tem. “Wait. That doesn’t make any sense. Aren’t your scouting Skills legendary? I thought you had [Eyes of the Panopticon] and [Detect Threat]?”
“Aww, cold tracks!” Tem swears. He sighs and shakes his head. “Tough to pull a fast one on you. I forgot you read my book and know some of my basic Skills. I see the phenomenon, never fear. It’s a Rift. Looks recent.”
“A Rift? Here?” My voice squeaks, but I don’t care. While the borderlands aren’t exactly the safest place in the world, it’s been a while since a new Rift opened.
“Yep. Try not to pass out in excitement.”
“We have to tell the city guard! First a wraith incursion, and now a Rift? How can you be so calm? This is the most exciting day of my life.”
Tem lifts one palm up in the air and gives me a helpless half-shrug. “This is fairly normal for the Royal Scouts, Nuri. Expand your horizons.” He blows the air out of his puffed-up cheeks. “I hate paperwork. What do you say that we just pretend that it doesn’t exist?”
I almost drop my staff in shock at Tem’s casual suggestion, and my words come out too fast, spilling over each other as my heart rate spikes. “Isn’t failure to report a national threat, uh, you know, treason? You gave us a hard sell in your lecture. Going back on your word already? Not a very good example.”
“Yep. Guess we’ll have to let them know eventually. But there’s nothing that says we have to report it to Silaraon for investigation today. I’ve already used up my scroll, and I’m not double-timing it back to the city tonight. I’m tired.”
“You mean, you’re dragging your feet because you don’t want to get involved in the mess that’s sure to follow,” I say, keeping my tone light so it doesn’t sound like an accusation.
“You should be thankful for that,” Tem replies quietly, and there’s a contemplative note in his tone that shuts me down instantly. “I’m still making up my mind if you’re likely to survive if we delve the Rift.”
What little backbone I’ve started to develop disappears, and I sink down to the ground to squat on my haunches. I clutch at my cloak, pulling it closer to my body, suddenly feeling very small and very cold. “Delve an unknown Rift with a party of two? You’re insane. I’m curious, I’ll admit, but that sounds like suicide.”
“You’re pretty crazy, too, by your own admission,” Tem shoots back. “That’s what makes us a good pair. Rifts might be dangerous, but they’re also great resources. Who knows what we might find down there, Nuri? Just imagine the possibilities!”
“Death,” I breathe out. “We’re going to find death.”
“Stop. Just because you’d die on your own doesn’t mean it’s any real threat to me. I kept you alive against a wraith lord. Do you really think a little old Rift will pose much of a threat?”
“What if that’s where the incursion came from?” I protest.
“Of course that’s where they came from. That’s what makes it valuable,” Tem explains, a glint in his eyes. “Why do you think I’m evaluating your combat skills?”
“Oh. You really wanna enter?”
“Strongly considering it if . . .”
“Yes?” I prompt Tem when he trails off, a frown on his face.
“Hmm. It may be more dangerous than I expected. Virulent mana signature.”
I snort. “That doesn’t put my mind at ease. Shouldn’t we worry about the proximity to the city? I’m not sure anything we find inside is worth the danger.”
He rolls his eyes. “Do you want to risk it all and possibly make your fortune, or are you really content to languish away in obscurity your whole life? This is it, Nuri. Your big break.”
I squint toward the Rift, as though focusing might let me see more clearly. It’s still a blur in the distance to my natural eyes, but the glow in my new [Lesser Manasight] keeps growing stronger. There’s probably more treasure in the depths than I’ve ever laid eyes on before.
Tem starts to pace. He tosses his pack over his shoulder, an avaricious gleam in his eyes now that he’s warmed to the idea. “You want to dare to do great things? You want to walk as an equal in exalted circles you can only dream about right now? Then forget about the training exercises or any teaching contracts.” He flings his arms out wide and shouts. “Let’s have an adventure!”
I kick dirt over the campfire, stuff my bedroll back into my canvas sack, and pop up to my feet beside him. “I want an even, fifty-fifty split.”
“Ha! Not a chance. We both know I’m going to do all the heavy lifting down there.”
“Yes, and we both know that you’re still technically under contract right now for our joint training exercise. You wouldn’t even know about a new Rift if I didn’t hire you. By Silaraon law, I have rights to anything we find during this excursion as the chartering party. But I’m willing to go halves with you since you’ll have to work overtime to keep me alive.”
Tem’s jaw goes slack. He blinks at me a few times, then throws back his head and roars with laughter. “You’ve got some fire in you, Nuri. I like that about you. But you do realize that if you don’t make it back, I get the full share. Besides, I already knew about the Rift.”
I step forward, my eyes locked onto his, and suppress the urge to run. I don’t think he’s threatening me, not truly, so I stand up to the challenge. Sweat pours down the back of my neck as I look into the eyes of a killer. “A partner at your back is only a good thing if you can trust him. I think you’re tired of working with people you can’t trust.”
Tem slowly extends a hand, and we shake on it. “Well said, Nuri. A team, then. We’ll share whatever we find in the depths.”
“Sounds good. But don’t even think about dying on me.” My lips twitch into a faint smile. “After all, I ain’t hauling all the loot back to town by myself.”
We take off for the Rift as the night falls around us, chatting and laughing, our spirits high even though my hands are shaking like an old man’s. Tem talks me through what I did wrong in our sparring match, gives me pointers on how to avoid traps, and promises to turn back if we encounter any monsters beyond Palladium-rank.
A short walk through the forest brings us to the spatial distortion that marks the opening of the Rift. We both go silent, and I stare in awe at a sight I always dreamed of seeing with my own eyes, but never truly expected to behold.
“Turn around, Nuri.”
I flinch at Tem’s sudden words. “What? I thought we were going inside? That’s what we just talked about a few minutes ago. What changed?”
“That’s a Greater Rift,” Tem says. The muscles in his jaw flex. “I knew a Rift was out here due to the Wraiths, as well as—well, nevermind. I’d hoped for a Lesser variety, originally. This is beyond you without better gear and preparation. Let’s go home. We need a better plan if we’re going to test our mettle.”
My shoulders slump at the thought of an adventure deferred, but I recognize the wisdom of Tem’s words. After a moment's hesitation, I find myself nodding. “All right. You’re the expert. We’ll do it your way.”