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“More Adventurers need to ask themselves: Who, what, when, where, and why?”
— Benjamin Orthos
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—Ki—
The next morning, Aidan and Ki were on the sofas, waiting for Ben and Cassie. Aidan had dozed off, and Ki was still thinking about an hour earlier, when Kossetsu and Myrah agreed to join the group.
Two weeks of training before our first run.
Not training with us for the first week is going to hurt cohesion, but I’ll trust their judgement.
The smell of freshly baked cookies hit Ki’s inner monologue like a truck.
“I finally got these down!” Cassie said, setting a plate of chocolate-chip cookies on the coffee table.
Aidan’s eyes popped open.
“You can cook?”
“You’re going to regret that tone in a second!” Cassie said, smugly putting her hands on her hips.
They both took a bite.
Ki and Aiden looked at each other.
“This…” he began.
“Is crazy good!” Ki finished.
Cassie exhaled deeply and grabbed a cookie. “Whew. Honestly, I was worried after the other failed attempts.”
“Um, did you not taste test them?” Ki asked.
“Where’s the sport in that? Don’t worry, I would have finished them if they were bad,” Cassie grabbed a few cookies and went back to the kitchen, “hang on, I’m gonna wrap a few for Xia.”
Cooking made her an entirely different person.
Is that actually the first time I see her anxious?
Ki giggled, then brought a hand to her mouth in shock.
Aidan placed his chin on his hands. “Hmmmm…”
“shut up, shut up,” Ki whispered at a snickering Aidan.
Shortly after Cassie returned, Ben rolled a squeaking whiteboard in front of the fireplace.
He cleared his throat, “Okay, I’d like to go over some foundational things before throwing you to the wolves.”
Right into it!?
He totally gets it.
Ki opened a notebook and clicked her pen.
He cleared his throat again. “How experienced in adventuring and magic would you describe yourself?”
Cassie said, “Experienced at fighting. I haven’t gone into dungeons, besides going into the Mugen Mori a few times for unrelated things. I can use my magic to basically deal concentrated damage, but it tends to break my weapons. Luckily, I have a knack for Hidden Inventory that lets me stockpile a lot. ”
Ben nodded to Aidan, who said, “I’ve been in enough brawls to hold my own—not that it's my preferred method. I’ve been through the Mugen Mori plenty, though mostly when I was younger and with fairly low stakes. Hopefully, Druidic methods come in handy in other dungeons.
He played around with a ring on his thumb. “I can imbue fire effects on weapons, jewelry, and stuff like that. I’ve got an OK understanding of some ritual magic, too.
Everyone looked over to Ki.
“I did some boxing in college, but I don’t have immense faith in my one-on-one ability. Dungeon-wise…”
Aidan gave her a reassuring nod.
Just be honest.
“I spent a year in the Mugen Mori when I was really young, and the other day was my only other time. The ice magic and crest are completely new.”
Ki tried to ignore their looks of surprise. “Ah, one other time too, like a year back.”
Cassie grinned, “Just a refrigerator, my ass!”
“That’s incredible, were you on your own? Did you use a Banner?” Ben asked.
“I was with my family,” Ki said.
Ben caught on to the tone of her voice and didn’t continue the line of inquiry.
He switched into teaching mode. “There are a few things I noted from all of your responses. For one: you all have fought people, but the denizens of dungeons are entirely different.”
His eyes narrowed. “You only really hear about fun adventures and overcoming great odds, but you need to understand that this is not a game. Adventuring is not an ‘I might as well since I can use magic’ type of calling, and there are no take-backs once you make a major mistake. And you will make one.”
“Furthermore, I do not give out zero-star adventuring licenses. It’s great you all have crests, but you will need to meet the criteria for a one-star license before I will sponsor you. Until you have a one-star license, the advice and assistance I give will be limited.”
Ben waited for objections. None came—it helped that Cassie had briefed Ki and Aidan beforehand.
“The criteria being?” Ki asked.
“The most straightforward method will be to defeat a powerful monster called a ‘Champion’. Some younger adventurers have called them ‘mini-bosses’ or ‘elites’. In the case of the Vault of Heaven, you’ll find them in special encounters, called ‘Rooms’. For the entrance area, they guard openings to the First Realm.”
“Take care afterward if you continue, the First Realm is called the Marble Noose for a reason,” he added.
“Now, let’s gauge your level of knowledge. The questions you ask can help me gauge that, so go ahead.”
Ki stared at the back of her hand. “What is magic?”
“Can you elaborate?” Ben asked.
“I don’t know why, but I don’t trust the information I’ve been given. How is it created? Why am I just now asking questions about how magic works? Why isn’t it studied in the same depth as biology? As chemistry?”
Ben stroked his chin.
“You’re asking that right questions. Let’s start with basic knowledge you may not have.”
“Magic is more free-flowing than you would think. In the early days, using magic was like trying to build with sand—you could do some rough things, but there was no fine control. Over time, we learned magic could be focused through self-exploration and by setting conditions through promises, oaths, and pacts. Those insights allowed us to delve into the nature of magic. Obviously, when I say ‘we’, I mostly mean the research available from early and pre-history.”
“The major theme of magic is that you believe the world should be a certain way, and your creativity and natural inclinations allow you to work both inside and outside of the world’s rules.”
“You could ‘break’ these rules with elemental magic that doesn’t follow standard scientific laws. You could also use the world’s rules to your advantage by using magical laws to overpower another’s will or heighten your senses. The popular understanding of the former is where the term 'Rule Breaker' comes from.”
Ki wrote ‘Rule enforcement?’ in her notebook.
“Basic, abridged vocabulary: Mana is a grouping of magic particles. When your will interacts with them using a focus, mana becomes magical energy.”
Ki wrote: ‘What makes up the particles?’.
“A focus can be anything—a chant, a pact, a hand sign, a tool, or even your own body. It’s simply a channel between your will and mana contained elsewhere. Imagery is extremely helpful, which is where different schools of magic come in. Tradition is a powerful pact.”
“Aura can be thought of as the expression of the ‘heat’ given off by your will.”
Cassie asked, “What’s the actual application for all of this? Is this what you meant by making it hard?”
Ki added, “Will there be materials going more in-depth?”
“It’s complicated, which leads me to your other question. Much like tradition, secrecy is a powerful pact. One of the ways we believe the magical community developed magic itself is with Pacts of Secrecy. The two major magical organizations of the world, the Adventuring Association and Mages’ Council, have outlined plans on when, why, and to what extent we reveal the inner-workings of magic,” Ben said.
“That makes se—”
Ki stopped mid-sentence.
“A pact of secrecy—it doesn’t feel like it’d be enough to prevent those without magic from wanting to learn more.”
Ben nodded. “You’re right, which brings us to crests. Anyone that can use magic manifests the Crest of the Rule Breaker. The easy, public explanation is that it’s just a representation of the ability to use magic and can be molded into guild tattoos.
“There are two other possible explanations: either the Crest gives the ability and desire to understand magic more intimately, or the Crest is involved with a pact already in place among all mortals.”
Aidan said, “The Crest IS fairly common in Druidic circles, which makes sense. Does the importance of secrecy mean magic’s foundation could crumble if its secrets were revealed?”
“We don’t know. There are times when you’ll physically be prevented from saying something, and other times people will be forced to ‘mishear’things. This most often occurs with spell chants. The issue is, it has never been stress tested in a world with a nine-digit population level.
“That’s why, as knowledge has become more widespread and easily accessible, the Mages’ Council, Adventuring Association, and many governments have played an active role in creating pop-culture understandings of magic. They work very hard in toeing the line between fiction and nonfiction.”
“This may frustrate you, but I believe it’s a good thing young adventurers and mages have to discover many things on their own. Teaching applications vary, and thus success rates can be wildly different. I’ll leave the uses and applications up to your interpretation.”
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Ben clapped his hands together.
“I rambled more than expected, so why don’t you do some self-guided training? Xia should be waking up any minute now, and we have a prior commitment.”
“FINALLY!” Cassie shouted.
She vaulted over the side of the couch and motioned to the door.
“So all-in-all we’ve learned that you can do things with magic and secrets are good. Great lecture. Let’s get some training done.”
Ki finished writing her notes. She stood up quickly, surprising herself at her body’s lightness.
“Thank you! There are some good hints at places to start!”
Aidan looked back and forth, then sighed, heaving himself upwards. “Keeping up with early twenty-somethings is going to kill me. Seriously. Just burn the body.”
Ben laughed, “You might be surprised at how much of an equalizer magic and life-experience can be. And remember: you’re talking to someone in his sixties! No complaints!”
Aidan smiled apologetically, then headed outside.
As Cassie tried to convince them to do a jogging warm-up, another thought ran through Ki’s mind:
Discovering the hidden inner workings of magic for myself?
…I think I get how you feel now, Cassie.
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—Kossetsu—
THUNK
Kossetsu swung the axe down, splitting the log in half.
“Hey, I got one!” He proclaimed victoriously—to no one.
He placed another onto the chopping block.
THUNK
I can’t believe this is the ‘training’ Myrah wanted me to do…
THUNK
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—Ki—
I’m gonna puke.
Ki leaned against the willow tree, trying to catch her breath.
For the past three days, Ki had been under a “No Magic” ban implemented by Ben. She wasn’t too tempted to ignore it—even considering adding ice to her drinks sent a nauseous feeling throughout her body.
In the meantime, Cassie took it upon herself to accelerate Ki’s rehabilitation.
Each day had a fairly simple plan: running, body weight exercises, stretching, and ending with meditation. Ki found ways to break the boredom by going through some of Ben’s ‘allowed’ books, playing card games with Xia, and going over fighting techniques—in slow motion—with Cassie.
Ki was more sore than usual today, owing to her actually running on her solo midnight ‘runs’.
I won’t let Cassie leave me behind.
Cassie was already stretching. “That was a mile! How are you going to survive a dungeon like this?”
“I-”
Ki took a drink of water and looked around, but Aidan was gone—apparently he “trained better on his own”.
She had her doubts.
“I’ll just have to work smarter and harder,” she said.
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Sayings aren’t gonna help when you are face to face with a shadow wolf or whatever”
“Or whatever?” Ki asked.
“Yeah, whatever’s in the dungeon,” Cassie deadpanned, then sat on the ground to do plank exercises.
Ki finally caught her breath—just in time to be incredulous.
“You haven’t looked into it?”
“No? Do you look up the plot of a movie before watching it?”
Ah, that’s what Aidan meant.
“If it’s all the same to you, I'll be trying to fill in those blanks in my spare time,” Ki said.
“You do you. Ready for another run?”
“WHAT!?”
Cassie laughed. “We’re going to do something new beforehand, don’t worry. Take a seat.”
She patted a patch of ground next to her, and Ki moved over, sitting down and shuffling herself to be diagonal to Cassie.
“Ok Ki, you aren’t under Ben’s little ban anymore, right? Feel like you’re gonna blow up?”
“Uh, I hope not?”
“Perfect. I am going to improve your athletic ability tenfold. We’ll cheat a little until we can build your body up more,” She squeezed Ki’s bicep.
Ki laughed nervously. “That sounds good, but I don’t really want to bulk up too much…”
Cassie leaned in, now uncomfortably close and touching Ki.
“What’s wrong with muscle? Don’t I look good?”
Ki scooted backwards.
“What training do you have for us?”
“Alright, we’ll revisit that later. Close your eyes.”
Is Cassie of all people going to lead me through meditation? Did she make my heart rate skyrocket on purpose??
“Ok, now what?”
“Find your magic.” Cassie said.
Is that it?
Ki took a peek at Cassie, who was sitting motionless, eyes shut and focused somewhere else.
Ki sighed and closed her eyes again.
Ok, that makes more sense. Magic…
Ki thought back to the three sessions of therapy she’d tried.
Doing a body scan could work.
She started from her toes and worked her way up, noting how each of her muscles felt, tightening them, and then loosening them.
Ki slowed her breathing by imagining a clear lake in her head. Slowly, but surely, she created an image in her mind.
The ‘lake’ looked more like a stormy ocean.
She fought the urge to panic. There are no magic stones to foil you this time. Use the cold.
The storm subsided, and the waves slowed to a ripple. At last, the lake froze entirely.
…
Nothing else happened.
Do I try to use my magic now? Am I trying too hard?
Cracks formed along the ice.
She felt a tug on her hands. Following the feeling, she turned her palms upward, then crossed each ring and pinky finger. The pulling feeling became stronger as golden light shined through the cracks along the imaginary ice.
Her anxiety was replaced with curiosity. She reached for the light, shattering the ice and dropping her consciousness. Feeling weightless and heavy at the same time, Ki’s body told her it wanted to hyperventilate, but there was a disconnect, like it was talking to her through a phone. Her chest started to feel tight and a rush of air surrounded her.
She saw the ground approaching at high velocity.
Ki tensed for impact.
But she only found herself calmly standing on solid ground, surrounded by an unfeeling void.
Did I fall asleep?
She stared at a bone-white door in front of her. It was covered in blurry symbols, and she had a feeling she should know them, but recognition only scratched at the back of her mind.
The scratching only grew louder when she walked to the door.
She turned the handle and entered, bathing her field of view in light.
She was warm again.
The light gave way to a clearing the size of Ben’s lodge. In front of her stood an elevated pool, about eye level to her. A crown of flowers acted as the outer walls, and glowing moss created a staircase to sparkling water.
Is this—am I in the Mugen Mori?
She raised her eyes, catching sight of a slender woman that radiated—figuratively and literally— near-blinding beauty. The light faded, revealing a topless woman, with hair somehow displaying a starry night.
The woman half-heartedly covered her chest with and faked surprise.
“Kyaa~”
Ki’s eyes shot downwards.
NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR THIS KIND OF DREAM.
She heard the sound of water splashing, and then her chin was lifted by a golden, glowing figure the size of her hand.
“You caught me unguarded when I heard the door open—just kidding. Hehe, sorry about that. Next time I can make it a male body if you want ♪”
“N-no, that’s ok—wait, that doesn’t matter. Isn’t this…?”
This is where my new life began.
It had been almost a year since Ki journeyed to the Mugen Mori, praying that the rumor she had read about was true. After meeting Cassie, she’d spent every waking minute trying to change her destiny—to get a new body and match her outer appearance and inner soul.
To go from “man” to woman.
Ki knew she had been unbelievably lucky. In a mere month, she managed to stumble her way to a secluded encounter, where something had transformed her. She didn’t know if it was a fairy, an elemental, or even a devil. She didn’t care.
I never thought we would meet again.
The creature of light fluttered around Ki’s head. “So you seem to realize who I am!”
“Did I get transported to the Mugen Mori, somehow?”
“It’s actually the opposite! I hitched a ride with you~”
Ki took a step backwards.
Shit. Shitshitshit. I should have guessed I wouldn’t get off for free.
The glow of the creature softened into an orange hue.
“I’m sorry, I should have realized how you might be feeling. To be honest, I didn’t think we would meet yet! I assure you, I remember our first interaction, even though it feels like someone else’s dream to me. In fact, my next memory after granting your wish is waking up in this little sanctuary.”
“Ok… So, what do you want?” Ki asked.
The glow turned purple. “I’m sorry?”
“I’m waiting for the catch.”
“There isn’t one~!”
Ki narrowed her eyes.
The creature spoke again, “No, really! All I want is what’s best for you. It’s difficult to explain, but I think we have a resonance. It feels right being here.”
Ki sat down on the steps.
“What if I wanted you to leave?”
The glow turned blue.
“We could try to figure out how to make that a reality. It would break my heart, though.”
Don’t get guilt-tripped by a random spirit.
Despite a lack of facial features, Ki thought she saw a glint in the creature’s “eyes”—something it was hiding.
“Can you give me a reason for you to stay?” Ki asked, pushing through a pang of regret.
“If you don’t want me here, that’s okay! I’m sure we can figure it out.”
“Let me rephrase: you’re purposely not giving me a reason to stay. Why?”
“O-oh. I guess we do resonate really well. I didn’t want to force you or anything. If we are going to be friends, I don’t want you to feel indebted to me.”
Friends? And indebted…
“Are you the reason I can use magic now?”
“No!” The creature somehow skidded to a halt midair and generated a dust cloud.
“Sort of,” it cleared its throat, “when your new body was made, I noticed that there were some strange blockages.”
“Something was preventing me from using magic?”
“Your internal conflicts—biological, emotional, and physical—all played a part. I may have aligned everything, but your power is your power. I only helped in overcoming an unfortunate circumstance.”
Ki shifted uncomfortably, then looked at the glowing crest on her hand.
“Sorry, I’ve been really rude. What’s your name?”
“Well, Kossetsu was under the impression I might be a fairy, so I told him my name was Fey! That’s not my real name, but it felt right. You’ll be the first to know when I figure it out!”
“Waitwaitwait. You talked to Kossetsu?”
Fey explained their meeting with Kossetsu.
———
Ki stroked her chin, not noticing Fey copying her.
“I mean, I don’t have an issue with you hanging out here for now. Where is here?”
Fey’s glow shifted through the entire rainbow, before settling on gold.
“Well, it’s a small portion of your inner world! It’s like a small room in a massive mansion.”
“An inner world? Isn’t that really helpful for magic?”
“Hmm… A bit. Neither of us are even close to ready to explore the rest.”
Ki tried to take in all the implications. She knew time was passing, but a comforting breeze kept that thought in the back of her mind.
“I have a few questions, if you don’t mind.”
“Shoot~”
“Are you a devil?”
Fey stood stock-still, their glow turning to a faded orange. “No.”
Would a devil lie? I mean, obviously, but why do I feel so connected to them?
“Can you hear my thoughts?” Ki asked.
Fey began moving around again, this time circling Ki. “Nope! I mean, you are kind of thinking with me right now, but when you aren’t here I can’t tell what’s happening.
“Isn’t that boring?”
“I struggled to form complete thoughts until recently, so I haven’t had many chances to get bored. It’s pretty easy for me to just nap, though!”
“Ok, What kind of pact do you want to form?”
“None. I’m just happy to be here. If I’m right, you would rather have a partner than a contract, anyway.”
Ki said, “…You’re right. Let’s make it formal without a pact, then: would you like to stay here? No strings attached.”
“I sure would!” Fey offered their small hand to Ki, who returned the handshake with her little finger.
Ki felt Fey adopt a mischievous grin.
“I know you said no strings attached, but I have an idea for a rent payment~♪”
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—Cassie—
Cassie came back from her run and shook her head. Three hours had passed since Ki started meditating. Initially, Cassie also tried to push her own limits, but when she tried to grab Ki’s attention after half an hour, she couldn’t get close.
A circle of ice surrounded Ki, and any attempts to break it froze her skin. Adding to her frustration, Cassie was unable to get her body to remember how to use a temperature-resistant bubble.
“Are you sure this is her first time?” Ben asked.
“Supposedly. Don’t press her on it.”
Cassie finished her water bottle, then started walking closer to Ki. To her surprise, Ki suddenly stood straight up.
“You had us worried there for a sec!” Cassie laughed.
Ki’s eyes remained closed as she moved toward the pond, a trail of ice in her wake. Cassie reached out, but Ben stepped between them.
“You’re looking at instant frostbite.”
“This can’t be safe, right? We should do something!”
“There’s no danger, yet.”
Cassie tapped her foot in agitation. “Fine.”
Ki continued walking, eventually reaching the willow tree. She reached out her hand and pulled on the oversized logging axe stuck into the trunk.
“Ben!?” Cassie took a step forward, but Ben still shook his head.
The branches of the willow tree whipped back and forth from a gust of wind.
Ki put a second hand around the axe. This time, she pulled it free. Dragging the axe, Ki walked to the water. They looked on in disbelief as Ki created a frozen path to the center of the pond. She sat back down in a meditative position, with the axe placed over her lap.
“Baptism,” Ben said.
“Are you serious? She’s creating an Edge?”
Cassie couldn’t believe it: Ki was binding a personal weapon with her own magical signature WHILE completely unconscious.
I haven’t even been able to bind a normal weapon.
“I’m going on another run.”
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—Sometime, somewhere in the Mugen Mori—
Ash and steam filled the air of the once-snowy clearing, now engulfed in a blizzard of heat. The only proof that life hadn’t been completely choked out of the encounter was a towering figure, wearing only a heavy cloak and ragged clothing. Embers parted for the man as he dragged a decapitated troll’s head by the hair and painted a circle of gore around a monument of similarly sized skulls.
Once the circle was completed, he looked at the ugly, boulder-sized trophy in the grip of his charred hand. It could be worth a large sum—even a place of honor in any other guild hall. He didn’t particularly care. He blinked, sending blistering fire down the hair and flaying the rest of the skin from the troll’s head.
He picked up the steaming skull and threw it in the pile with the rest.
Nothing.
He shambled his way over to the skulls and used them as an impromptu throne. Steam surged through holes of the metallic rebreather that covered his mouth and lower jaw.
Wasn’t he supposed to do this in the First? Had he been lied to?
As he began to feel his body heat rise, there was a rumbling sound behind him.
Turning, he found himself— finally—excited.
The crashing of trees gave way to a two-story tall troll. He looked in disgust at the tree it was dragging and the beast’s sickly gray skin, covered in some kind of bone armor.
A four-star quarry, at best.
His throne turned to ash, and the surrounding air began to quake. He threw back his hood, his shoulder-length hair burning at the tips and covering his face in a pitch-black curtain.
He looked to the sky and began to laugh, the rebreather filtering his cracked voice into a hollow echo.
“HAHAHAHAHHAHA”
Blood vessels burst and created a jigsaw of carnage across his eyes.
“HAHAHA”
The troll roared, but his sickly laughter didn’t stop.
“HAHAHAHA”
He didn’t realize a tree twice his size had been thrown at him, but it didn’t matter: it disintegrated well before reaching him.
The ground ruptured as he emitted a sudden, overwhelming pressure. He looked down at the flames that licked at his bare feet, his eyes stinging from the heat of boiling tears.
“…ha…”
He reached for his mask.