Chapter 37: Bone-Shattering Lessons

I was largely disappointed the next day when Callem didn’t mention the mithril at breakfast. After stretching, I went down to the larder and found the mithril gone, so he must have known. I prepped some pizza crusts and sauce for dinner. Callem liked a buffalo chicken pizza, and everyone else liked the more mundane toppings with tomato sauce. The morning practice was to be wrestling, and I couldn’t read Callem’s face. Did he not realize I had made mithril?

My first match for wrestling was Aelyn. She was getting really good, and even though I was significantly stronger than her, she almost always won due to her agility. That made me upset—I had thought myself above average in grappling, and getting beaten by a half-elven woman was irksome. She slipped behind me, locked hands around my waist, and leveraged me to the ground with a throw. She managed to keep my back to the ground and straddle my chest.

I was about to bridge and rotate to escape when she put her face three inches from mine and whispered, “I imprinted the spell.” Then she was up and off me, walking away smugly as I lay there in shock. I had lost the match and the race to imprint the dimensional spell. I pacified myself by thinking that hers was just a tier 1 version, and mine was tier 3. It seemed Aelyn had just claimed she was both a better fighter and mage than me.

Aelyn had been getting more playful after Pascal left, and I remembered that she had said she would replicate Leda’s actions when she learned the pocket space spell. Her preening was deserved, as imprinting a spell was hard. I watched her hips sway as she walked away, but quickly focused on my aether core burn to counter my unwanted excitement.

After two more matches in which Gareth dominated over Leda and then Aelyn, I was matched against Cilia. As we met in the center of the ring, Cilia said, “Aelyn rode you like a broken-down nag. I’m going to do the same!”

Well, smack talk was a new thing for our group. It was introduced by Pascal and it had quickly turned on him, as he had rarely won any contests unless Callem stacked the odds in his favor. The smack talk was all done in jest and to add some levity to the situation, but for some reason, Cilia’s words irked me today. Maybe it had to do with Aelyn beating me.

I had coasted for months, not going all out. This encounter would be different, as she was about to get my best effort. Cilia came at me and I easily grabbed her right wrist, pulling her sideways and stepping behind her hips. I wrapped my left arm around her upper torso and pulled her off balance to spin her to the ground. The movement was so quick and smooth that I was in awe of myself. I even spotted a surprised Gareth as I brought Cilia to the ground.

I didn’t let her recover. In fact, I kept giving her false hope. As she got back to her knees, I kept my hips pressed behind her and countered everything she did. It was draining on both our parts, but I just wanted her to wear herself out and concede the match without me getting an arm bar or leg lock on her.

She would not yield. Instead, she only tried harder. This went on for a good five minutes, and I actually smiled at her futility. “Who’s riding who now?” I gloated. My jibe was not well received, as she only struggled harder, but I found it easy to counter her from the upper position.

“Storme,” Callem said in a warning tone. Callem usually let things play out, so I knew I had crossed some line. I could not see Cilia’s face, but her grunts almost sounded like sobs. Realization struck, and I decided to break the engagement. As soon as I pushed away a little bit, Cilia took advantage and made a quick roll underneath me.

She had a look of loathing on her face as her adrenaline surged. I didn’t even track her knee coming up into my chin. The force shattered some of my teeth, and the end of my tongue was severed and went flying. I fell back, shocked, and my vision swam as I tried to focus on healing.

I collapsed, blood flowing freely from my mouth, unable to focus and hold onto consciousness. “Storme, I didn’t mean to!” I heard Cilia shout, but Callem filled my vision.

“She might have fractured his neck,” he said, concerned. “Leda! You need to heal him so he can regain his senses. He will finish the job, but you need to start! Gareth, find his tongue!”

Nothing Callem said made me feel better.

“His tongue?” Gareth asked.

“Were you not paying attention?” Callem said forcefully. That was the last thing I heard as I passed into unconsciousness.

I awoke in Callem’s guest room with Wynna by my bedside. “Storme, it’s going to be okay, but don’t move for a moment. Callem said if you’re up for it, you should try to heal yourself. Leda did some minor healing to close things up and stop the internal bleeding, and we used a strong healing potion on you.” Wynna was holding my hand. “Try to heal yourself,” she repeated soothingly.

I focused and used my self-diagnostic spell on myself. My neck had a fracture, but the spine was intact. A half dozen teeth had been shattered, and a quarter of my tongue had been poorly reattached. I channeled aether to heal my tongue first, then accelerated the healing on my neck. I couldn’t heal or regrow bone, just accelerate the process with my tier-one spell. I ran my tongue across the sharp, broken teeth. Clots had formed to stop the bleeding. “My teeth?” I asked worriedly.

“Callem got most of the pieces, and Gareth went to get Antal. He should be back shortly and your teeth will be repaired,” she said consolingly.

I channeled more aether into the spell to heal myself as much as I could. I felt exhausted as Callem entered the house, his footsteps unmistakable.

“When you can walk, you can apologize to Cilia.”

“What?” I asked incredulously.

In a disappointed tone, Callem said, “You know why she’s here, Storme. You made her feel defenseless and probably stirred up memories she wanted to forget.” I didn’t argue; Callem was right. “Don’t worry. She feels absolutely terrible and will apologize to you, too."

When Antal arrived, he smelled like garlic, and I guessed he had been preparing dinner. Callem had a small bowl of my shattered teeth. I directed Adnal to my spine first before he worked on my teeth. It took him about twenty minutes before I could run my tongue across my restored teeth. Antal nodded at his work.

“As long as the root is intact, I can restore a tooth completely. Teeth are easier to deal with, as I can stimulate their growth and shape them if some pieces are missing.”

I thanked him, Wynna handed him some coin, and he left to return to Hen’s Hollow. I stood up, but phantom pain erupted. The memory was too fresh. Wynna supported me and I walked a little unsteadily for a moment before regaining my balance. I guessed I had a sizable concussion as well that Leda had healed.

In the common room, I got to the couch and sat down. Wynna was already bringing me food to replenish me from the extensive healing. Callem sat across from me, assessing my mental and physical state with his golden eyes.

“I’m good, Callem. Or at least I will be in a little bit.”

“Storme, no one so young should go through something like that. And this is the third time you have suffered grievous injury.” He was right. I had almost died three times now in six months. Callem adjusted his position. “We have two options, Storme. We can do nothing and continue as we have done or…” He took a deep breath. “Normally, I wouldn’t suggest anything this extreme…especially for someone so young. We could train you to function through the pain. If we do so, you should be able to access your healing and other spells no matter how much pain you are in. It’s not an easy path, and I’m unsure if it’s right for you.”

I almost wanted to laugh at Callem calling me soft. Even though I wanted to avoid injury, it kept finding me.

Callem waited for my response. I asked tentatively, “So you would, what, injure me and I would try to cast spells?” When I said it aloud, it didn’t sound so great.

“It would be a gradual process. There are exercises, focusing exercises. I will teach you how to concentrate initially and handle other stimuli. Then, yes, we would gradually increase your pain tolerance…” Callem’s golden eyes had never looked so torn.

“Is this something you have done before?” I asked.

“Yes. I’ve done it many times before to others. The Skyholme elite marines—mind you, not the Wolfsguard. Each year, we selected the top twenty men and women from the sixth year of the Naval Academy who were destined to be marines. Typically, seven or eight from that group would pass, becoming the elite marines, the pride of the Skyholme navy, the shock troopers. The program was discontinued to fund an expansion of the Wolfsguard.”

Callem sighed, taking a pained breath. “The remaining elite marines I personally trained, 137 strong, were sent on a mission to seize the Sadian town of Forestdeep. It was a suicide mission, but they succeeded. When they called for reinforcements… none came. They held out for eight days.” Callem drifted into painful memories, and I swore I saw his eyes water. He rarely told us his stories, and it was easy to see why he had retired to Hen’s Hollow.

“Okay, Callem. I’m in.” I didn’t want to become a masochist, but I did want to increase my chances of survival. I was certain Gareth would want in as well. Hell, he would probably think it was fun. “When do we start?” I asked hesitantly.

Callem sighed. “We’ll start with meditation and focusing exercises.” He got up and grabbed a thick book on the counter. “In the first chapters of this book are two important meditation exercises. One teaches you to focus on one thing, ignoring other stimuli. The second starts you down a path of becoming aware of your pain senses and turning them off. You must practice and grasp the exercises before we proceed any further.”

“Thank you, Callem,” I said, taking my leave. Wynna looked at me with a hint of pity as I left. Cilia was outside the door, waiting for me. I felt a phantom pain at the sight of her, reliving the experience.

Cilia spoke with misery in her voice. “I’m sorry.” She breathed deeply. “When you…When I saw…I remembered…I panicked…I saw his face, not yours—”

I put up my hands to stop her and thought briefly before speaking. “You did the right thing, Cilia. This is why you are here. I don’t hold anything against you. If you are ever in that situation again, do exactly the same thing, don’t hesitate.” I paused. “I’m sorry that I—”

Cilia halted my words, her hand gesturing dismissively. “No, don’t apologize,” she insisted, a guilty heaviness in her tone. “Let’s just drop it.” To break the atmosphere, she added with a small grin, “Leda said you can practice with her next time. She promised not to break your neck.” I rolled my eyes.

Then I showed her the book Callem had given me. “Callem gave me some homework. I should get to it.”

As I was walking away, Cilia said, “Callem gave me the punishment to make dinner tomorrow. So you have the evening off.”

I stopped and turned. “Why is Callem punishing everyone?” I grinned at her, and she looked incredulous. “I better help you prepare it. Let me know when you head to the kitchen.” Cilia nodded and smiled.

I managed to make it to my loft after getting checked by everyone. Aelyn climbed up just as I opened the book Callem had given me. “So, Storme, are you planning to move back to the other loft?” she asked conversationally.

“If Gareth asks, I will,” I replied, not looking at her reaction. I started reading. The best part of the book was it was weakly enchanted, guiding the reader through the exercises. I multi-tasked while talking with Aelyn.

“Good. He won’t ask. I just talked to him and told him you sleep better away from his loud breathing at night.” She was smiling. “Do you want to see my spell?”

I nodded and gave her my full attention. She cast the spell, and a small portal appeared before her. I looked inside to see a bunch of Aelyn’s clothes.

“You know, if you put all your clothes in there, I won’t be able to clean them,” I said half-jokingly. I had been cleaning her bedding and clothes since I had moved back to the loft. “The spell is impressive. Callem has some weapons I made for you. You should store your smaller weapons in your space in case you need them.”

The conversation petered out, and I started in on the meditation techniques with the aid of the book.

Over the next few weeks, I found my plate ridiculously full. Freya only visited for a single afternoon with Monty. She was busy running a delivery service in town, much like Gareth and I had done. She had become addicted to making her own coin, and I praised her for it. My parents knew about my magic now too. I was surprised they hadn’t visited Callem’s farm themselves.

I spent every waking hour training or studying. The meditation techniques were not challenging to learn, but mastering them took time, even with a magical book guiding me and Callem answering questions when I encountered them. The focus was also helping in my physical training and weapons practice. I was rapidly gaining ground on Aelyn and Gareth.

It took me over two weeks to learn the meditation techniques to Callem’s satisfaction. I was far from being a master but had enough of the basics for him to proceed. The next phase was meditation while under duress. Noise while running the obstacle course, in sword practice, while cooking, and whenever else Callem could think of.

The other great benefit was that the focus meditation helped me advance in my imprinting of the dimensional closet spell. I was shocked when, while meditating and working on my spell, it just clicked! I was certain my matrix now had the spell form imprinted on it! It had taken over two months, but finally, I had it. The new year was approaching soon, just 19 days away, so the timing was perfect.

Chapter 38: The Dimensional Closet

The spatial spell was finally complete. For the level 1 evolution, I allowed the entrance to be altered to any size. The space itself was a cube, ten feet to each side. The maximum size of the doorway was one side of the cube, but with evolution, I could reduce that size. The side and orientation of the doorway were fixed on the caster.

When I focused inwardly on my core, I could access the doorway. The doorway was fluid and couldn’t cut a person or object in half when summoned or unsummoned; that basic knowledge was included in the spellbook.

I left my loft and went to prepare dinner early, ignoring Gareth’s question about what I was making for dinner. He was excited because I was starting dinner an hour early; it had to be something special.

Inside the farmhouse, I found Callem and Wynna on the couch sipping wine. Wynna had retrieved her entire stockpile of fine wine, some three hundred bottles, from her old residence in the capital, and they took up a corner of the cellar below. I saw the mithril chunk on the table near the half-finished wine bottle.

“Storme!” Wynna said in greeting. “You’re early! Are you making a dessert tonight? You didn’t mention anything this morning.”

I studied her for a second. Still nothing about the mithril—it was right there! Fine, I could play this game. I hadn’t made any more mithril, and had instead just been adding platinum and gold to the growing hoard in the old cask below.

“No, just heading to the larder for—for some juice.” Yeah, that sounded lame, but I was thirsty. Callem raised an eyebrow.

“Hold up a minute. We should talk.” I stopped at Callem’s words. Finally, we would talk about the mithril. “The end of the year celebration is coming in a few days. I thought it would be a good idea if we could do a gift exchange before everyone went home.” I stopped to process his words, confusion on my face. “Yes, you can head to Hen’s Hollow for the celebration. I will be there with Wynna at Ennet’s house anyway.”

I missed my parents and sister, so this was great news.

“Also, Wynna and Ennet are headed to the capital tomorrow. They need to do paperwork, as their old residence has finally been sold. We were just discussing that you may want them to pick up gifts for your friends or family.” I remembered Callem’s last shopping spree with my coin. To his credit, he’d reimbursed me for everything he had spent.

“Is it okay if they use my coins?” I asked hesitantly. I moved to sit on the couch opposite the pair, some possibilities opening before me.

Wynna explained patiently, “No, I will not use your coins. We’re getting 64 platinum for the old building we owned in the city. I will use those coins, and you can repay me from your—magic coins.” She giggled demurely. “The knowledge that I had sold the house in the capital will make it more feasible for you to add to your balance at the Depository as well.”

“Okay.” I thought briefly, getting excited about increasing spending power. But what should I get my friends? It only took me a moment to think of something, as Gareth’s big mouth was always wishing he had this or that. “Can you get me three—no, four potion belts, each with six potion slots each? That will cover Gareth, Callem, Father, and Pascal. And get two minor stamina and two minor healing potions for each.” Potions were only one to three ounces and came in vials that could be slotted into the belt. “Better make those potions in combat vials,” I added.

A combat vial was a small glass vial dipped in silver. The silver was engraved with a durability rune. If the vial was properly washed, it could be reused. The stopper on the vials had the potion’s name and its expiration date; the shelf life of potions was usually six months to a year, depending on the skill of the alchemist and his kit.

A great alchemist could get their potions to have a shelf life of over ten years, according to Gareth’s research. No such skilled alchemist resided in Skyholme to my knowledge. Gareth had mentioned the combat vials to me more than once from his studies on dungeons. He said there were preservation runes to extend the shelf life of potions as well, but vials could only take one runic inscription. Most delvers preferred the durability rune.

Wynna nodded, writing down my request. She added, “I think Cilia would like that as well.” Oh, I hadn’t even thought about Cilia and Leda. I nodded. What to get Leda, then? Wynna, reading my mind, smiled as she supplied, “I think Leda would like the spell book Arcane Missile. She mentioned it once when we talked.”

“Is that a tier 1 spell?” I asked, unfamiliar with it.

“Yes. It should be seven or eight gold and is fairly common. According to Leda it has great range but minimal impact on its target when it’s first inscribed. After a few evolutions, it can be used well in combat on a skyship.” I nodded, knowing she planned to serve as Cilia’s attendant when Cilia was made a captain.

“That sounds great. Maybe I should get a spell for Aelyn as well? I was thinking of Shadow Merge or Quick Step? She’s currently working on the obfuscate spell.” I waited for Wynna’s wisdom, as it related to a woman’s wants.

“Quick Step would be better for her,” Callem interjected. “It would help her in combat more. Shadow Merge requires the mage to be stationary, I think.” I nodded. “Movement is her strength, and she should maximize it.”

Wynna frowned, not having the chance to offer her advice.

So, who did I have left on my list left? Mother, Freya, Monty, Wynna, and probably Ennet. “Can you get some treats for Monty in the city? Gareth said he saw a few pet stores.”

“No problem,” Wynna said.

For Mother… “Can you get a nice set of leather engraving tools for my mother? I don’t know how much they cost, but get something of quality.”

“I know just the place in the city. It won’t be an issue. What about your sister?”

“How about some basic textbooks? Hen’s Hollow doesn’t have access to material, and Callem keeps reminding me that the education in the capital is far superior to what we learn out here.”

Wynna smiled at that, noting it on her sheet. “Perfect! She may not be too happy with you, but it’s a fantastic gift!” Her eyes were lively, probably thinking about Freya’s response.

“Then you should probably get her some candy too. I’ll give that to her after she opens the books,” I said, chuckling to myself. “For you and Ennet, how about some wine? I don’t know what to get you two, but I count you as friends and owe you a lot.”

“That would be perfect as well, Storme. There are two vintages I have wanted to try from the lowlands. My friends in the capital said a shipment just came in.” Wynna and Callem both looked happy that I hadn’t forgotten the two master readers. I headed downstairs, disappointed that there still had been no mention of the mithril. I would not lose this battle of patience.

In the basement, I opened my dimensional space for the first time, making the doorway the size of a normal door. First, I checked the edges. They were not sharp, but firm and slightly elastic. I knew the door couldn’t close if an object were wedged in the archway. If there was an object stuck halfway, it would be expelled outside the doorway so it could close. Inside was—dark. The interior sides of the space were all matte black.

Evolutions could change that, but that would be a waste. I was still contemplating the fact that this space was essentially inside my aether core. So, the paradox of having my aether core inside me and being able to enter the space was still perplexing to me. There were two paragraphs in the spell book explaining how it was possible, but I didn’t grasp the logic.

There were so many evolutions that I wanted for this spell form. There was the basic expansion of the space that allowed the box to increase two feet in any direction, but right now, the space was large enough for me. One evolution that I wanted to learn was the material exchange ability. This allowed me to put things into the space by touching them. I could also remove things from the space without having to open the door. I needed a single point of reference when the evolution occurred, typically either the right or left hand.

I walked out of the space. I had a semi-cheat I was eager to try.

The spell cost about forty aether units to cast. This was much higher than a typical tier 3 spell. Tier 3 spells typically cost about four aether units to cast. After it was cast, the dimensional space reduced a mage’s aether pool by four available aether units. If you canceled the spell you got that aether back. Items within the space would be expelled back into the world.

The book clearly noted that canceling the spell and a mage dying were two different events, though. When a mage died, their aether core collapsed, meaning everything that was stored in their aether dimensional storage disappeared as well. Well, my cheat was to cancel and recast the spell until I ran out of aether to try and level it up. It was one of the suggested methods in the spell book.

It took five castings to get to level 2 and about fifteen more to get to level 3. The eight hundred aether was less than 60% of my total aether. A normal mage might need a few days to accomplish this, but I was an aether juggernaut!

It was a weird feeling as I canceled the spell. Some slight heartburn with a gust of wind in the basement as the air in the space was expelled. Nothing detrimental happened, so I continued. I found I needed to wait about a minute between castings, because my aetheric heartburn got super intense as the dimensional space dispersed. That had not been noted in the book!

Maybe most mages who learned the spell already had their aether core fully formed, though. It took four castings, and I was able to evolve the spell to get the exchange property. I chose my left hand as the point of reference since I was left-handed.

Fourteen more castings, and the spell hit level 3, so I focused on my next evolution. I chose stasis. It made items within the space age at one-tenth of their normal speed. This would allow me to store cooking ingredients. I could evolve this aspect again to slow aging to one hundredth with the next evolution. And yes, this was an excellent cheat to extend the shelf life of potions as well. Many alchemists and herbalists learned the spell just for this reason. Aelyn’s pocket space spell only slowed aging by half with her first similar evolution, so this tier 3 version of the spell and its evolution was much more powerful.

The one negative—or maybe positive—was that the dimensional space could not be closed with a person inside it. Well, a person or being that had an aetheric core, anyway. I couldn’t use the exchange ability to bypass this either, so no zapping enemies into my storage. Small insects were not an issue with no aetheric core, but a mouse sneaking in? The mouse needed to be found, expelled, or killed to close the doorway.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Since the space was essentially part of the mage, finding the living creature preventing the door from closing was fairly easy. There was a track of using evolutions for the mage to hide within his own personal space detailed in the spellbook. It would take up six spell evolutions, but I was not planning to make that investment.

Other evolutions I planned to add were air recycling and temperature control. If I was going to put organic material in the space, I needed to keep the air clean. Temperature control may not be needed unless we were hiking in a desert and needed a cool place to recover, or perhaps we were on a glacier and needed somewhere warm to retreat to.

There was a parade of footsteps upstairs. Everyone was here for dinner. It was usually plated and ready to eat when they arrived, but I had gotten distracted and hadn’t prepared anything. Well, they would have to wait a few minutes. I looked at my space before closing the door. I definitely needed shelving like Sebastian’s to organize my things.

I went upstairs, and everyone was dumbfounded, clearly wondering where the food was.

“Hold your stomachs. I’ll get dinner out soon. Wynna is going to go shopping in the capital, so if you need anything, ask her.”

That started a flurry of activity. Everyone crowded Wynna, and the conversation was going full force as Callem revealed we would be free to go home for the festival and that our group would be exchanging gifts before everyone left.

I tossed two large salads with dressing. Wynna had made the fettuccini fresh this morning, so it cooked quickly on the stove. I brought the alfredo sauce to temperature slowly, as it would burn if I heated it too quickly. Soon, I was plating piles of noodles and cheese sauce. Callem told everyone to stop their bantering, and Wynna had them go and eat. Callem went downstairs to retrieve two large pitchers of fruit juice, muttering that he was running low.

The conversation at dinner was animated. Everyone wanted gifts from the city and to talk with Wynna privately to keep it a surprise. Wynna, for her part, was already taking notes, which included everything I had mentioned earlier.

I wondered if I could get Wynna to get me some shelves for my dimensional space. I thought about what I would need before asking her. I would need two shelves ten feet long and fairly deep, at least two feet. With a shelf every two feet, that would be five shelves on side. They also should be heavy-duty. Oh, and I wanted some book ends. No, maybe a specialized bookshelf for the third wall. That shelf wouldn’t need to be as deep, just 18 inches, to hold only books.

I would have to wait, though. Wynna’s appointment calendar was full after dinner, so Callem canceled class this evening. I got the last appointment after Aelyn, who, at Wynna’s urging, was also meeting her.

Back in the bunkhouse, I got everything packed. I planned to bring all my possessions into my storage. Aelyn returned from doing dishes, and at first, she was upset at seeing me packing my belongings. She thought I was preparing to move back to Gareth’s side of the bunkhouse, but quickly calmed when I explained about my storage space.

“Do you want the obfuscate spell back?” she asked.

“Keep it till you learn to imprint it,” I told her with a reassuring smile. We spent the next hour talking about the obfuscate spell, how I had found it useful, and how to manipulate the spell evolutions once she imprinted it. She was called in to see Wynna when Leda returned from her session, so I was alone.

I needed to choose my next spell. It was going to be either the alarm or the aether shield spell—or maybe lightning reflexes? But lightning reflexes was a tier 4 spell, and I had struggled with a tier 3 spell. I needed more practice with simpler spells. I decided on alarm as it shouldn’t take too long to imprint. It would be the only book left on the shelf after tomorrow when I moved all my possessions to my space.

Twenty minutes later, I was called in to see Wynna as Aelyn returned. She was alone on the couch and had a leaflet of notes.

“So, Storme, have you considered other things you need from the city?” She smiled tiredly. “Oh, don’t worry about me, Storme. I will have runners in the city get most of these things. I already planned to hire a skyship to move my furnishings to Hen’s Hollow, so transport is not an issue.”

My eyes lit up at the last bit. “Wynna, Callem already has a list of the rarer cooking ingredients I need, but I was hoping to get some shelving.” I dove into describing what I wanted and she nodded along, taking notes.

“There’s an excellent carpenter with a large warehouse in the lower city. I should be able to find what you need there. It may not be to your exact size requirements, but it should be close. So three shelf units for your dimensional space that measures ten square feet?” I nodded. “That will be an impressive space when you imprint it, Storme. I have seen smaller dimensional spaces, and they’re incredibly convenient. Is there anything else you will need for your space? A chair? A desk?”

I broke the news with a grin. “Oh, I imprinted the spell already, I just need to furnish it.” Wynna looked up, and I was happy to see her disbelief. Callem came out of the bathroom, obviously having heard.

“Really?” he asked. I nodded. “At your age—a tier 3 spell, right?” I nodded again. His jaw was slack as he evaluated me. “That is amazing.” They both congratulated the remarkable achievement. I mean, I had earned it with all my work, but it still felt good to receive the praise. We returned to my shopping list to furnish my new space.

I started by detailing the three shelves I wanted for each of the walls and then continued, “And large light stones, twelve in total, I think. And a comfy reading chair—and a small desk, maybe two by four feet. Ten small casks of water, too. Best to have water on hand if needed. I will add food stores in time.”

Wynna’s eyes widened as I expanded my list. I thought it best to stop there and not burden her too much. I thanked her for helping and went to my loft in the bunkhouse, where Aelyn was already asleep.

The next day at breakfast, everyone was lively. Wynna was leaving right after the meal, and everyone had a few additions to their lists. I added four casks of apple-pear wine myself. It had very little alcohol and was generally considered a kid’s drink, but I liked it. A small cask held roughly four gallons, so that would last me a while. I told Wynna to add ten mugs to my list too, which earned me some odd stares from everyone.

I had yet to reveal my space to the group yet. After stretching that morning, I moved everything from my loft to my space, with the exception of my bedding and the alarm spellbook. I would move it out in the morning and repeatedly cast the spell to raise the level as much as possible before Wynna returned, and then once I added the shelving, I would move everything inside permanently.

I returned Leda’s enchanting primers to her bed and noticed her sheets smelled like lilacs. She was working on her cleanliness spell. I picked up the cleanliness spell book to add to my other things. She had mentioned she was finished with it but just hadn’t found the energy to walk it over to my loft.

I was making pizza tonight and trying out some new toppings, with seven different pizzas being prepared. Each person had their preferred toppings.

I wasn’t the only one distracted as training progressed. Apparently, everyone was thinking about the gifts they had gotten for others and what everyone might get them in return. Callem started to get frustrated at the lack of focus and made us run the obstacle course. The winner would get to decide the topic for lessons tonight. Without Wynna here, Callem would most likely just turn it into a discussion. He would start us at intervals, a stupid suggestion I had made. We would start in reverse order of our best times. If we all ran our best time, then we would finish at the same time.

The start model gave a lively run of the course, but I hated it when Gareth started behind me. He always gave me a little extra shove when he passed me, and yes, he always passed me. Leda started first, then Cilia, then me, then Aelyn, and finally Gareth. I decided I wanted to win today, so I took risks, jumping off twelve-foot walls and rolling down cargo netting instead of climbing.

I thought I won with just a fifty-foot climb up a ladder, a fire pole descent, and a short sprint to the line. But then Aelyn was on me during the climb, and just as I was about to reach the top, she pulled even. She gave me a cheeky grin as she passed me. Gareth somehow also swung up onto the platform right after her, passing me as well. They were human squirrels.

Aelyn was on the fireman’s pole first, but Gareth was right on top. Somehow, his descent was faster, and he landed on her at the bottom and sprinted the twenty yards to Callem for the win. Dumbstruck, I helped Aelyn up when I got to the bottom and we hobbled to the finish together.

The others stumbled in after us. Callem said, “Excellent! You all improved on your best time!” He looked at me. “Three times in this start order, and three times you all improved!” I didn’t like the tone of his voice. It was one of excitement, like a kid with a new toy—a toy I had given him.

Gareth had recovered enough to speak.

“Dungeons!” he yelled hoarsely. “Tonight, we will all talk about dungeons!” We all moaned. It was inevitable, and it was probably why everyone had pushed hard today. Gareth only wanted to talk about dungeons.

After dinner, with everyone clean and healed, we settled in for the discussion. Leda sat crossed-legged in a loose shirt. Her bust was visible, and Gareth’s eyes kept getting drawn back to it. She was teasing him, and the only thing I could do was ignore it. Callem started, “Okay, Gareth, so what are we going to talk about regarding dungeons tonight?”

Gareth sat up and said, “Instance dungeons. They were in the new book that you got for me. They’re rare and interesting. From what I read, they’re mostly found in young dungeons. They allow multiple groups inside at once, each group experiencing a different dungeon. Similar but not exactly the same terrain,” he said in a rush. Callem looked a little aggrieved.

“Ah, instance dungeons.” Callem hesitated and then continued. “Let me tell you the story of my son, Gylan.” He got up and got a bottle of wine, poured himself a glass, sat down, and resumed. “Gylan was an energetic boy. From the time he could walk, he never stopped moving. As he grew, he made friends, many friends. They got it into their heads that they would be dungeon divers. I supported him. I trained him. He finished third or fourth in the Annuals every year, and attended the Dungeon Academy.”

Callem sighed as his reminisced. “He was the top swordsman at the Academy. But there were twin boys from the Torrent family enrolled at the Naval Academy. They were exceptional lads in their own right and had advantages in terms of abilities. But I digress. Gylan and his friends were all at the top of their class in the Dungeon Academy and, on graduating, started their own delving company. They were very successful in the dungeons on Skyholme, but soon wanted new challenges. They got a transport to the lowlands and settled in an Adventurer’s Guild town.” Callem sipped his wine as he paused the story.

“An Adventure’s Guild town is a town that is usually remote and outside the influence of a kingdom, but has access to multiple dungeons nearby. The town was called Hero’s Rest, if I remember correctly. It was adjacent to an instance dungeon, which allowed up to 23 groups to enter at a time. Gylan’s group was there for over a year, running that dungeon and others nearby, amassing fame and wealth. They did extremely well, and we talked every few days using stones.” Callem’s eyes drifted to a communication stone on the mantle.

He continued more morosely, “They were getting ready to move to a big city with a more challenging dungeon. I didn’t hear from Gylan for weeks, and I was getting worried, so I went to the town of Hero’s Rest myself.” Callem finished the cup and refilled it. We all listened in rapt attention.

“The instance dungeon had evolved suddenly, not giving the groups time to exit. Seventeen dungeon diver teams were inside at the time; Gylan’s group was one of them. Of the ninety-eight men and women, only six made it out alive, one of whom was from Gylan’s team. She was shell-shocked when I found her in the tavern. She told me the horrors of being inside during the transition. The Adventurer’s Guild said the turmoil was mostly due to the instance of the dungeon transitioning to a regular dungeon, with just one instance instead of 23 separate instances. The Adventurer’s Guild was less concerned with those who had been lost and more focused on mapping the newly tiered-up dungeon. So, no matter how well you are prepared, dungeons are unpredictable.” Callem stopped, and I hoped this might dissuade Gareth from delving, as was Callem’s intention.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Gareth spoke, missing the memo. “Callem, dungeons are notoriously difficult but fair. When a dungeon evolves, it conflicts with other dungeons as it tries to expand its footprint within the ley lines. Perhaps some of those adventurers who didn’t return were pushed into other dungeons? It’s extremely rare, but you can travel between dungeons…”

Callem was already shaking his head.

“Yes, the Adventurer’s Guild thought that might be a possibility. But…” He sighed. “In the decades that have passed, not one of those adventurers who perished in that dungeon has returned, not to my knowledge.”

Gareth persisted. “But Callem, he could have exited anywhere with the Sphere…he could have emerged millions of miles away! Or even on one of the 23 moons!”

Callem shook his head more forcibly.

“Hope is a powerful thing, Gareth. I will always have it, but no diviner or magic could locate Gylan.” Callem looked hard at Gareth. “I will not try to alter your path. But understand the dangers ahead of you on the path you wish to walk.”

That message ended the night. We returned to the bunkhouse, and I noticed Gareth at least looked contemplative.

Unfortunately, just before I climbed into my bunk, Gareth whispered to me, “We should try to find Callem’s son when we explore the Sphere.”

Well, I liked that about Gareth: he was an optimist.

Chapter 39: Gift Exchange

Callem confirmed that we could head to Hen’s Hollow for the festival the next morning. We would get to spend it with our families, which renewed everyone’s excitement after last night’s somber story. The New Year festival was a huge event. Leda decided to go home to spend it with her family in the capital, and Cilia was going with her. They planned to use the transports in Hen’s Hollow, as Sebastian was not coming to retrieve them.

The festival lasted five days across Skyholme. The first day was a family event called the Day of Remembrance. This day honored those who had passed during the year and those who had passed before. Usually, people spent time telling stories about those people who had passed. In the evening, people exchanged gifts with friends and loved ones, like Christmas. It was a substitute for not celebrating birthdays.

The second day of the festival was the Day of Celebration of the past year’s events. The town commons in Hen’s Hollow got extremely lively on this day. It was a big social event with dances, food, alcohol, games, and plays.

The third day celebrated the coming year and was a continuation of the previous day’s partying. There were large groups singing together in the streets, and lots of drinking. Usually, some type of illusionary fireworks display happened in the darkest part of the evening. Well, our little town usually hired a lesser mage for illusionary fireworks every year. In the cities, there were actual fireworks to accompany large illusions in the sky.

The fourth day of the festival included a morning meal, which was supposed to be spent with loved ones or someone you were courting. That was the last event of the festival. The rest of the fourth day was “clean up,” and the fifth day was the Day of Recovery from partying so hard to get ready to return to work.

I was looking forward to the festival, and to seeing Freya and my family. Training progressed slowly as we all anticipated Wynna’s return. We were not disappointed as a modest-sized transport skyship landed in the practice yard. It was not a beautiful ship like the Wind Splitter; it was a clunky, boxy thing, but functional. It didn’t glide gracefully and was constantly making adjustments to its approach. There was an open upper deck, and Wynna and Ennet were on it, waving to us as it landed.

After the ship landed, Wynna hugged and kissed Callem and then directed the unloading of the cargo. Lots of furniture and crates came out of the hold. The shelves Wynna got me were beautiful. She said they were made of a hard white maple from a dungeon. They were molded by spell magic and had an organic look to them, with some elegant curves.

There were three shelves, and they were all the same size. The wood was white with thin black growth lines, like a zebra. The size was off, though. The shelves were all nine feet long, there were six shelves on each unit, and the depth of them was about 22 inches. The top shelf was just over seven feet in height. So, unfortunately, they would not all fit if one went on each of the three sides…unless I expanded the space.

A beautiful desk made of the same wood came off the transport next. It was large, three by six feet, and it was in an office-style with drawers and everything. Not something I’d requested. Then a chair came; it was a swivel rocker made of the same wood and padded with dark brown leather. Wynna came over to me. “Sorry, Storme, I couldn’t break up the set. There’s a large bed, armoire, two burrows, and two blanket chests too. It was made for a young Bricio’s apartment but he couldn't pay the furniture maker.” I watched as the men from the ship unloaded everything and brought it to the basement.

“Thank you, Wynna. The wood and craftsmanship are beyond extraordinary. It’s perfect,” I said. It wasn’t a lie. I went to the basement while everyone else was upstairs picking through their haul from Wynna. She had packed everyone’s requests in individual crates with their names on them.

I could jam all this furniture into my space. The bed, at least, was just the frame. The wood was dense, which made it incredibly heavy. I would need help getting everything into my space. Fortunately, Callem came down the stairs, anticipating that his aid would be needed.

“We have forty or so minutes before we need to head back up. Let’s get everything into your storage space.” With that, I opened the space with a full ten-foot door. Callem nodded, impressed, then helped me cram everything inside. We lined up the three shelves to the right. I really only needed access to one shelf currently. We packed and stacked everything else, starting at the back of the space.

The desk and chair were the last items put inside. When we finished, I had just enough room to access one shelf and utilize the desk and chair. I still needed the casks of water and wine, but I could wait to bring them in. I closed the portal and smiled. The space was like a hoarder’s storage closet, but I had made progress in my plans for the spell.

I went upstairs with Callem and found the skyship gone. It was headed to Hen’s Hollow to unload the rest of the cargo to Ennet’s house. There were stacks of things still in the practice yard, so Callem clapped his hands and started directing us. We were going to be getting a workout out of this. Gareth got the job of bringing my casks to the basement, and I had to slide crates inside the house with Cilia. One crate was labeled with my name. I checked inside to find the gifts I had gotten everyone.

It took a few hours to get everything where Wynna wanted it. The guest room was now packed with furniture and crates. Wynna tried to convince Callem to expand the house to include two more bedrooms for all her things, which was our cue to leave. There was a lot of excitement in the bunkhouse as we thought about the crates with our names on them. What had everyone else gotten me? I was looking forward to finding out tomorrow after dinner.

We got a short break before weapons training. Callem had us back on axes and throwing daggers today; we were supposed to wear them in town during the festival for protection. After dinner, Wynna canceled the discussion so she could unpack. This gave me time to study the alarm spell. I also went to the basement and loaded my casks onto the shelves in my storage space. I put down some old clothes to protect the shelves, worried I might damage the beautiful wood, but it was probably not necessary.

Back in my loft, I reread some of the notes in the spell book for dimensional closet. One note near the end of the book said a dimensional closet cast before an aether core fully matured would expand in conjunction with the core.

I had not thought too much of the note, as it said the space would only expand around 6% in volume if cast within a year of the core awakening. This was not a huge increase, but there was no mention of whether an aether core ability could affect that percentage. Would my tier 4 ability, greater aether core, affect the space?

Recasting the spell over and over to increase the level might be a bad thing, as it would be resetting the space. I could now think of it as a seed in my aether space that could grow. With a tier 4 enhanced core, would the percentage be a 24% volume increase? Or if it held that each tier was three times as powerful as the last, could the multiple be 81 times? That would mean a possible expansion of the space by 486%!

The spellbook note mentioned it was a volumetric expansion, not linear. So that would be 1,000 cubic feet to start, ending with 4,860 cubic feet at most. I got out a pencil and paper and did some math. That would make the new space about a 16.5-foot box. Well, I hoped that would be the case. I could check on the shelves and see if they got further from the walls as my core matured to confirm my hypothesis.

I didn’t study much before going to sleep. Everyone else was going through their crates in secret. I did think that I should be able to imprint the alarm spell shortly after the festival.

Breakfast in the morning was lively, with everyone teasing everyone about what they might have gotten them. The big reveal would be tomorrow night. The day after, we would be heading to Hen’s Hollow. The banter continued through stretching but I was quiet, anticipating practicing with my dimensional space.

I prepared a simple marinade for chicken thighs, breasts, and wings. Tonight, I would grill them and cook some long-grain rice with diced vegetables to accompany them. The preparation took about thirty minutes, giving me about ninety minutes to experiment in the basement. While Wynna was getting lunch ready, I started her on some chocolate eclairs for dessert. She was a good baker but still not a great cook. Still, she was making some progress.

In the basement, I opened the space and looked closely at the wall and shelf. About one finger width separated them…but had the shelf been flush to the wall last night when we brought it in? I muscled the shelf against the wall after taking the casks off it, then replaced the casks and closed the doorway. Then it was time to practice the exchange ability for the spell.

I started with my dragon bone dice, from which I got some insights. When I had an item appear, it was oriented as it was in the space. I learned this by studying the pips on the dice as I pulled them from my space a few times. This meant I would need to ensure any weapons would have their hilts oriented toward me when I stored them in the space.

Putting objects in the space was easier than I thought. I had a quick flash in my mind of the space and could place the object anywhere inside where it would fit. Apparently, gravity didn’t take hold until the doorway was opened. I realized that I hadn’t needed Callem’s help yesterday to get everything inside, as I could have used this aspect of the spell to do so.

Next, I tried removing one of the shelves from the space and found I needed to have an area available for the shelf to appear that had only air. The shelf made a small pop when it appeared. It also drew some aether from my core, which surprised me as the evolution did not say the ability required aether to use. Apparently, the dice drew so little aether I hadn’t even noticed.

The mass of the object exchanged influenced how much aether was required. To measure the aether, I began moving the shelf back and forth. My best estimate was that it took 17 exchanges of the shelf to consume one estimated unit of aether. The shelf unit weighed approximately three hundred pounds, by my estimate. Therefore, one aether could move five thousand pounds. I then spent time rearranging the space using the exchange ability. I felt for the leveling progress of the spell, and yes, it had progressed maybe a fifth of the way toward level 4. This was fantastic! I could level the spell by using the exchange ability and wouldn’t need to recast it!

I went upstairs and checked on Wynna. I helped her finish the eclairs. As I was filling the eclairs, I wondered if I could fill the dimensional space directly with the metal I created, essentially making the metal within my dimensional space. It took a lot of focus on my part, but I succeeded. I could now empty my aether core at night by making coins directly into my dimensional closet!

As was typical, my mind was churning over other thoughts during the day’s training. I isolated myself from everyone and focusing on making gold coins on the shelves in my space one at a time. As the day progressed, I found I had mastered the skill and could make the coins as easily into the space as outside it.

At dinner, I grilled the chicken and cooked the rice and vegetables. It wasn’t my best effort, but everyone enjoyed it, and the eclairs even more. The eclairs seemed to be Leda’s new favorite food, and she had cream and chocolate icing covering her lips and cheeks. I got some free time while everyone washed dishes, where I checked my crate to make sure all my gifts were there. Each was wrapped in a white cloth. I rearranged everything inside the crate for ease of access for tomorrow night.

Callem led tonight’s discussion. The ninety-minute session revolved around recognizing people who may be watching you. It was actually pretty interesting, and we all asked questions as the session progressed. After the session, I immediately used my cleanliness spell and climbed into my loft. I was studying the alarm spell when Aelyn climbed into her bed.

“I don’t think I want to go into town for the festivities,” she said. She obviously either wanted to ask me to ask “why” or just wanted some attention.

After a few minutes of thought, I asked, “Aelyn, are you worried about the brand?”

She didn’t respond immediately.

I returned to studying, and then she interrupted me again. “Yes. It just doesn’t feel right. And I only know you and Gareth. It would be awkward for me to be celebrating.”

Okay, I figured she wanted me to push her one way or the other. I didn’t wait long before saying, “I’m sorry to hear that. Either Gareth’s family or mine would welcome you if you came. I’m sure Pascal and Freya told our parents about you. If you reconsider, just let me know.” I waited for a while before returning to studying. She didn’t say anything else before I went to sleep.

The next day, Callem was particularly strict with us. Stretching involved constant corrections under his watchful gaze. I was close to achieving a full split, but Callem pushed me beyond my comfort zone by pressing firmly down on my shoulder. I wasn’t the only one affected. Callem remarked that everyone’s focus was drifting, and when that occurred, you would be unprepared to respond in battle. So today, whenever anyone lost focus, everyone would face the consequences. As the day progressed, Callem found people who were wandering in their focus and punished us as a group. At least he didn’t pick on Leda and me exclusively. It was a painful day all around.

After dinner, we had an hour before the gift exchange. The exchange would take place in the farmhouse, so we gathered our gifts and went to the couches at the appointed time. Callem started. He had a book for everyone. Gareth’s was about dungeons, of course: Surviving Your First Delve. My book was about weapon runic inscriptions: Bran’s Guide to Selecting and Inscribing Basic Weapon Runes. It was extremely thick, and I missed what other books were handed out as I paged through it.

Wynna was next. She gave each of us an enchanted light stone. The stones were similar to the one I had recently purchased, but had a wider range of brightness and a longer life after recharging. They were made with tier 5 aether dust, according to the note in the wooden boxes they came in. Leda whispered that they were extremely expensive. We were all playing with the stones when Callem asked who was next, and Leda jumped in.

Leda gave Gareth another book on dungeons. It was a guidebook to the two local dungeons near Aegis City on Titan’s Shield. She gave Aelyn an enchanted bracelet, but I didn’t catch what it did as she whispered it to Aelyn. She handed Cilia a pair of boots, which I assumed were also enchanted besides being “stylish.” The benefits of having a family in the business of enchanting.

My gift was a massive tome. It was was volumes I, II, and III of The Basics of Runic Enchanting bound into a single book. Leda explained that the tome included all the basics for connecting basic primer runes in enchanting. She also said I could keep her books on the primers I had borrowed. I was ecstatic about her gift. If I ever had time to practice enchanting, I would at least have the references I needed to experiment.

Cilia was next, and she had stylish outfits for everyone. Her uncle was apparently a famous tailor in the capital. I pretended excitement but knew I would probably grow out of the outfit quickly, as I was in the middle of a growth spurt. Well, I could wear it to the festival at least. Callem brought out some of the red juice, the remaining eclairs, and some cookies. With three of us left, Gareth went next.

Gareth got each of the girls leather armor, just the upper body. As they tried out the armor, I thought they fit the girls’ curves a little too well. The leather cuirasses were made by Master Aldrich, so they were high quality, but I still wondered how Gareth relayed the girl’s dimensions so accurately; maybe Wynna had helped?

Callem was next, and Gareth got him a large case of spices. Every hot spice you could imagine. His gift for Wynna was a heavy blanket throw, made by a popular quilter in the Hen’s Hollow. I was up next and excited to see what had my best friend gotten me.

…Two pairs of underwear and socks.

I acted excited, and Gareth said they were the same underwear he had been bragging about for months. When I asked him if these were the ones he had worn, he flushed red and insisted they were not. He had another gift for me: a very nice dark green cloak. It matched the one he had worn when it was raining. Essentially, Gareth had used my coin to buy my gifts on his trip. I appreciated the green cloak; it was a fine gift.

It was my turn next. Before I could present my gifts, Callem presented everyone with the axes and throwing daggers I had made. The throwing daggers were the size and weight that each person preferred during practice. He then brought out the other weapons I had made for everyone. Everyone knew these gifts were coming, but they were still delighted. Cilia and Leda were not aware I had made them, and thought Callem procured them. Callem reminded everyone not to flash these weapons around, as the quality was exceptional and it may attract unwanted attention.

After the excitement died down, I got to give out my gifts. Yes, everyone was getting more from me. I started with Ennet and Wynna’s wine, six bottles. She smiled and thanked me, as she had selected the vintages herself. Next up were the potion belts with the potions. I read the labels while passing them out, and noticed Wynna had gotten the intermediate brews inside of the minor ones. I didn’t think Callem would ever wear his belt, but I planned to make him some blades early in the new year, so this would do for now. Gareth was probably the happiest of all, professing it was exactly what a delver needed. His excitement was elevated when he noticed the vials were the hardened runic vials that adventurers used.

The next gift I produced was for Leda. It was the spell book for Arcane Missile, and she was thrilled. The last gift I had was for Aelyn, and it was another spell book. She turned in her seat and hugged me. This prompted Leda to get up and do the same. Gareth then jumped up and hugged me as well, laughing the entire time, but Aelyn and Leda had retreated away from me so he couldn’t dog pile us together, which was what I suspected was his goal. The gift exchange was a big success, and everyone was happy as we headed off to bed.

I went to the cellar and put all my gifts into my space. Tomorrow, I would get to see my family and hopefully have a few days off from the rigors of training. I planned to mentally relax and enjoy myself. No spells, stretching, obstacle courses, sword training, or enchanting.

© Copyrighted 2024, 2025 by AlwaysRollsAOne

No Permission is given to translate, copy, repost or alter to an audio format of this original work of fiction. If you are reading this on a site that is not my Patreon, RoyalRoad.com, or Scribblehub.com, it has been stolen without my permission and violates DMCA. Remember, this work is the result of my creative effort and is protected by copyright law. Removal or altering of this notification is an acknowledgment you are aware you are in violation of DMCA.