Down below in the mountain the residents had no idea when the magic infused storms raged above, the first they would know of a breach would be the topmost layer getting hit and hopefully driven back from the layers of defences there. The Mitchells always knew the weather as they worked on the surface in the temples and headquarters of the different organisations.
One day, two months after Anna had joined them Kyra and Teddy came home together. Teddy had made a huge recovery and was pretty much himself again, other than meditation and fitness he hadn’t gone back into training yet but even Anna enjoyed being around him now. They walked in the hut as Anna was putting dinner on the table.
“That’s it, the passes are open.” Kyra said.
“Oh?” Anna replied as Lucy and James came to the table. “Why were you watching the storm?”
“Because we were talking about it and we think its time to get out of here.” James said, sitting at the table.
Anna looked crestfallen. “You guys are leaving?”
“It’s inevitable really.” Lucy explained. “We’ve spent the better part of a year here and barely progressed. Too long really. We need to get out and get adventuring again. We want to get back to Greenstone really.”
“Oh… well… I uh…”
“What are you blathering for? You’re coming with us obviously. You’ve not left our company in months, you’ve not wanted to see any of these ‘friends’ you had and no ones come looking for you. You tried your parents but no joy. Come with us, try somewhere else. You’ve never left the city right? Try adventuring and if its not for you then we’ll bring you straight back.” Kyra insisted.
Anna’s only response was to well up with tears of happiness.
There was one last thing the Mitchells had to do in the city, they all stood around the table in James and Lucy’s hut. In the middle was the box from the clergy of Hero. Kyra was the one to open it, pulling at the ribbon until it opened the box like a flower. Inside was a small sheet of fourth stage crystal the size of a playing card, on it was the likeness of Ragnar. They all felt the roiling emotion in Teddy’s aura. Kyra squeezed his hand while James picked up the card.
“A good likeness.” And he passed it to Lucy.
With her knowledge of the material she got a sense of what it was. Once she had the nod from Teddy she tapped the centre of the card and it started unfolding again and again until it stood on the floor. It was a full-size fourth stage crystal door, with the likeness of Ragnar standing full height on it. The Mitchells all stared for a moment then unanimously agreed it was a fitting tribute and they knew they needed to thank the clergy for it.
The Mitchells were going to sell their two huts for cheap, the price meaning nothing to them. Anna convinced them to lease them on a long term plan, she contacted two of the girls who hadn’t been completely awful to her in the past and gave them the option of moving up in levels.
They made their way to the elevator, all Anna’s worldly possessions were in a small dimensional bag at her waist and she felt like she’d forgotten something. Leaving the city she’d grown up in empty handed felt a little hollow. She felt better when she saw the familiar on her hand looking out to see what he could see, felt him rush up one arm under her sleeve and down the other to keep looking at something they were passing. She felt a surge of love and was happy she was leaving with more than enough.
At the top she looked around her, mildly alarmed she had forgotten she wasn’t wearing one of the thick coats almost everyone else was wearing, the high magic atmosphere made the icy wind dangerously cold, normal rank people could freeze to death in minutes. She was relieved that she was only mildly uncomfortable and guessed it was due to her new rank. The Mitchells seemed completely unfazed, walking off the elevator as if it was nothing more than a cool breeze.
The upper city was incredibly open, there weren’t many buildings that wanted to be in the inhospitable conditions. They found what must’ve been a large square under the snow, a track had been worn for people to get to the few vehicles in a marshalling area to take people out of the city. Anna managed to slip and slide a few times, she felt embarrassed watching the Mitchells make it look easy. Lucy took out a model of a ship, sleek and luxury she held it in one hand while she took out the card with Ragnar’s likeness she slotted it into the top then used a few tools to manipulate it in place. When she was done she put the model down and tapped it. Anna had never seen something so wildly magical. The huge ship unfolded from the tiny model, panels expanding and unfolding again and again. It pushed the snow out the way as it grew, piling it up against the edges of the square.
The four Mitchells looked at the ship with fondness, it had been almost a year they had her in storage and it was like coming home after a long trip. When they’d had a good look they climbed the back drop deck and went through the lower doors. The door on the right was open showing a complicated workshop that still had projects on the bench like someone had just walked away. The closed door opposite was the likeness of Ragnar. It took all the Mitchells aback, they looked in shock at having Ragnar there in front of them. They filed past, touching the door on the way with Anna at the rear. They explained that was one of the bedrooms, the room opposite was a workshop and warned it was dangerous inside, they didn’t say out loud but it was especially considering how much of a clumsy calamity Anna naturally was. The bedroom front left was Teddy and Kyra’s which they showed her inside and likewise for James and Lucy opposite. Upstairs was the lounge area with the huge panoramic views, she saw a small crowd of people staring at the giant luxury vehicle through the windows but they wouldn't be able to see her through the tinted crystal. They led her through the well appointed kitchen to the dining area that was richly decorated. Out the back there were twin staircases curving and leading up to the top deck, there was a bite of wind as they went up the stairs but they were back in comfortable conditions on the top deck even with the top exposed, some environmental magic at work.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
It was Teddy who got behind the controls and started moving the Serenity out. Anna took the time to watch behind as the city she lived in her whole life and barely recognised disappeared.
………
Dorianna screamed with a girly shrillness as the monsters fetid breath washed over her as it was about to consume her, it was huge and could have swallowed her whole.
She was saved by a blue shaft of energy penetrating through the roof of the mouth from the top. Teddy’s dimension blade piercing clear through its head. James was only a step away but it would have been a close thing. Teddy’s face was cold and unreadable as he stepped off the back of the crocodile-like monster letting it flop to the floor dead.
“Well thats a good example of why you’re not getting to fight anything round here, that was the easiest bronze rank monster we could find and there’s nothing lower than that around here.” Lucy said.
Kyra had gone to Teddy and put an arm around his shoulders, whispering to him as they walked off. It was the first time Dorianna had seen him use combat powers and she had seen nothing but the faintest blur until the blade was in the monster’s head.
“You forgot everything we said to do or not do, screamed, tripped over a log, you even dropped your sword! We should call you Dory not Anna!” James said to the amusement of all the Mitchells.
“But my name is Anna?…”
“No, thinking about it you are always pretty forgetful and clumsy… it’s Dory now.” Lucy said with a grin.
The bamboozlement was good natured but it served another purpose. Dory had been watching them from the safety of the deck of the Serenity with Teddy as the other three killed monster after monster on their journey south. They were headed towards a city port where they could get passage on an airship across the Arngotian sea. Their journey over had been boosted by mana condensers they had been leant by the adventure society as they needed to go to Honshuraskil anyway, they wouldn’t be able to fly back in the Serenity. Dory had been so nervous about fighting a monster that she just wanted to get the first one over with. She’d never seen one close up and she’d panicked. The others were playing around was distracting her from the fact that she almost just got seriously hurt.
“Is Teddy ok?” Dory asked in concern looking over at the couple talking.
“He’s been through something recently. It’s going to take him a while to get back to fighting.” Lucy said kindly.
“Is he good?”
“Is he good at fighting? Yes, I’d say we all are. Especially together. Is he good at killing? Absolutely, he’s the best. And thats the problem, killing is just too easy.” James said looking over at his brother in concern.
“Hush.” Lucy said softly. Putting a hand on his arm.
“Sorry. Dory sorry, we’re not trying to keep things from you, we just don’t want to worry you needlessly. He’ll be fine you’ll see.”
The team hadn’t picked up contracts in almost a year and now got back to it with a fervour. Teddy driving them from town to town and village to village doing noticeboards. He stayed on the top deck watching each fight, directing each fight with the interface. Every night they stopped somewhere new in the wilds and set the privacy enhancements, the armour and camouflage on the Serenity.
They were talking one night about essences and racial gifts.
“I’ve never heard of some of the things in your powers. What’s a Houdini and why would it have a palace?” Dory asked.
“Ha, he’s an… entertainer back from our world. Uses tricks and misdirection to fool people into thinking its magic.”
“Uhuh, and Kansas City is a place in your world?”
“Kind of, I think it’s more referring to a con artist move. There’s probably the same con over here called something different.”
Mid way through dinner and the conversations the Serenity was rattled. An animalistic yelp of pain from outside.
[Kyra on the swivels, Lucy on flares and circles, James on backup. Whatever that is is pissed off rather than hurt, top bronze if not silver.]
To Dory who wasn’t on the tactical interface group the Mitchells just calmly got up without a word and filed out the back door, she decided to follow, feeling pretty safe after seeing the family fight so much over the last few weeks. When they all looked over the edge of the railings they saw a solitary monster raging nearby.
They had parked in the shallows on a small lake in the middle of no-where, before the sun went down it had been picturesque. They could just about see the monster, standing knee deep in water and raging at finding the vessel. The darkness only let them see that it was tall humanoid, a skinny man shaped monster. Teddy could see more however, with his lantern familiars out straight away he could see though the shadows of the trees crossing the lake and the clouds in front of one of the moons. He saw the monster pick up a thick floating log about twelve feet long and it turned metallic as it did.
“Aww hell no.” Teddy muttered as he jumped overboard.
“Where’s he going? What’s happening?” Dory asked.
“Well thats a Jacklack if I’m not mistaken James?” Lucy asked as he was the best authority on monsters and James nodded. “Bottom end of silver, low health, high speed, compared to bronze rank. Likes to hang around caves near lakes like this from what I remember from the magic society records. Keeps to itself if no one bothers it then all of a sudden you have a berserk silver trying to cut its way through the nearest village. Picks up inanimate objects and turns them into weapons.”
“So why aren’t you blasting it from up here?”
“It’s too fast, we wouldn’t be able to hit it.”
“Why is no one helping Teddy?”
“He’s too fast, we’d just be in the way.”
Dory was struggling to see the detail in the dark, she saw two human shapes approach each other in the dark, relatively the same size. There were two bubbles of force appear and disappear and the metallic log went flying. The monster grabbed a four foot long reed from next to it and snapped it off, turning it metallic as it did. Teddy was half illuminated from one side by a blue dimension blade before he sprang into an attack. It was a confusing battle to watch from Dory, the bright blue blade ruined her night vision and she only saw flashes, the movement so fast.
For Teddy it was a good fight. His speed rivalled that of the silver rank monster but his skill had taken a qualitative leap recently. The martial prowess of the Confederates had been a good training opportunity and he had treated as many as he could as a dual. Silver rank was a marked difference in intelligence level of monsters, with a significant increase to health and mana. It posed a far larger jump from bronze to silver than iron to bronze. Due to the diminutive nature of the monster it stood to reason that it was faster than it was tough. Teddy was using every scrap of skill and speed at his disposal, as well as every essence trick he had.
Looking on, the three bronze rankers were on the tips of their toes to jump in. Every clash of dimension blade on the now silver metal reed sent off sparks and the satisfying sound of sizzling. They hadn’t been entirely truthful to Dory, they could have course have tackled the monster as a team but they knew Teddy needed this to get back on the proverbial hydal.
As he danced over the surface of the water Teddy was entering the state of mind he’d had with the last confederate in Honshuraskil, unconsciously being where he needed to be. When pressed into an un-winnable position he’d find the right shadow to become insubstantial to negate the damage and riposte. He fouled the monsters footing with Hands of the Reaper, reaching up through the water to grab its legs or rip out flesh which needed healing, costing the monster energy.
This time fighting a silver rank opponent it didn’t have the advantage the confederate had of using an aura attack. The team relaxed as Teddy found the right rhythms and took it apart over the next hour or so.
By the time he was done he was exhausted. He had a mana headache from attacking the silver ranker so much with a bronze rank conjured blade that cost him continual mana to attack with. He paused for a moment and used a power she hadn’t seen him use before, he ripped a portal in the air vertically in front of him and ran through, appearing above head height and dropping down to the deck. He nodded to Kyra and she smiled.
“So you’re ready now?” She asked. Teddy nodded and looked at Dory.
“Err ready for what?” She asked nervously.
“Oohoo, now you’re really going to learn how to fight.” James said excitedly as Teddy offered her a sword.