Weeks passed, and Akari trained more with her teammates every night. By the end of the second week, she and Kalden could exchange thoughts with ease. Not just words, but images, sounds, and abstract concepts. For example, if Kalden needed a portal made, he could send her a mental image of the spot, along with the angle and dimensions of the portal itself.

The combat applications here were obvious. Telepathy happened far faster than spoken communication, and every second mattered in the heat of battle. Normally, spoken instructions were a jumble of words, hand gestures, and visual aids. Now, she could receive Kalden’s entire thought, and make the portal in less than a second.

They still couldn’t use this in the interschool games, but that was fine. They’d both seen their share of real combat this past year, and their future didn’t look much different. How far could they push this in the meantime? Could Kalden dig deeper and share his intuitive insights? Could they share aspects and techniques someday?

“The first one is definitely possible,” Relia confirmed one night. The three of them sat in a loose circle around the dining room table, playing one of her new board games. As usual, the conversation had turned to mana arts and training.

Kalden leaned forward and placed his cards face-down. “How do you know that?”

Relia picked up the dice and shook them between her cupped hands. “Elend and Irina do it in combat. She’ll do her Thousand Eye Cloak, and Elend will feel its effects.”

“Cloak of a Thousand Eyes,” Kalden corrected absently.

Akari leaned back in her chair, glancing down the hall toward Irina’s study. “So . . . are those two just having mental conversations all the time?”

The other girl shook her head, and the dice struck the table. “They still need to exchange mana, just like you and Kalden.”

Akari glanced down at the dice numbers. Three and four. She reached over to the bank pile and collected the coins for her matching cards. “But how would we know? Elend can make his mana invisible.”

“She has a point,” Kalden said as he gathered his own coins from the pile. “And Masters don’t need their bodies to move mana.”

“That’s true.” Relia paused to consider. “But I think it’s easier for them to talk most of the time.”

That took some of the wind from Akari’s sails. Elend and Irina were Grandmasters. If they didn’t bother with this outside of combat, then maybe it wasn’t as great as it seemed.

“Although . . .” Relia passed the dice to Kalden. “My grandmother told me about Aeon soulbonds before. I think telepathy is easier with those.”

Akari blinked. “Soulbonds?”

Relia ran a finger over her sternum. “It’s something about crystal patterns in Aeon souls. When two crystals have the same pattern, they’re linked together. Even when they’re a thousand miles apart.”

Kalden’s mouth made a thin line as he picked up the dice. “You’re saying Aeons can send thoughts through crystals?”

She gave a helpless shrug. “That’s what Lyraina told me. “I don’t know all the science. But you can send thoughts through mana, right? Etherite is Angelic mana, so what’s the difference?”

Kalden gave a slow nod as he threw the dice on the table.

Telepathy without techniques, Akari thought. That would push this to a whole other level. She and Kalden could consult each other during their school exams, or call for help if someone got attacked. It might even work in the interschool battlegrounds. The gamemasters couldn’t ban something they didn’t know about.

The dice clattered on the table, and her mind raced with more ideas. What if they really could share techniques through these soulbonds? What if she could borrow Kalden’s blades, or Relia’s healing and death mana? Then they’d truly be unstoppable.

~~~

Akari also spent some time training with Zukan and Arturo. Approaching them had been awkward to say the least, and she half-expected them to reject her offer outright. However, nothing could have been further from the truth.

“So let me get this straight,” Arturo had said after their team training session. “You wanna train with me, one-on-one? Just my techniques, with nothing in it for you?”

“I’m the captain.” Akari tried not to shuffle her feet as she glanced around the Darklight’s backyard. “It’s my job to make sure you have what they need.”

He grinned. “Did Irina tell you to say that?”

“Maybe. Look, if you don’t want to train, then I can—”

“Oh hell no”, Arturo said. “I’m free tomorrow night. What’s that pure mana technique you do? The one where the Missiles orbit your body?”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“The Cloud?”

He nodded. “Can you teach me that?”

“Sure.” Akari had learned that technique from Elend’s dark web videos, and she’d assumed that most mana artists knew it. Apparently not.

“Awesome. I also need a test subject for some new tech. Does that count as training?”

Her talk with Zukan went the same way. The dragon had been struggling to improve his fighting style for weeks, and he’d almost asked for Akari’s help on several occasions. Predictability was his biggest weakness, and she was the most infamous wildcard he knew.

Akari cocked her head at him. “So why didn’t you ask me for help before?”

“Forgive me,” Zukan said. “But you seemed like someone who would rather be left alone.”

Damnit. He was right. She’d been completely self-centered this past month, focused more on her own training than her teammates. Despite all the progress she’d made, she was still that same girl from Last Haven. The girl who’d betrayed her own family for power.

No . . . not exactly the same. Every setback made her stronger. She just hoped it was enough.

Finally, there was Elise. Twice a week, they trained together in the Darklight’s basement dojo. Elise practiced various dream mana attacks, while Akari tried to resist them. They both learned a lot during their first few sessions. Elise got to experiment on a tough opponent, while Akari got to practice fighting dream artists.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t keep up with Elise for long. While Akari spent a few hours every week on mental resistance training, this was Elise’s entire aspect. Before long, the other girl was beating her every time. Even when Akari mustered a strong defense, it never lasted for more than a few seconds.

In hindsight, they should have seen this coming. Elise Moonfire was probably the best Apprentice dream artist in all of Espiria. She needed to train against Artisans, not a fellow Apprentice.

In other words, she needed Relia.

~~~

“You want me to do what?” Relia blurted out.

“Train with us,” Akari said. “Me and Elise.”

They stood in Relia’s bedroom on the second floor of the Darklights’ estate. Akari didn’t spend much time up here, but the room was surprisingly childish. A stuffed animal collection covered one half of the bed, and a pile of laundry spilled out from the closet. The shelves around her desk were filled with colorful board games, books, and makeup products.

Relia just stared at Akari as if she’d sprouted a third arm. “I told you—I want nothing to do with her.”

“I know,” Akari said. “But—”

“I messed up before,” Relia cut in. “I ignored you and Kalden, then she betrayed us. How’d things get so twisted around? How am I the voice of reason here?”

“I’ve been training with her for weeks,” Akari said. “You never complained about it before.”

“It wasn’t my business then, but now you’re making it my business.” Relia took a slow step forward. “Do you even see what’s happening here? You beat her during the qualifying rounds, but now you’re teaching her all your weaknesses.”

Akari bit her lip. Yes, she’d worried about that from the beginning. She’d defeated Elise once, but that had taken months of practice. What if they fought again, on less favorable terrain? Or what if Elise ambushed her? Could Akari pull off another victory?

“Elend and Irina vouched for her,” Akari said. “You really think Elise could trick them both?”

“They can make mistakes. Don’t forget how Elend got captured by the Martials.”

Akari rolled her eyes. “We’ve been over this a thousand times. Elend was dealing with Mystics then. They probably had some Construct around the island that lowered his inhibitions. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

“We’re always dealing with Mystics,” Relia countered. “That’s what you always say, right?”

Shit. Akari had used that exact argument before, but she hadn’t realized how nihilistic it sounded until now. Yes, their enemy was a Mystic with powers they couldn’t imagine. But where did that thinking stop? How could they even begin to fight back?

“We have to trust someone,” Akari said. “Otherwise we’re all screwed no matter what.”

Relia crossed her arms and looked away. “I do trust Elend . . . and Irina, and you. I just . . .” She trailed off and shook her head. “I don’t want to forgive her. Not after what she did.”

“I get it. But what if she’s our teammate for another three years? Do you wanna stay mad at her the whole time?”

Relia fixed her with a look. “Elend said we would vote at the end of the year. Are you saying you’d vote to keep her around? Are you two best friends now?”

Relia was clearly a lot more pissed than she’d let on before. Even Irina had assumed this would be easier. Then again, Relia had spent years refusing to take soulshine, even would it would save her own life. They should have realized how stubborn and self-righteous she could be.

“We’re not friends,” Akari said. “I’m just doing my job as captain.”

Relia raised an eyebrow. “Would you vote to keep her or not?”

“Probably not,” Akari said. “Especially if we had someone else lined up.” Elise had acted like a model teammate these past few weeks, but she wasn’t irreplaceable, and she certainly wasn’t worth all this drama.

The other girl relaxed at that. “Okay. Just making sure she hasn’t wormed her way into your head.”

Akari nodded and pressed on. “You don’t have to like Elise. You can show up and kick her ass for all I care. We’re doing this to make the whole team stronger.”

A small laugh escaped Relia’s lips. “You know, you actually sound like a real captain right now.”

Akari glared at her.

“What? “It’s a compliment! You sound more mature. More responsible, you know?”

Her eyes narrowed further. “What did I sound like before?”

A slow grin spread across Relia’s face. “A bratty teenager?”

“Bitch,” Akari muttered. The other girl was probably right, but she didn’t have to rub it in.

“Wow, way to kill the moment.” There was a short pause while Relia mulled things over. “So I just have to stand there while she practices her illusions on me?”’

“She mostly does mental attacks,” Akari said. “Illusions take a lot more time, and they don’t work if someone’s expecting them.”

“Mental attacks?” Relia raised an eyebrow. “She’ll never hurt me with those.”

“Duh, that’s how practice works. She’ll fail, but she’ll get better each time.”

“No.” Relia shook her head. “I’m literally immune to mental pain. You might as well have her train with Irina.”

Huh. Akari hadn’t considered that, but she might be right. By now, they’d all spent time in Elend’s pain machine, and krustoplegia was far worse than she’d imagined. It felt like a hundred dull blades were slicing apart her body from the inside. The blades grew larger every second until she felt like she would explode.

Akari had barely lasted five seconds the first time before her muscles gave out, and she would have collapsed on the floor Glim hadn’t held her body in place. Even now, after weeks of practice, she and Kalden could barely last two minutes.

Meanwhile, Relia could endure the pain indefinitely, even before she’d advanced to Artisan. Maybe she was too tough for Elise. Then again, Elise had already agreed to this, and she probably knew what to expect.

“Just give it a try,” Akari said. “We’ll call it quits if you’re too tough for her.”

Relia considered that for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders. “Fine. I’ll do it.”