Chapter Text
The months of sleepy dawns in the town of Trista had given way to the most anticipated morning of the year. Extra trains shuttled through the station, while more cars than the town saw for the rest of the year trundled up the long thoroughfare through the heart of town. All of them disgorging students for the new year of classes at Thors Military Academy. Yet one pair of arrivals came in a far less conventional manner.
In the shady culvert under the main bridge across the local stream something magical occurred. A circle formed of golden scrollery flared into life, its eerie light reflecting off the waters and the cool rough-hewn stonework. Two figures emerged from the flurry of dazzling motes. One of them was a woman with sharp golden eyes and purple locks pulled into a braid. The sensation of concrete under her feet as she landed on the lip that ran along the water’s edge beneath the bridge rose up within her as pride.
Her magic had brought them to their new home safely, the culmination of a long series of teleportations, first from Eryn Village to the outskirts of Trista, then a gruelling schedule making sure all of her new wards were still in place, plus working some small changes in places. With this even to herself she could confidently lay claim to being a Wandering Witch.
However the other figure emerged from the flurry of golden light suspended over the water.
After a brief moment this young man was given over from the forces of witchery to the forces of gravity. Panic clenched Emma’s chest as tight as she clenched her staff. But before she could act, an elongated shadow of motion blurred off the very surface of the water up towards the retaining wall on the other side of the river.
“Aidios, Rean, I am so sorry!” she blurted out as she looked across the river.
Rean hung from the fence with one hand, feet planted against the wall, and the other tilting his sword hilt out of the way. Looking back over his shoulder, he laughed and gave her that boyish smile she had no defence against. “No harm done, this is nothing compared to your Grandmother’s training.”
A wave of relief doused Emma’s nerves. “Was that Gale? Off the surface tension of the water?”
The young man’s eyes widened a little. “Well done,” he said. “You got it in one!”
”It’s been two years,” she replied with an amused grin. “I don’t understand the how of what martial artists do, but I’m starting to get the what .”
A hint of mischief sparkled in Rean’s eyes. “What about the why ?”
“Hehe, if two years taught me anything, it’s that even two hundred years won’t be enough to get why,” answered Emma with a huff.
One moment, Rean was tensing to spring back to her side of the river. The next moment there was a hollow gonging of struck metal and a figure, a flash of red and white, was crouched upon the rail just above Rean. The only warning they got amounted to a single word.
“Yo.”
There were instincts that served well in dark places and dark times but poorly in the light. And sometimes when the peaceful calm that comes from Rean always knowing who is around breaks, it breaks twice as hard for the shock of it. Emma’s subconscious works selge by the second, the lizard hind brain recognising the newcomer and her strength, her potential damage. Her staff was out and crackling, launching a sharp spike of Orbal energy. Rean, loyal as he was, didn’t ask, just drew dark jade hued steel.
Steel flashed in the morning sunlight, tracing deadly lanes through the air. Before those arcs could reach him, Rean had pushed back off the rail to fall back clear of the blow, hanging back from the railing to prevent a drop into the river. His body twisted and flowed into a punishing strike that went for the newcomer’s neck. She reared back and evaded the edge with ease, only for Rean to release his grip on the scabbard and clamp a hand on the girl’s thigh just above the knee. With a grunt he wrenched her from the railing.
It wasn’t quite so easy as that to finish the fight, however. With a peal of laughter the girl hooked the back end of one of her blades around the railing. So anchored, the two began to have a perilous duel advancing and retreating along the fence, hanging from the railing with their feet against the retaining wall.
In a flash Emma graduated from sudden terror to exasperation. With a quick glance around she took a gamble her grandmother would be furious with, began channelling energy through her old orbment, and leapt with wind energy at her back, crossing to the other side and clambering the rail. Her staff began to crackle with a truly dire amount of power and she stepped up and levelled it at the other girl’s head.
“Sylphid,” she grumbled.
The young girl froze and glanced up at her and the coruscating ball of doom Emma was manifesting. “Nuts,” was all she said, flat and dry, but she sheathed the gunblade she wasn’t hanging off the rails with.
Emma keeps her staff aimed at Fie with one hand and takes a half-step back. With her free hand she gestured Rean and Fie up from the fence. “Now,” began Emma, “Let’s come up off the railings and talk like normal people not martial-“
“What the heck is-“ came the intrusion of a new voice, another girl around Emma’s own age. One she realised she knew and was going to make this much more complicated. “Whoa! E-Emma, that is way too…” From the corner of her eye she saw the blonde girl set her shoulders and approach.
For the Love of Aidios, she thought to herself in pure exasperation. Not only did she nearly dropped Rean right into the river, but somehow made a sufficient commotion in arriving that old acquaintances were just dropping in on them. Some of the most troublesome no less. So much for the stealthy infiltration.
“Alisa, stay back,” said Emma, but of course the girl did not.
“Don’t you see how much Orbal energy you have circulating there?” snapped Alisa. She was finally brought to a halt when Rean vaulted the railing and stood in the way.
“I’ll recall it when our friend here gets up and puts the other gunblade away.”
Alarm coursed through Alisa’s voice as she cried, “ Emma! ”
Emma tried and failed to suppress a sigh. “I’ve got it in hand,” she said.
There is a moment of incoherency from Alisa while her hands thread through her hair and clench. “Emma, the safety plans back at Reinford have phrases like ‘splash zone’ for accidents involving this much juice.”
The eyes of the girl on the other end of that potential violence went just a little wider as she looked back up, and said, “Alright, you got me.” Sylphid landed from the railing to stand next to Rean. Her weapons were squared away into their holsters, leaving her with just a droll expression. “I guess I really do need to be more careful who I sneak up on.”
Emma sighed and lowered her staff, turning her focus on the maelstrom-in-miniature at the head of the weapon. Alisa slipped by Rean at that and approached carefully, as if approaching a cryptid. “Now, I can talk you through how to use the staff’s orbment to safely dissipate that much-“
Too irritated by the pile-up of problems to go the slow way, Emma just grounded the energy directly through herself into the spirit veins nexus under the town. The very moment the process started, Alisa twisted and dove behind the compost bin attached to the back of the gardening store. A pair of heartbeats later the head of the staff was clear of energy and once more the quaint burbling of the brook below them could be heard.
When Fie started snickering, Alisa edged back out of her cover. Slack-jawed disbelief looked very unladylike on the Reinford heiress’ face as she stared at them. She rose to her feet and to Emma’s astonishment, put hands on her arm and staff, tugging at her new class jacket as if in disbelief that she was still there.
It was enough that even Fie started to look a little unsettled. “Hey, uh, just how much juice were you running through that thing?” she asked.
Emma opened her mouth to answer, but Alisa’s thoroughly waspish tones beat her to it. “We’d have sent search parties for your limbs to the other side of the bridge.” Fie cocked an eyebrow in Emma’s direction, but Alisa hadn’t turned around to see it. Instead, Alisa was jabbing at her collar with a pointed finger, and Emma realised she wasn’t seeing the conflicted heiress, but the furious engineer with an entire childhood spent around Orbal engineering.
Rean, bless his heart, stepped forward to try to intervene, saying, “Alisa, it’s alright, we were-“
“Don’t you dare, buster!” snapped Alisa, even though she never turned away from me. “Do you know how dangerous that was, Emma? I don’t know how you just did that, but Orbal energy is not a toy . Aidios , how reckless can you be, waving around that much energy in town?”
Grandmother would have been proud at this scolding, Emma reflected. She returned her staff to hang from a loop on her shoulder and then bashfully scratched at the back of her head. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be sorry, just don’t do it ,” said Alisa no less sharply, until finally she heaved a sigh and the towering wrath evaporated from her body. Her tone was limp as she said, “Well it’s good to see you two again.”
“Come on, breathe in, get your smile back,” said Emma. Alisa just gave her a flat look and said nothing, so Emma instead gestured towards the other two present. “You know Rean Schwarzer already, and this is Fie Claussel. Fie, this is Alisa Rein-“
“Alisa R!” interjected Alisa. A moment later her eyes wide. When all three of the others fixed her with an odd look, she huffed again. “Oh fine. Did you know from back when we met in Roer, or did you figure it out afterwards?”
Emma looked away and whistled innocently, not returning the flat glare from Alisa.
Alisa grimaced, then flipped a hand dismissively. “Well, I’d hoped to have a fresh start, but if it’s already falling apart on the first day, then fine,” she said. “I’m Alisa Reinford, and before you ask, yes, it’s that Reinford.”
“I know. You’re not cut out for secret agent type stuff. You were bad at hiding it,” said Fie, not quite suppressing a grin. “Nice to meet you.”
Alisa just groaned. “Whatever, come on, let’s just go to the Academy, already,” she said. After a moment her eyes brightened. “Hey, all red coats - maybe we’ll all be in a class together.”
Emma frowned and said, ”We just need to catch up about a few things, we’ll see you up ahead, okay?”
Alisa gave her a flat look. “That was my nice excuse, but if you need my not-nice one then: I am going to escort you to the Academy so I make sure you don’t blow anything up with that Reinford orbment on your belt and a prototype Orbal stave in your hand.”
“Admirably dutiful,” said Emma, dry enough her voice almost drew moisture out of the air it travelled in.
The other girl waved that off, failing to stifle a glare. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever, I’ll wait up on the bridge while you talk.”
Once they were in some manner of privacy, Fie leaned in closer to Emma and asked, “So what happened to the last guy you did that to? She right about the ‘splash zone’?”
Even after everything, one place Emma did not like to be was on the spot. She stammered, “Wh-what makes you-”
With an unamused chop of the hand, Fie cut her off. Instead she said, “I saw your eyes when you pointed that funny stick at me. Why do you think I stopped? I’ve got those eyes too.”
Emma and Rean exchanged a look, and the latter asked, “Any particular reason for the surprise welcome?”
“Eh, I do that with everyone, it’s fun to make people react.” With a derisive snort Fie glanced between the two and then settled on looking at Rean. “Like I said, I suppose Teach is onto something when she warns me to be more careful who it is I sneak up on. Never know who’s on a hair-trigger.”
“Just for kicks, huh?” asked Rean, clearly unamused.
“Nah,” said Fie. “Well, I mean, the surprise part, sure, but I needed to catch you first.”
“What, just dunk us in the river until we give in? You think Valestein wouldn’t notice?” asked Emma. Right away Rean winced, and Fie’s eyes lit up.
The little smile that curled her lips was frustrating to behold. Fie said, “Don’t worry, I already figured you guys had somehow gotten the class roster. You only seemed surprised me and Alisa messed with you, not that we were in Trista with the same coats.”
A laugh that was unconvincing to even Emma escaped Rean before he said, “I don’t know what you could mean.”
Fie put her hands up her hips and fixed us with a look, still smiling. “You two are up to something. So, let’s... okay, stop the protesting, none of this is convincing. But whatever, let’s deal.”
Rean groaned through shut lips, and then, “Name it.”
“You don’t tell people my title or where I come from, so I can get through this education I got kicked off to in peace and quiet. I don’t mention any titles you guys picked up or how you got them, and I don’t tell Sara you already knew who’s in the class.” She holds a hand each out to Emma and Rean. “Sweet deal, right?”
Emma glanced over and exchanged a nod with Rean. “It’s a deal.”
“Great,” drawled Fie. “Gotta go see if there’s anywhere to nap in that auditorium. Hey, when we get to the dorms tell me what trick you guys used to get past me, I’ve been waiting in the town square all morning.”
With that she was gone, leaping back across the river and racing away.
Left alone with Rean, Emma immediately turned to look anywhere except at him. Even so, the undercurrent of bemusement in Rean’s voice prickled her ears. “Weren’t you just telling me you’d learned how martial artists worked?”
“I did say I would never understand the why ,” said Emma tartly. “And I wasn’t going to trust your life to the restraint of a...” She trailed off and glanced around.
“I know, I know,” said Rean with that boyish smile again. “It all ended okay, though.”
Emma gave him a flat look. “I don’t think we’ve heard the last about this from Alisa.”
“Making friends with everyone would be nice, but that’s not what we’re here for,” said Rean. He held out his hand. “Come on, Emma, let’s go.”
Emma sighed and put her hand in Rean’s, palm sliding over the familiar callouses. Together they walked out onto the road leading up towards Thors Military Academy. As they approached Alisa, Emma tried not to pay attention to the flush on the girl’s cheeks as she looked down at their hands.
“Incorrigible,” muttered Alisa. She “Well, let’s go then, and hands off the stave.”
-
The worlds of Fie Claussell and of Alisa Reinford held little in common with the world of the daughter of the Radiant Blademaster. That was the hidden danger of their new class in Emma’s mind. It wasn’t just the different social classes and origins that came together in Class VII, but also the rumours and stories that bounced around their separate grapevines. If Emma could have her way she’d see to it that those spheres never met in a context they might want to compare the puzzle pieces left scattered between the different spheres of Erebonian society. Yet the mission was here so risks had to be taken.
The way Laura Arseid jolted as if a spark ran up her back when Rean was about to walk by was impossible to miss. While the eastern arts practitioners seemed to have a much firmer grasp of mana and a greater range for their senses, even in the west no artist worth their salt will fail to recognise when another approaches. They all exchanged a cordial nod while Laura paused from retrieving an absurdly scaled carry-case from the top of her Orbal car. However, her eyes were fixed on the sword at Rean’s side. Emma sighed to herself, but couldn’t complain much. Passing beneath notice by nobles was always her preference, no matter what good things she heard about any given noble.
Ahead of that the Arseid car in the line disgorging students was a luxurious limousine, with an exalted passenger of its own in his own crimson coat. The Albarea scion, Jusis, barely heard his butler as he watched Rean walk by. There had been three big worries that Emma held about coming to Class VII, the first of whom was Fie. The second, however, was Jusis Albarea. He looked pensive as Rean went by, leading Emma to sigh.
They all collectively reached the gates of the Academy at about the same time, where as a slight wrinkle to how they expected things to go, everyone in their Class was expected to hand over their weapons. Jusis and Laura went first and much to Emma’s dismay, decided to wait for Rean to finish handing over his tachi while Alisa had turned a little green at hearing the name ‘Albarea’ and excused herself to hurry on to the auditorium.
Laura was the first to speak up, saying, “While the young lady at the gate introduced our names after a fashion, I would appreciate the opportunity to do so more properly.” She bowed neatly. “I am Lady Laura Arseid, of Legram. I have the honour of being an Intermediate-level disciple of the Arseid School of Swordsmanship. But please, just call me Laura.”
Through her instructing witches and talks with Lord Teo and Lady Lucia, Emma had learned a lot about the forms and ceremonies of the Erebonian nobility. All of that education let Emma realise, even had she missed the flash of surprise on the otherwise unflappable young Jusis, Laura had made multiple faux pas by not leaving the decision to pursue formal introductions in the hands of the noble most senior in precedent, and then not directly addressing them. That tidbit Emma kept fore of mind as she watched Laura physically struggle with the bubbling excitement building up.
Rean was first to answer. “Rean Schwarzer of Ymir Barony. I am an Intermediate-level disciple as well, a student of the Eight Leaves One Blade school under Master Yun Ka-fai.” He made a short bow towards Laura. “An honour to meet a fellow traveller on the path of the sword.”
Emma’s relief that Rean had not demurred from his status, as he was still apt to do from time to time, did not blind her to the dawning sunrise expressing itself on Laura’s face.
“I knew it! That is, the honour is all mine,” said Laura, rather more heartfelt than such declarations typically were. Emma saw poorly suppressed laughter peek through Jusis’ attempts at a stern facade. Laura continued, “My father and Master Ka-fai are old friends, and he had many great stories to tell.”
“Master Ka-fai has mentioned the Radiant Blademaster to me,” replied Rean, smiling broadly. “Meeting and testing myself against the great swordmasters of Erebonia is a dream of mine, though one I’m still far from worthy of yet.”
“I would be very open to a spar!” said Laura eagerly. “One Intermediate practitioner to another, we would surely have a lot to learn across the divide of Zemurian styles.”
Jusis pressed his lips thinly as he looked at Laura, then back at Rean. Much to Emma’s relief he decided to speak up, saying, “Well, for Laura’s benefit, I am Jusis Albarea, second son of His Grace, the Duke Helmut Albarea.” He gave everyone a playful smile that seemed out of step with his prior reserve, then said, “A practitioner of Court Fencing. Regrettably we have no titles of degree to hand out.”
“My father is an avid fencer as well, I have great respect for the elegance of the craft and the skill of its practitioners,” said Rean. Beside him Emma allowed herself a proud smile, while she saw surprise on Jusis’ face.
Laura nodded and said, “I would welcome spars with either of you gentlemen. I am always looking to develop further. I have, after all, come to Thors in search of opponents who will test me further.”
“It would be a privilege to match steel with the Young Mistress of the Arseid School,” said Jusis. When Rean cocked a brow and Jusis looked hesitant but added, “You will understand if a son of Bareahard shies from stepping onto the piste with you.”
Rean’s face darkens with a mixture of guilt and remorse Emma had become familiar with. Between them, Laura’s too honest expression betrayed a moment of panic before she turned to Emma. “Would you like to introduce yourself as well?”
“Oh, of course,” said Emma, dipping into a shallow curtsy. “I am Miss Emma Millstein of Ymir Village, in the barony of the same name.” On cue, Emma turned on her most charming smile, the product of her absconded big sister’s teaching and her Grandmother’s polishing back in her real hometown. It was one of the most important if mundane weapons in a Wandering Witch’s arsenal. “A pleasure to meet you both.”
“A place with storied links to history and the Imperial household,” said Laura. “A pleasure to meet you as well.”
“I dare assume from the staff you handed over that Arts are your stock in trade?” asked Laura.
Emma allowed a little giggle. “I have some talents with Arts, yes. We don’t have anything like schools of swordsmanship, but Rean and I have kept up with each other over the journey.”
“I’ll say,” began Rean as he threw a glance her way, “You’ll never find an Arts specialist as comfortable face-to-face with a foe as Emma.”
As she’d talked, Emma had noticed Jusis inspecting herself and Rean, a thoughtful, contemplative look on his face. In the brief lull that followed Laura digesting the idea of a head-on Arts specialist, Jusis asked, “You’re both from Ymir?”
“Yes, I am,” replied Emma, digging deep upon her craft to furnish the most genuine sounding cheer. “We must be some of the very few who find Trista less sleepy than their own home towns. But over the last two years Rean and I have travelled across a lot of Erebonia with his martial arts and my writing.”
“Oh, fascinating,” asked Jusis. “May I ask what manner of writing?”
“Of course. I’ve long had an interest in literature and that’s where I’d like to focus,” said Emma. “For now I cut my teeth publishing stories of travel and the Martial Artists we happen to meet.”
“As I understand it, you must write about some remote areas,” said Jusis.
Emma tilted her head and tapped at her cheek with a fingertip. She said, “Well, I have articles in Open Road Monthly on Bryonia Island and Osgiliath Basin, so I suppose so. We are away from civilisation often for a month or two at a time, and then we pop back up again with more stories to tell.”
“And usually with a new skill perfected,” added Rean.
“And more trouble to get into once back in a city,” said Jusis, voice flat as he turned back to Rean, who scratched awkwardly at the back of his head.
Laura let out a wistful sigh, a ghostly smile on her face. She said, “That sounds wonderful, to get far away from all the distraction, to train and test oneself.”
After turning to regard her for a clutch of heartbeats, a level of tension evaporated off Jusis’ shoulders. He gave the most authentic smile he’d made throughout the encounter by Emma’s reckoning, and said, “Well, if I wanted a year without sycophants, finding an aspiring author, the Reinford heiress, the next generation’s answer to the Countess Le Guin, and the Rising Blade of Ymir is a fascinating start.”
Emma knew neither of the other nobles noticed the deep wince on Rean’s face.
-
The Old Schoolhouse was a building that refused to let you look away, full of character, classical architecture, and two centuries of patch jobs and wear. But to those with other than mundane senses, like Emma, it was a towering bonfire of mana. Every step forward was like diving deeper into the ocean, pressure building all the way. A mighty engine of magic churned in the long abandoned but never forgotten undercroft of the Old Schoolhouse, and at the very base of it all, in chambers deep within the ground, one of the wonders of Zemuria’s moonlit world.
A fragment of the maddened Great Power, one of the closest things to the Goddess to grace the world. The one great endeavour that existed between her ancestors and the enigmatic gnomes. A joint effort that had endured the long count of centuries since those apocalyptic days.
Beneath their feet the very ground shimmered with excess mana to Emma’s other senses. It was an unnatural strength on an accelerated course, but things were moving in Erebonia and schedules had to move with them. Emma breathed in deeply letting the mana-rich air suffuse her lungs.
Rean leaned in and whispered, “The air is crackling, I think even the others are noticing. Is this going to be okay?”
As she ran the sums in her head, Emma pinched at the bridge of her nose. “First basement floor should still just have the normal elements,” she said. “Beyond that…” She shook her head. “Well, whatever we’re doing here, we can’t go past the first today, if we go into the Trial Grounds at all.”
“Going to make the last trial or two exciting with just the two of us,” said Rean, musingly as he straightened back up.
“I guess we’ll see if there’s anyone we can trust,” said Emma. She sighed and looked around from their spot at the back of the pack. Only Fie seemed to be looking their way, regarding them with a funny look. Thankfully she was out of ear-shot of their whispers unless she had some kind of super-hearing. She looked back and Fie returned her attention forward, scooting along to rejoin Sara Valestein at the front of the group. The Purple Lightning was a known complication, but a very dangerous one nonetheless. But if she had recognised them at all, she hadn’t said anything yet. Naturally, Emma didn’t want to rely on that. Nothing on Aidios’ green earth was as naturally nosy as an A-Rank Bracer.
-
“There’s a lot of monsters down there, Em,” muttered Rean.
The inside of the Old Schoolhouse was largely barren, furniture long since removed, with only a few decorations still hanging from the walls. The stones underfoot and the high ceiling of this lower floor gave the place a chilly air, made just that little bit threatening by the growing maelstrom of Mana far below their feet. To their right all their fellow students had gathered before their new teacher and were carrying on a grand discussion that Emma was lending only half an ear to. Or perhaps less a discussion and more an altercation, either way it wasn’t anything she wanted to be part of.
“It’ll be fine,” replied Emma. “The first level is still mostly unaffected by the elevated mana. And everyone’s weapon was taken away, so we might not even be going down there.”
“Haha, oh, we’re going down there,” said Rean, bemusement clear in his voice.
Emma regarded him with hooded, unamused eyes. But she’s long since learned to pay attention to the insights Rean gleaned from his Unclouded Eyes tricks, so she asked, “What makes you say that?”
Rean tapped his feet on the stones beneath their feet. “There’s a slanted empty space below us but the echo when we walked here was muffled. We’re standing on a trap door.”
Emma turned her face to Rean so fast she almost didn’t notice Sara abruptly trip over her words as she was addressing Jusis and that governor’s son in their rather petulant spat. A frown crossed her face as she mulled that over. The bracer surely couldn’t hear them whispering, could she? Out of a surplus of caution she covered her mouth for a moment and muttered a silencing spell for herself and Rean.
“Emma, do you think…?” whispered Rean even more cautiously than before.
A self-conscious aspirated giggle escaped Emma. She whispered from behind her hand, “She couldn’t have but better safe than sorry.”
Instructor Valestein wasn’t looking their way, which was good, though she had apparently picked up an inexplicable twitch, which wasn’t. Fie, for that matter, had started glancing their way.
An uncomfortable feeling rolled over her. “I don’t like this,” she muttered. “Let’s table this for later.” When Rean nodded she dropped the silence spell.
A little while later, the Instructor stepped back and away along the stage from her students. “Mister Schwarzer, Miss Millstein, could I ask you to step off to the side for a moment while everyone else gets ready for their orienteering exercise? There’s some pro-forma stuff we have to get out of the way before we start. Ah, yes, that’s perfect, thank you.” A smile like a malignant ray of sunshine took hold on her face. “Now without further adieu!”
Sara hit a button recessed into the side of a pillar at the back of the stage and Emma had a timely reminder why she trusted Rean with her safety in the field as a huge chunk of the flooring in front of the stage collapsed down onto an angle. A cacophony of screams from the half a dozen students trailed off as they disappeared into the space below.
Emma found herself staring at the new hole in the ground. Despite the foreknowledge the sight of the gaping chasm was still far more than she expected.
“Neat trick with the grappling hook,” mused Rean.
Emma blinked and then followed his gaze along with Sara’s up towards the ceiling to find Fie hanging from a steel cable hanging from the rafters. “Huh...”
“Fie, you can’t...,” began Sara before sighing and gesturing her in. “Fine, this conversation involves you too, but once we’re done, you’re going down there with everyone else. Make some friends at least close to your own age, alright?”
The loudest, most put-upon sigh that Emma had ever heard somehow rumbled out of the diminutive girl. Before her eyes, Fie scrambled her way up the grappling hook’s cable, and then sprang off the rafter for the stage, coming up to her feet from a roll to bleed off speed. It was very much a stunt beyond any normal human baselines but the bread and butter of seasoned warriors.
Feeling perhaps a desire to compete, Rean leapt up himself to join them on the stage in a single-bound. Emma sighed to herself, muttered the silencing spell again, and then made a matching leap. A Witch she may be rather than a customary martial artist but that didn’t mean she hadn’t kept pace. Rean shot her an ear-to-ear grin and she just looked balefully in reply.
“Well, if it isn’t Mister Schwarzer and Miss Millstein,” said Sara with a big, friendly smile. “Good to see you guys again, and even better that it’s not after having valiantly rescued you three from a fight with-”
“Rescue my ass,” interrupted Fie. “We were winning that fight.”
Sara snorted and said, “If you were, I'd have watched and then given you a round of applause! Which is way more fun, trust me.” Laughter like ripples through a stream echoed in her words. She tapped at her chin, putting on a thoughtful display. “Speaking of which, you two wouldn’t happen to have anything new to say about any groups you happen to be a part of? All confessions accepted, no judgements made!”
“No, no, still just a pair of adventurers,” drawled Rean.
“Sometimes helping out family,” added Emma.
Sara gave them both a searching look and held it for a few seconds before she shrugged. “Well, alright. But if you ever feel like saying otherwise, just remember that as your new teacher, I’m always on your side. Plus helping young people break free of a violent life is something of a calling of mine.” She paused, but Emma just held her gaze, while Fie snorted softly off to the side. “Well, just bear it in mind.”
Fie rolled her eyes. “They’re not Jaegers,” she said. A look like artificial sweetener brightened her face. “But hey, if you ever want to join u-”
Sara’s voice was as sharp as a guillotine as she snapped, “Fie.”
“Okay, okay,” said Fie. “Anyway, you didn’t really need to call them over, we sorted this already.”
“Ah, great!” said Sara, but something about her smile became terrifying. “Now, this wouldn't happen to be related to no less than seven concerned citizen reports about a 'potentially explosive' incident down by the river, would it?”
Fie bit her lip awkwardly and muttered, “M-maybe...”
“Yes, we’ll be having words about that later, Fie,” said Sara.
The girl’s eyes flared wide. “Why do you assume I caused it!” There was a beat, and then, “I mean, I did, but you shouldn’t just assume that. It’s unfair.”
A deep sigh escaped Sara and then she turned back to Emma and Rean. “I want Fie to have a shot at something she’s never known enough to regret not having had - something approaching a normal childhood, and this is her last chance. Part of that is that she has friends that won’t turn on her if her affiliations come to light for some reason.”
“Oh, Aidios, no way,” groaned Fie. She turned towards the trap door and said over her shoulder, “Down in the ‘Trial Grounds’ has to be less likely to kill me than this. You guys are so...,” she took a moment before she leapt into a front somersault to disappear down below, her last word trailing off as she fell, “ ...loud! ”
A Wandering Witch was supposed to keep a cool mystique even in moments of shock and Emma was pretty sure that while she was no Vita, she mostly managed it. Rean, however, not so much.
“Aw, crap.”
“A little hearing training goes a long way.” Sara laughed and shook her head. “Well, I know you two and Fie can fight. Let the others have a chance to show what they can do, so I can tailor some lesson plans.”
Emma nodded. “Understood.”
“And hey,” added Sara, before the smile fell away and she fixed them with a serious, but not unfriendly, look. “Whatever you guys are planning here, I personally don’t have anything else scheduled down below, so I don’t plan to interfere as long as you can assure me nothing big has changed down there.”
Emma took a deep breath and flushed it out in a sigh. “Yes, the first floor will be fine.”
Sara’s smile put a chill up Emma’s spine. “Right,” said Sara, “I’m glad you mentioned that! Care to spill the beans on exactly what you mean by first floor? Because I’ve checked and there aren’t any others.”
The import being the words washed over Emma like a tidal wave, drawing a groan of dismay out from deep within. “It’s...,” she began, before faltering and pursing her lips.
There was a quick glance from Rean before he jumped in with, “It’s not a danger to the school or the students.”
Seizing on Rean’s start, Emma nodded quickly. “If anything changes it will be very obvious to me in particular. We promise, if any problems develop then we’ll keep you in the loop.”
“And today there is only one floor accessible at all,” continued Rean. “So, nothing to throw a wrench into the exercise.”
Sara tapped her feet and fixed them both with a sharp look. After several seconds, though, she sighed and the intimidating air around her vanished. Finally, she shrugged, then said, “What’s your plan of attack?”
“We'll go range ahead separately,” said Emma. “If we notice anything too risky we’ll cut it out, except for the floor’s final trial.”
“We’re strong enough for it, easily,” said Rean.
“Final trial?” Sara frowned and crossed her arms. “That wouldn’t happen to be that big suspicious looking Gargoyle statue by the exit? It hasn’t done anything yet.”
A little smile curled across Emma’s face. “Maybe it was just waiting for the right match-up.”
-
The energy flow of Blessed Arrow flowed over Alisa and through her ankle like a wash of cool, refreshing water, sweeping the pain away before it.
When Alisa landed awkwardly on the ground below, she was pretty positive she rolled an ankle. Certainly it stung and didn’t enjoy a lot of weight being put on it. Her complicated old friend Angelica used to tell her of great warriors who could ignore all manner of wounds and keep fighting until complete exhaustion or death, but she was pretty sure they were fairy tales. Alisa wouldn’t call herself a warrior by any means, but she had studied the bow, and then the Orbal bow, under her maid and confidante until she could do incredible things, but a sprained ankle was a sprained ankle.
“Are you well, Miss Reinford?” asked one of the nobles she had met alongside those two maniacs this morning.
“I am now, Lady Arseid, thanks for asking,” replied Alisa, trying her best not to stumble over her words face to face with a noble. Her mother, she knew, worked with nobles all the time, and it was all old hat to her. But Alisa was long sheltered, and the only noble she truly interacted with was Angelica and, for a number of reasons, she had a very hard time carrying that experience across.
“I am pleased to hear it,” said Laura. Despite the formality of her words, warmth and earnestness came through everything she said, and Alisa found herself smiling without realising it. Before she could reply, however, Laura looked down at the stone altar, and said, “Oh, you have one of the jewellery boxes, too.”
“I think we all do,” said Alisa off-handedly, her attention quickly being pulled away by the little box. When she opened it, her eyes lit up with sudden excitement. “Laura! They’re not gemstones, they’re quartz! A master quartz, in fact.”
“I am afraid that I don’t quite follow,” said Laura slowly.
Alisa frowned and reached around to her side, pulling forth a small squarish device. “When they gave you your uniform and guidebook, it should have come with a device like this. Did you bring it yours with you?”
“Oh, yes, a most peculiar device,” said Laura. She retrieved her own device and held it gingerly, frowning at it. “I gather it is an orbment of sorts, but not one I am familiar with.”
“Yeah, these ones are a bit different, they’re part of the next generation,” said Alisa as she popped open the catch on her own orbment and installed her master quartz. A moment later there was a shine as the synchronisation took hold.
Laura reared back a moment. “Is it supposed...?”
“Yeah, it made the connection perfectly, now I just need to ... a couple ... settings,” she said, talking through her distraction. “And all good!” She looked up with the grin of a child who just found which shelf the cookie jar had been hiding on.
A new boy approached, the tallest one in the class, leaning on a great spear. “I couldn’t help but notice the light,” he began.
He wasn’t the only one to turn his attention her way, either, as more of her classmates were gravitating over. Alisa frowned and looked up at the deep ramp to the ground floor, through which neither their Instructor, nor those three maniacs had emerged. Well, why waste time, she decided.
“Hey, if anyone wants help setting up their orbment, I can help teach you!” She held up the box that had held her master quartz. “Just go get your box, like this one, from where you found your weapon and bring it over, I’ll show you how to install it and get going, okay?”
“Oh, that’d be a huge relief,” said one of the other boys with the distinctive orange hair. He hustled to get his quartz and then came back. “Oh, I’m Elliot, by the way.”
“Pleased to meet you, just call me Alisa,” she replied.
“Gaius Worzel, from Nord,” said the tall boy in his willowy, gentle grace. “Pleased to meet you both.”
As everyone went to gather their own as requested, Alisa had another snap decision to make. It was easy to spot the platforms that were meant for Rean and Emma, after all. The memory of that roiling, furious power pulled into the head of her stave, the icy frisson down her spine, remained as she thought of Emma with that cold-eyed look. Those eyes had been shyer, friendlier, when she’d seen them in Roer, even as they were still chasing stronger Arts. She wondered how she could see those eyes again.
“Oh? Are you grabbing their quartz for safekeeping?” asked Gaius, an open, earnest expression on his face and a bit of puzzlement in his voice.
“Safekeeping, yeah,” echoed Alisa hesitantly. “I guess you could call it that. I’ll give it to them after the exercise, don’t worry. I’m sure we can keep them safe until then.”
Laura frowned and put her hands on her hips. “I had assumed you were friends with the two of them, since you arrived at the gates together.”
“I am, after a fashion,” said Alisa as she settled back behind the stonework of her own platform. “They’re just...” She thinned her lips for a moment and then gave a disgusted grunt. “The stunt I saw them pulling this morning, they were in a scuffle with that other girl, the one with the white hair.”
“Oh, is that what they’re talking about up there?” asked Machias. “Getting scolded already?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” said Alisa. “Now, I don’t trust Rean with Arts in confined spaces like what we can see out that door, but Emma is a whole other problem. No level of firepower gives Emma pause, even when it really should.”
“Quite a contention when it comes from the heiress of the Reinford Corporation,” mused Jusis, wearing the ghost of a smile.
“Har har,” said Alisa sharply. She placed her hands on the stone and took a deep breath. She tried to draw back on product demonstrations she’d sat through, and even Sharon’s advice. Finally she looked up, forced herself to start making eye contact, and went into her spiel.
“Okay, so these devices are something my family’s company developed, part of a new fifth-generation battle orbment. People call the Enigma orbment hitting the market now the start of the fifth-generation because of its Master Quartz system, but its normal quartz system is still basically the same as the older generation. This, however, is the Arcus and this is going to redefine how quartz is handled for years to come...”
-
When Emma landed alongside Rean at the foot of the trap door, they found the rest of the new Class VII turning to look at them from a cluster before one of the nine stone altars lining the room. Alisa of all people appeared to be holding court with the new Arcus orbment in her hand glowing with a new Master Quartz within. Emma could tell easily when Alisa spotted them, as her eyes narrowed and she snapped the case of her orbment shut with finality.
Before anyone could say anything however, their Arcus devices began to vibrate and ring. Emma reached for where she kept her Arcus and flipped it open, followed shortly by the rest of the class.
“Hello, Class VII, sorry about the little delay there, but now we can begin! Around the-”
Alisa cleared her throat. “We already found our weapons and the quartz and put them all together.”
“Impressive! You showed them how to do it, Alisa?”
“Oh, ahaha, w-well, I knew how, s-so,” said Alisa, and Emma saw the blush grow stronger with a series of compliments from the students crowded around.
“Uh, Instructor...,” began Rean.
“It seems that the boxes with our Master Quartz are empty,” finished Emma, turning to fix Alisa with a look. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that?”
There wasn’t any given in the sharp look Alisa sent back. “That’s really strange,” said Alisa in a voice abruptly as flat as Heimdallr’s tramways. “But I’m sure we can sort it out once we’re out of here and have time for the safety lecture you missed.”
So that was how she wanted to play it, thought Emma. Aloud she asked, “So you don’t know where the quartz went?”
“Must have gotten mixed-up while we were figuring out what we were supposed to do,” said Alisa. “But that’s okay, just stick with the group and we’ll keep you safe as we go.”
“Strange, there was definitely a Quartz for everyone,” said Sara, and some irritation bled through into her voice.
“That’s okay, we wouldn’t want to slow you guys down,” said Rean. “We can go on out ahead as is.”
Alisa’s voice trebled in volume as her eyes flared wide. “Aidios! How are you two going from irresponsibility to irresponsibility!?”
“Wow, and I really thought Jusis and Machias was going to be the hiccup. Do I need to come down there and sort this out?”
“No, it’s fine, we’ll just escort them through to safety and then figure out where the Quartz went,” said Alisa. “It won’t be a problem.”
Rean laughed and scratched his head. “It’s not a problem, we still have our normal orbments anyway.”
A long moment of silence fell upon the assembled students and the distant Instructor. “They didn’t collect the old 4th gen orbments with the weapons!?” blurted Alisa, hands up in consternation. “Why!? Who out there is trusting you with that much power around people!? The whole elemental affinity system was a nightmare for any kind of regulation of dangerous Arts that we should have replaced years ago, and people just blunder into it!”
Emma could tell that the frustrated young woman was only just finding her stride and put her hands up placatingly, calling Alisa’s name, managing to get her to pause just in time for the Instructor to talk again.
“I suppose I sometimes forget that Towa being a detail person doesn’t always mesh well with my instructions. Alisa, give them their Master Quartz, I’m assuming you have them. I don’t know what happened between you two, but I promise you that if you’re uncomfortable with Emma or Rean having firepower at their fingertips for some reason, then a brand-new orbment - even if it is fifth generation - with a single quartz is going to be way behind a tricked out battle orbment.”
Alisa groaned and reached into her uniform coat pocket and produced the purloined quartz. Rean stepped forward and collected them with a friendly smile as though Alisa had been doing nothing but keeping the quartz company for them.
“Emma, Rean, I promise, you’ll love the move to fifth generation, getting rid of rainbow maths to figure out what Arts can be used and the lack of trade-off calcs makes it worth it alone.”
“Don’t worry Instructor,” said Rean. “It’s clearly a part of the curriculum, we’ll use it.”
“Great! In that case…”
Abruptly the connection was cut. There was a small wave of clacks, starting with Alisa, as the various orbments snapped shut again, and then a great crash. A moment later their new Instructor nonchalantly rose from a crouch behind them, as if there weren’t a spider-web of splintered stonework around her landing point.
“….then you won’t mind if I hold onto your old ones for you during the exercise?
The look on Rean’s face surely looked no less nonplussed than that on her own face, Emma felt. These orbments had followed them just about everywhere short of bathing, a constant peace of mind. Handing them over, even if for a new orbment, certainly upended that.
“If that’s what you want, Instructor,” said Rean, drawing the words out like pulling teeth.
“I do,” said Sara. The first to arrive in her hand was Rean’s. On what may have been a whim, or some sort of professional curiosity, she popped the clasp on the orbment and it flipped open to show the quartz within. Immediately she made a face, one that only got worse when Alisa leaned around her to inspect the layout. “Is that what I think it is?” asked Sara pointing to one of the quartz. A much deeper grimace crossed her face as she tapped another one. “That one is exactly what I think it is.” Under her breath she muttered, “I had to hide my copy around Claire.”
“Rean, do you...,” began Alisa before she reached up to rub at the bridge of her nose. “Are you familiar at all with the Quartz Control Act of 1197? The controlled quartz schedules?”
An artificially pleasant smile plastered itself over Rean’s face. “Everything in that orbment is above-board,” he said.
“So those quartz gems are all registered with the RMP?” asked Alisa, openly doubtful in her tone.
“He’s a noble,” threw in Jusis from the sidelines. “So they’re probably registered with the local Provincial Army.”
“Sort of,” said Rean, now more hesitant as he glanced at Emma. “It’s complicated, and some people might consider it a loophole, but they’re kinda registered in Ymir ... No one from the RMP or any Provincial Army has called me on it yet, so...” After a moment of trailing off he smiled and shrugged. Sara frowned but nodded, while Alisa pinched the bridge of her nose.
Emma hummed to herself a moment and then hesitatingly said, “Maybe you shouldn’t open my orbment.” Sara gave her a flat look, and Alisa one that could probably smelt Zemurian ore. “I’m not saying that it’s full of Schedule C and D quartz you might feel compelled to check the registration status of, and I’m not saying it’s not. But maybe it would be best for your spare time if you left it alone?” A certain hopeful note went through her words at the end.
“Registrations that can be reviewed in the Ymir Administrative buildings, possibly in the annex that caught fire last year,” said Rean, still in that tone of robotic repetition.
Emma stared at Sara, and Sara stared back. Sara sighed and said, “It’s part of my job, Emma, all weapons coming into Thors get checked. Do you promise to keep cool? Don’t look surprised, you flew off the handle at Fie this morning.”
Emma forced a smile, wan and sickly, but a smile nonetheless. “Instructor, that... ” She paused to breathe in a calming breath. “All that time wandering in the wild teaches sharp reflexes about sudden surprises.”
“Cool, but just in case, Fie!” Sara glanced over her shoulder and threw a hand-signal at Fie, whose gunblades spun out into her hands with a shimmering light as she bounded forth.
Emma’s smile was withering on the vine. “Really, Instructor,” she said, as if she hadn’t just had to clamp down on her immediate instinct to interdict the oncoming student.
“I saw that staff start to glow,” said Sara in a sing-song tone. When Emma didn’t say anything, Sara popped the cover and took one look, then immediately closed the cover again shaking her head. Alisa only had a moment, but whatever she saw left her with slack-jawed horror. Sara dropped both orbments into the pocket of her coat. “I don’t care what anyone says, I did not open that orbment, and I saw no quartz,” she said aloud before sighing and muttering such that Emma could barely hear, “Toby better watch out, competition is on the way up.”
Strain was clear in Emma’s chuckle. “I did say...”
Sara faced the rest of the class and cleared her throat. “Now that that is taken care of, where was I? Oh right! Alright, Class VII, you are on a floor with a labyrinth. As you no doubt heard, there are monsters inside who would like to meet you. Get by them through guile or force, and make your way to the end of the labyrinth and the way up. You’ll know you’re in the right spot because there’ll be a big old statue in a big room.” She looked around at the students. “Everyone understand?”
“This is absolutely insane,” said Machias in a drawn out groan.
“Great, well I’ll leave you to it!” declared Sara brightly. She turned to walk back to the ramp, though after a few steps she turned to look over her shoulder at Emma and Rean and said, “I can’t wait to see what your Arcus is going to look like by the end of the year. Just think, prototype orbments and quartz system, they’re probably not restricted yet!”
“I look forward to showing you,” said Emma, voice far too taut for truthfulness.
Fie popped up sitting on the stone altar behind Emma, who was happy she had been tracking her presence, and said, “If you guys have a line on the good stuff, bring me in on it. It sounds like I could do with some of these ‘schedule’ whatever quartz. Sara doesn’t hook me up with jack.”
Their instructor looked back with bemused eyes at Fie, then said, “You almost blew yourself up one too many times to not make you start from scratch, Fie. This one's on you.” She paused, grimaced, and added, “And me for not teaching you proper safety measures.”
Fie sighed. “Right, right...”
Sara snorted as she stepped up to the ramp and, in a display that left even her and Rean’s mouth ajar, launched herself back up the chute they had all slid down from in two bounds.
“Damn,” muttered Fie as she tracked Sara’s retreating form. “I’d need three jumps for that.”
-
From the corner of her eye Emma watched Rean lean down close. His voice was hushed as he asked, “So do we just go as a two-person party?”
Emma nodded. “I think that’s what Sara wanted,” she said. “Use your Eight Leaves senses and if we spot anything that looks too nasty...” She trailed off and turned in towards Rean with a bright smile. “Boom!”
Rean grinned back and nodded. “Boom. Yeah, anything that might be a show-stopper for the main group,” said Rean. He stopped and began to stretch while Emma just leaned on her staff and put some focus on the mana that flowed through her body, gathering it up and flushing it through her extremities. As they finished their preparations, however, they realised a confrontation had occurred near the entrance, with Machias and Jusis again butting heads and posturing about Jusis planning to galavant off by himself.
Together they turned to the bickering classmates and sighed. Emma raised her Orbal staff and then banged the butt-end of the stave into stony tile. A silvery ripple pulsed out through the cold blue floor raising hairs on the back of everyone’s necks. It was a trick much easier to accomplish with mana than coaxing Orbal waves like she had to use then but there was nothing quite like it for getting attention.
Rean walked out between them with his forearm resting on his sword. There was a touch of swagger in his step as he walked, something he never allowed himself whenever he was aware of it. Emma was glad to see it though, and smiled as she followed behind. She liked seeing that hard-won confidence, seeing that proof of her success in cutting through his old compulsion to tear himself down. That swagger was a personal victory - moreover, it looked hot.
“If you guys really want to do your own thing, that’s fine,” said Rean as he came to a halt, facing the entrance. His face and his voice were earnest, shoulders squared. “But you should be careful about going by yourself unless you’ve got monster-fighting experience specifically. They throw different challenges at you than the ones people pose.”
Jusis folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at Rean. “I don’t need to hear that from you,” he said. “I’ve been trained in my duties.”
Rean ducked his head a moment, but then turned his attention to the entrance. His free arm raised and he pointed off towards the right. “There’s a couple forks in the road, but all the routes eventually link back up,” he said. “If you’re sure you want to go solo, I’d suggest sticking to the right. There are a couple bad clusters on the left that need clearing out that would be too challenging.”
Machias scowled, his whole body hitched forward belligerently. “And how in Aidios’ name could you possibly know that?” he said, in every manner and tone a demand. “And who are you, anyway? Alisa doesn’t seem to trust the two of you, and the rest of us don’t know you at all.”
“Nah, he’s reliable.” Hearing Fie’s voice for the first time caught the class by surprise.
“Disciples of the Eight Leaves, One Blade school are able to perform feats such as this,” said Laura, who had also been largely quiet. “Like many of the techniques that hail from the east, it places a heavy focus on mastering one’s internal energy and perceiving the flows of energy without.”
“Thank you, Lady Laura,” said Rean.
She nodded back. “As I said, just Laura is fine.”
Machias stops just short of glaring at Laura, not quite bringing himself to look her in the eye. He grumbles out, “That sounds like fifty Mira pulp fiction.”
“He knew there were monsters under the school before the trap door even dropped, so I’d listen to him,” said Fie, and her eyes were fixed sharply on Rean as she spoke, searching.
There was a general clamour from the other students, but Rean just scratched at the back of his head, his calm and serious exterior mortally harmed, though masked with a chuckle. “Had to bring that up, did you?”
“Helping your cred out,” drawled Fie.
Emma felt her stomach turn sour. They were going to have to remember that risk in future. Was this something to do with jaeger training, she wondered to herself. Next to her, Rean drew out his sword and tapped into a little of what Emma recognised as the Third Form, as a ripple of azure flame outed across the killing edge of the tachi.
“It’s not magic, but what a trained martial artist can accomplish is sometimes confused as such,” he said, glancing at Machias, who spluttered in incoherent reply.
The stonework beneath their feet shuddered as an absolute beast of a weapon slammed point first into the floor and shimmered with a liquid sapphire glow. “Western Zemuria does not take a step back in that regard either,” said Laura, an almost child-like glee shining out from behind her pride.
Jusis snorted and drew his own rapier, which shone pale gold as it rose into a duellist’s salute.
Machias scowled at each of them in turn, though only very perfunctorily in the case of Laura, and glanced at the Orbal shotgun in his arms. Rean, following his gaze, said, “You carry an effective weapon, of course, and one that will grow with you. Just don’t write off the way of the sword just yet, okay?”
“Fine, then shouldn’t we all travel off to the right?” asked Machias. “That way we can keep the ladies safest as we escort them.” He glanced at Jusis. The young nobleman’s eyes widened for a moment before a bemused snort escaped him.
“Hey, what do you mean, ‘escort the ladies’?” snaps Alisa. She strode forward to stand in the middle of them all, and jabbed a finger into Machias’ chest. “No way, buster, do you know how long I’ve trained with this bow? Way too long to be treated like a damsel.”
Bemusement was clear on Laura’s face as she wondered aloud, “Did Saint Sandlot ever have to deal with treatment like this?”
“Not that I’m not sure you mean this in the noblest sense,” began Emma as she tilted her head as if trying to work through a quandry. “But shouldn’t you wait until you’re stronger than at least one of the girls here before you say that?”
Machias flushed and opened his mouth before he stopped and glanced around. “E-Even so, it’s our duty as men to-“
Laughter interrupted him, as Fie turned and walked for the entrance. “You guys can go have fun with your chivalry, I’ll see you all at the far end.”
With a variety of objections bouncing off the back of her aloof manner, she disappeared into the maze. A short sharp burst of gunfire followed, and a monster’s piercing squeal, a crunch, and then silence resumed.
“She’ll be fine,” said Rean. “Anything fast enough to catch her is weak enough she’d make short work of it. Now, Emma and I were going to head off as well. There’s a couple hairy looking patches on the left side, so we’ll try to cross over so you have some safety margin if you need.”
The relief on Alisa’s face was quickly schooled away, but Emma had to admit it stung just a little. A truly conflicted look came over Jusis by comparison, and Emma suspected she knew the reason why: he didn’t want to run into Rean without a party, or perhaps witnesses, by his side.
“Very well, Goddess-speed to the two of you,” said Jusis, before he turned to exchange a look with Alisa. “The rest of us will form a main body?”
“Sounds good to me,” said Alisa.
Emma felt Rean’s calloused hand slip into her own and draw her forward. They passed through the stone archway and into the hallowed Trial Grounds of Valimar, the Ashen Knight.