387 days until the Arkon Shield falls

1 day to Earth’s destruction

1 day until the Warren is destroyed

Lost deep in thought, I made my way back to my tent. Greg’s words kept playing over in my mind. The situation back on Earth, which I had forgotten about over the last few days, felt altogether too real after talking to the family.

How would Greg’s family—and others like his—survive on Overworld?

The Trials did not consider Claire a full player which meant she couldn’t enter a temple or level up. It was a cruel handicap. The poor girl could still be killed or hurt, but at the same time she was barred from the benefits players received. Benefits that helped them survive.

Children would have to be sheltered on this world, I realised. Even more so than on Earth. But how would we do that, when most human adults couldn’t even protect themselves yet?

Unbeckoned, the commander’s words whispered through my mind: ‘their future will be in the hands of people like you, Jamie.’ If I joined the Outpost, I could see to it that families like Greg’s were kept safe.

No, I thought refusing the possibility. I can’t stay.

There had to be thousands of other human children scattered all over the Human Dominion by now. All of them were in as much danger as little Claire.

I had to try and help them all.

I reached my tent and ducked inside. Sitting down cross-legged on my pallet, I pulled the last remaining sapling over my knees and considered it.

The only way I knew to help Claire and all the other Earth refugees was to get stronger. With grim determination, I got back to work.

For a time, my mind refused to focus, but eventually the troubles of Greg’s family, the Outpost, and Earth faded from conscious, and I concentrated on the task at hand.

My increased skill in the lore Discipline had furthered my understanding of the Trials and the underlying principles of Overworld. I knew now that not only was all magic different, but that most living things considered foreign magic—in its raw form—to be hostile.

Depending on the complexity of the entity, lifeforms reacted differently when faced with the threat of foreign magic. A person like Tara would instinctively shrug off an attempt to channel magic through her. But the spirit weave of a simpler organism—like the sapling I held in my hands—was not robust enough to fight off invasive magic, so instead it died.

To prevent such an instinctive response, I had to encourage the living wood to align itself with my magic. I had been on the right track earlier, but I had just gone about it wrong.

Opening my magesight, I delved into the five-foot-long oak on my knees. I studied it intently until I knew its every knot, gnarl, and grain. When I was certain I understood the sapling as fully as I could, I began to attune its nature to mine, carefully introducing my magic’s velvet swirls of cobalt blue.

Inch by inch, the living cells in the sapling tasted the droplets of my mana and reformed, sip by sip. The grains of oak kept shifting, until eventually they aligned perfectly with the channels in my own body.

I knew the exact moment it happened. Because when it did, the sapling transformed from a thing apart, into a living extension of myself, and as much a vessel of my magic and will as the rest of my body.

You have discovered: basic attunement, a Technique from the Discipline of: lore. Basic attunement is an ability that creates a bond between a Focus and a magic wielder, allowing the mage to cast spells through the attuned Focus. Its casting time is: very slow and its rank is: common.

You have created an oak wizard’s staff. This Focus has: no special properties, can only be used by: Jameson Sinclair, and has: a basic level of attunement.

I stared in amazement at the staff in my hands. The attunement had transformed it. Its previously gnarled, soft, slightly pliable texture was gone. Now it was a smooth, unvarnished length of wood that was as hard and unyielding as steel. Its colour had changed too. The oak’s natural brown had darkened to a near-uniform black.

Closing my eyes, I realised I could sense the staff’s presence as much as I could any of my limbs. Tentatively, I raised the staff off my knees and held it horizontally aloft.

Then I cast flare.

Dragonfire flowed out from my hands, and rippled down the Focus, wreathing its entire length in flames. But the dragonfire did not damage the staff.

Yes! I exulted. Now this is a proper mage’s weapon. I rose to my feet and made my way to the training grounds. It was time to improve my skill in the staff Discipline.

✽✽✽

The training grounds was crowded.

There were a lot more men and women filling the large space today than on my previous visits. Did that mean the settlement’s fighting force had grown?

I strolled through the sparring warriors until I spotted a familiar face. “John!” I called to the big man, who was shouting out instruction to two youths. Judging by their poor forms, they had to be day-zero fishes.

John turned, a welcoming smile on his face. “Jamie, how are you?” His eyes roved over my hairless features. “I heard about your escapade in the woods. Looks like it was some fight.”

“You wouldn’t believe the half of it,” I said with a laugh. “I tell you, at times I found myself wishing I was facing the spider queen instead.”

“That bad, eh?” John said sympathetically.

I nodded. “I meant to come by the river earlier. Did the murluks show up today?”

John shook his head. “Nope, no sign of them at all. I reckon you scared them off for good. Good riddance, I say.” John’s eyes drifted to the black staff in my hands. “So what are you doing here, Jamie?” He gestured to the staff. “And what is that?”

“My wizard’s staff,” I said with a grin.

“A wizard’s staff?” John asked, tugging on his beard. “What’s that?”

“You’ll see,” I promised. “Care to spar? I need to train up my staff skills.” I glanced at the youths he was training. “Or are you busy?”

John shook his head. “Don’t worry about those two. One of the other instructors will see to them.” He ushered me to a nearby sparring circle. “Alright, let’s go. But don’t cry too badly when I beat you.” He grinned broadly. “I won’t go as easy on you as Tara did.”

✽✽✽

John did beat me. Repeatedly.

But I kept at it, all through lunch and most of the afternoon. I didn’t stop, not until my staff skill reached Trainee rank. Training the staff Discipline took many more hours than my magic Disciplines, but as the sun began to set and I limped back to the camp, I was satisfied with the progress I had made.

I twirled the staff in my hand as I walked. Even though my wizard staff lacked the sharpened end and longer reach of John’s spear, the black rod had held up well against the bigger man’s weapon. The staff packed a much heftier blow, and the few times I had managed to land a hit on John, I could tell he had felt it.

John had gotten in more than his fair share of blows, of course. But despite the big man’s friendly threats, he had not beaten me nearly as severely as Tara had in that memorable sparring session. And, I reminded myself, our sparring would have gone very differently if I’d used my magic.

On the way back to my tent, I stopped by the temple and increased my skill in the staff Discipline to level twenty. Given how much a part of me the staff felt, it would be my weapon of choice from now on.

When I reached my tent, I sat outside in the cool night air. There was only one more task I had to accomplish for the day: spellcrafting the pair of spells I wanted.

The next hour passed in a blur as I experimented with air magic spellforms. There was one particular spell I had in mind. It took a bit longer to create than I’d expected, but eventually after repeatedly pouring mana in my eyes, the magic was able to do more than fizzle out.

You have spellcrafted a: caster-only spell, from the Discipline of: air magic. The name assigned to this spell is: night vision. Its casting time is: average and its rank is: common.

I blinked, staring at the sleeping camp with new eyes. The night around me had transformed. Its darkened shadows had disappeared, and in their stead, the world around me shone with the same startling clarity as when lit by a noonday sun.

I smiled. Now I could see as well in the dark as any night-time predator.

Next, I turned my attention to my earth magic. Juggling spellforms in my mind, I willed the ground beneath me to transform, and in short order, it did just that.

You have spellcrafted a: touch-based disabling spell, from the Discipline of: earth magic. The name assigned to this spell is: sinking mud. Its casting time is: fast and its rank is: common.

I stared down at my body in surprise. I was buried hip deep in mud. The spell had mutated a nine-yard long cone of ground from solid, hardpacked earth to clinging, sticky mud, with me at its centre.

It had perhaps not been the wisest choice to attempt the spell on the ground directly beneath me. I chuckled nevertheless. Not even being trapped—in mud of my own devising, no less—was enough to spoil my mood.

It has been a fruitful day all around, I thought. I had significantly expanded my repertoire of both Disciplines and spells, and now I was better equipped to face whatever challenges the Trials threw my way.

Still chuckling, I dragged myself out of the mud and into my tent. I looked forward to whatever the new day brought.