It took us nearly a half-hour to get back to the clearing, slowed down by my exaggerated limp. I was unsure if Leon bought my claim of being lucky, but there was nothing to be lost in keeping up the charade. When we reached our meeting place, the others all turned to us, evidently surprised at our delay.

"Where were you two?" Sophia asked sharply, crossing her arms and glaring at her brother and me.

I noticed Leon rubbing his neck, possibly from shame, and I took the initiative to step forward, bowing my head to Sophia.

"My apologies, my lady. It was my fault entirely. We encountered several hostile constructs on the way back, and we were forced to fight back. We disabled them, but they injured my knee during the battle, which slowed us down. If it was not for me, we would have been back much sooner."

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked, taking a step closer and glancing down at my leg.

I nodded, replying, "I should be fine. I might need your help wrapping it, just in case."

Leon stepped forward, placing a hand on my shoulder and shook his head.

"Vayne, it was not your fault. I am the leader of our team, and it was my decision to split us up. We got lucky, and those constructs were not a major threat, but if we encountered more than just two, it could have ended badly. I made a mistake, not you."

Sophia snorted, shaking her head and replying, "Did you bring back one of these spiders? I'd like to see what we have to worry about now. Who knows how many of them might be crawling around."

I nodded before saying, "I did bring back one, but I believe I should set up our shelter first. Please, give me a few minutes, my lady."

The spell I had found was called Portable Sanctuary, a simple but effective dome-shaped shelter that blocked weather, extreme temperatures, sounds, and intruders from entering. It was even capable of blending into the surroundings through some sort of light-bending effect.

Of course, it also required an exponentially increasing amount of mana, based upon how much space it enclosed. I worked with Simon to develop a method of lessening the costs by directing the spell into runes to maximize efficiency. Walking around the clearing, I took out my dagger and carefully dug runic markings into the dirt, one after another.

Standing up and wiping off my pants of dirt, I took one more loop, nodding at my craftsmanship. It should be satisfactory. Returning to the middle of the clearing, I closed my eyes and pulled on my mana, funneling it into my hands as I spoke the incantation. Kneeling back onto the ground, I placed both palms flat onto the grass and directed the energy into the runic circle, feeling the effect snap into place.

A moment later, a translucent green dome of mana popped into existence, shimmering faintly above our heads. Immediately, any sound outside the perimeter disappeared, and the air felt noticeably warmer. After a second, I felt a substantial drain of mana and briefly wobbled on my feet. I estimated it was around a fifth of my full power, more than I had ever used at once.

"My lords, our shelter is in place. I put enough mana into it to last approximately eight hours, long enough for us to rest and make a plan." I said, bowing my head to the others. I made sure to exhale loudly from my nose several times, trying to mimic sounding nearly out of mana.

Leon turned to me with a smile, but Sophia cut him off, asking, "Excellent. Now, the spider, please.

I nodded, slinging my pack off my back and opening it before gingerly pulling out the construct. Almost as soon as it touched the ground, Simon leaped forward with a wide-eyed look on his face.

"Wow! This is way more advanced than anything I've seen before. I think this might be something from the Wandering Cities. From what I've heard, they use machines like this that run on mana for labor and military applications."

Amelia frowned, saying, "Why would they use machines like this, instead of just normal beasts? And how did they develop these, if the technology is from the Tinkerers?"

"Living creatures are unpredictable. It is nearly impossible to properly control and direct wild animals. As for the second question, unfortunately, I have no idea. In past years, they usually used constructs of wood, stone, or rock, animated with magic. Why would they change to machines like this?" I wondered aloud, kneeling by the spider.

Simon spoke up, answering, "My father mentioned before that we have captured some of their technology over the centuries. They're careful to not leave behind much, but mistakes happen. Maybe these spiders are something they managed to create by researching their constructs?"

"They might be worried about resuming hostilities with the Tinkerers. It would make sense that they would set us against these sorts of machines to get used to fighting against them." Leon suggested, rubbing his chin.

"Possibly. I suggest we put any questions like that out of our minds, for now at least. It is pointless to wonder, and it will only distract us from more important concerns." I advised.

Leon glanced at me before nodding several times.

"Agreed. Let's get our food and water cleaned and prepared, and take stock of how much we have. After that, I want you to try and take that thing apart and see how it runs, Vayne. If we face off against more of them, I want to know exactly where to hit to make them hurt."

Several hours later, we had cleaned and washed berries, mushrooms, and roots ready to eat. Simon had cleansed the water using his magic, and we each had a full canteen, which should last us around a day. After a small meal, we each split up to take care of our own preparations. Leon was checking his bow and arrows over, Sophia practicing her mana control, Amelia running through drills, and Simon reading a book on alchemic reagents' distillations.

This left me alone on the clearing edge, with the mechanical spider splayed out before me and my right leg tightly wrapped in bandages around my knee. I lacked any proper tools to take apart the machine, and I was entirely uneducated on mechanics, so the process mostly involved me using a dagger to peel back metal plates. Over an hour passed before I finally had a clear view of the torso compartment, which presented its own challenge.

The most advanced piece of technology I ever saw before now was the inside of a clock in the Estton's home. It had fallen off the wall one night, smashing onto the ground and spilling out dozens of tiny gears. By comparison, this spider made it look about as advanced as a sharpened rock tied to a stick's end.

Dozens of tiny cords of metal ran through the torso, connecting to gears that fit into legs. I noticed several large mana crystals, which I assumed must power the entire construct, though it was unclear how it did this. I began digging into the workings, pulling out pieces slowly, removing the loosest parts first, and slowly clearing out the interior cavity. As I worked, I noticed a brown-black fluid now covered my hands. It must be a lubricant coating applied to the internal gears, similar to the carriage wheels' oil.

Tournament rules dictated that I could only use a certain number of magic items, and Amelia's ring was a luxury, not a necessity. I had never bothered to learn spells to clean myself, and as I raised my hand to my nose and inhaled, I winced and wished I could change my mind on that particular choice.

Wiping my hands onto the dirt, I both heard and sensed someone walking up behind me. My body reacted almost without thinking, my hand gripping my dagger firmly as I tensed my muscles. After a moment, I recognized the quiet, faltering steps and the cool, water aspect mana and let myself relax.

"Wow, that thing looks crazy," Simon muttered, leaning down and examining the machine over my shoulder. I chuckled, laying my dagger back onto the ground and hoping Simon had not noticed how tense I had been as he approached. It was becoming almost impossible to fully control my body, with my reflexes and senses growing sharper by the day.

Simon sat down next to me, leaning closer towards the machine and pointing towards one part of the cavity inside.

"Would you like to help me? I am sure you would know more about this than me, and you might be able to advise me." I said, turning to smile at him.

Simon chuckled, shaking his head and replying, "Unfortunately, I doubt it. Most of what I know is from my father, and he despises the technology the Wandering Cities employ. He's fond of saying they're unnatural and lack the beauty and efficiency of magic."

I half agreed with his father's sentiment, though for different reasons than Simon indicated. Technology like this would surely be useful for menial tasks, but ultimately it was a crutch. If you cannot defeat your opponent or solve a problem, having something else do it for you was more of a liability than anything else.

"What's that?" Simon asked suddenly, pointing into the spider's torso. I raised an eyebrow, leaning in closer to examine where he was indicating and noticing what looked to be a small patch on the bottom of the cavity, slightly darker than the surrounding brown metal.

"I am not sure..." I said, trailing off as I created a mote of green mana at the tip of one finger. Moving it into the torso, the bright glow revealed a tiny black box, roughly two inches across, seated into the metal. Strangely, it did not look to be connected to anything else in the machine, and I could sense no mana coming off of it.

I dismissed the mana and grabbed the box with my hand, pulling at it gently. When it did not immediately release, I increased my strength until it eventually popped free from its mounting. Holding it in my fingers, I turned it over several times, noting that it felt heavy, likely made of iron or a similar metal. On the side, I noticed a small seam in the container, as if it could be opened.

After a minute, I handed it to Simon with a shrug, saying, "I cannot find anything interesting about it. Maybe you will have more luck than me."

Simon took longer than I would like to spot the seam, but I could tell he did when he gasped loudly. Looking at me, he gestured for me to hand him my dagger, which I did with a suitably raised eyebrow and curious tilt of the head.

Adjusting his grip several times, and settling on an awkward, unnatural one, Simon slipped the edge into the seam and began wiggling the blade. I watched him work from a few feet away, repressing a cringe, and wondered if his healing magic could reattach a severed finger.

After a minute of grunts, slips, and close-calls with the blade, the box popped open, separating into two sections and revealing a small, folded piece of parchment. Grinning broadly, Simon dropped my dagger onto the ground and grabbed the paper, opening it up and holding it close to his eyes.

"I...I think this might be a drawing of some kind! What do you think, Vayne?" Simon asked, handing it to me.

I looked at it, noting that it did indeed look like a drawing, but a strange one. There were several hard, curving lines made in black ink, but I could not make any sense of it. The markings ended sharply against the edge of the paper as if the picture was incomplete. And in the corner of the parchment, several small triangles almost looked like stylized trees. Why would the masters leave some sort of art hidden in the bodies of these spider constructs?

Suddenly, I felt a flash of understanding and stood sharply before slapping Simon hard on the shoulder with a smile.

"Simon, I think you might have just found us a way out of here."