– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 214, Season of the Setting Moon, Day 49 –

“Lori, STOP!” yelled Jorg. “What in mana is going on with you today? This is a spar, not a wasted death match.”

“Tse.”

“Seriously! Stop bursting so much. Or do you not like your mana channels anymore? Is that it? If you want to destroy them, go get a pill. Don’t turn Terry and me into accessories.”

“Did anything happen today?” asked Terry. “You seem… upset.”

“No, I am not ‘upset.’ I am pissed. Why aren’t you two? Ma set us up!”

Jorg and Terry were struck dumb by the accusation.

“Even if she did, we walked right into it,” said Jorg. “We made a mistake and we failed. What is the point in getting angry at that?”

“Right,” agreed Terry. “We failed the mission. I don’t see what that has to do with Ma Isille.”

“If Ma had not been there, we would have passed. She made us fail.”

“Instructor Mirabilia also pointed out our mistakes,” objected Terry.

“She said it was ‘on the edge.’ It was Ma that pushed us off the cliff.”

“Instructor Mirabilia also said it was ‘messy’ and that does not sound like a pass to me. What is the point in passing an examination if we haven’t learned all that we were supposed to?”

“It is also possible that Instructor Mirabilia tried to give Ma some face by even considering letting us pass,” said Jorg.

“Hmph,” scoffed Florine. “It is also possible that Ma wanted to put us down from the start. Not only possible, but highly probable if you ask me. She wanted to teach us a lesson for getting uppity. It was payback for choosing dungeon work. Wasn’t dungeon work your idea, Jorg? So why aren’t you angry?”

Jorg furrowed his brow. “Well among other things, because I do not believe any of it.”

“Me neither, I’m pretty sure they planned for bounty hunting from the beginning,” said Terry. “We could ask Auntie Brynn in our next mana crafting lesson.”

“As if Aunt Brynn would tell us the truth. She probably was in on it just like she was in on their little family trip surprise during the dungeon work class.”

“That was Unca Samuel’s—”

“Whatever.”

“They wanted to see how we would deal with folk as our opponents,” said Jorg. “Make sure that we prepared to face a person and deal with them as needed.”

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” said Terry. “No matter what work you do, you may run into people looking to start a fight with you. Better to face folk now than to freeze up later.”

“Oh great, and for that valuable lesson we all had to burn up our contribution points? If they wanted us to kill the bandits, they could have just said so. Because of that stupid deal, I dragged Alrik and Elena into the class. Now, they have lost contribution points because of Ma’s petty vendetta.”

For a moment, everyone was silent.

“And speaking of freezing up, the only person who froze was that Calam!” Florine kicked the earth.

Terry did not know how to respond to that. He dropped his gaze and became pensive.

“And? That is not the only reason we failed the examination,” retorted Jorg. “They judged us as a team and we as a team made a mistake in letting the bandits live. Calam flinched, yes. But what else?

“Let’s see. How about the question why Terry’s group – including Calam – had to hurry over in the first place? Oh, right! That berserker went expectedly berserk. She pulled too far ahead and completely messed up the timing. She ignored everything, got in everyone’s way, and single-handedly destroyed our group coordination. She even lashed out against her own teammates for mana’s sake.

“Oh and as a finishing touch, we had Alrik acting the pest beetle the whole time. Him berating everyone in the group sure does wonders for our future team cohesion.”

“That’s hardly fair!” exclaimed Florine. “Elena was under the lingering effects of bursting with blood-aspected mana and…” Florine’s mind raced to find excuses. “And Alrik was upset at Ma screwing us over!”

“So?” retorted Jorg nonchalantly.

“What do you mean ‘so’? They can’t be blamed for that!”

“‘If you can’t blame people for their vices, then you can’t praise them for their virtues either.’” Terry muttered to himself. While he was lost in his thoughts, he recited the quote without being fully aware of it.

Jorg and Lori were both familiar with that particular quote. They had all read the Path of a Mage together. However, none of them had ever paid much attention to the line before.

“Bah! Get over yourself Terry!” scoffed Florine. “You’re not the Veilbinder! We are not talking about curse mages or cultists. Tse.”

Florine crossed her arms and shook her head angrily. Then, she began to pack up. “I’ve had enough for today. I am done.”

Terry was gazing into the distance and tried to sort out his thoughts.

Yes, I am not the Veilbinder. I am well aware of that.

“I don’t get it,” said Jorg. “Our failed examination was three days ago, but only today she started acting like…” He gestured wildly. “...this.”

For a while, Jorg looked after Florine in silence. Then, he turned back to Terry. “Continue our spar one on one?”

“…”

“Terry? Hel-lo? Anyone there?”

“Huh? Sorry. Uhm… There is something on my mind. Could we switch to physical exercise instead? I need some time to think and in a sparring session I can’t afford to be distracted.”

***

Calam arrived at the relaxation area of the training grounds. Terry and Siling were already sitting at a table.

There was some smalltalk, but Terry was too nervous to pay attention. Terry was pale, fidgety, and his stomach felt queasy. He was working up the nerve to speak his mind.

“Calam, I…” Terry clenched his teeth and swallowed. “I believe it would be better if you stopped doing mission work for a while. At least—”

“What? Why?” Calam was aghast. ”Is this because of me wanting to spare the bandits, because—”

“No! The failed mission was on all of us. If I had stood in your place…” Terry shook his head. “I would probably have made the same mistake. You are kind. That is one of your virtues. That is one of the reasons I like being friends with you.”

“Then why? Where is this coming from?”

“You flinched Calam,” replied Siling. “Froze up completely. Again.”

“Tse.” Calam averted his eyes.

“I talked to the Guardian advisors,” said Terry.

“What?! About me?!” Calam’s face became flushed. Terry was unable to tell if it was from anger, shame, or embarrassment.

“They offer something called freeze therapy for problems like yours.” Terry tried to force himself to look into Calam’s eyes and keep his own gaze steady, but without much success.

“I. Don’t. Have. A Problem,” snarled Calam.

“Yes. You. Do,” retorted Siling. “You freeze up whenever something unexpected happens. The dwarven instructor was right. When on a mission you are risking more than your own life.”

“And so are we if we ignore your problem,” added Terry.

“WHAT problem? I don’t get what the big deal is. Everyone was fine.”

“FINE?!” Siling snapped. “Just because you cannot see the injuries, it does not mean there aren’t any! I lost a soul spirit, Calam. My own soul has been injured. It may take a season for me to get back to normal. If a warrior was unable to use their arm properly for such a timespan, would you call that ‘fine’?!”

That stunned Calam into silence.

“Until this… issue has been resolved,” began Terry.

This earned him an eye roll and an angry intake of air from Calam.

“I do not believe it is a good idea for you to do the kinds of missions I would pick.”

“You’re not that much stronger than me!”

“That’s right!” Terry finally mustered the resolve to look Calam in the eyes. “That is precisely why. I am not strong enough. You need a bigger safety margin so that you can avoid unexpected danger. I am not strong enough to provide that during the missions I want to take. I…” Terry bit his lip. “I want to be prepared when I need it. I want to improve, Calam. For that, I need to challenge myself. Unexpected dangers are inevitable. I don’t have confidence…”

Terry considered his words.

“You need a safety margin to avoid… issues. I can’t provide that on these mission levels. If we do these kinds of missions, then one of these days your flinching may put one of us out of commission. Then, the other two will stand even less of a chance to come out unscathed. I am not strong enough. I need someone to whom I can trust my back. I—”

“I would have your back and you know that!”

“I know that you would want to.” Terry had a pained expression. “I trust your intentions, but… I can’t— I don’t trust your actions anymore. Not when you freeze up like that. I can’t cover for someone freezing up – for someone flinching on the regular. I don’t have the confidence to watch your back in these situations, and I can’t rely on you to have mine.”

Terry paused to take a deep breath.

“Calam, you are the first real friend I ever made outside of my family.”

“Some friend you turned out to be,” derided Calam.

Terry closed his eyes and tried to calm himself.

Siling remained silent. Her arms were crossed.

Terry opened his eyes again and watched Calam. “I would be happy to… To occasionally accompany you on suitable missions or to simply meet up.” Terry smiled bitterly at how unlikely this now seemed. “I… I hope we can stay friends, but I cannot do regular mission work with you until you have—”

“Tse.” Calam broke eye contact with Terry and moved his gaze to Siling. “What about you, Siling? You think the same as Terry?”

“No.” Siling kept her eyes on Calam.

Terry closed his eyes and sighed in resignation.

“Right now, Calam,” continued Siling. “I think you are a pus weasel.”

Terry opened his eyes and watched Siling. She was glaring furiously at Calam with.

“You have a wasted problem, Calam. But instead of addressing the problem and working through it, you try to downplay it and you attempt to deflect the blame. Not only are you recklessly risking your own life, you do the same for our lives. To top it off, you are trying to push all the responsibility onto us. So yeah, ‘Some friend you turned out to be.’ That is what I think.”

“Fine then,” spat Calam. “I’ll be out of your hair.” He stood up. “Good riddance.” He stormed off.

Now, Terry only felt empty. There was a moment of silence at their table.

“Maybe I—”

“No.” Siling cut Terry off. “If you had not brought up the topic, then I would have. Calam may not go completely berserk like that blood-aspected woman, but he is definitely not in control of his actions.”

After another pause, Siling continued. “Anyway, we need a new companion. Someone that is also looking to participate in the bounty hunting examination.”

“No retake before your soul has fully healed.”

“You sure? The other two groups seemed rather impatient. Particularly, that mage dwarf from your sister’s group.”

“Then Alrik will have to learn some patience. Lori will understand, I hope. Even if we did not wait for your recovery, we would still require time to practice coordinating with a new member.”

“Any ideas?”

Terry shrugged. “I don’t have the best track record when picking companions.” His eyes lost focus while speaking…

“Hey!” replied Siling in mock offense – a transparent attempt to lighten the mood. Terry appreciated it.

“Technically, you were picked by the Guardian advisors.”

“Yeah, but at least you knew how to take advice. Why don’t we try that again? Discuss with the advisors, I mean. Worst case scenario, it does not work out.”

***

“What do you mean, ‘a season’?” Florine hoped she had misheard. In her shock, she stopped eating mid-bite.

“It is true that it will take a while before another opportunity for a bounty hunting examination arrives,” remarked Isille.

“But not that long, right?”

“Not unless longer travel times are prohibitive.”

“Actually, I wasn’t thinking of when the mission would become available,” elaborated Terry. “Instead, I was thinking of when we would be ready.”

“You mean your group?” inquired Jorg. “Is it because of Siling’s soul?”

“Does she require healing supplements?” asked Bjorln. “Soul medicine is a bit tricky…”

“Siling prefers to let her soul recuperate without external interference. Apparently, this way the soul will come out stronger at the end. If she is lucky, she may develop a new soul spirit spot. For now, she will stick to regular spellwork without channeling through her soul.”

“Miguel will want to wait as well,” stated Jorg. “I think he has a bit of a crush on her, or at least on that grumpy spirit bird of hers. Anyway, that spirit and her life sense are really useful. It would be a pity to miss it during the retake.”

“But can’t she still use normal spells?” Florine felt unresigned. “Can’t we still do the retake even without her soul spirits?”

Terry shook his head. “Siling’s recovery is only one reason. We also need to look for a new teammate.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Terry.

“What happened to Calam?” asked Jorg.

“The bounty hunting examination was not the first time that Calam froze up completely.”

“Will he go into freeze therapy?” inquired Isille.

“Sadly, no. Siling and I tried to convince him that he needs it, but he refuses to acknowledge that he even has a problem…” Terry shrugged with lowered eyes. “And we refuse to work together with him like this.”

“Wastes Terry, is that how you treat your companions?” Florine looked appalled. “If they’re too weak, kick them out?”

“I do remember you having try-outs when looking for a group member,” retorted Jorg. “How is that different?”

Florine returned an offended glare. “Back then, those were still strangers! We weren’t companions.”

“You can’t run a completely imbalanced team,” remarked Isille. “A group can have specialized roles, but everyone should roughly be at the same level with respect to their role. In the end, you will have to align on missions and if the levels are too different, then what is appropriate for one would be boring or lethal for the other.”

“Well if you say so,” snarked Florine.

Isille clucked her tongue. “Imagine me teaming up with you.”

Florine grimaced.

“If we would take missions at your level, then either I would handle everything on my own or simply watch over you. That is not a group. That is an instruction class. By contrast, if we would take missions appropriate for my level, then we would pretty much be a suicide troop.”

Isille ignored the eye-roll of her daughter and turned to Terry. “But strength wasn’t really the determining factor, was it?”

“No. I simply have no idea how to pick a mission when…” Terry searched for the right words.

“Your companion may suddenly stop fighting altogether?”

Terry nodded.

“Mhmh, all the strength in the world is useless if it cannot be relied on.” Isille sighed. “I’ll have a chat with Guardian management. We should probably keep a shadow near his area of deployment. Calam seems like a nice kid. It would be a shame if he got himself killed due to his unresolved problem. At least, they should note the issue on his record so that he won’t get any missions without sufficient safety margins.”

“Honest Terry is at it again,” sneered Florine.

“My beloved daughter, you do realize that after every single one of your classes, the instructors and examiners will add notes to your record? Calam’s record already has two entries referring to a potential freeze problem. One by Instructor Khaled and one by myself. Terry has not told us anything we haven’t noticed before. He has merely further corroborated our own suspicions and this helps us to treat the issue with the appropriate priority.”

“Well, that makes it all okay then.” Florine spoke with sarcasm. “I’m sure Calam will be thrilled at being the focus of your literary works.”

“Better than Calam getting him or others killed,” retorted Terry. The conversation was starting to get to him.

“A season then,” said Jorg. “Should be fine from my side. I don’t believe Miguel or Gellath will have particular objections.”

Florine scowled.

***

Terry sat alone in the relaxation area within the training grounds. He was practicing his mana crafting on a metal rod. It was one of the metal rods that the twins and Terry had used during their initial experiments with the Immovable Object spell.

“That’s an odd shape for a worry stone.”

“Greetings, Siling.” Terry’s voice was dispirited. He had a gloomy expression.

“Maybe we should postpone the meetup with that Tiana? If you are not in the mood, we—”

“It’s fine.”

“You don’t sound fine. What’s up?”

“Calam turned his link off.” Terry shrugged. “Or erased it completely from his Guardian card. Who knows?”

“That little pus weasel.” Siling frowned. “Alright, that settles it. I will give him a week to regain some sense.”

“Huh?”

“I am planning out my spellwork curriculum. If Calam doesn’t start acting like decent folk in a week, then I will include force spells. Or at least the Kinetic Push. I am missing good defensive spells and that one has both defensive and offensive uses. It also pairs up nicely with your Immovable Object.”

Terry only nodded in response. “Do you believe Calam will change his mind?”

“Don’t know, can’t care. Time is too short. We’ll see what happens if and when it happens. Until then, there are plenty of other things to occupy our time. Like spellwork. Any suggestions?”

“I figure you already put the frontal Barrier on the list?”

Siling nodded.

“Liquify Earth. That spell is way too useful for a basic-level spell. Until recently, it was the bane of my fullout spars against Lori. Wastes, even now it is incredibly annoying. The spell might have some synergy with your Entangling Roots, too.

“Lori’s Raise Wall might be a useful defensive addition as well. In contrast to the barrier, it can be raised at a distance. Additionally, it will stay in place without requiring continuous mana infusion.”

“Mhmh.” Siling considered the suggestion. “On the one hand, it can be raised where it is needed. On the other hand, I can’t take it with me in case I have to move. Earth or stone blocks differently from a mana barrier, too. Hmm…”

“Nassim had a light-aspected Camouflage spell that seemed quite handy. Could help you avoid trouble and may pair up nicely with your life sense and bird eyes.”

“Perhaps, but generally, I would not want to scout ahead in person. It probably can’t fool mana or life sense, either. I would rather stay in the back and use the mana for defense or movement. Although… Hm, I will put it down as a maybe. Depends on how long it would take to learn as well as its mana upkeep.”

“For movement, there would be Haste—”

“Wait a second, that is an expert-level spell.” Siling looked incredulously at Terry. “You know, sometimes I forget that you were an Academy mage.”

“Technically, I never made it to mage status while at the Academy. I only learned a spell after my expulsion.”

“That may be, but still.” Siling gave a wry smile. “Your sense of normal is way off. Like really.”

“My bad.”

“No worries, but stick to advanced level spe— What happened?”

Terry suddenly jerked and looked away from Siling and to the metal rod in his hand.

“I…” Terry inspected the metal rod thoroughly. “I think I have finished my first mana-crafted item.”

Terry injected mana into the rod. The imprint activated and afterwards the metal rod was transfixed in the air.

“The imprint is fuzzy as a cloud badger, though.” Terry laughed happily. “Uhh, sorry for that. Only spells up to advanced level?”

“Don’t sorry me. Gimme. Let me see.”

Siling checked and activated the imprinted metal rod herself. “Huh, it really is as fuzzy as a cloud badger.”

She handed the rod back to Terry and beamed at him. “Congratulations! So when can I order an imprinted shield? I am hoping for a companion’s discount.”

Terry smiled back at her. “Once I can manage to defuzz my imprinting, I will be happy to give you a friend’s discount. As for spells…

”I am not sure. Depends if you want to emphasize acting as a healer, support, or opportunist. With the spells so far, you could have a great opportunist combination when adding Rock Spear or Raise Icicles.”

“You mean with Kinetic Push?”

Terry nodded. “As well as with Entangling Roots and Liquify Earth.”

“Hm… Not much use against armored opponents, but then I could at least delay. Rock Spear allows propelling the spears forward, too, right?”

“Yes. Raise Icicles does not, but it’s usually quicker. Additionally, Rock Spear requires you to stand on earth or rock.”

“Yeah, okay, but that is pretty much always the case.”

“You mean aside from hunting bloody frogmouth?”

”Meh, the net worked better anyway. I will make a note of it and check details for both of them. There probably isn’t enough time for both. I still have my eye on an advanced spell.”

“Which one?”

“Resummon Spirit.”

“That sounds like a soul spell?” Terry became concerned.

“Don’t worry, I won’t do any soul channeling before my soul has healed. However, I can already start to practice the shaping and priming.”

“Mhmh, so what does it do?”

“Resummon my soul spirit right in front of me. If Grumpy takes a long flight, it can save the return trip.”

“And if you run into trouble, you can get immediate assistance from a combat soul. Sounds great.”

Terry pondered for a moment. “Maybe I should go item shopping as well…”

***

“Greetings. Are you Terry and Siling?”

Terry turned around. His mind grinded to a halt when it had to process what he was seeing.

In his family, Terry was used to turning towards a voice and seeing nothing but empty air at first, or perhaps a few traces of hair at the lower edges of his peripheral vision. When Brynn and Samuel were visiting, Terry got to see faces. However, this sight in front him now was new.

“Waow.” Siling stood open mouthed. “Those arms are already making me feel safe. Greetings, Tiana. I’m Siling. The silent human is Terry. Normally, he communicates through talking, but right now he seems to try and make do with blinking.”

Eventually, Terry realized that he was looking at an armor plate. He looked up and finally discovered a human face. Half of the head was trimmed very short. The other half held longer hair that was kept away from the face with a silver hairpin. That hairpin looked awfully delicate and somewhat out of sync with the rest of her appearance.

“Greetings, Tiana. Apologies for spacing out. Seriously, though. Impressive physique. What kind of training regimen do you have? Can I join?”

Not only was Tiana very tall, she absolutely radiated strength. Thanks to Bjorln insisting on physical exercise, Terry was far from a twig himself and looked the part of a physical fighter. However, Tiana was something else entirely. Terry thought to himself that even Bjorln would be impressed by her muscular stature.

“Pardon, Terry?” interjected Siling. ”Maybe we should first wrap up the whole teaming up thing before you start nerding out on exercise?”

“Right, fair point.”

“Here, my Guardian card,” offered Tiana. “I would like to inspect yours as well.”

“O-kay?” Siling received Tiana’s card first. Afterwards, she and Terry fingered for their cards and presented them to Tiana.

Terry whistled sharply when looking through the mission record.

“You failed the bounty hunting examination,” noted Tiana. “Why?”

“We made mistakes,” replied Terry. “Our group coordination could have been better and in the end we were too soft on the targets. It led to one messy situation too many. We managed to deal with it, but things could have gotten ugly.”

“The companion that left, were they the leader who made the call?”

“The what?” asked Siling.

“Leader. The one who made the plan.”

“Normally, we develop plans together,” explained Terry.

“Uh-huh, color me skeptical,” remarked Tiana.

Siling narrowed her eyes. “Well, one of the allied groups definitely had a leader.” She continued in a murmur. “He also picked pus weasel as a secondary occupation.”

“However, our group did not have that little dictator type before,” finished Siling in a louder voice. Tiana’s expression darkened at this last statement.

“Anyway, the split of the group had nothing to do with the mission failure,” stated Terry. Tiana seemed unconvinced.

“You have completed a lot of missions,” said Terry. ”All successful, too.”

“Yeah, but also a lot of group hopping,” said Siling. “What gives?”

Tiana straightened her back and intentionally maintained eye contact. “They could not handle me being better than them.”

Blink. Blink. Siling raised her eyebrows. “Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“All seven groups of them?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Well, ‘color me skeptical.’”

“You got a problem? I am merely giving you my honest answer. Or are you calling me a liar?”

“What do you mean when you say they could not handle you being better than them?” interjected Terry.

“I mean that I propose a good plan and they reject it. They drag me into a stupid plan and in the end, I am the one who has to step up in order to salvage the mission. Then, when I dare to remind them that this could have been avoided, they throw a fit. Repeat.”

Tiana was looking at Terry with an odd mixture between staring and glaring – not quite angry, but somehow preparing for confrontation.

“So… You left?”

“No.”

“…”

“No, I have never left a group of my own account.” Tiana’s voice was getting louder. Her tone oozed frustration. “They left me. Decided that I was not a ‘good fit.’ Told me to look for another group.”

“Even though you were the one that salvaged the missions?” questioned Siling.

“Yes.”

“All seven groups of them?”

“Yes, all seven groups,” growled Tiana with a scowl.

“Alright,” exclaimed Terry. “While I have pretty good mana sense and control, I am mostly a mana cultivator. Due to an aspect impairment, I can only cast a single spell on my own. I am still trying to figure out new uses for the spell, but its most obvious use is in defense. Siling covers the healing.”

“Mage proper at your service,” announced Siling.

Tiana displayed a hint of surprise. “I-I’m a pure mana cultivator. I have a control impairment, but my internal mana control is unaffected.”

Terry made a quizzical expression. “I haven’t heard about that condition before. Does it mean trouble with external mana control?”

“I wish it was only ‘trouble.’ The most I can do with mana outside my body is activate the imprint in mana-crafted items.”

“Maybe Terry can imprint a shield for you. I have first dibs though,” said Siling. She struggled with herself for a moment. “Uhm, I also specialize as a spirit mage. I bind the souls of magical creatures and then summon them as support in combat.”

Tiana’s eyebrows twitched slightly, but she remained silent.

“The flying soul spirits are incredibly useful during hunts,” praised Terry. “Siling can also use the pure mana abilities of the bound souls. Thanks to her bloody frogmouth soul, she can even use life sense. However, in the bounty hunting mission…” Terry looked to Siling.

“Right, one of my soul spirits died and my soul needs time to recover. It may take up to a season before I can safely use my soul spirits again. I prefer not to rely on medicine for recovery.”

“We want to wait with retaking the bounty hunting examination until after Siling has recuperated. Is that a problem?”

Tiana considered the question before shaking her head. “No, that’s not a problem.”

“Meet up on the training grounds tomorrow?” suggested Terry.

“Okay.”

They continued to chat for a bit, but shortly afterwards Tiana left. Apparently, she was not very interested in smalltalk.

“Well, then. She seemed—” started Terry.

“Almost as big as the chip on her shoulder?” offered Siling.

“…”

“…”

“I was about to say competent according to her mission record, but yeah. That, too. Anyway, no point in second-guessing. We will see for ourselves soon enough.”

“Her mission record was impressive alright.”

***