“To make things fair, this is my dojo, so you’re gonna use a spear.” Mary tosses me the spear she was using before I gave her the one I made.

It’s a basic, high quality steel spear from the Construct Shop. Giving it a twirl in my hand, I try to get a feel for the balance of it. It’s very different from using an anchor, so all my stances Ilmarinen taught me don’t feel fitting for wielding it.

“Sounds fair to me, I’m pretty sure I’m a lot higher leveled than you. I’ll make sure to control my Strength. What are the rules for the spar?”

“First to a would-be fatal hit wins. Oh, and no Skills from you.” She moves to stand on one side of the dojo.

“That’s fair.” Walking to stand across from Mary on the dojo floor, I level the spear at her. A nervous Colt gives us the signal and we begin.

Keeping my stats in check with Tempered Strike, I dash in at a slower speed than I would usually. Mary sprints forward, a flurry of rapid strikes coming out. ‘She already figured out the ocelite, huh?’

With not much I can do to slow my own reaction speed, I shift my spear and redirect her jabs around me. She frowns and redoubles her efforts, the strikes seeming to hone in on me now.

Knocking one of her strikes up with more force, I open her guard and swing back down. She ducks under the spear swing, bringing her spear in a sweep at my feet. Hopping over that, I swing downward once more.

“Spear Parry.” She blocks the strike easily, angling her spear diagonally to disperse my force. The force empties quicker than I would have thought possible and she strikes back with blinding speed.

Bringing my elbow down in time, I knock her stab to the floor, redirecting the force. Attempting to jab at her, she dodges easily with small movements of her body. ‘Damn, she’s really been practicing. Or is it a Perk? Skill?’

She strikes again with a flurry of jabs, forcing me on the defensive. She scores a single small scratch on my arm before I knock the spear out of her hand with a heavy hit. Swinging at her once more, she bends backward, dodging just barely and her spear flies back into her hand.

Letting just a tiny bit more Strength leak through, I up my speed and unleash my own series of strikes at her. She notices the increased force and grits her teeth. “Sweeping Edge!”

Her spear tip glows as she swings it into one of my stabs, knocking it out of my hands. She stabs at me but I ballast my weight and dodge at odd, unexpected angles and roll to grab my spear.

Bringing it back up, I block another of her strikes and jab out at her once more. She shifts her grip and knocks my strike upward and springs back to stab at me.

Having expected her block, I sweep my foot behind her leg, tripping her up. Bringing my spear down at her, I feel a sharp poke in my back.

“Gotcha.” She smiles at me.

“Same.”

Standing over her, I have my spear pointed at her heart while she has her spear pointing at mine from behind. She notes my spear and nods before standing up with my offered hand.

Colt breathes a sigh of relief, earning a raised eyebrow from his mom before she turns back to me.

“Lucas, your spear skill is piss poor. You swing a stabbing weapon like it’s your anchor. You’re fast though, just how much of your Strength do you think you were using there?”

“Uh, maybe a little less than half? I’m still getting used to this Perk so it’s hard to tell. How were you dodging so easily? Towards the end, I thought my speed would be too much for you to keep up with. I admittedly got a little competitive.” Feeling myself blush slightly, I stand a little straighter and clear my throat.

“It’s one of my spearwoman Perks, Spearwoman’s Intuition. It gives me a bit of an idea where your next strike is going to land by reading your body movements. If you went full speed there’s no way I could have dodged you though.”

“Damn, that sounds like a useful Perk. Does it work on monsters?”

“A bit, but they’re so different from us I’m not as used to it. Your spearwork is sloppy though, so you were full of tells.” She gets back into a stance.

“You want to position your feet like this and your arms this way. It’ll increase your reach and put more power behind your strikes. Spread out your grip a little too. You’re thinking with an anchor user mindset too. With a spear, you need to find the target and push right through it.”

Following her lead, I shift my hand position and attempt to mimic her stance. Taking a few practice stabs at the air, I use my full force. There are some gasps at the speed I achieve.

Congratulations, Lucas Creo! Due to learning the ways of the spear, you have obtained the Talent: Fledgling Spearman (1/50)! As a bonus for gaining the Talent, applicable stat points have been applied to Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, and Willpower.

“That’s much better. You’re used to using such a heavy weapon, so your stance was too grounded for something as free-form as a spear.” She takes a few stabs of her own, shifting from position to position quite easily.

“Yeah, I get what you mean now. I just got the Fledgling Spearman Talent!” Puffing my chest out in pride, Mary looks happy.

“Maybe I’ll have to train with you again sometime then. For now, I need to work on getting these ladies in shape, so you two should head home.” She walks up to Colt, hugs him, and gives him a kiss on the cheek, making him complain.

“Mooooom.”

“Don’t mom me, I’m allowed to love my son.”

He looks over at me, aggrieved. I grin back at him, making him frown at me.

“Thanks for showing me everything, Mary! Oh, and here’s your spear back.” Going to hand it to her, she pushes it back to me.

“Keep it and practice sometime. I have a much nicer spear now.” She smiles before herding Colt and me out of the room and closing the door.

“Your mom is great.”

“Yeah. She is.” He smiles.

Walking home, we head up to bed, not exactly exhausted but tired enough.

Opening my eyes, I find myself in the same recurring nightmare with Brandon that I’ve been having. Following the typical sequence, we have a fight over morals and my own weaknesses.

During this fight, however, I recall what Mary told me about finding your target and pushing right through it. A small realization comes to me upon remembering that line.

“Even if everything you’ve said is true, Brandon, I’m trying my best in the aftermath. And…”

Looking at him, I use my force of will and push. The image of Brandon dissolves, leaving a strange glowing mass of runes floating in front of me.

“Restruct.”

Hello, Lucas Creo.

“Why are you here? Get the hell out of my head!” Pushing with my will more, Restruct slides backward before a force pushes back against me.

Submit to me.

A small headache begins to form and I push even harder. “Why do you even want me so badly? Why me? I pushed you away before and now you’re back!”

Your Fate is grand in scale. I must have it.

The force of the push against me increases in pressure. Getting angry now, I push back again. “You say it like it’s a thing, what is my Fate?”

The scene of the dream shifts and I’m floating above a giant, golden ball. It has many black geometric lines running through it and various empty sections of the ball split off small pieces, which move to different parts, locking into place again. New pieces float over and attach while others float off into the distance, an everchanging form.

This is your Fate, Lucas Creo.

The scale makes my head spin, I imagine it’s like trying to take in an entire planet from space at once. The force against me pushes harder in this moment of distraction. ‘Wait, I’m thinking too much like an anchorist again. I’m pushing against the problem, not through it.’

Looking at the mass of swirling and shifting multicolor runes, I will myself toward it at high speed. “My Fate is pretty grand then, huh? Well, what if I…”

Reaching out mentally to the giant Fate, it responds. A golden aura like my Mantle of the Hero bursts forth around me, sourcing from the glowing geometric ball. The pressure on me lessens considerably.

Shifting the golden aura around me into a spearhead, I fly even faster towards Restruct.

SUBMIT.

It feels like heavy bass being played from concert speakers blasting vibrations all across my body. Gritting my teeth, I pierce through the sensation, gaining speed.

“Get out of my head!” Reaching Restruct, the golden spear tip slams into a shimmering barrier. The force on me increases exponentially, so I reach out to my Fate. The golden aura refines, becoming stronger and more solid.

Cracks begin to form in the barrier.

You will come to regret this, Lucas Creo.

The barrier shatters and Restruct disappears. Searching with my will, I can’t find the presence anywhere. Sighing in relief, I turn to regard my Fate once more.

Floating above it is the visage of my mother. Her long, wavy brown hair lays around her shoulders and she looks at me with vibrant blue eyes. She’s wearing a set of leather armor and looks more fit than I remember. Not that she was ever an inactive person, but I can tell The Construct has improved her physical health the same as it has for me.

Lucas! Are you okay? I sensed another attack from Restruct on your Fate but was unable to enter and help.

‘The Construct then, not mom.’

“I’m fine. I don’t really know what I just did or what happened but… I’m fine.” Feeling at myself and probing my mind with my will, I find nothing wrong.

That is good to hear. Your Fate is… valuable to Restruct.

“What makes it valuable? And how did I just do that whole golden aura thing?”

This Fate is by far the largest and most refined I have seen in millenia. Your entire party is full of large Fates, but yours is the largest by far. They appear to attract each other in that fashion.

The golden aura you experienced was you harnessing your Fate. It is a rare technique and most have to learn it. It appears that due to the size of your Fate, you were able to harness it through sheer force of will.

I recommend against doing that until you learn more, as you could damage it in the end. You may not even be able to perform the action outside of your mindscape to begin with.

Feeling a bit worried, I glance over at my Fate once more, inspecting it for any potential damage I may have done.

The Construct laughs, a joyous fanfare.

Do not worry, Lucas. You have not damaged it.

“Okay, good… You had me worried for a second there that I might have. ...Why does it look like that?” Gesturing to the Fate, my implication is all of the shifting bands of geometric lines moving and locking into different spots.

I cannot stay much longer here, but those lines along it are your developments. This is your Fate after all. Every decision you make, every improvement you reach, they all affect your Fate. Yours is beautifully Constructed.

“Uh, thank you?”

Yes, yes. It is time for us to part ways, Lucas. Good luck, Restruct will be… upset by this.

“Well, goodbye, Construct.”

Goodbye for now, Lucas.

The world fades away and I open my eyes, waking up to Colt shaking me with concern.

“Lucas! Are you okay? Thank god you woke up.” He pulls me close, hugging me tightly.

“What happened?” Feeling wetness on my upper lip, I touch it and look to see blood on my fingers.

“You yelled out ‘get out of my head’ and then started convulsing in your sleep. Then your nose started bleeding. Are you okay?” He creates some water with Hydromancy and begins to clean my face with it.

“I’m… fine. It was Restruct again.”

He freezes in place, turning pale. “Is… are you...?”

“I pushed it out. Using some techniques from your mom actually.” Explaining everything that happened in the dream and how his mom’s lesson on pushing right through helped me, he nods along, listening intently.

“Wait, I remember you mentioning a Fate before, but it’s like, an actual thing?” The look on his face tells me he’s trying to see his Fate in his own mindscape and failing to.

“I don’t really understand it either, nor do I have any idea how to go there again to look at it. The Construct told me to be careful about harnessing its power if I don’t know how because I could damage it.”

“...Maybe we should ask Ilmarinen and Pasivier about this. They might know more.” He stands up from doting over me and pulls on a shirt, getting dressed for the day.

Standing up myself, I feel at my body to make sure there’s no kind of lasting damage. A quick check with Promethean tells me I just have some burst blood vessels in my nose which are already recovering.

“You think they’ll tell us anything? They’ve always been really vague before.”

“I’m not sure, but it won’t hurt to ask. Let’s just get ready first and we can go see if Ilmarinen is available. I’ll contact Pasivier.”

“Sounds good to me.” Walking over to the bathroom, I get all my daily hygiene out of the way quickly and step out into the hall. Colt is already talking with Pasivier, both of them sitting at our dinner table.

“Hello, Lucas.” Pasivier slightly nods to me. “Go fetch your master, he will likely want to hear this from what Colt has told me so far.”

“Hi, Pasivier. Sure thing, I’ll be right back.” Taking the stairs down, I reach Ilmarinen’s portal door quickly and open it.

“Hey, Ilmarinen?” Peeking through the door, he’s sitting at his anvils again, but all of his attention seems to be focused on one.

“Another visit so soon?” He looks at me somewhat critically but still has the softer edge he’s had since gaining a level in his Talent.

“Uh, actually, could you come over? There’s… something I think we need to discuss.”

His face performs what I assume is the octopus-man equivalent of raising an eyebrow but he stands up and comes through the door.

Taking in my forge, he inspects it heavily. He looks intrigued by my spinning wheel design. “Now, ye designed this yerself, lad?”

“That I did, your foot pedal design was… admittedly outdated.”

He considers for a moment. “...Perhaps a change of pace would be good. Ye wouldn’t mind if I mimic yer design would ye?”

“Of course not.”

He nods, moving over to my forge. “The lines are a little shaky but yer coming along nicely as an enchanter.” He smiles with approval.

Then his face turns to a frown when he sees my “anvil”. “Lad. What be this shit?”

“It’s my… anvil?” Trying to look as innocent as possible, he isn’t buying it.

“It’s a rock enchanted to be durable. Lad, this brings shame to blacksmiths everywhere. After we discuss whatever it is ye have on yer mind, we’re havin’ a talk about yer anvil.”

“Uh, okay, but Pasivier and Colt are upstairs waiting so, we should go to them.”

He mutters as we walk upstairs, observing all the various enchantments, somehow even observing the ones behind the walls.

Once we settle down at the table, Colt and me next to each other across from Ilmarinen and Pasivier, we explain what happened in my dream.

Their faces go from concern at the beginning of the dream to shock when I reveal that we know about Restruct, to even more shock when I tell them about my Fate.

“That’s- Your Fate is planetary in size?” Pasivier leans forward slightly as if he will be able to see it by coming closer.

“Uh, I guess? It was all what I was seeing in my dream so, you know how scale is in dreams.” Shrugging, I meet Ilmarinen’s eyes.

“Well, lad, this makes things easier fer us. We can tell ye more than we could before.” He looks to Pasivier who nods in agreeance.

“That’s true, now that you know of your Fate, we can tell you some things that should not impact it so heavily. The Construct spoke to you about your Fate being able to break, correct?” Pasivier looks to me.

“Correct.”

“Right, well, if we had told you about Restruct or your Fate, or even some of the… nuances of either of them, there is a chance we could break or cause a critical flaw within your Fate. Something Restruct would be able to seize and control you with quite easily.”

Colt grips my hand tight under the table, shaking slightly.

“That’s… scary. But uh, what can you tell us now? Was I wrong to tell Colt about my Fate? Could I have hurt him by doing so?”

“Colt will be fine, Fates are more heavily affected by ones of a different origin than them. That is why we cannot… participate in this world. It could have a cataclysmic backlash. It was risky enough when Ilmarinen killed that gardening snake threatening you. But it was that or your life.”

“How come more people don’t come to this world with… bad intentions?” Colt’s grip on my hand tightens slightly.

“Our Fates are just as much at risk as yours if we interfere in the matters of your planet. No one would be stupid enough to do that, not even Restruct. It would not want its controlled Fates from other places to shatter and become useless.”

“Okay… That’s good I guess. So, why does the Fate being different in origin matter?” Colt lessens his grip on my hand, calming down slightly.

“Ye had technological innovations before The Construct, right lads?” Ilmarinen looks between the two of us.

“Uh, yeah, we had tons.”

“Did ye have devices that could transmit information across long distances? I believe I saw a screen in yer old home.”

“Oh, yeah, that was a TV. You can watch shows on them. We had cell phones for talking to people across the world too. Mana seems to have disabled technology though…”

“Bah, ye don’t need it. With enchantments, ye can make far more efficient innovations with time. Anyway, comparing Fates to these devices, the devices send out signals of a specific code or wavelength, right?”

“Right.”

“Yer Fate works the same. Fates of ones like Pasivier’s or mine are of a far different frequency than yers. So yer Fate is far more… compatible with Colt’s.”

“So, he could tell the people of Portland about Fates? Would that be helpful? Why can you talk about it now that we know?” Colt turns to Pasivier.

“I would not recommend telling everyone about Fates just yet. As you know, improper use of a Fate can break or damage it. That would leave those people open to control by The Restruct. Your select group would be fine to inform, but I recommend keeping the information under wraps for the time being.

“As for talking about it. That part of your Fate has solidified now that you know the knowledge. The section of it regarding that knowledge has locked into place so it’s okay for us to discuss this. There is a lot we cannot tell you, such as how you should progress or what you can do to progress.

“We can teach you techniques still, but that’s about it.” Pasivier steeples his hands on the table.

“So, you can really only talk to us about Fates and The Restruct until we understand more then? Can you teach us to harness our Fates?” Colt looks scared but excited.

“A Fate is dangerous to harness as your use of it so directly risks breaking it, so it should only be used as a last line of defense, but we will teach you.” Pasivier nods, looking to Ilmarinen.

“Aye, I will teach ye lad, it will be grueling but I know ye can do it.”

Remembering Ilmarinen’s previous combat training, I gulp.

“And now that this discussion is over, it’s time we address yer anvil, lad.”

I gulp again.