After a brief lunch at the cafe he had been taken to by Gwilym, Micky returned to the compound. Rolling his shoulders as he walked to ease out some of the tension left from training with Ingunn, he strolled back to the training ground. He found Gwilym deep in conversation with a shoulder-length white-haired figure. Assuming this was Yan, he strolled over to greet them.

Hey Gwilym, good to see you again mate. This must be Yan, right?” He asked with a wave and an easy smile.

“Ah, Micky good of you to join us so promptly. Yes, this is Yan” he indicated the white-haired man with a wave of his hand.

“You must be Micky, it’s simply fabulous to meet you.” Yan turned to face Micky, revealing eight milky white eyes spread across his face. The eyes seemed to track Micky independent of one another, running up and down Micky.

“Yan handles logistics for us. That means he’s in charge of getting us and all our gear to the convergence site, then getting us home with the loot” Gwilym said with a lopsided grin. “In addition to this, he’s a very capable mage, in which capacity he will be joining us today.”

“Gwilym is far too kind, while I do have access to some arcane Abilities I am hardly a full-fledged Mage.”

“Wait, so we’re going to be using abilities here?” Micky asked with a worried expression. “Doesn’t that seem a bit dangerous? I don’t know how the whole Storm’s Wroth thing works, but firing off a bolt of lightning in the compound seems like a terrible shout.”

“Just so, Micky” Gwilym replied. “We have a range we use for our more destructive Abilities and some of Tavish’s more esoteric creations. Follow us.”

With a shrug of his shoulders, Micky followed the two men out of the compound and down the sloping path towards a bare patch of dirt surrounded by packed earth berms.

Micky stood behind the two men at one end of the range, facing a set of mannequins set before one of the packed earth barricades.

“So what happens next Gwilym?” Micky asked, pointing his hand at the mannequins. “Do I just blast away or something?"

“A fair question, since we have Yan with us why don’t we let him get us underway.”

“It would be my pleasure, Gwilym. I shall endeavor to put on a good show ” Yan said, striding forward to create some distance between himself and the other men. “Micky since you are our guest I’ll let you decide. Shall we begin with fire or ice?”

“Oh man, I have no idea. Fire I guess?” Micky replied, eager to see some real magic.

Taking a final step forward Yan squared his shoulders to the far end of the range. His arms shot up, palms pointed inwards. He pulled his hands apart as though he were stretching a ball of dough. A small sphere of flame formed between them, growing rapidly from the size of a golf ball to the size of a watermelon. The sphere cast a flickering light, throwing shadows which danced madly across the range. Yan rolled his hands with a flick of his wrists, turning his palms to face the mannequins. The sphere of fire followed this motion, screaming down the range to impact with the leftmost wooden figure. A dull thud echoed around the range, followed by a wash of scalding hot air. The mannequin was left scorched and dismembered, but through some strange enchantment, it began to reform. The pieces came together slowly until it’s from was whole once again.

“Well BLEEP me dead,” Micky said after a few seconds. “Like I knew from the IP and the whole System thing that magic was real. But that was something else. Yan, mate. That was bloody brilliant.”

“I do so love that Ability”, Yan said with a smile as he turned back to Micky and Gwilym, wisps of smoke trailing from his fingers.

“So that was fireball right?” Micky asked, nearly hopping from one foot to the other with excitement.

“That was Fire-bolt, an Apprentice level magical Ability, Fireball is Journeyman level and creates rather a larger explosion.”

“Wait, that was the smaller explosion?” Micky’s jaw dropped in incredulity. “Remind me never to BLEEP of a Journeyman Mage.”

“That is good advice in general” Gwilym laughed in response. “Why don’t you have a try?”

“I am dead keen mate, but uh, I have no clue how to use it” Micky replied honestly.

“It is an item-bound Ability, right? Tied to the plectrum you carry? In such a case the item must be used with an instrument. That’s why I had you bring the Vaixell with you. After that, the intent is the key. Simply strike the Vaixell with the intent to channel Storm’s Wroth.”

“It can’t be that easy? Can it?” Micky asked, looking at Gwilym for reassurance. “There aren’t any crazy symbols or arcane rituals I need to do? No weird sacrifices?”

“There are some classes which require such, particularly for larger workings. Bards however are a hybrid caster class. All of your Abilities are channeled through your music. All you need to do is play with the intent firmly fixed in your mind.”

Micky stepped forward to face the mannequins, making sure there were at least a few meters between himself and his two instructors.

“Remember Micky, your intent is the key” Gwilym reassured him from a safe distance.

Micky cautiously unslung the Vaixell from his back, fiddling with the tuning pegs to calm his nerves. He took the plectrum in his right hand as his left cradled the neck. His fingers unconsciously formed an E chord. A suitable bass note for the power of lightning. He focused his intent on Storm’s Wroth, the rightmost mannequin his target. With one flick of his wrist, he strummed the Vaixell.

A pure beam of jagged light shot from the soundhole, curling around his fingers with a brief spark of electricity. Almost faster than sight, the beam shot down the range. It smashed into the mannequin. Energy crackled over its surface, dancing across its wooden limbs. Jerking them to and fro like branches caught in a storm. As the light faded and the after image cleared Micky could see the scorch marks left on its surface before they were swept away by the repair enchantment.

Micky staggered back towards Gwilym and ran, too stunned to speak. His eyes wide, he simply looked at them in shock.

“Well, I’m inclined to call that rather a rousing success don’t you think Gwilym” Yan said with a wide smile. “Welcome to the ranks of the arcane, Micky.”

“I can do that eight BLEEPING times a day? That’s mental” Micky replied, shock still plastered across his face.

“Well you could, should you not wish to do anything else with your Abilities for the remainder of the day” Gwilym replied kindly. “That would have to be a most extraordinary day and would leave you reliant on your mundane skills to carry you through whatever else such a day might throw at you.”

“I think you will find some of your other skills see more use,” said Yan with another smile at Micky. “However, if you find yourself using an item bound Ability often enough over a long period there is a chance that the Ability will become available to you without the use of the plectrum.”

“So I can learn to do that whole lightning thing on my own. Outremer is BLEEPING mental.”

“Why don’t you try it a few more times?” Asked Gwilym gently. “Get a little of the shock out of your system. Then we can head back to the compound and discuss how to work Ability training into your schedule. I want you up to speed so we can get you on the next expedition.”

“Sounds good mate” replied Micky, “I’m just gonna wander over here and chuck lightning around for a minute.” Micky could be heard muttering to himself as he turned back to face the mannequins again.

Ten minutes, and two partially destroyed training mannequins later, Micky found himself face to face with Yan and Gwilym.

“Mate, I’ve got a banging headache now, what’s the story?” He asked them with a grimace.

“You have used the ability seven times now, right? That’s 42 SP spent in less than fifteen minutes. You’re suffering from a minor case of exhaustion. Think of it in the same way as you would sore biceps after training with Ingunn. It is something casters must become accustomed to, especially in the field” Yan explained.

“I guess that makes sense, if this is the price I pay for chucking lightning around then it’s worth it” Micky grinned through the pain.

“My thought’s exactly” replied Yan. “Throwing a Fire-bolt is no less exciting to me than when I first gained the ability.

“Why don’t we head back to the compound?” Gwilym offered. “We can get some coffee and hash out this new schedule. I believe Zofia should be back by now and it would be good to have you meet the final member of our team, Micky.”

“Sounds good to me mate, I’m knackered.”