As I step outside, I see Sophie sitting cross legged on the grass, facing away from the door. She seems to be feeling a bit better, given her ears aren’t quite as drooped. At least, I assume that’s what that means.

For a few moments, it looks like there’s a translucent outline of a man standing in front of her, but it shimmers and fades away. Her posture quickly turns frustrated, but she focuses again and continues.

“To start with,” Armsmaster says, “this is going to be a little different than what you’re used to when it comes to using your mana. What you are going to perform is an application of what’s called neutral casting. This is where you strip your mana of what makes it Stellar mana, turning it into pure, Affinity-less mana. Neutral casting is the foundation of rituals and enchanting, and can also be used to emulate the less combat applicable uses of other Affinities. For most mages, that’s as far as it goes for them, but for those with Guides it’s what they use to create the vessels they inhabit. We’ll begin with creating neutral mana. Sit down next to Sophie.”

I do so. Sophie doesn’t seem to react, her intent on her current task as focused as it is.

“Now draw out a small portion of your mana. Then, focus on the idea of your Stellar mana being balanced out. This is typically done by imagining it’s opposite, which is classically Solar, but given recent revelations we may have to find a workaround. You understand how you perceive stars better than I, Valerie. You’ll have to feel things out from here.”

Okay. I’ll see what I can do.

I pull on a thread of starlight, feeling it flow through me.

Now how to balance it? What would be the opposite of the stars?

Planets?

No, that’s too close to Earth mana, doesn’t feel right.

Darkness?

Close, but I think there’s something more there.

Emptiness.

Stars bring light and life to worlds, the gravity they carry holds together solar systems and they are the foundations of whole galaxies. The light they produce pierces the blackness of space for lightyears, appearing as points of light in the night sky. Without them, the universe would be cold, dark, and empty.

But eventually they fade. They die. They give in to entropy’s eternal march and the cold, darkness, and emptiness takes hold. Then a new star is born and the cycle repeats itself.

So it is the void that stars fight, if unknowingly, and it is the void that ultimately ends them. So it is the void that will balance out my mana.

Focusing on that, on the concept of absence and cold nothingness, is profoundly disturbing. I think some might find comfort in that stillness, but all I can think of as I impress that mental image on my mana is how alone it makes me feel. That even with Armsmaster watching through my connection to the Armoury, there isn’t really anyone I can rely on.

I hate it. I hate it with everything I am, but I continue anyway.

It’s not that I always feel the need to be constantly in motion, much like Sophie. She has an energy about her that makes me feel like she isn’t fully there if she isn’t moving. No, it’s not that. Rather, I hate the absence of contact. The idea of not seeing or feeling others in any way is such an alien concept to me that I can’t help but want to reject it on instinct.

Regardless, I push on, and I am rewarded. My mana shifts from silvery threads of starlight in my mind’s eye into a kind of mist. There’s no colour to it, or rather, there are so many colours that it looks like it has none, like all the shades of light coming off it counter each other so perfectly that it seems like no colour at all.

I hold it in my mental grasp as I say to Armsmaster, I did not like that. At all.

I can feel an impression of comfort coming from her, or maybe just a shadow of it. At first she could only send me words, but as time passes she may be able to transmit whole concepts and emotions. “It never is. There are other ways to neutralise your mana, but balancing is by far the easiest and simplest. It will get more bearable with time and practice, but for now you’ll just have to push through. You’ll need to make a bit more though, your control isn’t fine enough yet to work with that much.”

I groan mentally at having to suffer through more of that feeling, but I continue anyway.

Eventually, after countless minutes and almost a quarter of my total mana, Armsmaster deems what I have gathered enough.

“You have something of an advantage with this part. Normally, mages speak to their Guides face to face in their dreams, so the image they receive is hazy at best, but projecting into the Armoury means you have a much clearer memory of what I look like. There aren’t many mages who can say the same.”

That reminds me of a question I’ve been considering, and whilst maintaining my grip on the neutral mana, which is surprisingly docile, I decide to bring it up.

Are there other Guides like you?

She doesn’t say anything for what feels like a full minute. “...Six. There are six others. They’re fairly well known, so you’ll likely learn about them in your classes. I don’t come out as much lately, so I’ve sort of fallen by the wayside. Much like myself and the Astral Armoury, they each are attached to a special Aspect, and each serves a specific purpose. Mine has become less necessary these past few thousand years as the people learn and discover methods to deal with Feral Relics on their own, so there’s less call for my presence.

“Regardless, we’re getting off track. The reason a clear image of my appearance is important is the next step is to project the neutral mana outside yourself and shape it as best you can into a reflection of me. Then I can step through our connection and inhabit the vessel. The closer the facsimile is to matching, the easier time I’ll have stepping into it. This is what Sophie is trying to do now, and the reason it keeps falling apart is because the image doesn’t quite match Huntsman enough, so when she releases her control, it snaps apart and sends him back into her. She’s doing very well though, Huntsman’s one of the few Guides who doesn’t care whether or not she can manifest him, so I’d wager she hasn’t been trying this for very long.”

As Armsmaster says this, I glance aside to Sophie. She’s currently in the middle of another attempt, and has the faint outline standing in front of her. For a few moments, it looks like some colour and definition has taken over the shape, but it scatters shortly after.

She looks frustrated again, so I give her a nudge and say, “Armsmaster says you’re doing pretty well. How long have you been trying to do this?”

She jumps in surprise, seemingly not having realised I was there. “Oh! Uh, Huntsman taught me how to neutralize my mana shortly before I left home, but I haven’t really had many chances to get some proper practice in. So, not long.”

“Well keep it up. You can’t be far off now, you almost had it with that last one.”

She smiles faintly. “Thanks. Don’t worry, I’ll get this down before you do.”

“I believe it.”

She seems a little better at that, so I think it helped.

I turn back to my own task.

It quickly becomes apparent that controlling Stellar and neutral mana are fundamentally different things. I guessed as much, given how my mind perceives them so differently, but I never considered to what extent that would take. Stellar mana, being composed of threads of light, feels smoother on straight paths and softer curves, whereas neutral mana requires a careful, consistent push from multiple sides if I want it to move all as one.

It takes me two tries to even get it to leave my body, wasting half of my total and losing a solid fifth of the cloud of mistlike mana as I do. Once it leaves my body, it becomes both easier and harder to shift. Easier, because I can almost see it as a shifting mass in front of me, but harder because without physical contact it needs more force to affect.

Eventually, I manage it, and begin shaping it into what I remember Armsmaster to look like. It’s rough, I can feel it, but I think this should do it.

“Let’s see here.”

Immediately, I can feel… something rushing through me and into the mana construct. More of my mana is drained as it does, just to keep a hold on the construct while Armsmaster steps inside.

The shape becomes defined and coloured, but unlike when I watched Sophie the second time it’s patchy and missing pieces. The hair and eyes come through clearly, though her entire left arm doesn’t show up, she’s got holes riddled down both legs, and I can see through her stomach. Then the mana scatters, and Armsmaster is sent back to me.

“That was a very good first try. Not the best I’ve seen, there have been a few who got it right on their first attempt, but given how new you are to this, that was never going to happen. You should have enough left for one more attempt before you need to recover your mana, so try again.”

I nod in response, and once more force myself through the process of neutralizing my mana. Once I have a sizable amount of mana gathered, I push it out of me, doing my best to keep a hold of it the entire time. Then I attempt to shape it again.

This time both arms and the torso are whole, but the legs come through as mere suggestions and while the hair and eyes are again fine, her face is blurry and indistinct. The mana loses cohesion, and it dissipates.

At the same moment I hear a whoop from Sophie, and I look over to see she’s finally managed to manifest her Guide. He’s a bit taller than me with short blonde hair and a bit of stubble on his chin. His blue eyes are perceptive and keen, but his grin can only be described as shit-eating. He’s wearing armour similar to Armsmaster’s, but it's in mottled, earthy tones, likely for camouflage, with a matching cloak.

“Ha ha! Well done, Sophie, I told you you could do it! Now, let’s get star-”

And just like that, he disappeared again. Sophie slumped forward, eyes squeezed tight.

“You okay?” I ask.

She nods. “Yeah, just wasted the last of my mana on that.”

She looks up at me, satisfaction plain on her face. “But I did it. I’ll need to practice it some more, I’m losing mana like crazy, but I did it.”

I give her a one armed hug. “Yeah, you did. Great work. I’ve got to recover a bit more before I try again myself, but I think I’m almost there.”

After around an hour has passed, during which I watch Sophie and the Huntsman go through her spear work with a fine toothed comb to find anywhere she might be lacking, my mana recovers to full.

Hopefully for the last time, I draw out threads of my mana and imprint the idea of emptiness into it, balancing it out. Then I push it out of me and shape it into what I best remember Armsmaster to look like. This time, my control over the neutral mana is marginally improved, and I don’t lose quite as much as before.

I take a mental step back. The previous times I’ve been trying to get it done as quickly as possible, which produced a flawed image. This time I go slowly, prioritising accuracy over speed. A whole five minutes goes by as I make adjustments to the shaping, but eventually I have to concede that it’s as close as I’ll be able to get.

Okay. Try now.

Once more a flood of an indefinable something rushes through me, and more of my mana is spent to maintain the construct. But there is already a noticeable difference. Far less is dragged out than before, and it’s more… purposeful, I suppose. Before it felt slightly frantic and hurried, but not this time.

Colour and definition spreads through the vessel I made, and the Armsmaster stands before me in the real world.

She checks herself over, presumably in case anything is missing. “Excellent job, Valerie. There’s still room for improvement, there always is, but you did great for your first success.”

“Thanks Armsmaster.”

She looks my way, “How are you doing for mana?”

Upon her saying that, I notice a small but noticeable drain. It’s nowhere near how much my enhancement uses, but I don’t think she’ll be able to stay out for longer than an hour.

“I have about two thirds left. Why?”

She grins. “Just had an idea is all. I’d like to show you something.”

Armsmaster turns to where Sophie and the Huntsman have paused to look at us.

“You know, there’s one exception to the rule against Guides fighting, and I don’t think either of them have seen anyone fight who’s truly skilled.” Her grin turns wolfish. “Let’s rectify that.”

The Huntsman sighs, and turns to Sophie. “How much have you got left in the tank? Maybe a few minutes left?”

She nods.

Huntsman turns back to Armsmaster, “Alright then, time to get my ass kicked.”

Sophie looks stunned. “Wait, what? You’re not even going to try?”

He scoffs. “Of course I’m going to try to beat her. If I don’t she gets insulted and kicks my ass harder. Look, kid, I’m good. I am in fact very good. I am, however,” and he points to Armsmaster, “not that good.”

I try to send a message to Armsmaster, and to my surprise, it works. Are you really that skilled?

“I could handle three of him and he knows it. Don’t fall for the act though, he’s not as bothered as he pretends to be. He’s a gossipy melodramatic ass, but a stalwart friend. We’ve known each other for almost as long as he’s been around.”

Huntsman approaches Armsmaster, Sophie looking on slightly worried. I walk over next to her and say, “Armsmaster says he’s playing it up. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Either Huntsman has hearing equal to Sophie’s, or I wasn’t as quiet as I thought I was, because he looks back at me in feigned shock. “How dare you? I will have you know I am completely serious.”

I raise an eyebrow. “If you were taking this seriously, you wouldn’t have turned your back on her.”

He looks confused for a split second, then understanding. Which is immediately followed by horror as he turns back around.

Just in time to dodge Armsmaster’s favourite greatsword as she swings it down on him.

I figured she could call on the Armoury’s weapons like I could, and the tug on my mana while Huntsman was facing me only confirmed it.

“Now that’s just rude! Can’t you wait for a gentleman to finish his discussion before barging in, you barbarian?!” he shouts as he moves.

Armsmaster brings her sword around for another stroke. As she does, she replies, “I certainly can. Fortunately for us all, you’re no gentleman.”

He shrugs after sidestepping that next swing. “Eh. Fair enough. Sophie, spear!”

Sophie holds for a moment, not quite expecting him to call for her spear. Then she tosses it to Huntsman.

Armsmaster tries to intercept the flying weapon, but Huntsman blocks her, lashes out with a kick she’s forced to block, then turns and catches the spear. As he turns, he throws out his cloak behind him, catching Armsmaster in the face. She spends precious moments removing the improvised distraction, and by the time she’s gotten it out of the way, Huntsman has quietly stepped around her and struck out with his borrowed spear.

At the last moment, Armsmaster dismisses the greatsword and replaces it with a pair of duelling swords. Once more I feel the slight tug on my mana, and I can’t help but marvel at how much less she’s using than me. As the swords appear, she twists to the side and parries the thrust, knocking Huntsman off balance, but he recovers remarkably quickly. She steps back, seemingly willing to let him take the initiative.

Huntsman obliges, sweeping the spear along the grass and kicking up far more than he should have. A gust of tightly controlled wind throws the grass at Armsmaster, but she puts her arms in the way just in time. Huntsman uses the time where she can’t see him to close the distance and attack, but Armsmaster sidesteps his thrust, as if she knew it would come.

The flat of one sword knocks the spear up, while the other comes around to stab Huntsman in the neck. He uses the momentum to maneuver the spear to block the second sword, but the first sneaks through and scores a shallow cut on the side of his stomach.

Huntsman steps back, left hand to his side. I half expect it to bleed profusely, but then I remember they’re basically made of mana, and thus have no blood to bleed.

Huntsman growls in frustration. “Sophie, how much left?!”

She pauses for a moment, “I’m almost out!”

“Damn.”

With a look of resolution, he stares at Armsmaster, “Whelp, might as well go out with a bang.”

Huntsman drops the spear and stands up straight. He raises both hands by his sides, and I can feel the breeze begin to pick up.

Armsmaster looks at him with an eyebrow raised. “Oh? Alright then.”

Then she moves.

Like running quicksilver, she flows across the ground with near impossible grace. As she nears him, Huntsman sweeps one hand across his body. Armsmaster rolls to the side without losing momentum, and the grass ripples in a line where she dodged. Huntsman sweeps both hands up, and Armsmaster is pulled into the air by a rush of air. She dismisses the swords and pulls her arms and legs in, I assume to reduce surface area for the wind to grab onto.

Huntsman then brings both hands down, and Armsmaster is pulled to the ground faster than gravity could normally allow. She lands, and moves into a roll to break up the fall. As she does, tiny, nearly imperceptible cuts appear all over her body, strands of hair are severed and lines are carved into her armour. When she comes out of the roll, Armsmaster’s face and hands are lined with cuts that don’t bleed.

Then Armsmaster smashes into him with a summoned warhammer that rivals her greatsword in size.

Huntsman is launched into the air, and sails over the fence into the neighbor's yard.