There it was, Gramok’s toothy grin. “I told you it wasn’t going to work.”

Heat flared in Jake’s chest. “You said you thought it wasn’t going to work.”

Gramok shrugged. His stupid grin didn’t even have the decency to dim. “Sometimes I’m wrong.”

Not this time. Jake grunted and dropped the ridiculously heavy heater shield at Gramok’s feet. Even without equipping it, the traps had still gone off, just as the others had predicted. “We tested a hypothesis. It didn’t work. We learn from it and move on.” Would a cardboard box have worked better? No way that could count as gear.

“Well, if we’re testing hypotheses…” Cara smiled and held up a stick. “I found this while you were doing your human barbeque impression.”

Jake’s heart sank. A stick? He closed his eyes and let a sigh escape. Missing the forest for the trees would get him killed one day. Hell, probably multiple times. “That would have been the smarter place to start.”

“Mm-hmm.” She nodded and hurled it at the fort. A flurry of firebolts incinerated it.

The traps stretched the entire length of the wall, around fifteen feet up. All of them began refilling with mana. One, two, three, four, five. “Five seconds.” Jake looked away and shook his head. “Good idea.”

“Five seconds isn’t long.” Cara paced up and down. “Gather a bunch of sticks? Have Gramok throw them while we make a break for it?”

“Too risky. There’s a safe zone, where the portcullis is a few yards into the gateway, but that’s a hundred yards. We’d never make it in time.”

Gramok slumped against a nearby tree and pulled a huge sandwich out of his pack. “Good luck, guys. I’ll be here when you’re done.”

It was hard to blame him for sitting out. How he could still walk and talk, given his status list, was a mystery. Jake dipped his head toward him. “Enjoy the rest. We’ll let you know what sweet loot we get.”

The orc let out a belch and grinned ear to ear. “Oh, I’m sure you will.”

Teleportation might work, but it would be risky. Jeremy had repeatedly stressed how volatile an effect it was. Even when crafted and cast correctly, rematerializing in solid matter would be catastrophic. “We need a distraction, Cara.”

“Isn’t that exactly what I said just now?”

More than a few sticks. Something that wouldn’t get incinerated. The traps detected light? Then give them light. “I’ve got an idea.”

Gramok’s chuckle undercut the moment. “We’ve heard that before.”

He had a point. Jake bit back a snarky response. Dropping into the mud wouldn’t achieve anything. The results would speak for themselves. “Give me a moment.”

Mana filled the Light spell. “Enmir!” He fired at the temple. Another volley of firebolts intercepted the glowing bolt, dissipating it.

His heart sank. That would have been too easy. Even so, with enough targets in the air, it might still work. A projectile spell wouldn’t cut it, though. Time for a new spell.

An Energy aspect to power it. A Light aspect to draw the fire. The form of an Orb to sustain it, and projectile to deliver it. The two forms reluctantly coexisted, pushing against each other in an unstable mixture.

Dialing down the potency and duration pushed the stability back up, and the mana cost down. They wouldn’t last long anyway, and the more distractions, the better.

Loose ends? No. Feedback loops? No. Unstable connections? No. Not that there had been any expected problems when he’d blown himself up. He swallowed and clenched his fist. If it went wrong, he’d learn from it. At least Death would be happy to see him. “Stand back.”

“You’ll be fine,” Cara said, before stepping back all the same.

His chest tightened and his heart rate kicked up a notch. He’d checked the spell. He would be fine. He mostly knew what he was doing by now, right?

The mana responded, more than required. He drew what he needed, guided away the rest, and built up the tiny silvery orb between his hands. It shone, more a steady candle than a flashlight, but hopefully enough.

“Enmir!” The translucent, glowing orb flew forward. Firebolts shot through it. The spell wavered and failed, the orb fading away.

Spellcrafting skill increased 4 → 5!

Energy magic skill increased 1 → 2!

Jake frowned and pulled at his top lip. “Partial success?”

“You can cast more, right?” Cara tilted her head and smiled, a gleam in her eye. “You could teach me!”

“Sure.” Even the two of them wouldn’t be enough with that version, but any extra decoys would help.

***

Jake sighed. The hard rock in his stomach grumbled, telling him to give it up already. At least he’d gained another extra level in Energy magic. “One more time. Watch what I do.”

Her eyes narrowed and a sharp punch hit him in the arm. “I am!”

Right. No Discern Magic; a shame it couldn't be shared. “I’ll walk you through it again.”

Her neck stiffened and she nodded. She wasn’t going to give up until she got it, was she?

Well then, neither was he. If they were lucky, maybe the dungeon spawn would get bored of waiting and save them the trouble of breaking in.

***

A silvery orb shot out of Cara’s hands, and a wave of firebolts unceremoniously dissipated it.

Finally. Jake smiled and held up his hand for a high five. “Good job.”

“I told you I’d get there.” She turned, a smirk on her lips, and stared at his upheld hand. “What’s that for?”

“Oh.” His shoulders dropped a little before he could catch them. “It’s an Earth celebration. You slap your hands together in the air.” His arm grew heavier, but he held it in place. “We call it a high five. It sounds silly, but… well, maybe it is.”

Her eyebrows pulled together, and she kept staring. Painfully slowly, she raised her hand, opened it, and tapped it against his. “Like that?”

“It’s a start.”

Gramok pulled out another sandwich, thick with meat. How many of those did he have? “If you guys are waiting for my injuries to heal, I’m going to need more food, some booze, and a lot more entertainment.”

They both rolled their eyes at each other, but he had a point. They had a job to do.

Cara bounced from foot to foot. “Ready?”

“Give me a moment. I have a few perk points to spend.”

Spellcrafting was a straightforward choice. Running out of mana fighting the thugs had left him vulnerable and out of options. That was just as bad as running out of stamina in the Forest. Not every fight would be quick—between 11% more spells and 4.5% more power, Efficiency was the smart choice.

Energy didn’t have such an obvious option. He hadn’t spent any perk points there yet, and now there were three. Quick Cast would help with putting up decoys, but this was hardly typical use. Light as an effect was a simple and stable effect—making a faster cast spell would be easy. Better to think long term.

What other effects did Energy hold beyond Light and Lightning? The name suggested it was very open-ended. What wasn’t related to energy? But if it acted as a catch-all for those not enumerated elsewhere, it might not be much more limited than the name suggested.

There wasn’t enough information for an informed choice, and no pressing need to spend them yet. He left the points unassigned and created a rapid-cast version of the Decoy (Energy/Projectile-Orb/Light) spell. Adjusting the already stable spell was quick. “Ready.”

“Finally.” Cara grinned and licked her lips. “Let’s do this!”

“We will.” Jake’s chest tightened. What about the traps they couldn’t see? “Aim for the middle line of the portcullis, vary the height and distance. We want all the traps targeting the same orb, but not so close together that they get caught in the crossfire.”

“You’ll make a good Prowler.”

“I’ll tell Jeremy you said that.”

“Said what?” The innocent smile on her face was anything but.

“Let’s do this.” He pulled on his mana and began casting. “Run on my signal. Enmir!” Firebolts shot down the orb. “Don’t wait for me, and don’t worry about casting. Enmir!” Another two orbs flew forward, one his, one Cara’s.

Finish spell, cast next. No time to watch. Without enough cover, they’d be incinerated.

Finish spell, cast next. The magic flowed, a steady rhythm of draw, weave, cast.

A collection of orbs hovered before the temple, swatted every five seconds by a barrage of fire at the closest one. Any cover for the final stretch wouldn’t last.

What mattered was making sure she made it. A do-over wouldn’t be ideal, but at least he’d get one. “Wait behind the orbs for a wave, then sprint.”

“Yes, sir.”

One last orb away, mana running low. It would have to do. He self-cast an Absorb spell and a shorter, more powerful version on Cara. “Go!”

She raced ahead, her short legs a blur. One. Two. Three. Four. She paused. He kept running. Five. Another volley, more sprinting.

One. Two. Three. She ran into the portcullis. Four. She turned and beckoned. Five.

Another volley. He passed the remaining orbs, slowed to a walk, and cast again. The spell wobbled, but held. “Enmir!” He fired the orb forward and up, above head height.

His stomach clenched. Another volley. He ran. Cara clutched her hands to her chest.

Past the wall. The portcullis helped him to a stop. His lungs burned, but nothing else. The decoys had worked.

He stumbled to a halt, bent over, and gasped for air. They’d made it to the gates. The fire traps were behind them. Safety.

A gentle touch settled on his back. “We made it.”

“Yeah. We did.” He pulled himself straight and stared at the metal portcullis blocking their way and shook his head. “To the very heavily enchanted gates.”

Protection, Force, Armor, Absorb, Repair, and Hold aspects all shone in the metal bars of the portcullis. Subtle lines ran along the edge of each bar, connected back to a Telepathy aspect and a close relative of the Alert spell. He looked up. Holes in the roof, for defenders to pour down burning oil, or worse. Lovely.

Bright paintings of lions, dragons, and other powerful yet unrecognizable creatures decorated the tunnel wall. Jake sniffed the air. Sweet, clean fragrance. Beyond the metal lattice, colorful flowers grew in orderly rows. He shrugged. Murder holes and a flower garden. What else to expect from magical warrior monks?

There was no way to break through the gate, and even trying would be folly. The surrounding stone offered no hint of vulnerability either, magical or otherwise. Why would there be? It was more of a fortress than a temple. Brute force hadn’t gotten them past the outer defenses.

Jake paused and cocked his head. “That was too easy.”

“Too easy?” Her eyes widened and blinked rapidly. “Those firebolts would have disintegrated us!”

“Sure, but they’re all the same type, all the same range, placed in a line. Why didn’t we get blasted back the moment we approached the gate?”

The clench of her jaw said it all. He was right, but that didn’t answer the why. Was it a test? These were ruins, of a sort. Maybe there would be clues Archaeology could use.

Where to spend his perk point? All three of the understanding perks were essential. Language, culture, history—all of them would be important. What did he need now?

Not language, not with Gramok a shout away. Cultured Explorer, or Past of Present? The wood elven historical tomes had focused on their past but had at least touched upon the history of others. Orc culture, on the other hand, was a complete mystery.

He put the point into Cultural Explorer and activated Archaeologist’s Sight. Information floated to the surface of his mind like memories long forgotten.

Open-air holes were a vulnerability. There should have been a gate. No groove in the stone walls for it. There had never been one. Why not? Were attackers supposed to be able to see in? A trap, or an invitation?

The walls, the gate, the flowers, all of it was left-right symmetrical, except for a single spot along the tunnel wall, halfway between the portcullis and the outside of the wall. The lion on the left stared at the dark, winged horror on the right.

“See something?”

“Maybe.” Jake kneeled before the lion image and pressed his finger against it. No grain. It wasn’t painted; the vivid colors were part of the stone itself. The same was true of the other images. What was special about this one?

A tiny reservoir of magic sat beneath the surface. Without knowing where to look, it would have been almost impossible to spot. He guided mana into it. It filled immediately, but kept pulling mana in.

What had that done? The portcullis hadn’t moved. Nothing had exploded. Silence. Not even Cara’s breathing.

He spun around. She was still there, as tense as a bowstring.

She smiled and exhaled heavily. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” His galloping heart slowed to a trot and he half-chuckled. “There’s a place to store mana here. I filled it, but nothing seemed to happen. And now the mana’s drained away already.”

His gaze settled on the winged creature opposite the lion. Repeating the experiment had identical results—nothing happened, and the mana drained away the moment it stopped flowing.

“Same here.” Two casters to enter. A security measure, or just a dungeon being obtuse? “Cara, a hand?”

“Sure.” She bounced over and pressed two fingers against the image. “How much mana does it need?”

“Not a lot.” He cast Absorb on them both. “Better safe than sorry. On three?”

Her eyes shone, and she nodded. “One. Two. Three!”

He pushed mana into the reservoir. Metal creaked against stone and the portcullis rose.

A wide grin lit up Cara’s face. “What loot do you think there’ll be?

“Still a long way to go.”

“I want a magic bow. Then Jeremy can have this stupid bow back.”

Would Jeremy even care? Jake shook his head. Probably not. “Mind on the job, Cara.”

She scowled. “Alright, Jeremy.”

There were probably more traps. He peered around the corner. Sure enough, magical traps lined the courtyard on both sides. “Slightly different traps, at least.” He threw out a light orb. It hung in the air. The traps remained silent.

Cara pulled a stick from her pack and threw it out. It clattered across the floor. “Maybe they’re disabled?”

“There’s still mana in them.” Jake’s heart kicked back into overdrive. There was only one door out of the courtyard—on the far side, beyond dozens of traps. And the wooden door didn’t have the decency to have any kind of handle. Telekinesis had to be an effect—but not one he knew.

The detector part of the traps was vastly more complex than those outside, but the Projectile aspects were simpler. Could they exploit that? His stomach twisted. Not without knowing what the differences amounted to.

Without long-term study, that meant experimentation, and so far nothing had triggered one. “Wait here and watch, please.”

Her smile wavered, but she nodded.

Data, that’s all they needed. Trigger one, get out, see what they learned. It wouldn’t be too bad. The knot in his gut clenched. He self-cast a high potency, short duration Absorb spell, swallowed, and stepped forward.

Sizzling filled the air. He leaped back. Fire rushed past. Heat tingled against his skin.

Cooler air rushed behind, and tension rolled out of his muscles. Close, but he was still alive.

Cara pointed at the closest trap. “Firebolt from over there, fired perpendicular to the wall, no homing or tracking of any kind.”

“Anything we could block them off with?”

“Nothing I can see.” She paused. “I could make it.”

“Make what?” His stomach churned. “No!”

“I’m fast enough. Can you get the door open or not?” Her jaw was set and she had that look in her eye. She wasn’t going to give in, not without a better plan.

Almost any plan would need that door open. But how? No handles. Enchanted, the same as everything else here—Protection, Force, Armor, Absorb, Repair. His breath caught in his throat. No Hold aspect?

An oversight, or was Hold too difficult to work with on doors? A door that couldn’t open would be pretty useless. Surely, though, they wouldn’t have missed something like that? And they’d gone to the trouble of weaving Hold into the portcullis.

Was it deliberate? “If this is a battlemage test, there’s got to be a better solution than running really fast.”

“Battlemages, Jake. We Rangers don’t dump points into Dexterity for fun.”

The logic was sound. But what if she wasn’t fast enough? “There has to be another way.”

“There is.” She smirked and raised her eyebrows. “Teleportation?”

Ice stabbed into his chest. Teleportation.

Cara’s smirk softened into a smile. “It’s not so far. You’ve cast harder spells than that.”

“It’s not the same.” His throat seized up.

“How so? Jeremy never taught me.”

Jake turned away. “It’s different. Most spells, you manipulate the mana right, it does what you want. Teleportation, you imagine your destination and…”

Her hand settled upon his shoulder. “You’re worried you’ll try to go home?”

No? Yes? Maybe? He shrugged her hand away and clenched his jaw. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Portals. Self. Teleport. The aspects sparked off each other. Even lowering the potency right down, the spell refused to stabilize. What was he missing?

No matter how tricky the aspects were, he’d crack them eventually. There wasn’t time for that now. He pulled up the Teleport spell Jeremy had taught him, the one he’d promised not to cast for a long time.

A tangled web held the spell together. Threads disappeared in one place and reappeared in another. Jake snorted. Portals within portals. No wonder it hadn’t made sense, it was riddled with goto statements. Not that it made sense now, but at least why wasn’t a mystery.

Many of the threads were duplicates, there to reinforce the spell. With a lower potency, most of those could be pruned, even if their exact purpose wasn’t clear. After a few minutes of work, he had a leaner, cheaper, and easier to cast spell.

“I’m ready.” The weight in his chest hardened. Any one of those threads could have done something vital that he’d missed. “I’ll test it first. Might as well get a skill level in it.”

Her eyes swelled wide. “A skill level? From one spell?”

“Only the first level. I haven’t cast any Portals magic yet, so…”

She squinted and ground her teeth together.

“That’s not normal, is it?”

“No wonder I gained two levels in Energy magic earlier! Do you have any idea—” She waved her finger in front of him, growled, and retreated to the far side of the tunnel. “Forget it. Do your thing, just don’t blow us up.”