Derb was packing his things, preparing for what was soon to come. “Wait, shouldn’t you pack more water? What if you spill the first two bottles? Is this really enough meat? You wouldn’t survive a week out there if you got lost...” tiff stammered. Honestly, Derb was starting to think she saw him less as a man and more of a baby chick.

“Tiff… I’m going with Gerald, I highly doubt the man will let me die out there. Worst case scenario I lose another arm, heh.” He picked up the pack, already full to the brim with everything she told him to carry. They were only going out for two days but apparently, she was scared of the two getting lost in the process. More specifically, she was scared of Derb getting lost.

“Tiff, it can’t be that bad outside the barrier… Besides, I can handle myself now, even Deitre agrees.” He picked up his sword, heaving the thing onto his back. Honestly, she was making a big deal out of it. “Derb, literally the only thing they tell us is that we’re not allowed to go outside the barrier. It’s not just something you can brush off. they expect you to survive, not that it’d be easy for you.”

Derb waned a bit, remembering that this was in fact called the no man’s land. “How dangerous is this place compared to anywhere else? I know it’s bad but… it couldn’t be much worse right?” She sighed, this guy never really paid attention, huh? “It’s bad, small ranks litter this place by the dozens.” She loomed over him, impressive considering the height difference. “They’re built for the forest, you’re not. Remember that when you try touching anything that looks like a plant.”

Derb stepped back, already sweating, he never really thought it through, this’d be a dangerous journey… how badly would he get injured?” Before he could respond his teacher gave Tiffany a swift smack to the back of the head. “Don’t listen to her, small ranks are plenty in there but they’re nowhere near as strong as lesser your imp there. Just the fact that it's magic puts him above the rest.”

He glared at Tiffany, rubbing her head with an indignant frown. “She just feels wronged at the fact that you can leave before her.” Derb cocked his head in confusion, has Tiffany never gone on an expedition? “Wait, you’re angry with me because I’m leaving without a whole group?” His teacher grinned, while Tiff looked away in shame. “I’m saying she hasn’t left the village. Ever.”

Tiffany snarled. “I just don’t get why he can leave while I’m still forced to stay! We’re both just as strong, I can even say I’d win that fight.” She stepped towards Derb provocatively, and he hid behind his teacher. He was a pacifist. He wouldn’t fight if he did not need to! Also, she had a type advantage over him… it wasn’t fair.

She puffed up her chest up in victory, glancing at her teacher with a smug expression. He sighed and rubbed his temples, pulling the boy out from behind him. “You can say that when he’s on his own, but would you say that with his beasts at his side? Hell, even his wolf would prove hard to beat on its own.” Derb smiled at the praise, only to realize that meant Tiffany, who was 5 years younger than him, could take on Adalia and win.

“The imp and wolf would risk life and limb for their master, the moment he dies is the moment their gateway to this world closes.” He looked at Derb, pride filling his chest. “With two summons at age 19, you could be considered a genius only found in every thousand mages.” Tiffany looked depressed until Gerald put his hand on her head. “You’re also a genius on that level, you know. More so since you actually know how to take a lesson.”

He smacked Derb on the head. “You also aren’t a coward like this one. Get it together, boy. Monsters won’t have that kind of mercy when you run away.” Derb nodded, still keeping a distance away from Tiff. Were all healers usually this aggressive? While all this was happening Hannah was finishing up with her teacher’s pack. “You guys stop bullying him, it’s not gonna kill him to have a little fun.”

She heaved the pack onto the table, twice as big as Derb’s. “I can’t say I agree on how much food he’s taking, but if he ends up starving then it’s his own fault.” He looked at her with shock until he saw the smirk on her face. “Fine, fine… Let’s go already teacher, I’m obviously not wanted here.” The teacher grinned, patting his student on the shoulder. “Come now, they don’t mean it. Think of it as a farewell, I’m sure they’ll both miss you.”

Derb shrugged, it wasn’t really a big deal if they teased him. It was actually kind of nice to have people close enough to argue with. He grew up alone most of his life, filling the void of family and constant moving with as many friends he could make. It got to the point where it stopped being about friends, just looking for something to fill the noise. It got better after high school since he could finally separate and keep living in the same place for a while.

That was only a year, then all this happened. Even though the time was short he met some real good people. Maybe he’d have even dated someone given enough time. It wasn’t until Tiffany worriedly nudged his shoulder did he realize he was daydreaming. “Ah, sorry. I was thinking about my home. Everything’s been so busy lately that I haven’t really thought about the situation.” He rubbed his temples, stress building up as he kept thinking about it.

“It’s not like I actually want you to starve you know...” Hannah apologetically said, amusing Derb greatly. “Too late, Tiffany spent all this time worrying for me, she’s my new favorite.” He hugged the girl’s head in appreciation, but received an elbow to the gut for the act. “Ow… Tiff, what the heck. I thought we were buds...” he rubbed his aching ribs, looking at her with betrayed eyes. she crossed her arms at this, giving him an accusing glance.

“Oh? I thought we were family? So is only Hannah a part of it?” Hannah moved next to her, arms crossed as well. “I was taking care of teacher’s belongings. I had no time to worry about you, idiot. Just because of that you choose Tiffany over me?” Derb shook his head panickedly at the two. “Wait wait! Why are both of you mad!? Teacher, help me explain!” He looked at his teacher with hope, waiting for him to step in.

His teacher merely sighed, looking as if he was already sporting a headache. “You really know how to cause trouble, huh.” Gerald raised the staff in his hand, the first time Derb had seen one be used. With a quick swing downward both teacher and student were teleported to the forest, miles from any regular civilization. It was the first time Derb had traveled so far with a teleport, he had no idea it’d be so bad.

He appeared a foot off the ground. It was nothing too difficult to land, had it not been the sudden bout of nausea that came out of nowhere. He landed on his knees and heaved his guts into the ground. His teacher watched on with slight disgust. “I thought I told you not to eat before we came here.” Derb, still retching, replied between breaths.

“I… oh my god, I thought you were just...ugh, getting ready to make food or something.” He crawled away from the mess on the floor, resting on a tree to get his bearings. “Gimme a second… where’s my water...” After 10 minutes of rinsing his mouth and shaking off the nausea, he finally pulled himself together.

You know, I wasn't planning to use the spell until we were much closer, but you had to take your time saying goodbye. We’d have been late if it wasn’t for my quick thinking.” His teacher chastised him, to his dismay. “Wait, so the farther the teleport the more it hurts? Why weren’t you affected?” As they walked further into the forest his teacher taught him about it.

“Every skill has its drawbacks, mine makes the user traverse through a pocket of time. This causes a shift in everything that makes us... us. It’s very uncomfortable for our bodies.” Derb rubbed his empty stomach, that was definitely true. “Wait… so why weren’t you affected? It’d be funny to see you like that.” His teacher chuckled. “Experience boy, speaking of, keep your eyes sharp”

He listened, looking around at his surroundings. He wasn’t sure where he was, but it was getting harder and harder to see through the foliage. “So uh… where are we? Already outside the barrier?” His teacher put a finger to his mouth, indicating for him to shut up. Derb crouched as he heard a noise, trying to decrease awareness. His teacher slowly pulled a dagger out of his robe, setting it to the side of his leg.

Before he could continue what he was doing the noise scampered off, leaving both of them to sigh in relief. “What was that?” Derb whispered. It couldn’t have been an animal if his teacher was so adamant about keeping quiet. Speaking of which… “Hey! You sent us without Connor or Adalia! They're like the whole point of my abilities!”

Gerald covered his mouth. “Don’t talk so loud you dunce. I haven’t taken them away from you, you can easily just call them forth now.” What? What did that mean? “How do I do that?” He asked, legitimately confused by the statement. His teacher did a double-take, and then facepalmed in realization. “I forgot how okay you were with demons walking among you. These are questions that should have been asked at the very beginning. Remember how you ordered Adalia around without words? It’s like that. Simply dismiss them into your soul and readminister them here using that same technique.”

Derb gawked, he’d been having to sleep with that eyesore of an imp under his bed for the longest time. Now he’d just been told that’d been for nothing? He closed his eyes, excited to be doing real magic for the first time in a while. ‘You’re both dismissed.’ he thought, feeling the energy retreat into his body. The dim souls that indicated those two became massive, thrashing and flailing like fire in a storm. He felt more alive than ever

He immediately called them back out again, feeling the energy leave his body. It wasn’t until both fully reappeared when he opened his eyes. He felt half his mana go away that instant, which wasn’t so bad considering everything he’s been taught to do so far has had him always running on empty. He saw a comedic scene, his imp was majestically riding his wolf. It looked like a child trying to ride an elephant.

“Get off her, you’ve got wings, man.” The imp nodded, jumping and landing on a nearby branch. “Have your imp look for a nearby clearing, Adalia will go forward and scout the area.” his teacher ordered. After a few seconds of looking at the summons, Derb remembered they only took his orders. “Ah, what he said. Also, follow his orders from now on.” The summons nodded and went off, leaving the two to fend for themselves.

His teacher crouched and he did the same unpacking water and food out of his pack. “I shouldn’t have to tell you this but make sure you don’t let anyone you don’t have absolute trust overtake control of your summons. I don’t think I have to tell you why.” Derb understood, who knows how many times Hannah had tried to run off with Adalia. He’d have taken control from her but that’d break his heart to do.

His teacher set a large flat stone down on the center, casting purifying magic on it. He placed scores of dried meat and hardtack on it, the meal looking quite unappealing. He snorted in derision at Derb’s disapproving face. “Deal with it, you idiot, it’s better than starving.” he took a gnashing bite out of the jerky, washing it down with water. “You know, we’d have been lucky to have this stuff during the war, had to settle for nothing but shitty flavored water they’d call “soup. And that’s only if they had food at all.”

Derb rolled his eyes, but was interested in the story his teacher was telling. “What was the war for, like, I know it was deformed but why were they such a problem?” He tried biting the jerky like his teacher but it was too hard, resorting to just chewing on it slowly. “Ay, I forget how few people in this world actually know the true history behind it all.” Geral leaned back onto a tree, getting comfortable.

“The war started two hundred years ago, in comparison I'd only been a part of it in the last few decades.” His hands started sparking, threatening harm to nothing in particular. “I started fighting at age 16. A brutal age to fight anything, let alone those horrors.” HE closed his eyes, reminiscing the old times. “The first one I fought was only 10 miles from my home. It was just a wolf at the time, before it became a monster. It had grown half a head on its chin and had a swollen neck, that’s all I remembered from it as it jumped on top of me. Had it not been for my comrades' spear I might not have been here retelling it today.”

Derb was silent. This man had been through a life full of hardships since such a young age, who was he to interrupt such a figure? “The rot infesting them would stink up the fields, destroying our will to fight. I remember the first day I was taught to live correctly, when she took me in.” The old man smiled warmly, and Derb couldn’t help but wonder who he was talking about.

“The day I learned to heal was the day my life turned around. No longer were we dying with no ground. My squad would be the only ones to fight on for days at a time. The food was amazing too… err, forget I said that.” Derb smirked, still chewing his jerky. “Eventually I was consumed by killing, it wasn’t until the war ended that I realized I wanted nothing to do with it.” He stood from his spot, catching sight of the imp coming back.

“Clean this up boy, we’ll set up camp where your imp says.” Derb nodded and then asked Connor to do it. Oh, the wonders of modern solutions! At least, that was until he felt the grip on his neck. “I didn’t ask the imp to do it, did I?” Derb gulped and nodded quickly, quickly scurrying to help Connor out.

After everything was packed they both set off, his wolf circling them to warn them of any predators. Eventually, they got to a nice open spot, what looked like a man-made grass opening in the middle of the forest. “Aha! I knew this spot would be here somewhere. I wasn't looking forward to making another opening in the forest.” Gerald said. Derb ignored the implication that his teacher probably blew a hole in the forest and started unpacking his tent.

“I’ve decided, we’ll stay here for two more days, it’d be a shame to not enjoy the scenery.” Ah, it was beautiful, the trees shined just enough light to make the clearing glisten beautifully. If only a few flowers were planted, then it’d be the perfect- “Wait, what!? Teacher, don’t you think it’s a bit hasty to decide that mid expedition?” His teacher laughed, smacking him on the back goodheartedly, sending him to the floor.

“It’s only a few more days, boy. You don’t have to worry about every little thing.” Derb sighed, he knew his teacher was going to pull something like this. Hopefully, the animals around here were edible. Wait, were demons even edible? He’d worry about that later. First, he had to know why they came out here. “Hey, teacher, are we going hunting after we set everything up? What are we doing here?”

He turned to see his teacher making Connor unpack his bag… he brushed it off. “Teacher, how far even are we?” His teacher, laying in a comfortable cushion he brought for the trip, waved his hands noncommittally. “Only about a thousand miles from town, don’t worry about being lost.” Derb’s mind boggled at the distance, how was he supposed to take that kind of bombshell? “Wha- I mean- But the… We literally were just there.”

He pointed towards where he thought home was, as if he had any idea where he was. Gerald just shrugged. “And now we’re here. The imp finally finished my tent so have him do yours, we’ll need to rest before we can kill any shades.” Derb nodded, sending Connor to make his tent. “What’s a shade? Like, a bird demon or something?”

Gerald unpacked his final accessory. It was a giant, jagged, and vicious-looking spike, jet black and around two feet long. He brandished it like a sword, letting it glisten amongst the falling light. “We’re killing ghosts, boy. I’m making you a new coat.”