Serenity cleared out the last of the last of the active rot and tried to relax. Even with Blaze’s help, this had been far more work then he’d expected. The victim had been quite thoroughly compromised, and whatever their opponent was, it knew what it was doing. After the fight, Serenity thought the enemy might be a Thassa spirit; they could be vicious, required magic to fight, were violently possessive, and tended to embody one or a related group of Affinities.

They were also supposed to not live anywhere below a Tier 5 planet. There was no reason for a Thassa spirit to be on Earth; they couldn’t be an invader, unless Serenity badly misunderstood the limitations the Voice had for invasions. They met the criteria for a second-wave invasion, not the first wave. They should have had ten years.

Russ seemed to know what they were and how to fight them, even though he called them “shards” instead of Thassa. Could it have been on Earth the whole time? Was that really what the Guardians did? Thassa were dangerous; they’d caused the downfall of civilizations on multiple planets as they pushed to make everything around them into their vision of their Affinity. Clearing out Thassa dens was a famously deadly but absolutely necessary task.

Serenity sent his magic through the man’s body once again. He was already conscious, sitting up and talking to Blaze, but there was no harm in one final check.

There were no remaining signs of anything trying to kill him from the inside or hiding in wait, so Serenity was confident he was done. They’d won. He could relax.

As he was thinking that, the world shifted around Serenity. Serenity spread his wings for balance. He was suddenly standing, looking at a man who turned to look at him; past the man was a small creature with butterfly wings and a man’s body. Its face looked a lot like Blaze, for some reason. “What just happened?”

As if in answer, a dense screen of text appeared in front of Serenity’s eyes.

[Scenario Tutorial]

[This Tutorial enters the trainees in a scenario. All offered training will be individual and must be sought out by the student]

[Students are not informed that this is their Tutorial until they exit. Instructors are expected to maintain the scenario while students are present]

[Participation in the scenario will vary, with twenty initial students and other students added at irregular intervals; the scenario will continue until all selected students for this Tutorial run have completed or failed the Grand Quest]

[All instructors are given a role to play; as this scenario has no humans other than the students, you will temporarily be provided with an externally-maintained shapeshift]

[As you personally are well known, you will need to choose a pseudonym to avoid breaking immersion]

[Instructor Form: Stasis Cocoon] [COMPLETE]

[Task: Obtain healing for Josaiah Blackstone] [COMPLETE]

[Instructor Role: Companion to Josaiah Blackstone for the duration of his presence in the scenario]

[Instructor Form: Dragon (Hatchling)]

[Task: Aid Josaiah Blackstone in completing the Grand Quest]

[Optional Task: Aid Josaiah Blackstone in his effort to obtain additional training]

[Optional Task: Set Josaiah Blackstone a test which can earn him training from you]

[Optional Task: Aid Josaiah Blackstone in finding a group to work with in the Tutorial]

[Optional Task: Aid Josaiah Blackstone in finding a group that may work together even after the Tutorial]

[Optional Task: Teach others who have completed a trial to gain your knowledge]

[Optional Task: Help the students complete the overarching plot of the scenario]

[Scenario]

[The students have been transported by unknown means to a far-off planet; if they ask about a Tutorial or Earth, you either do not understand or do not hear them. Humans are known, but the closest human settlement is far away in the Diamond Lands; that is where the visitors are likely from.

This town is Brehain, and the students appear in Arrival Square, near the Hall. The Hall is an ancient inn where the townsfolk gather on many nights to talk, eat, and drink. It also hosts the Quest Board, where it is traditional to post trade requests and help wanted notices.

The town is mostly safe, but there has been a rise in nearby monster activity, and the caves an hour’s walk from Brehain are growing more dangerous by the day]

[Tutorial Goal: The Grand Quest is a multi-stage quest designed to pull the student into the daily life of the town, offering opportunities to find additional training, resources, and challenges, allowing the student to progress at their own pace in their preferred direction. While the first quest is always the same, all quests after the first depend on the student and their actions. As this tutorial variant is offered to those who may progress in unusual directions or have very different starting points, individual training is recommended]

The closest thing Serenity could compare that to was a game scenario. If he was in his hatchling dragon form, he was clearly cast as the main character’s cute pet.

Serenity tried to shift to his other forms, but they simply weren’t available. It didn’t hurt at all to try, but it was like tapping a heavily padded wall instead of hitting a light switch.

Cute pet it was. Serenity refused to talk in a sickeningly sweet voice, but that probably wasn’t necessary.

As they entered the Hall, the butterfly-winged Blaze landed on Serenity's shoulder. “Serenity? We need to talk once we get the patient settled in.”

Serenity nodded silently and looked around the entrance. The Hall’s main room was split in half; on one side was a clear restaurant area, while the other side had a reception desk, a bulletin board, and a number of seats; some of the seats were gathered around a fireplace, but the fireplace was cold and dark. Even from the entrance, Serenity could see notices fluttering where they were pinned to the bulletin board.

Past the fireplace on the far wall were several doors and an archway. The doors were clearly labeled; it looked like English to Serenity, but he was certain that was simply because it was his native tongue. The archway said it led to ‘Sleeping Quarters’ while the doors said everything from ‘Staff Only’ to ‘Magic Practice Rooms’.

Blaze took off from Serenity’s shoulder and led the small group over to the desk. When a delicate-looking wolfkin stepped out from behind a screen to greet the group, Blaze interrupted her. “The human needs a meal and a room. He’s had a hard day; he’ll pay it back, but put it against my account for now. Hey, what’s your name? She’ll need it for the register.”

“Josaiah.” He looked bewildered but didn’t object as Blaze took over.

“Good. I’m Flame, I’m the Hall’s Healer. You need an injury taken care of, I’m the person to talk to. Might ask you to help me with something in payment, but I’m not unreasonable about it. Better’n being hurt. Just ask; everyone knows me.”

The wolfkin laughed. “Yeah, we do. Gruff on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside, that’s you.” She turned to Josaiah. “Just don’t try to take advantage of him. Our little healing sprite hates that almost as much as he hates being called little.”

She casually ducked as Blaze flew up and attempted to smack her head. “For the room, here’s a token. It has the room symbol on the side; just match that to the room, press it against the door, and the door will unlock for you. You’ll have to lock it again before you leave. Don’t lose the token. For your meal, just show the token and it’ll be noted against your room.”

Blaze was already flying towards the “restaurant” half of the room, so Serenity and then Josaiah turned to follow. Josaiah seemed full of energy, but by the time he finished his meal he was sleepy enough that all he seemed to want to do was find his room and crash.

“Go ahead and sleep,” Blaze told him. “I’ll keep - what was your name now?”

Serenity stared at Blaze for a moment. He knew Serenity’s name; he'd even said it earlier. After a moment, Serenity remembered the message saying something about a pseudonym. Uh. He needed something cute that worked for a small magical dragon. Tiny, magical, what would work? “Cantrip,” he blurted out.

Blaze grinned as though he knew Serenity had forgotten to think about it. “Hah! Cantrip, I like it. Get to bed, Josaiah; I’ll keep Cantrip company til you get up. If we’re not in the common room, you can ask at the desk.”

Once Josaiah was gone, Blaze led Serenity through the Staff Only door to a room that looked nearly identical to the staff breakroom in the normal Tutorial. The only major difference Serenity could see was that it was clearly set up for a lot of different body types, including Blaze’s. The chairs seemed to all be set up for people with tails; that would probably make them more comfortable for Serenity, too.

“You were the cocoon, weren’t you?” Blaze didn’t even wait for the breakroom door to close before he asked.

There was no point in denying it. “Yeah. He was going to die if we didn’t get him to a healer. So I figured it might be possible to carry him into the Tutorial. There’s usually healing available at the beginning. It worked.”

“You’re more of a shapeshifter than you’ve said. I’d wondered; you’ve been getting more comfortable with it, lately. It’s difficult growing up around humans when you’re not.”

“You’re not human?” Serenity was surprised; he’d assumed Blaze was entirely human, like everyone else in the Tutorial. He’d never even smelled anything nonhuman about him; how did he hide it?

“That’s what a bloodline is.” Blaze sat on the edge of the table, looking at Serenity. “Worse was that I didn’t have the Fire magic everyone knew I should. It wasn’t until years later we knew why the Phoenix in me was so obvious.” At Serenity’s blank stare, Blaze smiled. “I have red hair. That’s not normal, without a bloodline.”

Blaze had completely normal red hair; it wasn’t even overly bright. Serenity could have seen him walking around the city and he wouldn’t have caught the eye. “Sure it is.”

Blaze shook his head. “No, it’s not. Your people are strange; you seem to have quite a few blooded. More than I’m used to. I knew you were one of us when I saw your eyes after that time you were shot, but with as many blooded as your people had it didn’t seem worth mentioning.”

What was strange about his eyes? They were completely human back then.

“In some ways I envy your willingness to show your bloodline so openly,” Blaze continued. “Mine was such a problem … I haven’t been willing to let it expand, even though that’s supposed to bring power.”

Serenity shook his head. “It’s not that easy. It’s been a series of choices I had to make. Things that made sense at the time for the situation. If I’d had other options-” Serenity stopped and thought for a moment. “I’m not unhappy with who and what I am now. It’s confusing sometimes, but at the same time, I’m having success at working towards my goals. More success than I’d ever have believed I’d have. How can I turn that down?”

Blaze seemed about to speak when Serenity realized he might know the answer to a question Serenity needed to know the answer to. “Have you ever heard of an Auspex species?”

Blaze stared at him. “You did say Auspex?”

Serenity nodded.

“How do you not know? The Auspex are legendary. An ancient myth, like the Great Chimera. They were natural mages, able to control magic and cast spells without -” Blaze stopped. “A lot like the way you cast spells. You’re not telling me you’re an Auspex? You can’t hear my thoughts, can you?”

“No, I’m not an Auspex. And I do cast spells, I’m just directly building the spellform. Anyone can learn that. Are Auspex supposed to be mind-readers?” The lack of the word “telepath” made more sense if there weren’t any, but it still bothered Serenity a little that it was widely known on Earth and yet not even a word in Bridge.

Blaze nodded. “They were supposed to have innate powers to rival the gods even though they were mortal; they didn’t have to learn the magic, they just had it. It’s why the gods killed them all.”

Serenity was definitely not going to mention Rissa or her father’s species to anyone.

“On your world or everywhere?” Serenity was going to have to be careful, no matter what Blaze answered, but if it was everywhere that would be far worse.

Blaze stopped for a moment, thinking. “That’s why you don’t know! It must not be a legend on your planet. Do you still have Auspex and Catrian and-”

Serenity held up a hand to stop Blaze’s list. “I don’t know. As far as I know, we’re all human, but there do seem to be a lot of bloodlines.”