Hump slumped back against the academy wall and caught his breath, the cold of essence use chilling his fingers. The training went well. After some general testing with Bud, Hump and Celaine had left to work on their own abilities instead, leaving the two of them to spar.

It had been an interesting experience experimenting with the cantrips he’d spent much of his use practicing. Reading the old notes left by his predecessors, and the occasional one by his own master. Casting them was made rather simple with his spellbook to assist. While the formations were simple, drawing out the runes for each spell was an extra step. Using his spellbook’s ability to wield the formations within streamlined the whole process, though it wasn’t exactly discrete.

With so many Chosen in the academy training area, at least one of them was bound to recognise some of the power of his artifact. Which meant he had to go through the long and gruelling process of learning the spells himself.

Fun.

It was probably a good thing really. Every time he or anyone else strayed from the path of hard work, Hump was reminded of the age-old lesson: there was no shortcut to power, and searching for one would only leave him lost. If he was ever to learn to wield schools of magic, he was less comfortable with, he had to master the cantrips first.

And first on that list was Alarm Trap.

Spellbook

Alarm Trap

Evocation | Battle Magic | Tier 0 | Range: Medium

Description: Bind a line of essence between two fixed points. If the essence is disrupted, the runes will create a loud ringing sound.

It took a couple of hours, but he got the trap working. It rang out, loud as a church bell when he dipped his finger into the line of essence and broke the connection.

Celaine startled from her meditation, leaping from where she’d been sitting on the ground, appearing ready for a fight. She glared at him, eyes shining green with essence, glittering like stars. She’d completely lost control.

Hump laughed as he deactivated the spell. “You’re like a cat.”

“That’s not funny, Hump!” she snapped, breathing heavily. Pure essence trickled from her skin in faint lines. “I was practicing the internal essence technique. You’re lucky I didn’t lash out at you!”

Hump’s smile slipped as he imagined her dragon blood and essence-enhanced strength slamming into him. “Note to self, don’t make loud noises near Celaine.”

Her lips curled into a frown, clearly not seeing the funny side. “It was going well too. I don’t think I’ve maintained control for that long before.”

“Sorry,” Hump said. “I should have thought about you before setting it off, but I’d messed up the rune fixtures a few dozen times and just wanted it to work.” She was still frowning, so Hump said, “Would you sit back down! I can practically feel the angry strength radiating off of you. Makes me kind of nervous.”

She scoffed, plopping back down and crossing her legs. “What was that stupid spell anyway?”

“Alarm Trap,” Hump said. He pointed at a post beside him, where he’d marked it with a simple formation. “It tethers two of these points to each other, holding a line of essence in place. If disrupted, it sets off a loud noise.”

He fed essence into the spell again, forming a line between the post and the academy wall.

“Please don’t do it again,” Celaine said, before he could set it off. She glanced around the training grounds. “People are looking.”

Hump stopped himself, looking over his shoulder. A few of the nearby students were casting annoyed looks in their direction. “I’ll save it for when we’re away from people.”

“Am I included in that?”

“We’ll see if you’re still complaining when it detects a pack of bloodwolves nearby.”

She sighed. “It suppose it does sound useful.”

“Exactly. Lately, I think I’ve been so focused on battle magic that I forgot about some of the other things wizards are so useful for. I need to fill in the gaps a bit, and right now, we rely too heavily on you for keeping watch in dangerous territory.”

“Oh.” Her face softed, less annoyed than before. “Thanks.”

“I’ve got some other spells I’m prioritising too.” He turned the page of his spellbook. “Distant Whisper is a cantrip for communicating over short distances, though there are wind specialists known to have ranges of well over a mile. And Healing Touch—it’s Tier 1, but it’s amongst the spells Vivienne offered me. It’ll be a nightmare to make any progress with it, but I think it will be more than worth it in the end.”

“You’ll struggle even at your current strength?” she asked.

Hump nodded. “There are few things more difficult than healing magic. Not only does it require the most precise manipulation of essence, but it involves influencing another person’s essence channels. On top of that, I have no affinity to the healing arts.”

“What about that chicken spell you have that can mend bones?” she said. “I thought that was Tier 3.”

Hump shrugged. “A different kind of healing, more akin to making a splint than actually repairing damage. Only, it’s an incredibly strong split that fixes the bones back in place. It’s just essence at work, forcing the bones to stay together.”

“Hump, Celaine, are you ready?” Bud called, him and Dylan approaching from the grounds. “Marcela’s finished.”

Their discussion with Marcela went well. She introduced them to the rest of her party, some coming from surprisingly simple backgrounds. It seemed she’d chosen her members based on quality rather than heritage. Len was a Chosen of Avaroth, the guardian of health and home. The sorcerer was a warding specialist, capable of forming complex barriers that wizards could only dream of. There was Matthias, a Shieldbearer of Byzantius; Nina, Chosen of Sumi the water goddess, and Teff, Chosen of the lesser god, Cern—a god of the hunt, but not one Hump was familiar with.

Hump couldn’t help but feel as if they looked down their noses of course. He was a wizard amongst Chosen, and despite the commendation from his party, there was no avoiding the “It’s rare to see a common wizard partied up with so many Chosen” remarks. Not Marcela though; she treated him with the same respect she did everyone else, and Hump found himself taking a liking to her the more they spoke. She was knowledgeable, pragmatic, and open to ideas, reminding him very much of her mother.

Most of their focus went to Stonebark Forest: the expected weather, common ailments and poisons, availability of food and shelter, and of course, the common monsters.

“That’s a long list of bone crushing creatures,” Hump said.

“Yes, well, there have been some horrific injuries,” Marcela said. “Many of these creatures will tear through armour like it’s nothing, so you must not rely on it too heavily, Robert.”

Bud nodded. “Understood.”

“There is one more thing…” Marcela trailed off, an uncomfortable look on her face.

Bud laughed. “You’re making me nervous. No need to feel hesitant about anything, we’re to be companion parties after all.”

She smiled appreciatively. “I hope you don’t feel like I’m imposing, but I have a suggestion. The academy recommends parties include at least five members. Four leaves you vulnerable to losses.”

“You want us to recruit a new member?” Hump asked, surprised.

“It’s only a suggestion. Statistically, parties of five or six hit the right balance of risk versus reward. Parties with four members or less see a significant casualty increase, particularly in terms of party wipes. For example, if a member is injured, and another member is forced to carry them out, that’s already a loss of half your party’s fighting strength. Many have perished in such cases.”

“I didn’t know there were statistics,” Hump said. “My master never mentioned it.”

“I’m not surprised,” she said. “Sheercliff Academy specialises in training Chosen adventurers, many of which are of noble birth. An incredible amount of money has gone into research to preserve life. Really though, it’s only a suggestion. I’ve already heard of your success on your previous quest chain. What you have is working, don’t let me interfere if you disagree.”

“We’ll certainly take it into consideration,” Bud said. “I think the biggest hindrance is finding members. I lack connections in Sheercliff, and those I do have were friends of my mother.”

Hump chuckled. “Not the ideal companions then.”

Bud shook his head. “Not really.”

“I see. If you were interested, you could put up a notice in the academy hall. It may be difficult finding interested students though, with the four of you being from outside the academy.”

“Not to mention the wizard,” Matthias said.

Nina laughed, quieting as Marcela gave them a sidelong look.

“A wizard that’s accomplished more than any of us,” she said, “and one that my mother speaks highly of.”

The two smiled awkwardly. “I was just kidding, Mar.”

Marcela sighed. “I’m sorry about that, Wizard Hump.”

“It’s fine,” Hump said, resisting the urge to snap back. “If we’re to be working together, it’s important that we have an element of trust between us. It’s true that I’m not Chosen, but I’ve likely been adventuring with my master longer than any of you have been in training at this academy. Since leaving his tutelage, I have received the personal recommendation of Overseer Oswald, been part of a dungeon expedition that captured a dungeon core, and fought monsters from another world in the defence of Fishers Lake. If you still doubt my ability, I’m more than willing to prove it.”

Marcela had an uncomfortable look on her face as she turned back to her party members. “Well?”

Matthias turned his gaze on Hump, his brow furrowed, lips pressed into a frown. Hump didn’t look away. “There’s no doubt,” he said. “My apologies, Wizard Hump.”

“And I,” Nina said.

Hump nodded. “Good.”

“I think now is a good time to leave it for today,” Bud said. “Thank you for the advice, Marcela. If there’s ever anything else, please don’t feel like you need to stand on eggshells around us. Just give it to us straight.”

“I’ll do that, Robert,” she said. “And of course, anything I can do to help. You can always come find me or send a note too, otherwise we will see you at the end of the week. Good luck with your preparations.”

They said their goodbyes and parted ways, leaving the academy grounds. As they left, Hump couldn’t help but smile as he heard mention of Bledsbury Dungeon. It seemed that Countess Daston had told Marcela a little about him after all.

“You look unbelievably smug right now,” Celaine said.

Hump snorted. “Can you blame me? It’s nice to finally be able to talk back to these arseholes.”

“You handled it well,” Dylan said. “They were childish, you were a professional, and it showed.”

Hump smiled at the druid, proud of himself for keeping his temper in check. “Thanks.”

“So, do you think we should consider it?” Celaine asked as they walked through the Upper City streets. “Perhaps it would be difficult to recruit someone from the academy, but I’m sure plenty of ordinary adventurers would be interested in joining us. Our ties to Countess Daston would put us in high demand.”

“I’m always hesitant to work with complete strangers,” Hump said. “My master would usually work on referrals.”

“Maybe Wizard Vivienne will know someone?” Bud said.

Dylan hummed. “Not likely. She could put a word in with the Wizards’ Society, but from what I understand her involvement there has been almost non-existent since before she met me.”

“Something to talk more about over lunch?” Hump suggested. It was nearing the mid-afternoon, and they’d need to head to the Lower City for a somewhat affordable lunch, with shortages as there were.

“I shouldn’t actually,” Bud said. “I have that dinner with Emilia in a couple of hours.”

Hump stared at him a moment, an idea forming. It must have shown on his face as Bud narrowed his eyes.

“Are you going to make another bad joke?” Bud asked. “It’s not a date. We’re not suddenly going to get married and settle down. It’s just a meeting.”

“It’s not that,” Hump said. “What do you think about inviting Emilia? She had a rapier on her hip, and with you and Dylan focused more on defence and support than dealing damage, a duellist would fit well.”

“Are you serious?”

Hump nodded, looking to his other companions for support.

“I agree,” Dylan said, somewhat apprehensive. “But if it makes you uncomfortable, Bud, maybe it’s a bad idea.”

“She would fit,” Celaine added. “And honestly, I wouldn’t mind having another girl around.”

Bud sighed. “She probably won’t be interested.”

“She just arrived in town and was having lunch with your cousin,” Hump said. “If I were a betting man, I’d think she may be in need of connections. Alternatively, we could reach out to Arthur—”

“There is no need for that,” Bud interrupted. “I’ll ask her.”