The crowd erupted in cheers as the Master of Illusionary Arts came to the stage and gave a bow, the other actors and musicians joining him. They’d arrived too early for the show, so Luna had dragged Hump around the streets of fairground games and food.

Hump was actually surprised at how well the evening had gone. There had been some quiet moments, but nothing awkward, and he really liked Luna. She was different to almost anyone he’d met. Cute, charming, and above all, kind, yet she still knew a little of the darkness in the world. She was very interested in his adventuring, and while he’d left out the worst moments, he could tell she understood what he was avoiding. She could relate.

“What did you think of it?” she asked as they left.

Hump shook his head, smiling. “I shouldn’t say. I’ll just ruin the fun.”

She laughed. “That bad?”

“Not bad exactly, just…” Hump cringed. “Scammy.”

“How isn’t that bad?” Luna asked. “That’s worse than bad!”

“Exactly.”

Luna snorted. “Go on then. Ruin it for me. What did they do?”

“It’s more what they didn’t do,” Hump said. “For one thing, that man was barely a wizard. Sure, he had a little magic, but he was using an artifact to produce those illusions—think, magically created puppet.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Luna said.

“On its own, maybe not. But there were at least three other ‘wizards’ running that show and not one of them knew more than rudimentary essence application. I expect they have an artifact set up to create each character and there’s nothing to it other than simply activating it.”

Luna glowered at him. “You’re right, that did ruin it.”

Hump smiled. “I did warn you.”

“I should have known better than to have doubted you. The people seemed to enjoy it though. That’s what matters.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Hump said. “It was fun. I thought the dragon was well done, especially with the fire breathing. That must have cost them a lot.” He scratched his chin. “Or maybe one of them is the enchanter, in which case, not so scammy after all.”

Luna sighed dramatically. “I fear the answer to that shall remain an unsolvable mystery. Can you do magic like that though?”

“Illusion magic isn’t exactly my field of expertise.”

“What is it then?”

“I was most skilled in earth magic under my master,” Hump said. “More recently, I’ve been using fire too, or combining both into lava. Much less finicky than illusion magic—I’m more the blow things up kind of wizard.”

“It sounds dangerous.”

“I definitely wouldn’t like to use it in an area like here.”

“Is there anything you could do here?” she asked. “I’ve always been curious about magic. The idea of changing the world through sheer effort of will is fascinating.

Hump glanced around, noting the presence of several temple guard. They were nearing the Lower City Gates now. “This is a little bit like cheating, but I can’t think of anything else that I could do here that wouldn’t get me arrested.” He held out his hand so that she could see his ring. “This is an Osidium Opal Ring given to me by Countess Daston.”

He let a little essence seep into the stone and willed the sand out from inside. They rose like smoke, spiralling a few inches into the air. He’d been practicing over the last week, and while he was still learning, he had an idea she might like. Envisioning her face, he fixed that image in his mind and fed that thought to the sands, guiding them into place. The sands rearranged themselves, forming the outline of a vaguely Luna looking face before collapsing. Hump let out a breath.

She laughed. “It really isn’t your forte.”

Hump couldn’t help but smile as she laughed. “Maybe not, but if you ever need a wall smashed in, I’m your man.”

Luna pointed over Hump’s shoulder and he glanced back to see one of the temple guard eyeing them suspiciously.

Hump winced. “Oops.”

“Perhaps we should discuss blowing up walls some place more private,” she whispered. “Though I’ll keep your offer in mind.”

“Would you two stop dawdling,” Miranda said, catching up behind them. “Through the gates, come on.”

She pushed through between them and led the way up the streets, avoiding the queue in favour of the gate saved for those with special access like adventurers. The closer they got, the more reluctant Hump was for the evening to end. Though good things always did. Once they were through, they continued up the road a short way before Luna stopped.

“Well, I had a lovely evening, Hump.” She leant forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then pulled away smiling, her cheeks red. “Until next time.”

Hump’s heart skipped a beat at her touch. For a moment, he stood there frozen. Swallowing, he nodded. “Right. And when would that be?” He tried to sound casual, but his voice made a pathetic crack halfway through his question.

Luna chuckled. “My next temple day is in another week. Perhaps we can meet then? This time, I’ll let you decide the location.”

“I’ll have a think and send you a letter.”

“I’ll be waiting.” She gave him one last smile before turning to Miranda. “I had best go before Miranda gets too cross.”

Miranda smirked. “Goodbye, Hump,” she said dryly.

Hump said his goodbyes and then watched the two women go, disappearing into the crowded street. He heard people approaching behind him and turned as his party came to stand beside him.

Bud, who was chewing on a meat skewer, spoke first. “Looks like it went well after all,” he said cheerfully. “And you said you don’t believe in miracles.”

“Hey! I take offence to that.”

Dylan and Emilia laughed.

“So, are you meeting again?” Celaine asked.

Hump looked at her, feeling complicated about her indifferent tone. “Yes. Next week.”

“Huh,” Celaine said. “We thought you were going to come up short.”

Bud laughed.

“Oh that’s great,” Hump said. “Very clever. Are you done?”

“We came up with a list,” Bud said. “Did she have to duck for that kiss?”

Hump glared at him. “Say what you want, at least I got the kiss.”

Hump couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by Celaine’s reaction. It was done. She’d made it perfectly clear she wasn’t interested, and tonight had gone well. He shouldn’t even be thinking about this.

“She wants me to choose the place next time,” Hump said. “Any ideas?”

“The theatre is always a good choice,” Emilia said.

“You could take her to a tavern,” Bud said.

“Do priestesses drink?” Dylan asked.

“Ah. Not usually,” Bud said.

“I think the theatre sounds like the better choice,” Hump said flatly.

***

The next few days passed quickly. There was little news from Vivienne about progress on the detection artifact—Countess Daston had sworn her to utmost secrecy—though Hump gathered things were moving fast. The countess was up to something. Marcela mentioned meetings with Sir Roderick, General Bennet, even Lord Ferrand. No doubt they were planning their actions against the warlocks, but Hump suspected it might also have something to do with whatever traitors might be amongst them. Everyone was being cautious, yet the effect that had on the city was all but lost on Hump.

He focused on what he could do. He had to get stronger—they all had to. They were bronze rankers now. Marcela was more in the know than any of them, regularly meeting with Sir Ricard and other squad leaders, and she’d informed them to be prepared for front line action. Many adventurers had died on failed expeditions beyond the city. Once the warlocks were found, that would be their first true test. Bronze rankers like them would make up the bulk of the force. In Hump’s experience, they would also do the bulk of the dying.

Hump always felt a sense of danger when taking on a challenging quest or dungeon, but this time he would be fighting people. Amongst them, at least a few had to be powerful to keep them concealed as long as they had. It was a different kind of fight, especially in a populated city like Sheercliff. With that in mind, they’d started training with Marcela and Corvin’s parties each morning, building their tactics and group coordination. Whatever grudges or opinions Corvin’s party had harboured of Hump before were clearly gone now. He was treated the same as any of them. They were training late into the evening, working together to establish group formations, figuring out how they would fight whether as a single unit or individual parties. And how to deal with powerful opponents.

This was where the academy experience really showed.

“Our role won’t be to fight them,” Marcela said. “Ricard and the other silver rankers will be there to take on the serious opponents. If we find them, all we need to do is survive and buy time.”

“Which we should be particularly good at,” Len said. “Hump and I have solid defensive magic between us, and we’ve got a sturdy frontline. If Corvin flashes his light a bit, help will arrive with plenty of time to spare.”

“Would you let that go,” Corvin said. “Someone had to give us some light in Tailsend, or did you want to fight off a horde of monsters in the dark?”

Len gave him a sly smile, clearly pleased he’d taken the bait. He launched into a well-worn rant ridiculing Corvin for hiding in his tower while the rest of them did the real fighting.

Perhaps there’s still a few grudges, Hump thought.

A week wasn’t really enough time for this, but Marcela instructed them on basics, developing a couple of simple strategies for when they were fighting as a single unit or split off into individual parties.

The afternoons were saved for individual training. Hump spent hours each day practicing his lava magic, honing his shaping skills, and refining his arsenal of cantrips. Most recently he’d purchased the Whisper cantrip—one of the more expensive Tier 0 spells but effective for medium range communication, and something he’d found for a reasonable price in an all-purpose goods store in the adventurers campus.

Strangely, the afternoons were what he’d come to look forward to most. That was when Vivienne would help with his soul training. It was unpleasant, exhausting, and made him feel like ice at the end of it, but he finally felt like he was taking steps to regain control over his soul.

Already he’d noticed a marked improvement in his capabilities. The trip to Stonebark Forest had been a dangerous one, but he could feel the benefits in everything he did. Resisting Vivienne’s assault had become easier. His soul responded swiftly, acting as an extension of his mind rather than the brute force bursts of power he’d used before. When he looked inward, he could more easily sense the dragon and gorger imprints, as well as the bond he had to his egg. That seemed to be strengthening faster than anything. He could reach out to it now with just a thought, and a flood of images would exchange between them. The hatchling was growing stronger.

That’s enough for today,” Vivienne said.

She withdrew her soul, and Hump felt as if he could properly breathe once more. He had started to become more used to her pressure. They’d been working on his spellcasting while under attack from a manifested soul. It was tough, like wielding his essence through sludge, but he’d managed to get off a few Essence Blasts now.

Hump slumped to the floor, breathing heavily. Everything was cold.

“You’re really getting the hang of this,” Vivienne said. “I’m impressed.”

“Thank you,” Hump said through chattering teeth. “I couldn’t have managed without you.”

She waved off his gratitude. “No need to thank me. Honestly, after staring at runes all day, this is a great way to relieve stress.”

She smiled at him, and Hump glared back.

“Brilliant.”

***

Even with the few bits of information Vivienne had let slip, the news came sooner than Hump anticipated. An official letter from the academy arrived the following morning.

“We have our next assignment,” Celaine said. She slid the letter across the table to Hump.

Hump sat groggily and picked it up, frowning. It hadn’t even been a week since Vivienne’s supposed tribunal. “You are instructed to attend a meeting in the Adventurers’ Guild, Hall 2. Come equipped for battle,” Hump read. He looked up at Celaine and frowned. “This is hardly an assignment.”

“They’re being unusually secretive about an Adventuers’ Guild request,” Dylan said. “Vivienne left at first light. She slipped a note under my door saying to be careful today, but that was it. No information at all.”

“I suppose their artifact worked then,” Hump said.

Celaine smiled. “So, we’re finally going warlock hunting. I’ve got to admit, training was getting a bit dull.”

Dylan sighed. “I’ll go wake up Bud. We had best get ready. You think it’s worth one of us going to let Emilia know and decide on a meeting place?”

“I’ll go,” Celaine said. “We’ll meet you outside the guild campus.”

Hump nodded. “And I’ll eat breakfast. Wouldn’t want to fight warlocks on an empty stomach.”