Damien’s palm burned as he emerged from the swirling Ether and stepped into a large forest clearing larger than Blackmist’s arena. Stumps littered the ground around them, and the ground was scarred from where trees had been torn from their roots.

Several trees emerged from the ground like the spears of giants, their jagged stumps pointed toward the heavens. Damien only took an instant to study it – the burning in his palm was as strong as it had ever been, and there was only one thing that could cause that.

The Corruption was near.

Magic surged to Damien’s hands and he drew energy from the lines of Ether surrounding them, filling his core as he swept their surroundings in search of the source of Herald’s warning.

“Guards up,” Damien barked as the Yui and Elania emerged behind him. “The Corruption is here.”

Yui’s eyes widened in surprise, and Elania spun in a circle, raising her hands defensively. They both glanced around, then turned back to Damien with confused expressions.

“Where?” Yui asked.

The air beside her crackled and Dredd arrived, striding out to stand before them.

“Sealed,” Dredd said, tapping his staff on the ground.

“Where? Why?”

“For training. What better to train against than the very enemy we seek to defeat? Don’t worry. This was a joint project between several very powerful mages, myself included. The Corruption cannot break out.”

“That doesn’t seem very convincing,” Damien said, not letting his guard down in the slightest. “Are you sure?”

“Completely confident,” Dredd replied. “I am not my brother. There are no risks of the Corruption escaping alive. That does not guarantee your safety while fighting it, but there will be no surprises from it.”

Damien let his hands lower, but he didn’t release his hold on the Ether. He just inclined his head slightly. “Fine. One more question – how’d you hear Yui’s question? You hadn’t come through your portal yet.”

“I possess the ability to hear and see the area my portals open in before I pass through them,” Dredd replied. “I had wanted to determine the extent of everyone’s ability in gauging the threat. Of course, I was already aware of yours, but I wished to see if Yui or Elania were capable of the same.”

Damien grunted and gestured for Dredd to continue. The professor gestured to the ruined clearing around them.

“Yui, Elania, now that Damien has alerted you to the presence of the Corruption in the area, I’d like you to try to determine where it is. Do not move from this spot during the duration of your search, and it is not farther than the borders of this clearing.”

“How long do we have?” Yui glanced over her shoulder, as if the Corruption were just sitting behind her back. “And I trust we can use Ether?”

“Until I say your time is up,” Dredd replied. “And of course. What would the point of this be if you couldn’t? You may use any tool at your disposal. If you are able to locate it, inform me. Do not attempt to attack or otherwise interact with it.”

While they spoke, Damien had already cast his senses out. Even though Dredd had told him not to participate, he had no desire to wait around idly while a Corrupted monster was in the area. At the bare minimum, he needed to know where it was.

His mental energy brushed across the clearing as he cast them out like a net, dragging it through the clearing. Within a few seconds, his energy made contact with a large form crouching near the edge of the tree line, surrounded by several large, splintered trunks.

Damien studied it for a moment, discreetely moving his palm to point in its direction. The pain grew stronger, then blinked out. That was the equivalent of a resounding cheer of approval from Herald, so he pulled most of his energy back, keeping a single strand attached to the creature.

Satisfied, he snuck a glance at Yui and Elania to see how they were doing. The princess was scanning the field with squinted eyes. She passed over the hidden Corruption nearly a dozen times, and Damien was pretty sure she was going to get dizzy if she spun any further.

Elania had a significantly better system. Panels of golden light shimmered before her, and an orb hovered far in the sky above them. He didn’t recognize the magic she was using, but Henry filled the gaps in for him.

“She’s bending the light entering the globe in the air and sending it down to the screens in front of her,” Henry said in his mind. “They’re shielded to stop you from seeing what’s going on, though the shields aren’t very strong. Either way, it isn’t going to work as she’s currently doing it. The Corruption isn’t camouflaged. It’s invisible, so her light isn’t going to pick anything up.”

Elania had evidently come to the same conclusion. She pursed her lips, then pressed her hands to the plates. Ether gathered around her, seeping into her spell from her palms. Beams of golden energy swept across the arena. Damien reflexively cast Devour above himself, blocking the spell from touching him, but Elania was too focused on her work to care. The beams of light struck the ground and bounced back into the orb in the air.

That’s interesting. Was she checking how the Ether reacted to what it touched? I like that idea. Not as fast as just sweeping with mental energy, though.

“Not everyone has the ridiculous amount of mental energy that you do,” Henry said. “That was cleverly done. For a human, that is.”

“I think I found it,” Elania said, lowering her hands and dismissing her Ether with a grin.

“Very well,” Dredd said. “Yui?”

Yui chewed her lower lip, then shook her head. “I don’t know. I could probably throw Ether around until I hit something, but in any real situation, that would be useless. It would either move out of the way or I’d end up damaging something I don’t want to.”

“I see. Elania, please point to the Corruption,” Dredd said.

Elania pointed in the direction of the monster. Yui followed her finger, then let out a sigh when she saw nothing but air.

“Very good,” Dredd said. “That is correct. Yui, consider why you were unable to do this task. What are your shortcomings?”

Yui’s gaze fell and her cheeks reddened in shame. “It’s because I’ve always got someone to do that for me. All I’ve really trained to do is fight, and mostly against people that are worried about hurting me.”

Dredd grunted. “Yes, I’m aware. But there was a way to locate this monster without using your Ether.”

“What? How?”

“By watching where he was looking,” Dredd said, nodding to Damien. “Despite me telling him not to bother, Damien immediately located the Corrupted monster and has been staring at it ever since.”

Damien cleared his throat as Yui followed his gaze, realizing that he was also looking in the direction that Elania had indicated. The princess scrunched her nose in annoyance.

“Oh. I didn’t think of that.”

“That is because you lack experience,” Dredd said. “We will rectify that. I do not have the time or patience to teach you a spell that will let you detect the Corruption. You will either figure one out for yourself, or determine a way to locate it with more mundane means. If you can do neither, you are a liability.”

Dredd tapped his staff against the ground. A ring of red energy rippled outward, washing past all of them and spreading through the clearing. As it washed over the invisible Corrupted monster, motes of energy stuck to it, remaining behind as the ring continued outward.

The energy grew brighter as it covered the monster’s entire body, then faded away and took the invisibility with it. What remained was a large, hunched giant made of cracked gray stone. Green acid glimmered in the cracks between its body and it was hunched over and squatting, its face toward the ground.

Thick black chains covered with glowing red runes were connected to its arms and legs, and a heavy collar rested around its neck. The runes covering the collar were so numerous that they looked like lines rather than individual drawings.

“This Corrupted monster has already been weakened, but it was a formidable opponent,” Dredd said, walking toward it and gesturing for them to follow him.

“Why is it just sitting there? How did you capture it?” Elania asked, her eyes wide in a mixture of wonder and fear.

“Delph severed its connection to the Ether, then tore it apart until it was unable to regenerate,” Dredd replied, coming to a stop a healthy distance away from the creature. “We then bound it in restrictive runes, carving them into its body as it regenerated. The chains are an extra precaution, but are unlikely to be necessary.”

Damien’s eyes widened. “That must have taken a ridiculous amount of time.”

“Approximately one week per monster,” Dredd replied, his tone unchanging. “It was for an important task, and we did not think it wise to just send you out against the Corruption, hunting it without any precautions whatsoever.”

Damien let out a bark of laughter and the girls glanced at him. Dredd’s mouth quirked upward for a fraction of a second in what might have been a smile, but it was gone so quickly that nobody would have been able to say if it actually happened.

“If I recall correctly, it was your choice to hunt the Corruption,” Dredd said. “We didn’t interfere with that. Our mistake was… elsewhere.”

“Mistake?” Elania asked.

“Between us, I am afraid,” Dredd replied curtly. “Regardless, this is what we will be training against for the time being. There will be two parts to this special training. The first will be with just me, where we will refine your individual abilities. The second will be as a group with the others, where we work on teamwork. Most of our time will be spent in the latter exercise. Do you have any questions?”

“Yeah. Are you sure you’re related to Delph?” Damien asked. “Because he probably would have just set the monster free and told us to survive while shouting suggestions from the sidelines.”

“I believe that is his lesson plan for the close range fighters,” Dredd said.

Yui laughed, but trailed off quickly when she realized that the professor was straight-faced. “Wait, seriously?”

“I do not joke.”

“I am so glad we went with you,” Elania muttered. “I bet Mark is having the time of his life, though.”

Dredd grunted, unimpressed. “I am pleased to be of service. Now, since we do not appear to have any further questions, we will begin – starting with the weakest of you.”

Elania took a step forward, only to find Dredd’s staff placed against her chest. He pushed her back, then tapped Yui on the shoulder and jerked his chin toward the Corrupted monster. Yui’s eyebrows rose.

“Me? I’m the weakest?”

“Yes. You lack experience. Both Damien and Elania have been in numerous real fights – I can see it in their stances and the way they hold themselves. Your mother has done you no favors by assigning guards to protect you. You are unprepared for this threat. I will prepare you.”

Yui flinched. Her hands clenched at her sides, and she nodded. “But my magic–”

Dredd cocked his head to the side and Yui snapped her mouth shut. They stared at each other for a few moments. Then the princess inclined her head.

“Okay. What are we doing?”

“Survival training. To begin with, we will focus on self-preservation. Your job is to avoid being struck by any abilities or spells for the next five minutes. You may not leave this clearing or interact with the Corruption or other students. For the duration of this particular task, you may use any tool or ability at your disposal,” Dredd replied, cracking his neck. “Elania, Damien, I would request your assistance.”

“Sure,” Elania said. “What do you need?”

“If it looks like I am about to go too far, please stop me,” Dredd replied, tossing his staff to the side. Instead of falling to the ground, it floated back through the air until it came to a stop several feet away from them. “I have always struggled to hold back.”

Bands of red light wrapped around Dredd’s hands, stretching out like rubber as he wound them around his hands. He flexed his fingers, then nodded.

“Prepare yourself, Princess. Our time starts now.”

“I’m read–”

Dredd yanked a hand back. The bands stretched through the air, expanding and entangling Yui’s right arm. She stumbled, pulled off balance. Dredd took a swift step forward, then drove his other fist into her stomach with enough force to make both Damien and Elania wince.

The bands holding Yui snapped and she tumbled across the ground, slamming into an upended tree with enough force to snap it in half. She rolled out of the side an instant before it crashed to the ground where she had fallen.

Yui staggered upright, clutching her stomach. Dredd wrapped the bands of light around his hand once more, drawing more of the strange magic out from the air around them. Then he flicked his hand toward her.

They extended like hungry tentacles, whipping toward Yui. She threw her hands upward and a flower of ice bloomed around her, knocking Dredd’s magic to the side harmlessly. The professor approached the flower and rested a hand against it.

“You intend to maintain this for the duration of our fight?” Dredd guessed. “A viable strategy, if you are strong enough to keep it intact. However, it does immobilize you. That is a glaring weakness.”

He wound the bands of light around his hand once more, drawing the red energy out from the air and constricting it around Yui’s ice flower. Dredd started to pull and the flower groaned in protest, ice creaking as it tried to keep the foreign Ether from cutting through it.

For an instant, Damien thought Yui’s defenses might have held. Then, with a final scream of protest, the ice shattered. The princess’ eyes went wide as the strands carved clean through her magic, shearing it to pieces as it wound toward her.

Fire erupted around Yui, swallowing the ice flower and Dredd whole. Heat washed over Damien and a massive explosion rocked the clearing, charring trees and sending them tumbling across the ground.

Elania was nearly thrown off her feet, but Henry caught her with a cloak-tendril and yanked her back to the ground.

When the flame fell, Yui stood behind Dredd, holding a flaming sword before her. She’d tried to cut the professor’s back, but he’d blocked the blow with a single string of red light behind him.

Doesn’t that magic kind of look like Aven’s?

“I don’t think we’ve even scratched what his magic can do, but that’s almost certainly the same technique,” Henry confirmed. “Just… considerably better. His strings are pure Ether, while hers were metal. I suppose that would make them worse against Sylph, but against everyone else, that’s a big difference.”

“Offence is a valid strategy, Yui,” Dredd said, not even bothering to turn around. “But it only works if your attacks are strong enough to keep your opponent from retaliating.”

A red string wrapped around Yui’s leg and yanked her into the air, turning her upside down. She pulled herself up, slashing the strand with her sword. It held for a moment, then snapped with a twang.

As Yui fell, fire gathered around her body. She slammed into the ground like a meteor, then charged Dredd.

“You are supposed to be acting as a ranged fighter. Do not put yourself in a position where you can be injured,” Dredd said. He flicked his fingers and a bolt of red light shot out, catching Yui in the chest. Her flame winked out and she was thrown back for the second time.

She managed to get her feet out beneath her and skidded across the dirt, coming to a stop just before several trees. Yui’s sword winked out and she leaned against one of the trees behind her, breathing heavily.

“You might find your Ether is depleting abnormally fast,” Dredd said. “The Corruption can drain the Ether from your surroundings. You will have to learn to conserve the energy you have stored within your core efficiently.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?” Yui asked.

“A lesson learned through action is always far more effective than words,” Dredd replied. “Come, now. We still have a little more than four minutes left.”