Ar'Kendrithyst

Chapter 93: Jane, 1/2

With her damp hair wrapped in a towel and another towel wrapped around her body, Jane stepped out of the master bathroom of Windy Manor, into the common room, feeling great. She had just treated herself to a nice soak in hot water, with scented oils and lush, pure white soap, for she had accomplished something today that most people never had, or ever wanted to. She smiled at the air, as she looked upon Elemental Body skill number six; the last one.

Air Body, instant, close range, 5 MP per second + Variable

You are the breeze.

She kept smiling as she made her way to her room. She took her time getting dressed, for her mind was in a hundred different places.

The Headmaster had been very good to Jane, giving her access to three different slimes, one rare, two not, and their respective dungeons he maintained around Veird. She did not have the Razorwing Familiar Form that she wanted, but she had cleared her Polymage Class Quest a week ago. She had not turned it in, however, because of a fact she already knew, but didn’t consider a big deal when she was just starting out.

What you did before you got a Class enabled you to have different Classes than the standard issue Classes available. You could always check up on what other Classes were available after you already had one; her father had proven that to her just the other day, by revealing that he could get the Blood Mage class, if he wanted. But changing Classes was rather high up there in difficulty. Even changing a Favored Spell was pretty difficult. Her father’s Quest to take back one of his Favored Spells from [Call Lighting] involved surviving a lightning strike.

Removing a Class was much more difficult; on par with changing your Scion. Getting rid of Polymage, which was something she was pretty sure she would never want to do, was a well known, and highly involved Quest. It required discarding all your Familiar Forms and remaining in your Natural Form for a year, or however long it took for your ‘soul to forget what it could have been’; which was just a fancy way of becoming ineligible for reacquiring your lost Familiar Forms. That process usually took a year, but it could take longer. Jane suspected that if she ever choose to abandon Polymage, that it would take her a long, long time to forget how to be a Shadow Spider.

So Jane had waited to turn in the Quest to the Script. She would go to the Registrar first. She wanted to see if she was eligible for any other, stranger Classes. Not many people got all the Elemental Body forms, after all!

Jane paused in putting on her pants. She should push her hopes down a notch. She tempered her expectations. She might have all the Body skills, and all the Shaping spells, but she had not made a single Prismatic spell. She probably needed to do that. But. Eh. She could still visit the Registrar and see her options. She could even ask the Headmaster his opinions on her possible options. She had earned that right, according to him. He was technically a Registrar, but only because of his position as Rozeta’s Second. If you were one of his Elites, or if you had done him a great service, he talked about practically anything anyone could ask of him, going on long tangents and informative stories about hidden Classes and interesting spells, provided those Classes and Spells were beneficial for him, and his goals.

Jane had noticed that peculiarity of the Headmaster’s rather early in their talks of Earth’s Fake Magic, when Jane spoke of Orbs of Dragonkind. She had memorized all of her books that she had on her laptop, of course, but when she started writing down what she knew, the larger spells and artifacts and magic tumbled out, first. When she mentioned the Orbs of Dragonkind, the Headmaster cleared the room, and had her work in private from then on. Everything she wrote passed under his eyes, first, before being cleared for his Elites to know.

Jane had been rather flippant about the whole thing before that moment. Everything she knew was Fake Magic from Earth, after all; she had even coined that term, herself. But the Headmaster still wanted it, so Jane decided she was going to milk that knowledge for all it was worth. But it was still Fake. Just a bunch of ideas put together by people without any real experience with magic, made to be accessible and give numbers to such ethereal concepts like ‘a bolt of magical force striking a person’ and ‘Health’.

And so, when she wasn’t eating slime cores, she spent several hours each day, spilling ‘secrets’ and occasionally answering the Headmaster’s questions. Occasionally, the Headmaster had more than just questions. He had concerns. Early on in their talks, one of his concerns lodged into Jane’s mind, and would not let go. She had thought about his words every day since then. She was still thinking of them now, as she finished putting on her shirt, and laid back onto her bed.

He had said something like, ‘All this Fake Magic that is so similar to the Script, and yet not; perhaps this is what is holding you back from proper Script spells? Perhaps, you are trying to do too much, and all your ideas are conflicting with each other.’

Then they had a rather large back-and-forth about how some people know all the magic there is, like the Headmaster himself, or any number of the Elite Mages that Jane had seen in her time on Veird.

The Headmaster had gone on to summarize his expansive argument into something like, ‘Yes, it is true that some people are capable of knowing all the magic there is. Most Mage Guild Masters would even fall into that category. But no one can cast it all, Jane, and those who have unfinished thoughts or abnormal ideas rarely get far in their studies of magic. I have seen troubles like yours before. I have seen the children of noble houses, known for their magic, who come to Oceanside as complete failures, for in trying to learn all the magic there is, or in trying to put their own ill-thought twists on what has already come before, they have learned nothing, and gained no power. So I will tell you what I have told them:

‘There is a difference between half-formed ideas, and what you are trying to achieve, and it is thus:

‘What you are looking for is your Truth. You must find this Truth, and it must be a singular vision. But do not feel that you are making yourself smaller by limiting your magic. Indeed, you are deepening your connection to the mana, by deciding who you are, and who you wish to be. Discarding unwanted influences. Condensing and refining a vision to follow, or forge.

‘My own Truth is that of the Sun. How it nurtures growth and life, but is also harsh and unyielding.

‘Your father’s, if I had to hazard a guess, would be a Truth about how the world works on a fundamental level. Many follow his sort of Truth, but even if we all knew the physical theories he knows, I doubt many would be capable of his depths of conviction.

‘Many find their Truth in the solidity of the Script. If you had grown up on Veird and cherished our Script how you had cherished of all this Other Magic you imagine, I would have guided you along the normal Arcanaeum Path. But I doubt that is meant to be.

‘So find your Truth, Jane.’

Jane laid in bed, thinking.

… All she really wanted to do was kill threats, explore the world, and have fun doing it. But that wasn’t really a ‘truth’ was it? Or was it? Eh. Jane sat up. She knew what her problem was, and it wasn’t about any ‘Truth’.

A lot of magical theory out there talked about stuff like ‘Schools of Thought’ creating the cultural basis for magics like the Shaping spells, and the Force spells, based on the magical theory that the Arcanaeums of Veird kept pumping out into the world. Jane would have called it a ‘chicken and the egg’ scenario if that scenario was even remotely true; the egg came first, after all, and then evolution produced the chicken. But whatever the case, Arcanaeum Magic was strong when used correctly, but, according to everything Jane had seen, it was just as much bullshit as anything else.

The problem laid in the fact that Magic was possibility. But possibility only existed when people thought of that possibility in the first place. In the case of Veird’s magic, these communal thoughts created the schools of magic taught in Arcanaeum. In the case of Jane’s gaming books and the new magic of Candlepoint, the Headmaster’s leading theory was that Candlepoint’s shadelings were an attempt by Melemizargo at forcing new magic into the Script, in a roundabout way. Theoretically.

Because that’s how normal Magic worked.

Theoretically.

Jane wanted to scream! Subjective Magic had some very large downsides, and one of them was that no one really knew how any of it worked! And what worked for one person, wouldn’t work for others! And so, it seemed, Jane was the ‘other’.

On the other hand, Subjective Magic was great because it allowed for anything. Anything allowed by the Script, anyway.

But on the third hand! Jane was not great at self delusion or introspection! She wanted to be anything and everything, from the very moment she landed on Veird. How the hell was that concept going to work with finding her own personal ‘Truth’?

Maybe… If her father’s methodology was accepting the world as everyone else saw it, and then adding his own obstinance to it all… Could Jane’s methodology, perhaps, be the exact opposite? Could she just… enforce her will upon the world?

No. Wait. That would make her a tyrant.

But… Was that who she was, at her core?

Jane shook her head. No. That was wrong.

HOPEFULLY THAT WAS WRONG!

Jane didn’t want to think about magic anymore —and she was self aware enough to recognize that as yet another part of the problem. But! Whatever!—so she got up, and went about her day. Maybe she’d ‘find herself’ some other time, because for now, Jane had an appointment with a Registrar.

She glanced toward the note Erick had left on the kitchen table, as she walked through the main room, toward the front door. She had read it a few days ago, but left it there. Delia had not crossed her path, but Jane had purposefully stayed away from that tangled nest of problems.

From what she had found out from asking around, though: Delia was attending classes. So that was good? Probably?

Jane certainly wasn’t going to make herself a [Familiar], though.

- - - -

In a room with a Script-blue door, Jane sat across from a petite, older incani woman with large black horns and dull red skin, while a large blue box of options hovered to the side. There were a surprising number of shadow-centric Class options on the list. Jane wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that, but the Registrar, Alanaria, was happy to help Jane understand what she was seeing.

“And what’s this one?” Jane asked, “Veirdshaker?”

Alanaria nodded, then read from an invisible part of the air, saying, “A stone-based class, with inherent bonuses to stone control and battlefield dominance. While others are falling down, you are standing strong.” She only needed to read from the air a handful of times this whole meeting. Mostly, she just spoke answers to Jane’s questions like she had studied for the test well before now. She turned to Jane, saying, “Even able to affect fliers, to some extent.”

“How did I qualify for that?”

Alanaria looked to the air again. “A proficiency in all Shaping spells, and the four Natural Elemental Body skills.”

Jane stared at ‘Veirdshaker’ for a few moments. She had not expected that sort of answer from Alanaria. It appeared that ‘Veirdshaker’ was rather close to something she might consider being.

But. Eh. Maybe not.

She pointed to another, Class, asking, “Weapons Master?”

Alanaria didn’t have to read from the air this time, but she did smile a little. “Weapons deal more damage. Conjured or otherwise; does not matter. A peak Weapons Master is able to draw out the shape of their soul and use it as a weapon, or imbue a chosen weapon with a piece of themselves, depending on their own ideas of the Class. The process varies by person. Those that conjure or imbue well might live long after their natural death, as that weapon, looking after those still to come.” She added, “A lot of people from the warring states of Nelboor become Weapons Masters, where weapons are passed down from conqueror to child.”

“How did I get access to that Class, though? I have no history with any of that.”

“A large proficiency with many different weapons.” Alanaria added, “But you are wise to question such an offering. Without the techniques and bloodline history necessary to make such a Class shine, you would only have access to the Class Abilities, and an enhancement of whatever ideas regarding weapons that you might bring to the Class. Going further would require tutelage from another Weapons Master.”

Jane looked back to the list, and asked about one of the many classes that bothered her. “Zealot?”

Alanaria said, “A person willing to enact the will of a Deity.”

“Can you just…” She paused. She asked, “Can you tell me what Classes give? Baseline, I mean. What is a ‘Class’? I already know but… I thought I knew what I was going for, and I expected something else on this list, today.” Jane said, “Something closer to who I am.” She glanced up at ‘Veirdshaker’. “Though some of them are closer than others.”

Alanaria smiled small, then began, “It is perfectly natural to doubt a Class choice. Shall I start my explanation at the beginning?”

“Yes. Please. What is a Class, exactly?”

Alanaria nodded. “In one of the many creations made in order to prevent Melemizargo’s Wrath from killing everyone on Veird and thus ripping this world apart, a higher tier of power was manifested by the Relevant Entities of the Script, and Rozeta, in order for us to combat the Darkness.

“The Classes.

“When a person reaches level 50, thereby proving themselves as capable, the Relevant Entities of the Script allow such a person to ascend to greater heights. When a person accepts a Class, they are taking the whole of their being and applying it in a singular direction in order to go further than they could have gone otherwise.

“But much how like no two people conjure the same sword, every Class is different for each individual. And I don’t mean Water Mage versus Stone Mage. I mean your Water Mage versus another’s Water Mage. You would both have the same Class, but you might take it in very different directions.

“To say it another way: Matriculation into the Script involves the Script carving out a space in the magic for you, but you fill that space with your own magic. Gaining a Class is a further allowance of growth. Putting a plant in a bigger pot, for instance. And I am not talking at all about Class Ability Slots. Every Class gets those, and some more than others, but those don’t matter compared to the Class itself.

“If you were to take Water Mage, you would find, outside of all Ability Slots, your ability to control, change, or affect water, has increased. Either in quantity, or quality; however you chose to grow your own personal ability, the Script would respond.

“This is what it means to have a Class.” Alanaria asked, “Understood?”

“Yes.” Jane asked, “And the rarer Classes?”

Alanaria nodded. She said, “And now, we get into the rarer Classes, and what they mean. Take, for instance, River Mage. This is a variant of Water Mage. By taking the River Mage Class, you would find your rushing water spells and your control over currents vastly increased, even more so than if you were to take Water Mage. The exact nature of the change is up to you as the individual, but if a dam broke and rushing waters threatened a small village, all things being equal, a River Mage would be able to deflect the destructive rush to a greater degree than the Water Mage could.

“Another, slightly smaller thing to keep in mind, is that the suite of available Class Abilities are different between a Water Mage versus a River Mage. While the Water Mage might pull Class Abilities from the entire varied list of water-aligned Classes, and thus have a more generalized suite of options, the River Mage’s Class Abilities would focus primarily on rushing water of all kinds. Don’t expect to find ‘Tranquil Mind’ for 25% more Mana inside River Mage, for example. But a River Mage would always have access to ‘Rushing Mind’, for 25% more Mana Regen.

“‘Tranquil Mind’ and ‘Rushing Mind’ stack with the standard suite of Class Abilities for doubling your Mana or your Mana Regen, too, just so you know.

“If you choose to take a specialty Class over a generalized Class, keep this in mind.

“One last thing to keep in mind: All things being equal, and unless you are set on something specific, it is the official recommendation of Rozeta to take the generalist approach when choosing a Class.”

“Thanks… but...” Jane said, “I was hoping that you could give an example outside of the one I read in the textbooks.”

Alanaria smiled, faintly, like she had heard that complaint a million times before. She answered with a response she likely had said a dozen times today, already, “That’s not how Registrars work.”

Jane asked, “I suppose you wouldn’t know anything about a theoretical ‘Prismatic Polymage’?”

Alanaria said, “I can guess that such a Class would be a rare variant of Polymage. But I have no idea what such a theoretical Class would even provide, or how you would get there.” She said, “But! I can say, that if you have a large enough personal conviction for such a Class, then it should appear on the list.” She glanced to the blue box hanging in the air, to the side. “But, since your desired Class has not appeared, we can conclude that even you, yourself, don’t believe that you have earned the right to such a Class.”

Jane chuckled once. She sighed. She said, “Yeah. That’s about right.”

Jane turned to the floating box of options, and read through the list a few times. ‘Polymage’ seemed to stare at her, telling her that she already knew what she wanted. She had completed that Quest a week ago, but she had yet to turn it in.

Class Quest!

Abandon your initial Familiar Form 0/1

OR

Acquire an aquatic Form 1/1

Acquire an aerial Form 1/1

Acquire a fiery Form 1/1

Acquire a grounded Form 1/1

Acquire a hidden Form 1/1

Acquire a mesmerizing Form 1/1

Reward: Polymage Class

She could have accepted the Class right there. But she did not want to. She wanted to see if she would become eligible for something better, when she finally got the last three Elemental Body skills. Which she had.

Stone Body, instant, close range, 5 MP per second + Variable

You are the land.

Water Body, instant, close range, 5 MP per second + Variable

You are the river.

Air Body, instant, close range, 5 MP per second + Variable

You are the breeze.

But having all 6 Elemental Body skills did not unlock a special Class. It hadn’t even given her a ‘Special Action’ like she had gotten when she upgraded her flame slime into a flame ooze.

Alanaria said, “I can see you are having some difficulty. I would like to give you some personal advice, if you would allow me?”

Jane looked over to Alanaria, and said, “Yeah. Sure.”

Alanaria said, “Polymage is a great Class for those who enjoy [Polymorph]. It is a good road that many have traveled on, with well researched books and a myriad of personal journals in the library, of those who have come before. Either way, do not forget this: Any Class you choose, you can make your own. That is the beauty of the Script.” She said, “But, since it seems you are a bit lost, I will give you the advice I give everyone who levels, way, way too fast.” She smiled, saying, “You’re level 71, and you Matriculated ten months ago! That is simply too fast!”

Jane smiled to herself.

Alanaria said, “You need to take some time and find out what you want, for sure. If you’re going for such a ‘Prismatic’ Class, have you even tried to combine all of your Elemental Body skills and spells yet?”

“No. Not yet. I thought just having them was enough.” Jane said, “And I thought that having them all would unlock something. Some ‘Special Action’, or whatever.” She added, “How do you even use the Body skills in magic? Nothing I’ve read shows them used in any spell combinations. They’re always sort of… off to the side. Or recommended as alternatives to [Teleport] and [Blink].”

“Regarding how they’re used in other magics: I cannot help you with that. But regarding putting them all together? Have you even tried, yet?”

Jane frowned, but mostly at herself. The answer to Alanaria’s question was ‘no’. Jane never had any good luck combining magic. She also recognized that she was being foolish. Like a little kid scared to touch the stove because it burned her once before; Jane’s magic had never worked, and she felt it might never ever work, at all.

… She recognized that she was being foolish, for sure.

Jane said, “I haven’t tried combining them, yet. Or even using them fluidly from one to the other.”

Alanaria quietly looked at Jane. After a moment, she said, “Here’s some more unsolicited advice: You’ve been sick for a long time. It seems to me that you need to get back on a battlefield; out fighting the good fight. Harvesting slimes just doesn’t cut it.”

“… Probably true.”

“I can’t recommend specific actions, but I can say that there are quest boards all over the world full of needs, and you are more than capable.” Alanaria said, “Keep in mind that your gut instinct is usually the best one when it comes to choosing a Class.”

Jane stood up. She said, “Thanks, Alanaria. I’ll make an appointment for another day.”

Alanaria said, “Good luck!”

- - - -

Jane looked up at the tall towers of Oceanside, and the flying people above. She frowned, and trudged on through noisy campus streets. She passed open air bars where students drank tea and harder liquids, while arguing over tests and history and magic theory. She came to Central Tower, and walked with the first years, towering above most of them, except for the orcols, of course. Some people gave her weird looks. What was this taller, obviously older student doing, walking around down here? Shouldn’t she be flying to class by now? But no, Jane had not gotten a single version of that spell she liked; not yet, anyway.

So she walked the normal path, toward the elevators, and ascended through the tower while surrounded by kids. While most of the children got off before the lift got too high, Jane continued on to the second-to-the-top floor. Up here, the hallways were barely off-white marble, with golden flecks here and there in the stone. She had been up here more than a few times before, so Jane easily found her room.

She nodded to the space where the invisible person stood, guarding the room, and went inside.

Today would be close to the last day of work. Jane was pretty sure she had gotten everything out, and though she might have missed something, those forgotten secrets could come out some other day. And besides! She needed to save a few things for herself. Wouldn’t want them killing the chicken that laid no more eggs, after all.

Her desks, tables, and papers, looked much how they looked every time Jane had showed up for this job; highly organized, and nothing like the mess she usually made. She never made a large mess, but she had a tendency to construct scattered piles of paperwork on every table of the room, concerning everything she could remember about every various gaming system she had ever played, that might have been on the laptop Melemizargo stole. Those piles grew and grew as she recorded everything she knew, using the many pencils and pens and pastels she had been provided by the Headmaster. But every day, the papers and writing equipment had been organized by the Headmaster, after she left, to then appear like it did now, every time Jane showed up.

And to think of the devil: The Headmaster sat in a chair in the sun, on the far side of the room, reading from a small book and drinking from a large cup of tea. His emperor-like yellow-gold robes seemed to shine in the light, just like his eyes shimmered, as he watched Jane come into the room.

Jane joked, “I’m almost done, so it’s time to get rid of me?”

The old dragon frowned. “A man can’t check on his investment as the work comes to a close?”

Jane walked to her desk, saying, “You’re never here for the beginning part.” She added, “And you didn’t answer the question.”

The Headmaster lost his frown, and simply said, “If I went around acting like that, I would not enjoy my position as Second. Stability is necessary for one such as I. But just so the words are said: Neither I, nor any of my people, will end you now that your end of the bargain draws near.” He added, “At least your father has the decency to talk around such vulgarities.”

Jane smirked as she sat down at her desk. “Since you’re here: I was expecting something more after finishing with your air dungeon. But nothing happened. What gives?”

The old dragon perked up. “Ohh?” He set down his tea and his book. “Did you finally get all six Elemental Bodies?”

“I did.” Jane looked over the neat stack of papers to the right, to find her checklist of previously written works. It was sitting right under the top five pages, like usual. The Headmaster did it that way to prevent casual spying, but Jane thought he was more than a little OCD. She pulled out the page, and saw every single item she was willing to write about, was checked off. She smiled. She said, “Do I need to have Dragon Essence, too, to make that work?”

“No.” The Headmaster said, “We petitioned Rozeta early on for that to be exempt, when the pattern became apparent but our blood was already cursed for all eternity.”

Jane paused. She lifted her head from her work, to turn to the Headmaster. “I was just joking, but…?”

The Headmaster stood from his chair, and walked toward Jane’s desk, but not directly. In a most bizarre sense, Jane felt like she was watching a tiger, or a kraken, or… Well. A dragon. Like she was watching a dragon size up a target to devour. And with that thought, she saw that she was correct. She tensed her legs unconsciously, as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Her breath hitched in her throat.

The Headmaster was prowling at her.

And then he noticed Jane noticing him. Whatever danger hung in the air vanished like it was never there, like Jane had only imagined what she had seen. And then the danger came back, but more controlled. More a warning, than the approach of the end.

The ancient dragon wearing an old man’s body, moved to the side of Jane’s desk, as he said, “You are flippant, and this is good in some sense. Perhaps around a campfire, to keep emotions high when the darkness prowls. Or in a bar to celebrate a victory. But do not joke about dragon essence around a dragon. You have just finished recovering from an ordeal with the horrid substance; do not look to launch yourself into the jaws of the world so casually.”

Jane looked down and away, for that was the appropriate thing to do when directly told she was in the wrong. She said, “… Sorry.”

“I do not mean to frighten, only to instill information and the proper degree of necessary caution.” The Headmaster moved to stand on the other side of Jane’s desk, to separate him from her with a flimsy, foot thick oak desk that probably weighed two hundred kilos. He added, “For caution is required.”

Jane looked up into deep golden eyes, and nodded, slowly.

The Headmaster continued, “I will give you a few hints. The first, is that achieving the Special Action you are searching for requires an expression of dominance few are capable of producing.” He said, “The second, is that Body skills may cost Mana, but there was a rather large debate on if they should have cost Health, as each Elemental Body was an attempt by the Script to allow the now-extinct Elementassi to survive on Veird.” He looked over to a nearby desk. In a flicker, a stack of papers that had been sitting there, appeared in his hands. He set the stack in front of Jane. “The last hint, is that Intent is All, and you already know the way. You just need to unclutter your mind.”

Jane might have been recording what she knew about the gaming systems that had been stored on her laptop, but many of those systems were connected to other ideas from Earth. As such, there was a lot more than just D&D spells here. There was everything in this room from the Mythos of Cthulhu, to short essays on fantasy movies she had seen, to Greek Mythology, to memetic hazards and that whole barrel of fun, to knowledge of the nations of Africa.

She kept most of the high-technology stuff out of her writings, though. Veird might have had magic that was more powerful than guns, like [Force Beam], and something of a ‘nanobot swarm’-ish magic in the creation of magical plants like the Daydropper, but there was no need to go adding guns to this planet. If those got invented here, it would not be because of Jane.

None of what she had written was very detailed, with most tables only having a few booklets. The table containing the topics of martial arts and xianxia was one of the smaller tables. She also never got too far into the cultures and ideas of the East, but she certainly knew the tropes in their fantasy, since some of her gaming friends were heavily into all that. So Jane had read one of the better stories that her friends insisted upon. And then she read another. She kind of liked cultivation, but they were not her favorite.

Jane looked down at the stack of papers the Headmaster had plucked from the xianxia section. The title to this specific work Jane had penned was on the second page, hidden behind a cover letter, but Jane already knew this stack of papers, since it was the thinnest of that table. She had named it ‘Killing Intent’.

Jane looked up at him. “… What?”

The Headmaster smiled at Jane, then turned his gaze to the rest of the room, saying, “None of your ideas match up exactly with existence on Veird, not truly, but enough of them are close enough that some would think you a Prophet sent by the Mana Itself, while others would simply marvel at what your society has managed to think up in their spare time.” He half-quoted something, saying, “A million [Unseen Servants], given enough time and magic would create the next best seller, and all that.”

Jane looked down at her thin booklet.

“Here is another bit of help for you:" The Headmaster said, “I am an archmage, practiced in the true nature of the Script, but my path is not your own. You need a warrior to guide you, and I know just the one. Talk to professor Ulogai Tinawa down in the Arena. Tell him I sent you. I will tell him the same. He will test you, and if you prove satisfactory, he might help guide you further toward your own Truth.” He added, “When you’re done today, that is.” He asked, “What do you have left?”

Jane opened up the booklet the Headmaster had laid before her, saying, “I guess I have some of this left.” She looked over to the desk with the xianxia stuff, adding, “And I guess I can add more to that.”

“Maybe you’re not so close to being done?”

Jane frowned. She reluctantly agreed, “Maybe I’m not so close to being done.”

- - - -

The Arena was exactly what Jane expected; an oval of sandy land a few hundred meters across, lengthwise, entirely surrounded by short, stone stands, for whatever audience might feel like watching people beat the shit out of each other.

It was a good show. More people should be here, thought Jane.

Blood splattered. Bones broke. Teeth flew. As the sun wound down toward the ocean, Jane sat on the stone, watching the fights, feeling a little happier than before. Her Dragon Essence sickness was over, she had ground out every Elemental Body there was, save the one line of Body skills she would never touch again, and here she was, ready to get back in the fight against something larger than a pile of slime cores.

Her eyes drifted past a surprisingly agile orcol woman, who slipped through the guards of much smaller combatants, to send her assailants flying meters away, into the dirt. She glanced at a young human man, who lost his sword in a four-way melee, and was forced to fight three-on-one against those still holding weapons. But mostly, Jane marveled at the pure physicality of it all. The hard fists, the grimacing faces, the sweat and the blood.

Magic was great, but physical fighting was certainly better.

Jane also watched the professor, Ulogai Tinawa, in his bright yellow plate armor. He moved among the fighters, pausing conflicts to offer advice or change up the battles, stressing whoever seemed to be lacking, while sending away those who got too heated to rest under stone awnings. He yelled, and tempos increased. He yelled, and the spars stopped. He yelled, and attendant doctor students rushed in from the side of the field to grab, pull away, and heal those who had been too roughly knocked out of their fights.

She probably got too into the action. She had to stop herself from raising her hands and pretending to dodge in her seat, and going ‘OHHH’ when one of the guys got a great hit in against someone else. She could barely contain her excitement, because did you see that one guy?! His right cross sent that woman flying, spinning end over end, directly into a suddenly appeared [Air Cushion]. The attendant Healers had the woman up in no time, and she came right back to the fight and laid that dude out flat.

Jane wasn’t the only one watching, and she wasn’t the only one sitting by herself, but there was no doubt in her mind that Tinawa had spotted her. Tinawa looked directly at her when Jane arrived at the Arena, and again when the intense sparring was over, and the class switched to slow sparring. In one of the lulls of the evening, Tinawa set up his students against each other, then looked toward Jane, his blue eyes glinting in the thin slit of his yellow helmet.

He sent, ‘I heard from the Headmaster. Stick around after class.’

Jane sent back an affirmative, then she watched, and waited.

Class finished. Students bowed to Professor Tinawa, and then to each other. Some of the students left with those in the stands, as parents complimented their kids and the kids tried to deflect their embarrassment. Some students left with each other, the trials of the day forgotten as they happily exchanged tips with each other. There were some hardened emotions out on the field, but those combatants left the Arena in different directions.

Professor Tinawa remained in the center of the Arena, speaking softly to two students that stayed behind. And then those two students left, together.

Tinawa looked up at Jane as he dispersed his yellow [Conjure Armor]. Blond hair, blue eyes, and with pale skin, the Professor of Physical Studies looked like an old general who was still young enough to toss down with the students. He stared at Jane from the center of the Arena, and sent her an image of a rocky shore, a general idea of where to go, and the words, ‘Meet me there,’ as he blipped away in a yellow flash.

Jane vibrated a little in her seat as her blood pumped hard, shaking her ears. She had been smiling for the last half hour, and her face was a little rigid, but at Tinawa’s words, she forced herself to relax. This was going to be fun.

She first sent a [Scry] eye to the location, and then she blipped in a dozen meters off center of both the eye, and the location Tinawa showed her. She didn’t really know this man, after all. She had never met him before. But blindly following a set path would be a foolish thing to do.

As Jane appeared where she wanted to appear, the ocean roared in the afternoon sun, sending sprays up rocky channels carved into the short cliffside by both erosion and magical destruction. It was a short drop to the waters below, but the waters below were deep, as the land angled almost straight down to the ocean floor, a kilometer below. Jane knew that much because she had already explored near here with her water slime form. That exploration didn’t last long, though. There were some pretty large beasts down in those deep water—

Tinawa spoke up directly behind Jane. “Good instincts, but—”

Jane whipped around, and she was, on retrospection, a bit wild with her punch. Ulogai Tinawa just raised a hand and deflected Jane’s punch upward, as he slipped down and around her, striking three times to hit her unguarded stomach, ribs, and kidney. Each [Strike], and they were definitely [Strike]s, did something different. The first flickered Jane’s [Personal Ward] to sight, like a blue-black shimmer across her skin. The second broke that [Personal Ward]; all 12,000 points of it vanished in a single tap of knuckle against shirt. Jane had just long enough to register that maybe she should have donned her armor —but he even took his off before he blipped over here! Jane saw him do it!— when the third [Strike] crashed pain through her body, dropping her to zero Health, but no further.

In the following moments, Jane would rapidly understand what moves Tinawa had used. First came a normal [Strike], to test her defenses, then a [Ward Strike], to peel away her [Personal Ward], then came a [Merciful Strike], to hit her as hard as he could, in a near-Critical location, but inflicting minimal actual damage. But that understanding came later.

Right now, Tinawa stepped away while Jane collapsed to the ground, fully exposed to the world, all her defenses gone. She coughed up blood, as her thoughts caught up to her situation. If he had wanted to kill her, he would have. But he didn’t? Yeah. He didn’t.

“What the fuck,” Jane said, but it came out strained and difficult, and probably not at all understandable.

Tinawa said, “Usually I have to goad a bit harder than that to get the student to strike me.”

Jane breathed. She cast [Invisible Rejuvenation] on herself, gradually ticking her Health upward, while she flickered dark blue, casting [Greater Treat Wounds] upon herself. Her pain faded over ten seconds, as she turned her head and frowned at the Professor. She wanted to glare, too, but she stopped that before it happened.

Tinawa said, “As I was saying: You have good instincts. Checking with a [Scry] orb then [Teleporting] into an area outside of the designated spot was a good attempt.” He added, “But your base is missing.”

Jane spat blood on the rocky ground. She stood up, saying, “Yup.” She asked, “What I am missing?”

Tinawa briefly smiled, before vanishing that emotion from his face. He said, “Based on what I have seen and what I have been told: [Erase Presence] and [Melee Reflection] would do you well. Or, we could focus on the real reason you’re here, and work together to help you find your way forward.” He asked, “Where would you like to start?”

“Skills first.” Jane said, “I tried for [Erase Presence], but I couldn’t get it right. Same went for [Melee Reflection].”

Tinawa stood silent for a long moment, looking at Jane like one would inspect a spreadsheet. He said, “We’re going to work on your battle trauma.”

Jane instantly said, “I don’t have any battle trauma.”

“… Riiight.”

“I don’t.”

Tinawa frowned a little, then said, “I’ll go first.”

Jane grumbled.

“Here’s my trauma: When I was a child, I lived in a flick-of-shit nothing village in northern Nelboor. The latest batch of Matriculations happened, as they always did on Festival Week, the only time each year when the Registars were allowed to travel the continent without facing reprisal and death. It was my year. I was already level 5 when the troupe of revelers came to town the next day, following the Registrar like normal. I was tired as fuck, for I just wasn’t used to spending that much Mana and Health in a single day.

“Every single last reveler turned out to be an enemy combatant from Blue Waters, though I didn’t find that out till many years later. They got the parents drunk and set us all to sleep with herbs tossed into the bonfires. I was already crashed out in bed, in my room on the windward side of the house. That was probably the only reason I survived. I was already Resting, and the poison was rather sparse where I laid.

“I woke up to see my mother eating my father, while he failed to hold her off, and my little brother munching on my arm.

“I had been working on [Fireball]. I was going to be a soldier in the Sand Lion’s Army, out of the Capital city of the Sand Lion Empire, in Plateau Keep. You need [Fireball] to be a part of that, and I had made the spell before level 10. I was all but assured a good starting position in the army.

“But then I had to kill my family because they were going to kill me. My father hadn’t actually turned cannibal, but looking back on it, he was too surprised by my mother’s change that he let her get the drop on him. I killed him first, but only because I aimed at my mother, and [Fireball] is a large spell. Mom took two blasts to kill. I had to stab my brother to death with a wooden training sword, because I was out of mana.

“And then I ran. Into the wind, into a sandstorm.” Tinawa said, “That’s the start of my trauma.”

A small part of something broke inside Jane, as she listened to Professor Tinawa. When he was finished, Jane just breathed.

After a moment of that, she said, “I almost died to Moon Reachers. In my first moments on Veird, I saw Melemizargo, and then I was chased by one of his [Familiar]s. I was there helping the Champion of Atunir make her way through Ar’Kendrithyst, seeing all that horror and rescuing people when I could. I even rescued the Champion and the Prince from their end, but failed to save the others. The Shades have marked me for something because of what I did and who my father is, but I know not what.

“And then there’s the other parts of this shitty world! The Sovereign Cities are a cesspool of people harming each other in the face of dangers like the Dead City, and the Forest.

“I don’t think I will EVER be over the puking and the shitting and the— The last two months have been very rough, to put it way too mildly.

“And what makes it all so, SO MUCH worse, is that I come from a world where most people never think to kill something or someone else in order to survive, because we have tamed the world. The only threats still existent are ourselves and each other.” Jane felt warmth trickle down her face, as her throat clenched, trying to stop her words. But she spoke through the pain, anyway. “Back on my world, the life I planned for myself would have had me working for the most powerful nation in the world, doing things that would have directly harmed other people in order to… I knew what I was getting into. I knew I wouldn’t have been doing the right thing all the time… But here…” Her tears kept coming, but Jane knew her face did not show sadness, but pure anger. She spat, “But there is so much here that needs to end. There is no moral quandary. There are only monsters.

“But how do you fight against an evil wizard god? How do you kill Shades and Ancients? How do you solve the complicated problems of the Sovereign Cities? How do you end even the most simple of threats, that by their very population, are impossible to solve, like the Crystal Mimics? Or the existence of the monsters themselves?

“And it all makes me so angry.

“It makes me angry that people live in these huge cities instead of spreading out and taking back this world. That anyone is under level 50. That if everyone got that high of level, in order to kill the monsters, that everyone would end up killing each other, instead!

“And the Moon Reachers! Holy FUCK those awful things!” Jane shivered in rage, asking, “How do you solve these problems?”

This time, the smile that crept upon Tinawa’s face stayed longer than a simple moment. But he put that smile away when he saw it spike Jane’s anger higher. He stood strong, and said, “You kill, and you kill, and you never stop, and when people come to you for help to learn how to kill the Darkness, you help them as best you can, for maybe they will succeed where you have failed.”

Jane held back her angry retort. She breathed deep, sniffling, then stared right into Tinawa’s bright blue eyes. “That’s enough therapy for me for today; thanks.”

Tinawa nodded. “Physical therapy, then.” He asked, “Do you know how to find the Elite Board?”

“No.”

“It’s here, today.” Tinawa sent her a mental image of new location. “If someone is there and they scare you into attacking: Don’t.”

Tinawa blipped away in a yellow flash.

Jane breathed deep, her whole body shaking from emotions unexpressed. Then she breathed calmer. She stood straight, and muttered to herself, “It’s gonna be that sort of mentorship, eh?”

Then she blipped dark blue, following Tinawa.