After what was surely her third plate of dumplings, Gwen was sure she could summon all seven of her hounds in the yet to be attempted Void variant.

There was ample vitality in the meat, though the cooked flesh couldn't compare to her consumption of creatures via Caliban. The real culprit was the rice-wine ginseng combo. It travelled down her throat like liquid fire, mixing with the dumpling, diffusing through her mana channels.

If possible, she would have liked to stow some of it as a sort of 'vitae-potion', though that would be both selfish and improper.

Usually, after a meal, it was only Gwen whose skin glowed with youthful exuberance as her mixed physiology of essence and Void absorbed the mana in the ingredients.

Now, the whole family looked as though they lost a few years. By Gwen's observance, her babulya visibly had fewer wrinkles, while Guo’s arched back appeared straighter, more robust. Seated nearby, her father and uncle Jun both looked more handsome and less worn by the passing of years. Qīn, still heavily pregnant, was positively glowing with life. As for Gwen's future sibling, there was no doubt he or she was going to arrive as hale as anything.

For the younger girls, the effect of the life-extending ginseng wasn’t so notable, though when Gwen's attention turned to Tao, she couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Tao was the sort of guy who resembled an old man the moment they hit puberty. He slouched, he scowled, drank heavily, and he smoked like a foundry chimney. After a plate of dumplings, a cup of wine and two pieces of the ginseng, he gazed at the family with an unblemished baby-face.

Nen squealed and hugged her baby boy, while Patriarch Wang, himself looking less weathered by overwork, burst into such hilarity that the entire table joined in, roaring with uncontrolled mirth.

Unable to help herself, Gwen reached out and touched her cousin's plump face, ripe with collagen.

His beard, which Tao had attempted to grow to no avail, was now soft, silky and fuzzy.

"How's mah mug, dawg?" The rapper grinned at Gwen. "Handsome Peaches?"

"More like adorable." Gwen squeezed his chin. "With a face like that, you should call yourself Young Peach. Tell me, does idol-rap exist? hahaha."

"How about Peach Fuzz?" Tao rubbed his none-existent jawline. Unfortunately, Tao was a boy with his mother's face. "Don't yo think Fuzzy Peaches juz rolls off the tongue?"

This time, it was Petra who choked on her dumpling.

When Gwen found out that Jun was going to stay at the family compound for the next six days, she too resolved to stay. When Ayxin further informed them that she would be leaving for Huangshan to pay respects to her father and arrange her territory for future trading with Shanghai, nothing in the world could have pried Gwen from the Song compound.

After gleefully faring Ayxin well the next day, she hung about her uncle, bothering him for every little detail.

“Here are the crystals from Huangshan.” Gwen flashed her Ring. “I’ve only got four thousand in Currency Cards on me right now; there’s another five when we sell the rest.”

“As I said, you keep it,” Jun insisted. “It’s not like Ayxin needs to pay for anything on her shopping sprees.”

“Shopping sprees?”

“Oh, she’s been going through the shops as though possessed.” Jun exhaled. “Dragons like to hoard. I think I know as much about women’s clothing as you do now.”

“Oh-ho.” Gwen twirled. “Anything you would like to see me wear?”

Jun chuckled drily, knowing better than to keep talking.

“Ah, you’re no fun,” Gwen teased her laconic Uncle. “So, what have you been up to?”

“Surprisingly, work.” Jun snorted. “What did you think we’re up to?”

“Doing the horizontal tango?”

Jun cocked his head, bemused by her accusation.

“A Latin Dance?”

“Or the spread-eagle fandango…”

“I am afraid that I am not one for folk music,” Jun assured his niece that he and Ayxin had most certainly not engaged in the Cha-cha, vertical, upside-down or otherwise. “But that does give me an idea. There are some fantastic foreign bars in Pudong. Anything to keep away from more shopping, ha.”

“…” Gwen sighed. It was no fun when the person you’re trying to tease was oblivious to innuendo. "Have you and Ayxin engaged in coitus?"

"Ah~," Now it was Jun's turn to exhale with exasperation. "I'd rather not say."

"Why?" Gwen grinned awkwardly. "Nothing's wrong. I am not one to judge someone for premarital sex."

"You should, Gwen," Jun frowned. "You're seventeen!"

"And you're... forty... something!" Gwen pouted, her hands resting against her hips. "I am not a little girl, trust me. Do I look like a clueless waif to you? I know more than you give me credit for!"

Jun glanced at Gwen's hair ornament.

Poor little fool, the Ashbringer averted his gaze, thinking of Ayxin's complaint. The girl put up a good front, but she was as innocent as a ewe.

Gwen took Jun's aversion to infer her Uncle had been slaying his lady dragon day and night, only that the man was too modest to brag. Sure, Ayxin was a two-century-old cougar, but she looked anywhere between sweet-sixteen to twenty. Hell, she could take any form-

Gwen mentally slapped herself.
One shouldn't stare into the abyss for too long, for it gawks back.

“Tell me about Pudong. What’s it like over the checkpoint?” She changed topics.

“What do you want to know?”

“Are there many Demi-humans?”

“Sorry to disappoint, but no.” Jun smirked, far more comfortable with their new topic of conversation. “Nothing like the rumours anyway. The Demi-human guests allowed into Pudong are Government workers, typically expatriates here to establish diplomatic ties. Unlike Europe, China is a very homogenous country, consisting almost entirely of human beings.”

“Are there Elves and Dwarves?”

“A few,” Jun affirmed her limited knowledge. “The Tower has established trade routes with the higher Demi-humans. Of course, if Ayxin can keep her part of our new trade deal, the Dragon-kin may yet become Shanghai’s largest inter-species trading partner.”

“What are we bartering?” Gwen hoped it wasn’t organs, thinking of the Grey Faction and its run-in with Alesia, and knowing how much regard China had for its citizens.

“Crystals, precious metals, gems and food,” Jun educated his niece with great patience. “In return, we get tea, Wildland beasts, herbs, and other useful things infused with draconic-essence. The dāndào's Dānshi are in a tizzy, last I heard.”

“Pill Path?” Having never heard of the title, Gwen's Ioun Stone struggled to find an equivalent lexicon.

“Makers of medicinal Pills & Elixirs,” Jun translated for her. “They make alchemical concoctions with Chinese medicine. The production rate can’t compare to western potions, but the effects of the rarer recipes fall somewhere between low-tier Elven meta-Elixirs and higher-tier pharmaceuticals. Take the Yunnan White-Root Powder for example - a fingernail-sized pinch is enough to close any external body wound, staunch bleeding, and ensure bare-minimal scarring.”

“Wow, why aren’t we stocking em by the ton?” A powder capable of substituting for a potion injector would surely sell very well.

Jun gave her a wry smile.

“The recipe calls for hundred-year-old ginseng and the ground chitin of Calcite Crickets living in the Alu Caverns that hunt down prey to ingest their bone marrow. The lesser Bone Eaters lack potency, so Adventurers have to hunt down the Elder variety, typically tier 8, living in family communes of a dozen or more…”

“Ah.” Gwen shuddered at the thought of two-meter skeletal crickets chewing through human bones. All those little mouth-claws! Terrifying!

“Oh, speaking of which.” Jun slapped his forehead. “Here, I saved this for you.”

Her uncle produced a small packet just a bit larger than his hand.

“Yearling tea from Fur-peak. Ayxin gave it to me, but I am not a tea drinker…”

Gwen held the tea packet. It was such a simple gift, thoughtless even. But it was enough to have her chest welling like a balloon, bursting with gratitude.

“Do Babulya and Grandfather have a share?”

Jun nodded.

Phew, Gwen breathed out, feeling equally relieved and disappointed.

“Thanks, Uncle Jun,” she leaned in and pecked him on the cheek.

Jun gave her a broad smile.

“Well, since we’re here and taking a break.” The Ashbringer stood, stretching his limbs. “I'll give you a reward if you can push me to Shield Break.”

"Ho ho ho." She cackled. "Hold on to your pants!"

Gwen’s anticipated week-long celebration of eating, shopping and training with her Uncle was abruptly cut short the day before the Shangyuan Festival, when Guo asked if she was coming with them to Hubei.

Earlier, the Patriarch of the Song estate had found his son and granddaughter tearing Percy's training hall apart, forcing him to forbid sparring with spells that would overpower the meagre protection offered by the hall's antiquated Force Barriers.

Thanks to Richard's guidebook, Gwen knew about Qingming.

The ritual of ‘grave-sweeping’ was held on the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, requiring the male members of a House to return to the place of their ancestral origins to sweep the graves of their ancestors. As a girl and a Gweilo, there was no expectation that Gwen would attend, though Guo offered to ‘introduce her to the ghosts of the Song ancestors’.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

Though not wishing to be rude, the very idea that she would be kneeling before tombstones while her grandfather spoke to the air about the ‘great prosperity’ of finding a granddaughter on the Frontier had her shivering all over, and so she politely declined.

When Gwen asked if the NoMs held such festivities, Guo replied that first, they had to have a glyphed and sealed Ancestral Tomb. After the outbreak of Undead up north, NoM citizens by law had to cremate their dead. Combined with the fact that the CCP had banned the practice of burying the dead out in the Wildlands, NoM citizens no longer practised grave-sweeping, at least not as the Houses or Clans would know it.

Naturally, Percy had to attend, presumably his father as well.

As for Hai, Gwen had spoken to her father a few times during their stay in the Song compound, though, in all honesty, there was little common ground between them. After all that had happened, amiable dinners would suffice. That Hai was happy with his new wife, waiting for his child to be born, was the best she could manage.

When Golden Week drew to an end, she gave each one of her family members a tight hug, then readied herself for the new semester.

With the beginning of the Spring Semester, life returned to Fudan. The snow had eased mid-January, and by early February, the skeletal mulberry trees were bristling with jade and emerald foliage.

Gwen's favourite restaurants reopened as well; their owners welcomed back the familiar face of the Worm Handler and her Mongolian Death Worm, both spectacles to behold for diners fortunate enough to grace their presence.

After consultation with her peers, her Instructors, the Dean, and anticipating her future needs, she decided on the following courses for her Semester:

Conjuration CJR2001
Translocation CJT2007
Bestiary and Care of Spirits FAM3021
Evocation EVK2002
Advanced Spell-shaping ASP2201
Utility Divination DIV2003
Management GEN200M
Economics GEN200E

Conjuration 2001 and Translocation were both taught by the resident Senior Lecturer, Louis Birch. Second-year Conjuration continued the existing theory, moving into higher-level algorithms and incantations necessary for spells tier 6 and beyond.

Translocation was a class taken by Combat Mages wishing to use Short-Range Teleportation as a primary mode of combat. The practical course took students through complex obstacles, as well as instructed the neophytes in various operational tricks of the trade. Juxtaposed against Portage specialisations, Translocation focused on individual mobility and combat adaptation.

Having enjoyed herself so immensely with Instructor Chen in his rudimentary Bestiary class, Gwen opted to join his advanced supplementary course, known simply as Care of Spirits. It was a rare and exclusive course offered only to students with Spirit-Familiars, focusing on teaching Spirits combat doctrines, as well as fostering independent action.

Evocation 2002 under Magus Young, like Conjuration 1002, focused on spell-theory and complex incantations used to boost affinity for Evocation, allowing casters to reach higher tiers of their craft.

Advanced Spell-Shaping was likewise a 'step up' on the same course under Michio Lee, moving away from the general history of Spellcraft into experimental theorems necessary for the creation of original spells. According to the course guide, the final goal for the course was for students to create an original chant of their own to submit to the Tower as a part of a semester-long dissertation. Furthermore, the course included a short excursion to Pudong, further serving as a primary motivation for her choice of Lee's course.

Finally, Gwen’s choice of Divination Utility focused on three primary objectives. First, learning to employ Detect Magic with greater proficiency; second, to bring her Divination affinity to at least 2; third, to learn Arcane Sight, Track Ally and Link Sight.

Arcane Sight serves the invaluable function of detecting camouflaged or invisible creatures. It was useful in uncovering Illusions up to one tier above the invoker’s mastery, meaning Gwen could identify competitors using the tier 2 Invisibility, albeit the tier 4 Great Invisibility would be beyond her ken.

Track Ally was an immensely useful form of Locate Person which did not require the user to be a blood-line Diviner. Once cast, Gwen left a mark on a willing creature, allowing her to find and if need be, Teleport to their location.

The spell was useful in that it worked through walls both mundane and magical, meaning Gwen could track members of her party precisely for up to a kilometre even in a Dungeon, or know their general direction so long as the spell remained on her target.

Finally, Link Sight was the real boon Gwen sought. That she now possessed a flying Familiar opened her world to a Creature Mage staple - using one’s Familiar as an extension of one's senses. Via Link Sight, Gwen could see through Ariel’s eyes, gaining topographic mastery of an area when outdoors and lacking a Diviner, or send Ariel to scout out dangerous regions such as an indoor Dungeon or outdoor lair. Should danger present itself, she could unsummon her Familiar in a split-second.

Furthermore, for Gwen, Ariel's channelling ability plus her Link Sight would make an incredible combination. Assuming she had range, all kind of combo gimmicks involving Dimension Door, AoEs and so on could be attempted.

Lastly, her two Gen-Ed courses were 'cake-walks' whose only purpose was to boost her Weighted Average Mark. Confident that she would almost certainly get near-perfect marks from Professor Ma with minimal fuss, it freed her up to work at her office, while still receiving credit for her coursework.

After re-adjusting her schedule with Ruì, she returned to the campus mid-February, once again ready to dive into the world of academia.

“Make way!”

Gwen was finding out just how troublesome it was to accompany the ‘Flower of Fudan’ through a roaring campus.

The first week of the Semester was Orientation Week, meaning the clubs were out in force trying to recruit the new starry-eyed Mages entering the university. As usual, the Duelling Club had set up a huge pavilion with portable Walls of Force, working spell in hand with the Eatery Club and the Hidden Cuisine Cabal, combining the affinity of action and delicacies. Together, the trio dominated the competition year after year, taking up the entire main lawn between Guahua and Hengbuo Avenues.

Tempted by the street food, Gwen had inched forward stall by stall until she was smack-bang in the midst of the busiest section of the festival. As she had Petra in tow, the folks around the Duelling Arena had mistakenly thought the girls wanted to gawk at the duelists.

“Make way for the Flowers of Fudan!” someone joked, yelling at the first-year newcomers.

Gwen recoiled. Petra’s souring expression likewise inferred they ought to leave, though nothing short of a Dimension Door or Flight would manage a return path, and both were forbidden on campus.

Also, she had ambivalent feelings about any nicknames to do with flowers.

For a while now, she had resigned herself to the cringe-worthy innuendo gifted by Caliban. A two meter long phallic faceless ophidian as pet warranted an equally cheeky title, but 'flower'? The implications were horrid. Was she waiting to be picked, or were they telling her she should be making the most of her youth before it wilted? While showering one night, she'd thought about why Petra had acquired such a title and realised it was because her cousin refused to date and had an aversion to commitment, making her a desirable 'flower' without an 'owner'.

The crowd parted.

On stage, two Mages duelled, flashing blasts of fire and something indistinct. When a bolt of the foreign substance cascaded against the Force Barrier, Gwen recognised it as Dust.

A Dust Mage?! Here?

The Fire Evoker-Transmuter had a similar style to Alesia, using powerful short-range bursts combined with a transmuted body of flames, but the overwhelming volume of Dust particles filling the chamber suppressed the Evoker's furious discharge.

Even with her improved kinetic-vision, the dust-clad Mage was well-Shielded. From his silhouette, however, she knew the caster to be a stranger.

Outside of her twin-elements, Dust was perhaps her most researched Quasi-Elemental Plane. After all, assuming Ravenport had other members of his household coming after her, the eventuality of beating down other Dust Mages was high.

Where Ash and Void were the most volatile and consumptive of Quasi-Elements, Dust was more akin to Salt in that it consisted primarily of Elemental Earth. Furthermore, despite its reputation as an element of destruction and death, Dust could be readily found in the natural world; present in the aftermath of decomposition and decay. In short, where there were living things, there would inevitably be motes of Dust woven into the refuse.

“Do you know Sir Tei?” One of the Mages, noting her dismay, stopped to ask her a question. From the look of his uniform, the man was a Senior at the Duelling Club, likely one of the event organisers.

“No, I was just looking.” Gwen tried to step back into the crowd, but the gap they’d opened earlier was now thick with juniors desiring a gander. If there was one thing she’d learned about crowds in China, it was that people loved crowding and hated lines. It made many a night's grocery shopping an unenviable chore.

“Pats, we’re leaving.” Gwen turned from the makeshift arena. She had no time for duels; not when there was food to be eaten. Earlier, she had seen a stall selling glazed pineapple buns.

“Sir Tei is a candidate recently returned from the IIUC,” the speaker continued. “He’s tier 6 in his specialised Abjuration School.”

Gwen paused, her retreat faltering in the wake of curiosity.

An IIUC candidate?

She had no idea who most candidates for the IIUC selection may be other than Kitty, herself, Richard and possibly Lulan, though she had been told to look out should she encounter second and third-year veterans.

“Tell me more,” she urged the club member, who obliged with red-faced gusto.

“Sir Tei comes from the Northern Clans near Shandong. Do you know of the Tei Family of Taishang? They are the guardians of the Mount since ancient times. It’s a place famous for birthing scholars! Confucius, Mozi, Zenzi, even the Sage of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Kongming!”

Holy shit, Gwen knew jack-shit about Chinese history, but even she had heard of these renown figures of mythoi, each instrumental in creating entire epochs and legends of Chinese history. One place gave birth to all these geniuses? What the hell did they put in the water over there?

Above the girls, the battle had already ended.

The Force Barriers retracted. The challenger bowed deeply before removing himself from the scene. Looking up, Gwen realised the victor was coming toward them.

Tei Bai, A.K.A 'Tombstone Tei' appeared shorter outside of combat than he’d seemed when wrapped in flames and dust. Stepping over the edge of the arena, he received the good cheer of his juniors before turning to the two girls whose pilgrimage through the food stalls had deposited them in front of the stage. Though he had not intended to accost the girls, that they stood half a head taller, possessed the visage of flowers, and had cleared a ring of space made the pair too conspicuous to ignore.

When his eyes fell upon the dual-element sorceress, a faint smile touched Tei's lips. Of course, he recognised the Gweilo girls. One was the Flower of Fudan, while the other was her Worm Handling companion. For Tei Bai, his interest in the Worm sorceress stemmed from the rumour that Gwen had bested Wonsoo Li in single-combat in Hangzhou. Of course, he didn't mind her victory, just the opposite, in fact, because his role in the IIUC was the position of the Abjurer. Her Mastery was to Bai a boon, assuming the rumour she was aiming for the IIUC was correct.

“Miss Song!” he called out, taking the girl’s unwavering gaze for interest. “Care for a duel?”

Down below, Gwen's curiosity was in sync with Bai.

To improve her craft, she had squared off against her uncle, her friends and her companions.

Against Richard, each bout was an agonising affair. If she directly used Barbanginy, she could blow through both Familiar and Water Mage. Without the support of her catalysed lightning, however, she struggled to land a hit. Against both of her elements, Richard’s unrivalled manipulation of water was a hard counter. Paralleled against her role as a Creature Mage and a Conjurer, Richard's Undine-enhanced affinity blew her tier 6 out of the water. When she tried to close in, she despaired that Richard’ Dimension Door, though lacking an AoE burst on impact, was faster than her Lightning-teleports. Only by using both Ariel and Caliban could she hope to trap Richard and wear him down, though a single misstep meant she fell into a bubble of water.

Lulan provided a similar challenge, though the girl’s melee was as terrible a match up against Gwen as she was against Richard. Interestingly, Lulan had a far easier time against Richard, blowing through Lea and Richard’s Abjuration, while against Gwen’s reactive Lightning Shield and Void barriers, Lulu's sword magic suffered.

The only other personage nearing her practice of Stagecraft was Kitty, who she’d sparred twice via aerial duels, each time with ambivalent results. Without Ariel acting as a mobile flying turret, utilising its friend-foe abilities, Gwen had no means of landing a hit at the flighty Wind-Mage. On the other hand, Gwen’s non-Newtonian hard-Shield might as well be the Great Wall of China to Kitty’s Air and Ice offensive magic, especially if Gwen rapidly Teleported to avoid her slow-inducing AoEs.

What she wanted was to fight higher-tier Mages like her uncle, but such a thing was unlikely to happen.

As an unexpected insight, she was beginning to realise why Duels at the higher tier of magic fell from favour. When a single spell was capable of filling half the arena with AoEs, all finesse fell away, leaving only the brutal arithmetic of power and defence. Likewise, the methodology of self-preservation also increased exponentially. In the future, should she face off against Gunther’s foretold foes such as Spectre Enforcers or goons serving Ravenport, killing or maiming a Magus-tier opponent was possible only if both sides were willing to fight until the bitter end.

Likewise, should she, Gunther and Alesia pursue Sobel, how many days, mayhap weeks, would it take before finally, haggard and exhausted, they forced the woman to assume a final stand?

Gwen looked toward Petra for instruction. Her cousin's response was that if Gwen had to do it, she better do it quick.

“Sure.” She clambered onto the dais, thinking that she could use the digestion. “Please go easy on me, Senior.”

Tei Bai extended a hand to help her up, just as Gwen stretched a white leg over the ledge, the crowd erupted into wolf-whistles and cheers.

Alarmed, she smoothed down the hem of her dress. When the weather had turned warm, she had gone back to the most comfortable clothing she owned - silk sundresses. Unfortunately, her blushing modesty seemed to have incensed the crowd further. Some of the first-years were positively howling with glee, their eyes bloodshot with a cocktail of battle lust, as well as regular old desire.

The Dust Mage stood to one side.

“Apologies, Miss Song.” Tei inclined his head. "I was careless."

“No need.” Gwen looked down at her opponent with a sickly sweet smile, her expression causing his follicles to stand to rigid attention. In her wedge sandals, she was much taller in person, almost a head taller.

Hopefully, by the time she was done, no one would think of her as a flower ever again.


“As I am the Senior, you may have first-strike,” Tei Bai offered, recognising the mistake of asking his junior to duel while she wore casual clothing. At their tier of magic, it wasn’t uncommon for wayward spells to result in minor wardrobe malfunctions. His Dust element, furthermore, had a habit of destroying delicate fabrics. “I would defend myself very carefully, if I was you, Miss Song. First to Shield-Break?”

“Ha! Your confidence is going to be your downfall,” Gwen snubbed her senior's warning. To her audience, her haughtiness felt natural and certain, especially when considering her reputation. “I am going to open with a finisher if you're not careful.”

“I look forward to it.” Bai's response was sombre. “You're a... confident young woman, Miss Song.”

Gwen returned her senior's retort by arching her neck gracefully, then inclining her chin ever so slightly.

The audience cooed.
There was nothing like a good bout of shit-talking a before a match. That way, when a contestant inevitably ate their teeth, they'd also have to spoon down a mouthful of their own words.

The two parted.

The Adjudicator, a senior club member, began the countdown.

“Three…”

“Two…”

“One…”

“Begin!”

"..."

"..."

The crowd held its breath, but it would appear neither contestant desired to make the first move. Bai had waited for Gwen to act, while Gwen waited to see what Bai would do and if her Senior was arrogant enough to gift her the first-strike.

“If you insist.” Gwen hoped her opponent was as competent as he proclaimed himself to be. Focusing her mind, she leisurely erected her non-Newtonian Shield, then began to chant her hound-summoning invocation.

“That Shield!” The Dust Abjurer's expression turned serious the moment her double-glazed dome came into existence. “That’s the Morning Star’s Signature Shield! How is it that you know it?”

Gwen smirked. To recognise her brother-in-craft's Shield, this Tei Bai was a Mage of culture. In the next moment, without missing a single syllable, she completed the summoning mandala, having attained a moderate mastery over a month's practice.

“Hmmph!” Bai grunted, his skin crawling as the flood of Conjuration mana issuing from his opponent tickled his scalp, dispelling his sense of ease. He recalled his father's warning that with overconfidence, one might tip one's skiff even in a gutter. “Pillars of Taishan!”

Four columns of dust swirled into existence around the Dust Mage, each three meters tall, vaguely inscribed with scripture and rough-hewn images.

“Ten-Thousand Stones!”

Above Gwen, a blizzard of Dust-speckled stones began to rain down on her non-Newtonian Shield, blighting the dome with a choking haze of free-falling particles. The unimpressive impact informed Gwen that the spell wasn't one for lethality but rather, served to limit her movement.

Is he trying to bury me? Gwen watched her double-glazed Shield turn white from the blows, the interior of her Shield grew dark as Dust blanketed her transparent pane like dirty snow, draining the static from her Lightning-tinged barrier.

“Solidify!”

With a muffled cry from her opponent, the motes of dust instantly grew compact, encrusting Gwen within a vault of shale.

Tombstone Tei indeed! Gwen was beginning to see where the man had gotten his moniker. The fact that the Dust Mage had used a defensive spell as an offensive entrapment was impressive. She could feel the weight of the stones crushing inward. Not only that, the sorcerous snare grew heavier by the minute. Were it not for her absurdly large VMI; she should be immediately entertaining teleporting away before her Shield collapsed or she ran out of mana for a counter-offensive.

But for now, she was safe. With her summoning mandala completed, she allowed her opportunistic Conjuration to manifest.

“Hound Pack!”

Six deerhounds emerged beside her. It was a tight squeeze inside her barrier.

“Alright everyone, gather around.”

Her dogs stood to attention, attuned to their master’s mana signature.

She gave an order for the dogs to fan out and encircle the Dust Mage as soon as they relocated.

It was time to put to practice one of her new tricks of the trade.

“Dimension Door!”

Her mana pool dropped by almost a quarter.

When she had last studied with Instructor Chen, she lamented having to re-summon her dogs whenever she had to cross water or venture across terrain that could only be managed by flying or teleportation. As a result of her high-affinity, her hounds were more elemental than flesh and blood, resulting in a propensity to dissipate when submerged bodies of water.

"With your VMI, why not use Dimension Door?" her Instructor had queried.

How so? She had enquired, Dimension Door was limited to one additional person, was it not?

“Not exactly.” To demonstrate, Chen blew her mind by teleporting with all nine of his dogs at once, though the Senior Conjurer was well-haggard when he appeared fifty metres away across the underground training hall. “Your elemental beings possess the same signature as your magic, meaning they are less prone to Astral-distortion. The reason we don’t transport more than one 'passenger' via Dimension Door is two-fold. One, because of excessive mana usage, which increases exponentially, and two, because spatial tears become inevitable when carrying a being with their Astral signature. As magical creations of your own making, conjured creatures cost less mana to move. In fact, the higher your affinity, the less prone they are to sudden-death-upon-materialisation.”

Serendipitously, Instructor Chen's advise furthermore provided an unexpected boon. When Gwen appeared beside Bai’s pillar, it wasn’t a single electric nova that erupted, but six mini-novas plus Gwen’s own. Her dogs' Astral-hop likewise triggered the after-effect of her Master’s Signature Dimension Door.

The miraculous Easter Egg was a pleasant discovery.

But simultaneously, Gwen had grown melancholic, wondering just how many Signature Spells her Master had in store for her had Henry not perished so suddenly.

The resultant blast, momentarily igniting the air with blue-white plasma, was enough to collapse one of Bai’s pillars, making Gwen realise the young man’s unique Abjuration spell must be a means to absorb damage.

Muttering incantations under his breath, her opponent withdrew the magic he had used to entomb her. Her senior opened his mouth to make a remark but was cut off by the swiftness of her recovery.

“Caliban!”

“Oooh! IT'S HERE!”
“THE WORM!”
“DEATH WORM!”

An enormous clamour broke out, far louder than when Gwen had too immodestly ascended the stage. The passion was of such fervency that she began to doubt her ears. Her obsidian worm with a lamprey's mouth was more popular than she was? Why? Had her Familiar snuck off to perform acts of philanthropy? Did it rescue pale-faced dames in the dead of night, or pluck kittens and puppies from the river while she slept?

Sensing its immense popularity, Caliban opened its carapace and reared to its full height.

“SHAAAAA!”

“Awoooo!”
“Arrroooowwooo!”
“AwwwwoooooooO”

Her hounds joined the howl.

Bai surveyed the pack of dire-sized lightning-hounds fulminating hysterically with blue-white plasma, in the midst of which was his opponent's Death Worm.

“You're right, I shouldn’t have let you finish that spell…” the Dust Mage confessed, immensely impressed by her display.

“Don't say I didn't warn you!” Gwen smirked smugly, doing her best to ignoring the calls from the crowd to have her Worm swallow Bai wholesale.

“I'd advise caution, Miss Song. Be careful now.” Bai gave her a heads up before activating his supplementary spell. “I have no wish to shame or harm a future teammate - Dust Tendrils!”

The remaining three pillars burst into activity as columns of semi-opaque tentacles split from the solidified dust, seeking to entangle her deerhounds.

Instantly, her body grew rigid. What good humour the duel had afforded became instantly quashed by the stifling sight of prehensile tendrils reaching out to ensnare her hounds, and mayhap herself.

The intensity of the sight was such that, for a second, she forgot to breathe.

“Caliban!” Gwen commanded her Familiar. Her tone changed. Gone was the come hither character of teasing and taunting. There was a coldness in her voice now, one unbecoming in a friendly duel.

Her Familiar grew into its Gila form, flooding the space of the duelling arena with its Void-aura, sending those standing too close reeling back with nausea. One girl who’d been busy filming Caliban with a Lumen-recorder straight away lost her orientation, slamming her head on the transparent pane before been rescued by the club’s security members.

Heeding their Master's mental cue, her dogs attacked. Snapping and snarling at the tendrils, forcing their way through.

“Dust Bolt!”

Caliban opened its maw and took Bai’s low-tier offensive right in its open maw, not even slowing down as it pushed forward.

The improbable sight brought a second round of jubilation from the crowd.

“Lightning Storm!” Gwen threw down her newest AoE, flooding the duelling arena with motes of lightning. Her Evocation synergised well with her elemental dogs, empowering them while Ariel, even tucked in its pocket-space, ensured that Gwen's Lightning strikes fizzed before they reached Caliban, neutralising the Dust-motes surrounding them.

“Tomb Wall!”

Bai's Signature Abjuration possessed an unpropitious title, though those who knew the Tei Clan history also know that they were tasked with guarding the rumoured tomb of Mozi, arguably one of the most beloved scholar-sages of the One Hundred Sects Era. As for Clan Tei itself, the stewards of Mozi's teachings walked the Path of Universal Ai, claiming that one must possess empathy for all beings under heaven.

A semi-dome barrier-Shield erected itself in front of Bai, its dust-clad surface dulling her elemental assault even as it repelled her hounds. Inscriptions, likely from the teaching of ancient Sage-Kings, ran the length of its surface.

Caliban slammed into the outer shell, though the impact seemed to jar her Familiar more so than the Dust Mage.

Fucking turtle! Gwen swore under her breath. She hated fighting Abjurers for this precise reason.

"Caliban, Onslaught!"

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Her vitality dropped, but she wasn’t finished yet. She had to rid the bad taste of those tendrils from her mouth. For reasons she could likely guess at, each blast of magic against the Shield was therapeutic.

“Wall of Lighting!”

Another layer of lashing electricity joined the first.

“Lightning Tendrils!”

Arm-thick band of lightning, half-a-dozen of them, began to beat the tomb-shell like a drum.

By now, her dogs had exhausted a second pillar. Freed from the harassment of the grasping tendrils, they turned their attention to clawing and nipping at remaining two, wrangling the tendrils and keeping them from Caliban.

Caliban meanwhile, tore chunks of shale-like material from the Shield, making steady progress through the dust-igloo, its void-clad claws removing more material than Bai could replenish.

“SHAAA!” Caliban screeched.

What irked her was that, with Detect Magic deadened by the Dust-barrier, she had no idea what Bai was doing inside his shell-Shield. At the same time, her Divination Sigil remained as silent as Bai's proverbial tomb.

Still, sensing that she needed to end this before Bai encircled his wagons with even more Abjuration and Enchantment, she portioned just enough vitality to Caliban to began his terrible work.

"SHAAA!"

Her Familiar's jaws distended, opening it impossibly wide, it attempted to swallow the entire two-meter semi-sphere Bai had erected, transforming itself into a grotesque, bloated, mega-mouth croaker.

The crowd went wild.

Gwen hoped that Bai would give up before he accidentally disappeared into the Void. How the fuck was she going to explain that to the authorities? It was a game of chicken! Caliban was only supposed to nibble the tip?

She could forfeit as well, arguably a viable option, confessing that the Bai's barrier was beyond her ability to penetrate. But why should SHE be the one to yield? If anything, the ball was in the turtle Mage's court.

“Yield if you want to live!” She shouted with the aid of her Illusion Sigil, hoping her words could penetrate the Tomb-Shield. “Caliban's not going to hold back; it doesn’t know how!”

If the man responded, she couldn’t hear it. Between her thunderbolts, her dogs and Caliban, they may as well be playing Chinese Whispers inside in a tin-shed pelted by hail.

Then Bai's answer came.

“Castigate!”

A powerful repulsion emitted from within Bai's Shield.
Like peeling skin from a bulbous grape, Caliban bloated, then burst.

A flood of Void-mana splattered against the Force Barrier. As one, the audience retreated.

“Cali!” Gwen spluttered. She had seen Caliban banished, but she had never seen it defeated so utterly and with such devastation.

Caliban attempted to recollect itself.
The demand for vitality from her splattered fiend was immense! It was as though Caliban was trying to reconstitute its entire body from scratch, asking for no less than a Horror Stag’s worth of her life-force.

But its demand was impossible. Gwen wasn’t going to give up all of her collated vitality just so she could win a casual duel, not when she still had other trump cards to play.

“Caliban, get back!” She unsummoned her piecemeal worm, returning it to recuperate in her Pocket Dimension. “Lightning Bolt!”

Bai’s Shield was positively crackling with energy now, so much that the Dust motes could hardly be seen underneath the plasma. Still, the dust barrier remained.

A sinking feeling began to engender in her chest.

This turtle Mage! She snarled. He was making a mockery of her offence!

“Hounds! Attack!”

While her dogs harassed the Dust Shield, invigorated by the static motes of electrified air, Gwen decided to inaugurate a dog-move of her own. Arguably, she had the Dust Mage pinned with her hounds. If so, she could afford the precious ten-odd seconds she needed for Cloud Kill, ensuring nowhere was safe for the Abjurer to emerge from his shell.

“Purify!”

A halo of hallowing energy burst from the Dust Shield’s surroundings, hitting her deerhounds with a disruptive resonance that dispersed the Conjuration algorithms holding them in place.

The feedback from having six dogs dispelled at once sent Gwen reeling on her heels, staggering backwards. She had experienced having Caliban banished several times now, but never six of her mind-linked dogs simultaneously.

Perhaps more distressingly, her Cloud Kill fizzled, sending a surge of unspent mana back into her Astral Body. Comparatively, the Abjurer may as well have shoved a tube of wasabi up her nose.

“Twelve Peaks of Taishan!”

Though the spell was impressive sounding, Bai could only conjure six of the twelve potential pillars, each representing the resting place of a Scholar Bureaucrat the Clan of Tei defended at the end of the Spring-Autumn period. If the Dust Mage's father were to manifest the barrier, one could even read inscribed poems detailing the deeds of the great Sage-Bureaucrats who had chosen Taishang as their resting place.

By the time Gwen circulated enough Almudj’s Essence to recover from her mind-blank, six pillars had fallen into place.

From each pole, spectral tendrils reached out for her limbs.

The very sight sent shivers up her spine, dredging up unpleasant memories. Drawing upon the anger of having her Familiars destroyed and dispelled, she pushed past the paranoia of being molested once again by a Dust-wielder. She was no longer the weak waif, she was a dragon!

“Dimension Door!”

“Eight Pillar Formation!”

Gwen reappeared on the opposite side of the arena, though by then Bai had relocated his pillars equal-distantly throughout the modest-sized space, just a bit larger than a tennis court.

She couldn't help but grimly lament the irony that she had sought to trap the man within her AOE only a moment prior, and now she was fast stuck within Bai's battlefield.

“Gwen Song!” Bai called out, opening his Shield. “Call it a draw?”

For some reason, the word ‘Draw’ struck her like a slap to the face.

The Dust Mage's face was well worn and fatigued. With her limited Divination, she could sense that his Astral presence was weaker than before, indicating her competitor was short on mana. Though Dust muted elemental energy, it took a toll to dissolved her lightning.

Gwen's eyes burned, her throat constricted.

“Draw? Not on your life!”

A sound more akin to a growl emitted from her throat as unbridled Dragon-fear fanned out from her Astral Body. Outside, safe behind the Force-Barrier, the observers saw a tangible ripple undulating the motes of dust filling the arena. Those closest to the rink felt a sudden weakness, forcing them to their knees. For those unfortunate enough to both be struck by Caliban’s demise as well as Gwen’s dragon-fear, their eyes rolled back in their heads, their consciousness retracting into their minds in a reflexive act of self-preservation.

“Gwen, no!” Petra called out from below; her cousin was senselessly caught up! She wasn’t herself. “Bai! Gwen’s not in her right mind! Don’t hurt her!”

“Petra, shut it!” Her cousin snarled, eyes blazing with viridescent vitality. “Ariel!”

“Gwen! STOP!”

Ariel materialised amidst an emerald blaze of vivifying lightning.

A hush fell over the crowd.

A Kirin?
A Mao-blessed Kirin?!

The stag horns! The noble mien! The whiskers! The fish-scale fur! The front hooves and the lion’s rump!

Ariel swished its tail regally.

“OOOOH, LORD ARIEL!”
“LORD KIRIN!”
“ARIEL FOR PRESIDENT!”

A cacophony of cries, jubilant beyond belief, erupted across the assembly.

“THE KIRIN OF FUDAN!”

High on the stage, Gwen was oblivious that the cat was out of the bag. She circulated her Almudj's Essence, readying her death-blow. If the turtle-Mage could survive her most potent offence, she was happy to bow down and admit her inferiority.

Then, to her complete and utter surprise, Bai dispelled his Shield-cum-barrier entirely.

“I think that’s enough, Miss Song.” The Dust Mage back away, opening his hands to signal the duel's end. “Good Fight.”

“No!” Gwen snarled, sending Ariel drifting downwards, crackling with Lightning. “It’s not over.”

“It is.” Bai glanced at Petra, then back at Gwen. “We’ll duel again when you’re in better control of yourself.”

“Bullshit! I-“

Bai dispelled his Pillars.

He now faced her with nothing but his fleshy frame, in front of Ariel’s capabilities, the man may as well be stark naked.

The audience below applauded Tei's great mental fortitude. True to form, Mozi's teachings had not escaped the descendants of Clan Tei. The temperament and unshakable calmness possessed by its members were known to all.

“You-!”

Gwen faltered before she could finish her ridicule.

There was something warm dribbling on to her face and a taste of iron in her mouth. Reflexively, she touched a hand to her nose, only to realise she was bleeding profusely from both nostrils.

“Gwen!”

Petra leapt onto the stage but became rebuffed by the Force Barrier. To the Mineral Mage's dismay, Bai's professional demeanour ensured that until Gwen dispelled her Kirin, he was going to keep the barrier up to protect the audience.

“Is she alright?” someone asked worriedly. “She’s bleeding all over the place.”
“Feedback?”
“Looks like a spell-overcharge to me.”
“Poor girl,” a senior remarked. “Doesn’t she know Abjurers make the worst possible match-up for Creature Mages?”
“She probably thought she was testing Senior Tei.” Someone else, a Duelling Club senior, laughed out loud. “When in reality, it was Senior Tei who’s testing her!”
"I liked her better when she was giving us a show, haha."

Up on stage, half her face covered in blood, the words from the audience dug into Gwen's paper-thin skin like stilettoes. She now knew she had read the situation wrong from start to finish. She had underestimated her senior.

If so, why didn't she yield?

The eyes of the crowd bore into her tender flesh. Her flesh grew scarlet with embarrassment, more so than the blood dribbling down her dress, covering her hands. The duel wasn't over yet.

“Dimension Door!”

The spell was on her lips before she even realised it consciously. In one leap, she had broken the university's cardinal rules, disappearing from the barrier and reappearing two hundred odd meters away atop a grassy knoll.

“Dimension Door!”

“Dimension Door!”

In her present condition, three was her limit.

She reappeared on the lawn opposite the Dean’s office, a place that forbad transit, picnics and passage, kept forever lush by nature-magic.

FUCK! She fell to her knees onto the lawn. SHIT! What the hell had she just done? The best thing she ought to do now was calm the fuck down, run the hell back, and apologise to Tei Bai, to Petra, and everyone who had to bear witness to her poor sportsmanship.

“Eeee?!”

The call came from her mind.

Ariel was appeasing the crowd by letting them inspect its noble visage. Petra was with her Familiar, and Tei Bai was there too.

Thank God, Gwen exhaled. She owed them big time.
Now, why the hell did she go and do all that for? Was the milk bad? Neither she nor Petra paid much attention to these things.

Was it her Lightning? Or her draconic-Essence from Almudj? Had her proficiency risen to such a point that she was no longer in control of her impulses? She touched a hand to Ayxin's scale, toying with the idea of tearing it from the base of her neck.

“Ding!’
'Ding!'

Her Message Device rang. The first was the Dean. The second was Petra.

“Sir?” Gwe knew she had to make a choice.

“Gwen...” the Dean’s voice was ice. Gwen had never heard the Dean so pissed off. “My office, now! AND GET OFF MY LAWN!”

Ellen stayed away from Gwen as she sheepishly slinked into the office.

“Do you believe yourself untouchable, Miss Song?” The Dean scowled at her, his usually pleasant face was creased with disappointment.

“No Sir!” Gwen replied. She fucked up, she was in trouble, and there was no denying her culpability.

“I know you’re young and you think yourself a prodigy, but do you believe rules don’t apply to personages such as yourself? That kind of slippery slope makes for a dangerous frame of mind! Mages who don’t think the rules apply to them become a menace to our society!”

“I am sorry!” Gwen flinched. She lowered her eyes coyly.

“Don’t try that with me!” the Dean snapped. “I have two daughters and an Ellen! You think they don’t try to make moon-eyes at me to get out of trouble?”

Gwen straightened her spine. Yes, that was a stupid move. She was in an educator’s office, not her supervisor’s suite at her old consultancy. This arrogance was unbecoming of her. She needed time to work the dragon-juice out of her system, let the static drain from her body.

“Hmmph! The first Dimension Door merits a warning.”

Gwen exhaled with immense relief.

“The second, temporary deferment.”

She tensed.

“The third… academic suspension.”

Her eyes widened, then her lips quivered. That’s not how infractions worked, was it? Wasn’t it each instance, and not each ‘spell’ cast? It was her first incident! She should be receiving a warning!

But, Gwen knew better than to interrupt the Dean.

“Well?” the Dean barked. “GET OUT!”

Taking a chance, Gwen stood rock still, taking on the guise of a new statue newly added to the Dean’s office.

“Bah!” The Dean delayed his response a few good seconds before mocking her obvious attempt at playing his sympathy. “Clever girl. You think you know everything, don't you?”

Gwen wondered if squeezing out a few tears would exacerbate or relieve her circumstances.

Within her mind’s eye, Ariel inferred presently that it was being patted by students all lined up in a row. From what she could make out via her Familiar's Empathic-Link, Petra was with Bai, who had made the duelling platform into a petting station. Even now, amidst cries of ‘Lord Kirin!’ Ariel’s prideful energy fed back into her Astral Body.

The very thought of thousands of strangers touching Ariel’s soft frog-pads and running their fingers through its fluffy tail set her teeth on edge; the annoyance was akin having a bone-deep itch she couldn’t scratch.

“… I am that boring, am I?” the Dean demanded dangerously.

Luo could scarcely believe the girl was staring into the middle distance in the middle of his lecture. The lass was truly lawless! He had been too easy on her, given her too much leeway!

Gwen’s eyes refocused.

Dean Luo looked as though he could choke a Gwen or two and still had anger to spare.

FUCK A DUCK, was the first thought that came to her mind. She had drifted off! It was true what Murphy said, whatever was the worst that could happen was almost always bound to happen; the furtherer one was up shit-creek, the more likely their skiff was to overturn.

“I am not going to suspend our 'best hope' at passing for the Asian Sector qualifier of the IIUC,” the Dean continued annoyedly. “But though you have averted death, a punishment is both merited and will do you good.”

“Sir!” Gwen lowered her head. “I’ll accept any punishment.”

“You are to scrub every bathroom in the university…”

“…” Gwen baulked at the thought. Despite her best efforts, she glared at the Dean.

“Your sincerity astounds me, Miss Song,” the Dean sighed. Bloody Lightning Mages, he lamented. Why can't she be an easy going Mud Mage?

“I’ll do it.” Gwen immediately thought of her Cleansing Spell-cube. Let’s say there are two hundred bathrooms, that’s only 200 LDMs. That’s not so bad.

“I am joking.” The Dean shook his head dejectedly. “I don’t think you realise the damage you've done. I said it’s up to your discretion if you wish to demonstrate your abilities before the IIUC, but what you’ve attempted with Mr Tei was near-exposing your whole hand! If Bai hasn’t made the right call, the whole university would have seen your best attack!”

“But everyone saw what happened in Hangzhou,” Gwen remarked sulkily.

“A Frontier town, in private company!" Luo shouted in her face. "Fudan is an international university! Do you want everyone from Oceania to England to know your trump card? What if every other team includes an Abjurer like Mr Tei? What will you do?”

Gwen lowered her head, taking the tongue lashing in stride.
She would have appeared entirely humble were it not for the fact that Ariel's mind-link was tickling her skin.

“I am sorry, Sir. Truly,” she apologised. “I am sorry I disappointed you.”

“Your punishment will be aiding Tei. In the tradition of Mao’s teachings. In all honesty, I want to send you away for re-education, temper that pride of yours, but we have no more time to waste. In addition, I want a 5,000-word self-critical report on my desk by next week. Now go and apologise to your peers.”

“Yessir.” Gwen readily agreed.

She had lived long enough to realise that self-awareness and criticism wasn’t an easy pearl of wisdom to come by. There were benefits to knocking oneself down a peg, for the alternative was inevitable hubris.

Icarus may have gotten close to the sun, but hitting the sea at terminal velocity would've been no different from slamming into concrete.


Gwen returned to the duelling arena, on foot this time, cowed and bowed in apology.

By now, a line around the block had formed, waiting to greet a legendary Kirin for good luck. A few kind words were exchanged, then Gwen was told to sit down and not to obstruct the audience's view.

Finding a seat by the side, all Gwen could do was endure the sensation of been tickled inside out as Ariel anointed people with its tentacle whiskers and allowed the cohort to touch its hoof-frog.

The favourable treatment of Ariel wasn't by chance. The proximity of the Lantern Festival made the Kirin's presence all the more auspicious.

After an hour, Petra took a leave, thus leaving Gwen and Tei Bai to sit by the arena while the line grew ever longer. With her face flushed and her white legs crossed over as she sat on the pull-out bench, Gwen looked a treat beside the sombre-looking Tei, wearing grey on charcoal on white, looking like a junior funeral director.

“In your opinion, Senior Tei, what are good match-ups for me?” Gwen asked the veteran IIUC contestant. They had been passing olive branches for the last sixty minutes, and now the topic had fallen to one of common interest.

“Someone with your skill set would be fantastic as a counter-aggressor," the Abjurer-Enchanter stated with great sagacity. "If I were the team Captain, I’d get you to butt-heads with their offensive casters. With your firepower, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could suppress two of the opposing team’s casters, bonus if you can pull in their controller.”

“What if they banish my Familiars?” Gwen inquired with a hint of cattiness.

“Ha!” Bai laughed. “I’d have Caliban and Ariel protected with Abjurations against spells that disrupt their morphic-form. Of course, I’d have to go and learn those spells, but they’re not difficult.”

“I’d love that.” Gwen pondered the stratagem. "Can I apply said Abjurations to my Familiars?"

"Of course, but it's a reactive skill with passive components. It's either that or your offence."

"Ah." Gwen drummed her fingers against her thighs. The first-world problem of a sorceress of many Schools was that she had only one head.

“Other than that, your affinity offers longevity in combat. From what I can see, you have mana to spare, so I’d say you’re a boon in protracted battles. As a spear-point offence, you should be front and centre, overpowering the enemy's offensive casters, suppressing their formation so that our controllers can separate their Abjurers.”

For some time, the two had been conversing about the informal ‘roles’ within the IIUC competition. Though flexible, Bai had informed his junior that the general makeup of a Ten-man team consisted of four core functions.

Four members for Offence.
Two members for Defence.
Two members for Control.
Two members for Utility.

Members selected for offence usually involved Mages with high damage potential, chosen for their mana affinity, damage output, AoE potential, and the possession of a Spirit.

“Which means you’re perfect in that regard,” the Dust Mage argued. “I’ve never met another student with as much damage output as you. If we had someone with both Void and Lightning when we went up against Tokyo U…”

"Ha, I promise to please." Gwen blushed, more so because she was halfway squirming via Ariel, but also because of the confidence boost after the Dean’s righteous-rebuke of her arrogance.

According to Gwen's Senior, the two members for defence needed to possess the ability to Shield and weather massive damage for the team. Senior Tei played the role of the stationary Abjurer, whose speciality was defending a particular zone or location. The second Abjurer was responsible for mobile-defence, such as when the teams needed to be always on the move.

“An Abjurer-Conjurer with high affinity and high mobility would be best. Or an Abjurer-Transmuter.”

Of course, Gwen was an Abjurer-Conjurer as well, though she had never practised Shielding others. According to Richard, a superior Abjurer-Conjurer, the most important thing was to anticipate the enemy’s attacks and to Shield your allies only when the precise moment arrives. As an example, Richard could Shield and deflect monsters incoming at Lulan mid-leap so that the girl could preserve the tremendous momentum of her strikes, catching her targets in a moment of weakness.

“As for Control, we’re looking at Mages capable of creating snares, barriers, traps, wards, or even Translocation specialists, assuming an open-map,” Bai explained. “Enchanters, Transmuters, Conjurers, Illusionists, it's an open position for filling holes left by Offence and Defence-”

"Ah~," Gwen stifled a moan.

“Eee!” Ariel sang out. “Eee! Eee!”

“STOP FEEDING MY FAMILIAR!” Gwen shouted across the arena.

Beside her, Bai fumbled for a moment, though as with one gifted in the talent of Dust, his passion diminished as quickly as it came.

By now, Ariel was visibly more substantial.

Being students from an elite university, sparing an HDM or two wasn’t an obstacle for Ariel’s starry-eyed worshippers. Combined with the fact that her Familiar was a glutton, Ariel had gauged crystalline treats by the hundreds. As it were, its last admirer had dropped a raw chunk of unprocessed high-density crystal.

“Sorry, please continue,” Gwen apologised, circulating her essence. Maybe that's the problem; she wondered self-critically. Meditating with Almudj's blessing had been the panacea to all her problems. Sleep deprivation? Hunger? Illness? Too much alcohol? Period cramps? Thirsty? Head Ache? Bloating? Every discomfort can be solved with primordial Draconic-essence.

“Uh…yes, well…” Bai gave himself a moment to tear his eyes away. For some reason, the girl positively glowed. “So, the final two members are typically Enchanters, Buff-specialists, Quasi-healers, Diviners, and so on.”

“Why not a full-time healer?”

“Positive-Energy Mages are too specialised,” Bai explained. “The idea is to avoid healing altogether. As for medical treatment, there are usually healers from the host-nation on stand by, from associated universities. For example, Fudan has an allotment of healers from the Renai Teaching Hospital.”

Gwen immediately thought of Elvia.

“Only after we arrive on location are the Quests revealed to the contestants. Usually, there are two teams going head to head, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be more. The IIUC attempts different tournament formats every year to ensure students don't game the system.”

“Can you give me an example?”

Bai gave the question some thought.

“I’ll do my best.”

Gwen gave her thanks.

“As a speciality of the IIUC, the location generally determines the type of Quest and competition. To use an overseas example, Fudan has only ever made it out of Asia once, in 1996. Our students were sent to the South Korean peninsula to join the Front there against the northern incursion.”

“Undead?”

“What else? Against the Undead, the IIUC appropriated an open-cooperative Quest. Examiners awarded points based on how well the students worked with each other, with other teams, and with the local Militia. Further points were granted based on the number of undead eradicated, General-Class creatures destroyed, and so on.”

“Were the students in danger?”

“Absolutely,” Bai affirmed her fears. “Not everyone made it back. I heard that our team lost three of its members and had to withdraw from the competition. Bit off more than they can chew, snake trying to swallow the elephant, or so the Arbitrators said.”

Gwen tried to imagine what such a situation would entail. Was it like running smack-bang into a Sea Priest and her cohort of General-class warriors?

“As for recent years, the inter-Asian stage of the competition is far less dangerous. Generally, it's best to think of the competition as a Dungeon Crawl or a mock Quest. This year, for instance, we lost against Tokyo U and Seoul N.U, we managed to match points against Tsinghua, but they weren’t fully committed.”

“What was the exam format?”

“Competitive Dungeon Clear,” Bai transcribed the details. “A little like Hengsha, you know Hengsha Island?”

“I was there this year,” Gwen informed her Senior.

“Oh?” Bai blinked. “Ha, I was there two years ago. How wonderful. Anyway, our match against the internal-division took place in Tibet, near Mount Kailash. Teams fought to reach the nest of the Kailash Ice Roc, with one of its eggs as the objective.”

That's terrible! Gwen furrowed her brows; to poach the egg of a sapient creature for a competition? Why not just plant a fucking flag or something.

“Tsinghua U managed to nab the egg in the end. We were busy fending off Harpies and other avians while one of their Clanners snuck up there and accomplished the objective. When he came down the mount, the bastard brought the Roc with him. Chased all five teams the entire way down to Lhasa!”

“I imagine that took a lot out of you.”

“I wasn’t in the party,” Bai grunted. “Questing parties are five strong, chosen by the team leader to tackle a Quest. The rest of the members are on back up. I was doing community service in Lhasa when the Roc started pounding on the Shield, screeching and skirting the dome while feathers the size of cars rained down into the city.”

“So anyway. That was a Quest going well."

"That went well?!"

"Ha!" Bai shrugged. "In Tokyo, it was Fudan and Peking against Kyoto U and Toyko U. Maybe the Japs were looking down on us, or maybe they didn’t want to expend the effort. The competition was a mock-contest over territory over two valleys. An hour in, their Shikigami ripped through our formation. By the time we're done, they had twice the points we had.”

“In Seoul, we fared a bit better, though the result speaks for itself. The teams were each assigned an area to 'pacify'. We managed to purge the local Shui-Guai, that’s water-demon, without problems, but…”

“But?”

“We later heard that the local team from Seoul U chased their monsters into our area…”

“… They can do that?”

“They got more points than we did, so I can only assume yes.”

Gwen made a face.

“That's the long and short of it.” Bai shook his head. “Ancient history now. Anyway, you're helping us out? I almost had a heart attack when you Dimension Doored out of here.”

“Sorry,” the prideful sorceress apologised again. Of course, the person she was most sorry toward was her cousin, whom she’d snapped at without reason and with the temperance of a fool drunk on power.

“Don't mind it.” Bai checked his watch in a way that made it very clear he was late. “I am sorry to say that the display is supposed to have closed an hour ago. We got lessons to go to...”

Gwen looked at the line of growing worshippers.
Her heart sank.

Just how many times did she have to apologise in one day?

“Hold it… Head forward,” Petra commanded. “Now sneeze!”

“ERGH! YUCK!” Gwen watched the blood clots drain down the sink. When it came to bleeding noses, she was the type to swallow, fearful of it leaking over her clothes. As a result, returning to the apartment in the evening, she could feel something stuck in her oesophagus and behind her nose.

“Looks like when you charge yourself up with Draconic-Lightning, you have to discharge before it overtaxes your vitals. There's only so much a mortal body can handle.” Petra noted with concern. “God, I was so worried when you started spraying blood all over the arena.”

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

“It was spectacular,” Petra assured her. "Positively spurting. If this were Eastern Europe, you would have drawn every Vampyre in a hundred-kilometre radius."

Gwen groaned.

“Next time, I’ll just shoot it into the sky. The university bans flying for a reason, right?”

“You’ll hit the ceiling,” Petra pointed out. “Also… next time?”

“Goddamn it.” Gwen wiped her face. “What do I do, Pats?”

“No idea…but…” Petra patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll ask Master.”

“Er…” Gwen hesitated. “Let me ask around first. Magister Wen's barred from studying my Draconic-essence.”

“Oh right.” Her Cousin blinked. “I wonder who could help us?”

"Ayxin?"

"Is that wise?"

The scale on her neck thrummed gently, almost maternal in its regulation of her energies. Was it helping her or making it worse? Somehow, Gwen doubted the Dragon-kin would give her an honest answer.

On Friday, Professor Ma paid her a visit after class.

“So, what do you say?” James Ma sat opposite Gwen in her office. “Full credit - full marks, assuming you take the job.”

Ma's offer made perfect sense.

Attendance was compulsory, but the second-year management and economic courses hardly titillated her existing knowledge.

Ma had initially come to ask Gwen questions about auditing roles like the Project Manager, Program Management Officer and the procedure involved in replacing operators found guilty. Gwen’s response was to implement more frequent accounting via Gatekeeper auditors as well as independent advisors focusing on Risk Analysis.

After a dozen organisation flow-charts, the topic of conversation then turned to the scant time both Gwen and Ma had left for their university courses. In a stroke of inspiration, the Professor offered Gwen the position of Teaching Assistant.

Gwen touched an ink-less pen to her lips, one of the many quasi-magical conveniences she had come to relish.

“Can I look through the course work first?”

“Of course.”

Ma materialised for her the Instructor's outline of Management GEN200M and Economics GEN200E.

Second-year Management focused on Project Management, something Gwen knew well: in the past, she had dealt with long-term projects dozens of times. Ma's course taught Mages to delegate and assign tasks via a pyramidal hierarchy with themselves at its apex. In Gwen’s learned eyes, the primitive system was itself the primary cause for incompetence and corruption. In a region like China, rarely do the most skilled or respected leaders rise to the fore. Instead, social climbers wielded the most influence.

It was particularly interesting to Gwen how despite Dear Leader Mao's ability to beat back the Clans, the Houses and the Scholar-Bureaucrats, the hierarchal structure of the CCP and the Districts it used to house its NoM population was closer to Imperial-Feudalism. In reality, cities like Beijing and Shanghai sat like the Kings of old in the era of North and South Dynasties, a 'Peking' and 'Nanking', lording over its satellite regions like fat spiders perched on their web.

Economics, on the other hand, dealt with shallow systems of accounting and auditing, following by supplementary occupations in developing a command-system. The fact that the theory sanctioned by the party advocated a socialist economic model almost made her laugh out loud, especially when one of her lecture notes called for the elimination of class distinction by reducing the exploitation of the NoM masses by the capitalist NoM Oligarchs. In her eyes, most of the theory fell into purposeless prose, arguing that ultimately, everyone was equal, but Mages were more equal than NoMs.

“Are you serious?” Gwen pointed to the ‘objective’ section of the text. "Did the Clans compose this drivel?"

Ma shrugged.

“As educators, we ward our students against the temptations of capitalism.”

Despite her best efforts, Gwen snorted. There was no point arguing that Marxism was terrible, only that like More's ‘Utopia’ of nowhere, the unreachable Buddhist nirvana, or the Daoist notion of piercing the heavens; it was an ideal, not practical in the least. Despite generations of indoctrination that communism served the needs of the proletariat, a simple gander at the disparity of prosperity between Shanghai and its surrounding regions demonstrated the precarious instability of repressive regimes whose arcane bureaucrats who thought themselves above the NoMs.

“You can’t seriously believe that, Sir,” Gwen retorted reflexively before realising she’d acted out of turn. Whenever the topic of economics came up, she grew forgetful that Ma was a senior member of the CCP and her mentor, not her colleague.

“Don’t let anyone else hear you say that,” Ma warned her. “Practicals are one thing, our ideal mustn’t falter.”

The two glanced guiltily at Ruì sweating gently despite the glyph-cooled air. In all likelihood, the others had heard as well. Though Gwen understood this world wasn’t yet the type where MSS goons were dragging journalists into the dead of night, she nonetheless shivered.

“Yessir,” Gwen apologised loudly. "We will do our best to improves the lives of all present, NoMs and Mages equally.”

Somewhere from the other end of the office, Ken cleared his throat, trying to stifle a snicker. The expressions on Gwen’s NoM employees, however, remained solemn and stoic.

Saturday, Club Induction Day.

“I feel guilty that you’re feeling guilty…” Tei Bai, accompanied by a mob of his juniors and Seniors, commented. “Isn’t this false advertising?”

“I’ll come and help out now and then,” Gwen promised the Duelling Club veteran. “If anything, I’d like more info on the IIUC, as well as spar with you.”

“Then you’ll join the club?”

“Officially? Of course. I won’t have time for competitions, though,” Gwen forewarned her senior. At the very least, not before she'd resolved her 'issues'.

“No problems.” Bai glanced at his moon-eyed juniors. “So long as you lend us our new mascot now and then, hahaha.”

The two turned to look at the new display the Duelling club had set up first thing Monday morning.

Next to the Fudan Duelling Club’s old logo was a new one. In the middle was the Qin Era pictogram for Fudan written in Chinese. Besides the old banner was a projection of Gwen, her striking face beautiful beyond measure, her lips parted as she pointed a finger toward the audience. As her eyes fluttered, a voiced Illusion proclaimed, “WE WANT YOU for the FUDAN DUELLING CLUB.”

Across and to the left of the visage of her face was an Illusion of Ariel in all its draconic-glory with the caption: “NEW members will receive a chance to meet the blessed Kirin of Fudan, [Air]”

The pictogram character for ‘Air’, like Fudan’s logo, had been converted to the two-millennia-year-old script from the Qin Dynasty, painting Ariel with an atmosphere of authentic antiquity.

“Eeee?!” Ariel flirted with its visage, purring and rubbing itself against the enchanted projector.

“Ariel will be in your care.” Gwen bowed. “I’ll be over to help after my classes. I am afraid Tuesday and Thursday are all I can manage.”

“That’s plenty.” Tei Bai inclined his head slightly, though his juniors made a full-bodied show of respect. “As I said, if there’s anything you want to know, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll also ask a few of the other old-timers if they're willing to talk to you. Many of the IIUC alumni originally hail from the F.D.C.”

“Thanks, Senior Tei.” Gwen retreated, waving at her peers. “I'll retrieve them at 16:00.”

“EEe!”

“I’ll only be half a campus away,” Gwen told her Kirin. She then turned to her restored Mongolian Death Worm. “Be a good boy now, look after Ariel, and listen to Senior Tei!”

"Shaaa!"

By the weekend, the rumorous wind had blown Gwen's friends together to 'cheer her up'.

Petra came home to an unexpectedly too-full house, already entertaining Tao and Mina, who’d initially wanted to eat out with Gwen. There was Lulan as well, who came to mooch dinner, and Kusu, who had come to apologise for his sister's shamelessness. There was Richard, who came to see what was up, as well as Mayuree, who joined them later. Finally, there was Dai, who'd shown up wondering if he could show Gwen his good side.

When the living room grew too stifling, Mayuree offered to take them up.

"It's no bother!" the girl told everyone. "Gwen's like a sister to me! Treat the place like your own!"

Upstairs, an annoyed Marong and a peevish Kitty welcomed the unwelcome guests. The two had previously been enjoying a quiet evening. Marong was meditating in a cloud of smoke, while Kitty trained by keeping the Smoke Mage contained to his ochre-walled room.

Emerging from the pantry, Lei immediately propelled into action, mixing drinks and heating dim-sims with an efficiency only she could manage.

Once they settled in, the badgering began. Gwen was teased within a millimetre of her paper-thin skin, though the chastisement was carried out in good faith.

Sensing her friend's growing embarrassment, Mayuree intervened, enacting the very purpose she had visited Gwen in the first place.

“Here.” The Diviner did not attempt to hide a prideful countenance as she slipped an item over the table toward Gwen. “I had a feeling you’re going to run into even more trouble from now on, so I had these prioritised.”

“Care to clarify?”

“Ha!” Mayuree chuckled, then more seriously, she said 'No'.

Recognising the stupidity of her question, Gwen instead opened the first box.

“Your hands are full, so I had those re-made as a pair of earrings.” Mayuree pointed to the sparkling pair of stones. “They’re glamoured as well. From the outside, they should be entirely discrete.”

“Is that…” Petra took a closer gander. The crowd leaned in as well. “A Mind Ward Amulet?”

“Earrings,” Mayuree corrected Gwen's cousin. “The left is for Mind Lock and Resist Glamour; the right is for Resist Illusion.”

“They're beautiful.” Mina's eyes sparkled, touching a finger to her choker. “Mine’s Resist-Glam and Resist-Illusion. These don't come cheap!”

“Of course not, but the House of M is generous.” Mayuree smiled smugly, noting Dai's discerning expression and Mina's half-parted lips.

Of course, she was grateful toward Mina and Dai as well, hence the invitation to her abode. Thanks to their showy spendthrift, all of their friends and their friends had signed up to the House of M’s new credit-programs, hoping to one day receive the mysterious invitation to join the Orichalcum Cabal.

“A little too generous,” Dai grunted, his face full of misgivings. “Gwen, that's an expensive gift. Are you sure it doesn't come with a price to match?”

Mayuree fluttered her eyes at Gwen.
Gwen blinked back at her friend, indicating there was nothing between them.
Mayuree tittered.

“It's the other way around, Dai,” Gwen assured her questioning employee-cum-admirer. “Not to mention I provided the ingredients myself.”

Dai folded his arms; he looked up to see Marong standing beside Kitty. Disinterestedly, the man blew a smoke-ring at Dai. Who's that? A bodyguard? The Fung heir felt a wave of annoyance.

“And this…” Mayuree slid over the second item. “Is your other special order.”

She opened the box.

There, sitting inside folded velvet, was an amulet that phased out of sight whenever one looked away.

“Is that a Foglet Core?” Petra recognised the rare ingredient immediately. “You’re joking! A Ghosting Amulet?!”

“Is it expensive?” Lulan asked.

"Of course it's expensive," Kusu cautioned his sister. Having an understanding of these situations, he made sure he was standing behind Lulan when Mayuree gave a modest, undervalued estimate.

“Umm… about 22,000 thereabouts?”

TWO-TWO-ZERO-ZERO-ZERO?

How many crystals was that? Lulan cocked her head.

Despite her woeful monetary skills, Lulan attempted to surmise the five digit number that had escaped from Mayuree’s rich-bitch lips. The weekly rent for her and Kusu’s apartment was 90 HDMs for a B13 suite at 40 square meters with one bathroom, kitchen and bedroom. The suite itself was just under 10,000 HDMs to purchase. Did this mean Gwen wore two studio apartments around her neck?

Lulan's head throbbed.

Kusu caught his sister just as her body turned rigid, then slowly grew limp.

‘It’s glamoured for ease,” Mayuree added quickly. “No one will know you’re wearing it. It’s a contingency item, after all.”

Dai's brows grew solemn. Was Gwen obscenely wealthy even before working with his father? Not even he could waste his allowance on an item like this. If so, why did Gwen scam him for a mere thousand HDMs when they first met? Was it to make him lose face? Was it for the favour?

The Fung heir suddenly felt his shirt drenched with cold sweat.

“Here, let’s put it on.”

Gwen brushed back her hair while someone of the right height - namely Richard, clasped it around her neck. After invoking the attunement glyph, the necklace turned to air. It made sense though; such items were worn permanently. Like her Contingency Ring, it wasn't leaving her body until it activated, or she died.

The earrings too soon adhered to her dawn-tinted lobes. As promised, they looked like tiny diamond studs once the glamour activated.

"Beautiful!" Mina clapped.

Lulan's watery eyes sparkled.

“Gwennabitch, you got any notion how pimped yo ass is right now?” Tao whistled. “You’re more tricked out than a mermaid hustler!”

Gwen grinned, her confidence restored. Excluding Gunther’s Ring, she was wearing quite the list of useful items.

A Ring of Evasion.
A Translator Ioun Stone.
An Ioun Stone of Clarified Thought.
A Ghosting Amulet.
A Large Storage Ring.
Mind-Shield Earrings.
And her high-end Message Device.

Once she was free from the confines of a tier 1 city and had to make her way into the Wildlands, everything from armour to wands to Golems were hers to purchase, with only her ability to generate crystals as the limit.

“I’ll follow you anywhere, Master Song!” Lulan professed, her eyes welling with crystal-filled wonder. Under her breath, Lulan thanked her unthankful ancestors that she left that abusive, armpit of a mountain Clan.

The rest of the party laughed, filling the high-ceilinged penthouse with the sound of shared mirth.

“Okay, okay,” Gwen calmed her audience while Lei served up the drinks and snacks. “Since you're all here, I want to let everyone here know that I’ve run into some problems, and I would like to discuss an intervention.”

Her friends and family gazed at one another.

“I think that I’ve trained a little too quickly for my own good,” Gwen confessed. “Though I haven’t checked recently, my Lightning Affinity thanks to Ariel is hitting close to 7. I am also in possession of Draconic-Essence, as many of you know, which is exacerbating the problems caused by my affinity.”

“Humble-bragging?” Dai burst out with a snort, almost spilling his drink. Casually, he willed away the wayward droplets. Tier 7 and she's just beginning her Path? He took a sip. The insanity of it all.

“I am serious,” Gwen declared tragically. “The other day, I was duelling Senior Tei - we made up by the way-”

Tao whistled.
Dai froze.
The others grinned.

“Tao! Not like that,” Gwen reprimanded her cousin. “Anyway, I was losing, and for a moment I lost my marbles. I wanted to win so much, that I told Caliban to Consume his Shield, and then I tried to lay down a Cloud Kill in the duelling arena. After that, as you know, Dean Luo gave me a tongue lashing.”

Her peers grew solemn.

“Well, does anyone have any advice to give?”

“…”
“…”
“…”

As expected, Mum's the word.

“Good luck with that," Dai remarked. "There are not many Mages with your affinity, much less at the natural tier. Even Lu is tier 4 plus Wanli.”

“What Dai says is true,” Petra pipped in. “According to Master, you’re tier 6 without Ariel. Most Mages are tier 3 plus Spirit. You're going to need someone just as special and rare, but when you add in Draconic-essence...”

“Same here, I am tier 4 naturally.” Richard raised his hand. “Lea provides the rest. I suppose I am already pretty easy going though, and a little lazy, haha. We Water Mages have it easy.”

“Lazy? You’re a workaholic!” Gwen accused her cousin. “Weren't you apartment-hunting?”

“Still looking,” Richard replied.

“I can help,” Mina interjected. “Me and Tao, that is, what do you need?”

“Ha, the Wang Group buildings are a bit rich for my blood.” Richard scratched his head. “I am looking for something near the low-end suburbs, not inner city.”

“Well, let us know…” Mina imposed herself. “I’ll take you to see some properties if you like.”

“I might take you up on that offer.” Richard smiled back. “Give me time.”

Dai touched his chin tentatively. Gwen's cousin, looking for a house?

Gwen looked around the room: indeed, her family, including the most knowledgable Petra, had no solutions for her dilemma. Sighing gently, she listened as the crowd continued their banter, thinking just how the hell she was going to wrangle her impulses.

CCs? She entertained the thought.
200 CCs if you can teach me not to freak when I compound Draconic-essence and my Lightning. But could she do that? Would she want to do that? Expose herself, allow a stranger to probe her? In a way, she wished Dean Luo had been harsher. How as she going to learn a lesson at this stage? Where was the follow up? It wasn't like the Dean just to let something like this go, not after all the interest he had taken in her. Was the man cooking up something in the dark?

She bit her lip.

Was Petra right in saying she was a masochist?