“I’ll burn their Manor down.” Yue was a bar away from busting a gasket.

“It’s fine… it's fine…” Gwen patted her hand. “I’ll be in and out in half a day, just showing my face.”

“Are you sure it’s going to be alright…” Elvia hugged her pillow with a face full of worries. “I’ve been to a few of these things before, but thankfully people thought I was twelve…”

“What things?” Yue became instantly suspicious.

“Nothing, just a meet and greet.” Gwen tried to pass the matter off, but Elvia was terrible at misdirection.

“EVEE, tell me everything,” Yue commanded.

Gwen tried her best to stop Elvia blurting out the truth, but Yue was relentless.

“It’s… a marriage meeting thing…” Elvia began nervously.

“Are you shitting me?” The Fire Evoker exploded as expected, making Gwen flinch. “Your stupid family is selling you off?”

“I am not going to let that happen!” Gwen promised.

“Well if you’re not back in school before we have to go to the Field Trip…” Yue spat between snarling lips. “I am going to burn the place down.”

“They have Guards in places like those,” Elvia added. “My dad has one that follows him wherever he goes as well, although Lukas is more like an Uncle. You don't want to make trouble for your mum, right, Yue?"

Yue grunted unhappily.

“Be careful alright?”

“Yeah,” Gwen answered, wishing that she could be as sure of her circumstances as Yue's intent in burning down her uncle's house.

The team practised as usual on Friday, rested, then planned out the final details on Saturday. Gwen informed Jun and Henley that she would have to visit family on Sunday, and the team promised to pack for her so that upon her return Sunday night, she would be ready to leave with the first coach on Monday.

Sheepishly, Gwen unveiled 'that' particular part of her closet, with both Elvia and Yue baulking at the excess. She had to dress to impress, that was undoubtedly a part of the deal. Something classy but cute, petite and svelte. Something that 'sold' her. Elvia and Yue bickered over her choices until Gwen picked out a china-blue sleeveless Sunday dress modelled after Ming porcelain, yet another gifted Miu Miu she couldn't afford. Yue had Elvia helped to style her hair, creating a dense, messy bun of loose coils with a loose fringe framing her face. After thickly applying mascara, Gwen's lashes gained the curvature and rigidity of scimitars. To finish, she plumped her lips with a coat of gloss.

She then opened a suitcase that she had kept on top of the cabinet, and removed from it another dazzling assortment of accessories and a half dozen pair of shoes. Yue and Elvia squealed with glee. Gwen selected a pair of wedge sandals in a shade which was pleasing when worn with the dress.

“Oh-My-God, Gwenny.” Yue could scarcely breathe. “Marry me right now.”

Elvia fiercely agreed.

“Hopefully, I won’t have to do this too often…” Gwen remarked. Even with help, it was a tremendous undertaking.

In the hallway, Gwen was met by violent gasps and the sudden sucking-in of breaths. Inside the elevator, other passengers stared, too afraid to speak. Considering the state of Sydney's public transport, Gwen gritted her teeth and called for a private Cab. Perversely, her driver kept his eyes on her far too long and almost had an accident before they made it across the Harbour Bridge.

Heart-in-mouth, passenger and driver pulled into Kirribilli after an hour.

The Cab rolled into a parking bay circulating the Manor's frontage, gaudily decorated with a gigantic statue of a sea-shelled Aphrodite in her radiant glory, ejaculating two streams of water from her nipples. As Gwen's cab pulled up at the front door, a suited, black-visored guard threw a fifty through the driver side window before opening the door for Gwen.

YES! Fifty bucks SAVED. Gwen mentally fist-pumped the air.

It was impossible to read the guard's expression behind the glasses censoring his face, so Gwen instead turned to regard the estate.

An extensive property of about two thousand square-meters, her uncle’s Manor had a harbour facing frontage. The manor was a freestanding sanctuary of exclusivity, space and opulence. The modern facade of the estate possessed four open levels bathed in natural light, with floors dressed in French oak and walls in antique-white.

“Please follow me, Ma’am,” the guard intoned with reverence, taken aback by Gwen's feminine presence. Gwen followed, noting the prevalence of dark-suited men patrolling the compound.

I guess Yue’s not burning this house down, Gwen remarked sourly. What the hell did her uncle do anyway? The bloody mansion reminded her of a mafioso movie set.

“GWEN! MY LOVELY NIECE!”

A voice like rolling thunder boomed across the hallway. Gwen stiffened as all eyes in the room shifted toward her, pinning her with their hawkish gaze.

Well shit, so much for subtlety. Gwen sighed internally.

“Uncle! I missed you so much,” she sang out thrillingly, hoping the effort was sensational enough to satisfy her uncle.

Kwan Huang was a giant of a man, made larger than life by his preference for loose polo shirts and baggy pants. Overweight and overbearing, Kwan roved and loomed wherever he went. Unlike Gwen's mother, Kwan appeared to have gained the lion’s share of the Huang's South East Asian heritage inherited from their Grandfather. The man's face was one that gave an air of benevolence, but beneath which hid a chilling ruthlessness. In the years since the family’s rise to riches, Kwan had gotten fat and bulbous: not thick in the way that white men grew heavy, with their beer-bellies, but swelling like a durian, with spikes to match.

Her uncle came on like a storm. Gwen felt his uninvited, mitt-sized hands wrap around her hips, lifting her with ease off the ground as he pressed the air from her ribcage. The upward draft caused her skirt to hoist dangerously, forcing Gwen to pat down her hem lest the audience enjoyed a free show.

When she became sufficiently disorientated by the embarrassment, he set her down facing the crowd of stickybeaked onlookers.

“Beautiful!” He bellowed, a little puffed out from the performance. “I remember doing that when you were a little girl, but you’re a young lady now, Gwen.”

“I’ve missed you, Uncle.”

Kwan then slipped an arm around her elbow and towed her behind him. In the open living room, the assembly of guests intensely scrutinised the tall blue flower bewilderingly brought into their midst.

“Helena's been hiding you from us hmm?” Kwan announced jovially. His arm was as strong as a bear's. “I heard the good news, Gwen. You don’t know how happy that makes me.”

“It’s nothing, Uncle.” Gwen tried to retrieve the arm she'd lost to a bear trap. She tried keeping up with her long striding uncle; her heels making progress both awkward and painful.

“Bosh! You are the best thing that has happened to us for a long time,” her uncle noted. “Except Richard of course, but that’s old news.”

“How is Aunty doing?”

“Well, very well. Tali's with a client at the moment, but you’ll see her soon enough. She has been asking about you nonstop since the news broke.” Kwan’s voice had a kind of projective force to it, giving Gwen the impression that he never spoke to just one person.

Soon, they seemed to have reached their first stop.

“Patrick! My boy! Come here. I want you to meet the belle of the ball!”

Gwen watched a young man saunter toward them. 'Patrick' wore a dawn-tinted shirt paired with grey, herringbone pants and brown leather oxfords.

“Kwan, is THIS the niece you were boasting? She’s stunning! Stunning I tell you!” An older man’s eyes roved up and down Gwen’s body, making her skin crawl. “Patrick, come and greet Gwen, show some of those gentlemanly manners I’ve been paying through the nose for.”

“My lady.” Patrick bowed. Gwen marvelled that his hair didn’t move a millimetre.

“Gwen.” Gwen returned a curtsy. Her mother loved curtsies.

Patrick’s eyes could have shot sparks.

“Patrick Oliver.” He offered her an arm.

Kwan’s grin extended from ear to ear.

“Not so soon!” He roared with laughter, joined by the older European businessman. “We still got the round to make. After that, you young people can get privately acquainted.”

And make the rounds they did.

Gwen met an assortment of young men anxious for her company, joined by a few girls whose eyes weren't nearly so friendly. There were younger children present too, but they were far too interested in chasing one another around the house.

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“Looking a little too eager there Derrick!” Kwan roared as he and yet another older man shook and slapped one another on the back.

The young man who introduced himself as Derrick had a lean and hungry look about him that made Gwen uncomfortable. The boy wasn't bad looking, possessing a firm jaw and a compact body, brown eyes and cropped hair that screamed Military cadet. Gwen recalled that Derrick's father had stated the boy was a Cadet, no wonder Gwen's exposed skin overstimulated the repressed soldier. At any rate, it was hard to tell, but the boy did try to pull Gwen toward him when they shook, and Uncle Kwan was forced to cough discourteously, which made Derrick's father flustered and irate.

When finally all the introductions were finished, Kwan released Gwen into the middle of his spacious living room. She levelled her dress and felt the noon sun providing much-needed warmth over her bare legs.

Perhaps if Gwen were an actual teenager, she would have enjoyed the attention, the flattery, but knowing what she knew, she felt nought but self-loathing. Kwan's booming voice came from within the house.

“Gwen, a demonstration please! Your best spell!”

Gwen moved towards her uncle, who pulled her onto a dais that placed her at the centre of the middle deck.

I feel like a showroom model, Gwen reflected sardonically. Here we have my fat uncle, who I am convinced is a right bastard.

To her surprise, a series of targets appeared in the bay some thirty metres away, rising from the sea to form little dummies roughly the size and shape of a man. She looked around the room and sensed the presence of Conjuration magic.

“Gwen, your very best!” Uncle Kwan’s eyes met her own. An understanding passed between them. The display was not a request.

Well, this is why I am here. Gwen rationalised her show pony actuality. She told herself to bear with it. Delay until she can figure something out.

“Of course, Uncle,” she replied with a smile.

Gwen turned to the targets and used the refractory method taught by Alesia to ping the spatial latitude and longitude of her quarry. She opened up her Evocation conduits and allowed the familiar feeling to envelop her mana conduits.

“Guiding Bolt!” She incanted theatrically. From the blue above a bolt of purple ion struck the watery targets, dissipating into the water.

The crowd nodded with satisfaction. So it was true, the girl did possess a rare talent in high-tier lightning.

“Blast Bolt!” Gwen channelled more than half of her reserve, sending a tempest of cobalt bolts into the target, sending the water into a frenzy of emerald-white fissures. A small tsunami washed over the concrete seawall facing the property, bowling over the garden’s prized azaleas.

The assembly erupted into thunderous applause.

“Beautiful!” Uncle Kwan announced again, raising a toast to his darling niece.

A smudge of rouge appeared and faded from Gwen’s cheeks as she recovered, casting her inadvertently in a more feminine light. The applause continued for some time; without a drink to toast, Gwen curtsied once again before fleeing the platform.

Some distance away, in the privacy of the garden, she caught her breath. Her head throbbed, combining a migraine with a feeling of vertigo. Quizzically, she felt unusually hungry and parched.

“It’s good to see you.”

Gwen twirled to face the new voice and found it to be the familiar face of Kwan's wife. Aunt Tali was an unassuming looking woman of tremendous ability; said by many to be the sole reasons for the rise of House Huang. She was a shrewd businesswoman, well connected, always smiling and amiable in her memory.

There was a young man beside her. Tall like her Uncle, lean of body, clean shaven with a pair of horned-rim glasses, giving off a jovial air, as though laughing at a joke only he could comprehend. The young man was Richard Huang, the prevailing heir, the hopes and dreams of House Huang.

Gwen knew OF his cousin but had only met him twice. Richard awoke in his early teens to the School of Conjuration. Every other monthly dinner, Helena would bitterly complain that Richard was slated for greatness at Prince’s, while Gwen was a squib.

Then, after a melodramatic sigh, Helena would regard her daughter as though she was mentally disabled, shaking her head tragically. Gwen's response was to flee home and bury her head in her pillow until she water-boarded herself with tears.

Studying his cousin with intense interest, Richard opened his mouth to speak.

“Both the blonde dickhead and the depressing jarhead are from Princes.” He coolly observed. “They should be useful to you in school if you go to Lilith's, their family is well connected. Don't be surprised if they get a little handsy though. They're virgins.”

What? Gwen blinked. Were her ears deceiving her?

“Richard, be nicer to your cousin!” Aunty Tali stabbed her son in the foot with her kitten heels. “Say something nice.”

“Nice dress,” Richard replied in the same tone, then seemed to remember that he needed to say something nice about Gwen too. “Nice legs.”

“…” Aunty looked apologetically at Gwen, “Richard doesn’t hang around with many girls, Prince's is an all-boys school.”

“It’s alright aunty.” Gwen sidled closer to Richard, curious as to acquire an unexpected ally. “Do you like my dress? It's a Miu-Miu.”

She twirled before him, the hem lifting little from the centrifugal force. She watched his eyes shift up and down, his attention moving from her heels to her legs, to her waist and finally back to her eyes.

“You are stunning,” Richard stated, his demeanour slipping just a tad before correcting himself. "I like you, Cousin Gwen."

“You're certainly charming, Gwen.” Aunty nodded approvingly, her eyes feasting on her niece. “I have no idea why your mother has such impeccable taste for your dresses, but never for herself…”

Gwen chuckled. She had no idea if Aunty Tali was genuine in her speech or just playing along, but she felt far more comfortable speaking to her than to her uncle, who gave the distinct impression he was trying to hawk her to the highest bidder.

“Is mother here?” Gwen asked.

“Not on her life, no.” Tali smiled. ”Don’t mind it; you know she can’t stand these things. Half of these young men’s fathers duelled to be her fiancee back way when. There is no way she would want to meet their spouses."

“How about you, Richard?” Gwen pivoted to Richard, happy that her mother was absent. "How's life?"

“I am a Prefect,” Richard spoke in the manner of someone rattling off the weather. It was only his eyes that betrayed a keen intelligence. “I am looking forward to bigger things as well, such as the Selection for the Four Houses.”

“That’s wonderful Richard,” Gwen cooed at him. She rather liked the young man and his guileless manner of speaking.

“Richard, you better let your cousin go before someone duels you.” Aunty pointed to a half a dozen young men waiting in the gardens to speak to Gwen. “Not that anyone would stand a chance against you, ha!"

“Their abilities are subpar,” intoned Richard with the surety of a sage. “They spend too much time whoring and drinking. Gwen should beware. Maybe she should be my companion instead. What do you say, jailbait?”

“Richard!” Aunty Tali gave him another heel-in-foot.

“They make excellent social currency though.” Richard seemed unable to stop himself. “I wouldn't let them get too comfortable, but you could benefit by playing along.”

Holy shit, Richard is a wunderkind, Gwen found herself gazing upon her cousin with genuine wonder. How bloody talented do you have to be to survive an aristocratic school of assholes with a mouth like that?

Growling, Tali took Richard away, leaving Gwen alone in the garden. Within a minute, young men flocked to the pale blue rose, each one a desirous bee buzzing for her attention. Patrick was the ‘blonde’, so it seemed, and Derrick was the ‘jarhead’. Richard did indeed possess an eye for detail.

“So, my dad manages the Suncorp Energy Division.” Patrick began an exposition about his family and his connections in the manner of a man trying to hawk snake oil.

When she told them that she attended Blackwattle, the boys became flabbergasted. Small talk came and went, flitting from topics of Spellcraft to competition, politics to the latest trends. The wide range of issues made Gwen awkwardly aware of just how little she knew about the world outside Blackwattle. To these elite academy youngsters, she truly was a Frontier bumpkin.

“You must be thirsty, let me get you a drink.” Patrick volunteered.

“Thanks, Patrick.” She nodded courteously at him. "Could I trouble you for some canapès as well?"

Patrick waltzed away happily.

God, I am famished, Gwen caught a smidgen of bile in on her tongue. Hopefully, Patrick could make good on his promise.

"!"

Someone was breathing down her neck.

What the fuck? Gwen spun so quickly that when she tried to turn on her back foot, her heel caught on a wayward boot, causing her to lose her balance. Before she could recover, a pair of invasive hands cupped her waist, pulling them closer towards their owner. When Gwen finally caught herself, she found herself in the midst of being roughly manhandled by Derek, whose face was flushed with excitement, and whose hands were taking on a wandering quality.

Resist. RESIST. Gwen screamed internally. DON’T BLOW HIM UP.

She imagined herself NOT channelling mana, NOT allowing her Evocation Sigil to flare up, NOT turning Derek into a white-hot human torch.

Derek seemed pleased with his suave manoeuvre. Seeing that Gwen was unresisting and had her eyes half-closed, he assumed her a willing participant.

A wayward hand cupped her buttcheek.

Someone besides them chuckled.

Well, fuck it. Gwen reached for the offending limb.

"Ligh-!"

“Whoa there, Tiger!” A piercing voice like a chorus of archangels rang out across the garden with the clarion clarity. “You must never touch a lady without her permission!”

Gwen turned to see the heartening appearance of Alesia, her instructor, striding radiantly on red stiletto heels, floating across the French oak floors like a flaming flower.

Derek withdrew his hands, looking downcast guiltily.

“Begone, Cadet, before you disappear permanently.” Alesia's rebuke snapped across Derek's face like a whip. Derek fled like a man on fire.

Patrick, who had been returning in a huff with drinks in hand, performed a sterling exemplar of an about-turn and disappeared into the house.

“My, my!” Uncle Kwan’s booming voice echoed across the room. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Boss Huang,” Alesia answered sardonically, hinting at her disdain.

“Kwan will do,” Gwen’s uncle replied. “Hell, the Scarlet Sorceress can call me whatever she wants.”

“Miss De Botton.” Aunty joined them cautiously.

“I love your propaganda Vids,” Richard joined the fray. “I am a fan.”

“Why thank you, Richard.” Alesia beamed.

Gwen remained silent, imagining herself polymorphed into a mouse.
Tali and Alesia made meaningless small talk until finally, Kwan felt offended enough to cut to the chase.

“If I may ask… what is someone of your stature doing visiting a lowly merchant like me?” Kwan asked.

Alesia looked at Gwen, who had been stunned this whole while.

“I am here for my Apprentice,” Alesia finally said.

“I am sorry?”

“What?”

“Can I be your apprentice as well?”

“Not now Richard…”

“My apprentice, Gwen Song,” Alesia declared chillingly. “And I am displeased by what I have seen.”

Kwan’s face began to sweat. Aunty’s a little paler.

“You're taking on any new ones?” Richard persisted.

“Sorry dear, you’re the wrong School and the wrong element.”

“I am disappoint...” Richard looked downcast.

Conversely, Kwan was full of wariness.

“Is this official? Has Gwen given her consent?”

“Gwen?” Alesia turned to her student.

Gwen's mind was reeling. Things were going too fast for her to follow, but she knew it was now or never. Her affirmation would piss off her uncle, but seriously, she thought to herself. Fuck that guy.

“I would love nothing more than to have you as my Master,” Gwen intoned.

“Teacher, dear.” Alesia pulled Gwen closer. “Master is so old. I am too young to be a Master.”

“You can’t do this…” Kwan’s voice took on a note of warning. “You come into my house, crash my party, and take my niece…”

“Kwan…” Aunty touched her husband’s arm. “Calm yourself.”

“You… you…” Kwan seemed to be working himself up, measuring his options. Around them, Alesia could see the guards converging.

“Try me?” Alesia turned to Kwan boldly. “Are you so clean as to be immune to a good investigation Boss Huang? Does the concern of Paladin Gunther Shultz tickle your fancy?”

“Ah... er.. of course not.” Kwan deflated at the mention of Gunther Shultz.

"I thought as much. But you know what? I am not an unreasonable woman." Alesia tsked. "Here, a fair trade."

The Scarlet Sorceress drew into the folds of her dress and brought forth an envelope, one very similar to the one Gwen’s mother had possessed, embossed with a Sigil of Crown and Sword.

“A commendation for Richard for the Four Houses?” Alesia waved the envelope to and fro. "Only a few of these exist in all of Sydney."

“I would like to have a commendation,” Richard instantly replied, a hint of emotion betraying his usual countenance. "Please."

Aunty Tali intercepted her husband's rebuttal by giving him a strongly worded heel in the foot, sending Kawn away, groaning and swearing.

“May I?”

Alesia nodded.

Tali unpacked the letter and scanned its contents.

“Deal.” She said quickly, putting the letter on her person before Alesia could change her mind. “Let them leave.”

“…and her mother?” Alesia asked.

“I’ll take care of it, for now.” Aunt Tali answered briskly. “But Gwen will have to make the call when the time comes.”

“Agreed.” Alesia extended a hand, and the two women shook. It was far easier to make a deal between rational, logical, and consenting parties. Such was the way of competent women freed from the masculine ego.

Gwen and Alesia watched the guards melt away.

“Teacher?” Gwen still couldn't believe her eyes or her ears. That was it? Was it done?

“Let's get out of here first.”

The two retreated hand-in-hand under the envious gazes of the astonished assembly.

There was a red Alfa Romeo outside, a classic Spider-class convertible with a woman's curvature.

Alesia REALLY likes the colour red. Gwen observed.

“Get in, Tiger.” Alesia popped the passenger door with a wave of her hand. “It’s a long drive back.”


The red Alfa must have moved a dozen meters in the last ten minutes.

So that’s why it was a long ride ahead. Gwen realised when they finally passed the Harbour Bridge. The Mage-world might be full of magic, but traffic jams were a cardinal rule of any universe.

“We should have changed,” Alesia sulked, full of annoyance as yet another carload of stickybeak passengers wolf-whistled. Gwen tried to sink lower into her seat, but their carmine sports-coupe provided no such cover.

They were already absurdly conspicuous driving down the M1 in a blazingly red classic convertible, its racing spec, straight-eight engine growling and thrumming like an orc, leaving trails of inefficient mana burn. Adding to their engine of wanton attention was Alesia and Gwen's couture dresses and their startlingly gorgeous faces, further slowing traffic to a standstill. An SUV of young men out on their Sunday drive had been floating beside them for a good twenty minutes now, resulting in Gwen feeling carsick.

“If this was a Tier 1 city, I could be using my flight licence,” Alesia complained bitterly, flipping the bird to yet another driver that drifted too close. Her Instructor’s demeanour reminded Gwen of Yue, though Alesia was altogether more svelte and collected.

“Ma’am…” Gwen asked carefully. “Am I your apprentice?”

“Do you want to be my apprentice?” Alesia gave Gwen a red-lipped smile.

“Wouldn’t Yue be a better option? She’s Fire-talented, and an Evoker like you.”

“That’s not what I asked.” Alesia kept her eyes on the road as the traffic began to move. “Do you want to be my apprentice?”

“Can I be honest, Ma’am?”

“Shot.”

“I have no idea what it means to be your apprentice…” Gwen confessed; as an adult, she knew the value of blatant honesty.

"Ha." Alesia laughed. "Okay, Let me explain..."

She informed her that there were Apprentices, and there were 'apprentices'. In the classic sense, an Apprentice was someone who stood to inherit the material wealth and mental knowledge of the Master. The exchange was that the apprentice essentially offered free labour for the duration of their apprenticeship, living cheek-to-cheek with his or her master, a domestic servant-cum-student-cum-assistant, and heir.

In the traditional sense, it made no sense for Gwen to be Alesia’s apprentice. They were different elements, and that meant a considerable divergence in spell philosophy and theory. Likewise, if Alesia were to fall, her most valuable possession, which was her Scarlet Flame Spirit, could hardly migrate to Gwen, who was not a Fire Mage.

Then, of course, there were the apprentice-in-name. These were more akin to students following a tutor, or a postgrad following a professor. These relationships were typically temporal, taken in exchange for some measured outcome, such as researching a particular spell or done as a favour for one’s alumni.

“I like you, Gwen,” Alesia said after listening to Gwen’s queries. “Hardworking, outspoken, you remind me of myself at your age, though our circumstances are a little different. For one, your parents are arseholes, and mine were eaten alive.”

"...sorry."

"You'll get over it." Alesia brushed back a wayward ringlet. “Let me ask you something though. I want you to think about it carefully.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Do you WANT to attend Lilith & Prince's?” Alesia demanded, much to Gwen’s surprise. “Do you understand the opportunity you are giving up?”

Gwen ruminated in silence. Pragmatism versus sentimentality made bitter pills with jagged edges. The rational answer was obvious, but she had already walked that path long ago. Was she happy? Arguably. But she had lost people and connections she'd rather keep this time around.

“I want to stay with Yue and Elvia,” Gwen said at last. “There's no meaning to my success if I can’t share it with them.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Alesia seemed pleased with Gwen's answer. “A little romanticism never hurt nobody.”

“So, about the apprenticeship…”

“You’ll be under my protection for now, though I am afraid my regular job will take me places you can't follow. Still, the right people in the right places know who I am, and they’ll either give you a hand or at least, leave you alone.”

“An apprenticeship-in-name?” Gwen affirmed softly, a little disappointed.

Alesia laughed, giving Gwen a glance from her ultra-marine orbs before returning her attention to the road.

“I may take on Yue though,” Alesia added nonchalantly. Gwen felt a pang of unbidden jealousy. “She’s a good fit, don’t you think?”

“I think so too,” Gwen answered, dispelling any doubt. She was too old for peevish envy.

“That mean’s I’ll be taking her with me when the time comes, a few years around the world and all that,” Alesia continued. “What do you think?”

“It would be her lucky day,” Gwen answered earnestly.

“Well, don’t get her hopes up.” Alesia laughed. “Impress me next week on the Field Trip.”

“We’ll do our best, Ma’am.”

They turned off the highway and made for the dorm, driving under the thrum and throttle of the thirsty engine for a few more minutes. The Gwen of her heart felt a little dejected, but the Gwen of the mind knew that Alesia did an incredible thing for her. She owed this woman more than she can begin to repay.

“Miss...Alesia…” Gwen cleared her throat. “Thank you so much for what you did today. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, and I had no idea what was going to happen, but you came to my aid when I needed it the most.”

The dorm came into view. Alesia pulled up inside the bay. Around them, students stopped in their tracks to stare.

“It was a favour for Principle Bartlett, get him some chocolates later,” Alesia informed Gwen cooly. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. When she spoke again; her voice was softer. “But I also did it for you, Gwen, because I believe you were worth saving.”

“Thank you, Ma’am, for everything.” Gwen quaked with emotion. Alesia's unexpected kindness was the first time since coming to this world that she had felt such strong passions of dependence. Gwen had Yue, of course, and Elvia, but they were kids, vulnerable and unwise themselves. Alesia was the sort of mentor she needed; someone who could empathise and understand her turmoils.

Seeing Gwen’s worshipful appearance, Alesia’s cheeks took on the hue of pippins.

“I’ll see you at the Camp tomorrow night.” She waved Gwen goodbye. “Get some sleep Tiger; it's going to be a tiring week.”

The girls celebrated Gwen returning in one piece. She told them a play-by-play of what had occurred at the party, as well as Alesia’s incredible eleventh-hour prevention of Gwen potentially committing a homicide.

“Those guys are assholes,” Yue hissed. “That Derek piece of shit would be missing half a face if he tried to paw me.”

I don’t think anyone would dare to paw Yue, Gwen and Elvia riposted in their minds.

“Well, Patrick was alright, just a little too hung up on his family’s fortunes,” Gwen continued. “But Richard was the bomb.”

“Your cousin sounds like an alright bloke,” Yue agreed, “you can unleash him in an argument and people would be speechless. Did you see what he could do in a fight?”

“Didn’t get a chance.” Gwen shook her head. “He said he was shortlisted for the Four Courses or something? Instructor Alesia gave him a commendation.”

“The Four Houses,” Elvia interjected.

“Are they like nobility?” Gwen asked. “We have aristocrats now?”

“Come on, everyone knows about Princes!”

“…” Gwen had been so preoccupied playing catch up on magical theory that she had neglected the mundane aspects of her school life.

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“Out with it then,” Gwen confessed her ignorance.

Elvia explained that the Greater Schools established in Sydney and Melbourne were not schools founded by the Frontier government, but frontier branches of venerated Tier 1 schools stemming from the old country. The greatest and most prestigious of these schools, Prince’s, had close ties to Cambridge, Oxford, The London College of Magical Arts, and the much-lauded Imperial College of London. Each of these major players had established a House, an alumni club of sorts, which handpicked talented students to be ‘elevated’. As to what that meant exactly, Elvia was unsure since her father had never met anyone who had enjoyed these perks.

Probably what Principle Bartlett was extolling, Gwen thought.

The privilege of avoiding mandatory military service.

The privilege of citizenship in a Tier 1 City.

The privilege of attending ancient institutions, the progenitors of Spellcraft.

“You know, Elvia, it’s been bugging me for a while, but why are you not attending a school like Lilith's?” Yue demanded after listening to Elvia’s exposition into a world she had no idea existed.

Elvia’s sapphire irises met Gwen’s, and the girls read on her pale face the self-evident answer. If someone like Gwen could be gobbled up with ease by such a world, then someone like Elvia had no chance.

“Right, sorry I asked.” Yue withdrew her question apologetically.

“Father said it was best if I made normal friends, and marry away from those… people,” Elvia replied. "I don't regret it. I am thrilled I got to meet both of you.”

“Me too, Evee.”

“Me three,” Gwen declared. The trio then held one another' hands, a gesture which further affirmed Gwen's conviction.

“Let's kick some ass starting tomorrow,” Yue announced. “We have to pay back Miss Alesia.”

"How can we not?" Gwen quipped. "Aren't we the dynamic duo?!"

They were up bright and early, each lugging a backpack tied down with bedrolls and supplies. Their prim uniforms had been replaced by sports uniforms, which consisted of tapered T-shirts. The girls had the choice of dry-fibre skirts, spats, or shorts with knee socks, and the boys had the option of tracks or shorts with tall socks. Elvia and Yue felt comfortable in their skirts, but Gwen preferred spats.

Wish I had a Storage Ring, Gwen pondered as she hoisted her backpack. She had a portion of Elvia’s supply too because the small girl became instantly dwarfed, looking like a blonde-haired snail. Elvia had mentioned that her family did possess a few Storage Rings, though she lacked access to the rare device as losing one would be akin to totalling a car.

Their coach was a regular old bus with spotty air conditioning, rumbling as it made its way towards the Shield Barriers. As the excursion approached the limits of human habitation, Gwen recognised the risen forms of Shield Towers reaching like daggers for the sky, each sheathed within nigh-impenetrable rectangular buildings called Shield Forts.

The Forts were akin to cannon fortifications used during the war against the Beast Tides of the Wildlands. They resembled dark obsidian mounds that rose from the scrubland a hundred metres into the air. Each of the Forts was said to be self-repairing and damage resistant. From the tip of the protruding tower, a single mana crystal, gargantuan beyond belief, could be seen half-hidden. In Senior Spellcraft, Gwen and company learnt that these artificially constructed towers could project resonance barriers spanning hundreds of kilometres. A skilled Barrier-Abjurer could further alter the height, thickness, and even elemental quality of the shields to deal with whatever the Wildlands decided to throw at the human cities.

“Hey Gwen, your father is a Barrier Mage, right?” someone asked.

“Yeah, not here though.” Gwen had no idea where her father was stationed. Even in her old life, Gwen’s father wasn't forthcoming about his employment, merely stating that he ‘worked for the council.’ When Gwen finally left home at 16, she couldn’t care less where he worked.

At the checkpoint, border staff screened and scanned the bus for anything questionable, after which the kids were finally beyond the obsidian gates.

“Alright everyone, listen up!” the baritone voice's owner was their survivalist Instructor, Ranger Boone. “We are now beyond the sanctuary of the shield wall. You have just taken your first step into the real world.”

A clamour of murmurs resonated across the coach; Boone waited for the kids to be quiet.

“Our base camp is another two hours away,” he orientated the students. “Groups 1 - 5 will be going to site Alpha, and Groups 6 - 9, that’s us, will be going to site Beta.”

“Instructors and medical staff will be onsite at all times in the main base camp. Your job is to accomplish at a minimum, three of the five objectives. On the third day, you will report for roll call in the main base camp, before returning to your designated camping sites.”

“Role call!” The Instructor announced, producing a ‘phone’ that Gwen now knew acted as a Divination beacon. Each of the students had theirs issued when they enrolled. Their Instructor’s variant possessed the ability to track secondary devices.

The Magi-tech constructs were of intense interest to Gwen, who lived through the explosive informative age of the internet’s exponential world dominion in the 00s, though she had yet had an opportunity to investigate such matters. Supposedly, tier 1 cities produced Magitech, while the Frontier used hand-me-downs.

“Sync check your Devices. They are augur-locked to reveal your location and inform us in the event of serious harm or injury,” Boone repeated a few times what he'd been drilling into the students. “DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT be separated from your device for any reason, and do not give your device to anyone else.”

Outside the window, Gwen watched the sparse shrubbery turn to bushland, and finally into forests of swarthy Blue Gums twisting their white branches sinuously like human limbs, reaching for the ultramarine sky.

“Gwen, your Device,” Boone’s voice snapped beside her.

“Here you are, Sir.” She produced her Message Device and watched it play through a series of beeps that informed the user it synced.

“Good luck.” He nodded. “The Principle has high hopes for your group.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Concrete bitumen gave way to roads paved with crushed stone, finally becoming dusty fire trails of red earth.

The central base basecamp consisted of a few permanent concrete structures spanning an area no more than a football field. One was a two-tier structure with glass windows that served as the Instructors’ residence. Another was the meeting hall, a fortification suitable for hosting a hundred or so adults. The most valuable building, however, was the one attached to the Instructors’ dwelling.

It was a large, communal outhouse-hybrid-bathroom, and from the looks of it, it had a shower section.

Jun and Henley met with their female counterparts after the second bus alighted.

Each of the pre-assigned teams formed up, gave their well-wishes, then made for their designated areas by tracking progress on a handheld map.

We better not get lost, Gwen looked at the map worryingly. She had barely passed orienteering.

“Hey!” A voice called out as they reached the edge of the campsite. The group turned to see Debora and her trio of Transmuters. To their shock, she had cropped her beautiful ponytail and now sported a pixie cut.

“Debs!” Gwen greeted her childhood friend.

“May the best woman win!” Debora called out across the camp.

“WE"LL KICK YOUR ASS!” Yue announced confidently, her voice like a thunderclap.

Debora flipped them the bird before disappearing into the bush.

The group then made its way through an undergrowth that quickly grew difficult. Now in the wilderness, Gwen took a moment to take it all in, measuring it up against the ‘wilderness’ of her old world.

Their designated fire trail led over a ridge and down a gully, along the way, ring-barked trees stretched out like gnarly fingers amongst overgrown ferns and chaotic, hoary grass.

“Look at that!” Yue pointed, and the group noted an enormous gumtree over thirty-metres in height, with a semi-hollowed trunk that resembled the mouth of an open cavern. Red blood crystals formed on its surface where insects or natural elements had stripped away the bark, giving the impression of a distorted face weeping blood.

“Blood Gum,” Jun observed. “Henly, anything?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Henley replied after blasting it with a few Detecting spells.

The group moved in the trained formation in which they had become accustomed to, carefully foraging through the bushland for potential dangers.

“One target, six o clock, elevated, stationary, medium,” Henley announced suddenly. The group halted. Jun readied himself.

An adult goanna, a black brute of a beast, made its lazy way down the side of a tree. It was medium sized, sure, but to the students, it felt enormous, larger than life. They watched its beady eyes measuring them with neither interest nor hostility, its forked tongue flicking this way and that.

“Do we kill it?”

“It’s just fauna, leave it,” Jun advised. “No benefit in killing something like that.”

The thing moved closer out of curiosity.

“Or not…” Yue swallowed, allowing a fiery spark to escape her hand. She had been apprehensive of snakes and reptiles since she was a child.

“Wait…” Jun laid down a small barrier of frost, which seemed to deter the reptilian creature, directing it away from the group.

“Fuck me,” Yue breathed out. “They're bigger in real life.”

“They grow up to six metres…” Elvia stated helpfully. Yue's skin came alive with goosebumps.

“Let's keep moving.”

The group made it to their designated camping area and had the rest of the afternoon to build their shelters. Alesia had taught the group, who lacked a utility mage, some cheap and easy tricks to create housing, such as using ice to lock branches and other components in place before tying them with rope and securing them against trees. Though nowhere as competent as what the Transmuters or earthen Abjurers could have constructed, the group nonetheless manage to create their shelters to code, elevated and hoisted above the ground to avoid snakes and insects just as the sun began to fade.

“Alright, that’s one objective accomplished,” Jun declared after inspecting their work. “Some light please?”

“Dancing Lights.” Both Gwen and Yue laid down some glowing lights that illuminated the area in six-meter increments. Yue’s were the warm glow of daylight, while Gwen’s had the cold quality of the electro-illumination used on public transports.

“What’s for dinner?” Yue asked.

“Got it covered,” Elvia began pulling out an assortment of instant noodles, as well as a stock pot. “Let's eat something yummy today before we have to hunt down Wildland game tomorrow.”

“Could have taken that goanna actually,” Henley suggested. “Maybe it tastes alright?”

Yue made a gagging noise.

“I brought SPAM,” Gwen announced happily, producing a few cans of her favourite mystery meat.

They made a controlled magical flame beneath the pot and heated a big batch of spicy noodles. Elvia had also brought a dozen plates and cups, fabricated by Transmuter manufactorums into lightweight, sturdy materials that reminded Gwen of durable plastic.

“Alarm.”

Jun laid down a perimeter spell that would set off an audible Ping! should any undesignated creatures penetrate its coverage.

The group ate and washed up with some melted ice made by Jun.

After a brief clean up, they rolled out their sleeping bags. Yue and Elvia could share a shelter as Elvia was tiny, and Yue was rather petite herself. Gwen could barely fit into the humpy she had made and realised she had to sleep by curling into a foetal position. The two boys slept separately.

The group laid out a watch order before retiring for the night, thinking of the next six days of unknowable trials and dangers that awaited.

A persistent Continual Flame kept the perimeter lit: it was still far too terrifying for the girls to sleep in the complete darkness of the Wildlands, without the comforting light pollution of the city to assure them that the Shield Barriers were operational.

Yue and Elvia chatted in the humpy next door. Gwen herself was alone with her thoughts, thinking about Instructor Alesia, about her friends, about the Quest ahead, feeling her eyelids grow heavy as darkness fell.


Gwen and her companions were up at the first light, awoken by the Message which began to play on their devices.

“Good morning students. Your first objective: proceed to Zeta as indicated on your map and return with the marker. Scores are rewarded for the number of encounters, the speed of progress and the number of kills. The maximum allowance for this task is Two Days. Good Hunting!”

So the party's first task was a Purge, Gwen exhaled. It was the most common quest given to Mages by Frontier governing bodies.

In places where the Wildlands overlap Human cities, Magical Beasts must be routinely exterminated to prevent the accumulation of mana that gave rise to bigger, stronger beasts. This was because neglect towards the self-perpetuating creatures of the Wildlands inevitably led to a Beast Wave; a tsunami of flesh, teeth and claw ranging from numberless swarmlings to Titan class monstrosities.

After the WWII, Cryptozoologists determined that if a region was regularly ‘burnt off’, elemental mana, as well as tears into the Elemental Planes could be dispersed. Furthermore, the harvesting of Creature Cores, a resource for empowering human artifice, made frequent Purges a necessity of industry.

In a resource-rich Frontier region like Sydney, specialist Hunter-Killer parties set out deep into the Wildlands, searching for rarer game. Closer to the cities, low ranking Mages engaged in large-scale canvasing of Green and Orange Zones.

Before they set off, the party stowed excess gear in elevated shelters as it wasn't uncommon for creatures to be attracted to food and equipment left behind by human Adventurers.

“Marching order.” Jun watched his teammates move into place.

As the crow flies, Zeta was only half a day away. In reality, the terrain involved descending into a gorge to reach the opposite saddle. Still, the party was confident that they could retrieve the objective flag at Zeta and return to camp by nightfall.

“Just like we practised,” Jun implored his companions. “Let's move out!”

Gwen told herself to relax her pinched nerves. Sleeping in the humpy gave her insomnia, the insects kept her awake, and she had a sore back from sleeping on her side.

I could kill for a latte, Gwen inwardly grumbled. If we could ambush a pack of double-shot flat-white, it would be perfect.

The group's first encounter happened only half-an-hour later.

“Stop. Twelve O`clock. Small. A dozen, give or take.”

Christ! A dozen? A surge of adrenaline shook Gwen from her stupor. The group paused in its tracks, waiting for the oncoming of whatever Henley predicted to be ahead. Remaining in formation, the party hid behind cover, staying perfectly still, taking advantage of the thick Blue Gums.

The foliage soon revealed, as anticipated, Goblinoids, or more precisely, Gobs, nasty little things born from rot and fungi, a half-formed, semi-sentient Goblinoid. This area of the Coastal Track was thick with motes of Earth and Water mana and thus, served as a hallowed breeding ground for these little creatures. That was the reason for the fire trail on which the team travelled; every so often, the Frontier Militia sent down kill-teams to ‘back burn’ the region.

Even though Jun was standing no more than three metres from one of them, half his face visibly sweating, the Gobs appeared to ignore him, appearing preoccupied with baser instincts elsewhere.

“…” The Abjurer made the gesture for AoE.

“Barrage!” Yue incanted, and from above the creatures fell a shower of fiery death.

“Ice Field!” Jun snuffed the last of Yue's fires,

The others watched Elvia dig through the corpses for Creature Cores; their healer was trained in suturing and triage, and apparently, also in butchery.

Their first official combat. Ten vicious little Gobs.

Henley reported their body count back to base.

Gwen studied the humanoid creatures, observing Elvia's work. Gobs were humanoid in shape but shared little in common with terrestrial animals of non-magical origin. Though their bodies possessed a skeleton, muscle fibres, as well as green ichor for blood, they had tiny brains more akin to jagged crystal than flesh.

Gingerly, Elvia extracted a bulbous sack, sliced it open, then sighed as she poured shattered shards of the creature's Core.

Gwen choked down a gulp of bile. Even in her old world, she never liked going to the butchers directly. She preferred buying meat that was prepackaged, or better yet, ready cooked.

Elvia washed her hands using water from Yue’s canteen. Without a water Mage, the group opted to create ice in their metal canteens via Jun, then had Yue warm the metal containers.

“Don't worry. Let's keep going.”

The party's next encounter consisted of terrific little insects known as Stirges, dangerous bloodsucking things that lived deep in the gullies, emerging only to feed.

“Incoming! Three O'Clock! Closest to Yue!” By the time Henley delivered his warning, the buzzing din was upon them.

Jun immediately laid down his best Shield, a stacking array of three ice membranes which completely covered Yue, while leaving enough visibility for her to be still casting spells. As a brittle element, Ice functioned more effectively as reactive armour.

The first Stirge struck the ice shield with the force of a spear fired from a ballista, piercing the first layer before hitting the second. The second and third flew around the shield array and tried to stab Yue with its serrated syringe. The detour, however, had slowed its movements enough for Yue to strike.

"Flaming Hands!"

A flash of fire smothered the left flank of their formation, blasting a Stirge from the air with a magnificent pyrotechnic display. Another Stirge slammed into Yue's Blast Shield, trigging the reactive surface, sending it skittering to one side.

"Blast Bolt!"

A quick lightning-charged missile snapped the third, tearing it limb from limb. Jun summoned another Ice Shield and crushed the first between the two layers. The second, which Yue had seared, flopped about before finally succumbing to the heat, cooked in its carapace.

With the adrenaline of the moment dying with the embers, Gwen surveyed her party for injury. Shockingly, a scrabbling claw had swiped Yue's shoulder, causing her to bleed profusely.

“Yue!” Gwen took her friend by the arm. "Oh my God! Are you alright?"

“It's fine," Yue winced. "One of its forelegs must have nicked me when it did the fly-by.”

“I got this, don’t worry.” Elvia used the canteen to flush the wound of contaminants. Gwen flinched as though she was the one with the flesh wound.

“Healing Word!”

The Party watched as Yue's flesh wound mended. Such was the boon of having a healer on the team. Without Elvia, they would have had to stop for first aid. Had the wound been worse, perhaps retreat to the base camp and calling it a day.

As Yue recovered, Elvia dissected the insects.

The bugs were better fleshed out, with a full complement of what Gwen expected in a drone-sized vermin.

“Giant mosquitos,” Yue whistled, giving her arm a stretch. One’s muscles always ached and throbbed after a healing spell. “What Challenge Rating are those things?”

“Tier 2, about as bad as it gets here.”

The group regarded the long, gangly limbs of the disgusting mosquito things. The serrated barbs had unseamed Yue's flesh like a keen knife.

“Keep going,” Yue urged.

The group found themselves roving through packs of Gobs for the next three hours, though the unarmed creatures proved little to no challenge. Discovered or otherwise, the critters plod and plough towards them like lemmings, heedless of the barrages laid down by Yue and Gwen.

“Where are they all going?” Yue asked no one in particular, “I think we just hit a century after the last pack.”

Gwen shrugged. Who knew what mysteries the Wildland held? Maybe a mass migration? Breeding season? Did these things even follow the laws of nature?

“How far is Zeta from us now?”

“About half-an-hour.”

“One sec,” Yue asked for the group to halt. “I am all clammy.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Out of the five in the group, it was Yue who had the worst stamina. Jun was already carrying some of Yue’s food packs. The Fire Mage peeled off her jacket and tied it around her waist. Feeling flushed, Gwen likewise packed her windbreaker.

“Shush,” Henley interjected suddenly. “I sense incoming.”

The group fanned out, crouching to lower the visibility of their profiles.

“Medium mass, Five O Clock, Fire at wi-”

In the next moment, a grey blur blasted past Jun, who had been taking point while Yue was changing.

“Shit! SHIELD!” Henley shouted.

There was insufficient time to react, and so Jun constructed three semi-sphere shields in front of Yue, Gwen and Elvia. Their assailant, however, had no interest in the girls. Instead, it made a beeline for the being that had detected it - the Diviner.

A silhouette the size of a motorcycle balled into Henley, instantly shattering his feeble mana shield and pushing all the air from his lungs. His world spun, his ribs cracked, and he flew.

The other four watched their friend launch into the air like a cannonball, his flailing form performing several pirouettes before tumbling down like a rag doll.

The grey blur stopped in its tracts, revealing itself to be a wolf-like creature with bristles like porcupines. Its muscular limbs dug deeply into the turf, hinting at its speed and power.

“Henley!” Jun cursed.

“Darragh!” Henley hollered back. He was alive; the party collectively exhaled.

“What’s the game plan?”

“I’ll slow it; you smite it.” Jun spat, weaving his hands through the air.

“Ray of Frost!” Jun opted for his most basic and near instant Cantrip. The Ray dealt little damage but had the additional quality of chilling enemies' movements.

The spell struck, snagging the wolf with an invisible ball and chain of ice and soil. A meter away from Gwen, the creature fell short of its target, landing as a snarling whirlwind of tooth and nail.

“Shocking Grasp!” Gwen incanted the first spell that came mind. An arc of lightning leapt from her fingertips, striking the creature full in the torso, ravaging its body before grounding itself.

The wolf howled, half-numb with paralytic electricity. It attempted another dash at Gwen, but a blast of fire intercepted it mid-leap.

“Burning Hands!”

Under Alesia, Yue had refined her control. The edge of her flame barely kissed their companions as her target burned.

"Blast Bolt!"

By the time both fire and lightning had ceased, the wolf was well-done.

Jun remained wary while Elvia rushed towards Henley.

“Healing Word!”

Elvia ran a hand under the Diviner's shirt to ensure his chest wasn't punctured.

“Can you speak?”

“Yeah… yep, I am still alive.”

“Can you breathe?”

“Yeah, it hurts though, my ribs, I think it’s broken.”

“Aright, don't worry.”

With the other three standing guards, Elvia cut open Henley’s shirt and gingerly felt for his displaced rib, finding the protrusion that was out of place.

“This is going to … itch.” Elvia warned.

Henley tried to smile; his face already beaded with sweat.

“Heal Minor Wounds!”
"Lesser Restoration!"

The higher tier healing spells coursed through Henley. The Diviner writhed; the mending of bone was an itch that couldn't be scratched.

“Gwen! Hold him down!”

Gwen held the shaking Henley by the wrists. Henley alternated between laughing and moaning. When the spells finally ran their course, the party watched a sweat-drenched Henley rise on one shoulder, bare-chested and covered the forest’s fallen foliage.

“You alright?”

“Don’t… don’t do that again, let me die next time…”

“Is that supposed to happen?” Gwen and Yue both questioned Elvia, who nodded.

“Normally, we sedate the patient, but I'm not qualified to administer anaesthesia…” She responded with an expression of adorable innocence.

'Ding!'
'Ding!'
'Ding!'

Their devices began to buzz. A Message spell bloomed beside their ear.

“ Group Seven, are you alright? Do you need assistance?”

“No Sir. We have resolved the problem,” Yue informed Sergeant Boone.

“Is Henley alright? His transponder triggered.”

“I am FINE SIR,” Henley shouted into his unit.

“Alright, give me a quick sit-rep.”

They told Boones about the creature they encountered.

“Wind Wolves, they usually don’t range this far up the coast,” Boone sounded troubled. “I’ll inform the other groups. You have permission to abort.”

The party pondered the risk and rewards. That wolf was tier 3, but they had come this far, why not finish the rest?

“We’ll continue Sir.”

“There's no penalty for quitting if you encounter an abnormality.”

“Henley here, Sir. I am confident we can finish the objective and return by nightfall. I wish to continue.”

“Us as well.” The group assured the instructor.

“Alright, permission granted,” Boone affirmed their decision. “Be cautious and contact me if you encounter Soldier tier critters. Remember, this is only a test. Don't risk your lives needlessly.”

The Message spell lost its glow.

“Thanks, H.P.” Jun pulled his friend up, Henley's shirt was still in shreds.

“Got a spare?” Henley asked his friend.

“Use mine, I think we’re the same size,” Gwen offered Henley her school jacket, which the young man warmly accepted.

Elvia probed the carcass of the wolf-thing and came up with a few shattered pieces of something that resembled a fragmented, thumb-sized marble.

'Snap!'

The Core cracked. Whatever it held dissipated into the air.

“Shame,” Jun remarked. “Thought we had something there.”

As the rest of the group meandered away, Gwen observed a warm glow occurring close to her bosom. She could sense, through the resonance of mana within her body, a flow of something indescribable.

She placed her hand on her collarbone and found the familiar shape of a pendant she had forgotten entirely.

The Kirin amulet! She caressed its smooth surface. The jade chimaera that father gave her when she awakened - What was it doing?

Catching up to the rear of her party, she unbuttoned her collar and looked downward, seeing the jade illuminated with an inner lustre. Curious, Gwen attempted to identify the mana it was infusing to no avail.

In front, Yue observed Gwen peeping under her shirt, seemingly fascinated by what she saw, her face full of bewilderment. Did her chest grow? Bra too tight? Yue wondered. Why else would she be so smitten?

“Gwen, is this the time for that kind of introspection?” Yue enquired mirthfully.

“Sorry,” Gwen replied, smoothing her collar and patting down her shirt. "Let's go!"

The party progressed more carefully now, taking every step with caution. They encountered yet more mobs of Gobs, ultimately a pair of Goblins, but nothing like that of the Wind-wolf.

Watching Elvia dissect the Goblins was an eye-opener, as they seemed to possess the same viscera one would expectantly find inside a human being. Likewise, the creatures demonstrated emotive expressions as they died, squealing and screaming. The sight of Elvia as she ferreted the chest cavity for the Core turned Gwen’s stomach.

Ultimately, the group arrived at Zeta an hour later than expected, and collected the flag that an instructor had planted prior.

“We made it! Good work, everyone. Lunch and rest, twenty minutes.”

They each produced the dry rations prepared by the school, swelling when hot water was added to became beefy gloop. For thirst, they drank purified water melted from Jun’s icicles, restoring their mana reserves.

“Jun, how is it that other groups without healers could make it this far?”

“Luck, mostly. When I was here last year, we didn’t see anything beyond a few Giant Slugs, Gobs, a few lone Goblins, and some of the local fauna that had become semi-magical. Tier 1.5 would be my estimate.”

“Why do you think we keep seeing these other creatures?”

“Wished I knew.” Jun gulped his gloop. “I hope the other groups are alright.”

“They must be.” Elvia blinked. “Else we would receive a warning message to look out for dangerous beasts, right?”

“Just our luck then?” Henley snorted.

“Could be we're in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Yue appended Henley's hypothesis.

The group studied at the gully below from the vantage offered by Point Zeta. Had something changed? Why was a creature magnitudes more potent than the cannon fodder of the Green Zone so close to their training area?

In the distance, they watched a flock of birds take flight.

“Grey Ibis,” Jun observed. “Scavengers, the biggest ones have wingspans up to four metres.”

The birds were ugly close up, but from a distance, the scenery had the quality of a Namatjira watercolour.

The journey back to base camp was uneventful as the group followed the path from which they came. After the dangerous run-in with the Wind Wolf, they had agreed to take a more conservative approach lest another unanticipated encounter placed them in greater danger.

The team made better progress than anticipated, reaching the camp just as the light was fading. As they came into the semi-clearing, however, they knew they were no longer alone. Even a hundred metres from their camp, they could see the telltale signs of invasion.

“I’ll lead.” Jun intoned. “Wedge formation, Gwen and Yue on the left-right flank.”

Elvia and Henley moved closer to the middle. Jun readied his Shield Stack.

“Huge, Eleven O Clock.” Henley said with a quivering voice, “We should contact basecamp, its-”

They heard the creature before they saw it, caught flatfooted as an absurd mass exploded through the trunk of a half rotten Blue Gum, splintering and scattering chunks of wood as it charged. The creature that bored down on them unprovoked resembled a rhinoceros without a horn; its feet were turned inward, like that of a wombat, giving it two nasty looking talons akin to a gargantuan pigeon toe. Sinuous muscles like steel cables roped its way around its broad, muscular back, which was thick with silvery-black hair that bristled as it moved. Its beady eyes were bloodshot and spoke of madness.

"Guuuarrk!!"

The thing barked, a half-grunt, half-roaring hoot that sent spittle flinging every which way. Its maw opened to revealed yellowing rows of canines that left absolutely no doubt as to its preferred diet.

“Fortification Shield!” Unlike his usual shields that formed in mid-air, Jun incanted the most stalwart shielding he had in his arsenal. Three buffers in the form of crystalline ice shards dug deep into the earth, forming a wedged barrier.

“GET READY!” Jun shouted. “EVERYTHING YOU GOT.”

“Bless!”
“True Strike!”

“Bane!”

The creature struck.

Its skull must have acted as a battering ram, for Jun watched with disbelief as his best Shield singularly shattered.

“Stacking Shield!” He shouted, but the barreling creature was too bulky and too fast. Three additional layers of ice shattered like rice paper, and all Jun could do was to redirected its trajectory as not to strike him head-on.

Before the others could react, the thing was barreling past Jun, throwing him aside.

Shit! Gwen’s mind screamed. It’s now or never!

“Barrage!”

“Guiding Bolt!”

Yue’s barrage struck the beast, sending it askew. Her flames, however, had no significant effect, cascading off its hide in flaming sheets.

Shit, the thing may have Fire as a base element. Yue realised in a panic. Gwen had better pick up the slack!

Gwen's signature spell quickly followed her bolt.

“Blast Bolt!”

She channelled as much mana as she could muster into her sure-kill spell, feeling her reserves drop from full to exhaustion in a single cast. Almost two dozen arcs of lighting erupted across the giant-wombat, grounding below, generating enough heat and energy to turn the sandy soil beneath into shards of silica.

The thing slumped and began to slide from its remaining momentum, stopping only half a meter in front of Elvia and Henley.

"Is it dead?" Elvia trembled.

What the fuck was that? They wanted to scream. That’s not supposed to be in the green zone!

The creature was built like a ute mated with a brick shit-house and could have easily broken through the attacks and shields of lesser Mages. There was something seriously wrong with the intelligence of the region the school had received. This creature was most certainly a Soldier class, at least tier 4.

“I found him!” Elvia cried, and with Henley’s help gingerly retrieved Jun from the bushes.

“My arm…” Jun groaned. They could see that his left arm was turned oddly in an impossible direction.

“I’ll call basecamp,” Gwen said, seeing that Yue was beside herself with worry. “Elvia, do your thing.”

“This is going to itch…” Elvia told Jun apologetical before she began to incant her healing spells.

Jun’s eyes rolled back in his head.

“Sir! We ran into a huge creature just now! It was at least a Soldier Class!” Gwen reported. “Request returning to basecamp!”

“Granted, return as soon as you can, Group Seven, we are getting reports from all over that there are higher level creatures in the region. What is your status? Do you need an escort?”

“We’ll be fine sir, please prioritise the other groups.”

“Acknowledged. Be safe and make haste!”

Jun recovered his senses once Henley gave him a few slaps on the cheeks.

“Forget the stuff at our camp, we need to get back to basecamp now!” he declared.

“Shall I recover the stone, Gwen?” Elvia asked.

The gathering looked at the smoking carcass of the gigantic beast. It would take at least an hour to dig through that thing, and they had no way of moving it.

“Screw it,” Gwen took over command. “Let's move.”

Just as she gave the order, another warm glow infused her chest. Whatever, no time for mystery, Gwen thought as she drove the pendant from her mind. They needed to go before another one of those damn things showed up.

“Bless!”

Elvia placed another buff on the group, relieving their fatigue.

The group moved out, hoping to hell there would be no more encounters.


Edgar's real name wasn't Edgar of course; it was an alias that he liked.

When Edgar was a boy, his father had forbidden him to watch any of the plebeian Vid-shows, but Edgar was far too slippery for his idiotic NoM housekeepers and his multiple nannies. When he finally did manage to catch a Vid-cast in the break room of the manor, the hero who blasted apart a hydra's nest was called Edgar.

It was such a masculine name, rolling off the tongue with its pedantic, near-silent E, followed by the full, syllabic luxury of that long GAR. Far more thrilling to the ear than his own.

“Edgar. Come See,” Faceless called from above. The shapeshifter was his partner and temporary companion, Faceless, or John Citizen, as Edgar liked to think of him; was nobody and everybody.

“Flight.”

A swirly of grey dust blew from Edgar’s feet as his body grew light, propelling himself from the bottom of the pit towards the ledge whereby Faceless stood in that ubiquitous, illusory cowl their organisation always made the members wear.

“What is it?”

“Scryed Visions from Sector Four," Faceless replied, his pitch both high and low as he spoke. His genderless companion then produced a Magic Item from underneath his cowl.

“Scrying Pool.”

A sprout of water appeared before them, forming into a mirror-like pane. The vision was hazy, for the spell worked best when one knew the target of the invocation more intimately. From the semi-transparent surface of the pool of water, the duo saw what appeared to be high school students going on a field trip. The image shifted here and there, showing a few groups moving across the lower sector of the Uloola fire trail.

“Kids… Acolytes?” Edgar rubbed his chin. The constant glamour of the cowl made his beard itch. “Any good ones?”

Faceless's illusory mien became a smug looking middle-aged man licking his chops as if before a great feast.

Edgar observed the goosebumps rising and falling on his skin. The shapeshifter's ability was a hellish sight to behold. One of the Others once said that Faceless consumed the souls of those whose shape he took.

The scrying pool dissolved to reform elsewhere. Another image appeared this time clearer, indicating that Faceless had been following this group for some time.

They watched a group of young Mages making their way through the fire trail, expertly picking off the critters generated from the leylines of the Wildlands. The leading girl, a spirited looking Asian girl, was throwing unstable Firebolts all over the joint.

“Ooo very nice, Faceless!” Edgar applauded. “And that chest! She would fetch a pretty good price for sure.”

“Wait.”

The scene changed again, and this time the group was facing off against a gigantic Diprotodon, a formidable enemy that would make even Edgar break a sweat. They watched it crush the Shields conjured by the Ice Abjurer, swatting the youth aside as the final barrier shattered. As a creature aligned with Fire, the beast had remarkable resistance to heat, and so ignored the blasts that were gouging chunks of fur from its flank. Then, a jolt of purple lightning materialised from the air, striking the creature square in the face before escalating into a storm of blue-white electricity that smothered the hulking mass until smoke began to pour from its nose and mouth.

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“Nice catch, number two!” Edgar’s voice raised an extra octave. The dust around him swirled and spun to form small vortexes that flowed out uncontrollably here and there, carving channels in the stone. “Such a beautiful face as well, they told me this place was an uninhabited shithole! But it's turned out to be a crystal mine!”

“Wait…”

“No…” Edgar’s face cowl was bobbing up and down with glee, “You telling me there's MORE than meets the Scry?”

The final pool that formed showed the ice Mage being picked from the floor by the others. The kid looked like he had broken his arm, but in the next moment, a little blonde girl kelt and cast an assortment of healing and blessing spells. In the next minute, the injured mage stood by the strength of his very own self and gave his arm a good stretch while the other appeared to be making calls and pulling up camp.

“A Healer!” Edgar blurted out. “We’ve hit the lottery! Clerics are rare as shit here in the Frontier! You know I love myself a good Cleric, their mana is very fortifying, and their bodies can withstand punishment like nobody else.”

Faceless' illusory mien turned to that of a wicked grin, the yellow teeth covering the area under his cowl.

“Three girls…” Edgar considered his options, “They look to be about tier 2… The Fire one would probably sell pretty quickly, the Lightning one’s a real looker, so maybe keep her around for a while longer. The healer, that’s the real bank right there, old man.”

“Wait…”

“No! No way!” Edgar was beside himself. “What is this? Did Lilith's lose a bus in the woods or something, you mean to tell me there are more?”

“This One. Now.” Faceless waved a hand. The final scrying pool displayed what appeared to be a base camp with a few concrete buildings. The duo had seen them before but had not known it had became occupied in the weeks since they began their operation. They watched a few instructor-looking Mages going about their rounds disinterestedly when suddenly, the spell became drawn to a woman in a bright red racing suit. The scrying pool was unusually focused, denoting that the caster, Faceless, knew her already. The vision followed her as she moved into the compound, where she suddenly stopped. Unexpectedly, she turned, giving them a glimpse of a strikingly beautiful face, before a blast of scarlet flame seemed to wipe out the divination window, dispelling it entirely in a hiss of steam.

Edgar stumbled back at the moment of impact, almost falling over the ledge before his still-activated Flight spell caught him.

“Christ!” He cried out loudly. “What the fuck, Faceless! That was the Scarlet Flame! The fucking Crimson Goddess herself! What the fuck are you doing scrying her?”

A frightened female face appeared before the Faceless man’s cowl, before turning into one of cruel cunning.

“She Suspects,” Faceless replied. “She Does Not Know.”

“You certain?”

“Yes.”

“Totally-absolutely-certain?”

“Yes.”

“Well, we better get a fucking move on then.”

The two of them looked below, where the charmed Neophytes were laying out the final parts of the puzzle. Around the central dais of what seemed to be an excavated cavern, was a man-sized, egg-like artefact cordoned off by layer upon layers of scrolls that formed a pentagram-like sigil around its exterior. Two dozen or so of the ‘apprentices’ were still busy bloodletting, making precise incisions into their hands and wrists, and using the blood to inscribe the last touches of the Arcane Cauldron. They had euphoric expressions that juxtaposed oddly with the state of their wane bodies.

The sun was now striking the horizon, sending a mauve light over the dusky bushland.

“Think it’s possible to nail the Scarlet Bitch?”

“Not Impossible,” Faceless seemed to ponder proposal, his face changing to that of the thinking man, before turning into a toothy grin. “Ambush. You And Me. She and I. Grudge.”

“Get the girls first.” Edgar licked his lips. “I am short on funds and favours.”

“Distractions,” Faceless intoned, his scowling face becoming one of displeasure.

“3:7 my way, and I’ll take point on the Scarlet Bitch.”

“…” The cowl changed to a celebratory expression. “Agreed. But Her Face. Mine. If We Succeed. Must repay her brother-in-craft, the esteemed Paladin Shultz.”

“Sure thing.” Edgar shrugged, he liked his friend, but the gent had sick tastes. If it was true that he ate souls, then the Transmuter was a Necromancer to boot. Nobody wanted to associate with that.

They looked down below into the pit once more, where yet another ‘apprentice’ collapsed from blood loss and exhaustion.

The night is nigh, and they could hardly wait.


“Lady De Botton! You are finally here!” Boone’s eyes were aglow with admiration.

Alesia stepped off her blazing red Ducati with shaking legs. She had thought that the ride from the Shield Fort 47 toward the camp would be one of those iconic drives with long winding roads and graceful curves. Instead, after half an hour of crushed stone, she was left with sore buttocks crying out for a Healing Word.

Chipped the bike too, Alesia silently moped.

“We’ve got trouble, Ma’am.” Boone waited until Alesia inspected her bike.

Alesia followed Boone into the main building, a rundown, two-tier concrete rectangle, noting the Augur-Map laid out on a dinner table. A few other Instructors were likewise present, bickering about an evacuation.

“What’s happening?” she demanded, watching as the Instructors turning to face her. Their voices fell silent at once, some more willingly than others.

“Gwen’s group ran into a CR 4 Soldier class Beast,” Boone informed Alesia. “The kids did good, they took care of it, and are on their way back now.”

Alesia nodded, she was confident in Gwen’s group.

“Anyone injured?”

“Jun, but he’s healed.”

“Anyone else?”

“Just before you arrived, Debora’s group said they ran into a huge swarm of Snotlings, a good hundred or so of them. They managed to push through, and are on their way back as well.”

“How about the others?”

“All accounted for, except group 02,” Boone answered anxiously. He pointed to a pin on the map. “They are not responding to hails, but their Augur devices didn’t show any vitality loss either. We were debating to see if we should send someone to check up on them.”

“That’s probably a good idea. What’s the problem?”

“Instructor Crusoe doesn’t want to,” one of the instructors stated.

Alesia turned to look at this ‘Crusoe’ asshole with her penetrating blue eyes.

Crusoe’s face blanched a pale yellow.

“I never said that. I’ll be going then…” Crusoe quickly replied, leaving the room as if in a great hurry. Outside, they heard him incant the Flight spell and take to the air.

“Why didn’t he want to go earlier?” Alesia asked.

“PTSD…” Another instructor remarked with a critical tone, flashing her a disagreeable glance. “But it seems our War Hero managed to make him overcome years of trauma.”

Alesia felt her face flush. She was always too quick to judge; her Master had expressly said so.

A commotion could be heard outside the building.

"That must be Gwen's group," Boone noted.

“I’ll be back,” Alesia stated inelegantly, leaving her peers and their none too friendly gazes.

Out in the clearing, Alesia watched the group stumble into camp. Their clothes were torn, and a little ragged. Henley was helping Jun. The three girls brought up the rear, with Elvia in the middle.

Good girls! Alesia felt a tingling touch of pride.

“You guys alright?” she hollered toward her students before walking towards them. The girls were initially wary of a woman clad in all red racing leather until Gwen realised her saviour had arrived.

“Instructor!” The party ran to their teacher.

Alesia hugged them each in turn. The girls' hair smelled like the bush with its fallen eucalyptus, mixed with the odour of elemental viscera.

"So, what happened?"

The students began to recount their experiences all at once, speaking over one another to tell Alesia about how they had survived a day in the Wildlands. Alesia asked for details, then assuaged their fears and worries. She then took them to the concrete bunker where hot food and tea had been prepared and told them to await the return of their peers.

Relieved that Gwen and company were safe, Alesia decided to take a walk around the perimeter. There was a strange feeling that had been bothering her since they had arrived, like in those dodgy establishments where ‘the walls have eyes’. Her paranoia seemed to grow as she patrolled until finally, she felt the hair rise on the back of her neck.

I am being Scryed! Alesia noted annoyingly. She didn’t like that at all.

“Flame Nova!”

A ring of fire blew out from her as she turned, singing everything within five-odd meters.

Instantly, her paranoia ceased.

Was it one of the instructors? She wondered. She wouldn't have put it past them.

Not far, there was another commotion. Alesia watched as another group arrived. The second to reach the camp was Debora’s group. Two of the Transmuters looked to have sustained minor injuries, limping and holding onto one another. The Illusionist followed at a brisk pace, unharmed, their Enchanter following behind. Debora herself came into the clearing like a Mage-Knight, resplendent in her Bronze Skin, tall and proud and full of poise.

“Ma’am!” they greeted her.

"Group 3, I am glad to see you're all safe." Alesia directed them towards the direction of the communal bunker for tea and supper.

In the dim light, Alesia could see that Debora was as tall as Gwen. From what she knew, the two groups had a little rivalry going. She liked that. Rivalries made children grow, especially among those with drive and talent.

“Is… Yue and Gwen alright?” Debora asked, the Bronze Skin fading from her. Without the distinct texture, Alesia could see that Debora was covered with bruises, her face, her arms, her collarbones, all of it possessed by green and purple splotches.

“They’re fine; they should be inside, having a bite. I am sure they would be glad to see you.” Alesia gave the girl a reassuring smile.

Debora blushed.

The rest of the groups arrived in twos and threes until the whole cohort could be accounted. Crusoe had returned with the last group, who were tied up dealing with a swarm of relatively harmless Fern Slugs. They had become fast-stuck after the hive had passed, incidentally walking into the adhesive trails left behind by the creatures. As no one was harmed, the worry turned to a humorous affair. The kids were told to take a shower and get changed.

With the students safe and sound, the instructors met to discuss the likelihood of an evacuation.

“I am telling you, tonight is impossible, the Coaches don’t operate at night, meaning we’re going to be hiking in the dark for five hours. That’s FAR more dangerous than waiting it out here, in CONCRETE fortifications!”

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“No!” Crusoe seemed adamant, “We have to go. I saw what was happening when I flew over the Burning Palms, the beasts are on the move, and they are moving AWAY from something.”

“This is the Green Zone, Crusoe, what can it be?”

“A Beast Migration,” Crusoe declared ominously. “This is the beginning of a Beast Wave, I know it, I recognise the signs. I am telling you we need to go.”

“Just like that?” Another Instructor retorted annoyedly, “I know you’re a survivor of the 88’ Migration, Crusoe, but not every phenomenon is a calamity.”

Crusoe fell silent; his face ashen.

“Richardson! That’s going too far.” A third instructor interjected, “Sorry, Crusoe.”

“We have to go…” Crusoe replied weakly.

“I understand your fears.” Boone tossed in his two cents. “But there are no signs. No quake activity, no atmospheric phenomenon.”

“I feel it in my bones…” Crusoe seemed on the verge of asphyxiation. He tried to retort, but couldn't catch his breath. Watching their terrified colleague, the rest of the instructors fell silent. “I… I need a moment.”

His eyes met Alesia’s for a moment, and she felt a pang of guilt.
Oh God, it's not me - is it? Ah, shit! She probably shouldn’t have triggered him earlier.

“I’ll go see how he’s doing,” Alesia announced to the table. “My two cents is staying here, because… you know - I am here.”

“Of course, Lady De Botton.” Boone felt like he should be saluting, but stopped himself at the last minute. She was no longer a part of the military.

Boone returned to the room with a look of smug confidence.

Well, of course, they'll be fine holing up here. Boone acknowledged, realising the stupidity of their debate. If need be, the Crimson Sorceress could take out half the zone in a blazing firestorm.

Outside, Alesia found Crusoe walking towards the edge of the clearing, away from the main building.

Where is he going? She pondered, sensing an unexpected paranoia, Jesus, he’s not going to skip out on us and make a run for it, is he?

“Mister Crusoe!” she called, out, but he kept on walking, “Oi! Instructor Crusoe!”

Shit, just my luck, triggering the PTSD of some civilian Mage, Alesia groaned inwardly.

She quickened her pace, following Crusoe out of the clearing and onto the start of a fire trail. It was dark by now; a pale moon illuminated the Blue Gums under the light of a waxing moon.

Though she had lost sight of him for a moment, Alesia found him not too deeply in, hunched over by a tree and rolling his shoulders forlornly.

Jesus, is he- CRYING? Alesia swore. Bloody hell!

She rolled her eyes. Its time to turn on some of that charm and empathy Master always advised. Alesia approached Crusoe loudly as not to startle him, wondering how she should break the ice. Gingerly, she readied a smile, then patted him on the shoulder.

“I am sorry Crusoe…” She began.

“!”
“!”
“!”

A silent clamour of hyper-dense Mana filled the air the moment her fingers touched the sobbing instructor. Before Alesia could react, her world lost all light.

All light disappeared - cold sinews wrapped around her legs, her waist, and her arms, wrought of an indiscernible element.

Dark Tentacle or Stygian Grasp? Alesia's mind raced. Dust or Ooze?

"!"

Another spell activated - incanted silently and out of sight.

A feeling of cold invasion penetrated Alesia's abdomen.

Shit! Her mind grew hot with agony, all thoughts banished by the object crushing her innards. She knew now there was no holding back and that this was life or death.

“Blade Barrier!” Alesia completed the spell between clenched teeth.

A ring of flaming blades materialised around her, indiscriminately destroying all within range. She willed them to expand instantly and felt a satisfying 'thunk!' engender in the darkness, the self-evident sound of a blade biting into flesh.

Whatever had pierced her stomach also ceased to be, cut off by the Blade Barrier. Now she had to heal herself; a gut injury was no joke, and she could go into shock at any moment. Alesia willed a mote of activation mana to reach a ring on her index finger, where a gem shattered, filling the void around her with the blue-silver spatial mana of Conjuration. In the next second, she was out of the darkness, having escaped the ambush by activating a contingency Dimension Door.

As Alesia's vision returned, her Blade Barrier continued to expand, annihilating everything within a range of six diameters of the epicentre. Nothing survived, not trees, not bushes, not even bits of rock now sliced into molten silica.

She willed another mote of mana to reach yet another ring, suffusing her body with the healing power of a Cure Serious Wounds.

This fucking ordeal just burned about three hundred HDMs! Alesia's anger blazed as brightly as the destructive flames of the Blade Barrier. As an Evoker-Transmuter, she was neither capable of casting Dimension door nor Cure Wounds; both were contingency items she had earned through Questing. Now they were gone, and she would have to replace them, as well as face the criticism of her Master.

“Shit. I don’t think she is in here anymore,” a voice called out for the darkness, seemingly unfazed by Alesia's Blade Barrier.

“Idiot,” Another voice that sounded genderless stated with a tone of annoyance.

Alesia watched the darkness dispel to reveal two men in cowls, one taller than the other.

“Ola Señorita!” The tall one, who had been Instructor Crusoe, called out to her in a lewd manner. “Oh-ho! Scarlet Sorceress! I would DIE for one night between your sweet thighs!”

The other one Alesia knew. They were old friends after all. The Faceless Man, the bastard responsible for the Massacre at Rhodes, the prime suspect of the Kingsford Kidnappings. She had been hunting the fiend across half of Australia, to New Zealand and back.

What the fuck is he doing here? Her mind was spinning with possibilities, though Alesia was sure of one thing. She was going to end these pricks right here.

“Haste!”
“Gaseous Form!”

Alesia felt her body quicken. Simultaneously, her physical form turned gaseous, becoming a flaming cloud in the shape of a woman.

“Oh shit!” The taller man cried out, then made to cast something at her.

Silent Spells! Alesia's heart palpitated. She was up against skilled opponents. It was time to go big or go home.

“Maelstrom!”

A spiral of fire fell from the heavens, materialising from the aether and striking the ground where her opponents stood. A flaming tornado ripped through the immediate area, obliterating every standing tree and object within a radius of over twenty meters.

She watched as their bodies cease to exist, sensing the pulverisation of a single target. Alesia willed the flames to part momentarily and saw not a pair of charred and burning bodies, but one. From what remained of the clothing and the frame of the charring, partially minced carcass, she knew it to be Instructor Crusoe.

FUCK! She cursed. Faceless was an Illusionist as well? Or was it the other Mage?

“!”

Her Crimson Caracal instructed her to dodge before her mind even registered the incoming attack spell. Spirits were far more sensitive to mana-fluctuations, and a great boon of possessing a sentient Spirit involved having two consciousnesses operating in parallel.

A spear of darkness, the Signature Spell of the Faceless Man, pierced Alesia’s gaseous form, displacing a few motes of her Astral Body. That’s going to hurt later - a lot, Alesia grimaced before reorientated herself.

She saw his arms move yet again, but this time she was ready. Alesia completed the tier 6 spell in an instant, then pointed a finger at her aberrant foe.

“Disintegrate!”

A scarlet beam, as thick and intense as the concentrated rays of a hundred midday suns, instantly blasted through the form of the Faceless Man. The hit registered, affirmed by her spirit pouring it’s own spiritual power into the beam, magnifying its heat by several magnitudes. When the spell ceased, Alesia expected to see nought but a pile of dust. Instead, she saw the tattered robes of the creature float away. Beneath it was thousands of stricken carcasses consisting of vermin, some alive, other seared and medium rare.

“Coward!” Alesia cursed, “Where did that fucker go…”

The earth tremored.

She saw something shifting in the distance, something too vast to be comprehensible: for the landscape itself begun to churn.

What the fuck is that?! Alesia felt every muscle in her body tense; her Flame Spirit was shrieking in alarm within her astral soul.

The silhouette moved again, and this time, Alesia saw the shadow of a mountain shifting against the moonlight. No. Not shifting, she noted. It was coiling, slithering, meandering, moving with the surety of tectonic movement. A sliver of luminescence refracted from a moving ridge, blasting the landscape with a splendiferous hue.

The ground below her was shaking now, shivering as if terrified of what's to come.

Alesia gritted her teeth and dispelled the Transmutation transformation. Where she'd been wounded once before, her body re-materialised a flap of gouged flesh that directly assailed her torso. The pain was excruciating, causing her to cry out.

"FUCK!"

She extended her hand, and from her Storage Ring, Alesia produced a ruby-red injector which she then slammed into her wound.

“Nnnngh!” She grunted; her damaged-tissues regenerated, accompanied by an unbearable itch.

The thing in the distance was moving now; moving towards her and toward the camp.

Gwen! Yue! Elvia!

Alesia's mind was racing at a hundred miles a second.
What the fuck was Faceless doing here?
Who was the man that was with them?
Why aim for a group of students from a Rank-less government school?

The land rumbled; the time for thinking was over.
As her Master's pupil, it was her responsibility to protect the innocent and defeat threats from the Wildlands.

Her red racing suit burst into flames, falling off her battered body, revealing her athletic figure to the night. In a split second, a crimson sheet of flames flowed across her bare skin until she became a goddess adorned by crimson fire.

“Flight!” She incanted and took to the air like a celestial vision. In the distance, a monstrosity slouched forward ponderously, crushing the bushland, making for the camp, making eventually, for the city.

“Message.” Alesia activated her elementally attuned Message Device, protected from her fire.

“Shit! Alesia! There you are!” A male voice, deep and baritone, answered beside her ear, “What the fuck is happening out there? The city’s just gone into Red Alert!”

“I need the team here within the hour, take the Teleportation Gate at Shield Wall station 47.” Alesia said calmly, “I am observing a MYTHIC, I repeat, a MYTHIC incursion at the Royal National.”

“Alright, can you hold out? We’re teleporting towards your location,” the voice replied, alarmed but collected.

“Just get here soon,” Alesia reiterated solemnly.

“Can you hold out? Are you able to retreat?”

“Get here as soon as possible,” Alesia repeated once more. “Or bring a casket.”