“Well?” Surya’s face flushed with anticipation. “Out with it!”

“I am... untrained,” Gwen said slowly.

"But... you can see a Conjuration Sigil in your Cognisance meditation?"

Gwen nodded.

Surya's skeletal frame began to shake like a seismic fault on the verge of eruption. The man was understandably excited that his line would produce a Magus, perhaps a Magister.

"Grandfather..." Gwen touched Surya's wrists carefully. He better not be having a heart attack, she thought. That would be a disaster.

When Surya's eyes refocused, they had an intensity reserved only for his most celebrated erotic sculptures.

"Does your mother know?"

Gwen shook her head.

"Do you want her to know?"

Gwen shook her head.

"Morye?"

Her neck was beginning to strain.

"Alright. Why's he here?" Surya pursed his thick lips, turning his eyes toward Percy. Gwen too, followed Surya's eyes to see her brother, realising that he had just heard their entire conversation.

Oh dear, now the cat's out of the bag. Gwen slapped herself mentally. Percy had an uncanny ability to be invisible when he wanted to. He must have developed it to evade their mother.

"Percy." Surya's voice took on a hard, obsidian edge. "Look at me, boy."

Percy looked up at Gwen and Surya. As a Selective High School student, his intelligence was without doubt. From his expression, they could see that he understood his sister had dropped a Fireball in the water, and now he was drenched by the blowback.

Beside Percy, Gwen wondered just how profoundly her brother understood her circumstances.

"Yes?" Percy piped up, his voice croaking.

"You tell no one about this," Surya intoned with absolute seriousness. "I hear one word out of your mother or father about Gwen's Conjuration talent, and you're disowned. You have my word as your Patriarch, do you understand?"

Percy nodded.

Gwen winced, hoping that his brother didn't take their grandfather's threat too unkindly. If Percy indeed were a smart kid, he would know the reason all their resources were pledged toward him was due to Gwen's incompetence. Now that Gwen was a dual-element, dual-school caster, the question of inheritance would arguably be up in the air.

"Good. Leave us now. Mel! Tess!"

Surya called out for the twins.

"Yes, Master?" Tess was now properly attired. "More drinks?"

"No. Take Percy and show him around the compound. I need to talk to Gwen in private."

"Sure thing, Percy, come on, let Aunt Tess show you something cool..."

Percy shot Gwen and Surya a worried look.

"Go," Surya commanded.

Percy dejectedly followed.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Surya muttered in a disgruntled tone. "He's more like Kwan than any of us, I think. You can hear the little cogs turning in his head."

"It's alright, Grandfather." Gwen's gaze lingered on her brother until he was out of sight. "Percy's a good kid at heart."

"Maybe drop a Lesser Geas on the boy?" Surya persisted, "He's young, might survive it yet."

"That won't be necessary, Grandfather."

"Call me Opa," Surya suddenly declared. "Its how we say grandfather in the old country. My grandfather loved to hear me say it."

"Opa!" Gwen uttered adoringly, allowing the O to linger on her tongue before pushing out the P with honeyed sweetness.

Surya shook with pleasure, the smile on his face split from ear to ear.

"What a wonderful word," Surya confessed with tenderness. "Your mother kept you away from me, and your father was too afraid to visit. To think that I have three grandchildren and you are the first to call me Opa."

Surya then scratched his head, unsure of how to proceed further. Certainly, he felt no love for the grandson used to coax him into giving up more money, but Gwen's unexpected presence was refreshing and delightful.

Gwen responded by leaning over and wrapping her long arms around her grandfather, burying his face in her blue cotton dress. His skeletal frame felt like a bone rack wearing his skin; the vitality within somehow surviving time's fierce embrace. He patted her back awkwardly. Unlike the rest of his body, his fingers were hard and steady, the hands of an artist and craftsman.

"Come with me." He began to walk briskly. "Let me show you the Workshop."

They proceeded across the elevated deck, passing Percy and the sisters. Percy looked as though he was sleepwalking, disinterestedly nodding at each sculpture introduced by Tess and Melissa, having lost all fascination for flailing breasts and perky bottoms.

The Enchantment Workshop sat on the east wing of the estate. Gwen noted with interest the protection glyphs surrounding the premise. Their glow was visible even in daylight.

"Precious materials attract unsavoury attention," Surya noted her concern. "I am frankly shocked that you carried the chromatic scale on your person."

Gwen felt a sudden permeation of cold perspiration. Like an idiot, she had wandered around town with an invaluable object.

Surya invoked an unlocking glyph. The doors opened, revealing a textbook workshop covered with tools and hundreds of drawers built into row upon row of shelving. Gwen further noted that even the interior had many wards in place.

"My sanctum," Surya said proudly, spreading his hands.

He gestured for her to take a seat on one of the stools.

"Who's your Instructor?"

"From school?"

"No," Surya scoffed. "Your real Instructor."

"I can't tell you, Opa," Gwen replied apologetically.

"Secrets huh? I love secrets." Surya scratched his rough white beard thoughtfully. "I say you're under magical compulsion, not a surprise, considering your talent and the origin of that scale. Care to play a game?"

"Opa?"

"Just nod or shake."

Gwen nodded.

"Is he a man?"

Gwen nodded.

"Is he a Magus?"

Gwen shook.

"Military?"

Gwen shook.

"That's all I need to know," Surya smiled and took a deep breath. "My granddaughter, apprentice to one of the Ten."

Gwen's eyes widened.

"What? A senior Mage can't teach you shit, and your master's not a Magus. There are only three women Magisters in Oceania's Cabal. Do you think Magisters grow on trees? How many non-military Magisters do you think are in Sydney? You can count them on your hands, you know."

Surya tapped the oaken table beside him.

"Blaire, Walken, Lin, Ferris, Gonne, Kilroy, Uther..."

Gwen tried to keep her poker face intact.

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

"Gonne-Kilroy-Uther..."

Gwen blinked.

"Kilroy huh? That old dog! Thinks he can have my cute granddaughter! He's dreaming!"

Sweat beaded on Gwen's forehead.

"You're good." Surya laughed heartily, "for a _noni,_ you got a nice poker face, but you can't trick someone like me. Your pupils dilated when I said his name, don't underestimate the eyes of a master Enchanter!"

"You're amazing Opa." Gwen had to admit, that was both impressive and dangerous. Hopefully, her Opa's astute mind wouldn't trigger her Geas and squash her head like a melon in a vice.

"Yeah, yeah, flattery will get you everywhere." Surya snorted, pleased with himself. "Let's get down to business."

"Please do, Opa."

"So..." Surya continued. "For crafting a unique, tier 6 item, I charge about this much."

He showed her a figure by raising six fingers.

Gwen froze. She can't afford that.

"Do you want to pay in instalments?"

"Opa..." Gwen forced a smile to her face, realising suddenly what her grandfather had done. The sly old fox. He had deflated her negotiatory momentum by pivoting to their loving relationship as Opa and granddaughter! Now she was on the back foot! Should she remind him that any other Enchanter would love to work on the Scale? That would be awkward; they just hugged. She really should have clinched the deal right there and then.

"Opa you know I am penniless."

"Opa isn't a charity!" Surya grinned, enjoying Gwen's squirming, his demeanour full of sadistic satisfaction.

Oh, that's how you want to play it huh? Gwen chuckled internally. If the old man wanted to play mind games, that was fine with her.

Meanwhile, her Opa continued unabated.

"Opa has costs too you know, I need mithril from black zones, enchanted gold from the Grey Market, specialised blade tips forged by tier 7 Transmuters..."

"Opa..." Gwen purred, the plosive 'p' lingering in the air.

Her Opa gulped.

Gwen leaned forward on her tippy toes, one hand strategically placed between her thighs to pull her dress tightly around her shapely legs, her off-hand pressed against her chest as though she was short of breath and deathly afraid. Still seated, she shifted her balance, mounting the workshop stool to swing her legs to one side. Her lips parted in distress, her eyes working up a mote of moisture.

"Opa... I have no money... I don't want to sell my body to Uncle's friends..."

A bolt of lightning struck Surya full in the chest, setting his cynical husk of a heart ablaze with pathos.

"Don't... even joke about that." Surya coughed as Gwen smacked his back to ease his recovery. Gwen retrieved a glass of water for the old man.

"You're a piece of work, grandchild." Surya swallowed, clearing his throat.

"Touché."

Their eyes met.

"Hee hee hee, ha ha ha!" Surya exploded into roaring laughter; he hasn't felt so enthralled in years. The elation was liberating, as though a constriction around his chest had been removed; an irritating kidney stone passed at last.

"Alright, alright." He patted Gwen's hand, taking from her fingers the chromatic scale. "I'll do this thing for you pro bono, just this once!"

"Thanks, Opa!" Gwen gave him another hug.

A second into their joyous reunion, Gwen felt the old man pat her buttocks. Rather than flinging the old man from her like a spider, she hugged him with all her might.

"Arrrgh!" Surya cried out. "Can't breath!"

Gwen released the old man from her deadly koala-embrace.

"Can't take a joke, sheesh..." Surya moved to one side of the workshop, placing the scale into a heavily warded draw.

"Gonna take a good three-four month, I am afraid," he informed her. "Are you going to join the Sydney Inter-High Tournament? I should be able to finish it before then."

Gwen watched as Surya withdrew a wooden ring box, casually tossing it towards her.

"Collateral for the Material, its a small Storage Ring, about four litres of space, operation Glyph is inscribed inside the box."

Gwen held the box in her hand, her heart throbbing with jubilance.

"Opa, you don't have to..."

"Nonsense!" He battered a hand at her. "You're on Team Opa now, and Opa is very generous."

Gwen's lips split to reveal pearly white teeth; a smile so entrancing as to make Surya falter, wondering how the hell his crude daughter could have given birth to something so elegant.

“What’s this Inter-High Tournament?” Gwen asked quizzically.

“A cross-school competition,” Surya replied. “Don’t tell me your school hasn't enrolled you.”

“We’re a public school...”

“You go to a public school?”

“Blackwattle...”

Surya was speechless.

“Your talent is wasted In Blackwattle,” he critiqued as a matter of fact. “You mentioned you needed money right?”

“Yeah...”

"Want to beg and live on the charity of others?" Surya raised an eyebrow.

Gwen shook her head.

“Good. You should enter the Tournament then. The prize for the inter-high Championship is 900 HDM Crystals.”

Gwen held her breath. That's enough to see her through university, maybe even enough to start an investment or two.

“Split amongst your team of course. Addition prizes exist for other criterions such as control, versatility, power, defence, MVP, and so on.”

“I don’t think my school can enter...” Gwen said sceptically. Surely someone would have mentioned it otherwise.

“Bosh! Any school can enter if they pass the preliminaries, only the selective schools and a few private academies are seeded.”

Gwen took note but otherwise said nothing. The decision wasn’t hers to make. It wasn’t as if Surya or Gwen could register her school against their Principal's will.

"Do you have a team?"

"I have a Tier 4 Fire Evoker and a Tier 2 hybrid healer, as well as... a Tier 3 Earth Transmuter..."

Surya's raised a critical brow.

"A healer huh? That could be a real game changer. In that case, I reckon you need an Illusionist. Hardly anyone's got True Seeing at the lower tiers. Of course, the mundane thing to do is to get an Abjurer..."

"I don't believe we have any good illusionists at school-" Gwen interjected.

"Shame, see if you can dig one up. Do you know how rare it is to find a healer at your level? Until your Cleric is out of mana, your team can ignore minor injuries. The Questing component should be a cinch."

"I'll consider it Opa."

Surya said nothing more.

They toured around the workshop after that. Gwen's Grandfather showed her some of the projects he was currently working on. A mundane Ring of Water Breathing, a collection of Ioun Stones still in the progress of being inscribed, a pair of Slippers that allowed one to fasten one's feet to surfaces like a spider.

"Enchantment is using crystals to create, hopefully, something worth more crystals than the ingredients you expended," Surya explained. "The higher the tier, the higher the turnover."

"What's your best recipe Opa?" Gwen asked innocently.

"You got any more secrets to trade?"

Gwen smiled and said nothing.

"Then you can wait to find out."

With that, they exited the Workshop.

"You want to stay for the night?" Surya asked, "I can have the sisters cook something nice."

"That won't be necessary Opa," Gwen answered sweetly. "I need to head back to the dorm."

"You board with two other girls" Surya enquired. "Is there much privacy?"

"No, not at all."

"Mind if I come and see how you're all living?"

"..."

"I am joking of course."

"I suspected as much, Opa."

The duo chuckled awkwardly.

"I better take Percy home before it gets too dark, we still need to travel to the station."

"Of course. It was good to meet my cute Cucu Perempuan."

They hugged one more time, with Gwen wary of her Grandfather's wandering hands.

"Model for me sometimes," he said.

"I'd love to," Gwen replied as Percy was brought out.

"Remember what I told you, Percy," Surya noted sternly. "And tell your mother to leave Gwen alone."

"Yes Grandpa," Percy replied. He can't believe he wasted a day doing nothing, and now he had attracted the ire of a crazy old codger.

Melissa then drove the siblings to the countryside station, where the final city-bound train was due to depart in half an hour.

Surya watched the car disappear into the distance, smiling and cackling to himself. Numerous amusing ideas ran their course through the twisted channels of his deviant mind, but for now, he had a Message to deliver.

He drew a glyph in the air. A Message spell fired off beside his ear.

"Surya? It's been a while, old friend. What's the matter?" Henry Kilroy, head of the Ten, answered the Message. The Magister's tone, however, was one of bemusement. Surya knew better than to Message his private glyph unless it was something urgent.

"Henry old boy, you owe me big time."

"Oh really? I think you still owe me for ripping me off, old friend. I still can't believe I paid you forty HDMs for that sculpture. I asked for something suitable for the lobby, not something to make the guards blush."

"Oh I am not talking about that," Surya fired back. "I want to know what you did to hook your teeth into my cute Cucu Perempuan."

"Is... is that a Magical Creature of some kind? The Tower collects dozens of the damn summons very month, how would I know which one's yours?"

"My Cucu Perempuan, ya old fart! My granddaughter!"

"You don't have a granddaughter you senile old fool."

"So much for your tree-ring endemic memory! Surely you know my Gwen? Dark hair, hazel eyes, long legs."

"... I cannot confirm nor deny awareness of this Gwen Song."

"Come on, old mate, she's my cute Cucu Perempuan; I am serious here."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"By your oath as a Magus."

"By the Credo, if I have to."

"Well, well..." The Magister fell silent. "I still don't believe it. How did an ugly rock cod like you give birth to a rainbow trout?"

"It's called good genetics, Henry, you should try it sometimes."

"I got my Apprentices; kids are beyond me."

"Well, who gave you permission to take mine?"

"Why so salty? I still think you're lying. We've known each other for how long now? When's the last time you mentioned a granddaughter?"

"It's a long story... Listen, I want to know more about her, what's her deal, what are your plans."

"How much do you know?"

"I know she's a dual-school and dual-element, and I know she brought me a bloody Mythical tier Serpent Scale..."

"Jesus, Surya." Henry's voice rose an octave. "You could have cracked her head open like an egg! How much did she tell you?"

"Nothing at all."

"Thank God."

"Why?"

"She's got Greater Geas attached to her Astral Body."

"YOU BASTARD!"

"Look, its a long story. What're you doing now?" Henry asked.

"Nothing more important than my cute Cucu Perempuan. Why? What are you thinking?"

"I'll clear my schedule. Can you come in?"

"Alright, ya better not have done anything else to her, you deathless old dog..."

On the train, Gwen sat in silence with her brother Percy. Her brother had not spoken to her at all during the two-hour long trip. Instead, he preferred to answer in grunts and gestures, finding intense interest in the scenery flying past the window.

"Suit yourself," Gwen replied sulkily. The carriage was empty, so she produced the wooden box from Surya. By now, Gwen had memorised the glyph for activation, wearing the Storage Ring on her right ring finger. She waved her hand across the box.

"!"

It disappeared.

"!"

It appeared.

She repeated the process a dozen times, testing its quirks. From observation, the absorption had a maximum distance of a few centimetres. Within, items stowed within the ring's pocket dimension remained in stasis.

Four litres. It was a modest space, but it was enough for many things: crystals, I.D, cosmetics, light clothing, an extra pair of shoes.

As the train pulled closer to the city, more passengers boarded. Gwen rested her hand subtly, hiding the fact that she was wearing close to a hundred HDMs on her right ring finger. She caught a glance from Percy, his eyes green with envy, and fought down an impulse to give him the Storage Ring.

It was strange how things were playing out so similarly between her new and old world. In her past life, Percy likewise went to a Selective School, surpassing Gwen academically. When Gwen's success accumulated, he grew increasingly distant. When Percy started his own family, he had cut her from his life entirely. It was saddening even now to think that though every member of her family were all alive; they all went their separate ways. Her mother left the country with her new husband. Her father lived his own life with his young bride. Their grandfather she never heard from again. Her brother never called.

When the train pulled into Forrestville, Gwen alighted with her brother, who left without a word. After switching to the inner city line, she leaned her head against the window pane, then lost herself in the dull thrum of locomotion.


"I have set up a schedule for you." Master Kilroy's tired voice echoed through the Message spell beside Gwen's ear. "Alesia will bring it to you later today."

Gwen had not expected to hear from her Master so soon and therefore was utterly surprised when a Message bloomed beside her ear at 6 AM, pulling her from the embrace of slumber.

She surveyed the dorm room, seeing that Yue and Elvia slept unperturbed, Gwen realised her Master had been thoughtful enough to send her a Private Message Spell. Clearing her head, she returned a 'Thank you', then quietly dressed, slipping into her school uniform.

Training schedules and classes.
Hopefully, life was back to normal.

Normalcy survived until morning assembly, where Principal Bartlett introduced their new Instructors.

Alesia was, unsurprisingly, staying on until the end of the year, filling in for those who had unfortunately departed. If nothing else, Gwen knew that Alesia also wanted to keep an eye on Yue, whose moniker - in Alesia's eyes - was already Apprentice number one.

After Alesia, the new instructors were introduced.
The first was a nondescript woman.
The next an ex-teacher brought out of retirement.

And then Gunther introduced himself.

The Radiant Mage came on like a Demi-God gracing the mortal realm. Instantly, his presence filled the auditorium, making the place shrink by the grace of his very existence.

Someone squealed, then all hell broke loose.

Gwen rolled her eyes, wondering if Gunther's charisma was a side effect of his Radiant element.

Her Astrology Primer stated that prolonged use of particular elements altered one's physicality and mentality. Yue was hot-headed, her body resistant to cold and heat. Jun was cool-headed, his body resistant to cold. Debora had a toned figure with minimal fat; her once fair complexion now honeyed-caramel. Elvia channelled Positive Energy, so surely that was why she as an angel. Alesia had a personality that was fire personified, and Master Henry had a face like a tree stump, although that could be his age.

Gwen wondered how her own physiology would be affected and what her physiological changes would be. Maybe she'll grow two red dots on her face and start shouting 'Pika!' Or perhaps, Gwen thought more frightfully; she could become an anorexic shadow, forever hungry.

"Oh my..." Yue wiped away a stubborn trail of drool beside her small pink mouth. "I never knew what my type was, but..."

They watched as Gunther introduced his alias. A returned Vet, just entering the education industry; please take care of me, and so on. He announced that he was, like Alesia, a Magus by trade, an Evoker - Abjurer, with a talent for the Quasi-elemental Plane of Radiance, between Fire and the Positive Plane.

"Wow... that's rare, like one in a million rare," Elvia remarked. "Why are we getting Instructors that could hold the position of head teachers in private schools?"

Yue shrugged, "Maybe Bartlett is well connected? All the old guys are military, most of them served during that the Great Coral War. Some of them are surely big wigs up in the chain by now."

Then, to their surprise, Alesia stomped onto the stage and took Gunther by the arm.

"He is my husband," she announced.

The crowd had gone completely silent.

Then an uproar exploded across the hall, both boys and girls wailing in frustration and disappointment.

Behind the teachers, Gwen saw Principal Bartlett facepalm.

"Yes... Instructor Alesia is correct; she is my wife!"

Gunther recovered in an instant. Taking Alesia by the waist, he raised their hands together triumphantly. They look like the President and the First Lady on a rally, Gwen chortled. She would never want to be in a situation where she and Gunther had to contest a platform. Sharing the limelight with that man was the dictionary-definition of been upstaged.

For some indiscernible reason, people began to clap. Spreading until the sound filled the auditorium.

When the fiasco was finally over, Gwen returned to class.

Theories continued to be taught, experiments and demonstrations performed. New teachers and old students were acquainted. Gunther instructed one of Gwen's classes, Elementalism 202, takin to the role like a fish to water; the kids eating up every word as though it were gospel delivered straight from the horse's mouth.

Gwen met with Alesia after classes ended. She had sent her a Silent Message, excusing Gwen from Yue and Elvia's company.

"Here's your schedule, little sister." Alesia handed over a small notebook once they met on the rooftop "Your resources will be allocated by Magus Bartlett. Have a look and see if you have any questions."

Gwen took the notebook and flipped it open. It was blank.

"Oh yeah, here's the glyph for dispelling the ward." Alesia stuck out her tongue playfully before teaching Gwen the incantation.

Gwen invoked the glyph, watching as the words materialised. There was a message from Master Henry encouraging her to work hard and be wary of her Void element, asking her to prioritise her Lightning. The next few pages had references for books her Master had recommended, Primers and Theories that pertained to Conjuration and such. When Gwen finally got to the schedule itself, she was surprised to find that her weekend training was not in fact with Alesia, but at a familiar address.

"Master knows my Grandfather?" Gwen asked incredulously.

"Master Surya made several of Master's items, you know," Alesia stated. "If you had told us that you were his granddaughter, you probably could have been spared from a full-strength Geas."

"Are they well-acquainted?"

"Don't know," Alesia confessed. "War buddies probably. Not many military Mages survived those early days in the 70s. Those who did were the ones who worked together."

Gwen flipped through the book until she caught a queer section where two weeks were outlined in purple with the simple moniker 'Field Work - Black Cat'.

"Any ideas what this is?"

"Oh, that." Alesia smiled nostalgically. "Master has another old war buddy, Marc, who runs a sort of mercenary Questing company. He solves client's problems that the government doesn't want to deal with, or have no resources allocated. Both me and Gunther worked for Black Cat when we were training. It was excellent for work experience, met lots of interesting people."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"There goes my school holidays..." Gwen sulked, though she understood the necessity of perfecting her craft. No amount of practice in sheltered rooms and warded fields could beat that one weekend they had spent killing actual monsters in the Green Zone. Presumably, this 'Black Cat' also offered a similar fare.

"There are two weeks left for yourself if you manage to finish the quests," Alesia continued. "Gunther finished all of his in four days."

"Woa, somehow I don't find that surprising."

"It's an opportunity for you to make some money as well." Alesia laughed. "I recall Gunther made close to two hundred HDMs."

At the sound of clinking crystals, Gwen's heart soared.

"How about you?"

"I finished all the subjugation requests," Alesia answered carefully.

"And...?"

"... then nothing."

"Of course..." Gwen felt no desire to pursue Alesia's trauma. Indeed, sending Alesia on diplomatic missions would likely result in burning buildings and charred corpses.

She continued to flip through the notebook. It was hand-written, meticulous drafted, every day there were activities and objectives. She flipped through the dates until she struck November, where she spotted the names of Yue and Elvia.

"What's this?"

Alesia took a gander herself.

"Looks like training for a Team Competition."

"What for?" Gwen asked; although an answer came to mind,

"Looks like 3v3 format to me, but two Evokers? You wouldn't have a tank unless..."

Alesia eyes flashed.

"Looks like my little sis is going to have a debut as a Conjurer - Evoker!"

Gwen flipped through the notebook, all the way until she reached mid-2003.

"Inter-High Tournament," she read out loud, "3v3 or 5v5 champions, or MVP, is the minimum I expect from someone of your talent. We are expecting good things from you, Gwen."

"We?" Gwen reread the line.

"Maybe Sufina's included?" Alesia suggested.

"Is entering the Inter-high comp feasible for someone like me?" Gwen inquired earnestly. Her knowledge of Spellcraft was average at best, and she had yet to exercise a single phenomenon in Conjuration. "Who participates in these things?"

Alesia pointed at herself.

"I swept through singles and 3v3 about fifteen years ago..."

The singular pronoun caught Gwen's attention. She guessed that if Alesia could envelop the other team in a massive AoE, it was technically possible. With an affinity for Fire at Alesia's tier, her spells were twice as powerful while costing half the mana.

Alesia pointed down toward the courtyard, where they could see Gunther’s new fan-club trailing behind the Radiant Mage.

"...and that guy was an All-Star during his time, he swept the singles, 3v3, 5v5, the MPV, the works."

Gwen found no surprises in that revelation.

"What's Gunther's School of Magic?" Gwen asked.

"He's an Evoker with a blend of Conjuration-Illusion," Alesia answered. "His usual Spell List consist of Signature Spells he and Master composed for his Radiant talent."

"That sounds complicated," Gwen muttered, unable to imagine the process involved, much in the same way a senior science student struggled to discern the mechanics of the Large Hadron Collider.

"You don't ever want to see Gunther angry," Alesia spoke without a hint of mirth. "I don't know how he does it, but he can conjure beams of light as thin as your fingers, but powerful enough to melt through a Mineral Abjurer's Shields."

"He can shoot lasers?!" Gwen gasped. But that conjecture didn't make sense either, even with gigawatts of energy, Laser-cutting required time and heat to slice an object.

"What are lasers?" Alesia tipped her head at the foreign word.

"Beams of light?"

Alesia shook her head. She pursed her lips, then tried to explain the Astro-phenomenon.

"Just as your Quasi-Elemental Plane of the Void consists of Void matter, the absence of light, Radiance is the heart of stars - it's the combination of Positive Energy and Fire. Our Astrologist says that our sun is a gate into the heart of the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Radiance, neat, huh?"

"That is pretty neat.” Gwen looked down into the courtyard. A Mage who shoots the heat of the sun as laser beams? That doesn't seem like a mortal ability. How potent were Gunther's 'light' spells? Did they have travel time to the target? How does an opponent ward against something like that?

"What's he like in combat?"

Alesia tilted her head, taking on an air of nostalgia.

"Gunther doesn't fight much these days, he's more of an administrator, or a deterrent against trouble, ha! There was this one time a few years ago though, Master asked us to subjugate a particularly nasty group of Trolls - big ugly Earth Elementals with regeneration. During the fight, one of them caught me mid-air and knocked the wind out of me. He grabbed me by the ankles and was about twist off my foot..."

She caught Gwen with her mouth open.

"Don't worry! They grow back. Master's got access to Regeneration. Anyway, just as I was gritting my teeth, there was a sizzling sound, and when I looked up, the Troll's face was gone. Like, it was just gone, where the troll's face had been, there was a smoking hole. A perfect cylindrical hole. I didn't even hear Gunther invoke his Radiant Blast! I couldn't even see a beam!"

Gwen closed her mouth.

"So that's how powerful Gunther was two years ago. His Radiant Blast was able to penetrate clean through a Tier 6 troll's face. One-hit K.O."

"..." Gwen could scarcely even imagine it. Her lightning blast must be a feather duster in comparison. "Does someone as powerful as Gunther have a fail-safe or something..."

"Like how?" Alesia blinked, her brow furrowing.

"Like, what if his powers are out of control or he gets mind controlled like I almost was."

"Then we better run!" Alesia laughed, her naivety and good nature incapable of registering Gwen's paranoia. "Although, it would be easier for me to summon a Meteor Shower than for a Mind Mage to penetrate Gunther's Ego."

Her brother-in-craft was Apollo reborn, Gwen thought enviously.

She wondered how Gunther would fare against the Serpent. Would he be the one to put the Snake down had it reached the city? Were there others like him? Demi-Gods, walking amongst men, playing politics for shits and giggles. What must it feel like for him to walk shoulder to shoulder with NoMs, knowing that a million of them wasn't worth a hair on his head?

Gwen shuddered. She should be glad Gunther seemed like a top bloke.

"So... when do I start the schedule?"

"Technically it starts today, but do ease into it."

"How closely should I follow it?"

"To the letter I imagine, you'll be seeing Master every fortnight. He'll be testing you."

Gwen felt the notebook in her hands. She had the distinct impression that this was not the schedule of one benefactor, but two, a Magister and an overzealous Opa. If she followed this religiously, she would be left with an hour of her own time per day. Her Saturdays and Sundays were both gone. Her school holiday plans with Elvia and Yue were up in smokes. Her extended summer holidays would be a seven-day training camp.

And yet, despite it all, Gwen observed a masochistic giddiness. If her sages would buckle fortune on her back, then she must have the patience to bear the burden of love and expectation. For someone long used to neglect, a little fatherly faith was enough to have her drunk with happiness.

Gwen's schedule began in earnest the next day.

6 AM: Rise, Wash, and Breakfast.
7 AM: Morning jog around the suburb, 6 kilometres of steep inclines and descents.
8 AM: Prepare for School
9.30AM: Class begins after Assembly.
11.30AM: Recess
12 NOON: Classes
1 PM: Lunch
1.30PM: Practicals
3.30PM: School ends, extracurricular training begins, Mana Management Foundations
4.30PM: Break
5 PM: Elemental Theory and Practicum
6.30PM: Supper at the Dorm
7.30PM: Combat Practice with Alesia and or Gunther.
9.30PM: Return to Dorm, wash and ready for Bed
10.30PM: Can't sleep because Elvia and Yue had endless Questions
11.30PM: Finally asleep because Gwen couldn't keep her eyes open long enough.
12 Midnight: Sweet, sweet oblivion.

Gwen woke with a start, thinking that it was Monday or Tuesday, only to realise that it was Thursday or Friday. Her days and nights blended into one, her sense of time acknowledged each dreadful morning, facing the hill climb from Jubilee to Glebe Point to Wentworth Park.

There were few pleasant surprises along the way, however. On one brisk morning jog, she met with a recovered Debora powering up and down the hills as though she were on flat ground. Jogging in tandem, they enjoyed a shared moment of the runner's high, thereafter taking to synchronise their schedules to share the morning routine. Debora told Gwen that she was working on her strengthening spells, trying to attain the next tier of Bronze Skin for better defence and Bronze Flesh for elemental resistance.

Meanwhile, Yue had taken up training with Alesia. The Scarlet Sorceress finally hinted to Yue of the possibility of an Apprenticeship. A few weeks into the schedule, Yue then joined Gwen for Elemental Theorem and Mana Foundations. Later, she discovered that whenever Gunther trained with her, Alesia trained with Yue. The parallel made her glad and happy, putting her anxiety over Yue's future at ease.

After the mid-year, the girls had to say goodbye to Jun and Henley, who was now going to enrol and begin their military service. To the boys’ surprise, Alesia pulled a few strings, and they both managed to get into the Divisions most suited to their talents. Jun entered an Officer's training school with a commendation for Valor during the Serpent incident. Henley entered the Intelligence Division, where he received the opportunity to focus on his Divination. Gwen received a half-day recess for the boy's sending away party, and the friends promised to see one another outside of school as young adults.

By late July, she had mastered elementary Conjuration and was fast approaching her first milestone: a special ceremony for all Conjurers. It was to take place at her Grandfather's estate, where both Opa and Master had spared no expense creating a complex and expensive Summoning Circle. According to a cheeky Yue, this was the moment in which all fledgeling Conjurer lost their proverbial virginity. Gwen was to receive her first summon, their first companion, a being whose existence was tied to their own - a Familiar for life.


Gwen snuck out from the dorm bright and early Sunday morning, snug in a tapered Tee, jeans and soft white sneaker, leaving behind her sleeping companions. She had asked for permission to let Elvia and Yue in on her secret but was turned down by her mentors on the grounds of loose-lips sink ships. They had told her that if she was to have a debutante moment in the Inter-High and catch her opponents off guard, she should keep the full extent of her abilities scarce.

"Especially your Void talent," Gunther solemnly informed her. "It's a lethal element for both yourself and others. Until your mind and body grow into it, avoid using it."

Having no desire to pass out mid-channel, Gwen took Gunther's advice to heart.

She made the now familiar trip to the tableland estate up the Hunter, marvelling at the change in scenery as the warm winters of Sydney gave way to moody spring showers. The wattles were now in full bloom, the flame trees alive with pink galas feeding in packed arrays of gay scarlet. Paddocks of shivery grass burst into fields of jezebels, covering the countryside in unnamable wildflowers of every colour and hue.

When Gwen stepped off the country platform, the vista was sublime. She could sense motes of mana palpably drifting through the crosswind.

Melissa came to pick her up. As usual, the two women sharing moments of mirth as the old Mercedes rumbled down the gravelly road. When they arrived at the estate, Gwen found both her Opa and Master having tea beside the infinity water feature.

“Master.” Gwen bowed deeply, and then again to her grandfather. “Opa.”

“Gwen.” Master Henry looked unchanged, an old professor in tweed.

“Hi, sweetie!” A voice called out from the infinity pool. Gwen turned to see Sufina in the guise of a small girl, likely to save on mana. She had both stiletto feet in the pool and looked to be having a good, long soak, the water rippling around her bare legs in twin concentric circles.

Not far from the infinity pool was a raised platform of earth, upon which was an intricate system of glyphs in the form of a summoning circle. From her studies, Gwen recognised it was a medium-tier warding system used for constraining tier 3 - 6 beasts. As the cost for potency was exponential, her Opa had evidently spared no expense.

Gwen took a deep breath, calming her nerves.

“Any particular advice before I begin, Master?”

Henry smiled in that gentle, sagely manner that she had grown accustomed to over the last few months.

“Whatever comes to you naturally, my child.”

“Bah!” Surya ejected two gusts of air from his nostrils. “With the amount I spent on that circle, Gwen better summon something special.”

“Now-now old friend, let's not get too ahead of ourselves. It will do her no good to contact something she cannot control. A Conjurer’s first beast is always special, and one too powerful or unruly would only ruin their development.”

“What was your first familiar Master?” Gwen asked curiously.

Henry’s eyes moved kindly to Sufina.

“When I met Sufina, she was only a tier 2 wood sprite, too weak to be useful in combat even. But I knew though, from the moment our minds touched, that we were meant to be Summoner and Familiar. She had grown much since those days when I was a young man, more powerful than myself in many ways, and she has more room to grow yet.”

Gwen nodded. Growing together with your familiar, that sounded very nice indeed. Her master was telling her not to mind if she found something that appeared weaker than she had anticipated. Of course, she wouldn't mind! For a woman with two cats, living with a companion animal was par for the course.

“I think that’s wonderful, Master, I look forward to raising and caring for my own Familiar too. I want to raise my Familiar to become the very best; like no Familiar ever was. This summoning is a test, to raise them is my cause.”

Henry smiled warmly, satisfied with her response, Gwen had a way with words which always pleased him.

“You warm my old bones, child,” he praised her articulation. “Nonetheless, let all things be as nature intends. Clear your mind. Allow the mana to flow through the Sigil unimpeded. Whatever your Familiar turns out to be, I can assure you; you won't be disappointed.”

“Well, with the rarity of materials you requested from me, nature better provide something worth the weight in mithril,” Surya intoned sulkily.

“Surya...” Master Henry pinched the bridge of his nose. "Gwen possesses the essence of that serpent. She also possesses two elements. One of which is Void. God knows what will come out of that Quasi-Elemental Plane. For all we know, she might open a portal to the abyss."

Gwen felt her confidence deflate.

"You'll be fine dear, whatever comes out is bound to make a contract with you, if it ever wants to leave.” Her Opa grinned wickedly. "I had the warding drawn with gryphon blood; the seals reinforced with powdered mithril. The glyph themselves are your Master's own. Hell, if you summoned an Abyssal Drake, it would still take a good few minutes to turn loose. In that time, your Master here would have it beaten into submission."

"I am beginning to think that asking for your aid was a bad idea," Henry remarked sceptically.

Gwen regarded the circle. What would come out? A pair of dogs would be nice, cats even better. Please don't let it be something weird, like slimes or a slug.

"Up ya get, girl!" Surya slapped Gwen on the buttocks, sending her stumbling onto the platform. "Show this Master of yours what you can do!"

"Gwen, be careful," Henry added, shooting Surya a disapproving look. If that had been Alesia, Surya would be bereft of his eyebrows.

Gwen located the centre of the Summoning Sigil on the floor and positioned herself within the array of glyphs. She recreated the complex network of glyphs enabling the summoning of familiars within her mind's eyes, then allowed the mana from her Astral Body to permeate her physical being, forming a complex network of conduits. Below her, the summoning circle began to glow, its glyphs flashing and writhing as though alive, consuming their precious ingredients.

"Steady... steady..." Surya mouthed beside Henry, but Gwen was already within a world of her own.

First, she sent a clear stream of pure mana to stabilise the Circle, her channelling steady and without deviation. She had trained unrelentingly for the last three months under the tutelage of her Master and siblings, who had spent a small fortune on mana crystals to fortify her reserves. After double and triple-checking the spell, she was ready for the final invocation.

"Summon Familiar!"

The space within the portal distorted, reaching out into the aether and creating a vortex that would deposit whatever being her distinct mana signature plucked out from the Elemental Planes.

Please don't be something with more than four legs, Gwen prayed. Or possess a distended secondary jaw with acidic blood.

All of a sudden, she felt a tug against her soul, overwhelmed by an all too familiar sense of vertigo. She saw within her mind's eye dark motes blending into a swirl of black mana like fish in a tidal pool. For months, the Void motes had renounced her command, refusing to be formed, moulded or employed.

But now they moved, stabbing at the edge of her mind, seeking a way out. From Master Henry, she knew that every manifestation of the Void would cost her a pound of flesh. The moment she manifests the Void in the real world, her body would flood with Negative Energy.

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You want out? She taunted the ball of tenebrous energy scornfully. Obey me!

Gwen willed herself to contain the volatile mass, forcing it to scatter. The more she constrained it, however, the more fiercely it struggled, dashing itself again and again against her conduits, sending out shockwaves of pain and agony into her physical body.

Gwen grunted with exertion. She was spending too much of her concentration on containing this thing. If she fought it any longer, she would be too distracted to maintain the Summoning Circle.

Fine! She derided the thrashing blob. Out with it!

Gritting her teeth, she awaited her trial by Void. She was going to face the inevitability of using her second element sooner or later, though she would have preferred building up a stronger fortitude. Master Henry had told her that the only way to safely manifest her Void element was to sparingly use it in a manner that was offset by a vast amount of Positive Energy.

With the feeling of a valve turned loose, she opened the proverbial floodgates to the Quasi-elemental Plane, sending half of her mana into that black abyss.

A moment of silence hung in the air, then a torrent of tenebrous mana poured forth, polluting the glyphs her Master had painstakingly etched.

Outside, Surya, Henry, and company watched as sudden slivers of inky darkness burst from their ward's body, smothering the summoning circle with Negative Energy.

"Shit!" Surya cried out, "Henry!"

"Sufina!" Henry needed no compulsion to command his Familiar, who raised a dainty, sculpted hand, germinating branching vines that caught Gwen by the waist and shoulders, suffusing the girl with a viridescent glow of pure vitality. Visibly, her body hungrily consumed Sufina's life-force, marring the Dryad's flawless skin with wrinkles.

"Henry!" Sufina retorted, her tone worrying and peevish. "Are you sure about this?"

"Keep her fed, whatever it takes," Surya commanded Sufina. "Use the life-force from the Grot."

Sufina expanded into her adult form, from where she stood in the water of the infinity fountain, lilies and sedge rapidly sprouted.

A pinpoint sphere engendered in the Summoning Circle. A small obsidian tendril wiggled from it, a hole that seemed to exist in no space, slithering forth to form an ebony serpent a meter in length, its girth thick as an arm.

"What the hell is that?" Surya asked as Sufina blasted Gwen with another jolt of vital energy.

"No idea... but it looks like trouble." Henry pulled out his staff, a length of Heartwood shaped from Sufina's Spirit Tree. "The Void is a place of infinite hunger and nothingness."

"Nothingness?" Surya demanded, doubtful of the Tower's officious knowledge of the Plane. "I think we just proved that something exists there, after all."

His question was answered by the snake lashing out towards Gwen, stopping when it bodyslammed the barrier, sending silver-white sparks of mana flying in all directions.

"It's mindlessly hostile." Henry sighed disappointedly. "Maybe it's best to terminate. A creature has to be sentient to be partnered, and that thing looks like a solid mass of pure, life-draining malice."

"Bah!" Surya spat, producing a wand that would activate the Banish function of his Warding Circle. With a clink, the metal extended to become a full-sized sceptre, its business end adorned with a model cage housing an egg-sized Creature Core.

"Halt!"

It was Sufina who interceded.

"The serpent is sentient... I can feel... hunger, anger, rage... perhaps give Gwen a chance."

The old men regarded each other.
As an elemental being of the upper tier, Sufina could communicate with lesser elemental creatures. If the serpent can indeed 'feel', then perhaps it was worth keeping.

"Whatever it is, it's too dangerous." Surya raised his staff to smite the damned thing.

'Crack!'

A sudden blast of lightning cracked across the Summoning Circle's interior. The duo watched in amazement as a solid beam of Elemental Lightning materialised into a second serpentine form.

The obsidian snake turned towards its new companion and hissed, its maw opening disgustingly and revealing a barbed tongue. Heedless of its warning, four short limbs sprouted from the second Familiar, its body elongating and twisting until the distinct form of a mammalian snout formed and a short tail could be seen.

"What now... " Surya hefted her wand.

"That creature... I think I recognise it," Henry mouthed.

"What is it?" If that dark serpent creature was some unnamable beast of the Void, what could Gwen possibly have summoned to suppress it? Was it a celestial being? Elemental lighting brought to life? Perhaps a pseudodragon?

The lightning retracted into the thing's body, forming into strands of buzzing, electric fur.

"My God... it's-" Henry squinted to see.

"What is it?!" Surya was beside himself. "Out with it, old man!"

"I think... it's... a badger.”

Gwen's Master was wrong, for her creature was less so a badger and more so a mongoose.

When the Void matter had manifested something grotesque and terrible, Gwen channelled the rest of her mana into her Lightning summon, calling forth a serpent's natural enemy.

Unlike Henry and Surya, who could only see the snake as a dark mass of malice, Gwen had a front and centre close up of its wretched state. The thing was less a snake and more of a slimy, slithering leech. Under its smooth carapace, its head was like that of a faceless lamprey, possessing only a mouth. In Gwen's opinion, disgusting and revolting were words too weak to do her revulsion justice.

Thus in her mind, in that moment of abject terror, she envisioned a vivid conjuration of a video on Youtube where a Mongoose had skilfully taken down a King Cobra.

Surya and Henry watched with interest as a blur of white fur encircled the dark serpent. The snake appeared far more dangerous, but every time it tried to attack, the mongoose would evade before nipping away a chunk of its dark mana.

"What's happening now?" Surya demanded of his old commander.

"A white badger is duelling a black snake..." Henry replied matter-of-factly. “…In a summoning circle."

"..." Surya said nothing. So much for the wisdom of the Ten.

Within Gwen's Summoning Circle, the battle was titanic. As with an IMAX documentary, she witnessed every detail: the horrifying lamprey face, the barbed tongue, the throbbing flesh. The mongoose, in turn, fired off synaptically bolts of electricity that teased and irritated the deranged serpent, dashing to and fro, too quick for the snake-worm.

Come on Sparky! Kick its ass! She commanded her mongoose.

'Ee ee!' The mongoose emitted a sharp trill, signalling its master. She implicitly understood that it was calling for her to supply more mana.

"Alright... here it goes." Gwen squeezed out the last ounce of mana she had held in reserve, channelling it through her Conjuration Sigil. Instantly, the mongoose grew in size.

The snake hissed and lunged, its maw going for the throat. Now empowered, Gwen's mongoose strafed the serpent as it passed, dashing it to the floor violently. A burst of purple-black ichor sprayed from a neck wound, causing it to twitch in agony.

"Shaa! Shaa!" It screamed, and Gwen felt it's trepidation and panic. It too demanded mana from her. With a haughty glee, Gwen refused, demand it submit instead to her mental contract.

The thing quailed, becoming pliable.

But now the ophidian's Master felt herself the victim of an immediate dilemma. Did she really want to form a contract with this thing? This alien abomination? Is it okay to say no? In what world could a xenomorph-cum-Lovecraftian horror be a companion? What kind of twisted Path would she embark upon if her chosen companion was the darling spawn of Cthulhu?

Another part of Gwen, a pragmatic part of her, informed her that this was the creature that showed up when she had injected her void mana into the circle. Something in the universe had compelled this thing to come to her, who was she to deny it?

Furthermore, the creature belonged to her. It was her responsibility. Moreover, it wasn't as though she had to fight the abyssal-horror, that was her opponent's problem.

Gwen sent forth her consciousness again, touching the weakened alien mind and feeling it caress her own.

Beast! Obey me! Are you willing to become my Familiar? Gwen whipped the worm with her will, lashing it with command and compulsion, just as her Master instructed.

"Shaaa... Shaa. Hsss..." The serpent responded compliantly, bleeding ichor all over the glyphs upon the floor. In the next moment, its consciousness meld into her Astral Body, generating a pocket dimension where summoned creatures resided and establishing an empathic link.

With the worm-thing gone, Gwen now faced the triumphant mongoose. Gwen cooed at the magnificent creature, coaxing its cooperation.

"Ee! Eeee!" it replied. Gwen again felt a melding within her Astral Body, engendering a second pocket dimension.

"Heavens, she's succeeded in taking the snake." Henry breathed out. "I am surprised it chose submission. Sufina was right, it was sentient after all."

In the next moment, the mongoose likewise dissipated into motes of lightning.

"How curious," Henry observed. "Looks like her elements are oppositional rather than cooperative. That was two completely distinct Familiars. She's going to have her hands full trying to wrangle them. Maybe one will counter the other?"

The Summoning Circle glowed for a moment more, then spluttered and died. With all of its magic spent, the priceless ingredients turned to dust.

The two old men waited for Gwen to gather her wits.

"I've done it, Master!" Gwen returned, skipping forward proudly. "I have tamed both the Void and the Lightning beast!"

At the edge, her knees gave out. With a yelp, she tumbled from the platform.

A dozen helpful tendrils from Sufina caught Gwen before she struck the floor.

"Congratulations, Gwen." Henry moved to remove his Apprentice from Sufina's makeshift hammock. She had met all of his expectations and more.

Surya motioned to Melissa, who materialised a mid-tier mana potion.

"Drink this," her Opa commanded.

Gwen thanked him before swigging down the expensive restorative, feeling energised as the potion restored her mana reserves.

"Take it slow, let it infuse you," Henry advised, then smiled encouragingly. "We eagerly anticipate a demonstration of your new Familiars."

Gwen nodded. She sat cross-legged beside Sufina and mediated until she could distinctly feel that her Familiars stabilising.

"Alright." She took a deep breath, turning to her fatherly mentors. "For my next act..."


Gwen felt no fear nor hesitation as she completed the Conjuration sigil, inducing the lightning-charged mana to materialise a snow-white marten; its body sleek and elegant, its fur fluffy with static.

"Eee! Ee!" It trilled like a songbird, then ran around her ankles before leaping onto her shoulder, where it perched adorably, its whiskers sparking with electricity.

"An aesthetic docile-form," Henry remarked approvingly. “A lightning-weasel, from the looks of it. I assume the mongoose is its combat-form."

“Sufina has a combat-form?”

“Oh yes.” Henry nodded sagely. “She's terrifying when she’s mad.”

“Yes, yes, a pretty pet is all well and good, but is it strong?" Gwen's Opa preoccupied himself with finding out if he got his money's worth from the Summoning Circle, he pointed to the white marten on Gwen’s shoulders. "Let's see it do some damage."

Henry glanced at Sufina, who casually sprouted two dozen roving bushes in the distance, meandering aimlessly.

Gwen sent a mental command to her marten, envigoring it with a dose of lightning mana. Her creature leapt from her shoulder, landing dextrously, transforming as it did so. Its fur became jagged shards of electrified needles, its girth expanding until it attained the size of a meter-long mongoose. It leapt, transforming into a streak of blue and purple, instantly striking three targets with electric-charged bite-attacks.

It's like a taser, Gwen marvelled. A mongoose shaped taser.

The two old men nodded in satisfaction. The mongoose' speed was formidable. However, like many attacks that favoured speed, its power left something to be desired.

Gwen tapped into her empathic-link with the creature, asking if it had any range attacks.

Heeding her command, her mongoose crouched on all fours, raising its back. With a shuddering of fur, it blasted off hundreds of tiny, lightning-charged darts, each a sliver too small for the eye to discern.

'Pak! Pak! Pak!'

A flailing tree-dummy spontaneously transformed into a cactus.

'Ee!' An impulsive demand for spellcasting engendered in Gwen's mind.

"Lightning Bolt!" Gwen invoked her latest Evocation staple, sending out a line of blue-white lightning from the tip of her fingers.

"Good girl!" Surya clapped. "Ya got to tier three!"

Lightning Bolt was one of the most iconic signature spells of Evokers beside the ubiquitous Fireball, perfected by generations of Mages that came before her. At Alesia's behest, she had spent weeks practising the incantation and invocation, training with it until she was out of mana, then recovering with HDMs.

'Crack!'

To Gwen’s surprise, her mongoose's white bristles acted as a lightning rod much in the same way as her Guiding Bolt. Her cobalt bolt arced through the air, a blast of pure plasma, striking the cactus-shrub with unerring accuracy. The electrical blast then radiated through the bristles, creating small secondary electrical explosions between the pins. The tree glowed pure white for a split-second, then exploded in every direction.

"Eee! Ee!" The creature returned to its marten form, having spent its allotment of mana. To remain persistently in combat form would require a constant channel, to which Gwen was too inexperienced to maintain. Returning to her, it nudged Gwen's storage ring. She produced for it a small mana crystal, which it crushed like a dog biscuit.

"A brilliant Conjuration, Gwen." Surya seemed well-pleased with his investment. “Synergy attacks with Familiars are typically attained much later. Your Elemental Affinity may be greater now than your last assessment. What is it now?”

“I won’t be updating my Student Card until the Inter-High Tournament, Opa. Master says to keep my talents under wraps.”

“Do you have access to a Chamber Gwen?” Surya inquired eagerly.

“She can use the Observatory at the Tower,” Henry added. “Though I would advise discretion, many of those who work at the Tower has connections to the private schools."

They conversed until the creature had finished its meal. Gwen tried to recall her marten, but it instead ran to Surya and Henry, stood upon its two hind legs, then made a begging motion with its forepaws. The old men laughed, then each materialised an HDM for her Familiar. To Gwen's dismay and envy, the creature’s eyes glinted with mischievous delight, then stowed the crystals inside its mouth pouch.

"What are you going to name it?"

According to her Master, summoned creatures didn't have True Names until they reached higher tiers of sentience, until then, nicknames were equally, important, for they bound the Familiar to the Conjurer.

For Gwen, the moment she had seen her two creatures, she knew their names.

“Ariel,” She declared. “A Spirit of The Tempest.”

Though her instructors didn't know the inference, they found the name to be pleasing, its sound melodious to the ear.

“Eee! Ee!” Ariel seemed to like its name as well. It returned to her with its mouth full of crushed crystals, dropping motes of mana dust on her shirt as it chewed. Gwen waited until it was done before invoking the banishment command, returning Ariel to its pocket dimension.

“Well done.” The gathering readied themselves for the next Familiar.

“How’s your vitality?” Henry demanded. They had to suffuse Gwen with Sufina’s life-force during the ritual. For Gwen, summoning her Void Familiar meant that she would be suffusing her mana conduits with the Negatively charged Void matter.

“I feel fine, Master.” Gwen took a deep breath, vaguely aware that Sufina had protected her. “Shall I proceed?”

“Be careful,” Surya intoned worriedly.

Gwen called out to her serpent.

"Shaaa!" Came a reply in her mind. It refused to move from its pocket dimension.

“Caliban! Heel!” She called out affirmatively, her imperial tone compelling obedience from the netherworld ophidian.

It came.

The thing materialised like a grotesque drop of black ink. It fell onto the spent summoning circle, a slithering mass of darkness, wetly coalescing until it took on its physical body.

To Gwen and the other’s astonishment, its appearance was aesthetic.

The ophidian worm's sinuous body had a dark, ebony sheen, as though it sculpted from glossy obsidian. Its carapace-dermis absorbed the light of day, changing hue as it slithered. The thing's faceless head wasn't that terrifying maw Gwen had seen previously, but an elegant configuration akin to a Prince Rupert's drop. Within its torso, inky dashes of Void matter moved in abstract filigrees.

“My word, what a creature.” Henry raised a bushy brow, entirely surprised by the difference between expectation and reality. “To think even something from the Void can be beguiling and arresting! How wondrous the unknown can be!”

“Indeed!” Surya mused, his artist's eye twinkling. There was something strangely sensual and erotic about the phallic creature. Didn't they say that Familiars reflected their Master's psyches? He regarded his granddaughter, then again at the worm-thing, wondering why Gwen had chosen this thing out of all the unknown Void-things that could have manifested.

“Shall we see what it can do?” Henry asked. “Gwen, be very careful of its life-drain. Sufina, look after Gwen.”

Gwen nodded. She mentally commanded the serpent to strike one of the moving shrubs. Below, Caliban turned toward the bush with complete disinterest.

"Caliban! Attack!"

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She allowed a nip of Void-tinged mana to permeate her conduits.

"!"

Dizzying fatigue beset her body, filling her veins with ice.

Not far from Caliban, Henry and Surya were still admiring its glossy form when without warning, Caliban's carapace split to reveal a pulsating head of purple flesh. The creature opened its mouth, a lamprey's sucker lined with hooked teeth, then reared up to its full height.

“Jesus FUCK!” Surya cried out, almost tripping over himself in an attempt to back away.

“By the Magi!” Henry likewise fought back a mouthful of bitter revulsion.

Even at half the height of a grown man, Caliban was a terrifying sight to behold.

"Shaa! Shaa!"

Its faceless mien searched this way and that, locking onto the old men before moving intelligibly toward the shrubs. A drop of grey goo drooled from its puckering mouth.

“Bloody oath, Gwen, I just lost ten years of my life.” Surya clutched his chest with one hand.

Caliban! Melee! Gwen willed Caliban to attack. It slithered with surprising speed towards the shrubs, leaping off the platform and moving onto the grass. Where her worm ventured, life perished, leaving Surya's lawn trails of meandering grey-grass. Upon reaching its first target, Caliban coiled its body, then struck like a spring. Without so much as a plop, it tore clean through the wooden frame of the animated shrub, bursting through to the other side.

Range strike! Gwen fought its grudging compliance.

To Henry's and Surya’s abject horror, Caliban opened its lamprey’s mouth and shot forth a flesh-barb, a harpoon-tongue that leapt from its maw to pierce a shrub.

Then, to their growing horror, it pulled the non-sentient puppet, thrashing and twitching, towards itself.

Finally, as though insufficiently traumatising, its head distended, the carapace opening until it became gigantic and bulbous. The lamprey's mouth then widened, sucking the shrub into its maw.

When the last branch disappeared, Gwen sensed a mote of vitality returning to her body, restoring a little of what she had spent.

"Cali-"

Before Gwen could overcome her fascinated repugnance, her darkling spawn of Shub-Niggurath returned to her. Caliban had seen Ariel’s actions and thought it flattering to likewise rub up between her legs, making infinity circuits around her ankles.

Henry and Surya watched with bile-in-mouth as Gwen fed it a crystal. Below, the serpent's tentacle tongue snagging her fingers before swallowing crystal whole. It then turned to beg as Ariel had done, forcing both Henry and her Opa to discard a handful of shards.

Return! Gwen demanded. After collecting its prize, her ophidian worm slinked into the darkness of its pocket dimension to rest.

“Well, that was something.” Surya swallowed nervously.

“That’s one word for it.” Henry took a deep breath. “Gwen, I would use Caliban sparingly if possible.”

“He does seem a little excessive," Gwen agreed. Curiously, the goo from Caliban killed the grass but did not damage herself or her shoes.

“That thing’s a he?” Henry shuddered. “How can you tell?”

“Well… it is shaped rather like, you know…” Gwen made a shape with her hand.

“Right.” Henry coughed gently. "Familiars are sexless, by the way, at least until you acquire a Spirit.”

"A Spirit? Master?" If Henry meant a Spirit like Alesia's Crimson Caracal, that prospect would likely be in a very distant future.

“You know, I feel inspired.” Surya looked around and saw his sculpture workshop in the distance. “That thing was brutal and disgusting, but you had to admit, there was a kind of alien sensuality.”

Gwen and Henry looked at Surya blankly.

“I need to go. You two make yourself comfortable. Melissa! Tess! Work time!”

Surya stormed off. Tess and Mel apologised profusely. Gwen's Master waved his hand disinterestedly to show that he was not offended.

“So, now that we have that sorted.” Henry turned to his junior Apprentice and appraised the girl.

The schedule that he and Surya had set was militant, as much a test of her physical prowess as it was her will. It was designed to raise her foundational abilities for the Inter-high competition rapidly. There, Gwen would have to complete against prodigies from families reared on the finest of mana-rich cuisine, taught by the best tutors and instructors.

But they had made good progress. Ariel was an excellent beastie, a reliable companion with good growth potential: loyal, obedient and possessed a synergising ability.

That Caliban-beast, however, was a subject of future research. For now, it was best if Gwen avoided using it altogether. Void and Dust were two of the most dangerous Sanctioned Magic a Mage of the Tower could channel. Henry of all people knew its self-destructive power. Even a slip of the mind could lead Gwen down a path of tragedy and wretchedness.

Simply put, the girl was too weak and too inexperienced to wield Void Magic. He needed to ease her into it, ideally, have her exercise its powers under supervision. In time, her control over Conjuration and her Familiars will grow, mitigating the risks of self-harm. Unlike last time, Henry now knew the wisdom of patience.

Furthermore, there was also the matter of exposing Gwen to the other members of the Ten. Though exposure seemed unavoidable if Gwen wanted to have a career of any kind, she would be a surefire hit with the military bigwigs, desperate for an Ace to outfit their Aerial Assault Wings. Alesia had been a great Ace, but her personality was unsuited for military discipline.

He briefly recalled the heydays of the Coral Sea War, when Void Magic had so frightened the Demi-human tribes that they offered sacrificial tributes to sue for peace. The militant Faction drooled just thinking about the possibility of bringing back the 'good old days'. But their dominion had come at a personal cost to Henry. Would Gwen be able to maintain her sanity if she was commanded to wipe out a village filled with defenceless xeno-women and children?

“Master?” Gwen’s voice interrupted the ruminating Magister.

“Sorry, I was tidying up some thoughts,” Henry spoke softly, his glazed eyes once again lucid. “So, as I was saying, you should probably use Caliban sparingly. I fear he would draw unwarranted attention, perhaps even the attention of forces beyond our ken.”

“Beyond even the Tower’s knowledge?”

“Oh yes,” Henry replied. “It is rare, but not impossible for Demi-humans to be amongst the endless multitude of humanity. What I fear are secret cabals, people like Edgar, Mages who walk a darker path than we, who would take great interest in a girl like you.”

Gwen shivered.

"Of course, Gunther, Alesia and I will protect you. Still, discretion is advised."

“Shall I hide Caliban then?” Gwen questioned her Master, hiding her disappointment. She had been looking forward to putting her Familiars to use, even Caliban.

“Use your discretion,” Henry replied. “If they know, they know. I'll keep you safe. Talent attracts attention. There will always be those who are envious of talent, worship it, or seek to despoil other's gifts for selfish ends, but our Credo will always be those words you so admirably uttered.”

“Noblesse Oblige.”

“Yes.” Henry gave a small cough. Behind her Master, Sufina stirred. “You have another three months, cough, and that should be plenty of time to master the use of these two. I would think, cough, that you will be ready to work with Paul... cough…”

“We had best get going, Henry,” Sufina grumbled as her Master's coughing persisted. The Dryad produced a small pool of mead in her hand and allowed Henry to drink directly. Gwen aided by massaging her Master’s back as his chesty convulsion eased.

“Yes, best we get back to the grot,” Henry agreed. “Gwen, all the best to you, listen to your Grandfather, don’t be afraid to ask your brother and sister-in-craft for help. That’s what they are there for.”

“Thank you, Master.” Gwen bowed.

There was a flash of Conjuration mana, then they were gone - Teleportation, without the need for Circle or beacons. A tier 7 spell.

Gone looked around at the infinity pool, somewhat surprised to find that she was utterly alone. There were still dozen-odd animated shrubs that were wandering around the place, reminding her of a hypothesis that needed affirming.

She summoned Caliban again, her Familiar full of enthusiasm that it had been invoked twice instead of that upstart mongoose. Gwen portioned to it another mass of Void tinged mana, fighting back the sick in her chest. She watched as Caliban transform into that Lovecraftian nightmare, then gave it a mental command to ravaged the shrubs. With each animated bush that it destroyed, she could feel a bit of vitality returning to her, restoring a little of what she had spent. Before long, Caliban's cargo of Void mana depleted, returning to its aesthetic form with an air of satisfaction.

Interesting, Gwen smiled weakly to herself. If Caliban could somehow sustain her like this, then it was possible to have prolonged periods of usage. She sent for a mental command for Caliban to return, and the happy abomination returned to her, coiling up her waist and rubbing up against her cheek. In its docile form, the carapace was smooth and cool, like a serpent sculpted entirely from precious stone polished to perfection. Gwen tried to feed it another crystal, but the overexcited thing smeared grey goo all over her chin. Suddenly nauseous, she banished it into the pocket dimension.

“I guess I better head back…” She said to no one in particular.

Her subsequent three months of schedules were about to begin, and her next milestone was working odd-jobs for this 'Mac', Surya and Henry’s ‘war buddy’.

Like a child with a new toy, she couldn't wait to exercise her powers as both an Evoker and a Conjurer.

* * *

Back in the Grot, Henry lay in bed, cradled by his Familiar.

“Henry… my saplings are all gone,” Sufina reported to her master.

Henry sighed sadly.

“She's a curious one.” He shook his head. “I wonder if she'll be like her.”

“She won't. I like Gwen,” Sufina sulked cattily. “If you recall, I never liked that witch, not from the first day we met.”

“I suppose,” Henry remarked sternly. “But Gwen's Path is her own: one that can only be walked by oneself. If she possesses the means to overcome the fate of her kind, then she will do so without our interference. It's is not a problem of power or magic Sufina, this is…”

“The Human Condition,” Sufina finished for him. “So you keep saying.”

Henry unleashed another chain of hacking coughs. Sufina produced another dose of the Golden Mead - the distilled liquid of her life-force, drawn from the Wild Land grot of her heart tree, then fed it to her Master.

"Master, are you-"

“I am fine, a little over exerted by that Summon Circle.” Henry coughed. "It's been a while."

“You must be careful.”

“Still, Gwen worries me. My mind is not still.”

“Master?”

“I fear they will take her, Sufina. The Void talent is too precious. To them, she could be a priceless wellspring.”

“We'll protect her."

“What a dilemma.” Henry laughed bitterly. “Give her too much power, and she becomes a monster. Shelter her too much, and she becomes the tool of another. How hard it is to be free! Hiding her talent was wrong, Sufina, we didn’t know- how could we have known?"

Henry was almost in a trance now, half his consciousness taken by the mead, the other half treading the dark waters of some distant memory.

“It’s not the same…” Sufina stroked Henry’s hair. "Gwen is strong."

“Yes… not the same, not the same…” Henry’s speech slurred. “We won’t lose her, not like before… not like before- Oh, poor Lizzy! How we failed her!”

“Shu… sleep now," Sufina winced as the name broke Henry's lips. Entering her Master's unprotected mind, she drugged him to sleep, tapping into her Dryad's powers. "Henry… you need rest.”

As agony on Henry’s face slowly faded, Sufina laid her head upon his chest and listened to her Master's rhythmic breathing. As a Sprite, she knew not the meaning of sleep, and so she could sit beside Henry and warded his dreams against the past, thinking sweetly of Gwen; thinking bitterly of that woman who had hurt her master long ago.


When Gwen moved into her first apartment, the loneliness of coming home to an empty abode blindsided her. Previously, she had always shared dorms and rooms with girlfriends, and for short stints, poorly chosen boyfriends.

So she adopted two cats from the RSPCA.

Ariel and Caliban, just like from The Tempest, making her cranky old Prospero, the Conjurer supreme of Shakespeare's play.

Just as she was ready to embark on a life of being a forever-single cat mama, her very responsible vet told her that she shouldn't take the kittens home for another month - not until they were weaned and desexed.

It was the longest wait of her life.

For the next two months, Gwen relived that special hell, at the brink of her willpower as her Familiar tickled the inside of her brain, demanding to be let loose into the Material Plane, while she did her best to hide them from the world.

It was only on the weekends, in the privacy of Surya's estate that she could free her inhibitions, allowing her marten and ophidian free reign.

With the help of an exceptionally nutritious diet, she was tempering her body to sustain her Void Familiar. Even so, in combat, she could only keep Caliban empowered for two odd minutes before her vitality began to wane. Ariel, on the other hand, fed off her plentiful lightning and could be maintained for almost an hour.

As such, Gwen figured that Caliban would only be truly effective in an area with a significant amount of consumable biomass, such as that of a monster's den. Speaking to her Master, she hypothesised that Caliban's strength lied in its miniscule mana cost and high vitality-drain, which had to be offset by an external source of vitality.

"It's an extraordinary creature, I agree," her Master had remarked. "But, as with Evocation, avoid using the Void until you grow stronger. Take measured steps, don't run."

She promised to remain vigilant.

Episodic interruptions aside, the grind continued. Each morning, Gwen jogged with Debora, herself becoming a notable Transmuter. Time had seemed to restore Debora to a sunny disposition, as well as reawakening her competitive streak. During one of their sessions, she once again implored Gwen to include her on the team, to which Gwen agreed to give her priority as their first choice.

Lessons with Alesia also continued, fortifying a number of her tier two and three spells. Concurrently, Gunther and her Master taught Gwen new Conjuration spells in addition to Evocation staples.

Lightning Blade was a manifestation which allowed her to conjure a persistent blade of energy, it was suitable for close combat and possessed a paralytic effect. Gwen dubbed it 'The Taser'.

Warding Bolt allowed her to create a floating energy sphere that persisted for several minutes, striking three times at any targets that came close. A particular quality of Lightning, Gwen noted, was that even defensive spells were overtly offensive, subscribing to the philosophy that the best defence was offence.

When Gwen requested non-lethal spells, Master Henry had sent over two scrolls for debilitating manifests. Blinding bolt, which caused optic damage, and Thunderclap, which caused the enemy to be deafened and disorientated. Upon receiving the spells, Gwen saw no reason why they should be separate in the first place. After all, stun grenades existed in her old world. She made the idea known to Alesia, and the two worked to create an original spell that, though lacking damage, could induce blind, deafen, and disorientation simultaneously. Additionally, thanks to her Conjuration and Evocation, she could cast both the spell in a persistent, globular variation or directly as an explosion.

Not one for originality, Gwen named it 'Flashbang'.

The most interesting of her new spells was a persistent target spell in the form of a cloud called Call Lightning that randomly discharged Lightning Bolts at irregular intervals. Gwen gushed when she realised it worked wonders with Guiding Bolt and Ariel’s static needles.

Thursday nights were spent with Gunther.

During one such training session, she discovered that though Gunther's Radiant Shield was a molecule-thin film of light, they somehow blocked all her best spells. When queried, he smirked and told her to work on basic Abjuration, scoffing at Gwen's dismay when she parroted that only Abjurists could engender 'real' Shields.

"Never underestimate the power of innovation and hard work," he wisely intoned.

He then proudly introduced Gwen to the concept of Single Spell Mastery.

“There are many ways in which a Mage builds on their Spell List and the most arduous of which is absolute mastery over a single low-tier invocation."

“How would that help?” Gwen asked quizzically. “That seems counterproductive. Why not train for higher tiers?”

“Not all Mages can reach higher tiers in multiple schools like you and I.” Gunther shook his head at her naivety. “A Mage's power is bottlenecked by talent, by affinity, and by access to resources. For example Gwen, how many crystals did you use in the last half a year?”

Gwen did the math.

"About... fourteen hundred LDM crystals and .... one hundred HDM crystals?"

"Yes - and that's excluding your tuition fees, your special diet, the magic items that were used to train you, the ensorceled training grounds. You've spent close to a five hundred HDMs just at school, Gwen. How much did you say your father made?"

"... two thousand a year, give or take."

"You see my point?"

"I see your point, Gunther," Gwen mumbled guiltily.

"This is why mundane Mages may only focus on low-tier spells. However, they can become so proficient in the casting of say, the basic Magic Missile, that from simplicity comes spectacle. Some magic can be so ingrained within a Mage's mind that they may invoke it in a fraction of the time, it may be more potent, it could cost far less mana, all independent of the Mage's initial School of Magic. A sterling example would be 'Flight', a staple necessity for all Combat Mages."

Gwen nodded demurely.

"Personally, my Shield spell is the result of two-decades of training. For Quasi-Elementalists like us, poor defence is a huge weakness. But...”

Gunther asked Gwen to come closer, when she was almost touching his chest, he summoned a semi-dome Shield which enveloped both of them.

“Feel it," he suggested. "Tell me what you think."

For a mischievous moment, Gwen pondered the inappropriateness of giving Gunther's washboard abdominals a 'cop'. Thankfully, decades of sexual harassment training dissuaded Gwen from her hormonal impulse.

Gingerly, she reached out and felt Gunther's Shield barrier, to her surprise, it had the texture of cornstarch.

“These are... motes of pure mana!” She exclaimed. “You're using a double layered shield with pure mana wedged in-between?"

“Give it a punch.” Gunther grinned.

Gwen punched the barrier and felt the plasticity instantly grow rigid.

A non-Newtonian fluid? She was in shock. Could physics apply to mana? It seemed to her that magic was 'magical' precise because the conjured elements appeared to override earthly laws of physics. How else could she summon electricity without a dynamo, or Yue conjured fire without friction or a source for fuel?

“My 'Shield' is a Signature Spell of mine,” Gunther informed her conspiratorially, amused by her awe.

But Gwen was awed for the wrong reasons. She understood that where a normal Mage had a relatively equal volume of mana dispersed within a single Shield, Gunther had motes of pure mana manifested as fine particles within a parallel membrane. When an external force struck the voluminous ‘fluid’, it compressed the space between the motes, hardening the Shield while consuming the attack's kinetic and elemental energy.

“Incredible…” Gwen discerned that perhaps, she was similarly capable of using this method. Though it was beyond her ken to create a double walled Shield, the theory was sound.

“I bet… that I can penetrate your Shield.” she turned to Gunther mischievously. “What do I get if I succeed?”

“Ho? Bluster and arrogance, how Alesia of you!” Gunther lifted one corner of his mouth in a lopsided grin. "Name your price."

"If I can penetrate..." Gwen coughed. "... your Shield, you have to teach it to me."

“I've never sold the spell's secret, not even to the Tower, for CCs, HDMs or favours.” Gunther grinned. "But you've piqued my curiosity, come on."

She took a stance.

"Lightning Blade!"

Resembling a katara, a hovering mass of cobalt lightning crackled above her wrist.

“Promise not to move?”

“You have my word.”

'SPAK!'

Gwen slashed the katara over Gunther's Shield, watching the mana congeal, the white-line healing in a matter of seconds.

Gunther smirked.

“Not going to move at all?”

“Not at all.”

"No backsies."

For her second attempt, Gwen slowly pushed the dagger against the surface of the Shield, watching the surface sizzle. Slowly the hardened particles of compressed mana dispersed, becoming viscose as Gwen pushed ever so gently inwards.

Just the tip, she bit back an immature smile as her blade penetrated her brother-in-craft's pride.

Gunther baulked as the blade slid slowly through his Shield, millimetre by millimetre, surely and steadily.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Impossible!” His steady voice rose an octave. “How did you know? Did Master tell you?”

Mages were inherently a secretive bunch. It was especially bad form for a Master to tell one apprentice the secret of another.

“Oh, it's not hard to figure out…” Gwen dispersed her conjured blade.

Gunther regarded Gwen with renewed respect.

“You win.” He placed both hands against his hip. "I'll teach it to you. Got time to visit the Cog Chamber? Copying my Astral projection will drastically reduce the time it takes to learn Secondary Spells."

Besides Gwen, Yue and Elvia had each reached their milestones. Yue managed to attain whatever conditions Alesia had set, informing them one night, ecstatic and happy, that Alesia had made her an offer of Apprenticeship. All that was left was for Yue to finish high school.

“I wonder what that means for my Military Service?” Yue pondered aloud. “Do I serve with Alesia, does she have a Unit? Maybe it's a special unit? Do you think I'll be in the Special Air Service?”

Yue’s fantasies aside, Gwen had no idea either. She would have to ask her sister-in-craft.

On the other hand, was she in the same boat as Yue? Was she was still subject to conscription. Without incident, Gwen knew she would be starting her service November next year. If she chose, she could muster for physicals in January and join the Reserves by July, as Jun and Henley had done.

Comparatively, Elvia would be absent due to classes for Advanced Restoration, Combat Triage, and Internal Medicine. Where Gwen and Yue’s regular instructions involved extensive knowledge of Magical Creatures and Spellcraft theory, Elvia’s were far more specialised.

“We’ll be together again come next year!” Elvia promised when Gwen lamented the separation. “We have to team up for the final exam in June after all! I’ll be sure to have more buffs and blessings in my repertoire!”

"Gwen, it's time for you to gain some practical experience," her Master informed her one morning.

"Yes, Master." Gwen bowed her head.

She wasn't sure if she looked forward or dreaded the prospect of employing her spells in the real world. Socking Sufina's puppets was one thing, tasering a real person? Electrocuting a guy with Lightning Bolt? Her only solace was the prevalence of healing magic that made most injuries survivable.

Regardless, the day of promise was upon her. The academic year ended, and students left the school for extracurricular programs suited to their specialities. Elvia would be away with her uncle. Yue had training with Alesia and would be doing subjugation fieldwork down the coast. On their last jog together, Debora had told Gwen that her family had arranged her to work part-time with a famous Transmuter Magus. As for herself, she informed the others that she had part-time work, which was technically not a lie.

First thing in the morning, her Opa called, informing her that all had been arranged and that Mark 'Mac' Chandler, proprietor of the Black Cat Agency, would be expecting her.

“Dress in your Sunday best,” Surya advised her. “That's what Mark requested, anyway. He's a good bloke, and you can trust him. Otherwise, I'll personally punch his lights out."

Oh yeah, Gwen recalled. Mark was another one of their 'old mates'. Out of curiosity, she asked her Opa if there was an old codger’s club where all his war buddies congregated, mayhap an RSL which they frequented. Surya's sobering response was that there wasn’t enough of them left.

“Terrible time, that was.” Surya shook his head sadly. “You kids don't you how good you have it with your updated Spellcraft metrics. Back then, our spells were horse-piss, the enemy out-numbered us, and anti-magical beasts training was non-existent. Guerrilla warfare was a shit-show. The life expectancy for a flight of Mages landing in the North Queensland jungle was about fifteen minutes. If you survived that, then you had until nightfall.”

"Jesus," Gwen mouthed. "Sorry."

“You got 'Mac' to thank for me being here, he and Henry and..." Surya cleared his throat. "Mark saved our asses plenty of times with his array of Arcane Eye, Detect Invisibility, and Telepathic Bond. When you meet him, be polite, listen to what he says, and don't piss him off!”

Feeling her Opa's worry, Gwen was keen on making a good impression.

Feeling curious and speculative, she picked through her other wardrobe and produced a navy button-up one-piece dress that taped around her torso and ended above her knees. The weather warmed as summer came, so Gwen forwent the stockings and matched the dress with her Mary-Janes. For a formal touch, she carefully combed her hair until it fell neatly over her shoulders, then applied a light touch of gloss, liner and mascara.

The result was a prim young lady who wouldn't look out of place during Melbourn Cup luncheon.

With an address in hand, she made the journey to Surry Hills by public transport. Her destination was not too far from the transit station, where she walked the rest of the way, enjoying the brisk Sunday air.

Her destination was an old sandstone building that looked ancient and archaic. It was a terrace, a converted working-class home now among some of the most expensive properties in Sydney. The building had a lovely red door set against intricate ironworks. The wrought signage showed a black cat.

Gwen pressed the buzzer and was surprised to hear a husky, whiskey voice asking who she was.

“I am Gwen.” she smiled at the glassy scrying crystal atop the door. “You were expecting me, I believe.”

The door opened, and Gwen was momentarily stunned by the scent of heavy perfume assaulting her nostrils. A heavily made-up blonde woman stared her down, wearing audacious lingerie.

Gwen blushed, catching a wayward nip. The woman, whom Gwen dubbed 'the Madam,' looked upon her with a critical eye.

“Ain'tcha a little young for this line of work?”

It took Gwen another agonising few seconds to realise her mistake. The red door, the barred windows, the perfume, the exposed nip. Damn those old codgers, where the hell did they send her?

“May I inquire as to the address of this Black Cat Cafe?” Gwen forced a smile to her lips. It wasn't that she looked down on ladies of the night, it was that right now, it was noon. “I may have mistaken the address.”

The woman grinned with too-wide and too-red lips, producing a card from her cleavage.

'Black Cat Bordello.' The card read. 'For your pleasure.'

From within the corridor, Gwen could see other women in similar states of undress.

“Right.” Gwen moved back stiffly. “I have the wrong address.”

“You better hope so!” The madam laughed in that croaky voice of hers. “You working here would shut us down in a heartbeat!”

Gwen turned to leave, but the Madam caught her arm.

“You’re not entirely in the wrong place,” she chuckled. “The place you’re looking for is two doors down, look for the print ‘Black Cat’, not the animal.”

“Thanks.”

“You gonna be working for Mark?” The madam asked curiously.

“Yes Ma’am,” Gwen said carefully.

“Well then, we’ll be seeing each other.”

“Thank you,” Gwen replied cooly, her friendly mien juxtaposing her scarlet face. Let's hope we don’t see each another again, Gwen thought to herself. At any rate, she had been the idiot. To think she had mistaken the picture for the address.

Two doors down, Gwen found the right door, a white one this time, set into a sandstone facade. The frontage was a wild growth of neglected native shrubbery, within which may have been a set of tables and chairs some years ago. The paint was peeling a little from the door, and flakes of it fell when she knocked.

Doesn't look used, Gwen puzzled her mind at the sight. Was Mark's operation on hiatus?

“Come in, its open,” a distant voice called from the second floor.

She turned the knob and felt the accumulated oxidisation groan. When the door finally opened, Gwen entered a private museum.

Or at least, a place that had the look and feel of a museum. Hundreds of items small and large hung on the walls. The collection consisted of bits and pieces of magical beasts, feathers, claws, patches of skin, and what looked like a desiccated paw. Other collectables were anthropological, such as painted tribal masks, spearheads, the pommel of a sword. Glass cabinets lined the corridor, filled with trophies, scraps of documents, pieces of minerals, and what looked to be fragmented mana stones.

“Up here!” a voice called out. Gwen noted amongst the chaotic details of the terrace's interior; there was a set of stairs which lead upwards.

To her surprise, the claustrophobia prominent on the ground floor opened into an attic office that made from a spacious living room. The decor was strictly academic, reminding Gwen of an Oxford study. A skylight working in conjunction with twin bay windows lit the room with a gentle ambience, revealing an ancient table in the middle of the room, inundated by a scattered bric-a-brac of, pens, inks and bottles. In Gwen's measured eye, the impressive collection could only belong to Dr Indiana 'Mark' Jones.

With a shuddering gasp, notebooks apart to reveal a gaunt-faced old gent with a frighteningly high domed skull. Mark 'Mac' Chandler wore gold-rimmed spectacles with an intellectual air, plagued by a receding hairline. His eyes, two dark obsidian orbs, appraised Gwen as she approached.

"So you are Gwen Song,” he spoke with a voice that rose and fell like listing timber, clear and pronounced, each syllable bitten with absolute precision. "Welcome to the Black Cat."

Gwen bowed, feeling that a man of this calibre and seniority would prefer austerity over frivolity.

"You're probably wondering, 'what cafe?'" He smiled with thin, pursed lips.

Gwen nodded. The only sign that this place may have been a cafe was the overgrown garden and those sets of cafe tables and chairs.

"It is a long story; perhaps I will tell it once we're acquainted."

"Of course, Sir."

Gwen stood before Mark like a young trooper at attention. Her Mary-Janes were comfortable, but any shoes that came with a proportioned heel suffered the existential contrariety of style and comfort. It was time to turn on the old charm.

"So, Henry tells me that you not only abide by his beloved Credo but understands it better than our Faction's veterans."

"It was a moment of inspiration, nothing more." Gwen dropped the 'Sir' to see if that could ease the formality between them. When Marc's eyes caught the light, she noticed a pale white tinge. Was the man using Divination on her?

"I see. Henry also tells me that you are the recipient of an incredibly rare and unusual talent. Not one, but two schools of magic, moreover, you're blessed by both Lightning and Void. Is that correct?"

"That's correct."

"Good, care to answer a few questions for me, Gwen?"

"Of course."

"What do you think of the lesser evil?"

"The lesser evil?"

"Indeed." Mark persisted in the unexpected tangent. "There lie two choices ahead of you in a moment of crisis. It is the eleventh hour. To defeat a powerful enemy, you must sacrifice a companion Mage. To fail is the greater evil, for behind you lie ten thousand Non-Magical civilians, many of which may yet awaken to become your peers. But only by sacrificing a dear friend, can others be saved. What is the right choice?"

What a curious question. Gwen pondered. Was this a test? Was he testing to see if I was a classist?

"Would you like the answer to what I ought to do, or what I would do, Sir?"

Mark raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"No hesitation, and two answers already?" He seemed pleased by her spontaneous response. "Go on."

Gwen took a deep breath.

"In a dilemma, one must consider the utility of one's actions. Would my companion Mage posses more utility than Ten Thousand NoMs? If the answer is yes, then I would save the Mage. If the answer is no, then his or her sacrifice is not in vain. If there are no definite means of measuring that utility, then the moment is beyond right or wrong. Either action is acceptable."

Mark considered her answer.

"How cold-blooded. How astute. And what of your second answer?"

"May I speak frankly?"

"Of course."

Gwen thought of Yue and Elvia, then summoned up the courage to speak her heart.

"To err… is to be human. In the eleventh hour, I do not believe I am capable of giving a shit about right and wrong. At that moment, I would gladly take on the burden of ten thousand dead to save my friend. I am not a Saint, Sir, and doubt I would ever be. All that I can ask for is to be understood and mayhap, forgiven."

Mark gave an unexpected start, moving rigidly for a moment before he began to chuckle, his laughter resonating across the chamber.

"You are certainly not one of Henry’s Paladins," Mark stood from the chair. Gwen noticed that he was the tallest man she had seen yet. The man was almost two metres, stick thin and elongated. He wore charcoal pants, brown oxfords and a dark vest against an ivory silk shirt.

"Tell me, Gwen, do you truly believe in the Credo? Be honest with me."

"I believe it, truly," Gwen brought a smiled to her face. "But not to the exclusion of all else."

"A fair answer..." Mark appeared to consider her words. He then extended a hand. "I am beginning to like you, Gwen Song."

"Thank you. You're rather interesting yourself. Mr Chandler."

They shook, his fingers long and skeletal, so long as to swallow her hand.

“I wonder what manner of a life you must have lived, to possess such wisdom at the age of sixteen,” he remarked quizzically.

Gwen began to sweat.

"Not that its any of my business. You're Henry's ward, and so you are mine also by proxy. Come, I have tasks for you."

He walked over to a side-table and pulled out a chair.

"This will be your workstation. After a mission, you shall provide a written report. I believe you are proficient in this?"

"More than proficient."

"Good. Now take a seat, and I will explain."

Gwen walked over to her new table. Obediently, she sat.

There was already a file on her table; a dossier that looked like a classified document. A Quest! Gwen's heart pounded. What could it be? Monster subjugation? Recover item? Defending a particular location? Was she working with a group or solo? She had learned about all of this in one of her classes.

A point of difference between this world and hers was that those with talent and tolerance for risk could always find gainful employment in resolving the one-thousand-and-one problems caused by the chaotic flux of energies.

For her new home was a place where boogymen were real. Here, destruction stood over men’s shoulders day and night, where within the woods, monsters had marauded since time immemorial: for the Wildland was the devil's preserve; the Frontier, humanity's last stand. From within the Shield Barrier, the affirming flame of civilisation kept eradication and enslavement at bay.

Therefore, for necessity, adventure and profit, men and women practised Spellcraft. And Gwen, only sixteen, was readying herself to join the ranks of those fine Mages seeking to make the world a better place.

She opened the dossier and scanned through the brief.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. Was this a joke?

"An... escort quest?"

She stared at Mark in horror.

"I have to escort an Escort?!"