"Gwen!"

"Debbie!"

The two girls reciprocated cheeks.

Surya observed the exchange, his face full of benevolence, his heart finally returned to its usual cadence. In light of Henry's ruthless sentencing of Mark, leaving his cucu perempuan with his old friend had been no different to sending merino into a Hob's den. As such, for the first half of the day, Surya had assumed a foul and disgruntled disposition while Gwen tied together loose ends to the fiasco, casting such a moody shadow that all his assistants, Debora included, fled from his scorn.

Around mid-day, Surya received a Message spell from Kilroy. As he listened, his face alternated between shock, calm, and finally euphoria. At long last, he had received permission for a Teleportation Circle at the estate. Such a thing cost as much as three figures in HDM crystals, but considering her circumstances after Blackheath, Surya would prefer Gwen not taking public transport for some time.

As the sun fled, Surya's NoM servant served supper. Locals working for the Magus, they had been apprehensive at first but stayed on once they realised that the 'dangerous' Mage was just a benign, eccentric artist.

And so it was that the five sat in front of the infinity garden - Surya, Gwen, Debora, Melissa and Tess, enjoying a supper of tender roast and heirloom vegetables. Surya's assistants were not privy to Gwen's secrets, Debora not to the entirety of it, and so the conversation was kept light-hearted and full of sweet nothings. Surya commended that Debora was performing exceptionally well in learning the Bronze-skin techniques and that she would be of great help in the future. In his esteemed opinion, the athletic, earnest girl got along well with his other two apprentices, and together they had been making some rather ambitious new works. Following dinner, classic Pavlova with fresh strawberries and cream, paired with a sweet Moscato dessert wine capped off the night. As was usual for the tablelands, the air stayed sultry even after the sun dipped against the horizon. The girls had left their glasses untouched at first but seeing it served and that no one seemed to mind, proceeded to sinfully sip away at the scented amber liquid.

For Gwen, the frizzante was a Godsend. It wasn't the supernatural mead that Sufina supplied, but actual alcohol, pure and clear and natural, full of euphoric buzz. When was the last time she had drunk alcohol? Gwen couldn't recall; after all, that had been a lifetime ago. She stole a nip here and there, her glass perpetually topping itself thanks to the nefarious designs of Tess and Mel, likely wondering if an another Gwen lurked under her unflappable calm.

When the three bottles finally spilt the last drop, the four girls were rip-roaring with laughter like old chums. The sun died a glorious red death, forming that timeless Outback panorama of burning plains and flaming skies. Surya announced his retirement and stumbled off to sleep in his workshop and Mel and Tess returned to their rooms in the west wing. Debora also retreated, leaving Gwen by herself to ponder the insignificance of man under the horizon-spanning Milky Way; wondering if this was the same constellation as her old world.

"He that has the steerage of my course… direct my sail…" She said to no one in particular, too groggy to recall the rest of the lines. By now, she was flushed and sweaty. The nights on the tablelands were unpleasant at best. She would have to beg Opa for some cooling glyphs in the guest rooms. Just sitting here, without even moving, she was feeling beads of sweat catching in the folds of her cotton dress. She would need more clothes for her month-long stay as well, but for now, she could borrow from Tess and Mel.

Unsteadily, Gwen made her way to her room in the dark, threw off her dress, and fell comfortably into her bed. She felt flushed with the heat of fermented muscats, relaxed and happy. So many knots have been untied, and Gwen felt safe for the first time since arriving in this world.

The sheets were coarse and stuck to her skin, but her mind was already elsewhere. She pondered her parallel lives, measuring one against the other. Though Gwen had first rejected the Gwen of this world, her alternative life had grown on her. In old Sydney, she had left behind many regrets. Of the four-burner stove that was family, health, career and friends; Gwen had shut the one labelled family entirely, redirecting its time and energy towards health and wealth. She rarely even had time for friends, and her romantic pursuits had been a horror. Now, in this world, through uncertain trials and tribulations under risk of life and limb, she had reached a kind of equilibrium.

For friends, she had Yue, Elvia, and now Debora. For a mentor, she had her Master, Henry. For family, she had Opa, who gave her a taste of belonging she had not savoured in her parallel life. As for her career— that was yet uncertain.

Bodily, she stretched out luxuriously on the double bed, ready for the lull of blissful sleep. Internally, her mind wandered through the darkness, careless touching this and that.

There was a nervous moan beside her as Gwen poked something soft with her nails.
She froze and slowly turned her head.
In the dim light, she met Debora's flaming face.

"I er... think I have the wrong room."

That was the truth. The east wing of the complex had six identical bedrooms in the hopes that one day family would gather to celebrate the material achievements of House Huang. Unfortunately, that particular project ignited when Surya, Helena and Kwan burned their bridges. As a result, the east wing of the estate was entirely untouched by human occupation. Moreover, the doors had been neither labelled nor were easily distinguishable in the gloom.

Flushing with embarrassment, Gwen tried to lift herself from the bed, but the disorientating influence of wine sent her rolling off its side. She yelped as she crashed onto the timber floor, face up and writhing in agony.

"Jesus, are you alright, Gwen?" There was something off about Debora's voice; it lacked its usual tenor and clarity. In the low light of the stars, Gwen spotted her friend's face.

Debra had been crying.

With a tump, Debra joined her. Her friend had gotten up too quickly and had likewise lost her balance. Stumbling onto the floor, she rolled onto her knees and elbows, then came to a rest beside Gwen.

The two of them laid side by side in awkward silence.
Perhaps it was the alcohol, but Gwen soon broke the solemn moment with a chortle. Debora joined in a moment later. Before they knew it, they were both laughing out loud, albeit quietly— it was simply too hot for locomotion.

Finally, Gwen managed to think of something to say.

"Sorry…" she apologised. "For pulling you into all of this."

Debora said nothing, merely breathing arrhythmically, trying to cool herself on the cold timber floor. In the darkness, Gwen could see her friend's body outlined in the silhouetted sheen, lit by a silvery light. Unbidden, Debora's crests and valleys, mounds and falls quaked a little from the emotions beneath her honeyed skin.

"I didn't know you were from such an amazing family, Gwen..." Debora muttered finally with a tone that was forlorn and lost. "I'd always thought you were just like me, that we were close in stature."

"It's just Grandfather," Gwen admitted. "You don't want to meet the rest of the family, trust me."

She thought about what she had said, then added an addendum.

"Richard's alright. He's a funny guy."

Debora wasn't listening.

"I thought… I thought we weren't so different. I just had to work harder. Until that is, I met Master Henry, and Alesia, and that Gunther guy..." Debora's voice was growing more affected with every word. Besides her, Gwen felt Debora's emotions mounting with her irregular breath, her chest rising and falling, expanding and contracting. "They're not ordinary people Gwen, and they all wanted to help you. That means that you are no longer an average person. You're in another world now, how could I catch up to that? How's that fair?"

Her voice broke.

"You're going to be so far away, so far and out of reach. I don't even know what I am doing anymore, Gwen. Why am I trying so hard?"

"Debbie..." Gwen wanted to comfort her friend, but she had nothing to add. Whatever comforting words she spoke would merely be sophistry. Could she promise Debora that she would carry her? That would be supreme arrogance and an insult; it would only make the matter worse.

In the dark, Debora turned to face her. The girls' eyes were hot with upset, making snail trails down the sides of her cheeks.

"What's it like to have a mere mortal ask to join your party?" Debbie uttered devastatingly, her tone both bittersweet and tinged with despairing misery. "Was it funny? Did you and the girls have a lark?"

"No, of course not, Debbie..." Gwen scanned her memory for something intelligible to say, but her brain was so overwhelmed by the amber fever of the muscat that her thoughts felt like sifting through cotton.

"When I think of you and Yue and Elvia, seeing the world and moving beyond the Shield Wall— going on your adventures, leaving for tier 1 cities. And I am stuck here in this terrible Frontier town next to that horrid snake— I just..." Debora sobbed, a quiet, heartbroken wail.

Gwen repressed a pang of guilt. Debora had not known that the serpent was benign, nor could she inform Debora of the truth. Gwen understood, though. Even drunk, she completely understood why Debora felt so alienated, helpless and alone. Her friend had been tenacious, stubborn and competitive. The competition with herself had been a driving force, especially after their Awakening. Yet, she was now out of reach, entirely out of reach, forever. Was there something she could do? She wasn't sure, but she wanted to try. Gwen scanned through her memories for her absent maternal memories, and found involving Percy, whimpering in the night because their father was working and their mother was gone. She had held him then, brother and sister, his face against her bosom. She had rubbed his back and cradled the babe until he grew exhausted. The next morning, Percy was good as new.

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

Unsure of what else to do, Gwen reached out with her slender arms and pulled in the sobbing Debora, stroking her hair with one hand while whispering kind words with her husky voice.

"Shhh... it's okay, Debbie— everything will be alright. You can make it with us to the same university. We can even join the same military unit. We'll be together on adventures big and small. I don't know if we will be together forever, but it's going to be great while we are—"

Debora stifled her sobs as Gwen spoke of halcyon days ahead.
The room now grew unbearably hot. The diffusion of emotions had made it stuffy and stifling. They would have to take a breather outside and cool down.

Her friend withdrew from Gwen's embrace, pulling back far enough that they slept face to face.

Unlike her old world, there was no light pollution in the Outback. Up above, the Milky Way glimmered with promises, an ambient sea of stars stretching from boundary to boundary. The moon itself hung full and bright, casting a pale white glow.

And under that hanging glow, Debora's eyes were as bright as the amber flutes of Muscato they had savoured, twinkling with hope under the silver light of the glimmering heavens. Opposite, Gwen's elfin face was pale as fragile milk.

Then Debora kissed her.
Not a peck, nor a tap, but a full kiss on the mouth.

Her friend's lips were soft and moist, enveloping Gwen's own, imploring her to respond. There was a slight, wet suction; Debora's tongue was hinting at better things to come. It was Gwen's first kiss, and yet it wasn't.

Arguably, Debora kissed well, and Gwen sensed this wasn't her first rodeo. Nonetheless, the uninvited act was shocking enough for the groggy fog of the grapes to fall away.

She pulled their lips apart, a spider thread of saliva appearing and disappearing between them. A scent of sultry grapes lingered on their flushed lips.

"I... should go," Gwen said softly, this time carefully and patiently removing herself from the floor.

"Gwen," Debora begged, her eyes full of panic.

"I am alright, Debbie…" Gwen replied softly. She didn't want her friend to feel bad.

"I am sorry," Debora began, trying to get up herself.

"It's okay. I was a little lost there was well." Gwen confessed, controlling her cadence.

Debora tried to stand, but she was still a little knock-kneed and trembling. Perhaps Debbie was afraid that she would hate her now? If Gwen was a particular kind of woman, she could make Debora's life a living hell. Still, knowing Debora's family and their religious attendance of Sunday Mass, the revelation was a big surprise. But then again, did Debora like her in that way? Gwen wasn't exactly sure, but she was the adult here. She understood puberty and all its confusing, hormonal contradictions.

"It's fine Debs." Gwen leaned over.

To Debora's surprise, she kissed her ice-cold forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow."

There was silence as Gwen retrieved her dress and moved to the door.
She opened it and waited.

"Thank you," Debora replied, her voice full of allaying gratitude.
Gwen likewise breathed out a sigh of discrete relief.

"Night, Debs."

"Goodnight."

Gwen found the right room next door. She doubled checked that it was unoccupied, and finally fell into bed.

This time, there was the lull of undisturbed sleep.

* * *

Gwen was given the luxury of sleeping until midday. After everything that had happened in Blackheath, Her body finally caught up to the banked hours of fatigue that had been kept away by Golden Mead and adrenaline.

Half-starved, she politely asked the NoM servants to make her a cold-cut sandwich from the previous day's leftovers.

She then sat by the infinity feature and considered what she should be doing.

There was a feeling of emptiness on her fingers. She had lost her storage ring, and by that same measure, she had lost the notebook Henry and Surya had painstakingly made for her. She had memorised the routines, of course, but she had wanted it as a keepsake. All in all, the only she had retained was the jade pendant, for which she had Caliban to thank.

Gwen shivered.

Near the craft quarter, Opa emerged from his steaming foundry with his assistants in tow. A broad grin of anticipation written all over his earnest face.

"Afternoon."

"Afternoon, Opa."

"Got some nice snoozes in?"

"Yes, Opa."

"Good, good…"

They bantered for a while as drinks materialised.
Surya rummaged around the pouch of his work-satchel, finally producing a small wooden box. He opened it and displayed it to Gwen magnificently. It was a diamond ring.

"Here." he threw it toward her. "Commissioned by the Master of the Ten himself."

Gwen caught it in one hand and opened her palm, examining the intricately crafted piece of jewellery. The "diamond" was a creature's Core, of course, merely prepared in the style of a brilliant square emerald, refracting a scintillating pattern of four distinct quadrants.
Gwen marvelled at its brilliance. Diamonds were a girl's best friend after all, even in a world of dungeons and dragons.

"The cut was done an Asscher Inscriber. The Core is from your Master's private collection. All I had to do was inscribe and mount it. Try it on."

Gwen slipped the ring onto her dominant ring finger, the band shrinking to fit.

"This is— a medium Storage Ring!" Gwen gasped. "There's something else as well."

"There's the usual teleportation beacon," Surya advised with a tone of pride in his work. "The core was powerful enough to sustain a few more spells, so I also put Water Breathing and Feather Fall in there too, for you know, contingency."

"Oh, Opa! Thank you!" Gwen hugged her grandfather, making a note of needing to thank her Master as well. A Storage Ring with additional Glyphs! It was worth hundreds if not a thousand HDMs!

"Hee, hee, hee…" Surya grinned, very much pleased with himself. "There's a glamour applied so it would look unassuming. Don't worry about showing it off."

They conversed some more about the uses of the ring, its method of activation, as well as important do's and don'ts.

"So, you wanna do some work or are you going to get fat off Opa's land?"

"Of course, I love part-time jobs," Gwen cooed delightfully. "What can I help with?"

"Well, Henry's sent over the spell books for Detection, Message and a few useful Transmutation spells to get your foundation started, but you'll be working on those in private. Meanwhile, I got a Roo problem happening now that the lakes all dried up. The damn things are ripping apart my fences trying to get to the water here."

That was no surprise, even in her old world, kangaroos were becoming a pest.

"I'll ask around the local area. You and Debs can probably head around and do some corralling and culling. Roos are good for eating too, and their pelts are worth good LDMs. With that ring, you should be able to bring back two ta three at least."

"How many Roos are we talking here, Opa?"

"Oh, you know, swarms of the buggers, a few hundred? A thousand? Who knows? They're just big grasshoppers. The NoMs loved eating the stray ones, but the big reds are far too big and powerful for them to fight. So make sure you get the local farmers to spot you while you're out there."

Swarms of two-meter tall big red kangaroos, Gwen grimaced. That doesn't sound too dangerous. If she could improve the dietary condition of the locals as well, that was an additional boon.

"Alright, I'll go get ready, Opa. I need to get some appropriate clothing though, are there any shops around here?"

"You gotta go into town, got Crystals on you?"

Gwen shook her head; she was alas, penniless.
Putting on her best face, she blinked expectantly at Opa.

Surya grinned, savouring Gwen's supplicating expression. He passed a hand over the table expensively and dispensed a small mound of crystals both high and low in density. Another pass and a few rolls of green notes fell onto the pile.

"Happy shopping. I'll get Tess to bring the car around. You know, you should work on Transmutation, at tier three you get to cast Flight! Once you and Debora can fly, you can go anywhere."

Gwen gave Opa a big wet kiss. Half-drunk, the old Enchanter walked away with a spring in his step, as blithe as a Tigger.

"Shopping!" Gwen punched the air with a fist. She couldn't wait.

* * *

"Oi Jacko, where's Tako?" Stevo shouted across the lowing of cattle roving across the tablelands.

"Dunno," Jacko fired back, his voice hoarse from the dry air. "I'll go check on em, wait up."

He tapped the flanks of his grey mare, and the horse sped into a gallop, making for the back of the herd. He found their number three behind the last cattle, starting and stopping, looking back with a sense of dismay and uncertainty.

"What's the matter, mate?"

Tako turned to his friend with a face full of worried lines on his sunbaked, leathery skin. The young jackaroo's name was really, Tako. No self-respecting Japanese person would call themselves "Octopus". His real name was Takahashi, and when his parent migrated onto the Frontier, they told him to just go with the flow.

"There's something following us." Tako squinted against the sun, shielding his eyes. "The trail ain't right."

Jacko took a gander, kicked his horse and made a short perimeter around the suspect area. There was plenty of evidence that pointed to the passing of prime Auroch cattle, but little indication of monsters.

"Seems alright to me, mate. All I see is bullshit, ha!" Jacko joked uproariously. Tako was a good bloke, but he was a little high-strung, always going on about fearing this and being wary of that. Sometimes a bloke just needs to relax.

"I am serious, Jacko," Tako returned, though seeing Jacko's clowning, clowning, he couldn't help but smile himself. "Oi! OI—! The hell is that?"

Taco squinted. There was a little grey flag moving towards them.

"Jacko, stop! What's that?"

Jacko halted his mare and looked, squinting against the blinding rays.
"Looks like…" He began, then something struck the back of his mind. The old drovers told stories like these, exchanged them for goon at the pub. "No bloody way…"

"Jacko!" Tako started, turning his horse. "Shit its coming right this way! Run mate! Run!"

"A—, fuck me dead!" Jacko whipped his horse around and made a straight-bolt for the herd. "We gotta get the Aurochs back to the ranch! There are Mages there that can help us!"

The thing that was coming towards them was diving through the red earth with an absurd velocity, somehow keeping up with the horses at full gallop.

But for how long could it keep up that speed? That was the pickled sandwich; Tako knew that their horses were tired from the sun and the heat, and couldn't possibly keep a gallop for more than a few minutes.

_BA—WAM!_

Suddenly, there was the sound of something launching. The jackaroos turned back to see a massive monster, more shark than land-beast, sleek with a head covered in hard carapace and tipped like a sharp cone. Absurdly, it looked as though a rhinoceros had crossbred with a tiger shark, and then given ten doses of malevolence. Effortlessly, thing leapt through the air, striking the ground not with a thud, but with the soft sound of sand shifting. When it emerged again, it was moving faster; it was gaining on them!

"How the fuck is that bugger moving so fast?!" Jacko shouted, his horse was doing alright, but he noted with another 'Fuck!' that Tako was slowing down.

"Jacko! My horse is giving out soon, get the herd out of here! Tell Stevo to lead em to the ranch! I'll try to draw it away!"

"Na mate! That's bullshit, don't do it!"

"No time! Gotta go! Come at me, ya fugly bastard!"

Tako veered, whistling and hooting the whole while. The shark-creature twisted in midair and dived for the noisy rider. Tako veered again, the creature just missing him by a few inches, sending up a spray of red dust and sand.

"I am making for the Deadman's Rock!" He shouted to Jacko, who was now galloping away. "If I live! I'll be there!"

He dodged another dive from the creature.
Tako's horse was starting to foam; she wasn't going to last much longer.
He would have to ride her as far as possible, then run on foot while the thing fed on his beloved mare.

"Sorry, Betsy." Tako leaned in and patted his horse, kissing it on the neck. "This is gonna be our last ride, mate."


Gwen tried on yet another pair of knee-high boots, finding the leather too cumbersome to maintain balance.

Outside of questing, her school runners should suffice. But that had been a bush trail, and this was the jagged landscape of the Outback, where leagues of knife-sharp stones crossed with burning sand, bisected by ravines of slippery moss and ankle-deep mud.

Beside her, Debora deliberated between wasteland punk and new world adventurer, assembling her outfit before Gwen could say slip, slop, slap.

"Looking a treat there, Debs," Gwen chewed her lips, wondering if she should give up.

Debora spun, having slipped into a pair of frayed denim shorts, slopped on an Akubra hat, and slapped on a tight singlet, she looked plenty comfortable. Compared to Gwen, Debora's Earthen constitution meant that she was highly resistant to the blistering sun. Gwen, on the other hand, had twin Air for elements, one of which drew from the Domain of negative energy. Ten unsheltered minutes under the sun and she would have wilted.

"Thanks," Debora Jones, cowgirl, replied.

Gwen sighed. She had anticipated a sexy wasteland wanderer look for herself as well, but knew she wouldn't make it half a kilometre exposing that much skin.

Eventually, she found a pair of white cotton, elbow-length skivvies that was breathable and comfortable. At the next store, she found cargo pants in charcoal. Another round of persistent searching located a pair of calfskin ankle boots. And to finish off, she found a checkered, hand-knit Afghan scarf, as well as her daily female necessities.

The shop assistants had been beyond attentive the moment Debora and Gwen walked onto the premises. They may not know who the two teenage girls were, but they did know Tess to be Surya's assistant. Added to the fact that Tess was acting as their driver; the NoM staff left no request unfulfilled. Certainly, Gwen had the right regal demeanour. She spoke carefully, politely, and formally, not at all abrasive nor rude to them. Debora meanwhile, was rougher, and the assistants couldn't quite place her within the limited spectrum of their Mage world know-how.

The town, Cessnock, was itself at the centre of the Hunters Region. It was a thriving resource town fuelled by the area's vineyards and primary agriculture. The commercial street was becoming gentrified thanks to the influx of individuals like Surya, who found great pleasure in owning an estate in the country that overlooked Sydney's tablelands.

Gwen paid with the notes, as crystals were primarily used for the exchange of magical items and consumables. The group then made their way to the 'other' side of the town, where now a booming exchange of magical goods was being traded in a local Enchanter's Market.

Though there were few items with practical applications for a Mage, the fair was nonetheless of great interest. Following Tess like two puppies, the girls had found great pleasure in sifting through trinkets and other minor magical conveniences of the day.

Gwen had never known, for example, that NoMs could harness micro-scale elemental effects without the ability to channel mana. There were items enchanted with minor glyphs that produced small flames or produced clean water by simply drawing upon the natural motes of mana in the atmosphere. Likewise, minor spell effects that Mages considered trivial such as the cantrip "Light" could be used by NoMs by simply inserting LDM currency sticks into the feeder slot. In this way, these items producing chilling and heating, minor telekinesis, or even small buffs like alleviating fatigue.

These cantrip items, Tess explained, were the mainstay of the lesser Enchanters, Mages who lacked the talent or resources to venture beyond the mid-tier. Unlike Surya, who made thousands of HDMs on commission alone, the majority of Acolytes relied on selling items of convenience to wealthy NoMs for a living.

Gwen nodded, eventually purchasing an inscribed leather belt with a bandoleer of pouches for tubes of potions that hung snug across her hips.

"So, NoMs can't purchase Magic Items to protect themselves?" Gwen was incredulous when Tess raised a point she'd been wondering since arriving at the market.

"Hardly," Tess scoffed. She then bitterly complained that such an ill distinction between NoMs and Mages would bring great chaos. Within history, Surya's Apprentice explained, several nations had already attempted arming the NoMs with empowered items. The results varied greatly depending on the period and the context. The European incursion into African Black-zones ended with bloody noses when the arming of slaves on the Ivory Coast resulted in the loss of said weapons to the Gnolls.

Today, those very Gnolls rove up and down the coast blasting bolts of human magics from appropriated Fire Rods. Worse still, unsavoury grey-market traders had discovered profit in selling said items to Demi-humans in search of Crystals, Creature Cores, and rare Ingredients.

"Why weren't those people prosecuted?" Gwen asked incredulously.

"It's one of the Tower's policies, or so Surya says." Tess shrugged apathetically. "The Grey Faction supply the weapons for the intelligent monsters to make war on each other. Now, they're too busy with each other to threaten the dozen or so Human cities on the coast."

"What if they turn against us?" Gwen asked worryingly. She certainly never learned this in their school's curriculum.

"Only humans can process stable mana crystals on an industrial scale, dear." Tess laughed haughtily. "They can use it against us, sure, but most of the items have a few dozen charges at best. In a drawn-out war, they'd be out in a month, and we'd have stockpiles for years."

"Not to mention," Tess reached between her bosoms, then pulled out a necklace. Attached to a length of twine was a fang about the size of Gwen's pinkie. "The Fang of a Wemic Patriarch. I bought it at an auction. Ninety-nine per cent chance it was traded and not hunted. I am saving it for when I reach the mid-tiers. Gonna inscribe a polymorphic, strength-enhancing animus onto it."

The conversation then turned to the town. Tess obliged by introducing the girls to the locals. The NoM ranchers were mostly men, a few women, and they were all as hard as cured leather. When Gwen mentioned that her Opa had asked her to help the ranchers with their roo problems, the settlers were more than happy to ask for help.

The first to make the request was a tall and well-built man named Rhodes, the owner of a vineyard not far from town. He had a not-too-beat-up Landcruiser beside him that hinted at a successful business operation and immediately took a liking to the girls. Once the quest for Roo clearing was given, he offered to pick Gwen and Debora from Surya's estate first thing next morning. Gwen agreed, and after an exchange of Message Glyphs, went their separate ways.

The girls then proceeded to have lunch at a delicatessen in town that specialised the Wild Land ingredients. The daily specials were Orange Zone Wood Mallard, and terrine of Horned Rabbit served cold with farmhouse vegetables. As the girls were broke, it was Tess' shout.

Late mid-afternoon, the girls finally came home, going their separate ways to do personal training. Debora worked in the foundry, perfecting her new Bronze Skin technique. Meanwhile, Gwen took the opportunity to try out her new Schools of Magic in a discrete, wooded alcove of Surya's Estate.

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

"Detect Magic." Gwen invoked the tier 1 Divination staple. Gradually, her eyes appear to have gain gained an Instagram 'filter', painting the world in multi-coloured hues.

Transmutation had a slightly lilac glow, permeating the lodge as Surya and the others worked. Enchantment, on the other hand, glowed golden and eggshell, though the School tended to borrow its hues from whatever cores or stones it was inscribed into. On Henry's manual, her Master had stated that as her proficiency grew, her Divination would become synaesthetic and innate.

"Detect Traps."

Her second Divination Spell was stranger, and of course, the Estate had no traps that she could see.

Next, she attempted a few some self-buffing spells.

First, she shook out her long limbs, then she broke into a dead sprint.

"JUMP!"

Gwen leapt, her legs reinforced by Transmutation. She had a good affinity for the translocation spell as her body was mana-rich with elemental air. The description had prescribed an 'enhanced leap of about two to three meters. By her estimate, though she must be a good four meters from the ground.

Instantly, she regretted her curiosity. With limbs flailing, she fumbled through the air. This was precisely why her next spell was highly recommended before attempting "Jump".

"Feather Fall!"

Gwen's descent slowed. The spell didn't so much as make her lighter as immediately reduce the velocity and acceleration of her body as she fell. Perhaps if she had been a physicist, she could have a better understanding of the magical mechanics. For now, she could only accept that she was employing magic.

For an hour, she practised jumping and falling until her legs were sore with fatigue, but was still dissatisfied that she couldn't grasp the timing. From what Debora had described of her own abilities, she could scale buildings and walls by using a combination of the two spells. In fact, very skilled Transmuters could even scale near-vertical cliffs with nought but Jump.

At dusk, she returned to the Estate for a simple supper of meat and veggies. With Surya, she conversing about the town, the people they met, and the things they saw. Happily, Surya brought out a dozen vials of minor healing and mana potions, split the injectors between Gwen and Debora, then wished them good luck for the outing tomorrow.

Once her grandfather was gone, Gwen and Debora returned to their bedrooms, their alone time made awkward by the events of the night before. At her door, Debora lingered for a few seconds longer than Gwen, listening and hoping before her own door clicked shut.

Rhodes arrived bright and early the next day, his Landcruiser making a ruckus as it bit loudly into the gravel road.

"Magus Huang! Good to see ya, mate," the jolly rancher announced expansively, walking into the open atrium with a box of Shiraz and Merlot.

"Just Surya is fine, Jonathan." Surya motioned for an NoM servant to take the box before shaking the hand of the vineyard manager.

"Ha! Don't let the Missus hear that, she'd skin me alive."

"Well, you can be at ease here. My place, my rules."

Sharing the lark, the two men bantered until Gwen and Debora emerged in their adventuring gear.

It goes without saying that Debora was quite the sight in her shorts and singlet, her hat dipped low to just reveal her bright amber eyes. Compared to Gwen, her Transmutation techniques required a wide range of bodily motion for close combat, hardly conducive to easily damaged sleeves and pants.

Beside Debora, Gwen looked more like an aristocratic adventurer from the countryside of England, a tourist who had wandered in by accident. Gwen had always possessed the fair skin particular to northern Europeans, and now with the flux of her Void mana, she was becoming even paler.

Bemused by his girl's earnestness, Surya checked their gear. He made sure the girls count their mana and health injectors, and that Gwen carried tinder, ropes, a tent, bottled water, rations and so on in her Storage Ring.

"Opa," Gwen kissed her grandfather on the cheek. "We're off!"

Rhodes' vineyard was more famous than Gwen had thought. Even as an underage student, Gwen had seen his brand of Shiraz advertised here and there in the city. McGuigan's Estate, it was called; owned by a family of Mages for three decades. Their present host, he explained, was the Estate's manager and caretaker.

From the outset, the vineyard was a beautiful sea of stakes that stretched out until it ended with the curvature of the landscape. Built on a hilltop, it was a beautiful place that offered a vista of the valley below. Under Rhodes' care, a tour of the facilities was conducted, ending with the girls walking through the vineyard itself, touching rows of vines pregnant with amethyst orbs.

Eventually, the three of them struck a section of the fence which had been torn up.

"So yeah, the Roos are outta water at this time of year, and they come and wreak havoc on our grapes." Rhodes sighed. "They're trying to get to the reservoir we'd dug out back, but that water's for the grapes."

He picked up a few pieces of splintered wood.

"If its two or three or a dozen, it not a big deal, but its when the herds come through that they start doing real damage."

Gwen regarded the fences before her. These were not the cute little waist-high fences they had used in her old world. These were two meters tall fences barbed with lengths of knotted iron. For a roo to crash through a solid block of wood, how big were the bastards?

Just as she raised her hand, there was a commotion by the bushes. Right before their eyes, a big Red came hopping along without a care in the world.

Gwen's eyes popped at the sight of the thing. Sure, it was a little taller than she had expected, maybe two and a half odd meters, but the muscles on that thing! It was ripped beyond belief, as though it had fed on equal parts berries and anabolic steroids.

"Ooo, a big bugger!" Rhodes said appreciatively. "Look at the arms on that thing, what a beautiful bastard. Those legs! I bet it could take a full-sized Auroch head-on and come out on top. Pelts worth a few crystals if you can keep it intact."

Debora's eyes lit up.

"I got this," She said confidently. "Enhanced Strength! Enhanced Constitution! Bronze Skin! Jump!"

Before Gwen could intervene, Debora leapt into the fray. Gwen noted with irony that Debora's actions somewhat resembled a kangaroo herself. Her trajectory took her instantly toward the Red Ree, who regarded its assailant with complete disdain. When Debora firmly landed with a thud, it reared back onto its tail, growing instantly to a good three meters.

She watched as Debora relaunched herself, her dominant arm winding up a right hook. At her level, the force of the punch was enough to shatter stone and dent steel plates, if she connected, Debs should lay the big Roo flat.

_THUMP!_

"OOF!"

To their surprise, the Roo caught Debora in midair with a well-aimed kick. It snapped her momentum in half, bent her body like a boomerang and sent her back where hence she came. With a yelp, the Transmuter tumbled through the air before striking the ground with a thud, skidding into the grassy knolls. Instantly, Debora recovered and stood up. Her face was flaming red, but she was unharmed.

The Roo was as surprised as Debora. It must have expected her to snap in half because it now grew warier. Visibly, it began to paw the air, looking like an expert boxer ready for round two. Debora hesitated, unsure how to proceed. She wasn't trained in Kung-roo.

"Deb! Close your eyes!" Gwen called out before uttering a well placed Flashbang.

_BUNG!_

She conjured the explosion right beside the twitching ears of the big Roo, catching it by complete surprise. Instantly, the Roo was smothered by a painful world of blinding light and sound, dropping onto its feet with a heavy thump. It then attempted to flee, its fight or flight reflex on overload. However, in its panic, it had instead made a bee-line for Debora.

And Debora was ready. As it came within range, she whipped around her athletic legs in a whirlwind arc and roundhoused it in the head. There was a crunching sound of bone as its trajectory changed, finally landing in a heap some distance away, its head facing an impossible angle.

"Whole pelt!" Debora grunted with effort, recovering from being winded by the big red. "That's a whole pelt, right?"

Their employee was covered in cold sweat, likely shocked that the two girls thought fist-fighting big Red Roo was a good idea.

"Yeah… that's a whole pelt," he muttered. Indeed, it was a good kill, and the pelt was entirely undamaged.

"Alright! Who's next!" Debora shouted into the distance. "Gwen! Get ready!"

The head of another roo rise from the bushes. A small cute joey with big brown eyes.

_Oh no!_ Gwen thought to herself. _Did we kill its…_

A second head rose from the thick, dense grass. Bigger and far more badass.
Then a third.
And a fourth.
Then another dozen bobbing heads emerged in quick succession.
Big and red, tall and majestic. Muscles rippling with popping veins and an expression of blue murder.

"…" Debora moved between the herd and Gwen.

Two portals opened beside Gwen. Out came Ariel and Caliban, hissing at the creatures in front of them.

Rhodes felt his stomach tie into a knot, his heart reaching for his throat.
Two teenage girls, a ferret, and a what-the-fuck-is-that stood against a dozen roos build like brick shit-houses.

_How the fuck,_ Rhodes wondered, _did it comes to this?_


"Betsy, I'll avenge you, I promise."

Tako swore to the heavens as he scrambled up Deadman's Rock. The landmark was a substantial chunk of wind-blasted obsidian over ten meters tall. Usually, the rock offered a fantastic view, though the climb itself was precarious. That was precisely the reason Tako had scrambled for shelter in its direction, for there was no way the land-shark could climb something so smooth and brittle. Even if the creature managed to damage the landmark at its base, the obsidian deposit would still offer a razor-sharp surprise when its exteriors fell away to reveal an edge that could shred leather as though paper.

Tako himself had done the climb several times before as a dare, though only had he been sober. Now, he scrambled up its sides, fingers digging into familiar nooks and crannies. There was a moment of suspension when he accidentally lost his footing near the peak, but sheer adrenaline propelled him over the edge.

From above, he could see the creature, some hundred-odd meters away, chewing away at his horse. In their last exchange, the land-shark had erupted from the red earth and floored Betsy, sending her tumbling. The unfortunate horse had struck the ground awkwardly, after which Tako knew the end was nigh. Betsy had neighed tragically and thrashed about, kicking up a storm of red dust. But Tako could only bite his lip and run. He recalled that there had been one last desperate neigh, smothered by a triumphant roar. After that, Tako knew that it was over for his beloved mare.

"SKARRK!"

From the advantage of the rock, he could see the creature tearing poor Betsy apart, sending chunks of her down its gluttonous gullet. If Tako were a Mage, he would have pounded the bastard with Magic Missiles, but for now, there was nothing else he could do but wait. The light was beginning to wane, and he had left his saddlebags on Betsy.

Tako shivered.
It was going to be a cold, long night.

Caliban tore into the chest of a big red roo, its slimy shielding of void energies cutting through the thick hide with the ease of punching tissue paper. When it emerged from the creature's torso with a rip-roaring cry of triumph, Gwen felt her vitality restored by a small magnitude.

Beside Caliban, Ariel was raining down a storm of blue-white destruction. Empowered by Gwen's Lightning Bolts, the burning hides of the roos struck by the mongoose smelled like mouldy carpet set on fire.

Debora had set up a perimeter wall around them with a modified Wall of Stone, changing the semicircle of elevated rocks into jagged spikes that fanned out dangerously. With a simple change in the flow of mana, she could expand, distend, or even launch a line of spines. Already she had caught three roos that had tried to assail Gwen in close combat, impaling the buggers like oversized lizards captured by a Spined Shrike.

Another Roo had tried a frontal assault, sneaking past the wall to strike at Debora with a deadly kick launched from its powerful tail. Debora responded by bracing for impact, digging her heels into the ground by summoning stones that secured her footing. As a result, the Roo ricochetted off her torso and slid under Debora's flank, at which point she swung down her heel like an axe. The blow struck the Roo dead in the forehead; engendering a sound of splintering bones. When yet another roo made it past her Wall of Spikes, she sent out a Catapult spike that pierced its torso and pinned it to the ground, where a secondary explosion of Ground Spike transformed the Roo into kabob.

Some distance away, Rhodes oozed while the girls fought. The engagement was a massacre, and he was in an abattoir. The NoM manager could scarcely have guessed that two delicate-looking teenage girls were capable of butchering eight-foot Roos with the ease of kicking chooks.

The last Roo fled.

"Lightning Bolt!" Gwen intoned with a flourish. A blue-white bolt ionised in the distance and pierced the last Red Roo through the back, sending it crashing onto the red dust.

Debora counted her kills. Five big roos, three with near-full pelts.
Gwen examined her own. Seven big, two small, four medium roos, nary an unburnt pelt between the lot of them.

Caliban burst from the chest of a fresh kill with a flourish.

"Hiss! Hiss!" it roared in triumph, its lamprey mouth bloody with excitement, its barbed tongues flailing wildly. Gore slid from its glass-like carapace, pooling where it met the purple-pink flesh underneath.

Some distance away, Rhodes barfed.

Gwen conjured some water with a cantrip incantation, and the girls washed off the blood. Gwen was untouched thanks to Debora, while Debora had to wring blood from her arms, and legs.

"Prestidigitation!" she incanted.

The bloodstains evaporated.

Gwen's eyes flashed. She was a Transmuter now too! She could also master the most useful spell in the history of dry cleaning. It would be the very next thing she requested from Master.

"Right, good work." Rhodes washed out his mouth with some water from a hose, then took a deep breath. "Let's get you settled in. Do you want to take horses, quads, or the 4x4 truck?"

Debora's eyes flashed.

Horses!

All girls dreamt of horses and ponies. She was a city girl, and had never ridden horses; this wasn't an opportunity she was going to give up lightly. As for Gwen, her passion for riding was no less inflamed.

Rhodes took them to the stable and selected two beautiful mares. Gwen's mount was a grey-white yearling with a distinct, spotted pattern; Debora's was a pure white mare that made her eye glow with admiration.

"Daisy and Dorothea," Rhodes introduced them. "We'll put you through the paces at the farm. Come on. I'll introduce you to our tracker, Tommy."

The girls picked out suitable saddles and watched Rhodes strap the horses in. Gwen watched as Rhodes helped Debbie mount the gentle mares, his eyes unblinkingly gazing past her friend's tanned thighs. Midway, the man must have spotted a drop of dark blood on her boot heel and was reminded that these sensual bronze stalks had just crushed the head of a three-meter Roo. He coughed politely and gathered his wits.

While the girls took turns riding, Rhode went and looked for the young jackaroo. When the girls returned from their first lap, they were greeted by a leather-skinned young man with thick lips and a pleasant face.

"Hi lovelies, me name's Tommy," he greeted them jovially with a wave of his hand.

_Slap!_

Rhodes slapped his hand over Tommy's hat, sending it tumbling until the string snagged Tommy's neck.

"These are Lady Mages, Tommy! Have some manners, ya dill!"

"Sorry boss!" Tommy apologised cheekily. "Ya Majesty Mages!"

"Hi, I am Gwen," Gwen replied with an incline of her head.

"Debora." Debora extended a hand and Tommy ran up to shake it.

"Cor! You're mighty strong Miss!" Tommy spat, attracting yet another bat on the head from Rhodes.

"Tommy, you better stop muck’n around. The Misses need ta get a handle on the horses. You're going out there later this avo to round up some Roos. Just make sure they get there safe and sound, alright?"

"Yes, Boss!" Tommy nodded. "Alright Misses, I'll put ya through the paces. Daisy and Dorothea are real good with young Jillaroos. You'll be right as rain!"

"Right. I gotta head back to the office." Rhodes bid them goodbye, he had still had a dozen roo carcasses to sort out. Pending their earlier slaughter, he would have to get the meat to the coolers and the pelts processed. "Message me if you need anything, anything!"

The girls spent the next hour or so practising horsemanship. Debora was a natural, taking to the horse like a Hob on a wolf. Gwen however, was in a world of pain by the time an hour was over. Her buttocks were bruised, and her thighs were chaffed. Her spine felt compressed, and her shoulders throbbed.

Lunch was brought by a few ranch hands in tin foil trays. Unsurprisingly, it was grilled Roo served with a simple pan-gravy on grilled vegetables. The girls offered to share with it Tommy, but the young man proved too apprehensive to eat with them. Instead, he offered to take their left-overs. Feeling somewhat miffed by the happy-go-lucky young man's meekness, Gwen shared a single-serve with Debora and left her serving for the jackaroo. Once the girls had eaten, they watched the boy wolf down the sizeable steak, waiting until he had finished the meat before asking him about his life on the ranch.

"Yeah, I'm pretty happy here, the boss' a top bloke." Without disguise, the young jackaroo spoke of his good fortune in finding work somewhere south of the Shield Barrier.

By now, Gwen could clearly see that the young man was an indigenous youth. She had read that the indigenous people had carved out a niche in the Wildland, surviving on ancient spirit magic and animalism. Aboriginal lore was an area of great interest to Gwen, especially after meeting the fabled Serpent of folklore, which Henry suspected may indeed be the Rainbow Serpent.

"What of your tribe?" Gwen asked carefully. It was a touchy topic back in her old world. The English colonists had little empathy for those they had deemed the 'noble savages,' less so when it came to land rights.

"It's a living." Tommy shrugged. "Mostly the elders and a few blokes stay with the mob, the rest are like me, we come down past the Shielding Station to find some wrangling work. The skilled ones could use their magic to work the animals, or become trackers for the militia."

"Are there many of you?"

"Yeah, Nah," The boy laconically replied, implying, "yes but not many left in the old ways."

"I'd love to… see what a Wildland settlement is like…" Gwen mentioned casually.

"Sure, Miss, be glad to take ya. If the Boss allows it. Journey's right dangerous."

"I think we can manage just fine," Gwen thanked the young wrangler. She would love to find out more about the Serpent's lore.

They had been sitting out, digesting the big lunch when the first runner arrived.

"Tommy! Mate! Heard you got some Mages on the farm!" A ride leapt off his horse deftly and skidded to a halt, leaving behind an impressive trail of dust.

Tommy was still working the girls through the paces. Debora was already proficient enough to range and roam, but Gwen was another story altogether.

"Victa, what's wrong, mate?"

"It's the Adina boys, they went out droving their Angus and ran into some kinda Shark monster yesterday. Jacko just got back with Stevo, but Takahashi is still trapped near Deadman's rock, assuming he's alive O'course."

"Shit, really? Fuck me. The poor bastard must be up shit creek without a paddle." Tommy scratched his head apprehensively. "Look, Mate, I wanna help as much as anybody but I ain't gonna command no Mages. Maybe you should take it up with the Boss."

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Victa looked over at the two girls still trotting to and fro on their horses.
Tell the Boss was the right thing to do, but all that's gonna happen is that Rhodes puts out a reward for the monster and they go out a day or two later to see what parts of Takahashi they could find. Rhodes wasn't a bad guy, hell, he was as much of a top bloke as Bosses come, but even he couldn't summon Mage to help. Magical aid was costly, meaning that the whole Estate would owe debts they would struggle to repay.

Gwen and Debora rode up beside the young men.

"Is something the matter?" Gwen inquired curiously upon seeing their looks of consternation.

Tommy's face was an open book.

"Is nothing much, Miss," he began. "Just one of the boys stranded a half day's ride from here. Got himself corralled by a real pickle of a monster, half-shark they say, ate poor Betsy, his mare. Real savage like, blood and guts and all. The poor horse was still alive when it dug in."

"Monstrous!" Debora's blood was instantly up. She stroked her mare, Dorothea, lovingly.

"We're right worried," Tommy lamented. "Poor old Tako, got an old Mam too, not ta mention his Pop got a real bad case of rheumatism. I guess his sister ain't gonna go to school after he dies. Maybe she can find some legwork in the big city, doing some menial labour and all that..."

Debora's breath quickened. Her face was turning several shades of red. Gwen's eyes regarded Tommy coldly, making the dark jackaroo flinch.

"Gwen…"

Gwen patted Debora's shoulder and urged her to calm down.

"So, Tommy, what does this have to do with us?" Gwen asked. She was determined to help, but also annoyed that Tommy thought wrangling Debora with a sob story was going to get them to help.

"Oh…" Tommy knew he'd stepped on a sleeping wombat's testies. "I.. I don't rightly know Miss, but them's the facts o' life."

"Gwennie…" Debora begged, her eyes twinkling with desperation. The sight of a pleading Debbie was cute. Very much so. More so for her ardent desire to do good. Gwen groaned, lamenting her lost innocence.

"Just this one time, Tommy." She turned to warn the young station hand. "I catch you next time, and I'll get Caliban to rip you a new one."

"Sure thing, Miss!" Tommy's face broke into that careless, idiotic grin of his. Gwen wondered how much of it was a ruse and how much of it was real.

"Let's go now!" Debora announced, turning her horse.

"We need water and supplies!" Tommy wheeled his horse.

"No need." Gwen flashed her Storage Ring. "Get going!"

"Opa, it's Gwen. We got a situation out here." Gwen explained the crisis of the moment and what they intended to do.

"Careful, the Land Sharks can grow up to Tier 5. It's rather rare to see one this close to the city though. I hope nothing is amiss at the Shield Wall station."

"Shall we check it out after?" Gwen asked.

"Too far without Flight spells. I'll get Rhodes to bring up the 4x4 to the closest main road. Want me to send Tess or Mel?"

Gwen gave it some thought but decided against it. She wanted to be tempered and trialled to grow in her many Schools of Magic. That and in so far as her Void talent was concerned, there was nothing better than fighting in an isolated Outback full of clueless NoMs. At worst, even if Tess or Mel showed up, they can be trusted to keep their lips tight.

"I think we will be alright, Opa," Gwen assured Surya through her Message Device. "I'll contact you if we run into trouble."

"There's probably no Divination signal if you venture too far out, but good hunting. Take care of Debora."

"Yes, Opa." Gwen glanced at her companion. "I bring her back in one piece."

"All done?"

"Done." Gwen turned to the two jackaroos. "Let's get going then."

According to Tommy, Deadman's rock was a half-day ride away. If they were keen to save Tako, they should be able to reach the landmark by nightfall. For the average NoM, riding into the darkness, even with a torch was suicide. However, Gwen could conjure an array of Floating Torch, Dancing Lights and Flares. If and when they needed light, a good twenty to thirty meters around the party was manageable.

Not to mention I can Detect Magical Creatures, Gwen noted to herself.
Thanks to the horses, there was no need to take a detour back to the main road. The four of them simply crashed through the stunted, short shrubbery of the bush, alternating between trots and gallops. When the horses needed to rest, Gwen produced water, when they were hungry, snacks and rations materialised from thin air.

Of the foursome, Debora had been the antsiest out of them all. She was alternatively worried about running the horses and tiring them out, while paradoxically wanting to run the horses haggard to rescue Takahashi.

As for the jackaroos, they were acclimatised to death in the Outback. When Debora demanded to know why they weren't pulling their hair out, Tommy explained that somebody died every other week; from Magical Creatures, from accidents, from starvation or thirst, or from natural disasters. If folks worried about death to excess, nobody would ever get work done.

By nightfall, the group saw Deadman's Rock in the distance.

"Flare!" Gwen incanted, channelling more mana into it than she needed. The space around them soon took on a bright blue glow.

"Dancing Lights!" Again, Gwen over-channeled the spell and about a dozen or so lights appeared. Thanks to her dual-mastery of Conjuration, the orbs could follow her and remain persistent.

The party slowed as it approached the destination.

"I ma try’n call Tako," Tommy forewarned. "It's gonna be loud."

Tommy put two fingers to his lips and let out a shrill and sharp whistle that assaulted the girl's eardrums.

Nothing.
He tried again.
Still nothing.

"Let me," Gwen offered.

She pointed to the highest point she could reach with her Conjuration spell, a good twenty or so meters in the air.

"Flashbang!"

_BUNG!_

An explosion of sound and light rang out overhead. The fulmination rolled across the horizon, blowing apart the sand and dust below.

"Christ that's loud!" Tommy covered his ears.

Discretely, Gwen activated Detect Magical Beasts.

A filter suffused her vision. Any creature with powerful elemental cores would be lit with the hue of their element. According to her Opa, the Land Shark was hardly a subtle creature and should be clearly visible even a good few feet underground.

A shrill whistle answered them from atop the rock.

"Thank God." Tommy and Victa were grinning like shot foxes. "The bastard's alive!"

The light faded.

The party continued its approach.

"Oi Mate, I found something." Victa pointed to the distance. "Ah, the Misses might wanna look away."

To their right laid the hollowed form of Betsy, and the old girl was a right mess of flesh and bones.

"What a brute," Victa grunted sadly. "She was a good horse."

"Yeah well, that's why the Misses are here to put it down, ain't ya Miss?" Tommy turned to the girls.

Debora gripped her reins, her face full of undisguised anger. Gwen's expression was more aloof. The boy was too proficient at trying to stir Debora's blood, Gwen felt. That or Debbie needed to work on mastering her hormones.

They were even closer now and could just make out Tako's silhouette from atop the large piece of volcanic obsidian. He was waving like a madman.

Gwen looked around them. It was strange that she couldn't detect a single magical source.

More frantic waving from Tako. He was pointing toward the sky.

Gwen looked up. It took a second for Tako's charades to be digested by her brain.

"It's right below us!" she cried out, leaping from her horse. Unlike the others, she simply wasn't skilled enough to try and deal with the creature while mounted.

"Debbie! Jump!" Gwen incanted the spell she had been practising all yesterday without thinking.

"Feather Fall!"

At the height of her ascent, her trajectory slowed. Below, she watched her frightened horse bolt away.

A second later, a gigantic creature carapaced in solid granite and sleek as a missile shot from the ground towards her. It missed her by a good half-metre, but had she not been levitated thanks to Feather Fall, it would have snagged her leg. Glancing downward, she gazed into its maw and saw row upon rows of teeth that extended all the way into the abyss of its gullet.

Besides Gwen, Debora leapt off her horse with far more dynamics, buffing herself as she sailed through the air. She took full advantage of her momentum and landed with an impressive axe kick on the creature's torso, shattering some of its stony scales.

Crunch!
The creature lurched sideways in surprise and pain, snapping at her awkwardly as it skidded across the dusty red dirt.

"Gwen!" Debora called out, snapping Gwen from the aftershock of almost becoming shark bait. According to their Opa, Land Sharks had had a specialised death roll that they used to tear limbs from their prey.

In the air, Gwen took the opportunity to instantly summon her familiars. Her beasts materialised from their pocket dimensions on either side of the Shark, forming a triangle between Caliban, Ariel and Debora with the creature stuck in the middle.

Just as they were about to make their move, the creature dived. To Gwen and Debora's surprise, it drove into the earth as though swimming through water. Gwen channelled more mana into her eyes and noted worryingly that beyond the first metres or so, her Detection spell did not penetrate further into the red earth.

"Shit..." Gwen felt a cold premonition of what was to come. She couldn't Fly, and that was a fatal flaw. Should she keep using Jump and Feature Fall? Any more Transmutation spells and Debora would be asking awkward questions.

Thankfully, Debora's quick thinking salvaged their paralytic dilemma.

"Minor Shape Stone!" She incanted. Pillars of stone rose from the earth to a height of several meters. The girls both found purchase and quickly scaled to safety. Caliban coiled around Gwen's pillar while Ariel was fully confident it could duck something as clumsy as a turd shaped predator the size of a utility vehicle.

The Land Shark burst from the earth like a torpedo and launched itself into Debora's pillar, completely obliterating its circumference. Its little bead eyes glowed with malevolence, clearly irritated beyond belief that a small mewling creature could have cracked its carapace and caused it such injury.

"Ariel!"

The mongoose peppered the creature with motes of lightning.

"Blast Bolt!" Gwen channelled a sizeable portion of her mana into the blast, and the Land Shark lit up like a light bulb.

The light faded.

"SKAARRRK!"

The creature was well-cooked but otherwise entirely lively. It roared, spraying rotten spittle all-over before leaping from the ruined pillar towards Gwen.

Debora shot like a ballista bolt from her own ruined pillar. She then activated her most potent combination of spells.
"Haste! Magic Weapon!"

The Transmuter became a blur of whirling kicks and punches, smashing into the creature with the fury and force of an excavation machine pulverising the earth. Bits of carapace flew into the air, smeared with dark, crimson shades of oxidising blood. As bone and flesh rendered, Debora grew speckled in the stuff, her white singlet blooming with sudden gouts of garnet and sangria.

To Gwen's disbelief, the Land Shark withstood Debora's assault. Not only that, it twisted its stunted neck into an impossible angle and snapped Debora off her feet. There was the sound of metallic gnashing as Debora's bronze skin scraped against razor-sharp fangs. Her friend gasped and cried out sharply, the force of the crushing bite cracking her ribs, pressing the air from her lungs.

The creature tossed its prey wildly. Debora was too tall for the Shark headed beast to swallow whole. Gwen saw the Shark ready itself for a death roll.

"FUCK!" Gwen swore under her breath. There was no avoiding it now.
"Void Bolt!"

In quick succession Gwen shot off four bolts with unerring accuracy, her aim long tempered with a thousand repetitions. While standing on its stumpy legs, the Lan Shark had remained relatively stationary. Even now, it lifted its bull-neck and readied itself for the roll.

At once, vitality drain from Gwen's body, her face took on the pallor of death.

Four bolts cut into the creature's limbs in quick succession. The first two struck true, slicing the fore-limbs clean off at the joints. The back legs, however, had been too thick for Gwen's low-tier attack. The bolts were consumed midway, leaving the limbs to hang by skin and bone.

Instantly, the Land Shark's blood sprayed hot and heavy over the red earth, yet, it was too dumb to register its mortal wounds. With its prey safely deposited in its maw, it persisted in throwing itself toward the motions of a death roll. Gwen watched as the thing turned, only to have the pain reach its nerve centre a full second later, paralysing the shark-faced rhino instantly. Debora pushed apart its jaws and extracted herself, streaks of white markings lacerating her stomach and lumbar, crisscrossed her bronze legs.

"Tough bastard." Debbie coughed, evidently feeling the soreness of her cracked ribs.

The creature was convulsing now, bleeding out rapidly. Its beady eyes staring with hatred towards the girls even as they dimmed. Caliban approached, revealing its malignant, hateful maw. Her creature salivated. Here was a lot of fresh meat, a good half-ton at least. Gwen was wondering if she should allow Debora the honour of having the deathblow when there was a call from the direction of Deadman's rock.

It was the Jackaroos, and they were returning with their lost mate, Tako.

Warily the station hands approached.

Gwen regarded Tako, who according to his mates, had risked his life to protect the herd and their lives. To her surprise, he was an Asian bloke, but then she recalled the guy's Japanese name. Unlike Tommy and Victa, the young man approached the Land Shark without an ounce of fear.

"May… may I kill it?" he inquired carefully with a voice that was crackling with emotion.

Gwen nodded and stepped aside, calling back Caliban and Ariel, who returned to their pocket dimensions. She was feeling a little nauseous from using four bolts in succession and had hoped the Land Shark would replenish some of her vitality. But, she was also content to let Tako take revenge the old-fashioned way.

Debora reached down into the earth.

"Minor Stone Shape!"

She extracted from the ground a dangerous-looking obsidian spear. Obsidian, on the whole, was a brittle crystal, but when chipped, it was impossibly sharp.

With a wince, Debora handed the weapon carefully to Tako.

They watched the young drover approach the Land Shark. The light was fading from its eyes now; it was barely alive.

"This is for Betsy! Ya piece of shit!" he shouted, raising the stone spear to strike.

_SCHURRK!_

With the sickening sound of a crab being pierced by a knife, the obsidian spear slid into the creature's eye socket. Midway, the spear broke away, leaving a good half-meter inside the Shark's skull.

"Strewth!"
"Fuck’n Oath!"
"Fuck me!"
The others agreed most heartily with Tako's display of courage.

It took a few more seconds for the creature to finally expire. Gwen was just about to turn away when she felt something she hadn't experienced since the Field Trip. There was a wisp of something, barely perceptible to at the edge of her vision. The strange phenomenon seemed to have emanated from the dead beast. She looked around, wondering what the thing could be.

As before, she placed her hand upon her chest and felt the Kirin amulet aglow with warmth.

"Oh?" Debora seemed to have sensed something as well. She kelt down toward the beast's gut, and to their surprise, dug both hands into its soft underbelly. A slosh of gory stuff came rolling out, causing the crew to gag. Just as they were wondering what the hell Debora was doing, she pulled out an amber stone the size of her fist.

"Is that a Creature Core?" Gwen asked, completely caught off guard. If it was a Spirit, then they had just won the game of life. If this magical creature had a unique Spirit, then that would explain why it had been able to dive so deep and 'swim' through the ground so effortlessly, bypassing the Shield Barrier.

Debora's gore covered hands were shaking. She was an earth Elementalist. If this was really the core of an Earthen Spirit…

She looked at Gwen with begging eyes.

They were at a crossroad.
The most ardent test of character now awaited the girls, a test that had destroyed many friendships.

How to split the loot.


When a group of adventurers worked together, the etiquette of fair loot must be observed.

It was the unspoken law of Mages, for no Mage could survive without companions, and there was no deadlier destroyer of parties than a leader who hoped to claim all loot.

Usually, a party has five members.
They receive a thousand HDMs worth of spoils.
Via at the simple conjunction of arithmetics, each member should receive something equal in value. Should a member require a particular item of great importance, they are to pay the other members the missing cost, following an appraisal.

However, there were two distinct problems which now faced Gwen and Debora.

Firstly, if this was a Tier 3 - 5 Earthen Spirit, it meant that the Core's value was close to four to five thousand HDMs. If the Spirit possessed additional properties other than an affinity increase and identify friend-foe, it's monetary value would compound.

The second problem was that Debora's middle-class family was far from wealthy. Simply put, the Spirit was simply 'too good' for a mediocre Mage such as herself. In her lifetime, Debora likely would never afford a mid-tier Spirit. The loot was simply out of her league. The correct thing to do would be to sell the Spirit Core and split the money, a win-win for all.

Deep inside, Gwen knew that her friend desperately wanted more power so that she could catch up with her peers. This Elemental Spirit was her chance, her one opportunity. If she could somehow meld with this Spirit of Earth - her spells would become more powerful by several magnitudes. With any luck, her incantations would take on new side effects that may alter the physiology of her magic, making her a unique existence.

Such was their dilemma. If they had found a lightning elemental, Gwen could arguably payback Debora by begging Henry or Surya for a loan. But with the shoe on the other foot, there was little Debora could do to reciprocate her favour.

If so, how should she resolve their loot? Here was a watershed moment for Debora, but for herself, it was merely another boon.

Gwen took a deep breath.
She loved money, but she loved her friends more.

"I'll get the next one then, is that alright with you?" She intoned carefully. She felt a scrap of regret, but the foul feeling quickly passed.

Across from her, Debora's eyes blazed with gratitude and gladness, so much that her body physically trembled with joy.

Watching Debbie's reaction, her heart melted. With effortless ease, she fought off that mocking demon called envy.

"T-Thank you! Gwen, thank you so much!" Debora gushed, cradling the Spirit Core to her chest like a baby. "I-I don't know what to say!"

"Then say nothing." Gwen smirked.

"Should… should I try it now?"

Gwen held her tongue. Debra was a smart girl. The night was long, and minds could change in an instant.

"Wait up, lets set up camp," Gwen advised. "Tako, Tommy, can you find us a good spot?"

"You got it, boss!"

The makeshift party soon set up camp under the obsidian outcrop, shielded from the wind and the elements. Gwen set up a perimeter of Dancing Lights while the boys got to work clearing a space.

She produced two tents from her storage ring, some sleeping bags, and an assortment of camping supplies.

Not far, Tako's eyes went wide with shock, but the other two young drovers were already used to such miracles. With worshipful awe, the jackaroo stared at the most downright attractive girl he'd ever seen.

Gwen caught Tako gawking, and the young buck quickly looked away. She didn't mind the stupefied looks; it wasn't every day that people materialised filet-mignon from thin air. If she had been an NoM, she would have been equally impressed.

Meanwhile, Debora rinsed the blood from her body. Her white shirt was ruined, but her shorts and boots were intact. Gwen threw Deb a towel, feeling smug that she had everything inside her Storage Ring. With a little surprise, she realised that this was already her second storage ring. Conversely, Debora may not afford even a Minor Ring of Storage until Debs was a working adult. Watching her companion, she felt a pang of guilt, understanding that despite her trials and tribulations, she had been spoilt for opportunities.

More than before, Gwen felt that she had made the right decision to gift Debora with the Spirit Core.

By now, the boys managed to set up a roaring fire thanks to some magical items of convenience Gwen had purchased from the market. She materialised pots and pans, plates and cutlery, laying out enough for dinner and breakfast. Wordlessly, the jackaroos went about making supper.

With their audience distracted, Gwen turned her attention back to Debora. Her friend had retreated to a corner of the camp and now had the Spirit Core cradled across her lap.

With a thrum of mana, Debora began the ritual.

The process of subsuming a Spirit was simple enough. When defeated, an elemental spirit that had previously inhabited a Magical Creature became trapped within its Core. While attuning such a Core, a Mage gained the opportunity to spirit-bond the elemental to their astral body. The process gave the elemental a direct link to its home Plane, allowing it the sustenance required to maintain its ego. In return, the Mage took on some of the Spirit's abilities and Affinity.

Gwen sat, studying her friend. It was a shame that they were not in a Cognisance Chamber, else she could have witnessed the entirety of the phenomenon in full. In the future, Gwen knew that she would acquire an Elemental Spirit of her own. Though a Void one was out of the question, it was entirely possible to purchase a Lightning Elemental through her Master's connections or to find a Spirit by raiding the Orange and Black Zones.

"Gwen! I am starting!"

"Good luck!" Gwen gave her friend a thumbs up.

Debora held the stone close to her diaphragm, cradling the egg-shaped sphere like a babe. The Transmuter observed the amber glow swirling within, then began the process. There was a glimmer of light, then suddenly the Core grew dull even as Debora's physical body became encased in sand.

"Come on, Debs! You can do it!"

Debora's amber eyes now took on a dusky-orange glow. Gwen could feel the motes of Earthen mana pour from her friend's body as the Spirit attuned itself, fortifying her Affinity. The particles of stone and sand around Debora began to rise into the air, forming a swirling storm of brown-red dust. Gwen backed away. One of the pebbles had struck her leg with sufficient force to make her wince.

The boys paused their cooking to observe the spectacle. The dust storm grew until it was a good few meters across, sending Gwen and the others scrambling for cover. Then, as suddenly as it had started, the sandstorm ceased.

A seated female silhouette emerged from the falling dust. Debora had taken on the form of a sandstone statue. Visually, the combination of her crossed-legged visage Debora her the guise of a fertility goddess. With their mouths wide open, the jackaroos watched the slow peeling of caked dust from Debora's body, revealing the girl underneath.

_Ye Gods! Deb's half nuddy!_ Gwen's heart leapt into her throat. She scrambled from cover, a towel materialising as she made for her friend. Debora, perhaps unaware, tried to meet her halfway. The girl shifted, a cascade of terracotta shells falling from her torso, exposing herself to three young men grinning like shot foxes.

"The stars are a right beaut tonight, Vic."

"Yeah, mate, she's sure glorious to look at."

"Me jeans a bit tight…"

With a growl, Gwen shot off a low powered flash-bang, sending the boys scurrying for the hills.

Debora lifted her eyes, still dazed by the fusion. From ambivalence, her expression began to change, first from realisation, then engendering a smile of such genuine joy that it instantly melted Gwen's heart.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Thank you, thank you so much." Tears rimmed her amber eyes, now overflowing with gratitude. With her arms cradling her waist, Gwen could feel Debora's body pressed against her own. Apprehensively, she placed her hands upon Debora's ribs and made a little distance between them.

Debora stepped back, as naked as Leda in front of the Swan.

Gwen stepped back further still, producing a set of shirts and shorts. Silently, she made a mental note to include much more garments for the future, comprehending why Alesia had such an extensive wardrobe. To her surprise, Debora cast the attire aside haphazardly, making Gwen a little annoyed at the display of willfulness.

"You're too careless," Gwen knelt to retrieve the fallen apparel.

"What does it matter?" Her friend replied in a dreamy trance. "I am so happy right now."

"You look drunk, Debs. How's the Spirit doing?"

Debora pressed a hand to her heart, depressing the nubile flesh.

"It's pleased and grateful." Debora raised a finger, where a crumbling trail of silica began to circulate. "Would you like to see what we can do?"

"I would like to see you dressed first," Gwen said seriously.

Debora shook her head.

"I am afraid that's going to be rather difficult. It's one of those abilities."

"A full-body Transmutation?"

Rather than answering Gwen, Debora smiled and raised her arms.
Gwen felt motes of Elemental Earth gather around them.

"Bronze Skin!" Debora incanted.

Rather than transmuting into a being of bronze, her skin turned coarse. Motes of Earth with the consistency of sand flowed over Debbie's body. The effect was somewhat unsettling, as to Gwen's eyes, her friend had transformed into a golem consisted of shifting sand.

"I should probably call this Sand Skin now." Debora giggled.

"Wall of Sand!" Debora raised a hand. Where she motioned, walls of sand rose and fell, forming into instant shapes. Small hills, valleys, pillars, battlements, there seemed to be no end to what she could create at will. Looking down, Gwen felt something take her by the ankles. Before she could react, she and Debora were rising into the air, one meter, two meters, three. A few seconds later, they stood on a platform of compact sand. Gwen exhaled, immensely impressed. Typically, it would be impossible to reach this level of Affinity without years of extensive training.

"I am not sure what my Affinity is at the moment but… judging from before, it's more than likely five…"

"That's wonderful," Gwen congratulated her friend, growing more nervous by the minute. Debora was very close and very nude, Sand Skin or otherwise.

"Blink!" Debora announced. She suddenly disappeared, becoming nothing but a shell of loose sand, a hollowed-out beach sculpture. Gwen was about clap, then felt a pair of arms wrapping around her waist. She turned awkwardly, meeting Debora's mischievous eyes looking longing into her own.

Gwen looked down.
Her scalp instantly crawled.

"Blink" was an inferior form of teleport, one that shunted the body into the ethereal plane before phasing it back in at a nominated location. For low-Affinity casters, it came with the danger of being lost in the grey immaterial space— although Debora's Spirit now superseded that limitation. Unfortunately, "Blink" did not teleport parts of a caster's attire that wasn't suffused by attuned magic. That was the same problem that Alesia faced when not wearing quasi-magical battle gear.

Gwen herself had yet to possess any full-body effect incantations, but now that she was tapping into the versatile school of Transmutation, it was merely going to be a matter of time.

Of course, her most pressing problem remained the overambitious Debora, who appeared to be intoxicated with her new abilities.

"Right! Wonderful! Debs," Gwen said. "Please, let me down, and put something on. You'll catch a cold."

"What if I don't want to?" Debora's lips parted, revealing the pink tip of her tongue. "Kiss me."

"Debbie." Gwen's tone grew stern. "I am serious."

"Alright." Debra withdrew, re-materialising below. She lowered Gwen to the ground floor, allowing Gwen to exhale her bound-up tension. Once again, Gwen handed over new shirts, shorts, and intimates, turning her head aside as her friend dressed.

"Sorry." Debora apologised once she was properly attired. Not been nude seemed to restore her friend's sanity. "I was a little taken there. By my new powers, I mean."

"That's fine." Gwen gave her friend a blokey punch on the arm. "As long as you're alright, Debbie. How do you feel now? No side effects after subsuming the Spirit?"

"I am fine now." Debora paused. "I owe it all to you, Gwen…"

Her friend's words were a little too serious for Gwen to digest comfortably. She had spoken as though Gwen had saved her from certain death; like she somehow owed a debt of life.

"No, Deb, you worked hard too. We're both lucky. I had nothing to do with it."

"I'll pay you back, Gwennie. I swear it. I know that I can now. With this Spirit, I can do it."

"Debs…"

"It's alright, Gwen. Just know that I'll never forget what you did for me."

"Alright." Gwen touched her friend's arm, Debora was breaking out in a terrific swat, but her friend had returned to her flesh and blood self.

"Let's get some rest. We got a long way home tomorrow. I am not sure if we need to check up on the Shield Station either, Opa says he'll get in contact with the authorities."

"Okay."

Turning, Gwen left for her tent, sweating profusely but glad that she had just dodged a hell of a Catapult.

Though they had missed quite a show, the three young bucks remained in good cheer. With supper over, they insisted that the girls take both tents, while they formed a little huddle going around the fire. Likewise, they offered to take watch — first Victa, then Tommy, and finally Tako for the last few hours before dawn.

Gwen was glad for the display of Outback chivalry as she had been wary that Debora may take the opportunity to indulge in impromptu snuggling. Her disinterest aside, she simply had no time for relationships. There were too many things still crowding her plate: the Inter-High, the apprenticeship announcement, her debut as a Void Mage, her woes were endless.

Snug in her sleeping bag, Gwen felt the drain from her Void spells steal the last of her wakefulness. As her eyes closed, so did the dancing lights that had illuminated the perimeter. The camp was plunged into the darkness of the night, lit only by a single campfire, casting shadows that danced against Deadman's Rock.

The jackaroos were up at the crack of dawn. The young bucks went about tidying up the camp and making breakfast with the supplies Gwen had left them in an esky. With ease, the boys made damper and brewed up a heart kettle of English Breakfast, topped off with a few fried eggs and thin rashers of bacon. The girls emerged sometime later, conjuring some water to wash their faces and brush their teeth.

After, while the girls sat and enjoyed the view of the tablelands, the jackaroos packed the saddlebags. As Gwen and Tako weighed the least, she and the jackaroo shared a horse until they reached the main road, where Surya had promised that a 4x4 would be awaiting them. That had been the source of many a wiggling brow from Tommy and Victa until Gwen raised a sparking finger in warning.

It took an hour or so to reach the highway that stretched out into the ultramarine horizon. Another quarter of an hour later, the group met with Rhodes, who was having morning tea himself from the back of his wagon.

"Boys! Good ta see ya all in one piece."

"Boss."

"Boss."

"Mr Rhodes."

"Tako! Close call, eh? Good work on diverting the Land Shark."

"It was nothing, Sir." Tako scratched his chin.

"It was a good thing you did, son. I'll be sure to let everyone know. I'll find a new horse for you, put in a good word."

Tako seemed a little overwhelmed by the praise. He had, after all, performed his duty in the heat of the moment.

"Gwen, Debora."

"Mr Rhodes, Good morning."

"Morning."

The group made some more small talk before the Jackaroos had to take the horses back. The wagon was packed, and Rhodes was ready to chauffeur the girls back to Surya's.

Ding!

Gwen heard the distinct pop of a Message spell.

"Opa?" She cupped an ear.

"Gwen, how goes the hunt?"

"Very well, Opa, it's all done. There are also some exciting new happenings for Debora as a result. I'll tell you later."

"Excellent, I am happy you're both safe."

"Thanks." Gwen gushed.

Surya cleared his throat.

"Yes, Opa?"

Her grandfather's voice took on a more serious tone.

"So, I tried to get in contact with the Shield Station yesterday, and they hadn't gotten back to me. This morning, I got some of my associates to check in with their HQ, and the Hunter Station been out of contact."

"Is that normal, Opa?" Gwen asked quizzically, her crisis senses tingling.

"If we had suffered a mana storm or if there had been a dust devil drifting in, sure. BUT, with clear skies like last night and the day before? Most definitely no. I suspect your Land Shark might have something to do with it."

"Should we check it out? Opa?"

"I would normally say no." Surya hesitated. "But it will take the bureau another day to get to the station, it's a safe zone after all, whereas you're with Rhodes, right?"

"Yes, Opa. I am with Mr Rhodes." Gwen shot a smile towards Rhodes, who raised his water bottle in acknowledgement.

"You should be about two hours away from the station then. Would you mind checking in on the boys there?"

"Not at all, Opa," Gwen affirmed.

"Very good, I knew I could count on you. There's a reward waiting for you when you get back."

"Thanks, Opa."
The spell blinked out.

Gwen informed Debora and Rhodes of their new Quest.

"Sure thing, those boys been keeping us safe. We should check up on them if monsters are sneaking past the shields somehow." Rhodes nodded and tossed his cigarette, grinding it into the dust. "I am confident you girls can handle anything untoward."

"Sure thing, Mr Rhodes." Debora flexed her biceps.

"Umm... Mister Rhodes?" Tommy raised his hand.

"No! Don't!" Tako pushed his mate to the side. "It's nothing, Mr Rhodes."

"What's the matter, boys?" Rhodes asked.
He was sure he had told them to take the horses back to the ranch.

Tako was blazingly red, although the poor sod had been roasting for days.

The other two boys nudged him.

"Just do it, Tako, you're the hero of the day!" Victa kicked his mate.

"You'll never get an opportunity like this again!" Tommy slapped the young man on the back.

Tako stumbled forward, his broad-brimmed hat held tightly in his hands.

"Umm... er... Ms Gwen..."

"Yes, Tako?" Gwen raised a brow. "Well, Mister Takahashi, I should say."

Tako possessed the gaze of a samurai ready to receive a blade to the stomach.

"Could I... shout ya dinner? For like, saving me arse and all."

Debora spat out the water she'd been drinking.
Rhodes dropped the cigarette he was about to light.

"Nothing fancy like..." Tako mumbled. "Just... like at the local pub or something..."

Gwen blinked.
She slowly swallowed a mouthful of water from her flask, then looked around to those around her for guidance. The faces she met were alive with anticipation. Her mind buzzed. It was the first time someone had asked her out, at least in her second life. But Tako was an NoM, and she was a Mage, if so, what was a girl to do?