“Thank you, Vance, for everything.” Zulli said.

  Vance stood across from Senadin and Zulli on a not-so-busy road. They had finished eating at a bistro and were saying their final goodbyes before heading off to Carbon Manor, to finally start their first adventure.

  “At first, I must admit, I was just doing my job as an outworld investigator, but I’ve become very grateful to call you two my friends. I believe in you two, I believe you’ll do great things and help a great many people. I will pray to the Guardian that you find people to keep you safe, so that you may keep others safe.”

  Sen looked away from Vance in reclusion when he heard Vance would pray, trying not to look awkward and ruin the moment, knowing that Vance meant his best by saying it.

  “I think I’m going to miss you.” Zulli said. “Is that what I’m feeling?”

  Sen’s eyes met Zulli’s, who directed the question at him. “Yes, and I will too. Thank you, Vance. Take care of yourself.”

  Vance smiled.

  “Can I hug you?” Zulli asked Vance in a very straightforward manner.

  “I don’t see why not.”

  Zulli’s arms wrapped around Vance, not giving him a chance to prepare himself for the embrace. Vance could feel her cold, shadowy body that alighted a meager amount of supernovic energy from her into him. Despite her cold body, he could feel the warmth of her energy brushing against his aura.

  Surprisingly, Sen wrapped and arm around each of them as well.

  “Please stay safe.” Vance said softly when they all let go of each other. He gave them another warm smile, his mustache curling with his lips, and turned around and walked away.

  The two watched him walk away, then turned to walk their own path.

  “That kind of hurts.” Zulli said to Sen.

  “Knowing you won’t see someone for a long time?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Yeah.”

  ***

  Sitting outside Carbon Manor, Sen and Zulli waited patiently for the time they appointed to leave Vitesse with August, around the mid-afternoon. They both looked around and watched the lively people, taking in the sights of the city they won't be able to see for some time. The walls and towers of the city seemed less imposing. The multitudes of flowers draped from the ramparts and balconies swayed in a fashion that provoked, almost commanded, a sense of tranquility.

  “Hey, can I see that tunic?” Sen asked Zulli.

  “Oh, sure.”

  Zulli acquired the final items on their shopping list while Sen was allowing Vance to do some final scans of his essences. The last things they required for the trip were their stock of shawarma as well as some warm clothes; Silverwind was surrounded by an unbearably cold tundra.

  Zulli revealed a small silver bag at her hip, hidden by her blouse, made of some kind of soft and shimmery silver material. She stuck her hand in it and pulled out a large, heavy, black tunic, much too large to fit in the small bag without some sort of magic involved.

  “This bag is so nice. You got your tools, and I got my bag, a fair trade I’d say.” Zulli said to Sen, handing him the tunic.

  

  
• Item: Heartswarmth Tunic (Uncommon – Iron) – Armor – Chest
  
    
  
  
    
  • Effect: By releasing mana into the tunic, the wearer may receive a subtle warming effect. This effect can be compounded by charging the tunic with [Fire], [Lava], or [Sun] quintessence.
    
      
    
    
      
    • This item was a genuine gift from someone with a very strong connection to your soul. It may contain hidden effects.
    
    
      
    
    
      
  
  
    
  
  
    


  

  Sen held the tunic out in front of him.

  “Oh, Zulli.” Sen said devilishly.

  “Hm?”

  The tunic was soft but durable, and folded over itself on the shoulders and hips, providing insulated areas to hold more warmth. Its blackness was semi-matte, only reflecting enough light to accentuate the layering of its folds.

  “I might have you do my shopping from now on. This is great.”

  “So you like it?”

  “Yes, its awesome. I want to wear it now, but I’ll wait. I wonder how cold it’s actually going to be over there.” Sen said as a corona of shadow enveloped the already black tunic, and it disappeared from Sen’s hands into his voidspace. “Wait, can you feel temperatures?”

  “Yeah.” Zulli replied. She brought her hand up and placed the back of it on Sen’s arm. “I can feel that you’re warmer than the air around us.”

  “Do you sweat, like when it’s hot?”

  “I don’t think so. I haven’t before, at least not yet.”

  “You didn’t bleed before, either.” Sen said, his voice settling slightly.

  “Yeah, my body doesn’t regulate biologically. It regulates magically.”

  “Ohh!” Sen said, his eyes widening in revelation.

  “What?”

  “Well, when I first woke up, my body was reconstituting itself magically. Vance said my matrix was creating it without a blueprint or something like that. Maybe becoming the blueprint? I don’t know, it was a lot to take in.”

  “So you have a body made of magic like me?”

  “Yeah!” He said with a big smile. “I still have all the human parts though, like a heart and lungs, and I think I have a brain. I definitely can’t hold my breath like you can.”

  “The brain thing is questionable.” She retorted.

  Sen rolled his eyes. “You're taking quite well to the use of sarcasm. I’m just saying maybe that’s why our souls made a connection to each other.” He said with a smirk.

  “Ah.” Zulli realized. “You might be on to something. I didn’t feel that connection until we shook hands.”

  “Right, when our physical bodies actually…”

  “…made contact with each other.” They both said at the same time.

  “I don’t think it necessarily proves anything." Zulli said. "I’m sure the Magic Society is looking into it after they made a big deal out of it the evening we met each other. Maybe Vance will look into it while we are gone. We should have asked him about it.”

  “He’s going to open up a direct line of communication with me through some kind of magic relay. I’ll ask him when he gets it set up.” Sen told her.

  “Like magical mail?”

  “Yeah, It’ll run through my MSRT, I think. I’m curious to see how it works.”

  “By the way…” Zulli said. “I saw that alchemist again.”

  “Arty?”

  “Yeah, he saw me, and I saw him. He waved, but then ran off like he did the other day.”

  “He’s a pretty flaky dude. Weird that he wears that red trench coat. You’d think he’d be a little more subtle.”

  Just then, they saw August strolling up to Carbon manor in his casual clothes. He was easy to spot by his stout stature and all-too-perfect wavy hair.

  “We’re not meant to leave for another few hours.” August’s voice reverberated through the bustle of the city, seeming to come from every direction around them, but only to them.

  They both gave a look at each other, wondering how his voice was so clear while he was still several steps away from them. They waited for him to approach before responding.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “We’re ready to go.” Zulli said. “There was nothing left to do but wait.”

  August didn’t seem very impressed, but he gave them a very quick smile at their ability to keep the schedule. “I’ve got a couple things to finalize with Garrus, but then I’ll be ready.” He held out a hand and a large knapsack manifested into existence. August reached into the main pocket of the knapsack, and pulled out a shiny steel wheel about the size of his hand. He waited for the roadway to clear before tossing it on the road. The steel wheel became larger and began sprouting new parts from it. A shaft extended from its epicenter, also made of steel, and formed another wheel on the other side. The wheels leveled themselves on the roadway, and curved thin plates obtruded from the shaft, extending out and forming another shaft, which distended its own wheels. At this point, Sen was sure of what he was seeing.

  “Is that was we’re taking to Silverwind?” Sen said, mostly to himself.

  The steel contraption continued to materialize, forming flat walls on each side, with doors and steel steps up to them. The front and back walls were curved slightly, and the form of a steel carriage substantiated.

  “Now that is a proper magical item. Looks expensive, August.” Sen said.

  “Not an item, it’s an ability.” August told them, before the iron gates to carbon manor opened to let him in. He walked through them to enter the walkway steps of the manor, and the gates closed behind him.

  Realizing it was an ability gave Sen a sense of scale between their power levels. “I can manifest a suit of armor.” Sen said. “He can manifest a steel carriage? I wonder what my armor will be able to do at bronze rank.”

  “I think…” Zulli responded. “…It’s a utility ability. Like my magic tools ability…”

  

  
• Tools of the Ascendant [Special Ability – Ritual]


  

  Effect (Iron): Utilize specialty magic tools, vehicles, and weapons. Any effect requiring ownership of a tool is forgone and you become the owner of unclaimed tools affected by this ability.

  “…So, it won’t follow the same track as your combat-focused armor ability. Utility abilities tend to have more exponential gains to their effects as they rise in power.”

  “That’s something you understand from your Universal Knowledge?” Sen asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “I see. Let’s check this thing out.” Sen said excitedly and he waved his hands toward the steel carriage.

  The two looked around and inside the carriage for some time. It was entirely made of steel, which unfortunately included the seats. After sitting in it to test it out, they realized that it was also soaking in the rays of the sun, becoming hotter and hotter. Zulli did not sweat, but Sen started to, and they decided to once again to sit on the bench.

  “Awesome, in theory, but that thing is not going to be very comfortable.” Sen said.

  Zulli sighed. “Yeah.” She said disappointedly. “I wonder if he needs heidels to pull it. I’d almost rather ride on them, as long as they’re not made of steel too.”

  “Heidels? Are those the lizard-horse things?”

  “Horse? I don’t know what that is. But yeah, those reptilian beasts that pull the carriages?”

  “The ones with two heads?” Sen asked unamused.

  “Yep.”

  “So, there’s no horses in this universe, but there are scaly versions with two heads?”

  “I’m assuming so.” Zulli replied.

  “That may be the most ridiculous thing I’ve realized so far.”

  After some time waiting on August, they heard the iron rod gates open again, with Garrus and August stepping out of the front doors of the manor. They made their way to the outworlders sitting on the bench, and Garrus pulled a small trinket from his coat pocket. The trinket was comprised of multiple sections of thin golden metal, and Garrus tossed the trinket in front of him when they neared the bench. The trinket floated next to Garrus’ shoulder, its thin metal parts twisting and twirling. Originating from the trinket, a wave of dull, semi-opaque white light passed through the four until a thinly-veiled membrane separated them from the outside world. A harsh quiet enveloped them, and Sen’s ears started ringing from the sudden shift in ambience.

  “This is a privacy screen.” Garrus said. “It ensures no sound breaches the barrier, and if I so choose, no sound comes in, either. It also blurs our image. It’s a double-edged sword, I must admit. Using it in a public place draws attention, but that is fine for now. I haven’t been seen much as of late, and it might behoove my reputation to ensure the public knows I am still alive and well.” Garrus told Sen and Zulli, forgoing any other introductions. “I have come to wish you well, and that is all. I’m afraid if I say too much, I might say too much.”

  “Still keeping some secrets then, Garrus?” Sen asked.

  “I believe you already know I am, Senadin.” Garrus remarked with a coy smirk. “August?”

  “Hop in.” August said. “Time to go.”

  Sen and Zulli looked at each other. They hadn’t really realized that there was no turning back. Suddenly, leaving Vitesse seemed a larger task than they had previously presumed. They both stood up and walked toward the shiny steel carriage. Sen opened the door to it but planted his feet next to Zulli, both of them looking at the door to the carriage. This could be their last step taken in the City of Flowers.

  “Do you want me to go first?” Sen asked Zulli.

  There was a moment of silence. August and Garrus quietly stood behind them.

  “No.” Zulli said. “I’ll go first.”

  Sen stepped into the carriage after Zulli, they sat next to each other on one side of the carriage. August followed them, his weight shaking the carriage much more than either of them. He took a seat across from them while Garrus stepped to the door.

  “Good luck to all three of you.” Garrus said as he closed the carriage door. The latched closed with a shrill creak, and the three were left in darkness, closed in on all sides.

  The carriage’s steel walls shrunk into iron bars with a wave of August’s hand. The solid steel roof also transformed into interlaced steel strips, giving the carriage a latticed roof.

  “Stay quiet until we get out of the city. We’ll have plenty of time for talk on the road.” August told them.

  The steel carriage bucked as it started moving forward on its own, moving slowly through the roads of Vitesse. Sen and Zulli waved back at Garrus, who held a solemn hand in the air at their departure.

  The two outworlders who had only been denizens of this world for a week had finally begun their first real adventure. They did as August said and kept silent through the city and past the gates of the great city of Vitesse.

  Senadin and Zulli sat next to each other, shoulders rubbing every now and again from the bumpy ride in their magical steel carriage. August Niles sat across from them on the other side of the carriage, acting as guide and escort on their way to Silverwind.

  “So we don’t need a silver ranker to escort us out of this high magic area?” Sen asked August, finally breaking the silence after August handled speaking to the guards as they left the flower-laden walls of the Vitesse.

  August’s eyes shifted around, peering through the iron bars of the carriage and the latticing of the roof. He was scanning for something, and that something was not found, leading to an answer to Sen’s question.

  “The patrols keep track of the carriages, and the roads are the safest place to be.” August said. “The odds are low that a gold rank monster would appear and be a danger to us. I can handle most every silver, especially if there’s a patrol nearby for reinforcement.”

  “What about bandits? Like highwaymen and the like?”

  “Not an issue around here. Anyone strong enough to be a threat makes too much coin to fall into petty thievery.”

  “That makes sense.” Zulli said.

  “We’ll reach an outpost in less than two hours. It marks the area where the power of the ambient magic begins to fall.” August told them. “Before we get there, I’d like to talk to you about being an adventurer.”

  Sen looked from August to Zulli, and she looked back at him. They shared a warm, genuine smile before resting their eyes on August, with the intent on listening to the wisdom he would impart.

  “It’s rough.” August said.

  The silence thereafter was deafening. The creaking and moaning of the steel carriage was the only sound to reach anyone’s ears. August’s eyes gave no tell as to if he was going to say anything more. Sen started to think about what August said, wondering if there was a hidden meaning behind the few words.

  “Whether you are good or bad at it, it’s going to be rough.” August continued. “If you are bad at it, your weakness will put you in increasingly worse situations, and if you are good at it, your strength will put in increasingly worse situations. It is not the faint of heart.”

  The pair both nodded, thankful that the silence was broken.

  “We’re not a sanctioned adventuring party, but out here I’ll need you to act like a team and respect me as your team leader. If I tell you to do something, it’s imperative that you do what I tell you, when I tell you, and even if you think you have a better idea, you can’t hesitate about it. That moment could mean the end of your story. I need you two to be good followers before you act like leaders.”

  “I can handle that.” Zulli said, her voice chipper and excited. “How about you?” She asked Sen.

  Sen knew the importance of being a follower, he used to be a soldier after all, and at almost all levels, soldiers were followers, even while being leaders. Of course, not every soldier would be granted the best leaders, and this was true of Sen’s experience. In the armed forces, he was put under many leaders that didn’t deserve to be leaders in their own right and gained their rank through sheer luck, subterfuge, or both. This natural undermining of the hierarchy of leadership had trained Sen’s mind to second-guess most decisions. Even after second-guessing and deciding the order was lawful and worth following, that second guess is the dangerous moment August was implying. Fortunately, Sen trusted August. Not only had August saved both their lives, but it was also the most badass thing Sen had ever seen. The image of August landing on the ground like a comic-book hero while the head of a bipedal cat-monster flew through the air was burned into Sen’s memory.

  “I will try my best.” Sen said.

  “You will do your best.” August replied. “You will not try. Trying implies slack, which implies space, and that space is where someone could slip their dagger.”

  Sen’s lips tightened. His memory trailed back to August berating him after saving his life. Sen mulled over the words he spoke that no one heard.

  “I will do my best.”

  “Training is where it all starts, and it never ends.” August continued. “Your body must become a blade that only gets sharper. Your mind must become steel…” He rapped the steel door of the carriage. “…that only gets more tempered.”

  The excitement within Zulli was intensifying. It was almost like August was giving her a pep talk. If her face could be seen beyond her shadowy visage, her geeky smile would most likely kill the mood that August was intending. Sen’s own expression didn’t show any exhilaration, but his eyes curved in a way that showed he was in fact inspired by August’s lecture.

  “This is going to suck, isn’t it?” Sen asked, a smirk playing on his lips.

  “Yes. We will be training all the way to Silverwind.”

  “Oh? We’re starting that soon?” Zulli asked.

  “It should have been sooner, but you didn’t have that luxury. Some adventurers start their training early in childhood, not soon after they can walk. Travel is a good time for training, especially if you have a vehicle. You can train hard, and then rest during the ride.”

  “Is that why we’re taking a carriage and not teleporting the entire way?” Sen asked.

  “No. Well, partly.” August replied. “You most likely won’t have the luxury for teleports moving forward, and its best to be humbled with long travel early in your adventuring career. I suspect at least one of you will get a teleport ability, with those strange essences you have, but the ability won’t allow you to teleport other people with you until at least bronze rank. Adventuring parties tend to embrace the travel time, it’s a core pillar of building comradery with your team. Travel itself, is the lifeblood of adventuring, after all.”

  “This is going to be a proper adventure then.” Sen said.

  “Yes. That is the plan.”