“Did you guys sleep well?” Emily asks as she and Juliana join their friends at a table in the cafeteria.

  “Like a p ialons of a sominal bomber,” Tom replies with a satisfied smile. “I woke up about ten minutes ago!”

  “He wouldn’t have woken up at all if I hadn’t smmed on his door,” Hester grumbles.

  “Ha,” Dante ughs, throwing his arm around Enzo. “We’ve been up for hours training already!”

  Everyone looks at them with curiosity, fused by their ck of rest. Enzo lets out a tired sigh, rubbing his brow as he expins.

  “Oscar asked us to join him in his training room for a catch-up this m, and this idiot decided that meant we should exhaust ourselves,” he pins before fog on Emily. “Oh, and I mentiohat you may be ied in selling some materials to him. He was excited by the idea and told me to let him know when to approach you about it.”

  “Oh, thanks,” Emily responds. “I’ll go have a little chat with him after lunch. Speaking of, have you guys asked any of your families yet about anything they’d like? I’d like to know what I actually sell him before we meet.”

  “Mine have responded,” Dante says first. “They requested as many mandibles and armour ptes from fire-spitting bugs as possible. Oh, also they gave me permission to trade the resources I got for them as well as points. I’m guessing it’d be easier for you if your portion was in the form of crystals aals, right?”

  Emily is momentarily taken aback by his careful sideration, but she quickly recovers and nods with gratitude.

  “It would be, thank you. The less obvious it is to The ant that I’m h materials, the better. I don’t think it will happen, but I don’t want anyone tag the Mandragos to ask about it. I’ll e see you after talking to Oscar to discuss it properly.”

  “Sure, I’ll be in my room.”

  Emily moves her gaze clockwise around the table, fog on Enzo .

  “My family doesn’t want anything,” he says with a yawn. “Though, my mother asked if she could have a little bit of the archite flesh you kept. She wants to try some, but it’s rare for someoo catd sell one.”

  “Oh, sure,” Emily quickly agrees. “She have some of the sed circle flesh for free, or I split off a small k of third for a crystal or two.”

  “She only needs sed, but are you sure about not charging me? We gave it a value when you cimed it.”

  “Yeah, it’s fine,” Emily shrugs. “A portion for eating won’t be enough to dent my stock. I’ll bring it to you ter.”

  Besides, I only wa because I think I use it in a brew of imperception to repce shadow boa flesh. I may not actually be able to.

  “Thanks,” Enzo says gratefully as his and Dante’s food arrives.

  “No problem.”

  , Emily sweeps her attention past Ivor, who has been sitting still watg since she and Juliana arrived, to the twins.

  “What about you guys?” she asks.

  “We have a short list actually,” Hester says for the both of them, reag into the spatial pouch at her waist and pulling out a small sheet of paper. “We also got permission to trade our resources for them. In fact, we were enced to sihey’d have to send another member of the family with the points to iate and they think they’d get a worse deal.”

  “Ha,” Emily chuckles, looking over the list. “Well, they don’t want too muyway, so it won’t take that much from you guys. I’ll e visit you ter as well.”

  “Sure, I’ll be in my room whenever you’re ready.”

  Finally, Emily turtention to Juliana beside her.

  “What about you, Jules? Your family want anything?”

  “They just asked for a few of the herbs we gathered and said thank you for the ring,” she responds with a light blush, runnihumb over the air walker resting on her right forefinger.

  “You were the best fit for it anyway,” Emily says as Hester, Tom, and Ivet their food. “We’ll talk about the herbs they want ter.”

  “Sure,” Juliana happily agrees, resting her head on Emily’s shoulder as they wait for their food to arrive.

  ***

  After eating, Emily gives the finished Earth Drops to Ivor, Enzo, and Tom before heading to Oscar’s dorm. Their discussio take long, as he agrees to buy all of the materials she offers for a bulk sum of points. Emily stays to talk to him for a little bit afterwards, probing him to make sure Enzo and Dante didn’t mention her iure and leaving soon after she’s sure.

  The rest of her afternoon is spent visiting her friends, giving them their share of the sale to Oscar, and making small deals for their families. In the evening, after having dinner with her friends and making several bulk orders fical resources at the hub, draining all of her newfouh, Emily and Juliaurn to her dorm together.

  They kick off their shoes and colpse on the bed together, where Emily reaches into her belt to pull out a small, empty leather-bound book. She frowns slightly as her hand vanishes into the ether, notig a slight dey as she searches for the item within her packed ste pouch.

  Well, that’s annoying. I should probably either refihe entment on this belt or make aem for loerm ste. I don’t his many crystals and monster parts on hand in a fight, and I certainly won’t need my workshop.

  “What’s that for?” Juliana asks as she gets fortable curled up against Emily’s side, pulling her from her thoughts.

  “It’s a little gift for Ivor,” Emily expins, pulling out her quill and starting on the first page. “I talked to him earlier about the potions he wao try with the resources from the expedition, and he mentioned losing the notes he had on one of the recipes he wao try. Apparently, when he went to the library to remake them, he couldn’t find the book with the best version of it, only a few half-pleted ones.”

  “Wait, why are there half-pleted recipes in the library?”

  “Quite a lot of alchemists are very prideful,” Emily says with a chuckle, remembering Mrs Myrtle’s spee her first lesson. “So, they don’t like giving away their full, perfected recipes. They miss out key details like timings and quantities sometimes to force the person following their instrus to work it out themselves. Some are better than others and don’t do this, hence Ivor looking for a specific book, but, if not, you have to work out the recipe either through your own experimentation or by cross-refereng a lot of different books that miss out differeails. That’s what I had to do for the Earth Drops. So, I’m writing down all the recipes I’ve taken from the library for him.”

  “Aww,” Juliana coos, pg a kiss on Emily’s cheek. “That’s very sweet.”

  Emily scoffs, a light blush c her cheeks as her hand tinues moving quickly across the pages.

  “I’m just paying back a favour I owe him.”

  It’s the least I do for the help he gave me on the brew of imperception. It would have taken a few more days of frozen time if he hadn’t been there.

  ***

  The day, after eating breakfast with her friends, Emily makes her way to the staff dorms. She goes straight to Agnes’ door and knocks three times before stepping bad waiting. Almost a minute goes by without any response, but just as Emily turns to leave, the door vanishes.

  “Hey, Emily. I was w when you’d visit me.”

  She turns back, seeing Aganding in the doorway dripping with sweat, her greatsword strapped to her back as usual and aed grin on her face. Emily looks her over, raising an eyebrow at her exhausted state.

  “I had some admin to deal with first after returning,” she says dismissively. “Did I e at a bad time?”

  “Not at all. I was just doing a light workout. Did you e to spar?”

  “Yep,” Emily says, a matg grin f on her face. “Now that I’m properly used to my circle, I thought it only fair I e kick your ass.”

  “Ha,” Agnes barks, stepping past Emily auring for her to follow. “Let’s use the main training hall then. I’ve been w on something new and don’t want you saying you lost because you didn’t have enough room to move around.”

  They quickly reach the teleportation circle, moving through The Dome and heading for the training hall. The rge door to the hall is opehey arrive, and they step in to find a group of twenty first and sed circle mages sparring in a ten vs ten battle. The moment they ehe room, Agomps on the ground, releasing her mana aing her heavy aura fill the room.

  The fighting mages all instantly halt, their attention snapping to the threatening presence, a few of them letting out quiet, disgruntled pints as their spells are interrupted.

  “Everyo!” Agnes calls, her voice filling the room as she uses a teique Emily reises, filling her vocal cords with mana.

  “But we booked the ha-“ one of the braver, older-looking mages tries tue before falling silent under Agnes’ fierce, one-eyed gre.

  The group cel all of their ongoing spells and quietly file out of the room, casting fearful gazes towards Agnes as she doesn’t remove her pressure, and curious gazes to the silent Emily beside her. Ohey’re all out, Emily follows her obsolete habit of warming up before a spar, and Agnes shuts the door behind them before drawing her sword and perf a few practice swings herself.

  They maintain a tense silence as they prepare, like the calm before a storm. After a few minutes, Emily stands up from stretg her legs and holds her hand out to the side. A faint purple mist flows from the belt at her waist, twisting up and around her arm before solidifying into a long, uniform, wooden staff. She grips the staff lightly, flig it into a spin and twirling it deftly around her body before halting its momentum with a fierce crack against the ground, boung it bato a ral position.

  “Going with a staff today?” Agnes asks. “What’ll you use when I break it?”

  Ign her taunt, Emily remains silent, calmly raising her free hand auring fo e at her. Agnes obliges, her manic grin growing with each step forward as she quickly closes the distance.

  They meet without a single spell being cast, having reached a silent agreement to follow their usual sparring pattern. Agarts with a sudden downward ssh the moment she steps into reach, but Emily simply steps back, moving with trolled grace as she sweeps her staff across her body, lightly shifting Agnes’ sword aside, before spinning it around to strike Agnes’ shoulder in the same motion.

  Agnes halts iep, a look of surprise on her face as she watches Emily move back further.

  “Damn,” she says with a plex mix of emotions flickering across her face. “You were moving slower than me just then, weren’t you.”

  “Yep,” Emily responds proudly. “I read you now.”

  Agnes nods, a look of acceptance mixed with a hint of pride crossing her face before she settles bato a petitive grin.

  “I guess I’m going to have to learn from you now,” she says before charging faiarting her offensive.

  Emily grins as well, her eyes sing Agnes’ body to take iwitch of her muscles and every shift in her bance, her mind running through an instinctual calcution to predict her move. Slowly, Emily spiaff around, defleg each of Agnes’ blows while retreating, stantly moving backwards, side to side, and even slipping past Ago switch pces after a particurly rge opening.

  They dance a waltz of wood and steel across the hall, with Emily drawing Agnes into her pad leading her around by the nose. After a few minutes, Emily decides to push her flow skill further and starts to switch ons.

  First, as Agtempts a heavy overhead ssh, Emily presses her staff against the ft of Agnes’ bde and slips past it, sliding her hands up her staff at the same time and summoning a pair of daggers from her belt. She sshes towards Agnes’ blind eye, but Agnes reacts just in time, fling bad letting the bde sail past her cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.

  Emily ges the dire of her bdes in an instant with a deft flick of her wrists, pressing the attack, but Agnes knocks her back with her shoulder before sweeping her bde horizontally, f Emily to pull back.

  However, as Emily steps away, she also twists, thrusting her hand forward as a spear appears in her grip. Agnes pauses her sweep and hastily lifts her sword, knog the spear aside and exposing a gap iance. Emily immediately ducks forward, closing the distance befnes recover and delivering a solid blow tut with a pair of brass knuckles.

  Agnes grunts in pain, leaping bad g her stomach. Emily doesn’t pursue her, giving her a moment to recover.

  “Does this mean we use magiow?” Agnes goads, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

  “Well, the winner was clear without,” Emily fires back, before slowly raising a single finger with a taunting smile. “For the first minute, I won’t use any offensive spells or speed enhas. I’ll start ting after you finish your preparations.”

  “fident, are we? I’ll make yret saying that,” Agnes cims, driving her sword into the ground beside her and crag her knuckles. “I finished making a oy with Jenly. I’ve been itg to test it on you!”

  KeroKeron