The gym seemed like a place geared more towards knights. With his affinities, he didn’t see what help it could offer him. Still, just having a direction to go in made Felix feel like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Even if the gym was a dead end now that he knew other guides could help him in different ways, he could search them out and hopefully learn more.

  Approaching the large, well-lit building, Felix felt completely out of place. Entering the open hall, the feeling of discomfort only grew.

  The vast open hall was filled with ways to train. Felix slowly walked through the strange hall, feeling like he was in a museum of curiosities. Some things were common, training dummies, weapons, and weights. Others were bizarre.

  What looked like a segment of a river looked like it was plucked from the whole, still flowing as if nothing had changed. Small rooms with floating balls, orange circles painted on the ground in a script that reminded him of the ferry. On the ceiling, some sections had ropes strung across them in a confusing tapestry. In other rings and targets, an aerial obstacle course and target range were formed.

  This early in the morning, the building felt eerie. It gave the impression that it should never be this empty. It felt like a place meant for movement and effort. The stillness seemed to go against its very nature.

  A sound from the other end of the hall interrupted his tour of the equipment just as he was trying to figure out how you’d use one particularly confusing mess of cables and weights.

  Felix slowly made his way to the noise, still feeling out of place. The equipment, the obstacle courses, the practice weapons, all of it scratched at the open wound where his dreams of becoming a knight once sat. He’d been too busy to focus on his loss, but it was impossible to forget in a place like this.

  If not for his affinities, he’d have never left this place. In a different life, this place would have been his greatest joy.

  Suddenly, he understood Lara’s apprehension when it came to talking about her training. She, of all people, knew how much this place would hurt him. Felix shook his head. If he dwelt on everything that caused him pain, he'd have no time to do anything else in a day. This was just one more thing to add to the list. Maybe one day he’d have the time to process all of it, maybe after they made it to the elite group.

  Eventually, he got close enough to see what the noise was. A boy was busy dodging as little fuzzy balls kept getting fired at him from holes in the wall. The floor around him was littered with them as he bent and twisted, trying to dodge them.

  He was doing a rather poor job of it. Felix had just started watching, but so far he’d been hit by every ball. More than once, he’d managed to trip over his own feet, just barely stopping himself from planting face-first into the ground.

  Felix kept staring, and soon he was frowning. The boy somehow looked familiar. It took him a little while to place it, but eventually he did. It was Henry. He hadn’t seen him since they’d met in the library, and he showed Felix how to use his token to access the private study.

  His frown deepened as he wondered how one of the most talented knights in the Crossroad could be so clumsy. His thoughts were interrupted when an enormous furry paw landed on his shoulder.

  “Good morning,” The voice was so deep and rumbling it felt like it shook his bones. Felix tripped over his own feet as he tried jumping backwards to see what was attacking him. As his bum hit the floor, his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Looming over him was a massive bear in a tracksuit.

  As he shuffled backwards, he tried to understand why he could read the creature’s expression. Somehow, it looked sheepish.

  “Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Felix’s eyes widened.

  “A talking bear!”

  The laughter that followed felt like an earthquake.

  “No, cub, I’m Instructor Grendel, the guide that’s in charge of the gym. I’m also not a bear, I’m just a little more beastly than most beastkin.

  Taking a closer look, Felix quickly noticed his mistake. Just the fact that he could fit into that outfit should have tipped him off that it wasn’t an actual bear.

  “Uhm, sorry. I was startled and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. I didn’t mean to insult you or anything.”

  “Don’t worry about it, cub. Hmm, you’re the one I handed over to Alvara after your first trip through the Ways, huh. How’s it going, cub? What brought you to my little playground?”

  Felix glanced at Henry, who’d been clumsily dodging balls earlier. He had the decency to quickly turn around and pretend he was still training.

  “Uhm, I don’t know how to get any further on my path. I figured out the rule about guides–” The instructor held up a hand to cut him off.

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  “Looks like you want more than proper lifting technique or advice on increasing your sprint time. C’mon, I’ll make us a cup of coffee and we can talk about it.”

  Felix followed the bear to a quieter area of the gym. He was a little confused when he was asked to sit down with nothing around them. The bear sat down opposite him and pulled out a cute little beehive pouch. Watching the strange scene, Felix’s mouth fell open as the instructor pulled out a small table that had no right to fit in the little pouch.

  Felix immediately recognised it, no good adventurer’s story was complete without a spacial bag. He knew his grandmother owned one, but she wasn’t allowed to bring it home. This was the first time he’d actually seen one in action. The chuckle from instructor Grendel told Felix that his reaction was exactly what Grendel had been aiming for.

  The instructor didn’t stop to appreciate his little prank. Next, he pulled out a small scale and placed a counterweight on one side.

  “So little cub, let’s start over. Why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to since we last parted ways?”

  Felix recounted his story, from the disappointment of not becoming a knight to discovering his strange affinities. He talked about his useless spell, not even holding back in describing its more embarrassing aspects. He told the instructor about Lara and his need to clear the Ways in six months to join her. He told him about the impossible challenge the Ways had given him.

  It was nice, his heart felt a little lighter having the opportunity to speak so openly about his problems with someone new.

  All the while, the instructor listened patiently, slowly, and methodically as they prepared their coffee. Even with his massive paws, every action he took was precise.

  Slowly, he pulled out a few deep red stones and placed them in a circle. When he blew on them, they lit with a low flame, a few more puffs, and it looked like a little campfire. He took out a little iron kettle with a stand and placed it over the fire before filling it with water.

  Then he methodically weighed out the beans, not even allowing the slightest imbalance on the scale.

  Surprisingly, for how much had happened, it didn’t take Felix long to recount the events since he’d come to the Crossroad. By the time the instructor had started grinding down the beans into a coarse powder, Felix had run out of story to tell.

  While the kettle boiled, the instructor sat in contemplation.

  “You seem to be aware that if you choose to walk the path of a Traveller, then the start of your journey will be far harder than others, yes?”

  Felix tried speaking past the lump in his throat, but in the end, he just nodded, not confident he could answer that question without embarrassing himself. Hearing the same evaluation from another guide added to the weight he felt.

  The instructor stared at him for a while before he returned his attention to his previous task. He pulled out a strange glass carafe. It had a wide mouth that tapered to a narrow opening in the neck of the container. After the narrowing, it pushed back out to form a large, wide-bottom container. The instructor pulled out a length of silk and carefully rolled it into a cone.

  “I see, you know how hard it will be, so you’re reaching out to anything that might help. But why would any guide give you advice when you stubbornly refuse to use what’s already been given to you?”

  Felix looked at the instructor in shock.

  The bear simply continued, placing the rolled-up silk in the wide mouth of the carafe, the narrowing in the neck helping to maintain its shape. The instructor gently placed the coffee grounds into the silk-lined container.

  “Someone in your situation should be struggling to make the most of even the smallest advantages granted to them. Yet as far as I can tell, you’ve ignored Alvara’s advice. You have a mind affinity, yet you refuse to use it to solve your challenges. Instead, opting for brute force.”

  Felix’s mind raced as he tried to think of what advice he’d ignored. That’s when it hit him, Alvara had repeatedly told him to use his spell. His face scrunched up, with someone in front of him to direct his question, so he didn’t need to bury his incredulity.

  “You mean the spell? What use is a spell that makes me sleep a little better and does… You know, the other stuff? How’s that going to help me clear my gate?”

  The instructor didn't speak. He waited for the kettle to boil before pouring a little water over the grounds, just enough to wet them. After that, he took out a pocket watch and flipped it open.

  “Why do you think we sleep, little cub?”

  Felix opened his mouth to say something like ‘because we get tired,’ but he thought better of it. He might be frustrated, but he was being offered help when he desperately needed it. This was no time to be perfunctory.

  After thinking about it, Felix realised he didn’t know. Once he actually thought about it, the need to sleep was rather strange. Could mana get tired? That didn’t sound right, and they were made of mana. He realised that he didn’t know the answer.

  He thought back on what the instructor had told him so far.

  “You have a mind affinity and yet you refuse to use your mind to solve your challenges.” Does it have something to do with my mind affinity? That doesn’t seem right. Sleep can have something to do with the mind, sure, but the spell is for my life affinity. Is life and mind affinity somehow connected?’

  As soon as he had the thought, it felt like the mana around him burst out in joy. Suddenly, he was back on the Ways, learning with every step he took. There had to be a connection between life and mind mana. To have a mind, you would have to be alive. Maybe there was some exception out there somewhere in the universe, but he couldn’t see how that would work.

  He’d only just understood that a connection existed. He had no idea how they were connected or what it meant for him, but he’d made progress. He felt like he understood his mind affinity a little better, and in turn, the mana understood him a little better.

  “I see you’ve figured something out.”

  Felix looked up to see the instructor slowly pouring water in a circle over the coffee grounds. When the top of the carafe was nearly full, he stopped and took out a little spoon to gently stir around the edges of the carafe.

  “Yes! I figured something out–”

  Felix went still for a moment.

  “I uh.. Still don’t know why we need sleep, though.”

  The instructor smiled.

  “Good, ‘I don’t know’ is always a valid answer. Always remember that there is no shame in ignorance, only an opportunity to learn. There is only shame when, in arrogance, you spurn that opportunity.”

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  ? Unwoven ?

  by Wanderlost

  What happens to a world that relies on magic when the mana wells run dry?

  Ellis, an aspiring mage, is coming of age in a world hanging on by a thread. Ever since his brother was taken and his father abandoned him, he has been a ward of Tastamine, the last college of magic in Fernwe.

  Growing up, all he has ever wanted was a chance to see the world, expand his craft, and finally make something of himself. That day of opportunity has finally come. The head of the college enlisted Ellis for a research expedition that may reveal clues about the sudden decay of magic. The timing couldn’t be worse.

  The once-great mana vents are down to dregs, and the cost to harvest it grows extortionary. Suspicion of those associated with magic kindles in the country's capitol city, fully igniting after a deadly incident.

  When an up-and-coming politician seizes the opportunity to wrest power on the tide of fear and fury, chaos erupts. The common people descend on those tied to magic, forcing a mass exodus. Now, along with an unexpected crew he has only just met, Ellis must flee the city.

  With little choice but to trek onwards to a mysterious temple on the far side of the continent, Ellis holds out hope that answers can be found, and the world can be set right.