As four of the other five in the room looked at him—Calisco was more interested in her nails—Det in turn looked around the suite. There weren’t any notebooks or random pieces of paper lying around, but, did he really need them?

  Nope. I hope they don’t report me for graffiti.

  “Like I was saying earlier,” Det said as he pulled one of his brushes and a bottle of ink from the pouch-slash-holster at the small of his back. “I need these for my magic to work.”

  “And what does your magic do?” Weiss said.

  “Easier to show you than explain it,” Det said, uncorking the ink bottle and dipping his brush in. As soon as he did, a few quick and practiced strokes painted the image of a simple turtle directly on the coffee table.

  “Housekeeping is going to love that,” Weiss said.

  “We have housekeeping?” Calisco asked, clearly excited at the prospect.

  “No,” Sage said, completely deflating Calisco.

  “Wait, we don’t?” Weiss said. “Who’s going to do my laundry?”

  “You?” Tena said.

  “I don’t know how to do laundry!” Weiss said, looking a little panicked.

  “How do you not know how to do laundry?” Calisco said.

  “I always had somebody who… AH!” Weiss jumped back on the couch as a small, ink-black turtle shuffled along the coffee table right in front of him. “The… hell?”

  “Cute,” Eriba said, slipping down onto her knees beside the table and leaning in so she could get at eye-level with the creation.

  “You summon turtles?” Tena said. “That’s your magic?”

  “It’s not really a summons,” Det said. “I’ve decided to call it a rendition. And, it’s not just turtles. It’s almost anything I can paint. Limited by the size of the surface, and how much energy I push into it.”

  “Anything?”

  “Almost anything,” Det said. “I mean, I haven’t tried everything, and I definitely wouldn’t eat the food I paint.”

  “Can you make guns?” Tena said.

  “Technically, yes,” Det said. “But they don’t work right. The bullets have to be made separately, and they just don’t fit properly. I had a little better luck with something like a bow and arrow, but I am no archer. Oh, and I can make landmines, but that’s because I made one in university, and I know how it works.”

  “You…” Sage started. “Built a landmine in university?”

  “For one of my engineering classes, yeah,” Det said.

  “Was that safe?”

  “We didn’t put any big explosives in it or anything,” Det said. “Just something like a minor firework and some confetti. It was fine. Fun to design, too. Worked great for the New Year’s party.”

  “I have so many questions,” Sage said. “Most of them about how many times the police visited your home. But, they can wait for later. You were telling us more about your magic?”

  “Laser guns?” Calisco said, taking control of the conversation. “Can you make a shark with laser guns?”

  “… part of me thinks I really shouldn’t answer that,” Det lamented. “But, I can make a shark. I can’t make a laser gun, or even a flashlight. Producing something outside of the image—like a beam of consistent light—doesn’t seem to work.”

  “How about a T-Rex with sharks for arms?”

  “Didn’t you grow up with him?” Weiss said, now also kneeling on the floor to get a better look at the turtle Eriba was playing with. “Why are you just asking these questions now?”

  “Det’s always been a loser and a loner,” Calisco said. “He’s talked more in the last twenty minutes than I’ve heard in the last twenty years.”

  “She’s not wrong,” Det said. “About the loner part.” He paused to give Calisco the finger. “Radiant isn’t a big pillar, and since it’s below the Mistline, we don’t get a lot of visitors. We were the first ReSouled born there in ages, and people weren’t happy with it. Thought we killed the babies we ‘replaced’.” He used the necessary air quotes. “Didn’t make me want to talk to them and listen to their bullshit opinions, like we did this on purpose.”

  “I’ve heard it can be like that on some pillars,” Sage said, only sitting on the edge of the couch instead of getting on the floor with the other two. “Did you have the same trouble, Calisco?”

  “Nah,” the woman said. “I was awesome, and people got it.”

  “What she means,” Det said. “Is she actively ignored the people who had opinions. If they tried to push those opinions on her, she made their stuff explode. They got the message after that.”

  “I’m very persuasive,” Calisco said. “Hey, Det, can you make a kitten?”

  “You always make fun of my magic, and now you want something?”

  “Yeah, a kitten,” Calisco said. “Get to it. Chop chop.”

  Taking a deep breath to stay calm, Det dipped his brush into the ink again. “For the sake of demonstration,” he explained, and painted the kitten on the blank coffee table. As soon as he was finished, he put one finger on the ink, and pushed energy into the image. Even with how small it was, the transfer still took the requisite two seconds before the hand-sized little furball of cuteness emerged from the wood, leaving the spot completely void of any ink.

  “Don’t let Calisco pet you,” Det said, giving his command to the rendition.

  “What does that mean?” Calisco said, reaching out for the kitten, only to have it dash away from her far faster than any kitten should be able to. “Hey, get back here!” Then she was up and after it, with the kitten darting around the room, up and over the other people—and even briefly stopping to let them pet it—before it ran off again and out of Calisco’s reach.

  “As you can see,” Det said. “I can give the renditions simple commands to follow. If I don’t say anything at all, they’ll just try to protect me.”

  “How?” Tena said, picking up a crumb from her plate and finger-flicking it at Det.

  The second it bounced off his cheek, the little turtle launched from where it had been absorbing attention from Weiss and Eriba. Defying all laws of physics and logic, the little thing no bigger than Det’s hand leapt the six-foot gap to the Bulwalk, jaws wide, and fury on its tiny face.

  “Wha…?” was all she had time to ask before the thing’s maw closed on the tip of her nose, and the pair of them went toppling off the side of the couch. “Oh gawd, get it off. Get it off! My nose. My nooooooose.”

  Unfortunately for Tena, nobody moved as she rolled around on the floor, both her hands clamped onto the turtle’s shell as its mouth clamped on her nose. It even growled while it unleashed its righteous fury on Det’s behalf, small legs wiggling like it was trying to get itself closer so it could bite her better.

  “Vicious little thing,” Weiss said.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “I still think it’s cute,” Eriba said, hands clasped in front of her mouth, and her eyes wide like she was absolutely in love.

  “And you can make bigger and stronger things than this?” Sage asked Det.

  “Yeah,” Det said, watching as Tena rolled to her knees to try to pull the turtle off her face. All she managed to do was stretch her nose. That turtle was holding on like it had a blood-oath of vengeance against her. Then again, after she’d speared Det in the face, it was only fair, so he answered Sage’s question while watching her suffer. “I had a pack of wolves with me for the dungeon I cleared. That was the help I was talking about.”

  “That sounds powerful,” Sage said. “And versatile. With the weakness you are limited by your ink, and the time it takes you to paint.

  “Back on Radiant, I had prepared some scrolls with images for quick use,” Det said. “I’ll probably do the same thing before we go to any dungeons, or whatever else they have planned for us.”

  “How about you help me first?” Tena said, on her back once again with the turtle clasped in her hands. The thing’s feet had stopped churning in the air, and the two of them simply locked eyes, like they’d reached a stalemate.

  Det didn’t immediately say anything, but Sage gave him a look.

  “Fine,” Det said after another few seconds. “You’ve suffered enough. Hey,” he said to the turtle, his magic making the rendition know he was talking to it. “She’s learned her lesson. You did a good job protecting me.”

  With one more glare from the turtle, like it was promising it would return if she misbehaved, it vanished in a splash of black ink that made Tena flinch before it also disappeared. Just like that, her hands were empty, and she had little bite marks on the tip of her nose.

  “Awwww!” Eriba said. “It’s gone?”

  “The reason I created it was completed,” Det said. “So, the magic faded.”

  “Which means the kitten…” Sage trailed off, turning around on the couch to watch Calisco chase the ink-kitten around—and around and around—the kitchen island.

  “Will probably last around thirty minutes,” Det said. “And run from her the entire time.”

  “That’s kind of cruel,” Weiss said, getting himself back on the couch. The grin on his face suggested he didn’t think it was unfair, though.

  “How about you, Weiss?” Det said. “What’s your magic?”

  “I’m a Medic, by the class definitions,” Weiss said, moving over to sit by Tena as she got back up on the couch as well. “Can I take a look at that?”

  “Please,” she said. “It stings.”

  “Turtle really got a good grip there, didn’t he?” Weiss said, looking closer. “Do you mind if I heal that?”

  “Do you even need to ask?” Tena said. “Please.”

  “Outside of a fight, I absolutely have to ask,” Weiss said. “Your body, your choice.”

  The sentiment surprised Tena for a second, but she nodded again. “Please heal it.”

  “My magic—at its base—is simple,” Weiss said. “As I assume many Medics’ is. I heal injuries. Where mine is slightly different is that I can use light—consuming it—to enhance the effects.” As he spoke, the light in the room dimmed just a smidge, like a cloud passing in front of the suns outside. With that, the small injury on Tena’s nose vanished, her eyes widening like she’d been splashed with cold water.

  With the wound was gone like it had never been there, it took another second after that for the light to return to the room.

  “I can use light in place of my own magic energy,” Weiss explained. “Or, I can use it to enhance—boost—my healing, to take care of more serious injuries than I normally would be able to for my Rank. As you probably noticed, it can take the light some time to recover from being used like that.”

  “Does it have to be sunlight?” Sage said.

  “Any light source will work,” Weiss said. “Sunlight is the strongest, and replenishes itself the fastest, but I can use fire. Something like a torch. It won’t last long, and it’s very strange to see a lit torch not lighting up the space around it, but it works.”

  “How long does it take for a torch to get back to normal?” Det said.

  “A torch isn’t strong enough to recover,” Weiss said. “If I use it’s light that way, I guess you could consider it like a consumable.”

  “That’s going to be a bit challenging in a dungeon,” Calisco said from where she stood at one end of the kitchen island. On the other, far end, the ink-kitten stared her down, as if waiting to see which way the ReSouled would go.

  “Maybe not as bad as you think,” Sage said. “The dungeon you were in, it was in its infancy.”

  “Does that matter?” Det said. “Either way, it was still very underground.”

  “I don’t know all the details,” Sage said. “But the dungeon I got taken into to test my magic, it was an open field. I went down through an emergence, but came out with a sky above me. It didn’t look like I was on a pillar, but the Mistguard with me said something about the dungeons having a kind of spatial expansion.

  “It still had Wordless populating it, of course.”

  “That might work,” Weiss said.

  “Or it might turn day to night,” Tena said. “Just how strong is the healing when you absorb light to buff it up?”

  “I reattached a foot once,” Weiss said. “Made it feel like dusk for a few minutes, but the limb was as good as new.”

  “And without using the light?” Det said.

  “Minor injuries at best,” Weiss said. “Cuts, bruises, that kind of thing. Nothing too deep. Can’t do broken bones or anything more serious. Yet.”

  “Jeckles definitely fixed my broken leg,” Det said. “I guess he’s B-Rank?”

  “Dr. Jeckles is definitely B-Rank,” Weiss said.

  “Is that his callsign?” Det said.

  “Yes,” Sage said. “And his wife is Mrs. Hyde.”

  “Tell me she’s not a healer too, with a name like that.”

  “Bulwark, with body alternation magic,” Sage said. “Lives up to her name. Tough, strong, big. You get it. But, speaking of Bulwarks,” his head turned until he was looking at Tena again. She was pinching her nose and gently turning it side to side, as if testing if it would hurt anymore. “You’re the last one who needs to tell us about your magic.”

  “What about me?” Calisco asked, diving onto the kitchen island in an attempt to catch the ink-kitten. She didn’t even get close.

  “You explode things,” Det said.

  “We all saw your magic,” Weiss agreed. “And we’re going to need to figure out a way to make sure we don’t get hit by it. I don’t think I can heal the damage it would do without tapping into the light.”

  “Told you my magic is awesome,” Calisco said, now rolling off the counter while the rendition watched.

  “Before Captain Simmons told me she could one-shot High-D-Rank Wordless,” Tena said. “I thought my magic would protect me from one of her explosions. Now, I’m not so sure.”

  “Your spear could save you?” Det asked.

  “The spear is just one manifestation of my magic,” Tena said. “Like you did, it’s probably easier just to show you.” She stood up from the couch and took a few steps away, so there was space between her and the others. “My magic creates crystal.”

  As she spoke, she held one hand out to the side, and a spear grew from her palm, fully forming within a second.

  “This isn’t why they classified me as a Bulwark instead of something like Artillery,” Tena continued. As if to prove her point, more crystal appeared, this time covering her from head to toe in what looked like medieval, crystal, full-plate armor. The material shimmered as the light sparkled off it, and added a solid few inches to her height, while further emphasizing her broad shoulders and powerful arms.

  Epaulets curved slightly up above her shoulders. The elbows and knees had short spikes. Her boots flared out on both sides of her knees, and her hips had extra protection on each side. Even her helmet had decoration to it, with the eyeslit having a visor above it connected to two horns that flowed back over her head to extend from the back of her skull.

  In her armor, Tena was an absolute unit.

  “Okay,” Det said. “That’s a bit intimidating.”

  “I’m not done yet,” Tena said.

  “There’s more?” Sage asked.

  “Weapons, obviously,” Tena said, a tower shield growing from her left hand, while a spiked mace replaced the spear that turned to crystal dust in the air. “And, the biggest thing is… this.”

  With the word, a second armored Tena stepped out of her to stand at her side. Just like from her, a shield and weapon formed before Det’s eyes.

  “I can only do one construct at a time, right now,” Tena said. “And, I guess it’s like Det’s… uh… what did you call them? Like the angry turtle.”

  “My renditions?”

  “Yeah, like your renditions. I give it a command, and it follows that,” Tena explained. “It should be enough to, say, protect Weiss, as our healer. Or, cover our flank. Assist me at the front. That kind of thing.”

  “With shields like those—two of them—I can see why you’d be called a Bulwark,” Det said. Then, something occurred to him, and he held up his Wordless gauntlet. “Does it copy your gear?”

  “It’s not actually a copy,” Tena said. “I grow the duplicate the same way I grow a weapon. There isn’t a version of me anywhere in that. It’s just a golem, basically. It doesn’t copy my gear.”

  “That’s too bad,” Det said.

  “Still,” Sage even. “Even with those—very minor—limitations, I can understand why you are so confident in your magic. And why you were worried about us keeping up with you. As you grow, if you’re able to create more duplicates, it’ll become a very potent ability, and you’d already be a more-than-welcome Bulwark in any group.

  “The rest of us are going to have to work hard to keep up.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Calisco said, now perched on one of the chairs and staring up at the kitten on top of the cupboards.

  “You can’t even catch a kitten,” Weiss said.

  “It’s fast!” Calisco complained. “And it’s not like I’m trying to explode it.”

  “Thank you all for sharing what your magic does,” Sage said, gently and politically bringing people back on subject. “I know some of our initial introductions…” he looked between Det and Tena, who was once again free of her armor, “… had some bumps. Hearing what we all bring to the table, though, I find myself very confident in what we’ll be able to accomplish.”

  “Pep talk,” Eriba said quietly.

  “More like a closing statement,” Sage laughed. “I know we had a short day, with just the entrance ceremony and initial tournament, even with one of us sleeping most of that…” he looked at Det again.

  “Not by choice,” Det argued.

  “But, given what’s coming tomorrow, I think we should break for now. Get some rest, enjoy ourselves, that kind of thing. Maybe watch a few movies. I saw they’ve got all three ‘Get Cored’ on there, if anybody would like to watch with me.”

  “You know what’s happening tomorrow?” Weiss said. “All they told us was to go to the Amphitheatre again.”

  “Yeah, my uncle told me about what’s coming next,” Sage said, something passing behind his eyes as he stared blankly for a second.

  “Well, what is it?” Tena said.

  “I’m… going to leave it for our instructors to tell us,” Sage said. “Because I hope my uncle was lying.”

  “And if he wasn’t lying?” Det probed.

  “Then we should all prepare for the worst day of our lives,” Sage said.

  Discord