Carefully withdrawing the daggers so he didn’t accidently slit Calisco’s throat, Det took a step back from the shellshocked woman. A few feet away, Tena’s jaw hung so open, it was a wonder her chin wasn’t on the floor. Sage wasn’t laughing anymore against the wall, and Eriba clapped quietly beside him.

  Weiss was the first one to move, jogging in Det’s direction with his own look of shock on his face. When he got to the pair still staring at each other, he held up a hand next to Det’s shoulder, but didn’t touch him.

  “Mind if I…?” Weiss said.

  “Please,” Det said. The entire front of his body felt like he’d been tenderized and then barbequed. He still had a shard of crystal embedded in his shoulder, as well as a hole in his hand. If he hadn’t gone through a week of fun and torture, he would definitely be curled up on the ground crying. Or unconscious.

  Weiss’ hand pressed down on his shoulder a second later, followed by a feeling like a pool’s worth of ice-water rushing through his veins. Det’s body jerked straight, his breath gasping reflexively, with the light in the room dimming. Apparently, his injuries were bad enough for Weiss to call on the extra part of his magic to consume light to up the healing he could do.

  Honestly, Det was pretty okay with that, the stabbing pain of the broken ribs lessening. The flesh on his arms and legs reknit in real time, while the bloody, crystal shard clinked to the floor behind him as his body pushed it out before healing.

  All in all, the recovery took a solid thirty seconds, in which time the rest of the party walked over to join them.

  Finally, Calisco shook her head. “What the hell was that Det? I feel kind of dirty, because that was kind of hot. And you are not hot.”

  “I have to agree with Calisco,” Tena said. “I’m all kinds of emotionally confused right now. That…” she pointed around the room where crystal daggers, splatters of blood, and shreds of Det’s clothes lay scattered. “That is not what I expected from you. I thought we were here so you could get better at dodging daggers.”

  “Not at all why I asked for your help,” Det said.

  Tena blinked. “Huh?”

  “I asked…”

  “Us to come up help you here,” Tena interrupted.

  “… Yes,” Det said, resisting groaning. “But I didn’t want you to throw daggers at me, I wanted…”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” Tena interrupted. Again.

  Sage laughed, finally seeing what was going on, and stepped in between Det and Tena.

  “Tena,” Sage said. “Do you remember the first time you fought Det in the arena?”

  “Of course I do,” Tena said.

  “How about the first time you met him in our suite?” Sage continued.

  “Yes,” Tena said, eyebrows coming down as she tried to figure out where Sage was going with this.

  “In the arena, what happened?” Sage asked.

  “He yielded, and I got cheated out of my chance to show the rest of the class and the instructors what I could do.”

  “You also got mad at him for that,” Sage said. “Then, when he got to the room, and tried to explain why he yielded, what happened? When he tried several times.”

  Tena’s mouth made an ‘O’ shape. Red started creeping up her neck. “I kept interrupting him.”

  Sage’s eyebrows bobbed up and down. “And… what’s been happening since we came to the training room?”

  “I’ve… been interrupting him,” Tena said. “Haven’t I?”

  “Yeah,” Sage said, with a gentle nod.

  “Shit,” Tena said, then looked at Det. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I think I know what other people are going to say, and I’m not patient enough to waste time waiting for it. I just want to act, you know?”

  “Maybe something you can work on?” Det suggested. “Or, at least interrupt without throwing sharp objects at people at the same time?”

  “Could be a good idea,” she admitted. “So…” she put a hand to her mouth and coughed. “What… what did you ask us here to help you with?”

  “I asked you here,” Det clarified, since the others were mostly tagalongs. And freeloaders for lunch. “To teach me how to use a shield.”

  Tena blinked several times. “Pardon?”

  “You heard me,” Det said. “While all this dodging practice was good for me, I’m sure, my original plan was to use a shield to counter the sand projectiles Aarak will use. You’re the best shield-user I know, so I was hoping you could give me some lessons.”

  “Oh,” Tena said. “I guess that… makes perfect sense. I should’ve thought of that.”

  “Probably,” Det said.

  “None of that answers who the hell you are and what you’ve done with the real Det,” Calisco said.

  “I am the real Det…” Det sighed.

  “I’m totally not believing that right now,” Calisco said, putting a hand to her throat. When she pulled her fingers back, they came away red.

  “May I?” Weiss asked her, and she nodded without saying anything. From the way her whole body stiffened—and the small cuts closed—his hand on her shoulder came with a solid dose of healing energy. The lights didn’t dim for this one, though. The superficial wounds Det had left her with didn’t require the extra potency. “There you go, all fixed up.”

  “Thanks, doc,” Calisco said. Whether it was in reference to Weiss’ profession back on Earth, or just because he healed her, it was impossible to say. “Back to you, Det. When did you get so hardcore?”

  “Hardcore,” Eriba echoed quietly, nodding quickly.

  “I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Det said. “Nothing here was new.”

  “You were a bit of a loner back on Radiant, weren’t you?” Sage asked.

  “A bit,” Det said. “I had—have—a goal. Didn’t have time to waste with people who didn’t like ReSouled because they thought I stole Huck and Jezz’s baby’s body.”

  “This is just you seeing his drive, Calisco,” Sage said. “Det has always been like this. You just didn’t see it because you were too busy thinking he was a loser.”

  “Pretty sure he’s still a loser,” Calisco said, though her hand went back to her throat. “Just, maybe a bit less of one. Might need a better haircut?” she asked Tena.

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  “Could be,” Tena said. “The mop isn’t really flattering. A clean cut and a bit of style could…”

  “Ahem,” Det coughed out. “Didn’t bring you here for style advice.”

  “Considering what you’re wearing,” Tena said pointing up and down the length of Det’s body. “You sure about that?”

  “At least being a ReSouled means you’ve got nothing to be ashamed about,” Calisco said, then kind of gagged. “Oh god, did I just compliment Det?” Her hand moved from her throat to her mouth, and her whole body shuddered before she walked over to the wall. Back to it, she slid down to sit on the floor. “Was the dagger poisoned? Am I sick?”

  “Just overdramatic,” Det said flatly. “Tena may have a point, though. This… may not be the best outfit to practice in.”

  “I think it’s fine,” Eriba said, then ducked behind Sage to hide.

  “All of your important bits are covered,” Sage said. “None of us brought extra clothes. Though, considering we’ll likely be practicing more with Calisco in the future, it’s something we’ll want to keep in mind. The E-Rank protection our uniforms offers clearly isn’t enough to stop her explosions.”

  “And that’s with the protective properties of the training room in place,” Weiss said. “Calisco, did you try to kill Det?” There wasn’t any accusation in the question, just Weiss trying to get to the bottom of the mystery.

  Probably should be an accusation!

  “Kill Det?” Calisco asked. “Nah. Not worth the paperwork I’m sure would follow. And the lectures, they’d be endless.”

  “Then how powerful was your explosion?”

  “Less than what I was using in… on our field trip,” Calisco said, likely referring to the dungeon on Radiant.

  “I think we’ll need to get more details on just how much the rooms can protect us,” Sage said. “And a better baseline on how powerful Calisco can make her explosions.”

  “Yes, that’ll be great,” Det said. “After Tena teaches me how to use a shield. I’m on a bit of a timer here.”

  “Ah, yeah, that’s a good point,” Sage said. “Please go on.” He stepped back—Eriba staying hidden in lockstep with him—until the pair reached the wall.

  “One question,” Tena said. “You don’t have a shield. And I don’t think they’ll let you take one of mine with you into the arena. How is practicing with one going to help?”

  “I’ve got that covered,” Det said, going back to the paintings he’d put directly on the floor. “Ah, before that, though…” he said, looking down at himself. The tatters of his uniform were a bit… drafty to say the least. Checking one more time to make sure Tena wasn’t planning on throwing any more daggers at him, he grabbed his brush, bottle of ink, and got to work.

  It took him about a minute to do what he needed, mostly on his skin, then he capped the bottle and burned the extra ink off the brush with a flare of magic. Two seconds with his fingers on his chest, and new ink-clothes formed on him. Similar, baggy pants, and a loose-fitting shirt moved jarringly with the usual way his renditions did. Still, even though it was just black lines in the air, they—and the white space between them—covered him back up.

  They also looked kind of…

  “Badass,” Eriba said quietly. “Like something out of an anime.”

  She was right, and as he looked down at himself… he had to wonder. Why didn’t he do something like this more often? If he could paint clothes, could he also paint armor? It would only be E-Rank, at best—for now—but it was something that could give him that extra edge. Then again, clothes were easy, in that didn’t restrict movement. Armor might take some practice.

  Yet another thing to add to the list.

  “Sorry about that,” Det said, moving back to the whole point of being in the training room. “As for the shield, this is my plan…” he trailed off and crouched down beside the two paintings he’d placed on the floor before.

  One hand on each—along with two seconds for the energy to fill the lines of ink—and a sword and shield appeared at his fingertips. Lifting them up, the renditions’ appearance could be hard to look at for somebody who hadn’t seen them before.

  Each made of thick strokes of black ink, they were suddenly three dimensional, and moved like flipping pages with still images on them. As if they were constantly being rapidly redrawn from a new angle with each slight shift or twist. That combined with his new outfit was bound to give somebody unfamiliar with the magic a headache. Thankfully, his party had seen enough of his renditions it shouldn’t be too bad.

  In his left hand, Det held the kind of shield he’d used during his larping. Square’ish at the top, but a kind of curved triangle at the bottom. A kite shield or something maybe? He hadn’t spent a lot of time learning the names of the stuff. Really, he’d only started larping for a girl—before he’d met Yumiko, of course—and hadn’t gone too deep into that world. The connections had led him to some kind of civil war reenactments, but they didn’t use shields. Those were more about muskets and sabres.

  Fun stuff, and the latter of which he had in his right hand. It didn’t really match with the shield, but it was easy to wield with one hand. That, and he’d spent just as much time fencing as he had in kendo in his old life, so he felt pretty comfortable with modifying the technique a bit to incorporate a shield.

  “You going to be allowed to graffiti the arena floor before you start the fight?” Tena asked.

  “Probably not,” Det said. “I’ve got something similar prepared on a scroll to take with me.”

  “This is to deal with him throwing sand spikes at you?” Calisco said from the peanut gallery. “Why not make a big shield, like what Tena usually has. A trumpet shield, or whatever it’s called.”

  “Tower shield,” Tena said. “It’s not for an orchestra. She has a point. Not the trumpet part.”

  “Aarak doesn’t just throw or launch the sand spikes,” Det explained. “He controls them. If I just try to hide behind a tower shield, he’ll catch on, and make the spikes come at me from other angles. If I use a smaller shield like this, he might not think of that, and keep coming at me from the front.”

  “Basically, if he’s got a chance to stab you in the face—instead of the back—he’ll keep trying that?” Sage said.

  “He’s there to prove a point,” Det said. “He claims we’re all from higher-strata pillars, and we’ve bribed our way into special treatment from the Mistguard.”

  “Dumb,” Tena said. “You and Cali are from a pillar below the mistline.”

  “He’s one of those people logic doesn’t work on,” Det said.

  “Bet he thought Earth was flat too,” Calisco said.

  “It is,” Weiss said, and everybody else completely stopped to look at him. “What? I’m joking.”

  “That’s your joking face?” Calisco said.

  “Yes, can’t you tell?”

  “No, I really, really can’t,” Calisco said.

  “How… about… now…?” Weiss said, each word coming with a kind of spasm across his face as he forced a caricature-like smile. It… was pretty gruesome, and a little dreadful. Like something out of a horror movie.

  “Go back, go back!” Calisco demanded, and Weiss let his face slacken, returning to normal. “What is with today? I’m going to have nightmares. First complimenting Det, now this?”

  “I was just smiling,” Weiss said.

  “And you should maybe never do that again,” Calisco said.

  “Or,” Det said. “You could practice it in a mirror. In your room. Alone.” His skin was still crawling from what he’d just witnessed. “Later, after Tena finally shows me how to use this thing.” He held up the shield on his left arm.

  “You’re going to fight with a sword in your other hand?” Tena said, clearly not looking in Weiss’ direction on purpose. The whole party was traumatized.

  “That’s the idea,” Det said. “At least to start.”

  “Plan is to tank the spikes with the shield, close the distance, then get in to get on with the stabbing?” Tena summarized.

  “Pretty much,” Det said. “Might have to hack through a shield or something, but I’ve got another plan to deal with that if he turtles up.”

  “Turtle?” Eriba said, instantly perking up.

  “Not that kind of turtle,” Det said, breaking her heart by the way her shoulders dropped. He’d have to whip up a quick emotional-support rendition for her when he got a free second.

  “What kind of turtle?” Weiss said.

  “Didn’t you play fighting games?” Tena said.

  “I fought,” Weiss reminded them. His issue with violence stemmed from how he’d killed another man during a practice spar. On purpose, kind of. He’d only intended to prove a point, not murder the man. Not that the courts thought it was murder, passing a not-guilty verdict on the case.

  Weiss, well, upon reflection, he didn’t agree with that, and had blamed himself ever since. His drive was to make up for the wrong he’d done in that moment, and he wasn’t sure where violence fit in with that. A work in progress.

  “Turtling up means focusing everything on defense,” Det explained.

  “Ah, I can see that,” Weiss said. “If he controls sand, that could be quite effective.”

  “Does he control sand, or create it?” Tena said to Det.

  “Control, as far as we can tell,” Det said. “He’s got literal buckets of it beside his desk in the classroom. I’ve never seen him using his magic without pulling the sand out first.” He looked in Sage’s direction.

  “Me neither,” Sage said. “Always using the sand, not making it appear out of thin air.”

  “Arena floor is covered in sand,” Eriba pointed out as she peeked around Sage’s shoulder.

  Det groaned at that. It was a good point he hadn’t thought of. Still, it was something he could deal with.

  “Any idea what his control range is?” Tena kept up with the tactical questions.

  “No,” Det said. “I’ll have to probe a bit.”

  “Thrown spikes might be the least of your worries, if he can use the sand on the ground,” Tena said. “You sure the shield is your best plan?”

  “Not anymore,” Det laughed. “But, it’s what I’ve got. The earlier practice you and Calisco gave will—unexpectedly—help too. I’ll have to keep on the move until I see what else he can do.”

  “If I were him, and knew I had a duel coming, I’d have tricks up my sleeve,” Sage said. “We should ask Aria… never mind, maybe Trium? If they’ve seen him doing anything different. They’d tell us.”

  “Tomorrow morning,” Det said, holding up the shield again. “Can we get on with this? I already paid in sandwiches.”

  Tena nodded. “Let’s start with some basic footwork. You’re used to leading with your sword, this is going to be a bit different.”