The air of the Outlands sang to Nathan Quint. His Anima was flared as far as it could go, and while it allowed him to resonate with the Elemental Truths, it also made him vulnerable to attack. His Circle’s mission was simple but challenging for a group of initiates at the 2nd Growth Stage. All they needed to do was endure, persevere, and walk. 

The Ash Elemental was a mix of Earth and Fire, but so was the Lava Elemental. Nathan’s Metal Affinity was sandwiched between the two foes’ Affinities, with Earth enhancing Metal, while Fire destroys it, which meant pure Elemental manipulation or evocation would not be ideal in the fight. Nathan fought at the forefront, however, and he rarely used evocation spells or techniques. Instead, he raised his lightning baton and fed it Metal Elemental energy. When he slammed it into the Ash Elemental, the addition of Lightning and Metal caused the thing to go into shock. The roiling cloud of its body froze and drooped, exposing its Elemental Core, and gave him just enough time to stab his arm in it and wrench the core out of its body cavity. He slammed the baton against the elemental’s head and used the force as leverage. Once the core was clear of the creature’s body, he enveloped it with his Anima and cut the connection between the two. The ash cloud fell into a pile of dust, and he had a nearly perfectly preserved Elemental core in hand. That was worth more merit points back in the Shardcity. 

The other four initiates of his Circle fought against the rest of the Ash and Lava Elementals. The nest contained an even dozen of each elemental, and only three had been defeated so far. Nathan dashed towards the Lava monster that was about to slam into Cecile Touchard. The Wood aspected warrior was busy fending off another Ash Elemental, and her bludgeon had been entangled by the monster’s claws. 

The lightning baton wasn’t as effective against the lava body, and in fact, the somewhat fluid nature of the elemental’s skin splashed when hit, and the lightning simply grounded rather than enter the elemental’s body. The blobs of lava spattered against his armour, which was thankfully warded against it. 

He altered the way he empowered the lightning baton and swiped the elemental, the Metal Elemental energy formed a blade and chopped it into the body. He clenched his fist and channelled some energy into the gauntlet, then punched. The Lava Elemental crumbled, but the core was lost. 

“Leave those alone!” Marie-Claire Costeau yelled, “You’re wasting the cores!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Nathan yelled mockingly, but the tone-deaf woman took his answer to be sincere and nodded. Nathan snorted and went for another Ashe Elemental. At least Cecile was appreciative and grinned at him through the transparent faceplate of her armour. 

The rest of the battle passed quickly. The members of the Initiate Circle each possessed a different Elemental Affinity, but while that gave the group versatility, it also meant that each member sometimes wasn’t able to contribute as much. 

“How many cores did we get?” Nathan asked as he handed his cores to Simone Gallois. 

The tiny woman accepted the fist-sized core and popped it into her storage slot. “Eleven,” she answered curtly, “lost one. You didn’t need to interfere with Cecile, she could have taken the shot.” 

Nathan held out his hands, “I didn’t want her to get hit in the back.” 

“It’s alright, Nate, thanks,” Cecile said warmly. 

“You sweet on her, mate?” Philippe, the last member of the circle teased. 

“No, I mean, I’m just…”

“Hahaha!” The stout Durandir man guffawed and slapped Nathan’s side, “I know, no need to get defensive!”

“Goddess,” Nathan muttered. 

Cecile Touchard was a Sha’ledras, while Nathan and the other two women were human, though he suspected Simone might have had an ancestor of a different race. She never admitted to it though. 

The Initiate Circle was a hastily cobbled-together group, each one at the peak of the 2nd Growth Stage but lacking in some way. Facing the World Trials was a dangerous prospect, and frankly, impossible without grasping an Elemental Truth and forming an Ennoia. He and the others had their respective Elemental Affinities but were far short of touching an Ennoia. Hopefully, the rewards they could exchange in the Shardcity would be enough. If not, it would be a miserable experience for all of them if they returned to the Conclave unsuccessful. 

“How far are we from exchanging a fragment?” he asked curiously. 

“Fifty more cores for one. That means four fifty for all of us,” Simone grunted. 

“There’s someone watching us,” Marie-Claire’s voice cut through the idle conversation and each of them tensed up. 

“Where?” Cecile asked as she rested her bludgeon over her shoulder. 

“There.” Marie-Claire nodded towards the ridge southeast of them. “I can feel someone hidden, but I can’t pinpoint or see through their invisibility.” Her Affinity was Water, and Nathan knew that the taciturn woman could feel concentrations of it. In this arid environment, any other source of water that wasn’t their bodies stood out. Come to think of it, Nathan could feel something too. 

The hair at the back of his neck rose when he felt the powerful presences unveil themselves. Two…no three figures skylined themselves over the crest, and his eyes bulged when he saw the coronas of their Anima.

Two of the figures, the ones with the corona, come to think of it, were clad in Ashigaru armour. The model looked positively ancient, but the wards looked just as strong. They didn’t have their helms closed, so it was easy to see their faces. It was a man and a woman, and when they started to walk down the slope, Nathan couldn’t help but swallow nervously. 

“Which Conclave do you think they’re from?” Cecile murmured. She activated the obscuring faceplate on her helm, but Nathan motioned for her to stop. 

“Don’t do anything hasty. Look at their Anima! They’re at least five to six times stronger than ours.” 

“Actualised?” Marie-Claire gasped. “What are they doing in this low-level outland then?”

“Who knows?” Phillipe muttered. “Guess we’ll find out soon.” 

Nathan nodded and walked in front of his Circle. He was the vanguard, and no matter what, it was his duty to weather the storm. 

_____________

Duke Fluffington, Paragon of Fluffiness, First of His Name, was bored. He was stuck inside a metal can that was barely big enough to walk in. In fact, the benches and tables on either side meant that he couldn’t even shift his posture, and looking out the windows was an exercise in strained neck muscles and an awkward perch on a bench. 

His new bond, pack leader, and foster mother, Yuriko Mishala Davar was chatting with her other two-legs friends, and thanks to the bond, he could actually understand some of their chattering. Not more than one specific sound in ten, but it was progress. He could continue to listen and perhaps learn enough of the two-legs language so that by the time he could transform his body, he wouldn’t remain ignorant. But that was a bit too far in the future. He was less than a cycle old, after all, and having spawned in a conflux, with a near-impossible balance of elements that made him close to mortal, he had no family, pack, or siblings. Only great luck had allowed him to remain alive, and even greater fortune allowed him to meet his bond. 

So with little to do during this abysmal trip, Fluffington laid his head over his paws and closed his eyes. His injuries were completely healed, but there was no reason not to continue practising the skill mum taught him. 

_____________

The trip to Virtalla City would take two days, and the first thing Yuriko asked Juliette was why they didn’t just fly there instead. 

“Crossing the Kerromere is dangerous outside of the passes. Vallavega Pass is one such, and though it’s rather meandering, practically tripling the straight line distance across the mountains, it’s fairly wide, easy elevation, and the republic had built retaining wards to protect it from wandering elemental beasts, manifestations, and Chaos Fount overflows.” Juliette said, with obvious relish at actually lecturing her former professor. “Flying over the pass, or the mountain means that you’ll be vulnerable to said manifestations, elemental beasts, and other hostile things, including the mountain itself.”

Yuriko nodded and wondered if the Kerromere’s Avos was as prickly as Zarek was. She remembered the Stonetoise Avos had rearranged the mountain passes at his leisure back then, and even led her deep into the bowels of the mountain to try and get her to clear an infestation. 

“Do the passes suddenly shift, or something?” Yuriko asked. 

“What? No, why would they? Unless an Elemental Monarch does it.” Juliette said, “Flying over the mountains just exposes us to a lot of monsters and dangerous weather. Airships are shielded and warded against such, and are guarded by powerful Magi.” 

So, not like Zarek then. The caravan consisted of nearly twenty individual Steeld carriages, with only seven of them set as passenger cars. The rest contained trade goods, mail and packages, as well as luggage. They were all connected to the lead carriage which also served as main control. None of the passenger carriages had pilots, but there was an emergency console to take manual control if needed. 

All of that was included in the pre-journey briefing. It was also a non-stop passage, and the benches and booths within could be converted to sleeping bunks. Fluffington seemed asleep for most of the day, but at night, he grew quite antsy. The Steeld carriages weren’t that fast, soon the second day, Yuriko opted to run along the road with her puppy. 

Most of what she and the others spoke of was about the city. Sofia had not been there before, having lived in the vicinity of Bresia City in her early life. She qualified for a partial scholarship by the time she was thirteen and managed to win a full scholarship by her third year. And Juliette, though she was a brilliant student, was from a landed family, so she wasn’t qualified for any kind of scholarship at all. 

“A thousand golds a year is hefty,” Juliette said, “but Niria Academy is worth it.”

The Vallavega Pass meandered up and down the mountains and valleys. They passed by three small towns, each one walled and guarded. Miners, herbalists, explorers, and adventurers were most of the permanent residents of those three towns, and each one felt like a frontier settlement, much like Faron’s Crossing was. Yuriko felt a bit nostalgic during their short layovers.

Soon enough, they crossed the Kerromere Mountains and arrived in the foothills, then the plains. Then back to the hilly countryside. Virtalla City, seen from above, looked like a flower blossom, and while it wasn’t as beautiful as Aerule Garden back in Realmheart, it didn’t exude a carefully manicured feel. 

When she returned from her brief flight, the Steeld carriage was already headed towards the caravan station. It was still midafternoon, and Yuriko figured that they’d reach the Abad family’s premises soon, but Juliette led them towards the outskirts of the city rather than inside it. Virtalla wasn’t walled and had eight primary arterial roads. The caravansary was next to the western road, and where they headed was the southwestern part of the city. 

There were flowering trees all throughout the main boulevards and they were in full blossom. The scent of the plum flower petals covered the typical stink of cities. Fluffington attracted quite a few wary looks from the passersby, and for some odd reason, many of the intracity vehicles were animal-drawn coaches rather than Steeld-driven ones. In fact, the coach station they arrived at had dozens of small, two-wheeled conveyances pulled by two horses each. 

“The estate is a fair bit away from the city proper,” Juliette explained as she hired a four-wheeled coach for them. Ryoko put their luggage on the coach’s rack and moved to sit on the outside, but Yuriko stopped her. 

“Fluffington won’t fit in there. I’ll follow behind you and keep him company.”

“I’m sorry…” Juliette said.

“Don’t be. He’s my responsibility.”

It was twilight by the time they reached the estate, which was half a dozen longstrides south of the city proper. And when they arrived at the gates, there was a line of men and women clad in servants’ outfits waiting for their arrival. 

Welcome home, Lady Juliette!”

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