18th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

The rigged mission to kill a rampaging spiketail had taken longer than Newt had expected - twelve days instead of seven. The emotions were heavy, embarrassingly so. Especially since in the frostworm caverns, Newt had battled fourth realm monsters, a newly evolved third realm spiketail didn't really present much of a challenge.

Maybe if he had fought it alone, but in a group of four, it was just bullying the poor manabeast to death.

Still, the darkness gripping his two female teammates seemed to lighten. It wasn't gone entirely. They were too nervous and jittery for people who had handled their heart demons, but they were getting there.

"We're docking soon." Obsidian approached Newt on the deck, like Newt couldn't see what was straight ahead of him. "Thanks for pushing this, I couldn't have done it without you."

He turned around and looked at Jasmine and Roselilly talking with Hazel. "They weren't bad either. Right?"

"They were fine." Newt nodded. There was little room for anyone to show their talents in such a basic battle, but nobody made any mistakes, and they defeated the monster together, and that was all that mattered for starters.

Obsidian clapped Newt on the shoulder. "We should have a spar sometime, to get to know each other better."

"Sure. I'm waiting for my master to get me a glaive, but she still hasn't gotten around to it."

"And the swords?" Obsidian checked out Newt's blades. "They are of good make."

"They are. They are family heirlooms, but I've found I'm more suited to spears than swords, so I'm trying to switch. It means a couple years of training with the swords going to waste, but I was told it would be a better decision in the long run."

Obsidian shrugged and unhooked his flanged mace. "I haven't had formal training with a weapon. Luckily, maces are easy. You hit stuff much like you did when swishing at bushes with a stick as a kid."

Newt nodded. He didn't have a part of childhood when he swished with sticks. His parents gave him toy swords balanced much like the real thing so that he could develop the habit of holding them.

It just went to show how much the childhood of the wealthy differed compared to what the regular folks experienced.

Newt was about to ask how Obsidian and Jasmine both awakened, when the ship lurched as it made land.

"Call me up for a duel when you have your new weapon, all right?"

"Sure," Newt said, and Obsidian jumped off the side of the boat, deftly landing on the dock. "And don't forget to head to the Chamber of Instruction to cash in your mission!"

"See you around," Hazel waved at Newt and jumped off, moving with the grace and speed of a mageknight, swiftly overtaking Obsidian.

Jasmine and Roselilly waved, saying their goodbyes with considerably more positive emotions than he had gotten when they were departing for their mission, and Newt decided to take it all as improvements.

He didn't mind his new teammates scattering. They had missed a year or so of their lives; they had fallen behind and had a ton of work to catch up to. Newt too had a bunch of things to do. It was afternoon, meaning his next lesson with his master would be the next day—

Crap! Newt shuddered. I forgot to tell Master I was going on a mission! She'll have my hide. Should I look for her now and apologize?

He racked his brain before he remembered what he could do. Goodair, his elder sister, was in the dormitory, room four-o-four. He could ask her.

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Instead of going to the Chamber of Instruction to get his reward, Newt went to the dorms to see if he could escape punishment. He took the stairs to the fourth floor and found room four-o-four without trouble. He knocked, hoping for the best. While finding a mageknight in their room was a toss-up, mages had to rest much more frequently. And the majority of Explorer's Gate's students were pure mages.

Much to Newt's delight, the lock clicked. The door opened, and beyond stood Goodair. She took a moment to grasp what was happening and who was standing at her door.

"Well, well! If it isn't my littlest brother!" Goodair grinned. "Master grumbled about you missing lessons."

Newt's chest tightened, but Goodair didn't notice and kept ranting. "She kept saying how you needed someone to hammer in knowledge into your thick skull and how they needed to beat the flaws out of your techniques more than you needed to kill some lame-ass lizards."

She eyed him, talking for the two of them. "Whatya want? Why are you standing in the hallway like that? Want me to invite you in? Can't do. I'm a lady, you're a boy, and letting you in like that would get people gossiping, and we don't want that, but if you want my company, you can take me out for dinner. Creed's sounds nice. Thanks for inviting me."

Goodair stepped out of her room, locked the door, and pulled Newt along by the arm before he could muster the will to resist.

"Creed's is a nice place. Barbecue and mead mostly, but they have juices for the younger patrons such as yourself…" Goodair kept assailing Newt with words until they left the building. "Have you cashed in your mission?"

Newt shook his head.

"No? Not a problem. Your big sis will explain everything to you. Come on, follow me to the Chamber of Instruction. Some students shortened them. Chamber of Instruction is Instructables, Chamber of Punishment is Punishables, Chamber of Pots is Potables…"

Newt was close to getting a headache from all the words spewing in his general direction by the time they left the Chamber of Instruction. The process really was simple. All it involved was his student token, and the merit points were associated with him and he got another manarium crystal, which was probably an overkill given how easy the mission was.

Goodair seemed to agree, since Newt gathered she was taking him to the most expensive restaurant for students, and he was about to pay through the nose for getting such a windfall, which Goodair said aloud with a laugh.

Newt followed Goodair into the restaurant called The Chamber of Delicacies. The place didn't look much different from the mess hall in that it was a squarish box and made of the same thick stone, probably offering a good defensive position in the case of a sudden siege.

"Are all orders built as if they expect invaders at any minute?" Newt squeezed in while Goodair was taking a breath.

"Well, yes. As far as I know, all orders have a history of blood and conflict through which they rose to their current position. It's ancient history by now, but I'm guessing the royals and imperials must have suffered sieges of their own. Got anything else you want to know while we're waiting for food?"

Newt didn't need to think twice. "Is Master going to skin me alive because I didn't tell her I was going out on a mission?"

Goodair frowned. "No? Why? The Chamber of Instruction notified her when you took the mission; she knew you would be away."

Newt felt like a mountain fell off his chest. He was alive.

"She will expect you for your next appointment, unless she enters seclusion or leaves for a mission, but someone will come and notify you she won't make the next appointment. That's one of the jobs for the Chamber of Instruction, to ensure masters and their wards have all the necessary information and to facilitate our lessons. Can you smell that?" She sniffed without breaking stride. "That's my steak."

Newt drew a deep breath. He was about to sigh, but the steak really smelled great.

***

The next day, Lady Alabaster acted as if there had been no break in their training. She was pushing him to sculpt earth around him while he moved, correcting any mistakes and improper forms as soon as Newt made them.

Having an actual instructor instead of Magmin motivating him with threats was the difference between heaven and earth. The speed at which he improved was noticeable, and it filled Newt with the desire to do better and train more.

"Time's up," Lady Alabaster snapped Newt from his focus. He looked at her dumbly, and she held his gaze. "Our training session for today is over. We can continue tomorrow."

Newt nodded. "Master, I wanted to ask you something, if you don't mind."

"Yes?" Lady Alabaster folded her arms, and Newt had a feeling she was about to beat him up.

"I was wondering about that glaive you won back before I injured myself, you know the one I'm talking about." Lady Alabaster stared flatly at Newt, and he was afraid she would pretend she had forgotten. "You know, after I defeated Lord Vibrantzephyr's ward."

"Ah, that glaive. Yes, what about it?"

"Well, I was wondering when we would go and pick it up?"

Lady Alabaster frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "I was thinking of selling it off to cover your medical debt," Newt's heart nearly stopped beating, "but you could persuade me otherwise. How about I give it to you once you achieve basic mastery over the earth magic I'm teaching? Yes, we could pick it up then."

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