49th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Newt and Obsidian first headed to the Chamber of Instruction to grab their mission officially before returning to their apartment. The atmosphere in Newt's dorm room had changed, literally and figuratively. The alcoholic fumes were gone, the window open, letting in the afternoon sunlight, light replacing darkness.

"Jas, Rose, you home?"

"Rose is out." Jasmine's voice rang out from her room before she opened the door and stepped into the common area. "What is it?"

"We received another mandatory mission. Newt and I are going, but you guys don't have to if you don't want to. I mean, I'd appreciate—"

"Shut up. If you're going, I'm going, you dumb kidney stone."

Obsidian was more honest this time about not forcing the girls, and Jasmine's frustration seemed more good-natured than the last time, a small smile escaping the woman.

"Don't say that before I tell you what we got." Obsidian took a condemned man's breath before continuing. "We're going to the Valley of the Lost. Don't look at me like that; gathering myst crystals was the only mission available to us."

Jasmine's face froze, her smile twisting.

"Why the fuck are they sending us there?"

"The official reason is all other missions are taken, so we're scraping the bottom of the barrel—"

"Elites gouge each other's eyes out to go there," Jasmine cracked her fingers rapidly. "There's no way the Valley of the Lost mission was just there, waiting for us."

"And that's why I think this a real test," Obsidian continued, trying to calm his twin. "We had an extremely easy mission, and now Chaplain Monsoon's political opponents are pushing back and taking a shot at her through us, forcing her ward into a difficult position; we just got caught in the storm."

Jasmine crossed her arms but seemed to calm down. "What now?"

"We head out and complete our mission. It's the only thing we can do."

"There's plenty we can do," Jasmine raised her voice. "We can decline, we can quit the order, but I see what you mean. We're rockheads, and we endure."

Where was that mentality when I arrived? Newt didn't comment aloud, and Jasmine continued.

"I don't think students get lost too often in the Valley of the Lost, so it shouldn't be that bad. When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"I'll go find Rose; you guys get ready." She turned towards Newt. "And where have you been? It's been a couple days since I've seen you."

Newt glanced at Obsidian, who tried to tell him something with his eyebrows, but Newt didn't speak the language.

"I've been at the Chamber of Healing," he said as truthfully as he could without revealing unnecessary details.

Jasmine nodded, some worry in her eyes. "You got to take better care of yourself. I heard you injured yourself even before we went on our first mission."

"I will, thanks." Newt didn't know what else to say. Fortunately, Jasmine headed out to search for Roselilly.

"She doesn't know?" Newt whispered after the door closed.

"Well, not everyone does. Most of the workers and outer students only know that an incident had happened, and the order is spreading rumors that the blacksmith chaplain and the spell scribe chaplain made a mistake working on something, while witnesses are forbidden from spreading the news." Obsidian shrugged. "Most of the inner students already know, but nobody's saying anything aloud, and Jasmine hates gossiping."

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Newt was confused. "Should I tell her?"

"Up to you, it's kind of decent to keep your teammates up to date regarding the basics. You know, health, lingering injuries, who you're dating." Obi winked, flashing a white, toothy grin.

"And how are we supposed to get ready for the trip?" Newt smoothly changed the subject.

"Ah, right, we need camping supplies. We won't need a fire-starting kit with you here, but it hardly weighs anything, so we might as well bring it." Obi disappeared into his room and returned with two large sacks.

"This is our tent for two." Obi lifted one sack. "We keep watch in pairs."

Then he lifted the other one. "These are general camping supplies. More or less everything you need when camping."

Newt gave the sacks an unimpressed look. "And we didn't bring them last time because?"

"Well, because I thought we would kill the spiketail close to civilization and sleep in real beds instead of on the ground. In hindsight, I kind of regretted not bringing these the last time. They make life easier."

Obsidian listed the contents of the sack and told Newt the reasoning behind each item. He was two-thirds of the way down the list when the girls returned.

"I'm glad you're alright," Roselilly said the moment she saw Newt. Her worry-laden gaze roamed every inch of him, searching for signs of injury or charred flesh.

Jasmine turned and gave her a weird look, but didn't comment.

The gesture seemed to snap Roselilly out of her grim thoughts. She cleared her throat and spoke. "Jas explained everything. I'm going too, and I think this mission will be a good opportunity for us to grow some coordination for even tougher challenges ahead."

Jasmine pierced her with a glare. "You're expecting even tougher challenges."

Roselilly looked Newt in the eye for a split-instant before focusing back on Jasmine.

"I'm certain we will once more have access to regular missions after this one, but I think you will also seek out more difficult challenges once we're done with the Valley of the Lost."

Newt could tell Roselilly's master had told her something. Perhaps she knew about his enhanced physique, or something else.

Maybe this mission won't be as tough as advertised? I still don't know my real strength, just that it has grown significantly after the accident. Maybe they can just stick close to me and let me defeat all the monsters?

That sounded like a great strategy to Newt, but he knew that one strong teammate running the show wasn't how you were supposed to run a team. Back with the frostworms, Newt was the weakest by far, Dandelion the strongest, and yet Dandelion avoided fighting, pushing Newt to gather experience and learn how to fight.

Perhaps Newt could do the same and uplift his team. The problem was - compared to the rest of them, he should have been the one lacking experience the most.

I'll figure something out.

Newt then watched his teammates go through their supplies for a couple more minutes before they collectively went to the Chamber of Tomes. Obsidian and Jasmine agreed to pull an all-nighter reading, since they could sleep on the ship the next day. Newt was still fairly well rested, and Roselilly should have slept that night, but pushed herself for the sake of information gathering.

The first book Newt read was a general overview of the danger zone. Valley of the Lost was a myst-filled valley which confused the senses. The source were geysers spewing steam and water into the air, which then reacted with a rare mineral - mysterium.

The two combined created an environment of heavy, shifting fog, which obscured sight and sound. The addition of mysterium and the natural formations of mana in the valley also confused all other senses and made for a maze without walls, where one was entrapped by their own senses.

Further sections listed indigenous creatures of the danger zone, each with a warning because the natives had evolved to traverse the myst unobstructed. They had greater range of vision, and almost all of them attacked their victims from the rear.

Newt thoroughly read the descriptions and survival strategies of manabeasts from the area for third realm students, and skimmed through the entries for the fourth realm. Fifth and beyond weren't listed in the students' section of the library.

Next, Newt focused on accounts left by students with advice on gear, movement and exploration strategies, and much more. He was amused to find that the area favored awakened with light slashing or piercing weapons over heavy weapons, which three-quarters of his team wielded.

There was also a recommendation to acquire protection talismans and shielding items for the team's most vulnerable members. When Newt came across that part he looked around the reading room until he found Roselilly. He went over to her and showed her the relevant section, keeping his voice a whisper.

"Thanks," she whispered back, hooking her finger around a silver chain hanging from her neck. "Master already got this for me yesterday."

Newt recognized the shield rune on the tiny metal plate Roselilly showed him and nodded. It seemed his teammates were competent or at least had competent masters to keep them alive. It also meant Roselilly's master knew where they were going yesterday, and it explained why the woman didn't seem to be surprised.

Which begged another question. Why didn't my master give me anything? Goodair said Master worries about us, but if she didn't give me life-saving treasures, does that mean she has faith in me?

Newt chose to believe that was the case, and not that Lady Alabaster was explicitly forbidden from giving him anything which would hamper his growth. After all, healers didn't need the threat of death to grow; they needed to heal. Warriors, on the other hand…

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