Millennial Mage

Tala strode off the street and through the training yard with purpose.

After nearly a week of coming back here to train, the guards were once again used to seeing her walk through their midst, and those that weren’t were quickly informed by some around them that she was expected and a regular.

Most didn’t even get up, simply waving at her or calling out some derivation of, “Good morning, Mistress.”

She waved to those who waved and acknowledged all the others who called out greetings.

It was a pleasant experience, actually, having so many people at least politely happy to see her.

The regular citizenry were a bit more reserved. Or is that just me?

That was an interesting thought. If she waved at people as she passed them on the street, would they wave back? What if she greeted them?

No, there are far, far too many people in the city to make that a reasonable thing to do. She considered. Maybe in the off times, or less populated streets?

-You waste a lot of mental energy on random thoughts like this.-

It’s interesting, alright?

-You could be so much more with a bit more focus.-

Tala cocked her eyebrow, though she didn’t have anyone to direct the look at.

-Fine, you do do quite a bit. Some random thinking is probably healthy.-

That’s right, it is. Tala strode into the building and through it, down the familiar path to the training courtyard.

The cool air of the winter morning pervaded the open structure and allowed the stone to be cold beneath her shoes, just as with the streets outside. Tala sent a tendril of power through her garments, causing her shoes to connect to her pants, and break apart, pulling back into the other elk-leathers. With a smile, Tala enjoyed the stone against her bare skin, and the temperature wasn’t unpleasant to her in the least.

Much better.

She walked slowly, taking a moment to simply revel in the small pleasure of the texture and temperature of the floor with each step. All too soon, she came out of the side hall and onto the open walkway around the training courtyard to find quite a few guards already there, stretching, or moving through some half-speed sparring.

The healer wasn’t there, yet. In fact, as she looked around, she realized that while she wasn’t the first to arrive by a long shot, she was the first Mage.

Several of the guards greeted her, but no one stopped what they were doing. Tala returned the greetings and moved out onto an open portion of the sand.

She took time to move through a stretching sequence to limber up. While she couldn’t count on such being possible before real fights, it let her continue to improve flexibility and keep from straining her muscles. Wait… Do I even need to do this?

-Well, you could technically just overstretch and tear your body. Then, you could hold the position until it healed, but I wouldn’t recommend it.-

Tala nodded to herself, even as she kept stretching. That would make me more flexible, but take me backwards, strength wise. I need to bring up strength and flexibility together, in tandem, in order to have the best results.

-Precisely.-

I guess there aren’t really any shortcuts.

Alat seemed to pause, something akin to disbelief radiating from within Tala’s mind. -Well, I mean, you can workout and stretch to your limit every day, rust multiple times per day, and see improvements each time. That’s a shortcut vastly beyond what mundanes can do.-

Tala felt a bit foolish at the moment. Right. She sometimes forgot how much of an advantage that was. We should probably find a way of tracking my improvement.

-Like…a system? With statistics and hard numbers for how you are improving over time?-

That might be nice.

-I could even come up with a leveling nomenclature, so that you could track as you progressed through the rankings.-

I think that would be nice, actually.

Tala sensed deep skepticism from Alat. -I think you’d obsess over it. Not to mention, isn’t that exactly what you were warned off of, when you looked into mana?-

Tala considered as she shifted from a handstand to a floating pushup and back, working and stretching her shoulders. She hadn’t increased her weight, as she did for her morning and evening sets, because her main focus wasn’t strengthening at the moment. You’re probably right.

-I do try.-

Tala snorted a laugh, blowing sand away with the force of her exhale.

-No, I will not figure out a way to measure how hard you exhale.-

I wasn’t going to ask.

-But you were thinking about it.-

Tala rolled her eyes, taking a moment to look around herself once again.

Terry wasn’t stretching. Well, he was stretched out in the sun, but that was different.

The guards were mostly warmed up, and seemed about ready to start the day’s training.

Aproa arrived as Tala was looking around.

Tala rolled forwards, out of the side bend and middle split she’d been in, springing to her feet and waving to the other woman. “Good morning!”

Aproa waved as she walked up to Tala. “We missed you yesterday.” She frowned. “What happened to your inscriptions? Are you alright?”

“Oh, I’m fine.” That’s going to trip up some people. I wonder if the through-spike’s illusion can be modified?

-Want me to investigate?-

What will it take?

-A small amount of power, and I’ll be less responsive.-

Do it. The back and forth with Alat happened at the speed of thought. So, the entire conversation with Alat happened before Aproa finished shrugging and replied, “Not really what I asked, but it’s your magics. So, your friend is joining the sparring today?”

Terry flickered into being behind Tala, sized to be just shorter than her.

Tala reached back without looking, trusting her senses to find where he was, and patted the side of his beak. “That’s the idea.”

Even though Rane and Aproa had supposedly warned the guardsmen the day before that Terry would be joining this day, those already in the courtyard turned warry eyes on the terror bird, a couple stepping back involuntarily.

-I don’t think it was his presence, Tala. I think it’s that he just teleported and changed size. Sure, some have probably noticed him teleport before, but I don’t think he’s ever grown around the guards.-

Ahh, that’s fair. Tala smiled, looking around the courtyard. “Let’s do this!”

Rane arrived at that moment. “Mistress Tala! Terry! Ready to spar?”

Tala grinned and waved. “Absolutely. You’re well?”

“As ever.”

Adam was with the Archon, and he assessed Terry with a critical eye. “I think I should fight the terror bird first, to assess the danger of his joining in.” He looked to one of the guardsmen, near a side passage. “Tras, please go inform the healer that we are ready.”

The man, Tras apparently, saluted and ran down the hall.

Tala knew that the healer would be out in less than a minute, if previous days were any indication.

Adam regarded Terry. “No cutting or tearing.”

Terry tilted his head, considering, then bobbed acknowledgement.

“Do you wish me to use a training weapon?”

Terry hesitated, then bobbed once.

That surprised Tala, but she didn’t comment.

“Clear the sand, please.”

Everyone, Tala included, walked outward to the steps surrounding and leading down into the sand-filled courtyard.

One of the guardsmen tossed two training swords to Adam, and the man caught them with ease. He tested their weight, then nodded and thanked his colleague. “Ready?”

Terry bobbed his assent once again.

“Begin.”

Terry flickered out of existence. In the same instant, Adam swept his swords in two seemingly conflicting defensive patterns, and he closed his eyes.

Well, that makes too much sense.

-Agreed. Terry moves around too much for our eyes to be trusted. Closing them would allow a greater focus on our other senses, and likely make us better able to counter him.-

Noted.

-Or it would get us thrashed even more quickly, because we aren’t used to fighting blind.-

Tala hesitated at that. Yeah…that’s more likely.

Adam’s almost random seeming movements kept the swords in motion and close enough to strike at Terry, no matter where the avian appeared.

Tala couldn’t tell how Adam was sensing Terry, until she noticed that Adam wasn’t moving his feet or making any noticeable noise. In the near utter silence of the courtyard, Tala heard the smallest whisper at each of Terry’s appearances, barely louder than the air moving over and rustling the terror bird’s feather.

Well, rust my bucket. How have I never heard that, before?

-We never held still and silent for long enough to hear it?-

That was as good an explanation as any, but Tala felt unsatisfied. I feel like I should have heard that…especially if Adam can. Don’t I have better hearing?

Alat was silent for a short moment, then she made an irritated sound. -You have been hearing it, but we dismissed it as background noise, given that we were basically always out in nature, or near other people sparring in other rooms, so it was assumed to be meaningless.-

Well, I feel foolish.

The fight going on before them was a stalemate, similar to how Terry and Rane fought, but Adam wasn’t defended or moved by magic. He simply always twitched his blade towards Terry the instant the bird appeared, forcing the avian to retreat.

Less than a minute later, Terry flickered out and away. Trilling in irritation.

Adam immediately stopped and bowed. “You win this match, master avian.”

Terry cocked his head to one side, seeming almost confused.

“Your prohibition on cutting made you slower than you should have been, and I know you could have countered my defenses if you were unconcerned about harming me. Thank you.” He bowed again. “You have more restraint than I’d have dreamed possible. I think it would be excellent practice for you to fight the others here.”

A throat cleared to one side, and Tala turned to regard a man she’d never seen before.

He was clearly a mundane and also clearly in his fifties, give or take. But that isn’t what caught her attention first.

His natural magical pathways thrummed with power, pouring through his uninscribed gate. His every drop of power was bent towards one thing and one thing alone: enhancing his reaction speed.

“I would appreciate joining in this training.” He wore a finely made chainmail shirt of alternating riveted and solid rings overtop of a padded gambeson that hung to just above his knees. He held a helm under one arm and an oddly ovaline, curved shield on his back.

Adam turned to the newcomer and bowed low, lower than Tala had ever seen him bow before. “Captain.”

“Adam, I’ve been hearing good things about this little training group. I can see that even some of the most outlandish bits were understating things.”

Adam gave a rueful smile. “That terror bird has only joined us today.”

“Even so.” The captain turned to regard Terry. “May I? You need not hold back. I am armored, and there is a healer to hand. I request only that you do not take my head from my shoulders.”

Terry was crouched low, regarding the man with wariness.

Tala cleared her throat. “I am Tala, captain. You are?”

The captain glanced her way, then seemingly dismissed her. Even so, he answered. “I am Aummar.” He stepped forward, eyes back on Terry, setting his helmet on his head and synching the strap under his chin, above his gorget. That done, he situated his aventail, ensuring it wasn’t caught on anything. “Are you ready?”

He motioned and Adam tossed him one of the training swords. Aummar left his shield on his back.

Terry glanced to Tala, and she shrugged. “If you want to, go crazy.”

Aummar regarded her again, seemingly reconsidering her given her obvious relationship to Terry.

Terry shook himself, then bobbed a nod.

The man smiled. “Whenever you are ready.”

Terry flickered, and Aummar moved.

The captain’s sword drove outward, towards an empty space above and to his left.

Terry appeared there just in time for the training sword to begin to connect before Terry flickered away.

Aummar twisted, turning the strike into a sweep that jerked his weapon behind himself, where it tapped Terry once again as the bird appeared.

Tala’s increased perception allowed her to realize what he was doing, even if not how. His defensive patterns are exactly like those that Adam was using, but he’s doing them with one sword, and he’s just a reed faster.

None of the contact would have harmed Terry, there wasn’t enough force imparted for that to happen, but it was impressive nonetheless.

Then, Terry cut loose.

He appeared, barely bigger than a sparrow, below and behind Aummar.

The captain responded instantly, kicking out, but Terry was ready. He opened his mouth, growing in size even as he caught the attacking foot and clamped down to hold it firmly.

Tala heard the snap of bone, but Aummar simply grunted, pulling his leg in, while striking with his practice sword.

Terry disappeared, flickering into being behind the man again and driving his taloned foot into Aummar’s back.

Aummar’s armor held, but he was still slammed into the sand, the impact clearly driving the wind from his lungs. Even so, he rolled over, slashing at Terry once more. Terry didn’t even seem to move, just flickering as the sword passed harmless through the space he seemed to occupy.

The bird dropped his foot down once more, cracking into the armored chest.

The chainmail would have held against a slash

Aummar’s words were a trap. He’s more susceptible to blunt than slashing.

-Yes, clever of him. Too bad for him, Terry is smarter than most.-

The blow caused Aummar’s hand to spasm and release his weapon.

With that, Terry flickered away, settling down in a crouch and fluffing his feathers in triumph.

Everyone starred at Aummar as he lay virtually unmoving on the sand, convulsing. His foot was at a wholly unnatural angle, and his chest seemed to be just slightly the wrong shape. The healer was already at his side, magic flowing from the Mage into the captain.

As the healing did its work, the convulsions got worse, only to be revealed as slightly gurgling laughter.

A moment later when the healer stepped back, Aummar sat up, spit out a mouthful of blood and continued to laugh.

“That was amazing!” He rolled back, then vaulted up to his feet. Staggering just a bit on the landing. “You are incredible. I haven’t been bested that thoroughly in nearly a decade. You’ve quite a lot of room to improve as well, if you’re interested.” He had pointed to Terry as he spoke.

Terry cocked his head, then gave a slight bob of assent.

“Good! But first, how is your friend in a fight?” He glanced to Tala. “Shall we test?”

Tala shrugged. “Sounds good to me.” She pulled Flow to her hand, verified that the training sheath was locked in place, and sent power down the path that would extend it into the form of a sword.

Aummar tilted his head to one side, examining the clearly magical weapon. When he glanced to Adam and received a gesture of assent, the older man grunted, seeming to decide it wasn’t worth addressing.

“Are you ready, or do you require time to recover?”

Aummar rolled his shoulders and hopped slightly, checking how his armor was situated. With a nod to himself and a smile for Tala, he responded. “I’m ready.”

Tala charged, executing a controlled thrust towards the man’s chest.

Aummar barely seemed to move, but they both froze, the match over.

Flow was fully extended, sheathed tip barely missing Aummar’s shoulder. Aummar’s training sword rested against Tala’s blade, deflecting it the barest amount, while its tip was at her throat.

“You’ve reasonable technique, but you are easy to counter. Easy to predict.”

They pulled apart.

“Again.”

Tala nodded. “Don’t pull your strikes. I need to feel my mistakes.”

He cocked an eyebrow and glanced to Adam. Adam nodded and smiled. With that, Aummar shrugged. “As you wish. Healer, be ready.”

They moved as one, and Tala felt the lightest tap on Flow as they closed, before pain blossomed from her throat, the training weapon having utterly crushed the front of her neck.

Through the blinding pain, Tala let Flow shift back into a knife and drove it into Aummar’s chest. She didn’t hold back, allowing her agony to add to her strength, even as she sank into the blow, putting her full weight behind it.

Though he was clearly not expecting her counter, Aummar reacted, pulling away from her strike even as she made it. While that softened the blow and might have been enough to counter a mundane strike, it couldn’t negate Tala’s attack entirely.

The impact threw him to the ground where he absorbed most of the force of the fall with a roll. He came back to his feet, somehow having not been hampered by the shield still on his back. There was shock in his eyes, but also resolve.

Tala coughed, using the forceful exhalation to reinflate her trachea, even as it pulled back into proper alignment and shape. How hard did he hit me? My throat shouldn’t be that easy to crush.

-I’d estimate that he’d have partially decapitated anyone else.-

Dangerous.

-A bit, but not truly with the healer ready to hand.-

Tala grunted.

Aummar glanced down at himself and grimaced, sucking in a pained breath. “You broke a couple of ribs. Well struck.” His voice was a bit strained and breathless. “So, a Mage, then?”

The healer walked over and tapped the man, causing Aummar to take in a deep, satisfied lungful of air. “I didn’t see your spell-lines and mistook you, Mistress. My apologies.” He bowed.

Interesting. So, he knows his own skill, and is proud of it, but doesn’t hesitate to acknowledge mistakes or those who outrank him. Very interesting.

“Again?”

Over the next four hours, Aummar humbled them all. Even with their magics, and while he was weighed down with armor, he could fight them on nearly even footing.

One on one, none of the Mages could match him, unless they stayed at a distance. His reactions were just too quick, his technique too refined. He’d move the slightest amount, both countering their attacks and delivering devastating damage.

Tala was never able to take a wound to hit him again, after that first time, and Aummar, for his part, treated the Mages with a bit more wariness than he’d shown before. Though, to be fair, he hadn’t really known her to be a Mage in their first fight.

Maybe being mistaken for a mundane is a tactical advantage in some circumstances?

-Maybe, but those who would trust our outward appearance aren’t much of a threat, regardless.-

Tala cocked an eyebrow and glanced pointedly towards Aummar.

-Fair point, exceptions aside.-

Tala grinned. Worth considering, I suppose.

After a good number of one-on-on fights, they were able to do more group conflicts with Aummar’s input, and Terry joined in in a smattering of those scenarios.

In that way, the martial training began to mirror the magical that they’d do later on in the day.

Aummar set the tone, but he slowly participated in fewer fights as the morning wore on.

He had pointers for the three Mages and Terry, as well as for every guardsman who participated, and they all improved at his insight.

As they wrapped up, Aummar approached Terry and Tala. “If I may be impertinent enough to ask a couple of questions?”

Rane and Aproa were nearby, and they clearly heard and turned slightly to listen in.

Tala smiled. “Of course. Thank you for your input today.”

“It was my pleasure, Mistress. Firstly, does Terry ever carry you?”

Terry and Tala shared a look before Tala shrugged. “Sometimes, yes.”

“Then, I would suggest that you practice some mounted combat. You two could definitely use some more cohesion training as well. You are both excellent combatants, but you don’t truly fight together as you could and should.”

Again, the two of them looked at one another. Terry bobbed and trilled his assent. Tala smiled and turned back to Aummar. “That sounds great.”

“I’ll look into it, on your behalf, then. There are some horse tracks and arenas nearby that could be excellent for that type of training.”

“We look forwards to it.”

“Secondly, Terry, would you consider using weapons?”

Terry cocked his head to the side, then flickered to Tala’s shoulder and back.

“Yes, I assumed that you couldn’t carry much, if anything, with you in a teleport, but that isn’t necessary.”

The bird tilted his head the other way, clearly intrigued.

“I believe that if you had a few weapons that you could move between, directing them, throwing them, or using them as you see fit, you could increase your combat prowess considerably.”

Tala’s eyes widened at that, Aproa seemed almost to choke, and Rane started chuckling, adding, “That’s just terrifying.”

Aummar grinned, glanced to the other Mages. “Then it is fitting for our terror bird friend.”

Terry seemed quite hesitant, however.

“Are you willing to give it a try? It will be clunky at first, but I think you might come to appreciate the versatility.”

Tala and Terry, again, shared a look, and something in the bird’s eyes made Tala think that he was remembering the Leshkin, and how he was all but unable to attack them.

Slowly, Terry bobbed his assent.

Aummar clapped his hand and grinned even wider. “I’ll see to it that some potentials, in practice weapon form, are ready for tomorrow, then.”

“Thank you, again.”

“It was my pleasure, Mistress.” He bowed to them all. “Mistress, Master, Mistress. Have a wonderful afternoon.”

Tala bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet, feeling energized by the mornings activities. “Rane, Mistress Aproa, do you have lunch plans?”

Rane smiled slightly. “I don’t.”

Aproa shook her head. “None here.”

“Great. I’m starving. Let’s go.”