“So are you really going to take the deshar history exam next week?” Felix asked him as they left the gym building towards the mess hall. Sam’s session with Lin ran long, so Sarah and Yvessa should already be there waiting for them.

  Sam shrugged. “Already finished the second textbook. Well, I’ll finish it today. No reason to delay. And it’ll give me a bunch more breathing room. Only the one course and two textbooks next trimester and I’m planning to take my time with them, study them week by week as though I was going to class.”

  “Really? I’d have thought that you’d have wanted to rush to finish everything you could as early as you could. Leaving yourself as much free time as possible to study and train with magic.”

  “That was the original plan, yes. But Dan convinced me otherwise. He made the point that a greater variety of study subjects might actually help me learn more effectively. So in essence, I’m keeping those non-magical courses around as a palate cleanser. Plus, or along those same lines, there’s only so much I can effectively learn in any given week. I don’t want to risk rushing through a certain subject, only to find that I can’t use the free time I gained from it for anything but cultivating.”

  “What about working out?”

  “That’s true. It depends what Farris decides though, and when will I be able to imprint myself with ‘good enough’ recovery patterns.”

  “Yeah…” Felix tsked. “That’s going to take a longer time than just reaching level 1. Still, it’s you, so probably before level 2. Way before, considering you have a bunch of other aid and aides available to you. But if not workouts, then what about more combat training?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I can dedicate more time to that, while still getting something out of it. But that depends on other people, you know. So I’ll let my teachers decide that for me as well.”

  “What about us? We’re helping you spar.”

  “It’s not the same, you know it.”

  “Sure, but you can better utilize your training time by completely separating your spars with us and your sessions with Lin.”

  “Wait… you…”

  Felix scoffed. “Relax, I’m not regretting joining you today. Far from it. Like I said, this is me taking it easy. I’m helping a friend. Doing something I enjoy. And getting a day off from working out.”

  “Right… ‘taking it easy.’”

  “It is. Same as you studying Imperial and ningana history at the regular, weekly pace—that’s already pretty hectic when compared to most other courses—is taking it easy.”

  “Yeah, I get your point. So what was your point about combat training?”

  “Just that if you find yourself with free time that you can’t—or don’t want to—use for anything else, you can always try to hit us up for a sparring session. Believe it or not, we still get something out of sparring with you.”

  “I’ll think about it. But the only reason that I’ve let you guys spar with me so much the last few days is that you have a break so you have more free time than usual. Otherwise, even with Sarah’s insistence that I’ll let you ‘help yourself’ by helping me, I wouldn’t have allowed such debauchery.”

  “Well, what about this Saturday? We gonna have a full sparring session, all four of us, in front of Farris?”

  “There’s no way that would be beneficial to anyone.”

  “Sure it will. It will improve the troops’ morale. Deepen their camaraderie. And it’ll be fun.”

  Sam chuckled. “Fun for who? At the very least, I know who it would be funny to… But alas, I’m not sure you’re going to get what you wish for. Farris will probably want to talk to me about reaching level 1 and stuff… I don’t know.”

  “That’s true. So… what do you think? Since you’re sure you’ll be level 1 before Saturday, is it going to be today or tomorrow?”

  “What do you care? You’ve already lost your bet.”

  “We all lost our initial bet. Sarah’s was the latest, and she put you down for yesterday.”

  Sam laughed. “Yeah… Thank God she bounced right back up. If only all of her worrying could be that short-lived.”

  Felix narrowed his eyes at him. “You didn’t do that on purpose, did you?”

  “What? Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “So why didn’t you cultivate last Saturday?”

  “I just wasn’t feeling like it,” Sam lied. “I’m not in any rush, so I wanted to get some more studying done.”

  “And your change of schedule on Sunday?”

  “The same. There’s not much Dan can do to teach me currently. Well, there’s a lot, but I can’t study it effectively, and he can’t teach it effectively. So cultivating so much with him is a little wasteful. But I was right back on schedule Monday, wasn’t I?”

  “Yeah… just enough to make Sarah’s bet a losing one if you manage to reach level 1 today.”

  “Wasn’t the intention in the least.” Of course not. The intention was to make sure Web-Web hadn’t made any mistakes. That Sam’s… viewing of his threads didn’t fall short of what it was supposed to be. Sure, the AI said that Sam went above and beyond (or at least, that’s probably what they would’ve said if they were more proficient with using idioms) but who’s to say that the AI wasn’t just lying to stroke Sam ego? Or that his other, actually feasible worry, that guided in slowing down his cultivation (and niggled his psyche almost every day), was not founded? And the AI was wrong? Or not in possession of all the information? Such that Sam had to have a second go with using his Threadsight before he reached level 1. So he decided to take the cautious route and not cultivate on Saturday and take it easy on Sunday. When Web-Web didn’t contact him, Sam was satisfied (or at least, he started feeling his anxieties were irrational) that he had managed to satisfy the All Knowing Plan.

  “So what’ll it be?” Felix asked. “Today or tomorrow?”

  “Today. Hell, for all I know, it was yesterday. I had extra time after finishing the chapter, but not enough to finish the next, so I spent it cultivating.”

  “Hm… then have Dan check you first thing before you do any cultivating.”

  “Good idea. That way, if I’m level 1 already, we wouldn’t have to cultivate today.”

  “No, I was talking about knowing who won the bet. Cause my new bet was today and Yvessa’s tomorrow. But if there’s a chance Sarah was right…”

  “What if I went to sleep yesterday still on the cusp and the passive gathering today pushed me over the edge?”

  “Eh, I’ll give it to Sarah.”

  Sam laughed.

  “Don’t,” Felix warned him.

  “I wasn’t going to.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “You should. It wasn’t out of character enough to make the joke work.”

  “It wasn’t out of character at all.”

  “Exactly. That’s why the joke wouldn’t have been funny.”

  They reached the mess hall by then, so after a minute or so (much shorter lines during the break) Sam finished making his tray and only had to wait an extra twenty seconds for Felix to be finished with his. “Good morning,” Sam said as they sat down opposite Yvessa and Sarah. “Had a good workout?”

  “The usual,” Yvessa said with a smile.

  “Screw you.” Felix returned a smile.

  “I told you she wouldn’t do it,” Sam said. “It’s too cliched. Too juvenile. It’s beneath all of us.”

  Felix gave him the finger.

  “So how was your third session with Lin?” Sarah asked Felix.

  “Fourth, technically. And it was probably the best one. As our great instructor also had some practical words of advice for me.”

  Sam nodded. “Yeah… he’s a lot more rigid about it than Farris.”

  “No, I get it. His duty, when he’s personally teaching you, is to teach you. So he’s very strict with himself to not act in a way that’s not directly about helping you become a better fighter. Honestly, despite our difference in approach to combat, I’d probably behave the same way if I was in his shoes. But Farris doesn’t see his duty as teaching you spearfighting. So even without all the… other aspects of your ‘training’ with him, he doesn’t have any problem with using some of that time to teach us as well.”

  “Hm…” Sam pursed his lips.

  “What? Well, OK, maybe it’s not ‘teaching’ in the classical sense.”

  “No, that’s not what made me think. Although, I was thinking of making that joke. It’s just… Yvessa, remember when you joined me on the first call with Farris?”

  She nodded. “But he only had you going through footwork back then. We didn’t spar.”

  “Right, but when he gave me advice and feedback, he was also… directing some of that at you, right? And through you...”

  “Oh… Yeah, I see what you mean.”

  “What?” Felix asked.

  “Sam’s point, and correct me if I’m wrong, is that Farris, much like Lin, still focuses solely on Sam. At least in theory. So when he gives you advice, even when it seems like it’s geared only towards you. It’s not. He’s also trying to guide Sam at the same time.”

  Felix furrowed his brow, probably trying to think back to his spars with Sam under Farris’ watchful eyes. “Well, sure, he never had me and Sarah spar, but that’s because we were there to help Sam. And he did give Sarah advice… Oh, yeah.”

  Sarah nodded. “All the advice he gave me was just about fighting in general, nothing aimed at helping me improve my unarmed or sword skills. But I figured that was because he isn’t all that familiar with those methods of fighting.”

  “Which he isn’t,” Yvessa said.

  “Yeah. Still, I get why you’re saying. And I do agree with it. But it’s not that malicious. Malicious isn’t the right word, calculated.”

  “I didn’t say that it was,” Sam said. “Just that there might be more similarity between Farris’ and Lin’s teaching method when it comes to me than you would think. Lin does this consciously. He’s forcing himself to focus on me and will only ‘train’ Felix if what he’s telling him will also help me. Farris, if he is indeed acting along those lines, might be doing it unconsciously. He’s giving you guys advice, but since ‘mentoring’ me is at the forefront of his thoughts, he’s also using that to help me. Then again… we’ve just spent the last five minutes psycho-analyzing my teachers based on nothing, so I wouldn’t put much stock in any revelation we reached.”

  “That’s fair,” Felix said, and the rest of the table echoed his sentiment. “And be that as it may, I still got some… helpful words from Lin today. Nothing I didn’t already know, of course. So to answer your question, Sarah, it was a good session. Sam, at the very least, seems to be progressing well.”

  Sam let out a grunt and shook his head. He also started feeling the slightest blush creep upon his face, but he wasn’t going to recognize it as such. Shouldn’t prevent him from hating himself for it, though.

  “I’m serious,” Felix said. “You’re a pretty good fighter already. I’d wager that in two or three months, you’d have been good enough to make a respectable showing in the tournament if it was held then.”

  “Define respectable,” Sam said.

  “You’d win some and lose most. Which is very fucking respectable because everyone you’d have been fighting has at least half a year of combat practice on you.”

  “Are there actually applicants who get accepted without any prior combat experience?”

  “Probably… if not here, then at one of the other academies.”

  “Maybe someone who’s focusing on a non-combatant field. Like healing,” Sarah suggested.

  “Would they still apply to the combat academies?” Yvessa asked.

  “If they’re interested in battlefield healing, yes. The tactical academies don’t teach as much magic as they do here.”

  “What about a regular university?” Sam asked.

  “It all depends on what the person in question wants to do. If they want to fight in any capacity, then a combat academy is the only choice, provided they can get in. If they just want to heal from the back lines… it’s still probably better. If they just want to be a healer in general, they’ll probably go to a university. Still, it’s easier to catch up on your medical studies than on your cultivating and magical knowledge. So even healers who are more civilian inclined than Maurice gravitate towards studying in a magical institution first.”

  “That makes sense. But still… I’m not sure how much I like it. It’s not the most efficient method of workforce education. Ideally, there should be medical schools that specialize in… regular medicine. Then two more for magical healing, one civilian and one military. And while the military one could be a part of an institution like this academy. The civilian one shouldn’t. And that’s what we’re missing.”

  “Add it to the list, then,” Yvessa said.

  “I don’t think it should fall under my list. It’s more of Sarah’s purview.”

  Sarah shook her head. “No can do I’m afraid. You’re the only one with a list on how to change society for the better after the war’s over.”

  Sam tsked. “Could I at least delegate that responsibility to you when the time comes?”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  A couple of minutes later, just as Sam was about to finish eating, Felix said, “I had a brilliant idea for a bet.”

  “Another bet?” Yvessa asked.

  “I don’t think you can qualify any idea for a bet as brilliant,” Sam said.

  “Just shush, will you?” Felix frowned at them. “So, Sam is taking his deshar history test next week. Which means he’ll start on the last history course before too long.”

  “Probably. So you want to bet on which of us gets the highest score?” Sarah asked.

  “What? No. What’s the point of that? I want to bet on which one of you finishes their exam first.”

  “He’s not going to take the exam at the same time as us,” Yvessa said.

  “Exactly. So we have three possibilities. You and Sarah are tested on the same day. It’s more than likely that one of you will finish before the other. But… what about Sam? When will he take his exam? If he manages to finish the material before you and take the test before your date, then he wins. But if he doesn’t, then there’s still something to bet about. So it’s a three-way bet.”

  “What’s so interesting about it?” Sam asked. “I already told you that I’m going to study at the same pace as the curriculum.”

  Felix ignored him. “In essence. We’re betting on whether Sam will stay true to the words that he had just repeated. Will he manage to pace himself? Or will he rush through the material and end up getting tested earlier than you will? And we still have the bet between you two to spice things up a bit.”

  Sarah nodded. “Alright, makes sense. I’m in. The usual?”

  “Yep.”

  “Three cakes on Sam finishing before us.”

  “Three, huh? I’ll put the same amount on him as well.”

  Yvessa shrugged. “Me too.”

  Sam frowned at them. “You guys are assholes, you know that? Do you also know that I can fleece you for all your worth right now? What if I put one cake on Sarah and one on Yvessa? I’m still coming up with seven. And seven’s a mighty nice number.”

  “That’s the thrill of it,” Felix said. “Will you allow yourself to act against your nature in order to win those seven cakes? You’re in complete control of who wins. It’s your avaricious gluttonous self against your… normal self.”

  “Fuck you guys. I’m putting three cakes on myself as well. Now no one wins.” He stuck his tongue out at them as he got from the table.

  “I’ll buy us a cake when we win,” Felix whispered loud enough for Sam to hear.

  Sam gave them the middle finger as he turned to leave. “See you at dinner, assholes.”

  He made his way to Dan’s office in brisk pace and before too long, sat down in his usual chair to begin the day’s lesson.

  “Start with a refill?” Dan asked.

  “Probably for the best. Will also let you check if I’m already level 1. See who’s going to win the bet.”

  Dan nodded and grasped Sam’s left hand for a couple of seconds before settling back down. “Sarah did, I think.”

  “Huh… So I really can’t see any difference.”

  “You’re not experienced enough. It takes until level 5 or 6 for most people to start being able to differentiate between the quality of the core. And even then, they wouldn’t be able to tell when they reach a higher level. Until around 8, of course. Level 1 is the baseline. I’m familiar with it. It’s why I can tell whether you reached it or not at a glance. I wouldn’t be able to do the same with level 2. Since your core’s quality doesn’t directly correspond to its quantity.”

  “Right, right. And we don’t know how that works, yeah?”

  “Not for sure. There are theories. But you shouldn’t concern yourself with those. This is a very academic subject at the end of the day. But enough of that. Congratulations! Level 1 with three weeks to spare. If I didn’t know that you would disagree, I would’ve given you a day off, hell tomorrow off as well.”

  “Well, I disagree. I’ll have plenty of time to celebrate on Saturday.” He let out a breath before breaking out in a smile. “But I am happy. Thanks.”

  “You should be. You should also be proud of yourself. You’ve exceeded all of my requirements for you. If I’m being honest. I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t be able to finish your studies in the next two years. You’ve gone above and beyond my expectations.”

  “Still not going to agree to a day off.”

  “I will force you to take one, eventually. Hell, I’m thinking about the last week of the next break for a week off.”

  “We’ll see. It depends on how much I ‘exceeded your expectations’ by then.”

  “No need for cynicism. I was being sincere. But alright, we’ll celebrate more at lunch. I’ll invite Maurice. We’ll raise a glass of wine. He’ll trace you clear of alcohol. Is that alright with you?”

  “That’s fine. You also deserve some applause and pride for helping me get here.”

  “You’re right. Maybe I’ll take Saturday off to celebrate my own achievement.”

  “You don’t already take Saturdays off?”

  “Just as much as you usually do.”

  “Hm… Well, if you want, you can probably join my call with Farris. He’ll definitely force some form of celebration upon the four of us. And if not he, then Sarah.”

  “Thank you for the invitation.” Dan chuckled. “But as much as I’ve grown to regard General Farris more comfortably in these last few months. He’s still my… boss. And my idea of a day off doesn’t really include any bosses of mine.”

  Sam laughed. “Have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  “Ach… that really brings down the avenues of action open to me.”

  “No need to be glib.”

  Dan raised his cup to his lips with a smile. “My apologies. So, shall we start? I’m assuming you don’t want to bother with cultivating today?”

  “Yeah… until we can move on to the more advanced methods, I don’t see a reason to spend as much of our time on it. I’ll keep cultivating by myself. And it shouldn’t take too long until my core reaches fragmented, right?”

  “Who knows… but I’d wager that in a week or two it’ll happen.”

  “And then we can start on imprinting?”

  “Eventually. I’ll have to run you through some preliminary theory that wasn’t covered in patterns, but that shouldn’t take too long. But it’ll have to wait until we finish going over the new methods of cultivating. Which will probably take around a week.”

  “That long?”

  “We wouldn’t focus completely on that. We’ll still keep to our other studies. But yes, something like six days, half the lesson. It’s a brand new world that you’re going to have access to. I want to give you all the initial tools you might need straight from the get go.”

  Sam nodded. “Alright. So I should let you know the moment that my core reaches fragmented, yeah? And will I know when it happens?”

  “Not exactly when it happens. As it’ll happen when you’re unconscious. But after, yes. You’ll recognize the difference the moment you reach into your fragmented core.”

  “Only reach? Don’t even have to look at it?”

  “Indeed. It’s that big of a change. So, what do you want to start with first? Tracing or Epirak study?”

  “Let’s go with tracing. You’ve already refilled my core. And I don’t have any patterns to make it worthwhile to keep it full.”

  “I’m a really upset about this, you know?” Sarah frowned at him as they stood outside of the Web Communication complex.

  “I know.” Sam nodded. “But let it slide. We’ve only been waiting like half a minute.”

  “I’m not upset about that. Felix and Yvessa aren’t here because we’re early.”

  “Yeah… you walked pretty fast.”

  “Because I was upset.”

  “So you said.”

  “Sam, I’m serious.”

  “No you’re not.”

  “No.” Sarah smiled. “But I am a little bit miffed. I don’t like the idea of a… mentoring session being how you celebrate reaching level 1.”

  “Come on. We had an agreement: no more celebrations. I gave you the year’s end to celebrate as you will. Having any sort of celebration for reaching level 1 is already me giving ground. And trust me, as far as celebrations go, and matching their occasions, this is a pretty good one. Sure there’s no food. But you wouldn’t want me to celebrate such a momentous achievement without my dear mentor there. And I would like my dear friends to be there when I celebrate it with my mentor. So yeah, there’s no reason for an extra celebration with just you guys.”

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Well there should be. You have the time.”

  “That’s debatable. But what about the willpower? The social energy? Besides, how did you celebrate reaching level 1?”

  “Dinner with Maurice.” She huffed at him.

  Sam smiled. “I already ate with Maurice two days ago. Twice. And both those times were already a sort of celebration.”

  “Fine, fine. I give up. But just so you know, sometime within the next year, we’re celebrating something that has to do with how far you’ve come. I don’t care what that is. Could be level two—”

  “Won’t be level 2.”

  “Could be your first whole-body imprint. Winning a spar. Mastering threads. I don’t care. I’ll find something to celebrate. Everyone deserves to celebrate their own achievements. You most of all.”

  “Can’t we just celebrate me growing a year older? That’s an achievement. It’s clear-cut linear progression.”

  She rolled her eyes at him just as Felix and Yvessa joined them. “Hey,” Felix said, “sorry we’re late. Yvessa wanted to grab some drinks.”

  Sam looked at the four bottles of soft drinks held between them. “Seriously?”

  Yvessa shrugged. “You need to raise a toast. Otherwise it doesn’t count.”

  “Oh. I didn’t know that. Lucky. Wouldn’t want to make tomorrow back at level 0.”

  “Sub-level 1.” Three voices corrected him just as they passed the security check.

  “Thanks,” Sam told the major on duty after she led them to their room. He wasn’t the only one to have come a long way in the last half a year.

  They finished settling down on the floor just as Farris appeared before them. Farris pointed behind him with his thumb. “You’re seeing this alright?”

  “Seeing what?” Sam asked. “It’s mostly blue.”

  “It’s the ocean,” Yvessa said. “Right?”

  “Yeah. Went to find a secluded hill with a good view. And spent some time tweaking the communication in order to let some of that view shine through.”

  “And how much does that cost?” Sam asked.

  “Not much more than usual. Shouldn’t matter to you cause I’m paying, right? So, view’s good?”

  Sam shrugged but relented a nod. Yvessa nodded as well.

  “Yeah, looks nice,” Felix said. “Mostly indiscernible blue. But still nice.”

  “It’s beautiful.” Sarah smiled.

  “That it is.” Farris thumped on his chest. “And it’s going to become a lot more beautiful, and green, once Bazalas starts setting.”

  “It’s weird…” Sam whispered as though to himself, but just loud enough for everyone else to hear. “The first time I ever see an ocean in person, and it’s not even in the same world as I am.”

  Felix furrowed his brows. “Except it can’t really count as seeing the ocean in person.”

  “True enough. Maybe ‘directly’ would be the better word?”

  “No.” Sarah frowned at him. “You said that on purpose.”

  “Was an honest mistake, I promise you.”

  “No, it definitely wasn’t,” Farris said. “You’re just trying to sow confusion in our midst by dropping conflicting hints.”

  “Look, I don’t know what to tell you. I was just so captivated by the natural beauty of the waves that I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.”

  “You can’t even see the waves,” Sarah said.

  “And yet, they still somehow remind me of home.”

  She laughed. “Asshole.”

  “Guilty as charged.” Sam bowed before turning to Farris. “So?”

  “What?” Farris stared back at him as though not comprehending.

  “Shouldn’t you get started on whatever program you planned for today? Jokes about all four of us being here? Pretentious life lessons? Plans for the future and excuses for the present? Things like that?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This meeting is just so that you could cross off that little check mark in your head. I haven’t made any plans for today. Much less any plan that would take all four of you into consideration. I mean, you have to admit. Inviting three of your friends to a meeting with your mentor… that’s pretty weird.”

  “Not as weird as telling your mentee to invite three of his friends to your meeting,” Yvessa said. “Sam?” She handed him a filled cup of coke.

  “Thanks,” Sam said and turned away from Farris. “Well, I guess that if Farris doesn’t have anything to talk about, that we can just carry on as though he’s not here. More of that celebration vibe that you wanted, Sarah. And dare I say, drinks are more important than food for this type of event. At least that’s what most people would say.”

  “I was about to say—Thanks.” Sarah took the cup Felix had handed her. “Because there is no way you would think that having something to drink is more important for a celebration than having something to eat.”

  “I honestly think most people feel the same way as you do, Sam,” Felix said. “Eating triumphs over drinking. I mean, imagine a holiday dinner without any food and only drinks. That’s a sad alcoholic that has no one to celebrate with. But, a holiday dinner without any drinks and only food is just a household that’s strict on no drinking during meals.”

  “I don’t know…” Sam twisted his lips. “Cause that’s a very extreme edge case. And a holiday is not exactly the same things as a celebration. I’m just saying, if you make plans with friends to go out and celebrate one of the group’s promotion at work. Then you’d probably choose a bar over a restaurant.”

  “But that’s alcohol. That’s different. We’re not drinking any alcohol now, and we’re still celebrating.”

  “Because we ate before,” Yvessa said. “Our dinner wasn’t a celebratory one, but these drinks are. Besides, think of it this way: what is the first action that comes to your mind when you think of celebrating something?”

  “Yeah, it’s toasting. You’re right.” Felix tsked. “Damn… I’m sure that there’s a good joke answer for that one.”

  “What’d you come up with?” Sam asked.

  “Jerking off. Getting laid.”

  “Yeah, that’s pretty basic.”

  “It’s not untrue.”

  “If you say so. Just to prove Sarah’s point. My first thought was ordering food, or going to a fancy restaurant.”

  “Where the toasting would take place,” Yvessa said.

  “Undoubtedly. Like I said, I’m straying from the main on this one. But still… just gathering in the living room and drinking wine with a toast instead of eating out? That’s not quite my style.”

  “So you don’t see this as a celebration?”

  “No, this is a good celebration alright. Tame enough for me to bear it. And like you said, we’ve already eaten.”

  “Then cheers.” Sarah raised her cup.

  “Cheers.” All four soon cups found one another.

  “I hate to interrupt you in the middle of celebrating,” Farris said. “In fact, I hate to interrupt you at all. But I have to know, what exactly are you celebrating?”

  Felix chuckled. “That was nice of him to wait for us to finish with our shtick before he started with his.”

  “Hey!” Farris wagged his finger at Felix. “I might accept disrespect and snark from Sam, because, let’s be honest, I haven’t done anything to disabuse him of that behavior. And I might take that from Yvessa, since she spent enough time around me to grow to disrespect me. And I may let Sarah get away with it sometimes, because she does it so rarely and I always deserve it when she does. But no one else! I will not be ridiculed and looked down upon in this manner!”

  “Why am I the one being singled out?”

  “Many reasons. How about you being the least special out of the four of you, making you the easiest target?”

  “What?! Again with that shit?! There’s no way I’m less special than Yvessa. At most, we’re both the same.”

  Farris slightly shook his head and twirled his finger next to his temple. “If you say so…”

  “Oh, screw you! You know what? Not only am I more special that Yvessa. But if Sarah didn’t have being a Taken going for her, then I would also be more special than her. I’m that awesome.”

  Sarah raised her eyebrows. “Good to know I have being a taken going for me.”

  “You know what I meant.”

  “That if she wasn’t a Taken, she wouldn’t have had anything going for her?” Sam asked. “That her being a Taken is the only thing that makes her special? The only thing she has to differentiate her from the masses?”

  “What? No! It’s just that… her being a Taken gives her enough of a leg up on me. Like she’s X without being a Taken and I’m X plus one, but her being a Taken adds two to her score.”

  “What score?” Sarah asked.

  “There’s no way being a Taken only counts as two,” Sam said.

  “Are you saying that it should be the majority of her score?” Felix asked.

  “Hmm…” Sam looked at Sarah in contemplation. “Probably. But not the way you think.” He held up his hand to reassure her. She rolled her eyes.

  “Then how?”

  “OK, so would Sarah be less ‘special’ than you, were she not Taken? Yes. But that’s only because so much of what makes her unique and more interesting than you is connected to her being a Taken. She doesn’t have anything to replace that part of her backstory. Meanwhile, you would still have growing up as the would be savior of the Terran—”

  “Don’t start with that shit.”

  “Fair enough. And your rough childhood.”

  “That’s true.”

  “Anyway, it doesn’t matter which one of you is third or second place, because the only thing that matters is first place. And we all know who that is.”

  “Why thank you.” Farris smiled.

  “Where would you rank if you weren’t a Taken?” Sarah asked Sam.

  “Hm…” He scratched his head. “That’s a very good question. I still have some other things going for me. I guess it depends on how much of those we take away. But I still think that I’ll beat last place.” He gestured to Felix, who gave him the middle finger in return.

  “That’s good an all,” Farris said, “but would any of you please finally tell me what it is your celebrating?”

  “You’re still on that?” Yvessa asked.

  “I would like to know.”

  “I don’t know about these guys,” Sam said, “but I’m celebrating Dan taking a day off.”

  Farris smirked at him. “Very clever. You worked that out beforehand?”

  “No. I didn’t expect you to pull whatever stupid bit it is that you’re currently pulling.”

  Farris let out a disgruntled sigh and leaned back. “You guys are no fun. All you had to do was say, ‘Sam reaching level 1.’ Was that so hard? Then I would’ve gone on a great life-lesson about how there are always greater heights to grasp for, and that’s why, even though I knew about it, I didn’t realize that you saw his new level as something worth celebrating. Then there would have been a little back and forth, culminating in yet another life lesson about you making your own worth and being proud of yourself based solely on that self-valued worth.”

  “Sound lame. Like what if I’m one of those narcissists that you keep harping on about and I feel proud of myself for not shitting my pants?”

  “That’s exactly what I knew you were going to say. And from there, we would’ve gone on to Kant.”

  “What do you know about Kant?”

  “I know stuff. I’m willing to bet I know way more about Terran philosophy than you do about elven.”

  “That’s definitely true. Doesn’t answer my question.”

  “Look, I know enough. We would’ve had a whole discussion about the relationship between the mind and the self. Rationality. Moral imperatives. Being the master of your own cognition. It would’ve been great, trust me.”

  “Well, one thing you definitely weren’t lying about: not including these guys in your conversational plans.”

  “Why should I? This is your celebration. We should do whatever it is that you want.”

  “Ah… I got a good story about that… Hm… Actually, it’s not that good. Never mind.”

  Felix whistled. “That’s a new one.”

  “Don’t do that.”

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to come off—”

  “What? No. I don’t care about the joke. It wasn’t very funny, but it was fair and fairly humorous. I was talking about whistling.”

  “Why can’t I whistle?”

  “Cause I can’t whistle and I don’t like being reminded of that.”

  “You can’t whistle?” Yvessa asked.

  Farris rubbed his temples. “This changes things. Maybe I have been too hasty in mentoring you.”

  “Oh, what?” Sam said. “Like all of you can whistle?”

  “I can,” Yvessa said.

  “Great whistler.” Farris mimicked whistling.

  Sarah shrugged. “You know I can.”

  “Well I can’t. And so do a lot of people. I’m willing to bet some of the greatest minds in human—Terran, and even elven history couldn’t whistle.”

  “Not elven.” Farris shook his head. “Not being able to whistle is a sign of great deformity. Any kid who can’t whistle by six is thrown from a cliff.”

  “Whistling is bullshit. Being able to whistle is worthless. You guys want to know why I’m sure of that? Because every job that requires a person to whistle, gives them a fucking whistle. Have none of you seen a World War One movie?”

  “I don’t know how it is in the Terran military, but in the great Sarechi armed forces, all our whistling is done manually, with no supplementary tool. The whistler is supported only by their great elven lungs and awesome magic.”

  “Are you even listening to the bullshit you’re spewing? In what world do you not know how things work in the Terran military?”

  “Ach! Curses! Foiled once again by my own greatness.”

  Sam rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Are you done with your ‘life lessons’ bit? Can we move on to something of actual substance?”

  “I’d love to. But I really haven’t prepared any material. Besides that, I mean.”

  “Seriously? Then what are we even here for?”

  “Well, I can’t exactly teach you about stuff when all four of you are here. And I can’t have you sparring with each other when you’re celebrating. Also, if I’m being honest, the sparring is getting kind of old; it ruins the ability to have a comedic back-and-forth. Which leaves us with just talking about nothing in particular for today. Celebrating, in other words. Here, I’ll even grab a drink myself.” A bottle of coke appeared in his hand.

  “God, I want one of those.”

  “In due time. In due time.”

  “Do you think the Reshan intended those devices to be used for something as mundane as a cooler?” Felix asked.

  “Most definitely,” Farris said. “Matter of fact. They’re probably so advanced that every single Reshan has one for their food and drinks from the moment they can walk. All we have is their scrap.”

  “So what would that make the holdworlds?” Yvessa said.

  “A ship-of-the-line donated by the French Fifth Republic to the Roman one. We’re Carthage.”

  Felix laughed. “You’re starting to sound like Sarah.”

  “Really?” Farris turned to her. “I didn’t take you for a Carthage supporter? Who’s your favorite Barca? Barring the obvious one, of course.”

  She rolled her eyes. “He was talking about how I’m always negative about the Reshan.”

  “Oh… and here I was hoping that I found a kindred soul in always being negative about the Romans. Why do you hate the Reshan?”

  “Why do you hate the Romans?”

  “We’ve already been over this.” Farris pointed to Sam.

  “Yeah,” Sam said, “I won. Stop trying to appropriate our history without knowing all of the facts.”

  “Oh, like you care about appropriating history or knowing all of the facts.”

  “I don’t. I just don’t like underdog worship. Anyway, Sarah, you were saying that you hate the Reshan?”

  “I don’t hate the Reshan.” She scoffed. “I’m just… I don’t know. Angry at them. If, like with Farris’ example, the French had sent an old ship, by their standards, back in time to help the Romans. Shouldn’t they have spent more time making sure that the Romans weren’t genocidal maniacs who want to destroy all life?”

  Sam laughed. “Good caveat. I’m pretty sure that back then everyone was a genocidal maniac by our standards.”

  Farris nodded. “And maybe that’s the Reshan’s view as well. They’re so advanced that they don’t care about the moral implications of us killing the Epiraks or the Epiraks killing us. They just left us their old toys for us to play with.”

  “Exactly,” Sarah said, “assholes.”

  “In our eyes.”

  “Sam, please tell the room how one should regard moral relativism.”

  “Please don’t,” Felix said. “The room already knows your opinion on the matter. Back and front.”

  “Really now?” Sam’s lips curved. “And did we ever discuss the implications of Kant’s statement on the universality of rationality on relativism amongst sapient species?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh… Well, fine. I’ll give it up. Plus, I don’t really have an opinion about the Reshan, one way or the other. So I can’t, in clear conscience, contribute to the arguments of this debate.”

  Felix narrowed his eyes at him and scrunched his nose. Yvessa was even more obvious. She scoffed.

  “What?” Sam asked them.

  “I find it hard to believe that you don’t have an onion about such a prominent topic as the Reshan,” Yvessa said.

  “I don’t. Sarah, back me up here.”

  Sarah shrugged. “You did make a couple of jokes when I first explained what we know and don’t know about them to you. But that’s pretty much it.”

  “Exactly. I made those jokes back when the Reshan were an abstract concept. I was making fun of the idea of the Reshan. Not the Reshan themselves. I don’t know anything about the Reshan. How can I make fun of them? How can I have an opinion on something I don’t know anything about?”

  “When has that ever stopped you?” Felix asked. “You’re always going on about stuff that you’re completely unfamiliar with. What about all those jokes about how magic is supposed to work and how real magic doesn’t make sense?”

  “Or like how I made fun of you two for not knowing how to reach level 10 when I still wasn’t fully sure that was something worth mocking you over?”

  “Screw you.”

  “That’s different. A. It’s humor, and humor doesn’t require a basis in reality. Haven’t you ever watched a comedian complain that they can’t tell jokes anymore while being paid millions to tell jokes? B. It’s not the same thing. Because I do know some things about magic, about society and how normal teenagers behave. That helps me form an opinion about that stuff. I don’t know anything about the Reshan besides hearsay and rumors. Why would I form an opinion based on fragments of information that might not be true at all?”

  “Come on, get off your high horse. It’s one thing to say that you purposely don’t want to form an opinion about the Reshan. But to claim that you never form an opinion about something unless you have substantial knowledge about it? That’s not you. That’s not any human being in history.”

  Sam scratched behind his ear before shrugging. “Fine, then. Let’s say that I’m reserving my judgment on the Reshan and leave it at that.”

  “Gave up awfully quickly…” Felix smirked at him.

  “Because I don’t care. I’ll give you a historical example so that you’ll understand. I don’t know anything about the Indus Valley Civilization besides the fact that they disappeared. Maybe I do know a bunch more, probably incorrect information. But I don’t care about those bronze age bygones. So I don’t have any opinion about the Indus Valley Civilization. If there was plenty of readily available and correct information about them, I still wouldn’t care, but that would probably be enough for my brain to start forming its own opinion on the matter. The Reshan? We don’t know anything. At least I don’t know anything. And I don’t care. Because why should I?”

  “Shouldn’t you?” Farris asked, as though wondering aloud to himself.

  “Should he?” Yvessa asked.

  “Do you know something we don’t?” Sarah frowned.

  Farris stood up with a stretch, raising their eye level to a new vantage point. The topmost part of the hazy view behind him was a mild shade of green. “What I’m about to tell you is one of the most well-guarded secrets in the Web. It’s nothing dangerous mind you, at least we don’t think so. But it is a result of discoveries made by the most upper-echelons of our society. Some of the smartest, most powerful, and devious Chosen in history. And they guard their secrets zealously. Especially when they had spent so much effort gaining them. Needless to say, nothing I’m about to say is to leave these walls…”

  Two backs eagerly, unconsciously, reached forward. Even Yvessa, who was a little less naive as a result of her longer familiarity with Farris, couldn’t help physically displaying her curiosity. Only Sam, who knew Farris had no secret knowledge to actually tell them, much less to Sam, didn’t display any eagerness. He just rolled his eyes and, with a sigh, settled back on his hands.

  Farris smiled widely and spread his hands. “Sam is right. He shouldn’t care about the Reshan. He has no reason to. And neither should we. For while we should definitely care about what they left behind, the ramification of their actions. We have no reason to care about who they were, or are, or why they did what they did... Or why they left when they did.”

  Sam’s eyes shot open. He coughed, trying to hide his reaction.

  Farris’ smile somehow turned even more enigmatic. “For you see, cadets, the Reshan aren’t long gone at all…”

  Sam gulped.

  “For they simply never were.”

  Eager faces turned incredulous. “What the hell does that mean?” Sarah asked. “The Reshan aren’t real?”

  “On no, they were very real. Actually, let me correct that. The Reshan, as we know them, might not be real at all. For all we know about the Reshan, we learned from what they left for us to learn from. So the ‘Reshan’ identity might be a fabrication. It might not be. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that the remnants of the Reshan are real. The knowledge, the artifacts, the technology they left behind. Only left behind isn’t the correct word. Placed, would be more appropriate. Placed beforehand. Before the Web came to be.”

  “What?” Felix asked.

  “The Reshan were never a part of the Web. They aren’t some bronze age civilization lost to time. Or an advanced civilization that got out of the Web somehow. All that the Reshan made, all that they have left us, is older than the Web itself. Placed on uninhabited worlds before the Web even formed and took those worlds into itself.”

  “How is that possible?” Sarah asked.

  Farris shrugged. “I don’t know. We barely know about how the Web itself functions. Let alone what lies outside of it.”

  “So how do you know that the… Reshan did what they did?” Sam asked.

  Farris smiled. “Really Sam? Really? How many times do I have to tell you that you need to wait until you reach level 1 before you start asking me about threads?”

  “Seriously?!” Yvessa threw an unused cup at his image. “You told us all of that just to end up keeping us in suspense by telling Sam one of your stupid jokes.”

  Sarah slowly exhaled while Felix shook his head at Farris. “Not cool.”

  Only Sam laughed. “You gotta admit. That’s pretty funny. Hell of a setup.”

  Farris bowed. “I know I made the right choice. As a thank you, I’ll give all of you a little glimpse into the world that Sam will soon find himself embroiled in. As will all of you, eventually. So, to make a very long, incredibly complex story, short and wildly inaccurate. The Web is the greatest manifestation of a magical entity in existence… That we know of, at least. It’s so much greater than anything else you can imagine. Now, those words might not mean anything to you, so think of it—again, erroneously—as gravity. The Web has enormous gravity. It’s like a star. And everything in it, we, the worlds themselves, etcetera, are revolving around it like objects in the solar system.”

  “By threads…” Sam muttered.

  “Exactly. Only, instead of being pulled to its center. We have threads connecting us to it. I look at you four, and I look at myself, and we all have the same… type of threads, stretching themselves towards the Web itself. So what happens when a Chosen discovers a thread that isn’t connected to the Web? A thread so delicate that no one before her had even managed to discern it? What does that mean? Nothing. Not at first. Just because we all have threads connecting to the Web doesn’t mean that all of our threads are connected to the Web. But, what happens when the Chosen follows that thread? And discovers that the entity manifesting it only contains two other threads, none of them leading to the Web?”

  “I’ll spare you the theory. I’ll spare you the debates. In short, it means that the entity that generated the thread in question couldn’t have originated in the Web. Because, as I’ve said, everything in the Web is connected to it. So, if we go back to our solar system example, you could imagine an asteroid that passed through the solar system but for some physical reason or another doesn’t get stuck in the star’s gravity well and starts orbiting it.”

  “No we can’t,” Sam said. “The star still pulls on the asteroid.”

  “Exactly. Because as long as it passed through the solar system, it must be affected somewhat by the star’s gravity. There must be some pull. There have to be threads. And, like we said, the Web’s pull is enormous. So how could an asteroid that passed though the solar system not be affected by the stars’ gravity? Only if it passed before the star formed. When it was just a bunch of gases floating around in space. This is where the metaphor breaks down because the object in question is still in the Web. But I figure that you get the picture. The only way for an object to exist without being connected to the Web, is if it existed before the Web started exerting its magical pull. Ergo, before it existed.”

  Farris smiled. “And once we found the one thread, leading to the one object. We started finding more. Want to guess what all of those objects were? Or, to be more exact, of what make?”

  “Reshan,” Sam said.

  “Exactly. It’s empirical based science at the end of the day. Occam’s razor, isn’t it? Knowing what we know, about threads, about the Web, about the Reshan? What is the best explanation for the phenomenon we discovered? That the Reshan never existed in the Web itself. That all they had built and ‘left behind’ existed before the Web itself ever did. Otherwise, we have to come up with a theory that explains something that all our knowledge of threads deems to be impossible.”

  “But why is this such a secret?” Sarah asked. “I mean, how did it take us so long to discover that? If none of the Reshan remnants have threads leading to the Web, surely a Ruler would’ve discovered that the moment they found the first Reshan artifact or… ‘ruin.’ Right?”

  “I’m afraid not. Because most Reshan remnants are actually connected to the Web. And explaining why that doesn’t nip our conjecture in the bud… is actually very complex and has to do with a very advanced understanding of the subjects involved. Something that even you aren’t not going to learn about anytime soon.” He turned to Sam.

  Sam shrugged. “Sounds good to me. I already have plenty to study without any advanced, shattering to the way we understand reality, subjects added to the mix. Not to mention just the basic knowledge about threads that you’re going to have to start teaching me soon. Since I am level 1.”

  “I told you already, I’m not going to be the one to teach you the basics. I’m sending you a teacher. They’ll arrive around the start of the next year, give or ta—”

  “Wait!” Felix shook his head and flailed his arms. “So what does that mean?”

  “Hm? Well, that there’s no rush for Sam to start studying threads straight away. And the teacher in question asked for some extra time before leav—”

  “No. Obviously that’s not what I’m talking about. The Reshan. What does it mean that the Reshan were never a part of the Web?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?” Yvessa asked.

  “Did you all forget where we started from? I agreed with Sam. The Reshan don’t matter. They were in some uninhabited worlds before the Web even existed, and they were gone before it did. They’re certainty not here now. We can’t derive any meaning from just knowing that one fact about them. It’s not like we know anything else. Why they ‘left?’ Why were they here in the first place? Why they built what they did? You want to derive an opinion from this? Feel free to form an opinion. The only thing I can tell you is to remind you again, just in case, don’t tell about this to anyone.”

  “Is it that big of a secret?” Sarah asked.

  “It has to do with a bunch of stuff we don’t want people to think about before they have a reason to. And like I said, it was a discovery by the Web’s best, and they like to keep their secrets to themselves. But I’d wager that there are a couple of thousand of people in the Web, in our part at least, that know about it. But it’s a select group. People who aren’t going to tell just anyone about it.”

  “Still… why tell us?”

  “Sam would’ve found out soon anyway. Erianna would’ve definitely told him once he started asking the right questions. And no way in hell I’m buying his ‘I don’t give a crap about the Reshan’ crap.”

  “Wait,” Yvessa said, “Erianna knows?”

  “And more importantly.” Sam chuckled. “Why does she have free rein to tell me about it?”

  “Because she’s a Thread-Weaver. And so are you. And. it’s a pretty important discovery in the study of threads. So all Thread-Weavers, sooner much more usually than later, start asking the right questions to have this particular can of beans spilled to them. And I’d wager that Sam would be even sooner than most. All it takes is one simple question. Trust me. I know from experience.”

  “You didn’t answer why you’re alright with telling all four of us about it. It’s not like I was going to run and tell them.”

  Farris shrugged. “Eh… what’s the big deal? They’ll end up as Rulers anyway. And they’re trustworthy. Maybe I wanted to impress them. You know me, I crave the adoration of a crowd. Plus, I don’t actually like the fact that we keep this particular piece of information a secret. We shouldn’t. So consider this my little act of rebellion. Also, the real reason is that I felt bad for Felix and Yvessa. Having had to live nineteen years in ignorance until you came along and uplifted them. So I figured that I’ll tell them an actual secret in compensation.”

  Sam and Sarah laughed. “God,” Felix muttered, “they’re insufferable when they make the same jokes.” Yvessa shook her head, echoing his sentiment.

  Farris winked and sat back down. Rubbing his hands, he turned to Sam and said, “Alright, so let’s get some business done in the time we have left. Before we can get to the fun part of talking about Rome and Carthage again. Anything I should know that wasn’t in Dan’s report?”

  Sam sighed. “I already told you that I’m not going to dignify answering that with a new joke every time.”

  “An old joke then? No… fine be this way. But seriously, now that you’re level 1, we’re gonna have a lot to talk about. Well, not a lot. More.”

  “In the future, maybe. Right now? Nothing has changed for me or in my studies. We still have to wait until my core becomes fragmented.”

  “That’s true. So let’s hope that’s coming soon.”

  “You’re not going to make a prediction about how soon that will happen?” Yvessa asked.

  “No… not this time. Felix already beat him in this parameter. It won’t matter.”

  “You assholes.” Felix laughed.

  “So what if it takes him longer than three weeks?” Sarah asked. “That’s not so unheard of. And he has been practicing with magic for a really short time.”

  “You’re worried about Farris’ chosen teacher wasting their time here?” Sam asked her.

  “It won’t take him that long,” Farris said. “But even if it will, it wouldn’t matter. You don’t need a fragmented core to start using the Sight and studying threads. So he’ll be free to begin on his studies the moment they arrive.”

  Sam cracked his knuckles while stretching his hands. “Well, whatever the case. I’d like it to happen as soon as possible. So maybe I should be one to make a prediction. Next two weeks. No, let’s go wild. Next two days. Somewhere in between.”

  “That would still place you in last place,” Felix said.

  “I’m already in last place. It’s not like I can go back in time, can I? Well, you know what? I don’t actually care how soon or it’ll be. As long as it’s before the end of the break, I’m alright. I want to start my first ‘official’ year of studying as a fully magically developed person. That’d be nice.”

  “Here’s to next year, then.” Sarah raised her cup.

  “Cheers.” The three of them physical present joined her.

  Farris smirked while bringing the bottle to his lips. “Indeed. To a great next year. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

  And the next year really couldn’t come fast enough, Sam thought to himself as he settled down to sleep that evening. A new beginning. The second step of my insurmountable journey. It’s only going to get better from here on out. So let’s go! Fragmented core by Monday.

  Sunday accommodated itself perfectly to the agenda. It was a great day. Keeping Sam’s mood lifted all throughout. Even the therapy session with Rose, which oftentimes had a mellowing effect on Sam, only strengthened his certainty in his happiness. It was the first time they talked only about the present. And since there were a lot of good things to say about the present, Sam left the session happier than how he entered it. Much happier.

  “What can I say?” he penned the ending remarks for the day’s entry. “Today has been a great day. Here’s for an even better tomorrow! Fuck it, a better next year! Goodnight!”

  He went to sleep with a bright smile that night, falling asleep even faster than usual.

  But then he found himself waking up in the middle of the night. Still groggy, it took him a couple of seconds to discover the cause. Someone was knocking on the door. Steadily, confidently, and just loud enough to wake a relatively light sleep like Sam. Confused, his first instinct was to look outside. It was still dark, which only served to heighten his confusion. His second instinct was to pick up his phone. It was the middle of the night, and he had no notifications. Warily, he stepped up to the door. No peephole, of course, so he’d have to open it. And besides, who could possibly harm him here? And why would they knock?

  He opened the door.

  Staring straight at him was an elf who looked to be about his age, maybe older. Her eyes immediately caught his, and he felt himself being evaluated by that gaze, as though she could see his full and unfettered existence.

  Consciously, she turned her head a little, breaking the direct eye contact and him at out that spell of surprise and embarrassment. But before he could say anything, she smiled and said in Sarechi, “Good evening. Can I come in?”

  On instinct, Sam almost stepped back and made way for her. But catching himself at the last second, he frowned and asked, “What? Who the hell are you?”

  “The better question is, at least in my opinion, why don’t you already know who the hell I am? Shouldn’t you have had the foresight, the minimal amount of social grace and friendly interest, to find out what I looked like before today?”

  Sam’s frown deepened. With brows furrowed and eyes narrowed, he was about to say something much less graceful before a flash of possibility flashed in his mind.

  That flash must have manifested itself physically, and she must have seen it, because her smile widened further. Eyes twinkling in a somewhat familiar fashion, she said, “Farris was right. This is pretty funny.” She let out a small, warm laugh.

  Comprehension fully dawned on him, and as his eyes widened, he took a step back. “No fucking way… You’re—”

  “Please, allow me. Sam Anders, I am Erianna Ninae. I am going to be teaching you about threads for the upcoming year. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” She presented him with her hand to shake.

  This time, instinct won over, and with an involuntary gulp, Sam reached forth and shook the hand of the second in line to the throne of Sarechal. And, more importantly, his only fellow mentee.