Chapter 420: Let’s Get to It


    <strong>Here Begins Millennial Mage 11 - Flockbound</strong>


    T couldnt help but smile as Rane walked into the massive underground training room, unescorted.


    Only Refined were allowed herespecial exemptions asideand he arrived solely based upon his own merits.


    He stood tall, his inscriptions newly refreshed, his eyes full of life. His aura was on full disy, held at presentation distance, roughly an inch out from his skin. It was a lovely, chartreuse yellow.


    T was still giving him grief for instantly surpassing her on the path toward Paragon, if only just.


    Terryon Ts shouldertrilled in greeting and congrattions, getting a mirthful smile from the new Refined.


    The Defender unit leaders, spread throughout the space around T, turned to face the same way she was, smiles spreading across many faces.


    This was quite different from her own induction as a Defender.


    Here, Rane was well known, well liked, and his advancement and eptance had been long awaited and was now openly celebrated.


    T had been unknown and unusual to the extreme.


    Speaking of which, T stayed back, letting him keep the spotlight. Well, that was her intention.


    Rane immediately met her gaze and waved, a nervous smile on his face. That sent some attention her way, but it didnt linger.


    His nervousness wasnt from meeting all these powerful Defenders. No, that was old hat for him. He was nervous because what he and T had was still new, and he was as unsure how to act with it as she was.


    They had been courting for nearly two monthsat least in namebut they hadnt really told anyone that they were courting or done anything differently because of it, not yet.


    Theyd been waiting first for Rane to Refine, then for him to recover, and finally theyd wanted him to be inducted as a Defender.


    That day had finally arrived.


    Master Grediv announced Rane, but otherwise was far less involved with Ranes induction than he had been with T, and the reason was rather obvious. As Ranes master and ancestor, he was seen as obviously biased toward the young Archon.


    With T, he was seen as an unbiased third party.


    Thus, after that introduction, Master Grediv moved to stand beside T. Its almost anticlimactic in a twisted sort of way.


    T cocked an eyebrow toward the Paragon. Would you rather he had struggled more openly?


    Master Grediv shook his head. No. Its just hard to really process a persons internal struggles. Its easy to brush them aside as not having mattered, and yet, I know they did. The older mans voice dropped to a whisper so low even she could barely hear it when right next to him. He broke, Mistress T. He failed. His foundation was tested and found wanting. I still dont know what changed. He hasnt decided to tell me, not yet.


    T nodded. Ill let him be the one to do that, but I am not the core of his Refinement. I never should have factored in at all.


    Yet, you remain important to him.


    I hope thats always true. She stiffened then, realizing what shed said.


    He nced her way, a small smile on his features. I hope so as well.


    The induction went quite well overall, with Rane giving a good showing of his skills and abilities before requesting to join Master Clevnis and Mistress Cernas unit.


    There werent strong objections from others, and the unit leader couple heartily agreed to have him join them.


    That put them up to an eight man unit, but as cell-duty had moved to a rotation, it wasnt of as much consequence as Ts joining had been.


    From there, the festivities wound down slowly, and once everyone left besides their unit, they rxed a bit more. They grabbed more food and just spent time getting to know their new member.


    The various Refined had chatted with Rane before, but this was different. They approached talking with someone who was just around every so often differently than someone who would be working alongside them for the foreseeable future.


    Another change after most had departed was that Terry left Ts shoulder for more than just brief moments.


    As a consequence, the avian flickered around the group, enjoying the challenge of stealing food from the tes of the various Refined.


    In essence, the game was that he would flicker in and if they reacted before he snatched something, hed simply move on. Otherwise, some of their tasty, tasty food would be his.


    At least, thats what T assumed he was thinking. Terry did like other peoples food quite a bit.


    The group talked through quite a few things, one of the most important being that Rane would be the Defender who would fight any threat that came during their units duty shifts, so long as he believed he could handle the magical beast or beasts.


    Just like theyd done with T, the unit wanted Rane to get his Refinedbat legs under him and build confidence in a rtively controlled set of circumstances.


    They would obviously be near at hand for the fights in case interference was required or assistance needed. Even so, it was a tried and true method for helping new Defenders gain skill and understanding of their own abilities.


    It was shortly after that that the unit moved to discussing the training that they all did, both together and on their own, separate from the unit.


    When that was wrapping up, Master Clevnis seemed toe to a decision. I want to test you myself. He stood, pulling a set of practice swords out of his soulbound dimensional storage. Master Rane, I trust that you are able to suppress your inscriptions. Yes?


    Rane stood as well, grinning. Absolutely, yes.


    Good, I want to see what your skill and ability level is without your magics directly involved. Enhancement magics are, of course, encouraged.


    He caught the sword that had been tossed his way before walking a good distance from the rest of the unitand the food tablesand assuming a ready stance.


    T always found it fascinating how different people would naturally prefer different opening guard positions.


    There was some skill involved in choosing one to counter your opponents, which could lead to two masters simply shifting between guard positions, continually countering and being countered in return. That didnt happen here.


    Rane preferred what was sometimes called a high guard, whichgiven his sizeput the sword quite high indeed.


    It was a stance far more suited for fighting magical creatures that were often bigger even than Rane, but it was also the stance that he was mostfortable in.


    Master Clevnis fell into a more central position, the point of his sword pointed straight at Ranes heart from ten feet away.


    The unit-leader smiled. Begin.


    They both moved in an almost unified blur. The crack-crack-<em>crack</em> of their practice weapons striking and deflecting was so rapid that it seemed almost like listening to a giant drumming their fingers on a table.


    T was able to track the movements, of course, but she knew that no mundane human would have been able to.


    Still, it was fascinating to watch the two men, and how their movements varied.


    Rane seemed to almost move in fits and starts, pausing between exchanges, thenshing forward with greater speed than Master Clevnis had demonstrated thus far.


    The older manon the other handseemed to keep the exact same pace throughout, simply flowing from one movement to the other without pause. This had the result of making even his blocks and counters seem as if hed nned them in advance.


    More than anything, it looked like he was simply moving smoothly and consistently through a well-known sword form.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the vition.


    The fact that Rane was there seemed all but incidental, even if T knew that it wasnt true.


    Though their pace was one that would quickly exhaust even the most well conditioned mundanes, neither was going to wear out any time soon, and they continued their friendly sh unabated.


    Only after quite a few exchanges did something finally change.


    Rane started it first, charging forward and forcing Master Clevnis to respond with movement of his own, and soon their shes were ranging back and forth through much of the massive space.


    Finally, Master Clevnis stoic face broke out in a smile. Get ready.


    Rane frowned but didnt otherwise respond.


    Then, Master Clevnis changed his pace <em>just a bit.</em> He was just slightly faster than he had been, and Rane struggled in vain to keep the bnce that he hadup to that pointmaintained rtively easily.


    Rane fell more and more onto the back foot until finally, the practice sword slipped through an opening and cracked against therger mans leg.


    He winced, but still blocked the follow-up strike, back inmand of the tempo.


    That didntst.


    Once again, Master Clevnis slowly advanced in initiative until he snuck another strike through.


    This time Rane hissed in irritation.


    Ranes eyes zed with intensity, but he kept mastery of himself, seeming to buckle down and speed up to match Master Clevnis new pace.


    Good! The older manughed. Very good. Now, get ready.


    Rane was not ready.


    Once again, the pace of the shing shifted and the younger, less experienced fighter received strike after strike. Though, none were strong enough to trigger his family boon, his berserking rage.


    <em>I wonder if thats purposeful on Master Clevnis part?</em>


    <em>-It is likely. He has to know about it. Master Grediv wouldnt have kept it a secret from the unit leaders.-</em>


    Over the course of nearly an hour, Master Clevnis slowly pressed Ranes mundane swordsmanship to its limit. Though, to be fair, they were moving much faster and much more than any mundane swordsman could. They were also continuing for far longer than any unenhanced human would be capable of.


    Regardless, eventually Master Clevnis called a halt, and Rane gave the unit-leader a bow, conceding the match and thanking him for the lessons conveyed.


    With a friendly motion, he tossed the older man back his practice sword as he straightened from the bow.


    In the end, T was very d that she hadnt been a part of the fight.


    She was rtively good at mundane swordy, but that was not where she thrived. Even so, T had paid close attention to the shes, trying to pull technique and methodology from each exchange and see if she could improve herself.


    Alsosince T never did just one thingshe was working at mimicking the aura control of the Den Mother. That wolf had confined her aura to each individual hair on her body, letting it move and stay perfectly aligned with them all, no matter what gust or movement caused them to shift.


    True, there was likely some trick to simply making an aura conform perfectly to ones physical body, but T decided to take it as a challenge to do something simr without any trick.


    She had yet to seed.


    At the same time, she continued her iron-void training, six iron dust shapes now invisibly moving around her head, filled with randomly morphing voids that asionally interconnected and broke apart without ever allowing air to get in.


    The internal shapes now took the form of crazy mazes or knots more often than unbroken and undivided shapes, and the outer iron dust also was equally twisty in its implementation.


    t still asionally staged assaults on Ts control, but she rarely seeded in breaching any part of the creations. Instead, T had begun rolling with the attacks, incorporating the forced movements and turning into controlled motions of her own choosing.


    But that practice had slowed now that the sparring match was concluded.


    As Rane and Master Clevnis came back over to the group, T moved over to shoulder-bump Rane. Good job.


    He smiled down at her. I lost pretty definitively, but thank you.


    She shrugged. Win or lose, you made a good showing of yourself regardless.


    His smile grew a bit, then, and they turned and walked back toward the others.


    Master Clevnis had moved ahead of them, giving them at least the illusion of privacy, even if everyone there was Refined and could likely hear every word without trying.


    Rane looked her way as they walked. So do you want to grab dinner?


    While they often ate with one another, T knew what he meant. He was asking if she wanted to actually begin their courting, even if just with a singr meal. She smiled slightly, feeling a tremble of illogical nervousness in her gut. Yeah. Lets.


    Ranes next words were an incredibly hesitant suggestion, You could wear your birthday clothes if you wanted.


    Master Girt had been taking a drink of some beverage, and he spat it out, across the rough surface of the training room floor, falling into a fit of coughing.


    T had instantly known what Rane had meant. Shed altered her elk leathers into the form of a rather special dress for the breakfast with Ranes parentson his birthdayand she hadnt done so since.


    That would obviously not bemon knowledge though.


    Master Limmestare just shook his head and muttered under his breath.


    T still heard him of course.


    I cant even say that to my <em>wife</em> safely.


    She frowned. <em>Whats going on?</em>


    <em>-Your birthday outfit, T. How were you born?-</em>


    Her eyes narrowed in thought, then opened wide as she colored. <em>Oh.</em>


    Rane clearly didnt realize what others had taken from what he said, and so he continued after the short pause. You dont have to, you just looked especially nicest time.


    Mistress Vanga rubbed her forehead, closing her eyes tightly in referred embarrassment.


    Master Clevnis was suddenly standing in front of Rane, a finger held up to the bigger mans lips. Shhh The first misspeak was entertaining, but now its just painful.


    Rane had jerked back slightly, but he frowned when he heard the older mans words. What do you? Then his eyes widened. Oh! Oh He colored deeply. I didnt mean that


    I already said, shh. Youve said enough.


    He pressed his lips together in apressed line and nodded, eyes flicking to T.


    T cleared her throat. I will happily wear that <em>dress.</em>


    Master Girt was still coughing slightly, but it was more than likely simply an affectation just for show.


    Master Limmestare was holding back a smile, even as he shook his head.


    Mistresses Vanga and Cerna were unashamedly smiling with mirth.


    T refused to make eye contact with anyone as she grabbed Ranes hand and dragged him toward the door. And were going now.


    <em>There is no recovering from this. We have to leave the city.</em>


    <em>-Dont you think thats a little over dramatic?-</em>


    <em>Im not proposing burning it down on the way out. I think Im being quite reasonable.</em>


    <em>-Thats true? Have a fun dinner and sleep on things. You can decide to flee into the wilderness tomorrow.-</em>


    <em>fine.</em>


    <em>-If you go, though, you have to take Rane. It would only be proper.-</em>


    T growled within her own head at her alternate interface even as t chuckled.


    * * *


    T moved through her daily practice withfort and ease, excited to get to hertest experiments but not willing to rush things.


    Still, she couldnt help some of her thoughts wandering in that direction.


    It had been nearly two months since the wolf had all but killed her, and while she had a host of legitimate means of exining away the closeness of the fight, she had been left with a singr understanding, a specific drive.


    She wanted to be better.


    One thought that shed had shortly after the sh had been to soulbind some precious metal incorporators, and then use the created material for her inscriptions.


    That had turned out to be a bad idea for many<em>, many</em> reasons.


    First of all, even in the best circumstances, it would only be a means of circumventing the wolves specific dueling requirements without gaining her muchif anythingin any other regard.


    Secondly, the best circumstances wouldnt exist as incorporated material was <em>awful</em> for inscriptions. It inherently required magic to maintain its existence. So, power flowing through it was lessened, and the resulting workings were inherently less stable.


    The reasons to avoid her theorized n continued from there, but even either of those two were enough to disqualify it outright.


    As she rolled out of her final stretch, she called the first of the inscribed arrows to herself, studying it once again.


    She hadobviouslymemorized the twists and turns of the three-dimensional construct long ago, but she found actually analyzing it with her eyes and threefold sight seemed to make it easier for her to pull new insights forth.


    Beside the arrow, she began to form iron spellforms in the air.


    Now, iron was an <em>awful</em> conductor of magic, being a near-perfect reflector of power. So, T didnt use iron as wires like she would with any other material. Instead, she used it to make minuscule pipes.


    As a result the spell lines were actually made of her own magic, with iron counting as the medium in which they were set. And, as it turned out, that was quite simr to how the arrows had been made.


    The arrowsrgely employed spell lines made out of precious metals, with steel as the medium.


    While different, that was close enough to start out with, and T had been working to find the particr quirks of magic and iron workings. The greatest difficulty was factoring in the minute amounts of air that filled the pipes as well, through which the magic had to travel in order to be the spell lines for the working, but that turned out to function like working in a variable medium. So, there was precedent for her attempts, and foundations of knowledge from which she could pull.


    When she had finished her designated time for those practice attempts, she poked Terry, who had been sleeping nearby on a pillow shed acquired for him.


    Hed been unusually clingy since the wolf incident as well. He barely went off on his own to hunt, and he seemed to have taken a far greater interest in Ts day to day activities.


    Not that she was reallyining. He never got in the way, and she enjoyed hispany quite a bit.


    Hey, are you ready to spar?


    With a flicker, he was up on her shoulder, and letting out a trill of affirmation.


    Well, alright, then. She grinned. Lets get to it.