Tavia had the strangest urge to growl like a cornered beast, though that was probably the worst thing to do when surrounded by so many Masters. On second thought, that was the second worst thing. The worst would be attacking them like she sorely wanted to.
She recognized one of them. He was the one who allowed her to enter the sinkhole. She pushed aside the bone-deep tiredness and moved closer to Cal, who was still unconscious and looked nowhere close to recovering.
One thing at a time. First, I need to deal with possibly murderous Masters.
Tavia’s instinctive mistrust of the Celestial Order roared back in full force. There were too many unknowns in play, but the result was that the guild as a whole was delegated as an enemy in her mind.
“You have had a productive outing. Congratulations on reaching the next tier, Apprentice Tavia.”
Tavia wasn’t sure how the Master knew her name when she hadn’t told him, but given how much attention the guild gave Cal, she guessed it wasn’t surprising. What did surprise her was the nonchalance toward Cal’s unconscious body behind her. The source of thɪs content is N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
“… Thank you, Master. Can we delay pleasantries until Cal is under the care of some healers?” Tavia was proud that her voice didn’t waver with anger.
The others left to explore the destroyed sinkhole while the lone Master speaking to them glanced at Cal. “There’s nothing they can do.”
Tavia felt faint as her heart dropped. She barely heard the Master’s next words.
“Apprentice Cal is merely experiencing a severe case of mana exhaustion. Healers won’t be able to help until his body recovers a little. But it’s interesting… could you tell me what could have caused it?”
Tavia had never felt such a swing of emotions before. If the man wasn’t a Master, she would have strained her depleted mana reserves to throw fire at his face. Still, the question asked had an answer she could give freely.
“I have no clue. Cal and I were stuck down there when everything fell apart in a few seconds. He must have done something to protect us.”
The Master frowned in thought, but nodded after a few seconds. “That would explain why Apprentice Cal is unconscious. We already called for help when the sinkhole became unstable. The healers will examine both of you for any harmful residue from the collapse.”
Tavia mumbled her thanks before carefully taking a seat beside Cal. She placed her palm over his chest to feel the steady heartbeat for her own comfort when she realized the Master was still there.
“Do you have more questions, Master?” Tavia tried to keep the annoyance out of her tone. She might not have been successful, though the Master didn’t take offense.
“Of course… but those can wait. I’m glad both of you could escape with negligible injuries. It would be a sad day for the Celestial Order to lose either of you. Rest for now, Apprentice Tavia. We’ll speak later.”
Tavia watched the Master join the others in investigating the place where the sinkhole had been. She doubted there was anything to find since all the lower levels she had traveled through had disappeared after the implosion, leaving only what could have been seen from the surface.
She shook her head and focused back on Cal’s heartbeat. It calmed her frazzled nerves.
This place smelled… familiar, like cleanliness that covered something undesirable. Cal winced when his head throbbed in pain as he opened his eyes.
Ah, I’m in the healing ward.
He lay in bed in an empty room, which he idly noted was for people of importance because of the scarcity of single occupancy rooms. He could feel the soft waves of ambient mana touching his skin, trying to enter his body, but failing.
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Cal had never been a patient in the healing ward before, but he was aware of the materials used to construct the rooms—grouped and single occupancy—emanated energy that promoted a body’s natural recovery.
It failed with him. Why?
He lay still in bed for several seconds before the reason slapped him in the face, metaphorically. The interface communicated with him, and he displeased the higher powers with his use of [Mist Walker]. At least, in the manner in which he used it.
Cal pulled it up on the interface.
[Mist Walker]: You can create a mist around yourself, covering up to 10 acres depending on its intended purpose. The benefits of the trait range from cooling to complete control over the created mist domain. Limit 1 use per month. The duration of the trait is 15 minutes, regardless of the mana used. Warning: Activation of this trait will bar access to mana for 2 weeks.
That… wasn’t as bad as he feared.
The usage changed from once a week to once a month, the duration reduced to a quarter of the original, and daring to use [Mist Walker] barred him from his mana for two weeks, an increase from one week.
If Cal didn’t know better, he would have assumed that the higher beings didn’t consider all aspects of [Mist Walker] before offering it to him. Of course, that wasn’t true.
He used [Mist Walker] just fine until the very end, and coincidentally, he happened to have success in prying open the link that supplied the tremendous mana needed to sustain [Mist Walker].
I put an arrow through my foot. Cal cursed himself in his mind.
He had little doubt that [Mist Walker] would no longer have the ability to sense that link the next time he tried it, and that might come with a reduced capability overall.
He exhaled deeply. It was done, and he had to accept it. He still didn’t regret trying to investigate the link—it would have driven him mad not knowing what it was—but his timing was suspect. It could have been done when the surroundings weren’t imploding around him—
Cal sat up in bed with wide eyes. “Tavia!”
The memories of the ceiling collapsing on his shield hit him like a train, and worse, he remembered it had continued as he passed out. He had survived somehow, so he had hope that Tavia did as well.
Cal was halfway to the door when it opened from the other side, revealing an alchemist with a surprised expression.
“Ah, you’re awake, Apprentice Cal!”
“Where’s Tavia?” Cal asked, ignoring the greeting. When he didn’t get an immediate answer, he pushed forward, intending to look for her himself.
“Please, you need to recover. Apprentice Tavia is in a meeting with the Elders. I’ll have word sent to her you’re awake.”
The tension in Cal’s frame disappeared, the energy he received from his heightened state going with it. He barely kept himself upright and somehow got back on the bed with somewhat steady legs.
The alchemist cleared his throat. “I’m Apprentice Borna, your potion supplier until they say otherwise. Given what got you here, if you want anything after you’re released, I’m your man.”
Cal raised his brow at the phrasing. Meeting an [Apprentice Alchemist] in the healing ward wasn’t strange given the room he was in, but outside, they were recluses that devoted nearly every spare minute to their research. “Surely you know I won’t let you go if you offer that.”
“I know, and I mean it. So would many of my peers. Who knows how many kids died for no reason in that place before the guild sent you in. It still boggles my mind that the Elders thought it was sane to send fresh alchemists to a place where fighting mattered.” Borna looked like he could go on for a while, but found the will to let it go. “Like I said, if you need a potion, you can come to me. I won’t bankrupt myself and give you free services, but I’ll do it at cost.”
“It’s appreciated, Borna,” Cal reached over to seal the offer with a handshake. He wasn’t a fool to reject a benefit falling from the sky. “And I’ll be sure to take you up on it.”
“Nice to see bonds forming between two of my valued members!” Overseer Marek startled both of the room’s occupants as he beamed at them from the doorway.
Cal tilted his head at the Overseer’s words. He appraised Borna in a new light. If the Overseer praised the alchemist, Borna must be exemplary even among [Apprentice Alchemists].
“Borna,” Overseer Marek patted the alchemist on the shoulder, “could you give me and Cal the room. If you’re done with administering his potions, of course.”
“Potions aren’t necessary when Apprentice Cal’s already awake. I’ll take my leave.”
Overseer Marek closed the door after Borna left and immediately pinched his brow with a frustrated expression. “Nobody expected the sinkhole to implode to that extent, not even the Elder Council when they gave you the mission. We could feel it even in the protected treasure room.”
Cal didn’t offer a response, and he didn’t think one was expected.
“I’m happy you survived, but the guildmaster demanded a thorough debrief. How did it go from keeping the rift open to the sinkhole imploding?”
He imagined he would have been more than happy to share all the information he had before he entered the sinkhole, in the belief that Overseer Marek was a reliable ally. After walking through the forest of hanging corpses, that was no longer the case.