chapter 10

Damien awoke early the next morning to a small mental prod from Henry.

He'd spent the night practicing in his mindscape with Henry, but he hadn't made nearly as much progress as he'd hoped. His companion faded back into the background as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and sat up. Sylph gave him a small nod. He returned it with a nod, grabbing a change of clothes and shuffling into the bathroom to swap into them.

He emerged and grabbed his coat, swinging it over his shoulders. Sylph had changed while he was in the bathroom and, unlike him, she actually looked like she'd been awake for more than a minute or two.

"You ready?" Sylph asked.

"Yeah," Damien replied. "Just waking up a bit. Let's go find out what we can get for a kitchen. If it's reasonably priced, I'll make a new room for it."

A flicker of green energy flashed behind Sylph's eyes. Damien cleared his throat, and it vanished.

"Sorry," Sylph said. "I noticed that last night in the mirror. Seems to be a slight side effect from getting control of the Seed. Still working on keeping it under control, but it doesn't do anything other than look weird."

"Sounds like you've got things handled," Damien said as they pushed the stone door open and headed outside. The sun still had yet to rise, and the day was cast in faint pink hues. A slight chill hung in the air, nipping at his exposed skin.

The curtains in front of Mark and the Gray siblings' rooms had been closed. "It looks like they're all back," Sylph observed as they walked down the mountain path. "I guess that means their quests were successful."

"I doubt theirs were as successful as ours were," Damien replied, chuckling. "If we ignore the dying part, we made quite a few contribution points. On top of that, Auntie owes us a good bit of gold."

"We should probably let her hang onto that for now. We're just storing our belongings in the open, and I wouldn't put it past Delph to steal everything we own because the door isn't locked. The less we've got in our possession, the better it is."

Damien nodded. "And it saves us from having to lug around a bunch of gold. We can just let her keep everything until we need those contribution points."

"I'm not even sure what to do with them now," Sylph said with a slight frown. "My magical energy problem has changed so drastically that I don't know if the dagger would help me at all now."

"I'm sure there's something interesting we can spend it on," Damien replied, shrugging. "A cool new sword never hurt anyone."

They continued the small talk until they arrived at the front of the general store. The door had been propped open already, so the two of them walked inside. The clerk spotted them coming and rolled his eyes.

"You lot better not be here for my food."

"Not this time," Damien promised. "We were actually wondering if you had any supplies to help build a kitchen inside our room."

"Huh. Aren't the two of you Year Ones?" the clerk asked, tilting his head to the side. "I normally see a lot more of the Year Twos asking that question. It's always good to get ahead of the curve, though."

"I take it that means you've got something?" Sylph asked.

"I do," he replied, stepping to the side and opening the wooden door behind his counter.

He pushed the small barrier open and gestured for them to follow him.

He led the two into a large room full of cabinets, sinks, chairs, and everything in between. The room stretched on as far as the eye could see, fading into a blur at the edge of Damien's vision. It looked like someone had disassembled thousands of houses and arranged them into neat rows of grouped objects.

"Wow," Damien breathed. "Are there price tags on everything?"

"Yep. It's not cheap, though. Better prices than you'd get almost anywhere else, but it'll still make most students check twice. Then again, the two of you did place very highly in the tournament, so I think you'll be fine."

"We'll take a look around," Sylph said noncommittally. "Thanks for the help."

"Of course," the clerk said. "Have fun! And try not to break anything, please. And, if you do, just tell me. I'll know one way or another, and I hate having to track students down."

"Noted," Damien said.

The clerk flashed them a pearly white grin and stepped back through the door, closing it behind him. Damien and Sylph exchanged a glance.

"There are so many different things here," Damien said. "I honestly thought that there would have been one or two different varieties, but this is…" "Insane," Sylph finished. "It's almost as big as the library. Hopefully, there's some form of organization in terms of cost, or we're going to be looking for a very long time."

Damien wandered over to the closest piece of furniture—a well carved wooden chair with snakes twisting up the back and hissing over the shoulders of whoever placed themselves upon it. A small white tag hung from one of the snakes' necks.

He turned the tag over. "Two gold," Damien read aloud. "That isn't too bad at all."

"It's just a chair, though," Sylph pointed out. "We need stuff that actually has a function."

They wandered deeper into the room, but no so deep as to lose sight of the doorway. Neither of them said it, but Damien had the strong suspicion that they could easily get lost within the endless rows tables and cabinets.

Luckily, the room was meticulously organized. It had been split into blocks and rows. The blocks followed a general theme, while the rows were different variations of the same item. It didn't take the two very long to locate the kitchen section, but the sheer variety of everything stopped them in their tracks.

Damien peered at a giant wooden board covered with pans of all shapes and sizes. He curled his nose in annoyance. "Why are there so many pans?

They all do the same thing!"

"You should see the sinks," Sylph replied from an isle down. "Who would want a gold-plated faucet? That's just gaudy."

"Nolan and Reena probably have one."

Sylph laughed, and Henry let out a snicker of his own.

"If we want to be out of here anytime today, we should just focus on things that a kitchen needs," Sylph suggested, poking her head through the gap between two kitchen cupboards. Her brow furrowed. "What goes in a kitchen?"

"We haven't been at college that long," Damien said, laughing. "How'd you already forget what a kitchen has?"

"I never knew what a kitchen had. I've never been in one for longer than a few minutes, and I didn't really pay much attention to what was in it."

"What? Why?" Damien asked, taking a black, bumpy pan down from the wall and inspecting it.

"My master kept me in the forest," Sylph said, her voice growing cold.

"I didn't stay indoors."

Damien looked away from the pan, his eyebrows raising and his eyes widening. "What? That's horrible! Why would he do that?"

"Training," Sylph replied. She pressed her lips together for a moment.

"And to show me that he was better, I suppose. I only got to eat what I killed with my bare hands, and he made me make my own clothes. The first few winters were the worst. You don't know what cold is until you have to sleep in the snow with nothing but your underwear. I had to do a lot of things that I don't have fond memories of."

"Why didn't you leave?" Damien asked, his brow knitting together as he stepped toward her. "Nobody should have to live like that. That's torture!"

"There's a reason I was scared that you put a control rune on me," Sylph said quietly.

Damien struggled to find the proper words to respond to her, but he couldn't think of any that wouldn't have come out cheesy. He settled for placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Sylph said, shaking her head. "His methods worked. They worked a little too well, actually. His runecraft was nowhere near as good as yours. I managed to break free of it, and I headed to Blackmist about two years afterwards."

"He's dead, then?" Damien asked.

Sylph hesitated for a moment. Then she nodded.

"Good," Damien said. Henry murmured in agreement. "He had it coming. I'm glad you escaped."

"It was quite a relief. You can't imagine how strange it is to discover how many things you've missed out on. It makes me wonder what Mark felt after living in a forest for half of his life," Sylph said, shaking her head.

"But I didn't expect you to take it so well."

"I think I've done worse," Damien said, tapping his head with a laugh.

"Some people don't deserve to live. I'm just glad you made it to Blackmist."

"Me, too," Sylph said with a small smile. "And I've gone and ruined the mood. Let's change the subject, okay?"

"Sure," Damien said. "Do you want a big black pan with weird bumps on it, or a smooth silver one?"

Sylph burst into laughter. "I'm sure they've both got a purpose, but something about cooking on a bumpy surface just seems wrong."

"Agreed," Damien said, grabbing one of the silver pans from the wall and glancing at the tag hanging off its handle. "This one is only a gold."

"Expensive pan," Sylph observed.

"I think we can afford to spend a little on convenience," Damien said.

"Better to buy a good pan and use it forever than buy a crappy one and have to replace it after one of us sets it on fire."

"Can you even set a pan on fire?"

"You know what I meant."

Sylph laughed. "Fine. I'll get the fancy pan. But more importantly, I still don't know what you need in a kitchen. I know you need a stove and a sink to wash dishes, but is there anything else" "An oven," Damien said. "But those three things should probably be enough for now. We'll also need utensils, cooking knives, a pot, some towels, and something to eat in."

"Well, I think the stoves are over here," Sylph said, pointing at an isle behind her. Damien peered over her shoulder, then nodded.

"Yeah, looks like it. Shall we start with that?"

"Might as well."

They slipped through the aisles and made their way over to the stove row. The first stove in the row looked like little more than a glorified campfire. However, they quickly progressed to stone, and then metal, new features appearing with each iteration. The fourth stove in the row had a built in oven. They grew not only in features but also in size. Some of the stoves were as big as Damien's bed.

"What about this one?" Sylph asked, peering at the tag of the fifth stove down the line. It was made of smooth, silver metal that shimmered faintly in the light. It had both a stove and an oven, and it had five cooking surfaces. Immediately after reading the price, Sylph grimaced and set the tag back down. "Maybe not. It's sixty gold."

"Yeah, let's pass on that one," Damien agreed, walking over to the fourth stove in the row. "It's a stove not an artifact."

The fourth stove was also metal, but it was a dark bronze color instead of bright silver. It had two cooking spaces, and it was about half the size of the other unit. The price tag on this one was just thirty gold. "This one is a little more reasonable. It's still a bit high, but it does have an oven as well as a stovetop," Damien said. "Do you think we want an oven? We could cut the cost down if we skipped it."

"You were the one that said we should get the nice quality thing so we wouldn't have to replace it later," Sylph pointed out. She peered at the price, then shrugged. "It's pricy, but I think it's within budget. I still don't know how we're going to get it to our room, though."

"I'm sure the clerk can help us," Damien said. There was a small tear on the bottom of the stove's price tag, separating a small number from the rest of the tag. He tugged on it, and the bottom half of the paper ripped free along with the number.

"I bet we can show this to him, and he'll get it for us," Damien said.

"Either that or you just tore the price tag in half, and he's going to smack you silly," Sylph said, grinning.

Damien rolled his eyes. "Sure. Let's just find some cooking utensils.

I've already got a pan, but we still need everything else. I think they were near the pans."

Sure enough, when they walked back to where Damien had found his pan, there was another wooden wall with dozens of knives hanging from it.

The utensils hung from a board beside it, and there were dozens of bowls neatly laid out on the tables beside them.

Damien and Sylph squinted up at the knives. They were all shapes and sizes. Some were as wide as Damien's palm and others were so thin that they were practically needles.

"Maybe we should just get something normal looking?" Damien suggested. "I've got no idea what the point of half of these are."

"What about this one?" Sylph asked, grabbing a large cleaver and taking it down carefully. There were a few nocks in the back of the blade, but its blade was polished and well kept. The handle had been wrapped with tight brown leather. The letters 'V' and 'A' had been carved into the edge of the blade closest to the handle. They crisscrossed over each other in a stylized fashion.

"I'm not sure," Damien said, eyeing it. "I think that's meant for someone a lot bigger than we are. Maybe we should go with something smaller."

"Probably a good idea," Sylph said, setting the blade back. "What about this one?"

She took down a smooth bladed knife about half the length of her forearm. It was plain metal, with a honed blade and a wooden handle.

"That looks a lot more reasonable," Damien said. "Works for me. How much is it?"

"Two gold. It costs more than the pan."

"It's sharper than the pan, too."

It was Sylph's turn to roll her eyes. "Right. Let's just go get some utensils."

The utensils proved to have much less variation amongst the cheaper options, so they settled on two faux silver sets that only cost five silver each. They picked up a bowl and a plate each, both going for one silver.

Neither could locate any towels, so they moved on to the last item on their list—a sink. It took them only a few moments to settle on the second cheapest option, as the third had a gold-plated faucet and neither of them could bring themselves to suggest it.

By the time they were done, the two had racked up nearly eighty-five gold worth of charges. They slipped back out the door with a pile of pans, knives, paper slips, and other small objects balanced precariously in their hands.

"Looks like you found what you were looking for," the clerk observed with a grin. "And, judging by the tags you've got, I assume you want me to help deliver the larger objects to your room?"

"If that's possible," Damien said.

"It is. It'll cost you ten silver, though. I don't work for free."

"That's fine," Sylph said, setting her pile of stuff down and grabbing her sack of coins. She counted out what they owed and set it on the table in front of the clerk, adding another ten silver to cover his transportation fees.

"Fantastic," the clerk said, grinning. "Thank you for your business! I'll have everything delivered by the end of the day at the latest."

"Thank you," Damien said. The two of them bid the man farewell and made their way out of the general store. The sun had already risen over the mountains, forcing Damien to squint in order to protect his eyes. "Do you think it was wise to spend that much money?"

"There's no point in having money if you don't use it," Sylph replied.

"It would have been a massive waste of time if we made everything we needed from scratch. You might have been able to do the runes that made everything run, but who knows how long that would have taken, and that isn't even counting the time it would take to get the raw materials."

"Yeah, that's true," Damien said, rubbing the back of his head. "So, what now? There's no point hunting anything yet, since we won't have the kitchen until later today."

"Well, I know we said we weren't going to train today, but what about a little sparring?" Sylph asked. "With my setback and your recent progressions, I've got no clue which of us is stronger anymore. It could be an interesting way to compare our powers."

"That could be interesting, although I don't know if it's wise for us to use the arena yet. We don't want to reveal, well, you know. And sparring in our room is dangerous. There aren't any healers watching it."

"Damn," Sylph said, frowning. "You're right. I'm not sure we can limit ourselves enough to avoid injuring each other."

"By the way, what does your bracelet say your stats are at?" Damien asked, bringing up his own. "If we aren't super unbalanced, that should probably make it at least a little safer."

Damien Vale Blackmist College Year One Major: Undecided Minor: Undecided Companion: [Null] Magical Strength: 4.92 Magical Control: .57 Magical Energy: NAN Physical Strength: .34 Endurance: .82 He blinked. "Hold on. My Magical Energy is screwed up, it isn't displaying anything."

"Oh, my Magical Control has been doing that recently as well," Sylph said. "I think we hit the limit that their crappy free bracelets can do."

"Why don't we go see if we can get a new version?" Damien suggested.

"Then we can spar afterward. I'd like to keep track of how strong I am. It's a nice ego boost."

"Better hope we didn't spend all our money on furniture," Sylph said, smirking.

"I can't imagine anything will be all that expensive so long as we stay basic. We can always get the money Auntie owes us and use that if we need to."

"Works for me," Sylph agreed. "Do you remember where we can buy them?"

"I don't think anyone mentioned, but they're probably too specialized for the general store," Damien said. "Why don't we just ask someone?"

He approached an older student, clearing his throat to get the boy's attention. "Sorry to bother you. We're trying to get upgraded versions of our wristbands. Do you know where we can buy them?"

"There's a small shop near the library," the boy replied, adjusting a heavy bag over his shoulder and looking mildly annoyed at being stopped.

"You can buy them there."

"Thank you!"

The boy just nodded and set back off. Damien and Sylph exchanged a glance, then headed in the opposite direction and toward the library. After a short walk, the two of them reached their destination.

A small building sat to the right side of the library. It looked ridiculous compared to the massive building towering over it. There was a single, small door at the entrance and a small sign hanging above a covered window read 'Bracelets'.

Damien and Sylph walked inside. Their presence was announced as a small bell let out a series of dings. The inside of the shop was plain, with several wooden chairs scattered about it in front of a tall counter.

A door behind the counter opened, and a tall man stepped out, dusting his hands off and squinting at them. He adjusted the thick glasses on his face and gave them a nod. "Come looking to upgrade your bracelets?"

"We're thinking about it," Damien allowed. "Do you have some sort of price estimate?"

"It all depends on what you're looking for," the tall man replied. He reached under the counter and took out a small triangular piece of metal with something scrawled on it. He set it down on the table and adjusted it.

Damien squinted closer at the piece of the metal. The words 'General Manager: Xoffle' had been inscribed on it.

"Are you Xoffle?" Damien asked. "And we don't really know what the options are. If it's possible, a model that automatically updated would be nice. Beyond that, I don't think I care."

"No. I'm Vox," the man said. "Why would you think I'm Xoffle? That's the general manager."

"Well, you put out a nametag…" "For Xoffle," Vox said, staring at Damien like he was an idiot. "I've got a nametag myself, you see?"

He pinned a small plate to his shirt. That tag also read Xoffle. Damien glanced back up at the man's face, but it was completely straight.

"That also says Xoffle."

"And?"

"Right," Damien said, clearing his throat. "About those bracelets…?"

"Of course," Vox/Xoffle said. "The cheapest version of the self-updating band is ten gold. If you want any precious gems or plating, that'll cost extra. In addition, we offer a warranty plan for one extra gold."

"Do they break a lot?" Sylph asked.

"No, but that doesn't stop people from buying the warranty," the strange merchant said, shrugging. "So, would you like rubies or sapphires in your band?"

"Can we just look at them first?" Sylph asked, trying to steer the conversation back on course.

"Of course. No activating them, though," Vox/Xoffle warned them.

"Once they bind to you, they're stuck that way."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out two plain gray wristbands.

Damien took one, and Sylph took the other. They looked at them, but there wasn't much to examine without actually using the bands. They just looked like stone loops.

"I think I'll take the plain one," Damien said, choosing his words carefully. "That's just ten gold, right?"

"It is. But you'll look very boring."

"I'll live."

"Probably," Vox/Xoffle agreed. "Would you like a warranty for your purchase?"

"You just said that nobody needed them, so I'll probably pass on that as well," Damien said politely, taking out ten gold and putting them on the counter. "How do I activate this?"

The merchant took a small stick out of another pocket. He raised it over the bracelet in Damien's hands, and a small spark of energy flashed out of it, entering the loop. It shimmered with a faint gray light before returning to its normal appearance.

"The next person who puts that on will bind to it," Vox/Xoffle said.

"Thank you for your purchase. Would you like to upgrade to a newer model?"

"I just got this one, so I'll probably use it for a while," Damien said.

"Your loss," the merchant said, shrugging. He turned his attention to Sylph. "And what of you?"

"The plain one works for me as well," Sylph said, giving him the money.

"And how about a blade attachment for the young woman? Perfect for stabbing with."

"That's a bit more interesting than the rubies, but I'm going to have to pass as well," Sylph said, holding the bracelet out for the man to activate.

He did so with a reluctant huff.

"Let me guess. You don't want a newer model either?" Sylph shook her head, and he let out an annoyed huff. "Fine. Have a good day, or something like that."

Damien and Sylph bid the man farewell and darted out of the shop before he could try to sell them something else. They put a few streets between themselves and the small shop before stopping.

"He was…interesting," Damien said. "A little deranged but interesting."

"As long as the bracelet works, it doesn't matter," Sylph said. She pulled her old bracelet off and slipped the new one on. Her eyes unfocused as something invisible appeared before her.

Damien sent a tendril of magical energy into the bracelet. An instant later, a translucent screen shimmered to life before his eyes.

Damien Vale Blackmist College Year One Major: Undecided Minor: Undecided Companion: [Null] Magical Strength: 4.92 Magical Control: .57 Magical Energy: 10.1 Physical Strength: .34 Endurance: .82 "Huh," Damien said. "My magical energy is finally over ten."

Sylph didn't respond. Damien waved the screen away and walked over to her, nudging her gently in the shoulder. "Sylph?"

She blinked, then shook her head. "Sorry, I was distracted. My stats have changed a lot. My magical control is at ten point three, but my magical strength…it grew more than four times."

Damien whistled. "That's great! What about your magical energy? That was the biggest problem, right?"

"It was," Sylph said, nodding as a grin broke out over her face. "It more than doubled!"

"That's amazing!" Damien exclaimed. Sylph nodded in excitement.

"This means I'll actually have a chance of progressing past the first year," Sylph said happily. "I honestly didn't think I'd make it much farther than Year One."

"It sounds like this calls for celebration," Damien said. "One more meal at the mess hall, maybe? A good one."

"That would be nice," Sylph agreed, still looking somewhat shocked at her sudden change of fate.

Their path decided, the two of them headed over to the mess hall, chatting happily. They ate a large meal that cost more than Damien would have ever considered spending on food normally.

Once they'd finished, they dragged themselves back to their room, incredibly full but content. When they returned, Damien briefly considered practicing his magic. His nose curled, and he let out a yawn.

Practice could come later. It was barely midday, but Damien was somehow already exhausted. Sylph seemed to have the exact same notions, as they both flopped into their beds at the exact same time.

A short nap will be a nice break. I can work after that.

With that thought, Damien drifted off to sleep, a smile on his face. Of course, no sooner than he had entered a dream did he find himself sitting on a grassy hill. The boy yawned as clothes formed over his body.

"Hello, Henry."

"I figured you might as well get some practice in," Henry said. "Unless you'd rather rest."

"My body gets the sleep anyway, right?" Damien asked. Henry nodded.

"Then I might as well take advantage of this. You heard Sylph, right? She's going to outpace me at this rate, and it's about time that I figured out how to cast that blasted Expunge spell."

"I'm not stopping you," Henry said. "Time's ticking. Get started."

Damien did just that. He drew the Ether to his fingertips and got to work. As always, it was difficult to tell just how much time passed upon Henry's hill. Damien practiced without stopping, his earlier merriment pushed to the side as concentration took over. Every passing attempt brought him closer and closer to a successful cast, but he quickly found himself reaching a plateau where, no matter what he did, he didn't improve.

"I don't get it," Damien complained. "I was actually making progress.

Why is it that I can't improve at all anymore?"

"You've probably reached the limit of what your mind can comprehend of the spell in this domain," Henry said. "Remember, this isn't the real Ether you're using. It's what your brain thinks should be happening. You're training in theory, but not in practice. When you get back to the Mortal Plane, you'll find that you can improve again."

"I suppose that's fair," Damien said. "I guess it would have been kind of ridiculous if I could just constantly train here."

"It would have been quite beneficial," Henry agreed, a smile stretching across several of his mouths. "I've got some work to take care of tonight, so I'm going to be sending you off. You can practice more when you wake up."

Damien nodded, and Henry raised a hand in farewell as the grassy hill faded away around him, sending him back into the embrace of sleep.