I had several, but Sera spoke up first. “Begging your pardon, Commander, but I don’t believe the group assignment is ideal.”
We all turned to look at her.
“Oh? How so?” Teft folded his arms.
“You should send Corin instead of me,” Sera’s tone was pained, but not because of her throat.
“Care to explain why you believe I should be sending an Enchanter — who could be helping to reinforce our settlement’s defenses, as I’d planned — instead of a Summoner?”
Sera sighed, took a moment, and then found her words. “This isn’t easy for me to admit, but I’m not in the best shape for combat duty, sir. As I believe you’re already aware, I have a long-term injury that I’ve been recovering from. I believe it may interfere with my ability to complete this assignment.”
Teft raised an eyebrow. “I’ve seen you participate in combat since then, Miss Cadence, and as I recall you were quite stubborn about it. When I gave you the chance to opt out before, you chose to fight.”
“I’ve…had a chance to reevaluate that, sir.” Sera took another breath. “The last time I pushed myself seriously, my condition got worse. My safe mana threshold went down for a couple weeks.”
I…hadn’t realized that. She must have been talking about the last simulated spire test, where we’d fought Professor Meltlake. I’d known she’d pushed herself hard, but… that was terrifying. Her safe mana capacity decreasing implied that she’d caused herself more permanent damage. That wasn’t acceptable for a mere test.
She must have recovered since then, because I’d tested her mana capacity afterward and it was getting higher again. Still, I didn’t know how much extra work that had meant for her, or how many extra treatments from Sheridan she’d needed.
She hadn’t told me.
I wasn’t angry about that, but I was a little concerned.
“You are aware that there could be consequences for turning down an assignment, Miss Cadence?” Teft actually sounded concerned.
“Yes, sir. If I accepted the assignment, I believe I would not only be jeopardizing my own long-term ability to use my attunement, but potentially the success of the mission.”
Teft nodded slowly. “You have made a prudent decision.” He paused, then added. “Very well, I will find another team to handle this.”
Patrick blinked. “Wait. The rest of us could still go. We’ve still got three people!”
Teft shook his head. “Without Miss Cadence, your group would be ill-equipped for the Temple of Fire. Her expertise with ice magic is the reason I chose your group. Without her, you don’t have the skills you need.”
I hesitated. “That’s not…entirely true, Commander.”
Teft turned to me. “Oh? Have you somehow acquired a third attunement you haven’t told me about?”
“I still have a sword imbued with ice magic. If you recall, I showed it to you the first day we met.”
I was avoiding references to “class” because everyone else was. Everyone must have decided that talking directly about the school would have broken the immersion of the scenario.
It was for exactly that reason that I’d taken a gamble on this specific suggestion. I’d been told that I wasn’t allowed to use Selys-Lyann in future tests, because I’d nearly killed myself with it.
I hoped that since we were supposed to treat this scenario like a “real” expedition into the Unclaimed Lands, Teft would let that rule slide.
Teft narrowed his eyes at me, which wasn’t a promising response. “As I recall, that sword is extremely dangerous. Cursed, they say. Am I to understand that you brought it with you?”
I nodded. “Yes, sir. It’s packed away safe.” That was true, at least. It was in the Jaden Box.
He drew in a breath, looking uneasy. “I am prepared to allow you to take Miss Cadence’s place and use the sword…under the condition that you will be extremely cautious with using it.”
I bowed my head in thanks and relief. “Of course, sir.”
“Good. I will be assigning someone to shadow your group and wait for you outside the temple. They will inform me if you fail to return within the designated time frame.”
“Which is?” Marissa asked.
“You will have three hours to enter the temple, rescue the other team, and return.”
I felt my jaw tense. That wasn’t a lot of time to work with. “I have some questions, before we go.”
“Of course you do.” Teft sounded exasperated, but I expected he was actually pleased. In spite of his dismissive demeanor, he appreciated planning. “Proceed.”
“Do you have a map of the section that’s already been explored, or any other details?”
Teft shook his head. “I do not.”
I nodded, expecting that. “The three people who made it out. Can we talk to them?”
That actually seemed to catch Teft off-guard, and he made the slightest hint of a smile. “Sadly, no. They’ve…already been sent back to Valia for medical treatment.”
Meaning he hadn’t prepared any actors to play that part in this portion of the exercise. I think I might have earned some good will from asking, though.
“Do you have any additional resources you could loan us to ensure our success? Healing potions, fire resistance equipment, maybe a return bell?”
Teft paused to consider. “I’ll get you a return bell. We don’t have any of the rest of that on-hand, and it would take too long to prepare. You need to get moving as soon as you are prepared.”
That was an acceptable result. “I believe that’s all I need, then.”
“Very well. Those of you who are going to the temple, go prepare any supplies you plan to bring, and leave anything unnecessary behind with me. I’ll watch it while you’re gone, and you can make camp afterward. In the meantime, I’ll give Miss Cadence and Master Dalen their assignments.”
We exchanged a few words with Sera and Jin, then headed to do that.
I went inside the wagon, then opened the Jaden Box. “Retrieve: Selys-Lyann. Store: Transference Sword.”
I didn’t want to carry two swords at the same time, it was just too cumbersome.
It felt good to sheathe Selys-Lyann at my side again, although I admit I was a bit nervous about using it in a test again. In spite of suggesting it myself, I knew there were serious risks.
After that, I checked through my gear, keeping only essential climbing supplies on me. I’d leave everything else with Teft, as he’d instructed. Storing everything in the Jaden Box would have been easy, but it would have also been suspicious. He probably knew I still had the box, but I wasn’t going to remind him if I could avoid it.
We headed back to Teft after everyone had finished picking what they wanted to bring.
I pulled Sera to the side for a moment before we left, though.
“That was brave of you.”
Sera looked away, ashamed. “Brave? To throw you into a dangerous situation, because I can’t handle it?”
I shook my head. “In your place, I don’t think my pride would have let me turn the assignment down. You made the hard choice to say you weren’t in any condition to fight. That was the right call.” I hesitated, then added, “I…didn’t realize you’d gotten worse after the last test.”
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
“Well, you worried me now…but we’ll deal with it. Just be honest with me if it happens again, okay?”
She frowned, then nodded. “Okay. We’ll talk about this more some other time. Stay safe, okay? Don’t do anything reckless.”
“What, like bring a cursed sword into a school exam? That doesn’t sound like something I’d do.”