Still, I must admit to a degree of satisfaction that I left a lasting mark.
It will make it easier for you to work for me when we are reunited, I think.
But I have gone on too long, and I have business to attend to.
Yes, I am Tristan Cadence.
I am your brother.
And I am alive.
I took a breath.
He always did have a flair for the dramatic.
Yunika. How long has it been since I’ve seen her?
I shook my head. Three years, at least.
I’d seen her sister more recently, at least from a distance. I’d kept it that way. The alternative was uncomfortable.
I lifted a pen and wrote a reply.
Dear Mysterious Brother Entity,
I believe you might be who you claim to be. You’ll excuse some continued skepticism until I see you in person.
I paused, uncertain.
What could I possibly say?
The answer was obvious, but difficult.
I missed you.
I paused again, debating.
But I am also deeply concerned.
You have implied a connection with what Orden was planning. For fear that others can read these messages, I will not write any details here.
If you are, in fact, working with the organization that was responsible for those things, I need to know why.
And if you believe I will work for you, or with you, I will need a firmer understanding of what I am getting into.
Do not take my help as a guarantee, my supposed brother.
I miss Tristan Cadence, and I love him.
I’ll decide when I meet you if you qualify to call yourself by that name.
Tell me how, where, and when I can find you.
I was debating writing more when I heard a knock on my bedroom door. I swiftly tucked the book away under my bed.
“Ey, Corin, it’s me.” Marissa’s voice.
I opened the door and waved. “Hey Mara. It already time for training?”
Marissa shook her head. “Naw, ain’t that. Was hopin’ you’d be willing to ‘elp me with a lil’ favor.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What sort of favor?”
“Need a bit o’ help with one of my exams. You got a few?”
I nodded. “Sure, but if it’s studying, I’m not sure I’m going to be all that useful. Patrick is much better about history and artifacts and such, and Sera is the expert on general magic.” I was probably the best versed with the spires themselves, but I didn’t think any of us had classes on those yet.
“Not studyin’, I’m afraid. Need an extra set of hands for one of my finals. Two person test, but I lost my partner.”
I frowned at that. “Lost?”
“Keri failed out of the semester. Someone figured ‘er out, I guess.”
“Figured her out?”
“Guess she was a spider, and turned ‘er in. She lost a whole bunch of points, so she got failed straight out.”
I hadn’t been paying much attention to Spider Division, but it sounded pretty brutal. “I hadn’t realized the spiders lost points if they got reported.”
“Yup. But they get extra points the longer they go without being found. Don’t know the details, teacher just told me a bit when he explained why my partner wasn’t showin’ up.”
I nodded at that. I’d missed my first chance to report spiders — it had apparently happened while I was out in the middle of nowhere with Keras after the incident with the spire. I’d have one more chance right before the end of the year, but I didn’t have enough information to go on to report anyone yet.
Right now, though, I had more pressing concerns. “Okay, what’s this exam? Don’t know if I’ll be able to help with it.”
“Oh, I think you will. It’s for Monster Hunting class.”
I blinked. “You have a Monster Hunting class?” I hadn’t even seen that on the list.
“Yup. It’s one of the ones the heavy combat students get.”
I was immediately a little jealous. I didn’t like actually killing things, but I assumed it would involve fighting illusory creatures like in our fake spire tests. That was both fun and good practice. Still, it seemed weird that she’d pick me for a heavy combat exam. “Wouldn’t Patrick be a better match? He’s got a combat attunement, and he tends to know a lot about monsters.”
“Yeah, but ‘ese out doin’ somethin’ already. Been goin’ out a lot lately.”
I nodded. “Maybe he’s out with Derek. Derek seems to go out practically every night.”
Marissa chuckled. “Doubt that Derek wants Patrick with ‘im while he’s goin’ to taverns lookin’ for lady friends, Corin.”
I blinked. “Is that what Derek’s doing? I just assumed he was…training, or something.”
“You’re adorable sometimes, Cadence. Anyway, test?”
I thought about her offer. “I mean, it sounds fun, but don’t you have any friends with combat attunements?”
She shook her head. “Most of ‘em already have teams. And Sera still ain’t in fightin’ shape.”
That last part was certainly true. “Okay, sure, I’ll help. What’s this test involve?”
Mara grinned. “Oh, yer gonna love this.”
I whistled in appreciation at the setup. We were north of the campus, in an area set aside for large-scale training exercises. We were only a few miles from the school proper, but it looked like we were in the middle of the wilderness. Tall trees stretched out in three directions, and the area in front of us was a hillside with only a single obvious entrance.
That entrance led into what appeared to be an abandoned mine. I could see a mine cart just inside, filled with rubble, and a track that the cart must have sat on at some point.
It was pitch black beyond that point, but Marissa held a lantern in her left hand, and I could see some unlit torches along the wall.
Before we’d been sent here, we’d been given a few instructions by her teacher. “In this scenario, you are investigating an abandoned silver mine in the Unclaimed Lands. The miners unearthed an underground passage, which led into a monster lair. One of the miners claimed they saw a glowing sword inside before they fled the area.”
“We supposed to clear out the monsters or get the sword?” Marissa asked.
“The sword is your primary objective,” the teacher explained. “Your secondary objective is to get out unharmed. Clearing the monsters out or otherwise securing the mine is a tertiary objective.”
I nodded at that. “Do we have any idea what types of monsters are in there?”
“None. The miners who survived saw only shadows.”
With that little information, we didn’t know exactly what to prepare for, so we’d have to think quickly once we found anything. After a few more minutes of preparation, the teacher had teleported us here to get started.
Marissa led the way into the mine. I followed close behind. I wasn’t allowed to use Selys-Lyann for this test, since I’d nearly killed myself in one of the tests with it. As such, took a few minutes to repair my demi-gauntlet by attaching the metal portion to a newly-purchased glove. Then I slipped the scabbard containing my transference sword onto my belt.