From historical records, we can glean that in some respects the ‘smartphone’ was significantly inferior to the System. Fundamentally, it was a device that had to be purchased, cared for, and even replaced when damaged – there were no self-repair mods available, of course. They required regular ‘charging’, much like a depleted mana crystal, and ongoing fees had to be paid to make full use of their capabilities.

  Still, the devices provided the ability to communicate instantly over long distances, capture images, set alarms and timers, track your savings, and even monitor your body’s vital statistics to some primitive degree – largely features available through the System as well. This author has even heard the claim that the most advanced ‘smartphones’ had capabilities resembling a highly primitive version of Identify, enabling their users to learn about people and objects in the world around them.

  - Rufus Veres, Level 37 Verbose Historian,

  We decided we’d seen what there was to see in Backhorn, so we headed back towards the northern gates. As we walked through the town, we saw a couple more Squads of Delvers – one that I recognized from our class, and another that must have been in their second semester.

  The trek back uphill to the Academy was slower – and hotter, thanks to the midday sun combined with my much heavier new armor. I was sweating freely in no time. At least the orcs were enjoying themselves – still wearing their furs, though they’d loosened them slightly. It took us a bit over an hour to make the return hike, and we passed several Squads of students heading the other way. I was glad we’d gotten to town when we did, or some of the items we’d bought surely would have gone to other teams.

  When we reached the gate, one of the guards stopped me and told me that Wolf wanted me to come find him in the tavern when we returned. The others were interested to see what was going on, but it didn’t seem urgent, so we stopped by the dorms first to clean up. I did a quick mana rinse and debated taking an actual shower – the leather gambeson was out in the sun, even in the lighter color. I decided not to, but, with my mana recovered from removing the first mod, I sat down on the bench and removed the Fire Resistance mod.

  Once I’d recovered from the sensation of extreme dizziness, I stowed the mod in my Inventory and pulled out my new Level 5 Thermal Regulation mod and used that. According to Samuel, I could channel varying amounts of mana into it and it would be dramatically more effective than the Level 0 mod I’d tried before.

  With my Absorption at 15, I was recovering forty-five points of mana per hour, so I felt I could afford it. I pushed as much mana into the new mod as it would take, feeling the ‘permanent’ channel activate. It would keep pulling my mana without me paying attention until I stopped it. Instantly I felt much cooler.

  The rest of the Squad was waiting for me when I got out of the bathroom, and we tromped over to the bar together. Wolf wasn’t hard to find, sitting at a table drinking with Sink and Trick-Step. When he saw us, he frowned for a moment, then said something to the other instructors and stood, gesturing for me to follow him. The rest of the Squad he directed to one of the tables, then led me outside towards the training hall.

  Once we were away from anyone else, he turned towards me with a cool look.

  “I didn’t expect to see you kitted out like an auxiliary, Azure,” he said with a chilly tone that made me shiver.

  “I don’t know what that means,” I replied, confused.

  He sighed heavily before explaining.

  “You’re not the first mixed Squad to go into town and come back with a bunch of new items, Az. Happens every semester. The trainees find promising candidates among the recruits, buy them some items, make friends with them, go into the dungeon with them. Then, once school is almost over, they’ll try to convince you to ditch the Guild and go work for their families. Bodyguards, off-the-records mercenary work – not approved by the Mercenary Guild, I mean – whatever the family needs doing.

  “They promise lower risk and better pay than delving. Of course, the Guild gets its due from you make in your first five years, but those clever bastards are always working out ways around it. We’ve updated the contracts several times over the years to close more loopholes, make it harder for them to provide non-cash benefits and dodge the Guild’s share.

  “Either way, the biggest single loss in numbers we have in the first six months after graduation isn’t death – it’s recruitment of our freshly-trained students. I think you have potential, and I hate to see you starting down that path already…”

  I fixed him with a heated glare.

  “That’s not what’s happening here! I’d never work for the Gleasons, and Tara only paid for this stuff because she’s about to get cut off!”

  His eyes widened as I quickly explained the story. He’d been told that Tara was joining the Guild, but he hadn’t realized her parents were likely to cut off her allowance when they found out. By the time I’d finished, he seemed more amused than angry.

  “Well, that’s good to hear, though I’m not sure I trust Tara’s dedication to the Guild. Anyway, we should move on to why I wanted to see you in the first place. Do you still want to try and train Tactical Reposition?”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  I swallowed but nodded. We were now standing by one of the medium-size fighting pits, the ones about a hundred feet across.

  “All right. Let me inform the others, and we’ll get started once they’re ready. You can call your team over, they may want to watch – and Zaire can be part of the practice.”

  I called my friends over the Comms, and they said they’d be out as soon as they finished the beers they’d just bought. Wolf didn’t seem to be in a hurry, so I waited, and eventually more and more people started to arrive. In addition to my Squad, there were what I thought were parts of at least three or four other groups. Lydia showed up, and Zenia.

  I was already getting a bit nervous at the size of the crowd when I heard the first gasps of shock and turned. There, striding up towards us from the admin building, was Thompson – and padding along next to her was a fucking huge monster.

  that

  It was some kind of relation to the alpha spiderwolf Hassan had killed in the caves back near Sunland, only it was even larger. It had , because apparently two wasn’t fucking terrifying enough. As they approached, I could see other differences. The spiderwolves I remembered had yellow wolf eyes with red spider eyes above them, but this one had four red eyes in each head. It had eight long, hairy spider legs, four on a side – plus two more wolf legs in the back.

  is

  I felt a strong, strong urge to run away, but I didn’t think I could escape without anyone watching. Everyone who was standing around that side of the pit immediately started clearing out, moving well away from the creature’s path. It had to be at least eight feet tall at the shoulder, and easily twice that in length.

  Monster: Trite

  Tier: ?

  [Congratulations, Gunner! Your Identify Skill has advanced to Level 3!]

  [Of course, Citizen, it is my pleasure to assist you!]

  Thompson came to a stop at the edge of the pit, looking with a slight smirk at the students – including my team – that were now a good thirty feet away. The other instructors were between the two groups, looking unconcerned.

  “Hello everyone, and well done on not shrieking in terror. Usually I don’t introduce Trite here to students so soon, but we’re making an exception today. Say hello, Trite!”

  The monster reared up, towering over Thompson, and howled with all three fanged mouths. I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths as everyone around me shivered. I was sure everyone in the valley heard the roar. Some students came rushing out of the bar, only to stop dead in their tracks as they saw the source of the noise. Unfortunately, seeing that no one was fleeing, many of those students soon joined the crowd around the pit.

  Thompson’s pet lowered its heads after the extended howl, and she absentmindedly scratched it behind one ear.

  “Every semester we get a few students with Skills that can only be triggered in combat. Unfortunately, that makes them very hard to train, as the System won’t accept regular sparring as combat. So, we have to get a little bit creative, which is where Trite here can help us out. Recruit Azure, step forward!”

  I froze until H’ruk gave me the orcish version of a gentle shove, which nearly propelled me off the wall and into the pit.

  “Azure, I’m afraid that if we’re going to train your Skill, the details of it are going to quickly become obvious to those watching, so with your permission I’ll explain what’s about to happen.”

  I nodded numbly. that I almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation as Thompson quickly gave the students an overview of my Skill.

  “So, what Azure – and several others – need in order to train this Skill is a situation stressful enough to trick the System into thinking you’re in a life and death situation. Which, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, is where Trite comes in. You can imagine they need a lot of exercise, not quite like walking a typical dog!”

  There were a few nervous laughs at her poor joke.

  “Now, I see our two Earth Mages in the audience, and of course we have Professor Osco here as well. Between the three of you, your job will be to cast Earth Walls around the area to provide places for Azure to hide and trigger her Skill. Azure, your job is simple – stay away from Trite as long as possible! Feel free to shoot them as much as you want, you won’t have to worry about getting through their barrier. Lydia here will be ready to heal you whenever we stop for a break, which will be on my command only.

  “Last thing before we begin – for those of you watching, I need you to understand a few things. First, Azure and the others have volunteered for this training. This is mandatory. Secondly, it will be bloody – you see your fellow students injured. If you don’t wish to watch, please leave respectfully.

  “Finally, there is to be cheering when you do see Azure or anyone else hurt. This is , not , and if I hear anyone cheering for Trite to hurt their fellow students, will be the next one in the ring. Then you can experience first-hand what it takes to get in there . Of course, you cheer your fellow students on in their quest to get chomped as little as possible!

  “AM I CLEAR?”

  She finished with a shout, and there was a ragged chorus of “yes, ma’am” and “yes, Head Instructor” from the students, but no one left.

  My heart was racing as fast as I could remember. A tiny part of me understood that Thompson obviously had control of her pet monster. That part was having about as much luck as someone spitting into a storm in convincing the rest of me that I wasn’t about to die horribly.

  I don’t remember making it down the stairs into the arena. That’s what it felt like now, with people crowded around the edges, peering down at me from above and cheering me on. Their faces blurred as my vision narrowed to the abomination standing on the far rim of the pit. A moment later, sand exploded around the pit as one Earth Wall after another sprung up, turning the open space into an obstacle course. I could tell which walls were Zenia’s, as some of them were larger and sturdier than the others.

  Then, in a burst of motion, the giant spiderwolf leapt from the wall and crashed to the ground, sand spraying up from its many legs.