Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty-Six — LISTEN UP, MAGGOTS!
Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty-Six — LISTEN UP, MAGGOTS! The sun was bright and it was only technically cloudy because a few big puffball clouds were decorating the skies. The air was nice and warm, but moving along at a brisk pace, so that no matter what, it was always perfectly comfy.It was, in short, the perfect weather for being outside.I was standing next to Amaryllis and Awen, the three of us wearing clothes that we didn’t care much about, just in case they got torn up or sweaty. In fact, I was wearing pants for the first time since coming to Dirt!Across from us, Bastion was standing at ease, a wooden pole held loosely by his side. “Alright, maggots!” he shouted, voice mean and growly. “Today I’m going to do my best to turn you sorry wastes of air into proper soldiers! If I do my job right, by the end of this afternoon, you will know which end of the sword to stick into your opponents-That’s if I can unscrew all the stupid from your thick plebian skulls!”I blinked, then raised a hand. “Um, Bastion... why are you being mean?”The sylph stared at me. “You wanted training?”“Well, yes, but I didn’t think that would mean you would be screaming rude things at us. I wanted training on how to fight, not on how to hold back from crying.”“Uh, well, that’s how my drill sergeants spoke,” he said.Amaryllis crossed her arms. “We’re hardly privates in the Sylphfree army. We are explorers who want to live a little longer.”Bastion cleared his throat. “Right, forgive me. In that case, I... suppose I can skip a few steps.”“Wait, there were multiple steps that involved screaming?” I asked.“Well, technically most of them. Usually you’d want to break a new soldier’s bad habits, then rebuild them up. It’s also good for team cohesion to work against a drill sergeant. At least, that’s the conventional knowledge.”“But you’re a friend,” I said.Bastion closed his eyes. “You... would be difficult to train, I think. Actually, you would be a nightmare to train. But, most of that is about functioning as a single unit, which this crew is surprisingly good at, despite the lack of training. I suppose we can do some drills to reinforce that, and perhaps a bit of one-on-one sparring, to sharpen what’s already there.”“That would be great!” I said.Bastion nodded. “Right, let’s start with the basics, the things that most will learn before learning how to spar.” He raised a hand, and with a snap of his fingers, formed a small, glowing ball over his palm.“Oh, magic!” I cheered. “I didn’t know you knew magic.”“I know a bit,” Bastion said. “It’s somewhat more advanced, but most well-trained soldiers will know at least a few spells. These are called the big seven, and you won’t find a single soldier that can’t cast them all. Not necessarily well, or quickly, but they should be able to cast them all.”“Oh, that’s probably more spells than I know, total.”Bastion made a so-so gesture. “I’ve seen you use two dozen cleaning magic spells. Cleaning balls, tracking projectiles, bolts, beams, and widely dispersed magic. Your fireballs have some versatility. Though, yes, you are correct that you’re not a magic-focused combatant, or a proper combatant at all, for that matter. That’s not a bad thing. Also, warriors tend to be stronger when they focus on stamina abilities. They drain slower and can last significantly longer in a prolonged battle.”Amaryllis nodded. “Mages, like myself, are very much about the alpha-strike. Hitting very hard in a single moment. That’s why I picked up a more versatile second class. Awen here has a strange magical class that’s a bit more of a middle-ground.”“Neat!” I said. “So, the big seven, what are they? Should we all learn them too?”Bastion hummed. “You should consider it. The first four are logistical spells. Soften Earth allows soldiers to dig trenches and encampments faster. Firestart allows you to start a fire, or heat up a pot if you can’t do that. Draw Water allows a soldier to resupply their water in the field. And the last is Clean Wounds, which is a difficult spell to master. Mostly, we’re happy when a soldier can keep a wound clean of infections until they can find a healer or field medic.”I nodded. “Cool!”“The other three are Magic Missile, Greater Fireball and Spar Ball. With Magic Missile, we never really cared about the aspect. Just a straight ball of fast-moving magic. A single soldier’s Magic Missile won’t do much, but a platoon of concentrated fire before a charge can soften a target up. Greater Fireball is technically an artillery spell; it’s slow to cast, mana-intensive, and unstable in the hands of someone without the right skills. Soldiers are taught to cast it mostly to use against fortified positions, and to keep using up mana.”“Keep using mana?” I repeated.“Mana is a resource. A soldier fighting without using any of their mana is one who isn’t contributing everything to the battle. Greater Fireballs also keep enemy mages busy when they’re coming from seemingly random directions.”“Uh, that’s kinda of scary,” I said.“War isn’t pleasant,” Bastion agreed. “The last of the big seven is a spell called Spar Ball. It’s actually quite easy to cast, and it’s the spell I want you all to know before we start sparring for real.” He closed his first and punched forward in my direction.My eyes went wide and my ears went ramrod straight as a ball of magic zipped forwards and crashed into my face, sending... a slight breeze across my cheeks and nose.“That’s Spar Ball, the least offensive spell. It actively does nothing, uses nearly no mana, and would be a waste of time were it not so easy to shape and use. It’s mostly used, as the name suggests, in spars as a substitute for Magic Missile or other offensive spells.”“Oh, neat!” I said.A few minutes later, I was finding things far less neat as I struggled to make a Spar Ball of my own. I sat on the deck, legs folded under me in a way I wouldn’t dare do in a skirt, and Amaryllis sat across from me, creating dozens of little magic balls that zipped around her with contemptuous ease.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.“Your problem is wiping the aspect from your magic,” Amaryllis explained while casually flicking Spar Balls into the sky. “You’re too attuned to Cleaning aspect. It’s limiting you a lot.”“That’s not cool,” I said. “I can do fireballs just fine.”“Fire isn’t far from Cleaning. Not too far, at least. You could probably manage Water and Holy aspects too, I’d guess. But the more you stray, the harder it’ll be for you. Most people’s natural attunement is really light.”“Light?”“No, light as in... little,” Amaryllis said. “The main theory is that the common mage’s natural mana aspect is nearly entirely random. Or maybe it isn’t and it’s merely difficult to pinpoint its origins. Mine was Wind, I believe, or something close to that, seeing as how there are hundreds of aspects; they tend to get lumped together.”“Lumped together, how?” I asked. I was managing to make Spar Balls—the spell wasn’t too complex—I was just having a hard time with it. Amaryllis’ lesson was a nice distraction though; I could listen to it with two ears while the others focused on the magic I was casting.“Well, someone might have Water aspect magic. But that’s not terribly precise, is it? What state is the aspect in? Water can be boiled, and Steam is an aspect. As is Ice, which is just frozen water. But Ice aspect often encompasses other liquids. In reality, it’s more likely that someone has an aspect that matches with a very specific state of something. It’s complex. Then the degree of attunement between people can be wildly different. It’s the topic of a lot of very inconclusive research. And I realize that I’ve gone on a tangent.”“It’s still cool to know,” I said.“It was definitely one of the more interesting subjects I studied. The point is that most people who become mages will become one with a type of magic they aren’t naturally attuned to. Their natural alignment will eventually shift to that of the mana they use daily.”“Oh,” I said. “But you feel very... sparky?”One of her eyebrows rose. “I’m going to choose to take that as a compliment,” she said. “But yes, I’ve become better at it. I do have plenty of experience casting spells though, and a proper formal education in spellcraft.”I nodded, then smiled as I got one of the Spar Balls to circle around my hand, the little thing not very impressive looking, but it wasn’t meant to be.Magic was still really neat. Probably my favourite thing about Dirt, after all the friends I’d made.“Looks like you have the hang of it,” Bastion said. He glanced at the sun, then nodded. “Alright, let’s do a bit of sparring. Wooden weapons only. The goal will be for you three to learn how to take a fall and coordinate your attacks a little better.”“So we’re going to come up with combo attacks?” I asked. “Oh! And attack names?”“No, you’re going to try to fight me, all three of you. Only Spar-type spells,” Bastion said.“Us three against you?” Amaryllis asked. “How weak do you think we are?”“I don’t think you’re weak at all,” Bastion said. “Against the average civilian, you would do very well, all three of you. But I have seen you fighting before, and I know what you’re capable of.”“And yet you still think you can take all three of us?” Amaryllis asked.Bastion’s grin was small... but very smug.A few minutes later, I realized it was also well-deserved smugness.Bastion was fast. Very fast. No matter how we tried to hit him, tackle him, bonk him with wooden sticks and swords, or fling magic at him, the sylph was always dodging by the tiniest margin before rapping us on the shoulders with his wooden sword. Sometimes, when he was feeling particularly rude, he’d trip one of us up.I stumbled forward as Bastion gently pushed my shin back, redirecting my weight to the side.Planting a foot down, I started to spin around, a Spar Ball forming as quickly as I could get it done in my off hand, where Bastion wouldn’t be able to see it.Then Bastion hip-checked me and my spell flew off and hit Awen in the face just as she tried to tackle Bastion.He grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt, then turned her so that her stumbling tackle moved right into the path of the flurry of spells Amaryllis was sending his way.Then he smacked Awen’s behind with the flat of his sword and she squeaked before crashing into Amaryllis.“Not bad,” he said. “Alright, up again.”“Uh, can we have a break?” I asked.“A break— it’s hardly been more than ten minutes... though... yes, I suppose a small break for water is due,” he said.I cheered, arms raising above my head and wobbling around like wet spaghetti noodles.“Alright, line up for squats,” he said.“Squats?” Amaryllis asked.“Are you unfamiliar with those?” Bastion asked.“As a way of taking a break, yes!” the harpy said.Bastion sighed. “We’ll go slowly; your heart-rate will decrease. And learning to fight while your muscles are burning is important.”I didn’t bother fighting it, I just got in line next to Awen and started to bend down, then stand up in time with her while Amaryllis grumbled and joined us. “This is undignified,” she muttered.“So is dying because you didn’t do enough cardio,” Bastion said. He actually joined us, though he had one leg pointing straight ahead, parallel with his arms, and was squatting down on the other. “I think now would be a wonderful time to talk about your small squad tactics. The positions you take, and your roles in any fights you might find yourselves in!”“Alright!” I cheered.“If you have energy to cheer, then maybe we can start sparring again?”“No, I’m not cheering!” I squeaked.Maybe this was a bit of a mistake.
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Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty-Seven — People Come Here to Be Forgotten
Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty-Seven — People Come Here to Be Forgotten The Lonely Island was... an island. Not a chain of islands or an archipelago, but a single large lump of an island. I couldn’t see all of it from our height, the island stretching too far to the north for all of it to be made out, but what I could see was fairly plain.The ground was all paleish yellow, likely some sort of sandstone if I had to guess, with little topsoil for grass and trees to grow in.It wasn’t entirely bare, there were some splotches of colour, especially on the western side of the island, but they weren’t all that big or bright.“It looks like a sad place,” I said as we started to come down.Bastion joined me by the front and eyed the island as we approached it. “It’s an interesting location, actually. Far enough from the shore that it’s basically impossible for any sylph to fly to it, and the winds around here are typically pretty rough. The ocean near the coast is often choppy, and there are frequent storms that blow past in the autumn.”“You know a lot about the place,” I said.“It was once used as a penal colony,” Bastion said. “On the other end of the island. There should still be some docks and such. Sylphfree stopped when we discovered that the cervid were doing the same.”“Wait, two nations were using it as a prison island?” I asked.“Yes, and neither realized it for decades. The cervid would toss their prisoners off near a beach on the south end, and we would drop ours off near the north. I imagine they met up somewhere in the middle, formed their own little community and such.”“That’s weird,” I said. “Did anyone try to escape?”“Oh, that’s almost a certainty,” Bastion said. “But there aren’t many resources here.”“Captain!” Clive called.I patted Bastion on the shoulder, then jogged over to Clive. Well, it wasn’t quite a jog. Jogging would require that I be able to move my legs properly. After the day before’s training, my legs were a wobbly mess, and every step hurt in new and interesting ways.Being on Dirt might mean that I healed faster than back home, but that didn’t mean nothing would hurt.“What’s up?” I asked Clive.“We’re slowing down nice and steady before we land,” the pilot said. “Question is, where do you want us touching down?”“Hmm.” I looked out ahead. The Lonely Island was surrounded by a reef, often with big chunks of stone poking out of the water like jagged teeth. I could only imagine there being even more stones just under the surface of the water, ready to scrape the hulls of any nautical ship. Not that that was a concern. “I can’t see any settlements,” I said.“Aye, none in sight. And none that I know of.”That didn’t mean that there were none. If there were people here, they had to be living somewhere. Where would I build my house if I was stuck on this kind of island?“I think we should circle around the west side, keep an eye out around the bits of wood there. If there is a place to live, they’ll want space to grow stuff. Assuming they ever found anything to grow.”“Folk find a way,” Clive said. “No matter where you go, and no matter how harsh, people will always find a way to root themselves in and make a living. Might not be a pretty or comfortable one, but folk will manage.”“Huh,” I said. “I guess so. I don’t think we’ll be spending much time here. Just a quick touch-and-go.”“Should we aim for civilization, then?” Clive asked.I rubbed at my chin, then reached up and straightened one of my ears. The right one had a tendency to bend over when I was thinking hard. “How about you keep up off the ground, and we’ll see if it’s worth landing.”Clive nodded. “We need a few days in dock to fix the balloon properly. Patches are all well and good, but they’re not meant to keep.”“Yeah, but something tells me there won’t be any airship docks here,” I said. “Let’s take it slow and steady. I don’t want to strain the Beaver any more than we need to.”With that said and done, I headed to the back, then down a level to the deck below.Awen was in the dining room, pouring over some papers with a frown on her face while Amaryllis sat next to one of the portholes on a chair that was usually tucked in the corner of her room, legs folded up and beak buried in a thick book.“Hey guys,” I said as I walked over. “Where’s Moonie?”“She... it, is still in its room,” Amaryllis said.“She?” I asked.The harpy shrugged without looking up. “The name is feminine. I suppose I’m not used to dealing with genderless beings.”I shrugged. “As long as Moonie doesn’t mind, I guess. Ah, speaking of Moonie, we’re over the Lonely Island, or near enough to over it.” I pointed out of the window over Amaryllis’ head. She leaned back and up to peek out, then nodded. “That does look like an island.”I huffed at her, one of her own ‘oh, come on’ sort of huffs. “You should be more excited! Bastion said that the island is filled with all sorts of prisoners and people like that! I bet it’ll be super exciting to visit.”“Ex— Broccoli, that makes me want to go down there less,” Amaryllis said. I noticed Awen nodding from the corner of my eye.“Awa, I think Amaryllis is right; that makes it scary, doesn’t it? Also, are we really going to bring Moonie there if there are mean people below?”“Prisoners are just potential friends who made a mistake,” I said. “And... I guess that is sending the wrong message, isn’t it? Moonie isn’t a convict, we shouldn’t be bringing them to a place that’s meant to be a prison. Or an ex-prison, I guess.”Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.“Forgive me.”I turned at the sound of Moonie’s voice from the corridor. The cry hovered closer, ducking down just enough to avoid the doorframe. “I overheard you speaking. The walls aboard this ship are a little thin.”“That’s okay!” I said. “We were kind of talking about you, so I guess it’s only fair that you join in. What do you think, by the way? About the island?”“It seems like a fine place. It’s where Shard of Waterwatches Compassion, Third Split and One Whole wished for us to go.”“Yeah, but is it where you want to go?” I ask right back. “We can bring you elsewhere, or at least, to someplace where we’re going. Sylphfree is next, but then who knows where our next adventure will bring us?”“We... I don’t think I am made for adventure. I would rather have a quiet life, some dozen years to become whole, perhaps a little bit of company to sing and talk with.”“Alright,” I said. “We should at least make sure the island is safe before dropping you off though. I’d feel really awful if we brought you there, and then you got hurt right after.”Moonie bobbed up and down. “That’s appreciated. Truly.”“So! Assuming you do want to go down there, is there a place in particular you’d like to make landfall at? The island has some big hills in the middle, I think, and there are some trees and stuff on the west side.”“We have heard that there is a place with some cry near the south of the island. That would be the best place, I think. But we do not know where, exactly, that is.”“Then we’ll find it!” I said. “Come on, let’s get onto the deck. I bet we’ll be able to spot it from the air.”“Really, Broccoli? It’s unlikely to be some big town. What are you expecting, a large tower with ‘land here’ written next to it?” Amaryllis shook her head, then casually flipped a page. “If they’re trying to be hidden, then we won’t be able to spot them easily.”“I bet it's really hard to find something when you’re not even looking,” I said.Amaryllis looked up from her book, then snapped it shut with a clack. “Fine then, let’s prove it, shall we?”She stomped past in a birdy huff, then climbed up the steps at the rear.“I guess I should come too,” Awen said, and she wiggled out of her seat.“What were you working on?” I asked Awen as we started towards the back, Moonie a bit ahead of us.“Oh, ah, some plans. I need to make sure the new version of the crossbow platform fits right in the room on this side of the Beaver. She gestured to the empty guest bedroom. “The prototype is a bit big.”“So you need to make it smaller?”“More compact, yes. You can’t really make the seat smaller, or some of the mechanisms, so it’s everything else that needs to take up less space. And then there needs to be room for the rails, and a way for the wall to move out of the way.”“And it needs to stay somewhat airtight,” I said.“Airtight?”“What if we have to land in some water one day? Or if we fly north and arrive in a place that’s really cold, or someplace super hot? It’s probably best that the ship remains well-insulated.”“Oh, I hadn’t considered that.”I rubbed at the back of my neck. “Oops? Sorry, didn’t mean to put more on your plate.”Awen shook her head, arms waving this way and that in denial. “No, it’s better to know now!”We made it to the top deck, and all three of us moved over to the side where Amaryllis was glaring very hard at something ahead of us.I blinked, then leaned over the side a bit to see better. The Lonely Island was very desert-y. Not entirely made of sand, but more bare stone and windswept dirt, at least on one side. The hills in the middle marked a split, with grass growing on the other side.Out in the middle of a rather plain part was the unmistakable blue of a small lake, and right next to that, a big tower of pale stone.It would have been easier to miss if there weren’t so much nothing on the island.“Well, there’s a building,” I said.“I noticed,” Amaryllis said. “Moonie, does that crystal at the top look like something the cry would make?”I squinted, but I guess Amaryllis had better eyes than I did, because other than noticing that the top was more or less blue, I couldn’t make out a crystal.Moonie hovered close, then quivered in the air with a meaningless chime. “Yes. That is a cry.”“Should we get closer?” I asked. There didn’t seem to be any other villages around, but we were still a long way out.“We should be safe. The cry aren’t usually immediately aggressive. And we may be able to speak with them first,” Moonie said.I translated that, then came to a quick agreement with Amaryllis and Bastion, who had come over to see what all the fuss was about.“Clive! Port, ten degrees, and bring us down another hundred metres or so. I think we have a place to explore already!”“Aye aye, captain!”“Alright everyone,” I said. “Let’s get ready to move. We don’t know if the people down there are friend material just yet, so we might have to leave in a hurry. It might be best to be prepared, just in case.”I glanced at the tower again. It didn’t look particularly mean, just a big yellowish pillar.I hoped that it was filled with potential friends!
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