The air on the far side of the transport cannon, opposite to the tube, rippled. Bird’s form materialized from the anomaly and she blew out the breath she’d been holding in her chest. A trickle of sweat rolled down the side of her temple and she wiped it away.

Her eyes remained locked on the trapdoor that Vermil and Tim had just headed down, but her mind was far more focused on their conversation. Tim had clearly missed the meaning of Noah’s words, but she hadn’t.

Slab of meat in front of a dog? Talking about tentacles, and he went to the Bleached River?

A shiver ran down Bird’s spine. She hadn’t exactly been planning on trying to spy on Vermil. She’d just happened to be in the transport cannon when she’d heard the lift activating and rattling up, bearing Vermil’s voice with it.

She’d cloaked herself and hid in the corner just moments before he and Tim had arrived. It wasn’t like she’d been doing anything out of place. It was just that something about Vermil set her on edge. Up until a few short moments ago, she’d have been relatively willing to bet that he’d just been messing with her.

But why else would he talk like that if he hadn’t been using his… special fighting style? The monsters he’s talking about are Ridgerils. They’re big and have a lot of tentacles with sharp spines within their suckers, but Rank 3s shouldn’t be that much of a threat to a Rank 4. Especially not one as strong as him.

The only reason he’d be worried about them is if he was naked. I know I sure as the Damned Plains would have been. I wouldn’t want a tentacle within a hundred feet of myself if I were.

That can’t be right, though. I refuse to believe that such a stupid strategy actually makes enough of a difference that he’d push himself to such a degree.

There was only one way to find out. Tim may have scrambled the directions on the cannon, but Bird was no stranger to operating one. She crept over to the panel and her hands played across it, her heart thumping and her fingers stiff.

If Vermil caught her, it would be difficult to explain what she’d been doing. The King family name would get her out of nearly every single situation, but the strange man didn’t seem to give a shit about propriety in the slightest. It was impossible to predict what he’d do.

Fortunately, they were deep within the transport cannon and it wasn’t like Tim was the only person allowed to use it. The cannon shuddered as it rotated, redirecting itself, and she locked in place. Her breath caught in her throat as she peeled her ears for several seconds to listen for anyone coming up from below.

Nobody did. Bird didn’t give herself any longer to celebrate. She pressed her hand into the console and a wave of energy rippled across it. A buzzing hum started to pick up in the room and she stepped around the counter, hurrying over to the tube and laying down in it.

The cannon would call her back in exactly an hour. Even if there was anyone in the cannon when she returned, she’d be able to claim she was just using it for normal purposes. She’d just have to hope that nobody checked the direction of where it was pointed.

Any further thoughts were lost as the humming reached a crescendo and a wave of blue light enveloped Bird, yanking her away and sending her body hurtling through the sky.

Just a short while later, her feet slammed down into sand and she took a stumbling step forward, blinking away the last remnants of confusion from the trip and quickly calling on her runes in case anything was still in the area.

There was nothing but sand a flowing river. Bird blew out a breath and lowered her hands. The area around her was completely devoid of any threat for the time being. It was pristine and untouched, as if nobody had been here in quite some time.

Bird’s eyes narrowed.

“That isn’t right,” she muttered under her breath, turning in a circle to make sure she hadn’t missed something. “This is the standard location to visit the Bleached River at, but there’s no way Vermil was here. The sand is untouched and there isn’t even a single dead monster.”

There’s no way I misheard them or they were speaking in code, were they?

Bird shook her head. That was impossible. Everything made far too much sense for that to be the case. This is where Vermil had gone. And that could mean only one thing. A prickle bit at the back of Bird’s spine.

Tim must have changed the preset location to send Vermil somewhere else in the Bleached River. But… the understanding that would require of the transport cannon is ridiculous.

Every single regulation says not to modify the coordinates that were preset for every location, especially on the fly. There are so many changing variables and possible ways things could go wrong that you’d need to literally be a genius in order to target it properly and avoid embedding your target in the middle of the ground instead of above it. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Bird swallowed. Her disbelief was irrelevant. Vermil had been in this area, but he definitely hadn’t been here. She only had an hour to figure out where he had been, but she was Otto’s right hand for a reason. Wherever Vermil had been, she’d sniff him out.

***

And, just about ten minutes before her time in the Bleached River ran out, Bird found what she was looking for. Her senses had picked up on fading remains of magical energy just at the edges of her awareness and she’d sprinted the entire way over.

Bird’s face went pale when the scene came into view. It was carnage. Warped planes of glass covered the sand where it had been melted together. Bloody streaks covered the edges of the scarred riverbank along with chunks of blackened flesh.

She approached the river, her senses peeled to the max, and prepared to leap back. Ridgerils were ambush predators. They always made their first move whenever anybody grew close to their hiding spots within the riverbank, just beneath the water.

Nothing struck. Bird’s frown deepened. She edged closer to the rushing river and peered into it. Within its churning depths, she could just barely see a Ridgeril’s body impaled on a jutting stone.

Bird spun and strode down the bank with the flow of water, running for nearly five minutes. Whenever she glanced into the water, she found another corpse that the river had yet to wash away. Her face grew paler with every step she took.

Nothing had attacked her. Ridrerils weren’t clever. If they’d been there, one of them would have struck. And that could only mean one thing. Vermil had cleared every single monster in the immediate area out.

Even if the river had washed most of their bodies away, there was no way to deny it. Bird tugged on her hair and chewed her lower lip as she tried to figure out what her next step would be.

Even if she wanted to show anyone, the Ridgeril population would likely recover by the time she got them over. She’d only managed to notice anything because she’d arrived so quickly after Vermil had left.

The other monsters in the river should move down when they realize that there’s open space that they don’t have to fight to keep. I’m the only one who’ll know about this. But… what would telling anyone do?

Otto wouldn’t care. He doesn’t want power. Just interesting runes and money — which are admittedly the same thing. I don’t have a reason to report to anyone other than Otto. The only person this can benefit is me.

Benefit felt like a strong word, but the results were staring her in the face. Vermil had wiped out a ridiculous number of monsters. Even if they were just Rank 3s, he’d made it very clear exactly how he’d done it when he was speaking with Tim. Bird was certain that he hadn’t been using any sort of code now.

But, beyond that, the style of fighting he used was secret. Vermil hadn’t revealed exactly how he’d fought the octopi to Tim. He’d just hinted at it.

Did he intentionally gift this to me to test me? Is Vermil a genius, a pervert, or a moron? I can’t tell.

Bird bit down on her lower lip and clenched her fists. All the thinking in the world wouldn’t change the information she had. Her duty, both as a mage and as a retainer to Otto of the King family, was to seek out power and information.

It didn’t matter what her target was. All that mattered was results — and results were abundant. Bird suppressed a groan. A rather large part of her wished that she’d never activated the transport cannon today. Better yet, she wished she’d just stayed at home.

But there wasn’t any way around it now. The lure of knowledge was planted in her mind, and she wouldn’t rest until she knew if it was true or not. Power was far too rare to come by for her to just pass it up due to stupid sensibilities. Bird set her jaw.

I’m going to actually have to test this fighting style out — just somewhere where absolutely nobody has even the slightest chance of ever seeing me. If they do, I think I might actually die of embarrassment on the spot.

***

Four runes and an application of the Fragment of Renewal later, the Mind Meld potion wore off. Noah and Tim both sat up in the core of the Transport Cannon. They rose to their feet and shook off the potion’s last effects.

Tim’s grinned at Noah. The childlike delight on the man’s face was contagious. “Quite a successful session this time around, Vermil. You must have improved since the last time.”

“Me? Forget me. I barely did anything. You were incredible!” Noah exclaimed, giving Tim a light punch in the shoulder. “Your soul is improving by leaps and bounds, Tim. We’ll only need one more shot at this before you’re completely ready.”

“I can hardly take any credit for anything,” Tim said, holding his hands up. “But I won’t press the matter any further for the sake of our agreement to keep things to the sanctuary of our minds.”

“Probably a good idea,” Noah said. “Tomorrow. Meet me here again, same time. We’re finishing this. No more delays.”

Tim swallowed, then nodded. “I will. Thank you, Vermil. I know I’ve said it before, but thank you.”

“Think nothing of it,” Noah said. “Remember. Tomorrow. Same time. Until then, I’ve got some more work to handle. There’s an advanced track meeting coming up tomorrow, and the exam isn’t too far away either. I don’t suppose you know anything about it?”

“I’m afraid not,” Tim said with a chuckle. “Do you really think your students would need the help?”

“No,” Noah replied. “I was just curious. I’ve got complete faith in them. I’m quite looking forward to the exam. It’ll be a chance for them to show how far they’ve come — not just to everyone else, but also to themselves.”

“You aren’t even slightly concerned about the enemies you’ve drummed up?” Tim asked with a nervous frown. “I’ve got faith in your students as well, but they don’t have an easy road ahead of them. Jalen was telling me about the situation, and it sounds like some people might try to interfere with them.”

“Oh, I know.” A grin pulled across Noah’s lips. “I’m counting on it. You can’t carve a path to the top of the mountain without stepping stones to pave the way.”