William went to inspect the sandals and clothes. A stuffy aroma of ancient sweat wafted up from the containers, but not as intensely as he would’ve thought. They were probably washed. He began rummaging through the sandals first.
Ember sat in a nearby chair. “Planet Earth…” She nodded to herself, clearly misunderstanding what he meant. “So roughly where is it located? Are its portals linked to the Cursed Frontier through Nibiru, Emerald Sea, Mirkwood, or perhaps even Gordia?”
“There were no portals, just a good old Earth rolling about in space.” He found a pair that fit perfectly, a pair of loose fitting pants, a faded tunic that might’ve once been white, and a wool-gray jellaba. Despite the seemingly ancient style of clothing the fabrics were surprisingly soft and comfortable, though slightly heavier than clothes back home.
“Alrighty, I put some things in the bag here. Hey, that’s nice. You almost make that outfit look good.” Lidarein returned with a cocky grin squinting her dark eyes.
He accepted the nearly empty bag from her. “Thanks. I do try.”
Ember chewed her lip as she mumbled, “A realm without portals, a realm outside the realms? Nobody at Adamant Archives will believe this. William? Are you sure you’re not trying to tug my tail? You can tell me if you are, I won’t be mad.”
“It’s the truth.” William glanced at the big blonde-white doe-tail standing behind her generous rear. When the mental image of sinking his fingers into that perfect tanned ass spread to his groin, William snapped out of it, feigning sudden interest in the bag.
“Billions of humans with no magic living in a massive realm that is round and has no portals? Truly, the realms are infinite to contain such oddities among them. Do you believe it could be so, Lidarein? Don’t tell me you do.”
“I believe it’s about time you gave him a break, Ember.” Lidarein opened a wooden weapon closet.
Inside was an array of spears, hammers, spikes, and an all manner of bladed weapons. They were curved with shapes, not quite like European medieval weapons, but close.
“Time to see what he’s made of. Although, for the record, I think he’s jerking us. There’s no way a realm could be round. How could a round realm have walls? Ludicrous.” She snickered dismissively, tossing William a wooden sword.
He caught it on instinct. “We’re going to spar?”
“What else did you think Letter King meant by taking your measure? You aren’t a wizard, right? Unless Ember has missed something.”
“I wouldn’t. He has no magic.” Ember crossed arms beneath her breasts. “Sorcerer’s Eye is the only proper spell I can use. Please don’t make fun of it.”
Lidarein winced, the tips of her ears reddening. “Sorry, didn’t mean to, I swear. You’re an awesome talented cuddly butt.”
“Hehee…” Ember’s cheeks began to burn as Lidarein ruffled her hair. William zoned out of their chatter.
He had no magic.
None?
But the others seemed to have gained the abilities of their characters. An apprehensive tension burned beneath his ribs. He felt a little lighter, a little stronger, which made sense given the attributes he had picked, but he was certain he had paladin magic too. Even now, all it took was closing his eyes to feel that strange swirling sensation of a heavy mist permeating his body. If this isn’t magic what is it?
“Come on. We’ll spar outside,” Lidarein tapped a sword against her shoulder as she opened a backdoor. It led to a terrace the size of a tennis field on the shaded side of the spire. It wasn’t quite as massive as that of the Sleepy Fountain, but as intricate in its decorations. Whoever originally built these four spires of New Ea had a rage boner for terraces.
“This looks like a perfectly safe training ground.” William peered over the knee high railing. It was a seven-to-eight story drop.
“No one’s fallen down yet.” Lidarein shouted across the field. “You ready?”
“Yup.” William walked to the center. He had swung a baton before, sure, but preparing to club drunken troublemakers was a far cry from having any kind of weapon on weapon fighting experience. And even it had merely been practise. In all five real life situations, where he had been forced to resort to force he’d always used a taser.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy at the start.” She flashed a grin, then bolted across the field.
Her graceful poise had no telegraph to the thrusts and strikes. Wood grazed his knuckles and dug into his ribs. William bit down a grunt of pain.
This is going easy?
Her face was a steel mirror of focus, as impossible to read as her high fencing posture. Adrenaline thumped into William’s veins as he scrambled away from the barrage of thrusts. For every hit he caught on the sword another stuck true.
His back thudded against the wall.
Lidarein blew a strand of hair from her face, hopping back with a grin. A bead of sweat rolled down her brow. “Not bad. I mean, your form is worse than a child’s, but you’re holding up well on physique alone. Though, if this is all you have, it might be the best we stop. We can tell Letter King you’re not cut out for being a Ranger. You seem like a sweet guy and I don’t want to be responsible for sending you to die. There are other ways to get what I think she’s gonna offer you—”
“Fuck no!”
Something snapped in his head.
He didn’t give a single shit about accepting whatever position Letter King had for him, but being told over and over he wasn’t cut out to be real police, real Ranger, real this, real that, real anything. That shit hit in his pride.
“No. You were going to test my mettle, I’ll give you my full mettle.” William adjusted his grip on the sword.
Her startled
