TS5: Chapter 17 (Patreon)

Emphatically shaking her head, Mina stepped forward, her forked dagger appearing in her hand.

"Most certainly not," she said, "but we do all right.”

“Would you care to demonstrate?" Stello asked. “It would be nice to see what sort of fighting styles you use.”

"It would be my pleasure. Come on, Thorn. I need a practice buddy."

"This is just an excuse to beat me up, isn't it?" Thorn said, shaking his head as he retreated to one side of the arena floor, while Mina walked to the other.

"My specialty is ice magic," she said, speaking to Stello. "I'm a pure caster with a mobile attack pattern, so I tend to like to fight mid-range. I'm mostly a striker, though I do have a few support and crowd control spells as well. But mostly, this is what I do."

Drawing two fingers along the blades of her dagger, Mina leapt into the air, her battle dress swirling. At the same time, seven white orbs appeared around her, spinning with incredible speed. Dashing across the air toward Thorn, the fingers of her left hand began to move swiftly, drawing out arcane symbols, while her right hand pointed towards Thorn, and the spinning orbs filled the air with razor-sharp shards of ice. Thorn’s halberd waved in the air, intercepting the attacks raining down on him, while half a dozen hex shaped mana shields sprang up around him to block the Ice Spears that appeared on his flank.

Crushing the ice into pieces, Thorn lunged forward to strike at Mina, but before he could get close, a wall of ice rose up in front of him, forcing him to hack through it. However, even as his blade sank into it, the temperature sank and thick ice began to creep up around his legs, slowing his forward momentum. With a savage grin, Thorn let out a shout and fierce flames sprang up around him, wreathing his feet and legs to keep them from being frozen. His halberd, glowing red as he wrapped it in fire mana, tore through the ice wall revealing Mina’s annoyed face.

Her dagger rose to point at Thorn and the shards of ice that were flying around suddenly began to swirl together, forming a thick blizzard with Thorn at the center. Letting out a laugh, Thorn controlled the flame mana to cover his whole body, melting any of the ice that got close, and dashed forward again. Blinking away, Mina’s eyes narrowed and she began to throw more spells at Thorn, trying to slow him down. Watching from the side, Stello’s expression was inscrutable, but he let out a small sigh.

“It's a shame that there is an element mismatch,” he said, speaking to Velin who was next to him. “I can see that she is quite powerful, but there isn’t much ice can do against fire. Especially when wielded by someone like Thorn. If she doesn’t have another element she can use, she is going to lose.”

Glancing at Stello from the corner of her eyes, Velin just smiled.

“Just watch.”

Down in the arena, Mina was slowly getting cornered and her expression had grown quite annoyed.

“Thorn, this is supposed to be my chance to beat you up!” she shouted.

“Want me to use something other than fire?” he asked. “I can switch elements if you can’t handle the heat.”

Snorting in annoyance, Mina slid to the side in the air to avoid a blast of flame that Thorn unleashed and rapidly retreated to create some distance.

“Want to see me handle flame? Fine. Keep yourself safe.”

Before Thorn could reply, her hands flashed, and her dagger disappeared, her wand appearing in its place. Thorn had never seen Mina wield her wand in her ice soul form, and as she lifted it, he felt a sense of danger that prompted him to retreat and begin building his defenses. Flaming shields appeared all around him and his body began to radiate tremendous heat. Mina began to cast a spell Thorn had never seen before so he quickly launched an attack, sending out a wave of flame with a slash of his halberd. The flames shot forward toward Mina, but when they got within ten feet of her, they suddenly shrank into nothing, as if they had been devoured by the air.

Mina wasn’t quite in the ninth tier, but Thorn could tell that she had just released the beginnings of her domain, and as he threw out more attacks, he couldn’t help but be shocked at how stable it was. Flying forward, Mina’s wand waved and a thick lance of ice appeared in her other hand, stabbing toward the flaming shield in front of Thorn. At the same time, half a dozen other Ice Spears shot from the spinning ice orbs, attacking Thorn from a bunch of different angles.

Staying on the defensive, Thorn was doing his best to analyze Mina’s domain, but he was forced to divert his attention when the ice Mina had unleashed tore through his fire shields like they weren’t even there. The flames that Thorn was controlling were hot enough that the ice spears should have melted before getting close, but somehow, the ice was not only staying intact, but hadn’t lost any speed either. Using Titan Steps to retreat, Thorn dodged a couple ice spears, blocking the others with his halberd. In front of him, Mina was charging toward him, lance outstretched and with a shout, he stabbed out with his weapon to meet her attack. There was a loud boom as the weapons collided and a thick cloud of ice and steam spread across the arena. When it cleared, Stello and the others saw Mina had retreated and was staring at Thorn whowas surrounded by ancient runes.

“Your domain,” Thorn said, “it seems to be temperature control.”

“That’s an annoyingly accurate guess,” Mina replied. “I call it Eternal Ice, and yeah, it has to do with temperature manipulation.”

“You named your domain?”

“You didn’t?”

Looking at the others who were walking over, Thorn scratched his head.

“Is it normal for people to name their domains?”

“Of course,” Stello said. “Mine is called the Sea of Flame.”

“Shelter of the World Tree,” Velin said.

“I don’t have a domain yet,” Corvo replied. “But it will probably be along the lines of Sage’s Gaze, or something like that.”

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Alph blinked rapidly, as if his mind was catching up on the conversation.

“Ah, my domain is called Bomb Shop.”

“Bomb Shop?” Stello asked, looking confused.

“Yeah, you know, after those old games where you had a shop that sold different kinds of bombs? It's like my own, personal bomb shop.”

“Huh, sounds like I need to come up with a name for my domain,” Thorn said. “Mina, your strength is starting to catch up to your control, and when it does, you are going to be really hard to stop. A couple of your Ice Spears nearly caught me off guard, and if you were able to vary your spells a bit more, I think you’d be in a really good spot.”

“Thanks, Thorn. I’m still trying to understand my domain completely, but I feel like I’ve made a good start.”

For the rest of the afternoon, the team continued to practice, showing off their abilities as they worked to fit Stello into their rhythm. The elven swordsman was skilled enough that he slipped into his role right away, adding another layer of offensive damage without any trouble. He had an excellent sense of positioning, and his explosive sword style allowed him to move across the battlefield swiftly, appearing at the most advantageous position in an instant. By the time Steward Selor came to announce that dinner was ready, Thorn felt as if everything was running smoothly.

After dinner, Thorn, Velin, Mina, and Corvo decided to go out and explore while Stello meditated and Alph locked himself in his room to work on a potion idea that he had come up with during the training session. After alerting the steward to their plan, they left the mansion to check out some of the shops downtown. According to the information that Selor had given Thorn, the Temple of Man operated in an entirely self-sufficient manner, and everything from food to goods were produced within the temple and the shops reflected that. Practically anything that someone would need, from food to toiletries to armor and weapons, could be purchased in the market, along with any number of other items.

There wasn't anything in particular that Thorn needed, so he mostly followed Velin and Mina around as they looked through the dozen or so clothing stores. He found the environment curious as everyone was wearing either the robes of a priest or the armor of one of the temple's warriors. Everything was meticulously clean, and Thorn saw no one hawking wares on the sides of the street, giving the city a well-ordered, but somewhat sterile feeling. As he waited for Mina and Velin, who had stepped into one of the shops, Corvo directed Thorn's attention down the street.

"I think something's about to happen," the elf said, his gaze narrowing.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Thorn asked, looking where Corvo was pointing.

Almost immediately, he spotted the budding altercation Corvo had spotted. Two men in ornate outfits were facing off in the middle of the street, their attendants arrayed behind them. Recognizing the badges they were wearing, marking them as ascendants, Thorn's eyebrows rose. It seemed that the competition that would start in a few days was fierce, and tensions were already boiling over. The two men glared at each other, while the attendants behind them traded insults back and forth, each more vicious than the last. Finally, unable to take it anymore, one of the men stepped forward, his hand gripping the handle of the mace at his waist. Before he could lift it, however, there was a loud shout, and a burly warrior-priest landed between them, his hand gripping the handle of the massive sword sheathed on his back.

This was the first warrior-priest Thorn had seen in full armor since arriving but a moment later, half a dozen others arrived, dropping out of the sky to land around the two quarreling ascendants. Straightening up, the warrior-priest who first arrived glared at the two ascendants, causing both of them to take a wary step back.

"Fighting before the competition is grounds for immediate disqualification," the warrior-priest said, looking between the two men, "so I sincerely hope that that is not what was about to happen here. Whatever conflict you have, save it for the competition."

The two ascendants, though clearly still angry, immediately nodded their heads, backing up further. And the moment passed.

Thorn's attention, however, was still on the guard,

Eve, can you tell me what tier he's in?

[Tenth tier at least. I'm not really sure how the tiers work after that, but the mana around him is too dense to get an accurate reading.]

The guard, who was watching the two ascendants as they went their separate ways, must have felt Thorn's gaze, because he suddenly turned, staring in Thorn's direction.

"Uh-oh, looks like you made a new friend," Corvo said with a chuckle.

Bemused, Thorn watched as the guard headed in their direction, stopping when he was in front of Thorn. At 6'4", with sandy blonde hair and a large square jaw hidden by a beard, the guard was an impressive specimen for a human and as he stared up at Thorn, the expression in his eyes was cautious, but not intimidated.

"I am Priest Polair," the guard said, dipping his head slightly. "I don't believe we've met."

"Ascendant Thorn Greymane," Thorn said, stretching out his hand with a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Priest Polair."

For the first time, the confident expression on the priest’s face cracked and he hesitated, unsure if he should take the hand that Thorn offered. When Thorn just left it hanging in the air, Polair shook it, his gaze wavering slightly.

"Have you come to compete for one of the five positions?" he asked, shooting a glance at Corvo.

"I have. It seems like the competition is going to be fierce."

An amused smile flashed across Polair's face, and he nodded.

"It always is. This year, however, tensions seem to be especially high. Please take care of yourself, as we will not tolerate any fighting before the competition itself."

“Are there people that do?” Thorn asked.

“Yes. It is one good way to eliminate competition,” Priest Polair said.

"That is underhanded, but makes sense. Thank you for the warning," Thorn said.

Hearing the door open behind him, he glanced over his shoulder and saw Velin coming out, holding a bag with Mina behind her. After briefly examining the two ladies, the priest seemed satisfied and bowed to Thorn before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Who is that?" Velin asked, looking after him.

"One of the guards for the temple," Thorn replied, peering into the bag his wife was carrying. "What'd you find?"

"A cute skirt," Velin said, "and a couple nice tops. Poor Mina, though. Can't find anything that'll fit."

With a dramatic sigh, Mina shrugged her shoulders.

"It's true," she lamented. "All the clothes they make are for giants."

“You just need a kids' shop,” Thorn said with a laugh.

After stopping at a few more stores, the team made their way back to their quarters, only to find Steward Selor waiting at the gate. His eyes lit up when he saw Thorn, and he quickly hurried over.

"Ascendant Thorn, there is someone here to see you," he said, causing Thorn's forehead to crease.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"It is a messenger from the Quilla family."

"Quilla family? Why would they want to talk to me?"

"Only one way to find out," Velin said, gesturing to the gate. "Why don't we go talk to them?"

They found the visitor sitting primly in one of the sitting rooms, though she stood up as soon as Thorn and the others entered the room, bowing deeply to them.

"Hello. I'm sorry for the intrusion," she said, speaking in a quiet voice.

"It's no problem," Thorn replied, waving his hand. "Steward Selor tells me that you're from the Quilla family. I'm curious what business you have with me."

Stepping forward, the woman held out a card with two hands for Thorn to take.

"The leader of the Quilla family requests your presence," she said, as Thorn read over the invitation.

"He wants to talk to me. Interesting. You can tell him that I'll be over tomorrow to see him."

Though it looked like the young woman wanted to protest, she didn't say anything and simply bowed again, allowing Steward Selor to escort her out.

"I wonder what this is about," Mina said, looking at the invitation that Thorn passed around.

"I don't know," Thorn said, "but I guess we'll find out tomorrow."