The Outlands

Tess had just finished using the bathroom and was returning to their dedicated private room in the guild when she ran into Ilmir. The two sort of…awkwardly stopped, not quite sure what to say or do.

After a moment, Ilmir hesitantly spoke up. “Uh…hey.” She said. “Long time no see, I guess. Um…do you mind if I ask a question?”

“Go ahead.” Tess said warily. “I’m listening.”

“Ah, good.” Ilmir replied, scratching the back of her neck embarrassedly. “You…wanted a rematch, right? I was just wondering what sort of time frame you’re thinking for that. Before, you said it would be after you graduated, but it’s been a few weeks since then so…just curious.”

Tess started. “I’ll be honest, I kinda forgot, I was focused on other things. I’m ready any time, really. Probably not today, since we’re finishing up the Jagged Cliffs, but any day after is fine.”

“How does tomorrow sound, then?” Ilmir asked. “I’m kind of looking forward to this, and I want to nail down a date.”

“Tomorrow works.” Tess confirmed. “I’ll let everyone know, and we can meet here at like…noon. Don’t think it’s going to go the same as last time, though, I’ve gotten much stronger than before.”

“I’ve gotten stronger too.” Ilmir said. “So, don’t you think it’s going to go as you plan, either.”

“Linear warriors, quadratic wizards.” Ellie said, stepping up to the two of them.

“What?” Tess and Ilmir both asked, turning to face the newcomer.

“Just saying that one of your growth rates is a bit more…exponential than the others.” Ellie replied with a smirk. “What’s all this about, anyway?”

“Ilmir was asking me about the rematch I mentioned wanting to have.” Tess explained. “We ended up setting it up for tomorrow. Though…why are you here? Weren’t you waiting with everyone else?”

“I got some info that there had been a bit of a disturbance, so I came to take a look. Also, why not just do this thing now?” Ellie asked.

“Because right now we’re finishing off the Jagged Cliffs, remember?”

“Yeah, but this should only take like…ten or twenty minutes.” Ellie countered. “We just go grab a Gauntlet of Challenge, have you two duke it out, then once Tess wins, we pack up and go on our way.”

Ilmir raised an eyebrow. “You seem awfully confident that she’s going to win.” She said. “Surely you of all people know the difference between your stats.”

“Ilmir, you’re backsliding.” Eyfura said gently, walking up to her. “Remember what Doctor Miras says about that.”

Ilmir jumped slightly. “G-grandma, when did you get here?!”

“That’s beside the point.” Eyfura replied. “You need to stop letting your prejudice affect you.”

“Y-yes, Grandma.” She turned back to Ellie and Tess. “Sorry.” She mumbled. “That was uncalled for.”

“It’s fine.” Tess replied. “I know changing your way of thinking is hard.”

Ilmir perked up. “Really? You’re not mad?”

Tess shrugged. “I’m not happy about it, but I can understand it. As long as you’re genuinely trying to change, I see no reason not to forgive you for it.”

“So, what’s all this about, then?” Eyfura asked, walking over to Tess and giving her a quick hug. “Not that I’m not happy to see you or anything, just curious as to what you all are getting heated over.”

Another quick explanation later, Eyfura nodded. “I get it.” She said. “I can go get a Gauntlet prepped if you would like.”

“We need to make sure this is fine with Maven and The Rumors first.” Tess said. “Just…hang tight and I’ll go ask them.”

“We’re fine with it.” Maven said. “And before you ask, we came in case you needed help or something. We didn’t exactly get a lot of details from Ellie.”

Ellie looked to the side awkwardly. “Sorry.” She said. “I just wanted to get here as soon as possible, so…”

“We get it.” Ker soothed. “Don’t worry about it too much. It was mostly because Alice was worried, and we figured it couldn’t hurt to come check.”

Alice blushed and looked away. “I just…you know, this is a sensitive topic. I wanted to make sure things didn’t get too heated.”

Maven walked over to Ilmir, looking her up and down with an unimpressed expression. “So, you’re the Ilmir I’ve heard so much about, huh?”

“I…suppose I am.” Ilmir replied. “What have you heard about me?”

“Do you want the political answer or the honest answer?” Maven asked.

Ilmir winced. “Honest. I need to know, sorry.”

Maven shrugged. “I’ve heard you’re an insensitive jerk who used trauma as an excuse to try and cause a rift between these two so you could get closer to Ellie. Or…well, I know that’s not entirely accurate, but my understanding of the situation doesn’t paint you in a very positive light.”

Ilmir’s ears and tail drooped. “Yeah, you’re…completely right to think that way.” She said. “I was pretty awful. I’m…trying to be better, though.”

“So long as your mistakes are not repeated, I have no reason not to believe that.” Maven replied, sticking a hand out. “Pleasure meeting you.”

Ilmir tentatively accepted the proffered hand and shook. “Likewise, I think.”

“I’m going to go get a Gauntlet, then.” Eyfura said. “We don’t have the luxury of having a cleared arena this time around, so we’re going to have to find one ourselves. The next best thing is probably going to be a dungeon, I’m thinking…probably inside Big Bertha’s chamber in Slime Tower. If we just clear her out of the way, we should have plenty of room for a good fight.”

“Are you allowed to take the guild’s Gauntlet outside?” Maven asked curiously. “Those are supposed to only be used under direct supervision of guild staff, right?”

Eyfura grinned. “One, I’m technically one of the guild’s highest ranking officers. Two, I’m not getting the guild’s Gauntlet. I have a few spares for…reasons. So, we’ll be using one of my personal ones just in case.”

“How…” Maven trailed off, then shot a glance at Ava, who nodded. “Ah. I see. Reasons.”

“Got it in one. Now, I gotta go grab that Gauntlet, so you all meet me in the lobby of Slime Tower’s top floor, I should only be like…ten or fifteen minutes.” And with that, Eyfura departed, hurriedly making her way down the hall towards the exit.

“I suppose that’s our cue.” Jin said. “Let’s get going.”

The walk over was quiet; Ilmir didn’t seem up to initiating much conversation, Ellie was more than happy to ignore her, Tess and Maven weren’t quite sure what they would even say, and any attempts at conversation made by The Rumors just ended up dying quickly.

So it was no small relief when Eyfura showed up to Slime Tower’s top floor only five or so minutes after the rest of them had arrived.

“I didn’t keep you waiting too long, right?” She asked. “I ran into a bit of traffic, there was some…I don’t even know what was happening, but there was a huge crowd outside some business on the way to my house, and I had to take a detour.”

“Not at all.” Ker said. “It’s only been a minute or two.”

“Oh, good. Shall we all party up and head on in, then?”

“Yeah.” Alice said, a note of agitation in her tone. “Let’s get this over with.”

Partying up, entering the boss room, killing Big Bertha, and then preparing for the duel took only a couple of minutes. Most of that time was taken up by Eyfura making some sort of…protective circle for the noncombatants to stand in, so they would be safe from any collateral damage.

And soon, Tess and Ilmir were placing their hands on the Gauntlet. After but a moment, they were teleported to opposite edges of the room, and the fight begun in earnest.

Unlike in their first fight, Ilmir didn’t immediately rush in. Instead, she kept her distance, coating her swords in lightning and fire and sending the beams towards Tess. That was fine, though; she had ways of dealing with that now.

Isabella, take care of the lightning. Tess instructed. Silky, use Rallying Cry and buff us up.

On it, mistress! Silky said. There was a squeak from within Tess’s shirt sleeve, where Silky was hiding, and Tess was suddenly just that bit faster and stronger. Isabella erected a wall of earth that the lightning beam crashed into and dissipated against, and Tess rushed around the wall, running directly through the beam of fire.

As she did, she activated Phoenix Fire, and watched as the beam of fire was incorporated into her own coating and the flames grew ever brighter. She deactivated Purifying Flames and, for a brief moment, burned through some Mana to not only focus the coating into a line that speared towards Ilmir, but also turned up the heat as far as it would go.

And that was hot. The fire went from a dull red to a brilliant blue in a moment, and the air distorted from the sheer heat of the mass of flame. Not that Ilmir seemed to mind the heat itself; she likely had equipment that compensated for extreme temperatures.

But the lance of fire itself wasn’t something to be ignored; it was as thick around as Tess’s body, and the temperature was really just a secondary effect. Ilmir deftly dodged its first pass, but Tess brought it right back around to hit her back, then let the flames return to their usual shape.

Tess took a moment to expand the list of effects and keep them expanded by default for the remainder of the fight. She wanted to keep track of exactly how much she was doing to Ilmir, so she could adjust her strategy accordingly.

Ilmir yelped in pain and quickly put out the flames using her Blessing. “What even is Napalm?!” She yelled, lashing out with her lightning sword once again. At the same time, she sheathed her fire sword and pulled out another which instantly began to drip water.

“Fire that has tripled duration and deals damage twice as often!” Eyfura called out. “Very rare condition!”

“…Pointless.” Isabella whispered from within Tess, bringing up yet another wall of earth to block the lightning.

Ilmir seemed to have been prepared, however; she used the wall to block Tess’s view of her and sheathed the lightning sword before drawing another. Tess couldn’t tell exactly what element was coating it using tremorsense, but the effects it gave off were blocky, which Tess could only assume meant earth or ice or something.

Still under the impression that Tess couldn’t see what she was doing, Ilmir moved up to the base of the wall and began to listen intently for Tess’s approach, swords at the ready.

Tess grinned, activating all of her unarmed Skills and rushing straight towards where Ilmir was hiding. Isabella, fake some footsteps to the right and then destroy that wall please. She said, thrusting out with a claw, already moving to pierce Ilmir’s skull.

The wall fell mere moments before Tess’s claw would impact Ilmir, and Ilmir seemed to have bought Tess’s ruse, as she was in the process of sending out her sword beams. Though, oddly enough, she was completely invisible to the naked eye; she was clearly using something similar to Active Camouflage. Not that it mattered; tremorsense told Tess exactly where to strike, and she was on top of Ilmir before the girl could even realize what was happening.

Even so, Ilmir’s body reacted, throwing itself out of the way of Tess’s blow and sending her beam flying wildly away. Ilmir landed deftly a few yards away, a shocked expression on her face.

Silky, immobilize her! Isabella, if she escapes, make her still again!

The ground around Ilmir lifted itself up and encased her lower body, briefly keeping her from moving. A half-second later, there was a boom and a burst of crackling electricity and debris, and Tess immediately used Flashstep to teleport past the wave and right next to Ilmir.

…And right into Ilmir’s waiting blade. After a movement that was too fast for Tess to track, there was a moment of brief, white-hot pain followed by another swift strike to Tess’s head, and then…nothing.

Exactly one minute later, Tess resumed her existence, a burst of flame signifying her revival as Reborn from the Ashes did its work. Tess blinked and reoriented herself; the Gauntlet was still spinning gently in the air above them, and Ilmir was…on her knees, panting heavily and looking at Tess with eyes filled with terror and expectation.

She struggled to her feet, one arm dangling limply by her side, horrible burn marks running up and down its length. Still, she lifted her dripping sword and stumbled towards the completely unblemished Tess.

It was too easy. There was no burst of flames, no trick as Silky once again encased her in earth, and Ilmir could do naught but watch with a defeated expression as Tess casually walked over and pierced her skull with a claw.

And then, suddenly, the two were back in the center of the arena, completely unharmed.

“I…lost.” Ilmir said, disbelief etched into her face. “It…that didn’t even feel close.”

“It wasn’t.” Ellie said smugly. “The moment Tess got rid of your Blessing, it was over. All she had to do was get near you, and that was it.”

Ilmir shook her head. “I…don’t understand. I thought I had her when she teleported next to me, but…”

“I was being risky.” Tess said. “I wasn’t sure if you would be able to react, but I knew that, even if you did kill me, I would win by getting close. I got a couple of auras that apply status conditions to anything that gets too close, and they stay active even after I’m dead.”

“Not that, I get that, I think, how did you…come back?”

“Oh, that. I took the ability from a Spitfire Phoenix core.” Tess replied.

“And…how many more times could you have done that?”

“Two or three? Depends on how hard you hit me when you kill me. Your stats were actually working against you there, you nearly killed me with that first blow so the second one only did a little bit of damage. And, well, after that you would have had to destroy an egg that I would be in, but if you got that far you could probably handle that.”

“O-oh.” Ilmir replied. “And how’d you know where I was behind the wall? I made sure to go invisible and hide my scent and everything.”

“I can literally feel where you are by the…well, it’s hard to describe it to someone who hasn’t experienced it, but it’s kind of like echolocation. As long as you still have a physical body, I can ‘see’ you if you’re close enough.”

“Well played, then.” Ilmir said. “And…I don’t know if I said it before, but…I was wrong about you. Once again, I apologize for my behavior, I will endeavor not to act like that in the future, regardless of who I’m talking to.”

“I…accept your apology.” Tess said slowly. “I’m over it by now. I’m not going to invite you into our party or anything, but I’m willing to start over with you, give you a second chance. Just…don’t do anything like this again.”

Ilmir froze, then, a moment later, broke into a wide smile. “T-thank you.” She said. “I won’t let you down, I promise.”

Tess stuck out her hand, and after a moment, Ilmir shook. “I’m glad to hear it.” Tess said. “Now, as much as I would like to stick around and chat, we really need to go complete the Jagged Cliffs.”

She ended the handshake and walked over to Eyfura, giving her a hug. “Am I going to see you at the expedition?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Eyfura said, returning the hug, “We’re going. Feel free to stop by any time you like, any of you. We could use the company.”

“I’ll take you up on that.” Tess said, letting go of the hug and turning back to the rest of her party. “Shall we be off, then?”