Chapter 22: Initiation

Subject: Mille Location: Maliscade - Blightbane Guild Headquarters

Mille anxiously checked for any change in the status of the downed Initiate. She wasn’t worried about his safety. It was the flow of the ritual that concerned her.

Magitech “one-way view barriers” acted as a window for outside observers. From inside, this window projected an illusion. The darkness helped sustain the facade.

“He isn’t getting up,” Alice whispered.

That was plain to see. Mille, Alice, Guild personnel, and a crowd of seekers with nothing better to do, had all seen the same thing. The foreigner had collapsed after suffering a grazing blow.

The creature locked down in the area’s pit with Caim was not a blightbeast. It was an illusion created with magic. No experienced seeker would mistake it for a real blightbeast, which only appeared in festerfonts. However ignorant, Caim had no way of knowing where he was.

The creatures loosely resembled varcers. On four legs, they moved the same. Their mandibles were shorter than the real thing, and they were angled down. The last time Mille saw a genuine varcer was nearly a year ago, back during the annual training excursion. She wasn’t entirely sure if these copies did them justice.

“If he doesn’t get up, I can’t go in,” Alice muttered impatiently.

Mille had enough power within Maliscade’s Guild branch to arrange for herself to be Caim’s witness. This made her the Guild officiate who supervised the ritual. She was also responsible for the safety of all involved.

Alice had applied to be Caim’s first seeker, which was a role she was eager to perform. Her application had been accepted because she already knew Caim.

This part of the ritual was a test to see what the new seeker would do when facing danger alone.

Mille was bound by the traditions of the Guild. These traditions were ordinarily harmless. She had allowed Alice to alert Caim to the deception before he was placed, unconscious, in the prepared arena. This was a breach of protocol, but the Guild was Alice’s family. She would have only assured him of his safety.

Can he not cast a single spell without that fake catalyst? Dekker told me it was useless to mages. It is entirely irrational.

Confusion must have contributed to the panicked way he scrambled to escape the illusions. Still, it didn’t explain what happened after.

Mille looked over at Alice.

“Where is this powerful magic you described, Alice? Why did he try to run? More to point… why did he fail to get away!?”

She was exasperated, speaking just quiet enough to keep their conversation private, exercising conscious control of her conduits. They were in a somewhat isolated position on the observation platform surrounding the pit.

This embarrassment would bounce back on both her and Alice. All that remained was making sure it didn’t disgrace the Guild.

“At this rate... I’ll have to stop the ritual. He isn’t fit to be a seeker. You must see that now.”

Cowardice isn’t a word I like to use, but I can’t help but feel disgusted after the promise he made me.

Mille noticed the occasional glances of the support staff waiting on a signal to relay orders to the Shapemages. If ordered, the mages would disperse their illusions. This included the vira lighthreads projecting the festerfont terrain disguise on the arena and on the obstacles scattered across the pit floor.

“Keep it going,” Alice demanded. Mille saw the hero-infatuated seeker’s eyes gleaming belief. “I know he will pull through. Freshbane are always messy, but Caim is special.”

The false blightbeast pawed at Caim’s body, and he finally stirred. No, he didn’t just stir. Caim’s entire body spasmed. He yelped like he’d been electrocuted.

That spinal lining… could it have interacted with the illusion’s energy profile?

If that were the case, it would explain why Caim took the softest of touches from the creature and fell still in the first place. Whatever was attached to the boy’s spine could be more deeply integrated into his body than she previously assumed.

On the other hand, she might just be making excuses for him.

The seekers watching were entertained by the dramatic turn of events. However, their collective opinion of Caim was not favorable by this point. As a new seeker, he was going to have a hard time interacting in the Guild, at this rate.

Mille watched the illusion trod after the terrified Caim, who repeatedly dodged its advances. His movements were sluggish at first, still getting over whatever happened to him, but then he waited for it to lunge and put some distance between him and the enemy.

“This is it,” Alice passionately announced.

Mille watched her friend’s body language. Alice was usually excitable, but this was a higher order of emotion.

It’s too dark down there to see everything. Wait… that really does look like metal. Metal produced by magic.

“Get going,” Mille urged.

“What? He’s about to do the thing! Don’t you want to see?” Alice asked. “I wasn’t able to see it last time. Not with a clear head, at least.”

“Think about where we are and who is watching,” Mille reminded. “The fewer risks we take… the better. Don’t give me that look. Don’t you want to be his hero? Your new friend is petrified. Imagine how he will feel when he sees you coming to save him.”

That last sentence got Alice going immediately. She passed through the gap in the containment barrier and slid down into the pit.

While Alice was navigating the cluttered obstacles blocking her path to Caim, Mille saw a brilliant flash of light.

Nearly all of the seekers and Guild employees watching from the platform gasped when a fully complete mechanical creature rose into the air, fluttering as if it was alive.

Now, Caim stood confidently before his enemy. Even when the creature rushed towards him, he didn’t flinch. In fact, he didn’t even seem particularly concerned about the threat in front of him.

He has that much faith in his ability? Or did Alice tell him too much?

Caim turned around, scanning his environment. Even from this distance, the onlookers could plainly see the change.

The glittering blue wings were almost precisely as Alice had described. Though the creature was slightly smaller than expected, it was large enough to be seen from this distance.

Caim had spent the first stretch of the ritual cowering, but he’d also used that time to get his bearings. He knew the pattern of his enemy’s movements. He had a mental map of his immediate surroundings.

Mille now saw a glimpse of the person Alice met in Shimmerden.

Subject: Alice Location: Maliscade - Blightbane Guild Headquarters

This is just a stupid act, Alice reminded herself. I’m not really saving him, so I shouldn’t feel like this.

By the time the first seeker made it halfway to Caim, a strange metal insect had risen high in the air. It was the same one she had seen before, and it was darting for the false blightbeast.

Projectiles launched from the magic metal creature. They pierced through the Guild mage’s illusion and forced it to disperse. Alice’s hopes of rushing to her new friend’s rescue were similarly punctured.

Caim heard her footsteps and spun to face her, tensing his body. When he recognized who was approaching, he cracked a relieved smile.

Before seeing that smile, Alice had been deeply disappointed that she couldn’t play the part of the hero. Caim stole that disappointment from her and replaced it with something better.

Comradery in a glance.

That was the feeling she had gotten after the Bearer of Blue fugue left her back in Shimmerden. He should have left because he had no reason dying for her stupidity. But he didn’t.

I learned how lost he was and thought maybe he would understand… so I brought him to Arbe’s shrine, of all places.

The metal creature vanished in a shower of silver particles.

“Alice, thank goodness!” Caim called out. “Where are we? I woke up here and…”

For a moment, Alice was lost. He should already know what was happening, at least in so far as he was safe during the initiation.

Oh, he’s a better actor than I thought, she realized.

She stowed her solblade. The way it slid into the sheath felt off, probably because its edge had been coated in an enchantment intended to dull it for the duration of the ritual.

I should really ask Mille for fashion advice when I’m in the market for a new set of armor. Or was it that Ashera woman who chose that style for Caim? Mille probably said something like, “keep this fool alive.”

But at a budget, wouldn’t thick covering affect Caim’s magic? It didn’t look like mageweave cloth or arborun metal. Maybe, a small percentage of the whole set was one or the other. Caim didn’t seem to be affected.

“You’re safe,” Alice pretended to reassure him, stumbling to feign concern. “Don’t worry about where you are, I’ll take you to safety.”

Part two is coming, Alice remembered. But from which direction?

“You came from there, right?” Caim asked. “If there is a way out that way, we should probably head over by these rocks here.”

“Why?”

“There are too many blindspots if you take the path you took. I trust you can handle yourself, but I don’t want us to get overwhelmed. If I climb that, I’ll be able to see farther in this maze of stones and trees.”

Alice looked at the obstacle Caim wanted to climb. If he did, it might be problematic. He wouldn’t see past the illusions, but the training obstacles were only made to look like they were features of a wilderness landscape. They wouldn’t feel like the real thing.

“I may be weak, but I want to help,” he explained.

“Fine. I’ll protect you on the way there.”

Caim made a strange gesture with his hand, pointing his thumb up. From the context, Alice understood that he agreed with her plan.

Alice wasn’t afraid of danger, but she was guarded. She didn’t know when part two of the ritual would start.

She had planned to take the same route back, forcing the mages to confront the two of them from a more predictable angle.

“This environment doesn’t feel natural,” Caim announced from his perch.

Alice’s body tensed.

“I guess this is what a festerfont is like?” he asked. “Only you’d know about that.”

“Well, yeah,” she answered. “The land is changed by The Blight. It can definitely feel unnatural sometimes.”

Caim seemed to see something in the distance. He pointed.

“There are more! Two are behind that mossy boulder to your right, and a third is behind the trunk dead ahead.”

Alice drew her weapon and jogged over to where the next wave would join up.

“Wait!” Caim yelled.

She looked back and found him standing with outstretched hands. Alice had been ready for this, but Caim actually seemed tense. Either he was legitimately scared, or he was a troublingly good actor.

“No good!” he shouted in frustration. “I don’t feel it! I don’t- Wait.”

She had been all ready to engage the fake threat, but his frustrated voice gave her pause.

“That must be it,” he mumbled under his breath. “One, two, three… and no more. Just the right number.”

Caim continued to mutter to himself as the blightbeast illusions slowly crept into view. They behaved like they were wary of their prey, even though she was obviously outnumbered and he was out of sight.

A real varcer would be too stupid to see her as anything but easy prey. A real varcer wouldn’t look anything like these comically distorted things.

The hidden Guild mage controlling the illusions seemed to have the same thoughts as Alice, at least.

Caim was too distracted.

Look this way! she wanted to shout. If you don’t… I can’t show you what the Blightbane Guild is all about.

“Don’t worry,” Alice called out. “I can handle this many, no sweat.

“I trust you,” Caim replied calmly. “But… could you please let me handle these three? I want to try something.”

He wants to try something? Is it another spell?

Mages were complicated. An Initiation Ritual with a mage tended to draw a bigger crowd, but they also carried a more significant safety risk. Hence all the mages on standby.

“I don’t think-” she began, but Caim quickly cut her off.

“It’s almost up. Just… a… moment…”

He cupped his hands and thrust them forward.

“Ready!” Caim shouted. “Come back, Scion. Show her what we can do!”

Subject: Mille Location: Maliscade - Blightbane Guild Headquarters

The crowd’s attitude toward Caim had utterly reversed in a minute. Mille silently listened to what they were saying about the foreigner.

“He is a prodigy, I tell you,” someone babbled. “That is magic from the third branch!”

“The third branch is a myth,” another scoffed. “This seeker is a talented mage, no doubt, but he is just another Shapemage or a Synergist. He figured out what we were testing him with and responded in kind.”

“You mean he’s fighting illusions with illusions? Is he useless in a real fight?”

“It is too early to tell. The Initiate might have limited experience offensive spells, but for him to be this talented at Commutation branch magic… he’ll be an Adept before long.”

Mille watched the loud seeker making bold predictions about Caim. The observer was not a magic expert, he was really only posturing as one.

Alice was more than halfway to being a Seeker Adept, the third of six ranks. It had taken years to reach that point. In Mille’s private opinion, these praises were too grand for the inexperienced mage in the pit.

Caim wasn’t demonstrating his mastery of the intricacies of Commutation magic, he was clumsily conjuring up the same metal creature.

Flashy, with little substance, but he’ll do.

“I can’t believe the Guild didn’t make a big deal of this Initiation, I’d like to talk to this guy at some point.”

“Before he goes off and gets himself killed, you mean.”

“Yeah… that. I know how it is with these types. Their arrogance only flickers out when it’s their turn to join the Blight.”

“He didn’t seem all that bold before… And I wish you wouldn’t spread that superstitious nonsense here.”

“Relax, I was only joking.”

He wasn’t bold before. I wrote him off as talentless and weak. If I carefully tend to this low flame of competence until it becomes a welding torch, stable and strong, he could become a suitable partner for my Alice.

Forgetting her duties for the moment, Mille was getting caught up in the thought of her friend finally having a reliable partner sometime in the future. It was easy to forget her uneasiness about Caim.

Alice’s current party was strong enough, and Mille couldn’t really point to any particular flaws in the characters of its members. Still, Mille didn’t think they were a good fit. Alice had a vision for a better Shroud.

That’s what it is! He said something crazy to her about remaking the world. Caim is serious about it, even if he says he wants to make simple decisions. When I casually pressed the matter, he hushed up. I think that’s why he feels right for her...

Back on the arena floor, the three beasts in the second wave had been annihilated by Caim’s construct. No contest.

Mille could tell what her friend had been thinking in the beginning. Suddenly competent, Caim left Alice in the dust. The should-be hero seeker and the Initiate’s rank superior was made a passive observer.

That was what she was thinking then, but now there was something more complicated going on in the first seeker’s head. Mille couldn’t see much from this distance, but Caim appeared to be celebrating. He had defeated the first two waves, and his confidence was mounting.

Happily, Alice played along, eager to share in her new fellow’s accomplishment. Even if they both knew it was a test and there was no real danger, it was supposed to feel like it.

That was where the third wave came in. A trickle would become an unstoppable flood.

Subject: Alice Location: Maliscade - Blightbane Guild Headquarters

“There are more,” Caim called out, his voice wavering. “At least ten… and I can’t use Scion yet! The feeling is still gone.”

The “feeling is gone”? I don’t know what he is talking about, but this is my chance!

“Stay with me, and I’ll protect you,” Alice shouted.

Caim immediately rushed over, and she felt a rush of excitement as the first illusion “died” to her blade. Another fake varcer bounded closer, and she prepared to handle it too, but she was distracted by what her friend was doing.

From his pocket, Caim produced a black plate. He held it in his hands, seemingly waiting for something to happen. Alice continued to “protect” him while moments passed with nothing happening on Caim’s end.

“I… don’t understand why it isn’t working. It was so easy to use before, but nothing is happening. Look, there are too many for you to handle on your own. If you know a way to escape, we should go,” Caim urged.

Alice didn’t have the time to respond to whatever Caim was talking about. She still had advice to give.

“Surrounded like this, the best we can do is fight like our lives depend on it. Giving up is pointless when there is a chance to survive. Remember this,” she ordered.

What was the other line? Oh, right!

“Caim had pocketed his curious plate. He was now patiently listening to Alice’s words. It looked like the Initiate had made a revelation. Caim’s fear had vanished, too.

“Remember that a Blight Seeker is never alone. Not if the Blightbane Guild has any say!” Alice yelled, reciting the last of the signal phrases.

Her words were perfectly timed. Boots pounded the pit’s artificial ground. Some of the false blightbeasts turned to face the new arrivals.

“There are other people here!” Caim exclaimed.

“Not just people… seekers!” Alice answered.

The seekers weren’t all practiced actors, but they were the ones who had shown up to play this part in their time off. People like that tended to be the sort who enjoys showing off for a rookie.

The haphazard formation of seekers clashed with the line of illusions, cutting them apart. There were more than three times the number of illusions as there were seekers. However, they “died” whenever the mage commanding them willed it.

Just because the others had arrived, that didn’t mean Alice could stop. She continued to defend Caim. He remained closeby all the while.

“As seekers, it is our job to help when we see other seekers in trouble,” she grunted, pivoting and dragging Caim with her while she moved.

This is going well!

“Your conscience will be the only thing that enforces that rule, and we are all responsible for being better than we were yesterday,” she explained.

Caim was silent the whole time. He was trying his best to stay out of her way, it seemed, and she couldn’t complain. This dance continued for some time.

Suddenly, Caim was gone. A stray illusion had crept up behind them, and Caim had fallen over trying to avoid it. No one else noticed.

Ok, he’s actually afraid. He isn’t just acting, Alice realized.

She gouged the illusion with her blade and looked down at Caim. He looked up at her. When Alice reached down to pull him back up, she saw the look she had been longing to see.

Alice yanked Caim to his feet and leaned in close. Silently, their eyes repeated the pact from Arbe’s shrine.

Comrades.

Subject: Caim Location: Maliscade - Blightbane Guild Headquarters

Alice’s red shortblade tore through the blightbeast, and it dispersed.

Why aren’t these leaving behind any of those seeds? Caim wondered.

Everything grew quiet. The blightbeasts were all dead, thanks to this surprising band of seekers. Related to the Initiation Ritual, no doubt.

But how long had they waited to join in? Where was this place, relative to the city?

They must have been waiting to step in when things got too dangerous. Still… why did no one help me before?

Alice reached down to offer Caim a hand, just like back in Shimmerden, and he took it with no hesitation. He couldn’t look away.

This was a real warrior. He also admired the other seekers, but Alice was his lifeline.

She grinned while yanking him to his feet. Their eyes met, and he knew what she was thinking. Alice and Caim had been fast friends, but they would remain friends.

Allies.

“The beasts have been cleansed!” she shouted, pumping her other hand in the air.

There was a resounding cheer as the other seekers roared and hollered similar phrases.

All around, the natural features of the darkened landscape vanished. A shroud was lifting, and Caim only just now realized how much he’d been misled.

This wasn’t some unknown festerfont. It was a large room, made to look like one.

Bright white magitech lights clicked on, and Caim could see people looking at him from all around. He was the center of attention. Even though he should have been prepared after Alice’s warnings, he never expected the ritual to be this dramatized.

“Initiate Caim has passed the test. The Maliscade Blightbane welcome him into their ranks!” a voice boomed from all directions at once, amplified by some unknown means.

That was Mille. Caim recognized her melodic tone.

“Bring out the pledge stone,” she commanded.

Two armored Guild Defenders didn’t wait for these words to begin pushing out a large stone pillar on a wheeled platform.

The pillar was not a natural formation. It had been chiseled from shiny black rock, decorated with the Guild’s signature webbing pattern in luminous blue paint.

Once the stone arrived before Caim, the Defenders knelt, facing it on either side. The pillar was twice Caim’s height.

“It is our tradition to speak our vow before this stone,” Mille explained.

Like the Defenders, Alice knelt beside Caim. He looked around and saw every seeker in the room kneeling, facing the direction of the pledge stone.

“You can relax,” Alice whispered. “The words are simple.”

“First, kneel facing the stone,” Mille instructed.

Caim did so.

“Good. Now, I’m going to give you the traditional imagery for the next part. Being a Blight Seeker is a noble thing. The Guild’s purpose is universal, not restricted to any one nation, continent, or people.”

Mille was reciting these words with a passionate intonation. Each pause or drop in volume drew Caim in, and the people around him faded from his awareness.

“The Blight is aptly named. It corrupts the very land we all live on. This planet will not fall to it because it has the Guild to protect it.”

Mille meant these words. This wasn’t just a job to her, it was a purpose.

“Hold out your left arm. Your hand reaches out as an extension of the Guild’s directive. Imagine the Blight as one enormous parasite, a foreign entity stretching its tendrils all throughout the planet. Grab hold of one because the Guild needs you to strangle it. Don’t worry about the others. You should know by now that you’re not alone.”

With adrenaline surging and surrounded by kneeling seekers, Caim was receptive to these instructions. Fake as it was, Caim still felt victorious.

He was highly motivated by the words, and he did his best to do as Mille said, even going to far as to imagine a violet tendril burrowing through the ground. The same oozing color of the varcer’s blood in Shimmerden.

“Look up at it. Recognize the Blight as your enemy, and all peoples everywhere as allies in this fight.”

Caim did as he was told. The descriptive imagery helped clear up doubt that he was making the right gestures.

If I’m an instrument of the Blightbane, a Blight Seeker, I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to be Vera’s pawn... I don’t have to be ARC’s fool… I’ll have a purpose.

Caim hadn’t noticed it until now, but silence had claimed the surrounding space. Background murmurs had faded, respectful of Mille’s ceremonial authority.

“Now, repeat after me,” she commanded.

Alice’s posture changed in Caim’s periphery. She rose, bringing her feet close together and putting her right fist to her chest.

“I will dedicate myself to cleansing this planet of Blight so that all can live in peace,” Mille recited. “I’ll strip the strength of my foes and add it to my own. I have been reborn as a Blight Seeker.”

Caim repeated the words, feeling a peculiar sensation wash over him. A chill made the hairs on his arms stand on end. Calm energy coursed through him. He felt like his life had been given the purpose he so desperately wanted.

“Initiate Caim, you have been given a provisional title based on your decisions in the ritual. You receive the title Beacon of Curiosity. You studied your environment and the movements of your enemies. You delegated what little strength you had effectively, using magic to handle the threats as best you could. You didn’t have physical strength or dexterity, but you did have intellect.”

The title made Caim’s chest swell with pride. Had he really impressed them?

“The Guild relies on seekers like you to accompany combat-specialized seekers on harvesting excursions. Beacons of Curiosity often choose to hone their blightsource harvesting abilities. We all help sustain the Guild in our own way. We are all valuable in the war against the blight.”

Without being ordered to, Caim stood up on his own and peered deeply into the engraved surface of the stone, wondering if it was enchanted.

No, that isn’t why I feel this way, he realized. It’s the concept. It reminds me of something Vera said… or did?

Seekers and Guild employees all around Caim began to cheer and roar, clapping for him, even beating their chests in celebration.

The ritual was over. The invigorating sense of power and purpose did not leave him. It lingered