The Jin’Tira hadn’t been in his room when they went through, which had never happened before. Maiz didn’t think too much of it--after all, he hadn’t seen the Jin’Teslin, Lila’s mother, since she’d brought his friends to the Temple.

“Watch out!”

Maiz winced involuntarily as a hand dripping loose sand, a hand made of the desert itself, smashed down towards Hugan’s head. He would have stepped to the side, or jumped, or sliced the offending limb off. Hugan… stood there, lifting his shield with what Maiz considered a lack of appropriate urgency. There was a clang and a screech, and when the creature withdrew, Maiz saw that its body had massive rents in it, spilling sand onto the floor. Huh. It was a little unintuitive that a swirling, vaguely humanoid collection of sand could be hurt by a sword, but Maiz supposed that it was only Novice level.

Hugan, looking completely unhurt despite the obvious strength of the creature’s attack, stepped forward again leading with his shield. After what felt like a long time and several more clangs as Hugan blocked blows from the enraged monster, it finally dissolved away.

“Huh. What was that?”

Hugan sounded only vaguely curious. Truth be told, Maiz was as well. He hadn’t yet been through this place, a large rock formation open to the desert sun and storms. The monsters had all burrowed up out of the ground, which explained how they remained sheltered during the sandstorms that would sometimes sweep the Waste.

“Just check your Notification Sheet,” Maiz reminded his friend.

“Oh, right.” Silence, then, “it’s called a, uh, Sandwraith? Dustghost? Something like that. And… hey! I’m an Apprentice now!”

Maiz nodded. He’d forgotten again that Hugan couldn’t read. He didn’t know exactly how the other boy perceived his notifications, but apparently the information could be ambiguous. He was about to say that ‘Dustghost’ sounded like a stupid name, when the second part of what Hugan said registered.

“What? Really?”

The other boy nodded, grinning, and words flashed above his head. Hugan-Apprentice Warden.

Maiz smiled back.”That’s great! Congratulations!”

Hugan was looking at his armor-clad arms, as though he expected them to look different now that he’d entered a new realm. “Thanks! Wow, it feels really weird to be this much stronger!”

Oh, that was right. Other people didn’t get to choose where most of their attribute points went. Hugan likely had most of his points assigned to Strength and Constitution each rank. “It’s a little strange, yeah. What are you going to assign the rest of the points to?”

Hugan’s grin turned into a pensive expression. “Hmm, I put the last bunch in Dexterity and Agility. It seemed like a good idea, but I don’t think I need to move around all that much. And besides I, uh, kind of wanted to ask you something.” He shot an uncomfortable look at Maiz before continuing, “will you, maybe, if we have time, teach me to read?” He didn’t even look at Maiz as he continued, words coming in a rush, “I worked with Ba when I was younger, and besides, Smiths get a point in Intelligence each rank, and we thought it would be easier to learn once I boosted it. So if I put some points in now, do you think you could teach me?”

Maiz blinked. He hadn’t been sure what Hugan was going to say, but this seemed fine. More than fine. An excellent idea, really. “Um, sure. But, uh, does higher Intelligence really make it easier to learn to read?”

Hugan nodded vigorously, armor clanking a little. “Yeah! Ba said that Intelligence makes it easier to notice things and remember them, so it makes learning go much faster. And it’s supposed to be useful in a fight because you can think things through better, so it’s not even a waste!”

Huh. Maiz hadn’t really thought about it, but he had learned all his new abilities at a ridiculous speed, even if they were just Novice ranked. Had fighting gotten less overwhelming over time because he’d gotten more practice, or just because he’d increased his Intelligence? After a moment’s thought he decided that, if it worked like his other attributes, then the gains he’d made in the Temple wouldn’t have had as big an impact as those in the earlier ranks. He’d realized a while ago that, as his attributes got larger, each point counted for less in terms of their physical--or, he supposed, mental--effects.

His musings were interrupted when something massive smashed into his shoulder, forcing him to stumble.

“Thanks, Maiz!”

“No... problem…” he wheezed back. It had been nice, being so much higher ranked than Hugan that his blows didn’t hurt. Time to get used to the pain again, he supposed.

They teleported back to the Temple, Hugan exclaiming in surprise when they found themselves in the cubical stone room together. He hadn’t been teleported back to the beginning of the Path yet, so Maiz supposed the shock was warranted. Once he’d calmed down, it only took a few minutes for him to learn the Punch skill. He used it on the inscription, and Maiz followed with Mana Projection. He arrived to find Hugan staring at the next challenge. The one that involved jumping between obelisks that rose up out of a massive abyss.

“I, uh, I think I should take my armor off.”

“Those Intelligence points were a good idea.”

Hugan looked over at him, eyebrow raised, a smile threatening to burst out from his concerned expression. “Was that a joke? Are you feeling alright?”

Maiz flushed. He considered half a dozen witty responses he was sure would sound idiotic, then simply said, “uh, yes.”

Hugan burst out laughing. Probably more than the situation called for, but then Maiz was right there beside him, doing the same thing. It was an interesting experience, to laugh at something silly. He hadn’t done much of that since he’d left the training grounds, and even then it had been a rare occurrence. It was liberating in a way he didn’t really understand, but appreciated nonetheless.

“Alright,” Hugan panted, stepping out of the last of his armor, “if I don’t make this one, just keep going, okay? I want to try doing it again alone anyways.”

Maiz nodded. It had been a little unfair, how much he’d helped Hugan through the Novice section. He would benefit from the training, and Maiz would also be able to do some more focused practice without the other boy there.

“Okay, here goes!”

Hugan flexed his legs, and Jumped. Or maybe he just jumped. Either way, he flew out over the pit in a wide arc, limbs flailing a little. He was shouting something, but Maiz wasn’t sure what. He was too preoccupied with the phantom horror he felt at seeing the young Warden completely overshoot the platform and tumble into the blackness. Oh. He probably should have taken some time to get use to his Strength before he did that.

Well, Hugan would probably have fun running the Path again. Maiz did feel a pang of sympathy at the horror of having the first failure be falling into a bottomless void, but hopefully Hugan hadn’t realized what was happening before he got sent back to the beginning. Either way, standing around wasn’t going to make him feel any better about it.

It didn’t take very long to reach the end of the section, even though he didn’t dare use any overt abilities except for Nightwalker concealed by Color Tapestry. A huge advantage of the Shadeweaver spell was that his illusions could be attached to physical objects like his feet so he didn’t need to devote extra attention to maintaining the deception. He also activated Enlightenment, mostly so that he wouldn’t forget to use it in the Dungeon and advance its rank.

After defeating the last two golems by using Nightwalker to slide out from between a pair of strike and flank his opponents, Maiz ascended the stairs, fully expecting to see an empty room and move on to a Dungeon, or perhaps some study in the Library.

“Hello. Maiz, was it?”

Of course. Maiz made a note to himself never to expect anything. It never seemed to work out. “Yes, Jin’Teslin.”

She was looking rather severe, her gray eyes hard as stone and looking directly into his soul. “Hm. I have been wondering what exactly to do with you, you know.”

Maiz frowned in mock confusion, though a cold hand of pure fear was already squeezing his heart. If this woman wanted, she could kill him instantly, and there was nothing he could do about it. “Ma’am?”

“You knew my daughter. Well, it seems. Yet you never brought her existence up.” The Jin’s voice was deadly calm, and Maiz started sweating.

“I… she never told me her title, or where she was from.”

There was a rush of air, and the her nose was suddenly inches from Maiz’s own. It was all he could do not to jump back and curse, but he kept his composure. Thank you, Hakim.

“And you didn’t have the slightest inkling that, perhaps, someone who fought like her would be a Warrior Monk? You have spent quite some time in the Library, I am sure you read about our skills.”

Maiz thought about lying, but even Hugan wouldn’t have missed that connection. “Honestly ma’am, I was too scared of you or the other Jin to tell them about Lila, even after I realized what she was.”

The woman’s stone gaze pinned him in place. He could hear it when she exhaled, a bare whisper in the otherwise silent room. She drew in another breath, nostrils flaring, and it was all the warning he got before he was on the floor, head hurting distinctly more than it had a moment before.

“The last Spellsword to come to this place challenged me to a fight because I wouldn’t tell him my name. I lost. You would do well to learn to act with courage like that, boy.”

The healing bracelet was already doing its work, filling his head with warmth, but he must have sustained a serious head injury, because his mouth began moving before his self-preservation instincts had a chance to kick in.

“I’m sure that when I’m a Master, I’ll have the courage to smash Apprentices into the ground too, ma’am.”

It had been a good run, he supposed. Hugan, Lila, and Ziya were safe, at least. Hopefully nothing too awful would happen to Caelos, but really, he would be more than fine if that city and every Sharir in it burned to the ground. He could die knowing that he hadn’t messed anything up too badly. He squeezed his eyes shut, still unable to move properly, and waited.

When he opened them again and didn’t find himself face to face with Viselys or Riala or some demon from the Abyss, he was slightly confused. When he realized he could move around again, he was more so. Head pounding, he sat up from the floor. There was no one there. Hm.

He waited there for a full fifteen minutes, headache slowly fading as the healing bracelet did its work. He sincerely hoped there wasn’t anything truly wrong up there: he had no idea how the enchantment would respond to a crack in his skull, for example. Would he find a permanent depression in his head where the Jin had hit him?

With a rush of wind, the Jin returned, panting slightly, face and clothed speckled with black… something. Ichor, Maiz supposed.

“You seem to have healed yourself. The bracelet, yes?”

Maiz nodded dumbly. He didn’t trust himself to speak.

“I will admit, I probably had that coming. But be careful--none of my siblings would have left you alive after such an insult.” She paused, and Maiz wondered why she even bothered to tell him that. His limbs were still shaking a little in reaction from what had almost happened. “But you are braver than I assumed.”

Maiz said nothing. He didn’t think he really could at that moment, and not because of the head injury.

“You took the wind out of my sails, as they say to the West, but I did want to speak with you. Even if what I did was… dishonorable, you still must pay for the hardship you put my daughter through by not speaking.”

The Master’s demeanor, which had been disconcertingly unsure as she looked down at Maiz with her head bowed, returned to its normal confidence. “Fortunately for both of us, there is an issue that both concerns the Temple and could benefit your growth. I will consider your participation in solving the problem recompense for your transgression.”

It seemed like he was getting a raw deal out of this, especially considering the ‘apology’ he’d just received. But then, he was pretty sure she’d just gone and killed her way through a Dungeon to cool her temper at him, so maybe he shouldn’t point that out. Still, the cynical thought was enough to get his mental faculties functional once again, and he rose. He really should start getting used to these near-death experiences.

“Yes ma’am.”

The Jin’Teslin nodded decisively. “There is an army marching across the Waste, devouring every source of water and every Dungeon they can access. A few days ago, they appear to have detected a disturbance which led back to the Temple.” She gave a slightly uncomfortable look before continuing. “They have changed course, meaning that we must dissuade them from coming our way. Several raiding parties and expeditions have already been sent out, and more are being prepared, including all of our own combatants. I expect you to join a party and aid this effort as much as you can.”

Maiz stared at her, and the strains of an old funeral dirge began playing in the back of his head. Oh hells.

“Yes ma’am.”