Dix had asked a number of other questions about combat teleportation, but Error didn’t know much more about how it worked. What he did know more about, and explained in excruciating detail, was what condition people who attempted to learn it were left in. It wasn’t just a loss of limbs, life, and sanity. It was all three. There never seemed to be enough time for people to have sustained the amount of damage that they come out with, yet healers said that the injuries had been inflicted so long ago that they no longer had the ability to heal. Loss of sanity was instantaneous upon their reappearance, and most lost their lives almost immediately from blood loss and pain. Some lasted a couple of days, but that was seen more as a curse than a blessing.

After another fantastic dinner, Dix headed off to the library in the hope of finding another avenue of information on combat teleportation. It reminded him to speak to one of his trainers about the oddity that he had encountered, but otherwise was a bit of a failure. It wasn’t that he didn’t find any information, rather that all the information matched or exceeded the horrors that Error had already described. The most interesting book was called the Tele-Paradox. It explained that the shorter amount of distance someone wished to instantly travel, the longer they would be in the space between places, although the real world time would be the same no matter the distance travelled. Meaning that short range teleportation actually needed even stronger protective measures than longer range teleportation, thus negating the possibility of fast and reliable teleportation in a combat situation.

It went on to further explain that there seemed to be no end of ways to simply move a short distance by moving very fast for a short period of time, but none of these were actually teleportation. Using these methods meant that you would actually have to travel through the intervening area to get from point to point. No going through walls without breaking them down, nor dodging projectiles without actually avoiding them. That didn’t mean these skills were useless, simply that they weren’t teleportation. And significantly less likely to simply maim and kill, along with the insanity that persisted between the two.

Frustrated at the lack of anything that would even hint at a way to move towards successfully figuring out a way to use combat teleportation, Dix gave up on his research on that topic and moved back to his normal readings. His choice that evening was focused on monster species. He had found a training guide to the local area that covered the types of creatures found in the surrounding areas and dungeons, but it had no further information on those things. No weaknesses to exploit, tactics to employ, or ways to avoid confrontation. Deciding that he needed to learn a lot of these things anyways, he quickly tracked down a bestiary and started tracking down everything nearby that he could, a process that took the rest of his evening study time.

Morning found he and Error heading out of town. He knew Pursue had a wall that enfolded the town, but to Dix it looked more like a fence. Curious, he asked, “Why does the wall look like a fence? I mean it’s only three feet tall. That’s unlikely to stop goblins, yet alone something big.”

Error’s bark of laughter was almost expected. He knew the Elf was looking forward to explaining something else he hadn’t figured out on his own. He also knew the answer would break down into something along the lines of “because magic”. Dix wasn’t too surprised when Error gave an answer that was a longer version of his guess. “Well, the wall itself is much higher, but has been enchanted to be seen through from this side. This not only allows for a better view for the people living nearby and helps get more eyes looking outside to spot incoming trouble, but also is more convenient in the case of attack. Being able to see through the wall means that ranged attackers can arc their attacks and spells over the wall, instead of being in the melee fighter’s way if something makes it to the top.”

“Good plan,” Dix said, impressed by the idea. It forced him to rethink the arrogance he had been building. Until very recently he had been beginning to worry that he was the only person on the planet with a brain.

When they did get out of the town, Dix glanced back and saw that the walls rose nearly fifty feet into the air, a far more impressive defensive structure than he had originally seen from the other side. Having just travelled through that same wall, he was also aware of how dauntingly thick they were. Sure, modern weapons could mostly pulverize a wall of this size in a very short period of time, but there were no tanks, bombers, or artillery here, making it quite safe. He was also positive that if they made the effort to enchant one side of the wall to be seen through, they must have also enchanted it to be stronger and more durable. Possibly even strong enough to defend against the tanks he was contemplating earlier.

After a nice leisurely hike, they eventually reached the nearby forest. As Error continued walking, Dix simply stopped to stare. He had expected to see some strange things upon coming to a fantasy world, but the sight of the trees in the forest completely blew his mind. Never before in his life had he felt so small. Walking amongst the skyscrapers of any large city on Earth had never made him feel that way. He had always been aware that Humanity had built them, and that each floor that made up such a towering edifice was created to allow for Human occupation. To him, skyscrapers were a monument to the power of science as wielded by mankind. But the trees in that forest were larger than any building he had ever seen.

The trees, if you could call something that was taller than the replacement of the World Trade Center a tree, were an odd spiralling shape. It almost looked like a series of vines had twisted around each other to form the massive trunk required to support such an impressive height. As each vine neared the end of its length, it would peel away from the trunk to become a branch instead, complete with large triangular leaves. At the base of the trunk the trees were the size of a city block. The color contrast was also interesting, as while the leaves were the vibrant emerald green of spring grass, the trunks were instead a sparkling, almost metallic, blue. Each of the vines making up each tree was a slightly different shade, ranging from cerulean to lapis, azure to indigo. All of the trees also had the faint glow of bioluminescence, something that he might have noticed had he been out on the town at any time after dark since his arrival.

There was a strange lack of undergrowth in the forest, particularly considering the amount of light that came through the leaves and branches of the trees above. None of the branches forked outward, so the leaves were attached only to a singular branch poking straight out from the trunk. Despite the number of them, the trees were so far apart as to leave large swaths of sunlight in the areas between them. What little undergrowth there was, grew in these sunlit patches. Mostly bushes with some small berries, and a few shorter fruit bearing trees, none taller than about forty feet tall. The rest of the ground of the forest, covered in the shade of the trees, was covered in knee high purple grasses with white grains, making Dix feel like he was walking through the night sky. All together, it was the second most magical place he had ever seen, right after Beauty’s garden on the moon. Certainly, it was the most naturally magical.

Breaking himself from the trance he had fallen into he took a more careful look around. The entire forest was settled into a valley, meaning they had been walking downhill the entire time since leaving the city. With the fair difference in elevation between the city, and the ground based starting point of the trees, he had never before noticed their incredible height. Instead, he had only been able to tell there was a nearby deciduous forest. The height, thickness, and trunk color of the trees had been hidden behind distance, elevation, and the leaves, all leading to his stunned amazement. Dix wouldn’t have had it anyother way. This was exactly the sort of thing he was looking forward to on Mantra.

With a gleeful smile, and a bit more bounce in his step, Dix set off after Error. The Elf had gotten some distance away while Dix stared at the trees, but could still be seen walking between the trees and the islands of sun and smaller plant growth. A quick burst of speed, and Dix caught up. Error motioned at the forest around them, saying, “This is the safest area of the surroundings of Pursue. There are things that live in this particular forest, but they are both too far away and too strong to care about us. But head a few days further in, and it would be a different story. Some of them are very territorial. Other monsters know to stay far away from them, so this forest, the only area those stronger monsters can live, is left alone. This makes it a safe place for us to train. Come.”

Error led them over to a tree that was slightly larger than most of the others nearby, but otherwise appeared to be the same. He motioned to the tree and said, “With your Wall Run skill, you could most likely run up this tree for a ways. You would have to work harder to do so, as it is categorically not a wall. It has some similarities though, being a mostly vertical surface. It is also wide enough that it is almost flat. But that is the problem. Almost flat. Mostly vertical. It’s not a wall, it’s a tree. So to truly run up this tree you would need Tree Run, not Wall Run. Same thing with all of the other skills you have that work on walls. You get a lot of help from having them combined into Traverse, which doesn’t have a specifier that limits you, but it’s modifiers are still based on walls.”

He briefly patted the tree, a faint smile on his face, as though he was greeting an old friend, or an object with fond memories attached. “Years ago, I learned the very same lessons I am about to teach you on this very tree.” There was a period of silence as Error let those old memories surface. Understanding what was going through his mentor’s head, Dix remained quiet and simply enjoyed the setting.

Eventually, Error twitched and turned back to his student. A quick cough, and a nodded thanks later, he resumed his lecture. “In an emergency, you could use a Wall Run to escape by running up this tree. That is how skill similarities work. You will find a number of them throughout your life, although none of them are something you should rely on to keep you alive on a consistent basis. When all other paths to staying alive are closed, then a skill similarity may give you a chance, but only as a last resort. Also, the farther from the normal usage of the skill you get, the smaller the chance of them actually working. See that tree there?” He pointed to one of the fruit trees. It’s trunk was about as big around as Dix’s thigh. “Do you think Wall Run would work on that one?”

“No.” Dix didn’t even think about his answer. The gigantic trees were very much like walls when you were close, but the fruit tree would never have a chance of being confused for a wall. His brow furrowed as he thought of something. Without turning his gaze from the fruit tree he asked, “How would it work if the tree was cut down and used to construct a palisade wall? Then it would be part of a wall, but also still partially a tree. Partial bonuses from each of the skills?”

Error had only briefly wondered if his trainee would get the question right, but in the end had no doubts. He wasn’t even all that surprised by the follow up. “That’s exactly right. It would also work that way with other skills as well. Cliff Run is another skill that is similar to both Wall and Tree Run. It works well with Wall Run to deal with walls that have been broken, hit with siege equipment, have strange dips and protrusions, or are just badly assembled. Also windows. Gotta have Cliff Run along with Wall Run to really work in a city.

“Now, Devouring Stride makes getting by without those extra skills easier, but it also emphasizes the need to get them. If the Stride makes a noticeable difference when you don’t have the skills, how much better will it be when you do have them.” Error waved the rest of that thought away, refocusing on why they were there. “Now, to get Tree Run, you have two ways of getting it. You can work on this big boy here,” he hiked a thumb at the massive tree behind him, ”or you can work on the fruit tree. Your pick.”

Once more, Dix didn’t need to think it over. His mind had been made up since Error pointed out the fruit tree the first time. He turned to walk towards it, but was stopped by the Elf. Once more he had something to say.

“Good choice. I’ll let you get to it in a moment, but first we need to talk about how to shut down a skill working on a similarity basis so you can train them. It’s actually quite simple. In a lot of ways, your skills work the way you think they work.” He stopped in surprise. Having just heard the words he said, Error couldn’t help but think back to Dix explaining the differences in how their Devouring Strides worked. He shook his head in a combination of depression and appreciation. He was equal parts disappointed in himself for never following his own thoughts to their logical end, and thankful to Dix for clarifying what he needed to know. Turning his focus back, he continued. “If you convince yourself that this tree is a wall, then Wall Run will partially work on it. Conversely, if you just think ‘tree’ over and over again, it won’t. Simple, but important. It’s why the fruit tree is easier for most people to get the skill with, yet this tree is physically easier to go through the motions of the skill on. If you think you can control your thoughts well enough, the big tree is actually easier to learn and improve on. Whichever tree you pick, keep it up until you learn the skill. After that, do the same thing with Climb and Jump. While you are doing all of that, I will be laying some trails through the forest. When you have finished all three skills, see if you can track me through the forest.”

At that, Error ran off behind the tree and disappeared. Dix got to work.

----------------------

Several hours later, Error was sitting on the limb of a Spiralyptus, keeping an eye out for his wayward trainee. He knew Dix wouldn’t have any problems learning the basic tree skills, so he had moved very quickly to lay a trail through the forest for him to follow. There were a few basic things he did with the trail to make it more helpful. He started out making it very easy to follow, and slowly ramped up the difficulty. Dix was assured to gain not only the tracking skill, but also a number of skill levels along with it. Furthermore, while making the trail, he moved in a widening arc, searching not only for the remote possibility of the monsters from the heart of the forest making their way out, but also for incursions of monsters from outside of the forest. While the first option was obviously dangerous, the second was actually much more so. The monsters in the heart of the forest tolerated the sentients wandering the forest for brief periods of time, but incoming monsters would be looking for a place to live. Any such presence would drive those with territorial tendencies into a rage. At that point, nothing and no one from outside of the forest was safe in their presence.

The problem he was having now though, was that he had reached the end of his patrol route some time ago, but Dix hadn’t shown up yet. So intent on studying his backtrail was he, that it took him some time to notice the presence of someone near him. It wasn’t too close, but someone was definitely nearby. He quickly searched the surrounding area, starting at the ground. It wasn’t until he moved to the branches around him that he found the target of his study. Both studies at that. Partway up the height of a nearby Spiralyptus, perched on a branch a bit above the one Error was on, was Dix, complete with weapons, pack, and smirk. Internally grumbling to himself about over achieving trainees getting ahead of themselves, he waved. The infuriating Folk stood up on his branch to wave back.

Then the idiot ran along the branch over one hundred feet in the air like it was a wide road, and launched himself off. He grabbed another branch slightly above his own, just as his downward momentum truly began. He swung part way around it before letting go and arching his back to once more launch himself into the air. This time he kicked off two more branches, leaping twenty foot gaps between them to do so, before landing on the same branch as Error. Turning to show his beaming smile, he said, “This was a blast! What else can you teach me?”

Error just facepalmed.