I quickly put out the flame hovering above my palm before the clerk could become alarmed. He didn’t respond for several seconds, but he eventually blinked twice and wrote a few short sentences on his document. Finally, he gestured to a door at the back of the room to his left. “Right this way ma’am.”
Following him towards the door, I fully admit to having felt a little smug. While people with enhanced physical abilities or who are able to manifest a predetermined set of magical effects are not too rare, true magicborn, able to freely wield and control some aspect of magic without a focus, are few and far between. While he had no way of being certain that I actually was what I claimed to be, it would be easy enough to prove, and even if I wasn’t, I had managed to manifest a spell, however small, through the aetheric suppressors installed in the building.
After walking a ways down a corridor, one less lavishly decorated than the waiting room, he opened a door on the left and motioned for me to go inside. Inside the room, there was a woman with dark, ashen hair in a short ponytail and wearing a forest green military uniform. She was sitting on a well-made, padded wooden chair in front of a similarly robust and artfully carved desk, and opposite her was another matching chair, though this one was lacking the cushioning of the other.
“Please take a seat.” The woman said, nodding towards the unoccupied spot. As I moved to sit down, the clerk who had guided me walked over to the woman and handed her the document he had written before swiftly taking his leave. “Hello Miss Wells, I am Lieutenant Jisa Thorn, an officer and instructor stationed in Felvikdal. I see here you are capable of some impressive magical feats.”
It was not a question, so my reply was only a simple, “Yes.” This got a thin smile out of the instructor, her tanned face showing a fine array of laugh lines and wrinkles, a testament to the time she had likely spent working under the sun. The strips of intricately woven fabric pinned to her lapel and the sheathed sword resting against her chair served as further proof of her experience in the field, though any would-be Ranger worth their salt hopefully wouldn’t need any of that to realize her strength. The aura she emitted should have been enough proof of that on its own.
“However, I do need a bit more information about you before being able to consider you for the rangers. Being able to see your face would be a good place to start.”
As I took off my hood, recognition and understanding ran through her expression. My overall appearance was not particularly notable, medium skin and deep brown hair over features slightly too broad and strong to be called elfin. The unusual part, or parts, as they may be, were my ears. Those very clearly were elfin, and though they did not have the almost excessive length of some elves, they were visible through my hair as little points.
Leaning forward a bit in her chair, Lieutenant Thorn began to speak again. “I see. Where are you from, Miss Wells? I haven’t heard of any elven settlements near here, so I imagine you’re far from home.”
Hah. I am farther from home than you could ever imagine. That wasn’t actually an answer, however, so I gave her one that was different, but nevertheless true.
“Well, I’m not actually an elf, I’m originally from the Respledia Allegiance, and had been hiding that I was magicborn. However, I ended up needing to use my magic in front of others, and fled the country after that. These,” I drew out the word, flicking my left ear forward with my finger, “are from how I changed my appearance to avoid being recognized.”
“You changed your appearance? That’s certainly an exceptional bit of spellwork.” The lieutenant’s eyebrows had risen at my statement, the complexity of the spell I had suggested clearly understood by her. The slight nod I made in response actually got a short chuckle out of her, though she quickly returned to the topic at hand. “Normally, we have some hesitation about accepting potential Rangers from outside the Federation, but given your nature and the situation in Respledia, I doubt you have much desire to return.”
I let out a sigh and leaned back in my chair in response. “I’ll admit I still have people there I care about, but I have no desire to return to that mess any time soon.”
Lieutenant Thorn had been writing on the document she was given the entire time we were speaking, and after my last statement she took a moment to finish jotting down her thoughts. When she was finished, she set down her pen and looked back at me. “So, now that I have a better idea of who you are, Miss Wells, tell me, what can you do? Clearly you have skill with magic, but that does not necessarily mean you’ll be a good Ranger.”
She stopped talking there, leaving me to figure out what skills and abilities would be relevant to share. This was probably a test in and of itself, as someone who started talking about their knitting abilities obviously wouldn’t have an understanding of what was needed of a Ranger, though one who talked about their ability to repair gear in the field would have a decent chance, provided they had other necessary skills. In my situation, I decided the best place to start would be my magic skills.
“Most of the magic I have come to prefer is of a more… esoteric variety, though I believe much of it will still be useful. I’ve been making the most use of sensory and mobility enhancing magic to travel quickly and avoid running into trouble. As for combat, I do have training with aether-munitions, which I’ve been putting to use collecting bounties on my travels.” In fact, I had two aether-pistols on me right then. Security in the facility seemed oddly lax with regard to weaponry, though I could think of a few reasons for that. Obviously, the aetheric suppressors would prevent the majority of magic usage, or, for those of us who could cast spells through them, they would at least weaken it. It could also serve as a display of power, in a roundabout way. A statement that they were confident enough in the power of their Army and Rangers to handle any who would try to cause problems, which, if the power of the lieutenant was anything to go by, they probably could. There was also a pragmatic angle to this. While the forces present almost certainly could deal with any incidents, there would still be those who would object to having their gear taken from them, possibly violently, and the personnel here would likely rather avoid any incidents happening in the first place.
Lieutenant Thorn nodded once I finished speaking, writing once more on the document before scrawling her signature across the bottom of the sheet. “Alright,” she stood up, picking up her sword and reattaching it to her belt, then grabbing the piece of paper and gesturing for me to stand as well, “follow me to the training grounds. There will be a short test to check your abilities, and, if you aren’t lying, you’ll officially be a Ranger recruit.” I followed her as she turned left out of the room, heading further down the hallway I had traveled through not ten minutes earlier. After passing through a sturdily-built set of double doors, we entered a wing of the building that was far more spartan in appearance. Solid stone floors and heavy, wooden walls formed two large hallways that intersected in front of the doorway, one continuing forward and one directly to the left. We headed about halfway down the left corridor before passing through a large doorway on the right, both its doors already opened.
Inside were two men. One was older, with graying hair, and wearing a uniform similar to that of a steward, but with a dark green vest over it. The other was younger, likely in his thirties, tall, well muscled, and had auburn hair. He was wearing a dark green gambeson and had an arming sword sheathed on his left hip, the image of a career soldier. Lieutenant Thorn handed the document she had been carrying to the steward, who glanced it over and placed it in a leather folder he held, and then led me to the armored man.
It was as I was walking towards him that a wave of tension rolled through me and the reality of my situation sunk in, a wave of uncomfortable warmth and anxiety crawling across my skin. I was joining a military branch of a government while so far from my home, from my friends and my family. True, I could have still left, there was still time to say this wasn’t for me, that this wasn’t really what I wanted. But, what did I want? What else would I do? Certainly, I could have joined many organizations, either as a mage, an enchanter, or an artificer, but those would see me stuck in one place, unable to exercise my power or pursue my mission. And even if I did drop out now, how would that reflect on me? No, this was the opportunity I had been looking for, and I wasn’t going to pass it up just because I was getting nervous. And it wouldn’t be forever, my life would be long, and I would have ample time for other pursuits even after my tenure as a Ranger.
Swallowing down my anxiety, I approached the soldier, and Lieutenant Thorn introduced us. “Jessica Wells, this is Captain Thomal Joran. He is a Ranger based out of Felvikdal that will be assisting in your training when not out on assignment.”
“It’s nice to meet you Miss Wells,” he said, extending his right hand, “I look forward to seeing what you are capable of.” His voice was not as deep as I had been expecting given his large frame, and his manner of speech was surprisingly expressive, giving the impression that he was genuinely hoping I’d do well, that I would be a boon to the Rangers.
I quickly extended my own hand to join his and gave a quick handshake, a faint smile on my face. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
He wasted no time getting back to the matter at hand. “Onto business, we’ll be doing a test of your abilities in just a minute.” There were a set of heavily reinforced double doors opposite the side of the room I had entered, which he gestured to now. “Beyond these doors is a training ground we’ve set up for the occasion. We’ll give you a minute and then release a small monster from the opposite doors. Your goal is to either take it out or still be standing after five minutes. Let me know when you’re ready and we’ll get started.”
He was way too enthusiastic about sicing a monster on me. However, this did seem like an interesting test, and I was already thinking about how I wanted to approach it. If you could hide from, dodge, or endure fighting the monster for five minutes, you would pass. Taking it out was obviously an option too, and the one I was leaning towards, but there was always the possibility it was bait for those over eager or desperate to impress. Oh, this test also explains another reason they had let us keep our weapons. Focusing back on the matter at hand, I made up my mind on how I would face my opponent. Of course, depending on what I was up against my strategy might have to change, but there were a few assumptions I could make about my opponent. They wouldn’t, couldn’t, have anything too dangerous in here, and they wouldn’t have wasted the resources to capture or import several dozen of something particularly exotic. It also probably wouldn’t be something that was too skilled at finding and stalking its target, otherwise it would significantly reduce the number of viable approaches to this test. There would also be a maximum size for the ‘small’ monster, as the doors into and out of this room make a square roughly ten feet to a side, though the opposite room wouldn’t necessarily be the same.
Strategy in mind, I reached up with both hands to raise my hood, took a deep breath to calm my resurgent nerves, and nodded my head. “I’m ready.”
Captain Joran nodded, opening one of the doors and leading the way out, and Lieutenant Thorn followed behind me. We walked down a short hall leading out to where my test would be. The area was a square courtyard around three hundred feet across, with tiered benches extending out about fifty feet from each wall, leaving a central area of about two hundred feet each direction. It was a strange combination of training yard, parade grounds, and arena. I could see straight across its hard-packed dirt floor to the set of doors on the opposite side, which thankfully were the same size. Scattered throughout the rest of the area were simple wooden structures and obstacles, ranging from elevated platforms, walls of varying heights, and scattered barricades.
Steeling myself, I once again took a deep breath and walked out into the center of the arena. There were a handful of people in the seats, many wearing uniforms or symbols of Felbeck, and others looking tired and dirty from their own recent tests. Closing my eyes, I focused myself, ignoring the eyes watching me and my own pointless anxiety. Going over my plan once more, I began to gather aether from my passive reservoir, readying myself to cast a spell.
I snapped my eyes open as the doors before me swung outwards with a bang, and a very irate, very large boar walked out. Small my ass! Okay, as far as monsters go, it was fairly small, but it’s pointed back still reached up to almost my full five and a half feet! To make matters worse, it wasn’t just a very large boar, it was a monster, an animal with innate magical abilities. Even if I hadn’t recognized it as a steel-haired boar, the aether concentrated in its fur would have given away that it was not merely a mundane creature. Fortunately, most of my assumptions were proven right, but unfortunately that also included the one about trying to defeat it being a trap. Thankfully, my strategy had accounted for that possibility, and I had made provisions in case my initial plan failed.
The boar began charging for me the moment its eyes adjusted to the late-morning light, but I had already begun shaping my spells. One was ready almost instantly, its simple nature and the frequency with which I used it aiding in it’s quick preparation. The second was far stranger, taking some time to wrangle into form, but was taking shape quite nicely. Earlier, I had advertised myself as being skilled at esoteric magics, and I was intending to drive that point home. Honestly, there were a dozen ways I could have passed this test. Invisibility, movement augmentation, hell, I could have just put my brute force behind an explosion spell and knocked it unconscious. But, despite my nervousness, I did want to make a good showing of this, and so I prepared something special.
I bent my knees, lowering my body several inches, and planted the spell I had spent so much time preparing on the ground beneath my feet. Mere moments before the raging animal could hit me, I jumped, activating the first spell I had shaped as I did so. The spell amplified the force I applied on the ground, and therefore, the force it applied on me, launching me a clean ten feet into the air. As I left the ground, I pulled the pistol on my left thigh free of its holster and activated one of the enchantments, the cylinder within spinning to align the designated chamber with the firing mechanism. Immediately, aether began flowing through the enchantments on the grip and frame, moving from my reservoir into the active attunement crystal, charging it in less than a tenth of a second.
I had added a small amount of forward rotation to my jump, such that I was facing almost straight downwards when I reached the peak. My timing was perfect, the boar passing beneath me at that same moment, allowing me to see it trigger the spell I had planted on the ground. Thin ribbons of pale aether, visible and opaque, shot out from my construct, the non-substance wrapping around the boar, seeming to solidify and tie itself into knots despite not truly being matter. The bindings my spell created had hobbled the boar, interrupting its stride mid charge, tripping it and sending it sliding across the ground on its side.
As the spell activated, I pulled my legs close to my body and accelerated my flip, twisting around in the air as I did so to ensure I kept facing my opponent throughout the entirety of my flight. The bindings my spell had made would not last forever, and so, as I finished my turn, I raised my pistol towards the sliding beast, aiming almost forty five degrees upwards as my body had yet to complete its rotation. Still airborne, I pulled the trigger, and the attuned aether within the chamber shot outwords faster than the eye could track, appearing as a brief streak of light simultaneously blue, yellow, and purple. The bolt of magic struck the boar on its shoulder, and the animal spasmed, all of the muscles in its body seizing as the aether triggered electric currents throughout its body.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was little more than a second, I landed, keeping my weapon trained on the boar the entire time. It wasn’t dead, but once I was satisfied it wasn’t getting up anytime soon, I lowered my pistol. The bindings I had created had already begun to evaporate, the pseudo-physicality I had granted my spell fading away. It had been a short fight, but it was being observed by others, and I had desperately wanted to get it right, so I had put my all into making sure my strategy worked. Apparently I had done well, as Lieutenant Thorn had a grin and was slowly nodding her head. Reholstering my weapon, I walked around the fallen boar and approached the two officers. “So, did I pass?”
Lieutenant Jisa Thorn
I had known she wouldn’t be run-of-the-mill, but the ease with which she had defeated the monster was impressive. Certainly, her equipment had aided her in the test, but that did nothing to detract from her performance. The strange magic she had used spoke of her ability with the art, and when combined with the strategy she executed and the skill she displayed with her body and weapon, it suggested great potential.
Certainly, I had some apprehensions about accepting a potential recruit of foreign origins who was being vague about her background, but certain things were easy to guess. The level of skill she possessed and the quality of her equipment spoke to a wealthy background, which would have provided access to excellent instructors and armorers, and if she truly is from Respledia, she would have needed to leave once her magic ability became known. The complexity and intricacy of the spells she wields is suspect, as it would be difficult to gain that knowledge in many parts of the country, but given the recent unrest and factional disputes, it would have been far from impossible.
Ultimately, the potential power she could lend to the rangers was well worth whatever risk she brought with her, and given that the rangers were not often involved with national secrets, she wouldn’t be able to do much damage in the first place.
I couldn’t help but grin at getting such a promising recruit even as she walked towards me. The nervousness apparent in her voice as she asked if she had passed almost made me chuckle.
“Congratulations Ranger.”
