It took another week for the orders to arrive. In that time, the fortress only had to fend off one more attack from the barbarians, and that had been a rather lackluster assault by around three dozen ragged wolf kin. The student-mage who was on watch had rang the signal for support, but then turned and coordinated with the Ironclaw troops to drive off the attack before the enemy even reached the walls.

  All four of my girls were excited at the prospect of returning to campus and a more relaxed schedule, though Kassandra—mischievous and devious noodle that she was—immediately seized on and commented about looking forward to having more space to ‘play’ with me. If her tone of voice hadn’t been clue enough, the furiously wiggling eyebrows and lascivious smirk got her point across.

  Amusingly, the other three girls all nodded in agreement, with only very faint blushes on Jane and Shayla’s cheeks.

  The two of them had been bonding ever since our little threesome adventure after getting back from the raid, building on the friendship that had been growing over a shared fascination with ancient structures. Something that I was very happy to see, given how shy Jane and Shayla both were even on their best days.

  The orders came in while I was doing a bit of sparring with Valda.

  The lizard-folk woman had asked me to spar with her at least once a day for the last four days, seemingly intent on testing how far my Shape-Shifting could go right now. I hadn’t objected once because she was continually able to push me to improve unless I broke out one of my secret weapons that broke the rules—like the lighting-fast punches of the dactyl-clubs I borrowed off of a mantis shrimp.

  “You are learning very quickly, Liam,” Valda panted, the tight braid she wore her dishwater blonde hair in having lost control of a few wisps of bangs to drape over her face.

  “It helps having an exceptional sparring partner,” I replied, feinting left and then right again, both arms sporting large, armored claws like a crab.

  Valda didn’t buy either feint, instead driving down the center with her practice sword as soon as I started to recover from my feints in an effort to catch me off balance.

  Rather than try to block her blow, I folded and fell backwards into a roll away from her. My Shape-Shifting worked on autopilot, reversing joints and drafting small changes to my body that turned my roll into a scuttle and then a lunge at her side.

  The lizard-folk woman parried, but grunted at the sheer weight I was throwing against her. Mid-flight I’d packed on an additional hundred pounds of muscle, thickening my torso and shoulders to add more mass to the blow that was already in motion.

  The swatting swing with the crab-claw slowed with Valda’s guard, but her strength gave in at the last moment and her elbows folded. The blow powered through to slam her practice-sword back into her chest and send her into a roll of her own. Though Valda’s roll was not nearly as graceful as mine had been.

  My Manipulate Element power reacted just as automatically, softening the sand that she landed on to cushion the fall and shifting the grains to ensure she didn’t break anything. Though our sparring match was strictly a no-magic battle, the match was over and I only acted to keep her from getting hurt.

  Groaning, Valda let her practice sword fall out of her hands and began to shake her arms to try and dispel the pins-and-needles feeling from my earlier strike.

  “You okay, Valda?” I asked, shaking my own arms and dismissing the shift.

  “Yes,” Valda sighed, sitting upright with a twist of her hips and brushing sand out of her hair, shaking the braid to dislodge any errant grains that remained in it.

  Valda’s hairstyle reminded me of something I’d seen on that old Vikings TV show. Like Jane, she shaved the sides of her head down short but grew the top out long, though she kept it in a tight braid that hung down her back. A spiked strap was braided into the hair, and I knew that was to keep people from grabbing hold of it. It honestly looked good on her, adding to the warrior-princess look she had going in her tight leather clothing and stern, scale-studded features.

  “Just thinking about how good it is that these aren’t official duels,” Valda sighed, glancing around to find her sword before grabbing the practice weapon in one hand and pushing herself to her feet.

  “Any particular reason why?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow at her. “Tell me that you don’t have any strange traditions about having to marry the man who beats you in a duel or something, please.”

  Valda snorted and rolled her eyes at me, slipping the wooden practice sword into the loop at her hip and beckoning for me to come with her.

  “No, nothing as ridiculous as that. Though there are suitors who have tried to impress me in the ring. It’s the Ironclaw tradition that I’m thinking of.”

  Valda led me over to the edge of the practice ring where Rieka sat with Kassandra, going over some paperwork at a small table. Jane and Shayla were sleeping in, having been up late the previous night on a project with Shayla trying to reimagine what some of the ruins we’d explored looked like in their heyday.

  “Ironclaw tradition?” I asked, waving at my girls when the two of them looked up.

  Rieka immediately poured two glasses of water from the clay pitcher that sat on the table, offering them to us with a smile while Kassandra gave me a hungry once over, her eyes lingering on where sweat had stuck my practice clothes to my body.

  Valda fished her braid out from behind her and held it up in one hand. The length of braided hair fell nearly to her back and stood out against the dark leather of the protective gloves Valda wore to keep her sharp natural claws from cutting everything she touched. She normally wore only caps on the claws but our duels had gotten intense enough that the caps would regularly come flying off.

  “This,” she bounced the braid in one hand, “is my proof of skill. Warriors in the Ironclaw clan, especially those in leadership positions, grow their hair out as long as they remain undefeated. A loss in actual combat or during a formal duel marks a loss of face for my people, and thus we cut our hair to mark the loss. Some victors will claim the braid as a trophy, and sometimes those who lose will retain it to remind them of their loss so they continue to train.”

  I studied Valda’s silky locks and the gleaming steel spike protruding from the hair. Despite her warrior nature, it was clear that Valda took care of her hair from how healthy it looked.

  Odd that you note that, I thought to myself with a small smile. But then again, maybe not. You have four ladies to keep happy and that requires paying attention to their appearances so you know what to compliment.

  Valda’s next words broke through my thoughts and my eyes widened in surprise at her statement.

  “The last time I lost a formal duel was when I was ten. And that was to my older brother over inheritance. I fought him two years later and claimed his position as heir.”

  Valda’s head was high and a satisfied smile curved her lips. Even the little green scales that decorated her cheeks seemed to gleam in satisfaction.

  “Well then, congratulations,” I said, getting a thankful nod from her in return. “I’ll keep it in mind, because I’d hate for people to get the wrong idea of your skill.”

  “It is why I always state we are sparring, and not dueling,” Valda admitted. “You pick up tricks after only seeing them a handful of times, and I am rapidly running out of techniques to use to turn a fight. It is like you are memorizing my fighting style with each encounter and developing counters to it.”

  “Just want to become the best that I can be,” I replied. “That requires testing myself against someone who is just as skilled as me—if not better—whenever I can.”

  “Liam is nothing if not diligent like that,” Rieka added affectionately, her fluffy tail wagging slowly behind her as she smiled our way.

  What Valda had said wasn’t inaccurate though. I was memorizing her style, improving and developing counters while coming up with ideas for Shape-Shifting that I could mix and match when the moment arose. There were certain combinations—like turning my arms into bladed tails or the dactyl-clubs—that were my go-to solutions, but with the lives lost during our raid, I was doubling down on improving. My improved intelligence scores were helping in this factor as well, allowing me to analyze situations and memorize tactics on the fly.

  Valda opened her mouth to say something, but that was when a lizard-folk man in the garb of a courier jogged onto the practice field. He was soaked with sweat and clearly exhausted, but his eyes lit up the moment he spotted Valda.

  “Lady Valda! I have a missive from your mother,” the lizard-folk man called, jogging over to us while fumbling with the courier pouch held cross-body over his chest.

  I tensed as the man approached, noting Valda’s hand straying to where her actual sword hung just below the practice one on her belt, but the messenger produced not only a medallion identifying him as an official courier, but also a folded parchment packet.

  Valda studied the medallion for a moment before accepting the parchment from him with a nod of thanks.

  “Go and rest, thank you for bringing this to me,” Valda said, her tone polite but distant.

  The courier bowed and jogged away, vanishing back around the edge of a building heading into the town.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Kassandra asked, the dwarf lamia nearly vibrating in excitement.

  “We will soon find out,” Valda said, using her belt knife to quickly crack the wax seal on the parchment and unfolding it to begin reading.

  Valda’s eyes zipped back and forth on the paper for a moment, her eyebrows going up then down again in concern while a frown grew on her face before she folded it up with a sigh once more.

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  “Before you ask, yes, we are being relieved,” Valda explained, and my girls shared happy grins. “There is a relief company already on the way to take over as the fight has died down. The student-mages are to return to Juneau.”

  “But?” I prompted when she hesitated a moment later.

  “But we are requested to report to the capital for debriefing first,” Valda answered, her frown deepening. “My mother specifically wants to speak to us regarding the reports of strange weapons and our mission over the border. From the tone of her letter, she’s not upset but she knows there is more to the story than what I sent in my reports.”

  “Your mother isn’t a fool,” I said with a shrug. “We can tell her whatever you want. I’d just prefer it if we kept the presence of my ‘friends’ out of it. Their organization prefers to not be known by the locals since they aren’t supposed to interfere with things.”

  “Though they seem more than happy to show up when you call them,” Rieka said. While her tone wasn’t accusing, there was a definite question to her words.

  “That’s because they can use my requests to come in and deal with problems before they get to the level that requires interventions,” I explained, not liking that I had to keep things so general with my girls. “Their job is to maintain the stability of the dimensions, not interfere with local politics. We just seem to have this bad habit of finding stuff that has the potential to do a lot of damage.”

  “Or good luck, depending on how you look at it. All this work has to be getting you rewards, right Liam?” Kassandra asked, her head tilting cutely to one side and letting her luscious red curls bounce.

  “Depending,” I agreed with another shrug. “Either way, they don’t mean us harm as long as we don’t try to damage the dimensional stability. Which would result in a lot more pain for us than them, since that kind of thing was implied to end up destroying the dimension in question.”

  “And the equipment we recovered?” Valda asked, pulling us back onto the subject of the letter in her hand. “Word is going to get to my mother one way or another about them, since we gave them to the raiding team to ensure we made it back alive.”

  “Equal division,” I suggested, and Rieka nodded along.

  “I can negotiate a split on behalf of my mother,” Rieka added. “Your soldiers helped us get there, and our student-mages ensured the soldiers survived to get home. No one will begrudge the raiders from claiming prizes, but you can lay a partial claim to them as prizes for your mother, and our claim flows to me through Liam being present for their recovery.”

  Valda frowned but nodded in agreement. We didn’t have to ask what was on her mind, the lizard-folk woman spoke again a moment later.

  “It’s not that I am upset with the division,” Valda explained, looking back down at her paper. “If anything, I feel like my claim to them is weaker because without Liam there, we wouldn’t have even found the cardkey that opened the door.”

  “Keycard,” I corrected gently. “I got lucky on that too. I might have missed seeing it since the idiot was using it as a decoration.”

  “Regardless,” Valda said, folding the letter neatly and tucking it into her vest. “We should prepare. The relief forces will arrive in the next two days, the soldiers being relieved will escort us to the Ironclaw capital, where mother promises to reward those who have earned it and wants to debrief us. Then we will meet the Coldeye forces there to escort us back to Juneau.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if mother will want us to stop by her capital as well,” Rieka said with another sigh before nodding to the forgotten cups on the table. “Drink, you two. If you don’t stay properly lubricated, you’ll end up hurting yourselves with how much you practice.”

  “Lubrication is very important, after all,” Kassandra chipped in, her grin turning wicked and one eyebrow bouncing in amusement.

  “You would know, wouldn’t you?” I teased right back, picking up the clay mug of cold water and taking a long drink.

  The chill liquid was refreshing as it flowed down my throat, soothing parched tissues I’d been ignoring up until that very moment.

  Valda collected her cup as well, swirling the liquid thoughtfully while Kassandra and Rieka began packing their things away into Kassandra’s dimensional pouch, including the pitcher.

  “Liam,” Valda said, still staring down into her cup. “Would you consider bonding with me if I were to release my salamander companion?”

  I froze with my cup halfway to my mouth, glancing between her and the other two. Kassandra was grinning, but not looking at us, while Rieka was frowning, though her tail continued to wag showing that she wasn’t as upset as she looked.

  “That would depend on why you wanted to bond and what you wanted to get out of it,” I said finally, taking another sip of water. “I like you, Valda. You are a good friend and are honest with me and my girls. We talked about it before when you told me what your salamander does for you.”

  Valda looked up, her intense gray eyes meeting mine, and I waited for her to explain her thoughts.

  “I cannot remember if I gave you the full explanation or not,” Valda said slowly, swirling her drink in her cup. “But my magic is not as strong as Rieka or your other partners. I am a spell-sword, while your other companions are pure mages. I have more versatility in how I handle situations, being able to fight with a weapon better to defend myself, but my offensive magic is not as powerful or varied. It is why I bonded with the salamander to enhance my natural fire magic and utilize the salamander’s fiery nature to imbue it into my gear...”

  “But?” I prompted and Valda’s serious expression twisted into a small half-smirk.

  “I can’t help but keep thinking about what you said, about your other training partner who combined swordsmanship with Shape-Shifting and how it allowed him to alter his style and shift probabilities. I cannot count the number of times that I have missed a blow due to the restrictions of my equipment or because my sword is only a few inches too short.”

  “So you wouldn’t want the same kind of contract as the girls have?” I asked curiously, tilting my head to one side. “A guardian contract where I come to protect them?”

  Valda shook her head, her braid bouncing rapidly behind her.

  “No, though I would not complain about having that sort of assistance,” she said rapidly. “But the versatility of your Shape-Shifting is what I am really hoping to utilize.”

  “I think I can make something work… let me think about it while we head back to the dorm?”

  Valda nodded, the little half-smile that she’d been sporting not fading in the slightest. The lizard-folk woman quickly drained her cup and went to help my girls finish packing their things away while I closed my eyes to check my interface.

  Grant Power might be able to make it work, I thought while flipping through menus. And since Shape-Shifting (Major) is mastered, then that would mean that the current rank of Grant Power would reduce it down to the lesser rank on Shape-Shifting.

  I accessed my Powers tab and checked over the listing for Grant Power to be sure.

  Grant Power (Lesser) - Granted abilities can be held until needed with no restriction on how long they are held, but still have a short duration once activated. Parameters are preset at time of granting.

  Hmm, I thought to myself, checking the mastery ranking on Grant Power. Not ideal, since it would still run out. But Valda is going to need time to train and get used to the new ability. That’ll give me plenty of time to practice Grant Power. I’m saving for the Master rank on Shape-Shifting at the moment, but I’d be willing to dip into the savings to level up Grant Power if it makes the power better. The other girls are making good use of the Mana Reservoir power, and helping that would be good.

  I went back to check on Shape-Shifting (Lesser) to make sure I knew what I’d be able to offer Valda if we did go forward. I didn’t want to have her release her salamander and end up weaker in the exchange, after all.

  Shape-Shifting (Lesser) - User is able to draft moderate changes to the body: altering weight, adding natural armor, claws, fangs, and secondary features. Basic partial shift is limited to no more than twenty pounds of additional mass that may be added or removed. Unable to mix more than two animal’s features at a time.

  Okay, so twenty pounds of mass to work with, no more than two animal’s features, I thought. That will give her quite a bit to work with. I made a lot of use out of just that much.

  “I can make it work for you at the moment, but it will take time to train you up,” I said, opening my eyes to find all three women waiting on me.

  Kassandra was grinning, the sunlight sparkling off her silver-rimmed spectacles as she watched me. Rieka was wearing a soft smile while her fluffy tail danced behind her. Valda had that half-smile in place still, arms crossed under her bust while one thick hip was cocked to the side.

  Swallowing, I hid my surprise by draining the last of the water from my mug so I could get my thoughts in order before I continued.

  “I have the ability to grant you up to the lesser rank of Shape-Shifting, which is twenty pounds of mass and no more than two different animals integrated into the body. That can give you some natural armor, sharpen your natural weapons, or boost your overall strength easily enough. However, it's on a time limit for the moment.”

  “How long?” Valda asked, her head cocking to the side in curiosity while the smile fell off of her face. “Wait, this is the ability you told me about before, yes? Where you were able to grant your contracted a reservoir of mana to work with naturally?”

  “Yes,” I answered with a nod. “And it lasts for about an hour once it’s triggered. At least the reservoir power does. It’s hard to say for sure, since it seemed to vary for each of the girls and the System didn’t give a flat amount of time in the description.”

  “And in the future?” Valda prompted, the left edge of her lips starting to curl into another smile as hope returned.

  “I’d expect it to either increase in duration or overall strength.”

  “Or both!” Kassandra chimed in with a grin. “Both is good. If we are going to be hopeful, let’s hope for the best option!”

  Shrugging, I nodded her way in agreement.

  “Or both,” I said with a smile. “It’s an ability that needs to be trained more to fully blossom, but if it does improve then more options will come up.”

  “Valda,” Rieka said, interrupting our conversation. “Why is it that you would be releasing your salamander? Why not keep both?”

  Valda’s face fell at that and she blew out a sigh, the hand that was idly resting on her sword-hilt tightened enough to make her gloves creak.

  “Part of being a spell-sword,” Valda explained slowly. “I am not able to bond with multiple summons.”

  “Oh,” Rieka said, her ears wilting now. “I am sorry for bringing it up. I know most of the student-mages only forge one summoning contract due to the cost of cultivating a relationship with the summoned creature, but I never knew that spell-swords actually can’t form more than one bond.”

  “It isn’t something we talk about much,” Valda said with a shrug before turning her attention back to me. “I am still interested, Liam. I have been thinking this over ever since we discussed it on the raid, and even before then if I’m being honest. I would like to do this, before we head out on the road again.”

  “Girls?” I asked, glancing towards Rieka and Kassandra. They both gave me rapid nods and smiles, confirming that they were okay with the idea. Rieka even went further to explain.

  “Liam, you may be our Traveler, but we don’t control you any more than you control us. If Valda wants to bond with you and you want to take her contract, then that is fine with us.”

  “Still polite to ask,” I insisted, earning a kiss from my wolfish princess.

  Turning back to Valda, I gave her a firm nod and spoke again.

  “Well, if you want to get this done before we head out to your mother’s capital, then let’s get this done as soon as possible so you can start adjusting to the new ability.”

  Valda’s little half-smile transformed in that moment into a full, joyful grin and I felt my heart lurch happily in my chest.

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