Chapter 20: Chapter 20

Three hours and one magical insight later, I finally pulled myself away from my research long enough to eat lunch. Since Clemencia and I had already handled the Estate's most pressing issues in the morning, I had some time to check my personal messages. The Estate management system allowed me to sort and prioritize incoming notices. There were always news articles and mass advertisements that piled up, along with the occasional message from Empress Vashti. I always made sure to read those, just in case, but they were invariably boring speeches about the state of the Empire and how awesome she was.

When I checked my messages today, however, I was shocked at the volume. I had received over three hundred messages: most of them were invitations to another Citizen's Estate for a brunch, or a cocktail party (which had nothing to do with roosters or tails, I discovered later), or a ball.

There was one invitation that stood out. It was from Manticore Niraza. I quickly opened and read the message from her.

Dear Arabella Unbound,

Next Wednesday at 19:00 I'll be holding a small get-together at my Estate and I'd love to have you over. Why don't you come a few hours early so we can have a mentoring session first?

Sincerely,

Manticore Niraza

X: 314i59 Y: 124c41

P.S. Congratulations again!

I read the message a few times while smiling to myself. I hadn't expected an invitation so soon, and the chance to learn from a real pro would probably give a huge boost to my advancement. Plus, Niraza had given me the coordinates of her Estate, which meant she trusted me enough to let me know exactly where she lived.

I had already learned that the polite thing to do would be to send her a note letting her know I would be there, so I settled in to write a response. It took me far too long to compose a short note back, thanking her and letting her know I planned to arrive at 17:00.

"Mia," I ordered once I was finished, "Please note that I have a meeting with Manticore Niraza at 17:00 next Wednesday. Remind me two hours in advance, please."

"New meeting added to your schedule," the always prim and proper voice of my merged assistant responded.

"Great, thank you. That's one letter down, and about three hundred to go..."

Although I was bursting with anticipation to meet Niraza again, the days passed quickly. There was so much preparation for the ritual that would release all the Pegasi at once that I could have worked around the clock for a year without running out of tasks. As it was, I kept my six-point plan at the forefront of my mind.

The most important part of the plan was the ritual itself. I spent hours each day searching for very specific spells and practicing them, or developing outlines for spells I was going to have to build from scratch once I had learned enough.

When I wasn't working on spellcasting, I spent the lion's share of my time and a good bit of mana experimenting with gemstones. I decided that, instead of one large mana battery, I would store the mana needed to power the ritual in multiple smaller gems, possibly dozens of them. This would allow me to keep costs down and avoid purchasing a top-of-the-line mana battery that was sure to draw attention.

While I was mainly focused on creating the ritual, I also tucked away spells and ideas that I came across for increasing the protection of the wards around my home. Although it was slow going, I wasn't yet worried. I still had months until I would need them to be foolproof.

While I was pleased with the progress I'd made in just a week on items one, four, and five, I was worried about the relatively slow progress toward my first Epic. Even though working on the ritual itself and experimenting with mana storage yielded several valuable insights, I couldn't stop dreaming about the massive gains I'd earned from my scuffle with Darlene.

"Mia," I inquired as soon as I had woken up from a refreshing two-hour nap as the sun rose on Monday morning, "I want to visit a sparring center today."

"Three sparring centers are accepting new members at this time. Would you like to make a reservation at one?"

"Yes, I don't care which one, just get me the first available slot."

"Please specify attributes to upload."

That was quite good of Mia to ask. I didn't realize that the sparring center would want a readout of my abilities, but in hindsight it made sense.

"Give them the ones we showed Alcazar at the Oathtaking, but with two more Epiphanies."

"Uploading attributes now. Receiving new coordinates. Adding calendar item: you have a match in two hours against Berlinda the Bear."

I jumped out of bed and stretched out my arms, willing my clothing back to my now standard black pants and teal shirt combo. Then I summoned Clemencia and washed my face as I waited for her to arrive. Today she was wearing a purple dress with a pattern of overlapping circles.

"Clemencia, please have breakfast delivered to the library in an hour. I just want something extra light today: I'm going to be exercising in a bit."

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"Of course, Madame Arabella. Do you have any other requests?"

"I don't know how long I'll be gone. I may have to push off meeting with Kierden until later (Kierden was the slave I was meeting with that day). Please make sure he is properly fed and he can help out around the Estate until I’m ready to see him."

Clemencia nodded her head respectfully.

"Thank you for the information. I will plan accordingly."

I could hardly focus on reading and spent most of the next hour fidgeting. Breakfast was a welcome distraction. I took my time and enjoyed it instead of reading while I ate. When I was finished with my toast and fruit, I took my pot of tea to the window and stared out over the garden for as long as the tea lasted.

"You have fifteen minutes until your appointment," Mia informed me, although I had been keeping track of the time and didn't really need the update.

"Thank you, Mia. Is there anything I need to bring?"

"The instructions did not include a list of required items."

"Well, I might as well get going then, if I'm a bit early it's no big deal."

I made my way down to the teleporter room, taking a moment to top of the Estate's mana battery. Having to hide my true power meant I wasn't going to be using up all my mana anyways.

As I climbed up to the teleportation dais I had a quick conversation with Ronaldo.

"Hey, I'm going to go spar with another Citizen. I can't imagine I'll need to use our link, but just wanted you to know in case you felt something odd."

"Whatever. Just don't die."

"Your concern is touching, my friend."

"Keep sneaking me apples and my concern may someday be genuine."

"Not a chance. Your trainer would kill me."

"Traitor."

I chuckled before turning my attention back to the business of teleporting. I had only done it once by myself, but I had memorized both the beginner and intermediate versions of the spell. All teleportation spells required the caster to specify the destination as part of the casting. I recalled the coordinates that Mia had given me and held them firmly in my mind as I cast the beginner's teleport spell. I didn't want anyone realizing I was already beyond beginner magic, after all.

The spell went off without a hitch and I looked around my new surroundings. The sparring center’s grey stone walls looked sturdy rather than ostentatious. There was an interesting energy in the air along with a hint of ozone. I took a deep breath to steady myself and started toward the door. I hadn’t gone two steps before the door slammed open and a man barged in.

He was a few inches taller than I was and had a wiry build, so we were probably about the same weight. More importantly, he was covered in bruises.

“What happened to you?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

The man stopped mid-stride and looked up. I couldn’t help but notice that he had a pretty good shiner on his left eye. He chuckled as he noticed me staring at his injuries.

“Berlinda the Bear happened to me, same as usual. She went easy on me today though, said she was saving her energy for someone special. I take it you’re someone special?”

“I’m Arabella Unbound. And you are?”

The man’s jaw dropped for a moment before he managed to recover long enough to respond.

“I’m Jacob the Alien. Boy, am I pleased to meet you. You were incredible at the Oathtaking!”

I smiled. After I realized that Darlene had never been in any real danger, the memories of that night were actually very pleasant.

“Thank you. You were in the audience, I take it?”

“Oh, no! I couldn’t afford a ticket, so I watched from my Estate. I don’t know anyone who didn’t at least watch the final match between you and Darlene Indominus. I made ten thousand mana betting against my buddy Cory Trevor, so thanks!

“Uh, you’re welcome. Listen, I got to get ready to spar with Berlinda the Bear. Any tips?”

Jacob chuckled before wincing from the effort.

“Her fighting style makes use of her size and strength to overpower and immobilize her opponents, but she’s surprisingly agile for her size. Don’t expect to slip away from her very easily.”

I nodded thoughtfully. It seemed that Berlinda must have focused on offense: if her strength and reflexes were both high, then it was likely she had neglected to put points into durability. If that was the case, then I just need to get in a few good hits before she pinned me.

“Thanks, Jacob the Alien. I’ll remember that.”

Jacob moved to the side to let me pass and I hustled through the door into the room beyond, which was made of the same dense-looking grey stone. In the center of the room there was a small red desk and behind that desk sat a bored-looking woman engrossed in changing the color of her nails. They changed from red to teal, to purple, before settling on eggshell white.

“Excuse me,” I said when I had arrived in front of her. “I’m Arabella Unbound and I have a have a sparring match with Berlinda the Bear.”

The woman glanced over at me briefly before continuing to critique her color choice. I noticed minute changes as she added and subtracted yellow until she was satisfied.

“She’s waiting in room three. You’re a bit early, but go on in. It’s fine.”

“Do I need to pay you, or how does that work?”

“We bill you later. Don’t worry about it.”

“Which way to room three?”

With an economy of movement that impressed me, the woman indicated behind her and to the left.

“That way. Second door on the right. Try not to break any of the walls.”

“I beg your pardon!?” I blurted out.

“I mean when Berlinda throws you into them, is all,” the lady behind the desk answered. Her bored expression somehow remained intact as she delivered her request.

“Does that...does that happen often?” I managed to ask.

The lady shrugged.

“Ok, thank you. I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

Wondering just what I had gotten myself into, I made my way down the hall until I was right in front of a large number three that had been etched into the wall. There was no indication of a door, but just to my left, there was a rectangular orange light. I tapped it experimentally. A slit appeared in the wall and began to widen; in just a few moments it was wide enough for me to step through.

A gruff but agreeable voice boomed out as I entered.

“Shut the door, would ya?”

I turned around, found another orange light, and pressed it. Then I turned around again and sized up what could only be Berlinda the Bear. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw her.

She was at least a head taller than I was with broad shoulders and limbs bursting with muscles. Her stance was the relaxed pose of an apex predator, ready to get serious at a moment’s notice. She appeared to be wearing a thick white sleeveless robe with matching tights that ended just above her enormous knees.

“Well, well, well. It’s the famous Arabella Unbound,” she said with a smile. “Come to play?”

“I uhh, I want to learn more about the combat arts. I figured the hands-on experience would be useful. But I’m hoping not to end up like our friend Jacob the Alien.”

Berlinda belly laughed for a good ten seconds.

“That guy? He likes getting beat up. It’s the darndest thing. I think maybe he has a crush on me.”

“Well, I don’t want you to exactly go easy on me,” I admitted. “But I’d prefer to walk out of here in one piece.”

That got me another laugh.

“Well, which one is it, hmm? Well, no matter. Shall we begin?”

I dropped into a combat stance that I’d read about and took three steps forward.

“Yes, let’s.”