Chapter 11: Living Mana

“Young master, you really don’t need to join us,” the conductor said.

Poor fellow looked like he was regretting coming to their room to tell them about the Living Mana Incursion. Viren was sorry for making him feel awful, but at the same time, not so sorry that he was revising his decision to head out.

Also, he had never been called young master in his life before. Saying it made him feel odd was the understatement.

And it was all because he was associated with Ryland.

“I’m a second-semester student at Arcoryx Academy,” Viren said, clenching his hands into fists to stop them from shaking. “I’m also a member of the Excursion Club. I’ve been trained for this.”

“But young master…”

The conductor looked warily at Ryland, still sitting practically insensate to the world. Now that Viren looked closer, he could see little motes of darkness seeping out from under his eyelids. Creepy.

Maybe it was a blessing that Ryland either couldn’t hear or just didn’t care about an Incursion. Why would he? From everything Viren had seen, he wouldn’t have been surprised if Ryland ate attacks by Living Mana for breakfast.

His breaths were coming faster and his legs were threatening to quiver too. He refused to hesitate for real, though. No. He was not allowing his fear to rule his mind. This wasn’t the same as the dungeon, where he wouldn’t even have gone in if he hadn’t been so desperate to find Tallow.

Here, he’d be fighting alongside others. Here, he’d have a bulwark between him and outright danger. Here, he’d be assisting an endeavour instead of selfishly seeking his own goal.

Viren couldn’t let his failure in the dungeon stand. He needed to prove to himself that he was capable.

“Stay here with Ryland,” Viren told Tallow. The kitten mewed back up at him. Its little arms tried to reach for him, but Viren stepped back. “No, you can’t come with me. It’s not safe out there. Stay here.”

Tallow looked dreadfully disappointed, but after what had happened in the dungeon, Viren would take disappointed over dead any day.

“If you must accompany us, young master,” the conductor said as they left the room. “Then I insist that you remain by my side.”

“Sure.” Viren glanced back one last time, waving a short farewell to Tallow—and Ryland too, but he was kind of out of it—before closing the door behind him. “But I’m Iron [62]. You said it’s only a Silver-ranked Incursion, right?”

“Indeed. It’s why I’m allowing you to come along, young master. I am Silver [20]. You will be safe with us, I promise.”

They weren’t the only ones rousing themselves. The guards were warning the other nobles in their various rooms, several of whom were emerging to see just how much of an issue the Incursion was going to present.

“What do you think you’re doing, Ophelia?”

Viren was unable to hide his scowl as Stowen Kohn berated the Heartshield Knight.

Just as he had suspected. From everything that had happened in their room, Viren had figured Mage Knight Ophelia was working under the arrogant lord for some reason.

The tall woman in pristine scarlet armour and close-cropped hair was bowing her head at her superior. Viren hated seeing that sort of subservience to Bastard Kohn. “I will remain here if you insist, Lord Kohn. It is my duty to guard you, of course. However, I’d like to point out that I’d be better prepared to guard you if I could survey what we’re facing myself.”

“The staff are warning us already. What more do you need?”

Another lord, a young, blond one, emerged from his room with a sneer. “What’s this Kohn? Can’t let your little guard get away from you for even a second? You know you can’t hold on to Mage Knight’s apron forever.”

Viren felt so tremendously vindicated to see it wasn’t just him. Other nobles detested the odious man too. Like father, like son, as if he needed more proof.

“Mind your tongue, Ulmoren!” Kohn barked.

“Lord Umoren.” Ophelia placed a hand on the hilt of her blade. “I cannot have you insulting my lord in my presence.”

“I know!” Ulmoren said with a grin. “That’s why I’m trying to help you get out of here so I can insult Kohn freely.”

Somewhat amusing though a couple of nobles bickering was, the only reason Viren was even spectating it was because of Colm. The conductor was refusing to move until he was sure things weren’t going to devolve into chaos. Yet he couldn’t actually intervene yet because of his terribly lower station.

Viren wanted to shake the fellow. Wasn’t he the conductor of this train? He had to be better about exercising at least some of his power.

The train shook violently. Several of the lights overhead blinked out, plunging the whole carriage into the dimness of the oncoming evening. They returned quickly as the train reasserted itself, but that little incident had left a mark.

Everyone in the carriage had tensed.

“My lord,” said the Heartshield Knight. “I must insist on checking the Incursion. Preparation is paramount for victory.”

Ulmoren was carefully closing his room’s door behind him. “Yes, Kohn, let the poor woman go. We all know we’re going to be pretty safe inside the first-class carriage.”

“Yes, you really will,” Ophelia insisted.

She turned, her piercing eyes landing on Viren. It made his already-hammering heart pulse even faster, but then he realized he wasn’t the subject of her gaze. She was looking at his room’s door.

At where Ryland was.

Viren swallowed. Crapping Calamities. Had the Heartshield Knight come up with some approximation of the kinds of things Ryland was capable of after just that one meeting?

A strange sense of excited calm tried to settle over Viren. People who hardly knew Ryland appeared assured that the Living Mana Incursion paled against him. If even an Exalted-ranked Mage Knight was approximating Ryland to be that strong, then there was nothing to worry about, was there?

He cursed silently. No. No, damn it. Ryland wasn’t going to be there at every point in Viren’s life. He wouldn’t be there to snatch Viren’s soul from Fate like he had done with Tallow.

Viren needed to be strong in his own right. He needed to take care of his own problems. Better yet, he needed to learn which problems he could tackle. And the only remedy to that issue was experience.

“What are we waiting for?” Viren asked the conductor as the train shook yet again. “Let’s go.”

Viren had to admit that the people running the train had guts. They hadn’t slowed down yet, despite establishing contact with the Incursion.

A sea of ruby-red energy was assaulting the train from all sides, a flood miring the tracks and turning the countryside into an infernal field of bloody light. Fleshy monstrosities emerged from the crimson murk to attack the train. Monstrous arms, tendrils with bony spikes, even entire shambling and misshapen creatures came at them.

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For the time being, the carriages’ defences were holding. Inscribed Glyphs and spell circles shone luminescent on the train’s exterior, repulsing every attack from the Living Mana.

The problem was that it seemed to be growing stronger. Even as Viren stared through the window, the frequency of attacks emerging from the red sea rose rapidly. If he had been outside the train for even a second, he was pretty sure he’d have been killed a dozen times in a second.

“Silver-ranked, you said?”

That was Ophelia. She was the only reason no one seemed to be outright panicking just yet. The Incursion had grown well past Silver by this point, but it surely couldn’t hold a candle to an Exalted-ranked Mage Knight like her.

“Our estimation may already be outdated,” the conductor finally admitted.

To be fair, determining an Incursion’s rank was more art than science. That said, this rapid growth was worrying.

“I don’t think there’s much of a may about it,” Viren said.

He was glad to see the train staff were diligent about keeping everyone safe. The passengers in more sparsely populated carriages were being moved into others where everyone could be defended more easily if there was a breach. Train staff were running all over the place, handing out emergency potions and supplies.

Viren was glad to see that the protocols the Excursion Club drilled into their members were being followed diligently. This train was definitely filled with professionals.

“You think Twin Craters will really protect us?” Ophelia asked.

Colm nodded. “I’m positive, my lady.”

Viren could see it too. They had passed through Twin Craters on the way to Sunstile. It was essentially a long bridge spanning the site of a very old battle that had left gargantuan craters in the land. The probable hope was that the lay of the land itself would finally force the strange form this Living Mana had taken to abate.

After all, they wouldn’t be able to continue attacking if they fell into fathomless pits sparking with ancient, residual magic.