"Why did I even bother with these?"

  Cornelia took off her gloves and threw them on the bed. They fell and settled at first, but fell to the floor afterwards. She shook her head without bothering to even look at where they landed. They'll be picked up when there's time. Besides, this place was hers alone - at least until her expertise was needed in this group.

  It was the first time she felt something apart from getting her pay and returning to her old cabin at the edge of the Antikwald. She was staying in a room of her own, with constant supplies of food, where she could walk her way to the cafeteria and eat everything her stomach could handle. Access to equipment made by the Gray Fox's facilities was an unexpected bonus. Cornelia found those superior to what the run-down smithy usually provided. Best of it all, none of these were deducted from the gold she earned under the crime lord's employ.

  But she knew life in these caves would be boring, even with the vast resources this syndicate had at its disposal. Some of the reinforced walls made this place look like a laboratory: far from the lively appeal that could make her consider this a second home.

  She stripped herself to her undergarments; a cool sensation circulated throughout her form. Cornelia bent over to double-check the locked door and lay flat upon seeing that nobody could barge in without knocking.

  "What of those Far Eastern fighters?"

  There was never a chance to ask that, or she was too preoccupied with keeping most of them down without needing to end their lives on the spot. Cornelia closed her eyes; the image of Gerhard flashed out of the dark, his voice trailed off in a broken echo, saying:

  "How's everything there, Miss Cornelia?"

  Her eyes sprang open, wondering at what those means were. She was trapped in the comfort of the mattress to even think of moving her arms. What happened after their attack on Altrecht was an event that was shoved straight to the back of her mind. There was nothing peculiar on the other side that time: she belonged to the side with the magician and the fighting automatons.

  "Of all the voices to which I have to remember, it has to be that man's..."

  With her frame relaxed and thoughts turned away from the world, Cornelia lay to rest.

  ????

  She jolted off the bed and looked at the silver wall clock above the door. Her sleep made her neither tired nor invigorated; the cavern facility made no distinction between night and day, which made the woman rely on her senses to find out what time would was outside. Her sense of time would have been greatly helped had Cornelia thought of buying a watch. Maybe the Gray Fox's artisans had the means to make her one?

  Cornelia started to get ready for a trip outside by putting on her old shirt and pants. She had to come out of this place to buy new clothes. Did the Gray Fox have a boutique where she could get new sets? A funny thought that someone as morose as the old crime lord invested in frivolities. That would have made her decision to leave this syndicate for good once her job was done even harder.

  "What is the nearest town to this place? Maybe I can get the boss to lend me one of those disk machines to take me to a city."

  Her wrists were buttoned up, her feet slipped into a pair of brown boots. Cornelia tightened the straps and fixed the pant legs, although her efforts only managed to make her apparel look less crumpled than before. She got out of her quarters while fixing her hair into a bun and went to the armory just a few doors away from the members' area. Cornelia was inside a dull room where the walls felt cold, yet dry to the touch. Swords, rifles, and handheld cannons were lined up on many racks and wall-mounted cabinets. Something at the far back of the area caught her eyes – a novelty the woman did not expect to find among hundreds of modern steel armaments inside. She was about to go near the rack when the door opened; a uniformed man holding a coffee pot and mug looked at her with a narrowed gaze.

  "Uh... hey. You must be the man in charge here." Cornelia held a sheathed broadsword. She waved the weapon around at the partly-stunned clerk. "I'll borrow this, if you won't mind."

  She got out of the place right after the man nodded thrice. Cornelia was able to find the exit where Winston Norton first brought her to the Gray Fox's lair. A guard scrunched up after hearing the echoes of her shoes hitting the metal flooring of the stairway platform and gave a check on her until Cornelia got inside the elevator car that led to the surface entrance. Long, droning noises were in the air as the mechanism slowly brought the gondola to the top layer of the facility; Cornelia could smell damp moss even before the elevator reached its destination.

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  A few fingers of sunlight punched holes into the Antikwald; her nose was picking up not only the usual scent of earth, but also the air made by leaves that rested on top of trees. She found a clearing where the sun entered the woods almost unopposed; a yellow brilliance highlighted the ground that was free from plant growth. On the edges of the clearing were gnarled tree roots and a few rocks where she could sit after her routines were done. Cornelia enjoyed this solitude, where no buzzing machines and the echoes of talking men or puffing mechanisms could disturb her. Her ears welcomed the chirping of birds, and the uncommon rustling of leaves caused by an animal passing through the woods.

  Minutes of arm-stretching, knee-bending, and body-twisting gave way to the real exercise; Cornelia held the steel weapon by the hilt, closing her eyes as she began striking and swinging the blade on an imaginary opponent. Her movements had no rhythm, yet they held a playful grace of one who danced with a baton. A jump here, a parry there, and the scraping of her boots from almost everywhere – her body had no loyalty to one nation's sword art. She spun the weapon in front, on her sides, and even overhead, entranced by the air the whooshing steel made with each completed axis. Cornelia moved around the place, deflecting, slashing, and thrusting at the shadows the trees cast on the clearing. Her eyes were reopened when her body was returned to the center of the area. She stopped with her eyes on the flat of the sword when she heard the sound of clapping hands from behind.

  "Splendid. I've never seen such random swordplay practice in my whole life. I'm quite impressed."

  "I didn't know magicians were into stalking for a hobby." Cornelia set her weapon to the ground and turned to see her audience with a sweat-polished face. "Have you been watching me all this time, Gerhard?"

  "The entrance guard called my attention when he asked for the name of a woman in men's clothes armed with a naked blade. You were a bore to watch at first, so I decided to get something from inside." Gerhard tossed a canteen her way. "It turned out that you're more... what was that? I got it now. More exciting, to watch when I return."

  Cornelia caught the container by the strap; her face had a strange glow that reflected in the sun before she said, "Uhm... thanks."

  They went to an outcrop near a large tree that shaded the two from the sun. Cornelia sat on one of the tallest rocks and chugged water down her throat. Gerhard wasn't looking straight at her, though; all the sweat made her form more prominent to the man's eyes. She then untied the knot that kept her hair in a clump and let the wind dry it.

  "You are aware that we do have a training room for these kinds of activities, Cornelia. The Master wouldn't like it if somebody saw you doing your exercises in this place. It has the potential to attract unwanted guests."

  "I see your point, but I don't think anyone would be going around in the middle of the forest looking for a woman swinging a sword. Besides, your training area is nothing but a boring-looking hall with lots of mats and props. I prefer my sunlight and fresh air over that drab place of boredom." Cornelia smoothed her locks with her fingers. "Since you're here, I'll ask you this: you mutter those magic words or move your hands around when making those flame and lightning things, right?"

  "I don't need to go through those notions when manifesting my projections." Gerhard's eyes tried to slip away from Cornelia's sight at first, but he ended up having to stare at her. "I do not know if chanting and incantations done by those long ago are still used today. We were taught in Luminberg to focus and release magical energy. I found ways to project them quickly. My old masters considered it a natural talent."

  "Wow." Cornelia's stare showed an eagerness to listen; her head rested on top of her hands, supported by the sword. "Unique among magicians, huh? So, how did your masters teach you, being the rare guy that you are?"

  "I received the same training as my peers, but I just got past those faster. Most of the instruction I received was far from what the schools teach to magic-attuned hopefuls." Gerhard's voice lost some of its dryness when he continued, "It was fun, when it lasted."

  "Sounds like I opened something I shouldn't know. I think I'll stop on that part." Cornelia drank the last of the water and sat straight, looking at the darkness beyond. "I make better sword swings when I get used to doing them often. Do you also have to practice your thinking when doing your tricks?"

  "I can come up with the right element when I think I should," Gerhard answered. "It is a matter of making your magical energy and your thoughts one when shaping the element you desire to form."

  "So, you can make a firestorm of sorts if you want to?"

  "I could, but that will cost me a lot. I would not be able to cast anything for quite a long time if I did that."

  "You gave me an idea." Cornelia stood up; her face was in front of Gerhard. "All I can do is to wait until you run out of your... magic juice, and then I can take you out."

  "That is, if I haven't hit you yet." Gerhard's confidence gathered in a smirk as he looked right back at the swordswoman.

  "We could give it a try some other time. I'd like to find out how it is to go up against weird men like you."

  "Be reminded that I cannot create false flame spells for us to practice on." Gerhard got out of the outcrop and walked behind Cornelia. "Besides, I do not have any intentions of fighting you for any reason."

  "We can never tell." Cornelia handed the canteen back to the magician. "Anyway, thanks for the water, and also for being good company. You could at least give me a hint that you're watching instead of being spooky and all coming from behind."

  "My apologies, Cornelia."

  "It's fine." The swordswoman looked back at Gerhard and smiled. "I'm not used to working long-term with employers. I'm more into the 'give me a job, I'll do it and I'll leave you alone' kind of deals. Never mind that, let's go back."

  Gerhard smiled and shook his head before resuming the walk back to the lair entrance.