Portal travel sucked, apparently.

  I had expected it to be like stepping through a normal door. I mean, it looked like the other side was right there, so why would it feel different?

  Apparently this wasn’t the case. As I went flying through the rift, it was like I was forced to physically adapt to every point of space between where I had been and where I was going. Intellectually I knew that I spent less than a fraction of an instant in transit, but I would have sworn it had been full seconds.

  Not only was I disoriented, dizzy and nauseous, I had also just been booted through a wall of high mana density. Even with my body rapidly adapting to the mana from the portal I felt like I’d just been passed through a lit fire.

  I did not meet the floor gracefully. I may have rolled, I wasn’t really in a state to check. After all, it was taking all of my willpower not to throw up. I made an effort to roll onto my back, staring blearily up at the calm blue sky.

  “Urgh,” was all I managed to say.

  “Oh dear,” came a voice from somewhere behind me. It was a bit strange, like if someone was speaking from behind a glass. That, could have just been my current state, however. My vision was swimming a bit now, and I was pretty sure I was still sucking up mana from the portal because I could feel my body going haywire.

  “Here, little one. Just face this way, you’re alright.” A hand on my side rolled me back over onto my back, lifting me up slightly as it went. Another joined it as I felt my body lift a little off the ground. Light flashed before my eyes and I felt my face start to tingle again.

  Suddenly there was a bucket in front of me. Had I been in any state whatsoever to indulge my curiosity, I would have recognised it as a very well made force construct. As it was I far to busy retching.

  I stayed in that position for some time, held half a metre off the ground with my face in a bucket. There was a second voice there with Cassie, and they were talking about something I wasn’t really listening to. Eventually my head stopped spinning and the black spots dancing in my vision cleared. When I was well enough to support my own weight, the force levitating me place me gently onto the grassy ground.

  Cassie rushed to me when I touched the ground, which was a nice gesture. I wasn’t exactly in an appealing state at the moment, after all. I watched as the bucket and it’s contents turned to dust, only to be replaced by a glass of still water.

  “Ever so sorry about that. Quite unfortunate, honestly.” Before me stood a man who was… strange. He was clearly a mage, that much was for sure. He must have once been human, but his body was a textbook example of someone going through the Changing.

  His skin was made solely of shimmering blue light, like he himself was a force construct. His hair, teeth, eyes and fingernails had followed suit. Quite unnervingly however, his muscles and bones were still completely organic. I would have bet much that, if he weren’t clothed, I would have been able to pick out his organs too.

  He was built like most mages who specialised in force magic (for what else could he specialise in). Specifically, he looked like he hadn’t physically touched anything in years, with a lean build and what I would have assumed were soft hands if they had any detail beyond the basics.

  He even dressed like he was trying to live up to a stereotype. Rather than something sensible, practical or even fashionable he just wore simple dark blue robes. It was like he was actively trying to reinforce the image that mages had to wear robes.

  “Ah, right. I’m told I can be quite unnerving to some. Especially after what you’ve been through, I imagine. I am Ren, and I run this branch. I was hoping to speak to you two about your applications.” He smiled apologetically as he spoke, and as far as I could tell it was genuine. It was hard to tell with him though.

  I went to answer, stopped, and coughed wetly instead.

  Very articulate Lia, flawless first impression. No notes.

  I tried again after taking a sip of water. “Two things,” I said. “Where are we, and what the fuck just happened to me?”

  Ren grimaced. “Right, they never tell anyone anything anymore,” he grumbled. “Who was it that brought you in here, out of curiosity?”

  “We don’t know his name,” Cassie answered. “He didn’t say much. He was covered in bandages, though. They were all wet, for some reason.”

  Ren didn’t appear surprised. “Ah, Calwell. Somehow I’m not surprised, belligerent little sod. I’ll have some words about his etiquette later. Again. But, that’s a subject for another time. We’re here to talk about you. Both of you.”

  Ren waved an arm and the scenery changed. Suddenly we were on top of a mountain, sequestered away in a nook of frozen rock. Another gesture and we were beneath the sea, surrounded by a glass orb. A third and we stood on a force platform surrounded by a star-filled void.

  “This, as it is colloquially known, is the Arena. Every branch of the Guild has one, and it is used for a lot of different things. Training, strategy, high-profile meetings, you name it. We also use it whenever we have Adventurer Prospects who we deem to have unique enough circumstances.” Ren put his arm down and we returned to the sunny field.

  “As I just demonstrated the Arena can, for all intents and purposes, be wherever you need it to be. How about we settle in somewhere more comfortable, hm?” Another wave and suddenly we sat in a white gazebo, Cassie and I both sat on chairs surrounding a central table while Ren stood on the other side.

  “Now, about your other question. If I’m not mistaken, that was a particularly bad case of Interplanar Motion Sickness. By your reaction, I assume that you weren’t aware of this condition?” He gestured towards me, which prompted me to look down.

  My skin was swirling with the same pink and teal colouration as when I’d tapped my vitae healing Cassie, which I took as a sign I was still taking in a lot more mana than usual. The rest of me was mostly the same, except that for some reason I was a bit shorter than before.

  “Uh…” I faltered. “That’s just me, I think. What’s this motion sickness thing?”

  “Interplanar Motion Sickness,” Ren corrected. “A rare condition that applies to travel between planes, as well as teleportation that uses interplanar travel as a shortcut. Symptoms can range in intensity from a brief headache to… well, you. I actually wasn’t aware it got that extreme.”

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Gee, thanks. Truly, a winner is me,” I muttered bitterly as I took another sip of water. Then I realised I was talking to the head of an entire branch of the Adventurer’s Guild and shut up.

  Ren chuckled. “Quite. Don’t worry, as far as I’m aware you can acclimate over time. It’ll never go away, but with work you’ll not be quite so debilitated. Of course, you do seem to be an extreme case, so we’ll need to run some kind of tests.”

  “On someone else,” Cassie asserted.

  “Of course,” Ren answered with a smile. “Now, as to why I decided to bring you two here. Both of you are here for different reasons, but since you came together and applied to be a team together, I imagine you’ll be fine doing this together too.

  First of all we have a Julianne Agatha Weaver, age eighteen. Born in Vernal, proficient with close combat, illusions, healing and body modification. You listed your species here as changeling, which I can see you weren’t lying about.” Ren shot a look at my skin, which if anything was dancing even more quickly now.

  “Now, usually when we have someone with special conditions like yours, we do our best to find somebody who shares an at least tangentially related condition or ability. As it turns out, we do actually have a changeling on staff here.”

  My ears perked up. This wasn’t something I expected, but I would absolutely take it. Having someone more experienced with all of this would be a massive help.

  “Not that you would know it. According to our records, he’s been on paid leave for the last two hundred and thirty seven years, after vanquishing a tyrannical dragon and claiming her hoard. We don’t know where he is, but he ran out of vacation days two hundred and thirty six years ago, so he wouldn’t be working here even if we could find him.”

  My hopes fell. “Not to worry, however. We may not have a specialist, but I have been around the block a few times! I even had dealings with the fey once, very briefly. That single, brief meeting does make me the most qualified person for the job, so you’re in experienced hands!” Ren finished with another chuckle, which was the only thing that clued me in to his joke. He turned to Cassie.

  “Now, onto our second applicant. Cassandra Vaughn, no middle name listed. Age eighteen, born in Vernal. Proficient with storm magic and abjuration magic, minor skill in embroidering. Licensed wizard of the first circle. This is all fairly standard. What brought you to my attention was your apprenticeship, Miss Vaughn. You named your Master as one Almon Greymane, Associate of the Tower of the Seeking Eye. Is that correct?”

  Cassie nodded, clearly confused.

  Ren’s genial expression turned to something more complicated. “Right. Well, you could end up being rather important, then. Assuming this whole thing isn’t just a big coincidence.”

  “What are you talking about?” Cassie asked.

  “Well. Almon Greymane, specifically as an Associate of the Tower of the Seeking Eye, is known to us. He is an illusion focused mage qualified in the third circle, briefly took on a role teaching divination to some students at an academy that no longer exists, and took an interest in witchcraft a little under twenty years ago. Does this sound like the man you know?”

  Cassie and I both nodded. I didn’t know much about Almon’s past, but I knew he was good with illusions and teaching.

  “I would hope so. However, there is one additional piece of information which you aren’t privy to. Namely, Almon Greymane does not exist.” Ren let the words hang in the air.

  “Well, that’s just not true,” I spoke up. “We saw him like two weeks ago.”

  “Ah,” Ren held up a finger. “You saw a man who used the name Almon Greymane. No, Almon Greymane is a known alias of a man far beyond the third circle. We believe that Almon Greymane is a stand in for one Elias Rutherford, rogue Archmage.”

  Silence stood for a moment before Cassie and I both burst into laughter. Almon as an Archmage was an excellent idea, but there was no way. He was good, but he hadn’t even started visibly Changing yet. I imagined he was well on his way, since he did let off a bit of mana if I stood too close. Still, he was further behind than Ren, and I highly doubted he was an Archmage.

  When Cassie and I pulled ourselves together, we saw that Ren had not revealed this fact to be an excellently executed joke. He was standing just as seriously as he had been when he spoke the words.

  It dawned on us both at the same time. “You’re serious?” Cassie asked.

  Ren nodded gravely. “Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t actionable information. Someone of the level of power that it takes to be an Archmage is a national threat if provoked. However, I thought it would be better if you were aware.”

  Cassie and I sat in silence for a time. Eventually Cassie spoke up. “You said he was a rogue Archmage. What makes him rogue?”

  I nodded along as Ren manifested his own chair and sat. “Well. You may or may not be aware, but everyone above a certain degree of competency in Althea must swear an Oath. Nothing too binding, essentially just a pledge to answer when the nation calls for aid. While it is magically binding, it’s not the kind of thing that an accomplished Archmage like Rutherford would be stopped by.

  Essentially, Rutherford refused the call. And then refused to inform us of why, before disappearing. There’s not really anything to do about this, either.”

  I was confused. “Wait, that’s it? He just did… nothing?”

  “He broke an oath made to his home country,” Ren spelled out. I genuinely couldn’t tell where he stood on the issue, which had me slightly on edge.

  Cassie spoke up again. “So? I mean, there are other Archmages, right? Just get one of them to fetch him, if what he did was so bad.”

  Ren shook his head. “If it were so simple. No, we can’t do that. Well, I’ve been saying ‘we’. We would do nothing, because above all the Guild is politically neutral. Remember that, it’ll be in your contract. However, Althea can’t do anything either.

  You see, what exactly do you think happens when you get old and powerful? You get secluded. You start relying only on other people who are equally old and powerful. What then, do you reckon, would be the reaction when you order the living equivalent of a mass extinction event to bring in one of their only friends? No, there’s nothing to be done. As far as I’m aware he hasn’t really done anything since, either. I’m just letting you know.”

  Ren’s rant left us a bit shocked, so he filled the silence for us. “Oh, and if he gave you any spell books I would be delighted to see them. He was famed for his magical theory after all, so I imagine you got a rather comprehensive education.”

  Cassie and I shared a look. “Probably not the best idea,” I began.

  “Yeah, he loves his books. It took me years to get to see them with him in the room. I doubt showing some random guy would go down well,” Cassie finished.

  Ren hung his head. “Fair enough.”

  “Wait, but Almon hasn’t Changed. How could he be an Archmage without Changing?” Cassie asked.

  Ren chuckled a little under his breath. “He’s an Archmage who was know to specialise largely in illusions. If anyone could hide a Changing, it would be him.”

  Silence hung in the air for a moment.

  “I have another question, actually,” I prompted.

  Ren lifted his gaze. “Yes?”

  “Actually, I have two. Firstly, why did you say Cassie would be important if you were right?”

  Ren smiled again. “Ah, isn’t it obvious? She was tutored by one of the most accomplished Archmages this country has produced in millennia! A man who we think is at least several hundreds of years old, who’s writings alone began at least one entire field of study. Of course she’ll be important, having been apprenticed to a man like that.”

  Oh, right.

  Cassie shook her head. “Glad to hear I’m only interesting because of who taught me.”

  “Oh yeah, and I’m only interesting because of what I am, not who,” I added.

  Ren seemed rather lost for words. Fortunately for him, Cassie and I could only hold it for a few seconds before bursting into laughter again. He didn’t seem particularly enthused, but he didn’t say anything either. Good sport.

  “Anyway,” I continued after we regained our composure. “I had a second question. How do we leave? Because I am not going through that,” I pointed towards the rift we had entered through. “Ever again, if have a say.”

  Ren chuckled. “Ah, there may have been a minor misunderstanding. You won’t be leaving quite yet.”