The Nine Bishops

Master Beng had directed Mika to meet him and Manard in a secluded area of forest high outside Monsoon’s borders the following day.

But Mika wasted no time putting her new wealth to good use. She paid thirty silver for a yearly pass on the canal network, ten of which was to use the canals and twenty to use the boats. Some mages owned their own boats, while others paid a fare of ten bronze to take a single trip across the vast city network.

The pass allowed her to use any of the tiny boats plying the canals for a year—a big advantage because the canals had lanes that provided an accelerated trip to distant parts of the city. It was not only an exhilarating ride but also got Mika to her destination extremely quickly and effortlessly. Now that she would have to travel all the way to Heaven’s Gate, on the other side of Monsoon, the pass was a welcome purchase. She had to climb Heaven’s Gate to reach the training site Master Beng had selected.

Next, she spent fifty silver for a new set of clothing. The outfit was extremely expensive, but supposed to be worth it, according to what Roxanne had told her. She also bought a new training outfit that was magically sewn together. The outfit consisted of seemingly simple athletic wear: a light black jacket, with a grey undershirt and matching pants. It didn’t protect against magic, but it would repair itself automatically so that it didn’t suffer the damage her clothes had gone through in her battle with the assassin. Mika reasoned that, if she was going to be fighting regularly, she’d need clothes that would last.

Her purchases complete, she started her first day of training. It took less time to reach the base of the Heaven’s Gate staircase than it did to climb it. As expected, Master Beng and Manard were already waiting for her when she reached the training site.

To her relief, Master Beng made no comment about tardiness this time.

“Excellent! Now that you have arrived we can begin your training,” he began. “I’m sure you are wondering what your final training exercise is. It’s simple: You must defeat Manard. He’s agreed to spar with you.”

Mika glanced at Manard to see his reaction, but, seeing nothing in his expression, quickly turned back to Master Beng.

“That’s it? But won’t we get hurt?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” Master Beng laughed. “You are to fight him as long as you want. You can leave as early as you want, but you are to meet him here at this time, every day. I trust that you understand the task?”

Mika nodded.

“Very good. Don’t consider your training over until you can win. I won’t be here to observe, so I wish you the best of luck.” With that, Master Beng began walking away.

“Wait, Master. Do I have your permission to do contracts after I succeed?”

He turned around and smiled. “You can do all the contracts you want now, for all I care, but that’s only because I don’t think you will succeed.”

As she watched him disappear into the trees, Mika was torn between happiness and frustration. Happy she was free to take contracts, but upset that he doubted her ability. He has no idea what I’ve just gone through.

As for Manard, she had made up her mind: she wasn’t going to let this man hold her back from meeting her potential. She would defeat him, and quickly.

Mika turned to face her opponent. Manard stood there, observantly. She had no idea what he was capable of. She walked to the side of him. He didn’t move at all, he only observed her, which made Mika shudder. His expressionless face and silence made Mika acutely uncomfortable. Even the man she fought in Pils had been less terrifying.

Mika decided to put some pressure on him to draw out his power. Now at a distance from him, she began running toward him at a diagonal angle, but he didn’t move a muscle; just watched as she closed the distance on him. She followed through by creating an ice blade in her hand and ran straight to him, meaning to strike him with it.

He didn’t move. Mika’s blade went into his shoulder at a forty-five degree angle, towards his heart. The blade only made it a few inches into his flesh, but it didn’t slice the way she expected. It landed with a thud, as though she had just cut into a tree with an axe.

Shocked, she kept her grip on the blade. Manard looked at Mika silently and then attacked. He lifted his hand and gave Mika a mighty shove that tossed her into the air. She fell five feet from him and rolled several times along the ground. As she got to her feet, she watched him pull out the ice blade lodged in his shoulder and throw it aside. The gap it had made in his shoulder made it look like split firewood. Suddenly, hundreds of strands from each side of the gap attached to each other, magically bringing the flesh of his shoulder back together. In a matter of seconds, his injury was gone, and it was as if nothing had happened. All the while, he remained silent, watching Mika.

Back on her feet, she made another attempt. And then another. And then another. Every time she struck him with any kind of icicle—a knife, sword, javelin—she failed to do any damage. Manard did not make so much as a sound in all her attempts. After only a few tries, Mika was exhausted. She wanted to take another run at him, maybe with a different form of magic, but was too tired. Exhausted past the point of physical exertion, Mika dropped to the ground and sat there, catching her breath.

Manard, still without speaking, pointed to his wrist, as if there were a watch there, and tapped on it. Then he pointed to the ground, and nodded his head yes. It was obvious what he was trying to communicate, so Mika returned his nod with one of her own, and Manard left.

Mika stopped being afraid of Manard after that. Sitting there, a little ashamed of herself, she realized that he was a human being, just like her. He may have looked like a monster, but he was helping her train. Mika still had a lot to understand about her own magic. She was just a baby when it came to controlling it. However, Manard was going to help her learn.

Just like that, in a few hand motions and nods, Mika had agreed to meet Manard at the same time and same place tomorrow to continue her training.

And for the next year and a half, Mika trained with him. At the same time and place every day.

PART 3

“Wait, did you just say a year and half?” Inessa exclaimed, outraged.

“What seems to be the problem, young one?” the storyteller asked mildly.

“A year and half is not something you just skip over!”

“Who says I am skipping over that?”

“I can just tell,” Inessa replied, her annoyance written all over her face.

“Do you want me to continue with the story or not?”

The softly asked question had the desired effect, though Inessa didn’t look pleased. “Of course, I want you to continue the story! I just don’t get why you are skipping so much time.”

“For the sake of this story, what happens during that time is not so important. Perhaps I’ll tell you about it some other time. May I continue?”

“Just promise you’ll tell me later!”

“I promise,” said the storyteller with an indulgent smile, before going on.