A Demon's Core

I am sure Violet would enjoy an opportunity to fight Johnathan again, though she still has not returned since she left to find some food. Some of the imps that are still here might also like to try sparring with a human again, though I think I would prefer to wait for Violet to get back before I allow it so I can have someone reliable and at least somewhat responsible to supervise while Rose and I are busy. Particularly in case Onyx or Jet want to try fighting, I need someone they will actually listen to if they take things too far. I contact Violet to see what she is up to.

How is your search for food going?

'It's good. We've found a few things,' she replies.

Some of the humans here are willing to participate in some combat training again, if you are interested.

'You want me to come back now?' She asks.

Only if you want to. You do not have to hurry. I am just letting you know that the option is available.

'Does the one with the big shield want to fight?' Violet inquires.

Johnathan? Yes, he was the one who brought it up.

'I'll tell the others and then head back,' she decides.

Focusing back on the humans, I inform them.

Violet is not here right now, but she is on her way back. Once she returns, you can spar with the imps again.

"Alright. You might as well start with your lesson. There's no reason for you to wait," Jonathan says and Willian nods.

"Well then, let's get started, shall we?" William begins, looking between Rose and Jenna. "I recall that Jenna mentioned that last time she tried to teach you the basics of what she had learned in school and I believe the mana shield is one of the first things they teach, so I assume you all know how to do that?" He inquires.

Jenna nods and I respond affirmatively for myself and Rose.

"Good, then I'll have you all show me so I can get a baseline idea of your abilities, though I have already seen some of what Jenna can do. But before we start, let's move the furniture out of the way so we've got a bit more room to work with," William suggests.

There is not a lot of furniture here, just the table, some chairs, the couch and one small coffee table and it is short work for the humans to move them all to the edges of the room to make a bit more space. Mark is not expected to help due to his injuries, but he does need to get up from the couch temporarily so it can be moved against the wall.

Once everything is moved, Mark sits back on the couch, with Seth beside him, while Cassandra and Johnathan each grab a chair.

"Great, now that we can move around a bit better, Jenna, why don't you go first. Just make a simple flat shield in front of you," William instructs.

Jenna raises both hands out in front of her with fingers splayed. If I concentrate, I think I can feel a faint fluctuation in the room's mana, but there is no obvious visual change. William walks toward her, leading with an outstretched hand, until he makes contact with the shield. He pushes against it, first with only one hand, then with both.

Taking a step back, he looks over to Mark, who is once again seated on the couch.

"Can I borrow that wooden sword of yours?" He requests.

"Sure, knock yourself out, but it'll take more than to get through her shield. Trust me, I've tried," Mark replies.

William walks over and Mark hands him the sword, then moves back towards Jenna. Holding the sword with both hands, he swings it like a bat into the shield. It impacts the shield with a loud crack, but Jenna does not falter and a slight grin is her only reaction. William steps back with a satisfied nod.

"Alright, seems sturdy and stable. That's a good start, you can let it go now. Rose, your turn," he instructs, turning to the imp.

Just as Jenna had done, she raises her hands to create a mana shield right in front of her. William proceeds to test it the same way he did with Jenna's and is equally satisfied with its integrity.

"Alright Magentam, let's see what you can do. Just do it here, I guess," He says while gesturing to a space about a meter from where he is standing.

I create the shield as requested and wait as he repeats the same test again. The impact from the sword is barely even noticeable against it.

"Yep, that's pretty good," he declares. "Creating a mana shield is the most basic, but also the most important, thing you can learn about mana, it could literally save your life. That's why it's the first practical skill that is taught. It also serves as a good foundation for learning how to manipulate mana in other ways.

"However, sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you need to shield someone or something other than yourself. Maintaining a shield at a distance is a lot more difficult than making one right in front of you, so that's what we'll test next. I already know that Magentam doesn't have a problem with it, so I'll mostly just be evaluating you two this time," he says to Rose and Jenna.

"So for this, we'll stand on opposite sides of the room and I'll have you create a shield in front of me instead of yourself," William directs.

Jenna goes first again and after he hits her shield with the sword, he lowers the wooden blade and strokes his chin.

"You know, I think this would be a better test if I had something with a little more heft to it to swing around. Do you have anything suitable Magentam?" He asks.

We have a couple of sledge hammers in storage. Would that be sufficient?

"Yeah, that'd work," he agrees with a wide grin.

He walks over to the couch to hand Mark back his sword and thanks him for lending it, while I ask Rose to fetch one of the sledge hammers.

I can ask some others to help you if you need it.

"I think I can manage on my own," she asserts.

In the storage room, all the weapons that are too big for the imps to make use of are leaning against the wall in the corner. She chooses the hammer that looks like it has the largest head and takes a hold of it by the end of its shaft. She drags it out to the hallway and heads back to where the humans were waiting. Just as she had said, not only was she able to handle it on her own, but dragging the hammer only slowed her down a little bit.

The head of the hammer has a square shape so when she gets back to the room, she is able to just stand it up vertically in place. William eagerly picks up the hammer and holds it in both hands, testing its weight.

"That's more like it," he exclaims with a smirk. "Thanks for bringing it," he nods to Rose.

"Alright Jenna, let's do your shield again so we can give it a real test."

Standing at opposite sides of the room again, Jenna creates her shield in front of William once more. William looks around to ensure he is not too close to any people or breakable objects, then takes a step back and raises the hammer over his head, leaning back a little from the weight. He steps forward as he swings the hammer, bringing it down hard in front of him.

Jenna flinches when the hammer impacts her shield, but does not falter. William knocks on the shield with his knuckles and nods.

"That's good. As I'm sure you just noticed, with stronger impacts like that, you will be able to feel it. It won't hurt you, but if you're not careful, it can disrupt your concentration, which can, in turn, cause your shield to fail, so bear that in mind," William explains.

"Alright Rose, you're up again."

He then repeats the same process with Rose. She winces from the impact against her shield, but otherwise maintains her composure.

"Excellent. Now, Magentam, we already know you can just make your shields wherever, but I'd still like to test it with the hammer."

When he strikes my shield, I can definitely feel it, much more so than with the wooden sword, but it is nowhere near enough to disrupt my focus at all.

What is the maximum amount of force that a shield like this could take?

"The maximum force? Well, that's hard to say as there's a lot of variables that come into play. But I suppose the two biggest factors would be how well the caster can maintain their concentration and how much mana they can put into it."

"Multiple people working together can also potentially create a stronger shield, but you may need to be careful when doing that because it can bring in additional variables as well," William expounds, placing the head of the hammer to the ground and leaning on it like a cane.

"Could you stop bullets with a mana shield?" Mark interjects.

Despite having no magical ability, Mark and Seth have been paying close attention to the lesson so far. It would seem that even if they cannot use magic themselves, it does not preclude them from being keenly interested in it.

"That's an excellent question," William enthuses, pointing at Mark. "The short answer is yes, at least in theory. In practice, it, again, depends on the strength of the shield and what kind of bullets you're trying to block."

"However, here's something they probably won't teach you in school," William says with a grin towards Jenna. "Rather than trying to stop a bullet outright with a shield that's perpendicular to its direction of travel, it can be more effective to create a shield angled to cause ricochet instead.

"That way, it doesn't have as much impact on the shield because some of the energy is being redirected. This is especially helpful when you're being targeted with lots of bullets. What's more, this strategy isn't only effective for bullets, it can be useful for fending off all manner of attacks. I think a demonstration would be best to really understand it though."

For a moment, I wonder if he is actually thinking of using his gun to demonstrate the idea, but instead he turns to Johnathan.

"Would you mind assisting me with that spear of yours," William requests.

Johnathan stands up from his chair and walks over to William, spear in hand. Still with his large round shield on his other arm, even though it is not necessary. I do not think I have ever seen him put it down any of the times he has been here. Either he is an extremely cautious individual or he just really likes his shield.

"Great. Now I just want you to try stabbing me, and I'll block it," William instructs.

As directed, Jonathan thrusts his spear forwards until it hits William's shield, where its momentum stops completely. Notable is the fact that, unlike Rose and Jenna, he did not raise his hands when creating the shield or make any other kind of movement.

"So that's what happens when you try to stop an attack normally, the shield takes the full impact of the attack and has to absorb it all. Now, if you'll do that one more time please," William directs.

This time, when Johnathan attacks, his spear is not stopped, but instead glances off to the side, missing William completely.

"And like that, the shield does not have to take the full brunt of the attack. It makes it much easier to handle, especially if facing a sustained volley of attacks. So who wants to go first?" He asks.

Do you understand what is being asked of you this time? I confirm with Rose.

She is coming along quite well with learning English, but I still need to translate some things for her. Though having visual demonstrations also helps in this case.

"I think so. It's like when we use a wall to bounce off to quickly change directions without losing too much speed. Except this time, I'm creating the wall to bounce something else off of," she answers after thinking about it for a moment.

Yes, that is a good comparison. And just like when bouncing off the wall, it is important to get the angle right to ensure the most efficient redirection with minimal loss of speed.

While I confer with Rose, Jenna volunteers to go first again. Jonathan moves to stand in front of her and prepares to strike. While he wielded the spear normally when attacking William, this time he has turned the spear around so that it is the blunt end that is pointed towards the young woman.

"You ready?" He asks.

Jenna nods and he thrusts his spear forwards. It glances off her shield and passes by her side, though at a noticeably wider angle than it did with William.

"Alright, that wasn't bad. However, it was still a little bit wide there. Try to keep it a bit tighter if you can. The sharper the angle, the more kinetic energy will be deflected and less strain put on your shield," William advises.

Jonathan moves to stand in front of Rose next. She nods when he asks if she is ready and just like with the other two, his spear once again glaces off the shield. It passes within a few centimeters of Rose's shoulder and William nods approvingly.

"Great, very well done. Now, Magentam, while I have no doubt that you'll be able to do this with no trouble, I wouldn't want you to feel left out. How about we have Johnathan try to stab me again, just so he's got something to aim at, and you'll block it," he suggests.

As he is talking, I feel Violet coming up the stairs, followed by a few other imps, though not as many as she initially left with, so the group must have split up.

I agree to his suggestion and Johnathan takes his position in front of William.

"My life is in your hands here Magentam. Please don't let me get stabbed as it will make continuing this lesson rather difficult," he entreats.

The comment is obviously in jest though, as Johnathan is still using the blunt end of the spear. So even if I did fail, William's life would not be in any real danger. He is right though that I do not have any trouble with the task. William stands in place as Johnathan steps forward with his thrust and the spear is easily deflected to the side and the impact on the shield barely even noticeable.

William looks over at Cassandra, who cocks an eyebrow and he gives a slight shrug in response. It seems like they may have been communicating something, though I'm not sure what.

"Good. Now, the best angle for deflecting attacks depends a lot on what it is you are trying to deflect and how strong you can make your shield. But it's important to note, this strategy is not always going to be effective for use in battle because, depending on what you're up against, attacks may not come from easy to predict directions.

"Another thing to keep in mind is the positioning of your friends. It might be considered a little counter-productive to redirect bullets away from yourself, only to send them towards your allies instead," William cautions.

"Now, let's move on to actually attacking with magic, shall we?" He suggests.

Violet will be returning momentarily. It may be better to wait in order to avoid being interrupted mid-explanation.

"Fair enough," William accepts.

We do not need to wait long and it is less than half a minute later when Violet casually strides through the door with her shield on her arm and holding a fish in her other hand. The fish is only slightly larger than the size of her hand and would not amount to much more than a snack for an imp. Violet walks right up to Rose and presents the fish to her.

"We brought this back for you. River caught it," she announces.

Rose gratefully accepts the offering and turns towards River, who was waiting by the doorway along with Aster and Coal.

"Thank you for this," Rose says before eating the fish whole.

River smiles and gives her a thumbs up in response and is copied by the two male imps. Violet turns her attention to Johnathan and she moves to stand before him.

"So you want to fight?" She asks, pointing up at him.

Johnathan raises an eyebrow and looks to Cassandra for a translation.

"I believe she is challenging you to a fight," Cassandra offers.

"I'm fine with that," Johnathan asserts. "Do you still need my help?" He asks William.

"No, I think that's all, you can go have fun with the imps now," William replies.

"Is this the only one that wants to spar?" Johnathan asks and I assume the question is directed at me.

There may be others. If you go wait in the hallway, I will have Violet go ask around if anyone else wants to try.

I send Violet and the other three off to inform anyone they can find that there are some humans here willing to engage in some combat training if they are interested. They head for the stairs first, as most imps like to spend a lot of their time up on the roof when they are here, that is at least when they are not playing games that can have them spread out throughout the entire building, like hide and seek.

Johnathan also heads for the door, but stops as he is passing the couch and glances at Seth.

"You coming?" He asks.

"Honestly, I'd rather not, if that's alright," he responds with a shake of his head.

"Not keen on fighting with the little demons?" William teases.

"Well, close up combat isn't really my forte, you know. I prefer to shoot at things from a distance," he says while miming drawing a bow.

"I'll go. I would like to see how they fight," Cassandra offers.

It would not be a fair fight if you use magic against them. It is Rose and I who handle mages, the other imps do not have a means of effectively combating magic.

Of course, that is not actually true, but I would like not to reveal the teleporting imps' ability to effortlessly move through mana shields when I do not need to.

"I wasn't planning to fight, just observe. Although, perhaps fighting them at least once myself would also be a valuable experience to give me a better understanding of their combat style. Mark, would you mind if I also borrow your wooden sword?" Cassandra requests.

"Sure, why not. It's not like I'll be using it," Mark replies.

"Thank you. I don't have much experience in fighting without magic, but I'll give it a go," Cassandra remarks.

She gives the sword a few practice swings before joining Johnathan and the two of them head out into the hallway to await their opponents.

"Alright, so where were we?" William asks after they have left.

"You were going to start explaining how to attack with magic," Jenna reminds him.

"Right, well, as you may already be aware, there are many ways to use magic offensively. Theoretically, the only real limitations are your imagination and your ability to properly visualise whatever you are trying to accomplish.

"For now, we'll stick to some basic attacks that anyone who can make a mana shield should be able to do. Creating a mana shield is fundamentally a solidification of mana, so while a flat, static shield is the simplest way to do that, you could realistically make any shape you can imagine. This can make it incredibly versatile when used offensively," William explains.

"For this exercise I'll have you all attack me while I make a shield. Since I know Rose and Magentam already have combat experience, would one of you like to go first this time?"

I will do it.

"Excellent. Try a piercing attack first, whenever you're ready," William instructs.

I try to focus on forming mana into a thin needle with a sharp point, suitable for stabbing, and I notice William glance in my direction, making me wonder if he could sense the fluctuation in the mana as I manipulate it. With a small burst of mana, I launch the needle towards William. If he is as good as he has implied himself to be, I am sure his shield will have no problem blocking it, but I still try to aim away from any vital areas, just in case.

My concern was unnecessary in the end, as my attack comes to a halt as soon as it strikes his shield. I do not let the mana dissipate though, instead, I focus on holding its shape and pushing it harder against the shield. For a few seconds, William does not appear to even react, until eventually he nods.

"That's very good. A very fine point, not only with significant force behind it but also maintaining consistent pressure like that is impressive. I'm sure that would tear right through an unarmoured opponent pretty easily," William comments approvingly.

At his acknowledgement, I let go of the mana and the needle disperses. Rose wants to go next and I use the opportunity to practice another important skill; perceiving movement and fluctuations in mana. It is easy enough to sense when mana is being moved under someone else's influence, but if I could hone that sense to be able to discern more precise detail about exactly how the mana is moving, it could be useful in helping me predict my enemies actions. Even if the amount of lead time that gives me to react is minimal, in battle, every moment counts.

Rose holds both her hands out in front of her, palms facing each other with a roughly ten centimeter gap between them. I concentrate all my attention on how the mana moves around her, particularly between her hands and I feel like I can sense the formation of a shape.

It takes several seconds to fully form, but the mana seems to have coalesced into a solid spike. It is not as thin as the needle I created nor does the mana feel as dense, but the construction appears to be stable.

She pulls one hand back and the mana spike follows, then she thrusts that hand forwards and it shoots towards William, only to be stopped by his shield, at which point, its form unravels and the mana disperses.

"That wasn't bad. It didn't quite have as much impact as Magentam, but it's still a respectable effort," William remarks, trying to sound encouraging.

Despite the somewhat positive comment, Rose still frowns.

"It's not enough. I need to do better," she declares.

Do not underestimate yourself, it was a decent attack. But we can practise more together later, if you would like.

"I'd like that, thank you," she says with a slight smile.

I then focus on Jenna's attempt. She is able to form a shape with a point that seems stable enough, but when she directs it towards William, it does not move fast enough to appear all that threatening. When it reaches his shield, it seems like more of a tap than an attack.

"Was that it?" William asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. It's hard to hold onto a shape while moving it around quickly," Jenna answers, looking down in embarrassment .

"Hmm, you don't have much real combat experience do you?" He questions.

"No," Jenna admits.

"That's to be expected, I suppose. Nothing to be embarrassed about though, it just takes a bit of practice. They probably should put a bit more focus on teaching young mages how to utilise magic for combat while still in school, considering what's expected of them as adults. It really would help them to be more prepared.

"Then again… Maybe they're afraid of what irresponsible teenagers would do with that kind of knowledge," he remarks with a shudder.

"Still, precision attacks like that can be a little hard for a beginner, so how about we try something a little easier. Instead of a defined shape, try sending out just a wave of mana, like you might use simply to push something back," he suggests.

Jenna nods and takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. With her hands in front of her, there is a slight build up of mana before she pushes them forwards and what could best be described as a wave of mana, just as William said, is moving towards him. It crashes against his shield like water against stone, with some of the mana continuing to move off in other directions, though it soon dissipates.

"That wasn't bad, obviously something like that wouldn't be lethal, but if you need to put some distance between yourself and something you feel is a little too close, that's a good way to do it. With more practice, you'll be able to increase the speed and intensity of it and you can also try condensing it into a smaller area for greater impact," William advises.

"Now, for Rose and Magentam, with how well you managed those piercing attacks, I can only assume that any basic attacks should be pretty easy for you. Though I do have a piece of advice for Rose and it's something that also applies to you too, Jenna.

"It would be wise to learn how to use magic without moving your hands around. I know it helps with visualisation, but it also gives away your intentions. This wouldn't matter if you're just fending off an aggressive animal, but if you're fighting an actual person, telegraphing all your actions will just make things easier for your opponent. Allow me to demonstrate," he says and one of the chairs pushed over to the side of the room lifts into the air.

It hovers in place for a second, then without any movement or gestures from William, or even glancing in the chair's direction, it shoots towards him so fast that it becomes a blur. The chair comes to a sudden and immediate halt just before it crashes into him and slowly sinks down until all four legs are once again firmly planted on the floor. Only then does he acknowledge the chair and promptly takes a seat.

"Like so. Of course, moving an object like that is something that a person could see and potentially react to, but if I were to simply attack with mana, without any physical gestures to give it away, it would be pretty hard for most people to see it coming," he explains.

"Now, there will be some situations when giving easily understandable visual cues can be beneficial, particularly when working cooperatively with others so it's not necessary all the time," William admits, "but it's still important to learn."

Do you have any advice to help them in training this skill?

"Not specifically, no. Like many other things, it mostly comes down to practice. Not that it really matters for you though, does it? At least not inside your dungeon. You know, that actually does shed some light on how you've been able to handle the attacks you've faced with so few casualties. To be able to attack with magic while remaining completely unseen? They probably had no idea what hit them," he remarks with an amused grin.

That has been one of our advantages so far.

"Yeah, I bet. So how about we move on to something a little more challenging; multitasking. In Battle, you may encounter situations where it is crucial to attack while also maintaining a constant shield. But doing both without losing strength in either can be tough."

I had already realised how difficult it can be after the last attack. I talked to Rose about it afterwards and was surprised to find that she actually had a better grasp on it than I did and I have since spent a lot of time practising whenever I do not have anything better to do.

"If you've tried it before, you've probably already figured out that the biggest hurdle is trying to pass mana through your shield, when the whole point of the shield is to solidify mana to prevent anything from passing through it," William continues.

And how do you overcome that hurdle?

"My preferred method is to push more mana into the shield and then push that mana out the other side as two separate actions before shooting it off in whatever direction you need it to go. A two step process like this isn't the simplest or fastest method, but I believe it's the most effective at limiting the loss of attack strength and shield integrity. Once you get really good at it, it won't even feel like you're doing it in two steps anymore."

In my own tests, I tried a few different ideas, but it always resulted in either weaker attacks or a momentary weakening of my shield, neither of which would be ideal during combat. The method that William suggested seems like a simple enough concept though, so I should be able to make it work.

I explain the method to Rose and when she is confident that she understands it, I let William know that we are ready to give it a try.

"Alright, so for this exercise, I'll have you both attack me while also keeping your shield up to defend against the attacks I will be sending back at you. Sound good?"

Rose goes first again and William waits for her to make the first attack as a sign for him to begin. He also gives the instruction to let him know if it is too much and she needs to stop.

She takes a moment to plan first before creating a mana shield, then she places both of her hands on the shield. Focusing on the mana again, I sense a slight surge before a formless wave of mana erupts from her shield, aimed at William. He nods when the wave impacts his shield.

"Good, but try to concentrate it a little bit more," he advises.

I only feel a small fluctuation in mana as he returns an attack of his own and with the way Rose barely reacts when it hits her shield, I can only assume it must have been a pretty light attack so he is probably going easy on her.

For her next attack, she takes a little longer to form it. When she fires it, the mana feels more condensed, it also moves faster and hits Williams' shield harder than her previous attempt. William grins and his return attack also feels like it has more mana behind it.

The two continue like that, with William responding with one attack for each of Rose's. With each attack from Rose, the mana is more focused and compressed than the one before it. But William also steps up the intensity as they progress, presumably testing her limits.

After some time of trading attacks, William is the one who calls for a break. In Rose's final attack, she managed to condense the mana into a fist-sized ball and William was impressed with the impact.

"You seem to have gotten the hang on that pretty quick. With a bit more practice, I'm sure you'll have no trouble with it at all," he applauds.

"Now, Magentam, it'll be a little harder for me since I won't have something specific to target, so how about," he stands up and moves behind his chair, placing his hands on the back of it, "you protect this chair instead while attacking."

I had the feeling earlier that he could actually locate me when I am using magic, so this does not seem like it should be necessary. But it is only for training purposes, so if having something visible for him to target makes this a bit simpler, then I suppose I can go along with it.

He steps away from the chair and I create a shield around it. Since this is to practice using magic through shields, I situate myself inside as well. Once again, William is waiting to receive the first attack before he begins. I keep it simple to start, forming another simple needle out of mana. Concentrating on William's suggested method, I pass more mana into the shield, then push the needle out the other side. It is slower and requires more focus than a normal attack, but I am able to form the needle without negatively impacting my shield.

I fire it towards William and when it hits his shield, he smirks. He raises one hand pointed in my direction and that immediately catches my attention because so far today he has not used any hand gestures before now. I am not sure what to expect, but I add more mana to my shield to bolster its strength and a moment later feel the crushing impact of his attack against it.

The blast was so strong that it created a wind that caused everyone's hair and clothes to flutter a little, except for Williams' who is protected within his own shield. Because I was focusing on my own actions, I did not get a good sense of his attack before it hit, but it put a lot more pressure on my shield than I was expecting. I still managed to hold it though. Is he going harder against me than he did with Rose because he expects me to be able to handle more? Or does he just not feel the need to hold back so much because this time there is no risk of actual harm even if my shield does fail?

Either way, he is clearly taking this seriously, so I feel I should do the same. I start forming another needle, preferring to focus on precision over brute force. I try to pack the mana more densely into it and when I launch this one, as I did earlier, I hold its shape once it strikes William's shield and try to push it harder. I prepare my shield for another hit when I see him winding up for another attack. When it strikes, my concentration falters slightly. My shield remains intact, but I lose my grip on my own attack that I am still pressing into his shield and the mana disperses.

Evidently, maintaining multiple constructs while also receiving attacks is a point to work on, but I also wonder if there is a way to increase the penetrating power of my attacks. Apparently, I must have spent too much time thinking about it as my shield is buffeted with another attack from William, this one even a little stronger than the last.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Don't keep me waiting too long. In battle, your enemies certainly aren't going to wait," he chides.

He is right, I can think of new ways to attack later, for now I should pay attention to the task at hand, even if it is just about practicing basic skills. I send my next attack and keep pushing it into his shield like last time as I wait for his counter. When it comes, my focus waivers only slightly and while the pressure eases on the needle I am pressing into his shield, I do manage to hold its shape this time. I quickly reapply the force of the attack while simultaneously forming another.

When the second needle hits his shield, William grins.

"That's more like it," he cheers before responding with three attacks of his own in quick succession.

On the first hit, I manage to hold on to everything, but on the second, I lose my grip on the mana forming the two needles as I prioritise my shield. With only my shield left to worry about, the third hit is of little concern.

"Alright, I think we can call it there. The two of you seem to have a pretty good grasp on the concept. Jenna, do you think you can manage it?" William asks.

"Umm, I'm not sure. Maybe," Jenna replies nervously.

"Well, that's not an encouraging answer," William says with a slight frown. "Magentam, would you and Rose mind just practicing together for a little bit while I help Jenna?" He requests.

Our agreement was for you to teach me and Rose. The fact that Jenna is here and also participating is purely incidental.

"I know and you're right," he concedes with a sigh, "But it'll just be for a little bit. Please?"

Fine, but do not take too long with her. If she cannot keep up with what we are doing, then perhaps it would be best for her to sit the rest of it out.

I explain the situation to Rose and she grumbles a little about Jenna wasting our time. We spend some time practicing together as William suggested, trading attacks while maintaining our shield. Rose works on further refining her attack as well as increasing the speed at which she can generate them while I focus more on creating multiple projectiles simultaneously.

I set aside the idea about increasing their penetrating power for now as I do not want to risk hurting Rose in the off chance that I do actually manage to get through her shield, not that I think that is likely as it does seem pretty sturdy. It will still be something to think about later though.

We do not get too far into it before the door swings open and Violet enters with a confident stride, followed by the two humans. A few other imps peer into the room from around the edge of the doorway, but they do not enter and soon disperse to return to their own activities.

"Ah, Cassandra, great timing! Would you mind helping Jenna privately while I focus on Magentam and Rose?" William calls out when he sees her enter.

"I don't mind. Was there some kind of problem?" Cassandra replies.

"I wouldn't go so far as to call it a 'problem', but given their difference in ability, I just think it would be better for everyone if she received instruction separately from the other two," William explains.

"Alright," Cassandra agrees and approaches Jenna, "I may not be as good as William, but I'm sure I can advise you," she offers.

"Thanks. I appreciate any help you can give," Jenna responds cheerfully.

"I'll take her out to the hallway again so we don't interfere with each other," Cassandra suggests.

"That's a good idea. I assume that won't be a problem, Magentam?" William asks to confirm.

No, that will be fine. Thank you.

Meanwhile, Violet walks over to Rose.

"How's it going?" She asks.

"It's been decent practice, but he hasn't actually taught us much that I didn't already know," Rose complains.

There have been a few things, like angling your shield to deflect attacks rather than blocking them outright and a better method for attacking through your shield. I point out

"I'm sure we could have figured that out on our own eventually," She counters.

Undoubtedly, but it is still useful to have someone who can teach us to speed up the process. Besides, it is necessary for him to gauge how much we already know before he could realistically be expected to teach us something new.

"I suppose that's true," she concedes with a pout.

How did your battle go Violet?

"It was good. I won this time!" Violet cheers.

You will have to tell me about it later.

"Yes, I'll tell everyone," she declares.

I will look forward to it.

After that, Violet climbs onto a chair and sits to watch the rest of the training. Johnathan moves to stand beside the couch and turns slightly towards Mark and Seth, who have been silently observing up until now.

"Having fun?" He asks.

"Not as much as I expected," Mark comments.

"I thought watching their magic lessons might be interesting, but it turns out there's not much to see," Seth adds.

Overhearing their conversation William chuckles.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but that's the way magic often is. Some people expect a battle between mages to be all fireballs and lightning bolts and other such things," He holds one hand out with the palm facing upward and a ball of fire ignites above it, "but while that stuff may be exciting and visually appealing, it's also wasteful, inefficient and generally impractical for combat," he closes his fist, extinguishing the flame.

"Real combat magic is usually just throwing around mana and sometimes making it sharp first. Although there are more…insidious strategies that could be employed."

That piques my curiosity enough that I have to ask him to elaborate.

What kind of 'insidious' strategies?

"I thought that might catch your interest," William goads with a smirk. "Well, Jenna previously told you about people trying to use magic to control 'the elements', you know, water, earth, fire and air. You've tried it as well, I assume?"

We have.

"Made much progress?" He asks.

Some.

"Good. So, fire uses too much mana and 'earth' is too broad of a concept to be usable for combat most of the time. You can do some interesting things with water if you have a sufficient supply within reach, but you're not always guaranteed to have access to useful quantities of it. However…"

It is at this moment that an interesting thought occurs to me.

Does the human body not contain a significant quantity of water?

"Well, you raise a rather gruesome point there, though I can't say you're the first to ever think of it. However, if you're thinking about manipulating the blood inside someone's body to kill them from the inside or something like that, I'm sorry to say, but it's not that simple," William laments.

"It has been found that anything that's part of a currently living creature tends to be highly resistant to manipulation through mana. That doesn't mean it can't be done, but overcoming that resistance generally requires direct physical contact, at the very least. And honestly, if you're getting close enough to an enemy to touch them, there's probably easier ways to get the job done.

"I'm sure you've already seen this limitation for yourself though," William prods.

How so?

"Well, has Rose ever healed anyone without touching them directly?" He queries.

I had never given it that much thought before, but looking back, I do not think she has. I also do not know if she has actually tried, but as far as I recall, she has always needed contact with the patient in order to heal them.

I suppose you are right. I guess it is only a mild disappointment though.

"Well, don't be too disappointed," William chuckles, "because as I was going to say, manipulating air has plenty of useful applications. Have you played around with the air much?" He inquires.

I have, but so far I have not found much that I can do with it that cannot be accomplished more effectively with mana alone.

"Indeed, a lot of people do run into that problem at first, because they get stuck on thinking of air as a complete whole and do not even consider breaking it down into its individual parts.You know that the air we breathe is actually made up of multiple different gases, right?"

I am aware.

"Right, so it's mostly nitrogen, but also around twenty-one percent oxygen and that's the important part. Oxygen is essential to basically all living things in existence. So if you could control the amount of oxygen in the air, you could have almost any living creature entirely at your mercy.

"It can be particularly effective inside an enclosed space," he says, spreading his arms out and gesturing around the room.

"I'm not going to demonstrate it here, for obvious reasons, but it's something to keep in mind. You know, hypothetically, if you had a group of enemies come in and you could get them trapped inside one room, if you then take the oxygen out of that room…It would be a pretty easy way to deal with them without putting yourselves at risk.

"And you especially, Magentam, since you can apparently use magic anywhere inside the dungeon, it would be even easier for you to do it while staying out of harm's way," William explains.

I do not know how easy it will be figuring out how to control the individual components of air like that, but there is certainly merit to his suggestion. It probably is an endeavour worth investing time into.

"Now, to be fair, once you have the knowledge and precision necessary to manipulate individual gases in the air, it actually opens up a wide range of options, but in my opinion, just taking away oxygen is usually the simplest and most straightforward method for incapacitating people."

What if it is not in an enclosed space? It does not sound feasible to take all of the oxygen from a wide open area.

"Then it depends on the situation. If it's only a single target and you want to kill them in a way that wouldn't make the cause of death immediately obvious, you could put a mana shield around them, thus creating an enclosed space. Of course, if you're dealing with a large number of targets in an open area, you'd probably be better off just finding a different strategy altogether."

What if the person you are trying to suffocate happens to be a mage? Would they not be able to break out of a shield if you put it around them like that?

"Potentially, sure, if they've been trained in shield breaking, which it's reasonable to assume that any decent soldier or mercenary would be," William shrugs. "But magic does take a certain amount of concentration to do anything useful and in my personal experience, when you suddenly take away a person's ability to breathe, a lot of people will tend to panic, if they even have time to realise what's happening, which makes concentrating on anything quite difficult. Still, someone who is disciplined and can maintain their composure well might be able to break out before they suffocate."

You sound quite knowledgeable about this subject. Do you have a lot of experience killing people this way?

"I have a lot of experience killing lots of people in many different ways. That's what happens fighting on the front lines of a war with this kind of power, you've got to learn the best ways to use it in any given situation," he replies grimly.

"I also didn't really have anyone to teach me, so there was a lot of trial and error involved," he added.

So you had to figure everything out on your own?

"Well, not entirely, we had scientists and intellectuals advising us on what they thought should be possible. But none of them had ever actually set foot on a battlefield, so the things they insisted were 'theoretically possible' were not always practically feasible." William pauses and sighs.

"I've seen a lot of good people die trying to fulfil the unreasonable expectations of those who've never had to experience the brutal realities of war for themselves, some of them far too young," he laments.

Is that why you quit the military?

"Yeah, first chance I got. It wasn't a popular decision and they keep trying to pull me back in."

William goes quiet for a while, lost in his own thoughts. As I am wondering if I should say something, he shakes his head briskly.

"But enough about that. We're not here to discuss my past. We're here to learn about magic," he announces cheerily.

Indeed. You mentioned shield breaking. That is something Rose and I would like to learn about.

"Of course, that's understandable, given what you've had to face so far. It's something that anyone who expects to be in conflict with other mages should learn and also surprisingly simple," William begins his explanation.

Is that so?

"Yep, all you have to do is get close enough to touch your enemy's shield and force your mana into it, then make it vibrate until their shield loses stability and breaks apart."

That is all there is to it?

"Well, even if it's simple in concept, that doesn't necessarily mean it would actually be easy in a live combat situation where you also have to worry about defending yourself at the same time. But yeah, provided you can get close enough, it's just a matter of vibrating it out of existence.

"And the best part is, if you can keep it up without interruption, breaking your enemies shield is an inevitability, no matter how strong the shield is or how good the caster may be," he exclaims.

There is no way to defend against it?

"Not indefinitely. With strict focus, you could reinforce your shield with more mana, but it would merely be delaying the inevitable. Eventually, the vibration will build until the shield's integrity is no longer possible to maintain."

If you do break your enemy's shield, is there anything stopping them from just immediately making a new one?

"Breaking a shield in this manner causes a sort of backlash that can be rather disorienting. It doesn't last long, but in battle, even a couple of seconds of distraction can be quite fatal. Though with the right training, it's possible to get used to it a little, so it's easier to recover from. Still unpleasant though." he explains.

That is curious, because I have experienced having my shield broken and I did not experience any backlash or disorientation and I was able to recreate it straight away. A possible explanation would be that the disorientation is a result of a physiological reaction and since I lack a biological form, it simply does not affect me the same way.

"So have either of you ever experienced having your shield broken?" William continues.

I have, though not only in the manner that you described.

"Oh? What happened?" He inquires.

One of the most recent attackers punched his way through my shield.

"Really? Like, with his fists?" He asks, holding his fists up in front of him like a boxer.

Is there some other part of your body that you would use to punch with?

"No, I suppose not," he says with an amused grin. "It's just a little unusual. Although, visualisation is a key component in using magic and occasionally some people do end up visualising things in…unorthodox ways. How many punches did it take?"

Four.

"Is that all? That's actually impressive. It might be worth giving some thought to later," he mumbles.

"But anyway, moving on. Since Rose hasn't had a shield broken before, it might be useful for her to experience what it feels like. It might help her in understanding how to do it herself and also prepare her for when it happens in a real fight so she knows what to expect," William suggests.

That is a good idea, so I explain the plan to her. Rose creates a mana shield in front of herself and waits for William to approach. He places one hand against her shield with fingers splayed. For a few seconds, nothing seems to be happening, then Rose frowns and lets out a quiet growl as she concentrates harder on keeping her shield together.

She barely manages to hold on for half a minute before her shield breaks apart and dissipates. Taking an unsteady step back while shaking her head, she almost stumbles, but manages to catch herself, holding her arms out to the sides for balance. She holds that pose for a few seconds, then lowers her arms and glares up at William.

"Yeah, first time always sucks the most. But better to learn how to handle it in a controlled environment than when your life depends on it," he remarks.

Are you okay? I ask Rose.

"I'm fine, I was just a little dizzy, but I'm okay now," she assures me.

Do you think you can replicate the technique he used after experiencing it?

"I'm not sure. Maybe."

Would you like me to try it first so I can share my insight?

"That would probably help. I'd appreciate it," she agrees with a soft smile.

"So, are you ready to try it now? Who wants to go first?" William inquires.

I will.

I approach William and when he creates a shield, I place my hands on it. For a moment, I think I see a frown flicker across his features, but then the expression is gone as suddenly as it appeared. While I am curious about what he was thinking in that moment, I have something more important to focus on right now.

I try to push some of my own mana into his shield, but it just feels like I am pushing against a completely solid object. My mana pushed against it, but would not move into it like I wanted.

"It's not quite that easy," William comments.

Do you have any advice to make it easier?

"Hmm, you might just be looking at things the wrong way," he suggests.

In what way?

"It's about the mana. An unusual quirk of mana that's still not fully understood is that, even if it originates from another person and is under their control, it can still respond to your will when you're in contact with it, even if only to a limited degree. It's the reason why shield breaking like this is possible.

"And that makes visualisation all the more important, not only of your own mana, but also that of your opponent. If you only picture my shield as a solid wall, that's exactly what it will be. You need to view it as something a little more malleable," he explains.

How do you visualise it then?

"I try to think of the shield as a pool of liquid. I'm pouring more liquid of the same type into it, creating ripples across the surface as a result."

Thinking of mana as a liquid is not something I have tried before, but if it can become a solid just because I will it, it should be feasible.

Unfortunately, it is still not that easy. Despite my effort to think of the shield as a liquid, when I try pouring my own mana into it again, I am met with the same result as before. I stop the flow of mana and take a moment to reconsider my approach. Instead of pouring it in quickly like that, perhaps I should start a little more slowly.

I try to imagine the shield as a pond and instead of pouring mana into it, I focus on adding just a single drop and feeling the ripples it creates across the surface. That seems to work as the mana merges with the shield and creates a slight vibration. I add another drop, this time concentrating on feeling the vibration it creates.

On the third drop, I attempt to amplify those vibrations and William beams.

"Now you're getting it," he encourages.

Repeating this process, I reduce the interval between each drop while focusing on escalating the vibrations until I am eventually pouring mana into his shield in a thin stream. The more mana that enters his shield, the more the vibrations intensify until it eventually becomes too much and the shield crumbles.

William winces and shakes his head a little but does not show any further reaction beyond that.

"Perfect, well done. It always takes a while for people to get the hang of it at first, but once you've got it, it becomes pretty straight forward from there," he compliments.

"Alright, you're up Rose. Lets see what you can do," he says, turning towards the imp and creating another shield.

Rose steps forward and puts her hands on the shield but nothing happens at first. She seems to be hitting the same block that I did. I repeat William's explanation to her as well as sharing the exact thought process that led to my success.

It takes her a little longer to get it fully figured out, but once she does and the first drop of mana enters the shield, her expression turns to a malicious grin, showing off her pointed teeth. She is eager to pay him back for the backlash she suffered when her shield was broken and now that she has achieved the first step, she is pushing forwards much harder than I did.

Unfortunately, much to her disappointment, he once again shows very little reaction when she eventually succeeds and she pouts at his lack of recoil.

"Alright, so as you may have noticed, I didn't put up any resistance at all. Obviously a real fight against any mage who knows what they're doing isn't going to be that easy. It is possible to delay your opponent by adding more mana to your shield and focusing all of your concentration on holding it together.

"If you're really good at it then it could be theoretically possible, under the right circumstances, to hold out long enough that your attacker runs out of mana, but unless you know that they're already exhausted before they start, it's not a strategy you should rely on to save you, especially if you're facing more than one," William warns.

"Another way you could potentially deal with it is to intentionally drop your own shield as soon as they start trying to break it. This will significantly reduce the backlash and might also catch the attacker off guard if they were expecting you to put up a fight. If you're lucky, that could create an opening for you to counter attack."

"I think the best thing to do now would be for the two of you to practice together so you can both get more experience at not only breaking shields, but also resisting having yours broken. Both are equally important," he suggests.

It seems like a good idea and I go over it with Rose and we decide that I will be the one defending first. I create my shield and she places her hands against it. I soon feel the mana start to vibrate, radiating outward from where she is touching it. I push more of my own mana into the shield to bolster it and reinforce my mental image of it being a solid, immovable wall.

That does help to mitigate the vibrations slightly, but does not stop them completely. In response, Rose increases the amount of mana she is injecting into it as well. Eventually, the effect becomes too great and the shield breaks apart, despite my best effort to keep it together.

It does take significantly longer than when she was up against William, which proves that intentional resistance clearly does make a big difference. As I suspected, I also did not experience any kind of backlash when my shield broke this time, so it is good to know that I have yet another advantage over potential enemies.

Before we switch roles, I want to be sure that Rose knows what to do first.

Do you understand the explanation given on strengthening your shield against this kind of attack?

"I think so. I can do it," she answers with a determined nod.

She creates her shield and waits for me to begin my assault against it. I start off slowly until I feel her resistance. Her shield suddenly becomes harder to push mana into and the vibration that I already had going is diminished, though not entirely eliminated. It takes more time, effort and mana than it did against William, but eventually her shield crumbles and she is once again hit by the backlash and takes a moment to steady herself.

It is unfortunate that that is something she has to deal with, but it is important for her to get used to it. Being able to quickly recover, as William seems able to do, could save her or others lives one day.

We continue this process, trading roles back and forth, under Willaim's supervision until eventually Cassandra and Jenna return to the room after Jenna had apparently exhausted herself. We keep going for a while longer, but when I notice Rose starting to look a little unsteady and taking longer to recover from the backlash, I call a stop to this particular training.

I ask William if there is anything else he can teach us that will not be so hard on Rose.

"How are you handling it?" He inquires.

I am… managing.

I decide it is best not to tell him about how I do not seem to suffer any backlash at all from shield breaking and am completely fine. Given that he has probably learned quite a lot about our capabilities today, I would like to hold on to whatever secrets I still can.

"Well, what I've talked about so far today is essentially the basic foundations of combat magic. Your best course of action now would be to keep training those basics and build off it in your own way," William advises.

But we can do that anytime. Having someone here who is more experienced and willing to teach us is not something I foresee being a common occurrence.

"I do see your point and I'm sure I could teach about a thousand different specialised techniques that I've developed over the years for dealing with specific situations. But how much of it would you really be able to absorb if I were to dump that much information on you all at once?" He counters.

"If you'd like, I wouldn't object to coming back at a later date to teach you again, but I think we should call it quits for today. Besides that, we should really consider heading off soon if we want to make it back before nightfall."

Fair enough. Before you leave though, there is something I would like to discuss with you. It is about something the last group of Honey Badgers brought with them.

I ask Violet to fetch the spherical device that they used to track my core last time and she leaps off her chair and rushes out the door. When she returns, she is holding the orb in both hands and looking down at it. Unlike when the Honey Badgers were using it, the needle is not pointing towards my core and following its direction leads her directly to Rose.

Violet takes a step to the left and the needle shifts to still be pointed at Rose. She takes another step and it moves again to maintain its focus on the smaller imp. Violet grins and walks around Rose in a circle, the device inside the orb rotating to always keep the needle pointed at the same target.

She picks up the pace and is soon running circles around Rose and giggling as she watches the needle spin while the humans look on with varying levels of amusement.

That is enough now, please show the item to William.

Violet comes to an abrupt halt and turns towards William. She approaches him and holds up the orb for him to inspect. He reaches out a hand to take it from her but she steps back out of his range.

"No," she says in English.

It would appear that she has taken quite a liking to the orb and does not intend to give it up that easily. She probably still would if I told her to, but I do not see a reason to do that right now. William raises an eyebrow but does not seem otherwise bothered by her refusal.

"You say the Honey Badgers brought this? They must have shelled out a lot of money to get something like that…unless they stole it, of course," William comments.

Yes, they used it to find the dungeon core. It led them straight to it, although now it seems to be fixated on Rose. What can you tell me about it?

"Well, while locating dungeon cores is one of the things they are often used for, they don't specifically target them. They actually just point to whatever is the strongest source of mana within their range, which I guess is Rose at the moment," he explains, sounding a little dejected.

What is their range?

"It can vary depending on their size and quality, but most would be around ten meters or so, I think," he looks to Cassandra for confirmation.

"That sounds about right, as far as I know," she responds.

It is a relief to know that items such as this cannot be used to track us from great distances away. But even with limited range, it has been proven that they can still be a threat.

This is the first time I have seen one, are they common?

"Definitely not. I've heard they're terribly difficult to make and they're not even commercially available, so it's actually a little surprising the Honey Badgers could get their hands on one," William states.

While we are talking, Violet goes back to walking circles around Rose, though now at a more subdued pace. Rose, for her part, is unbothered by it and shakes her head with a soft smile at the larger imps' antics.

So you do not know how they are actually made?

"Not really, no. Cass?" He looks to her again and she shakes her head.

"Would you be willing to trade this one to us? I'm sure the DMO would be glad to have it." William requests.

No. I think I would rather hold onto it for now.

Not that I actually have any use for it, but I see no reason to hand it over to people who could still turn out to be potential enemies.

"I see, I guess I'll leave it at that for now," he says, frowning slightly at first, but then his eyes light up. "Actually, that could really help with a favour I wanted to ask."

I do not like the sound of that.

What kind of favour?

"You said that the imps are immune to the venom of those lizards from the river dungeon right?" He asks to confirm.

I did say that, yes.

"Would you be willing to help us by retrieving that dungeon core?"

Of all the things he could have asked, this is not something I would have expected.

"Wait, there's a dungeon in the river?" Jenna interjects.

"Oh, yeah. It's a bit downstream, though its nearest border has reached within the old city limits. I'm sure you've at least heard of the venomous lizards that can sometimes be found around the river?" He asks and Jenna nods. "Well, that's where they come from. There's quite a swarm of them and they're not friendly so please don't go looking for it," he warns.

Noticing Cassandra's disapproving frown, he continues.

"Also, maybe don't mention to anyone that I told you about it. I'm not supposed to be doing that," he says sheepishly.

"Yet it's not the first time," Cassandra rebukes.

"Is it supposed to be classified or something?" Mark asks.

"It's not strictly classified, but it's not exactly public knowledge either. The DMO would normally offer a reward to civilians who bring in a dungeon core, but this one's pretty dangerous and they don't want idiots trying their luck and getting themselves killed or doing something crazy like poisoning the entire river in hopes of killing off the lizards," William explains.

So you want me to send my imps to that dungeon and if they find the core, to just hand it over to you?

"Basically, yes," William admits.

…Why would I do that? Even disregarding the venom, that does not mean they would be safe.

Even though the lizards were completely passive towards my imps the first time they visited the river dungeon, I cannot be sure they would remain so if we actually tried to take the dungeon core. William is not even aware that the lizards were not hostile to the imps, so as far as he knows, the imps would still be attacked and he is asking me to send them into a hazardous situation as a favor.

"I know I'm asking something dangerous, but it's been giving us trouble for quite a while and I think the imps would have the best chance of pulling it off."

That certainly explains why you want me to do it, but not why I should agree to it.

"Right, sorry. I'm confident the DMO can be convinced to compensate you quite generously for the effort and I'm sure it would also earn some goodwill from some of the people who still think that negotiating with you at all is a waste of time," William offers.

"Why would they think it's a waste of time?" Jenna protests.

"Because it's a dungeon that, from an outside perspective, appears to be controlled by demons; that is what you originally reported after all. That's enough to get certain people pretty riled up and make them want to just storm in, kill the demons and take the dungeon core while it's still in reach. It's only the intervention of the D.I.D that made anyone consider opening a line of communication, because they wanted to actually learn more about the new type of demon that had been reported, instead of just slaughtering them," he responds.

"It wasn't our fault though," Seth says meekly from the couch.

"I'm not blaming you. You guys did what you were supposed to by law," William assures him.

I will blame you. My decision to let you go the first time you were here ended up costing us dearly.

"Come on. We already apologised, you can't hold it against us forever," Mark complains.

I can and I probably will.

Mark is about to respond, but Johnathan holds out a hand to forestall any further retort.

"Don't argue, there's no point. Debating over blame doesn't change what happened. We should just be grateful that they didn't feel the need to retaliate against us personally afterwards," he chides.

"Fine, whatever," Mark huffs.

"Right, so as I was saying," William continues, "I know it's a lot to ask and you'd be totally within your right to refuse, but I hope you'll at least consider it. You'd be really helping us out," he implores.

His promise of 'generous compensation' and 'goodwill' is rather vague and not particularly enticing, but it could give us some valuable leverage in future negotiations. If I can confirm that the lizards will not become hostile, even if we do try to take their dungeon core, it might be worth some consideration.

I will think about it.

"Thank you, that's all I can ask for," William says.

Though I wish to keep the orb, we do have other items taken from previous attackers that I would be willing to trade.

"Oh? What kind of items?" he asks.

Weapons mostly; guns that we took from the Honey Badgers and more basic weapons from the invaders that came before them. As well as whatever armor is still intact enough to be usable.

"Some military people might be interested in trading for any firearms you don't need. Maybe the armour too, I guess, depending on what kind and its condition," William considers.

"Would you trade some guns to us as well?" Mark adds, leaning forwards on the couch and wincing slightly.

"What do you need a gun for?" Jenna retorts.

"It could be useful at some point," he insists and Jenna rolls her eyes.

I do not mind trading them to you, but if the military will be interested in them as William suggests, you will have to get in before they do. I am not going to set anything aside specifically for you.

"Even if you're thinking of acquiring a firearm outside of the normal channels, don't forget that normal gun laws still apply. Civilians are only permitted to carry a pistol and the penalties for misusing it are harsh and unforgiving," Cassandra warns.

"What would you want in exchange?" William inquires.

More of what you have already brought us would be appreciated and some additional ammo for the guns we intend to keep. Also, if you can bring anything else that you think might be useful to us that we have not thought of, I may consider that as well.

I am sure that the weapons I am offering them are probably worth a lot more to humans than what I am asking for in exchange, but most of them are of little use to us and are just taking up space in our storage room. Getting anything for them that we can actually use would be of benefit to us, even if it is just snacks for everyone to enjoy.

"That all sounds reasonable. I'll pass the message along about what you're trying to offload and see if anyone's interested," William assures.

After our brief discussion about trade, there is not much more to go over today and the humans get ready to leave. Mark groans a little as he stands up from the couch and they ask if I can have Rose try to heal him a little more, but I refuse. I consider it the consequences of challenging Coal even after I specifically warned him against doing so. Hopefully that will be enough to deter him from trying again in the future. Mark grumbles about my decision, but ultimately accepts it, not that he has much choice.

Before they start making their way down the stairs, William reminds me of my promise to organise a meeting room on a lower floor and I assure him that I will start working on that soon, though depending on how soon his next visit will be, I cannot guarantee that it will be ready by then.

Maybe I will eventually take over the entire lobby so visitors will never have to go any further than that, barring special circumstances. But based on the imps descriptions of it, it sounds somewhat large so it would take some time. It might be better to find something smaller to use in the short term. There is probably some kind of office somewhere on the ground floor that would be suitable.

Overall, I am satisfied with what we have accomplished today. I would have liked to have gained more from the magic lesson since a lot of it was just going over things we already knew, but William is probably right in that it would be better to master the basics before trying to learn a lot of new things all at once. Besides, he did say that he would be willing to come back and teach us again in the future.

Would you like to continue practicing or shall we stop for now? I ask Rose.

"I think I'd rather rest for now, but I do want to continue later," she replies.

"I need to tell everyone about how I beat the human," Violet cheers and grabs Rose's hand. "Come on, let's go!" She says and pulls her towards the door.

Rose chuckles and does not resist, allowing herself to be pulled along by the larger imp.

I too am looking forward to hearing this tale.