“Sorry about that, man,” Tuk said as they exited the party room. “Shit, maybe this is stupid and we should just go back to bed…”

  Nar smiled at the trugger.

  The light had revealed a pale, sweaty complexion on the ring tosser. His eyes darted from left to right, up, down and back again, and if Nar concentrated on his [Hearing], he could hear his erratically sped up heartbeat.

  “It’s alright. I couldn’t sleep anyways,” Nar told him. “Maybe a walk will help us both sleep.”

  Tuk nodded slowly, looking down the corridor to their left.

  They stood on an island of brighter light in the corridor that spread out from both sides around them. There were only tiny, dim lights, at even intervals, to ensure the corridor did not plunge into true darkness.

  “Yeah… Thanks, man,” Tuk said. “I really appreciate it.”

  “No worries,” Nar said, looking from the left to the right of the corridor. “Which way do you want to go?”

  Tuk motioned to the left. “This way. I know a place.”

  “Lead on then,” Nar said.

  I don’t think I’ve ever gone this way, Nar realized. The canteen and all of his classes were always located to the right when he exited the room. But leave it to Tuk to have explored the place, while Nar only cared about his practice and classes.

  Different reasons for Climbing, Nar told himself, smiling. And both are fine.

  “So, what’s keeping you awake?” Nar asked.

  “You mean, besides the fact that we might find ourselves in another Ceremony tomorrow?” Tuk asked, arching a bushy eyebrow at him. “Isn’t that enough?”

  Nar chuckled. “We’ve fought before, man. You’re always the first one to fall asleep the night before!”

  Tuk snorted. “Yeah… Right.”

  Nar nudged him with his elbow.

  “Come on, man. You know you’ll feel better if you just spit it out.”

  Tuk sighed and dropped his shoulders. “Ah… Sure, why not? But then you’ll have to tell me what's keeping you up, Mr. Destroyer in the making!”

  It was Nar’s turn to snort. “Sure.”

  They walked a few steps in silence, the lights brightening on ahead of them, and dimming behind them, leaving them within the same evenly sized circle of light.

  “It reminds me of the Climb,” Tuk said.

  “I was about to say that…” Nar said, catching himself glancing back into the dim behind him, as he had done so many times as they followed the yellow arrows to the surface.

  “I was so weak back then,” Tuk said. “I tossed my rings with everything that I had, but all I ever saw them do, was bounce off of those guardians.”

  “You were dealing a steady and quick amount of damage, Tuk. It was very important,” Nar said.

  “Bah! You say that, but you don’t really have a way to know for sure. Because I didn’t… Anyways, we get to the point where Cen is blasting open the way for us, and I feel even more useless now, you know?” he asked him. “Before, at least the two of us looked equally crap. Me and my bouncing rings, and Cen and her little puffs of air… What a pair we made, eh? While the rest of you pulled up our weight.”

  Nar shook his head. “I was just watching our backs. It was you guys who did everything.”

  Tuk smiled back at Nar.

  “You and I know that’s not true. Between you and Gad, you guys kept us alive. And there were plenty of places we only survived because of you,” the ring tosser said. “You stopped those poisoned bolts. You kept me safe on that bridge crossing, so that I could focus on my ring tossing. You opened the way for us to become auramancers, and it was your aura that saved us inside that Pressure tide… And there were more times, not to mention how you came back for us at the very end.”

  Nar pursed his lips and looked away.

  “Don’t be embarrassed, it's the truth!” Tuk said. “But when I figured out a way to use my aura with my rings? Man! I felt invincible! I tossed them right and left and they cut through anything! Anything! I just stood in the middle of the party, and my little dudes wrecked everything around us.”

  “It was awesome,” Nar said, nodding. “Still is!”

  Tuk took a deep breath.

  “Not since I left the B-Nex,” he said, his voice dropping. “It’s been rough man. My little dudes feel like strangers in my fingers… Before, without realizing it, I had this connection with them. I knew exactly how to toss them, exactly how they would fly and bounce off the enemy or the walls. I knew how to welcome them back, and toss them again in the best way… Now, look at me.”

  Tuk half turned and raised his bandaged arms, hands and fingers so that Nar could see them.

  “And this is with an instructor personally looking over me and helping me, man!” Tuk said, shaking his head. “Every other ranged class is struggling, but not like me. I need an instructor just to make sure I don’t actually kill myself!”

  Nar patted his back. “You’re getting there, man… It will take time, but it’ll all work out in the end.”

  Tuk shook his head. “I know it will… Or should I say, I hope it will. I told you guys earlier that I was up to four rings, but that’s not the whole truth. Thing is, I’m failing and missing all the time, man. If I lose my focus for just a split second, my rings move and they hit the target wrong, or just miss outright! And I’m scared now, when they come back to me… Scared that I’ll lose a finger, or take it in the palm of my hand instead!”

  “I thought you said the instructor was there to protect you?”

  “Nah, man. He’s there to make sure I don’t kill myself, or hurt myself too badly. Else, why do you think I have all these bandages?”

  “Damn…” Nar whispered.

  “It’s so hard, man, keeping track of all of them,” Tuk continued. “How am I supposed to be a close to medium range, multi-target and crowd control class like this?”

  “You’ll find a way,” Nar said. “And let me just say, that sounds cool as fuck!”

  “I know it sounds cool,” Tuk said, smiling briefly, before his smile faded again. “Except I can’t focus on all of those targets all at once. I don’t have a big brain like Cen. I’m not smart like Kur and Gad either. It’s…”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  He sighed. “I don’t know if I can take this path, man. I don’t know if I need to change…”

  “What?” Nar nearly shouted, stopping him. “The pile you talking about, man?”

  “And why are you getting angry?” Tuk asked, raising his voice as well. “If I can’t do it, then I can’t do it!”

  “Are you fucking serious right now?” Nar asked. “You’re perfect for this path. You’re an absolute monster of a DPS, man! I’ve seen it!”

  “That was with help!”

  “And so what? Just learn how to do it!” Nar said. “My instructor has me doing stances and fucking steps, and I can’t even do it right, Tuk! It’s walking! And I can’t do it!”

  Tuk looked at him, flabbergasted. “What are you on about?”

  “I mean it! Look!”

  And he stepped back, lowered himself into the basic stance.

  “I’m supposed to be like this at all time!” Nar said. “Then passing step. Gathering step. Retreating step… Gathering step, but it changes into triangle st… Shit.”

  He tripped on his own legs, as he tried to execute the movement quickly and flawlessly, and his hands banged loudly against the metal wall, echoing across the silent corridor.

  “What in the pile was that?” Tuk whispered.

  “My training! You know, the stuff everyone’s been complaining about?” Nar asked. “I need to fight like this. I need to learn a whole new way of fucking walking. Something as basic as that, and I can’t do it after two weeks! And here you are, complaining because you can’t toss nine rings all at once? Like, Tuk, it’s been two weeks, man!”

  The two of them stared at each other in the silent corridor, then Tuk burst out laughing. Soon after, Nar joined him.

  “Ah… Crystal, man. I needed that,” Tuk said. “I really needed that.”

  “I meant every word,” Nar told him.

  “I know that. And damn it. You’re right. You’re right… I’m just… I guess I’m scared of tomorrow,” Tuk said. “I’ve gotten used to what I can do, and now, I can barely do it. Jokes aside, what if I do hit one of you guys? Or another apprentice?”

  Nar rubbed his chin. “How many rings are you comfortable tossing?”

  “Two,” Tuk said, without hesitation. “I’m good with two.”

  “Then just toss two,” Nar said. “Two was all you had when we crossed that second bridge with Row’s party, and look at the damage you did. Without you, we would’ve never crossed it, Tuk.”

  The trugger exhaled slowly. “You really think two will be enough?”

  “We’ll make it work,” Nar said, shrugging. “We always do.”

  “Like Kur always says.”

  “Like Kur always says,” Nar nodded. “Just make sure you tell him, and he’ll figure it out.”

  Tuk took a deep breath and passed a hand over his face. “I feel like an idiot now…”

  “Eh… We all go through that.”

  “... thanks.”

  Nar chuckled. “Honestly though, you should come by and see us practicing in the Blades Hall. It's like a hundred people who suddenly forgot how to use their feet. And legs. And hips… You see our problem?”

  “Fair, man. Fair,” Tuk said. “Maybe I’ve been trying to rush it too much… Guess tomorrow I’ll just use two rings then. And I’ll tell Kur about it in the morning.”

  “Sounds good, man,” Nar said, and nodded with his head back the way they had come from. “Bed time?”

  “Ah! Not so fast! You haven’t told me why you can’t sleep,” Tuk said. “And besides, we're almost there! Follow me!”

  Tuk guided him down the corridor, then onto a left one. Then, he stopped in front of a narrow rectangle, beyond which was a steep set of stairs.

  “In there?” Nar asked, looking up into the absolute darkness with a frown. “Are you sure?”

  “Yup!”

  “Should we come back during the day, though?” Nar asked. “It’s so dark…”

  “Don’t tell me that all of a sudden you can’t see in the dark?” Tuk laughed. “Come on!”

  Begrudgingly, Nar called upon his [Sight], and together with his recently gained [Dark Vision], the lines of the steps and shapes of the walls became crystal clear for him.

  As he walked up after Tuk, he could tell that the steps under him were slightly curved, as though the feet they had supported over the countless thousands of years the Scimitar had flown had slowly forced them to yield.

  Then, there was a click, and Tuk manually pushed open a simple metal door.

  “What is this place?” Nar asked, looking around the empty square space they found themselves in.

  “Shutters, open!” Tuk said.

  A loud whirring and metallic dragging and clattering startled Nar, and the opposite wall opened upwards.

  It’s a window, Nar realized, stepping forward to see the view of the outside as the entire wall turned into a window.

  “Cool, isn't it?” Tuk asked, standing at his side with a beaming smile. “One of the crew told me about it. I think it's probably one of the most secret training rooms on the whole ship.”

  Nar looked behind him, and sure enough, the walls and floors were indeed covered in the same dark gray, aura dampening material.

  “I come here all the time, when I just need to take a breather,” Tuk said, looking outside.

  “I can see why…” Nar breathed.

  Outside, the Scimitar had traveled into one of the main, side thoroughfares through the Labyrinth.

  Around the ship, massive, cubic blocks of all sizes formed the walls of the Labyrinth. Most of the time they were all aligned into smooth walls, but here and there, they jutted out into the thoroughfare.

  Even the smallest of those cubes was massive when compared to their aethership, and little pockets and crevices made up of uneven cubes appeared frequently. One of them, below them and to the left, even looked like it was another, smaller channel through which ships could fly through.

  “This is the back of the ship…” Nar realized, staring out into the hundred or so ships that trailed behind the scimitar.

  It was a far cry from the hundreds of thousands they had initially seen, but the effect of their colorful wakes in the dark twilight was still breathtaking.

  “That it is,” Tuk said. “Very close to the top of the ship as well. You can have it as a reward, for listening to me moan and setting my head straight!”

  “I-What?” Nar asked, turning to him in surprise. “Don’t you train here?”

  “Me? Nah! I need the targets and the space in the Rangers Hall,” Tuk said. “You can have it. Well, you and whoever wants to use it in the party. Though I figure it will probably suit you best. You know, as one who loves to be quiet and alone and all brooding like.”

  “I don’t like that!”

  Tuk laughed. “I’m joking, man. I just meant that it’ll probably be better for you to focus, and try whatever you want to try, without having people staring at you. Those halls are awesome, but they get crowded!”

  “Tell me about it…”

  Nar had taken to practicing his steps and stance in the Blades Hall, but so had every other apprentice of the Blades. A place like this, where he could try again and again, not worried about hitting someone else, or how stupid he looked, and where he could have quiet to focus…

  I should have thought about using one of these, he realized.

  “Thanks, Tuk,” he whispered, his eyes still glued to the view in front of them. “It's perfect.”

  Tuk chuckled.

  “I knew you’d like it. But go on, what’s keeping you awake, on the eve of our first, great assessment?”

  Nar shook his head. “I don’t know, man… No! I’m being honest.”

  “Something must be bothering you.”

  “I don’t know…” Nar said. “I think I’m always like this before big fights. It’s impossible to shut off my brain.”

  “And tonight?” Tuk asked. “Come on. What’s on your mind?”

  Nar shrugged.

  “I just keep remembering all the fights we’ve been through. And I can’t stop it. And I’m thinking of all the stuff I learned, and all the stuff I practiced, and the things I need to do during the fight, and the stuff I need to gain to push my path forward… All the while, not making any mistakes that could hurt the party and…” he exhaled heavily. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just scared.”

  Tuk pursed his lips and shook his head. “Maybe. But I don’t think you're scared of the fighting itself, though.”

  Nar frowned up at him.

  “What am I scared of then?”

  Tuk took a deep breath and grimaced.

  “I don’t know, man,” he said. “In the Climb, we fought every day with our lives on the line. Here, we’re safe… Sort of. It feels more like it's our futures we’re fighting for, rather than our lives. The whatever comes after this two year delve, you know? And somehow, I feel like that’s a lot scarier.”

  “More than dying?” Nar asked.

  “Yeah… I mean, dying is terrifying, don’t get me wrong! But, living the wrong kind of life… Isn’t that worse?” Tuk asked, in a hushed tone.

  “I… I guess,” Nar said, stunned. “Maybe… Maybe you’re right. There’s a lot more expectations now. And a lot more to lose now that we’re out.”

  “Yeah…”

  Tuk snorted. “Look at me, all philosophical in the night… I’m not even drunk!”

  “All what?” Nar asked. The System had not told him what that word meant.

  The ring tosser laughed.

  “It’s something a guy taught me,” Tuk said. “I’ll introduce you one day. It should be interesting!”

  “Uh-hu,” Nar said, nodding slowly.

  “Now come on. We should really get some sleep,” Tuk said. “Shutters, close!”

  Nar cast the view one last glance as the shutters came back down, slowly enclosing them in darkness once more.

  Now that he was out, and there was a whole Nexus of possibilities and wonders available to him, alongside the very real possibility of him gaining the power he needed to save his dad, did that mean that he would now always be scared of going into battle?

  Did he, now that he had seen the tiniest sliver of the reality of the O-Nex and Labyrinth, stand to lose more with his death?

  Or is it to gain more by staying alive… he wondered, as darkness took them. To see more. To live more… And in the right way.

  Yes. Perhaps that was it. There was so much more yet to see and experience.

  They had just stepped out of the B-Nex, and Nar wanted to see much, much more. He didn’t want it all to end before he even had a chance to actually live it.