Chapter 49: Sparring
The training yard was a circular arena behind the observatory, open to the sky. Stone walls ringed the perimeter, scarred from countless sparring matches. Wards hummed faintly along the edges: damage-dampening enchantments, similar to the TCA facility but older, more weathered.
Celestial Peak members had begun to gather around the edges, drawn by the promise of watching new recruits get tested. A dozen or so Climbers of varying ranks lined the walls, expressions ranging from curious to skeptical.
Helena stood near the arena’s edge, her Thunderbird still nowhere in sight. Garrett, Dillon, and Elise waited near the sidelines. Garrett chewed his lip. Dillon was already taking bets with a nearby Climber. Elise watched Valerie with a focused intensity.
Valerie faced Nathan across the arena. Still barefoot. She cracked her neck once, then twice.
"Rules are simple," she called out. "You and your summons. All three of you. Against me. If you land a hit, any hit, you pass. If I pin you before you land a hit, you buy me lunch for a week." She grinned. "Deal?"
Nathan drew his bow, a simple practice weapon he’d borrowed for the sparring match since his D-Grade was still with Vex. The grip felt wrong, the draw weight too light, but it would do. "Deal."
Valerie raised her hand. A summoning circle erupted beside her, pale blue and white, crackling with frost. From it emerged a creature that dropped the arena’s temperature several degrees.
The Yeti stood nine feet tall, fur pristine white that shimmered with internal frost. Its arms were thick as tree trunks, ending in hands that could crush stone. Its eyes were glacier-blue and ancient, and when it exhaled, the air crystallized. A-Rank?. No, Nathan’s [Hunter’s Insight] corrected him, the mana reading. This was S-Rank. Valerie had been holding back even in her description.
"Meet Boris," Valerie said. "He’s retired too. Doesn’t mean he’s forgotten how to fight, but fret not, he’s just hear to watch."
Boris rumbled something that might have been agreement.
"Begin."
Valerie moved.
She was fast... faster than anyone her age had any right to be. She crossed the arena in a blur, bare feet slapping against stone, and Nathan’s [Hunter’s Insight] barely tracked her trajectory. Mirko shifted to humanoid form instantly, green light erupting as she interposed herself between Valerie and Nathan. [Impenetrable Fortress] flared around her frame.
Valerie’s palm struck the barrier. Not with overwhelming force, but rather with precision. Her fingers found a seam in the armor’s mana flow, a microscopic gap between the second and third layers, and pressed.
The barrier flickered.
"Good defense," Valerie said, already sidestepping. "Gaps in the third layer. Fix that. Your mana distribution is uneven...you’re reinforcing the front more than the sides, treating the skill like a common activation and not properly distributing mana. A flanking strike will break through."
She pivoted. Kuro materialized behind her—[Invisibility] breaking as her daggers descended toward Valerie’s shoulders. The ambush was perfect. Silent. Precise. Exactly the kind of strike that had made a Level 51 Berserker yield.
Valerie didn’t look. She sidestepped, bare foot sliding across the stone with a dancer’s ease, and caught Kuro’s wrist. A twist. A redirection of momentum. Kuro’s own speed was used against her, and the Shadow Assassin—who had never stumbled in combat—stumbled.
"Clean ambush," Valerie said, releasing Kuro’s wrist. "Too much weight on the lead foot. You’re committing fully to the strike. If it misses, you’re off-balance. An assassin needs an exit strategy. Fix that."
Nathan fired [Mana Arrow]. Valerie tilted her head three degrees left, and the shot passed through the space where her ear had been.
"Good aim. Predictable trajectory. You’re aiming where I am instead of where I’ll be. Your insight skill should help with that. Trust it more. Fix—"
Mirko’s [Aegis Strike] caught her mid-sentence.
It was the same technique that had broken Marcus Kade’s guard, Mirko baited a strike, blocked it with [Impenetrable Fortress], and released the stored force in a single fluid motion. The shockwave ripped across the arena, a crescent of green-and-silver energy that should have been impossible to dodge at this range.
Valerie’s eyes widened. She crossed her arms in front of her chest—no time for anything else—and the shockwave detonated against her guard. Dust and loose stone erupted from the impact point. The gathered Climbers collectively inhaled.
When the dust settled, Valerie was still standing. A thin line of red traced her left forearm where the shockwave had grazed her—a shallow scratch already beading with blood.
There was a brief silence before Valerie laughed.
It was a warm, genuine, delighted sound. A full-bodied laugh of a veteran warrior genuinely surprised. "Well, well. A bunny Knight with a counter skill. You’ve been holding out on me." She examined the scratch like an unexpected gift. "That counts. You pass."
She raised her voice to the gathered Climbers. "Show’s over. Back to work. These ones are worth keeping." She paused, glancing at Dillon. "You—the samurai. You were taking bets. I want thirty percent."
Dillon’s face went pale. "How did you—"
"I know everything that happens in my guild. Thirty percent. Don’t test me."
The crowd dispersed, some laughing, others casting appraising glances at Nathan and his party. Boris rumbled again and dissolved into light. Valerie walked toward Nathan, still barefoot, still grinning, the scratch already forgotten.
"You’ve got something special, Nathan Cross," she said, quieter now, meant only for him. "Not just the summons, though they’re remarkable. The way you fight. The way you think. Most Climbers your age are still learning how to survive. You’re learning something even better. That’s a different mindset entirely." She glanced at Mirko and Kuro, both back in small forms. "Take care of them. Trust like that is rare. Don’t squander it."
"I know." Nathan meant it.
"Good." Valerie clapped him on the shoulder with enough force to stagger him. "Welcome to Celestial Peak. Now come inside. I have tea and a mission briefing. Your first real assignment as a guild party starts tomorrow."
---
Back in Valerie’s office, the party gathered around her cluttered desk. Valerie spread out a map of the outer regions, tracing a route from the capital eastward.
"There’s a High Class Tower about five hours from here," she said. "The Tower of Ash. Ten floors. Volcanic environment—lava flows, ash falls, fire-based enemies. Wyrmlings. Magma serpents. The usual." She looked at Nathan. "It’s been cleared before, but never by a party of fresh recruits. This is your test. I want to see what you can do when you’re really pushed."
Garrett swallowed audibly. "High Class. No pressure."
"If you wanted no pressure, you should’ve joined a knitting circle." Valerie’s grin was entirely unsympathetic. "You’ll be fine. Probably.... Mostly... The Tower’s been stable for years, no collapse risk, no unusual activity. It’s a straightforward climb. Just a hard one."
She handed Nathan a dossier thick with intel.
"Helena will be your liaison. She’ll monitor from the guild hall and provide support if anything goes wrong. The Tower’s in a village called Ashwick, small place, maybe a few hundred people. They’re used to Climbers passing through. You leave in two days. Use the time to prepare."
Nathan took the dossier. "We won’t let you down."
"I know you won’t. That’s why I recruited you." Valerie raised her TUFF GRANNY mug. "To new beginnings. Now get out of my office. I need to nap before my next meeting."
---
The Grinding Stone was quiet in the late afternoon. The party had claimed their usual corner table, the Tower of Ash dossier spread out between them. The mood was lighter than it had been in days, they had a guild, a home, a direction. But beneath the relief, tension hummed. The last High Class Tower they’d entered was the Veiled Colosseum, and that had been with a Level 51 Berserker on the opposing side. This time, it was just them and the Tower.
Garrett was already deep in the dossier, tracing the floor breakdown. "Volcanic environment. Ten floors. Fire enemies on every level. Lava hazards on Floors 3, 5, and 8. Boss is a Pyre Wyrm on Floor 10." He looked up. "We’ll need heat-resistant gear. The temperatures in there can melt standard armor."
"I’ll handle the equipment," Elise said. "Winterhart resources. My family has a stockpile of fire-resistant cloaks... originally designed for ice mages operating in volcanic Towers. They’ll work for all of us."
"Your family’s just going to give us expensive gear?" Dillon asked.
"They’ll give it to me. What I do with it is my business." Her tone was cool, but Nathan caught the edge beneath it.
Dillon twirled a straw between his fingers. "So this is it. Our first mission as Celestial Peak Climbers. Feels official."
"It is official," Nathan said. "We’re not just climbing for ourselves anymore. We’re representing the guild. Valerie’s taking a risk on us... we’re fresh recruits, and she’s giving us a High Class Tower as our first mission. If we succeed, we prove she was right. If we fail..."
"We’re not going to fail." Elise’s voice was not hope or reassurance, it was fact.
Nathan looked around the table. Garrett, loyal and steady. Dillon, irreverent but reliable. Elise, fierce and unwavering. Mirko and Kuro, his constants, his partners, his family.
He raised his glass. "To the Tower of Ash."
The party raised theirs. "To the climb."
Outside, the Towers gleamed against the evening sky. Two days until departure. Two days until the next test. And somewhere in the outer regions, a Tower of fire and ash was waiting.
