“How are you here?” Det asked the wall quietly.

  Unsurprisingly, it didn’t answer.

  Gazer spoke up, though. “Is this the mural from your report?” the ReSouled said. “The one that birthed the wolves you brought with you into the emergence.”

  “Sure looks like it,” Det said, eyes running across the familiar strokes of black ink on the wall. Standing there, looking at it like that, he could almost feel the brush in his hands. The sensation of the ink-covered bristles dragging across the stone wall. Where he’d worked around the cracks, or even made them part of the overall image. Even the inspiration he’d found in the splashes of blood angled across the wall, and how he’d made them into the red eyes of the wolves.

  Every detail was the same. Every single one.

  “But it can’t be,” he went on. “When I infused it with my energy, the wolves leapt off the wall. It was bare. And they followed me into the emergence. Most of them died. The ones that didn’t—especially the alpha here—stayed with me and the survivors until they faded naturally. Ran out of magic, I guess.

  “This shouldn’t be here.”

  “And yet it is,” Beauty said. “Gazer, why is it still here?”

  “That’s what I’m hoping Det can answer for me,” Gazer said, looking a little confused on how the instructor had missed that part.

  “Not what I mean,” Beauty said with a shake of his head. “As much a work of art as this is…” Beauty gestured to the mural. “… I don’t see why anybody would spare it, while the rest of this area was cleared as per standard procedure. Why did somebody choose to let this remain?”

  “Ah,” Gazer said. “Because the C-Rank ReSouled assigned to clearing the area couldn’t bring the wall down.”

  “Pardon?” Beauty said.

  “You heard me,” Gazer said. “Rumble over there. She’s C-Rank, and the one responsible for flattening the town. For you new cadets, this is standard for us, to make sure we have clear lines to see the emergence, or anybody trying to get to it. Other than the walls and dome, of course.”

  The six new cadets all nodded their appreciation of the explanation.

  “As for Rumble,” Gazer went on. “When she was working on this section of town, this wall resisted her attempt to plow it. She pushed a little harder, because she hadn’t seen the mural from the other side, and that still didn’t work. When she walked around to see what was going on, and found this unique painting, she decided to bring the higher-ups into it.

  “They were discussing what to do with it until we heard you’d requested to bring a new batch of cadets here for training. When it was clear the artist who made this was one of the ones coming, they figured we could get some answers. So, here we are.”

  “A C-Rank couldn’t bring this wall down?” Sage said. “But she had no problem with the rest of the town?”

  “That’s what she said,” Gazer said. “I don’t think she threw everything she had at it, but for any wall on Ironsalt to stand up to even a dreg of C-Rank power should be impossible. Rumble could sneeze and flatten a normal town.

  “Det,” the ReSouled said, his attention shifting. “Do your paintings normally exhibit this kind of resiliency?”

  “Not at all,” Det said. “Usually they’re on paper, though. It can be torn, crumpled, or burned just like normal paper.”

  “Have you ever painted a mural like this before?” Beauty said. “One on a wall.”

  Det’s mind instantly went back to the image of his home he’d worked on and refined over twenty years, in the cave on Radiant. “Wasn’t wolves,” he said. “But I’ve done wall paintings before. Doors into homes, and other stuff on cave walls.”

  “When?” Calisco said. “And what cave? There aren’t any caves on Radiant.”

  “There are, if you know where to look,” Det said, but didn’t dwell on it. “None of them remained past the magic getting used. Doors lasted just long enough for somebody to walk through them. That kind of thing.”

  “There’s one way to find out if this is your painting, isn’t there?” Sage said. “Det, you told me you couldn’t bring paintings made by somebody else to life. Right?”

  Det looked down at his Wordless gauntlet. The stencil it used slightly invalidated what Sage said—what Det thought he knew about his magic—but it wasn’t likely Wordless had painted this mural. It was too much like what he’d done. It had to be his, didn’t it?

  “Sage is correct,” Det said. “If I can infuse this with magic, it’s got to be my painting. Anybody against me trying?” His last question went to Beauty and Gazer.

  “Is there any risk to you?” Beauty asked.

  “Shouldn’t be,” Det said. It wasn’t like it was an image of a bomb. Or, more accurately, a landmine. One of the few complicated things he’d gotten to work, thanks to one particular class project that only went a little off the rails. Then again, if the nine wolves did come to life, and they weren’t happy with him, that could potentially be worse than the bomb. Meh, it was a risk he was willing to take.

  “I am not opposed to it,” Gazer said. “My sergeant said if I could convince you to do just that, I should.”

  “Let’s give it a try, then,” Det said, walking up to the wall and putting his hand on one of the ink lines. With a kernel of energy ready and waiting in his palm, he considered injecting it into the image of The Pack, but held off. If this didn’t work—or if it worked too well—he didn’t need any extra problems. That decided, the energy moved smoothly from his fingers and into the ink.

  And, just like it had done the first time he’d infused the painting, the black lines shimmered with an inner light, before—two seconds later—the nine wolves leapt from the wall. Stone once again empty and bare, Det turned to look at the ink-pack spreading out and eying the other ReSouled. At his side, the alpha padded up beside him, its red eyes looking up at him in question.

  “Meliza?” he said, somehow reading the expression of the wolf. “She’s with her mother on Mount Avalon. She’s safe.”

  A nod from the alpha’s head, like Det had provided it with a satisfactory answer, and it turned its attention to the other Mistguard, who had smartly not moved since the wolves had appeared.

  “They’re friends,” Det said, then looked at Calisco. “Most of them, at least. All on our side.”

  A soft but rumbling growl from the alpha had the rest of the pack spread out from guarding Det, to encircling the whole group. Just like that, they were all under the ink-wolves’ protection.

  This… this was the first time something Det had created hadn’t been consumed. Destroyed. He knelt down beside the alpha, taking its big head between both of his hands, and pulled it so he could look it in the eyes. Thankfully, the powerful wolf didn’t fight him, even as he felt its muscles beneath the thick fur.

  Are there actually muscles under there…?

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Det had a different question he needed to ask the wolf, though. “How are you here? How are you back?”

  Another simple look from the alpha carried far more meaning than Det believed possible. Or, maybe it was just his mind making things up because it was the answer he expected to hear.

  The wolf didn’t know any more than Det did. But, it—and the others—had a job to do. They’d protect Det. Again.

  “Thank you,” Det said. “For this, and for everything you did last time.”

  At his words, the big wolf lifted a paw up and placed it on Det’s arm.

  Of course, it seemed to say. It’s what we do.

  “Verdict?” Gazer asked, eyes unblinking as his head turned to take in the pack of ink-wolves pacing around them. Most of the animals kept their eyes outward, wary of any threats, though a few glances came back every now and then to watch the ReSouled.

  While The Pack had been informed they were all on the same side, Det was their charge. He was the one they’d protect. From anything or anybody they had to.

  “These are the same wolves,” Det said. “I don’t just mean the same painting, but somehow the same wolves. Individuals. I have no idea how this happened.” He continued to look into the alpha’s eyes while he spoke. “My magic usually produces—I hate to say this, and no offense—mindless constructs. They follow orders, and, I guess, think to a limited extent to follow those orders.

  “Nothing like these guys though. And, it’s like they remember what happened last time. Even though most of them were destroyed in the battle.”

  “That’s not so unusual,” Beauty said.

  “It’s pretty unusual for me,” Det said, standing up, but leaving one hand on the alpha’s head, just behind its ears. “Not only are these wolves thinking for themselves, but they have a consistent personality and consciousness through being resummoned? That last part alone—being resummoned—is enough of an outlier, this is all out of the ordinary.”

  “Your magic has evolved, somehow,” Beauty said. “That is the part that is not unusual. I don’t believe it has increased in Rank, but more than you’ve stumbled upon a unique variation of how you can use it. This is the type of thing we aim to teach you at the academy. How you can use your magic in new ways.

  “You just happened to find it on your own.”

  “But, how?” Det said. “None of my kittens—not even calamity kitten—had this kind of intelligence. And I certainly don’t think my next rendition of it will be the same one I summoned in the classroom.”

  “Are you sure of that?” Beauty pressed.

  “Somehow, yes,” Det said. “This wasn’t some kind of general improvement of my magic. This was something special with these wolves.”

  The alpha gave an affirmative growl that it was, in fact, very special. Or, that could’ve just been its ego.

  “Hrm,” Beauty said. “Then, I believe, it is something we will need to explore during our time here on Ironsalt. Gazer, do you have plans for the wall, now that the wolves are with us.”

  “Before you answer that,” Det interrupted. “My magic doesn’t last forever. Even these guys, the survivors I mean, they faded after some time. The same thing is probably going to happen again. Can we leave the wall where it is? If they can return to it…”

  “Planning to carry a wall around with you to summon them when you need them?” Sage joked.

  “No,” Det said flatly. “But, if they do return to the wall when the magic expires, that’s different than usual. Different enough that maybe there’s also a way to transfer them to… something else? Something I can take with me.”

  “It seems like a reasonable request to me,” Beauty said. “Corporal?”

  “I can talk to the higher-ups about it,” Gazer said. “Especially if it’s an official request from the academy?”

  “It is,” Beauty said. “I believe it could help our new cadet further improve his ability.”

  “I’ll see what I can do then,” Gazer said, giving Det and his alpha a thumbs up in reassurance. “With that done, how about I take you to where you’re going to be bunking for the next week. It’s not as posh as the academy’s suites, but I think we’ve done pretty well.”

  “That would be excellent,” Beauty said. “And, on the way, if you could tell us anything about the dungeon the cadets will be training in, that would also be extremely helpful.”

  “Certainly,” Gazer said, leading the cadets—with most of the Pack circling around them protectively—in the direction of the only remaining buildings in Ironsalt. “The dungeon just unsealed this morning, and we’ve only had one scout enter, so our information is still very limited.”

  “You sent an E-Rank in by themselves?” Tena asked.

  “Of course not,” Gazer said. “The scout was D-Rank, and didn’t stay long. With the dungeon just starting to spawn, we had a short window of opportunity to get some intel before the dungeon reacted to her presence.”

  “What did she find?” Sage asked. “Tunnels, like an ant hill?”

  “Oh, there was an anthill,” Gazer said. “Just not one like we expected. The dungeon—at least the first stages of it—don’t take place underground. The entrance will put you on what looks like a small pillar, one only about a mile-and-a-half from edge to edge.”

  “And we have to find the entrance to the anthill?” Calisco said.

  “Not at all,” Gazer said. “The anthill we believe you need to enter is in the middle of the pillar. That’s not the strange part, though. The anthill is more an ant-temple. One seemingly constructed of stone blocks, complete with statues, walls, and massive gates. A huge ant-head-bust tops the temple—which has a pyramid-like shape—and there are entrances, or exits, on multiple levels.

  “Guard-ants patrol the walls, and these sound similar to the ones with the blunt mandibles Det mentioned in his report. The scout also spotted a few patrols of the smaller ants with the sharper mandibles roaming around the rest of the pillar. These are what you’ll encounter first, and have to watch out for.”

  “If you don’t carefully engage a group,” Beauty said, using his instructor’s voice. “You could get attacked by a second, wandering group. It’s one of the largest risks until groups are familiar with each other, and fighting by the dungeon’s rules. For you all, especially, it will be a risk, since we’re introducing you to the dungeon long before we’ve even worked on party dynamics and teamwork.”

  “Good thing we have an evening before we go in,” Det said, and got four nods of agreement. Weiss—who’d been quiet the whole time—had a dazed look on his face, then finally nodded a few seconds later. Only after he noticed Det was looking at him.

  Does he even know what he just nodded to?

  “Beyond the outer wall of the temple,” Gazer said, drawing all attention back to him. “We have no information. Our scout didn’t spot a Mid-Boss—or Rare Spawn, depending on what you want to call it—but that could just be because it hadn’t spawned yet.”

  “At E-Rank,” Beauty said. “A dungeon should have no more than two Rare Spawns. And, as you can guess from their name, even they don’t always spawn within a dungeon. Some have shown less than a one-percent change of appearing. When they do, they are always frighteningly dangerous opponents, which reward equally good gear.”

  “So, you’re saying if we see one, we should kill it?” Tena said.

  “Exactly the opposite for the time being,” Beauty said. “For now, you should avoid it. As long as you don’t kill the Boss of the dungeon, the spawns within won’t change. You may have a chance before the end of the week to attempt it. That will all depend on how I judge your growth.”

  “Speaking of that,” Det said. “Since you can’t come into the dungeon with us, how are you going to know how we’re doing?”

  “Each evening when you exit again—or if you are forced to leave early—we will run a short series of competency tests. I will be able to judge you based on the results of those. After the tests—and dinner—you will have free time.”

  “Which we can use to keep practicing?” Det asked.

  “If you so choose,” Beauty said, a small nod of approval accompanying his simple statement.

  “I really thought it was Tena who was going to be the slave driver,” Calisco said with a groan. “You were supposed to be lazy and useless, Det. Why did you have to go and change?”

  “Maybe it’s because he was lazy and useless he changed,” Sage suggested, then nimbly dodged a quick smack Det went for. “That’s a compliment!”

  “Didn’t sound like one!” Det countered.

  “Ah, to be young again,” Gazer joked. “And, here we are.”

  Looking over from where Det had taken a step to chase Sage, he found a square building where some of Ironsalt’s homes had once stood. There were still some of those houses nearby, and from the looks of things, they’d been claimed by other Mistguard. Only a few, though, with the majority of the structures resembling small warehouses.

  Squat. Square. Plain. Those were the best ways to describe them.

  “This is the dorm we’ve got set up for now,” Gazer said. “Open bunks. Separate heads and showers for men and women. Mix if you want to, but be ready for the consequences of somebody not agreeing with it. You’re sharing the space with a dozen others, so keep it civil. They’re all higher-Rank than you, anyway.

  “Beauty, you’ve been invited to House-Red if you’d like,” Gazer said, pointing to the—totally expected—red building. “There’s an extra private room, there, as well as an extra bathroom, and a kitchen just for the officers in the house.”

  “Thank your sergeant for the offer,” Beauty said. “But, this dorm will do just fine. Better if I keep an eye on my charges for the time being.”

  “Beast would’ve totally taken the private room,” Calisco said.

  “Yes, she would have,” Beauty agreed. “I am not her.”

  “With that settled,” Gazer said, then thumbed toward another square building, this one almost the same as the one in front of them, other than the larger windows. “That’s the mess. Three meals a day. If you’re going to be in the dungeon during lunch, they can pack you a lunchbox.”

  “Is it a good one?” Tena asked, nose in the air.

  “If there is one thing the Mistguard does very well,” Gazer said. “It’s feed us. The lunches are good.”

  “Something we will find out shortly,” Beauty said. “Let’s stow our rucks, then join the dinner line. I believe it’s about that time. Afterwords, we shall spend some more time drilling your teamwork so none of you gets killed tomorrow.”

  “Not dying sounds like a good plan to me,” Det agreed, then followed Beauty inside their new home for the next week.