With another growly hmph, Gruff stomped his way over and then stood, waiting. “Well?” he said. “Is me beard gonna grow down to me toes before anything happens?”

Aliza’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say anything, just bent her knees and then gave the contraption a fierce shove. It shot forward even faster than it had assaulted Clemmy. The dwarf, to Perfidy’s surprise, did nothing, just scowled his usual scowl at the ball as it rocketed toward him. Then, at the last possible second, he raised his hand, palm outward.

Which should’ve been nothing, the equivalent of using a piece of parchment to stop a sword thrust. The heavy ball, moving at the speed that it was, should’ve crashed right through his hand and then into his head, battering him the same way it had Clemmy.

Instead, with a raucous hammering sound, it stopped dead in its tracks and then reversed course, whipping all the way back toward Aliza, who was forced to gallop away. The contraption hit the end of the runner and then toppled over with a crash. Aliza, who’d had to dive at the last second to avoid being crushed, blew several locks of dark hair out of her face before scrambling back to her feet.

“Buncha amateurs,” the dwarf muttered, not even offering a smile at his victory. If anything, his scowl deepened as he trudged off, heading into the forest.

“Whut happened?” Perfidy asked.

“His Ability is to turn his enemy’s attack back on them,” Jereb said. “In this case, our training machine was his enemy, so the force it would’ve hit him with was exerted on the machine itself.”

Despite the dwarf’s general grumpiness, Perfidy couldn’t help but to be impressed by his Ability. “Madness,” she said.

“Just wait until I perfect my thunderclap,” Julio said. “It will make Gruff’s Ability look like a child fighting with a wooden sword.”

“Yes, until he turns your thunderclap back on you,” Aliza said in monotone, helping Julio hoist the training machine back to standing position.

The large man’s smile faltered for a second, before returning in full force. “I’d like to see him try!” he said with a single finger pointed in the air.

“Whut ’bout Mirac?” Perfidy asked. She hadn’t paid much attention to the boy, but now she noticed him sitting on a log and kicking stones with his feet. He looked as bored as the rain on a sunny day.

Jereb shrugged. “We don’t know what his Ability is yet, and he refuses to train.”

“But he’s got the gold leaves, don’ he? I’m guessin’ that means sumthin’ important. Is it time to talk ’bout ’em yet?”

Jereb smiled. “Sure. And you’re right. They do mean something important. They show how much your Ability has developed.”

“So four is better than three is better than two, like that?”

“Sort of. ‘Better’ isn’t really the word for it, but yes, gaining leaves means you’re progressing the way you’re meant to be progressing.”