21

Madeline waved her hand, and the pieces of the shattered cup reassembled on the table in front of her. She eyed him with distrust, scooting the cup even farther out of his reach. “We understand you’re upset, even if we don’t know why, but you don’t have to be so harsh with other peoples’ things. That’s just rude. We’ve been nothing but accepting of you, so we would appreciate some respect in kind.”

“Hard to feel respect for someone that’s basically been holding me hostage,” Vander retorted, leaning back against the chair. “I don’t want to waste any more time than I already have, so can we just move this conversation along? I’ve more important matters to attend to.”

Tobias glanced towards Madeline knowingly. She pursed her lips and shook her head, causing the village chief to roll his eyes playfully. When they finished their unspoken conversation, Tobias uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, resting his elbows against the table.

“Vander, how much time do you think has passed since you’ve come to Crossroad?” he asked.

“I’m growing tired of talking around answers. If you know how long has passed on the outside, then just tell me!” he growled back, at his wit’s end. He just wanted to get out of the assessment and select his class. “What is up with the both of you and that archmage? I never expected this assessment to be such a pain.”

“Archmage?” the couple asked in unison, looking at one another in confusion.

“You don’t happen to mean Emir, do you?” Tobias asked, his calm eyes shining with a hint of curiosity and excitement. Vander’s nod prompted the village chief to guffaw and Madeline to smile warmly, the light of hope reigniting in her eyes. When Tobias finally calmed himself, he seemed to buzz with energy. When he faced Vander, the raw concentration of power hidden behind the wolf in sheep’s clothing’s gaze nearly knocked Vander out entirely. “Why didn’t you say something about that old timer sooner?!”

Confused as confused could be, Vander just stared at both of them, dumbfounded. “I’m missing something—no, scratch that. I’m missing a lot of important somethings, and I want answers.”

Again, they looked at one another, testing his patience even further than he knew possible. Madeline seemed to take the lead this time and rested her hands on the table. Before his very eyes, the two of them seemed to age backwards.

The wrinkles on their face smoothed. Blemished skin from years of hard work in the fields under the unforgiving sun cleared. Tobias looked like a tanned monk, and Madeline could’ve been mistaken for a porcelain doll. Flowing robes, both radiating a great power that paled in comparison to Archmage Findelson’s, settled over their shoulders.

From old ancients, their appearances looked as young as him. Their unrestrained auras made breathing difficult, but he hardened his will and faced them without bending to the pressure. They’d completely changed. Nothing about them remained the same, not even the structure of their faces.

“We worked with Emir a long time ago, back in Gaia’s glory days,” the now young village chief explained. “He’s the craziest of the crazies, but he did good work. Innovated in ways people never before thought of and revolutionized many things.”

Thumbing the ring on his finger, Vander felt the scroll in his pocket burning like hot coals. They both looked at him with confusion, their eyes repeatedly slipping away from the ring on his finger. He took it off and held it up so they could see, both gasping.

They shared another knowing look. When they looked at him, gone was the curiosity and playful calm from before. Dead seriousness settled in their gaze.

“He’s chosen you,” Madeline whispered. She reached a hand towards the ring, then flinched back an arc of mana lashed out at her. “He’d never give that ring to just anybody. Even if the world would end and the only way was to give away his precious items, he’d let the world burn as he watched from one of his dimensional holes.”

“He had so many back in the day. He’d make us crawl through plane after plane in search of him and only came out when he finally got bored of messing with us,” Tobias muttered, locking his eyes with Vander’s. “We’re fairly limited here and can’t do much to intervene with whatever trials you’re facing, but I can guide you for a short amount of time. Now that you’re aware of this realm’s anomalous nature, you can’t stay long.”

Vander quickly put the ring back on, realizing that their eyes couldn’t perceive it on his finger.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Hidden effect of Arcana’s Favor revealed.

Effect: Those below the Tier of this ring’s creator cannot perceive its existence unless willed by the wearer.

Creator’s Tier: 7

So these two weren’t as impressive as the archmage he’d left in the tower, even though their power already caused him enough trouble. If that were the case, then Archmage Findelson had to be severely weakened or have immense control over his power to not completely obliterate Vander by accident.

I’m surrounded by monsters. What have I gotten myself into, and why is this class assessment so strange? Nothing he’d experienced so far seemed normal, though he hadn’t really heard what the others’ assessments were like. No point crying over spilled milk, I suppose.

Madeline let out a shuddering breath. “My heart hasn’t raced like this in ages. I’m grateful you’ve come here, Vander, but it’s as Tobias said. Time is limited. The system, guided by your awareness, will override our interference and put you back in the class assessment. Likely first thing in the morning.”

Tobias nodded. “You seem to have a sturdy foundation for your magical practices. I don’t practice magical techniques, so I can’t guide you there, but I can guide your arms practice.” He gestured towards Madeline. “We can equip you with some resources and a few skill books with the knowledge of alchemy.”

“You even appear to already have herbology, even if your skill is pitiful,” Madeline said, joking. She rose from the seat and immediately got to work collecting different ingredients into a sack. She stuffed half a dozen books inside and countless things he couldn’t describe, tools he was sure he’d learn to use, and plenty of other things. “We’ll outfit you with a small spatial bag. You can collect your hunting spoils after finishing up with Tobias’ training.”

Things were happening fast, and with the pressure of their powerful auras bearing down on him, he struggled to keep up with it all. Then Tobias was there, offering his hand and guiding him to a door at the back of the house.

Rather than their backyard, a massive training ground welcomed them. “This is my pride and joy. I’m somewhat of a martial junkie, if I’m being honest. If a weapon exists, I’ve mastered it. That seems to be something you’re interested in, I’d say.”

“How do you figure?” Similar to the first place he’d arrived when he started the class assessment, two stories of weapons hung against the walls, leaned from the inside of barrels, and lay strewn about. “Nevermind that. Seems like you both can read my skills. How’s that possible?”

“Once you’ve been around long enough, you pick up the signs of certain skills that are familiar to you in peoples’ auras,” Tobias explained, pointing to a barrel of various sized and shaped spears. “We’ll get you some practice on those, but—ah! There we are.”

He rushed over to a glass case and opened it up, bringing out half a dozen different types of daggers. Like a whirlwind, he spent at least a quarter of an hour going and collecting different weapons. Fist weapons, a pair of axes Vander barely managed to catch, a battle ax, a large and small hammer, trident, mace, and more. How he managed to keep track of them all, Vander couldn’t for the life of himself figure out.

But inevitably, the eccentric, self-proclaimed battle junkie finished collecting everything. The strangest thing that stood out to Vander was metal wire. He didn’t question, certain Tobias would explain things in detail.

“Okay, we’ll have to make this fast. You’re not going for complete mastery. We just want to get the base of each skill formed so you have a baseline to work off of. I’ll make sure Madeline sends you plenty of study material so you’ll be on your way to becoming a master of combat—like me!” Tobias flicked his wrist and thousands of dummies materialized across the center field. “Let’s begin.”

With a crazed light in his eyes, Tobias grabbed the line of metal wire and shook it in Vander’s face. Losing his patience, Vander groaned, “Just tell me what it’s for!”

“I may not be suited in magic myself, but I’ve worked with others who are. You have the same spicy tang to your aura that a lightning mage does.” He tapped the wire against his palm. “Conductive wire. Tie it to the head of an arrow, the hilt of a dagger, yada yada. You get the point. Magic at distance is far more expensive than casting a simple electrify spell through a medium. Hence, metal wire.”

“Got it.”

Tobias tossed the wire towards the door, and when it didn’t clatter against the floor like Vander expected, he turned to see Madeline stuffing it into the bulging spatial bag. He’d watched her shove countless things inside without the bag stretching in the slightest, yet it now looked like a slight jostle would cause the entirety of its contents to explode into the training grounds.

“Already packed some skill books, so you don’t have to worry about it later. Focus on training him up.” Her eyes shone with a spark of something Vander detested, hope. “If he frees that old goat, we’ll have a chance to save Gaia from the calamity. Once and for all.”

“Once and for all,” Tobias echoed like a prayer. Then he turned his reinvigorated attention towards Vander. The excitement on his face stilled like a raging storm suddenly dying down to calm waters. Eerie and heralding something far worse than before. “What do you think you’re doing, boy? Get your ass in gear! Now! Move, move, move! We don’t have enough time, and those skills aren’t going to learn themselves! Grab one, hit something. Throw them if you have to, but get your ass moving! NOW!”

Oh, shit.