CHAPTER 8: ENCOUNTERS

Morning saw Arcanis and Thomas back in the training room within the guildhall building. Again, the warrior browsed the weapon rack until finally settling on a pair of wooden longswords, throwing one to the aspiring wizard. Out of reflex - his increased Dexterity already showing - he caught the weapon at its grip, smoothly transitioning into a flowing movement, measuring its balance and heft.

This left Thomas looking at him in suspicion for a moment before starting his explanation. "As you probably realized, today we will spend dealing with one-handed swords. There are basically three kinds of swords in this region - the shortsword, the longsword and the saber.

"The saber is curved" He lifted a wooden saber from the rack to demonstrate. "it trades the ability to lunge in return for maximized slashing performance. Outside of cavalry regiments, where lunging admittedly is not really a thing, you almost never encounter them, except for some rare sword dancers. That is a third tier specialization, so if you meet one, the basic rule of engagement is don't.

"The shortsword is ... quite frankly a pretty pointless weapon. The only advantage it has over a longsword is in enclosed, tight places, and even then it is marginal. The simple fact is, that a longsword is superior in pretty much every aspect - it has the stronger, more flexible maneuvers, better reach and more stopping power. We generally only use them for training beginners until their stats build up, and for conscripted troops, because they are cheaper to make and with the low stats that riffraff has, they generally lose stamina too fast wielding the heavier blades.

"Which leaves us with these beauties" He pointed at the two wooden longswords of adequate make. "Flexible maneuvers, versatile, swift and lethal. The primary choice of melee weapon for armies and guards all over the world."

"And adventurers?" Arcanis asked with a grin, already suspecting the answer.

"Wellll ..." Thomas pondered for a moment before answering "... we're an odd bunch, so I'm not sure I'd pronounce any single weapon type as the primary choice of weapon. I will say that it is one of the better choices still, though you definitely want to specialize on multiple types and switch based on the target if you want to prioritize hunting missions. Spears are better at hunting large game, but are often a liability in a dungeon. Same for other two-handed weapons, really, since often you just don't have the headspace for 'em.

"Clubs of all kinds are better at the fighting constructs or golems, and generally are great at smashing limbs. Problem is they are hard to train, since figuring out finesse and style on what is basically a blunt instrument ain't easy. Also if your target is too large for bones to be broken, you lose a lot of impact - with swords you can at least still bleed them.

"Axes are even better at that, but they easily get stuck in your victim, are slower and generally lose in a direct duel between swords-wielder and axe-wielder."

Arcanis nodded at all that, obviously listening in. Looks like the System in this world switches the balance between shortsword and longsword. Wonder what other assumptions I bring along are wrong. Out of habit he took a few reassuring practice swings with the sword, that quickly caught Thomas' attention.

"I see you probably knew most of that."

"Some of it, but best not to make assumptions - words are cheaper than blood after all."

Thomas nodded in agreement, before taking up a stance, wooden blade in front of him, facing his trainee. "Before we get started, I'm going to use a technique you earn by raising the Training skill to twenty-five and teaching combat skills. It's called 'Trainer's Grace' and ... well, assuming I am sufficiently more powerful than my trainee, I can lower my physical stats other than Constitution to something only slightly better than yours." He nodded back to the weapon rack "Didn't matter much yesterday, with a dagger, but swords are a lot heavier on Strength and the difference would have hurt you too much there."

The warrior closed his eyes for a moment and then after a few seconds seemed to become ... less. Arcanis assumed a stance of his own, mostly imitating his trainer, blade held low, pointing up at his opponent - a rather defensive stance, more focused on being able to intercept your enemy rather than striking with power yourself.

"Ready?"

Arcanis nodded in response.

The nod was barely completed as the warrior's blade was already in motion, hand raising up and forwards, the blade dipping to the perfect horizontal - a vicious lunge, aiming to stab his trainee right away. Instincts took over, Arcanis stepped aside, brought his blade fully up to parry and redirect the lunge slightly, as he turned around his own axis, picking up the opponents momentum as an acceleration of his own to ... stumble badly and fall, as his body was unable to follow his instincts.

Thomas stopped, moved his blade to the left hand and reached out to help him up. Arcanis silently accepted the hand and let himself be pulled upright again, before resuming his stance.

"Again"

* * *

You have raised the skill: Dodge to level 6

+1 Agility, +5% Speed for the purpose of evading attacks

You have raised the skill: Dodge to level 7

+1 Agility, +5% Speed for the purpose of evading attacks

You have unlocked the skill: Weapon: Sword!

Weapon: Sword (Level: 1) [Martial]

"Live by the sword, die by the sword"

Long, pointy, blade, can be held in one hand?

Odds are you found a sword!

Suppose you could try holding it and hit things (or people!) you do not like with it.

Just ... try not to hold it on the pointy end.

Also not in the middle.

Yeah, that end that is not pointy? That is where you want to grasp it.

Go ahead.

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +1% Damage with Swords

You have raised the skill: Weapon: Sword to level 2

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +1% Damage with Swords

You have raised the skill: Weapon: Sword to level 3

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +1% Damage with Swords

You have raised the skill: Weapon: Sword to level 4

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +1% Damage with Swords

You have raised the skill: Healer to level 4

+1 Mana, +1% Power of benevolent healing magic effects

* * *

Maria was in a great mood as she walked down the hallways within the Adventurer Guild building. The weather was great, the shops had received some interesting goods with the last ship, the new kid was kind of funny, and his training kept the big hunk busy. Not that she really had anything against the warrior, but a little distance after their last ... fight was just what she needed.

That thought, if we want the dungeon runs going - and boy is that going to be ever lucrative with the rate we will be able to maintain, once the kid's output becomes something worth mentioning - we need to heal up from the last delve and Thomas should be mostly good by now. Time to get some of that magic going and make the bandages go away, can't have that guy hogging all the healing!

With a cheerful grin she entered the training room they had rented out, seeing the two men relaxing on the floor, wooden swords at their side. The last white glow fading from it, Arcanis hand dropped from the warriors neck.

Really does look like he got his health mostly topped up again. Good. She noted with curiosity that Thomas' clothes were somewhat more ruffled than they really should be, training a newbie. Never knew how to really pace yourself, did you?

"So, you two, finished bashing heads already? Or just being lazy?"

The warrior shot her a lazy grin, fully relaxed and obviously unaware of anything to feel guilty about. Curse him, that grin is cheating. "Wellll ... we were doing a healing break mostly, but now that you mention it, the floor is rather comfortable." He demonstratively stretched and yawned. "That said, feel free to take over if you want to ensure I don't ruin his training" Another sloppy wave towards Arcanis as he said that. "He's up to more than six hundred health per hour for me by the way. Mostly topped up by now, good timing."

"Yeah? Good. The others will be over later, the new ship brought in some interesting stuff from Caleste so they decided to raid the shops."

"Shopping? Shinji??"

"Well ..." she shrugged and grinned at him "... maybe not him. Don't know on which rooftop he's meditating today, but he's not really a problem now, is he?"

"Yeah, not really" Thomas replied, then nodded suggestively first at the swords, then at Arcanis, who had silently watched their exchange.

She shrugged. "Hell, why not, could use the warmup and need my health topped out as well, anyway." She looked at the odd teenager, taking his measure. She got back ... nothing. That's curious ... no stance, no tell, makes you wonder ...

She threw a questioning glance at the leader. "Think he can handle twenty percent?"

The responding evil chuckle surprised her. "Yeah, that should do. No maneuvers, obviously"

She turned back to Arcanis, caught the blade Thomas threw at her and pointed the wooden implement at the youngster, challenging grin in her eye. "No rest for the wicked, you know how it is, so up you go!" She lightly kicked at his sprawling form, which he dodged, turning the movement into a rising up motion while simultaneously picking up his blade beside him. Smooth. His dex must be rising into no less than the thirties.

He turned to face her, his expression and blade ready enough, but not taking up any particular stance. If that's how he wants it, so be it. Without waiting any further she swung at him from the right side in a diagonal, going upward slash.

Which is when things started to go wrong for Maria. He stepped forward, moving his arm independent of the rest of his body, interposing his blade, not blocking it but rather redirecting the swing further upwards, barely missing his slanted away head.

Then the youngster simply vanished.

Before Maria was able to fully process that, she felt a slight tugging feeling at her side and a pushing pressure at her ankle. Her view tilted, the entire world spinning until it stopped rather abruptly, her sight focusing on the ceiling.

A pressure and wooden texture against her throat brought Maria back to reality.

* * *

Arcanis removed the blade from Maria's throat, the moment her eyes focused again properly and she realized her defeat. While it initially had taken a while to adjust his reflexes to his weak body, years and years of experience in combat - especially with a sword or two - sure gave one an edge. Now I just need to manage to leave all that behind me.

He stepped back as she twisted her legs, using the momentum generated from them, combined with her upper torso muscles to catapult herself from lying prone back to her feet. "What. The. Hell." Laughter rang from their side and she pointed an accusatory finger the the warrior. "Twenty percent, my ass! That boy is a menace in his current state, nevermind once we got his stats up."

Maria wheeled back at Arcanis, her index finger of doom shifting targets. "And you! What the hell were you doing carrying a staff!? Were you born wielding a sword or what?"

Arcanis did his best trying to look innocent, scratching his head as if embarrassed. "I might have practiced with a sword before upon occasion ..."

You have raised the skill: Dissembling to level 2

+1 Power, Improved Effect of dissembling

"I bet!" Maria snorted in response. "Anyway, I suppose swords it is for you."

"I really would prefer not to." The aspiring wizard rejected. "There are several reasons ..." he continued on, cutting short a reply before Maria could finish opening her mouth to voice it. "... one of the primary ones is right there in the skill text - Live by the sword, die by the sword. I don't really want that for myself.

"Not saying I won't fight, or that against a monster I will hold back. But ... I think staves are a better fit to how I want to move forward with my life. I am definitely going to look around though - no point limiting my choices before I've even seen them." He nodded to Thomas before continuing. "And I definitely plan on prioritizing the development of my magic skills. It may still be weak, but I really do enjoy the healing aspects."

"Hmpf" Maria seemed slightly disgruntled at his response. "If that's how you want it, fine. Not getting you out of training though!" She pointed the sword back at him, taking up the exact same stance as before. Curious, Arcanis accepted the challenge, also shifting into his previous non-stance, happy to try reenacting their previous bout and seeing what she had in store for him.

As expected the attack came exactly at the same speed and angle ... but this time there was something nagging him. It looked the same ... but it didn't feel like it. Still, a challenge being a challenge, he was not about to stop and stepped into the counter as the last time.

Things started to go wrong the moment their blades met. His attempt to redirect the sword failed utterly, his sword feeling as if used to try and stop a falling wall. Her blade hit him straight in his left shoulder, bruising him and sending him wheeling, his attempt at balance failing, causing the aspiring wizard to end up sprawling on the floor.

"What. The. Hell." Surprise startled him into unintentionally echoing Maria.

"And that is what maneuver skills are all about." She grinned at him unrepentantly as he cast a couple of healing spells at himself. "They don't supernaturally move your body for you, but they trigger as you start the correct moves. Using them costs you stamina - energy points - and you can resist the triggering effect, which I did the first time around. To my undoing, as it turned out.

"Once activated, the effects vary based on skill, but basically it becomes a lot harder to disrupt your maneuver. Some improve speed, general impact, momentum, cutting ability or whatnot. If you have a defensive maneuver - or a counter, which I'm pretty sure will be your first maneuver - then relative maneuver power becomes really important."

She shot a look over at Thomas. "What do you think? Counter?"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The warrior shrugged. "Possible. Probable. Not much we can do either way to affect it." He looked over at Arcanis "Should happen soon, anyway."

She nodded and returned her focus to the aspiring wizard. "Ready to continue?"

He nodded and a few more minutes of maneuver-free bouts, interspersed with dumping his mana-pool into healing he finally got another set of system notifications.

You have raised the skill: Weapon: Sword to level 5

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +1% Damage with Swords

You have unlocked the skill: Swords: Riposte!

Swords: Riposte (Level: 1) [Martial]

"Combat has a flow to it. If you can read it, you can control it and imprison your enemy without need for fetters"

The flow of combat is often hard to read, hard to affect.

However, you have managed to not only disrupt your enemy's flow, but pick up their momentum and integrate it into your own attack.

Ever the opportunist, are you?

A swift counterattack after redirecting your enemy's attack into missing you, directing some of their momentum back at them.

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +5% Maneuver Strength

"Aaaaand there we go" Thomas called from the sidelines, noticing the distracted look of someone inspecting his notifications.

"Aye" Arcanis replied, rubbing his head where Maria had struck him in the meantime - why waste a good distraction?

"Sooo" She grinned at him unrepentantly "what'cha got?"

"As you both suggested, something to go with my attempts to redirect flow and integrate your momentum in my own attacks. It's called Riposte and improves just that."

Maria and Thomas looked at each other, complex communication, apparently conveyed by look only. Finally Maria looked back at him, a slightly sour look on her face. "Sure we can't convince you to go for a sword and spell combo instead?"

* * *

You have raised the skill: Weapon: Sword to level 6

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +1% Damage with Swords

You have raised the skill: Weapon: Sword to level 7

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +1% Damage with Swords

You have raised the skill: Weapon: Sword to level 8

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +1% Damage with Swords

You have raised the skill: Weapon: Sword to level 9

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +1% Damage with Swords

You have raised the skill: Sword: Riposte to level 2

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +5% Maneuver Strength

You have raised the skill: Sword: Riposte to level 3

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +5% Maneuver Strength

You have raised the skill: Sword: Riposte to level 4

+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +5% Maneuver Strength

You have raised the skill: Dodge to level 8

+1 Agility, +5% Speed for the purpose of evading attacks

You have raised the skill: Dodge to level 9

+1 Agility, +5% Speed for the purpose of evading attacks

You have raised the skill: Healer to level 5

+1 Mana, +1% Power of benevolent healing magic effects

* * *

The rest of the group had come by later, some for a short shot of healing, before they all had lunch at the Adventurer Guild. Then they left Arcanis to his own devices and learning program, as they headed straight for the dungeon. Which left Arcanis with some time to burn and skills to work on. He could go back to cooking he- ... training, but since there was no escape once started, he decided to first work on another skill on his list he definitely understood and could very much see coming in handy: Writing.

He had brought his notebook, some lose pieces of paper, ink and pen along to the training and thus spent the next couple of hours taking notes, ordering his thoughts. His chosen project: Document his training plan from scratch - skill choices, order, training issues and advice. It helped getting some distance from the grind and put things into perspective, especially considering his substantial stat growth in the last few days. His body had started feeling weird, with the quite frankly ridiculous stat growth, but as they had said, physical combat was mostly about raising a good set of maneuvers, when everybody had the same stats, and that progression appeared to be rather normal.

It was miserable going, his previous life not exactly preparing him for research and analysis, and he constantly had to keep the urge under control to jump around, swing some weapon, do something physical, rather than sitting and focusing on his ... writing. Definitely writing.

"Oi kiddo, how the hell did you get lost here and what's with all the doodling?!"

* * *

Raul Shivar was in a foul mood as he walked down Ilrant Road, his imposing build and aggressive frown ensuring he had all the space that he might desire. Not that it helped his mood any, given the day so far. The hunt going wrong was ... unfortunate, but not necessarily unexpected - it was a good thing Fyrhorns were as rare as they were, given their temper, hunting habits and sheer potential for mayhem. Their teammate being mauled was a different story though - while that would have been of no major significance to Raul by itself, it not being him being injured, it meant their next trip to the dungeon would be delayed significantly. Delving deep into a dungeon without a scout was mostly equivalent to looting a dragon's lair after all - a short and incredibly painful experience, generally ending in the idiots involved excusing themselves from the realm of existence.

Now if it had been just that, that would have been bad enough, but pretty much everybody and everything had conspired to make Raul's day even more miserable upon return. The guards charging an extortionist toll, his purse being stolen by a pickpocket, a noble's carriage splashing all over him as he tried to avoid being run over, their - former - employer charging them a forfeit for failing in the hunt, then having them escorted from the premises.

Definitely the right time to have a mug of ale. Or two. And drown his worries in company that at least understood that shit happened.

Which is how - after a few more minutes and turns - he ended up in front of the holy place of adventurers. The place of beer, ale, companionship, large weapons and tall tales. Raul stepped through the door, to familiar sounds, familiar smells and some knot of worries and pain loosened inside himself. His worries were not magically gone, but ... weighed less.

He was home.

Which was when he noticed the intruder. In this temple of tough men and hardy women, there was a kid doodling, ruined pieces of paper strewn all over the table, a notebook open and a mug at the boy's side. The other patrons - adventurers, one and all - either ignored him or looked in disapproval, the atmosphere was subdued.

It was one insult too many.

Raul stomped over to the intruder, shouting "Oi kiddo, how the hell did you get lost here and what's with all the doodling?!"

The kid had the gall to ignore him for a moment, finish ruining the paper before looking up, daring to look at him in feigned innocence. "I am practicing my writing. I'll grant you, there is still some room for improvement, but it's coming along, eh?"

"Where's your father, boy?!" Raul bellowed at him, ignoring whatever excuse the kid was babbling. The youngster's eyes sharpened at that, apparently unaware that he had no business being in these halls.

"That's hardly your business, is it now, old man?"

The cold tone and gall were just too much for Raul and he grabbed the kid by the shoulder dragging him out of his chair. There was a crunching noise and the boy let out a short yelp of pain. In his peripheral vision he could see others standing up as well, but he was beyond caring as he shouted into the offending brat's face "I asked you a question!" As he was shaking him a little to a grunt of pain.

Suddenly, his right arm hurt and Saul saw his hands drop the boy, letting him fall to the floor. Slowly. Time itself seemed to have slowed, as suddenly up was down and down was up, his perceptions disrupted, his balance gone until suddenly with a last crushing pain the world went dark.

* * *

Arcanis tried to stand up from where he was sprawled on the floor, but by reflex used his injured arm and fell back down with a yelp of pain. A hand reached out to him and he took it as he inspected the person that had replaced the aggressive adventurer. She was probably in her late twenties or early thirties, raven black hair bound back in a pony tail, had a slender build and was actually rather small, though that was somewhat harder to tell from his prone position. His musings were interrupted as she pulled him back to his feet, her small frame hiding a surprising amount of strength.

"Are you alright?" The unknown woman asked with a worried look in her green eyes, while taking in his damage. Arcanis was still somewhat distracted, given the previous events but the upright position put the burden of his broken arm on his crushed shoulder and a moan of pain escaped his mouth.

"Guess not." She guided him to one of the doors "Let's get this dressed real quick." She looked at a wall and the aspiring wizard following her eyes noticed with some astonishment, that the wall sported an adventurer-sized and -shaped impression. He found the aggressive adventurer's unconscious form crumpled on the floor in front of it, with the receptionist from the day before approaching.

"Quentin, leave him for now and charge him with the damages once he wakes up." His savior addressed the old gentleman "Go and grab doctor Ramires, the boy needs some help here. We'll be in the first meeting room."

"Certainly" the receptionist acknowledged the order and left while she swiftly guided Arcanis into another room - presumably the first meeting room - and placed him on the table to take the pressure off his injured shoulder.

"Alright boy, sorry about that incident, we'll see what we can do to put you back together." She shrugged unhappily "Shouldn't have happened of course, and Raul is going to hear from me, but I am curious what a kid like you was doing in the Adventurer Guild, practicing writing." she shot him a questioning glance "You were practicing writing there, yes?"

Having gotten back his senses, Arcanis nodded at that. "Thanks for ouch saving me from that adventurer. Yepp, was practicing my writing - aiming to ... become an adventurer, being able to take notes seemed like a good thing while ouch Healing Touch ... helping with my stat training."

The woman looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he cast the healing spell on himself, then kept dumping his entire mana pool into it. In less than half a minute - and with a lot of white glowing light - his shoulder regained its proper shape as the collarbone got unshattered and the previously broken arm straightened out, as if the bones had never been harmed.

"I'll be damned!" She poked his arm, curiosity driving her faster than her conscious thoughts apparently. "Magic healing, and not too shabby at that! We don't see people with the Gift aiming to become an adventurer too often, looking forward to seeing you grow into it." She looked straight at him as he got up from the table, now obviously taking the young man a lot more seriously. "Who is your sponsor?"

"Thomas Endosi and his party"

She nodded in approval "They are solid, probably the best team we currently have in the region. You got lucky there, most teams wouldn't waste the time on you to figure out your redeeming qualities."

"They have been most helpful" Arcanis smiled at her in a friendly manner "The name is Arcanis, by the way, am I correct in assuming I have the pleasure of talking with Ramona, guild master of the Erfurt branch of the Adventurer Guild?"

An impish grin showed on her face as she bowed to him in a most theatric, overacting manner. "Ramona Tharsus, swashbuckler, dancer, connoisseur of sweets, corrupter of impressionable youths and, for my sins, leader of this motley bunch of misfits that make their living on the blade's edge of danger." She straightened out again and winked at him. "I'd never have taken the job had they told me how much paperwork it entailed!"

"Guess that's why they didn't, eh?" Arcanis couldn't help grinning back. "I'm sure you're managing just fine though, given what I've seen so far."

She nodded back "I do not doubt my ability to handle things either, but ... let's just say the job involves a lot more dealing with nobles, local politics and complaining adventurers, than it does beating up monsters and looting dungeons. Unfortunately." Her expression sobered as she appeared to switch mental gears. "There is one thing I would like to clarify though, while we are already chatting anyway. You are not just using our guild as a stepping stone to reach the minimum requirements for a sponsored entry into the Royal Academy, are you?"

Arcanis felt the pressure as her eyes seemed to pierce him in almost more than just the metaphorical way. As if she could see straight through my soul. "Truth be told, I have no idea what exactly the Royal Academy is, though I can probably take a guess by the name." Ramona raised an eyebrow at that, but he soldiered on "My long term goals are to take the magical arts as far as I can, to solve its deepest secrets and research ancient techniques. I don't think I can do that only from within academic facilities - spelunking through dungeons and ancient ruins is likely going to be needed as well. So ..." he gave her what he hoped would be interpreted as a thoughtful look "... I don't know yet where I will end up organizationally, my knowledge of the world too shallow to have realistic expectations, but I can at the very least promise you that I learn adventuring for its own merits and expect to keep these skills in practice over the years.

"As for the Royal Academy or some such: I don't really see it happening - based on the name itself I suspect there is no avoiding politics and power games if I join and I want to stay as far away from those as I can. Heck! I'll be happy to avoid even purely local Adventurer Guild politics, if I can manage that!"

Ramona nodded, apparently satisfied by his answer. "You are not wrong about the Academy involving politics. Joining on a scholarship, which you probably could with some more training, if your healing is anything to judge by, would force you into crown service after graduation for five years. And most of the students - and teachers - come from nobility and bring their own intrigues and plots. It's a great place to gain entry into national politics and building your own powerbase ... but probably the worst place to go if that's what you want to avoid."

She looked a bit thoughtfully at the young, aspiring wizard. "It doesn't fit" She pointed with her index finger at Arcanis forehead "Thomas said he'd picked you up from one of the villages-" so she already knew who was helping me along "-and your stats would fit your apparent age, given what Raul did to you. But neither your choice of words nor use of grammar says 'Village'.

"Also ... a village boy recruited by adventurers shouldn't really be seeing beyond 'Wohoo! Adventure, riches and fame!'. Avoid political attention? You should be aiming to found your own kingdom, rescue some princesses ... that kind of thing." She stared straight into his eyes. "Which begs the question: Who or what are you really?"

Arcanis took a few moments to digest the conclusion Ramona had come to. "You really have corrupted quite a few impressionable youths, have you?" He grinned at her as he threw her own words back at her. "Well, at least seen enough of them to know when you see someone who is not one of them. Which is fair enough, because I am not." He sighed, old exhausting coming back to the fore of his mind "I am aware that my language is going to catch attention, at least from those observant to that kind of thing, until I have built enough background for it to make sense in the here and now. No helping that, my acting is bad enough that you would have seen through that instantly, which would only have gotten me open distrust." she nodded at that. "I am not going to talk about my past, not even Thomas knows, though he came to the same conclusion you did, but I come by my ignorance of System and local politics and low stats honestly. That said ..." Arcanis let all his fabricated cheer fall, brought back all the bad memories and sheer exhaustion at all the betrayals, the pain of loss, all of that to the fore of his mind, exposing it all in his eyes. "... I really, really am done with politics, war, betrayals and intrigue."

The guild master took a step back in surprise at the sudden change in aura, atmosphere ... presence. After a few seconds of silence she came to a conclusion and finally nodded. "Good enough for me, I suppose. You really want to stay away from the Royal Academy then, though the path to magic without attending it is going to be a hard and lengthy one."

The not-anymore-quite-as-young man nodded in acceptance, reining back his dark emotions from the surface of his mind, his eyes slowly losing their ... 'infinite' quality. "I don't mind a long effort or a challenge, even if it is a hard one. It will be-"

"Where's the patient!" The door slammed open as a man in a white robe rushed in, a bag probably containing his tools of the trade in his right hand. The man - in his mid-fifties by all appearances, early greying hair but still fit - looked around, searching for the injured person that had been reported to him. Ramona intercepted him with a deep grin on her face.

"Hey Kai, glad you made it." She cheerfully pointed at Arcanis "There he is."

The youngster found himself at the receiving end of a piercing stare by the older man, presumably the local doctor. Who wheeled back at the Guild master. "Very funny Ramona." He pointed at Arcanis "Does that look like a shattered shoulder to you?! You know better than to waste my time like this, so what's going on here."

The grin on her face broadened even further. "As it happens, Arcanis really was injured quite severely, by one of our ... less stable members. He just happens to have some gift at magical healing we didn't know about when I sent Quentin to fetch you."

* * *

Arcanis mulled over the recent events as he made his way from the guildhall back to the Inn they were staying at. The doctor - a Kai Ramires - had been immediately interested in him, or rather his healing ability. When it turned out to only restore health and not diseases, curses or other ailments that interest waned somewhat, much to the aspiring wizard's relief. Other aspects of the day's events weighed more on his thoughts however.

Great way to start a reset! The most important people all immediately saw through it! Thomas was kind of inevitable, but he had hoped to not meet Ramona this soon - a few more weeks of training and especially studying magic would at least build some cover for his unusual use of words. Also great Job me at keeping out of politics! First week not over and already you go hobnobbing with the chief adventurer in town! Why not just keep up the game and have dinner with the local nobility!

Lost in thought Arcanis turned another corner, only to come face to face with a child - a boy, likely no older than eight years. He appeared lost, looking at the people around him. What made the kid stand out however were his fine clothes, better than anything the aspiring wizard had seen yet in this world by a significant margin. The blonde brat just oozed 'wealthy and protected childhood'.

Damn, I just jinxed it, did I?

Turning around, the boy finally noticed Arcanis' scrutiny and faced him, raising his hand while schooling his own facial expression, obviously doing his best to imitate someone from his own memories. The eyes switched to a haughty gaze, his mouth - with only a slight wobble - became an arrogant frown, he raised his right hand to point at the young man, as he pronounced with an imperious voice, only moderately ruined by the trembling tone:

"Bow, peasant!"

Shit.