As the four gathered outside the inn Victor told Cawthorn “I need you to take flight and watch for incoming caravans or carts at the southern gate. We need a few minutes uninterrupted.”

“I CAN DO IT MY MAGE!” Cawthorn took off.

“Shall we ladies?” Victor turned toward the south.

Serena grimaced. “I really don’t want Emilie to be right this time.”

Emilie groaned. “I’m always right. Sometimes I’m more right than other times.”

Jenora chuckled covering her mouth. “Emilie is always right except when she’s not.”

The group made their way to the southern gate. The tall wall and open gate slowly came into view and predictably a short halfling stood in front of a tall mage lecturing him. The four of them approached the two as the sun crept over the wall in the distance. “Good morning!” Victor waved. “How are you doing?” The group stepped to the side behind the wall.

Patricia smiled turning around. “I think I have some paperwork to do. I will be back in a few minutes.”

As the captain walked away Brice waved with a nervous smile. “Hi. I’m fine. Did Serena talk to you?”

“Well yeah, that’s why we’re here. We had some questions.” Victor tilted his head toward him. “If that is okay.”

“What did you want to know? You already know my most devastating secret.” Brice answered in confusion.

“Well, it’s mostly a question of your skills and level. You’re a deep mage, right? How do you handle running out of mana?” Victor tilted his head.

“Well, most deep mages have terrible flow and I’m no exception. I have a lot of prowess and willpower. My friend from a long time ago gave me this ring.” He held out his hand from beneath his long robe. A bright silver ring with a sapphire cut into a dragon decorated the ring. “It gives me 1 mana per second worth of mana regeneration. It’s powerful for the level of the item.” Victor pulled out Swordie who immediately pulled up the stats on the ring.

Silver Dragon Sapphire Rank 4

Rarity: Rare

Permanent Artifact

Increases mana regeneration to 1/second. If mana regeneration is above 1/second has no effect.

Victor turned to the others. “Does that satisfy the mana recovery portion?”

Emilie groaned. “I guess! It must be nice to have friends so rich they can just give you a thousand gold items.”

Victor shrugged. “Don’t mind her, she’s jealous you came from money. Are there any other questions we should ask?”

Jenora stepped up. “What is your level and how good are you at defending yourself?”

“I am level 12. My barrier sphere is rank 4 and my prowess is high. Thanks to spell enhancement I can 1 time a day increase the barrier sphere rank by 1 and thanks to Spell Modification I can modify some aspects of it like duration for more mana. I do usually have to wait a few minutes after combat ends though as I often suffer from mana fatigue from hitting 0 mana.” Brice explained.

“Wait can’t you only suffer from that if you like don’t sleep?” Victor turned to Emilie.

“What? No. If your mana goes to 0 you immediately suffer it, and the duration is longer for every second you spend below half mana.” Emilie turned to him. “Now I actually don’t think you spent time in a mage tower. Literally, every mage knows that. Congratulations you blew up my last theory about your past.”

“I did spend time in an elven mage tower,” Brice noted.

Jenora continued her line of questioning. “Do you feel confident that you can defend yourself when attacked?”

“Absolutely but I can only either attack or defend one or the other at any time. My defense is very strong for my level.” He assured them. “Most mages do not take barrier sphere and rely on another form of defense like barrier shield, but they lack the reaction time to aim it fast enough. So, I just picked that skill to maximize. It and fire bolt are the two skills I’ve maximized to rank 4. I can even cast fire bolts as fireball which is incredibly potent for lower-level monsters. I can only cast 2 rank 4 fireballs in a combat though since they are so costly.”

Jenora stepped back seemingly shocked. She turned to them. “I’m shocked. I’ve never met a deep mage who maximized their barrier skill. I think that would be fine.”

“My teachers were phenomenal. I was merely a lousy student.” Brice looked at his feet.

Swordie announced. “A phenomenal teacher takes on another student.”

“So, none of you care that I’m… different?” Brice asked.

“Well, the only elf I’ve ever interacted with besides you bought me at auction and later sold me. So, I’m not particularly keen on this but I’m willing to give you a chance.” Serena glared at him.

“I’m sorry one of my kind did that to you. Most elves that don’t live in enclaves die, deviate from elven values, or disobey elven leadership.” Brice slumped further down.

Emilie butted in. “Which one did you do?”

“I disobeyed leadership. My best friend, she was sick. I knew if I ventured out of the enclave to get the plant required to save her, I’d be exiled but I did it anyway. She was only 27 and I’m 40. I just couldn’t stand to see her rot to death, so I retrieved the Hokenbloom Lilly. I was found out and followed back to the enclave. It’s not like the humans had any chance against the enclave but it’s so depressing that saving her resulted in my exile. My teachers even told me to my face she wasn’t worth saving. They even branded me with this.” He pulled up his robe to his shoulder. A brand of a simple tree with an x through it decorated his shoulder. “No enclave will ever take me again.” His voice cracked as he spoke the last words broken by them.

Jenora almost immediately turned to them. “Oh, come on we have to take him with us.”

Victor nodded. “Agreed. Elf needs a hug.” Victor hugged him and patted his back. “If you’re looking for a group to adventure with, feel free to join us. We’d be happy to have you.” He hugged back sheepishly.

“Just like that? That’s all you need to know?” Brice looked at them.

Emilie groaned. “I hate when Victor is more right than I am. Being less right is the worst. Fine, we can recruit the elf.”

Serena dragged her hand across her face. “Are all men like this? Either self-interested slavers or like the two of you?”

Victor countered. “No… but there are plenty of people in the world who want to protect those they care about.”

“Sure, but you want to protect people you don’t even know,” Serena smirked at him.

Swordie commented. “His mental state takes damage every time he fails to protect someone. Unfortunately, it is my task to heal it. The task is difficult.”

Victor glared at Swordie. “One day we will meet someone you don’t immediately rat out my motivations to.”

“One day I will sleep. Hopefully, you don’t meet anyone on that day.” Swordie snapped back.

Brice snickered. “Well, I’d love to join you but at least this week I have some things to finish up. Will you be around at the end of the week?”

“We will stick around until you are ready. We hope to be at 5 Star Road by the end of the week if we aren’t there, we’ll come see you.” Victor extended his hand.

Brice took his hand with a warm smile. “I’m looking forward to it.” He accidentally stood up straight towering over them before hunching back over.

Patricia called out. “BRICE!” He jumped a little bit startled and started scurrying off.

Cawthorn landed on Victor's shoulder. “THERE IS A CARAVAN AT THE GATE!”

“Yes, Cawthorn. I know.” Victor nodded.

Emilie threw her hands up. “To the theater!”

“Following you.” Victor and the group started following Emilie.

Jenora tapped her chin. “You know I’ve never been to the theater before.”

“Oh, plays can be great! I’ve only been once but when the nunnery took us to see the Saviors of Heaven, I was so excited. Such a good play.” Emilie gushed.

“What was it about?” Jenora hurried to catch up with Emilie.

She continued gushing with a smile. “It was about the 5 heroes that saved heaven in year 0. The ending was so sad because it’s the story of how heaven closed its doors. Heaven doesn’t let anyone out anymore so we can’t communicate with them and any angels who weren’t already out can’t leave; all because devils attacked Heaven. It’s why I hate devils so much; it’s why the church of the Golden Goddess hates devils. It’s well-earned. It’s not like elves.”

Jenora remained silent looking down as Victor spoke up. “Aren’t devils immortal?”

“They have no natural lifespan.” Emilie clarified. “They live until killed. That is their only similarity with elves. Most of my hatred of elves and most hatred of elves originates from elves that people interact with being assholes. Elves in the enclaves might be good, but few elves get exiled for disobedience. Most leave because they ‘don’t meet elven values’ or whatever that means.”

Jenora shrugged. “The difference between elven immortality and devilish immortality is that elves were made by the Green Goddess to care for forests, wildlife, and the wilderness. Devils weren’t spawned for a reason. They were one of the original races made by The First Ones. They took up the realm now known as hell and destroyed it. They fight for resources constantly because the most powerful devils consume all the food and resources. They then pass down a tiny portion to those below them who enforce their will. Everyone else suffers.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“She’s always so knowledgeable about those monsters, Goddess, I love her.” Emilie smiled up at her.

Jenora nodded. “To kill a devil anything less than decapitation or eviscerating their head rarely finishes them off. Their blood contains a potent healing factor many times more potent than the most powerful potions.”

“I still think you come from the great fiendish war on the eastern continent. I don’t know how or why but you just strike me as the type to have fought them and then fled out of fear of something.” Emilie shrugged.

Jenora scratched her chin. “Well, I’m not going to lie and say that is entirely wrong. I am from the eastern continent.”

Emilie threw her arms up. “I knew it!”

“Yeah, that’s the only part of your speculation I’m willing to confirm or deny.” Jenora chuckled.

Emilie giggled with a big grin on her face. “One day I’ll get the rest of it.”

The group arrived at the theater. The tall building with the words ‘Wonora Theater’ in giant letters stood before them with lamps hung across every window and the archway leading in. Four sets of glass double doors dotted the front along with large windowpanes filled with beautiful gowns and dresses on manikins. Upon attempting to open the door Emilie bumped into it, locked. Victor blinked twice. “Well, that is unfortunate.”

A woman smoking turned to them. “We’re closed until this evening.”

“We’re here to speak with Lilly Anderson.” Victor walked up to her.

“Piss off. Everyone is here to speak to her.” The tall woman with brown hair and a lanky figure took a drag off her cigarette. “She doesn’t want to speak to people who are here to audition or beg for a role.”

“I’m not here to audition. I’m Victor Vogal an angelic knight seeking information on an old matter from her. She’ll want to see me.” Victor put his hands on his hips.

The woman scoffed and flicked her cigarette into a garbage can. “Fine, I’ll be right back.” She disappeared up a flight of stairs and a few minutes later came back unlocking a door. “She’ll see you.” They followed along behind this girl who shook her head. “My name is Amelia sorry about before I’m just tired of having to tell aspiring actors to piss off.”

“It’s fine.” Victor followed up the stairs with the others.

“Are you an angelic knight?” She asked.

“I am.” Victor curtly replied.

“She’s going to be pissed if you aren’t.” Amelia insisted.

“I’ll pull up my status sheet for her if she wants.” Victor didn’t want to talk with her given her attitude but felt the need to humor her.

“Here we are.” A large red door at the back of a hallway on the top floor was open just a crack. “She’ll see you. I’m getting back to work.”

The party approached the door the floor creaking beneath them. “Come in dearies!” An older voice resonated through the hallway. They entered a room filled with costumes, dresses, and hats, lots and lots of hats. She swiveled around in her chair at a desk with a massive mirror. The desk had makeup and perfume across it and the perfume permeated the room. The sweetness of lavender filled their noses as a plump older woman stood up and bobbed toward them with a book in hand. “Oh, you are a sweet young thing. Could you show me your character sheet to prove you are what you say you are?”

Victor took the book and pulled up his “Status Sheet.”

Selected Title: Angelic Knight

Race Human: Victor Vance Vogal

Class, Specialization: Mage 9, Spellsword 3

Level: 12

Base Health: 190

Stamina: 47

Mana: 15

Vitality: 19

Speed: 56

Strength: 22

Prowess: 33

Endurance: 45

Rigor: 2

Willpower: 17

Flow: 67 (+70%)

Luck: -42

Resistance: 50% Resistance to mind control and manipulation.

Title: Angelic Knight

Skills: Speed Reading Rank 2, Academic Rank 2, Familiar Rank 2, Speechless Spellcasting Rank 2, Improved Buffs Rank 2, Rogue Skills Rank 2, Fighter Skills Rank 2

Hidden Skills: Memory Retention , Luzuzal’s Delusion Rank 5 , Luzuzal’s Devout Rank 2, Luzuzal’s Promise Rank 7,

Spells: Barrier Shield Rank 2, Jolt Rank 2, Speed Boost Rank 2, Magic Writing Rank 1, Vitality Boost Rank 2, Rigor Boost Rank 2, Prowess Boost Rank 2

Current Exp to Level 13 1.0%

Victor noticed he increased his endurance and speed from his daily training. She read the sheet. “Well, my heavens! An honest-to-goodness angelic knight! I thought Luke was the last one alive! How may I help your dearie?”

“Well, we’ve got some questions for you regarding some old forms.” Victor crossed his arms.

“Oh do tell. I’m not sure if I can help you but an upcoming angelic knight is always welcome in the Andersons Theater of Wonora.” She put her book down and grabbed Victor by the hand pulling him to one of the chairs in the dressing room. “Come have a seat. I see you have three lovely women in your group. Not surprising for an attractive young man such as yourself.”

Emilie snickered at Jenora. Serena spoke up. “I’m the one who’s claimed him. Those two have claimed one another.”

“Oh, how sweet. I love young couples. My husband passed when he was young, and I’ve never remarried. A shame he was such a great man.” She drifted for a moment. “What exactly did you want to ask me?”

Jenora stepped up. “We found some discrepancies in your taxes to the mayor and your guild dues to the Freedman’s Guild.”

She pursed her lips. “Shut the door, dearie.” Serena shut the door. “Where did you find that information?”

Serena leaned against the door ominously. “Tax records, guild records. One or the other got shorted and by rights it doesn’t matter which one.”

“Oh, dear me. Who would ever look up such things? Are you from the Freedman’s Guild?” She seemed worried.

“No. We are the Artifact Hunters Guild. To be blunt we wanted to know why that discrepancy exists.” Victor asked directly.

“Oh dear. Will you be repeating this to the mayor or Freedman’s Guild?” She leaned back putting a hand fan over her face.

Serena chimed in. “We don’t intend to, but I could if I think you are holding something back.”

Victor looked at her out of the corner of his eye then turned back to Lilly Anderson. “If you tell us the reason, we might just be able to be on our way. We’re not after you but we could use allies within the city.”

She sighed and closed her fan. “Well to be honest the Freedman’s Guild moving in made it harder and harder to do business here if you weren’t in the guild. I joined the guild and everything was suddenly cheaper. The dues are high but even with that, they’re still cheaper by far. I still pay them for their services but I report less to the guild than to the mayor so I can put on more shows and hire more actors and actresses. I hate that guild. It has a stranglehold on the economy here. The most shop keeps are in the guild. It’s not even a shakedown racket they provide a wide array of services, and their goods never get stolen on the road. They do a good job, but they are excessively expensive.”

The four of them exchanged looks before Cawthorn crowed. “NOT HER!”

She tilted her head slack jawed. “What?”

Victor explained. “We’re looking for a murderer. It’s pretty clear it’s not you.”

She looked around at them distraught. “Oh, my dearies who died?”

“Jim Farson 4 years ago,” Victor answered

“I can’t say I know the man personally. If I did at one point I’ve long since forgotten him as the name doesn’t ring a bell.” She seemed honest.

Serena shook her head. “We figured. You didn’t seem to be the kind of person who would be responsible for this, but we had to check you are one of few people on a short list who had significant discrepancies in their finances around that time. That doesn’t make what we found any less incriminating.”

“Oh dear.” She sighed.

Victor put his hand on hers. “Don’t worry we’ve no intention to reveal your due’s dodging. If you know anything about this or can find anything about it out, we’d appreciate the help.”

“I’m more than happy to help an angelic knight in any way I can. You and Lightbringer Luke are the greatest defenders of this world from the tyranny of monsters.” She nodded.

“We will be going for now but don’t be a stranger.” Victor extended his hand to shake hers and she shook with her old lanky fingers.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Come by for a show sometime. On the house.” She nodded toward him.

Emilie clapped a few times. “Oh, we simply must sometimes.”

Jenora smiled. “I wouldn’t mind seeing one.” They all agreed and left heading to Caleb Scott.