“Okay, let's get in formation.” Walter said while setting up the target they would use during practice. Astrid had no idea what she was supposed to do and stood uncertainly as the others arranged themselves in a V-shape with the tip pointing away from the target. Even Einar knew what to do, so either someone had already filled him in, or it was a standard formation taught to combat magicians at some point. The lack of knowledge made her feel even more out of place on this team.

“We have to find a place to incorporate Astrid,” Walter said. “Do you prefer ranged attacks or melee attacks?”

Both, Astrid thought, but she couldn’t say that. In order to fit in on the team, she would have to choose.

“Ranged attacks,” she answered. Sure, she could only use one spell that delt damage at the moment, but she didn’t want to get close enough to the monsters without using her cloak’s invisibility and her backstab attack. She couldn’t use either in front of others without giving herself away.

"Okay, Astrid, you can stand beside me if we expand the formation a bit,” Walter said. “You’ll attack fist.”

“Alright,” Astrid said and moved to stand next to Walter at the tip. From there, she had a clear view of the target.

“Just start whenever you are ready.”

Astrid took a deep breath, focusing a few mana points into her staff.

“Basic blast.” The attack sailed through the air and hit the target. Right after Jerrik rushed in and delivered a sword strike to the target before returning to his original place just in time to avoid a fire blast Einar had cast. Before the smoke had even cleared, Ina rushed in for an attack, slashing her sword across the target and retreated again. Then Walter cast a magic attack that Astrid couldn’t identify.

"Astrid, it’s your turn again,” Walter said, and Astrid quickly cast her basic blast again. This continued for a few more rounds before the leader called for a break.

“Is basic blast the only spell you know?" Einar mocked. Astrid got the feeling that he didn’t like her much. If this continued much longer, the feeling would be mutual. It could be that he was just angry that he had to be here, so Astrid decided not to taunt him back.

“I have also cast wind blast once, but that would affect everyone in front of me,” she said, remembering the fight against the spider monster. “I’m well aware of my limited repertoire when it came to magic, but I’m still focusing on building my mana.

“You're even newer at this than I thought. Are we sure she’s needed on the team?”

Astrid didn’t know if Einar was concerned about his own or her safety, maybe both. If she was unable to keep up with the others in a fight, it would put them all in danger. She still didn’t feel like she had anything valuable to contribute to the team. Especially not when it came to fighting monsters with them.

“Astrid is a capable fighter despite her limited mana and spells.” Walter said. "Besides, she’s the only one who knows how to make it through a dungeon, so we need her if we have to do it ourselves. I don’t want to hear any more jests at her expense. Now let’s get back to training.”

Astrid followed the others back in formation, hoping she would never have to set foot inside a dungeon. Surely, she wouldn’t have to. With the new information about the dungeon type, the king would be mad not to send someone professional to clear it. just thinking about the dungeon could drain her spirit as fast as the memory of her family being killed. Shaking her head, she cleared her mind so she could focus on the training.

They practiced different formations and techniques, adapting them to also accommodate Astrid and Einar. The one they started with had by far been the easiest. The training continued until every member of the team could execute the formations smoothly. By then Astrid felt exhausted.

“We’ll meet tomorrow at the mayor’s office for studying,” Walter said, and the other team members began to leave. “Astrid, please wait. I have something I want to talk to you about.” Astrid waited while the rest of the team members left the training grounds. Soon the two were alone.

“So, I talked with your sister yesterday to debrief her about the attack, and I promised her to talk to the mayor about your living situation. She agreed that the two of you shouldn’t be staying in a tiny room at the inn, so she found an apartment you might like. If you want, we can go check it out now.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“What does it cost?”

“It won’t cost you anything. It’s a gift for you and your sister’s heroic actions the other day.”

“Did you and the rest of the team also get gifted an apartment?" As much as she would love to avoid spending another night at the temple of deception, getting gifted an apartment seemed excessive, especially with so many refugees still living on the streets.

No, but we got paid for doing our job. Even got a bonus so large we could buy one. You, on the other hand, stepped up to the fight even though no one asked you to or expected you to. You saved a lot of lives that day. Maybe even mine and the other team members.”

“You handled yourself pretty well against the spiders.”

“Maybe, but it took us a long time to kill each one, and there were several close calls. If we had had to deal with two at the same time, we would have taken casualties."

“All right. I would like to at least see this apartment,” Astrid said as her desire for a real home won over her moral apprehension of accepting it as a gift.

*

Ten minutes later, they stood in what could become Astrid’s new apartment. The room they entered was slightly bigger than her family’s cottage had been. A large fireplace stood against one wall surrounded by couches and armchairs. On shelves stood random nicknack That didn’t seem to serve any real purpose and large painting and tapestries hung on the walls that was already covered in flowery wallpaper.

“This place is huge,” Astrid said.

“This is just the living room. Wait till you see the upstairs.”

“Theres another floor?”

"Yes, that’s where the bedrooms are. I think there’s a small study too. And through those doors over there you’ll find the kitchen and a dining room.”

“All this is just for me... and my sister.” She almost forgot to add that last part.

“If you want it, it is.”

Astrid wanted nothing more than to do just that. Anything to not spend more time in the god of deception’s temple than necessary.

“Let’s see the rest of the apartment before I make a decision.” Astrid ended up saying.

They spent a few minutes touring the place, and every time Astrid saw something new, she got more overwhelmed. She couldn’t fathom that there were people who had this much space to themselves, and especially not that she could be one of them. The place was also furnished with more stuff than she had ever seen in one building before, and most of it looked expensive. She was almost nervous to walk around in case she broke something. She doubted she could afford to replace anything in here.

“So, is this place to your liking?” the leader asked once they got back to the front door.”

“Yes!”

“Then it’s yours.” He handed her a key, and she took it carefully and looked at it. Even the key looked expensive with small engravings in the metal.

“Are you absolutely sure that I can have all this at no cost?”

“Of course. For as long as you want it. Do you need help finding people to take care of this place?”

It took Astrid a moment to realize what the leader was asking.

“No, I can manage on my own.” She didn’t want to hire anyone to cook and clean for her. She could do those things on her own. Besides, if she hired someone, it wouldn’t take them long to figure out that Astrid and her sister were the same person.

The leader left shortly after that, saying he had more research to do, and Astrid walked another round of the apartment, taking in every detail about her new home.

She found her pantry fully stocked and wondered if she would be able to eat all of it before it turned bad. Maybe the cabinets had a preservation spell like her bag did? She sure hoped so.

She figured it was about time for dinner. This was the first time since she fled from her farm that she had the opportunity to cook a meal. Though this would be the first time she did everything on her own, as her mother or sister had always been there to give her directions. Even then she had rarely done more than cut and peal vegetables. Her mother had prioritized her sister’s cooking skill as she was older. Astrid quickly pushed the memories away. Her cooking skill, like most of her other skills, was only at level one, so she would have to make something simple. She started a fire under the stove and found the stuff she would need.

Half an hour later, she had a bowl full of boiled vegetables floating around in warm water. She had attempted to make a stew, but it hadn’t turned out as she had wanted. The greens were overcooked, and the flavor was bland. She ate it, anyway, as doing otherwise would be a waste of food.

Despite her exhaustion, she spent another half hour cleaning up the mess she had created while wondering what she was supposed to do with food scraps. She had no animals to feed them to and no compost to throw them on. Maybe living in her own apartment was going to be more challenging than she had thought.

She put them in her inventory so she could deal with them later and then went to find the study. Her classes started again tomorrow, so she wanted to prepare a bit by reading up on the topic they would be going over.

The room had a large desk made of dark wood facing a window and two empty bookcases.

She didn’t read for long as her eyes refused to stay open, but she did manage to drain her mana by holding a shield spell. When she woke up, it would have recovered and gained a few more points in the process.

She had just laid down in a bed way too soft to be comfortable when she got a notification, and Astrid felt her heart sink as she read the message.

New quest from the god of Deception

Your identity is at risk of being compromised and you need to get away

Objective: travel to the capital

Time left: 30 days

Reward: a large copper