The next day, Paulownia gives Shauna real clothing to replace the drab pull-overs her slavers had been keeping in. The new clothing is a few sizes too big, but it's an awful lot more presentable and decent.
And then the chores started. Which Shauna decides is small compensation for being given shelter and freed from slavery, especially since the tasks are so simple and small.
"Put this in that pot."
"Okay."
5 Alchemy Experience Gained
"Go pick some more of these mushrooms. There's some on the stump twenty paces south."
"...Aren't a lot of mushrooms, uh, poisonous? I don't think you should trust me to tell them apart. Or handle them right."
"Hmph. All right, I'll go pick them myself."
25 Persuasion Experience Gained
"Go rake the leaves off the front roof. Rake's out front."
"What if I fall through?"
"It's reinforced, ye're fine."
10 Climbing Experience Gained
...This is annoying. Really annoying. Every little thing she does, a weird phrase of some kind pops into her head.
Make it stop.
Really.
Get rid of these 'experienced gained' things. I don't want them.
A few seconds later.
Disable experience gain messages?
Yes Cancel
Yes! Absolutely yes! I have no idea what this stuff is, just get rid of it!
Experience messages disabled
Thank god.
The rest of that day, Shauna experienced not even a single weird phrase popping into her head. Not even one.
The next few days pass by in much the same way, Shauna helping Paulownia out with housekeeping and the occasional witch thing. But it doesn't last long, and soon enough, Paulownia calls out to Shauna with something other than a chore.
"I was hesitant at first, but you learn good and fast. Have ye thought about becoming an adventurer?"
"...It's crossed my mind. But that's about it."
"Hmph." The witch pauses. "If you had to pick between fighting a bear head-on, scaring it off with fire, standing your ground against it until it backs down, or running away the moment you see it, what would you pick?"
"Run away, fast."
"Just as I thought. And you said you grew up on a farm, right?"
"That's right."
"Very interesting. That should be enough. You know, I can't house an escaped slave in my own home forever, charm dispelled or not. But I know some people who can. The Westbridge chapter of the Assembly of the Central Unit is shorthanded. I wrote a recommendation for you to study and work under them. There are no fees, and you'll have a place to live and learn. What say ye?"
"Sorry, what? Assembly of the what now? Wesspridge?"
"It's Westbridge, and it's the big city, to the west. It's likely where your captors were headed with you. And the Assembly of the Central Unit is an institution that, in short, works to keep the gods happy with us planar folk."
"Planar folk..."
"Yes?"
"You know I'm a farm girl, right? I wasn't taught any of this."
"You were surely taught some things of religious or spiritual importance, yes?"
"We had a harvest god and a forest god, and that was about it." And she leaves out the and I don't believe it anymore implied by using the past tense.
"I see. Oh well, I'm sure the assembly'll get you up to speed just fine. Here."
Paulownia hands her a folded-up piece of parchment—er, no, of paper.
"Give that to the head of chapter in Westbridge and you'll have yourself a place to stay long-term."
"Sorry, but how? I don't know how to get around around here."
"A minute or two, by teleportation."
"What?"
Without warning, Paulownia places her hand on Shauna's shoulder and speaks a word of power. A weird vibration makes Shauna brace herself, and a bright flash makes her shut her eyes. But it all ends quickly, and before she knows it, she opens her eyes to the middle of a dense city full of activity.
"...We're already here? Wait, you can teleport?"
"It might've only felt like a second, but it's been a couple minutes, believe it er not. And yes, I can teleport. No time to waste, let us go."
"Okay..."
----------------------------------------
Paulownia escorts Shauna through the streets of Westbridge, eventually finding their way to a flat, wide wooden building with open gates and open doors. They walk right on in, and Paulownia speaks to the first person she can find—a young drake-kin man with scaly cheek marks and yellow eyes. She makes sure to put on a proper manner of speech, unlike the one she used around the cabin with Shauna.
"I am Paulownia, Great Witch of Wanderwood. This young girl would like to join the ranks, and I would recommend her. She is a fast learner with a lot of latent talent."
"A-archmage Paulownia? Yes, ma'am, absolutely! Right this way!"
The drake-kin speeds off down the hall, and Paulownia and Shauna follow. They walk down corridors of chiseled marble before exiting into a large open yard. And from there, they follow well-kept brick paths to a moderately-sized wooden building with sliding doors.
"Oh—by the way, I'm Jean, but you don't have to remember me, I just cart things around." He collects himself. "Anyway, this is the Assembly's training house. Leo's holding a lesson right now, but if Paulownia brought a new student or a new recruit, he would be glad for me to interrupt. Let me slip in for a moment, I'll be right back to bring you in once I have the OK."
He slips in for a moment, and sure enough, he comes out after not even thirty seconds have passed, leaving the door open.
"All good, head on in."
Shauna nervously pokes her head in the door and looks around. It looks almost like a classroom, but with a lot less desks and a lot more open space. There's one or two dozen students scattered all around the room, and an intimidating-looking guy with thick muscles, tan skin, and fiery red-orange-yellow swept-back hair at the front of the class, turned to the open door.
She turns and looks back at the two people she came with.
Paulownia shakes her head.
"All right, child. Just this once."
She takes Shauna's hand and walks on in to the front of the room.
"This is Shauna. She'll be joining you as of today. I know that there is only one week left to the semester, but I trust that she'll be able to catch up and join a party without issue. If not, she can always stay around for the next class of students. Is there any issue with that proposal, Leo?"
"None at all. We're more than glad to accept a student brought by you, Paulownia. Even when they may turn out to be trouble."
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
He looks to a certain green-and-red-haired girl in the back of the class. She rolls her eyes.
"Now, Shauna, why don't you introduce yourself?" Leo proposes.
"Y-... Yes. I'm Shauna. I come from a farm town somewhere far, far away. I'm here because I have nowhere else to go. I'm not sure what this place is all about, but I'm pleased to meet you all."
She dips her head for a moment, signaling that she's done. One student, a young, heavily-tanned blonde man a good five or so years older than Shauna, claps fervently. Another student a few seats back claps reluctantly. Everyone else just chatters with a bit of amusement, and then everyone goes silent.
"Take a seat behind the kid with the blue hat. You can finish introducing yourself later, and Paulownia, I'll talk to you when the lesson's over," Leo says to Shauna, and then Paulownia, flowing seamlessly from one to the other.
"Good-bye, Shauna. I'll visit again in a week or so to make sure everything is all right, but you're on your own for now."
"Thank you."
After Shauna takes her seat, Leo resumes teaching right away, without a chance to greet the boy in front of her.
It seems like Leo was teaching about poisonous plants and animals, what common stuff in the country to not eat when camping in the wilderness. And now he's teaching which plants can be used to create an antidote for the most common poisons. Shana absorbs it all with great excitement, despite missing more than half of the lecture and the material being boring and drab.
Leo wraps the lesson up with a summary of what they learned that week, which basically boils down to more basic wilderness survival knowledge.
Your Survival level has increased to 47
Huh? Shauna thinks, before immediately getting distracted from her thoughts by Leo continuing to speak.
"That about wraps up the book learning. Next week is physical and coordination training, so I hope you guys've figured out your parties. Oh, and don't forget to start thinking about your first big jobs together." He stretches in front of the chalkboard. "Be back in a minute, gotta talk to Paulownia," he exits through the shutter door that Shauna came in through.
The class immediately swarms around Shauna, like they were intentionally staying quiet around the teacher this whole time, but can't keep it in any longer.
"Hey, where are you from?"
"Are those ears real like Zero's?"
"Your clothes are a mess! Let me take your shopping later!"
"How'd you meet Paulownia?"
Flustered, she can't respond to a single thing that's said to her, or keep track of who said what.
The young blonde man that clapped for her earlier slams his hand down on her desk, and everyone falls silent.
"Guys, she's overwhelmed. One person at a time."
Gulp. Everyone nods, including Shauna.
"I'm Max, bastard son of a dead bandit and damn proud of it," he says, directing focus to the next person on his left before anyone can react to what he said.
"I'm Charles," the cycle continues.
"The name's Robin."
And so it goes for a few more names before getting to the kid Shauna got sat behind, the boy with the blue hat.
"My name is Zero, mage of the far side." He nods, lifting his hat. Shauna nods back in slow motion, confused.
Next.
And next.
And the cycle of introductions finally gets to the last person in class, and the only person to not leave their seat. A girl about the same age as Shauna, with green-and-red hair and loose-fit clothing, but a slightly more mature body. Drake-kin.
"...Igni."
Cold and taciturn.
Max leans one of his arms back on Shauna's desk.
"That's everyone. How about you introduce yourself again? How about, I dunno, where you came from, and why you came here?"
And so she does. From the very beginning, just summarizing her life on the farm, then the raids, and then...
As the story goes on, everyone's expressions go dark. They brighten up when she meets Paulownia, but not all the way. As the boy in the blue hat puts it, "The silver lining fails to fully gild the cloak of despair," whatever that means.
Well, everyone's expressions except for Igni's. She just gets irritated. Though she never says so, and Shauna hardly even looks at her.
"...And that's when Paulownia introduced me here."
Her story wraps up right where she met them.
"Man, that's rough. Really, really rough," Max says.
"Yeah. I'm trying to take it as it comes."
"Let me bring you shopping! You need real clothes to replace those hand-me-downs," says someone else.
"Thanks..."
"I'll give you my bed in the dorms if you can't get one, you hear?" says a girl the same age as her.
Shauna can't keep up with who's giving her what words, and she can't react at more than a surface level, but she's very much moved by how kind everyone's being. She'd thought for sure being an escaped slave would make people distance themselves from her, but that doesn't seem to be the case. That's a huge relief.
The sliding door rolls open and Leo steps back inside. Playtime's over—everyone returns to their desks, though they don't all bother sitting down.
"Alright, guys, it's the weekend. The gates're open till midnight, like always. Make sure you're back before then or you'll get in trouble."
Shauna tilts her head, and asks "Are we going somewhere?"
"Oh, yeah. We make everyone spend their free days out in town. You're all a ruckus when you're not in lessons, so it's better than keeping you all in here all the time."
"Leo, you're forgetting! It's harvest time!" a girl in the back shouts.
"Oh yeah? Man, I've been swamped with work, but I guess it is. You sure showed up here at a good time, Shauna. Who wants to bring her around where the festival's happening?"
A nice diverse set of hands shoot up. "Me!" "No, me!" "I'll go too!"
"Relax, too many people and it'll be a problem. Max, how about you take charge?"
"Sure, I can show her around."
"Perfect. Anyone else want to tag along?"
Most everyone who was excited and charged up the first time has gone sheepish and reluctant.
"What gives?" Shauna asks.
"Don't worry about it," Max replies. "I'm kind of iffy on bringing her alone, though. Is there anyone that still wants to go?"
After a few seconds of thought, Zero speaks up.
"I'm willing to accompany you two."
"Okay, I can't let you two be alone with her, I'm going too!" A curly blonde haired girl in the front of the class chimes in.
"Four's a good number, that settles it," says Max.
Shauna looks around slightly confused. Just slightly.
"I'm not too clear on this, but what was your name again?" she asks the girl in the front.
"I'm Jane. Nice to meet you, again."
"You too."
----------------------------------------
Well-graded cobblestone streets, the early stages of harvest festival activity, the smells of fresh bread and produce. Shauna realizes that Paulownia managed to completely avoid the dense parts on their way down to the assembly, and for good reason. It's almost tough to stick together as a group here.
"First things first. Shauna, you need real clothes, remember what I said earlier?"
"Yeah?" Shauna responds, connecting Jane to that offer from way earlier.
"That's our first stop, Tailor Jack's!"
Jane points off down the road at a random-seeming building.
...At some point, it seems, leadership transferred from Max to Jane. But it's probably better this way. She's a lot more proactive and less intimidating.
When they get there and walk inside, their vision is assaulted with all sorts of bright colors and shapes. It's almost like a costume house, not a normal old tailor.
"Wow..."
"Come on, let's take your sizes in the back!"
"Okay!"
Jane drags Shauna off into the back of the shop, leaving Max and Zero sitting awkward alone in the front.
"First time?" asks the clerk.
The two boys just nod.
The girls come back a few moments later and start sorting through clothes.
"This is too bulky for adventuring."
"That's going to tear too easily."
"I don't like green."
They settle on an outfit based around an orange t-shirt, black denim short shorts, thigh-length orange-striped socks, and a big, heavy, over-sized yellow coat, long enough to cover up the exposed skin on her legs. It's the balance that Shauna wanted to strike, leaving her the ability to be quiet and sneaky and move quick on her feet, but without taking away too much protection against the elements. Or at least, that's her logic for it.
"Well...? How do I look?"
Zero gulps. Max forces himself to look away.
"It looks good on you. No, you look real good! Great, even! And I love the hairpin, it shapes your bangs just right!" Jane's the only one who gives a real response.
The hand-me-downs that Shauna got from Paulownia find their way into Jane's inventory. She'll give them to Leo to give back to Paulownia later, she says.
After picking out some similar spares—since having just one set of good clothing would be a hassle—Jane handles things with the clerk at the front of the shop and they head back out.
"Now that that's out of the way, let's go have some fun!"
An area with an opening in the crowd and some big, tall decorations set up in it. Shauna points over at it, asking "What's that?"
Max answers. "They always open up the festival with a dance. Then everyone moves out from there into the food and games. Want to go watch?"
"Absolutely!"
----------------------------------------
That night.
Max carries Shauna on his shoulders.
"Can't believe she had so much fun she passed out cold like that, right in the middle of the street."
An hour to midnight.
"She probably hasn't been around people in a long time. No, I'm sure she hasn't," Jane responds.
"Yeah, well..."
He trails off. He can't finish the sentiment. It's too personal.
They walk in through the door to the girls' dorms.
"Huh?"
Jane finds a new bed, completely untouched, sitting in a part of the room that was previously used for storage.
"I guess they cleaned up for her."
"What a nice institution. Almost wish I could stay here the whole time, like you're plannin' on."
"Oh, please. You know it's not that easy."
"Yeah, yeah."
Max lays her down in the new bed, on top of the covers.
"I leave the rest to you. Night."
"Mhmm."
Max sets off to the boy's dorm, leaving Jane behind to tuck Shauna under her covers properly. And so she does.
"I wonder—is there any meaning to this?"
Jane stares at the blank, open air above Shauna's bed, curious about a certain unclear something.
She shakes her head.
No, couldn't be.
She heads off to ask the dormhead for an extra sleeping gown set, so Shauna has something to change into the following nights. Leaving the fully-packed dorm behind, aside from the few curfew-riding stragglers that haven't arrived yet.
Shauna drifts into a state of half awakeness. Just enough to open her eyes and stare off into the room, blankly.
"...I had a lot of fun."
And just like that, she falls right back asleep.
----------------------------------------
I travel across an endless plane. Not grasslands, and not a flying machine, but a flat sheet of geometry that simply exists, as such, in its own way. Flatter than the smallest of building blocks could compose, and broader than the universe could contain. If ever there were a way to, say, teleport somewhere infinitely far away, and I did so, I would end up in much the same place as I am in right now, with no change.
So, am I traveling at all?
I ask myself that. Every step I take, nothing around me changes. There are no bits of physical stuff moving beneath my feet. Just a featureless plane, itself a fundamental entity, with no features of any sort. It's impossible to determine any change in its location relative to me. It's impossible to observe that I have, indeed, moved.
At some point, I find myself in front of a sleeping figure.
Ah. It's that time again, huh? Though it's earlier than I expected.
Oh well. I appearify a certain magical book in the air front of me and conjure a quill in my writing hand. As it floats there, the book turns to the first blank page, and I rest my hand against it.
"Tell me your story."
The sleeping figure begins to chant its recent doings and happenings, and, word by word, I transcribe every bit of it, from beginning to end, without error. When all is done, the book closes itself, and dematerializes along with the quill, in a wash of magical particles.
"Sweet dreams."
I carry on in my journey, leaving the sleeping figure behind me.
Until now, you feel, you've just coasted through life aimlessly, with fate getting the better of you. But the past few days opened your eyes to a whole new world of freedom and wonder.
The future awaits, and it all begins here.
Level up?
Yes No