"My parents blame me for not stopping my brother and because they had lost all their status. After my brother disappeared by law I had to put my blacksmithing dreams under a pillow. And continue to mine in his stead. But of course, I lacked the passion and skill to mine. I wasn't as good as my brother and this made everyone in the village angry. Now I spend most of my days in the mines for it's far better than being at home..."

Lucas sympathised with what Tuff Minesworth was going through. Even though he didn't go through the same thing. He could imagine how it must feel to have all your dreams taken away from you and forced to do something you hate. Lucas had his dreams taken away from him when he died but in the end, he wanted to be able to control the weather. What better place to do it in a world where that is actually possible. So yes Lucas lost but he gained a lot too. Tuff Minesworth, on the other hand, had not only lost his brother who he loved dearly. He had lost his dream too, maybe even his identity.

Tuff Minesworth saw how Layla Palmer and Lucas was looking at him. He then said, " I didn't tell you this story for your sympathy. Sympathy never helped anyone. I just wanted you to know the reality and about the man who's Kingdom, you are going to. Because of the King, the people tend to be selfish as well. Not all of them but just watch your back."

At this moment they had reached the T junction. Where going to the left was the path to his village and going right was the path to the Kingdom. Layla Palmer looked at Lucas and said, " Can we go check his village out? I would like to see it."

Tuff Minesworth heard Layla Palmer speak to Lucas and said, " I'm afraid that only you alone can come to my village. Not this young man..."

" Why?" Layla Palmer asked raising her left eyebrow.

" It's just that your friend, boyfriend, husband...?" He said while trying to guess which one it was from her facial expression but Layla Palmer did not show any noticeable change. " His uhm... His skin colour will prove quite problematic if he came with me." At this point, Layla Palmer was getting angry and it was showing. So Tuff Minesworth immediately tried to mitigate the situation.

Tuff Minesworth said, " Wait!" While putting his hands in front of his chest to say stop. He continued " I only said that because of the black cave. As I said before my people are very angry about the fact of my brother's disappearance, death. I also told you about the rumours about a demon that has eaten all the light within the cave... Making sense now. If I were to bring a black skinned man to the village they would all think he is the demon responsible for their hardships. The only reason I didn't think the same is that you appeared from light. I can't, however, explain that to them. Unless you show them?"

Layla Palmer looked at Lucas with puppy dog eyes. She turned on every bit of charm and seductiveness she had in her arsenal to persuade Lucas to do this for her.

Lucas looked at Layla and smiled with a very warm smile. He was aware that this was probably the last thing he could do for her. Soon after they would no longer have any affiliation with each other ( except for being other worlders). So Lucas went with what he really wanted to do and said. " No. I will not use my teleportation spell. I don't have much time to waste so I cannot go with you... If you really want to go we can say our goodbyes here...?"

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

Layla Palmer was disappointed but not surprised. It never worked before yet somehow she deluded herself thinking it would work now. She then looked at Tuff Minesworth and said, " Thanks for offering me a tour. But I can't go with you..." Tuff Minesworth nodded his head and headed in the opposite direction as Lucas and Layla Palmer while waving his hand. Even though Layla Palmer didn't go with him he felt oddly satisfied. From that exchange of words Lucas and Layla Palmer had. He found out that they are not dating and neither married. Layla Palmer was probably a traveller Lucas picked up on the road who was going in the same direction as him. Maybe he would have his shot at her when she came to visit in the future. All was at peace in the world.

Lucas and Layla Palmer collectively started walking to the Kingdom. As they got closer the walls of the Kingdom kept getting higher and higher. In the previous Kingdom silver was the common colour. Here red was the common colour. The walls were red. The guard's armour was red too. The guards stood by the gate checking people for identification before letting them in through a small gate. There was a long line of people waiting outside the gate. Some native and some from other places.

Layla Palmer and Lucas were now standing in line. " Lucas they checking identification. We do not have any. What are we going to do." Layla Palmer said while freaking out.

" Chill. We say exactly what we came for. We are here to take the admission test to the Academies here."

" Will, that work?"

" It does in Anime."

" I hope you are right."

After a while, it was Lucas and Layla Palmer's turn. " Next," A guard clad in red armour standing in front of a small gate said. " Show me your identification."

Layla Palmer said, " We do not have any identification. We are from a village outside of the Kingdom. We want to take part in the Admission test to the Mage Academy..."

This was the first time Lucas had heard of this. It was now clear that Layla Palmer had decided to be a Mage rather than a Warrior. The guard looked at her and said, "We?"

" Yes me and him," Layla Palmer said and pointed towards Lucas.

The guard almost jumped out his socks. Lucas quickly spoke and said, " It's a rare skin disease I have. Doctors don't know how to cure it." Lucas said masking his pride with sorrow.

" Oh, I see." The guard said in a sympathetic yet condescending tone. "There is an admission fee of 5 gold. I hope you know that..." The guard said looking at Lucas's clothes.

" Yes, I am well aware of that. One of my friends lives inside here and he has the money waiting for me and for her."

The guard walked to a table behind him and took two pieces of paper from a stack. He handed one to Layla Palmer and another to Lucas. He then said, " These forms show that you are taking the magic academy exam. Sprinkle some blood on it to bind your identity to it. You need to have this stamped within the next 24 hours others our guards will find you and throw you back to sticks you came from. Do you understand?"

Lucas grabbed the paper and said, " Yes," So Lucas bit his thumb and sprinkled blood on the page binding his identity to it. Layla Palmer did the same. When the guard saw that they had done it. He allowed them passage into the Kingdom.

" Next," the guard said.

Once they had entered the Kingdom and a few meters away from the guard. Layla Palmer said, " Why did you lie to him saying you know someone in the village ?"

" He looked at my clothes. So I'm assuming 5 gold is an amount of money someone with these clothes can't pay. As such if I told him I had the money there was a chance he would try to take it from me. I can't start a fight with a guard who is protecting the Kingdom I want to enter."

Layla Palmer was astonished how quickly Lucas interpreted possible danger and then prevented it. " No wonder he is leaving me," She thought.

Lucas looked at Layla Palmer and said, " I've always wanted to try this worlds beer. It would be cool to share my first with you."