The feast began with much ado, with people eating at long tables. The town elders were darting from group to group, taking names, giving the rules, and assigning sleeping areas. That was no doubt the real reason for this; now that everyone was in one place, it would be easy to process them. As they ate, a few more small groups arrived; apparently the two hundred were only those who’d walked on ahead, feeling the need to move quicker once the end was in sight. He’d heard a few dozen more would gradually arrive as the night progressed.
Davi was sitting with his family, but Lumina had asked Zilly to join Brin and her, and of course an [Archmage] couldn’t be denied. They’d also snagged Myra, who didn’t have anyone.
“An acceptable bout,” said Lumina. She daintily cut a bite of steak free with a knife. The fact that she was using the knife on her own answered the question of how formal she expected him to act; it would’ve been embarrassing to have to act all high-society for the impromptu potluck. “I wish you would’ve done more to lock down her movement, and focused on pelting her with projectiles from a distance. If your bullets had more power, that would’ve ended the fight there.”
“It’s hard to put power into them when I’m shooting them all at once,” said Brin. He cut his own steak, and popped a bite into his mouth, and then suddenly had to close his eyes at the eruption of flavor. This was from the Pimental’s herd, and he was sure he’d never had a better steak in either life.
Even Marksi was enjoying it; the little dragon was currently standing on the bench next to Brin and stretching his long neck up to nibble on a steak that was nearly half his size.
“That’s a problem of your imagination and conceptualization. Magic has no such limitations,” said Lumina.
“Yes ma’am,” said Brin.
Lumina dunked her bite of steak in gravy, pointed it at Zilly and said, “And what do you think, young lady?” before popping the bite in her mouth.
Zilly, who sat silent and pale-faced, and who hadn’t taken a single bite of her dinner, said, “You’re right, my Lady. Apologies, my Lady. Brin really should have won. He would have if I hadn’t gotten lucky.”
Well, no, Brin would've won if she'd yielded when he had a spear at her throat like she should have. Luck had nothing to do with it. Still, he'd told himself he'd be the bigger man. Plus, with the way she was absolutely shaking in her boots right now, he couldn't help but grin. “Relax, Zilly. She’s not going to make you explode or anything.”
“He’s right, you know. I hardly explode anyone any more,” said Lumina, which Zilly didn’t seem to find totally reassuring.
Then Lumina’s expression went cold. Brin followed her line of sight, and saw what she was looking at. A [Knight] had entered with the last group of stragglers. Brin noticed him, but only because of his unusually picturesque face–this was one of the knights that had come with Lumina. That group had left shortly afterwards, and now one of them was back?
He wasn’t sure what that could mean, but from the look on Lumina’s face, it couldn’t be good.
“I must deal with this,” she said, and left the table.
Both Myra and Zilly leaned forward, as if released from gags. Even though Myra had spent a lot of time around Lumina at this point, she’d never really gotten used to it.
“I can’t believe you’re learning from an [Archmage]!” Zilly said, at the same time as Myra said, “What happened after you left? Tell me about the bandits!”
Then they both proceeded to answer each other's questions, both of them talking at once.
“She’s really not that scary once you get used to–”
“I wandered in the forest for thirty hours before I finally found the group, and by then–”
“--the magic she can do! I’ve learned more in the last couple months than the entire–”
“--which is when Kevim told us to keep our eyes out for–”
Brin wanted to interrupt and ask them to talk one at a time, but didn’t know how to get a word in edgewise. Also, it was a bit confusing. Zilly and Myra had parted on somewhat bad terms, with Zilly acting like a complete tool after she’d gotten her Rare Class. Now they were acting like best friends again, leaving Brin wondering what he’d missed. He would’ve liked this to happen after a long and tearful apology from Zilly, but if the two of them wanted to sweep it under the rug and pretend it never happened, he guessed he wouldn’t complain.
He expected it to wind down quickly, but it didn’t. From what he could tell, Zilly wanted to deliver the entire travelog right now, and Myra wanted to talk about every single thing she’d learned from Lumina, which was quite a lot. Myra’s thread was probably more dangerous than his glass right now. She didn’t have the mana to back it up like he did, but she’d been preparing for [Weaver] her entire life and understood thread in a way that was hard to match.
“--which is where we found the bandits,” Zilly was saying.
“Wait, what’s this about bandits?” Brin cut in, and luckily Myra’s monologue dropped off while Zilly answered.
“Well, we didn’t actually find the bandits in Sudd’s Bog. That town is tiny by the way. I guess I sort of assumed that all the other Bogs were about the same as us, but most of them are smaller and Oud’s Bog is way bigger.
“Anyways, we got to Sudd’s Bog wondering if they knew about the undead, and they didn’t know anything about that. All they wanted to talk about was the monsters and bandits. I guess the undead army didn’t actually kill that many monsters; it’s that the monsters all left before the army could get there. The way Kevim explained it is that most animals can sort of sense undead and want to stay away from them. They all left the area before the undead even got here, and it set off this big disaster where monsters are running around everywhere. Kevim calls it a Migratory Disarrangement Chain. And that brings all the adventurers out. And you know what the Prefit calls adventurers.”
“I actually don’t,” said Brin.
“He says that adventurers are just bandits that haven’t gotten caught yet. Sudd’s Bog had trouble with both. Most of these people are from there, by the way. Their town isn't going to be able to hold together anymore. But I'm getting ahead of myself! First, their best [Hunter] got killed by a Titan Boa, and then a group of bandits kidnapped a bunch of [Farmers] out in the field and ransomed them back to the town. Only Kevim really heard the story of all that happened, but when he got out of the meeting, he was mad.
“He didn’t let me go after them, though. I guess one of the women who got kidnapped managed to pull the mask down on one of the bandit’s faces for a second, so they thought if we could get her to Oud’s Bog, they could identify him and get the whole group identified and declared outlaws. She came with us, along with some of their best fighters.
“It was crazy! There had to have been fifty of those guys. If they’d all swarmed us the first day, they probably would’ve won. Or maybe not, actually. Even if they outnumbered us, Jeffrey can do some pretty crazy stuff. It didn’t matter, though, because they never did. They kept trying to lay traps or take pot-shots from a distance, and a couple times they sent small groups to try to kill anyone who stepped away to pee. I killed four bandits myself! Just by hiding in the trees and waiting. And one of them was even higher level than me! I think they must’ve been pushing monsters towards us, too, because we got attacked by something like, every single night.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
It was strange to Brin how casually she talked about killing four people, but then again, he didn’t have any room to talk. “No wonder you got all those levels. I take it you actually made it to Oud’s Bog, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Yeah. One night, the attacks just stopped and we didn’t have any trouble the rest of the trip.”
“Are you all right? That must’ve been horrible,” said Myra. Brin was glad she was bringing it up. No matter how casually she talked about it, that had to have been traumatizing.
Zilly shook her head, scrunching up her nose. “I’m fine. I barely got scratched.”
“Um, that’s good, but…” Myra started, but didn’t seem to know how to finish.
“I think what Myra’s saying is that sounds like a lot to go through, especially after what happened here in town. I still have nightmares.”
“You do? Oh,” said Zilly, and seemed to slump a little. She opened her mouth, but whatever she was about to say got cut off by the arrival of Davi. Now that he was closer, Brin could see that the big guy had actually grown some more since he’d last seen him. Unfair.
“Hey!” he slapped Zilly on the back. “Catching Brin up on our adventures?”
She perked up. “Yep!”
“Hi Marksi!” Davi held his arms open wide but Marksi ignored him, too focused on his steak.
“He’s all grown up now. He’s too important for us now,” said Myra.
Davi dropped his arms, deflated. “You know, we normally stop before nightfall, but me and Zilly convinced the rest to keep marching so we could get here tonight.” He held something up; there were two big hard-leather cases in his hands. “Happy Birthday.”
Brin took what could only be an instrument case, and moved his plate aside so he could lay it on the table. He carefully opened it, and inside, he found a guitar.
It wasn’t exactly like a guitar from his old world. The body was longer and more narrow, while the neck was a bit shorter. Rather than a blank hole in the middle, it was a wooden mesh styled like woven flowers in the bog. In fact, the entire thing was finely carven covered with ornamentation. A little different, but still a guitar.
“They call it a half-lute,” said Davi. “I don’t know why, it’s not any quieter or anything. Not too much quieter.”
“This is amazing!”
“I also bought one for me,” said Davi. He opened the other case to show a much larger instrument. This one had a more spherical shape, closer to a lute but larger. It had eleven strings, and a wider, shorter neck. “It’s called an Oud. I don’t know if the town or the instrument came first.”
Brin nodded. “It suits you.”
“We can swap if you want. I didn’t know which one you’d like.”
Brin hugged his guitar closer. “No way.”
“I got you something, too!” said Zilly.
She handed Brin a small cloth-covered parcel. No, just a little piece of cloth, with holes in it. When he unfolded it, he realized it was a mask.
“Let me show you!” She grabbed it from his hands, and put it on. There was no band to wrap around behind, but when she held it up to her face, it adhered to her skin as if by magic. Well, literally by magic in this case.
The effect was a little confusing, because [Know What’s Real] instantly objected and told him that this was Zilly. Only after that did he notice that he didn’t quite recognize his friend anymore.
“That’s incredible. If I didn’t see you put it on, I never would’ve known it was you,” said Brin. “Hold on. Did this belong to one of the bandits?”
“Yup!” Zilly pulled it off and handed it back to him.
Myra gasped. “That’s incredible. Even though Brin told me it was you, I was still sitting here wondering where you went and who this new girl was.”
“Did you just give me something you pulled off a dead guy that you killed?”
“Maybe,” said Zilly.
Brin looked at her for a moment. He had absolutely no use for this, his illusions would disguise him much better. For her, though, as a [Rogue], this mask would be invaluable. He wondered if there was a polite way to give it back.
“I feel bad taking this. It’s too much!”
Zilly waved his concerns away. “Oh please, it was no trouble.”
“Well, now I feel bad. I didn’t get you anything,” said Myra.
“No, you don’t have to–”
“I did get Marksi something, though,” she said.
Zilly leaned forward eagerly. “Show me!” Then turned her head. “Um, actually my family is waving me over. I better go. No, actually you come, too! If you’re with me then you can’t show Marksi his present without me.”
Without waiting for an answer, Zilly grabbed Myra by the elbow and dragged her away. Davi watched them go with faint confusion on his face, matching what Brin was feeling.
“I better get back, too,” said Davi. “We’ll catch up later, yeah?”
“Yeah,” said Brin. He strummed the strings of his guitar. “Thanks for this. I can’t wait to try it out.”
Now that he was alone, except for Marksi still attacking his oversized steak, Brin watched Lumina speak with her [Knight]. Whatever he was saying, she didn’t like it, going by the completely blank expression on her face. They went back and forth for a while, before the [Knight] nodded sharply and turned away.
Brin took that as his cue. He walked over, and an uncomfortable pang of worry seemed to grow with every step.
Lumina sighed when he arrived and gazed at him sadly.
“You have to leave, don’t you?” asked Brin.
“I’m afraid so,” said Lumina. “This vacation was honestly longer than I had expected it to be, but duty calls. I am to return immediately to the tower.”
Brin clenched his jaw. Even though he’d known this was coming, the blow hit a lot harder than he’d expected it to. He’d only known Lumina for a short time, but you could grow attached to people rather quickly when your life was like his.
“You have a decision to make,” said Lumina. “You could come to the tower with me. If you do, you will live in luxury and receive the best magical training that Frenaria can provide. Your peers won’t even look down on you too much, since the [Illusionist] half of your Class is acceptably magical. I say you may come, but someday you will come to the tower. Eventually, the crown will demand it. They can’t leave the son of an [Archmage] alone and unsupervised, not forever.”
“But they aren’t going to demand I come now?”
“It would be unusual if you did. You’re still a little young. Young people of your standing rarely come out to society until their parents find that they are… ready for the pressures of the court.”
“Until they’ve already got a marriage lined up, she means.” Hogg appeared with his voice, as a mirror image.
Lumina smirked, but didn’t deny it. “Still, you could come. People would expect you to be less firm of mind and spirit than you are. They would try to manipulate you against me, and that in itself would present its own opportunities.”
Brin got the impression that Lumina wanted him to come with her, but also couldn’t really make a good case for it.
Hogg barked a laugh. “I can see it now. The two of you would be running the place within the week. Especially if you can keep your [Illusionist] side hidden.”
“Not with [Hide Status] the way it is now. His secret would be out within the day,” said Lumina.
“Right, about that. What’s your [Hide Status] say?” asked Hogg.
Brin peered around. There was no-one nearby, but they were discussing his secret rather openly. “Are you sure we should–?”
“They can’t hear us,” Hogg said.
At the same time Lumina said, “They wouldn’t dare.”
“I have it set to [Glasser],” said Brin. “But honestly, is anyone here fooled? I used illusions against Siphani openly with the whole town watching.”
“You’d be surprised. How many people were watching you, and how many people were staring at grandma who just got chopped to pieces right in front of them? People have surprisingly malleable memories, especially in stressful situations. I’ve been seeding the idea that you distracted Siphani with mirrors and glass sculptures. That’s what Jeffrey’s song is going to say, and after a while, that’s what everyone is going to remember. Just you watch.”
“There’s got to be some people who know,” said Brin.
“And for whatever reason, those people are keeping their mouths shut. You’re a [Savior of Hammon’s Bog]. That means more than the 20% attribute bonus,” said Hogg.
“But these new people don’t know you. You’ll get [Inspected] quite a lot in the next few days,” Lumina added. “Make sure your [Hide Status] is where you want it to be.”
Brin shrugged. “I think it has to stay at [Glasser]. Unless you think people will buy [Glassbound Warrior].”
“Doubtful,” said Hogg.
“Definitely not at the tower,” said Lumina.
Hogg cleared his throat. “Your other choice is to come with me. You always say you want to spend some time traveling, and this is your chance to do that without getting sucked into all the kingdom’s games. There’s also that thing with Aberfa. I was thinking of going to Blackcliff first, and Gilly is near there. I could have Lurilan meet us. I bet he’d have some ideas on how to start tracking her down.”
Brin tapped his chin. As much as it hurt to leave Lumina, he already knew he was going to choose Hogg and Blackcliff. He didn’t want to say so yet. “Do I have to decide right now?”
“I’ll delay three days,” said Lumina.
Brin nodded dumbly.
“And I’m afraid… these three days won’t be spent training you. I haven’t been totally idle, you know, when you’re off working your glass or studying alone. I knew that I’d need a project in order to justify my absence, and this project must come to fruition before I leave.”
“You’ve been meditating a lot. I figured you were doing what an [Arcanist] does and trying to figure out new words in the Language. That or working on imbuing your current words with more meaning.”
“Correct,” said Lumina. “More specifically, I’ve been preparing myself for a conversation. A conversation in the Language, with a creature whose native tongue that is. Do you see? Tomorrow, I will spend the entire day in meditation. The day after that, I believe I’ll ask Marksi to introduce me to his grandmother.”