During their fights, Joe had stepped forward into a deep thrust towards one of the many goblins they’d been fighting when a blue flash erupted in front of him and he blinked, startled, as his thrust went awry and his spear plunged into the goblin’s left shoulder instead. The goblin screeched in rabid anger, dragging its way up the spear towards Joe and Garnedell stepped in to slam his staff down upon the goblin’s skull, crushing it.

Joe stepped back, a deep breath washing away his tension from both the shock of the popup and the goblin’s desperate rage to close with him. Well… I’m really going to have to find a way to turn off those stupid things until when I want them or at least after combat! He glanced towards Garnedell and nodded.

“Thanks. That was close.”

“What happened, Joe? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine. Got a stupid message from … never mind. Just surprised me. Thanks for the help.”

Garnedell nodded, grinning brightly, “Of course! I will do my best by you!”

Joe chuckled and nodded before turning to look at the message he’d received and found it strangely unusual compared to the rest of the messages he’d received. It wasn’t the quite right shade of blue he was used to, nor did it follow the standard formatting rules that he’d noticed with the other messages. It was…strange…

The message was incredibly simple, simply showing the form of an individual that seemed rather phoned in with a detailed face. The face almost looked like a realistic photograph while the body was a simple figure dressed in rather common clothing. There was nothing else showing and it was a truly rather strange display.

Joe peered at it for some time before finally shrugging his shoulders and dismissing it, “Huh… that was a weird one. Must be what Kukurnal said.”

“Kukurnal?”

“Ah, it’s a… Oh, I don’t think I’m supposed to tell you, sorry. It was a secret of Mimir.”

Garnedell widened his eyes before nodding quickly, “Then you should not tell me, Joe.”

Joe smiled it response, “Yeah, probably. Ready for the next?”

Garnedell nodded quickly in excitement and Joe threw a small stick at another goblin before looking over to watch Kilniara and Zilnek. He’d been a bit concerned with their combat as he’d always just had Garnedell permanently stay in the other group with his staff for protection. But learning about infusion was something Joe felt was important and besides, those two had long been ready to fight on their own as a team and only reluctant because the memory of Kilniara’s disembowelment was still fresh in his mind. They were doing well enough, but Joe was still cautious and kept his eye on them regularly when Garnedell was with him.

Their combat continued and Joe then swapped Garnedell out for one of the Acokzau and continued. The morning went on as all the others before, Joe swapping between the other three regularly and was soon able to reach the end of level twenty seven by the time lunch rolled around. Since he was so close to hitting level twenty eight, Joe continued their combat for another round or two to hit twenty eight, using the desire for level twenty eight to continue on but truly seeking a time he could speak with Kilniara… nervousness roiling up from his stomach into his chest. He knew he had to speak with Kilniara even as he really didn’t want to do so. He went through a single round where the two boys fought and he fought with Kilniara alone before finally gaining the nerve to do so on the second round through. When Kilniara came back to fight with him, he sighed deeply through his nervous fear and began speaking.

“Kilniara?”

She paused, turning away from pulling a goblin to look back at Joe, “Yes?”

“We… need to talk.”

She quickly sobered at that, squaring on him and facing him seriously, “Yes?”

Joe frowned at that and shook his head, “This is exactly what I mean.”

Kilniara frowned, her eyebrows knit together in confusion, “What?’

Joe sighed then paused, gritting his teeth slightly against the fear and began again, “I cannot be … you cannot be my apprentice.”

Her face immediately paled at that, fear swamping everything and she took a step forward, then one back before freezing in place. Her mouth worked a bit, struggling to find words to say before finally settling on a single response.

“Why?” she replied with a plaintive cry.

Joe sighed and rolled his neck before replying, “No… that… I’m not explaining myself well. I told you before, yes, that our relationship was not …”

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She interrupted him, anger sliding into her voice, “Is this about this… power you spoke of before?”

“Yes… no… it’s… it is related, but I did not explain myself well.”

Her anger retreated, but still burned softly beneath her expression, “Then explain.”

Joe grinned to see her anger, smiling, “OK… see… this makes me happy. You are willing to confront me and fight me on this… that is why I… I’m more relaxed… but there is something more.”

Seeing his smile and happiness at her willingness to confront him, she relaxed and then nodded back at his statement, “Then what?”

“There seem to be things… in this… amongst your people that are acceptable. You allow… uh… yeah… the apprenticeship… um… hierarchy and how … what Garnedell almost did with you… things like that. Such things are very much unacceptable amongst my people.”

“Yes, and I’m very grateful for that.”

Joe nodded, “Another thing amongst my people that is… not good… I didn’t connect it until … lately… a day ago? Two? Anyway… relationships between students and teachers are not acceptable for my people.”

Understanding quickly came to Kilniara and her anger subsided, replaced by concern, “But…”

Joe frowned, “I’m sorry.”

Kilniara’s concern turned to agitation, “I want to learn…”

Joe shook his head, “I won’t hide any of my secrets from you, but you must choose. You cannot be both my apprentice and wish for a romantic relationship with me. It simply is not something… I do not … I am uncomfortable with it.”

Kilniara’s agitation evaporated, “I can still learn?”

Joe nodded seriously, “Yes, but if our relationship does not succeed, we will both go our own way and no longer see one another. You cannot become my apprentice again after.”

Kilniara stared at him with narrowed eyes and Joe grew concerned, but then quickly realized that she was simply thinking deeply. She began pacing slightly then looked back up at Joe.

“It is not a concern amongst my people.”

Joe smiled at that, “It might be wise that it should be. It is too easy for a master to take what he wishes from his apprentices, then, yes?”

Kilniara’s almost instant rejection of his argument aborted on her lips before she even spoke, a raised hand and finger dropping back down as she considered carefully, nodding, “I… yes… that makes sense.”

Joe nodded, “It’s a form of protection for the apprentices amongst my people. We… as I said, my people do not really have master apprentice … apprenticeships. We have student teacher relationships. But, it is similar, if less… long term. That’s probably why it took me so long to figure out why I wasn’t exactly… feeling comfortable with this.”

“So you are rejecting me?”

“I am rejecting my apprentice.”

She paused at that, realization slowly dawning as she then nodded, “I cannot be both.”

“No.”

“Then I must choose.”

“Yes. The apprenticeship is guaranteed. You have nothing to fear from me and as this was my issue, you can continue with no loss or worry of your training. If you wish to take the chance of a romantic relationship… it … if we decide we cannot be with one another… but see… that’s the problem,” Joe ended with a frown.

“What’s the problem?” Kilniara asked with genuine confusion.

“That was the whole point I was trying to make before. If you choose to pursue a romantic relationship with me and see that things may be… floundering or that something is failing, you will become desperate to remain and will do .. foolish things.”

Kilniara’s eyes narrowed and then realization struck and she stepped back, a deep breath coming upon her as she thought of the ramifications. She began nodding and looked up at Joe with fearful eyes.

“I… understand now.”

Joe’s return look was just as bitterly sad, a small smile that ironically portrayed more pain than any happiness, “Yeah… a bit too late.”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she snorted softly, nodding, “Hmm… maybe.”

“I’m sorry. I royally screwed up here. I… amongst my people… I’m still just a student. I’m no teacher. I have … I’m still just a student and … I’m an apprentice… like you! I’m no master or great… I just finished my sophomore year! I’m not… ready… ” Joe trailed off as he felt his own tears echo Kilniara’s and he struggled against the overwhelming image that had grown exponentially out of nowhere that he struggled under, attempting to portray a great and wise scholar of immense power that even the leadership of the city now saw him as.

He sighed and found himself unable to sit still, twisting slightly in place, struggling to deal with the now colossal screw up and stuck on how to resolve the issue. He knew the smart thing was to cut things off now, but his own heart rebelled, both for his own selfish desire and because he could feel the echo of pain within Kilniara as well. She now finally recognized the compromised nature of their relationship and stared at him in fear and resignation.

Joe frowned bitterly, struggling to withhold the tears and turned away. He shuddered, deep breaths of pain swelling with him then ejecting in almost sobs from his chest. It was an odd, awkward mixture of regret, anger, frustration, personal castigation, and a mixture of loss slowly forming from the loss of Kilniara, even if the relationship was brand new. It was a truly odd situation to find himself in. Most of his anger was directed at his own stupidity. He sighed, again, grimacing then stiffened when he felt arms slide in from behind. They were comforting, and exactly what he needed, as they wrapped up under his arms and crossed over his chest. He hated that he liked it, that he desired and enjoyed it even as he knew he should be walking away because…

“You are young.”

The statement shattered the moments and his thoughts and then undid him, and his calm shattered once more before he nodded, “I’m younger than you. You know this.”

She remained silent, holding him for a moment before replying, “Then, in matters of relationship and love, I am your superior.”

Joe smiled bitterly and huffed a laugh, “Likely! You … you are the first woman I’ve hugged… kissed.”

Her arms tightened more, “Your first?” she asked in some shock.

Joe nodded, “Yes.”

They fell silent, she still holding him from behind, a comforting hug of just a friend. The distance made it all the more bitter and Joe ground his teeth to keep himself standing firm. She remained that way for a time until he finally spoke again.

“So… you definitely know our relationship has long been compromised.”

She didn’t respond, burying her head in between his shoulder blades instead, and he felt the wet tears on his back. Her comforting arms became a burden and he turned in her arms and returned the hug without any thought. She cried bitterly in his arms, even as his tears slowly dried up. He took another deep breath, now firm, grateful that he’d recognized and resolved the issue, as best he could in the situation. They remained like this for a moment, Joe allowing one last hug, then stepped back.

“Shall we fight then?”