“Lomin! Would you be so kind as to hurry it up a little?” Benji yelled at his faelin teammate. He was usually very patient, not as patient as the faelin, but more patient than most people. Today was different, though.

“What point is there to hurry when you don't know anything about the different roads before you? To hurry is t-” Lomin was about to have one of his monologues again, but Benji wasn’t in the mood.

“Not today!” Benji yelled as he turned around, “Just for one day, would you please,” But he noticed that Lomin was as calm as ever and realized that no amount of begging could get the faelin to pick up his pace.

“Hahaha!” Rufus laughed loudly at the unusual situation. “Damn, Lomin. You even managed to get Benji riled up. Not bad, my friend. Not bad.”

Benji only turned to Rufus with stone-cold eyes.

“Er,” Rufus was always uncomfortable being stared at with those eyes, “We’ll hurry. Won’t we, Lomin?” He turned his head to the tall faelin next to him and asked.

“Perhaps we should. Let us hurry then.” Lomin answered as he picked up his pace.

Everyone was stunned at seeing such a scene.

“What the hell just happened?” Sahra asked.

“Never mind. Let’s not question it. Hurry!” Benji yelled and ran off once again.

Finally, they arrived at the Outpost Inn, the most popular chain of inns in the Outskirts. This one was one of the larger ones, as outpost Cilla was as big as a regular town. Nothing compared to the outposts by Dorbarta. He had heard rumors that the Empire would make many outposts around that area into cities, just like the four main cities of the Silver Wall long ago. A significant effort to take over more land in those parts would begin in a few years—something to do with a new Noble family rising to power.

Benji approached the reception and hurriedly asked for the man he had come here to see. Unfortunately, he was apparently out hunting beasts at the moment. Benji was about to run into the forest, but his girlfriend stopped him.

“Benji, wait.” Sahra said, “I know you want to find him before he gets away again, but you will never find him in the Endless Forest. He told us he would meet us here, so he should return soon. Let’s just wait for him.”

Benji thought about it and had to agree. Even if he didn’t like the idea of twiddling his thumbs, he would be even more dismayed if he went out and missed out on this opportunity.

“Alright then.” He said, “Let’s sit down and wait.”

“Good.” Sahra smiled at him.

“I’ll buy the first round then,” Rufus said as he went to the bar.

Benji nodded and wiped off the sweat on his face. It was winter and at least a month until spring, but they had been running around for hours. He then took a seat at a nearby table with Lomin and Sahra.

“Benji,” Sahra said with a concerned look on her beautiful face, “I’m sure everything will work out. Just calm down and relax. It might be hours before he returns, but he will return.”

“I just don’t want to miss him, you know?” Benji said as he looked to the entrance of the inn.

“I know,” Sahra said with a smile.

Rufus returned with the beer for everyone and took a seat. Benji's line of vision never left the door.

“So,” Rufus said as he addressed Lomin, his wild red beard wet with beer, “Want to tell us a story while we wait, Lomin? Ever met a Gifted before?”

“Unfortunately, not. That would have been a good story.” Lomin lamented.

“Don’t worry, you will meet one soon, and I’m sure it will make a great story.” Sahra comforted the faelin.

“You’re right,” Lomin said, “I’m sure that the-”

“He’s here!” Lomin was suddenly interrupted by Benji’s loud yell.

Everyone turned their attention to the door, where they could see the frame of a familiar man their age. He was still only a middle Bronze mage, though.

“Villem, nice to see you again,” Benji said as he walked towards the man, his voice tinged with relief.

“Oh? Benji,” Villem said, and looked at the rest of the group and nodded, “Sahra, Rufus, Lomin. Nice to see you again. You are here sooner than I expected.”

“We rushed here as soon as we received your letter, of course.” Benji said seriously, “So, is he here?”

“Let’s go to my room and take a look,” Villem said as he led the group up a few flights of stairs before stopping in front of a door with the number 27. He knocked on the door, but there was no response, so he took out his key and unlocked the door before stepping inside.

Once Benji stepped inside, he was frantically looking around, but he couldn’t see anyone or feel anyone’s presence. The room was quite large and even had two bedrooms and a living room. On the living room table, he noticed that there was a paper lying there.

“What’s that?” Benji asked as he turned to Villem.

Villem took up the piece of paper and read it, “It seems like he went looking around town. I told him you would probably arrive in 2-3 days. Otherwise, he would have waited here, I’m sure.”

Benji was starting to get nervous again, and Villem noticed his agitated state and tried to calm him down, “Don’t worry, Benji. He’ll be back soon.”

Benji was still worried, though. He had first heard of a young Gifted fighting in the Outskirts two months ago. At that time, he and his team had been fighting beasts around the Silver Wall. But when he heard of the rumors, he immediately headed to Billford to see the rumored Gifted.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Benji had graduated from Cyalis Academy a few years ago, and his interest in Gifted was born during his time there. There was so little knowledge about the Gifted. It was only known that they possessed unique and inexplicable powers that defied common sense. Benji didn’t understand how not everyone was completely obsessed with discovering the secrets of the Gifted. What could be a greater purpose in life? If he managed to figure that out, he would surely earn the title of Sage.

“How did you come to know Adion, Villem?” Benji turned to Villem and asked, “Have you known him long?”

“Let’s take a seat, and I’ll tell everyone how we met,” Villem said, gesturing to the cushioned seats around the living room table.

Everyone sat down and turned their attention toward Villem.

“It all started at the end of summer last year,” Villem explained, “I received a letter from my father at that time, who is the Head of the village I come from. There was an incident where a few children were kidnapped by slavers, but my father is only a Bronze mage and was at a loss for what to do. But then, after only a few days, the children returned. Adion had apparently stumbled upon the slavers and rescued the children. He didn’t stay long in my village but headed for Billford, where I was fighting beasts in the Outskirts at the time. It was my father’s wish for me to help Adion when he came here, partly to repay him and partly because he suspected that Adion had an impressive background and it would do me good to get close to him.

“But I had no idea how to find him. I went to a few different outposts to look for him, but it wasn’t until two months later that I finally got some news of him. Everyone was suddenly talking about this young man named Adion, a kid who was not even 15 and already a middle Bronze mage, and more than that, he had an incredible Gift.”

Everyone was leaning forward as they didn’t want to miss a word. Lomin had a slight smile dancing on his lips as he always liked listening to stories, never minding what they were about.

“I was lucky to only be a day away from outpost Trabis where Adion was. So, even if I doubted he was the same Adion my father had mentioned, I decided to at least take a look. He still hadn’t begun hiding as no one powerful had gotten word of his deeds yet, and the Outskirts Guild wanted to be on his good side so they didn’t cause him any trouble. So it was easy for me to meet him soon after. He recognized me immediately, as I resembled my father.

“When word spread of his deeds, and missions regarding him and his whereabouts started popping up, he left Trabis for outpost Cilla. But even after a month had passed, people were still looking for Adion, and it was starting to get worse. Adion asked me to go back to Trabis to see if I could find information about the people looking for him, and that is where I met you. I approached many people to gauge their intentions and backgrounds, and when I told Adion about you guys, he was interested in meeting you.”

“So that’s it,” Sahra said, “But how come he is here, and even walking around town if he is in hiding?”

“Well, he had always been wearing a mask, so no one knows what he looks like. As long as he doesn’t have that or show his Guild card, he won’t be recognized.” Villem answered.

“Still,” Rufus said, “A middle Bronze mage at his age would give it all away, wouldn’t it?”

Villem just smiled and said, “You’ll have to ask Adion about that.”

“Do you know anything about his Gift?” Benji asked, “Is it true what they say in Trabis, that the whole town was frozen in space for minutes?”

“Hmm.” Villem thought silently for a while. “It’s probably better to ask Adion about stuff like that. But I must warn you that he is a private person and might not tell you anything even if he wanted to meet you.”

That thought made Benji incredibly nervous. Finding a Gifted was not easy, which is why he spent so much effort looking for Adion. The Gifted were incredibly rare and would always be someone many clans and organizations would love to have in their ranks, making the few that existed very hard to get in touch with for someone like Benji. Perhaps if he became a proper scholar or an elder in the Academy in the future, but that would be hard and take a long time. Solving the mystery of the Gifted would probably take a lifetime. Benji had no time to waste.

“I’ll convince him,” Benji said with conviction. “I can even pay. Do you think he wants money?” he asked.

“Well, I don’t know,” Villem answered hesitantly. “But who doesn’t want money?”

“That’s true. I’ll be sure to offer him some then,” Benji said.

Just as he was about to ask if he knew something else that might move Adion, he noticed Villem standing up. “Adion.” He heard him say as he looked towards one of the bedrooms.

Benji quickly looked over as well. At the bedroom door, Benji saw a young man around 15 years old. He was tall, not nearly as tall as Lomin, but taller than Benji. He had short, wavy black hair and dark blue eyes. He also had the now-famous Ash Willowin mask on his face.

Benji could feel that he was a middle Bronze mage, just like he’d heard, meaning he wasn’t only a Gifted but an incredibly talented mage as well.

“How did he get inside?” He heard Sahra ask, but Benji ignored the strangeness of his appearance and hurriedly ran up to Adion and introduced himself.

“Hello, Adion. My name is Benji, an Outskirter and scholar in training. These are my teammates, Sahra, Rufus, and Lomin. I have a vested interest in the Gifted you see and have been looking for you for a long time.” Benji noticed that Adion seemed slightly annoyed at that last part, so he quickly added, “Don’t worry, I don't represent any family clan or organization. I have no interest in recruiting you for anything but simply wish to know more about your powers as a Gifted. It is purely a scholarly interest that awoke in me when I studied at Cyalis Academy. I will naturally compensate you for your troubles.” Benji’s heart was beating fast as he had almost rambled that last part. He couldn’t take no for an answer.

“Mm,” Adion nodded, “I didn’t think you would come so soon. Let’s sit and talk.”

“Thank you for hearing me out, Adion.” Benji sighed in relief. “Basically, I am extremely fascinated by Gifts and the mysteries concerning them. Unfortunately, it’s a very rare thing, and I don’t have an important enough background to approach the few Gifted that I know about. If I didn’t take this chance to approach you, who knows how many years it would take me to find someone else?”

“I get it. So what do you want to know exactly?” Adion asked without a change in his expression.

“Well,” Benji hesitated, “Everything about your Gift, really. What does it do, when did you get it, and what were the exact circumstances when it first manifested? How does it feel to use? How much Will and mana does it take? That and as much as you can tell about yourself. I want to see if there are other patterns among Gifted besides the ones already known.”

“Oh? That’s smart. Sounds interesting if it shows results. What do I get if I help you?” Adion asked.

Benji's eyes lit up at the response as Adion didn’t seem unwilling and could even see the potential in what he was doing.

“I will pay you and give you credit when I publish my research in the future. How does 100 gold sound?” Benji asked.

“Hmm.” Adion looked up at the ceiling in thought. After a while, he answered, “How about this? There is no need for payment, but I get to join your team. It's hard finding a team of Silvers as a Bronze. You can take your time and ask me about everything you are curious about if we team up.”

“Deal!” Benji yelled excitedly and reached forward to shake Adion's hand.

“What!?” Rufus and Sahra echoed out in surprise. Lomin only slowly nodded his head in acceptance.

“Benji,” Sahra said. “Shouldn’t we discuss this as a team first? We don’t even know him. And he’s only a middle Bronze mage. Even if he is Gifted, he will drag us down. I don’t doubt that many of the rumors are exaggerating.”

“I don’t know what all the rumors are saying, but,” Adion said as he pulled out a Guild card of silver from under his shirt. “I’m a rank 1 explorer.”

“Ha!” Benji laughed, “There you have it. Welcome to the team, Adion.”