“I was hesitant at first, I gotta say, but I’m glad you came along. Seven turrls and you didn’t get bit at all. That’s an achievement. And that the eighth bit you were just unlucky. With more Agility, you could have had it. That or a neck guard, maybe a helmet,” Estes chattered.

Or if I had used my cloak, Kent thought annoyed but said nothing. Allowing the man to keep talking.

“But against turrls, it doesn’t even matter much. But you were only out for two hours. I can only see two options, either the turrl poison has a metallic component that your trait just somehow slowly pushes out – which would be interesting as most say the saliva is of a magical nature – or you just have a natural resistance. Just two hours of being passed out is basically unheard of. I’m out for about five to six hours each time.”

But Kent had already stopped paying attention. This break had been involuntary. He had lost mana and with that valuable experience that could get him closer to rank eleven in Accelerate Metal. By his estimation, he had regenerated around eighty or so mana after being knocked out, and that hurt. But, he realized that he was not hindered from using that mana right now, if he found a minute or so of quiet he could spend all of the currently accumulated.

Maybe… Kent bowed down to one of the saw blades next to him and touched it – picked it up and acted as though he would nick his finger.

The metal attuned to himself he put it down again, placing his foot on top and pushing the blade down from his knees. He still hadn’t quite figured out how to attune a metal without making contact with it, but he would no doubt get there in the future.

Using Accelerate Metal he could barely see it disform, but a quick glance at Estes showed that the man still didn’t care much about what Kent was doing, rather being too busy talking.

“Excuse me Estes, but I still feel rather tired. Would you mind waking me once we get to the city?” Kent asked when the man was taking a breath.

“Sure thing, kid. Wouldn’t have let you go without a bit of sleep before tonight anyway. Crawling with me tonight is gonna be exhausting in its own right. You’re gonna need your energy,” the warrior responded. Kent blinked a couple of times, not quite sure what all that was about. Not like it mattered right now, and not like Estes would allow Kent to argue. The man was forceful, which by itself was an unbecoming character trait, but with his genuine smarts, it wasn’t as terrible.

But Kent thought he had heard the mention of a bar. A place he really didn’t want to go with Estes but it wasn’t the worst that could happen. A clear mind was of the essence for now. But even as Kent began to drift off into sleep, he already formulated ideas on how to get out of Estes' plans.

***

Kent rubbed his eyes after Estes had woken him up. The city gates were almost within reach and most of the workers were in good spirits.

It seemed like Estes' help in pulling the cart was greatly appreciated, and it also seemed like they had made good time on their way to Farburg. The estimates had been that the drive would be double as long as the journey into the forest. Based on his mana regeneration a bit over an hour had passed, instead of the usual two for the return trip.

Kent Larsson [Level 13] [15%]

Pools:

Health: 159/159

Health Reg: 36 - 142 /d

Stamina: 159/214

Stamina Reg: 66 - 261 /d

Mana: 58/228

Mana Reg: 293 - 1160 /d

Stats:

Vitality: 36

Toughness: 15

Endurance: 41

Strength: 28

Agility: 25

Senses: 17

Mind: 29

Magic: 114

Willpower: 163

Regeneration: 74

Skills:

Accelerate Metal (9/20) (411/450 Exp.)

Penetrate (6/20) (85/300 Exp.)

Metallic Affinity (9/20) (410/450 Exp.)

Metallic Extension (3/20) (29/150 Exp.)

Mosquito (2/20) (28/100 Exp.)

Metallic Presence (6/20) (19/300 Exp.)

Magical Wellspring (8/20) (338/400 Exp.)

“Did you have enough time to charge up a bit? You are gonna need it,” Estes smirked.

With that, he lifted Kent off of his bum, of the cart, and dragged him to Marcus after they’d been through the city walls.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

With a toothy grin, Estes addressed the work-crew leader.

“Marcus, we are about to head out. Kent here could use his payment right now if you could.”

“Uhm. About that…” the other began to respond but before long was interrupted by Estes.

“Earned his pay didn’t he? Hand it out. I’ve got an introduction to make, and a bit of money would certainly help,” the guard prodded the work crew’s leader.

Being a bit on the back foot in social interactions had been a commonplace occurrence for Kent in the last weeks. Justifiably so, given his precarious situation. But having other people talked down to in his name was sitting oddly with him. Furthermore, there was no way that speaking up here would cause any sort of revelation about his status.

“Hold up Estes. Marcus is in the right here. We agreed that I would work for free today. Partially so he could see whether I was even qualified to fight them. I think it was a fair deal. I’m sorry but it seems like we won’t be able to go out tonight. Maybe another time.” A perfect excuse to get out of Estes' plans, which he didn’t really want to be part of anyway.

“You did what? Are you dull boy? And we are certainly not going to do so at a later point. I want you to help pushing the cart tomorrow.” The last statement by Estes was odd but he ignored it in regard to the remainder that had been said. He was just about to defend himself but was too late.

Marcus took charge of the conversation by handing Kent not only one but two Styca while explaining himself.

“Estes is right. And you did a solid job. None of the workers had to fight today. Which is quite a bit better than how it usually goes. You earned it in my book. Just be back at a decent time so we can head out early tomorrow. We’ll set up a weekly contract once you get back, alright?”

The insult at Estes wasn’t particularly well hidden, Estes had heard it too based on the raised eyebrows and glance Marcus was throwing him.

Great. Estes was claiming to be able to handle all of this. So he’s even more of a talker than I thought. This is just my luck. Note to future self. Do not tell him anything else about my class, and trait situation. Kent grimaced and fell into step next to Estes after pocketing the two bronze squares that had been handed to him. Their lightweight oddly comforting in his hand. No matter what happened now, he would be able to feed himself for at least a day. At least if the prices at the foreign goods market were of any indication.

They followed the road straight from the gate further into town along one of the large roads leading to the second district. On the left-hand side – in which direction the wood workshop was located – were mostly cobbled structures with clay shingles thatching the roofs. To the right they passed the previously seen district of buildings made from blackened volcanic stone and another much more normal looking one, reminding Kent of home in some way. White flat stones were used as facades and had the occasional wooden beam standing out of the otherwise clean-looking structures.

With each passed house and alley, Kent’s smile grew. He knew he was setting himself up to be disappointed by hoping to have a way to enter the second district, but if anyone he had met thus far would get him in, it was likely Estes. His carelessness spoke of arrogance, wealth, or personal power. And while he seemed strong Kent would place him in one of the other two categories first.

Either way, all three of those spoke of someone who could get him into the second district. The former two boded especially well, because arrogance came from somewhere, usually the wealth of one’s family – Kent knew of other ways too but ignored them – with the gate to the second district coming up his hopes surged higher.

If Estes got in he might be able to ditch the man before sundown and get to the royal institute.

They came to a halt in front of the gate, another person being waved through the metal gates as they arrived.

The wall looked to be at least five times Kent’s height, which was small compared to the outside city gates, but still impressive. Completely made of stone and a few strides thick, surely made the walls a significant additional investment for the city.

Estes had all the while walked up to the guard and presented something. From Kent’s vantage slightly behind the man, he couldn’t tell much about the object other than it fitting in the man’s hand easily.

“Kid with you?” the guard asked.

What’s with the ‘kid’ here? I’m not that young. And I shouldn’t look the part either. Another glance at his status confirmed that his vitals hadn’t reached one hundred yet. The first milestone at which effects of previous aging would be slightly reduced rejuvenating the body slightly wasn’t far off anymore, another couple levels at most. So, what was going on?

“Very much so,” came Estes' response, and they were already walking through the gate.

“So, I should have asked you earlier, but where are we going?” Kent asked after they were out of earshot.

“You didn’t listen? Ha,” the other man seemed exuberant. “We are gonna meet a friend of mine. He knows aaall about daggers.”

“I would really like to visit the Royal Institute here if that’s a possibility before that. Or maybe an enchanter if you know where one is.”

“Because of your terrible gear?” Estes asked. “We can see about that after. This is more important. He might be able to teach you a bunch and the Royal Institute is not gonna let you in before your at least in the second half of the second tier. They don’t care about us worms. And you can forget about an enchanter this moment. None of them is cheap. Heck, my entire team has thus far been able to afford three simple items. A water generator, a sphere of illumination, and a flask that brews healing potions from ingredients that can be converted to vital energy. The last one was hella expensive and they better not lose it.”

Kent very much disagreed on the importance of order and it didn’t seem like Estes understood Kent’s reasoning about going to the Royal Institute – and how could he. But Kent still had his earlier plan, it might even be easier to ditch Estes when one of his friends was around. But he would meet them for sure. Someone good with daggers could prove a valuable resource.

That is a lot of new information to unpack, most importantly though, Estes has a team. What sort of team? Ahh shit. He’s a conqueror, isn’t he?

That confirmed one of Kent’s worries but had opened a whole new bottle.

The last statement made Kent feel slightly bad about taking his family’s firestone. Though admittedly, they didn’t have many financial worries. With his father and uncle both in a very comfortable situation, they would most likely be able to shoulder the use of the very same.

Should they even require it in the first place, or even considered taking it from the village in their retreat? Furthermore, the firestone wasn’t essential and his siblings and mother would be able to take care of themselves. Even if not. They had forced his hand, not the other way around.

Estes had kept talking and with Kent so absorbed into his own thoughts, he didn’t realize they had stopped until Estes put a hand on his shoulder.

“Just be yourself and a bit more respectful. Alright?”

The man pushed the door open and stepped in. The inside of what Kent assumed was a combination of high-class yet rough-crowd sort of establishment, was well illuminated with an orange hue and a couple of fireplaces. All over the place were different chaotic seating arrangements, with no discernable pattern to them, but instead of giving the room a chaotic stressful ambiance, the atmosphere was inviting in a wild and rowdy sort of way.

Kent followed Estes towards the bar where the latter asked the employee to explain the pricing to Kent.

“Three to four Keferloher for a styca, depending on what you are drinking. What ya want? We’ve got a dark and light, or some juices if ya’d prefer that.”

“You wanna get three of the dark ale Kent,” Estes said with a big smile. Already a hand on a stone jug. “Go ahead. I’m not sponsoring this round, but what’s coming after.”

He turned to the barkeep and whispered something into his ears.

Kent ordered two dark ales and a birin juice for himself and followed Estes to one of the wing chairs in the middle of the room.

Both were sitting in quiet, with Kent staring at the third stone jug and Estes humming a merry tune.

Until a hand landed on Kent’s shoulder.

“What brings you here?” asked the person behind him in a distinctly feminine voice.

Human – Tireless Blade – Lvl. 62