“Voker… explain to me how you are going to blend into a crowd?” Varnir asked me.

He was wearing casual wear that included knee-high tan shorts and a simple cotton white shirt. His long black hair was rolling down his shoulders and past his hips. Varnir just looked like your usual Dark Elf going for a stroll. I, on the other hand, was just wearing my usual adventurer outfit.

“Who said anything about blending into the crowd? That’s not my job; it’s yours. I stick out regardless of what I do. In my defense, you and I stick out even more somehow,” I said.

“I think that’s more of a you problem…” Varnir shot back.

“It is indeed. Tell me something, Varnir. Why are you doing this? Tsarra really only wanted my assistance, so what’s your relationship with her? I’ve never seen you two converse before,” I asked him.

Varnir rubbed his cheeks which were turning pink once more. “Well…yeah I mean… we were friends… and stuff,” Varnir mumbled.

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” Varnir looked like he was about to argue with me for a second but he stopped himself. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you can just say so. I was curious, that’s all.”

Varnir sighed and his eyes drifted off to the side. “We were really good friends growing up. I remember her coming to join us at school back in the day and nobody would talk to her because she was so quiet. So I thought, ‘hey why not?’ and just started talking to her. Things went better than I was expecting, and we were close for a long time all the way up until we came to Forward University. Then she stopped talking to me for some reason and started avoiding me. We had made promises, and we were going to…to...” Varnir teetered off and looked at me with a face full of pure embarrassment. The poor guy looked like he was about to explode.

“That… doesn’t seem like her. Have you spoken to her about it?” I said, trying to steer the conversation away from whatever embarrassing promise the pair had made.

Varnir cleared his throat and stood a little straighter but his shoulders quickly slumped. “I tried but she would just walk away from me. Eventually, her illusion magic got so good I couldn’t tell where she was anymore. I figured she just never wanted to speak to me again so I stopped trying…” Varnir said despondently.

Varnir looks so… sad. I won’t bother him about it anymore.

“Okay, it’s time. Professor Garrison said he would send somebody with us, but I don’t see them yet… maybe they are already here watching us. So do your best to act natural and wait for Tsarra,” I said.

“Shouldn’t I be the one telling you to act natural?” Varnir said with a sigh. The Dark Elf shrugged his shoulders and dragged his feet towards the market.

Although this district was primarily for nobility, it wasn’t off-limits to anyone. As far as I knew, Luminar didn’t forbid civilians from moving around the city. It was just that the shops here were out of the price range for your average citizen. Not to mention it was much deeper in the capital so commoners didn’t have a reason to come to this area of Vinovia all that often.

It was the following day and the plan was ready to be enacted. Varnir and I would track Tsarra until her stalker showed themselves and she cornered them somewhere. After that, Tsarra would attempt to defuse the stalker if they weren’t trying to harm her. If that gets out of hand, Varnir will step in, and if things get really bad I show myself… hopefully in a non-violent manner.

Why am I doing this? I suppose if I was in her shoes I would want somebody to help me so maybe that’s why I agreed so easily. Besides, it’s not like I am alone. I would have liked Sylvia to be here but Tsarra barely agreed to let me tell the Professor.

I let Varnir gain some distance and then squeezed my way into the throngs of afternoon shopgoers. Hopefully, the stalker wasn’t a threat or that observant because there weren’t many places to hide here. The crowd was rather large this afternoon. I suppose people this rich don’t have much to do in the middle of the day… or perhaps they are just killing time.

I mean look at this… a wooden and cloth hand fan costs seven large silver…who would buy this?

I mingled about and idly moved about the storefronts, pretending to check on the expensive wares or just staring through the windows at various items that I would never purchase while keeping an eye on the gatehouse. Tsarra shouldn’t be too far behind us, and we instructed her not to use her illusion magic right away, which hopefully doesn’t alert the stalker to anything suspicious.

She should make it to the gatehouse, break her illusion to be screened then reactivate it upon entering the district but make sure to leave her feet exposed from the front for us. Then, if things go well, we should be able to follow Tsarra without too much trouble.

And right on time.

Tsarra flashed her purple and gold cloak in the sun. The air around her shimmered and she mostly disappeared from view, besides her shoes which were still somewhat visible if you looked hard enough. Tsarra has enough control over her illusion to not only hide completely but almost mimic the effect of passive camo, ensuring that most people just ignore her.

Of course, this only works if people don’t see her beforehand.

The people around her let out muffled gasps of surprise as the High Elf girl vanished from their sight. The guards that checked Tsarra just shrugged their shoulders. Now it was time to wait. The question was would the stalker be following right behind her? Or had they already walked into the district expecting Tsarra to head towards her favorite cafe?

I had been watching the gate and I did notice a few students leaving the gatehouse. Most of them were older and were most likely heading back home for lunch or only taking some sort of class in the morning. However, that didn’t mean there weren’t a few groups of younger students heading into the markets to go shopping.

But why am I assuming they are a young student? Isn’t it more likely to be an older one? Mmm…

Once Tsarra made it about halfway towards me I went on ahead of her. It was my job to stay ahead while Varnir brought up the rear. If the stalker was behind which was most likely then it would be easier for Varnir to hide amongst the people. If the stalker did indeed anticipate Tsarra’s moves and left the school before us then I was confident I would be able to find them first.

Then again… this is all assuming the stalker is even trailing Tsarra today… if they had some type of appointment they had to attend to this would all be for naught.

Either way, there was no point in turning back now. Tsarra had a predetermined path to walk so all I had to do was keep ahead of her while only occasionally checking behind me. I scanned the crowds looking for students and Beastmen. This deep into the city the vast majority of the population are Humans with the occasional Elf sprinkled in so finding a Beastmen should be relatively easy.

But what if it isn’t a Beastmen? I’m just assuming that it is due to their ability to hide from Tsarra while also still being able to track her. It could be anyone, or it could even be an assassin. Now that would be a problem…

We were nearing the designated point, so I pushed all these thoughts out of my head. I had a mission to complete for a friend—no need to overthink it. I slipped into an alley and reversed my gravity. My stomach lurched as my feet pointed towards the sky and within a few seconds, I found myself floating in the air just above the roof of a shop.

I accidentally cut the flow of mana to my spell sooner than I had wanted and wasn’t able to right myself completely. As I fell down to the ground I managed to grip the ledge with a single hand. Dangling from the side of the building like an idiot and a crook I managed to pull myself onto the roof.

Gravity magic is a real pain. Even after all this time, I haven’t managed to progress all that much. It still costs so much mana. But what if… what if I’m using it the wrong way? I wonder…

I decided I would test something out at a later date while running across the roofs of the buildings. During the day like this, the odds of me being seen were rather high when compared to the night. I was doing my best to stay quiet, but I could see the occasional Elf looking up at me in confusion. I just had to hope that a guard patrol didn’t spot me. Explaining this one away might prove to be complicated, even if I had the professor’s blessing.

But I didn’t plan on being up here for long as I spotted Tsarra. She dropped her illusion upon going around the bend of a dark alley. She kept a steady pace but I could tell she was nervous as she frantically rolled her hands over each other. And now, I know why.

Looks like we got them. Or should I say… her?

Much to my surprise, the person following Tsarra wasn’t a man or even a Beastmen. Perhaps it was wrong of me to assume so but the odds of a male stalker seemed much higher to me than a female one. But a Human girl around our age was probably last on the list of expectant stalkers.

Then how was this girl hiding from Tsarra? I can sense her just fine and she stands out more than I do…

The stalker was a girl in her late teens with long matted, and frayed brown hair spilling out of a cap. It looked more akin to a rat’s nest. She wore a dark gray cloak over her body and had the hood down so I could barely see her freckled face. However, I’d never seen this person before and didn’t recognize her being in our class. She was also quite imposing.

Her dark skin was a trademark of someone from The Dunes but there was something off about it all. Her eyes were sunk into her gaunt face and her skin looked cracked and damaged as if she had been out in the sun for too long without water. She was rather tall for a woman and if she stood up straight she would be almost six feet. Even with her slight hunch, the stalker towered over the much smaller Tsarra. However, the High Elf princess didn’t back down despite her fear.

“W—www—why are you following me?” Tsarra stammered out.

The stalker took a step closer as her cracked lips turned up into a half-smile. Tsarra immediately waved her hand and let out a small squeal. “D-Don’t come any closer!”

The stalker’s face morphed into an angry scowl for a moment but the smile slowly made its way back. “But princess? Don’t you remember me from that boat ride? Why would you be avoiding me all this time?”

Tsarra scanned the stalker’s face but she started shaking her head from side to side. “Bo…oat?! No! N—n—no, I don’t know who you are! So, please! Just stop following me!”

The stalker couldn’t maintain a smile for much longer after Tsarra’s insistence that they had never met. Her face went rigid as she took another step closer to her. “How could you forget! WE! WE TALKED FOR HOURS TOGETHER ON THE TRIP! HOW COULD YOU—”

Tsarra took a shaky step back away from the girl. “We’ve never spoken to each other! I—I don’t even know who you are! That field trip was three years ago! I didn’t speak to anyone on that boat!”

This is getting out of hand quickly. Tsarra wanted to try and talk to her stalker if they seemed not to be a threat to her. I suppose it’s time to step in before Tsarra gets hurt.

The stalker let out an angry grunt of frustration and her hand reached out from her under her cloak at Tsarra. The High Elf princess let out a screech but much to the stalker’s surprise her hand went straight through Tsarra. The air shimmered as the illusion faltered as the stalker lurched into it.

“Stop right there—”

The girl’s eyes darted towards the entrance to the alley and a gust of wind blew through the alley from her outstretched hands. Varnir had stepped into the alley and was immediately blasted backward by the spell. The poor Dark Elf went flying into a crowd of people and that was enough for me to step in personally.

She hurt Varnir and tried to grab Tsarra. I won’t let her get away with that.

I lept off the roof of the building and cast another gravity spell, allowing me to lighten my body just a tad so I didn’t hurt myself. I landed directly behind the stalker with a deafening thud as the ground underneath me cracked into fissures. The fissures weren’t caused by my impact, just a bit of earth magic to add some unnecessary effect to my entrance.

But the anger boiling in my chest was real.

The stalker looked over her shoulder just barely. Her brown eyes locked onto my mask and I could see her face twist into fear as I gripped her shoulder. I sank my fingers into her skin but not enough to actually hurt her… well seriously at least.

She let out a yelp of surprise and pain and I focused my bloodlust on her. She immediately clammed up and her entire body started shaking. She couldn’t even move her head out of the awkward angle as she let out a whimper that sounded like an injured animal.

“Launching spells at my friend? Cornering another one in an alley? How would you feel if somebody did that to you?” I asked dangerously.

I didn’t get a response as the stalker just continued shaking in place. Her legs were wobbling so hard it looked like she was about to dislocate her knees. I drew back some of my bloodlust and squeezed her shoulder tighter.

“You are going to stop following Tsarra from now on. If we catch you bothering her again…well…” I brought my bloodlust back up and leaned into her. I was close enough that my mask touched the tip of her ears.

“I’ll kill you.”

The stalker crumbled to the ground, unconscious. The smell of sulfur assaulted my nose and I had to take a few steps back to avoid the puddle. Disgusted, I didn’t even spare the stalker a second glance.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She deserved it for attacking Varnir and hounding Tsarra for so long. I wanted nothing more than to separate her spine with a blow but I couldn’t afford to do that. I have no idea who this person is. She may be a student and a child of someone influential. If I were to kill or seriously injure her… it may come back to bite me.

This way my hands were clean of any wrongdoings. She was lucky.

I looked back and although I couldn’t see Tsarra, I could hear her crawling away on the stone floor. “Are you okay, Tsarra?” I asked.

No response.

“Tsarra? Hello? Are you hur—”

“I—I…I’m fine!” she screeched at me.

I should have known.

“Voker? Voker… what… happened?” Varnir asked from beside me.

“Nothing. It’s been dealt with,” I told him. Varnir gave me a concerned look but I noticed the blood pooling on his forehead.

Varnir just nodded as he looked around the alley. “Tsarra…” he rushed over to the sounds of a sobbing Tsarra.

The illusion only faded once Varnir got close. She was leaning against a wall crying, Tsarra looked at me with fear in her eyes. Varnir ended up holding her to his chest while giving me a confused look.

Things were not supposed to go this way.

I let a sigh escape from me as all the anger floated out of my chest. It was just replaced with emptiness and I hated myself for it. I wasn’t sure what to do anymore. I was just trying to help…

I was about to leave things as they were when I suddenly felt somebody watching me. I snapped my head towards the entrance to the alley and caught a glimpse of somebody moving across the street followed by a low whooshing sound and a purple and pink blur moving towards me. I drew my sword from my spatial ring and with one quick motion, set it directly in front of me with the flat facing out. Something hit my blade with a tink and rolled across the stone floor.

A needle? No, it’s a dart.

I erected a stone wall in time, but whatever spell was coming at me went easily through my wall. I was about ready to swing my sword at it when somebody materialized in front of me. A white and gold cape gently rubbed against my face as the man bashed the spell with his twin black morning stars.

“Mason Fields?” I murmured out loud.

The head of the school’s security flashed me a wild smile as he started running toward the assailant. “Good work, Voker! Open this and then give it to Lauren for me!” he said while dropping a rolled-up scroll on the ground.

So this is who the professor sent? I’d say it was overkill, but I guess it panned out. That assassin is as good as caught with a War God chasing them down.

What the hell is going on in this city? A foreign princess being hunted down in broad daylight? A botched assassination of the two princesses of this nation?

Maybe this place isn’t so nice after all.

I picked up the scroll and then I was suddenly grabbed from behind. Varnir jerked me forward until I was facing him. “Voker?! What’s wrong? What was that?! Who was that?!”

“It appears that Tsarra really was being followed and not just by that girl. Somebody wanted to kill her, and they failed, thanks to the school's Head of Security. I have no idea why they decided to strike now of all times…” I said.

That assassin clearly didn’t know Mason was here. But why would they try and kill Tsarra now when this girl failed to do whatever she was trying to do? They must have been linked somehow… or is there even a link at all? Was this assassin the true stalker, and this girl just happened to show herself all of a sudden?

Varnir looked afraid for a second but his left eye was suddenly blocked by the stream of blood making its way down his head. “I’ll help, Tsarra… get in contact with my tribe… something isn’t right here. That girl… she looked sick and now an assassin...”

“Indeed. I’ll talk to Lauren and give her whatever is inside of this scroll. Take care of Tsarra… tell her I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that…” I told him.

“Voker? Are you—”

“I’m fine. I will find Lauren immediately,” I interrupted him.

Varnir reached out for me, but his hand never made it to me. I was already heading back towards the school. I knew where to find Lauren.

—

“We can’t let you in. We are—”

“I am in her class. I live on the same floor as her… do you genuinely believe I am a threat now of all times?” I spat out.

The Praetorian guard that was barring my entrance was one of Lauren’s many guards. They all wore the same style of armor—an entire plate chest piece of what I assumed to be Dwarven steel painted red. Heavy gold pauldrons sat on their shoulders, and a red and gold cape flowed down their backs.

Each wore leather pants and had red and gold gauntlets and greaves to match. The guards also had gold and red masks that connected to their helmets. A blue feather plume sprouted from the top of the helmet. I had seen different colored plumes on the guards, which could mean several things, such as rank, squad affiliation, or even both.

Each Praetorian carried a short spear, a rectangular shield, and a short sword of some type, depending on their preference. When I first arrived here, Lauren had a surprising lack of security all things considered. But after the incident during the dungeon test, her detail has been ramped up to a hundred.

I couldn’t breathe around Lauren or Ren without a Praetorian guard or dismounted Royal Gryphon Knight watching us from the shadows. Even when Ren was training with me in the morning there was always at least one guard watching from the treeline.

I didn’t particularly care if they were watching me or not, as I understood they were just doing their jobs. But now, of all times, stopping me made no sense. If I wasn’t on some all-clear list by now, then what did I have to do to get on it?

“We are under strict orders from Princess Laurena not to let anyone in. Turn around and—”

The door to the training room burst open, and a very sweaty and disgruntled Lauren came walking out. “Who are you yelling—oh… Voker…” Lauren gave me a friendly smile.

She was wearing the same workout uniforms that we wore for class but it seems she was getting a proper workout in. Lauren stood a little straighter and gave me a wink. “Why didn’t you just say you were coming? After, you…”

“Voker! Why are you here!” Jen yelled with a friendly wave.

The Half-Dwarf was also drenched in sweat and was sprawled out across the training room floor, a sparring crystal vest still attached to her chest. The room was the largest of all the training rooms as it was Lauren and Ren’s personal area. I had never been here but I was expecting it to be some extravagant room with every luxury imaginable and then some but the reality was much different.

This room is rather Spartan.

The room was bare except for the mats on the floor. There was a rack of training weapons and a table with a few chairs nestled in the back corner. The delicate porcelain dishes placed on the table were by far the most expensive thing here.

I returned Jen’s wave. “Just stopping by.”

Lauren puffed her cheeks out and looked up at me. “You mean to tell me you aren’t here for me? How could you…” she said playfully.

“Well, I am here for you,” I told her.

That seemingly surprised her as her mouth opened and closed a few times. Then she shook her head and let out a sigh. “Nevermind… so what is it that you want from me? A favor? A date? A favor for a date?”

“What are you talking about? Although I suppose it is a favor. However, it’s not for me but from your master.”

Lauren wiped the sweat from her face and raised her eyebrows at me. “Oh? And what is this about exactly?” Lauren asked while accepting the letter I gave her.

“It’s in regards to Tsarra and yourself. Some things happened earlier, and it requires investigating. In there is a detailed report written by Mr. Fields and me. We have a feeling it may be connected to what happened to you and Ren in the dungeon,” I explained.

“Tsarra and Master are involved? Well… okay,… not sure I like you mentioning me in the same sentence with another woman, but if you are going this far then, it has to be important. I’ll take a look at this immediately,” Lauren said.

I nodded at her and was about to take my leave when Jen called out to me. “Wait?! You just got here! Why are you leaving so soon?”

“Because I’ve completed what I needed to do?” I said, confused.

“Yeah… why don’t you stay for a while, Voker?” Lauren suggested.

Jen came running over to me, and she slowly looked me up and down. She frowned at me and looked me directly in the mask. “Is something the matter, Voker? You seem… different?”

“I’m fine, Jen. Thank you.”

“Isn’t it when people say they are fine they really aren’t?” Jen asked me with a worried expression.

“Perhaps… but I need to—actually…” I looked down at Jen and then over to Lauren. “You know what… I do want to stay for a while.”

“Really?!” Jen said excitedly. “What do you want to do? We can—”

“I need you to throw some spells at me,” I said seriously.

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

The two of them had faces full of confusion. Since they just had their training session, I imagine they were ready to continue, and I needed to test something out. “I want both of you to use magic against me. Not at the same time since I’m testing something. Jen, would you mind going first?”

She just grumbled and shrugged her muscular shoulders. “Sure… if that’s what you want.”

Lauren sighed and just chuckled to herself. “At least put on a vest, Voker. I would rather not have to call a healer if you get hurt.”

“I won’t hurt him! I won’t even make the spells that strong so—”

I stopped Jen with a single hand. “Actually, I need you to try and hurt me. If you don’t, I may get the wrong idea about my abilities and end up getting hurt seriously down the line.”

Her swirling hazel eyes just watched my mask. “You want me to hurt you?” she mumbled, confused.

“Well… yes, I suppose I do. But I won’t let you, so it should be fine,” I tried reassuring her. Lauren started giggling to herself. “Why are you laughing?”

“I never imagined you were into this kind of stuff, Voker. If you just wanted to, you could have asked me sooner!” she said in between tiny giggles.

What is she on about? Where was the joke? Am I just that shaken about after Tsarra that I can’t even understand this much now?

“Into this type of stuff? What do you mean? I always train like this?”

Jen just gave me a friendly pat on the arm and a wry smile. “She isn’t talking about training, Voker…just go put on the vest…”

I shrugged, and Jen guided me over to the rack where a spare training vest was laid out. The thing was meant for Ren or Lauren, so it was small… I had to fiddle with the straps a bit just to get it to sit on my body somewhat. I felt like I had been packed into a sausage casing made of leather.

“Well… it fits… sort of.” Jen flicked the purple crystal, and it hummed with power. “At least it works. So just to be sure, you want me to attack you? Like… for real?”

I started walking over to the opposite end of the training room while nodding my head. “I’d say one level below trying to kill me. If you injure me, you injure me. Just toss whatever projectile spell you want at me.”

“If you say so…” Jen grumbled.

Jen let out a tired sigh and extended both of her hands at me. Blue globs of ice formed into hardened spheres that came flying at me. Mana rushed through my body and into my gravity spell core, and I was immediately surprised to see that not a lot of mana was taken from me.

The spell was nearly upon me as my spell core finished just in time. Jen’s spell drifted off course and off to my right. However, one of the balls hadn’t been redirected completely, and it smashed straight into the purple barrier around me.

The crystals on my vest hummed violently then the barrier broke like glass, sending the ball of ice straight into my stomach and knocking the wind out of me. While gasping for air on the floor, I couldn’t stifle the laughter escaping from my injured chest.

That was it! I can do it… I can knock spells away and maybe even arrows with a small gravity field…amazing…

“Voker! Are you okay? Did I…why are you laughing like a dying animal?” Jen sounded concerned at first, but now she looked at me with pity in her eyes.

“I’m fine… thank you, that was perfect. Can you do it again?” I asked while pushing myself off the ground.

“You know… I was joking about the whole masochist thing, Voker… I really was, but now I’m not so certain,” Lauren said with a concerned look.

Masochist? This barely even hurt? And I sure as hell don’t like pain and I derive no pleasure from it…I just have a high tolerance for it.

“I’m not a masochist,” I said in my defense.

“Uh-huh…” the two girls droned off.

“Whatever…” I groaned. “Again, please.”

“Voker… do you care to explain what you just did?” Lauren asked me.

“Yeah! What happened to my spell!” Jen pouted.

“Super secret Voker magic. Now, throw some ice at me, please.”

The two girls exchanged looks of concern and confusion but they stopped asking me about it. I may be giving away quite a bit of information about myself these days but not many people know I can use gravity magic. The last thing I need is for one of these two to go around telling people I can apparently use a long-lost school of royal Dwarven magic while also being able to use lightning.

The royalty rumors are already enough as it is. I don’t need people thinking I’m some kind of Half-Elf Dwarf or something…although I’m sure, Padraic and Squeaks would get a kick out of that.

It took a few tries, and I would be sore when I got home, but it was worth it. Now I could redirect Jen’s spells at least fifty percent of the time. That isn’t an outstanding ratio, but I’ve only just started. I’ve never once used gravity magic like this so it makes sense that it might take me a while to understand it completely.

Right now, I’m not even entirely sure what I am doing. I’m creating a gravity spell core to distort the area in front of me and disrupt the flight of the spell. I’ll have to be more specific about it… go into greater detail, and really form the spell core just how I want it… just like Grandpa told me to do.

This is the start of something. I know it.

“Thank you again, Jen. I appreciate it,” I told her.

Jen was back on the floor, breathing heavily. “Yeah, sure. Just… make sure you get some healing done, okay? I don’t want you to walk around school hurt because of me,” Jen asked of me.

Lauren let out a loud laugh from the chair behind us. “That’s the least of your worries, Jen! Imagine what’s going to happen when he tells Sylvia!”

The Half-Dwarf pushed herself off the ground with a burst of vigor and yanked my arm down towards her. “I beg you! Anything other than that! Please don’t tell her!”

I mean I can’t really not tell her… Sylvia is the one who heals me so she will know something is wrong…

“I’ll try not to…”

Tears started rolling down Jen’s already sweaty face. “Voker, please!”

I slowly slid her off my arm. “No promises…”

“PLEASE!” Jen begged as Lauren had fallen out of her chair from laughing so hard.

I need to go to bed… today was too much…