At the edge of the forestry, the caverns now far behind them, the two now allied under a new goal stood.

Basil surveyed the landscape, looking for any form of traveler or carriage. The dirt paths stretched on into the horizon, devoid of life or commerce. With that in mind, he glanced back over his shoulder and raised two fingers in something of a wave. At that signal, the trees gave way to the wyvern’s form, the beast trying to avoid trampling the path it trudged with great difficulty.

“Is it really a good call to let that thing roam free?” The question came from Avar, who was standing at his side. He shrugged as the beast broke free of the forestry and came to stand before them. “Better than leaving it in that cave for somebody to manipulate again, besides, I can think of a use for him.” He strode forward, leaving Avar standing at the dirt path’s edge.

The wyvern tensed at his movements slightly, likely still on guard in the presence of Basil. That was fair too, but as he brought a hand to the legend’s snout, it calmed down quickly into what seemed akin to a cat’s purr. “I need you to do me a favor, there's a place I want you to go..” The wyvern listened to his words, and after hearing all he had to say, it ascended to the sky slowly.

Basil stepped back in line with Avar, both watching with growing awe as the legendary beast ascended like a shining thread towards the skies. Its spirals grew straight as the wyvern became a taut string in the sky, before shooting off like a shot arrow, far away into the horizon. “Hopefully he’ll avoid being seen by Aetherium..” Basil remarked.

“Where’d you send him?” Avar inquired, both confused and curious. “It's a secret.” Basil responded with a thin smile as he turned to the dirt roads. “Well, let's get going then, it's going to be a bit of a trek after all.” He stepped forward onto the path, but even as his foot hit the ground he felt his body give up on him again.

His limbs went numb, as his knees buckled and he fell forward, only to be caught by Avar and brought back up onto his feet. Her eyes shined with concern as she looked him over. “You’re still bleeding heavily..” She surmised, to which Basil laughed and shook his head. “Not exactly a lot of bandages to work with here, that's something I can fix when we get back.” He explained it matter of factly, as the information was just that to him. Yet as he gave Avar a proper glance, he found that the words had jostled her spirit.

Her eyes were full of worry, and considering their previous stance towards each other, it was rather refreshing to see. He shook himself from her support and stepped forward, spinning around with grace to face her. “Look, I’m fine. It’s just going to be a bit of a rough walk.” Even as he spoke the words, both himself and Avar knew it was anything but.

A rock dug into his heel, lodging itself in the gaping hole left by the Wyvern’s fangs previously. He paid it no mind as he shifted his weight to his other foot, and steadied himself. Bearing pain was part of the job he supposed.

Before he knew it, Avar had disappeared.

He had been so caught up in his thoughts that when he focused, he found that the girl had vanished from his sight. He glanced around briefly before the sounds of rustling branches resounded within his ears, and his gaze shifted to the forestry once more. From within it Avar appeared, holding some form of cloth in her hand.

“It’s from the tents, it's not too effective, but it should prevent anything your wounds from opening further..” She explained, preparing to wrap it around his leg. Basil simply smiled cautiously. “You seem to be pretty knowledgeable for a kid.”

“I might not be as old as you, but I’m a grown woman, and besides..” Avar’s eyes dimmed as she looked down at Basil’s leg, her hands shaking ever so slightly. Basil noted the sight within his mind as he awaited her words.

“This is my fault.”

Those were not words he liked. Yet, he could not refute her, there was no mincing words for the matter. These injuries were indirectly Avar’s doing. “Fair enough, shall I sit down to make it easier?” He offered, to which Avar was now able to smile and shake her head. “No need.”

With the torn cloth in one hand she raised her free palm to Basil’s leg, to which he arched an eyebrow before he felt his body grow light as a feather. Before he could say a word, his battered leg rose up straight ahead, floating completely out of his control as his body somehow remained balanced upon the path. “Levitation Magic? That's impressive.” He tried to sound professional, but the odd weightless sensation reminded him almost uncomfortably of his past state.

“You’re so nervous, but yeah.” Avar responded snappily, kneeling down to wrap the cloth carefully over the hole within the bottom of his shoe and foot, dislodging the rock that had previously nudged in during the process. “I decided to learn it after a friend saved my life with it.” Basil did a double-take at her words.

“You learned it?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t very hard, and it's pretty commonplace magic for people in Aetherium.” Avar continued to talk, her tone calming as she tightened the cloth, causing Basil to wince at the shivers that ran down his bloodied leg. The makeshift bandage grew red quickly, as the wind slowly and gracefully set his foot back down.

“I see. So your innate magic is Levitation..” Basil surmised. To which Avar looked at him with a quizzical glance for a brief moment before nodding along. “I guess it is, never really thought about that.” He shook his head, before testing his newly bandaged limb. At the very least the blood flow had been significantly slowed, and he could walk to some degree.

“This should do, but it's still gonna be a bit of a trek.” He surmised, to which Avar shook her head and pointed a finger past him. He turned around, as a carriage was trotting into view.

Basil assumed he was just getting luckier than usual.

----------------------------------------

The ride was a little bumpy at times, as Basil and Avar sat next to each other. The horse’s quiet trodding acted as the perfect background to his thoughts as he leaned back. It had been a bit of a detour maybe, but Avar and the whole incident had been a good lesson to him to be more wary of the nature of Aetherium.

His guard had been too low.

“What do you plan to do next?” Avar’s voice came as a tired whisper, as the girl leaned against his shoulder for support. Basil smiled and kept still for her sake as he whispered back. “Well, our goals are mostly the same, but it's not like we can exactly tear down the kingdom from the inside.” He explained, as he looked out from the opening within the carriage’s cloth overlay. The floating kingdom of Aetherium was coming into view.

“At least, not yet. I need to make a name for myself, and get closer to that bastard king first.” Basil sighed, as he kept his words down to a thin whisper so as to not alert their driver. “Before any of that, I need to meet this so-called mage you spoke of.”

Avar was roused slightly from her sleepy state, as she glanced up at him. “That man, wouldn’t he just try to kill you?”

Basil shook his head, his gaze nowhere as he drifted into his thoughts. After a brief and light jab in the arm, he opted to start thinking aloud instead. “Whoever this man who hired you is, they’d have to somehow have known my nature prior to my entrance into Aetherium. Anybody who could somehow recognize my innate magic without actually experiencing it is an incredibly dangerous person..”

“So why meet him?”

“That's the thing. If he recognized who I was and what I am, there's no way he would’ve assigned the task of my demise to a random mercenary.. No offense.” Avar shrugged, which Basil took as confirmation to keep going. “If that's the case. He should’ve tried to eliminate me himself, which likely means that he was testing me.”

“Testing you?”

Basil nodded, as the pieces were coming together. “He had to confirm my identity through some kind of test, and I imagine that this little mission he sent you on was to do that very thing. If I somehow came out of it alive, that would confirm what I am to him.” Even still, some things didn’t add up. Why Avar? She clearly wasn’t even comfortable with murder, but the mage had chosen her to do this job.

Were they that desperate for a killer? Or did they underestimate his abilities? Regardless, all was going to become clear when he met this mage for himself.

He winced as Avar jabbed him in the arm again. “There you go again, lost in your thoughts.”

“I'm just a thoughtful person.”

“Thoughtful means being nice.”

He couldn’t deny that, and the two sat in relative silence for the rest of the ride. Aetherium slowly grew closer and closer as they traveled. Before he could lull into that calm however, he felt a tremor shake the earth, as the carriage was nearly upended by the resulting earthquake. He glanced outside, assuming the cause was magic.

“Oh don’t stress out, that's been happening for a while now!” The man at the front of the carriage said, looking back at them with a smile. “Tremors and quakes and all the ike, started a few days ago, some people say it's the result of some mass stampede!”

Basil believed it for now, as he leaned back and relaxed. Though a stampede causing that much of an earthquake? Perhaps he was still too on edge after everything that had happened, he needed some time to relax.

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Paying for a carriage was a more painful expense than originally anticipated, though fortunately for Basil, Avar was more than willing to pay the fare. The carriage trotted out of view quickly, at which point Basil turned to stare up at the massive citadel that was Aetherium. Even now the interconnected web of landmasses was an awe to gaze upon. As much as he wished to hate it, his malice couldn’t be directed to the display before him.

“It's a long walk.” Avar reminded him, and the energy drained from him immediately as he looked up at the bridge of earth that stretched on towards the kingdom’s gates. “Right. Isn’t there an easier way to get up here?” He voiced the question aloud instinctively, and caught Avar walking past him and onto the bridge. “Not one I can use anymore.” She explained with a mumbling response.

When they arrived at the actual gates, Basil didn’t know what he was expecting. Fortunately, nothing happened, no assassinations or ambushes. The suspicions he had were proven baseless as the two of them quietly entered the kingdom without even a word of wariness. Though there were a few who voiced worries about Basil’s condition, Avar went with effectively zero notice.

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

“Now what?” She asked in a quiet whisper, well aware that the conversations they were holding were not the kind you discuss publicly. Basil glanced around to ensure that there was nobody too close to them before responding. “Now we go find this mage, shouldn’t take much looking around.”

As the duo continued to walk past houses and buildings alike, he had to begin to wonder how exactly he was going to find said mage. It’s not like a person can be found if they don’t want to be. Basil had to assume somebody like this who had others do their dirty work was anything but prideful, despite that he didn’t really have any options save for looking around. He imagined asking for a mage would garner attention.

“Have you seen any peculiar mages recently?”

Avar’s voice rang out amongst the thoughts, as he glanced forward to see that the girl was asking a random passerby the question he was avoiding. He ran up to try to intercede and calm any worries before the man she had stopped laughed while nodding. “You mean Shiro? I suppose peculiar is the right word, he lives up there.”

Both Basil and Avar followed the man’s jabbed thumb as it pointed towards a massive tower at the edges of Minerva; it stood tall against the outer wall. The structure was made of white brick, an interconnected structure of stone that reigned above even this kingdom in the skies. Perhaps only dwarfed by the center of Aetherium, its capital.

“So much for the guy being inconspicuous.” Basil remarked, a little disappointed at how easy it actually ended up being.

“This is why you’re a knight, not a mage.” Avar responded, shrugging as she walked in the direction of the tower. “You’d never understand their nature.”

“I’m not really a knight, I'm more of an adventurer.” Basil snapped back, falling in pace beside her.

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Entry into the structure was granted easily, as it had no guards despite the clear stature of its resident, whether that was luck of the draw or a foreboding premonition was something Basil couldn’t decide between. After many flights of stairs, he and Avar were at its very top. Though it wasn’t as majestic a view as he had imagined from the bottom. Open windows to gaze upon the world below, but save for a bland bed with torn sheets, and a chair leaning against the furthest back wall, there was nothing to speak of for furniture.

“Who would live in a place like this?” Avar tried to joke, but based on how her voice wavered, he could tell that the girl was starting to grow apprehensive at the atmosphere of the tower. It was unsettling to say the least. Basil braced himself for any signs of movement, but found none. It seemed like this ‘Shiro’ person wasn’t here for the moment.

At least, that was Basil’s belief.

“Somebody with a lot of time on their hands.” Was what Basil was thinking, but when he moved to speak it, the words came from another voice entirely. He brandished his blade instinctively, only to recall that his sword had been shattered in his battle against the Wyvern. His hand gripped a bladeless hilt, but he kept it sheathed, so as to retain the threat a weapon proposed.

Regardless, he looked on at the person sitting on the chair. He certainly wasn’t there before, and there had been no signs of movement.

The man sitting in the chair was clearly old, his rather messy and somewhat long hair completely gray with age, and a small beard adorning his jaw and chin which he scratched absentmindedly before crossing one leg over the other, placing his hands upon his lap. His arms and legs were thin, but not the kind of thin one would see of malnourishment. Despite their lacking appearance something was off about them, something that kept Basil on edge.

His eyes were an unnaturally pale white, and they crinkled with a small smile that was already quickly fading. “You seem dismayed.” He spoke again, and despite his obvious age, his words still held chords of youth that rang out in a tired monotone voice. “Did I surprise you?” He seemed to be joking around, but his eyes made the statement seem like more of a challenge.

“I didn’t see you move.”

“Then you’re worse than I thought.” The old man declared, to which he leaned back with a jerk, his head teetering out one of the open windows as he laid it back against the cold stone. “That guy was right, you really are peculiar.” Avar mumbled, something Basil had to agree with.

The old man’s head snapped forward, as he stared at Avar. “You’re alive? That's unexpected.” The man’s rather bony hand rose upward, as his fingers splayed and his palm faced the girl.

It was an unbearable heat.

A beam of pure white heat that erupted from the old man’s palm, surging towards Avar’s head and crashing into her.

Basil swiftly brought his arm around her, covering the two of them in a bubble of water that refracted the beam back in all sorts of unpredictable directions. The display was extravagant if not painful for his body. It was over as soon as it started, as the bright white heat disappeared from around them, and Basil let the watery shield spill upon the ground. After which Basil himself nearly fell to the ground, his reserves long since burned away and still having not recovered. Just that bubble had nearly exhausted all of his remaining energy.

“Ah, that's why.” The man lowered his hand, it fell back upon his lap atop the other, as he lowered his head in thought. Despite his physical state, Basil steadied himself, he didn’t care to wait for any more of this old man’s ridiculous antics. He glanced down at Avar, who was still bewildered after being nearly killed on the spot. When he looked back at the mage, it was a glare he gave him.

“You’re Shiro, aren’t you? The mage that hired her?”

Shiro looked upwards at the empty ceiling, pondering the question for a breath’s width before nodding along with it as if it were an achievement. “I suppose I am.” The mage smiled, to which Basil grimaced and stepped forward.

“And you’re the Water Harbinger.” Shiro remarked, a phrase that stopped Basil from taking another step. “It really is a miracle that I would get to meet you before my passing, and a miracle more that I would become an integral part of your path.” He leaned back in the chair again, looking up at the ceiling in awe.

“I thought maybe you had good intentions, but based on that.. I’m going to assume you’re just another enemy.” Basil spoke coldly, unable to decipher the nonsense Shiro was spouting as he continued his march forward. He didn’t really have a plan, and hadn’t come here to fight, but this mage was starting to really tick him off.

“You would die in six seconds, in your current state, perhaps ten if you were fully recovered.” Shiro explained matter of factly, as he glanced back down at Basil with such confidence it caused shivers to go down the knight’s spine. “I can change that, however.”

Shiro was right, in his current state, this fight was likely impossible, but the degrading way he put it kept Basil on edge as he stopped once again. Waiting. “Go on.”

“The mercenary had encountered the wyvern previously, I wanted to use her as a way to make you encounter it. So you have indeed guessed correctly, that was all but a test to confirm your status.” Shiro’s eyes shifted from Basil to Avar, and the disdain they held from there was enough to make the girl feel like nothing more than a stain on the ground. “Sparing both was unexpected. A tolerable result, but unexpected.”

“You knew I spared the Wyvern?”

“And how did you know I encountered it before?” Avar’s voice rang out, and Basil heard it shake slightly. Clearly, he still didn’t know her full story. That wasn’t important right now though.

“Questions for another time, for now, let me offer you what I can, for your sake.” Shiro clapped his hands together as he rose onto his feet. Basil glanced down to see the man was wearing no form of footwear either, his soles planting themselves softly against the stone brick floor. “What would my sake be, exactly?” He asked Shiro, still doubtful of the mage’s intentions.

“Revenge, of course.”

“I’m listening.”

Shiro turned away from the two, looking out the window as he clasped his hands behind his back, one encasing the other’s wrist. “I used to be something of an advisor for Ether’s father, the previous King. A duty that of course I intended to carry on when he passed from this world to the next. His son however, was not as kindhearted.” His words were brief and quick, and Basil could tell there was more to the story that Shiro was summarizing.

“Ether went against my advice, and laid siege to your villages without mercy. All practitioners of water magic were to be slaughtered on sight, and that rule lasted a very long time. Even now, I have not seen a single mage of theirs since then.. That is, until you.” Shiro turned back to Basil, and the two made direct eye contact. “As a practitioner of magic, nothing is more horrid to me than the silencing of a whole art within its realm. The fact that I was a bystander to the destruction of such a beautiful art pains me to this day.”

“I will help you fulfill your vengeance, I will teach you how to use your magic masterfully, and in return, you will do me the favor of changing Aetherium from within.” Shiro explained, outstretching his arm in the offering of a handshake. Basil was still skeptical, but his motives seemed honest enough.

It wasn’t the full story, but it was a true story, at the very least.

“Oh come on, you couldn’t even sense my mana as I moved to this chair. How are you going to possibly keep up with Ether’s most elite mages?” Shiro reminded him. Basil looked back at Avar, she was still scared, but her eyes reaffirmed his own belief. There was no better offer than this for them.

“Alright.” Basil agreed, and walked forward to take ahold of Shiro’s hand. It wasn’t what he was expecting to happen, but for all his years learning his magic, he had never gotten the chance to have a teacher. It was an exciting opportunity, and more importantly, a useful one. Even now, he needed to be stronger.

That Wyvern already nearly killed him, how was it going to get worse?

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After accepting Shiro’s offer, the mage told them off, telling him to come back tomorrow for them to begin their first lesson. His actual words were something along the lines of “More interesting things await you today.”.

Regardless, when the two exited the tower, Basil immediately tapped Avar’s shoulder. Causing the girl to turn to him with a bit of a jumpy motion. “Sorry about that, I wasn’t expecting him to be so trigger happy.” Basil apologized, to which Avar responded with a small smile. “It's not your fault, I knew it was going to be risky seeing him again after failing his mission.. never could’ve guessed that was his intent from the start though.” Avar raised her hands to her face, and found they continued to shake.

“Still, the way he looked at me, I felt worthless.”

Basil shook his head and patted her on the back. “Obviously not, you’ve already helped me out a lot. From here, things are going to get a little trickier. It’s inevitable.” She shook herself out of it and nodded, ready to face the rest of the day. Basil smiled and kept moving, the two of them making their way back to the inn Basil was staying at.

Along the way, Basil noticed Avar had stopped for a brief moment. He looked back at her, her gaze facing off somewhere to the east. He tried to see what it was she was looking at, but there were only more buildings stretching onwards in that direction.

After a few seconds, she snapped back to reality and continued to follow behind him. He kept a mental note of the occurrence.

Of course, not much longer his mental notes were quickly jumbled, as in front of the inn was something he certainly wasn’t expecting to see. A man in no armor, but bearing a massive blade unnatural even for a greatsword’s size. He was a familiar sight, even if Basil had only seen the man once before. “Iridian.”

He looked back at Avar, who seemed to be frozen in the spot by the sight of the man. Perhaps connected to her past? Still, it wasn’t too important right now, all it meant was that Basil had to be on guard. Though based on his last encounter, this knight was a rather humble one.

“I was wondering where the mysterious adventurer had gone!” Iridian exclaimed, looking Basil over with a dismayed smile. “You seem to have been on quite the journey, but I would hope you may have considered my offer.” Right, the offer to join Aetherium’s, or more specifically, Minerva’s order of knights. While it was a nice option, with Shiro’s training and likely insider knowledge, Basil would probably not need such an in to get close to Ether anymore.

He was about to reject the offer when Avar appeared between the two of them, instantly moving between the warriors before Basil could even notice it. He had forgotten just how fast the girl was when she was being serious. When he realized what that implied, he moved to try to stop her from starting a fight with Iridian.

His gaze went to the knight captain, who was preparing to swing his blade at the sudden movement.

“He’d be happy to join the knights!” Avar said, completely deflating tension as she gestured back to Basil, catching both Iridian and Basil himself by complete surprise. He looked on in shock as Iridian looked down at her and then at him. “Splendid, why don’t you come discuss details with me over a meal?”

“I- What-” Avar pushed Basil forward from the back, somehow already behind him again. “Of course, we’ll be right behind you.”

Basil couldn’t get in a word as he was dragged along by Avar’s insistence, and Iridian’s excitement.