Walking the street, Owen tried to calm his rage. Vance, he thought to himself before a tug on his arm snapped him out of his dark thoughts.
“Owen, it’s fine. Please cheer up, the young ones are worried.” Selia whispered to him. Realizing that she was right, Owen shook the dark thoughts from his mind as he spoke out loud.
“Man, what a jerk, right Selia. Whatever, my friends are way better anyway. We’re almost there. Then we can all have a break, and maybe I can convince my buddy Fell to make ya’ll a snack. How does that sound.” With happy cheers coming from the kids, Owen sighed deeply. Feeling something lean on him, he looked over. Selia was leaning her head on his shoulder.
“Thank you.” She mouthed to him while smiling softly. Owen smiled back as they walked for another minute before stopping outside Boulder’s shop.
“Alright, everyone,” Owen said as he clapped excitedly, “This is our shop; next door will be the Hall. I’m going to pop in real quick to talk with Sergeant Boulder, Borit if you’ll take the others into the Hall. The attendant there is named Todd, tell him your friends of mine and that I’m just next door. Selia, if you can give Marco a nice pep talk, get him all ready for his big trade, and I’ll be right back.” Waving them off with a big smile, Owen turned around and entered the shop. As he did, his smile vanished, and he walked over to the counter before calling for Boulder.
“Ai, I heard that commotion. What you bring me now, Owen.” Boulder said as he rounded one of the shelves behind his counter. “By the Gods, boy, you look like someone spat in your ale. What’s wrong? You sounded so joyous a second ago.”
“The guards just pissed me off, is all,” Owen said, not bothering to hide his disgust, “They gave a bunch of kids a hard time just cause they aren’t human.” Owen vented before letting out a deep breath. Calming himself before he continued, “Anyway, there’s a young boy named Marco; he’s a level 2 Merchant. His instructor for this trip wants him to do this trade by himself, so I wanted to ask you to go easy on him.” As Owen finished, he noticed Boulder’s face fall.
“Of course, I’ll help the lad. Damned guards, scaring a bunch of kids. You heading into the Hall, ai? Tell Fell that they get a House Special on me. He’ll know what it means; this isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with this kinda situation. I’ll help the lad, then send him back to the Hall. Go on then,” Boulder shooed Owen, “Go on, get the lad, and save the glare for people who deserve it. Don’t need you scaring the poor kids, too.” Smiling, Owen shook his head again and smacked himself lightly on the cheeks. Putting a smile on, he walked outside to see Selia talking with Marco.
“Hey Marco, Boulder’s all ready. Don’t worry, you got this.” Owen said as he bent down and encouraged the young Merchant.
“Okay, I’ll do my best.” The young man exclaimed as he puffed his chest out and tried to tidy his hair. After watching him take a few deep breaths, Marco entered the Shop. Smiling, Owen looked over at Selia.
“Well, our turn. Let’s head into the Hall and see what everyone’s doing.” Owen said as he held his arm out again. Smiling at the gesture, Selia took his arm and they entered into the Hall. It looked like Borit and the others were all occupying a table near Fell’s Bar. Seeing them enter the Hall, Borit stood up and waved. Smiling, Owen waved back as he made his way towards Fell.
“Good afternoon, Sergeant. This is Selia. She’s the one in charge of all these young kids. There’s another, a Merchant, with Sergeant Boulder right now. He told me to let you know they get the House Special, and it’s on him. Miss Selia also has a job request for us, but I wanted to ensure it went through the proper channels. Can I leave her in your care for a minute while I check in with Todd?”
“Of course, Private Owen,” Fell responded before turning to Selia. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Selia. I have some food and drink coming out for the others; would you also like something. We also have a couch I can bring out, so you have somewhere to relax.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Thank you, Fell; I have my own cushions. I can make due.” She responded. Content that everything was okay, Owen headed over to the counter with Todd. Seeing him approach, Todd put down the book he had out before the two started catching up.
“Hey Todd, I’m back, you miss me?”
“Maybe a little,” Todd teased, “So, who’s the pretty lady you brought back? I overheard a bit; you said she’s an instructor, and one of her charges is with Sergeant Boulder?”
“Pretty much. They are a caravan from the Arak League. A young boy named Marco is a Merchant, so Sergeant Boulder said he would help him.”
“How did you even meet them? I thought you went out hunting to get to Tier 2?”
“I did.” Owen responded, grinning, “I’m a SpellBlade now. Speaking of Tier 2, didn’t you mention that I need one of these before getting promoted?” Owen asked as he placed the E Grade mana stone on the counter.
“You’re a SpellBlade,” Todd muttered in disbelief, “The Gods must love you, Owen. You got a dual stat class and just happened to run into her, huh.” With a sigh, Todd continued, “Yes, this is what you need for Corporal. I’m sure the Captain will still allow you to get promoted, even if you don’t have the Crealexis Skill yet since you are learning it.” As Owen told Todd all about his hunt to saving Borit and his sister, Todd finished filling out some paperwork. “I’m not surprised you saved them, Owen; sounds about right for you. Anyway, that’s all ready for the Captain to sign off on, but I will keep the mana stone since it will be used to make your new tag. I still can’t believe it; you’re a SpellBlade. Did you get any new Skills?”
“Actually, yeah. I got Mana Bolt; I haven’t tried using it yet. Know anything about it?”
“No. I’ve only been researching Skills for Brawler and, lately, Accountant. Didn’t you say your new friend was a teacher? Maybe she knows? If not, I can look next time I head to the library.”
“You’re right,” Owen said, “Hey, if you’re not busy, why don’t you come over and take a break with us. You can bring your book.”
“Yea, yea. Give me a second.” Owen heard Todd mumble as he turned from the counter and headed back towards the bar. Walking back towards the group, Owen sat down next to Selia.
“So, did Sergeant Fell say we could do that job?” Owen asked, curious to know what the answer would be.
“Yes, actually. He said that it still falls within MoonKeep's responsible territories, so your group can take on the job. Though I don’t want to think about them anymore, how do you think Marco is doing now?”
“I’m sure Sergeant Boulder is teaching him as much as he can; I wasn’t lying when I said he was a big softy. About teaching, though, Selia, do you know about the Mana Bolt Skill?”
“I do. It’s one of the advanced mana forms you can get from any Focus based Class? Why? Is your friend hoping to get the Ardent Class?” Selia asked as she noticed Todd sitting at the table and introducing himself to everyone.
“It’s not for me,” Todd responded politely before glaring daggers at Owen, “It’s mister SpellBlade’s here, new Skill.”
“You’re a SpellBlade Owen!” Selia exclaimed in surprise, “I assumed you were a Knight since Borit sang your praises with the sword and shield. That’s wonderful. Oh, I suppose you don’t know how to condense your mana? Is that why you asked?”
“Pretty much, Selia. I know how to coat the edge of my blade with mana. Is it similar to that? Do I just do that, but instead into a ball in my hand?” Owen asked as he began thinking through how his Skills worked. He knew that his Skills pulled from his core; if it was similar, could he do it himself, or would ARMS help him like his other Skills.
“It’s a good start, Owen. Most Slash Skills work very similarly; they pull mana from your core,” She said as she pointed to his sternum, “Then the mana travels along your body and to your arm. Where it changes is the intent used to shape the form that mana takes. In its natural state, mana is just a blue floating mist. Mages can change its form by forcing their Will or Intent upon it. A Skill helps with this, but you shouldn’t rely only on it. You must learn to impart your intent on your mana; once you unlock your affinity, the Skills you get will only be manipulating elements. All the existing Spells rely on the Mage creating them through their Will.”
“Oh, what’s all this talk about Mages?” Fell said as he arrived at the table and began serving everyone food and drink.
“It’s nothing, Sergeant. Owen’s just a SpellBlade, is all.” Todd snarkily replied as Fell’s jaw dropped.
“You’re a SpellBlade Owen!” Fell said as he looked at Owen, “By the Gods, you are, and you’re already Level 8 again. Well, Fuck.” Fell said as he took a swig of Owen’s drink.
“Hey, what was that for, Sergeant?” Owen said as he grabbed his mug back from Fell.
“That’s because I owe the Captain 10 Silvers. Why couldn’t you have been a Knight.” Fell said as he faked crying.
“Don’t worry, Sergeant, I’ll be sure to get some more Deer meat for you as a makeup present.” Hearing that, Owen watched Fell snap his head back up and give him a big thumbs up. As everyone relaxed and ate their food, they were rudely interrupted as the Hall doors flew open, and a group of armored men walked in.