Chapter 31: Truth or Dare

“Wish me luck, Encio.”

“You won’t need it,” Encio assured. “You’re overthinking this.”

“If you say so.”

She turned to Amara and Chelsea, who stood with casual grace Nara envied, seeing her off. She felt like an elementary schooler dropped off to school by her celebrity family, except she had inherited none of the aesthetically pleasing genetics. She appreciated the support, but resigned herself to the fact that this was the type of other world where the Scale of Attractiveness had a higher floor and a higher ceiling than Earth. If not for the blood and gore, it’d all be very easy on the eyes.

Like many others, as they got older, family and friends no longer attended and cheered on extracurriculars, and she was guilty of this as well. As she had became an ordinary office worker, there were fewer extracurriculars she could support, even if she had the time or energy to cheer others on in the first place. She attended housewarmings and house parties, wine tastings and craft beer hangouts, but nothing was significant—That was just life.

She hadn’t realized how distant that made her feel, until today.

“When you pass, Redell, Chelsea, and I have been working on a little gift,” Amara said, “I guarantee you’ll like it.”

“You don’t have to,” Nara said, as expected of her Chinese upbringing. “Really, it’s not necessary.”

Chelsea scowled, “It’s already been made so I don’t want to hear it.”

She held her hands up in surrender; She wasn’t Amara, she wasn’t going to argue with Chelsea. “I’m looking forward to it,” Nara said, “Both the gift, and passing the exam.”

*****

Amara glanced down at Encio, who was suddenly unpleasantly aware of the touches upon his aura. He shouldn’t feel it at all, at her rank; letting him know was almost polite.

“So you’re my apprentice’s partner.”

“I am,” he said, adopting a posture of insouciance to hide the shiver up nervousness that tickled up his spine like phantom spiders.

Diamond rankers are impossible to detect, if that’s what they wanted. It was like trying feel out the earth or the air: It was just there, until you were rushing at it at terminal velocity, and suddenly it became lethal by proximity.

Encio had far more experience than most, exposed as he was to his grandfather’s aura almost daily for his entire life. (He even had a fancy title to show for it, according to Nara’s interface: Diamond-Forged. Nara would grouse about his disproportionate advantage, but that was a given, at this point. What was one more thing?)

Nara’s interface had helpfully supplied that he had a greater sensitivity to higher ranked auras. This sense wasn’t so definite to be printed on a screen, but more of a suspicion that something was not what was touted on the tin. That perhaps, what was feathering his aura was more valuable than gold. Combined with his ability to read people, and his constant proximity to a diamond ranker, he often saw more than what others wanted.

It was just the tiniest bit more, just a scratch on the surface that revealed the barest sliver of what laid beneath, but it was enough.

He couldn’t help it; he started to laugh. There was Sen Arlang, who Vallis touted as the strategic star of the generation; then there was he, Enciodes Aciano, not-so-spoilt grandson of a diamond ranker; And then there was Nara. Oh, there was Nara.

The gold diamond rankers shot him odd looks: Not at his knowledge, but at his reaction.

Amara looked him up and down, more performance than actual evaluation. They already knew all that they wanted to know.

“So,” he started, not one to give even diamond rankers the initiative, “Nara doesn’t know.”

Amara nodded slightly, to confirm, then raised an inquiring eyebrow. “And how do you know?”

“You can’t sense my secrets? I suppose I should thank my grandfather.”

“We can’t read minds,” Chelsea scoffed.

“Of course,” he agreed with infuriating smugness.

“Are you going to tell us?”

“Hm…” He deliberated for show, then with casual aplomb, “No.”

Chelsea rolled her eyes, communicating something along the lines of where’s the respect and spoilt grandsons.

Encio would concede he was playing a bit with fire. He waved his hand, seeing how close he could approach before he’d get burned. Except the fire wasn’t a candle fire, but raging forest fire liable to consume him with a snap of the wind.

Encio didn’t gamble, but he would play with fire.

This fire wouldn’t burn.

“You won’t tell her?” It was phrased as a request, but Encio knew it for what it was.

“Of course,” he agreed smoothly. “I know how it is.”

He knew how it would be for Nara. Through no fault of her own, she was an outworlder. She’d want that shield behind her back, that bulwark of safety to retreat to. Everyone did. He’d be a hypocrite to say he didn’t want one, or didn’t have one. A gold rank fortress was more than enough. A diamond rank fortress was overkill.

In Rona, his grandfather’s influence impeded his progress, not just with abilities, but with cultivating the breadth of his experience. With his grandfather’s backlighting his way, dissidents fell into line; officials and lower rank nobles simpered and wheedled for benefits for what would have been otherwise expected work; every shaken hand was vulture looking for an opportunity, however harmless their goals.

Search for struggle. Chase challenge. Experience the edge.

If he had any hope of achieving his dream, of crawling the sheer mountainous peaks of diamond rank, it was what he had to do.

“And you are her friend?”

There was a bit of threat this time. Just inflection, no aura. Encio was thankful.

“Yes.”

She knew what he was—an adventurer who intended to go all the way, to make it to the peak. For all that they were not mind readers, they were still perceptive.

Encio flashed his award-winning smile, a genuine one.

Amara nodded, satisfied.

A slap cracked through the air. Encio’s life flashed before his eyes. Just a flash—the slap wasn’t aimed at him.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Stop pretending you’re sagely. You’re not deep, Amara.”

“I am sagely. I’m a dia—”

Chelsea’s hand flung out, clamping over Amara’s traitorous mouth.

“Shut up, Amara,” she hissed. “What are you doing?”

“Isth not like he do’ kno’,” she muffled out. Then she smirked, and licked Chelsea’s hand.

Chelsea whipped it away like she had just skid her palm across cat poo, “Gods Amara, what is wrong with you?” She glared resentfully. “I thought you wanted to be sagely.”

Amara flickered her eyes towards Encio. “…I’ve ruined it, haven’t I.”

“Obviously.”

“But I got to lick your hand, so I think that was worth it.”

“In what world was that worth it?” She flushed. “You’ve done far more than lick my hand.”

“It’s not about the degree.”

Chelsea waited, but Amara didn’t continue.

“What is it about then, because I just don’t understand.”

“That’s part of my mystique.”

“You don’t have a mystique. Stop saying that.”

“I do have a mystique. I’m a—”

The hand clamped faster this time. Chelsea glared; Encio could’ve sworn there were tears welling in her eyes. Encio didn’t know if it’d be polite to feel second-hand embarrassment for the poor diamond ranker.

“Don’t.”

Amara snorted into the palm, but didn’t lick it a second time. She seemed sorely tempted, but perhaps thought better than to incite violence from her beloved in the middle of a city. Not because she’d be worried about a domestic violence charge, but because she was worried about the city.

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“All I wanted to say,” Amara said, running a soothing hand down Chelsea’s neck in apology: Chelsea didn’t seem terribly soothed, “is that if you betray the friendship of my apprentice, I may have to kill you, and then there would be an international incident.”

No one would be soothed today. He took it in stride.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

*****

There was a group of people milling about the Adventure Society marshalling yard, around ten, plus all of the regular adventurer activities. A few she recognized: Vallis Nisei and Sen Arlang were among the small crowd. Was it coincidence they were taking the Adventure Society exam on the same month as she was, or had they organized it?

Coincidence or not, she didn’t mind taking the test among acquaintances and friends. She preferred it. A friendly face would go a long was in such a stressful test. (Not that the test standards itself were particularly stressful for Nara, but the content was indubitably stressful. She didn’t think combat would ever be relaxing.)

A few other applicants stood out to her—a human man in his thirties, which meant he must have been in his thirties at iron; bronze rank applicants did exist, but they had a separate, private exam. He was the oldest applicant of the bunch, dressed distinctly in a style she could only describe as wuxia combat chef. Another was in a runic of royal red, in unmistakable arrogant young master robes. Said young master seemed to know Sen and occasionally shot him contentious glares, which Sen either ignored or didn’t notice.

Raja Jagar was also there (another arrogant young master, how many were there!?), but he didn’t seem to recognize her. She had snuck up behind him and hit him over the head with a shovel, even if his henchmen could describe her, she didn’t…stand out. It was possible that his henchmen weren’t so loyal as to tattle, but she wouldn’t bet money they didn’t rat on her out of the good in their heart.

Judging by the applicants, Nara concluded this test must have been organized by the noble families to have some of their progeny take together, and it was just a coincidence she applied for the same month. Sen and Vallis were her peers at the academy. The relatives of the other great families may be taking the exams at other times. For the great families with hundreds, maybe thousands of relatives each, just three was not even a coincidence worth mentioning to others.

The Adventure Society official proctoring the test was tall for a runic (evidence of her mixed race, like Aliyah), with dark skin, and standout magenta runes. Her long dark brown hair was pulled back in a tight, practical braid, which was streaked with glowing magenta strands. She held similar Amazonian warrior vibes, but Nara’s first impression was that she was gentler and more nurturing than Amara. (Or maybe just less meat-brained, Chelsea would say).

“I’m Nara Edea, here for the exam.”

“Mona Fenhu.” They greeted each other with a quick bow. “I am the Adventure Society examiner. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise. How should I call you?”

“Mona is fine. There’s too many of the Fenhu around here. I find the surname impractical,” she smiled to diffuse any tension an examine could have had being around a member of the great families. “This is my assistant Ranshi Haihu. He will be assisting me with the examination.”

Haihu? Nara wondered if he was a member of the Fenhu branch families or distant relatives. They often used adjacently similar names, but she was provided with no additional explanation. Nara was going to have to start a scoreboard to see if she knew more people related to the great families than people unrelated.

Ranshi performed his greetings, before continuing his work of checking applicants, organizing files and contracts, and making other preparations.

Her greetings done, Nara picked out the oldest applicant and joined him to chat. She was feeling a little inundated with scions of great and powerful families and was hoping he was just some normal working-class citizen like she had been herself just a few months ago.

“Hello,” she greeted (and prayed she was right that he was just a normal guy), “I’m Nara Edea.”

“Nolan Orion, at your service. Head chef and owner of Monster Meal. Good day, Nara.”

He was a cheery man, with grey-brown hair, dark brown eyes, and the tanner skin variation of the locals. Smile wrinkles crinkled at his eyes, not from age but from jubilance. His hands were oddly calloused—most callouses would smooth away with the sludge that sloughed from their bodies at rank up, but he seemed to have kept his.

“Monster Meal?”

“Haven’t heard of it? I’m hurt,” he said, but his voice was without offense.

“Well. I’ll certainly make sure to check it out after this. Can’t be hurting a new friend.”

Nolan grinned. He was indeed the friendly, personable, working-class citizen she thought he was, even if he was a small-time business owner. She supposed that was inevitable with the cost of essences.

“Do chefs usually become adventurers?” she asked, recalling Laius and his dual status of chef and adventurer as well.

“Not usually, but my sis is an essence user tailor and she’s been bugging me to get my own set and apply. She told me, ‘You call yourself the head chef of Monster Meal, but you haven’t slain a single monster? If you feel unjustly criticized, you should have chosen a different name!’”

“And that was enough to convince you?”

“Oh no, we’ve been at it for years.” He waved a hand dismissively. “She’s bronze rank now and says, ‘my peers all think I’m not taking care of my family since you are the only one without essences!’”

He mimicked said sister’s tone and posture, hand on hips, face lined with disapproval with the affront to her reputation.

“You were really that resistant to the idea?”

“Oh no,” he denied, “I just wanted to dedicate all my time to cooking. I didn’t want to have to train, and all that. It wasn’t my calling. But uh, my sis finally got me to fold. Persistence runs in the family, so she says, and she won out.”

Nara arched an eyebrow doubtfully.

“I’ll admit, my sis said, ‘Once you rank up, you’ll have a longer lifespan and more time to dedicate to cooking. Invest time in now to gain more time later.’ I was convinced, after that.”

“After that and all the others.”

“The cumulation of her weighty wisdom cooked me like a rock-rodent in a pressure-broiler. Got through my leatherback skin and softened me right up.”

Nara suspected it was just the last one.

A few more people gathered in the marshalling yard, bringing the total number of examinees to fifteen. Nara couldn’t tell if that was a high number or not. Sanshi was a city with a strong adventurer culture, but most examinees only took the test once or twice.

Sen and Vallis finished catching up to join Nolan and Nara. Mona called out to the group, and they set off to one of the river ports that ran through the city. With such a large group, it was best to travel by ship.

“I’m surprised you two are taking the exam today. I thought the two of you were adventurers already,” Nara said as they set off for the boat. “You two have been training for a lot longer than Nolan or I have.”

“Sen’s actually failed once before.” Vallis said, slightly smug, “The examiner looks to correct faults that would get you killed and passes you when that isn’t likely to happen anymore.”

Sen seemed unfazed to have his failure revealed. He didn’t react.

“What was his mistake then?”

Sen answered instead, “The contracts I took on were too challenging, and I pushed the group too hard. Challenge is necessary for adventurers, but so is balance and rest. Not every contract needs to push the limits.”

Vallis slapped his back in a friendly thud, eliciting a grunt. “He’s loosened up quite a bit now, hasn’t he? He wouldn’t have been able to recruit anyone but the craziest of training-obsessed adventurers in the past.”

He rolled his eyes, but his next words corroborated her claim. “I figured out that too many of the same type of people leads to an unbalanced team,” he explained. His tone was softer, as if recalling a dear regret. “When a problem arose, we had all clashed because we were all too headstrong and single-minded. We all thought we all knew best, since we all thought we were the master of our field. We were too confident in our overall abilities. That, our mastery of one field indicated our wisdom with other.” He looked up at Nara, his tone strengthening with some unknown resolution. “This is my second attempt to put together a team. It will not be the same this time.”

“Sorry to burst your dramatic bubble, but I’m actually already in a team,” Nara said.

“…That wasn’t a refusal.”

Nara shrugged, conceding the point. “We’re a team of two. It’d depend on if you wanted us both. And I need to discuss it with him first. I’ve got a bit of a promise I intend to keep.”

“You’re not the leader of your team?”

“We’re equal partners and friends,” Nara said, “I like that.”

That wasn’t exactly true, in their little bet of theirs, Encio could decide if he wanted to leave first. But Nara didn’t think their partnership was something that restrictive. Nor did, if she really wanted out before four months, that he would or could prevent her from leaving. They had no binding contract, just the promise of a bet to be kept, tucked preciously in her mind like a picture in a locket.

This statement caused Sen to still, thinking as he walked for a good long time.

“Now look what you’ve done,” Vallis said jokingly, “You’ve gotten the Arlang Tactician thinking.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“We’ll only be able to tell when we hear his conclusions.”

The applicants boarded the boat, which set off towards the north away from the sea and the city via the Blue Jade River, which flowed from the North up to Arlang territory down to the bay of Sanshi. The water from the Blue Jade River was magical, a mixture of natural water and the water from various astral spaces. The water of astral spaces was inherently magical, and an important resource for the Shian region. It nurtured the surrounding area, as well as generating valuable quintessence.

Ranshi revealed why he was there, utilizing a special ability many utility adventurers or magic researchers had called Tools of the Magister.

-------

Ability: [Tools of the Magister]

Special Ability

Cost: None

Cooldown: None

Effect (Iron): Able to use magical tools.

-------

The ability, or a variation of it, was needed to use a variety of specialty magical tools. Many boats, skimmers, and sky ships required an ability to use magical tools. Some smaller or personal use vehicles did not, but the one that Mona used today did. It was not a large boat—more water skimmer than yacht. It was double the size of a twelve seater van. The group skimmer was simplistic in design, intended for utility, not leisure. Simple metal bars held up a sheet metal roof, and a bare minimum wind enchantment kept water from spraying back at its occupants and making the trip an unpleasantly damp river ride.

There were no rooms for sleeping; the adventurers would sleep in village inns along the way. Neither were there any restrooms—Iron rank essence users no longer needed them.

The first part of the examination was just the journey. Mona gathered the applicants while her assistant piloted the ship.

“I will be evaluating your performance for the next week.” Mona said, lifting a stack of contracts for all to see, “As a group, you all must complete all these contracts by the end of the week. You may volunteer for contracts, or you will be assigned contracts. I strongly recommend volunteering for a variety of contracts to demonstrate your good judgement, your skills, and your character.”

“In four hours, we will arrive at our first destination. Remember that everything is evaluated, not just your ability to slay monsters.”

Nara started an impromptu game of four hands with Vallis, Sen, and Nolan. None of them knew how to play; it wasn’t a local game. She had bought her own set together with Encio in the time she spent in Aviensa.

They played a modified version, blitz rounds, where each person could simultaneously complete four hands instead of working on one at a time. The bet—as no good game was good without a bet (a way of life Encio had niggled her into subscribing to)—was any question, answered honestly, or a dare.

To Nara’s sadness, no one chose dare. These heirs were far to conniving to choose dare when they could get information, the bastards.

Vallis and Sen showed their heritage, annoyingly competent at even table games. They quickly picked the game up, much to Nara’s frustration. She was still better than them, but the modified ruleset that she wasn’t used to meant she lost a few rounds.

Sen’s first question was obvious, “Who is your partner?”

“You’d find out for free, after the exam no doubt. Don’t waste your question on this.”

“I like to plan, know my opponent. But this is my question, not yours,” he pointed out. “Who is your team member?”

Vallis grin was teasing and knowing.

“Uh...Encio.”

“Encio what?”

“You’re going to hurt yourself Sen,” Vallis said in a cheery, sing song voice.

“Encio what?” He insisted.

“Enciodes Aciano.”

Sen’s handsome features pulled into a quiet frown.

“Careful Sen,” Vallis said, “You’re going to burst a blood vessel.”

“And what convinced you to join him?” he said, searching for secrets.

“Shouldn’t you be asking how I convinced him to join me? And that’s another question,” Nara said. “All four hands, I win this round. Try again next time. My question—can Caspian transform small naturally, or is it an artifact?”

“The question isn’t even about me,” Sen said incredulously. “It’s about my bonded familiar?”

Said bonded familiar was tucked into Sen’s shirt, fluffy red fur obscuring Sen’s vision of his hand of wooden cards. Since he had conjured armor, he didn’t need to wear it all the time. It was one of the conveniences of conjured armor over crafted armor.

“If you’re going to use your bond as a reason to team up, can’t I use him as the subject of my question?”

Caspian wriggled, chirping with joy.

Sen sighed his resignation, and explained.