Ber was a loyal and friendly man but only if you didn't owe him something.

He was so focused on his dreams that he couldn't care less of Levan's reputation. Ber helped the much despised Novak many times during his youth. Being only 4 years older allowed him the time to show Levan around, where to fish, where to hunt, where to find mushrooms and which of them were edible, where to find apples and berries, where the bears hunt and many other lessons.

Ber lived on the streets the same way as Levan. So when the latter ran away from home he would inevitably one day run into the other. Ber helped Levan become independent, he brought the biggest contribution to the character of the man Novak was supposed to be.

What made Ber unique however was his genius. The teachers and the elders all had high hopes of him. Even if he had thought Novak, he was nothing alike him. Ber was calculated and patient. He learned at a fast pace. Every little bit of useless information that he came by he somehow managed to remember it. He had the dream of becoming the greatest inventor in all 5 kingdoms of Cestia. The elders, who were aware of this dream of his, financed him in the hopes that his mind would some day bring more wealth and food in Vira.

Nowadays Ber travels from village to village gathering all kinds of information. He met all kinds of researchers, alchemists and sometimes even mages.

As a small side quest to his own goal, Ber was searching for a certain type of crystal that Levan asked him for. Being that Ber had no problem with helping somebody he considered a friend he accepted... but only if he was rewarded accordingly.

Levan wasn't a liar, at least not anymore. He decided to pay back Ber now that he had found the crystal.

Walking by the river Some that cut the valley in half Levan thought about his next few steps. He had what he needed. He knew what the next step was but ~After I see them all... what then? The sky IS big! But not infinite.~. For him planning ahead was a necessity he had learned the hard way in his childhood, trying to steal of course. Right now he couldn't help but let out a sigh. He felt that this time he had to make more than a passing decision.

~Oh? A derjiarii? Here?~

The unsuspected crow that landed for a few seconds in Levan's path could have been mistaken for a bird but it was in fact a creature born of magic. The magic in this one however, was quite weak so it indeed looked like a crow, without any mutations.

"I see... you are just passing by ." said Levan to himself as he watched the derjiarii fly away.

"Dammit! Where is that hide!?" echoed a voice through the forest.

~He's here.~

Ber was kinda dancing around in his blue, long sleeved attire.

"Glad to see no matter how you learn you are still like a child!"

"Shut up! I am going to make use of you! As a reward to paying me back for the travel expenses you will go back into the forest right now and fetch me some animal's hide, preferably from a deer."

"Right... well I have no problem with that but first tell me, do we really have everything?"

"Yes yes yes! Don't worry just go!"

Ber didn't waste any time waiting for Levan to bring him his hide. ~I gave my knife to Levan, I'll leave the wood for now. Time to put the pieces together!~

Riverclaw was a concave gap into a hillside nearby Some. Ber used it a lot of times to establish his camp there. He didn't like spending a lot of time with people as much as he didn't like being interrupted while he was working. Also the rocks blocked any wind from bothering Ber's stuff. His camp was very well organized and even with all that wisdom he could still lose it if problems appeared while he was working.

The tube was in perfect condition. ~The lenses are almost in position. Good.~

Levan came back with more than the hide, he brought back quite a sizeable fish.

"There you go..."

"Great! Now just wait for a bit while I wrap it around."

"Aren't you hungry?"

"I am working Levan."

Ber's concentration was very profound for perhaps the most simple of tasks.

"It's done! I did it! I built a telescope on my own you goddamn alchemists of Tyrn*!"

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"What!? Already!? Let me see!" Levan rushed towards the eyepiece.

"What in Helix's name are you doing you idiot!"

"What the hell should I wait for then!? A magical grain of rice to teach me what the sky is!?"

"What the fu-... Listen here you uncultured peasant! We need to get it atop the cliff! That's where you put a telescope!"

"Why didn't you assemble it there then?"

"On the cliff!? Are you mad!? If the crystal went to shit cuz of the wind what would you have done then huh?"

Levan took a deep breath and suppressed his excitement.

"Whatever... we'll do it in the morning then. Want to eat?"

"Actually yeah, I am really hungry."

"That's a first!"

"Shut up and bring me the plates!"

They both started laughing. Levan was indeed right to be surprised for Ber rarely ate, being focused only on his work all the time. This particular project had truly required a great deal of focus, precision and sleight of hand.

While the two kept talking about some of their past little adventures Levan looked at Ber's stuff, what he was building, what he brought from Tyrn and other unknown objects.

"Ber... I am grateful to you for trying to help me, I know you've always tried to help me in any way possible... and seriously I can and I will pay you back! So don't go around making stupid excuses!

"What are you talking about?"

~Ah... that eternally calm tone of his, always going by the book!~

"The hide! Do you think I can't sense it? It's 3 dons from me Ber! Right between those boxes!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Is your intuition going crazy again like when you were chased by those wolves?"

Ber's eyes were closed and he spoke slower than Noel.

~This guy... thinking everything has to go his way. Not giving a shit about my honor!~

Levan got up, approached the boxes and pulled the hide out from in between them.

"There you go!"

Ber's face changed from a 60 year old man's wrinkled face to the shining sun instantly.

"Wow! Great! Now I can advance with that as well!"

The hide was quickly snatched from Levan's hands. Ber was thoroughly analyzing it's condition with his back turned to Levan. ~Enough with the crap.~ Feeling fed up he grabbed Ber's shoulder but before he could say his next words he recognized his malicious grin. ~Fuck!~

"Ah! That was a mistake!" ~That I've hoped would happen.~

Ber's fingers lightly touched Levan's chest with a swiftness the latter couldn't match. Levan's body went numb and fell down as he took probably the largest gasp of air in his life.

"Damn! So it can even shut down a beast like you this efficiently!"

"Useless magic!" Levan's elbow hit the ground so hard it launched him right back up on his feet. He was still trembling for his body still felt numb and required him to breathe as much as possible. "You want a fight!?"

"No. Just to test a technique. I got my results in a pretty positive manner if I may say so myself. Hehe ."

"Don't laugh! If you want to go I am down for it! Even after you learned magic you couldn't defeat me once! So don't think you could put me down again whenever you wish!"

"Hey hey now don't go around thinking that I'm just laying around making things. I am also getting stronger! As for you going all out against me the way I am now, well I wonder... who knows! Hahahaha!"

"Ah just shut up!" Levan let himself fall down on the grass. "Anyway I see you are growing as a mage and as an inventor but your wisdom is still lacking."

"What did you say!?"

"You still swear like someone who's lived on the streets, you still have a quick temper and enjoy trivial things like fights and arguments."

"I am not a Saint. And yes one day I am going to be some wise old man living atop some mountain somewhere but I can still feel some sensations from time to time in my life."

"I don't really care about all that wisdom. I only want to see the stars. And regarding that... don't think of me as a pitiful little pesant Ber! I can and will pay you back properly someday!"

"If you're all that virtuous Levan, why didn't you refuse to go hunting and just passed the hide to me?"

"Because I hadn't felt it yet!"

"That is a lie... I travelled this kingdom for quite some time my friend. We humans are corrupt, we desire to cheat and take the easy way out. We hope for a great fortune to be bestowed upon us without any regard of what surrounds us! It's just the truth Levan, it is a sin you and I both frequently and inevitably make."

"I don't believe in that Ber. I-"

"You don't believe in anything! I know that much. You've always denied the gods."

"I don't deny them, I don't resent them, it's just that I don't trust them the same way you can't, or won't, trust a suspicious man."

"You claim that deities are suspicious? Did you hit your head while falling down?"

"Funny... but no. I don't trust a being whose power was innate, whose divine rights where bestowed upon them at birth."

"Who do you think you are to consider a being of perpetual existence to just be born into the very existence it is responsible of?!"

"I don't care about cause of this, cause of that! I trust you to find the answers to that kind of questions. I just learned when I was a kid that those who just have power are not to be trusted."

"Well... we'll talk about this another time."

"Yeah. I agree."

Levan's eyes were already fixated on the star sky, thinking about his dream while lying down on the ground. He felt relaxed, as light as a feather, knowing his dream was so close.

The two agreed to move the telescope atop the cliff so that they could see the stars before the break of dawn.