What had he forgotten to pack? What would he now forget after all of these new additional things to pack? How would he procure replacements once he discovered he had left them at home several continents away? How was he going to survive at magic school at all?
While contemplating these and more questions he was greeted by the villagers of Inicios, all wishing him well and promising to see him off as he left tomorrow. He waved to all of them and gave short acknowledgements to the passing humans and minotaurs while lost in thought. Eventually he did make it to the center of the village where the Landguard bass sat amongst other Imperial buildings like the schoolhouse, Town Hall, and library.
After so many years of coming here for school or the library, Isak could probably walk here blind. Instead, he made the slightly shorter walk to the Landguard base. Though he had never been in trouble with the law, Isak had started to get familiar with that location too. Or at least the front offices where he had been thoroughly debriefed over the Nightspawn encounter.
Inicios was only a small village, and so their local Landguard base was much more compact and integrated with the community than that of a larger community. It made all of the visiting higher-ups that much more noticeable. Isak had spoken with most of them. Military investigators from the various branches had all been wondering what such a large pack of Nightspawn was doing outside of a surge event. Even for a frontier town like Inicios that was a rarity.
Isak elbowed open one of the doors to the large stone front offices of the Landguard. Even if it was necessarily smaller for a small village, it and the attached Town Hall were still built with durability in mind. Not that it would have done anything more than delay the mome beasts, Isak thought to himself as he approached the front desk.
He recognized the brown haired human woman behind the desk as Sonia, who greeted him with a wave. Most days here were appropriately quiet for a small frontier village, and the addition of a trading company making a scheduled stop here seemed to have made it even quieter than usual. More guards were always posted around trade hubs and markets, both to remind everyone that the law still existed while haggling and in case of less than savory traders trying to take advantage of villagers.
Today, the only noise in here was the low whir of some ceiling and corner fans to make a warm summer day more tolerable. The room itself was mostly just a large reception desk and waiting area with a few doors leading to other parts of the base. A rack behind the desk lay in wait to secure any weapons of visitors to the front offices.
“Here to see the Captain, Mister Moreno?” Sonia asked as the human set down the covered plate on the desk.
“Yeah, playing courier.” Isak tapped the top of the plate cover. “I uh…I think my mom made these for everyone stuck at the base today. So I think one of these might be for you? I was sent here for Captain Zolin so I might be wrong…”
“Ah! Captain Zolin was expecting you.” Sonia reached for some notification chime on the desk. “I believe he’s in the training yard.”
Another of the minotaurs in the guards burst through one of the doors before Sonia could hit the chime. Gallio straightened his blue uniform, spied Isak, and quickly crossed the gap between them to plant a large black furred hand on his shoulder. “Perfect timing, Mister Moreno! I’ll take you to the Captain now.”
Before he could ask any questions, Isak was being whisked away down a series of halls by one of his now former teachers. The large minotaur was responsible for teaching all the children of the village in the ways of combat, as well as overseeing the continuing education of all the adults. “Save the village anymore while I wasn’t looking?”
Isak gave an uneasy laugh and looked down while he was dragged along. “Well there was this mean looking bird I saw who could have spelled doom for us all…I meant a wild bird. Like a beast, not a person who is a bird! I’m not–”
Gallio guffawed and switched over to Clear Speech rather than the Wastelander that the Guards used in most situations. “Practicing being a cosmopolitan man, Esteemed Isak?”
“I don’t want to make a bad impression…” The human lad sighed, responding in Clear Speech as well.
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“You may have graduated, but I’ve still got a few things to teach you.” The towering minotaur in blue, said. “I’m not the most ‘cosmopolitan’ either but everyone in the military has to spend some time training away from home. Which means time in big cities, talking to other service members from around the world.”
“Yeah?” Isak had learned about this before, but didn’t recall much of this practice.
“And my first night in some big city, we’re all eating in the mess hall. City folk and villagers alike.” Gallio paused his walking to address the shorter human. “So I get my food, sit down at a bench across from a copijcha. You ever seen one of them?”
“I think in a book?”
“Very colorful bird people. One of the first three peoples of The Empire.” The minotaur explained. “Anyway, he goes to take a bite of what he’s eating and he stops. Fork clatters to his tray. His tray that has steak on it. Well after he picks his beak up from the table he says to me ‘Is it offensive if I eat this in front of you?’”
Isak listened closely, amused grin on his face as he imagined the poor copijcha being introduced to minotaurs in this way.
“So I cut a piece of the steak on my own plate and shove it in my mouth, and while I’m chewing I tell him ‘I’m not a cow, but chicken’s on the menu for lunch tomorrow. Are you going to be offended watching me eat that?’ He laughs, I laugh, we become best friends.”
“He really didn’t know?” Isak asked as he himself laughed.
Gallio chuckled. “I found out that happens a lot. You’ve never seen a people you’re not used to, you start second guessing what you’re eating around them or saying to them. And most people won’t care unless you’re doing it on purpose and staring them down with evil in your eyes.”
Before Isak could ask if that had happened to him before, Gallio was back to dragging him out to the training yard. Awaiting him was the large lizardfolk Captain Zolin, bearing a proud smile. Amado was present just to the side of the good captain and beaming as bright as the sun above.
“Mister Isak Elijah Moreno, please approach.” The lizardfolk captain said with a proud smile. In his hands was a case of fine dark wood.
Isak looked to his father with bewilderment, who’s only response was a knowing nod. Gallio had already taken his place in the formation as they awaited Isak. The young mage remembered to breathe, and then approached as he had been instructed. As he did the large lizardfolk man knelt down to present him with the case, flipping open the hinged container to reveal a short sword in a scabbard.
“The selection of a familiar is outside my jurisdiction. A personal ordeal that I don’t know enough about to explain. But in this, most Esteemed Isak?” Captain Zolin spoke in the most formal register of Clear Speech possible as he addressed the young human. “Your esteemed father and the righteous Landguard under my command have taught you well. The whole village has. And the whole village is only here because of our most esteemed warrior. I humbly present this to you in recognition of your actions, and so that you may represent us in the wider world.”
There weren’t actually any thoughts running through Isak’s head as the Captain spoke. All of a sudden they all returned in a deluge that slowed into a trickle in just a moment more. He carefully withdrew the sword from the luxurious case and inspected it while it was still in the scabbard. Most of it was hardened leather with the occasional decorative detail in steel.
Pulling the sword from the scabbard revealed a fine, leaf-bladed steel gladius. The Wasteland had been a part of a few empires before The Empire, and long had they been proficient at inventing new types of much beloved swords. This type of short sword was one of them, and an engraving of the village’s crest near the hilt turned the entire weapon into even more of an emblematic thing.
“Surely the esteemed young Mister Isak will find greater fortunes, and greater weapons than this humble sword.” Zolin continued, speaking of the weapon that was fancier than any Isak had ever owned. “Let this lead you down fortuitous roads, and remind the world of what our Wasteland can offer.”
No matter how self-conscious this made Isak feel, and no matter how much he might attempt to brush aside in a self-deprecating manner, he knew that there was no getting out of this. Still, over the internal mental shouts to downplay this and insist it wasn’t necessary, this felt…nice to Isak.
“This…humble soul accepts.” Isak said, trying to recall the best way to go through this in the highest formal register of Clear Speech. “May my roots prove strong and my branches give…uhm…..cover!”
Gallio mouthed a quick “Close enough!” to him as the Captain stood and led the small group in a cheer.
There were still many worries and anxieties to be had about setting out tomorrow on the steam crawler as a part of a much longer trek to Black Reef Institute, but for now Isak allowed himself to take part in some light celebrations and well wishes.