"There is a reason beyond healing that Rex remains within my home." Lissana said. "First and foremost, ridding of the curses on him is important, and remains a primary goal. Second, he is a Magebreaker, and he has access to magic that, while weak, is capable of bypassing magical resistances, and thus I have taken it upon myself and my immediate circle to train him so that he can be an effective healer to those whom I cannot heal. And third..." She looked pained.

"And third, there is a presently unknown faction that seems to have orchestrated events so that my status as one who apparently shares royal blood would become known." I said. "And that Lord Lodran Wyrashe had his prejudice against Humans exploited to this extent. Beyond that, all that is known about this unknown faction is that they are capable of hiding their presence from the Dragon God."

"You claim to have spoken with Bahamut?" Eldros asked, disbelieving.

"He granted me the ability to use a divine spell after I killed the Faith Vampire in His Temple." I said. "As someone who has been of help to Him, it is only natural that he would ensure a potentially useful agent in the world be kept safe."

"That is a very cynical attitude to have toward the Dragon God." Fenrik remarked.

"I have no illusions regarding my relationship with Bahamut, though I do tend toward reverence, I understand that I am not some chosen hero, but rather someone who happened to match what He needed to deal with an unfortunate incident. I have no doubt, if the only way to prevent this faction from harming many people was for someone to kill me, He would do it faster than a heartbeat. And honestly, I'd be happy knowing I wasn't going to be used toward some nefarious end."

It wasn't the first time I'd embraced death.

Lissana nodded. "It is by my will that his status remains obfuscated to the public, and by his permission that I do so. We believe that Lodran was targeted, and killed as a loose end."

Fenrik nodded. "Royal blood is potent in magic, and often creates powerful bloodlines, and can create powerful magic items. Fiends are naturally drawn to the power of Royalty, and to one who is sufficiently strong willed, they can make powerful tools. You were right to hide his true nature. Regardless, he would be a target."

"I believe," Lissana stated. "With everything that I have learned about Rex, as well as what information I could gather, that these unknown entities definitely have some nefarious design in store for him, and that they either wish to use his blood for Fel magic, or to see him ascend and become a puppet Emperor."

Fenrik's expression darkened. "The latter would mean traitors among the Emperor's Central Council." He said. Lissana nodded. "There is little I can do, but I can look into the dealings of the Central Council to discern if any are unfaithful to the Emperor."

"My brother was used as a tool for their purposes, I want to see these individuals brought to justice."

"And for young Rex?" Fenrik asked. "Setting guards for him is an obvious sign that Fel intentions are well known."

"I have a member of the Blackwind Guild at the ready to protect him." Lissana said. She looked at me. "As they are usually masters of stealth, they can watch over you from a distance."

"Even that's a bit obvious." I said. "I'm presuming this Guild is the same that Kobolti was from, and thus having an assassin or something similar observing me would tip off that there is at least some interest in me."

"You are correct." She said. "Do you have another option?"

I nodded. "We meet at the Guild Hall, do some adventuring, that way they can protect me without raising suspicion."

"Such individuals are not allowed at the Windsong Guild Hall." Fenrik pointed out. "Nobody can trust them to keep their hands to themselves."

"I think I can come up with something." I replied. "Tomorrow, I'll go to the Guild Hall and look at missions and see which ones a rogue would be useful for."

"A what?" He asked.

I explained the archetypes to him. "In this, a rogue would be useful. Plus, if something is trying to ambush us, they would have a mind for that, and be able to see it coming."

"Are you certain?" Lissana asked. "Becoming an Adventurer and traveling with a- how did you say it, a rogue? It will certainly draw more attention to you."

"There is also the factor that I am known to the locals to be staying here." I said. "And it is known that I applied to the Guild with Nash at my side, and have been seen training with Cier, it would be more suspicious overall if I didn't attempt to apply what I'd been learning and training for in the very Guild I applied to. If people aren't already asking questions, then they will be soon."

Lissana nodded. "I did not think of that." She admitted. "I understand that you are considered to have met your quota for the month, correct?"

I nodded. "I have, but if I don't show any form of proactive approach to this, people will think I only care about doing the bare minimum and will think I'm mooching off of you. Until the start of next month, I should at least be learning what I can about monsters, and perhaps accompanying more experienced Adventurers on missions more aligned with my rank. Even if all I am is support, I can at least keep up a front that can be maintained. Plus, earning a little coin on the side is always a welcome bonus."

Lissana nodded, but didn't say anything else. She looked deep in thought.

"Can we be certain this Human does indeed bear royal blood?" Eldros asked.

"You must be a lot of fun at parties." I said. "Do you, like the late Lord Wyrashe, also hate Humans?"

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"Rex!" Lissana shouted. "Do not speak ill of the dead!"

"It is an honest question." I said. "I apologize if the question pains you, but considering the circumstances of his death, and the fact that your brother never overlooked an opportunity to try to kill me, it is a reasonable question to ask." I looked at Eldros. "If you despise me as much as he did, then it makes you as much a target to those who killed him as he was, and if your hatred is such that you would stop at nothing to kill me just for existing, then you have given them everything they need to manipulate you." I looked at Lissana. "They manipulated him and gave him the means to- as far as he knew- kill me, but was in the end tricked by them. He tried to kill two Humans with one stone and ended up killing neither while falling into their trap. To throw a Conceit Fiend's crystal amidst two Humans, one a trusted servant and advisor, the other a guest, it was enough to have him declared insane and tossed in a prison."

"It is, indeed, a grave offense." Lissana said hollowly.

I looked back at Eldros. "If these people could convince the late Lord Wyrashe to eschew logic and attack with such a heinous tactic, what could they do to you to, say, turn on the man you follow?"

"That is indeed sound logic." Fenrik said. "And it also implies magic could have been used."

"To answer your question, Eldros, I honestly could not trace my lineage to any specific royalty, at best I'm just some distant relation to some long dead king and that where I'm from, everyone just happens to also share some relation to a king."

"The only way to test it for certain would be a ritual of some nature." Fenrik stated. "The more powerful the effect, the more potent the blood. For instance, a direct descendant would be able to create a lasting spell of protection, or heal an entire nation-"

"Or destroy one." Lissana interrupted. "It is also why the Crimson Amulet was created. Blood for power. In the hands of commonfolk, it simply takes a tanrik of blood to power a spell, but with Nobility, the more potent the blood, the less is needed for powerful effects."

"How much is a tanrik?" I asked.

Fenrik held up a standard healing potion, which I'd estimated to be around a liter.

"I happen to know that if the average Human loses about a fifth of their total blood, they will enter a state of shock, which can lead to death." I said. "The average person could get away with using the amulet exactly once before needing to recover their blood."

"And for the Crimson Emperor, only a drop was needed for the equivalent." Fenrik stated. "Yet, the amulet would only serve as an indication that he may have Noble blood-"

"And the question is ultimately moot since I have no intention of using that status for my own gain." I replied. "And even if I did, I'd only ever use it to heal people, which considering the last time I tried to heal people, I ended up giving myself Mana Sickness from taking in the full mana of a Divine spell to penetrate magic resistance."

"Pardon me, what did you say?" Fenrik asked.

"I have the ability to transfer Mana from myself to another person, I do this by breaking down a spell into its component units and essentially giving it to them. I can thus do this to myself, converting a divine spell into its total amount of Mana Units and then giving it back to myself so that I can use it to penetrate magic resist-" I had a sudden epiphany. "Lissana, when people go into the Focus Crystal room, is the time they spend inside before contracting Mana Sickness constant, or does it vary?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I mean, let's say Cier goes in without protection multiple times, does it take the same amount of time each time for him to get sick, or does it vary?"

"I do not know." She admitted. "Normally, protections are applied regardless."

I nodded. "Then I'll need to do some experimentation." I remarked.

The bell for lunch rang, and Lissana asked Fenrik, "Would you like to stay for lunch?"

"It was been long since I shared a meal with my daughter, of course I will." Fenrik replied...

"Oh! Welcome back, Rex!" Wyll exclaimed as I stepped inside. "I didn't expect you back until the start of next month."

"I should at least take a look at what's available." I said. "Is there anything you can recommend to me?"

She stepped out from behind the counter and looked at the mission board. "Without knowing how prepared or skilled you are, all I can really suggest are the relatively small missions." She said. "Low risk and low pay. There are some Grats in the nearby tavern's cellar, there are some undead in the graveyard, nothing too major; herb collection requests..."

"So, a Grat stomp, fighting some undead, and herb gathering." I said. "If I accept a mission, is it earmarked for me or is it open to anyone?"

"A magical mark will be put on you that will indicate you are in the middle of a mission. It will glow when the mission has finished, blue if it was you who completed it, or red if it wasn't. You will not be penalized if you fail to complete a mission or decide to abandon it."

I nodded. "How big are the Grats, and is there a known amount?"

"They're as big as an average one." She replied.

"I've never seen one." I stated. "Nor have I ever had one described to me adequately."

She looked surprised and held her hands apart. I was looking at something a little bigger than a nutria. Great. "So, about the size of a nutria then." I replied.

"A what?" She asked.

I described it, which a nutria was basically a huge rat that had been brought into Oregon for the fur trade way back in the olden days.

"That- You are describing a Grat." She said.

"Then it is a matter of a difference of language." I replied. "These skeletons, I heard an effective method to deal with them is to use healing spells, as it is a positive energy that disrupts their negative energy. Do you know if this is true?"

She nodded. "Yes, healing spells can damage the undead, but it's usually never worth it as most undead, even the basic ones, are highly resistant to magic."

I nodded. "And the herb gathering, I take it, is a case by case basis?"

She nodded. "You will be given directions to the requester who will tell you what they need and what it looks like." She stated. "Though, gathering the wrong herb will fail the mission."

I nodded.

"If you're going after undead," I heard. I looked behind me to see a taller man in armor approach me. "You're going to need a blunt weapon, like a staff or a club." He stated. "Especially if it's a skeletal undead. And it's best to carry potions of cure disease, one bite and you'll turn into an undead unless you cure yourself immediately. I've seen someone who was bitten once, he went mad before he died, ate some poor saps who tried to treat him. Terrible way to go."

The armor he wore was tinted blue and he wore a red cape that extended from his pauldrons. He had blonde hair with hazel eyes and a scar above his right eyebrow. He looked me over. "In all honesty, if that is what you're wearing, you're better off sticking with gathering herbs."

"Felvore leather for magical protection, a gambeson for anything that manages to get past that." I stated.

"Very little is going to get through solid metal." He pointed out. "A magical sword, even if it bypasses magical protection, will still carry its keen edge."

"Well, I bought this, I may as well use it." I replied.

"What kind of weapon do you have?" He asked. "And why do you wear it on your back?"

I drew my sword in one fluid motion. "Just a short sword." I said. "I'm not quite strong enough to wield a longsword."

"You could get one enchanted to be lighter." He stated.

"As I recall, a magic item can have at most two enchantments barring any magical enhancements native to the material used." I stated. "Using up an enchantment slot for a heavy weapon will prevent me from becoming strong enough to use it effectively, effectively reducing the effectiveness of such a weapon. Though, I could see merit in doing it after I'm strong enough to wield it with little effort." I slid the sword back into place.

"How long did it take for you to learn that?" He asked. "Unnecessary flourishes like that could get you killed."

I showed him the sword on my back. "It's designed specifically to allow for me to draw it quickly, and since I anticipate a lot of potential movement that wearing it on my hip would hamper, this is better in the long run."

He opened his mouth again, likely to criticize me further, when a voice piped up.

"If you were less worried about hazing the new blood, you'd have noticed your coin purse is missing." We both looked over to a very familiar Kobolti. I recognized him as the same one who tried to kill me. He tossed a coin purse to the man, who caught it.

"You stole from me?!" He shouted.

"I think it was more teaching you not to be a dick." I replied.

The man reached for his longsword, which hung from his side. He barely had it pulled halfway when the Kobolti leapt from where he stood, grabbed the man by his hair, yanked his head back, and held a knife to his throat.

"Sheathe it." The Kobolti said. "Apologize to the Human, and live with humiliation."

The man sheathed his sword, and the Kobolti got off of him. "Magical protection is best against sudden blows, but against a knife to the throat, it's practically useless." He said. "Apologize to the Human."

The man looked at me and said, "I am sorry."

"Good." The Kobolti said...