Andy groaned as he was sat at the small table, a variety of utensils and plates in front of him.

“Salad fork,” the instructor, Monsieur Harringer, barked, Andy reaching for one of the forks, before the thin stick the man had been using as a pointer smacked down on the back of his hand, “No. Soup spoon.”

“There are like ten different spoons, man,” Andy sighed as he reached for one, getting another smack on the back of his hand.

“Speak correctly, young man. I am not your “man”, nor your friend. I am your instructor in the art of etiquette, and you shall treat me as such,” the man growled, the sound making Andy shiver slightly.

“I apologise, Monsieur Harringer,” the Defender muttered, looking down at the setup before him, “Is there not an easier way to learn all of these?”

“Other than memorisation, no,” the man barked, “Your companions have already shown adequate understanding of the arrangement of the utensils, so you should endeavour to memorise them all by this evening! We do not have the time to dally on frivolities with the gala occurring only two days from now. Now, fish knife!”

Andy suppressed a sigh as he reached for the strangely shaped knife, half expecting another smack to his hand, red welts already forming on the back, surprised when the strike didn’t come.

“Good, it appears you are indeed capable of learning,” Monsieur Harringer said, “Now, again. Soup spoon.”

------

The ground shuddered as the herd of ten horses charged towards Jake, all of them whinnying loudly. They each lowered their heads, pointing their jagged horns at him as they got closer, Jake simply watching.

“Dammit, Jake!” Sophie shouted as she stopped running, spinning on her heel and throwing out a Fire Bolt at one of the horses, the Spell simply sliding off the beast’s black coat, barely singing it.

The herd was almost upon him, Jake just standing there as they charged at him. And then he vanished.

Even though Sophie knew it was just Jake casting his Shadow Mantle Spell, combined with the Ability of his cloak allowing him to basically turn invisible, she still gasped. The herd charged through the space he had occupied, the Mage checking the Party Screen for his Health, seeing it still at full. Then one of the horses at the back of the herd screamed, a spray of hot blood erupting from its neck. A second cried out a moment later, a slash appearing on its own neck, though far shallower. Sophie could only stare as the herd began to panic, two more of them being injured in short order as they scattered.

The horses fled, running away at speed, the two that had been cut by Jake’s Alpha’s Fang quickly collapsing as their wounds sprayed blood at a prodigious rate, the other two following soon after. Sophie watched as Jake reappeared, jogging over to the fallen horses, bowing his head before plunging the bone blade into their necks one by one, their bodies shuddering before falling still. Still in slight shock, Sophie walked slowly towards the man, who had already knelt beside the first horse, cutting into it with his dagger as he began to harvest it.

“What did you do?” she asked as she drew near, watching him quickly and easily cutting the beast apart, “I mean, I know you turned invisible with your Spell and cloak, but…how did you avoid them?”

“Oh, I jumped,” Jake hummed as he worked, pulling the skin off the large corpse before starting on cutting away the meat.

“You…jumped? Like, right over the top of them?” Sophie gasped, “But…then you…what?”

“My [Free Movement] Skill is at level nine,” Jake explained, “It has been for a while. Not only does it allow me to move through difficult terrain more easily, but I’ve found it enhances my acrobatic capabilities. Also, the herd was moving fast, so it wasn’t too difficult.”

“I…dammit,” Sophie sighed, “You really are way too strong, you know?”

“Only in comparison to the rest of the party,” Jake shrugged as he finished harvest the horse, handing the horn to Sophie, “Here, the first horn. It’s annoying that the rest of the herd scattered, but if we can get three or four horses from each herd, then we should be able to gather the twenty you need before nightfall.”

“Are you sure?” Sophie asked as she followed Jake to the next body, watching as he repeated the process he had done for the first one, storing everything in his inventory, “I mean, I did basically nothing in that fight, so I feel kind of bad.”

“It’s fine,” Jake chuckled, “Let’s just get this done as quickly as possible so you can start your lessons and get your new Class.”

“I…” Sophie muttered as she watched the man work, shaking her head as she felt a slight blush on her cheeks, “Thank you.”

------

“Good,” Monsieur Harringer said as Andy bowed for what felt like the hundredth time, “Your posture has improved at the very least. Now, onto the hierarchy system. Of course, as a Traveller, you would usually be at the bottom of the totem pole, so to speak, but that does not mean you can assume you will speak to all others higher than you equally.”

“This is harder than I thought,” the Defender sighed, “So, I assume that the hierarchy follows the basic nobility order? So, Duke at the top, followed by Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Yes,” the etiquette teacher blinked in surprise, “It is good that you know that. Of course, as the guest of the daughter of a Duke, you will be afforded certain privileges, but you must not abuse them.”

“Because it would reflect badly on Esmeralda,” Andy nodded, “I understand that. So, can we move on to something else?”

“I suppose,” the man muttered, “We are very short on time, and you do still need to finish memorising the correct use for utensils. Very well, we shall return to that!”

Andy groaned as he was directed back to the small table, glancing at Shadow and Holi as the pair sat in the corner reading books, the Rogue looking thoroughly bored.

“This is going to be a long day,” Andy muttered to himself as he sat back at the table, Monsieur Harringer calling out the first utensil.

------

The front desk clerk looked up as the pair entered the foyer of the central tower, smiling to himself as he saw the young Mage looking down in defeat.

“Have success on your hunt?” he joked, blinking as the girl emptied her inventory onto the counter, a collection of jagged black horns scattering across it, “Ah, it, uhm…it seems you did. Congratulations. Let me just make sure that there are enough, and I’ll have your application processed.”

The man quickly counted the horns, finding that there were actually twenty-three of the things, shaking his head as he pushed the extras back towards the pair.

“You have gone above what was asked of you, but as this is only an application, you may keep the excess,” he said.

“What are they used for?” the taller man beside the scowling Mage asked, the clerk nodding as he explained.

“Oh, they’re used in crafting. I believe that the horns are crushed and mixed with metal to create an alloy that has a high Fire Affinity,” he said, “This alloy is then used to create wands and magic staffs, but can also be used to make swords that deal extra fire damage or flame-resistant armour.”

“Interesting,” the man nodded, looking at the Mage, “Do you think we should give these to Miri?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure,” the girl muttered, still looking annoyed, or now that the clerk could see her face better, upset.

“Well, you have completed the Quest, so I shall have you application processed,” the clerk said, “You can come back tomorrow to check if it has been accepted, though I wouldn’t worry too much about that, being a Traveller.”

“Thank you,” the girl muttered, turning, and slowly walking away.

“Is…is she alright?” the clerk muttered to the man that had accompanied her, who just nodded.

“She’s fine,” he replied, “We’ll be back in the morning to check on her application status.”

“Have a pleasant evening, then,” the clerk nodded as the man followed after his companion, looking down at the twenty horns in front of him, “Even for a level twelve Traveller, it should have taken far longer to collect all the horns without a full party. How did they manage with just the two of them?”

------

“Are you okay?”

Sophie jumped at the question, having been lost in her own thoughts as they had walked through the city.

“I’m fine,” she said flatly, not looking up.

“I may not be the best with people, but I don’t believe that,” Jake hummed, placing a hand gently on her shoulder, “You can talk to me if you want to.”

“I…” she started, about to brush him off, before letting out a frustrated sigh, looking up at him as the tears pricked her eyes, “I was useless out there with the Obsidian Horses, you did all the work and I just watched. I even gained a level from it. It just…it makes me feel inadequate.”

“Oh,” Jake muttered, “Sorry, I didn’t realise that helping you on the Quest would make you feel that way.”

“It’s not that you helped me,” the Mage sighed, “I actually really grateful to you for that, it’s just…maybe I should pick up a second Magic Skill, expand my repertoire. Even during the fight with the bandits, I was almost useless because I only have one element. What if that’s not enough to get the Wizard Class?”

“I’m sure that you’ll do fine,” Jake said softly, awkwardly patting her shoulder, “I mean, I have two types of magic, and I barely use them, so I’m sure you will do well. Your [Fire Magic] Skill is at level ten already, right?”

“Yes,” Sophie sighed, “And it hasn’t Ascended yet. I think it’s because you need two Magic Skills to create a Compound Magic, but…but I just want to use fire.”

“Why?”

“Because if you stick to one element, you can get a more powerful Skill,” she said, “At least, that’s what the books in the Dusk Keep library said. The next fire magic Skill is called [Inferno Magic], and I really want it, but you can’t get it if you have a Compound Magic Skill.”

“I see,” Jake nodded, “Well, I don’t see a problem with that. If that’s what you want, then go for it.”

“But I just feel so useless right now!” Sophie growled, “I just…it’s frustrating. I want to know why my Magic Skill hasn’t Ascended yet!”

“I’m sure,” Jake hummed as they arrived at the manor house they were staying in, “Maybe you just need to sleep on it? Things may be clearer in the morning.”

“Sure, maybe,” the Mage sighed, looking up at the large house as they entered the double doors at the front, “Let’s go see how Goldy and the others are doing.”

------

“It was horrible,” Shadow huffed, “That Monsieur dude didn’t pay any attention to me or Holi, just gave us a bunch of super boring books to read while he focussed solely on Goldy!”

“I don’t know, I found the reading materials quite informative,” Holi laughed as the Rogue complained, “I learnt quite a bit.”

“Yeah, but reading is so boring!” Shadow sighed, looking at the rest of the party, which were gathered in one of the many rooms of the manor house, this one apparently being a tearoom.

“You only say that because you’re borderline illiterate,” Sophie sighed, “It’s hardly anyone else’s fault that you can barely string three words together without fumbling.”

“Hey! I speak plenty good!” the Rogue laughed, blinking when Sophie didn’t react to his blatant joke, “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing,” the Mage said flatly.

“We completed a Quest earlier,” Jake explained, “To get Sophie into the Wizard’s College. She’s a bit upset because she had trouble with the monsters we had to hunt.”

“Oh? What were they?” Andy asked, rubbing the back of his hand, the red lines already starting to fade.

“Obsidian Horses, they’re resistant to fire,” Jake answered.

“Ah, yeah, that would suck for a mono Mage like Soph,” the Defender nodded, looking at the pouting girl, “But you managed it in the end, right? So, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Except it is!” she growled, “I was all but useless in the fights! Jake did everything!”

“That’s what teammates are for, though,” Andy said, “To cover for your weaknesses. Look, I get that you’re probably mad about it, but you have a plan for how you want to progress, right? I say just stick to it. I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end!”

“Easy for you to say,” Shadow laughed, “Especially cause you’ve caught the eye of a noble lady. I wonder when the wedding will be?”

“What? No!” Andy gasped, “Esme is just a friend! Plus, she’s a native, so that could never work.”

“Esme?” Shadow chuckled, “Getting awfully close to her to be able to call her by a nickname, aren’t you?”

“She insisted on it,” Andy sighed, shaking his head, “Look, I get what you’re saying, but it isn’t going to happen! I’m just doing this for the Quest!”

“Quest?” the rest of the party asked, looking at the Defender.

“Yeah, the one to attend the gala,” he nodded, “What? You guys didn’t get it as well?”

“No,” the other shook their heads.

“Oh.”