As Ren approached the mouth of the tunnel he couldn’t help but smile as he saw the sunlight steaming down from above. Standing just inside the tunnel entrance were three silhouettes. These were Ren’s friends of course. Earlier he had sent them a message asking them to meet him at the tunnel’s entrance with a cloak that had a hood. Ren wanted to hide his identity and keep a low profile. His friends had informed that whatever he had done down there had been both heard and felt on the surface and everybody was curious about what had happened. After equipping the cloak and pulling up the hood Ren was led by his friend out of the tunnel and though the camp towards the command tent, it seemed like the commands wanted to meet him.
After a few minutes they group arrived at the command tent. Powell told Ren to wait outside while he went in to see if they were ready to meet him. After a moment Powell stepped out and motioned for Ren to enter. When Ren stepped into the command tent he saw a group of men, and a few women, standing around a large table that had a partial map of the tunnels the goblins were in drawn on it. All of the people in the tent were looking at Ren. He walked up to the table and stood in silence, waiting for someone else to speak first. After a few moments an older man, who looked to be of a high rank in his country’s military based on his armor, clears his throat before he speaks.
*cough* “Could you remove your hood so that we may know what the person who saved many lives in this camp looks like?” He asked politely, though you could sense that it was less of a request more of an order
“I’m afraid I must decline.” Ren answered politely. He wanted to give them as little information about himself as possible as he believed that do otherwise would bring no end of trouble.
The older man looked like he wanted to order Ren to remove his hood but thought better of it. He cleared his though again before speaking.
*cough* “Right…Well…” *cough* “My name is Barda Wolf, Field Captain of the Kingdom of Afiet. I have been placed in charge of the goblin extermination and leader of the reinforcements that of recently arrived. On behalf of everyone in this camp I would like to thank you for your efforts in stalling the goblin horde,” Captain Wolf motioned to an aid standing on one side of the command tent. The aid walked over to Ren and handed him a moderately sized bag. Ren took the bag and was surprised it’s weight. “You have been awarded the sum of 100 gold pieces for services rendered. You could also receive public acknowledgement, a title, and a small piece of land in one of the surrounding kingdoms if you revealed who you are.” Wolf and the surrounding officers looked at Ren for a response
“I thank you for the gold,” Ren said, putting it in his inventory, “but I must decline the rest. Being in the public’s eye doesn’t suit me. Now if that is all I’d like to me on my way”
A female officer to Wolf’s right didn’t seem to like Ren’s answer and spoke out
“Now wait just a minute you rude little g-“ She stopped when Wolf held up a hand to silence her
“You may leave. I hope we cross paths again in the future” He said.
Ren bowed at the waist slightly then turned on his heel and left the tent, heading towards the road back to Crale. Ren sent a message to his friend explaining to his friends that he had some things back at the academy to finish up then he was heading back to Jona to meet his sister who would be joining the game soon. Lixiss sent him a message telling him to make himself a Lost Brigade cloak and threatened sever bodily harm if he doesn’t. Back in the tent there was silence for a few moments before the female officer that Wolf had silenced earlier spoke up.
“Sir why did you stop me? He was being incredibly rude. From refusing to take off his hood when in the presence of an officer to dismissing himself he should be dragged out and whipped for his insolence.”
“I couldn’t do that even if I wanted to, which I don’t.” Wolf said, “He’s not actually part of the any of the militaries here. He volunteered for a subjugation force, not an army, so when the mission changed his agreement became void. Plus I respect his decision to remain anonymous.”
“But sir-“ the officer started
“We are done discussing this, we have more important mature at hand. Like a goblin army.” Wolf said, cutting her off.
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A day passed and Ren found himself walking through the gate of the academy. Ren’s first stop in Crale was the tailoring supply store. Now that he had money Ren though it was time to upgrade his own equipment and bring it up to the standard of his friends gear. His first stop once was in the academy was his dorm room to change into his school uniform. Just inside the door was a letter addressed to him from the school stating that since he decided to participate in the goblin subjugation and his grades in almost all of his classes were good he wouldn’t have to take the final test to pass the class. The only class Ren had to take the final test for was his conjuration class since he still had to summon a familiar. On the same letter was a list of time that the conjuration professor would be available to do testing. There was also an application for their summer studies program and for the next semester’s classes. Ren picked up his books and note on conjuring and made his way to the mess hall for a bite and to study for a bit. His sister would be joining within the next two in-game weeks and since Ren was planning on buying a horse to travel back to Jona to meet her like they agreed so he had some time until he needed to leave. The mess hall was empty when he got there because most of the students left for the summer months to see family, adventure, and assimilate what they learned.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Ren had been studying in the mess hall for a few hours and it was getting close to dinner. A few students who stayed trickled in to get their food. After a few minutes the Headmaster walked in with a few of the teachers. They were chatting away as they walked past Ren, who had his books and notes spread out over the table. As they walked past the Headmaster stopped. The other teacher stopped as well but left after the Headmaster motioned to them that he'd catch up. He quietly stood next to Ren, who had yet to notice his presence. After a few moments Ren let out a long sigh and looked up from his notes to see the head master standing next to him. Rem moved to stand up but was waved down by the headmaster. The headmaster looked at Ren's notes, which were about different types of spirits and magical beast, and a small smile appeared on his face.
"Trying to decide what your first summon will be?" he said.
"Yes sir." Ren said, "I'm just having a little trouble deciding what I want."
The headmaster nodded and held out one of his hand, palm up, and softly blew across is. As the headmaster blew across his hand Ren could see tiny embers flickering in and out of existence, quickly growing more numerous before turning into a small flame which quickly grew in size and began to change shape. In the space of a second or two the headmaster went from having an empty hand to have a red-orange cat that gave off a little bit of heat standing on his arms. The cat walked up the headmaster's arms before giving him a light head butt and walking across his shoulders, purring the whole time.
"This is Felix," He said, "he's a fire cat and was my first summon all those years ago. When I was doing my first summon under my late master I was originally trying for a lightning sparrow but instead I got a fire cat. I was extremely upset and was about to dismiss it and try again when my master stopped me and said to me words that I will never forget. He said to me 'Don't be upset or disappointed because you didn't get what you wanted. People say that a mage's first summon is random and doesn't reflect the skill or talent of the mage. Personally I don't believe that. I believe that a mage's first summon is a gift from fate to help us progress further down of path in life. So don't be disappointed or upset because, while didn't get the one you want, you got the one you need.' I've never been more thankful to him in my entire life because he was right. Throughout my days as a student Felix was always beside me. Giving me comfort and support and occupationally inspiration or even a new insight. I don't know how he does it nor do I care anymore. I'll just thankful that it was him who appeared instead of the damn swallow. So don't stress about what summon you want because the right one will find you, even if it doesn't look like it at the time. Have a good evening and good luck in your studies." With that head master left and joined the other teachers he entered with.
Ren sat at his table for a few minutes thinking about what the headmaster had said before cleaning up his notes and books and heading off to his room to get some Rest and prepare for the test the next day.