“Enter,” The headmaster of Lurn, Gari, calls out, responding to the knock at his door.

Gari’s secretary opens the door and lets Klaus in, stepping aside and returning to her desk. She knows she isn’t supposed to listen in on the headmaster's conversation but she can’t help but wonder what got a bandit selling stolen goods an audition. Her curiosity almost gets the better of her but the thought of punishment squashes that thought thoroughly.

Klaus stops as he enters the room, gazing at the ludicrous amount of wealth and power on display. Magical portraits and shelves with enchanted items line the walls and Klaus could spend months scouring through them and already thought of a way to break in and steal them but he quickly discarded the idea when he sees the huge runestone sitting behind the Headmaster. He expected more books but they were probably hidden in a separate library.

The runestone is at least two metres tall, so densely inscribed and brimming with magic that Klaus is having trouble figuring out what the material beneath it is, not that he would be able to tell what it is by seeing it. The magically created alloy looks just like steel, albeit it has a weird tint to it like it is half-melted.

Klaus snaps out of his wondering and looks down at the huge desk in the centre of the room. The Headmaster has his desk adorned with a plethora of projects that are currently getting enchanted or assembled. A cube is spinning in the air with threads of wire running through the inside, weaving a complicated web that Klaus can not recognise any pattern in.

The space right in front of Gari is occupied by a rifle Klaus recognises, as he did take it off a kid with a weird Class. A Class similar to Garis from what he gathered from his companion.

Gari opens the bandits stat sheet and scans it, looking for any interesting or unique Skills. His primary class has a singular Skill Gari hasn’t seen, an advanced version of [Sense Mana] that allows him to grab ahold of it and act against the purpose of the incantation or enchantment. It hurts him to admit it but this bandit might be able to suppress the activation of his wardstone and be able to steal one of his artefacts.

While one of his several thought processes analyzes the rest of Klaus’s Skills, he continues tinkering with the spell cube in front of him, adding hundreds of strands of mana to create something akin to a spell grenade without the use of any gems. He did always dislike the use of gems, they are way too restrictive and relying on a sparse material makes the creation of something that will survive for generations almost impossible. He’d rather have someone maintain a genuine magical artefact than have something so rigid it will be useless in a few years.

“What did you wish to speak about,” Klaus asks nervously. I haven’t done anything to warrant a personal talk, I followed our agreement to the letter.

Gari smiles at him and motions for him to sit down in one of the two lavish chairs opposite of the desk. “Is there anything wrong with meeting a business partner?”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Klaus takes a seat as Gari conjures two ornate glasses and a bottle of spirit with a wave of his hand. “No, of course not, this is just unexpected. I was hoping to depart today and my caravan was not too thrilled with staying another day in your town.”

Gari knows why they weren’t thrilled to stay here, there were not enough brothels for their tastes but he always found the thought of teenagers getting lured into those kinds of establishments and losing sight of what’s important. “Of course, there is a reason for me to call you here but it is nothing you need to worry about,” he says with a smile, pouring the two of them drinks. “I am simply impressed with your latest find.”

Klaus takes the drink gratefully, he always negotiated better when alcohol was involved. He isn’t sure what he means but recognises the rifle on the table so he asks “The rifle?”

Gari nods and grabs his drink, using the ring on his finger to transmute the alcohol into sugar, before taking a sip. “Yes, it is frankly vexing how the person who made this hasn’t blown himself up, none of the mana channels are isolated from the others and the use of an explosive gem firing pin is simply barbaric.”

Gari already dislikes whoever made this but it shows promise. The firing pin might be barbaric but it was unique and might have some merit if used more elegantly and the bullets Klaus recovered are downright childish but scarily effective. It’s not like they are filled with elemental mana but are composed of it, something he hasn’t seen anywhere else.

As crude and barbaric as it might be, Gari wants to see what this person might come up with when given proper tools and funding, or even just a few pointers.

Klaus takes a sip to mask the amount of time it takes for him to digest the information before replying “Yes, we took it off of someone with a similar class to yours. He had the same bold and confusing name and his companion told us to keep our hands off of his amulet or we’d get cursed.”

Gari almost chuckles at the mention of curses but controls himself as he is well aware that not everyone knows the limits of the system. “Was his Class something like [Death]?” he asks.

“Yeah, that was his exact class,” Klaus says, slightly impressed.

“Is there anything else you can tell me about him?”

Klaus doesn’t immediately answer, instead deliberately thinking about anything he might have missed. He isn’t a Wizard like Gari but he knows enough to figure out what Gari is asking. “He probably won’t be a problem for you, idiot just jumped off the moment he was awake. Didn’t even try to get his stuff, just jumped off and ran away in the middle of the desert.”

“You didn’t think that I might want to have a chat with someone with such a Class,” Gari asks, finishing his work on the cube. He knows that Klaus knew the significance of the Class but decided against directly broaching it.

“With all due respect,” Klaus says, “Our agreement doesn’t extend to bringing people for you, only artefacts and information.”

“It doesn’t matter either way,” Gari says, downing his glass in one go, “I’ve got someone else who is going to arrange for a meeting between all the chosen.”

While talking, he spins off another train of thought and casts a message spell, contacting one of his dozens of spies throughout the hunters plains. He has always made an effort to get spies in all places, be they high-ranking bandits or slaves. “Search for Grant Smith and keep me updated on his every move, who he talks with and everything he creates.“

“Already on it,” she answers.