Lee let the healing life mana swirling in his veins simmer down and peter out as he inspected the encapsulating air mana dome surrounding himself and Regina.
Regina, for her part, stood calmly with hands clasped together, waiting for his response. Her emotionless face was unmoving as she watched Lee calm himself.
“Warn me before you cast random spells next time,” Lee said as he trailed his eyes all across the mana dome.
She gave another bow before apologizing in a monotone voice. “I am sorry. This spell gives privacy for our conversation—blocking our voices to those outside.” She patted down her pleated black skirt before continuing. “I am Regina, personal aide to Fatalina. I was sent here to ensure the validity of your claims and help with the task at hand. Think of me as your temporary personal assistant.”
While he wasn’t a hundred percent trusting of Regina and Fatalina, they were part of one of the factions he wanted to have on his side. A little trust was due if they wanted to be on the same side.
“I assume you have questions. You’re free to ask what you want. I’ll just let you know if I'm not going to answer. Do you want to head elsewhere? Or do you want to talk with all these eyes on us?” Lee gestured at the handful of other people eyeing their little mana bubble near the doorway.
Regina gave a quick, unenthusiastic glance at their bystanders before returning her gaze to Lee. “Whichever you prefer.”
Lee walked to a nearby table to sit down, and Regina followed. The small dome of air mana followed them, and Lee noticed it was centered on Regina’s position. Once at the table, Lee folded his hands and rested his chin on them. “I wasn’t expecting Fatalina to send anyone.”
Completely ignoring his comment, Regina sat straight-backed in her chair and began speaking. “Mr. Barnes. I am under the assumption that you prefer non-formal communication.”
Lee nodded, slightly miffed at the disregard of his comment. “Just Lee is fine.”
“Lee, I will be frank. You are more important than nearly every single being in this country. If what you say is true, which I do not doubt, you will single-handedly change the world. This being the case, I was asked to look after you as your traveling companions from the Wall of Shadows are not up to the task.”
Lee nodded and motioned for her to carry on.
“For full transparency, I am a level seventy-eight Assassin and my profession is that of a secretary. I have ample experience in stopping and doing assassinations–which may be needed. I have also used Identify on you already and am aware of your legendary Miracle Worker class. If you have any questions about my capabilities, please ask them now.”
Lee’s eyes nearly bulged out as he heard her level and class. Regina did not look anything like an assassin, and he definitely did not think her level would be in the seventies, given her apparent age.
“I assume you have questions as well. Let us take turns.” Lee said, eliciting the first hint of emotion from Regina—a slight quirk of the lips, the hint of a smile. “Do you have a truth stone?”
Regina reached into her sleeve and withdrew a small stone orb similar to Timberson's. After using Identify and verifying that it was a truth stone, he continued. “Are you here to do any harm to me?”
The reply was immediate. “No.”
“Do you have two titles?” She asked.
Lee turned on both of his titles and watched as Regina’s eyes widened minutely. “Yes. Where did you come from? I doubt you just so happened to be around the area.”
“I flew from the city of Emerson, near the front lines.”
Lee leaned forward, eyes intently inspecting the truth stone. It was shining blue. “You can fly?”
Regina nodded. “Yes. I believe it was my turn?”
Lee leaned back in his chair, already knowing what his following questions would be. Regina took a second to inspect Lee before a slight smirk appeared on her usually emotionless face. “Are you capable of teaching others your healing magic?”
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“Yes. I’ve already taught a handful of adventurers, Dark Elves, and Em, my Arachne friend. I was coming here to find whoever was in charge of this newer group to teach them, when I ran into you.”
Lee leaned forward and asked his next question. The eagerness couldn’t be hidden from his voice. He asked slowly, and his glowing blue eyes were zeroed in on her face. “Can you teach me how to fly?”
Still, with a slight smirk, Regina looked down at the truth stone before responding. “I can.”
“You might want to sit back down.” Regina said, causing Lee to notice that he was hovering over his seat, leaning forward excitedly.
“Oh.” Was his only response. After sitting back down, Lee made an offer. “Teach me how to fly, and I will teach twenty people healing magic for free.”
Without a second of hesitation, a response came. “Done.”
—----------------------------------
After sorting through some of the details on what he was doing in Lopus, as well as clarifying some of what he hoped to accomplish in Felispar, Lee led Regina to their small camp.
Walking his way through the village was growing more difficult by the day. Adventurers crowded the streets, bartering with the nearby street vendors for provisions and goods. Blocking the already narrow cobblestone streets and causing the first scene of traffic Lee had seen since arriving in this new world.
Regina casually looked around, face impassive as she soaked in the sight of the bustling little village.
Lee thought that she was… unique. She couldn’t have been over forty, and he assumed the whole ‘emotionless doll’ thing wasn’t some made-up persona. If it was as cliche as it sounded, she was probably born and raised as an assassin, or seeing the massive amount of death her level surely entailed numbed her to the core.
At least she was on his side.
As Lee and Regina strode into their small camp, which was quickly being surrounded by other camps, Lee saw Jeremy and Hemsworth chatting. They were in good spirits and seemed to be reconnecting.
Em was off on her mound of cushions, looking horrific. Lee had noticed it a few days beforehand, but when Em slept, her human torso seemed to lose… elasticity. Like the time when she had scared him half to death by peeking over his head, her human half was leaning forward—nestled in between her leg-like fangs. Her chittering snores must have had some force, as the air from her breathing caused her short pixie cut to wave in the wind.
When Regina noticed, she actually slowed in her steps and her jaw opened slightly in shock. Lee just gave her a smile and introduced his friend. “That’s Em. She sleeps weirdly.”
Regina nodded once, eyes still inspecting Em. “She is much larger than typical Arachne. Roughly thirty percent larger. Metallic as well.”
Lee tried to glean any information about how Regina viewed the more monstrous people but couldn’t make out anything through her near-expressionless face.
At this point, Jeremy and Hemsworth noticed their arrival—rising up on their feet to greet them. Hemsworth gave Regina a quick glance, then quickly did a double take. Regina let loose a near-inaudible tsk as she narrowed her eyes in his direction.
Lee started introductions. “This is Jeremy Blight and Knight Captain Hemsworth. He is a knight for Lady…” Lee forgot the name, but Hemsworth jumped in.
“Briarbreak. My apologies.” Hemsworth gave a slight bow toward Regina, but she didn’t seem to care.
Regina lazily slid her eyes over the two, then gave a simple, almost dismissive nod. “You may call me Regina. I shall be accompanying Lee for the foreseeable future.”
Everyone waited for her to continue, but she appeared to be finished with her introduction.
“Ooookay then.” Lee said, breaking the silence.
Regina then sighed and turned her head toward Em. “If you want to pretend to be asleep, at least keep pretending to snore.”
Em slowly, yet horrifyingly raised her torso upwards. She was frowning, and a little bit of spider saliva dribbled down her chin. “I don’t snore.”
Everyone just looked away, not deeming that with a response.
—----------
There was some back and forth with everyone getting to know each other. Regina was quiet, professional, and always scanning the surroundings. Lee had tried to pry some information about flying from her, but she hadn’t budged as of yet.
The sun was setting, and the nearby campfires were starting to blaze. Merry adventurers were chatting, drinking, and cooking up dinner—glad to be done with their boring trip.
Then, the repeated clang of metal footsteps on stone—coordinated and orchestrated, rang out from the village. Hemsworth stood. “My lady has arrived. It was a pleasure.”
He gave a salute to them all, then trekked down toward the village, leaving them with one less member. Kendri quickly snaked his way around the fire and took Hemsworth’s old seat.
Upon seeing Lee’s raised brow, he shrugged. “All the seats were taken.” He took a swig from his bottle to finish.
Regina barely spared Kendri a glance, but Lee noticed her crinkled nose and air of displeasure at his casual drinking. Lee probably should have warned her, but what was done is done.
“Tomorrow, let’s work on teaching and preparing all the new adventurers the Life element. The quicker they learn, the quicker they can heal.” Lee said before speaking to Regina. “Do you have Light and Earth affinities? If so, you could learn as well.”
Regina shook her head. “No. Only air. I will coordinate with the leader of Lopus tomorrow morning and inform all the adventurers about the life element. Those sent in this recent wave had more mages, as was instructed by Fatalina.”
Lee didn’t quite believe her about only having air mana, as he had been told about items that could unlock your affinities. Surely, she was in a position to acquire some of them. For the rest, he was glad that he wouldn’t have to manhandle his way into trying to wrangle up everyone. If she was willing to take care of it all, then he was willing to let her.
There was also a nugget of information she had let slip. Shoddy work for such a high-level assassin,
“So… “ He dragged out. “You can fly with only air…?”
Regina drooped her head and let loose an enormous sigh.