Good thing about having a healer as a mentor is that they teach you how to have a clear head, how to control it, and how to use it when it's necessary. So I managed to tell the entire story from the beginning with leaving only one important teensy bit out, the fact that dragons could talk with the gem, I had a feeling that telling these people that the dragons were actually sentient creatures wouldn't have exactly the best effect, despite the fact to read my mind, only Scorpion showed any sign of distrust to me as I explained my story, can't read something if it isn't there, so why did Scorpion suspect me?

"Can I see it?" Pebble asked as he pointed to the jewel.

I nodded and promptly tossed the gem to him, he dropped it as soon as it touched his hands but quickly recovered and fixed his glasses, earning scoffs from around the table. He started tracing his hands over the object before his fingers found the engraving of the teardrop symbols. "This is definitely an artifact alright."

"Will you stop with the artifacts? Nothing good ever comes from them." Palm scowled while putting her head into her hand.

"Just give me a few minutes and I'm sure I can find out what these things are for, the only other artifacts we had was the sphere and the pyramid." Pebble said as he held up the gem and grabbed his monocle to look at it further, modified to fit over his glasses.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could maybe build me some piercers for the boomstick?" I asked while putting the weapon down on the table.

He was already shaking his head. "How much powder did you manage to come back with?"

"Oh, here's my pouch." I said as I put the pouch filled with black powder next to the boomstick.

"Not bad... I can give you around twenty, just give me a few days."

"Cool, thanks."

"But I'd find another weapon though if I were you."

"What? Why?"

Everyone let out a collective sigh but me.

"The Thunder Bow as I like to call it is not a new design, it's been around for a long time now but it just isn't reliable, not with how rare black powder is." Pebble explained.

"So..."

"Find another weapon, personally I'd choose Thanatos-tipped arrows for hand-ballistas."

"Crossbow's foreigner, he calls them all fancy yet he still can't afford one." Scorpion snickered.

He rolls his eyes. "I get us food, don't I? Besides, be nice to me or next time you swing your halberd, it might just break, be lucky you have me instead of paying extra for someone else to fix your weapons."

She scoffs. "How about this, while you look at the Thunder Bow and the artifact, I'm gonna take him to the guild and see if I can set him up with a membership, the last thing we need is another one of you, Pebbles.''

"It's Pebble!" He started angrily, but Scorpion had already dragged me out the door.

"So, we need to have a little chat." She practically growled as her grip on my shoulder tightened to the part where I felt like my arm was about to pop off.

I gulped.

***

"I know you lied." Scorpion said sternly as we started walking towards the guild's building.

"Yeah, I noticed." I responded as I remembered her looking at me with suspicion earlier. "Do you know why?"

"That's the part I haven't figured out." She says as she crosses her arms and leans back on a nearby pillar.

"Why didn't anyone else figure it out, aren't you all mind readers?"

"I forgot, we haven't told you about our abilities yet."

"Abilities?"

"First, why aren't you telling what's going on?"

I sighed. "How do you think it'll go? If people see dragons as something other than the sky demons. If people see them as just a different type of people, people will get sympathetic, people will get angry, because then that doesn't mean they did this for hunger, they did this by choice, for fun, because they could, that they're evil. So what will happen then is humanity will 'rise up' and then it'll be another wave of fire. So it's best to keep it to myself right now, at least until we're ready for the truth." I explain. Better to wait for when we actually stand a chance.

She sighs and rolls her eyes. "It... makes sense... but you should tell them."

"I... need to be ready too..." I admitted as I lowered my gaze to the floor.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Tsk... come on." She says as she brings me to the doors.

"What was that about abilities again?"

"Right, so, Palm told you about the variants, right? That's because everyone has something special or unique with their abilities. I don't only read minds, but memories as well. Palm can feel other animals better than she can read humans. And Pebble... well he can manipulate liquids."

I raise my eyebrow.

"Like he can turn the current of a river in another direction."

"Oh, that's what you meant. Wait seriously?"

"Yeah, problem is he can't really use it in the desert, he usually only makes some good coin extracting Thanatos from basilisk fangs, but even so, it's really dangerous so he only does it like three times a week, he's still new to his power, you figured out what yours is?"

"Visions I guess?"

"Midas also had visions according to my mother."

"Are any of your parents-"

"No, me and the other teardrops were raised together in a small community underground that got destroyed during a kentri migration, we survived it only for dragons to show up and..."

"Only survivors?" I asked solemnly.

She nodded. "Only survivors." She nodded. "Welp, let's get you a membership, maybe you'll find out as you're facing down a band of Cove Raiders."

"I lost an arm slowly, if this is about a flight or fight thing then I'm pretty sure if I had a power then I think it would have kicked in back then."

"You never know." She shrugged before pushing the doors open, there were three main parts, the rotunda in the center, the armory section on the right, and the bar and tables on the left, mostly full.

"Hey Scorpion, who's the new kid?" The boy at the rotunda asked, he must have been a few years younger than me. It made sense, people usually get married at sixteen so it's good to have a few years of work before then.

"This is River, he needs a membership, guy's got potential." She stated as she placed about five silver pieces down on the desk in front.

"Oh really?" He asked with a smirk before it faltered as he saw my missing arm. "How'd you lose it?" He asked tentatively.

"Lost it to a dragon."

He started to laugh but saw Scorpion's stern glare.

"He... one membership card for River coming up, what class would you like to be assigned?"

"I'm sorry, I'm really new to this so if you could give me the rundown." I asked.

"Yeah, no worries, so there's usually four roles when it comes to being in a party, you got the Lionhearts like Scorpion here, they usually wear heavy armor and weapons, you got the main fighters, usually good all around, you can be a bowman which is... pretty self explanatory, or you can always be a tamer if you want!" He says while jumping from behind the table to lean in closer.

"I uh... what's a tamer?"

"A tamer is someone like Palm, the ones who ride the snakes." Scorpion explained.

"I think I'll stick as a bowman, thank you very much." I said as he wrote something with his quill and then picked up some small box and put it in ink before placing it against the card, before pressing against it. There was a sharp sound before he took the box away and handed me the card.

"A guild membership will allow you access to the armory, restrooms and other amenities inside of the guild house provided you complete one task on the board per week, please do not lose your membership card or there will be a replacement fee, otherwise, enjoy."

"Thanks." I said as I looked at the small sheet of paper, my name engraved in ink as well as a circular symbol of an arrow and a bow.

"Since you did choose to be a bowman you will be assigned to Ant as your training instructor, every tenday at the start of fourth quarter, starting today actually so good luck."

***

I watched the sundial till it finally turned into the fourth quarter as I waited at the bar, this is where Scorpion told me to wait so I just continued to sit there while sipping my light beer, everyone else was drinking it, why not me? I now know why. I winced with every sip but gulped it down regardless.

It wasn't long before a guy approached, he was clad in desert wear except for his clean-shaven head and faint bear, he wasn't as tan as everyone else and didn't have the same eyes, a foreigner.

"Are you River?" He asked in a gruff tone.

"Yes sir." I start to stand up but he quickly motions for me to sit down again.

"Have you ever used a ranged weapon before?" He grumbled.

"Not really sir, only a prototype boomstick."

"Aye, you're one of those teardrop bastards, aren't ya?"

"Just joined the club." I shrugged.

"So is it true ya can read my mind cause you'd probably shit yourself if you'se seen what I've seen."

"Not all of us, not me."

"So what can ya do?" He asked a little frustratingly.

"Nothing special, but I gotta get myself ready." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Ready for what?" He raised his eyebrow.

"I... can't tell the others, alright?"

"Aye, I'm no rat."

"I wanna go to the rainforest, finish what Toucan started."

He stayed still for a moment before bursting into guttural laughter. "Ya know... Palm'll kill ya for saying that shit."

"I know, so she can't know."

"I've gots you boyo." He then got up before motioning for me to follow. "Come, today we start ya first lesson."

***

"Here, I've made it me-self." He said to me as he handed me some type of prosthetic with two long supports on the sides connected to a rope, the center attached to a rod which could be pulled back. "This here is a crossbow, you pull back, load it with an arrow, take aim, fire."

"Why did you have to take me out of the village for this?" I asked.

"Simple, the other instructors, they'll make ya's shoot still targets, it's stupid, not right, so we hunt." He said as he pointed to a clearing where there was a group of three kentri's.

"Oh shit!"

"Hey ya damn bugs! Ovyer here!" Ant bellowed with a gruff laugh as he waved his arms.

"Oh three moons..." I watched as the bugs let out shrill screams as they noticed us as they then started to ascend up the hill.

"What the fuck?" I ask him but my eyes widen as I see him running in the other direction.

"Good luck!" He shouts while laughing.

"You bastard!" I yelled before jumping as I realized the bugs were now just under the dune.

I quickly loaded an arrow and shot it at the first one, the arrow made a whistling noise before lodging itself right into one of it's eyes, the creature screeched one last time, before dropping down to the floor.

I shot again at the second one but the arrow just bounced off the carapace.

I quickly loaded as it lunged towards me only for an arrow to fly past my head and hit one of the eyes, dropping this creature too.

I looked back and saw Ant, loading another shot with his larger crossbow. "Thank y-"

"Boyo keep your eye on the-"

I turned back too late as the barb went straight into my shoulder, the kentri opened it's pincers wide but I managed to rip the barb out of me and jam it into the head, instantly the creature freezed. I grabbed one of the arrows and stabbed it into it's eyes, finishing off the last one as I got up to face Ant who was running back.

"Not bad boyo... not bad at all..." he snickered but his eyes went to the hole in my chest, the hole that was oozing the yellow liquid of kentri venom. "How are ya not frozen?"