Finn and his bleeding guide entered the basement. From there, they passed through a door into a long hallway lit by torches. The hallway had numerous bends, with small chambers and other hallways intersecting it in certain places.
The crying man, with two knives in his shoulders and a dagger near his back, made quite the scene. Unfortunately for him, the guards along the way merely sighed as he passed through.
“The new password’s ‘May the city burn,’” said a burly man while shaking his head. “We change it once a week.”
“Nobody told me.”
“Leave an address and we’ll have someone deliver it to you.”
“Ha, you wish.” ‘Besides, Tommy would chop your guy in half and report the pieces to the city guards.’
After a hundred meters and a few twists and turns, Finn and what was left of the entrance committee reached another basement at an unknown location.
‘So they changed it again. This should be right below the bakery, sheesh.’
There was a thick, round table inside the basement, reminiscent of the one used by Arthur and his legendary knights. However, instead of proud knights of England, crooked mobsters sat around this one. Some were plump and dressed in fancy suits, while others were shredded and wore tank tops to show off their gains.
Finn raised an arm and flexed his biceps, but it was nowhere near comparable. ‘I’ve got the strength of Superman and the looks of Clark Kent… Lame.’
Finn adjusted his glasses, pushed his guide to the side, pulled a fat guy out of his seat, and then quietly took his place. Across from him at the table was a tall, muscular man in his forties, dressed in a fancy purple suit. Unlike the others, he looked genuinely capable, and the long sword at his side looked like it had seen some use.
As soon as Finn sat down, the boss rolled a cigar and started smoking.
“Don’t they teach you manners at the academy, kid?”
“I’ve yet to take my first class, so how should I know?” Finn pointed at the thug with the injured shoulders. “I want my knives back after you heal him. Oh, and there are four more at the entrance. They’re losing blood pretty fast, so you may want to check up on them.”
The boss signaled one of his henchmen and the man ran off into the hallway.
“If they die, you do know we’ll require compensation, right?”
A burly thug which Finn did not know placed his scimitar on the table. He made a threatening expression to which the boy could not help but chuckle.
“You guys change personnel faster than Amazon. Your pension plans must be horrendous.”
“What do you want, kid?”
“Information of course, about the adventurer’s guild this time around.”
“Why them?”
“I don’t know yet, that’s why I’m paying you.”
Someone arrived and gave Finn back his knives. The teen took them, dropped two gold coins on the table and stood up to leave.
“It’ll be 10 gold coins if the information is good and another two for our men’s injuries.”
“10 gold coins it is, with a 2 coin reduction for changing the Goddamn password!”
Finn slammed his fist straight through the thick, hard-wood table. The thugs went silent and the new one with the scimitar turned pale.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Come to think of it, the adventurer’s guild is stealing your clients, so I’m doing you a favor. I’ll pay five gold for the information on top of the two I’ve given you already. And if I get stopped at the entrance one more time, then that number drops by three.”
Without another word, Finn left the basement while looking at his fist. He tapped the knuckles with the butt of his knife, furrowing his brows as he listened to the impact. Of course, his fist was not damaged; there was not a scratch on it. But that was the problem.
‘If mana is the reason we can grow so strong, then this is due to mana too. My knuckles are stronger than a table when I punch, yet when I tap them lightly they feel no different than on Earth.
Does this mean that mana flows into my fists when I punch? Still, if I can control mana to this extent already, then why can’t I feel it like Annie?’
Finn left the Vistacia district and made his way to the academy. It was already time for classes to end, and he needed to retrieve his glasses.
He arrived at the first year magic class’ door just as students were starting to exit. Unlike math class which had a normal door that led to a normal classroom, this door had a staff embedded into it and only a vortex of energy could be seen when it was opened.
People started exiting this vortex like travelers through the StarGate. Eventually, Michael came out too and he bumped fists with Finn. Annie, on the other hand, gave him an angry look and walked past him.
“You’ve done messed up,” Michael chuckled while tapping his shoulder. “If you want to apologize, she’s going to the library. I’m off to spar with Tommy and Natalie, so good luck.”
In the afternoon, students could attend various clubs to expand their knowledge. There were even some skill sets, like magical tool creation, that first years could explore only there.
After everyone exited the classroom, Finn waited for the teacher to come out. After five minutes had passed and this did not happen, the boy took a deep breath and walked through the magic classroom’s vortex.
As he exited on the other side, his spine suddenly felt cold as did the rest of his body. Snow reached almost to his hips and the wind blew hundreds of snowflakes straight into his face.
‘Michael and Annie looked fine, what the hell is this place?’
The snowstorm was so powerful Finn struggled to see. Fortunately, some distance away, right in the middle of the dimensional bubble, the blurry image of a woman waving her staff eventually caught his eyes.
“Teacher… Teacher! I… I’ve come to apologize!”
Every time Finn opened his mouth, it was filled shut with snowflakes. Only after a thick layer of snow gathered on top of his head and shoulders, did Miss Bella finally notice his presence. She stopped waving her staff, and the storm ceased immediately.
“Don’t you know how to knock?” Miss Bella snapped her fingers and the snow started rapidly melting. She flew up right before this happened, while Finn had no choice but to swim.
“I’m sorry for spying on your class, Miss Bella. May I please have my glasses back?”
The boy was doing the doggy paddle. Despite all his years back on Earth, he had never learned how to stay afloat using just his legs.
Miss Bella held in a chuckle. “Why do you want to learn magic?”
“Because it’s awesome. Also, I want to add it to my archery to see what happens.”
“Hmph, are you friends with Michael Patel?”
“Yes.”
“Weird. Don’t you know what happens when you try to mix disciplines? If you spend half your time on magic and the other half on archery, you will just become mediocre at both. Many people have tried this after the empire’s founding, and besides the hero, every single one of them failed.”
“Why?” Finn blurted. ‘This doesn’t make sense.’
“Magic is not compatible with archery. As a teacher, I advise you to choose one or the other.”
‘But I have my photographic memory, and Loki himself hinted it was possible.’ “I would still like to try. Please, can I have my glasses back?”
Miss Bella sighed and waved her staff. Soon, the water drained into nothingness, and afterwards a pair of dark-blue glasses and a small earpiece flew over.
“I think you’re making a mistake, young man. Still, I wish you good luck; and if you do manage to achieve the impossible, I hope you will remember that my lessons were free.”
[Name: Andrew Finn.
Nickname: Achoo.
Age: 14 years and three months old.
Race: Quarter elf.
Class: Archer
Abilities (relevant):
- Clay construction: Miniature models {Master}. Full scale clay construction {Intermediate}
- Leadership: {Intermediate}
- Warrior's Breath {Intermediate}
- Knife fighting {Intermediate+}
- Archery {Advanced}
- Photographic memory {Master}
- Mathematics: {Saint}
- Dual Processing {Beginner}
Potential:
- Mob Boss 30%
- Nerd 60%
Comments: Curiosity killed the cat... Dumbass.]