“I’m fine with that.” The elf took that one coin and smiled at it. “So the runes are basically written spells that can be activated by anyone, even normal people. But writing them isn’t enough. They need mana to be activated. So the mage only can use them or once the mana is infused into them, those runes can be used by everyone. The downside is that each rune is a one-time use.” She explained with her eyes closed and waving her finger around as if she were reading a book hidden behind her eyelids.

“Can you give us an example of a rune?” Sam asked as he handed another coin.

“This is a rune that makes a small flame, to light a fire for example.” The elf showed a drawing she made on paper and placed a finger on it. Once she took it away the fire appeared.

Sien took out his hand above the table and tried to copy the symbol. The elf watched with eyes wide open in disbelief as he made a rune in the air and a small flame appeared in his hand with a rune circle beneath it. Sam quickly extinguished the flame in a panic that anyone else would notice the artifact in the boy’s hand.

“Sien. Not here. We might catch the attention of someone we don’t want to. Like greedy thieves.” Said Sam as he observed the people in the room to check if someone saw the claws in action and caught their interest.

“How did you do that?” The elf asked with a concern in her voice, pointing her shaky finger.

“Well… Um…” Sam tried to figure a way to talk her out of it.

“With these magic claws.” Sien said without a care in the world as he pointed at the rings on his left hand.

The elfen mage suddenly took out a book from under her coat and went through all the pages. Then she suddenly stopped and brought it closer to her face as if she was trying to hide the information inside it.

“Did you find it in a dungeon a day away from here to the north?” The woman asked with a serious tone as if they committed some kind of serious crime.

“Yes…” Answered Sien, unsure and with a pang of guilt that made the air stuck in his throat, lying heavy as he waited for a response.

“Hey! Sien. Don’t answer every question.” Said Sam as he brought a hand to Sien’s mouth to stop him from spilling more information.

“The last dungeon of the north… You were able to get the last artifact from the northern dungeons! You need to tell me about the tests in there. No one ever left that dungeon alive.” The elf was focused on Sien's claws and she got closer to them every time she asked about the dungeon.

Sien stood up to talk. “We fell into the hole where we found-” Sien wanted to tell the story but Sam placed another hand on the boy's mouth to stop him from talking.

“We’ll tell you only if we lower the price to five coins.” Sam bargained with the mage.

“I’m fine with that. Let the boy continue.” The mage said, not leaving her sight away from the boy.

Sien told the whole story while they ordered some food and drinks. Sien exaggerated the whole story like it was a tale that every adventurer wanted to experience one day in their life. The elf listened as she wrote something in the book every now and then, trying to keep her focus on the boy to get all the information.

“Wonderful. Now I have details about all the dungeons of the north. Thanks to you I’ve finished my research on them. I might as well tell you the rest of my knowledge about runes for free. On one condition. You’ll let me see the Ink Claws in action.” Said the mage as she tried to draw a rune in the air with her fingers like Sien with the Ink Claws.

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“Is that how they are called?” Sien asked as his curiosity was picked by the name the elf said.

“From this moment. Yes.” The mage answered after writing the name of the artifact in her book, right above the quick drawing she made.

“So you called them Ink Claws…” Sam said looking at a proud elf.

“Do you have a better name? And I think as a researcher I have the right to name them.” The elf scolded Sam like he was the kid in this group.

“I think this name fits them very well.” Said Sien as he looked at the Ink Claws with a glow in his eyes, as if it was the first time he had seen them.

“Thank you.” The elf said as she smiled at Sien.

“We’re fine with that condition.” Sam answered.

“Good. We can meet tomorrow. I have a quest to finish.” Said the woman as she began packing her book into the bag.

“Then we have a problem. We’re leaving early in the morning.” Said Sam, trying to not let the elf be the one calling all the shots as she wished.

“You said you’re going south, right? Then I can accompany you for some time until we reach a town with a guild hall. It’ll give me time to observe the Ink Claws and I won’t slow you down on your journey.” Once she finished her sentence she closed her bag and the clip made a satisfying sound as if their agreement was sealed by an invisible stamp.

Sam and Sien looked at each other if they had something against an elven mage joining them on the journey. They both agreed on the terms the elf suggested.

“Great. Let me introduce myself. My name is Celine Greywood. Silver rank mage with an interest in researching the dungeons and artifacts.” Said formally the elf as she gently placed her fingers on her chest.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Sien A-” Sam coughed to cover the boy’s surname, covering for his mistake. “And this is Samuel. My master.”

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Said Celine with a light nod.

“So what kind of quest brought you here?” Sien asked.

“It’s the quest I gave myself for research purposes. Just check a few places in the forest and come back.” The elf explained not expecting any sign of interest from the people by the table but she was wrong.

“Can we accompany you? It’s not like we have anything planned and we can talk a bit along the way.” Sien turned to Sam to check if he approved of this.

“Alright. Alright. I don’t see a problem with that.” Sam said as he looked the other way so Sien wouldn’t see his displeased expression. Celine chuckled at that sight.

She giggled with her mouth hidden behind her hand and once Sam turned to face her she stopped. “Okay. Let me get some stuff from my room and we can go.”

“We’ll be waiting here.” Said Sam as he pointed his thumb and the exit of the inn.

Sam expected that Celine would only take around five minutes to get to the room, pick up her things, and go back. He was wrong. Sam was a patient person but if someone says “I’ll just grab my things and come back” he thinks that it's just for a moment. When it’s not, he becomes the most impatient person in the world.

He walked around, making Sien nervous but then he suddenly stopped and whispered “Rock, paper, scissors…”

“What did you say, master?” Asked Sien as he hadn’t heard or rather wanted to make sure he heard correctly.

“Let’s play rock, paper, scissors. To kill time.” Sam placed a fist on an open hand, waiting for Sien to join him in the game.

They played for a few turns and Sien won all of them, only making two draws. Sam decided to change the game where one person had to slap the opponent's hand and the other had to avoid the slap. Sam was unable to hit Sien’s hand even once where his hand was slowly turning red.

“How… How are you this good?” Asked Sam with a shame of defeat in his voice and a blushed face.

“I played those games a lot with my sister. I had to learn how to let her win because she got annoyed when I won too many times.” Sien answered with the most innocent smile.

“You’re that good… that you had to learn how to lose… Let’s play something different.” Sam didn’t want to linger on his losses so he looked for a different game where he could win.