Getting through the rest of Friday was a pain. I ended up loading most of Matheson’s truck myself, since the kid kept vanishing off to ‘go on break’ and coming back reeking of weed. I ended up irritated enough that I couldn’t focus enough to practice, even in the time when I had the back of the truck to myself. When his truck was finally loaded, I had to rush back to get the last truck on my dock done before going home. I ended up leaving half an hour late and too exhausted to do more than grab a burger on the way home and pass out. I slept hard, but I could vaguely remember dreams of someone hugging me tightly.

The next day, Saturday, saw me waking up later than I’d wanted to. The girls hadn’t said more than ‘early Saturday’ when they’d call me back to their world for this equipment trip, so I tried to be productive around the house. Cleaning up, running a load of dishes through the dishwasher, getting a shower in and the like.

I’d been debating if I had time to do some of my meal-prep for the next week of work when the dark-light, neon words flashed across my vision.

Kassandra Silverscale and Rieka Coldeye have sent a non-urgent request for your presence regarding your Guardian contract.

Transit? View summoning?

This time, I had a bit of foreknowledge and focused instead on the ‘View Summoning’ option. A window outlined in purple light popped up with a still image of Kassandra and Rieka standing in the grass next to one of the large buildings that had been nearby when they summoned me last. Neither of them looked to be in danger and both were dressed nicely, in blouses and skirts for both of them. The color of the still image was mostly drained out, leaving it as a chemical wash of blue and purple shadows, like someone had tinted a black and white photo with the two colors.

“Glad I dressed a bit better than last time.” I muttered to myself, tugging the white button-down straighter on my shoulders and checking to make sure the fly on my nicest pair of blue-jeans was up. Once my ‘preparations’ were finished, I mentally swiped the preview image away and focused on the ‘Transit’ option. After a couple of seconds of focus, I felt the rushing sensation pick me up and the world swirled away.

Landing in the grass after my third trip through the dimensions was as disorienting as the first had been, but knowing what to expect made it easier to compensate and not stumble.

That lack of stumble was promptly remedied by Kassandra crashing into my side though and nearly knocking me on my ass.

The enthusiastic dwarf lamia only came up to the bottom of my rib cage when she was ‘standing’ normally, but she barreled into my side with all the enthusiasm of a linebacker.

“Liam! You came!” She cried happily and wrapped her arms around my waist. Her muscular snake tail did the same around my legs, wrapping twice around me from ankle to knee and squeezing gently. Her arms were less gentle as she hugged me tightly, burying her face into my side.

“Whoa! Careful, Kass!” I protested, but it was hard to be angry or upset with the enthusiastic greeting I had gotten from the cute snake-girl. She giggled at my complaints but didn’t release me, instead just rubbing her face back and forth for several moments that sent her tumble of red hair swaying. I could feel the softness of her curves against my body, but the fact we were in public and I could see more than a dozen other students walking about at this time kept me focused.

Remember, she’s a noblewoman and Rieka is a princess! Don’t make them look bad, Liam! I reminded myself, carefully hugging the smaller woman back and catching Rieka’s gaze with my eyes.

“Hey Rieka, how are things going?” I asked the wolf-eared girl. Rieka smiled gently, though there was a hint of envy in her bright blue eyes as she watched Kass’ enthusiastic greeting.

Rieka was dressed in a pale blue skirt that matched her eyes and a close fitting, white blouse with short sleeves that bunched into a small white ruffle just above her elbow. A thick, leather belt hung from her waist with two pouches and another of the metal batons hanging in a sling on her left hip.

“Good morning, Liam. Kassandra, you need to let him go eventually. People are starting to stare.”

“Let them stare!” Kassandra declared brightly, not giving up her grip on my waist. “Liam is warm and feels wonderful to snuggle up to.”

I considered her words and glanced around a bit. Back home, the weather was coming into mid-September, so it was beginning to cool off at night but was still pretty warm throughout the day unless you were up in the mountains. The morning felt pleasant to me, so her comment about me being warm was confusing enough that it must have shown on my face, because Rieka explained a moment later.

“Kassandra’s particular breed of lamia are cold blooded. Her tribe originates from a collection of geothermal caverns actually, it’s part of why she’s pocket sized.”

“I am not pocket sized!” Protested the lamia in question, despite her apparent attempts to actually wiggle into my jean pocket. I could feel the rims of her spectacles digging into my chest slightly as she continued to nuzzle into it. It wasn’t painful really, just a counterpoint to the softness of the rest of her.

“You kind of are, Kass. Come on, the longer we hang around, the less likely we are to find what we need to outfit Liam.” Rieka teased gently, her fluffy white tail swishing slightly as she prodded her friend.

“Fiiiine.” Kassandra sighed exaggeratedly and peeled herself off of me finally. She took a minute to straighten my shirt before unwinding her coils from my lower legs, a small blush cresting her cheeks while she glanced up at me occasionally.

Not being used to such open affection or friendliness, I was blushing a bit as well. It might not be considered ‘manly’ to admit it, but the hug felt really good. It scratched a bit of the mental itch that I had that was telling me the girls were just being nice.

“Thank you, Kass. It’s good to see you too.” I reassured her with a smile, which flipped her slight pout into a grin and she swayed happily on her tail before grabbing my hand and tugging me forward.

“Okay, we’ve wasted enough time here, lets get moving!” Kassandra cheered happily. Rieka rolled her eyes but continued to smirk at her friend’s back while following after us. “We have gear to buy to equip Liam!”

Assist your contracted companions, Kassandra Silverscale and Rieka Coldeye, with their errands today and see them home safely.

Reward - 100 SP

The words flared across my vision in response to Kassandra’s statement and I grinned. That should be easy enough.

The walk into town let me see more of the campus for Juneau as well as the countryside, which was illuminating.

Juneau Academy had a sprawling campus studded with older style, stone brick buildings. The roofs of which were primarily some form of clay or slate shingle and would vary in color from building to building. All the buildings were built of the same polished, gray stone. However, the accent woods for the doors, windows, and shutters varied as wildly as the roofs did. It reminded me of a rather idyllic image of an old English college town.

The road we followed was raised slightly and made of closely fitted stones in a manner that reminded me of the pictures I’d seen of the ancient Roman roads that still endured after centuries. They were obviously well traveled, showing the wear and tear of feet and wagon wheels, but there were no potholes or missing cobbles the whole way through. A curtain wall that stood a good twenty feet tall and at least ten wide encircled the entire campus, built of the same gray stone as the buildings. I could see people in metal armor and carrying medieval weapons patrolling on the battlements above us as the road led to a large gateway that pierced the wall. Near the gate were several large buildings that had the look of warehouses and stables, which was further reinforced by the smell coming from them.

“The closest city is about a mile or so down the road. Juneau has shops of it’s own, but they tend to be more expensive than is reasonable since they cater to the higher class students.” Kassandra explained. She’d released my hand after a few minutes and was content to slither alongside us, meandering back and forth a bit while humming. I’d finally gotten a chance to take in Kassandra’s outfit as well.

While Rieka’s sleeves ended at her elbow, Kassandra’s ran all the way to her wrist. She wore a close fitting blouse in a dark, forest-green that accented her red-brown hair and pale skin wonderfully. The bodice of her shirt was buttoned low, leaving an expanse of freckle-speckled cleavage bare. It was also accented by another underbust corset in an earthy brown that matched her scales wonderfully. She wore a black skirt that covered her generous hips and pert bottom, though I wasn’t sure where it should have fallen if she had legs due to the fact that her snake tail would shift her relative height by several inches depending on how she was moving. She also had a wide belt around her hips with a trio of pouches and the same style of metallic baton in a sling off her left hip.

“That’s fine. I’m in you girls’ capable hands for this. I’d be a real ass if I complained about equipment you two were buying me. I don’t want you spending too much though, since it costs you just to summon me after all.” I reassured her and Kassandra gave me another brilliant smile that made her cheeks dimple.

“We want to make sure you have every advantage as well, Liam. Since you’ll be protecting the two of us as well. Rieka and I have limited experience with weapons, so it’ll be up to you to pick what feels right for you, but we trust you.” The unfettered faith she had in me that was displayed in her tone made my heart swell a bit and I resolved to do my best regardless of what was to come.

Kassandra’s movement made the baton on her hip bounce slightly as she slithered in a happy little curve and it reminded me of something that we’d talked about the previous day. Most of the people on the campus that I’d seen before we headed out of the open gate carried them after all.

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s with those?” I pointed at the baton on her hip and then the one on Rieka’s. “I assume they are something for your magic, since I’ve seen quite a few people carrying them, but what is it?”

“Oh, that’s right! We were going to give you a demonstration as well, so you know what to expect when we go on our first mission tomorrow.” Rieka answered quickly, drawing my attention back to my other side where she walked. The girls had settled into position on either side of me, with Rieka on my left and Kassandra on my right.

“And yes, Liam. As you guessed, the rods are part of how we work magic.” Kassandra tugged her’s free of the leather holster like she was drawing a pistol and held it upright in front of her face with a flourish. To my other side, Rieka did the same but without as much showboating.

“Don’t waste mana though.” I cautioned them. “You told me yesterday that you guys have to work to earn it for your classes. I don’t quite understand how that all works anyway, but if it’s a limited resource, don’t just throw it away showing off please?”

“It’s not a waste to prepare you for the future, Liam. Besides, I wasn’t planning on using more than a single iron coin’s worth of mana.” Kassandra was quick to shoot me a reassuring smile before beckoning for me to follow her off the road.

After leaving the walls, the road had turned from a cobbled street into one of hard packed earth only lightly marked with wagon wheels. Kassandra’s scales had no problem with the dirt, and I’d worn my work boots out of habit. Rieka was wearing a pair of short-heeled boots as well, so she had no issues keeping up either. I took the sensible footwear as a good sign. If Rieka had worn slippers or high heels, I might have worried but she had seemed quite practical in the past, which was further proved now.

“Iron coin worth?” I asked once we were in the long grass at the side of the road.

“It may be different where you are from, Liam. But here, mana is found in a natural state as either a crystal or alloyed with natural metal veins.” Rieka answered while Kassandra fiddled with her rod. “Smelting the metal actually reinforces the alloying effect. Only certain metals will form this natural alloy, those being primarily precious metals, with iron being the one exception. Generally, the more rare the metal type, the more mana that will alloy with it naturally. The ranking is iron, copper, silver, gold, platinum, and finally holy palladium.” The reverence with which Rieka said the last one made me raise an eyebrow and she explained further. “Holy palladium is very rare to begin with. While the mana in each metal is something that will regenerate with time, as more mana will come and recrystallize in it, the higher the capacity for mana in a metal the longer it takes to regenerate. It takes time as the mana condenses out of the air slowly, sort of like dew forming on the grass in the morning.”

“To give reference, Liam. Iron takes around a month of just sitting around by itself to regenerate its mana. Copper takes three months, silver is a year. Gold takes nearly five years and platinum can take up to a hundred to fully regenerate. And the amount of a given metal in one location can slow it too. A discharged mana gold can recharge faster if it is alone in a location of high mana, or slower if it is surrounded by others as they fight over the ambient mana.” Kassandra finished fiddling with her rod and part of the upper shaft actually shifted and folded open. She extracted a round disc of metal and offered it to me.

“Huh…okay, so what about raw crystals? You mentioned those as well, why not use the crystals?” I asked while taking the iron disc and examining it. The bit of metal had the same gray color of plain iron, but it had an opalescent sheen when I angled it in the light that made the surface shimmer. On one side was the shape of a mountain with an eye set into the side, while the other had a collection of runic marks engraved in it that shimmered a bit brighter than the metal did. I couldn’t understand what the marks meant, so I could assume it wasn’t writing. The fact that the translation thing I was given worked for the written word was cool as heck after all.

“Raw crystals are harder and easier to work with. They only form in areas that are charged with natural mana. Deep lakes and fast moving rivers will form water mana crystals, glaciers will form ice mana crystals, volcanoes produce fire mana crystals. On and on like that.” Rieka answered while I handed the token back to Kassandra. “I’m a lightning mage, so I could use lightning or air mana crystals. Same as Kassandra could use water or ice mana crystals, since her ice magic draws directly from water. The downside is that the crystals from opposing elements will actually hurt us to draw mana from. A fire mana crystal could seriously injure Kassandra just to try and use, while earth would do the same to me since lightning is considered part of the air domain.”

“So you could use the crystals, but they have additional risks?” I asked after a minute of consideration.

“Sort of. Actual crystallized mana is both more and less useful than the alloyed metal. Something about the metal helps to balance it out so it doesn’t elementally align, so anyone can use it. Thus the demand for mana alloyed metal is higher in general. Crystals are worth a lot, but only to the right people. Usually those with that natural element, craftsmen, and the occasional summoner with an elementally aligned familiar or bond.” Rieka explained quickly while Kassandra got the disc slotted back into her rod and closed the frame over top of it.

Watching Kassandra work the mechanicals of it, I could see that the rod was actually hollow with a row of the iron coins in it. A sliding shutter moved out of the way so she could touch the edge of the coins at need and I assumed she needed contact to be able to draw the mana out of them.

“That and crystals don’t recharge themselves. So people prefer the metals if they can get them. That’s the other reason that mages revere palladium as a holy metal. The rarity and the amount of power even an ounce of it has is enough to level mountains. No one is certain, but it’s believed that the Queen has a few ounces hidden away in the royal vaults for emergencies.” Kassandra said cheekily, turning a grin up at the two of us.

“No comment. Even if I did know, I couldn’t say.” Rieka said automatically with a roll of her eyes. “I assume you wanted to go first, Kass?”

“Sure!” Kassandra chirped happily and turned away from us. The section of the road that we were on was bracketed on either side by tall fields of grass. A boulder sat some distance away from the road, poking up like the rounded back of some massive, gray turtle. “Ice Lance!” Kassandra cried, flourishing her rod while pressing on one of the discs with her thumb.

It took less than a second for an icy prism as long as my forearm and as thick around as my wrist to form just ahead of her baton, the tip glinting brightly in the early morning light. Kassandra launched it forward with a flick of her wrist and the missile leapt through the air to slam into the rounded stone, chipping off a hunk of rock and shattering into a dozen pieces, which rapidly melted away into water and soaked into the ground. It took less than two seconds to form and launch, and the icy projectile had done more damage to the boulder than a rifle shot.

“Wicked…” I muttered just before Kassandra tackled me again, this time taking me off my feet successfully.

“COLD!” Kassandra protested, her tail wrapping quickly around my hips and legs as she huddled against my chest. The hand that held her rod was indeed cold to the touch. I learned that when she pulled up my shirt and pressed it to my stomach.

“Kass! Be more dignified for once, please?” Rieka protested, but Kassandra made a sound of refusal and continued to press her chilled body against me. I fought it for only a moment, her honest distress at the chill was enough that I didn’t fight too hard.

“Seems like a heck of a weakness for her, given she’s cold blooded.” I said from my position on the grass, buried under the dwarf lamia who had finally finished warming her hand up but hadn’t moved yet.

“Yea. Practice will help to focus the spell enough that there won’t be a bleed off to chill her in the future. But for the time being, it does make it hard to practice.” Rieka sympathized, but from the look in her eyes I could tell that she was happy to not be the target of Kassandra’s desire to warm up for once.

“Your turn, Rieka.” Kassandra shifted so that she wasn’t pinning me down, but didn’t unwrap my legs. The short woman was surprisingly affectionate for someone I’d only met twice before and it was continually throwing me through a loop of confusion.

“Are you going to let him up?” Rieka shot her serpentine friend a pointed look, but her ears were still perked up and her tail wiggled slowly so I knew she wasn’t as irritated as she sounded.

“Naw, the ground is still cold and Liam is helping keep me warm right now.” Kassandra quipped back at her, the grin not fading a single inch from her face.

“I would like to see what she does.” I said quietly, loath to protest enough that the curvy woman might move off of me. Thankfully, Kassandra was a problem solver. She simply shifted to the other side so that I could see the field rather than her cleavage when I turned that way. Which was good since I’d been having to fight the urge to count the freckles that decorated that lovely bit of flesh.

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

“Lightning is faster than ice, but control is harder. I’ve been working on precision for awhile now.” Rieka explained quickly, brandishing her rod for a moment before flicking it outwards. “Bolt Chain.” She called out as the tip of her metallic rod hit the furthest point of her body. A flash of blue-white electricity shaped vaguely like a thick chain lashed out like the cracking tip of a whip. It crossed the thirty feet to the boulder in an instant and cracked sharply when it connected. The sustained crackle of electricity continued as Rieka held the connection for a moment before cutting it off. Surprisingly, the chain didn’t retract or even vanish. It cut off at the end of her rod and whipped forward to hit the boulder with a second sharp crack that sheared off a bit more stone. When the dots that the bright light had caused faded from my vision and I was able to see again, there was a spot on the boulder that glowed a dull red color and a spider web of cracks radiated outwards from the impact point. A second, smaller impact point was slightly higher than the first on the boulder as well.

“Impressive. I’m surprised you girls even need protection with that kind of power.” I breathed, glancing from the boulder back to Rieka, who was blushing now while her tail stirred furiously behind her. The little black tip looked like it was chasing the fluffy blonde mass of the rest of her tail as it flicked back and forth happily.

“Remember though, Liam. We are basically throwing money at our problems. My spell only cost me a single mana iron coin. Rieka’s cost…” Kassandra squinted up at her friend who blushed suddenly, looking like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “I’m pretty sure it cost at least three. Since she wanted to show off for you.” The accusatory tone of Kassandra’s voice was backed up with amusement as the furiously blushing blonde in front of her rushed to deny it.

“I was not! Lightning magic is just more expensive in general.” Rieka protested after a moment but that apparently proved Kassandra’s point, because she just smirked up at her friend. “Fine! I wanted to make sure Liam knew he could count on both of us to defend ourselves if needed.” Rieka huffed, crossing her arms and stomping in a rather cute fashion, her ears tucking back in anger for the first time that day.

As soon as they did, Kassandra unwound herself from me and slid over to hook her elbow in Rieka’s and tug the pouting wolf-woman onto the road once more.

“I’m sure it did that. Come on, Rieka! We need to get on our way to town to get these errands done. No slacking, Liam! It may be a beautiful day and feel good to just lay in the sun, but you can’t be lazy.” She said airily, immediately changing the target of her teasing to me. Which worked to cheer up Rieka apparently.

“Yea, come on Liam! Don’t make us wait for you.” The blonde’s ears popped right back up as she let Kassandra tow her down the road.

“I’m not…Oh come on, girls!” I protested, rolling to my feet and quickly brushing the grass off my pants before jogging after the two laughing girls.

<><><>

The town that we eventually arrived in was apparently named Kintos. It was a walled town that was slightly smaller than the footprint occupied by Juneau, but was far more densely populated. The road shifted back to cobblestones about a hundred yards from the gate, which was less impressive than the one at Juneau, but that also made sense since the town of Kintos likely wasn’t as well funded as the big academy. According to Kassandra, who was happy to flex her history knowledge, Kintos had popped up about twenty years after the establishment of Juneau as a trading post that eventually grew in size to a full town with the custom it acquired from the nearby academy. The majority of the foodstuffs and general supplies that Juneau needed and used was imported via Kintos, so it was a thriving merchant town.

The gate that we entered from straddled a wide road that was bracketed by well off shops. At a glance, I guessed that the better off merchants fought over the position by the gate in order to cater to the students coming from Juneau either to buy or sell things. While students could sell items they had made back in Juneau, a fair number would bring their goods to Kintos in hopes of getting paid a bit better. And while the craft of students wasn’t great, according to Kassandra it did yield some items that were not as easily available on the regular market and would allow the merchants to get an ‘in’ with young folk that had potential to become even more important in time.

The girls had moved back to bracketing me, though Rieka was on my right now. Kassandra had handed off her friend to me after walking for a bit, neatly dragging me over with one hand and replacing her arm through Rieka’s with mine. This had led to more blushing from the wolf-eared woman and more than a bit of mischievous giggling from the snake-tailed one. But Rieka hadn’t protested and didn’t release my arm. So I did my best to be a gentleman and guide her along.

Entering into Kintos, we joined a crowd of early shoppers moving through the street. There were people of all sorts of races walking around. Several lamia like Kassandra, but a good deal larger. More wolf-folk than any of the other kin, but I did spot people with cat, fox, bear, and hawk features as well. I thought I saw someone with butterfly wings moving amongst the crowd, but by the time I looked back the iridescent wings of the figure had vanished from view. There were also a decent mix of elves and dwarves moving about too, with the pointed ears of the former and stature of the latter being what I used to tell them apart.

“This way, Liam!” Kassandra called, slithering in front of me and Rieka to beckon us down one of the narrower side streets. Most of the shops on the main street were ostentatious and honestly intimidating. While both of the girls and myself were dressed well, a lot of these early morning shoppers were dressed even fancier than we were. Silks and precious metals were on display all around us, though I could tell from the badges or armbands they wore that a good number of these people were students from Juneau as well. Kassandra had shown me her badge, hidden in a leather pouch on her belt, while we walked to town. It was made of brass and had her name and house engraved on it to mark her as a student.

Kassandra led us down the side street and away from the bustle of the main road to a small shop set up on the edge of a square around a short fountain. The rumble and bustle of the crowd had fallen behind us enough that I could finally think. Given how sparse the population in Juneau had been the small handful of times I’d been there, I hadn’t expected the crowds here.

“Whew, it’s always such a rush to go from the countryside straight into the Eastgate Market.” Rieka gave voice to what I’d been feeling and I just nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, but it’s nothing compared to the capital's markets. I’ve only been there a few times with my parents, but they were just…crazy.” Kassandra continued to lead us up the short set of stairs in front of the shop. A wooden plank in the shape of a kite shield with a sword crossed over a hammer painted on the front of it hung over the door.

“This is the place, I guarantee it’ll be the best deal we can get. Daddy told me to go here if I needed any equipment.” Kassandra lead the charge through the door with enthusiasm and Rieka hid a chuckle behind her free hand before gesturing towards the door with one hand.

“Ladies first.” I responded automatically and reached forward to hold the door open for her. Rieka gave me a half bow and ducked under my arm to go through the door, the blackened tips of her wolf ears tickling my arm as she did so.

“Uncle Silas!” I could hear Kassandra calling from inside the shop as I followed after Rieka, letting the door fall closed behind me. “Uncle Silas, where are you?”

“Little Kassie, is that you?” An older, male voice came from deeper in the shop and then the sound of a surprised yelp followed by a laugh followed the words.

Emerging from the short hallway that led from the doorway to a large, open room done entirely in wood. Several large oil-lamps hanging from the ceiling lit the room, and I spotted Kassandra. She was currently trying to wrap her arms around the rather broad waist of a man who was easily half as wide as he was tall and had a pair of rounded bear ears poking out of his messy brown hair. Dressed in simple linen clothes of green and white, with a dark green vest over top of it all, he had the look of a shopkeeper. And given the wares hanging from the walls and on tables around the room, he was a successful one at that.

Weapons hung from racks on the wall or set up on the floor. Everything from swords to maces to hammers to bows. A dozen dressing dummies along one wall held different types of armor. One entire wall was assorted equipment such as bags, backpacks, torches, tools, and other things. Bundles of dried fruit and meat sat on another set of shelves next to a spinning rack full of bunched herbs that mixed their fresh scent with that of the oil from the weapons.

“Feel like I walked into a general store in a fantasy game…” I muttered to myself, coming to a stop behind Rieka who was waiting politely for the giggling Kassandra to finish her hug with the big man.

“Kassie, it’s good to see my favorite magical noodle.” The big man laughed, the gray in his beard giving him a dignified air that was entirely ruined by the laughing Kassandra who refused to release the hug. “Hello to you two as well, welcome to my shop. Any friends of Kassandra’s are friends of mine. I’ll be happy to help you as soon as I can get this little limpet off me.” The big man gave them both nods and was turning to look back down at Kassandra when he did a double take. “Princess Rieka! I am…”

“Stop, please.” Rieka cut him off with a raised hand and a gentle smile. “I’m just here as a student and a friend of Kassandra’s. Please, do not treat me any differently.”

“She’s being honest, Uncle Silas. Rieka isn’t one to get up on her nobility or anything like that.” Kassandra added in quickly.

It was actually kind of reassuring to see that I wasn’t the only one that the serpentine woman was so huggy with. Though I couldn’t help a bit of jealousy seeing her clinging to another guy. That sensation came out of left field enough that it startled me, and must have shown on my face because Kassandra unwound from her current ‘victim’ and immediately slithered over to us, sliding around me to throw a coil about my thighs and use it to push herself to my height and tuck an arm over my shoulders. Which had the side effect of pressing her bust into my chest as well. I slid an arm around her waist to steady her on instinct and she shot me a sideways grin.

“Uncle Silas, I want to introduce our contracted guardian summon, Liam! Rieka and I bonded with him just the other day and we are here to get him kitted out so we can start doing missions from the Academy.”

The large bear-man turned his startled gaze from Rieka to me and his eyes narrowed first, then widened as he took me in.

“Guardian summon?” The big man inquired, giving me another once over. Rieka stepped to one side so as not to block his view and the big man’s gaze took on a calculating angle.

“Yes. We summoned Liam as part of one of our classes, it happened by accident but he still agreed to work with us. He’s a human!”

“A human? I thought they were all extinct.” Silas grunted, rubbing his chin with one hand while the other straightened his mussed vest.

“They are, but Liam is a Traveler, meaning he comes from another dimension actually! He’s still getting used to his powers, so we need some gear for him. He’s going to act as guardian for me and Rieka.” I watched as they talked back and forth, making a note about the whole ‘extinct’ race to ask the girls about when I had a chance.

“Interesting…Not every day you meet a member of an extinct race.” The bear-man gave me another searching look before nodding once. “Okay, well if Kassie vouches for you, then I’ll trust her word. The only person more clever than her in a deal is her parents, though which of them would win changes based on the subject being argued. Just make sure you don’t let her get hurt and we won’t have problems.”

“Uncle Silas! Don’t threaten my partner.” Kassandra protested with a fierce scowl, but the bear-man just laughed and stepped back once more.

“Okay, my dear. Well, welcome to my shop. What were you thinking for weapons and equipment? I’ll give you a good deal, but I can’t give my stock away. Not even for you, little Kassie.” Kassandra blew a raspberry at the bear-man, getting another chuckle from him.

“I’d never ask you to, Uncle Silas. I just want a fair deal is all.”

“That’s my girl!” Chortled Silas, clapping sharply. “So, decent gear or good gear? How long are you planning to be using it before replacing it, and what sort of experience do you have with weapons and armor, my boy?”

All three turned their gazes onto me and it was only Kassandra pressed to my side that kept me from shrinking away at the sudden staring.

“Uh…next to nothing with weapons actually and I’ve never worn armor before. The place that I’m from didn’t really have stuff like this.” I gestured to the rack of equipment and supplies. “I’ve got some experience fighting with my hands, but that’s about it.”

“Hmm.” Grumbled the bear-man, his piercing eyes digging into my soul. Kassandra’s smile didn’t dim though, which must have helped the large man’s opinion of me because he nodded slowly. “Well, without any actual training, I’d recommend going with just decent gear. No reason to invest heavily into a tool that you might not be comfortable with. No training with weapons at all?” He asked the second part to Kassandra and she shrugged, looking to me.

“None.” I confirmed.

“I’d recommend a mace then. Nothing complicated and all sides are dangerous on one of those. They tend to be messy to work with, but get the job done. The club was one of the first weapons created for a reason after all. They can wear you out though if you aren’t used to swinging them. Tend to be heavier than swords by nature and don’t have as much reach.” The big man hurried over to a rotating rack that held the blunt weapons and began spinning it slowly while glancing back and forth between us.

“What do you think, Liam? Does a mace sound good?” Kassandra turned her gaze back to me, her eyes shining expectantly.

“Honestly, I’d been hoping for a sword. Always wanted to learn to use one of those, that or the axe.”

“No, not an axe to start with.” Silas shut me down immediately with a shake of the head. “The axe is a finesse weapon really, such a small striking edge and how you use it. I really do recommend a mace to start you out with, but if your heart is set on a sword…” He let the words trail off and I shared a glance with Rieka and Kassandra. Both of them nodded, Rieka with an indulgent smile and Kassandra with a broad grin.

“Yea, I’d really prefer a sword if you could, Silas.” The bear-man nodded once before digging into his pouch and producing a knotted cord that he used to measure my arm from wrist to shoulder.

“Okay, if you insist on a sword then I will see what we can do for you. There are several options.”

<><><>

We ended up going with a straight-bladed weapon that Silas called an ‘arming sword’ that was surprisingly light for its size. The weapon was around three pounds in my hand, but nearly three feet long which worked out well for my tall frame. The armor was simple enough, I had to choose between a heavy linen jacket that hung to mid thigh and was lined with metal strips for extra protection or a leather jerkin with the same metal strips to reinforce it. Deciding to err on the side of caution, I went for the leather. Silas threw in a belt to put the sword on, as it came with a sheath already. While the girls took care of dickering on the price with him, I tried on the leather jerkin. It took a bit to figure out how to wear it, as the interior was lined with linen and wool padding to soften the blows. It creaked slightly while I got it settled and was tight across the chest, but it was ‘second hand’ after all, having been something Silas had bought off of a retiring guard.

“Looks good on you, lad.” Silas said after accepting a handful of the shimmering coins from the girls. I tried not to stare, both wanting and not wanting to know how much the girls were investing in me. Instead, I just resolved myself to do the best that I could to make sure that it was worth their coin.

“Thanks, it’s a little tight but that’ll just take some getting used to.”

“Aye, it’ll loosen up as the leather warms up some. Kassie, where are you three heading for your first mission?” Silas turned his attention back to the snake-tailed woman. I’d learned during the haggling that she wasn’t actually his niece, though she still insisted on calling him uncle. Apparently, Silas was an old friend of her parents and had settled into Kintos several years ago to sell to the students, travelers, and monster hunters that came to the more wild areas around Juneau for their hunting.

“Kobolds. There’s been a sighting of a nest only a few hours from town at one of the old ruins. So nothing super dangerous, since we only have a day to do it. But it’s something that needs to be taken care of and should cover our mana costs for most of the week.” Kassandra shrugged before slithering over to inspect the jacket I was wearing. She tugged on one corner and then another to straighten it before smiling up at me. “Looking good, Liam! I’m sorry that we can’t get you something better…”

“No, it makes sense not to invest too much. Besides, I don’t want you two burning through your available money anyway, since you need it for your classes.” I squatted down some so that I was on the same height as Kassandra. She smiled and rested her arms on my shoulders while studying me with those intense, slitted eyes of hers from behind her silver-rimmed spectacles. “You two are investing in me, every time you summon me. I need to show that the investment is worth it.”

“I know you are worth it, Liam.” Kassandra cooed quietly and I had to resist the urge to kiss the cute redhead. Everything about her posture told me that she wanted a kiss, but I knew that it was too soon. That and the middle of a shop floor was not the right place for it. Also, I was having reservations about the speed at which I was developing affection towards this girl.

“I just have to prove you right then.” I responded, pulling her into a light hug, being careful not to press the metal parts of the armor into her. Kassandra had no such hesitation and crushed herself to me with a happy hum.

We spent a bit more time in the shop chatting with Silas, but a few more customers arrived so we made our excuses and headed back out. The stop had only taken part of the day, so the girls spent the rest of it showing me around the town and getting a feel for the area. I even spotted a familiar face, the large-eared mouse girl that I had seen that first night under Rue House. She was haggling with a book-seller and looked busy, so I didn’t point her out to the girls.

With our shopping done, we had a late lunch of steamed buns at a booth in the main stretch of town. Sitting on the sun-warmed stone benches and just watching people go by was definitely interesting, and not just because of the difference in scenery from all the strange and interesting people.

It was actually while I was people watching that I spotted the young woman glaring in our direction. She had triangular, fox ears in a deep, russet red poking out of her brown hair. It took me a minute to figure out where exactly her venomous gaze was aimed, but I realized that she was glaring at Kassandra, rather than me as I’d expected. I almost pointed her out to the girls, but she vanished into the crowd a moment later.

Huh, I wonder who that was? I thought to myself. She looked young enough to be one of the students. I’ll have to keep an eye out for her in the future.

“So tomorrow, we have a bit of a walk to get to the mission site.” Rieka said, bringing up the mission for the fourth or fifth time since we left Silas’ shop. She’d been mentioning it off and on when we had time, as if she was nervous and wanted to confirm details again and again. “So we will likely summon you early in the day and then head out. The road itself is safe enough, but it would be better to travel with you there just in case, Liam.”

“That’s sensible. I don’t see why we shouldn’t do that. How early were you thinking? Sunrise?”

“Boo, that’ll be super cold.” Kassandra grumbled and Rieka sighed.

“She’s right. As much as I’d like to say we should head out at sunrise to give us plenty of time, it’ll be better to wait for it to warm up a bit. Say an hour or two after sunrise?”

“Sounds good to me. You two will summon me before you leave Juneau, right?” I asked pointedly, staring at Rieka. She nodded without hesitation.

“Yea, it’ll cost a bit more mana to maintain you, but it’s worth it as I said earlier.”

“How much mana does it cost anyway?” I’d been hesitating to ask this question earlier, but I knew I’d feel better if I could track how much I ‘owed’ the girls, since these summons were how I would grow my own powers.

“About a mana silver to get you here, then a mana iron an hour after that.” Kassandra shrugged, talking through a mouthful of lamb and potato bun. I blinked in surprise at that.

“Isn’t that quite a lot?”

“Not really. Some of the folks who ended up with stronger base summons have to expend mana gold to bring them around. A mana silver is a steal for now. Plus, once we kick things into higher gear, we should be able to make that no problem. You have to spend money to earn money after all.” Kassandra shrugged and swallowed her mouthful. She somehow had managed to talk without spraying bits all over the place or flashing what she was chewing. Must be a skill taught to noblewomen?

“Fair enough then. How much is a mana silver worth anyway?” I still wasn’t sure if I really wanted to know, but I couldn’t help my curiosity any more.

“A mana silver is enough to feed a normal family of four for roughly six months, if they are careful. Longer if they have a garden or own a farm.” Rieka said quietly, glancing meaningfully at Kassandra then back at me.

I almost choked on my food at that. I’d known that they were worth quite a bit, but not to that extent!

“She just said feed, Liam.” Kassandra chastised. “A mana silver would cover expenses for that whole family for maybe a month if you include rent and food as well as other expenses. Also, that number changes depending on where you are in the Queendom. In the capitol it might only last a week. Out here in Kintos? Month and a half, maybe. Our tuition is measured in gold at Juneau. So don’t sweat it too much!”

“Okay…” I still had to fight a roiling stomach thinking that they had to pay roughly my monthly salary just to summon me for a day. I guess it’s good that they are well off, but I need to make sure they get their money’s worth out of this.

After we finished our food, the girls suggested we head back to Juneau as they needed to check over their own equipment to prepare for the mission tomorrow, so we ambled back. A few carriages passed us on the road and I caught another person glaring at Kassandra, a wolf-kin this time and a young man. He just glared though and didn’t do anything, so I ignored him for now.

As soon as we walked through the gateway back onto Juneau campus, words of purple light flared in my vision.

Assist your contracted companions, Kassandra Silverscale and Rieka Coldeye with their errands today and see them home safely.

Reward - 100 SP

COMPLETED

Going to have to look into my abilities later. Was too tired yesterday and too distracted today. Need to be ready for tomorrow. I thought as the words faded out of sight.

Kassandra insisted on another hug before releasing me, giggling when I rubbed the top of her head lightly.

Rieka also pressed in to give me a farewell hug, her ears twitching as she squeezed me. She’d smiled proudly while looking at me in my armor and with the sword, but there was a hint of jealousy in her eyes as well when she saw me stroking Kassandra’s head.

My left hand automatically stroked the top of her head lightly, right between her ears, while we hugged.

“Thank you, Rieka. I’m going to do my absolute best for you girls.” I murmured to her, squeezing with one arm. She’d stiffened the moment my hand touched her head and I was worried at first that I’d misunderstood her envy. But then Rieka melted and leaned into me, turning her head slightly so that one soft ear brushed my hand. I gave her another stroke and rubbed the base of one ear lightly.

Rieka let out a happy little groaning noise before abruptly pushing herself away from me, blushing furiously.

“I’m sorry if I over—,” I started to say but Rieka shook her head furiously.

“It’snothingLiamIenjoyeditgoodbye!” Rieka said in a hurry before producing her baton and making the same flicking motion Kassandra had done the previous day.

The rushing sensation of travel enveloped me just as I heard laughter from Kassandra, right before the light blocked everything else I could see.