We kept riding North but were no longer following the large river. The flat plains were starting to change, being broken up by patches of forest, and the number of small rivers and lakes kept increasing.
To my delight, the air was cooling down, and my sleep wasn’t always plagued with nightmares.
We rode up to a strange sight. It looked like a hill at first, but as we drew closer, I recognized it as a fortified keep.
It was surrounded by a ring of sloped earth that sharply dropped into a deep depression. It soon dawned on me that the humans must have built this structure inside of a crater.
We were greeted by humans that looked somewhat like my guide, though these ones had brown hair, beards, and skin that varied between pale and tanned.
We were led across a wooden bridge that extended from the crater’s edge to a wall located on the inside that surrounded the fortress. The construction wasn’t anything impressive, the stone and wood lacked the mana reinforcement that the dwarves were famous for, but it was an intelligent design.
I was led inside with my guide by an individual wearing armor. They gave me a hard look, then looked to my guide to ask a question. I couldn’t make it out, but I did hear the word “green” spoken. My guide replied with a no, then asked a question about writing.
The armored individual waved for us to follow and took us deep into the keep. I had to carry a torch in order to see and was alarmed at how deep we were traversing. Why would they dig so deep?
My question was answered when we entered a chamber that was barely held up with cracked pillars. The entire room was at an incline, with collapsed doorways and other features that made me realize that I was amongst ruins.
I was directed to a mural on one wall and nearly dropped my torch in shock.
It was depictions of dwarves, standing before a mountain, but something was wrong. I scanned the artwork, frustrated that I couldn’t read dwarvish, but I couldn’t find an explanation. My guide set a hand on my shoulder, having noticed my distress, because what I saw inscribed into the stone made no sense.
The dwarves appeared to be standing above the trees, above them floated an upside-down mountain, and on top of that, was a city…
---
Travis
After the Quartermaster gave his approval to the dwarf that fitted me, I was pulled over to a counter and given the rest of my kit.
I was given a week’s worth of pants, socks, underwear, and shirts. Then given two more arming jackets, one of them a fancier formal one that could be worn with or without my half-plate, and a round wood and metal shield. Lastly, I was given a backpack loaded with various survival and equipment maintenance tools.
“You mages and knights get all of the good gear.” Barry jokingly complained as he showed off how the pouches on the backpack could detach to be slung from my belt.
The beardless dwarf behind the counter let out a good chuckle, “Well, maybe if you humans would stop breeding for 6 minutes, we could keep up with demand for once.”
“You’d have an easier time convincing a Packer to part with their shield.” Barry joked back, then turned to me, “I can’t believe they’re just letting you walk out with all of this stuff. You haven’t even gone through basic training.”
“It’s probably a test for when you show up to morning drill practice.”
I scratched my right ear to agree with Arc, “I assume I’ll get in trouble if there’s anything missing when I start classes.”
The beardless dwarf behind the counter smiled at me, “Looks like you won’t be scrubbing toilets on your first day.”
I looked over at the growing pile of stuff, “Is there anywhere on campus that I can store this?”
“Was just about to get to that. Head outside and ask a senior student to take you to the first-year dorm, the staff there will assign you a locker so you can store your gear.”
I nodded my head in thanks and started walking out with my backpack and shield on my back, Arc and a bunch of loaded pouches on my hip, and my poleaxe in my hands.
I looked over at Barry who was carrying the rest of my clothes, “Ok, I’ll admit now, everything is starting to feel heavy.”
Barry smiled at me, “Welcome to the army. You now carry your entire life wherever you go.”
---
Arc
It felt strange, but in a good way, being side by side with Travis as he walked about the campus. I think he was having a hard time believing it. I noticed that he’d occasionally set his left hand on my pommel, let out a subtle grin, and then give me an affectionate rub.
We made our way to the dorms, got assigned a locker in the armory, and Travis was able to offload a good majority of his gear. Barry then offered to take the poleaxe and other items Travis wanted to keep to the stables so that Travis could take a tour of the school.
The campus reminded me of the college I went to in my previous life. There were large buildings dedicated to different areas of study, dining halls that looked like they could feed thousands, a giant library, and various places for students to congregate and mingle.
What was different however, was the military additions. A long serpentine running path went around the entirety of campus, multiple training yards complete with obstacle courses, and it looked like a majority of the buildings had shooting ranges attached to them.
Travis sat down on a bench after his tour and gave out a groan of satisfaction.
“Not used to the weight yet?”
“It wasn’t bad at first, and after I unloaded, I was good again… but, yeah, I’m getting tired.”
“Don’t let Hector hear that, or he’ll make you run extra laps to help you get into shape.”
Travis tapped his right ear and began to stretch his limbs out. He then took off his Corinthian-styled helmet and started to examine it with his mana sight, “Hmm, Wind Mana crystals… each one pulses at a different frequency…”
“Should make talking to you a lot easier for me. I’ve been hesitant to [Message] you on occasion due to people being able to see my spell.”
“Should be easier for me to talk back as well if I attach the dust filter and lenses.” Travis chuckled to himself, “I bet everyone thinks I’m weird for talking to myself so much.”
“Not really, granted there were some people in your village that would joke that your smarts were leaking out, but thinking out loud isn’t that uncommon of a trait.”
Travis let out a mild grunt of acknowledgement, then stood up and clipped his helmet to his belt, “We better get going, I know it’s Barry’s job, but I feel bad making him stand around waiting for me.”
He started heading to the stables but was waved down by a senior student who must have recognized him, “Oh hey! You passed!”
Travis smiled as the student approached, “Didn’t have a panic attack, but did have a hard time accepting reality when my brain refused to believe that I passed.”
The senior student started chuckling, “Oh yeah, that’ll happen.” He then tilted his head, “Why do you have an eight-colored stripe?”
The little bastard let out a sigh, “I got placed on the elementalist track.”
Amazement appeared on the student’s face, “Wow, I heard a rumor that some of the inner ring families were going to have their children start making attempts, but I didn’t give it any credence.” He extended his hand to Travis, “Jakob Brekke, Apprentice Water Mage.”
Travis took the hand, “Travis, Initiate Elementalist Mage.”
Jakob frowned, “Seriously? Rumors are probably already spreading around campus, and it’s not like the entire capital won’t know by the time classes start.”
Travis started looking confused, so I filled him in, “You forgot to tell him your last name.”
He smiled after I clarified for him, “Oh, it’s just Travis, I grew up in a Lakeland city called Aelder Creek.”
Jakob narrowed his eyes, likely trying to spot the deceit, “Never heard of it…”
“I got a fun idea; invite him to your party.”
Travis started to grin, “Well if you want proof, I’m hosting a celebration party on Windsday. I’ll send you an invite.”
Jakob’s scowl remained unchanged, “I’ll see if I can attend…”
---
We left the third-year student and made our way to the stables. Barry heard us approaching, quickly put away his book, and opened the gate for the horses.
“Ready to head back?”
“Yeah, sorry for making you wait.”
Barry waved the non-noble off, “It’s my job. You might not be a Hopkins’ ward anymore, but you’re still an honored guest.”
Travis gave a sheepish grin, “Speaking of guests, we better get back to the estate. I’m about to host my first formal party and I’ve only ever been to one in my life.”
We made our way outside, the horses doing that creepy thing where they just followed alongside without needing to be led or prompted, and had to walk around a big gathering of people at the gate.
“Wonder what’s going on?” Travis asked out loud.
I sent my focus out, spotted a group of armored humans standing in front of a pair of elves and a dwarf, and started to listen in.
Stolen novel; please report.
“You’ve been warned multiple times over the years, and the number of complaints we received yesterday from staff and parents was the final leaf.” An angry elf spoke to the armored figures.
One of the humans, who I assumed was a paladin, started to preach, “We are the acolytes of multiple gods, including the ones you worship. Do you truly think it’s wise to turn us away?”
The dwarf decided to reply, “If it’ll teach you to stop harassing the exam takers, then yes.”
The other elf made an attempt to placate the paladins. “We’ll still recommend your orders to any non-noble examinees that fail.”
“So that’s the real reason.” One of the paladins accused, “A bunch of prissy nobles got mad that their kids decided to choose a higher calling.”
“Enough!” Shouted the dwarf, causing the entire crowd to wince, “The senior staff voted on it this morning. If you want back on campus, take it up with the Queen.”
The dwarf then waved to a bunch of the academy guards and ordered them to disperse the crowd.
I pulled my focus back to Travis, “Just a disagreement between the paladins and mages, I doubt that it’ll affect us.”
---
Travis
I finished detaching the last of the half-plate, storing it in the Hopkins’ armory, and took a moment to enjoy my lightened load.
It was a nice day out, so I took the long way back inside, and was walking through the gardens when I spotted Caldia. She was seated on a bench with papers and writing tools, and kept looking up at the semi-wild rabbits that lived on the estate.
She heard me approach and gave out a whistle after giving me a look from head to toe, “Looking good! That dark green looks so much better than the brown that the knights have to wear.”
My throat tightened up a bit, but I forced myself to talk, “Thanks, I was a bit surprised that I wasn’t issued a tabard. I guess that’s only a knight thing?”
“Yep, they do that so they can display their family crest when not out on the battlefield.” She invited me to sit by her, “Was the scabbard I got for you approved?”
I joined her on the bench, leaning Arc against the seat between us, “No complaints, though I do need to take my sword to a blacksmith before I start classes.” I looked over at her papers, “Party planning?”
“No,” she angled the papers to show various life-like drawings of rabbits, all in different poses, “taking a break right now, I like to draw in my free time.”
“Wow, those are really good!”
“Thanks, want to give it a try?”
I took the offered art supplies and sat there silently with Caldia as I made my best attempt to draw a rabbit. It didn’t turn out that great, I was better at doing straight lines and angles, but she still grinned at my attempt.
“Not bad. At least I can tell it’s a rabbit, Silia likes to give hers really long tails.”
I gave her a grin and handed her back her supplies, “I should probably head inside, I’ve got a person to invite, and I assume a bunch of etiquette lessons to learn before the party.”
Her grin faded, and she gave me a melancholic look, “It’s a real shame that you couldn’t stay to train as a ward. Would have been nice to have you around for company.”
My throat seized up fully, so I grabbed Arc as I stood, and nodded my head before doing my best to not look awkward as I walked away. I had to force myself to walk slowly and only after leaving the garden was I able to calm down my heartbeat.
“I don’t know why you’re so nervous, I’m pretty sure she likes you.”
“That’s the problem.”
“Umm, care to expand on that?”
“You know what my schedule is going to be, I won’t have a day off for the entire semester, and then it’s Fall Purge followed immediately by winter semester and then the spring flood after that.” I gave out a big sigh, “I’ll need every free moment that I can get. I won’t have time to court someone.”
Arc went silent for a while, but then finally spoke after I stepped into the Main Hall, “You need to tell her that then.”
I scratched my right ear due to the presence of the servants in the area, “Communication is one of the most important aspects to a relationship, whether or not it’s romantic, and not speaking to each other is the worst thing you can do.”
I grunted in irritation, the words Arc used for some reason caused a visceral reaction in me, and I repeatedly tapped my left ear to tell him to shut up.
“Something wrong Travis?”
I let out a breath to try and calm myself, and then turned to reply to Marcia, “No, nothing important.” I forced myself to smile, “Is there anything I need to do?”
Marcia gave me a hard look before responding, “Not tonight, we’re finishing up on sending invitations and already have a caterer coming in two days to finalize the meal selection.”
“Oh, I do have one more person to invite.”
She went to grab an invitation and pen, “No problem. What’s the name?”
I paused, trying to remember the name, but had to reluctantly scratch my right ear, “Jakob Brekke.”
“Jakob Brekke, he’s a third-year water mage.”
Marcia nodded her head, “Perfect, I think we were sending out a general one to their family already.” She gave me a Hopkins grin, “You might be causing a stir amongst the middle ringers, I think that’s the only personal invite you’ve sent to a noble.”
I gave out an aggravated groan, “Before I forget, I also need to visit a blacksmith. My sword needs to be restored before I begin classes.”
Marcia looked down at Arc, “You should do that tomorrow, it’ll look bad if you have a poorly maintained sword on your hip at your party.”
---
Arc
Travis’ poor mood remained for the rest of the night, and although he tried to hide it, many of the Hopkins were able to spot that something was wrong.
“Any idea about what’s upset him?” Rabiria asked Barry and her children when Travis left immediately after supper to go to his room.
“Not sure, I don’t think anything happened at the academy.” Barry said while taking a seat to join the family.
Marcia thought for a moment, “He did look agitated when he asked if there was anything he needed to do for the party. Maybe he’s upset that we basically forced him to host one?”
Lancel gave out a sigh before contributing, “He does hate being forced to dance, plus he is just a farm-kid, he’s not going to be thrilled about hanging out with a bunch of nobles he doesn’t know all night.”
“Hmm,” Rabiria pondered for a moment before speaking, “it’s too late to cancel the party, the invitations have already been sent.”
“Maybe he just needs a pep-talk,” Tristan looked over to his dad, “perhaps from someone who also grew up as a commoner?”
Darius gave a grunt of acknowledgment, then stood up without a word, and headed to Travis’ room.
“Just a heads up, Darius is coming up to your room.” I tried to think of something else to say, but then mentally kicked myself for not listening to my own advice, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be ordering you around when it comes to personal matters.”
Travis sat up from his bed, and turned to look right at me, “It wasn’t that, it’s just… Mom and Dad…” he gave out a frustrated sigh.
“Ah, I’m sorry, I know that’s a touchy subject for you. I should have known better.”
Travis started to wipe his eyes, “It’s alright, I know you just wanted to help, and… it’s good advice… I just…”
A knock on Travis’ door prevented him from finishing his thought, “Travis, can I come in?”
Travis started to chuckle despite still tearing up, “Isn’t this your house?”
The door opened and a large giggling man stepped inside, “Yes, but I believe that my sons adopted you into the family yesterday.” He gave Travis a softened look, “I think I know what you’re going through.”
Darius pointed to a space on the bed, “May I?” Travis gave a nod, allowing Darius to sit next to the now scrawny looking teen, “I used to be a commoner too, and when I became a knight, I had a hard time adjusting to the sudden change in my life.”
He placed a hand on Travis’ back, “If you ever want to talk to someone, I’m willing to listen, even if it’s something that my own family is doing to upset you. They grew up in a different world than us, one where no one questioned my sons when they wanted to become knights, in fact, their success was expected. They don’t know what it’s like to learn an entirely different culture, or to interact with the people who used to dismiss your goals simply because of your status.”
Darius’ words must have jarred something loose in the already emotional Travis, because he started to openly cry and lean into Darius, “No one thought that I could become a mage. Everyone: Mom and Dad, Issac, Lancel, the monster hunters, the paladins, the Archmage that tested me, that water mage; Caldia was the only person who didn’t immediately dismiss me, but even she needed proof.”
Darius began to pull in Travis and rub his back. I could see his face grimace a bit, but it softened back up once Travis calmed down, “I owe you an apology. First I scared you half to death, then I assumed you were some inner-ring knight hopeful that was attempting to court my daughter, and when I found out that you were just some random farm-boy, the only thing I cared about was making you a ward before you failed the mage’s exam.”
He pulled Travis into a regular hug, “I didn’t even consider that you could pass.” He then began to laugh, “Guess I really did become a proper noble after 33 years.”
Travis kept the hug going, and even seemed to luxuriate in the embrace, “Has anyone ever told you that you give really good hugs?”
Darius started to give out a big-bellied laugh at the sudden change of topic, “The trick is to activate just your Fire Mana a bit, then concentrate the collected mana on your chest and arms.” He gave out a sly grin, “Makes the ladies want to cuddle with you when it gets cold out.”
Travis gave out a groan, breaking off the hug, “Like I’ll have time for that, I’m going to be doing nearly four times the work of all of the other students.” He looked up at Darius, “Thanks Gramps, I feel a lot better now.”
“Gramps?!” Darius recoiled a bit, looking somewhat hurt.
“Well, Lancel has been looking out for me since I was 10, so he’s kind of like a father to me, therefore you’re Gramps.”
Darius gave out a groan, “That reminds me, the wife and I still need to have a conversation with him about his future marriage prospects.”
---
The next day was a beehive of activity. Rabiria and Marcia were doing a wall to wall inspection of the estate, Darius was training the new wards, Percy and Tristan had to report for duties and wouldn’t be returning until the night of the party, Hector was at the academy preparing for his first drill instructor job, and Caldia was being sent off on errands with the staff.
Lancel gave out a deep sigh upon leaving the estate with Travis and Barry, “Finally some peace and quiet.”
Travis raised an eyebrow, “Aren’t you used to it?”
“Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I enjoy it.” Lancel guided the group down the street to the ring’s exit, “Part of why I signed up to be a Lakeland Guard, your village was a great place to relax between floods.”
Barry strode up to join the conversation, “Is that why you didn’t join a more prestigious division?”
“Partly, the large amount of downtime and lack of travel made it easy to train, plus I was able to visit the nearby fortress twice a week to scout for potential wards.” Lancel gave Travis a grin, “Seems like a waste of time now, I wasn’t able to recruit anyone, and the one kid I did find got his wardship immediately nullified.”
They kept making small talk as they moved to one of the outer rings and entered an enclosed area that resembled one of the massive multi-floor shopping malls from my old world.
Travis’ head was on a swivel, and I was doing the equivalent by zipping my focus about like a curious hummingbird.
There were so many shops selling different items or services. There was furniture displayed in one store, a shop with kitchen wares, restaurants selling food, lots of clothing stores, a bookstore, a printing shop, a build-a-bison workshop for children, and many more.
We stopped before a sign that the trio started looking over.
“I’m not sure who to take you to,” Lancel thought out loud, “Franklin always took good care of my equipment and the blacksmith my dad bought my sword from only does maintenance on blades that he forged.”
Travis scanned the directory, then pointed to a specific spot, “I recognize that symbol, that blacksmith is the one who trained Franklin’s father.”
Lancel narrowed his eyes, “How can you tell? They all look alike to me.”
Travis gave a grin, then started to head down to what must have been an entire wing dedicated to blacksmiths. I zoomed ahead and discovered how modern by my old world’s standards the equipment was.
Machine lathes, drills and saws could be seen making cuts into the metal. Drop hammers were assisting the dwarves, some metal was being cast, and there was a big machine press that was bending metal into shape.
Travis left his nameless horse at the entrance and walked in with Lancel while Barry went on a different errand. He approached the counter where a beardless dwarf was greeting customers.
“Greetings, welcome to Magmastone, Fireforge and Underheart, how can I help you?”
Travis unclipped me from his belt, “I’ve got an old sword that needs reconditioning work.”
The dwarf grabbed the offered sword and gave me a look before nodding, “Hedgrerlug would be able to make repairs, but he’ll need to know who sent you here.”
“The father of my village’s blacksmith once trained here.”
The beardless dwarf gave a skeptical look, “The blacksmith’s name?”
“Umm…”
Travis scratched his right ear, but Lancel face-palmed before I could answer, “His name was John.”
The dwarf nodded and then stepped away from the counter for a while before returning with a smiling long-bearded dwarf, “John sent ya? I assumed he’d be dead by now.”
Travis looked to Lancel and the two shared a sad look, “Well, he’s not dead, but… he’s not exactly with us anymore.” Travis cleared his throat to force the topic to change, “I trained a bit with his son, so I recognized your smithy’s crest, and thought I’d check if you could restore my sword.”
The bearded dwarf gave out a big sigh as he reached for me, “That’s a real shame, that lad was a talented smith.” He started chuckling, “I still remember him coming into my shop with that quarterstaff of his and breaking my apprentice’s hands for vandalizing a statue to Apheros. I was so angry about losing a worker right before the flood and grew even more when he just shrugged me off saying to just hire a new one.”
Travis stood there silent, giving side glances to Lancel.
Hedgrerlug’s chuckle ascended into a laugh before calming down enough to continue the story, “I tried to tell him that it wasn’t that easy to train in a new person, but he just stood there with a dumb look going: ‘you just hit stuff with a hammer, how hard can it be?’”
He shook his head from side to side, “4 months later, and he was already surpassing some of the dwarfs that I’d trained for 12 years. Wish I could have convinced him to stay, he was a fun one to have around, but then that orc woman showed up, and I guess you know the rest.”
Travis’ mouth was agape as Hedgrerlug inspected me, “This one’s a beaut, should be able to get it cleaned up in only an hour.” The dwarf then walked off with me into the shop.
Lancel tapped Travis on the shoulder, “Did you know any of that?”
Travis shook his head, “I was told a very different story growing up…”