Ouch.

Jem gave Aoife a wounded look.

She doesn’t have to use violence. I do listen. Most of the time.

Jem and Aoife hadn’t spent much time together as mother and son, but he was glad that she was open to helping him level. Though he had a hunch that her methodology might be less fun than Haywoods.

As it turned out Aoife’s idea of ‘doing it properly’ was not fun. She made clear that she was going to let Jem run the show and that she would only bail him out if he was doing something stupid. Though she did at least allow him to ask questions and occasionally asked probing questions of her own.

“So what do you think people will think of a prince and princess wandering around hunting monsters?”

Jem turned back towards the castle. They needed disguises.

They came back out wearing masks and black cloaks that made Jem think of a time when his cousins had talked about how they’d been playing rogues in dnd. He remembered half listening and making the appropriate sounds at the right moments.

He wasn’t sure he would be a great rogue. He felt more inclined to run around the city taking it in. It was the first time he’d been outside the castle beyond his arrival and Haywoods excursion. This time he could get a proper look and their realitive anonymity was a boon. Though Aoife had assisted in that by casting a spell to make them invisible when they left the castle.

He wondered if he could skip down the street to embarrass Aoife, or if Nessa and Haywood has long since inoculated her against a healthy sense of embarrassment. He had a go but ended up stumbling, goats were probably better at prancing than skipping.

“If you’re not going to take this seriously then we can go back?” said Aoife.

Jem gasped. “And cut back on our mother son time? That we get so little of? I’m wounded. Okay, but I’m only messing around because I don’t know enough. What I do know is that I need a weapon of some kind because obviously I don’t have any spells. I also know that I don’t have any money so it’s not as though I can get one.”

“What have you been spending your money on?” Aoife asked.

“What money? I don’t have any money?”

“Okay that would be a problem I suppose.” There was a smile in Aoife’s voice. “So how are you going to get money Jem?”

“Prostitution.”

Aoife swacked him on the back of the head again. “Not without taking contraceptives and raising your vitality first.”

“Ow. I was just kidding.”

“Good. Getting illnesses is rare but not unheard of especially if you were with lower levelled people which you would need to be.”

Dari or at least the empire seems pretty sex positive? “Why would I need to be with lower levelled peopl– oh.” Jem pictured snapping bones.

“It’s really not too bad once you have a 20 levels or so. Its just you know a level 0 would be quite fragile.”

It was getting hot under the mask. “Mum I think i get the idea just fine.”

Jem looked down.

“Do we have to do this whole, me lead us around thing? I don’t have a clue what I’m supposed to be doing.”

“Any low levelled adventurer would have to do this too.”

“It’s not the same.” Jem lowered his voice and gestured around. “I’m not from around here. I wouldn’t know.”

“Fine. You have some money anyway. We need to register with the adventurer’s guild and to see a smith.”

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“Wait. What happened to my cutlass?”

“We disposed of it. It was useless.”

“Can you get it back?” It was all he had left of Mina and Mick.

Aoife must have heard the melancholy lilt in Jem’s voice because she said. “I’ll do my best.”

He wondered what m&m would say about Dari. If he told them what’d happened they would absolutely not believe him, but maybe some day he could go back. Maybe it would even be possible to bring some Kol with him and prove magic existed so they could do it too. Or take them back with him. Maybe someday.

Am I going to outlive everyone I cared about back home.

“Do you think we could go into a cafe or something before we do all the serious stuff?” Jem gestured at his head. “My thoughts are a bit swirly right now.”

Aoife reached over and pulled him into a side hug. “Of course.”

Jem froze at the contact. But it was just supportive. He knew parents weren't supposed to hurt.

“Um, mum.” Jem’s voice caught. “You aren’t going to get rid of me out if i don't end up exactly how you wanted, right?”

Aoife rubbed circles on his back. “Where’s this coming from? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I'm fine.” Jem's eyes prickled.

— —

When they arrived at the cafe Aoife cast a glamour spell on the two of them, disgusing their appearances allowing them to remove the masks. They decided to sit inside. The cafe was warm and the wooden tables and cushioned chairs gave it a homely feel.

They both had a warm drink. Unsure of what to go for, Jem deferred to Aoife’s judgement and he soon had something that reminded him of horlicks along side a thick slice of fudge cake. Jem was happy to let Aoife guide the conversation.

After a while the topic drifted to the gods and Jem found himself asking more questions than he’d have expected. It was nice to hear someone else talking about something they cared about.

After a time Jem told Aoife that he did feel better and thanked her for the break. She’d asked if he’d like to make it a regular thing they did and he said that he would think about it. Jem like spending some time unwinding with her, but he also felt the drive to make progress towards halting the mark.

Getting comfortable would only lead to more pain if he was teleported again. If I teleport and I live.

“Let’s hunt some monsters.”

“Okay.”

Jem nervously worked his way through bartering for a sword. Aoife had said she would pay, but that still left him clumsily working through the process. Thankfully it seemed that his height along with his skill worked in his favour because when Jem accidentally lowballed the blacksmith by a ton he just laughed and said.

“Kid, you truly have no idea how much a sword costs do you?”

Jem just chuckled nervously.

“Tell you what, because this is your first sword I’ll give you a discount. Just make sure that you come back here if you ever need a new one.”

Jem nodded enthusiastically and said “Thank you.” It was easy to fall into the part when the alternative was an angry shopkeeper.

Aoife said, “I should take you shopping with me more often.” Jem felt like he’d made a terrible mistake.

Signing on with the adventurer’s guild had also been difficult due to his age, or the perception of his age, but Aoife had discreetly displayed her power and pointed out Jem would come to no harm she didn't inflict herself.

The nervous clerk gave Jem a pitying look and quickly processed the applications. Jem had to push a little Kol into a crystal. Apparently, it could be used as confirmation of his identity if he ever turned in a bounty or used the Adventurer's guild to sell off his finds. The clerk explained the gem would be smashed and then a fragment would be sent to every guildhouse in the empire. Jem was pretty sure he knew why the fee to join was so high, 10k experience.

Jem was confused when he discovered experience could be crystalised, using it as currency felt strange, but at least Haywood hadn’t lied about not being able to use it for unlocking his class.

Aoife handed over 20 1k experience crystals and they received their tokens. With a weapon and his guild token, there was nothing to stop him. He could freely go past the guards at the edge of the forest.

Jem almost vibrated with excitement. Soon he'd get to level up.

He just had to fight a monster. Solo. By himself. Without help. It's going to be fine.