Micheal's days while staying with the guild turned out to be rather fruitful. The company was all aware of their silver threat ranking and they were ready to help. That meant even if the sudden and sustained storms meant leaving the city right now was a dangerous prospect beside the threat of orcs somewhere in the area. Between the luxuriant bed and a reliable toilet to use he was feeling rather comfortable, or would have really if not for the intense training. The guild came together to give him whatever training they could to make him ready for this new threat, and he found he was in dire need of it.

  It was hard to forget with all the bruises.

  Lindsey was happy enough to pick up on Jakcova's suggestion to have her teach him magic. She was just as excited or more when told he was a Binder archetype spell caster. That meant that he would very easily learn to use all manner of basic spells and ritual magic. She took the suggestion Jakcova had made before he really even needed to mention it. The first spell she managed to teach him was a simple and easy thing called Ward with a quick method dependent upon the mark to manifest more magic for Micheal. Manifesting spells was less flexible than learning the traditional way of opening his mind and spirit to the world around him to open his draw and then to arrange the magic into the form of a spell. Normally what they tried would do little at all, but the Mark wasn't considered a blessing for nothing.

  “Don't I have to have years of practical and theory training before I just do magic?” Micheal asked Lindsey as they ate breakfast.

  “Not really, and you've already done it. That mark is crazy complex, so your spirit should have no problem manifesting basic spells and using magic items. We just have to practice until you pick up the skills!” Lindsey answered with a big smile before shoveling more food into her mouth. “We'll do that until you get a little feel for the magic you can cast easily, and then we'll work on the harder stuff once you've gotten it down.”

  Ward was essentially just a magical parry. Or at least that's how Micheal learned it until it became so familiar he could sustain it. It was somewhat strange sustaining it, to feel the magic flowing through him and being expended. He couldn't help but think it was like revving his engine in neutral, holding the ward always made his heart pound and all the harder when he braced himself against Lindsey's attacks. Lindsey spent a number of afternoons with Micheal down in the well lit practice area or out in the yard between rainstorms launching balls of water at him with her Create Water spell. It took water mana from the air and built up charges somewhere inside her spirit so it didn't really create water so to speak, it was just more of a magical dehumidifier squirt gun combo ability by the way she explained it.

  In fact it was exactly that and the reason why Lindsey never had to actually actively seek out water while adventuring, and had been one of the first skills her mark had manifested. Her ability however stored much more than what she needed. Outside of the driest conditions she would never need to worry about drink which made heavy use of the ability teaching Micheal a magical parry skill ideally less than lethal and in endless supply during those rainy days.

  However Micheal got more watermelon sized balls of water to the chest than he would have ever expected to have experienced in his life. Much much more than that. Until finally on the second day he managed to slap one aside with a wave of his hand and a concentrated burst of will. As rudimentary as it seemed this appeared to be the quickest way for adventurers to learn as they were often thrown into things and situations where they had to learn quickly, or where they might need a certain skill or magic with no time to learn them. No meditation or theory needed, at least not at first.

  The mark would take care of that and span the gap that normally needed grounding in years of education, theory, and practice. Even to the point of containing and removing some of the dangers that normally come with having power control of one's magic. The mark contained the magic, using the rudimentary will of the user in whatever situation they were in to shape something to their need. It helped many adventurers survive their first encounters, or added to the arsenal of power and weapons an adventuring regular might have after facing down a tough foe or dire straits.

  Lindsey was...ecstatic in the way only she could manage on that first success. She always ate well, and ran with him and Vivian on morning runs before brutal polearm practice sessions, and was always always beaming with positive and very regular upbeat energy. She was very hard not to like, pretty, open, and rather charming in her encouragement and friendliness.

  It was on the second day after she had come over and jumped up and down at his side at his first parry that she suddenly vomited up her lunch they had eaten together not long before. The positivity faded a little with that as she explained that it was no big deal and she had been sick just like this for several days now, and usually in the morning. Micheal asked if she was really okay and she just sprayed out her mouth with her wand and then tossed another orb of water at him without warning.

  He got two or three more orbs of water to deflect after that one crashed into his head and sent him stumbling, but once he had that Lindsey turned up the heat and no longer waited between her shots at him. Her only prompting after that was a sweet little “Ready?” and then it was like being on the end of a water balloon cannon machine gun leaving him with the options to learn to deflect quickly or be pummeled until he fell over or against a wall.

  By the third day he managed his first sustained use of Ward and it appeared on his mark as one of his skills even though he could only hold the barrier up for a few scant moments before running out of breath. Lindsey said he would get better at that with time as the ability climbed in ranks as displayed on his mark and better used his magic. So that was how his afternoons in Mayonn were going.

  His mornings were kind of hell. After the run it was into the practice arena in the basement with Vivian if they weren't already there to stay out of the rain. At first they just worked through all the stances and footwork once more, and then through a number of strikes, thrusts, blocks, and parries. Then it was on to sparing. The arena had bulky padded leather protective gear for them to use, but he was always the only one to wear it.

  Sparing with Vivian was like sparing with the wind itself..if the wind had a stick to beat him with at least whenever he gave an opening. She would criticize and encourage him, but strikes came, thrusts dove toward his head, and then dipped away to strike the padding on his chest and knock him back. She would sweep his legs, trip him, strike his hamstrings, and his hands, and generally catch any opening he gave at all.

  In all three days he landed a blow once catching Vivian hard on the foot after a very uniquely long exchange when he had managed to get her on the back foot for just a moment. He wasn't so keen then to see if she had tripped or slipped or caught her boot on a crack in the floor or something, but he had seen the slip whatever it was and pressed her hard while feeling rather in the zone after three days of hours long practice with her.

  He cracked his practice stave on her ankle and she dropped like a rock hissing and holding the wounded joint. Pelanna offered to heal it, but Vivian was insistent upon seeing how well Micheal's Spirit Mark healing worked, denying both magical healing and Micheal's attempts at first aid other than some light binding.

  After dinner and some meditation with Lindsey each day he went back downstairs to spend the twilight hours before bed with Forgen, Vivian's rugged looking Captain counterpart. It was with the other Guild Captain that he learned the basics of one handed bladed weapons like daggers, short swords, gladius, and even a little about axes and proper full length swords. Forgen went through the footwork first just like Vivian, and then on to strikes, and angles of attack and defense with focus on edge alignment and keeping his stance in check. The sparring was nearly as brutal as sparing with Vivian, it would have been much worse, but Forgen held back a lot of would be blows to tap him on the leg, arm, chest, or head and say in the neutral voice of a proper trainer “Dead.”

  Micheal heard that word a lot in their practice sessions.

  “Dead.”

  “Dead.”

  “And dead.” Forgen would say in a dry and calm voice no matter how either of them were sweating and working up a lather through the bouts.

  Each night he returned to the apartment room with Vivian just about wiped out after a day's workout he thought should have left him laying on the floor crying. It became routine however to head down together and make use of the Legion Bath right after they came up. By the fourth time doing it he hardly noticed the women were naked except maybe Luna. The...lewdness all just kind of faded about it as he heard his new friends laughing, talking, and teasing one another.

  He even washed Luna's back the two times Dexter didn't come. Maybe that was why it was hard not to glance at her from time to time. Vivian was lithe and muscled and all sorts of sexy, but Luna was just the right amount of athletic mixed with her curves. He felt like he was sweating bullets every time she asked him to wash her back, but he managed. He did learn however to not touch her fluffy little tail without proper prompting. He hadn't even meant to do it, but while washing her back and talking with Julia and Vivian beside Luna he managed to rub the main little stub inside the puff. The resulting shriek was loud and disorienting enough in the stone enclosed bath to cause him to stand up fast, slip, and stumble back and fall into the bath.

  The Reprieve he had learned had come in the form of the kiss Windreah had put to each of their heads; even on a very startled Dexter who had been patrolling alleys in the city on a small job to hunt the startlingly massive rats that were a constant problem in the area.

  The rats were the size of a large raccoon, and had teeth that were about four inches long. It took some talking to the both of them, but on the second day Micheal did manage to get Dexter to take Jack out with him on the hunt. After that Dexter and Jack seemed to get along much better seeing as Dexter hauled in an impressive nineteen more rats that day than he had the previous. Jack also took naturally to chasing the monstrous rats as a form of prey Bear Dogs hunted out in the woods being well equipped to dig into their burrows. Jack's large paws and claws were strong and able to dig out dens where they hid and his thick fur and hide were usually enough to protect him from all but the most determined of bites.

  Micheal got back to the room on the third night again about ready to fall over, but even just coming up the stairs he began to feel a little better. Once inside the room he stopped at the door as he watched Vivian pull herself up from the bed where he had carried her earlier that day, and watched as she tested her ankle by trying to stand on it.

  Micheal went to her side immediately, but she only took his hand as she put her weight on the injured foot.

  “It's a little stiff.” She said while stretching and turning the ankle about. “And I don't think I could run on it, but it seems fine.”

  She did try to walk down the stairs to go to the bath, but soon started limping before making it to the second floor. She rode Micheal piggy-back after that. It was hardly any trouble to bring her down the several flights of stairs considering how light she was. At least she felt light clinging tightly to his back. She was long limbed and muscled pretty heavily for that.

  Forgen gave him a strange look as he watched her mount his back and hang on as he came down the stairs. He looked sweaty and worn out as he inspected Micheal. He looked Micheal up and down in his bathrobe with Vivian's legs hooked around his waist from behind and arms around his neck.

  “Shouldn't you be a little too worn out for that?”

  “Too tired?” He asked. It seemed like such an odd question. Then he realized his feet didn't seem to ache or his legs and arms regardless of the hours of training he went through that day. He blinked and looked at himself and shrugged at Forgen. Vivian pressed tight against his back with her head leaned up against him. The touch of her body was lovely even through the thin robes, but that was really all he felt. He had been a little beat up and bruised, but well…

  Vivian yawned and cuddled herself into his back. “To the baths!” She ordered in a sleepy mock command. “Ride on Unbroken Guard! To cleanliness!”

  Neither Vivian nor Forgen could see each other, but the other Captain rolled his eyes and turned back down the stairs muttering about crazy new recruits, spirit marks, and the stamina of High Elven women. The remark seemed to make Eva blush, but Micheal wasn't given time to wonder. Vivian laughed and swatted Micheal once playfully on the backside before he got to the bottom of the stairs.

  After getting clean and feeling rather refreshed all of a sudden even after carrying Vivian on his back up the stairs he set her down beside the bed to put her down. And she immediately discarded her robe on the bed behind her. He looked at her laying naked atop the linen robe as he took his off, and she waved him over with a small movement of her fingers as she spread her legs apart and opened for him with a happy and eager look in her eyes as she bit her lip playful in anticipation.

  This being the fourth day or more straight of being able to bed her each night his heart immediately took off at a gallop. He had almost thought she might not after he had caught her on the ankle like that, but she seemed even more ready for it today. He came to her, and answered her invitation without hesitation. They wore each other ragged each night like this the past three days, and maybe a little before they got up in the morning, but he could feel it was slowly changing from new and exciting to something comfortable, close, and hot. Vivian made the most of the enchanted sound proofing of the room and neither of them ended the night laying in each other's arms without being a little sweaty. A quick wipe down after the bath was enough to get rid of the sweat, but it was like a whole other workout sometimes. Especially once Vivian had gotten some information out of him about exactly how many positions they could accomplish their nightly task, but even after that and wiping each other down with cool towels they laid in bed and talked until the seasons' three moons showed in night sky. At least the moons could be seen on the fourth night as the clouds finally began to break.

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  “You had flying carriages?” Vivian exclaimed in disbelief. “What were they like? What does the world look like from so high above? How do you power them if you have no magic?” The questions shot out of her one after another some nights. The night before she had talked about her people, what she knew of them at least, and where her mother lived far, far north through the great locks of the Tal river and through the Nor Sea, and on through the Ice Oceans and beyond to a land where trees grew as tall as the mountains.

  She told of being cast out from their lands and put on a ship as all their kind were when the mark appeared on their skin, and how the trip through the Great Locks had been her first view of the old world of men and their magic to work with stone and metal to make great works.

  Naturally then she had since been fascinated with machines and how they worked. Even simple ones. She wanted desperately to own a clock, but they were three gold crowns, and quite delicate. Not something that she could just carry around in her pack. Micheal laughed at her childlike glee as she explained her fascination with gears springs and all things that meshed and ran together in neatly constructed instruments.

  “They're called planes for one. And the first ones flew using small engines that turned a propeller. They can fly just by pulling air and by using the properties of aerodynamics. I could show you the shape of the wing to use to get the proper low and high pressure systems that allow flight and gliding, but all you have to do is look closely at birds to figure it out. Other than that, having good fuel and a reliable engine is all I would really need to start making one.”

  Vivian's eyes went wide.

  “We'd probably just break our necks doing it though.” He laughed. “There's a lot of technology that goes into making them stable in the current models, but we could probably overcome that with some sort of magic based upon what I've been hearing from Luna and Lindsey.”

  “But we could fly?” Vivian asked, seeming to shake as she said it.

  Micheal nodded. “Of course. There's probably way easier ways to do it with magic though, maybe even just with your mark or something. And we could always just skip the engine and make hang gliders too. Still a risk of breaking our necks, but at least if we get it right a sudden engine cut out won't send us tumbling to the ground.”

  Vivian's eyes flashed almost demonically in the dark. Like bright green cat eyes.

  “But we would have to be careful.” He said on a more somber note. “Remember what I told you about how much of our technology is used for war?”

  Vivian's enthusiasm died as she nodded.

  “Millions...” She whispered. It might have been a mistake to mention the realities of it, but it was the only way he had thought of to keep Vivian quiet about the technology of his world.

   In retrospect it seemed a little over-kill with how serious she took it. Micheal realized that some of the events he spoke of were still unfathomable to people who hadn't lived in his world. Vivian had never been in a city with more than a few hundred thousand people in it for example. The idea of millions of people dying in battle or just fighting for one country or kingdom was totally foreign to her.

  She gulped and asked; “What would they do with these 'planes' in war?”

  He frowned in the dark though she could likely still see. He mostly made out her expression by the outline of her cheeks in the moonlight and the angle of her eyes.

  “Bombs. Like Julia's one frightening turn out of her random box spell. Hundreds of them all at once. In the night at first, but then at long range, and now there's bombs that don't even need planes to get to where they need to go. They use rockets, a kind of massive explosive engine that burns fuel even quicker than the other ones I told you about.”

  “How long range?” Vivian asked.

  “Anywhere you could fly and refuel at first, and then hundreds of miles. Now there’s rockets that break through the outer layers of the atmosphere, or the bubble of air around the planet, and then come back down.”

  “Atmos...” Vivian trailed off and her eyes shifted to look out at the moons. “Like out with the moons in the very ends of the sky?”

  “They are a lot further away than they look, but yeah out there.”

  Vivian drew in close suddenly after that.

  “I think I've heard enough about people dying tonight.” She said suddenly in a soft voice.

  “I think I understand a little of why you might have wanted to stay here. It's a lot simpler even with magic involved I think, and I think if you weren't so concerned about turning our world into something like yours that you would quickly find a way to make an army to break it if you wanted to.” She pressed her naked body to his and hugged his neck. “You know so much it scares me sometimes.”

  He didn't know what to say exactly. They had only the past few days been talking about these sorts of things but he had already said too much.

  “I'm sorry.” He said pulling her in close. “Maybe it's just better I forget about those things and anything I might be able to make here. It's probably way too dangerous to even talk to you about. Just the ideas and that they work. Mentioning them to the wrong person could change the course of history. But its not like I could actually make things like gunpowder very easily.”

  Vivian hugged him even tighter.

  “Sorry I'll just stop talking.” He said again.

  She pulled away and looked at him. “You're just telling me about where you came from. It's not your fault what others made before you were born. It's just...”

  “Frightening?” He provided when she stopped and she nodded.

  They were both quiet for a time.

  “Kiss me.” She said softly.

  He didn't hesitate.

  “More.” She demanded.

  Her hands ran through his hair and down his chest as he did as she asked. He pulled away to take a breath and put her on her back with his legs still caught up in hers. She moved to open them, but he only raised the highest of her legs and caught the back of her knee in his elbow as he re-positioned himself atop her. She made soft breathy noises as they kissed in the dark. They had made love in the night just before this and a lot of their energy for it was gone, but as they continued to kiss and found each other's hands they came together again.

  They lost themselves in the gentle love making. It was almost dizzying. Vivian adjusted, or moved her legs or arched her back as she lay upon it, but she twisted and writhed under him so they could at least touch lips. They went so long holding hands that he was sure both of their hands had begun to hurt, but whenever he stopped kissing her she would ask for more and more.

  Waking up after that was somewhat of a shock. There were vague memories of further entanglement, but he didn't really remember laying down with her. Vivian lay tight against his chest with her back to him, and his arm held close against her breasts.

  He got up before her for once, even before the sun rose. It was hard to pull himself out of bed, but he was ready to be awake. It looked like it was going to be a clear day and he leaned as far right as he could to see the lake far down the river out their window. In the earlier morning gray he could see the fog rising and the seeming tiny outline of the huge city of Three Bridge.

  He dressed after that in the clean clothes the laundry service had brought back up last night. He went out into the sitting room to just miss Jack and Luna as they went out for Jack's morning potty break. Luna was an early riser so everyone said and Jack seemed to appreciate that. Mike in the room next to them came out at almost the same time. He waved and left the door hanging open.

  “You alright today Linds?” Mike asked just a moment too early as his wife followed him out.

  She smiled brightly to respond, but then half way through her face began to turn a little green and she ran back into the room covering her mouth.

  She was an unfortunately loud puker.

  She also cried too, and then Micheal heard her scramble for something in the room and then the soft sound of her wand being drawn from its case. After that there was the rushing sound of water and the toilet flushing after.

  A sad mopey Lindsey closed the door behind her and dragged herself over to Mike.

  “Hug.” She demanded, and of course he did. Then she looked at Micheal and walked over to him with her arms out. “Hug.”

  Micheal sighed and wrapped his arms around Lindsey's slightly plump yet very athletic frame. She melted into him as he bent down slightly to give her and picked her up a little with easy strength as he stood. She held her arms around his middle, a smile making its way onto her face as he held her up casually.

  “You're smart Micheal.” She said against his chest with her feet dangling inches off the ground without protest. “What's wrong with me? Am I dying?” She was unusually mopey and low energy today. He glanced at Mike who just shook his head absently.

  “You two really don't know?” Micheal asked.

  Lindsey looked up at him curiously with her usual energy seeping through. It was cute with her face pressed against his chest as he held her up. He knew she couldn't really hide all that pep anywhere for long. Mike just shook his head, but his face was attentive.

  “She's pregnant. Probably.”

  Lindsey squeaked and her arms came to lock down on Micheal's ribs making him grunt and lean to set her down. Adventurer girls, no matter how small, were strong. He had to remember that sooner or later. Mike had been leaning on a chair and lost his balance and nearly put himself in it upside down.

  “REALLY?” Lindsey almost screamed practically bouncing even though she still held a tight grip on him.

  Micheal winced at her loudness, but nodded.

  “You run everyday and train with your spells all the time so you're active, but yeah, I've even seen it in the bath. You've probably been thinking you're gaining weight, but I'm pretty sure its just the baby.” He explained. “I thought you guys knew so I wasn't going to say anything. I was sure you had picked up on the other signs besides.”

  Lindsey's eyes glittered and sparkled like dark brown gems up at him and she very nearly squeezed the breath out of him. He swore his ribs were about to crack. She ran over to Mike who was just now getting up and kissed him until he just about fell over again and then ran over to the room Julia and Pelanna were staying in. Then she slammed her hand against the plaque and leaned in close to it.

  “PEL I'M PREGNANT!” She yelled happily. “COME OUT HERE AND CHECK IT WITH YOUR HEALING!”

  Eva came out of her room to hear the back half of the shouted demand. She rubbed one of her eyes still wearing a thick and very comfy looking sleeping gown. She looked at Lindsey bent over the plaque to the other room and Mike stumbling about as he got back to his feet yet again, yawned, opened the tray of last night's dinner and took a small plate of cookies back to her room without so much as another glance at anyone or anything else.

  Moments later the door to Pel and Julia's door opened. While Pel wore a nightgown she had to turn and direct a sleep-walking and completely naked Julia back to the bed and pushed her over into it. Julia rolled over and then lay just about completely spread eagle over the side of the bed and Micheal caught Mike looking away the same time he did. Micheal couldn't help but smile at the just stupidly cute way Julia had flung herself out on the bed with her mouth wide open, sleepy drool leaking from her mouth, as she came to rest, and was glad Vivian wasn't there to misunderstand what he saw to be smiling about. Pelanna yawned and rubbed her eyes. She seemed so much younger than nineteen, but she was.

  “What did you say?” Pelanna asked. “You always yell and that makes the magic or whatever go funny.”

  Lindsey was full of energy and bouncing. Even dressed completely with a belt under her breasts constraining them with the fabric of the dress they bounced about.

  “It's a baby.” She very nearly sang. “It's a baby-- it's a baby.” She repeated.

  Pelanna's eyes went wide and she started to really wake up.

  “I didn't think of that.” She said with self depreciating openness. “Here I can check using detect life.” She said while waving her hand in the air that released a half seen flash of energy as she was fighting down a yawn even as she came more and more alert.

  She looked down at Lindsey and slowly began to smile without looking up at her face.

  Lindsey grabbed her and crushed her in a hug as she let out a high pitched squeal which Micheal noticed Vivian wincing at as she came out of their room fully dressed. She looked a little sleepy eyed still and almost stumbled back at the sound.

  “I was going to say you should have woke me, but...” She worked a pinky into her ear and then touched her forehead. “What in the world happened?”

  Lindsey immediately ran from a breathless Pelanna and dove at Vivian in a flying hug. It hit low in her center of mass and drove Vivian back through the door of their room.

  “Lindsey!” Vivian croaked as she clawed at the door frame in order to not go down and suddenly became very awake. The two weighed about the same from what Micheal could tell from hugging the bouncing young woman moments ago, and he remembered how strong Lindsey had been too. That tackle would have taken down an unaware NFL linemen.

  “mmmmfph—Pregnant!” Lindsey said mostly into Vivian's blouse and tunic.

  Vivian heard the words and promptly toppled backward into the room with Lindsey. Lindsey giggled and snuggled against Vivian's chest. Vivian hugged her back, doing so with grace, even while laying on her back after being tackled by her friend.

  “Oh! Oh no. Mike!” Pelanna said going for Mike in a rush as he toppled over backward into the chair and knocked several things off the table, even catching the platter handle as he went over the chair.

  He appeared to have fainted.

  Micheal took a few steps, but the damage was already done with the fall and Pelanna he knew from experience could heal a cracked skull so he slowed in his approach.

  The door to Eva's room opened again and she stepped out with a toothbrush in her mouth. She brushed and returned the empty plate to the table with a brief look at the mess laying everywhere and the sudden number of people on the floor.

  Micheal opened his mouth, but then just turned what he was going to say into a shrug.

  “What happened this time?” Eva asked through her mouthful of foam as if it was nothing out of the usual.

  “Lindsey's pregnant.” He said and immediately regretted it as Eva sprayed him with the contents of her mouth. He stood still with his eyes shut and heard the door to the room open across the room behind him. He had been bemused mostly by the goings on until right about then. Now it was ridiculous.

  “Hey Luna said you guys might be--” Dexter's voice came from the door to the sitting room. “What? Oh...Oh what the in the hells...”

  “All we need now is for--” Micheal said with his eyes still closed as Eva muttered apologies from behind a hand that might have been covering her mouth to get a towel when he heard the door next to Eva's open.

  He peaked from the eye that felt like it wasn't so covered in foam and spit, and watched the expressions of Ted, James, and Fredrick change as they took first him in and then the room. Lindsey was still giggling and babbling about a baby as Vivian patted her absently as she lay on her back on the floor. Stale food leftovers had been flung across the room, and he stood in the middle of it with his face covered in someone else's spit from his neck to his eyebrows.

  Eva ran back out of her room and to his side with a wash bowl of clean water and a spotless towel. He kept the eye closed that was still covered in something and turned to look at the three men more clearly as she began cleaning his face and muttering more apologies.

  “Yeah?” He asked them. “And what do you have to add to this morning?” He asked, gesturing to the room around them.

  The three of them nodded looking about. One of them, Ted, he thought, waved to Dexter in the doorway. The taller one, James?, no Fred. He was pretty sure the tall one was Fred, but no had idea if he was the oldest. --Shrugged as he looked about.

  “Welcome to the Unbroken Guard.” He said with a small smile on his face.

  “Yeah I don't know.” Dexter said to Forgen who looked like he just came up the stairs and was standing behind Dexter. He looked tense as usual, but also casually bemused. He also held a guild contract in his hand. “This all just happened before I opened the door.”