Levi walked into Hentay’s tailor shop. There was another customer in there that Levi had never seen before. He waited patiently with Anza as they perused the small tailor shop. Hentay acknowledged Levi's presence but went back to attending to the needs of the customer. Levi found a nice suit; it was all black but had streaks of red lightning that seemed to move. It was mesmerizing. It looked like his orbs of chaos but in a suit.
“You should leave stranger,” the other customer said to Levi.
“I’ll be patient,” Levi said, not turning around.
Levi felt mana surge and turned to see the customer was holding Hentay by the throat and had a fire sword at the throat of Levi.
“You should leave,” the customer said one more time, this time harsher. The customer was wearing a well-tailored suit, probably from the establishment. He had a demon-like head and a sharp tail, but he was stone gray.
“What are you?” Levi asked. “A gargoyle man or something?”
The fire sword got closer to Levi’s throat.
“Are you dumb? Don’t be a hero.” the creature snarled.
Anza grabbed the sword in its mouth. Being a creature of some weird metal, the fire didn’t harm it. The mimic simply ate the fire sword. It looked at the creature with vicious eyes. Levi seized that moment to hold out his staff and conjured four orbs.
“What you say, bro? Your stone against my orbs?” Levi said.
“What did you do with my sword??” It asked, panic setting in.
“Anza ate it, it says thank you, by the way,” Levi responded.
The creature examined one of the orbs more closely. It quickly dropped Hentay and whirled on Levi. Fear washed over the creature’s aura. It had no idea that there was a chaos warlock in this town. That was bad news. How strange, it had not heard anything about one. Was it a warlock? A deeper examination showed summoner robes.
The creature’s aura relaxed, and it started laughing out loud.
“A summoner,” The creature laughed. “You’re just a summoner, how pathetic. You couldn’t damage me even if I gave you-” an orb went straight through its leg, blowing it up into small pieces of stone. Black liquid poured out of the wound.
“An open shot?” Levi asked, walking up to the creature. “Was that what you were going to say? Come one my guy, never underestimate your opponents. That’s thug 101.”
“What are you?” The creature asked.
“I’m a summoner, 2-star and came for my outfits,” Levi said.
“Please let me live,” it begged.
“Sure, like I said, I’m here for something,” Levi responded. The creature took the hint and bolted out of the store. Levi turned and smiled at Hentay, “You good?”
“Yes,” Hentay said. “Thank you, sir. You’re a summoner who can use spells?”
“I’d appreciate it, if you kept that lowkey.”
“My lips are sealed, sir,” Hentay said, a little weary of the man before him. He was not the unsure and awkward young man who first came into his shop all those months ago. “Here are your clothes. There is something different about you…”
“Just aura control, nothing crazy, whatchu got for me?” Levi said with a friendly smile. “While we look can I ask you a couple questions?”
“Of course, sir. Right this way,” Hentay walked Levi into the back room, where three sets of clothes were on a mannequin.
“I know that being a summoner is dangerous, which causes people to not be one, but there seems to be a lot of disrespect around those who are summoners. Why?” Levi asked.
“Sir, if I may be so bold to ask, are you not from here?” Hentay asked inquisitively.
“You can’t tell from my aura?” Levi asked.
“Decorum, sir, I never read my customer’s aura.”
“I appreciate you,” Levi said. “I’m not local, very not local.”
“Understood sir,” Hentay nodded. “Are you aware of the battle of the guilds?”
“Vaguely.”
“Right, before the summoners stopped getting participants, all five guilds would compete in a safe tournament. The summoners, for decades, would get last place. The warrior’s guild would win a majority, then sorcerers, then rogues, and then rangers.”
“So, it’s a popularity thing?”
“Quite, sir.” Hentay looked at the mannequin and pointed at the clothes. “First, this is your armor for the cold. As you can see, it is thicker robes that have a fire affinity. This will allow any heat you produce to be trapped in the material. Under the robe, we have a white tunic with a dark belt, accompanied by some nice black combat pants. Do you have special boots?”
“Not yet,” Levi said, staring at the first outfit. The robe was black, and the tunic was white. They were a nice contrast of colors. Levi could feel the magic in the outfit. It looked quite nice. It wasn’t flashy, but it looked like it would be very helpful. The robes themselves wouldn’t provide a lot of damage resistance, but that wasn’t his role; if he were to be in a fight, for the most part he would be in the back summoning enemies and using ritual magic.
“The guilds,” Hentay continued his explanation. “Began to form a hierarchy. Most kingdoms were born on the backs of former warriors. Warriors became the premier guild. Knights and Paladins who are part of royal guards and armies are from the warrior’s guild. Aristocrats started to send their young ladies and masters to the warrior’s guild.”
“Let me guess, they all started to associate the warrior’s guild as one of power and prestige?”
“Precisely,” Hentay said. “Now, the next outfit is for every season but the cold. I took the liberty of researching the best gear a summoner could wear; since there aren’t many of you folks, it took a little extra time. Here I have created some lightweight combat outfit that would match your cloak.” Hentay pointed at the tunic, “This tunic has been imbued with magic to slowly replenish mana.” The tunic had a gradient of white and sky blue. Runes were glowing in the lapel of the tunic. “The pants are not imbued with anything, but they are bondable to the wearer's aura.” The pants had a darker gradient of sky blue at the waist and dark blue towards the ankles. “Now you have the option to use your cloak or this robe. The cloak you wield is much stronger than any robes that I could provide.” Hentay said with sincerity.
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“That’s great, I’ll still be with the cloak then,” Levi said.
“Very good, sir,” Hentay said. “With more aristocratic families flooding the warrior’s guild, some wanted to try other things since the class evolutions were not that varied. Shortly, more were sent to sorcerers, being able to perform healing magic and more. The rogues, well the Vendulars happened to be a huge part of that, as they are the most popular assassin family in the world. A price started getting placed on attending the upper guilds, barring those who were poor from joining. Leaving rangers and summoners as the only affordable guilds. Shortly, summoners, at least in this city, became nothing.”
“No wonder it was free for me,” Levi said. “I didn’t know that…”
“Yessir, lastly, the formal wear. Here, we have a classic suit in the Onyx style. It is perfect for multiple occasions as you can flip the suit inside out, swap shoes, or flip the pants inside out as well.” Hentay pointed to the suit on the mannequin. The shirt was a collared button-up shirt with sleeves that clung to the wrist. It looked like an odd mix of a compression shirt and a button-up. The shirt was an elegant plum color. The suit jacket to Levi looked like a normal suit jacket but if it were made to cosplay medieval royalty. The suit jacket dropped just below his hips. It was a cream-colored jacket on one side, and the other side was sage green. His pants were relaxed-fit slacks with colors that matched the jacket.
“You’ve done amazing, Hentay,” Levi said. He was impressed with the clothing. He touched them, and they disappeared into his inventory and clothes slot. With a mental command, white swirls engulfed him, and he tried on each outfit to see how it fit and looked on him. They all were the perfect fit. Levi looked in the mirror, the combat robes gave him the feel of a Jedi who went to a wizarding school. “How much do I owe you? Oh, and I want this suit,” he pointed at the suit that was hanging on the wall.
“Ahh, very good. All of that… 1 gold should cover it all,” Hentay said.
Levi plucked the gold out of his inventory and handed it to the goblin. “I’ll see you when I get back! Appreciate all the inside scoop.” Levi walked out of the shop. Hentay stood there staring at the man who just left his store. There was a new sense of danger that permeated off the aura of Levi. He shouldn’t have been surprised knowing that he had that familiar and his ability to use chaos magic. This was different; there was a level of dangerous confidence that made him unnerved.
Levi walked back to the guild with Anza in tow. The pair had gotten a lot closer, same with Willow. The three of them formed a formidable bond. Willow defused from the eyes of Levi and was flying around him with amusement. It had been a few weeks since he had checked his character log; he grabbed lunch and went to his room. The girls were having their exams right now so they couldn’t join for lunch.
Character Log: Levi Winters
Class: Summoner
Rank: 2-star
Ability: Ritualist
Ability: Elected Stranger
Ability: Familiar Bonds
Ability: Locked
Ability: Locked
Spell Log:
Orb of Chaos
Orb of Water
Orb of Fire
Orb of Lightning
Familiars:
Anza the Mimic familiar
Willow the Crystal Wisp familiar
Attributes Total: 375
Strength 50
Stamina 50
Speed 50
Vitality 80
Wisdom 145
New Quest: Summoners Guild (0/4)
Objective: Finish Ritual Magic Lessons
Objective: Finish Summoning Magic Lessons
Objective: Finish Aura Training Lessons
Objective: Finish Physical Training Lessons
New Quest: Journey to Arvendon
You and your new friends are going to their home world. Make it to the city of Arvendon alive.
New Quest: Win the Battle of the Guilds
Levi’s progress with his attributes was slow. It took him some time to get past that plateau. He revealed the fact that he had gained Progress Points (PP) rapidly when he first started, but it had taken him so long just to round out the attributes for the next tenth. Levi was much stronger at this point, able to bench a maximum of two plates. In sixty seconds, he was now able to do fifty push-ups in a row. He could swim ten laps before getting tired. The progress from day one of training till now was noticeable, he just felt so behind.
Levi’s body had also transformed. He went from a skinny almost malnourished man to a lean man. His muscles weren’t massive, but he actually had muscle to show. His shoulders were defined, his legs were a thicker than what they used to be, and his back was straighter. Levi noticed his posture had been atrocious before coming here. He now sat on the floor regularly and sits up straight; he walks with his chest proud and his back straight. The little issues that he was having with his body were quickly being corrected.
His mile time had increased as well, overall, Levi was healthier than he ever was before. His eyesight had improved, his hearing had improved, his hair was actually growing, his teeth still as perfect as they ever were. Levi enjoyed taking the time to notice the subtle changes in his body and figure. It helped him stay present and positive with the work that he has been doing. It could be easy to get caught up in focusing solely on the numbers of progress. Then miss the actual transformation that was going on.
The biggest thing that Levi was most proud of was the fact that he found something he liked. He was passionate about something. Levi had been spending a lot of his free time grieving and processing his old life. It had been a rough time since his dad passed, and Levi pushed most of his people away. He had given up any dreams, passions, or desires. To Levi he had felt there was no more reason to do something if life could be taken away in an instant.
Levi’s dad had been killed in a hit-and-run drunk driving accident. His dad was a big-time athlete, competing in triathlons. He had finally qualified for the big Iron Man race that he had been training for so many years. Levi’s dad was five days away and was tapering down his workouts to be fully rested for the big show. Because of this, his dad took a shorter and different route. It had been after work, around five in the evening, far too early for someone to be drunk. Or so they thought. The driver was swerving and careened head on into Levi’s dad. His dad flew through the air and landed on the concrete really hard.
The ambulance came, but not until fifteen minutes of him bleeding out. By the time he had gotten to the hospital, it was too late. He had lost too much blood. There wasn’t enough time to get a transfusion. He did not survive. Levi was coming home from his guitar lesson when he pulled up to his house to see police officers talking to his mom. His mom was crying, and the officers looked somber, the bearers of bad news. Levi remembered trying to run back into his car and drive to the hospital, screaming tears in his face, being held by the officers. On his knees now looking to the heavens, crying, asking why would this happen, how could this happen?
For weeks, Levi was a shell of himself, barely getting out of his room, barely eating, barely drinking water, and barely sleeping. He had gone to a church to ask the preacher why God had to take his dad away. He went to a temple to ask the Rabbi the same question, he went to so many religious organizations to get some answers as to why whatever divine being who was controlling his life would take his best friends. Kids at school tried to comfort Levi but he had a dad-sized hole in his heart, and it would never be replaced.
It didn’t get any better; he just had to move on. Eventually, he moved out of his house because his mom had remarried. Levi was so angry with her that he didn’t go to their wedding. Eventually, he apologized, noting how selfish of him it was to act like that. He attended his sisters’ weddings but found it so hard when they asked the stepdad to hand them off and not his dad. Both times, he kept his cool, learning from his mistake with his mom. Slowly, though, he started to lose contact with them. He stopped showing up for holidays because it didn’t want to be around family without his dad, his real dad, not the new one.
Levi was thoroughly aware of his role in losing contact with his entire family and accepted responsibility for it. If, for whatever reason, he was able to go home, he would like to make amends. He couldn’t think like that, however, unsure if going home would be possible. If he could go home but it was a one-way ticket, would he even want to? If it meant losing Anza, Willow, Piper, and Anna, it would be a resounding no. If a door were to be opened where he could do both then, maybe. One thing was for certain: Levi was going to take this second chance at a new life with new friends and do right by them.