Levi looked at the dazzling gate made completely of onyx bars Levi immediately felt out of place. The gate radiated magic and elegance. Behind the gate were many different buildings that made up a small compound. Each house was made of dark onyx stone with white trim, they had several windows and a door. Levi noticed how the style was somewhat similar to southern standards. He found that interesting. Then in the middle of the compound there was a castle, not an exceptionally large castle but it was a castle, nonetheless.

In awe of the structure before him Levi was shocked by how beautiful the architecture was. He was not one who loved to look at buildings. There was something about this that was grabbing his attention, perhaps it was magic, but he wasn’t sure. The gate opened slowly as two men in black robes that glistened with every step. They wore sunglasses and had an onyx gemstone pin with golden trim on their robes.

“Lady Anna,” one of them said respectfully.

“Sven & Gwyn,” she responded. Levi noticed that they had bowed but Anna did not.

“Lady Piper,” the other one said respectfully, with a short bow.

“Hi, Sven, Hi, Gwyn!” Piper reciprocated with a bow back. Levi took note of that as well.

“Who might this be, Lady Anna,” the male one, Levi surmised to be Sven, asked while looking at Levi with raised eyebrows.

“This is Levi,” Anna said. Her tone turned sharp, “he is to be treated with utmost respect and as family.”

“But he’s a-” Gwyn, the other person began to say. She paused as there was a sharp look from Anna. “Sorry, M’lady.”

“Sir,” they gave a short bow.

Levi looked back awkwardly. He didn’t reciprocate the bow. He was not sure what to do and wasn’t the best of friends with confrontation. He preferred sitting in the back of the room and avoiding any additional contact with people. After that short interaction, Levi desperately wanted to escape and find some quiet time for himself.

Levi admonished himself with all his magical powers, he was still himself inside. Levi wasn’t the biggest fan of being awkward or afraid to confront his problems. Secretly he had hoped that it would just poof go away, because magic. After months of being here he still had his moments of awkwardness. The one moment of being brave was when the jerks from the rogue’s guild had been threatening him, he somehow conjured a ball of chaos. Even then that took a lot of annoyance to get him that.

Once again, feeling his turmoil, Anza placed her head on his palm. He looked down and nodded gently. He took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. The trio had been escorted through the premises while Levi was caught in his head. He hadn’t paid attention to the conversation that was happening.

“Right Levi?” Piper said, looking over her shoulder.

“Huh?”

“We were able to beat the dungeon,” Piper said with a smile.

“Oh yeah,” he said, scratching his head nervously.

“My little daughter has returned,” a deep voice spoke from behind them. Levi turned around in shock. How had he not sensed someone so close to him? Levi’s powers of perception had grown significantly, especially his aura senses. This man in front of him had no perceivable aura; it sent a shiver down his spine. The man was tall, almost a head taller than Levi. He looked like a professional American football player, built and athletic. He had Asian features with dark skin just like Anna. His hair was buzzed, and he had a clean-shaven face. Based on his looks alone, Levi thought he looked no older than 35 but had known better since Anna was in her early twenties. He suspected the man was likely in his late 80s or early 90s.

“Hello father,” Anna said with a respectful bow.

“A bow? What kind of father do you think I am?” he said with a huge grin. Anna rolled her eyes and gave her dad a huge hug. She smiled as she hugged him. Anna was not a small person; she was almost the same height as Levi. She looked like a little girl hugging her massive father.

“Piper,” he said with a big smile. “How are you?”

“I’m good uncle,” she said, giving him a hug as a greeting.

“You must be the infamous summoner, I’ve been hearing about,” he said, looking at Levi.

Levi paused, “uhhh,” he hesitated. “I guess.”

The king laughed, “it’s alright son, I hear about a lot in all of the cities, after all this is my kingdom.”

“With all due respect,” Levi said sharply, “Your kingliness I’m not your son.”

The king put his hands in the air in resignation and chuckled. “Whoa, whoa, understood.” His smile never broke, but his eyes were assessing. “You have a strong aura there…” he paused and stared at Levi a little longer. “Piper, I have informed your folks that dinner will be a feast, so come hungry,” he said with a deep belly laugh.

Anna and the king turned toward the main building talking about their time apart. Piper stayed behind and walked with Levi.

“The king is not what I expected,” Levi admitted.

“Oh?” Piper asked.

“Anna is quiet and reserved, he is not,” Levi said.

Piper giggled, “Uncle Leandro is definitely less stiff than Anna. That is just like Aunty Alessia, Uncle’s wife. Aunty is the sweetest person you’ll ever meet but she loves order.”

“It’s a good thing I have an affinity for chaos then, huh?” Levi chuckled. Piper burst out laughing.

“Glad to see you less tense,” she said after she stopped laughing. “Thought I had the old Levi back and missed this one,” she gave him a gentle nudge.

Anna and Lord Leandro looked back at the laughing Piper. He smiled.

“Do they expect to hide their feelings from Trey?” he asked.

“No,” Anna said shaking her head. “He is a good guy, father.”

“I believe you,” he replied. “He has a chaos affinity; your mother is not going to like that.”

“No, she will not,” Anna said.

“He is nervous and on edge,” Leandro said. “Why?”

“Not sure,” Anna said. “He kind of is always nervous, he is not the most confident person. Well until we are in fights, then he is.”

“I see,” he responded. “Here’s to hoping your uncle approves, otherwise we’ll have an awkward dinner.”

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“Agreed,” Anna nodded.

Levi was informed that the dinner would be in four hours. Not wanting to sit in a room for those four hours, alone with his thoughts. He got up and headed towards the guild district. Anna and Piper were out cold. Leandro had given a small badge to Levi so he could enter the gates without any issue should he be travelling without Anna and Piper. He had no clue why the lord had the foresight to give him this, but he wasn’t too upset by it.

Walking through the main boulevard toward the guilds Levi got a lot of whiffs of delicious smelling food. He walked to a vendor who was selling skewers of some meat and veggies. After grabbing a couple of skewers, he and Anza kept walking toward the guilds.

“What do you expect to find?” Vapor asked, manifesting on the other side of him.

“Not sure,” Levi said. “Maybe another summoner, but I find that very unlikely.”

“I would have to agree,” Vapor said. “You need to confront your turmoil.”

“Later.” Vapor stared her haunting eyes upon Levi but said nothing. The three of them kept walking toward the guilds. The guild district was not any different than the one in Arcross. Somewhat disappointed, Levi climbed the mass number of stairs to reach the same peak. Looking at the few students that were walking around, the campus was mostly empty. Just like him, most had likely gone elsewhere for the breaks.

He took off the pin given to him by the lord and walked over to the summoner’s guild. The place looked like it had not seen a person in at least a decade or two. Levi wondered why he was sent to where he was. He wondered absently if this was the reason why. Was he only sent near Arcross because they had acting professors or was, he sent there by happenstance? Approaching the gate, it looked like it hadn’t been open for a long time. Oddly, he felt an aura within the building. He looked around to make sure no one was watching him. And hopped the gate with the help of Anza.

“What am I doing?” Levi said. “This is not what we do man,” he admonished himself. It was bizarre how similar the guilds were. Everything was nearly identical except flipped. The cafeteria in Arcross was on the right, here it was the left. Everything was run down and abandoned, yet Levi still felt something.

“Do you feel that Vapor?” Levi asked.

“I do,” Vapor replied. She manifested next to Levi and Anza. Willow also joined the watching party. Levi and his familiars pushed deeper into the abandoned guild.

“What do you think it is?” he asked.

“I am unsure. It is a faint aura but potent,” she replied. Levi was starting to get a bad feeling about the aura he was sensing. The hairs on the back of his head started to stand, he pulled out his staff and conjured a few orbs. He was not going to be ambushed.

Levi pressed on cautiously and saw a dim light in the distance. Every fiber in his body was telling him not to push forward. Yet he did. Levi swallowed his nerves and kept walking. Closer to the light he heard a faint noise. Sending out drones, Levi was fully ready to attack whatever was around this corner. As he peered around, he screamed.

Piper woke up to see that Levi was gone. She frowned, fully aware that he was his own person and could make his own decisions, she wished he had woken her up. But Levi was probably too kind to wake her up, so she let it be. Piper knew that this dinner with her family was going to be an important one. Truthfully, she wished Levi was here so she could ask him to be official with him. She was serious about how much she liked him, and she believed he felt the same way. Before meeting her parents, it would have been good to explain that. His being gone did not help her nerves.

She sighed and decided to go shower. In the shower she was thinking about that night with the barbarians. Levi had fought so well and had done a surprisingly great job of killing other humans. It hadn’t really affected him. That worried her. Not because she wasn’t someone to kill someone. If they came for her, she was going to put them in the ground. It worried her because Levi definitely did not seem like someone who would share in that same sentiment. He seemed innocent and fresh to the world. Levi likely was putting on a mask for how okay he really was.

Piper came up with a plan to help him take the mask off and feel what he really was feeling. That would help him in the long run. Getting out of the shower she walked back into the room to see Anna standing up with a scared expression on her face.

Anna woke up to Piper getting into the shower and Levi gone. For a brief moment she thought that the two of them were in the shower together. Then she noticed Anza was also gone and Anza loved being out and unfused. She didn’t think much of it besides that he might want to explore the new city and new stores. After all, Arvendon is a massive city that has a lot to offer. She was excited for the dinner tonight; she hadn’t had the chance to see her mother. Her siblings were away on quests so sadly they would not be present.

Anna’s conversation with her father helped her feel less worried about Levi. Her dad was aware of the familiar that Anza was and didn’t seem to have any concern. This made her feel a lot better. Anna wanted nothing but to be wrong about her strange feelings for Levi. She had the feeling that he was evil and up to no good. Her father had pretty much killed that line of thought. Her mother was an excellent judge of character so it would be good to hear her opinion on Levi.

She was going to go see her mother sooner when a textbox appeared in her vision.

Quest: Secrets of Arvendon

A member of your team has found a clue to a deep secret in the Summoner’s Guild in Arvendon. Thus, unlocking this quest. Find the secrets of the massive city Arvendon.

Objective: Secret 1

Objective: Secret 2

Objective: Secret 3

Objective: Secret 4

Objective: Secret 5

Objective: Secret 1 - Completed

??? ??? ???

“What the-” Anna said.

There was a shoebox sized box that was glowing. It had curved edges like a chest with intricate designs and the summoner’s crest on it. There was a simple lock and latch. Levi looked at the box curiously.

“Why does this have an aura?” Levi asked. “Since when do magical items have auras?”

“Do you not sense the aura?” Vapor said.

“I sense it,” Levi responded.

“No, do you not sense who’s aura it is?” Vapor pressed.

“No, who’s?”

“Yours.”

Levi whirled on Vapor in utter surprise.

“You sense my aura on this thing?!”

“You should too,” Vapor responded, “focus on the aura signature and tell me what you see.” Levi did as he was instructed. Concentrating on the signature of the aura he did notice the familiarity of it. It was gentle yet afraid. Lost and not fully sure of itself.

“Is that what my aura feels like?” Levi asked frowning. “It’s so weak.”

“If you define strength as fearlessness and being found,” Vapor said.

“Most would, yeah,” Levi said chuckling.

“I wouldn’t,” Vapor said. “Sure, you can be strong if you are fearless and sure of yourself. Sometimes those people run into dangerous situations without caution and get themselves killed. However, if you are one who listens to his fears as instruction on what the appropriate steps are to take.”

“I guess that’s fair,” Levi admitted. He turned his attention back to the box. “The question then is, why would this box have my aura.” He reached down to pick it up. It unlocked as soon as he touched it. The top swung open. Inside was a small cube, it had a faint blue glow. Levi picked up the cube and held it in his hand.

Item: Cube of Ascension

???

A cube that was created when Levi Winters entered into this world. The cube can be used in any ritual to enhance aura or soul powers of Levi Winters.

Quest: Secrets of Arvendon

A member of your team has found a clue to a deep secret in the Summoner’s Guild in Arvendon. Thus unlocking this quest. Find the secrets of the massive city Arvendon.

Objective: Secret 1

Objective: Secret 2

Objective: Secret 3

Objective: Secret 4

Objective: Secret 5

Objective - Secret 1: The Cube - Completed

You have discovered a cube that has been created for you in preparation for a future task.

Reward: Cryptic Key

“What the hell,” Levi said. Levi stored the cube away and decided that this was enough weirdness and creepiness for the day. He left the guild in a hurry, not really looking back. He brought the box in case it would also be a clue. Leaving the guild, he thought he saw someone or something but elected to leave it be and keep going. Exciting the guild the sun was getting close to setting. Once again, he hoped the fence and made a b-line back to the compound.