Brent groaned as he slung his backpack across the room. It tumbled over his bed. He grabbed a chair to sit with them, slumped down, and said, “Okay, let’s get this ugly business over with.”

Micah frowned where he sat on Ryan’s bed. He was waiting for Alex or Jason to finish reading, whoever was first. Their treasure chest and a few bundles of wood stood on the floor between them.

They’d gotten their things back earlier than expected. He just didn’t know if that was a good thing. The Guild was apparently using trainees for the appraisals for experience purposes and only complex items would require senior staff. That might say something about the quality of their loot.

Still—

“Ugly business?” Micah asked, bemused. “This is loot! I think you mean exciting business.”

“Hm,” Alex mumbled. He kept on the making sound as he read, unlike Jason who just looked fascinated.

Hm?

“Dividing loot among temporary team members,” Brent said. “Definitely exciting. Maybe not in the way you think.”

“Yeah, I agree with the wuss,” Kyle said. "Stuff like this gets ugly. I’d say it was nice being on speaking terms with you all, but—”

“This won’t get ugly,” Micah cut in. Almost everything else had gone well aside from delving into frustration territory a few times, this would, too.

“At least, it doesn’t have to,” Ryan added, “right?”

Micah frowned. Had he just gone up with his voice? Was he trying to mediate with them of all people?

Brent shrugged and Alex looked up from his page. Jason was still occupied, but they could all imagine what he might have said. Four or five against one.

Kyle must have noticed. “Oh, no!” he said and threw his arms up. He let himself fall back on his bed and shook them as if in fear. “Peer pressure! What will I do?”

Jason chuckled, apparently listening, and now Kyle was getting people to laugh. What was happening?

Alex handed him the first page—he’d called dibs—and Micah let it go. Oh, well, he thought. It wasn’t like he minded.

Instead, he read what the school had found out. Soon enough, he understood both the mutterings and looks of fascination that had come from the other two. When he was done, he handed the page to Ryan and lay over the edge of the bed to get the [Witch] hat from the chest.

He leaned into Ryan to double-check, set the hat on his head, and leaned the other way to search for something from his backpack.

“How far are you?” he asked when he got back.

Ryan pushed the rim of the hat back until he could see again. “How far do you think I am?”

“Oops. Sorry? Close your eyes for a moment?”

He furrowed his brows. “Why?”

“Please?”

He rolled his eyes but closed them. Brent mimed throwing something at him and Micah mimed catching whatever it was and throwing it back. Brent clutched his chest in pain and died.

With a smile, Micah put a crystal in his hand and said, “Saturate this with mana and let go of the reigns, but keep it in place for a second or two, and … listen? Keep an open mind?”

He thought he saw something shift around the crystal for a second, a trick of the light, summer heat at the end of a long road, but then it was gone.

After a moment, Ryan guessed, “Light?” He opened his eyes and spotted the weak, spare light crystal Micah carried with him for reading purposes and eventual practice, once his other crumbled to dust.

He was right.

“Again?” Micah said. “Oh, uhm, and this time, I’ll hold it?”

“You’ll interfere—”

“It’s fine.”

Ryan shrugged and closed his eyes. Micah held a pencil over his hand by the very tip.

After a moment, he said, “Can’t tell.”

“Wait.” Micah looked at the pencil and waxed its essences until they were at the forefront. “And now?” he asked.

Ryan frowned. “‘Wood’?”

“Exactly.”

The [Witch] hat was apparently enchanted with an effect similar to [Detect Affinity]. By saturating something with mana, it told its wearer what the strongest affinity was, if it had anything at all.

Useful? Micah didn’t know. Ryan went back to reading and he stole the hat to try it himself, but it was less fun when he already knew what he was holding. He couldn’t surprise himself. And he could already tell affinities just by looking at something so what was the point?

Kyle gave him a curious glance and asked, “It requires mana?”

“Yep.”

“Not interested, then.”

“You could practice?”

“I have. Still not interested.”

His loss, then. They handed the pages and loot around to read what they did and then tried them out themselves.

They already knew what the crystal did, of course, but it was fun to summon the slime to play with anyway. He had to do it on the Salamander chest to make sure it wouldn’t burn anything.

“Just don’t get too attached,” Brent warned him. “We’ll have to sell it and I can already see you being all sad and stuff. And I don’t want to have to deal with a cheerful goodbye.”

“What?”

Ryan chuckled. “You clearly don’t know Micah very well.”

“What? Don’t tell me he doesn’t get attached or something. He looks like a kid with a puppy.”

“Uhm,” Micah said and poked the slime. “Thanks? I mean, sure it would awesome if I could keep it, and I’d like to find a good home for it—but, I would much rather brew its crystal into a potion.”

Now it was Brent’s turn to ask, “What?”

“Yeah. A potion.”

He turned back to the little slime sitting on the Salamander chest. The things he could make with its crystal—powerful temporary potions, familiar enhancements, Skill primers, or maybe even ones that could simply give weak Skills forever.

Forever.

He poked it again, this time less like a child playing with a puppy and more like one poking a gelatin mold after not having eaten for days.

“Aand, now I get it,” Brent said. “You’d seriously make something out of a summoning crystal?”

He nodded vigorously. “Yeah. If I could afford it. Wouldn’t you?”

“Huh. Hand me that crystal, will you?”

Too bad he couldn’t, though. Micah handed him the crystal and made grabbing motions at Kyle so he would pass him the second page he had gotten from Jason.

“So,” Alex said, “is anyone interested in any of this? Uh, for the record, you can say you’re only interested if it’s in your price range. Or add other stipulations.”

“In that case,” Jason said, “I want all of it.”

“Hang on, I’m not through yet,” Micah said.

“We don’t have all day, Micah.”

“You shouldn’t have spent so much time playing with the slime,” Brent said, though he held its crystal.

That was true. Micah had somewhere to be after this. He had scheduled this team meeting appropriately early because he hadn’t known how long it would take. If he had time, he could drop by his sister’s for a bit. Or better yet, Ryan’s parents. Then he could say hello to Hannah.

Definitely the latter.

“All of it?” Ryan asked.

Jason nodded. “All of it. Loot is awesome. We won’t be going into the Tower for a few months, but we earned this ourselves. So I want all of it.”

“Yeah, but if we won’t be going into the Tower for a few months, what would you want it for?”

He shrugged. “To own?”

Micah nodded wisely. He could get behind that.

“The hat?” Alex asked. “Brent? Micah?”

Micah shook his head. “Useless to me. And, really, what good is it?” Brent seemed to think the same.

“I could imagine spellcasters might want it,” Alex said. “When you start out, you’re told to do everything with spellscripts and visualization because those are the universal standard, but component casting can ease up on the requirements. You just need to be able to … pick up on the ingredients? Connect, mana-wise. The hat would make doing that easier for you.”

“Huh,” Micah said. “Hey, can you do component casting with potions?”

“Sure,” he said, “but I’m told it’s not good enough to be worth the extra time and expenses.”

“Oh.”

“What Brent does is basically component casting, right? Just instead of using ingredients to empower your mana, you’re using mana to empower your ingredients. Anyone else?”

Surprisingly, Ryan spoke up. “I might be interested?”

“One level in [Mage] and he already wants to buy loot for the Class,” Brent said with a grin.

Ryan shrugged and scratched his shoulder. “If it’s in my price range. I mean, I’m not sure what I’m going to do, yet, spell-wise.”

“Sure,” Alex said. “Otherwise, we sell it and split the shares. Next, the Salamander chests, broken or otherwise? Anyone want to hire carpenters anytime soon or have one as decorations?”

It was Winter. The thought of doing that was appealing. But what was even more appealing was the idea of a cup of hot chocolate, a thick blanket, and wooly socks. Nobody wanted them so they were added to the sell list.

Two broken, one whole. Those were definitely among their more valuable loot.

“The pen?” Alex moved on, having taken the officiary role. “Does anyone plan on writing a spellbook anytime soon?”

The pen was for writing with so-called “affinity inks,” the report said. Spellbooks were written with ink made from crystallized mana, but some of that was diluted, separated into parts, and tainted with crystals to make spells do certain things. Fire crystals for fire spells, for example.

The inks themselves could be a hassle to handle, though. They decayed over time, needed to be stored well, and might have properties related to their affinity—making pens boiling hot or igniting paper. The pen helped with many of those issues. It was also just a really nice pen.

It was weird, though, that they had found one when nobody had found mana crystals in months. Maybe it was a good sign?

Either way, it didn’t seem like it would sell for much right now. Not that they could sell any of this before the new year.

Micah told them as much and asked, “Maybe we could offer it to Stephanie or Saga? They’re interested in that sort of stuff.”

The others shrugged. Why not? If not, it might be wise to wait with selling it until they knew more about the Tower changes.

Next was the Firescale glove, which in itself was highly fire resistant, but could also grant limited resistance to the wearer by cycling mana through it and stretching it up their body like sleeves.

The report said that without spellcasting capabilities, they had only managed to stretch the effect halfway to their elbows before it decayed, however.

Kyle said he didn’t want it, in that case, and wouldn’t budge when Micah asked him if he was sure.

Micah wondered if he wanted it, then, but he already had a much-better ring, his shirt, and it seemed like a bit of a hassle to get work if you had to constantly cycle mana like that.

Would it be worth the price?

The others seemed to have the same qualms. They extended a tentative interest, but it seemed like none of them had the Skills to make the most of it yet.

They had a few Kobold shirts, one of which Jason had already tinkered with. Micah took one for when he grew and he needed extra material. He had seen them around the Bazaar and knew how much they were worth. He could afford to buy one at a sixth discount of the seller price.

Kyle also took one and Jason took the rest, apparently confident that he could make something out of them.

They also had three Kobold staves. Depending on the price, Ryan said he might take one or two for spare spear shafts. He would have to speak with his smith first before he was sure, though.

“Don’t you know how much it costs from your last order?” Jason asked. Micah had the same question.

Ryan shook his head. “Different circumstances.”

“Oh.”

They moved on to the red hatchet, which Kyle thankfully said he might want to buy. “If it doesn’t cost too much.”

It was enchanted with effects similar to [Searing Strikes] and [Lesser Fire Mastery], the former of which required mana. But the latter meant it could cut through fire, which was awesome.

It was also just an awesome hatchet besides. Like all magic items, it would break eventually without expensive care but it would be great until that happened …

Which was worrying. Because if it was so great, it would be expensive, and then Kyle might not want to buy it.

Micah kind of wanted him to have it. He seemed frugal. With his nearly empty closet, unnatural disinterest in all the loot, butchered haircut, and old clothes, Micah was beginning to wonder how he had been so oblivious to it before.

Just like him, he couldn’t afford any of this loot except for a ratty Kobold shirt either, could he?

Micah definitely wanted him to get it. One way or another. He just had to find out how to make sure of it.

He mulled it over while they moved on.

The swimming goggles weren’t enchanted at all, but the lantern was. Apparently, you could remove the wick and put crushed fire crystals in a pipe to burn as well. Not as useful, but good enough to get rid of in the Bazaar.

If not, they would have had to find a flea market, second-hand shop, or junk stall, which usually only bought things for pittances.

Flea markets were more common in Anevos, whose Tower was full of ruins, and Trest at the Rock, who robbed graves. They found all sorts of long-lasting valuables based on the fake “culture” of the floor they were in. Jewelry, artwork, pigments, oils and salves, alcohol …

Apparently, some of the best and most expensive drinks came from graves deep in Trest, abandoned manors in Anevos, and shipwrecks in Lighthouse, which the adventurous part of Micah found awesome: fighting monsters, traveling for weeks, risking your life, and diving into the unknown just so someone somewhere could get drunk.

Though, it would be two more years before he was even legally allowed to drink beer, of course. On the other hand—he gave Ryan a sideways glance—it would only be days until his best friend got to.

He wondered what it was like.

The others moved on to the bundles of chest wood, which everyone but Micah said they “knew a guy” who would buy it. Who were these people and how could he make their connections?

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Alex said he might want the strongbox treasure chest, but he would have to get a second opinion on it first.

Micah wanted the Jar of Single Breath, as he had dubbed it in his mind, but he didn’t have that much use for it yet. And he knew that [Alchemists] who did, who could custom-order equipment from its parts for their workshops, would pay handsomely for the little mason jar.

“If it’s in my price range?” he said.

The remaining two middle-grade burn healing potions and mana potion, they would all sell.

It was the same for the vast majority of their monster parts. They needed to get rid of some of them before they went bad. Brent and Micah only wanted a few things for projects in the near future.

Micah already had two in mind, one of which involved fireworks and a dare, and the other a surprise for Ryan.

That only left the metal cloak, which Jason, Alex, and Kyle all three said they were interested in, both a single and paired set of knives they had found on their last day, which they were all interested in, the swimming goggles, which were useful to own, a pouch full of marbles, and last but not least a … Kobold bone? Or the shard of one, at least.

It was one of the ones he had collected in the giant centipede’s room on the second floor. He wanted to use them for some experiments. Why were the others treating it like a magic item?

“What does that do?” Micah asked.

He wanted to search the page for its description, but Jason caught his attention. The guy dragged it along a pillow with a grin on his face and a film spread, like a soap bubble. It quickly dried into a metallic sheen.

He’d seen that before.

Then he lifted the pillow and threw it at Alex, who almost caught it before his eyes went wide and he dodged. Part of it smacked against the wall and desk with a thick thump and it barely bent.

“Not funny, asshole,” he said.

Jason chuckled. “You’re no fun. Why did you dodge a pillow? Afraid of a little pillow fight?”

“Oh, I’ll show you—” He grabbed his own pillow and the very same sheen spread as he threw it back.

Nobody had answered him. They were all distracted by the other two’s shenanigans, though they claimed not to be friends. Brent joined in as well, picking up the first pillow Jason had thrown.

Micah looked to the report: It could cast [Protection]. A magic item, hidden in plain sight. He probably would have brewed it into a potion and wondered why something had gone wrong if somebody at the Guild or school hadn’t noticed.

And if he hadn’t been an [Alchemist] at all, he might have just left the bones lying there on the floor. It was the same with the treasure chest, which had been buried in stone. They filled his head with the paranoia that they might have missed something else because both the slime’s crystal and now this Kobold bone were more valuable than most other things they had found.

And already, Micah felt like he wanted to go back into the Tower again and search its every nook and cranny.

Argh, he hated those changes. The school better give them permission to go in more often, soon.

“Alright, alright,” Alex said. “Who wants the stupid bone shard? I’m going to go ahead and put my—”

“I want it,” Micah said. He raised his hand without meaning to, surprising the other guy and himself, and wasn’t even sure it was him who had said it. But if he thought about it for just one second, he knew.

“Are you sure?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah.” That thing could cast [Protection], a spell that would make objects harder to break. He had broken two shields, a knife, and his armor during the exam. If he could have something that helped prevent that in the future— “I definitely want it,” he said again.

“Hold on, I want it, too,” Jason said. He was already holding the bone shard and an irrational part of Micah wanted to snatch it away. He frowned and let go of that part of him. Sure, he wanted the item but that was no reason to act like that, or even think about acting like that.

But why did he want it, too?

“While we’re at it,” Brent said and raised his hand. “Me, three.”

“Four,” Alex corrected him.

Wait, him too? “You already know how to cast [Protection],” Micah said. He tried to not make it sound like an accusation.

“Not well, but also not for me. It’s a good item. I thought I could give it to one of my cousins?”

“We’re right here,” Brent said. “Wanting to give it away to someone else should take lower priority.”

Alex frowned. “We gave Ryan and Micah higher priority so they could give that mana ring to Lisa?”

“Yeah,” Jason said, “you guys already have something cool. You got the mana ring for your friend, Ryan has those mage staves, and you’re getting a bunch of ingredients.”

“A few,” Micah corrected him, “that I will only be able to use for New Year’s and some experiments. And then I’m back to nothing. Besides, you can’t count us together. That would be unfair.”

Jason frowned and hesitated. “It would?”

Nobody said anything. Micah looked around but they all seemed to agree. What the hell?

“You already have the cloak,” Brent said, “and the Kobold shirts.”

“The shirts don’t count."

“Yeah, they do.”

“No, they really kind of don’t,” Kyle threw in, still staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his head.

“And I’m not sure if I’m going to get the cloak. Alex and Kyle both wanted it as well. And Alex already has the strongbox and you want that pair of knives.”

Alex frowned. “Nobody else wanted the strongbox so why would it matter?”

Micah thought it was cool but no, he didn’t want it.

“I’ll give up my claim on the cloak if it means I’ll get a stronger claim on a something that can make those cloaks."

“Then Kyle and I are still fighting about the cloaks and Brent might do the same with the knives you mentioned,” Alex said. “We three would still be fighting. It solves nothing.”

“Four,” Micah cut in, as he had subtly tried to cut him out. “I still want it, too. Brent got ingredients, too. I’m not out of the ring.”

“I didn’t get ingredients.”

“You got a level up. I didn’t. And can you even afford to be in the ring, Micah?”

“Ouch,” Kyle mumbled. “Low blow.”

“Yeah,” Micah agreed.

Brent grimaced. “Sorry.”

“I didn’t get a Skill?” Jason picked it back up. “Micah did.”

“So what? This is about loot,” he told him. Just like the crystals, monster parts, and his armor, this was something separate.

“No, this is about dividing things fairly.”

“In that case, I have [Lesser Vibrancy]," he said. "I can make the most of the item. And I might get more spell stats later.”

“I have [Lesser Vigour]?”

“Not as good.”

“I have nothing,” Brent said, “but I also have no spells. So I need something else I can do with my mana. I should totally get it.”

Ryan raised his hand. “For what it’s worth, I think Micah should get it?”

“Of course, you do."

“It’s worth nothing,” Alex told him.

“Yeah,” Kyle said. “If it were, I would just say Jason should get it.”

Micah frowned. “Why are you supporting Jason all the sudden?” And not him?

He shrugged. “Seems to me like you guys all had no problem with him being religious and all, but then you shit on him during the exam anyway. Which, you know, is worse coming from you.”

“What?” Micah asked. He needed a moment to wrap his head around that, failed, and asked, “What does that even mean? Or what does it have to do with anything? We were nice.”

Kyle leaned up and gave him an honest look. “Were you? Really, think about it for a second.”

Micah glanced at Jason. He seemed both awkward and frustrated all the sudden, like he’d rather Kyle hadn’t brought it up.

But it was Kyle of all people, so Micah did. He hadn’t ever been mean per se, but … he remembered thinking things like he was childish and … just not very impressive or reliable. He thought of his fighting style as a joke half of the time just because it was improvised.

He remembered seeing Jason’s dejected face as he was forced to protect their belongings when they’d fought the slime because they’d all picked things to do before he could. He was an [Adventurer]. He, most of them, would have loved to fight it. Only when Micah and Ryan had taken a backseat, or when they’d all found something to do right before that, had he really been allowed to let loose.

No wonder he had run off. He must have had just as much fun as Ryan when he’d gotten that minecart. But he’d had to do it on his own and maybe even felt guilty for it, for abandoning them and breaking the rules.

He just seemed … like a bit of a pushover, really. And if Micah had taken advantage of that, it hadn’t been intentional. It definitely had nothing to do with him believing in something.

“Kyle’s right," he said, convincing himself even as he said. "You should have it. The Kobold bone.”

“Huh?”

“Hey, wait a moment,” Brent said. “Even if you give up, I still want it."

"Hold on," Jason said. "Kyle's wrong. You weren't mean. You made me those [Surging Strength] potions, right?"

That wasn't an excuse.

"And I was nothing but nice to the twig-man,” Brent was still arguing. "I cooked you all food and got nothing for it."

“Twig-man?” Jason asked, suddenly horrified.

It caught Micah off-guard, too.

“Because you’re so tall and lanky?”

He sighed. “Oh. I thought you meant the actual ones.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Micah frowned at Jason. Did he mean what he thought he meant? “Twig-men? You mean the ones from the stories?”

Ryan nudged him. “I’m surprised you know about them.”

“My Nana.”

"Ah."

“Stories?” Jason asked. “No, they’re real.”

“What? No, they aren’t.” Micah smiled.

“Yeah, they are.”

Kyle chuckled. “Just like the monster under your bed? Please.”

Micah pointed at him. “What he said.”

“They are real, Micah,” Alex told them. He didn’t know him well enough to know if he was joking but his expression seemed serious.

But ... he had to be messing with them, right?

“What are we talking about?” Brent asked.

“Real-life monsters,” Jason said. “Not in the Tower, but in Lin. They wander forests, kill people, and wear their skin. There are regular hunts for them, but every time you kill one, they come back with a new body. I think they're supposed to be some kind of spirit?”

Alex nodded. “That’s why you need to imprison them. It’s the only way to keep them from being out there. Two were shipped to Anevos to be kept because maintaining the wards is cheaper for us.”

His tone was almost business-like. He had to be serious. Micah shrugged and let his eyes roam. “Oh. Cool. I didn’t want to sleep tonight anyway.”

He thought of all the bedtime stories he knew and shivered.

“Yeah, me neither,” Kyle added.

“Living curses aside,” Alex said with a viscious smile, “I have another suggestion for the bone shard: How about we postpone any discussions about who gets it, and the other items that more of us want, and wait until we know how much they're worth? It might change some minds on who wants them. Nothing against you, Micah.”

"None taken ...?" Seriously, why were they all treating him like he was poor? He decided to show them he wasn't. “Hey! I’m buying a ton of fireworks later, just so you know.”

Brent winked and smiled like they were sharing a secret. “Sure, you are.”

“I am.”

“Whatever you say, Micah.” He winked again.

“Why do you keep doing that? I am.”

"Of course—"

Ryan nudged him. “He’s only trying to get a rise out of you."

“Huh? Oh.” And ... now Micah felt stupid. “I could prove it?" he still offered. "I—” He suddenly remembered something else and almost slapped his forehead. “Oh, right! I totally forgot. I—” He broke off again and squinted at Brent.

The guy glanced from side-to-side and raised his eyebrows. “So ... are you going to finish any of your sentences, or ...?”

“I was going to invite you to a New Year’s party," he said, "but now I’m not so sure anymore.” He kept up the squint.

“Oh, well in that case,” Brent said, “thank you, kiddo, but I’ll sadly have to decline. I already have plans.”

Micah stopped and sat upright. “Oh. But … it’s Ryan’s birthday?” Maybe that would change his mind?

His eyebrows shot up and he looked at Ryan. “Really? I’ll have to remember to congratulate you, then. But, uh, still have to decline.” He scratched his face and shrugged. ”I already have plans. Sorry, Ryan.”

"It's fine," he said.

Micah continued the round. “Alex?”

“Celebrating with my family.”

“Oh. Jason?”

“Some friends from my neighborhood?”

“Oh … Kyle?”

Please, please, please, please.

Everyone else was inviting people they knew. Lang said he had invited friends from his new school that were coming. Micah wanted to invite someone, too.

He gave him a minute stare and shrugged, saying, “I’ll think about it.”

His shoulders fell. “So that’s a ‘no’?”

“It’s an ‘I’ll think about it’.”

Drat.

No Lisa, no Anne, nobody from his team ...

“Do we have everything else covered, then?” Ryan asked.

“I think so,” Alex said and checked the list. “We have either tentative or conflicted interest for a few items. Namely, Ryan might want the [Witch] hat and up to two of the Kobold staves, Kyle might want the fire hatchet”—he turned to them as he spoke—”Micah might want the breathing jar, I might want the strongbox and its key, Brent, Jason, and I might want the durability cloak, all of us would go for any of the knives we found, and Brent, Jason, I, and Micah might want the Kobold bone.

Now, we just have to find places to sell the rest at.” He went down the list, checking things off with a slight frown. He crossed something through. “Right. We already got rid of the mana ring. You two paid for it. We sold the crystals and the perishables … aside from the ones Brent and Micah took, or are still going to take. Micah is taking the bones … What do we do with the rest?”

“I know a guy at one of the Bluth tents,” Brent said. “I could get a bulk deal for our stuff. It would depend on the quality and how well Micah and I cut them, but it’d definitely be above average and without any of the service penalties.”

The latter was the important bit, in Micah’s opinion. The loot tents had brutal service penalties for processing loot. All of them.

Kyle frowned and spoke up. “Is that good? Is anyone familiar with the whatshisface …?”

“Bluth tent,” Brent repeated.

“Yeah.”

Micah was only familiar with them and a shop Ryan liked to go to, as Lisa and Mave prefered to go to them, though Lisa only did it as a subtle jab at the Madins. He didn't really know much about loot prices.

He looked to Ryan and the guy shrugged.

“They’re fine,” Alex said. “Especially if we get a deal.”

Jason nodded.

Kyle shrugged. “Just making sure.”

“Alright, then. How about we make some copies of the reports and ask around for selling prices for our items and check back after New Year’s,” Alex told them. “When do you guys have time?”

It devolved into scheduling again, while they each wrote down a word for word copy of the descriptions to show any buyers they knew. Micah didn’t know why he was doing it, though, when all the shops he knew had been ones Ryan had dragged him to.

The others settled on the fourth day after New Year’s to check back with tentative prices and go out as a group to see how much they could get.

Brent grabbed one of the sacks then and said, “Great. I’ll get it on it, then.”

“Wait, now?” Micah asked him.

“Sure. No time like the present, right? Then I can get rid of the money as soon as possible, too. You’ll all be here today or tomorrow, right?”

“Uhm, this evening? Or tomorrow,” Micah told him and got up. “Actually, we got to leave.”

“To buy fireworks.”

He smiled. “Exactly.”

“Among other things,” Ryan added and joined him with a stretch. “You got the receipt?”

Micah patted his pockets and glanced in his backpack. “In my room?” he said. “I have to get my other stuff anyway.”

“Right. Get a receipt,” Alex reminded him. “Better yet, get one and six copies so we have one we can give the administration if they ask.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he brushed him off and headed for the door. He gave Kyle a nod as he walked past and said, “Nice being on speaking terms with you.”

“Likewise.”

They rest of them said their goodbyes and left. Micah slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed down the hallway. Up the stairs, he braced himself before he opened the door and ran across the walkway to his room in the other building.

He shook off the cold the moment he made it to the other side and stomped the snow slush off on the mat.

Lanh was in but nobody else. He set his backpack down and got a few things he would need, most importantly the receipt for the order they had placed. He was scheduled to pick it up for today, but their team meeting hadn’t taken so long that he couldn’t drop by Ryan’s parents first.

Yes!

He pumped a fist in his head.

He emptied the rest of his backpack of all the things he wouldn’t need—his school supplies, books, and other clutter—and frowned when he took out a sealed bottle full of liquid.

It was one of the middle-grade healing potions he had made for the exam, still covered in dried glue to seal the essences in. The lid was, too, but that was weird for various reasons.

For one, it hadn’t been there before. He specifically remembered emptying his entire backpack after he had gotten back and he had used it for school all week. He would have noticed a bottle covered in glue. Had someone slipped it in during the meeting? Who? And when?

And besides, he had emptied all the other … bottles … in the workshop alchemical waste bin.

This one was taller.

Micah had made extra healing potion for the others and filled them into two smaller bottles in case one broke, but only made the obligatory amount for Kyle because he had insisted he wouldn’t pay for anything more than that. But everyone else had needed healing potions or salve to treat their wounds during the exam. Even Alex. Even Ryan, despite the fact that he wore wearing the rain jacket. He had scrapes, and blisters on his hands and feet, and he had pulled muscles.

Kyle didn’t even have a shield. Had he not been injured at all?

A knock on the door surprised him. That would be Ryan. Maybe Micah could ask him if he had seen Kyle with any injuries.

“I’ll get it,” he told Lanh and headed for the door, but it was a woman in business clothes instead. One of the school secretaries. She wasn’t wearing a name tag and Micah didn’t remember it, so he just said, “Uhm, yes?”

“Hello, there. Excuse me, but is Micah Stranya in?” She spoke with a hint of the tone reserved for small children, but seemed kind about it.

“Uhm, yes? I am … he,” Micah said awkwardly, then shook it off and smiled. “I’m Micah. Sorry.”

“Oh, well in that case, Principal Denner has asked me to pass on a request to your room. Because you check your mail so infrequently?” She held up a note.

Micah suppressed his cringe and took it. He guessed that was a not-so-subtle reminder that he should do that more often?

She went on before he could read it, “It’s an invitation to schedule a meeting. But she also told me if you are in, she would have time to speak with you right away?”

He froze. “Like, as in now?”

“Yes. As in, right now.”

“Oh, uh—” He almost tried to step past her on reflex, remembered he needed his things, and turned back the other way. Wait, was he even presentable? He had to wash his face and comb his hair first, right? Maybe put on the school blazer, and—

“Sorry!” he called in a panicked voice as he stepped back inside. He left the door open. “Ah, uhm, one minute, please? I mean, I’ll hurry. Oh, and thank you. Very much. For the note?”

Instead of leaving, she raised her voice, “Then you have time?”

He was rushing to put on his blazer and glanced back. “Huh? Oh, yes. Of course.”

“If not, we could reschedule—?”

He briefly thought of Ryan’s parents and Hannah. Would he still have time to drop by? But if his principal was asking for a meeting, so of course, he would accept. He could see them every day during the entire break. Ameryth was often busy.

“Oh, no, no,” he said. “It’s fine. I have time.”

She smiled, clearly pleased, and it helped ease his worries. “In that case, she tells you to bring your notes.”

He froze. “My notes?”

“About your Path, I would assume? Unless you know of any other notes she could be referring to?”

“Oh.” He headed over to his desk to fish out his journals and froze. “Wait, how does she know about those?”

The woman just chuckled. “Hurry. You don’t want to make her wait. And you’re welcome.” She peeked to the left where Lanh sat frozen and panicking, and said, “Sorry to disturb you. Have a nice weekend.”

“You, too?”

She left, and Micah was left to scramble for his things. He almost forgot the receipt and his keys before he ducked out and was left with the nagging doubt that he was forgetting something.

Wait, where was Ryan even? He had to tell him first. But more importantly, why did Ameryth want to see him? Had he done something wrong?

He hoped it wasn’t because of bad news, but rather that the school had lifted the restrictions on the Tower, one of his classmates had screwed up so bad, he would get their scholarship, and the Dwarf had come to visit the city and wanted to speak with him. But all three of those happening at once was unlikely. And even if only one of them happened, what would he tell the Dwarf anyway?