As Sibel stepped out of the building, everyone parted to give him a clear path to Soral. They all waited with bated breath, eager to see how he would greet him. The answer seemed to surprise them.

“Welcome back,” Sibel told Soral with a big smile, “I’m assuming you have achieved your goals, and have come to have me make good on my offer.”

“Actually, I was just coming to find these two a place to stay right now,” Soral admitted, “but I have time for a good treat.”

Sibel called over some employees to handle Howler and Rosalie’s arrangements. “Then shall we? You can bring Jazz along, of course.”

“What about Ruena?” Soral asked.

He thought for a moment before nodding. “Yes. She has worked well with us over the time you were gone.”

The crowd slowly dispersed as it was made clear any further conversation would take place in private. There were a few that stuck around just in case, and some that waited for Howler and Rosalie to get what they could from them instead.

Sibel took them to a restaurant run by the Belleas Company called Meal Chime. The owners recognized Sibel immediately, and they were swiftly taken to a private VIP room. The private room had a chandelier in the center decorated with glass wind chimes that jingled slightly as they entered.

Sibel handed Soral the menu once they sat down. “You can have whatever you would like,” he told him.

“Can I choose more than one?” Soral asked.

“You can have as much as you want,” Sibel assured.

“Even if I order the whole menu?”

“Is that what you want?” Sibel asked, preparing to order.

“Actually, maybe I shouldn’t,” Soral decided, thinking of how much time that would take to eat. The restaurant probably wouldn’t let him take their dishes, so he just decided on the ten most delicious, and most varied, meals instead.

Ruena only ordered an appetizer, and Sibel ordered a parfait. Once their food arrived, and Soral began to eat, Sibel finally got around to his real objective.

“Before I found out you had been kidnapped, I went to Belleas,” Sibel began.

“There is a place called Belleas?” Soral asked.

“It is a merchant city that is part of no nation,” Ruena broke in before taking another bite of her appetizer.

Sibel nodded in confirmation. “It is also the place where the Toll family, my family, lives,” he added, “I went there to introduce your invention to my parents.”

Sora’s food slipped off his fork as he stared at Sibel. “You mean my pocket?” he asked.

“That’s right,” Sibel confirmed, “They would like to meet you.”

They wanted to meet him? “Do I need to go to Belleas?” he asked.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Only if you want to,” Sibel told him, “but if you do, you may gain the opportunity to become my apprentice.”

“Your apprentice? That isn’t some weird contract like the Black- that old man’s apprentices right?”

“In this specific instance, I only wish to impart my knowledge to you,” Sibel promised, “All I want from you in return is that you use it.”

“I don’t have to stay loyal to Belleas forever?” Soral checked.

“While I would prefer we remained on friendly terms, it is not going to be required,” Sibel assured.

“Is there a way to travel there quickly?” Soral asked, “You got to the Oasis and back pretty quick.”

Sibel smiled. “I thought you might catch on to that. If you would like we can go tomorrow, and you should be back before dinner.”

“When tomorrow?” Ruena asked.

“Noon should be fine,” Sibel replied.

“What do you think?” Ruena asked Soral.

“Can I answer that when we meet tomorrow?” Soral asked. He wanted a chance to talk things through with Ruena for a decision as big as this one.

“Of course,” Sibel agreed, “I promise that nothing will happen if you turn me down.”

That was a relief, though Soral suspected he would lose some of his preferential treatment. That was fine, though. In his current position it seemed a bit much. However, if he did become an apprentice the treatment would feel more natural. His thoughts wandered throughout the rest of the meal, and he was eager to speak to Ruena once they departed. Naturally, he still finished all ten meals he ordered.

Ruena seemed just as eager to talk to him. “I had some time to plan things while you were away,” she began as soon as they were alone, “I think I should tell you about that first before we can decide on your invitation.”

“Alright,” Soral agreed. He was glad she had some plans for the future, because his only plans involved growing faerutil trees.

She jumped right into her explanation. “The fastest way to build back up the Alodan Warriors is to register as a mercenary guild. I was able to look into the qualifications to register, and they’re not nearly as hard as I expected.”

“What are they?” Soral asked.

“First, we have to have at least five active members that can pass a combat test they assign,” Ruena replied, “Second, and this is the harder one, we must have proof of funds. So we either need to do business or have a sponsor.”

Soral immediately made the connection of why this was important to his decision. “If I become an apprentice, I could go either way,” he guessed.

“Yes, but I would like to avoid being sponsored by the Belleas Guild. Unlike your apprenticeship, I am certain there will be a hefty contract involved,” Ruena continued, “So I would like you to set up independent businesses if they will allow you to. We can also make another invention and just do a sales contract through them.”

“Will they let me do an independent business while I am still learning?” Soral asked.

“I don’t know. You may have to ask. I doubt they will let me accompany you to this meeting.”

Soral closed his eyes and thought about his options. “What do you think my chances are of starting a business if I refuse?”

“Belleas will likely treat you as a hard rival unless we manage to find a place they are not well set up in,” Ruena replied.

“So everything depends on my negotiation,” Soral surmised. He didn’t like that. He was good at making demands, but negotiation was something else entirely.

Jazz gave a light meow from Soral’s arms. That was right, he did have the bonus of being the chosen partner of a kitica he could use to his advantage. If he needed to, he could also use the annoying old man. He had the upper hand because he could always force Densooth to sponsor them if everything failed.

“Let’s start with the invention,” Soral suggested, “If I have an idea of what to invent, we could use that as leverage.”

“Actually, I was going to ask if you could help me with something,” Ruena admitted, “I have been tinkering with some inventions of my own while you were away and I noticed one major problem. Power sources for technology, or magic tools are extremely hard to come by. Especially technology. You charged that carriage like it was nothing.”

“A power source,” Soral repeated, “What kind of technology do you need it for? Maybe we could make a few types depending. Like if it was the carriage, we would have to allow different power draws for different speeds.”

“For now, I am just trying to make something simple,” Ruena told him, “A torch made with technology.”

Soral had remembered Nicholas saying, or perhaps thinking, something like that. He had called it a flashlight. Since it would just need to supply a steady beam of light, the power source would be simple as well. Nicholas’s flashlight had run on something called batteries. Soral didn’t quite understand what batteries were, but it seemed like pure energy was stored inside some kind of case.

“Let’s make a battery then,” Soral told her.

“A battery?” Ruena asked. “Yeah. It is like a bottle full of magic.”

“How do we keep the magic inside the bottle?”

“I don’t know,” Soral admitted, “We can’t just get crystilium, and we have to let a little escape or it won’t power anything.”

“We can do some research, but I think this idea alone will be enough to use as leverage,” Ruena told him, “Just tell them you have an idea to make a magic battery, but don’t tell them what it is.”

“Won’t they want it more if they know what it is?” Soral asked.

“If you just tell them, they might just create it themselves. Especially since we haven’t made one yet. You need to make them agree to help you make yours instead. I will help too, of course.”

Jazz meowed again, likely offering his help as well. It made Soral wonder if he would be able to hear his thoughts, but he decided it would be best to save that for another time. He had enough on his plate.