For dinner Soral tried to cook a nice mushroom stew, but Ruena sternly demanded that there were to be no mushrooms in any part of her food. As she did she shot a particularly fierce glare at a bright green cap Soral had found earlier. Was this one poisonous, then? That was such a shame. It tasted amazing.

He settled for a boring stew instead with some bread to dip into it on the side.

“I’ll probably have to take another job soon,” Soral muttered, “We’re almost out of supplies already.”

“Does guild work bother you that much, does it?” Ruena asked.

“Not really. It’s just the idea that is annoying. Too many steps.”

“The idea is annoying?” Ruena repeated incredulously. “You mean, earning money? Is that the real reason you didn’t steal money?”

“That and it’s too dangerous. I could steal a new pair of shoes and most people won’t even notice they are missing,” Soral explained, “But if I stole the money to buy those shoes, it would attract immediate attention.”

Soral thought the concept was pretty self explanatory but Ruena’s expression as she stared at him said otherwise so he decided to change the subject.

“I’ll go visit the guild tomorrow and see what I can find.”

“Remember to let me know about your options this time,” Ruena warned, “There are probably a lot of things that are more dangerous than they seem at first glance.”

The mine snakes had definitely been more of a hassle than Soral had expected, but not because of lack of info. He just hadn’t thought things through. If Jazz hadn’t been there who knows how that would have ended.

He promised Ruena he would make a full report of possible jobs and quests. He wanted to choose a nice high-paying when if he was going to go through all the effort for this money thing anyway.

The next morning he headed off early. Perhaps a bit too early, since the Belleas Guild didn’t seem to have any traffic yet. Ruena had made Soral sleep that night, but he only managed a few hours before the nightmares woke him up again.

When he tried the handle the door was unlocked, and luckily he saw a familiar face arranging some chairs at the tables.

“Grace,” he remembered. That was her name.

Her head snapped up when her name was spoken and she locked eyes with Soral.

“Soral? Isn’t it a bit early?”

“It’s fine,” he said, and hesitated, “Is there any way I could meet Sibel Toll? I promised him I would tell him about something.”

“You’ve already met him?” she asked in surprised, “Give me a moment. I will see if he is free.”

She hadn’t said anything about him not being there, so that was a good sign. Soral waited somewhat impatiently for Grace to return.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He heard footsteps down the hall, but rather than Grace, Sibel himself came into view with a broad smile.

“Have you finished already?” he asked, some excitement to his voice, “It took me months to invent my first magic.”

“It isn’t that great,” Soral admitted, “I just combined a bunch of stuff I already knew about.”

“That is how creation works,” Sibel replied, not disappointed in the slightest, “Why don’t you join me in my office? Then we can discuss things in more detail.”

Soral followed him to his office with a bit of his own excitement beginning to surface. He had thought maybe Sibel would be proud, but the genuine enthusiasm the man showed was far more rewarding.

“So, what magics did you combine, if you don’t mind explaining?” Sibel asked once the door was closed.

“I don’t mind,” Soral told him, then began to explain, “Have you ever heard of portals?”

“I have. Are you saying you have mastered them?”

Soral paused at the word mastered. “Maybe? I can use them, at least.”

“So you used portals to make your new magic work,” Sibel prompted.

“Yeah. Basically, I have a portal in my pocket now, but it only opens under certain conditions.”

Sibel listened intently, muttering softly to himself. “Conditions as well. Impressive. I knew I was right about you.”

Soral happily continued explaining. “I wasn’t sure at first how to grab the items I put in, so I also attached a kind of summoning magic. I have to know the basic location of the item to summon it for now.”

At this point Sibel connected the dots. “That safe space you asked about last time,” he realized, “Is that connected to your pocket?”

“It is,” Soral confirmed.

“Incredible,” Sibel whispered, then grinned, “This is far more impressive than I ever expected for a first try. Especially this soon! Thank you for sharing this new innovation with me. Did you want to know how mine works?”

“Really? You’ll tell me?” Soral asked.

“Yes, but I am afraid it is far less impressive than yours. It is simply a bag with expanded space. No organization. No summoning magic or safe space portals.” Sibel seemed fairly amused by the vast difference in Soral’s creativity, “I don’t even know if I could fully recreate what you have, but I will certainly try.”

Soral was shocked. The magic bag that had been his obsession for the last few days was just that? Just a big bag that looked like a little bag? He felt oddly cheated, but he had gotten something amazing out of it.

“Now, I don’t imagine you came here this early in the morning just to show me your fancy new pocket,” Sibel said, shifting the direction of the conversation, “Is there anything I can hello you with?”

“Actually, I was going to look for a job,” Soral answered, “Something interesting, but not dangerous, and hopefully with a good reward.”

“Quite the greedy conditions,” Sibel chuckled, “but I think I may have the perfect job for you. This one is a bit more personal, but I will pay you generously, and now is about time for the festival in the capital.”

Festival in the capital? What did that have to do with a personal job? “What kind of job is it?”

“I need you to deliver a very important package to the capital branch of the guild for me,” Sibel said, “With your new pocket, no one should be able to steal it from you, and I think seeing the festival would be good for you.”

“It would?” Soral asked, trying to imagine what kind of festival he could possibly be talking about.

“Have you never heard of the Elgrove Magic Festival?” Sibel asked.

“No? What’s an el grove?”

Sibel’s smile fell slightly into a look of concern. “Soral, Elgrove is the name of this kingdom,” he told him, “Surely you know the name of this town, right?”

Soral looked away, suddenly filled with an odd sense of guilt. Ruena probably knew, but he had never bothered to learn. A town was a town. He would usually leave soon enough anyway so it didn’t matter.

“This is Evergreen,” Sibel informed him, interpreting his silence correctly, “And you would be taking the package to Sycamore, the capital of Elgrove.”

“That’s a lot of trees,” Soral couldn’t help but comment.

“The founder of this kingdom believed trees were sacred,” Sibel replied, “That belief was not passed down but the various tree associated locations remain.”

That sounded a bit odd to Soral, but half the town was in a forest so being part of some tree related kingdom wasn’t that unexpected.

“What sort of package will I be delivering?” he asked, trying to shake of the strange thoughts of sacred tree mythology.

Sibel opened a cabinet and took out a box containing a lot of papers. He chuckled at Soral’s visible disappointment. “It may not look too exciting, but this is the research and information our explorers have gathered. I always send copies to the capital branch to further the spread of information.”

“Why would anyone steal this?” Soral asked.

“Information is valuable,” Sibel replied, “Perhaps this information isn’t of interest to you, but I am not without competitors.”

“I’ll think about it,” Soral told him, remembering his promise to Ruena.

“There is no pressure to accept,” Sibel assured him, “But try to let me know by tonight. It will take me a while to find someone else if you refuse.”

“Got it,” Soral replied, and headed out. He almost went for the window before he caught himself and left properly though the door.