Teddy woke up on a luxury double bed on his own. The solitude was not going to last long, soon Kyra would be staying in the villa with him and James would be occupying the room for Lucy and himself, he’ll be able to enjoy the luxury of a double bed to himself for a month until Lucy passed her adventurer assessment.

The villa was a collection of low shallow sloping roofed houses. Two annexes that had a bedroom and bathroom in each attached to the main building with the kitchens, living rooms and dining room, a large patio with a barbecue and furniture looked out back towards the delta with a small outbuilding that had a few guest rooms in it. The whole villa was walled in and had its own stables, gym, training rooms and workshops. The main gates faced the city of Greenstone, a ten minute ride to the city gates. The villa had previously belonged to the church of Hero and had been given, writ and deed, to the Mitchells.

It was still early in the morning but not as early as the cadets woke at the academy, even on their graduation day. James, Lucy and Kyra had left late last night, having to take a late carriage out to the delta to their rooms at the academy on the Geller estate. Teddy washed up and headed downstairs, he had let their villa steward Gerald know that he was out early and that he wouldn’t be needing breakfast. Gerald was up and about, seemingly like he never went to sleep. A large well built man, Gerald was, a lifetime ago, from the northern tribes and spoke with a thick accent. They kept trying to pry the story out of him how he made such a cultural change. He was leading a Hidal towards him.

“Aye Mr Mitchell, I figured you’d be off early to meet them for the parade. Hidal is all good to go and I’ve packed some vittles in the saddle bags, plus a wee bottle o’ summit for after they’ve got their badges to celebrate.”

“Gerald that’s fantastic thankyou, we’ll be back this afternoon and then remember we should be out for the rest of the week so make sure you go out and have some time to yourself while the house is empty.”

“No worries sir, I’ll be off tomorrow afternoon to see the family for a spell.”

Teddy shook his hand and leapt onto the Hidal, he’d been travelling a lot and knew the beasts well and what they will take from adventurer behaviour. He left the villa behind, heading out of town on the embankment road towards the Geller estate.

As he got near the estate he merged with other traffic. Some of the riders and carriage drivers he recognised, he wasn’t the only recent graduate to know people in the intake below and heading back to see them pass the academy. They were let through the gates with no problem, their adventurer badges with a Remore ribbon granting automatic access to the grounds, families in carriages were being stopped to be checked to grant access, Geller bronze rank security swiftly processing everyone through.

The grounds of the Geller estate were a work of art, Lucy had been stunned when she had walked through on their first visit. She had tried to explain it but admitted herself that she lacked the understanding in order to try and give the others a good idea of what was going on. The whole expanse was a natural array, the architects had planned when sowing the gardens how each of the magical plants would interact with each other in decades to come when they planted them. Teddy was very familiar with the layout, when the students had downtime they caught up on work, socialised or meditated. Teddy liked to walk the grounds and find shadowy nooks to meditate in away from the bustle of the training grounds, the occasional coming and going of the other occupants of the gardens giving him focus points for observational training with his aura. He made his way swiftly through the grounds, the other guests all meandering towards the large open square where a bandstand had been set up at one end and rows of low benches at the opposite side. He was making his way towards the large building that was the mirage chamber, around the back he saw the series of ledges and jumped for the first one, now he was sure that no one was going to accidentally walk into it he used his dimension rift power to teleport up to the roof.

Ability: [Dimension Rift] (Dimension)

Spell: Teleport, Short range astral tunnel

Cost: Moderate mana

Cool-down: Nil

Current rank: Iron 4 (15%)

Effect: Iron. A rift in reality appears, the caster is able to travel through into another rift opening in short range of the first, anything that comes into contact with either rift will be partially teleported to another dimension, strength of material in contact will effect how much of an effect the rift will have. Alternate use, the caster can open a single rift and use it as dimensional storage.

Duration: The amount of mana imbued will depend how long the rift stays open.

He had been up here many times, it was an open secret amongst the trainees that this was one of the quietest places to come and meditate, many didn’t have that freedom, still needing guidance on meditation that kept them close to the training grounds. Teddy walked to the edge of the roof looking over at the preparations for the graduation. There was security walking the grounds as there were groups out there in the city that didn’t want the Remore Greenstone annex to be a success as it unbalanced the power dynamic of the region. Long had it been that those from families that could afford to find essences and awakening stones, then afford the training to become competent would become adventurers. The adventurer class would then dominate the city and set the balance of power. The academy was looking to revolutionise the process. For very affordable rates they offered both essences and awakening stones to those who showed aptitude. Using the wealth of the Remore academy they offered them on a zero interest loan. The graduates were then indentured to pay the academy a percentage back directly from their pay as adventurers, the fees handled by the society itself. The society was in favour, for a small fee they paid to the academy what they got was a yearly quota of adventurers with at least a minimum output standard from the academy, a standard that was lacking in Greenstone, the academy refused to be a ‘pay to pass’ venture, if you didn’t meet the standard you stayed, the cost being added to your indenture, this very rarely happened with the aptitude input test ensuring that the starting standard was high enough and the excellent instruction made the most of each candidate.

Teddy hadn’t found what he’d expected when he got to the top of the building. He gently pushed out his aura, being careful to not spook any of the many essence users present. He soon felt a familiar wrongness approach him. An ethereal presence, looking like the ghost of a warrior monk. He had focussed his aura onto the presence and felt the surge of effort the man made to materialise fully into the world. “Priest” Teddy greeted him.

“Outworlder, soon you will all be comfortably on your way, your purpose will soon be fulfilled.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Teddy nodded. “Your purpose for us will be, whatever that is.” he emphasised. “Then we have to find out what our purpose is afterwards.”

The wraith priest nodded. “I’ll not keep you here long, I will not be joining you below I find this form… uncomfortable and others are uncomfortable around my other form. Be it known to you and yours that my god is well pleased with you all, the graduation today is well earned and he is keen to see you make your battlefields, the sorceress will not be far behind.”

Teddy thought about Lucy, still in training for another intake, it was a shame but the waiting list had been long and the four of them were lucky to only be spread over three intakes, knowing that her essences and power she unlocked first were the least direct combat related she had taken the last intake.

“We’re grateful for him getting us to where we are, he was clear when he will need us next, we’ll get there as soon as the four of us can.”

“He knows you’re motivated and is glad, those that yearn for battle have a special place in his sight. He wanted me to pass on some information. The stone of awakening the sorceress is desiring is in this place.” He handed Teddy a scroll.

Map has been acquired, add locations to [Minimap] Y/N?

Teddy added a copy of the map to his Minimap racial gift and opened it, not visible to anyone else without the same interface he accepted the marked location as a waypoint and saw the distance. “Well we were roughly planning on heading out for a few days, this has filled that plan. Thankyou.”

“You are welcome, put the knowledge and the power to good use in his name.”

He turned and left, blending away into his wraith form, Teddy watched him go and pitied the man, his essence combinations had made him a leper of society. Most powers were accepted by the masses, the fundamental shift he had gone through had given him incredible power but incompatible with a normal life. Teddy jumped off the roof, taking a mid air step just above the ground to cushion his fall, he fell in with the crowd and headed to the bandstand, taking a seat.

The stands were full, families and friends all collected together to see their loved ones in their moment of triumph. The penultimate intake were seated on the benches opposite the large open square. Having recently been through the process himself Teddy knew what they were feeling, so close to the end, still so much to do, the pressure was increasing, the assessment fatigue of being tested Every. Single. Day. and being held to the standard Every. Single. Day. was exhausting. Every student felt it. Knowing they were only a few bad days away from picking a new career, a new career with a lot of debt for the essences and awakening stones selected. They all went in knowing the risk, and the due diligence from the academy meant sure there were no hard feelings, the aptitude tests to get in were rigorous. That didn’t change the fact that the course was punishing and the standards were set incredibly high. Being sat in those benches gave them a fresh perspective. With their friends and peers in front of them for the last time as cadets, having earned their places as adventurers, ex students in the grandstand to come and show support, and the hope that their friends and families would soon be in the bandstand watching them gave them new strength to drive hard on the course. Teddy could see Lucy on the end of a row chatting to some friends as they waited.

The graduating course came out of a nearby building, separating into three rows walking onto the square. Teddy knew the three rows were the thirds for how high the cadets graduated in their course, it meant nothing beyond the academy but was a point of pride for today, the first row nearest the grandstand being the top third. Teddy could see both James and Kyra were in the front row.

A tall man with brown hair and an air of authority stepped forward. Teddy smiled fondly at the kind man, it was Rashid Flonds, the Chief of Instructors at the annex.

“It gives me great pleasure to be here today. It is a privilege for any instructor to see their charges flourish and succeed, some have overcome great struggles, all have had themselves tested and made stronger for it. We believe at this school that there is no greater responsibility than that which you now face, you are the sword that stands between the evil in this world and the innocents. If that means that you must become sharp like the sword and lose your own innocence then that is the burden you bear. The badges that you are about to receive are proof that you have earned that right, to defend the people of this world and to receive their thanks. There is a great deal of trust in that badge, we have deemed you worthy on completion of this school to shoulder that trust and not to abuse it.”

An elderly elf stood up, Teddy recognised her as the Director of the Greenstone adventure society Genevieve Picot.

“And we of the Adventure society have taken you from the academy and assessed you and found that the training is exemplary. We are here today to present you with your Adventure Society badges, recognised around the world as a symbol of your status. Here to present them to you is a special guest.”

A dark skinned man stood up from where he was sat in the VIP position next to the Director and the Annex Chief of Instructors. There was a blank aura where he was standing, as he took position on the podium he let a little leak out, his gold rank aura washing over the crowd ever so slightly. Gabrielle Remore needed no introduction. During his infrequent visits to the annex he always spent more time with the students than with the staff, taking the role more of a tutor than the owner of not only the Annex but the very prestigious school in Vitesse that the sons and daughters of kings vied for a place.

“My son, who set up this annex, once told me that he was conflicted about leaving his adventurer life to become a teacher. That it was an abandonment of his duty to the people he had sworn to protect. He received some wise advice from a friend of his, every student that you teach will go on to save maybe one person a week, if you can train one person that’s an extra life a week you have saved.”

He looked at every trainee dead in the eye, one after another while he spoke.

“This graduation means that the safety of hundreds, if not thousands of innocent lives just became that much more secure. I implore you, on leaving these grounds today not to relax. The standards we have set are not the school standard, they are not the test standard, they are the standard for being adventurers, the ribbons you are being given on your badges hold my name, and will open some doors for you. But do not tarnish that name, in this region you will be seen as an elite Iron adventurers, act like it.”

He smiled, turning to Rashid and Vincent who was standing behind Genevieve.

“And now, it is time to give you what you all deserve so thoroughly.”

The four of them made their way down the rows, Vincent pulling the cadets badge out of his storage for Genevieve to hand to the cadet with a handshake, next Gabrielle Remore shook hands with the cadet and muttered a few nice personal words to each, pinning a ribbon into the leather wallet that held their society badge. Lastly came Rashid, the most constant presence in the academy and he shook the hand of each cadet and congratulated them. When they had finished the back row Gabrielle turned to the cadets on the benches behind.

“Now you have seen your peers achieve the first step in their adventuring career, know that you are not far behind, push, push for greatness in this last term!” He moved to the end of the row to speak quietly to one cadet as Rashid cleared the square of the new adventurers to go to their families and friends. “Danya, do not be disheartened. You knew yourself you were not ready for the assessment this time around. Anywhere else and you would have passed, but this is not just anywhere else and you know you want to say you stand shoulder to shoulder with your friends here, one more term and you will be ready, I have seen that it is free of charge.”

Danya sat on the bench with her frog familiar on her shoulder gobsmacked. The sole attention of the gold ranker was overwhelming. The gratitude she felt from his encouragement and the extra training free of charge was beyond generous.

“S,s,s,s,sir! Thankyou!”

He smiled and patted her on the shoulder before moving away to the group of prestigious high society waiting for him at the buffet table set out for the graduates.

Teddy walked over to meet James and Kyra, Lucy had made her way back to the training grounds as they were not allowed at the after party, she waved before leaving and blew James a kiss. Teddy made a small slash in the air, just large enough for his fist and reached in, pulling out a the bottle Gerald had handed him that morning, the rift closing just after the bottle.

“Time to celebrate?” He said with a grin, gave his brother a manly hug with much back thumping and put an arm around Kyra’s slender waist.

“One more to go and then we’re on our way.”