Despite their initial hesitation, the chamber ended up being a fairly decent place to set up camp for the night. Or at least what Gabe was choosing to think of as night. It was difficult for him to properly gauge exactly how long they had been in the tunnels, but since they were going to be in the chamber a while to allow Professor Alrik enough time to recover, he was definitely going to try and get some rest.
It was weird, even though he’d decided to keep his aura going to help the professor out and felt full of energy, a part of him recognized that he couldn’t keep going on magic alone. Well maybe one day when he formed a compound node and could cast spells on the same scale as Professor Alrik he might be able to, but for now, he knew there would be serious complications down the road if he didn’t get any actual rest.
With the pile of rubbish that Simon had pushed against the wall as a reminder that while the chamber may currently be safe, that might not always be the case, they’d decided to set up a watch rotation while they rested. To no one’s surprise, Drevock took the first shift and once the mess from their meal had been cleaned up, he began working through his martial forms. As before when they camped outside, Gabe pulled out his guidebook and started his own routine.
While he was still a long way away from having even a fraction of the fluidity and ease of movement that Drevock exhibited, Gabe was beginning to feel comfortable shifting through the forms. He didn’t even need to refer back to the book all that often, the sequence starting to become familiar to him. He was even considering adding some of the more advanced forms to his routine.
“Your stance iz off.”
The statement surprised Gabe. Drevock was still going through his forms and Gabe hadn’t even realized that the large man was paying attention to him. He looked down at how he had his feet placed and then back at the images on the book splayed out on the ground in front of him. As far as he could tell, he was matching the picture just about perfectly.
“What do you mean? I’m fairly certain I’m following the steps in the book correctly.”
Drevock shifted into a form that required him to have his back bent backward, left arm horizontal with the floor, and his right arm extended straight up. With his head upside down, he locked eyes with Gabe.
“Zen book iz vrong.”
He then leaned farther back, resting his left hand on the ground, and flipped over, landing on one foot and the other stretched behind him. He held the position for a few seconds before setting his other foot on the ground and making his way over to where Gabe was standing. Gabe was still in the same position that Drevock had commented about and when he approached he gave Gabe a quick shove on the shoulder. Despite having his feet firmly planted on the ground, the motion caused Gabe to stumble backward and fall on his ass. He heard a snicker come from where Simon had placed his bedroll. Gabe’s cheeks burned red from embarrassment as he pulled himself off the ground.
“See, stance vas vrong.
“I hardly think that that’s a fair way to judge my stance. You’re much stronger than I am and besides, I wasn’t expecting you to push me.” His words came out curt and defensive.
Drevock stared at him for a handful of seconds before taking a single step back and waving at Gabe to get into position again. Face still red and ego bruised, Gabe double-checked the position in the book and stepped back into it. This time he braced himself, prepared and determined not to fall. Once Drevock saw that Gabe was ready he approached again and this time extended a single finger towards Gabe’s chest. Once he made contact he held his finger there for a moment, demonstrating that he wasn’t using even a fraction of his full strength. Then he slowly pushed forward.
Even with his feet braced and foreknowledge of what was coming, Gabe only lasted a single second before stumbling back. This time he was fortunately able to catch himself before he fell completely to the ground, but that didn’t stop Simon from chuckling. For his part, Drevock was just standing there looking expectantly at Gabe.
“Yeah yeah, I get it. The book is wrong.”
Even more than the embarrassment of being pushed back with just a single finger, Gabe was more upset at the fact that he’d been sold a bad book. The merchant at the Scholar’s Guild had insisted that it was the perfect book for someone looking to learn beginner fighting forms.
Looking back at Drevock he asked, “Were they all bad?” He assumed that Drevock had watched him go through all the other movements and was hopeful that at least a few of them had been good. Instead of answering right away, Drevock walked over to where the book lay and flicked through the pages.
“Not all bad, but not good” came his reply once he was finished.
That was just great. Gabe had gotten the idea in his head that maybe once he formed a compound node, he might take on a more frontline role. If he could improve his buffing and healing abilities, maybe learn some offensive magic, he’d be able to take on much bigger monsters practically on his own. Earlier when they were walking through the tunnel, he’d daydreamed about taking on the wyvern solo, trading hits and healing up any damage he received. Seeing the way Drevock held his own, Gabe hoped that he could one day he could fight like that too.
Well, there was nothing to it. He bent down and picked up the book and was about to head to this bedroll. Even though he didn’t know much about fighting, Gabe knew it was better to start from scratch than to unlearn any bad behaviors. Once he was back in Aranthia - and he had to keep believing that there was a chance he’d make it out of this alive - he’d have some choice words for the merchant. Maybe he’d see if Drevock would come along and help ‘encourage’ the man to sell Gabe a worthwhile book.
What he wasn’t expecting was for Drevock to grab him by the shoulder and turn him around.
“Drevock, what gives?”
“Book iz vrong, I show you correct vay.”
To demonstrate, Drevock dropped into a stance that was similar to the one Gabe had been using, but with the key difference of having his legs in a different position. Thinking that he might get his chance to solo some wyverns after all, Gabe tried his best to mimic the stance. Drevock stood up and walked around Gabe, making minor adjustments to the way his foot was placed and how far apart his legs were. Right away Gabe could feel that he was much more stable than he’d been copying the form from the book.
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When Drevock once again placed a finger against his chest, Gabe was ready. He did not doubt that Drevock could push him over still, but he was hopeful that he’d be able to hold out for more than a second. He was proved correct, it took a full five seconds of effort before he fell. Even with Simon’s laugh, Gabe found it hard to feel embarrassed. He quickly scrambled to his feet and got back into position.
Not unsurprisingly, Drevock knew a lot about fighting. As a result, he knew far more than just the forms he used to refresh his spells. As Professor Alrik rested and Simon watched from behind his book, he walked Gabe through a set of practice forms. These all emphasized proper placement of the feet to maintain a steady balance. While Gabe might have preferred to learn something with a bit more attack potential, after being knocked to the ground each time his stance was slightly off, he was gaining an appreciation for the fundamentals.
All told there were 25 distinct forms that Drevock taught Gabe. They were designed to flow together seamlessly, though Gabe hadn't quite developed the skill to do so without stumbling. Once he'd gotten Drevock's approval that he at least knew the forms well enough to move through them on his own, the larger man left him alone and went back to his own forms.
Gabe went through the sequence twice more before deciding to call it quits for the time being. Even though the stances were relatively simple, moving through them repeatedly was beginning to wear on him despite his aura. He made his way over to where Simon was reading and plopped down on the ground next to him.
“Why do you only read that one book? You must have gone through it by now.”
“More than a dozen times actually,” came Simon’s reply.
“Wait, really? Why don’t you read something else? I’m sure with Professor Alrik’s connections through the Pathways of Illumination you could get access to all kinds of magical texts.” Gabe said the name of the organization with a playful tone. He’d found it kind of odd that the professor didn’t talk much about the group and was hoping that he could get some more information about them out of Simon. What he hadn’t been expecting was the look of sadness that flashed across Simon’s face. It was only there for a moment, a slight furrow of his brows, the corners of his lips drooping down, and a far-away cast to his gaze before it was covered up by Simon’s characteristic grin.
“This one is my favorite. Plus it would have been a pain to carry more books. Some of the tomes the Pathways have could double as exercise weights for Drevock. Once we’re done with this quest, you can bet your last gold that one of the first things I do when we get back among civilized company is to check out what new editions have come to print while we’ve been away.”
Gabe could tell that Simon was trying to lighten up the conversation, but there was an undercurrent of longing to his response. Not for the first time, Gabe wondered just what exactly these three had been up to before finding him in Aranthia. When he’d asked about it before, he’d only received vague half-answers that didn’t tell him much. Their reluctance to give details led Gabe to wonder if maybe they had been on a secret quest on behalf of the Pathways of Illumination. Uncovering lost knowledge before a great war breaks out would certainly fall into that category, so he hadn’t pressed too hard.
But Simon’s reaction just now gave him pause. Maybe he was overthinking it, but he had gotten the impression that something was going on between them and the organization, something neither Professor Alrik nor Simon wanted Gabe to know about. So far he’d been willing to respect their privacy, but sometime soon he was going to press to get the full story.
That was for another day, however. For now, he just laid back on the ground next to his friend.
“Sounds reasonable enough. I bet there will be all kinds of new stuff for you to geek out over. Since you’ve read through that book so many times, is there anything in there that I could use? I know life mana isn’t the most common type but there’s gotta be a Weeb’s twist or something I can add to my spells to give them some extra oomph.”
Simon let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “If you promise to never say ‘Weeb’s twist’ again, I might be able to show you a few things.”
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It had been a slow day at the Adventurer’s Guild in Aranthia for Freya. Only a handful of parties had come through looking to either pick up a new quest or collect the bounty for a completed one. In truth she’d wished it had been busier, that way she wouldn’t have had so much time to worry about Gabe. She’d been relieved when a scout had come by a few hours ago with a report about a wyvern corpse found dead near the cavern Gabe and that party he’d joined were going. If that group was strong enough to take out a wyvern, then maybe they wouldn’t be in too much danger in the tunnels.
Images of her former party flashed through her mind. Leila holding up her giant tower shield against a stream of green fire. Ash leaning against the wall, the lower part of his left leg gone, blood pouring out of what remained as he dug through his pack trying to find a healing potion. And Wade, stupid fucking Wade, smiling at her with that look that could melt her heart as he cast Galeforce to push her down the hall and away from the monster that had ambushed them, its long, dark claw extending through Wade’s chest. Without Wade’s spell, she never would have been able to escape. Sometimes she wished he hadn’t cast it so that she could have died in those tunnels with her party, her friends.
Freya shook her head to try and clear her thoughts. This was not the time to dwell on the past. As much as her heart still ached from the pain of losing them, little by little she’d been able to move past it. Gabe had been a big part of that, helping her to realize that there was still room for joy in her life. Part of her regretted not asking if she could join him on the job, but she knew that she wasn’t ready to pick up her bow again.
Trying to put all those thoughts aside, she returned her focus to the paperwork on her desk. All she had to do was sign off on a few reports and wait another half hour and then she’d be done with work for the day. Maybe she’d stop by the Flaming Boar and pick up a bottle or two of fulnok.
The doors to the Hall swung open and a group of five people, all in gleaming metal armor with a royal purple tabard draped across their backs, entered. Freya could tell that these were no ordinary adventurers. Everything from the way they walked in formation, constantly covering one another’s blind spots, hinted that they were dangerous. She wondered if they were the elite team from Tonclay. A message was supposed to have gone out to them once Guild officials had received word of the dead wyvern, but perhaps they either hadn’t received it or were already close enough to Aranthia to want to check it out for themselves.
As expected the group made their way over to Thalia. This was the type of thing she would need to handle. Once again, Freya was glad that she didn’t have Thalia’s job. It was hard enough dealing with regular adventurers, she would have hated having to put up with the kinds of snobs that usually required ‘special treatment’.
Freya went back to her paperwork even as her thoughts drifted back to the dangers Gabe was facing. Yes, she was definitely going to pick up some fulnok after work. Her work was interrupted by the sound of people approaching her desk. She looked up to see Thalia leading the group that had just walked in straight towards her.
“Thal, everything okay?” Freya asked, concern clearly evident in her voice. Everything about this was eerily similar to when that gnome and his group came to talk to Gabe. She was getting a bad feeling about this.
“Freya, I am so sorry.” Thalia’s eyes were glistening, the woman evidently on the brink of tears.
“Thalia what’s going on? Is it Gabe? What’s happened to him?” Panic now laced her words. In her mind, all she could see was green flames, dripping blood, and a smile.
It wasn’t Thalia who spoke next, but one of the members of the armored group. They stepped forward and removed their helmet. Long blonde hair spilled out as the woman, no not woman, Freya caught sight of pointed ears poking through the hair, as the elf extended a hand towards her.
“My name is Iansi’a Ere’ialo. I am a knight captain for the Pathways of Illumination. Your friend Gabe is in great danger.”