“What kind of a job?” Gabe was taken aback by this request. While he had gained a bit of notoriety around Aranthia during his time here, the fact that he purposely stayed away from jobs that took him deep within the tunnels meant that he usually wasn’t noticed by any of the truly powerful teams. Surely someone with enough social standing to warrant having Thalia assist them would want to hire someone that could bring more to the party than just a simple tier one healing spell. Gabe didn’t even know how to fight, the dagger he wore when he went on jobs was used more often to cut through clothes so that he could better heal someone than to cut through the flesh of a monster.
At this point Professor Alrik walked right up to Gabe and stuck out his hand. The older gnome only came up to his knees, causing Gabe to bend slightly to shake the proffered hand.
“Ah, Gabriel Tonmor, it is an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’ve heard such wonderful things about you and I am certain you’re just the man I need. My name is Professor Alrik Foontwal and I am a member of the Pathways of Illumination.”
From the expression on Professor Alrik’s face and the way he said the name of his organization, Gabe could tell the old gnome was expecting some sort of reaction from him but Gabe had never heard of them before. He cast a quick glance over at Freya who just shrugged her shoulders. Professor Alrik must have caught the interplay between the two as his shoulders sagged and his expression turned slightly downcast.
“You’ve never heard of us before, have you? No of course you haven’t, the Loachian Empire does everything it can to keep magical knowledge only within the noble families. Those blasted fools, can’t they realize that by hoarding it all to themselves, they are contributing to the stagnation of magical advancement? No matter, nothing can be done about it now.” Professor Alrik had been mostly muttering to himself, but at that part he stood straight again and looked at Gabe with a kind expression on his face.
“My dear young mage, we of the Pathways of Illumination believe that magical knowledge should be made freely available to all those who have the potential to wield the arcane arts. For too long those with power and influence have kept the paths to advancement to themselves, afraid that their enemies would use their own techniques against them. They do not understand that a single thread will snap when forced to hold a great weight, yet several strands braided together can lift the whole world. Ironic really, given how it is that same principle from which they derive their power. But I digress. There will be time for that later. I am sure you must be wondering why a rambling old gnome is seeking to hire your services.”
Gabe merely nodded at this point. He had a hard time believing any of this was actually happening. ‘Am I dreaming? Or maybe that last job actually went poorly and I’m in a coma?’ he wondered to himself. Since he first discovered he could access his mana, he’d fantasized about becoming a great and powerful wizard. At every point however, his access to more magic was blocked and yet now, here was someone in front of him, proclaiming to be a member of some organization that had the express purpose of teaching regular people magic. It seemed too good to be true.
Professor Alrik turned to face Thalia. “I must thank you again for all the assistance you have provided us so far. If it would not be too much of an imposition, is there a room in which my companions and I could speak with young Gabriel privately? While I do believe knowledge should be shared freely, the particulars of this job do necessitate some…. discretion.”
“Of course. You may use the executive office, or if you would prefer I can have some living quarters prepared within the Guild Hall that you can use while you’re in Aranthia, if you haven’t made other arrangements.”
“Your office will work wonderfully for now, thank you. Though depending on whether Gabriel chooses to accept the job, I may take you up on the offer for living quarters later, provided that be alright. That is assuming that Gabriel is interested in hearing more of what I have to say.” He looked at Gabe as he said that last part.
Gabe didn’t know what to make of the strange gnome. On the surface it seemed that this was exactly the type of encounter he’d been waiting his whole life for, the chance to truly step on the path towards becoming a Knotted wizard. It would cost him nothing to hear what Professor Alrik had to say, and Gabe had a feeling that even if he declined the job, the professor would likely answer his questions anyway. Maybe he’d even be able to help Gabe find someone who could teach him more life magic. Yet Gabe couldn’t help but feel that there was something more at play, something that Professor Alrik wasn’t telling him. Somehow he knew deep within his soul that if he followed the gnome, there would be no going back.
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So far in his life, Gabe had merely walked the path that was set out before him. Sure he had aspirations of greatness, but deep down he always knew that such things didn’t happen to guys like him. Storytellers may have liked to tell the tales of common folk who achieved great power by means of their charm, wit, or courage, but everyone knew those were just stories.
But this, this was a chance to step off of the path he’d always known and to begin a new path towards something greater.
He looked over at Freya to see what she made of all this. He knew that she’d want him to take the job, no matter what it was. Even though she didn’t like to talk about it, Gabe understood that Freya felt guilty about what happened with her previous team. He still didn’t know the full story, but he always had the impression that she blamed herself for why things went wrong. Maybe she felt that by helping Gabe and pushing him to become an adventurer, she was making amends for her past actions. He had expected her to be looking at him sternly as if to say “Come on, don’t be stupid. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, you’d be a fool to throw it away.”
Instead she was looking at him with a soft smile and compassion in her eyes. He understood that no matter what decision he made, she would support him in it. Even though she regularly told him to take harder jobs and they argued frequently about his reluctance to fully join the Guild, she was still his best friend and accepted him for who he was. She gave a slight nod, letting him know that regardless it will be okay.
Gabe took a deep breath and faced Professor Alrik. “To be honest Professor, I’m a little overwhelmed by everything you’ve said so far and you haven’t even mentioned what the job is or what role I’m to play. Also, and it seems silly to say out loud, I’ve always kinda dreamed of something like this. Some great and powerful person coming to me with promises of secret knowledge. Now that it’s actually happening, I’m not quite sure what to make of it. But, to answer your question directly, I am interested in hearing more.”
“Splendid! Oh I knew I had a good feeling about you Gabriel. And I appreciate the ‘great and powerful’ comment, but I assure you that once you have a better grasp of the board, you will come to realize that there are much grander pieces in play,” replied Alrik with a small chuckle. “Thalia, I believe that settles the matter. If you would be so kind as to guide us.”
“It would be no trouble at all. If you follow me, I’ll show you the way to my office.” She quickly turned around and began to walk towards a side hallway. Professor Alrik and his two companions, who hadn’t spoken a word during the whole exchange, fell into step behind her. With a small wave to Freya and a promise to meet up later, Gabe hurried to catch up to the group.
Thalia led the group deeper into the Guild Hall before finally stopping before a large ornate door. She took a key out of her pocket and fit it into the lock and uttered something under her breath as she twisted the key. The door swung open of its own accord, revealing a spacious room with two couches in the corner near a fireplace and a wooden table long enough to allow for a dozen chairs to be arranged around it.
Thalia stepped aside, allowing the rest of us to walk into the room. "Please feel free to use this room as long as you'd like. All of the walls have been enchanted to prevent anyone from listening in. If it is alright with you, I'll send someone to come by with some refreshments. Should you need anything else, or when you are finished and would like an escort back to the main Hall, just pull that cord over there and I'll make myself available to assist you.
Alrik clapped his hands and bowed as he turned to face Thalia. "Truly wonderful. You have been supremely helpful Thalia, thank you again for arranging this."
"It was my pleasure." Thalia returned the bow and then walked back out into the hall, the door closing behind.
Once the door was shut, Drevock and Simon both made their way to couches. Simon was finally able to set down the large pack he'd been carrying with a quite grunt of relief. He dug through the pack with a practiced motion, pulling out a book and a cube made of some dark material Gabe couldn't identify. Simon tossed the cube to Drevock before sitting on the couch and began to read. Drevock for his part remained standing while twisted the cube around in his hands.
Professor Alrik once again turned to face Gabe, a kind expression on his face. "Now Gabriel, I am certain you must have many questions racing through your head. It would delight me to no end to answer as many as I could for you, but alas there are urgent matters that we need to discuss, chief among them being the job I would like to hire you for. However, things are not so dire that I cannot at least give you a basic introduction to the forces at play, if you would be so kind as to indulge an old professor."
Professor Alrik made his way over to the table and with a slight hop that seemed too fluid for a gnome of his age to be able to manage, hoisted himself onto a chair. He gestures at the seat across from him, prompting Gabe to sit down as well.
"Now Gabriel, what do you know about magic?"