Freya was at her desk reading through some reports when Gabe finally made his way back into the main Guild Hall. Still in a daze from what Professor Alrik was offering him, he made his way over to her. From the way she looked at him as he approached, he knew she knew something was occupying his mind, but he didn’t feel comfortable going into all of the details out in public. He told her he’d tell her everything later and for her to come by his place once she was finished with her shift. Gabe didn’t stay long enough to hear her complaints as he continued out of the Hall and into the busy streets of Aranthia.
When he had first arrived, Gabe rented a room in one of the inns near the center of town. After completing a few jobs and earning some coin, he began to rent a small apartment over a candle shop that wasn’t too far from the Guild Hall. The space wasn’t anything fancy, just a large room with a straw bed on one side, a wood stove on the other, and a smattering of furniture that he’d picked up over the last few months. He’d initially only purchased a few shelves and a chest to keep by his bed, but Freya had insisted he buy at least one chair for her to use when she came over. Fortunately it also came with its own private bathroom complete with chamber pot and bathtub, though Gabe had to haul the water up himself from the rain barrel behind the shop. It wasn’t much, but to Gabe it was the closest to home he had found since coming to Aranthia.
Whenever a job went poorly, he liked to lie across his bed and stare up at the ceiling. There were a few knots within the old wooden beams that made up the roof that vaguely reminded him of the constellations he’d see in the skies above Forlet. Looking at those knots reminded him of home and gave him comfort. He found himself staring at them now as he reflected over everything that had happened today.
He was still lying there hours later when Freya arrived with a large burlap sack in hand. He’d long ago given her the spare key, so it wasn’t her arrival that jolted Gabe out of his ruminations, but rather the loud clunk that sounded she set the sack down on the chest that doubled as his table. Gabe turned his head to acknowledge her presence before turning back towards the roof.
“From your expression when you left the Guild, I figured it was going to be one of those nights so I stopped by The Flaming Boar and picked up some of that Wypsi ale you like and some sandwiches. Now get your sorry ass off the bed and tell me what that wrinkled gnome said to get you in such a state. I tried asking Thalia but she said ‘it would be improper to disclose details of such honored guests’.”
She spoke that last part in an imitation of the sing-song manner in which Thalia spoke and Gabe belatedly realized that Thalia likely spoke that way due to her Postrian training. He’d always assumed it was just a regional accent, but now he was starting to wonder what else he’d been oblivious to.
With a loud exhalation of breath, he sat up and swung his feet around so he could face Freya who was in the process of unwrapping the sandwiches that she’d brought. Two large bottles, one of which contained the characteristic purple liquid that was Wypsi ale, had already been opened and placed on the chest so Gabe grabbed his bottle and gulped down a big swig of the drink.
The Flaming Boar was his favorite tavern in Aranthia as it was the only one that served Wypsi ale. He’d initially tried it as a dare from Freya who insisted nothing that purple could taste good and found that he enjoyed the flavor of it. When he had asked the bartender about it, he’d been told that the ale came from a particular area in the southern Wypsi province that had fallen on hard times after years of unusual weather led to a series of bad harvests. An earth mage heard about the crisis and figured he could help the farmers out and make some coin while doing so. As the story went, the wizard’s magic made the fields fertile again, but had the strange effect of turning the wheat a soft lavender color. Rather than risk further magical interactions, the farmers harvested the plants as usual and found that the wheat could be brewed into an ale with a distinct fruity flavor that reminded Gabe of some berries that grew in the woods surrounding Forlet.
Gabe savored the taste of the ale as he took another big swig from the bottle. Freya was giving him time to collect his thoughts, though it was clear that she was beginning to get impatient by the way she kept tapping her left index finger on the chest. Recognizing that he couldn’t put it off any longer, Gabe took another sip from the bottle and then told Freya everything that had happened after he left her desk that morning.
As he’d expected, Freya did not take a vision of her friend dying very well, but when he’d gotten to the part about the gold and the spells, he could tell that she understood why this wasn’t such a cut and dry decision to make.
“And that’s pretty much it. I’ve been lying here all afternoon trying to decide if the rewards are worth the risk. The gold and the spells are nice, but assuming I live through it and join the Pathways of Illumination, I would also have access to the knowledge of whatever compound nodes we find in the tunnels. That is potentially worth more than everything else combined. Imagine wielding magic that no one else in the Empire, or maybe even the world, has seen before.”
Freya scrunched up her face slightly as she considered everything he just told her.
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“Alrik also said that you could join up regardless of if you accepted the job. You could decline, join the organization, and still have that access down the road, assuming they’re able to find the patterns or nodes or whatever without your help.”
“I thought of that too, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to find it without me. You didn’t see Professor Alrik’s face at the end, but it seemed to hurt him to ask me to risk my life for this job. No matter his protests that the vision was symbolic, he knew he was asking a lot of me and I got the feeling if there was another option he would much rather take it.”
Freya took a sip of her own beverage, a spicy mead called fulnok that was local to the Iochian ranges. Many of the adventurers in Aranthia drank it, but Gabe never developed the taste for it. He couldn’t understand why anyone would want to drink something spicy. To him that was the opposite of refreshing. She gave a very undignified belch before responding.
“I still don’t trust that group. The way the mercenary blocked your exit without any instructions means they had talked about detaining you ahead of time. Alrik may not like asking you to join, but I get the feeling that saying no won’t be as easy as he led you to believe. Plus there are the other two visions. I don’t fully get the significance of the second one, but that first one has me worried. War will be bad enough, but having groups of powerful wizards coming through and destroying the mountains looking for caches of spellsteel will cause us serious problems. Did he give you any more information about when these visions are supposed to happen?”
“No, though I have the impression that it’s going to happen soon, otherwise I don’t think there would be as much pressure to look for the node patterns right away. I should have asked more questions about it but, well once he said he saw me dying that pretty much pushed all other thoughts aside.”
As he was lying on his bed waiting for Freya to arrive, Gabe had replayed the conversation over and over again in his mind. He’d noticed that Professor Alrik kept giving him more and more new information, so much so that he hadn’t had time in the moment to properly process it all. The old gnome had such a kind demeanor about him that Gabe hadn’t questioned his motives until the end when he’d gotten angry, but now he was wondering if he should be as skeptical of him as Freya was.
The truth was Gabe did trust Professor Alrik. The spells he had chosen to give Gabe were perfect for his preferred role as support within a party, and Gabe had to wonder if the gnome’s illumination magic had helped him pick them out. He still didn’t know how he felt about Simon, but Drevock was clearly a capable warrior. And surely Professor Alrik himself must be a powerful wizard if he’s able to see the future. Gabe was certain he must have a few magical tricks up his sleeves. Taken together, the four of them would make a solid team to go into the tunnels. One of the biggest dangers aside from the monsters that roamed the dark passageways was getting lost and running out of supplies. But with Professor Alrik's magic and Drevock's strength, neither seemed too great of a threat.
“I think….I think I want to do it,” Gabe said with some hesitation in his voice.
Freya had been about to take a bite of her sandwich when Gabe made his declaration and she delicately put it down and gave her friend her full attention.
“You know I will support you either way, but this is a big decision. Even bigger than joining the Guild full-time. Few jobs in this business are safe. There is always a risk of something going wrong, even fatally wrong. But this job is dangerous if everything goes right. I know you know this, but it’s important to hear you acknowledge it out loud.”
Gabe met his friend’s eyes and as he spoke, the hesitation disappeared and determination took its place.
“I know Freya. This will be more dangerous by leaps and bounds than anything I’ve faced before. Even that dire cave bear will pale in comparison to what’s about to come. But what I’ve realized is that I’ve become complacent here. I talk of wanting to further my magic so I can do good in the world, bring healing to those that need it. But when given the option, I always choose the safer route. I called myself a mage and yet I didn’t even know there were different ways to cast spells. When I first came to Aranthia, this town seemed so large compared to Forlet. I was dirty, broke, and intimidated beyond belief and you know what I did? I walked right into the Guild Hall like I was some archmage ready to slay a dragon. What happened to that man, the one who traveled to an unknown place seeking magical secrets? I settled into a routine. I discovered my limits and instead of pushing them, I let them define me. Well no more. I am going to delve deep into the Dweller tunnels and uncover magical knowledge that has been lost to time! ”
Gabe grabbed his bottle of Wyspi ale and drank the last of it. As he set the now empty bottle back on the chest, he understood where his sudden passion had come from. But drunk or not, Gabe’s words had wrung true to his soul. This was something he needed to do, if not he might as well return to Forlet and give up his dreams.
Freya watched her friend with an inscrutable look before nodding her head. She then stood up and began to clean up the remnants of her meal.
“Well alrighty then. It sounds like you’re going to have a big day tomorrow. And knowing the light-weight that you are, if you don’t get to bed soon you have a terrible headache in the morning. Maybe that aura spell will help cure hangovers. That actually sounds pretty useful, now that I think about it. You better learn it quickly, I’m already planning how we’re going to spend 200 gold and it involves a lot of fulnok.”
With that Freya left the small room, leaving Gabe alone with his thoughts. Part of him felt that he should start getting ready but when he stood up from the bed, he swayed unsteadily on his feet. He hadn’t planned on drinking the whole bottle of ale, but as he did, he thought Freya’s advice seemed prudent. He decided that there would be time tomorrow to get ready so he laid back on his bed, staring up at the knots in the ceiling.