Lone's POV.

He was finally getting somewhere now that he got to negotiate with the adventurers. He had noticed that these weren't bad people and that they had taken killing him off the table but still thought it was natural tying him up, basically keeping him their prisoner. That being said, he did rack his brain as fast as he could when he saw the mage use a magic on his ear or it just sort of gave off a tingling feeling when they asked him questions. More to the point, it did this when he was smudging his answers, and then the mage would quietly say something to the elf. It was kind of obvious from his perspective.

'Maybe it was because I'm a kid, and they're underestimating me? Either way, they didn't react calm enough to hide the panick when they looked at each other. Guess I hit them with one surprise after another there." Lone grinned as his mind came up with a scenario that tickled him.

After talking with Kyle, who he thought was playing the roll of "good cop." he wondered if they had something like "good cop/bad cop" in this world. He brushed the thought away to focus on the here and now. Kyle had agreed to the trade, and the mage almost jumped at the idea at least in comparison to how reluctant he was before. The elf, River, was more just watching the deal being made, acting as a judge if things got tricky.

Finally, after things got started, Lone shook River's hand. " Okay, here's what I know. Every time, the mean green bean over there looks at me, and I... mix the story a little, I feel his magic move, and then he would talk to you, and you had a new question I didn't like. It is faint, but I definitely felt it."

The looks on their faces had a "is that it?" Kind of look but then the elf asked, "Is that true? You use mana for your skill?"

The mage nodded and said, "I do, but it should be masked. That's why you shouldn't feel it. I don't understand." He put his hand on his chin, still thinking.

River continued, "That's right, I haven't felt anything, so how about you, Kyle?" She turned asking the other adventurer.

"I don't have a magic sense, so I couldn't tell you." The man shrugged.

Looking at Lone now, she said, "Well, I'm sorry for thinking you were younger, but you must have turned ten recently. What is the skill you used to detect the mana? I'll give you coin for telling us what it is or something else." she looked at the other two, prompting them into something.

Asking the name of a skill was a very intimate question and was mostly considered rude. But it also depends on the rarity of the skill, which Lone being from a village post most likely had a very common one.

Before they started doing that, Lone put his hands up to stop them and said, "No, no, no, stop, I'm just a 7-year-old. You're not wrong about my age. I'm not a dwarf ether." The last part came out as a sort of habit when talking to the other kids in the village.

The three paused and looked at him. This time, it was Glen who asked, "What do you mean you're seven? You just said you sensed my mana and told me how it worked. So you either have been lying to us, which..." he pointed to his ears, showing Lone that his skill was active. "Or you have been lied to... but you don't look like you're ten. Wait, then does this mean he has an early sense? No, you don't get that unless you're a tutored Noble. But are you a Noble?! No, but look at you! But but..." Glen was in a fog as he kept mumbling in circles with his logic.

River shook her head and turned to Lone. "He gets like that when he forgets that these things do happen. Just very rarely. Part of why he's here and not in a Noble's court advising and otherwise living it up." She looked at Lone, brushing her long silver hair out of her face and over her ear and began. "So you have some talent with mana. That's a very rare thing to have before the window fully opens and grants you knowledge of the spirits. You must be loved by mana as well." She gave a sincere smile.

'Well, shit...' Lone thought as the elf gave him a devastatingly beautiful combo attack of simple and elegant. She was beautiful! Her lavender eyes fix on him in the most genuine way, made him blush for the first time and he couldn't stop it. Her earlier attempts at flustering him failed because it was teasing ment to trick a child but this felt like she was, for the first time, treating him as a curiosity and interesting person. It hit hard.

Her eyes widened slightly as she could see his reaction. He knew she could see him redden and couldn't do anything about it but he remained as calm as before refusing to show any other weakness. Not that that bothered her, she simply smiled more and looked very pleased.

"Glen" River called, still gazing at Lone, "Try it with me. Ask me a simple question and make it something easy. I'll answer it wrong and watch your mana." When she finished, only then did she look away from him.

Glen didn't get what she was talking about for a moment because he was still thinking about Lone's rare talent, then as if remembered everything in an instant, "Sure, but what if you don't feel anything?" Glen asked, trying to think up a question and activate his [Hear No Evil] skill.

"Well then, just ask, and we'll find out, won't we." River was slightly irritated at his pointless question." We'll know when you get started." She hurried him along.

"Did you sleep with that waitress girl I was trying to get along with after I told you I wanted to?" Kyle asked out of the blue. He looked her in the eye with a hint of accusation in his tone.

River looked at him with a stern face then said "No, I would never betray your trust like that, even if she was more into elf passion for the night"

Glen, with a dead eyes, said, "She's lying. and do we really have to go through this again? River wasn't even looking when I used my ability, so that just wasted our mana for the whole thing."

River nodded. "You're right. Just ask something then. I don't think I need to explain to the blockhead that I've just got the better appeal than him over and over again." She ended with a bit more venom, making Kyle cross his arms in a half-hearted pout.

Glen then asked out of the blue. "Is my hair red?"

River looking at him and nodded then said, "Yes, your hair is... oh look at that! He really did see it on your ears." River perked up immediately

Glen looked like he was getting mad and was about to pop, but then as if he opened the end of the balloon deflated. "Well, this makes things harder. How much are we going to change things?" He asked

River looked like she was deep on thought, focused on another problem while Kyle just lifted his shoulders in a 'I don't know.' fashion. River seemed to think of something, then snapped back to the present.

"We continue, same as before nothing changes. We'll just have to change how we place you. As far as I can tell, it doesn't leak. Your ears just glow a bit, and it doesn't change how we were going about it. We just need to come up with a reason if your found out." She was definitely thinking of something else before, but that didn't need to bother Lone he had finished his end of the deal, and he wanted to get what he could out of the three adventurers.

"Well, it looks like I got you some good information. Does this mean I get to choose now, or am I gonna get swindled here?" Lone gave the three of them a look but was ignored while they discussed there next move.

Glen was asking River if she had seen any other things he couldn't detect while Kyle was mentioning there knew list of place to gather Intel on the dungeon. River answered Glen as fast as she could while trying to think up any other possible or holes in their execution of the plan.

Lone didn't have all day so he decided to make sure he was heard this time. "HEY! Before you tell me everything about your plan can I get my rewards and go? Or do you want me to k ow everything about you guys? Your birthday around the corner? I don't think I've got time to go shopping for your presents or get something to match your eyes Riv though I think the guys will be fine with socks you look like you want a little thought put into your gift right?" Lone was a little winded after his speech but it had done it's job.

River turned red, realizing he was still there and made a bunch of good points she nodded at both her companions, letting them know what they should do. "I've got a few coins to add to his pocket too but we should move on after we're done offloading... I mean rewarding him" she was poking fun at Lone but he had more need for the objects than she knew so he grinned right back at the woman.

Glen waved his hand in a dismissive manner "He can have it. I got what I wanted we should be going." He seemed like he was trying to look cool buy the baggy robe just made it look overly feminine which got Kyle going in on him.

"Oh how generous princess. May your ears light our path in these dark woods." Kyle chuckled and pushed him along. "Here, take it saw you were eyeing it more than anything else." He handed him the dagger he put out before. "Just call that a thanks for taking your time with us. Especially with the dolt over there." He motioned his head at Glen.

Lone took the dagger and nodded. It looked almost like a machete in his hands. After that Lone picked three things from what Kyle offered. Kyle nodded and approved of the choices made by Lone. Lone then got a surprise when Glenn just said "take it all." Almost felt like he was pleading for him to.

River bumped into Glen as she made her way to give Lone coin taking coins from a pouch already in her hand. She rummaged through it picking out four silver and thirty-five whole copper which was his first time seeing copper not cut into quarters or halves, and the silver was definitely his first time encounter.

River smiled and said "Look, I don't like the idea of a 7-year-old walking around by himself but we don't have a choice here. So please just go back and be good for a while longer. for me, please. I'd hate to come back through and find out that they found you half eaten or worse." She said with a little more respect than any other time she spoke to him.

"Well you guys kind of changed my plans for today so I won't be out here for a while anyway. So for a while longer you got that from me" Lone said holding three books in his arms.

With that the three decided it was time to move on. It was a weird goodbye but somehow it fit into the mood of the day. Both sides had felt better for the encounter and both seemed to profit in one way or the another.

It was an exceptional day for not doing anything he had planned. Lone thought to himself as he now had to figure out how he would carry his loot back. Organizing it was easy but it was all just a awkward to carry.

It was simple to get Kyle's traded items on. He had gotten a belt with the knife which he thought had the most utility out of what he got for the trade. It came with a sheath loops that could hold more items or pouches but the best part was that it was a belt and not a rope. He put it on first noticing that holes through out it making it almost a one size fits all belt. Having used a rope for the last few years made the belt feel like a luxury and that it fit made it even more so.

Now he put the other things he could use on it. First was a pouch it was normal but big enough to hold the bandages and salve for wounds. Next was cloak that was way too big for him but he had an idea of how to use it. He laid it on the ground and started taking the items and putting them on top ready to make the cloak into a sack.

That's when he felt something. He felt so much like he was pray, a deer in headlights, or a mouse being played with in the paws of a cat. All of this from a distance he didn't understand. He turned towards it, this feeling that sent lightning through his limps. There it was... or she was?

River was looking at him from a tree on another mountain. He could just barely see her silver hair blowing in the wind and a hand that he shouldn't be able to see waving it's fingers at him, then disappeared into the trees.

"Jeez why did she do that? She scared the crap out of..." talking to himself a thought popped into his head. 'Did she just scare me for payback? Of all the petty shit... okay I would do that shit too. But is that really the reason?' Lone thought to himself as he sat down to calm down a little.

Looking at the items he got from the mage he noticed something sticking out of one of the books he got. It was a pouch but it had some runes on it. He opened it up and felt rip from his hand, and it dropped down to the ground with a heavy thud. He knew what it was and couldn't stop his exclamation "a fucking dimensional pouch!!!"