“Come in,” Phoenix called out as a soft knock came from her bedroom door. She was drying and combing her hair as she sat on the edge of her bed, looking out the tinted gss wall that revealed the city below, the lights simuting a sea of stars in the dark night.
She had just finished her hot shower and gotten fresh clothes, having enjoyed the feel of warm water on her tired muscles that the purifying golden potion just couldn’t accomplish. She had also been surprised to discover she had some muscle now, which made sense after all the training and gaining Crystal Caste Strength. She had been so exhausted before that she hadn’t even noticed when taking a bath. She was also gd to be back in her own space after the long week of monster hunting for the Adventurer Trials.
Paul opened the door, dressed in a nice but casual white shirt and beige pants, and moved to sit next to her on the edge of the bed. He didn’t have to say anything for Phoenix to guess why he was there as she said, “I think I did well, all things considered. I might not be as powerful or focused as some of the others, but I was able to hold my own.”
The noble nodded, “I had little doubt.”
She rolled her eyes and nudged his arm, “Little is not none.”
“Sometimes you hesitate when you should strike. It will take practice for you to overcome that,” he observed, and she knew he was right. Bliss had punished her often enough for it while training.
“I guess I’m lucky to have you helping me then,” she teased.
“About that…” he began, and she froze mid-brush and paled, worried that he might tell her that he changed his mind after all, “I got some information while you were away about the Magi who hurt you.”
She shifted uncomfortably, unsure what that had to do with helping her, and waited for him to continue.
“He was killed by a Sapphire Caste monster. He won’t be coming after you, and the OOM doesn’t know about you,” Paul paused, then hesitantly said, “I know I warned you away from them, but they don’t all have ill intentions, and I should have checked with you first. Did you want to meet with them?”
Phoenix looked at the ground, then up at Paul, trying to gauge what he wanted. He was very good at hiding his emotions, though. She took a steadying breath and quietly asked the question she partially feared the answer to, “Why are you asking me this?”
Paul watched her for a moment, then said, “I’m merely giving you the choice of learning more about your arrival in this world. Maybe even find a way back to your own. If you wish to join them, I can introduce you there.”
Silence fell for a long while. Then, in barely more than a whisper, Phoenix asked the same question he had asked her not that long ago, “Do you want me to leave?”
He met her eyes and firmly stated, “No.”
“Then I won’t. My book… My choices guided me here. I think I’m meant to be here. I can become stronger here. If I go back… it would be like choosing to become weak again. To give up my freedom for safety. I don’t want to become limited again.”
Paul nodded at her words, “If that is what you choose, then you will stay. I just wanted the choice to be one of your own making, not because I made it for you.”
She replied sincerely, “Thank you for giving me that choice, but I want to see where this path leads me. Besides, I didn’t go through all that training just to give up now.”
The corners of his mouth twitched, and he added, “Well, there’s plenty of time after the blood moon and your quest to do more research on Wayfarers.”
“Speaking of time,” she said, pulling out the Monster Seed she had held off on using until she could get advice from her mentor, “Should I use this to help speed up my progress?”
“No,” he ftly replied, gring at the Seed in her hand for a moment. Then, he softened his expression and ran a hand through his hair. This time, she didn’t need to prompt him for more information as he expined further, “Sorry, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with using Seeds to speed up progress. Many Casters will do that, given the chance and funding.
“The problem is that if you ever want to reach Obsidian Caste, the peak of mortal power, they will hinder your progress and make it impossible. That goes for the non-combatants, too. We increase our Caste normally by properly challenging ourselves. By pushing through our current limits and cultivating our experiences into empowerment.”
Paul gave a huff of annoyance as he said, “I should have probably expined it earlier but… but I’m not very good at this mentoring thing.”
“I think you’re doing pretty good,” Phoenix offered, nudging him again to try and lighten the mood.
He gave her a small, weary smile and said, “Probably because I haven’t taught you that there are people better suited out there.”
She smiled and gave him a look of feigned incredulity, “Was that a joke? I didn’t know you were capable.”
Paul chuckled softly, then shifted the topic a bit, “It’s part of the reason we meditate too.”
“What?” she asked, thrown off by the tangent.
“With Seeds, there is no meditation requirement. You use them, and the Caste increases. Without them, you need to not only properly challenge yourself but also reflect on that challenge. Meditation is what cultivates the experience. That’s why I taught you the Steps of Light; it’s the meditation technique I know best. Your Knowledge Tomes taught you some different ones that might be more efficient for you to use instead.”
She nodded thoughtfully, then lifted the Seed once more, “So, should I turn this into Elemental Shards?”
He gave her a raised eyebrow and asked, “You got more treasure during your trial?”
Phoenix grinned, lifted her bracelet, and touched the Monster Seed to it, letting Paul read the information for the resulting Shards from her [Guide Book].
Item: Ice Shard
Condensed ambient Ice magic.
Caste: Crystal.
Avaibility: Common.
Type: Consumable, ingredient.
Effect: Can be used as a component for various rituals or enchantments.
There were fifty of them now in her inventory, and when she asked Paul if that was a lot, he confirmed that she definitely got her money’s worth out of the conversion. Pulling one out of her collection, she found a roughly diamond-shaped pale blue crystal that glowed slightly from within and was about the size of her thumb.
She swapped it out for her other treasure and happily showed the Wand of the Snow Queen off to Paul next.
“Does this mean the sitting room and kitchen will actually be clean when I stop by next time?” he asked in a teasing reprimand.
“Hey! I never had to clean before. That’s what the janitors and nurses did,” she retorted. Then she lifted the wand up towards the bathroom before pausing and turning to ask, “Is it evil to use a spell that invokes the Purifier? What with him being a Fallen god and all?”
The former padin shook his head and said with a tired sigh, “No.”
“Just checking!” she quickly expined, then incanted, “By the Purifier’s command, bring order to chaos and cleansing to the tainted nd.”
As the cantrip triggered and the items that were strewn about the floor and sink counter moved to order themselves neatly and become pristinely clean, she gnced back at Paul again and added, “It’s a bit dramatic for a housekeeping spell, isn’t it?”
Paul gave a wry smile, “No one ever cimed the gods to be humble.”
Phoenix found herself bouncing in excitement as the AOA functionary handed her the shiny new license, seemingly carved from white marble, marking her as an official Adventurer. She thanked the cinderen clerk at the licensing desk and rushed outside, away from the crowded interior.
Once outside, she found a rare patch of sunlight to bask in. She sat down in a lotus position against the tinted gss building, and her book appeared in front of her.
Quest: For Adventure
Objective Complete: Passed the trials to join the Alliance of Adventurers.
Objective Reward:
[Fme of Life] has been added to your collection.
Completion Reward:
10 [Crystal Mana Bits] have been added to your collection.
New Title: Adventurer
Your aura has been slightly modified by your accomplishment. The desire for adventure can be sensed within it. Your aura has slightly increased effects when affecting a Mundane ally.
The new Adventurer grinned at the message, pleasantly surprised by the unexpected title. She wondered how many more she might get and if she might ever be able to convince Paul to share the information about all of his other titles with her.
She adjusted her newly repaired cloak. It had taken a beating over the fortnight of challenges, and she had been forced to take it to a magical tailor before it became destroyed. That st night had been exceptionally cold with the number of holes in the side of her tent, and she made a mental note to buy a backup ter in case her cloak got shredded again.
Phoenix debated selling or trading some of her Ice Shards for more variety to try some of the other rituals and enchantment recipes she had floating around in her mind. She had been contempting them for a while and wanted to py with some now that the mad rush of training for the trials could rex a bit. She wasn’t sure where to go to trade the Shards, though. Perhaps that shop Rayk Malik had mentioned his mother ran?
The Wayfarer contempted asking around and going on a little city adventure to find it. She had a couple of hours until she pnned on meeting Paul for lunch back at her dorm and then their training session afterward, which would focus more on meditation this time after their earlier conversation.
Phoenix looked up as her sunlight disappeared to find Dazien Smithson grinning down at her before he crouched low to eye level and pointed at the book, “What kind of ability is this?”
She drew it close to her chest protectively, replying quietly, “It’s nothing… it just gives me some information.”
He cocked his head to the side curiously, “Sounds interesting. Which Aspect gave it?”
“Um, none,” she admitted awkwardly, “It’s a Talent.”
“It still would have come from an Aspect, though, since you’re human,” he pointed out and added as though she was the one insulting him, “I know enough about your species to know about the adaptable talents they’re usually born with.”
She stood then, shaking her head and muttering, “I’m not human,” then shut the book, and it vanished in a shower of starlight.
“Not human?” Dazien asked in confusion, and then his grin widened in realization. “Is that what I’m sensing in your aura? Mister Trayvious thought it was just your Aurabreaker abilities, but I knew there was something else odd about it.”
Her eyes widened at his words for a moment, and then she looked away. She could feel her face flushing and nose scrunching up as she tried her best not to become upset and managed to say bitterly, “I don’t need you to tell me how odd I am.”
His smile vanished, and he seemed to try to recover, sounding much more sincere as he said, “No, I didn’t mean it like that. It was just something I didn’t understand. It was odd to me because of my ignorance, not because of your being. Please, I meant no offense, my dy.” He then surprised her by bowing deeply in apology.
Phoenix wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but something about his contrite attitude helped her rex. He really did seem sincere and like he wanted to befriend her. He had also tried to help her during the trials, making her feel better about not being as strong as Uriel. Perhaps these two men were more like Paul, and she could trust them to help her.
Her stance softened as she looked from Dazien to the cinderen standing silently behind him. She asked Uriel with a slight tease, “Does he always py the noble?”
The mage gave her the smallest hint of a smirk and said, “He does.”
Dazien straightened to look at his friend in mock hurt, “You wound me, Uriel. I do not py at nobility; it’s a natural trait.”
Phoenix couldn’t stop the snort of ughter at his response. This guy was just too much. As they turned back to focus on her, she shrank a bit and stepped to the side slightly, “Well, I have, um… things to do… so…”
“Wait, please,” Dazien said, trying to halt her escape, “Uriel and I wanted to discuss some things, with you.”
She raised an eyebrow at him, then gnced at the mage pointedly, “Well, I wanted to discuss some things. He just likes to watch,” Dazien amended, giving her that same impish grin.
The implication behind those words went completely over her head until Uriel smacked Dazien’s shoulder and warned his friend, “You tease her too much, and she won’t listen to you further.”
“Sorry, sorry,” the warrior said, holding his hands up in a defensive gesture as her face turned red. Then, he asked, “Look, do you have time to just talk?”
She looked between the two, unsure of why they had approached her and why their groupies hadn’t followed the would-be-king. Then she realized that she could actually use their help to speed the selling process up for her since they were probably more knowledgeable about the city and how selling loot worked, “Actually, if you can help me sell some of my items, then I might have time to talk before lunch with my mentor.”
The sudden stillness that overtook them at her words caused her to become concerned, and she asked, “What? Does that not work for you?”
“No. I mean, that’s fine. We just didn’t know you had pns with your mentor today. We wouldn’t want to keep Lord Waynd waiting for you,” Dazien said hurriedly.
She shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, “I have pns with him almost every day,” she expined as she crossed her arms a bit defensively, “He’s very diligent in training me.” Then she looked at him curiously and asked, “Wait, how do you know who my mentor is?”
“Ah,” Dazien looked a bit awkward, “Mister Trayvious mentioned it as a warning.”
“Warning?”
“We can talk about that ter,” he waved a hand in the air, trying to dismiss the topic, “What are you trying to sell? We don’t mind helping you out either way.”
Phoenix thought about pushing him more, but he hadn’t refused to answer; he just postponed. So she acquiesced and conjured an Ice Shard into her outstretched palm for him to observe.
“A dimensional storage power?” he asked as he curiously gnced at the Shard.
“Another Natural Talent,” she answered, trying to head off the follow-up question.
Amethyst purple eyes looked back up to meet her mossy green ones, “You never did say what species those came from,” he pointed out, “Despite my honesty in informing you of my own when you asked me the same.”
The redhead shook her curls and misdirected, “Maybe when we’re having that private discussion ter.”
He nodded, slightly frowning, but offered, “I know a dy who works as a merchant broker with directing supplies in the inner city,” he said, gesturing to the northeast, “I can introduce you to her, and she can help direct you to some of the shops that would be most suitable or who have standing requests for certain things. You might get a better deal from someone specifically requesting more Ice Shards than going to a random shop to sell off everything.”
Phoenix nodded, “Well then,” she said, slowly giving him a small smirk, “Lead the way, Your Majesty.”
Dazien smiled brilliantly at her, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he gave an exaggerated bow, “Follow me, my dy.”
