After our talk, Opal thanked me and accompanied me to the cafeteria for a quick breakfast before the time came to rally the class for an unremarkable day in Zeff's class.
As was the day before, the topic was Mana Molding. And we sat and listened to Zeff over-enthusiastically explaining the theories behind the techniques. Things I had little-to-no interest in. So I spent the time making a new 'program' in the Eternal Eye to compartmentalize all I knew about Classes in one easy-to-access digital place.
Following lunch, I followed the same procedure but for the guild. Which was still nothing more than a vague concept that I hardly filled out during the length of the class. Instead, I focused on what I needed to design. In particular, the things outside the basics. Things like benefits, retirement pensions, pay, and anything else with the potential to bring others on board.
Naturally, I was more than excited to check off my to-do list once class ended and migrated to the cafeteria with my party. Unfortunately, though, I saw only Duke and Twig inside. Who both ordered a relatively small bowl of food that they wolfed down within seconds before leaving without a word or wave.
Looking back, I realized most of team one spent their free time in the common room. Save Winston, who I assumed spent his days brooding in his room. And, sure as shit, I found them scattered in various places upon returning to the dorms.
The first of them was Rhody. Leaning under the awning before the door. Watching the scattered crowd like a pervert at a high school football game. He looked sleazy too. Like a weasel or a rat. Complete with the thin frame and thin fingers that rubbed each other almost continuously.
He only gave a nod as I approached. Then watched me sit and roll a blunt from the corner of his eye.
"I knew it." He muttered to himself.
"I'm surprised you haven't seen me." I passed it to him, laughing.
"You don't exactly sit where you can be seen. But you wear the shit like perfume." He coughed through a cloud of smoke. "That's some good shit though."
"Thanks."
"I assume you're making your rounds?" He coughed again and passed it back.
"That, and seeing what makes people tick." I shrugged. "Seeing what Classes they want. What their dreams are. That sort of thing."
"Sounds like you're up to no good." Rhody laughed.
"Or maybe I'm looking to recruit." I passed the blunt with a snort.
Squinting and with his brow raised, Rhody cautiously took the blunt and puffed it twice before speaking softly and slowly. "Recruiting for what?"
"My guild." I grinned. "But I'll explain that to the party in due time. So what have you got?"
"As thanks for this." He held up the blunt and took two more tokes. "I'll tell you that I'm from a shit hole near the coast. I had to do what I had to do to survive, understand?"
"I can respect that."
"I'm sure you can." He snorted. "Anyway, I'm gonna be a Rogue. Thief or Assassin. Doesn't matter which. I'm gonna score it big and live a life of luxury until the end of my days. Can your guild give me that?"
"Most definitely." I grinned. "But we can talk about that later. For now, I'm putting together team positions for everyone. Naturally, you'll be put into a position that'll let you put your Rogue skills to use. So, tell me about your magic."
"Clay and Water, with a Slush well," he calmly said before attempting to pass it back.
"Keep it." I pried myself from the wall, shaking my head. "Good talk."
Likewise," I heard him say before I shuffled inside, looked around, and strode to Twig sitting in her usual place.
"Hello, Amun." She bowed her comparatively massive head.
"Hey." I threw my head up.
"I have seen you are cable of many things."
"I'm also curious about many things." I chuckled. "Like you."
"Twig has not done many things." She shook her large head. "Twig has lived with her people and ventured to the human worlds. Twig was accepted by humans, despite the villagers saying they would not. Now, Twig is here. To do many things."
"And what kind of things would you like to do?" I asked. 'Besides refer to yourself in the third person.'
"Twig would like to be what the humans call, a Ranger," She said. "Twig would like to show the villagers that they too can be accepted."
'Interesting.' I nodded, then turned back to Twig with a conclusive smile. "Well, you have my word that I'll do what I can to help you do many things while we're here."
"Twig would be grateful." She bowed her massive head. Giving me the unyielding impulse to pat it.
But sadly, I didn't. Choosing instead to venture across the room to the other bodies on my list.
"Hey, Duke." I waved. "How's the team faring?"
"It fares well." He stepped to the side to turn around. Revealing a comparatively small girl sitting at the 'bar' with her head down. "Winston has been unsociable since your duel. But his behavior has improved. I was just assigning Toni, here, her position as Rook."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Amun." I held out my hand.
Then watched her shoot up out of her seat and recoil her hand with wide eyes.
"Wow!" She shouted. "Your hands are cold as fuck!"
"Yeah. Side effect of my magic." I shrugged.
Toni, on the other hand, splayed her hands out to me and everyone else as she spun round and around in her chair."Sorry- everyone!" She sheepishly turned back to me to first palm her chest and reach her hand back out. "Sorry. Uhm. I'm Toni Forester! Oh! Right." She snapped her hand onto her lap and let out an ugly chuckle.
'This might be difficult.' I groaned to myself. But sat next to Toni with a warm smile.
She had fair skin, painted with a splattering of freckles and almost bulbous yellow-green eyes. Matched with brown hair tied off in a single braid that hung over her shoulder. A stark contrast from the klutzy display I was just privy to.
"I'm doing my rounds," I explained to them both. "Trying to get to know everyone on an individual basis in the hopes of efficiently leading the party. backgrounds, magics, goals. Things like that." I smiled.
"Oh!" Toni perked up. "Well- Uhm, do you know Scarlett?"
"I do."
"Oh!" She wiped her brow. "That makes this a lot easier! I'm from the Bombyx kingdom." She proudly smiled. "But I'm not a noble or a Druid. I'm from a Ranger family!"
"That's fascinating."
"Remarkable, I had no idea!"
"Aw! Thanks, you two." She rubbed the back of her head. "I don't really know what I wanna do, ya know? But I have Mud and Snow Magic with an Ice Well. What about you?"
'Goddammit.' I groaned. Then went on through the tedious explanation of my cores and my upbringing before telling them of the Classes I was most interested in.
"With your intellect, I assumed you wished to become an Artificer. But a Monk surprises me." Duke scratched his beak and lost himself in deep thought before eventually turning back to me. "If you wish to know, I too wish to become a Ranger. I am from a mountain peak found far from here. After leaving the nest, I traveled across the lands. Visited many places. Eventually, I came to learn of this place."
"And now you're here," I said. "What comes after?"
"I shall go wherever the wind takes me."
"Fair enough." I laughed. Then trailed off once my eyes landed at the stairs leading to our rooms. "On that note, I should go and speak to Winston."
"He is in his room." Duke remorsefully declared.
'Noted.' I nodded to myself. Then took a few steps away before halting and turning about to face Duke with an inquisitive gaze. "There's something else I wanted to ask you."
Duke spread his feathered hands and somehow gave off the aura of a gentle smile. "Ask me anything."
"I'm curious about Tengu. How do they look? What are they like? Where and how do they live?"
"Ah." He rocked back on his heels. "Tengu are divine creatures with a similar appearance to us Aarakocra. Humanoid birds of prey with Fiendish qualities. They are said to be mischievous and skilled in martial combat. Often mixing the two into a form of deadly play. That makes them evil in the eyes of most humans, but all Tengu are neutral. With that, I ask. What stems your curiosity?"
"Oh." I gasped. "I've always been fascinated with birds." And airplanes. "And any other creature that could fly. It's the ultimate freedom, in my opinion- flying. And I was lucky enough to be given an affinity that lets me do it with ease."
"So you wish to fly with Tengu?" Duke surmised.
"And if possible, befriend one." I nodded.
"Admirable." He chirped. "I look forward to the day we fly together."
"As do I." I grinned. Then gave him and Toni a final nod before departing down the stairs.
While talking to the entire party didn't take as long as I thought I would. I still only had the basics of what I wanted. Which was everything. Personalities, temperaments, and dispositions. Habits and mannerisms. Internal and external conflicts. Strengths and flaws. Any piece of information that I could use to both get them on my side and to give me another thing to do in this assumedly endless lifetime.
That said, I still hadn't had another talk with Urshure. But it wasn't too hard to surmise what he was after. His way of speaking made it clear that he had a regard for Tiamat. Making it more than likely that he sought to gain power from her by becoming a Warlock. Aside from anything related to that, he wanted to follow his draconic nature by adding to his horde.
Traits that were neither good nor bad in my eyes. But I couldn't ignore that, out of everyone, Urshure had the highest potential of stabbing me in the back someday.
But then again, he'd prove to be a powerful undead.
That left Winston. Whom I've had little-to-no interaction with since our duel.
Not that he was hateful or even fearful of me. He's just been keeping to himself ever since. Applying himself in class. Eating along. And spending any other ounce of time in his room doing any number of things.
Whatever it was he was in there doing, I was about to ruin it. Not for the sake of my character sheets or the team positions.
Because I needed to set the record straight.
***
"Mana Veil, Bolstering, Projection." I let a frustrating sigh ring through my room. "There has to be more."
Annoyed, I flung the book across the room to lay across my bed. Only to annoy me further by habitually turning to stare at a window that was there and wasn't all the same. Just an amber glow behind a glass pane that occasionally flashed blue with a blinding intensity.
A stark contrast from the endless verdant hills of Epethia.
Letting out another sigh. I rolled into my pillow, muttering under my breath. "I hate this."
Living in a room that reminded me of things I'd rather forget. Stepping outside to feel shame and embarrassment. It was becoming too much to bear. But quitting wasn't an option.
All I could do was keep excelling. Graduate at the top of the class. Form my guild. And claim the land my mother threw away.
If only the teachers just told us how to use the techniques instead of explaining what they did before demanding we try them.
'You'll never learn by laying here." I muttered into my pillow. Then stood with a heavy sigh to return to my desk.
And then a knock rapped on my door. Halting my step for just a moment before another trouble sigh escaped my lungs.
"What do you want, Du-"
Ruefully, I gasped escaped my lips after seeing Amun standing before me with a warm smile that was somehow more off-putting than his impertinent stare.
"I'd like to talk," he emotionlessly said. "Can I come in?"
Though I wanted to slam the door in his face, a bigger part of me knew it wouldn't bring me closer to my goals. So I bet my tongue and led him inside without a word.
"I don't have anything against you, Winston." He sighed after gazing around the room. "I just don't like bullies."
"So, you become a knight for the misfortunate?" I scoffed. "Don't make me laugh."
"I'll remind you that I was the one who was challenged by you." Amun dryly chuckled. "Regardless, I don't fight other people's battles." He paused as if there were something more he wanted to say, giving me a hard look until he eventually continued. "That said. The fact that you bully Peter because he used to be a slave bothers me."
"Why does it bother you?" I calmly sneered. "Why do you even care?"
"Because slavery bothers me." He simply said. Then took a book he was holding under his arm and placed it onto the table. Then began making his way to the door. "I'm not here to lecture you, Winston. I don't hate or dislike you. And I don't see you as an enemy. I see us becoming friends, actually. So long as you change your ways.
"Whether you do or don't is up to you, Winston." He turned at the door to face me. "Outside of my duties as party leader, I won't tell you anything. Except for one thing. Around a week before I arrived off the coast of Rook Island, I paid one gold to explore the Inner Sanctum.
"I was disgusted with what I saw." He sneered. "Starved children in rags and chains- covered in scars while they cart people around or worse. It's a potent recipe for revolution."
With that, he turned and left before I could even reply. Leaving me staring at the ghost of his visage still standing by the door. trying to come up with a retort but failed no matter how many times I tried.
Not that it mattered.
In an attempt to put him out of my mind, I sat before my desk and came face to face with that he'd left. And after taking one glance at the title, I ripped myself from the seat to throw myself over my bed.
"People are not property, eh?" I scoffed into my pillow. "Tell that to my mother."