This only put Fate more on guard. When was the last time someone ever saw his eyes and felt anything other than disgust? Old Man Travis was one example, Samantha was another, but that was about it. Actually, come to think of it, almost everyone here at the Academy didn't care about his eyes one way or another…
He fell into thought, pondering this situation. 'Old Man Travis said my eyes are because of my Facet. So, I guess these four are immune because they're stronger than I am? That's the golden rule of Facets, they can't affect those with a stronger one than your own. That explains why Ms. Alessandra or anyone else didn't seem bothered by them.'
Fate chuckled inwardly after coming to this realization, ignoring the odd stares from the four in front of him as he shook his head ruefully.
'How unlucky am I to be born in a village where nearly everyone is a mortal? Maybe if I was born in Hetforn, I wouldn't have had to become such an asshole.'
"You all right there?" asked the brown-robed young man.
"Just coming to grips with reality," Fate replied dismissively.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked one of the girls, their blushes having long faded by now. Fate noticed that they did have slight differences. This one, for example, had hair a slight shade lighter than her sisters.
"Don't worry about it. What did you need?"
"Glad you asked," said the guy, clearing his throat. "We are the Royal Mage Academy's news club! We wanted to talk to you about your exploits in the Golden Caverns."
"The Academy has a news club?" Fate asked with a raised eyebrow.
The boy grew sheepish, avoiding Fate's gaze. "Well… technically, we aren't an official club. There aren't any of those."
"But – !" exclaimed one of the girls, a grin spreading on her face as she looked Fate up and down. This one had eyes of a darker brown than her siblings. "If we bag an interview with you, that might be just what we need to form this school's first official club! Then we can have budgets and field trips and special robes and – !"
"Yeah, no thanks," Fate interrupted, striding past the group. "My life is hard enough already. I don't need you rubbing this into the face of the Hedraple family. See ya."
"W-wait!" The third girl ran forward, blocking his path with her arms spread wide. Her eyes screamed determination, and Fate knew then that this would be troublesome. Fate noticed that her skin was a touch paler than the others. "We can make it worth your while!"
Fate heaved a sigh as he slung his robe over his shoulder. "And you'd do that how?"
"We can pay you – "
"I'm doing fine on money."
"We can make you a sword. You seemed really good with those – "
"Got one."
"What about training?" chimed the twin with lighter hair.
"Already have an offer."
"A crystal ball?" asked the one with darker eyes.
"I can get one of those myself." 'They're two gold coins, lady. It'll hurt my frugal soul, but I can get one without going through all that trouble.'
"We'll make you famous!" declared the brother seriously.
"Sounds like trouble. No thanks."
"Well… what about me?" asked the one blocking his path, a slight blush coloring her features.
"Deodeky!" admonished her brother. His eyes grew wide, his sisters glaring disapprovingly at her. He relaxed when he noticed Fate's unamused expression. "Don't even joke about that," the brother chastised.
"What? I just meant I'd carry his bags, maybe rub his shoulders." The paler triplet, Deodeky, pouted, dropping her hands. "I'm not that cheap."
"I can carry my own bags," Fate told her. "And the second one just sounds creepy. Are we done here?"
"Fine, name your price," the brother said, him and his other two sisters encircling Fate. They widened their footing and stretched their arms outward in a sumo stance, ready to tackle Fate if he tried to run. "Because we're gonna get that interview."
'I've chanced upon a bunch of crazy people,' Fate thought. 'What the hell is up with this shit luck?'
"All right," Fate started. "My price is…" Without warning, he bolted to the side, rolling under the dark-eyed triplet's grasping hands and sprinting with all his might toward the Academy Gates.
"Grab him!" shouted the brother, he and his sisters dashing after Fate.
'Now would be a real good time to use my Skill, if I knew what the hell it did,' Fate complained.
He grunted as his Facet stirred within him, and suddenly he knew exactly what his Skill did. A sly grin spreading on his face, he jumped to a stop before dashing to the left, straight toward the Academy's fence.
'The fence is enchanted, but what about the ground?'
With a hop, he sunk into the ground, completely intangible. With a thought, his feet become corporeal, and he shot out of the ground on the other side of the fence. He landed nimbly, pivoting on his heel to gauge the distance of his pursuers.
The four siblings cursed and changed direction, running for the gate a mile to Fate's left. Fate bounced on his toes as he watched them take off before turning and zooming off.
He weaved through building after building, sometimes coming across an enchanted one that he rebounded off painfully. After the second time this happened, he got a feel for the Mana coursing through such buildings and started going around them.
After a good ten minutes of running, he jogged to a stop and leaned against a wall, breathing a little heavily, but not by much. Fishing the map out of his pocket, he brought up the clothing store he had seen earlier, "Dreyden's Devilish Deals."
'…Oh, man,' he groaned.
The general goods store was on the north side of town, the exact opposite side of where he was. As he pushed off of the wall and readjusted his grip on his robes, he started the miles-long trek to his destination.