"You're willing to share this secret knowledge with me?" A flash of skepticism appeared on Liara's face. "Why?"
"I told you… As an apprentice, I need a guide to take me to places I can't get to. Having a peer counselor with me will help keep suspicion off my back," I reasoned. Admittedly, I think I was beginning to enjoy Liara's company even if she was half ljósálfar. Although I would never admit that to her.
Piercing gray eyes searched my face, and it was hard not to feel pressure under her gaze. But I hadn't lied to her, something she eventually realized, and that honesty plastered on my face just made her frown even more.
"It's not a written rule, but the Academy's heavily invested in competition, which makes every novice your rival… Most people wouldn't be so eager to help a rival become stronger," Liara explained.
"I'm not most people," I shrugged. "And it wouldn't matter if you got stronger. I'll just get stronger so that you'll have to keep chasing after my back."
"I don't chase anyone's back," Liara said flatly.
"Good," I chuckled. "Then we'll walk side by side and get stronger together."
Divah did say I needed to find trustworthy companions and I had a feeling Liara fit that bill. I figured helping her grow was the surest way to make her one of these so-called allies Divah told me to find.
Liara rolled her eyes at me, although I also detected the slight twitch of her lips like she was trying hard not to smile. "You are a weird human boy."
"That's a compliment." As I shut my journal, I flashed a grin at her. "So, are you in?"
I offered Liara my hand, and she shook it with just the barest hint of hesitation.
"I'm in." she agreed.
"All right, we're partners now." As I said this, I wondered why Divah thought I'd have a hard time making friends. Clearly, it wasn't that difficult as long as I had something to offer my potential allies. "You ready for more lessons, partner?"
"Yes… teach me." Liara blushed like a girl who'd just asked a boy something inappropriate.
"Patience, young 'Padawan'..." I sat down on the grassy floor and then patted the ground in front of me. "First, we need to squeeze out all the benefits we could get from swimming in a magical fairy well. Let's meditate on that."
Even with the assistance of Mana Manipulation, it took the rest of the day for me to properly cultivate the magical energy I'd absorbed, earning me an extra point in Intelligence and Willpower. Liara only took half the time for it—the damn wunderkind—earning her points in Intelligence, Willpower, and Constitution.
"Weren't you just in a slump?" I complained as she helped me to my feet.
"It feels like a heavy weight's fallen off my shoulders and it's become easier to climb over that wall I couldn't even cling to before," Liara explained in a slightly dreamy tone.
"So, what you're saying is"—I brushed away the 'valknut array' floating above the fairy well—"getting from level nineteen to twenty is freaking Hel, but it gets easier afterward."
With my enchantment removed, the fairy well lost its bluish hue, returning to that aurora-like state that was its unrefined default.
"Essentially…" Liara seemed dazzled by the change in the well. That wide-eyed wonder was quickly replaced by a frown though. "Wait, how did you know I raised my level to twenty?"
"I may have snuck a peek at your bar while you weren't looking," I admitted.
"That's an invasion of privacy, Wisdom!" And just like that, the blushing, wide-eyed girl was gone, and Liara was back to that cool and aloof half-elf I met yesterday. "Even if you helped me raise them, you can't just look at my stats without permission."
Thus began a lecture about the etiquettes of status bars which lasted throughout the trip along the tower's arched underbelly and up the stairs that led up to the secret entrance at the back of the tower's hearth. It had gotten so bad that I failed to even ask her about the secret dungeon that was supposedly hidden in the tower's underbelly too.
"Do you understand?" she asked again.
"Yes, yes," I rolled my eyes at her back. "I understand my mistake and won't look at status bars again without permission… Unless I really need to."
I said that last part in an undertone, but those damn elf ears caught my words easily enough and earned me a smoldering gaze that was good enough to rival my wolf-eyed stare.
"Kidding," I lied.
It was midnight by the time we left the fairy pool's chamber, which meant I'd missed all of my classes. So, it wasn't such a surprise to find Master Doomsday waiting for me by the bar. Funnily enough, his being there did nothing to crush the wild partying of the tower's residents, which I now assumed was a nightly occurrence. The term 'frat house' came to mind here.
"As I am sure you are aware," Doomsday took a sip of his mug of Piña Colada before continuing, "the Academy has its fair share of mischief-makers"—as if to emphasize his point, the half-giant glanced around the room and zoned in on the Brothers Grimm who were once again flyting with each other on stage—"although no one has been so bold as to miss my class on their first day as a novice."
Great, I had just gotten through one grueling lecture and was about to sit through another—but then Liara came to my rescue by lying about our little side adventure.
"It's my fault, Master Doomsday," Liara said in that honeyed tone that made most males weak in the knees. "I took him around the campus because the Grandmaster asked me to be his guide and today was the only free time I had for it."
Doomsday hadn't blushed as Dwalinn had, but he was certainly swayed by Liara's obvious charms.
"Very well." Doomsday downed his drink, asked for another, and then said, "I will let this go just once, but remember, Mr. Wisdom, you came to us, took on my challenge, and survived it… What would be the point of your crucible if you do not take advantage of your victory and learned the knowledge you so desperately fought for?"
"I know, sir," I said placatingly, although in my mind, I added, 'I'm taking advantage of the Academy just fine, thanks.'
The lecture on absences was canceled, and all I got was a warning not to miss any more classes. I assured Master Doomsday that I wouldn't, although it was a promise I couldn't keep. At least not for my first week in the Academy. I needed to uncover a few more secrets first, and now I had the perfect accomplice to help me find them.