Gesalt and Ingvald finally reached the town of Shirava, it was a pretty run down town, buildings were old and decrepit, the roads were simple dirt roads, with some few areas having stones, the town was however large, the sign at the entrance of Shirava proudly boasted that this town has a population of 4.000, which is a lot for a town in the middle of nowhere. The people of Shirava were poor and tired, many were old and wounded, and the younger people would be working constantly for a weak wage, even children would be begging and committing petty theft to survive. This however was favorable for Gesalt, his clothes are similar to the average citizen here, his worn out brown pants and coat are quite the average, meanwhile, Ingvald stood out like a sore thumb, his elaborate white leather armor and dark cloak were not just expensive, but of high quality, you could even say that Ingvald's clothing were as valuable as most of the money in this town, and it made sense, there are few people who don't know who Ingvald was, due to his status as a Senser, he was pretty much a world wide legend, him wearing such extravagant clothes is not only the usual, but expected of a man of his status.
They started to walk into the town, Ingvald kept Gesalt close to him as they headed towards a general store.
Gesalt: This town is... quite... uhm...
Ingvald: Sad, no? This town is still recovering from the Reckoning.
Gesalt had a bit of a confused expression, so he decided to ask.
Gesalt: The Reckoning? I think I heard my parents mention it, but I don't know what it is, what is the Reckoning?
Ingvald had a surprised face, he didn't expect Gesalt to not know about the Reckoning, but thinking about it, it made sense, neither Sene or Maren thought to tell Gesalt about the village he lived in, it's not unexpected for them to not tell Gesalt about the Reckoning either.
Ingvald: Well, the Reckoning is a once in a decade invasion from the Demon Realm, we usually manage to push it back, and this has been ongoing for a couple hundred years really, but that doesn't mean that people don't suffer, look around, Gesalt, this town, before the Reckoning reached it, was a beautiful gem in an endless sea of fields and farms of this region, now it's a shanty town without much hope for the future.
Gesalt nodded: I see... a demon invasion... why do they invade us?
Ingvald responded quite quickly: Because they want our land, or wealth, or resources, they never said why, they just attack, and we defend.
Gesalt sighed and asked: When's the next Reckoning?
Ingvald changed his expression to a serious one, and spoke: In 3 years, as for where it will start, we will find oud in 2 years, Sensers are able to sense the portal opening one year prior of it opening, so 2 years from now, we'll find it.
Gesalt asked: So, Sensers do more than sense affinities and magical issues?
Ingvald nodded: Yeah, in-fact, our main purpose is to find where the portals will open, us sensing affinities and magical issues is just a side thing we do that we don't actually have to do.
Ingvald and Gesalt stopped in-front of a small shop.
Ingvald: Alright, this is it, I wonder if they even have stock today, come.
Gesalt nodded and he followed Ingvald inside the store. The store was empty people wise, the shelves had stock, but the prices were high for the people of this town, no wonder why no one else was here, after all, they couldn't afford it. The store had many things on display, from food, to clothes, to camping gear and even some low quality weapons and some beginner Grimoires.
Ingvald began to browse the shop, searching for 3 specific things, clothes for Gesalt, food for them, and an empty Grimoire.
After a while, Ingvald found what he was looking for, and he called Gesalt over.
Ingvald: What do you think of this armor? I think it suits you well.
Gesalt inspected the armor that Ingvald has shown him, it was a dark leather armor, with a crimson red cloak, the armor had many pockets and it came with a leather pouch for use.
Gesalt: It looks good but... do you uhm... have the money for this? It says it costs 700 gold, Dad barely makes 300 in a month...
Ingvald chuckled and responded: Yeah well, Maren works as a graveyard keeper, I work as a Senser, 700 gold is pretty cheap to me.
Gesalt nodded and didn't say a thing.
Ingvald proceeded to load up on food, grabbing the food they would need for a 3 week carriage ride. After that, Ingvald approached Gesalt with an empty book.
Gesalt: What's that?
Ingvald smiled and responded: This is an empty Grimoire, here you can add your own spells that you learned to make your own Grimoire. It's yours, you'll need it, so note down the spells you've learned there.
Gesalt asked: What about my old Grimoire?
Ingvald: You can keep it to keep learning from it, if you haven't fully mastered it yet. Look at the new armor again, you can see it has a book bag at the back, it can hold up to 4 Grimoires at once, so you should be fine.
Gesalt nodded, and accepted the new empty Grimoire. Ingvald paid for the supplies, armor and empty grimoire, and Gesalt went to the dressing room, and changed into his new armor. The mirror reflected his new appearance, he looked much more fitting of a mage compared to old worn out brown clothes.
Gesalt stepped out, his old clothes in his bag. Ingvald gave him a thumbs up, and they left the store.
Gesalt asked: What's next?
Ingvald nodded and responded: Next, we need to register you with the Mages Guild, there's a guild office here, so we'll go there.
Gesalt asked: Mages Guild? Why do I need to go to a guild?
Ingvald: Well, the Guild guarantees pay, standards of work, and you are given a mage rank.
Gesalt: What... are the ranks?
Ingvald: There are 10 ranks, you'll see them at the counter, so just come with me.
Gesalt nodded, and began to follow Ingvald toward the guild office of Shirava.
And now, Gesalt dons a new armor, and is about to join the Mages Guild, will he be able to join up, or will his age or inexperience hold him back? We'll see soon.