Chapter 22: Chapter 22 Backgrounds and Warnings

After waiting for Emerald to leave the room bearing the remains of their dinner before continuing. “There is an early branching in the Path of Rage, between those who fight armored and unarmored. If you fight and train to reach level 27 without wearing armor while taking wounds, you will almost certainly gain a class skill that will enhance your toughness while unarmored, which holds obvious advantages for you. You have said you are unable to use enchanted items, and armor without enchantments holds limited use. You also seem to prize maneuverability and fast movement, which armor and especially unenchanted armor would hinder. Therefore, I would recommend against armor for now, though you may give it more thought after class development. I hope your regeneration Talent can protect you for now, and when you gain the class skill I hope the benefits are worthy.”

That sounded like a pretty good argument. Nathan realized he’d been dreading wearing armor to some extent. It looked uncomfortable, heavy and annoying to clean. And expensive. So! No armor. Cool. Hmm. He might need to up his clothes budget though.

They talked a bit more of the Path of Rage, with Artha saying that there wasn't time for more detailed lessons today.

Emerald returned before long and Nathan made small talk with them and Artha, asking how their breaks were and what was going on with Wiam and Vhala.

Artha was catching up with a few people and said he would be helping some people of his tribe to adapt to life in Gemore, as well as looking into speaking with some of Vhala’s relatives for some new magic items.

Emerald was a bit cagy, merely remarking on catching up with some ‘friends’, and after a look from Artha Nathan decided not to push any further.

Vhala was apparently stuck in an endless gauntlet of family obligations. There were many Bho’s scattered around the adventurer portions of Gemore, and Artha joked that her list of dinner invitations was taller than she was. She was also expected to share a few Insights with some kids against future favors. It sounded complicated, and Nathan wished her luck.

Wiam’s status was confusing because nobody had seen him for the past day. He’d disappeared into a wizard’s tower called the Tower of Trickery. Nathan asked some questions and it turned out to be a bit of a cross between an orphanage and a magical school run by a trickster mage birdfolk called Gale Shullet. There seemed to be a lot of jokes about Gale and the Tower of Trickery, since they disdained attack spells and primarily focused on stealth, illusion and area control spells like Wiam’s mud spell. However, Gale was unquestionably recognized as one of the stronger adventurers of Gemore, leading a team called The Seven Fools. Artha assured him that there were either six or eight Fools, but that there definitely were not seven.

Beyond that, Gale was one of the most powerful mages in Gemore, and her students had begun to prove their worth to the adventuring guild in recent years. Emerald chipped in that Wiam was more useful to have along than an elementalist would be. In their words; “Would you prefer to have somebody to chuck a fireball at a Giantsrest patrol chasing you, or somebody who can hide you and prevent them from chasing you at all?”

After a friendly series of goodbyes, Nathan departed back to the training section of the Adventurer’s Guild. The low building with the cafeteria was lit, and dinner was being cleared by a pudgy man with a perpetual smile on his face. He saw Nathan peeking around the door and gave a cheery wave. Nathan explored further into the building, seeing that farther back seemed to be classrooms, some of which were occupied by students discussing things. They all looked at Nathan when he poked his head in, staring silently until he left.

Ok then. I guess some of the Heirs unapproachability has rubbed off on me.

The next layer back was dormitories, split into suites much like the one Nathan had stayed in with the Giantraiders. Most of the doors were closed, but one was open and had Aarl sitting in a chair next to it. He was sharpening an enormous sword that was laid on a cloth across his knees. As Nathan turned the corner Aarl was tossing a comment over his shoulder and back into the room, smiling as he did so.

He and his sister are just pretty. Those eyebrows are amazingly sculpted.

And that sword was ridiculous. As Nathan approached, Aarl spotted him and stood, hefting the blade and starting to feed it into his pouch. It was taller than Nathan was, much less Aarl. Damn; with that much blade no wonder it needed a lot of sharpening. As the wiry youth finished, he gestured for Nathan to follow him into the room. Sarah was sitting there, whittling what looked like arrow shafts. Aarl spoke to Nathan. “We have returned early, and expect the others back soon. Did your afternoon serve you well?”

Nathan nodded. “It did. Artha is a good teacher, and Emerald taught me a skill.” He pointed to Sarah. “I’ll be ready for that dodging practice tomorrow.”

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She smiled. “Good, I shall look forward to another person’s movement to practice against. I know all the tendencies of this walking target.” She affectionately swatted at her brother’s shoulder as he came to sit next to her. “Now I will tell you this because Khachi likely will not. Try to sleep early tonight, we will wake early and both Khachi and Stella need less sleep than decent folk do. Do not let them keep you up.” With that, she went back to her whittling, her rapid knife movements somehow landing the wood scraps in a neat pile on the table in front of her.

Aarl looked put out. “Ah, you warn him of what Khachi will do, while we had to suffer it firsthand! He should have had to stumble through his first full day with half a night of sleep as we had to. It would be good practice!”

Sarah pointed her knife at him. “Beware this mean streak of yours, brother. It will be your undoing.” But she tilted her head and waggled her eyebrows as she said it, which seemed to lessen the blow. Aarl only laughed.

Nathan spectated their interplay, amused. The two definitely seemed close. He was an only child, but few of the siblings he’d seen had been so friendly. They were making fun of each other but there was no meanness to it. Then again, he hadn’t known any twins, so who knew?

Nathan didn’t feel comfortable going to bed yet, even if he was tired. He wasn't so much physically tired. Just mentally exhausted. There’d been so many new things happening. He needed to process and think, but there just hadn’t been time. Well, now was as good a time as any. He said his goodnights to the twins and then explored the rooms of the Heirs. There were five bedrooms and one bathroom. Again with the strange running water trough. One of the bedrooms had no personal items, and Nathan claimed it as his own, laying out his stuff on the small table.

It looked like a pitiful pile, to be everything he owned in this new world. The knapsack he'd originally gotten from the Vanguard, packed with clothes and blankets. Coins, some knives, a few extra clothes. Back home he’d felt secure with his phone and wallet. It had been comforting to know that as long as he kept those two items he’d be able to manage decently well anywhere with civilization. Anywhere on Earth, that was. But all of that had been stripped away by Taeol’s spell. Now this meager pile of possessions was all he owned. However, it gave him a similar sense of security. He was starting to develop his place in this world.

Starting from nothing, pulling myself up by my bootstraps! I’m such a capitalist.

So much of it had been due to his friends here. He’d found allies and a purpose, and the money and belongings were incidental. In general life was less comfortable than it had been back on Earth, but Nathan wasn’t sure he was sad of the change. Life on Davrar was dangerous and often short, but Nathan remembered the intoxicating thrill of the fights he’d been in. Life here was exciting, adventurous. The night sky was a world, and Davrar was chock-full of secrets to be explored, new things to learn. The extreme sports Nathan had done felt like a trick now, a facsimile of the rush that was a real fight.

There was no chair, so Nathan sat on the bed to meditate. He glossed over his experiences of the day. There was no rush, just examining each thought in turn until there was nothing left. Then Nathan focused on the breath until his mind felt clear. He began to examine the flow of his feelings. What did he feel like? After the last few days he should be flushed with stress hormones, sick to his stomach. But he wasn’t. He felt invigorated. Strong. And underneath it all, like a hidden flame in the center of his being, was a banked anger.

Nathan examined that anger, studying it thoroughly. In this meditative state, he could really dedicate the time to investigate. Why was he angry? What was the source? Was it justified? He remembered his introduction to Giantsrest, the damning description from Taeol’s own mouth. The mind-fuckery that he’d barely escaped, and Taeol’s cowardice when Nathan had broken his restraints. He breathed out, feeling like fire was escaping with each breath. There’d been the fight at the ford, where the enslavement mages had gloated at the idea of recapturing Emerald, the escaped slave. Nathan’s fury peaked, and his arms trembled. He wanted to run to Giantsrest and tear down their walls, break things until not one stone stood atop another.

He breathed in, keeping his eyes closed. He breathed out, feeling the anger wash through him in waves. It felt purifying. It felt like it gave him strength. And on Earth, that would have been a lie. Here, it was not. Artha’s lessons made clear that anger was a power, and a power that he could use.

After a time, Nathan dropped back, clearing his mind and focusing only on his breathing. Breathe clean, cool air in through the nose, breathe out his rage through the mouth. A few minutes later he opened his eyes. The anger wasn’t gone, just banked back to the coal smoldering inside of him. Nathan was sure with a moment’s thought he could call it back to him. Before him floated another blue box in acknowledgement of that.

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