Chapter 41: Chapter: 41 Red Riot

Evelyn adjusted her glasses and unrolled the parchment. She jotted my name down and then held out her hand.

“What?” I asked.

“The admission fee,” said Evelyn. “5 silver coins.”

“That’s crazy,” said Ahri. “We want to join the Cardmages Guild, not buy the bloody building.”

Evelyn snorted and said, “It includes a Grimoire and a buffet lunch on the day of the entrance exam.” 

“There’s an exam?” I asked.

“Of course,” said Evelyn. She tapped her finger nail on the desk. “Pay up or move along.”

“You don't have to be so mercenary about it all,” said Ahri. “We’ve fought our way across the Southern district to be here and now you tell us we can't join because of money?” She shook her head in disgust. “That’s like beating a unicorn to death with a bag of rainbows. No wonder cardmages have such a terrible name.”

Evelyn chainmail clinked as she stood up from her desk.

“Sorry, time’s up. It's my lunch break.” And just like that she strode out of the office leaving Ahri and sitting there with confused looks on our faces.

---

There was nothing left to do but wait. The guard on duty, a nice man named Clive, was placed to keep an eye on us and make sure we didn't wander off. We got to speaking and he told me about his time serving as an archer in Aressea. He’d taken an arrow to his knee and been forced to return to Alhaven. He’d settled down and married a local girl named Jeni and they were expecting their first child in a few month’s time.

An hour later the chamber door opened and Evelyn returned and frowned when she saw we were still waiting for her. 

“You ready to pay?” she asked.

I smiled and produced the 5 silver coins.

She nodded and slid her wooden lunch onto the table then motioned for us to follow her. I said goodbye to Clive and wished his wife a safe delivery and then Ahri and I followed Evelyn to the vault.

The room was down a corridor with many doors on either side. The first door was guarded by two grim looking men and Evelyn hurried us along past that door. The next door was open and I peered in and saw a group of men and women wearing silver badges eating lunch in a hall.

Evelyn cleared her throat loudly when she realized I had fallen behind.

“This is the vault,” she said impatiently.

The vault looked like a library. It had bright light hanging from chandeliers that illuminated rows of identical black books. Evelyn spoke to the vault attendant and then examined a ledger. Ten minutes later she returned carrying a pristine looking black book. 

“This is your grimoire,” she said as she dropped the large tome onto a desk .

Ahri opened the book and there on the first page was my name in swirling letters. She flicked through the pages and I saw the thick book had hundreds of empty pages with nine card sleeves on each page. 

Evelyn adjusted her glasses and then said, “Every spell card you bind above your spellbags card limit will be sent to this book.” 

“You’re saying I can only carry ten spell cards on me at a time,” I said. “And the rest will be stored in the Grimoire.”

She nodded and said, “Good job restating exactly what I just said. If it being a cardmage doesn't work out for you I'm sure you could find work as a parrot.”

I frowned and said, “How does it work?”

“The grimoire is magic,” said Ahri with a hint of impatience in her voice. “It's part of the spell card magic system the elder god's created.”

Evelyn lowered her glasses. She eyed Ahri and said, “For someone not interested in cardmages you definitely know your spell lore.”

“What can I say,” said Ahri. “I'm religious.”

Evelyn led us out of the vault and back to the main hall.

“The next exam will be held in two weeks’ time in the city arena,” she said. “If you are late you forfeit the test and will not be allowed to apply again.”

I nodded.

Evelyn turned to leave, then she looked over her shoulder and said, “Master Guts believes tardiness is next to godliness.”

“That doesn't make sense,” I said. 

Evelyn smiled.

“The Master doesn't like the gods.”

---

“So what do we do now?” I asked as we left the Mages Guild. “We have two weeks to train for the entrance exam. We can't stay in an inn for that long. It will cost a fortune.”

Ahri reached into her bag and pulled out a stack of binding cards.”

“It's not like we’ll be lacking in gold once we’ve sold some of these,” she said as she waved them in front of my face.

“It might not be the best idea to sell all of those,” I said. “It could attract the wrong kind of attention plus we’ll need those binding cards if we’re going to build us both a deck.”

“Both?” asked Ahri.

“You’ve proven you can use spell cards,” I said. “There’s no reason you shouldn’t have a deck of your own.”

Ahri tapped her nails together as she thought about it.

“I could build a deck of summons that can serve me all day long.” She nodded. “And maybe a few spell cards to conjure snacks and of course I will need a heating spell card for the cold days and a cool breeze spell for the hot days.”

“Well, if you get to be a pampered princess,” I said. “Then I want my farm.”

“Fine,” said Ahri. “But I want my own room… and we must have a great hall, with a cook and I want a bath- large enough to swim in. ”

“You want to live with me?” I asked.

Ahri blushed and stammered, “I thought… but if you don't want me to.”

“No, no of course I want you to, it's just… I didn't think you’d want to, that's all.”

Ahri smiled shyly and said, “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

---

My visions had shown me that this world would be coming to an end. I knew I should be training, binding powerful cards and uncovering the harbinger’s plot but all I wanted was some peace and quiet on a farm with Ahri. I’d do my part in this battle but maybe if I had a home of my own then I’d have something worth fighting for.

It took two days but we finally managed to find a buyer for the stack of binding cards. For reasons unknown, the merchant named Gyro wanted to keep the trade a secret so we made the deal in a back alley behind the city's brewery. He paid us a sack full of gold and with our coin purses significantly heavier we made our way to the Town Hall to buy a plot of land.

The queue at the Town Hall stretched down the road and around the block. I asked a thickset woman in front of why the queue was so long and she just frowned at me and said it's always this long, people got to pay their taxes.

So, Ahri and I had no other choice but to join the queue and wait. We did a lot of waiting. I watched the cityfolk at the front of the queue exchanging their binding cards for a signed roll of parchment. A duplicate roll of parchment was then placed on a small wagon that was guarded by four heavily armed City Watch. I was told that at the end of each day the wagon was carted by horses to the bank where the receipts would be stored in a vault.

We needed to speak to a city clerk to buy property in Alhaven. It was a pain in the ass but at least Ahri had brought snacks. The problem was that Ahir had strange tastes. 

She opened a bag of dried sardines and offered me some. They smelt so bad but I was hungry and bored. There was something about all this bureaucratic bullshit that made me hungry. It had been the same in the before. 

The fish were crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside and tasted of the ocean. 

“So salty,” I moaned as I swallowed the fish and immediately shoved another one into my mouth. They were strangely addictive.

“Want some bread with the fish?” she asked. “We still have some left over from Bramble Hollow, it will help with the saltiness.”

I eyed the stale bread and said, “I think I’ll pass.”

“Fine,” she said in a mock upset voice. “Sorry that my two week old, rock hard bread with a faint carpet of mold over it is not good enough for you.”

I laughed and shook my head. 

“Well when you put it that way, how could I resist?”

I took a bite of the bread roll and almost choked on the stale moldy bread. I coughed and sputtered for a moment. 

Ahri handed me the water bottle and said, “Does something seem off to you?”

“The bread hurts my teeth when I take a bite,” I said as I took another bite. 

“No, not that,” she said. “This queue seems off somehow.”

“It's a queue, they all seem off.” 

“No not that. Have you seen anyone trying to cut in front of you or any fighting, have you heard any complaining?”

I shook my head and then looked around. The queue was long but on the outskirts of the crowd I saw three Crimson Guards eyeing the crowd as if we were a pack of criminals.

“Now that you mention it,” I said. “This crowd seems a bit tame.”

“A bit tame?” she said. “No, more like completely lifeless.”

I looked around the square. It was true. There was no chatter or complaining, no kids running around. There were actually no kids at all. The crowd was quiet and orderly. It felt like everyone was holding their breath.

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But why?

The answer came all too soon. It began when the crowd started to stir up ahead. I tried to move to the side to have a better look but I was jostled by a masked man dressed in black.

“Watch yourself,” I shouted.

The man barely noticed me. He continued pushing his way through the crowd and soon he was out of view. 

“What’s happening?” Ahri asked.

“I don't know,” I mumbled. “There’s someone wearing a mask.” 

“What?”

“Maybe he’s an entertainer?” I said absently.

“Out of the way,” shouted a guard just behind us.

 

He tried to push his way through the crowd but nobody would move for him. I assumed he was following the masked man. The guard continued shoving his way through the crowd and shouting at people but it was like he was walking in quicksand. 

I watched him struggle through the crowd and saw people push him back. He struggled on, shouting all the while and then all of a sudden he fell and disappeared from my view. The crowd moved in around the fallen guard blocking him from view but I heard muffled cries from the man and then all went silent again.

A shrill mechanical sound cut through the silence. 

“We should leave,” said Ahri beside me.

“We can't leave now, we’ve been in this bloody queue for over an hour. This is the only place where you can buy a farm in this damned city.”

A magically amplified voice spoke over the noise of the crowd. 

“For too long we have been crushed under the heavy boots of the rich.” 

I saw the masked man standing on top of a box. In his hand he held a flaming torch and in the other he held a strange looking cone.

“How’s he doing that?” I asked.

“Must be steamtech,” said Ahri. “Let’s get out of here, it’s not safe.” 

A gap opened in front of us and I saw the guard that had fallen. He was being kicked by the angry mob. My first instinct was to help the man but there was a new energy in the air and I knew if I did something the crowd would turn on me like a pack of wolves.

“Don't we have the right to live as we choose,” boomed the speaker’s voice. “Taxes increase but living conditions keep getting worse, yet the rich get richer and the poor are killed for refusing to die silently.”

The man was shouting out in public what most of these people were probably too scared to even whisper in the confines of their own homes. He was right though. I’d seen the rich exploiting children in the mountains of Brevale. I’d witnessed the powerful forcing Bel and Cobb to bend to their will even if it cost them their own lives. And I’d seen the harbingers destroying entire villagers for some fucked plot that nobody gave a shit about.

I hadn't had time to process my anger but now it was all rising to the surface at once demanding to be heard. I felt such rage at all the fucked up stuff I’d seen. In my mind I saw Bel in tears at what her own mother was forcing her to do. I saw myself powerless as I watched Pale snapping Ahri’s neck. I was sick of the powerful doing whatever the hell they wanted.

I hated them and it looked like I wasn't the only one that felt that way. The crowd was angry. I could feel the tension ready to snap at any moment. 

I picked a stone and flung it at the nearest guard. It caught him in the chest and he spun towards me, his crossbow aiming wildly. 

“What are you doing,” Ahri hissed beside me. 

I shook my head as if in a dream.

“There’s magic involved in this,” said Ahri. “Look at the people's faces, they are under a spell.”

I saw women and old men picking up stones and throwing them at the guards. THeir faces were masks of rage and bitterness. I fought the impulse to join them and tear down the oppressors.

A Crimson Guard fired a firebolt into the air and shouted, “The next person to throw a stone or say a word will be shot.”

It was the wrong thing to say. I saw a woman in front of us pull off a brown robe and throw it to the ground. Under her robe she held a steamtech shotgun. All around us people in the crowd began throwing off their robes and everywhere men and women dressed in black, weapons in hand turned to face the guards. 

This was no ordinary crowd. They were organized and armed. I studied the grim faces of the men and women around me. Most of them looked unfamiliar to me but I recognised the fishmonger and her son. We’d bought the sardines from them earlier. 

“We’ve landed in the middle of an uprising,” said Ahri.

The masked man kicked over the tax coffers and golden binding cards spilled onto the ground. He shouted into the steamtech microphone, “Today we erase our tax records and take back what is ours.” 

He threw the flaming torch onto the wagon of tax records and the flames quickly spread across the parchment scrolls. 

“Those cards belong to the king,” said a Crimson Guard. “Touch them and you will be killed.” 

The masked man lifted his arms and spoke into the cone. 

“Good people. Why do you fear these men? What more can they take from you? They have taken your children. They have killed your husbands and wives.” He looked around meeting each person's gaze for a second before continuing in a louder voice. “We have the numbers, we have the power and we have the right to take back our city.”

A cheer went up and the crowd rushed forwards, hands grabbing what cards they could. 

Through the flames I saw the masked man slipping through the crowd. Something told me that I had to scan him before he got away. 

* Target out of range

“Shit,” I yelled as I ran after him.

Everywhere people fought to stuff their pockets with cards but I pushed my way through the frenzied crowd and chased after the masked man. 

Fights broke out amongst the desperate people, spell fire rang out and dark oily smoke filled the air. Stalls were overturned, shops were looted and guards were beaten. 

The further we ran the quieter the streets became until the sounds of violence were so faint they could hardly be heard. Through the oily smoke and the red glow of flames I saw the man stop and turn to face me.

“You’ve come this far,” he said. “What now?”

“Who are you?” I shouted. “If you believe in your cause then why hide your face?”

 

“Who says I'm hiding,” said the man and as he spoke he pulled off his mask and blinding light shone out of his eyes and flooded the empty streets.

In that sliver of time before my vision went white I managed to scan him.

*

Name: Gavriel Talos 

Race: Human

Class: Sword Saint

Level: ???

Health: ???

Skills: 

- Heroic Insight 

- Sword Master Tier 9

- Fearless Fool

- ???

- ???

- ???

- ???

Resistances: Fear 

Status: Amused

*

Holy shit. It's him, the man we’ve been hunting all this time. 

My world turned white and when I could see again I was standing in the middle of the road all alone.

---

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