Marcela was in her last year at the academy, and a little older than them. She struck an almost equally imposing figure as her mother, standing almost as tall as Dylan, with an aura that none of them could replicate. She must have been close to soul manifestation already with an aura like that. Perhaps she’d already gathered the six blessings of the first three circles. She looked over them with impatient eyes, and Hump got the feeling they’d interrupted an already busy day. Still, she was polite and quick to do as Countess Daston had asked.

The academy was a large campus near the Daston estate, built along the far side of the plateau, away from the rest of the city. Vivienne had remained behind to speak with Countess Daston alone, and they were to meet up later for a trip to the Wizard’s Society.

“My mother always tells us that the point is for us to look out at the world and see what it is we must protect,” Marcela said. “Not just the city. But everything. That is the purpose of our training, and the purpose of the Chosen.”

It was a whole lot of farmland, and a number of twisting roads over shallow hills. Other than Sheercliff, it was mostly an open plain. The cliff only stood there because Osidium himself had risen it from the ground, or so the legend went.

The academy wasn’t as Hump had expected. When his master had described Elenvine Academy—a place where even princes from foreign lands came to study—it had always sounded like it was full of noble kids attending pointless classes that wouldn’t count for anything in a real adventure. This place had the nobles, but their training seemed more practical. The training grounds took up the space where a courtyard would usually be, both to save space, and show off the skills of those that practiced here. Marcela pointed out the Artificery on the left, renowned throughout the kingdom for its quality. It had been founded by the man behind the creation of the Carriageway, and now produced many of the training facilities and equipment for the city’s Chosen.

Hump felt a sudden pressure to the south, and whirled to face it. They all did. A beam of silver and blue light pierced through a section of clouds above, straight down into the temple district. Even from a distance, Hump felt suddenly engulfed by essence. It swept out like a flood, full of all consuming power. At his sides, Dylan, Bud, and Marcela bowed their heads slightly in that direction.

Hump didn’t. He stared at it with wide eyes, taking every second of it in. This was true power. One of the gods of water had claimed their next Chosen, perhaps even Sumi herself. He felt damp as the essence settled over him, covering him like morning dew. After only a few seconds, the beam condensed into a stream line, then vanished entirely.

Gone.

Hump gulped. It was hard not to feel jealous at the sight of such power. All of it had gone to forge the first circle of their Chosen and to grant them a blessing. Power that only a select few would ever know. Power Hump craved.

“There’s been many of them of late,” Marcela said. “With so many refugees at our doorsteps, many have climbed the Pilgrim’s Steps seeking sanctuary and a blessing for their new-borns.”

“How many?” Hump asked.

“At least one or two each day over the last week,” she said.

“Dark times must be ahead for the gods to be so active,” Dylan said.

“Without their help, perhaps,” Bud said. “But they grant us the power we need to fight. We must trust in them.”

They passed a few of the constructs along the way through the training grounds, stacked neatly inside a sheltered section of the yard. The largest of which, even in its curled up dormant form was a boulder as tall as Hump. They looked to be made of white clay, every inch of their form inscribed with channels and runes. He’d seen a few cheap one’s in the training grounds of adventurers’ guild branches before, but they were wooden imitations, or spiritual constructs. Nothing like this.

“They’re made with the white stone of Sheercliff,” Marcela said. “Its unique properties give it the ability to store essence and take to enchantments extremely well. The golems are able to repair themselves with a little essence.”

“They look incredible,” Hump said. “Do you build them here?”

She nodded. “We have many Chosen of Loften in Sheercliff. The large one in the centre is our most powerful golem, equivalent to fourth circle.”

Most monsters didn’t go through soul manifestation. For a construct to possess such strength, it meant pure force. It was no wonder the golem was so large. Only something that size had enough space for all the runes it would need, let alone the essence to power it.

Marcela was already moving on to the main academy building, but Hump paused. According to Vivienne, Loften was responsible for the creation of warlocks during the War of the Firmament. He wondered if his Chosen used similar techniques. Perhaps there was something he could replicate to help keep his own essence under control.

“Hump,” Celain hissed, nodding for him to keep moving. He quickly caught up, the five of them entering the main building.

“I’ve heard many stories of your mother and mine,” Marcela said to Bud as they walked. “She talks often and fondly of her days as an adventurer. The excitement, the travel, the wonders, and the horrors of the world. A part of me can’t wait to see it, another part of me dreads taking the next step in my training. How are you finding it?”

“There’s definitely a mixture of both.” Bud paused, obviously thinking carefully on his answer. “It’s not as I expected. Deep down, I always knew that the stories were just that. Stories. There truly are wonders, but there have been moments…” his voice caught in his throat and he took a breath. “It gets bad, Marcela. Bad in a way I never imagined.”

Hump noticed something in her eyes as she cast a curious glance in Bud’s direction. She’d been polite since they’d met, but it was clear she viewed seeing to them as a chore. Now the boredom was gone from her eyes. If anything, she seemed a little taken aback. Hump guessed to her, they were juniors that her mother had helped due to a relationship with an old friend. Now perhaps she realised that even the little experience Bud had was enough to separate him from the other nobles that walked through here. People like Randall and Madeleine who might have the skills of an adventurer, but they hadn’t yet developed the stomach.

“I know only a little of Fishers Lake, but it sounded like a complicated quest,” she said. “Did you see a lot of fighting?”

“Certainly enough,” Bud said. “But it’s not so much the fighting that wears one down. I could fight a different monster every day and keep on going, so long as my body lasted. No, it’s the time between that’s truly testing. The moments of doubt. The flashes of unfair cruelty. I suppose I never quite realised the frailty of life until I saw how easily so much of it could be ripped away. Is questing a regular part of your training here at the academy?”

“Somewhat,” Marcela said, avoidingly. “I’m a little embarrassed about my lack of experience if I’m honest. We go on quests, but only to deal with local monster threats. And there is always a more powerful adventurer alongside us.”

“I was the same,” Bud said. “We would quest through the local areas, dealing with minor threats, usually far removed from people. It was only once I entered Bledsbury Dungeon that I realised how sheltered I’d been. Whereas if you look at Hump, he was crawling through dungeons while I was still tripping over practice swords in the yard.”

“Is that so?” she said. “You’re a wizard, correct?”

“That’s right,” Hump said. “My master was a hedge wizard, so I grew up on the road. Crawling might be a bit of a stretch for the part I played, but I would follow along with the other adventurers in the dungeon on occasion.”

“How awful,” she said, putting a hand to her mouth. “To think a child would be subjected to that.”

“Believe me,” Hump said grimly, “there are far worse things.”

“Mhm, I’m sure. It must have been difficult.” She turned back to Bud. “Come, I must introduce you to Sir Isaac. He will be the leader of our expedition.”

Hump scowled at her back as they walked. He knew what she was thinking. Clearly she wasn’t interested in a lowly wizard. He’d been overlooked by the gods after all. He couldn’t be important.

“You keep staring at her like that, people might think you have bad intentions,” Celaine whispered.

“Yeah right. She looks at me as if I’m Bud’s squire.”

“You’d make an awful squire,” Dylan said. “You’re too frail.”

Hump bit his cheek. “Thanks Dylan.”

They carried on, largely ignored by Marcela. She told Bud of the various classrooms, potion laboratories, libraries, and eating areas. All of it was fine as anywhere Hump had ever been. Staff kept the hallways cleaned, and with lunch time nearing, the scent of savoury wine hit him. Some sort of stew perhaps. He could go for stew.

Sir Isaac Kelway was not dressed like a silver ranked adventurer, nor the fifth circle Chosen Hump knew him to be. He was a scholarly looking man that appeared to be a good decade older than Countess Daston, though it was always so difficult to tell with more powerful Chosen. He was dressed in a fine blue tunic and trousers, hemmed with gold embroidery. He wore glasses, one side with a second lens that could be flicked down over his eye. Tiny runes marked each of the corners, too small for Hump to distinguish their purpose. Some sort of mana reader perhaps?

He was in the middle of paperwork when they entered, not setting down his pen until he reached the end of his paper. When he looked up, his eyebrows lifted. “Ah, Marcela! What do you need of me, my girl?”

“Good morning, sir.” She smiled and gestured at Bud. “This is Robert Blackthorne and his party. My mother asked me to show them around the academy and introduce them to you. She’s offered them a position at our academy as part of the expedition team.”

“Is that so?” he looked over them curiously. “You all look a little more battered than most that walk in here.” Then he broke into a wide, toothy smile. “We could use some of that. Bronze rankers?”

“Unfortunately not, sir,” Bud said. “We just reached Iron 3.”

He scrunched his nose. “Good enough.”

He told them of what it meant to join the expedition force. The Adventurers’ Guild would soon be announcing six expedition forces, each led by a silver ranker. Their purpose—to combat the threat of dungeons and monster sightings.

“For many of my students, this will be their first time questing alone,” Isaac said. “But times are dangerous, and we need all the numbers we can get. Quests will be assigned following the official announcement, but you’re part of the team now. Which is a good thing. Our iron rankers don’t get thrown to the beasts.” He barked a laugh. “Could you imagine. Our young lords and ladies tossed right into a dungeon. They’d come here huffing up a storm.”

Marcela cleared her throat, looking a little uncomfortable. “Our expedition hasn’t been assigned to one of the dungeons. We’ll be taking care of the requests that have come in from villages in the region.”

“We’ll take whatever comes our way,” Bud said.

“You’ll do well here then, young man,” he said. “Now if there’s nothing else, I must get on. I’m sure Marcela can see to the rest.”

“Of course, Sir Isaac,” she said.

Hump turned to leave, when suddenly the man snapped.

“Wait! You, boy, what is your name?”

Hump cringed, then turned around, trying not to show how uneasy he was. “Humphrey Woodrow, Sir.”

“Where did you get that cloak?” He went on, hardly seeming to have heard. He jabbed in his direction with a finger.

Hump pressed a hand to his shoulder, feeling the wool garment under his hand. He had a sudden sinking feeling. “I found it in the den of the monster we fought on our recent quest in Fishers Lake. The original owner didn’t need it any longer.”

“I should think not,” Isaac said. “The Springleaf is a sigil that fell from the books over a hundred years ago. I’m amazed to see an artefact of theirs in such quality. May I look?”

Hump took it off for the man to see. He placed it on his table, straight on top of all his paperwork, and flipped down his enchanted lens, admiring it.

“Fascinating. The runes are a little worn, but they’re nothing that can’t be repaired. We don’t often see them done in this pattern anymore,” he said, indicating how the channels connected to runes in each of the four corners. “While it’s an effective way of spreading the enchantment across the entire piece, the channels are prone to damage which can cause the entire thing to fail.”

Hump frowned. His spellbook hadn’t mentioned any damage. “I hadn’t realised there was anything wrong with it.”

“Oh it’s nothing major, though most artificers won’t have the knowledge to repair runes like this. Tell you what, leave it with me and I’ll see to it. You can collect it once the official announcement is out. I’d like to dig a little deeper into the design anyway, if that’s alright with you.”

Hump glanced at Marcela who was frowning at him, then back to Isaac. He didn’t feel too comfortable leaving his artefact with someone he didn’t know, especially if it might be valuable, but at the same time saying ‘no’ didn’t seem like an option. And if there was a man to trust on the topic, it was a Chosen of the crafter god.

"Then yes,” Hump said. “That would be extremely helpful, thank you.”

“Wonderful!”

Hump hesitated a moment, then added. “I don’t suppose I could watch you work on it? I’d like to learn.”

Isaac looked at him for the first time with the lens of his glasses. One of the runes shone, and the lens changed colour. “You’re a wizard.”

Hump paused a second too long, feeling as if the man could see to his soul. “I am.”

“Wizards make fine artificers,” he said. “We train many here, and you’re welcome to attend if you find yourself with time.”

Hump got the message. He’d been pushing his luck, but Sir Isaac had extended and offer too good to turn down. “I’ll do that.”

And with that, he sat down and turned back to his work, casting the occasional curious glance at the cloak. Hump lost most of his interest in the tour after that. He felt awkward walking the halls, especially now without his cloak. It was the one fine garment he had. The rest of his clothes were worn and ragged, and well out of place here.

He was pleased when they left, and even more pleased when Vivienne came to find them back down at the inn. They had a quick lunch, and then prepared to go their separate ways. Bud, Dylan, and Celaine were going to collect their reward from the Adventurers’ Guild vault, and see about stocking up on new equipment, while he and Vivienne were going to the Wizard’s Society.

“I’m still not sure about this,” Celaine said. “Isn’t this going to make it too easy to find him?”

“He’s not trying to hide,” Bud said. “Hump’s innocent, and it’s on them to prove otherwise. With Countess Daston’s support, there’s nothing they can do but follow the law.”

“They’re going to find me eventually anyway,” Hump said. It’s better that I’m affiliated with the Society when that happens. There aren’t many wizards that avoid signing up, and those that do usually have something to hide.”

“Which you don’t?” Celaine said sarcastically, narrowing her eyes.

“Not as far as they’re concerned!”