Lydia brought Zach to a tavern called “The Apt Stallion.” It was a three story building with the bottom floor being the tavern. She ducked through a dark entrance and down the steps. Zach followed.

When his eyes adjusted, he saw a dining area. Three long tables made of wood were arranged in parallel. There was a hearth, but it wasn’t lit. The only light came through the windows. When he walked, he realized the floor was made of dirt.

Lydia led Zach to a table and sat. Despite there being so much seating space, only a few people sat at the other tables.

Noticing Zach’s questioning eyebrow Lydia said, “What did you expect? The farmers and hunters only eat their breakfasts and dinner’s in the city. They have no time to leave their jobs during the working hours.”

The waiter and the owner of the building came over to take their order. Zach didn’t know what the menu was, so he didn’t know what to say. Thankfully though, Lydia ordered for both of them.

“Two meals, one mead, and one water.”

The man nodded and walked away.

Zach fiddled his thumbs. His feet scraped against the dirt floor every time he moved. It was so dark he could barely make out Lydia’s face. The Apt Stallion was unlike any restaurant he had been in before.

“S-so... Why do you want me to become your apprentice?” he asked.

“Like I said earlier, you have a lot of raw talent, but no training. Something you dearly need before you hurt someone or yourself. So it’s within your best interests to find a master as soon as possible. Do you have any idea what could’ve happened if you’d done something wrong earlier?”

“No, not really,” he admitted.

“At best, you could have drawn an invalid spell, and done nothing at all. At worst, you could have destroyed the buildings nearby and killed someone.”

“I see.”

“No. You don’t see. You were using the fire element, literally playing with fire,” Lydia scolded. “Magic is not a toy. If used improperly, it can deal great damage. At the very least, don’t do it inside the city. What were you about to draw?” She asked suddenly.

“A triangle,” he responded.

“Were you going to draw anything inside of it? Or anything around it?”

“Um. No. Why?”

Although she had just scolded him, Lydia seemed to relax a little, as if there was nothing to worry about in the first place. She looked around the room with a bored expression and she tapped on the table with her fingers. She didn’t offer him an answer.

“So, I assume you have an affinity for fire mana,” she said. “Do you have any other affinities?”

Zach shrugged. “Just fire. I think.”

He remembered what he had learned from Snowy in the nightmare dungeon. What she said about magic affinity, only a few people having affinity, confused him.

“I thought only a couple of people were born with an affinity to magic, one in five people, but when I asked someone at the demonstration, he told me that everyone can use magic. What’s up with that?” he asked.

“Affinity describes the element you are most talented with. Just because everyone has the ability to use mana, doesn’t mean they have an affinity for it.” she responded.

“Then, how do you tell if someone has an affinity?”

“It’s easy. Just use up all your mana creating manifestations of one element, then refill and try another, and another, until you have counted all the elements. In general, if you can manifest more than forty dots of one element, you are said to have an affinity for that element. It’s very easy to measure and quantify, even with children. Are you from outside the empire?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said curtly, not bothering to offer up any more information.

Finally, the waiter came out with two bowls and two hefty mugs with handles. In one glass he poured water, in another glass he poured something that smelled like alcohol. Zach guessed that was the mead.

Surprisingly though, Lydia took the water for herself and pushed the mead toward him.

“What are you doing?” he said, baffled. “You want me to drink alcohol?”

“Well, yes.” Lydia said casually. “That’s why I ordered it for you? What’s the problem?”

Zach pulled on his hair. “It’s alcohol!”

Lydia raised an eyebrow.

Zach was about to explain how he was a minor. Then he remembered, on Vera, he was legally considered an adult. He could drink alcohol here and no one would bat an eyelash.

So he sat down in defeat. There was no way he could argue Earth ideals in such a short time span.

‘Maybe I’ll get something like poison resistance,’ he mused.

“What is this dish made of?” he asked, pointing at the bowl.

It was something that looked like meat sauce, the kind that you would put on spaghetti, but there were no noodles, and it smelled spicy.

The waiter responded. “This dish is a favorite among all my guests, so I serve it frequently. It’s a venison mash cooked in picante fruit juices. Then I strained it and added the peeled picante fruit skins. It’s even better if you add salt.” Then the waiter gestured to a small bowl of salt in the middle of the table.

“It’s made of picante fruit?” Zach said, mildly alarmed.

“Of course!” the waiter said cheerily. “Picante fruit is a staple at this tavern, but since they only grow in the wilderness, I have to pay a weighty price just to get them.”

‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ Zach exclaimed inwardly.

“I encountered hundreds of them in the Tusslan Forest hanging on trees. Even the ducks were eating them!” he cried in outrage.

“Did you pick any? I’ll be happy to take them off your hands!” the waiter asked hopefully.

Zach’s expression soured.

“No,” he responded. “Sorry. I didn’t pick a single one.”

The waiter looked disappointed.

“What a shame. The under ripe ones are especially spicy, and I would’ve paid more for them,” he added before leaving to attend his other guests.

At that, Zach inwardly scolded himself and vowed to pick up everything he found in the future.

“So what’s the story behind that look?” She pointed at his sorrowful face, suppressing a chuckle.

“I ate one of those picante fruits in the woods,” he said. “It was so spicy that I threw it away. I didn’t realize it was actually valuable.”

“I figured. Unlike most fruits, which go from sour to sweet as they ripen, the picante fruit goes from spicy to sweet. I reckon the ducks were eating the ripe ones, while you must’ve eaten an unripe one.”

With an even more sullen expression, he decided to try the venison meat sauce stuff.

Surprisingly, it was really good. Fuzzy peels from the picante fruit were chopped up and intermixed with the spicy meat. He took a pinch of salt and sprinkled it over the top. The addition enhanced the mixture of savory and sweet of the whole dish, making it taste even better.

“Wow,” he said. “This is really good.”

Based upon his reactions to the food and her teachings about magic, Lydia figured Zach was from somewhere far away. On top of that, it was someplace where they didn’t have picante fruits or knowledge of mana. Perhaps his country had widespread access to chakra, and knowledge about mana was suppressed instead. If Zach was on a journey, and was returning home soon, like he had mentioned earlier, then this was her last chance to recruit him as an apprentice.

“Look,” she started, “you said something earlier about this, which means you know about the current policies of the empire. However, just to be sure, I’ll say this again: chakra is illegal in the empire right now. So don’t practice it when you're here.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Zach said in between bites.

“Secondly, I’d hate for you to go back to your home and not practice mana ever again. You have too much talent, and it would honestly be a waste of potential. Is there any way I can convince you to become my apprentice?”

“Can you tell me more about the requirements and your organization?” Zach asked.

“I am from the Order of the Luminous Stars,” Lydia said while displaying her wrist badge. “Our base of operations is in Caeli. Should you decide to join me, I can begin teaching you the basics of magic and evaluate your basic skills, literacy, arithmetic, and the like. Once we get there, though, that will be your last chance to decide. I won’t teach you any more until you sign the apprenticeship contract with the guild. That consists of a written agreement saying you will be my apprentice for four years, or until you pass all of the magical exams.”

Zach was mildly alarmed and choked on his food. “Four years?”

“Relax,” Lydia scoffed. “The key part is that you can just pass the exams to get out sooner.”

“What do those consist of?” he asked warily.

“The biggest hurdle for most is the literacy and arithmetic. The Order doesn’t distinguish between commoners and nobles, so this system is in place to accommodate both. Since you already said you are literate, I’m sure you can pass the tests in less than two years. If you have an extensive education, that’s even better, I’d even bet we can shorten it down to one.”

“Yeah. But still…” Zach complained in between mouthfuls. “I’d still have to be an apprentice for a whole year. It's like school all over again.”

“You dislike education in your country?”

Zach nodded and then caught himself.

He figured he had better choose his next words very carefully so that he didn’t appear insane.

“Well, you’re right. I’m not from around here. I’m from a different country. You can probably guess that our customs are somewhat different from this place.”

“Yes. I suppose that’s not unexpected. So what is your problem with education?”

“Well, in my country, every civilian roughly under the age of eighteen is required to attend school. For me, the experience of being lumped into the same room with someone you don’t like is unpleasant,” he responded. Faces like Frank’s and Michael’s surfaced in his mind.

Lydia was slightly dumbfounded.

“Your country must be very wealthy and progressive. You are lucky to have been born in such a place. In the empire, only those with a magical affinity can hope to receive an education. Try to show more gratitude, instead.”

Zach simply nodded and promised to be more grateful in the future.

“So back to the apprenticeship,” he said while grabbing another spoonful, “what are the tests like, and how many are there?”

“Ah yes. There are about five tests. Four of them are written tests. The last test is a demonstration of the magic skills you have picked up.”

“Okay. That sounds easy enough,” Zach thought out loud.

At that moment, he scooped the last bits of food out of his bowl.

Lydia, on the other hand, was only half way through her own dish. She started to get worried that Zach would take that chance to leave, but then his stomach growled for more. Relieved, she smiled and called the waiter back over.

“Another dish for him, please, and one more water. I don’t think he drinks alcohol.”

The waiter nodded and walked away.

Zach scratched his head out of embarrassment.

‘She realized I’m from another country and that I don’t want to drink alcohol. At least she doesn’t suspect I’m from a different planet altogether. Then again, what kind of rational person would?’

A moment later, the waiter brought over another dish of the spicy venison mash. Zach and Lydia resumed their conversation.

“So what kind of benefits do you get after graduating from an apprenticeship?” he asked. “Technically, I could just be self-taught, couldn’t I?”

“True, I suppose. I doubt that would be very efficient. You would have to re-create basic understandings. It is much faster to take what someone else has learned.

“After you graduate from an apprenticeship, you can earn recognition within the Order. That gives you access to resources and connections, access to libraries, laboratories, contracts, and research on magical and non-magical discovery alike. There’s a lot of money to be made in this industry.

“Of course, we shouldn’t forget the most important thing… You need some basic restrictions! Did you forget what happened earlier?!”

“N-no. Of course not.” Zach said weakly.

She sighed.

“The reason I became an apprentice, back in the day, was to gain access to these resources and the library. After you graduate from an apprentice, you become an Adeptus Minor, which grants you a certain level of access to the Order’s resources and knowledge. You can even start to conduct experiments on your own. After a point, that limited level of access is just that. Limited. In order to get a better membership, you have to earn a better ranking in the Order’s system. The troublesome requirement to climb from my rank is to accept an apprentice yourself.”

“Is that why you want to take me as an apprentice?” he asked. “You want to climb higher in the food chain and gain access to more stuff?”

Lydia laughed.

“Food chain. That’s a term I haven’t heard before, but it suits both my situation and your personality very well.” she said while pointing at Zach’s food-covered face.

Embarrassed a bit, he wiped the stains off his face.

“To tell you the truth, you are the first to hear me out this far,” Lydia continued. “Most aspiring kids and their families assume I don’t know anything.”

“Wait. You do?” Zach said sarcastically.

“Do you want to fight!” she shot back.

They laughed together. Lydia grabbed the untouched container of mead and took a hefty swig. Her face scrunched up, showing she didn’t like it either.

“What?” she asked incredulously. “I’m paying for this. I can’t let it go to waste.”

“Gotcha. So how long have you been looking for an apprentice?”

“Hmm. Oh. A couple years. But I’ve been an Adeptus Minor since I was nineteen, so a little over five years now. I’m getting old. I’m already well past marrying age.”

Zach choked on his food again.

“In what world is twenty four past marrying age?”

‘Oh. Wait a minute.’

Then Zach took a minute to realize his choice of words.

“That’s kind of you to think so, Zach,” Lydia responded, feeling honestly flattered. “It seems your country would have been a better fit for me.”

Zach couldn’t agree more. There were probably millions of men looking for a woman like Lydia back on Earth, yet she considered herself ‘beyond marrying age.’

“I don’t believe that!” he cried in outrage. “You have good looks, you seem smart enough, and you have a high-end occupation as a mage.”

“What do you mean ‘seem’ smart?” she asked dangerously. “I am smart… and I’m not just a mage. I’m a Geomancer, a specialist of ground based mana. There’s a difference.”

“Okay. The point is,” he continued, “age has nothing to do with love or beauty. It doesn’t matter what the world says so long as you are chasing after what you want!”

‘Why am I even lecturing someone older than me about this?’ He thought to himself. ‘It’s not like I know anything either.’

Lydia let out a long-suffering sigh.

“Even if I had all the beauty in the world, even if age didn’t matter, that’s not what I want. What I desire most is to learn more. I want to unlock all of its secrets, down to the smallest unit of matter, and to do that, I need to climb. If I have to give up one experience-of-a-lifetime for another, then so be it. What I really want, what I need, especially right now, is an apprentice.”

Zach took a long look in Lydia’s eyes, finding a complicated expression that he couldn’t understand.

“I can’t decide on such short notice,” he said.

“That’s fine. You can decide officially once we reach Caeli.”

“But I can’t stay the night in the city. I’m leaving right after this conversation.”

“Why not?” she pressed.

“Because.”

He stood up, his feet crunching into the dirt of the tavern floor. He had finished eating.

“Look, Lydia,” he said. “Thank you for the offer, and the meal, but I really have to go now.”

“You do want to come with me,” she realized. “I can see it in your eyes.”

Zach sighed.

With their short conversation, Lydia was probably the best acquaintance he had made so far, even better than Ferney and Snowy. Despite their age difference, he felt like they had many similarities. It was a shame he was forced to leave, otherwise he could have considered her offer seriously.

“You might be mistaking my look for a desire to learn magic,” he said while turning his back. “It doesn’t mean I want to go with you, or become your apprentice.”

There was a pause before a quiet voice responded behind him.

“Then… I guess I’ll walk you out.”

‘So much for our day of rest,’ thought apprentice Ferney as he walked behind his master, Sir Deltris

“Master, where are we going to look now?” he asked.

“It’s already past noon,” Deltris responded. “If that boy, Zach, was smart, he would’ve left the city as soon as he could. It should be fine if we stop to eat. Have you heard of any good restaurants from the other servants at the manor?”

“They mostly spoke of dessert stands and bakeries, but I think they mentioned a tavern around here that is especially popular with the working class. The Apt Stallion is what I think it’s called.”

“Then let’s head there.”

Ferney asked for directions from a passerby, and led the way.

“Are you sure it’s alright to stop for an hour?” Ferney asked again.

Deltris sighed, “We already gave Zach’s description to the guards at the gate. If they see anyone wearing the same torn and stained clothes, they will stop him and politely ask him to return to the manor. If he refuses or panics, then they will send for us. But like I said, he probably left as soon as he could.”

Ferney and Sir Deltris walked through the city while discussing other work.

Just as they rounded a corner, apprentice Ferney saw someone standing outside the door of the tavern.

“M-master! Look! B-by the door of the Apt Stallion!”

Lydia Lagron, the mage standing next to Zach, noticed them too and waved.

“Ah. Greetings Sir Deltris! What a coincidence, running into you here,” she called.

Zach, Ferney, and Sir Deltris stood in shock, looking at each other.

The Knight and his apprentice gawked at Zach’s appearance. He was not wearing the beat up, worn out, torn, and bloody clothes of the evening previous, but instead was wearing a Fernsdale Manor servant uniform.

Zach stared with a blank expression because he realized he was dead meat. He had taken too long to leave the city, and now he would have to run.

“Where did he get a servant’s uniform?” Ferney wondered aloud.

“What is he doing with our mage escort, Lydia?” wondered Sir Deltris.

Lydia was slightly confused as to why no one was paying attention to her. She looked at Sir Deltris, then at Zach.

“Sorry, Lydia. Looks like I have to go, otherwise I’ll be arrested again. Thanks for the food!” said Zach quickly. Then he took off.

Coming to their senses, Ferney and Deltris both called out.

“W-wait! Stop!”

Sir Deltris took off sprinting after Zach.

Lydia was flabbergasted. “What! Arrested? What is going on?”

Ferney tried to follow his master, but Lydia caught up and pulled his sleeve.

“Sorry, Lydia. You are our escort for tomorrow, correct?” asked Ferney.

“Yes. What is going on?”

“I have no time to explain,” Ferney said in an urgent voice. “Just catch him before he escapes.”

Then he broke free from her grip and chased after Sir Deltris and Zach.

“Everyone! What the heck is going on?” called Lydia. “Come back here!”

Then she too started chasing after Zach.

Zach, zig-zagged through the crowd, avoiding wagons and pedestrians as he tried to lose the knight.

Sir Deltris on the other hand, was wearing some light armor and probably bore some kind of insignia that identified him as an authority. People parted in front of him like Moses at the Red Sea, allowing him to keep up with Zach.

Zach on the other hand, watched as his stamina was slowly running out. He had to find someplace to hide and recover.

He ducked down an alleyway. Laundry lines hung overhead between the close-knit buildings and he had to avoid tripping over boxes.

“Stop! Wait!” Sir Deltris called out to him.

‘Like hell I am,’ Zach thought.

He turned several corners, weaving through the alleyways and gaining some distance.

Just when he thought he’d lost Sir Deltris, Ferney jumped out in front of him.

Ferney’s eyes widened as he held up his hands to stop him, but Zach just lowered his shoulder and sped up instead. He was planning on running through the apprentice, but an idea popped into his head. Just before they were about to collide, Zach kicked off the ground and rebounded off the alley wall. He landed in the street behind Ferney.

‘How did I do that? How did I know I could do that?’

He had no time to congratulate himself on his parkour, because he could see Sir Deltris appear by Ferney’s side.

He took off yet again, this time dashing down a main road running through the center of the city.

Soon, he chanced upon a large intersection. Wagons drawn by horses sputtered in every direction. It was a miracle they didn’t hit each other.

Zach didn’t hesitate. He leapt into the frey, doing his best to avoid being trampled by large animals and pedestrians alike.

‘These people need to invent traffic lights,’ Zach complained inwardly.

Fortunately for him, it was just as hard for the knight and apprentice to navigate through the traffic too. They couldn’t focus on their footing and Zach’s movements at the same time. And soon, Zach lost them.

He dashed to another alley to catch his breath. His stamina started to return.

Then someone tapped him on the back. He turned to find Lydia breathing somewhat heavily.

“Sir Deltris’ apprentice told me to catch you before you escape. What is that all about-”

Before she could finish, Zach took off.

‘Lydia is after me too now!’ he thought in a panic. ‘I saw her talking with Ferney. So of course it was only a matter of time! I’m just glad she decided to monolog like a classic villain.’

Lydia cursed her predicament. If she weren’t in the middle of the city, she could use magic, rather than rely on her meager stamina.

‘I need to make it out of the city, before it’s too late,’ Zach thought while running from Lydia.

He sprinted down yet another alley in the city, looking for anything he could use to get away.

He cornered himself in an alleyway with a dead end. In another stroke of inspiration, Zach scaled the wall, climbed over the roof of a building, and dropped back to the ground on the other side, losing Lydia in the process.

Relieved, Zach hurried away from the scene.

When he didn’t see any of the three pursuers, he started walking in the direction of the city gate slowly enough so that he could regain his stamina.

The city exit came into sight. He could see the fields of wheat just beyond. Suddenly, he was blindsided by a guard who tackled him.

“There’s the runt who made a mess of the guild hall and threatened to harm me!” said a familiar, female voice.

The red haired receptionist pointed at Zach. She was flanked by a dozen guards.

“Don’t worry, Jamela,” said one guard. “We won’t let him hurt you again.”

“Aww. Thanks, Aver. You’re too kind.” She smiled sweetly back at the young guard.

“On your feet.”

Zach was hauled off the ground by a pair of guards. But they weren’t nearly as strong as Sir Deltris’ knights. He felt they had a much weaker grip.

“You gave me quite a hard time this morning,” said the receptionist, Jamela, dangerously. “Do you want to know who my father is?”

The guards jostled him roughly, but since Zach couldn’t feel any pain, he pretended to grunt.

“Not really,” he said.

“My father is the mayor of this town. My full name is Jamela Fernsdale. I’m not just some nameless receptionist working at the Hunter’s Guild,” she said cockily. “Do you know what that means? It means you strong-armed the wrong person. Your trial is as good as scheduled. I have legions of followers and you’ll be spending the night in a cold, hard cell. And do you know what else?”

“Yeah,” said Zach in a cool voice, “Your guards aren’t as strong as Sir Deltris’ knights.”

Jamela shot him a confused look, then morphed to shock as Zach easily busted out of the grip of her guards.

Zach had huge stones in his hands. They seemed to come out of nowhere!

He threw them at the feet of the guards nearby. He didn’t even need to use [Stones Throw] to incapacitate them. They cried out before falling to the ground clutching their feet. Unlight the knights, these guards had regular infantry boots. They weren’t armored at all.

He was off again. He dashed toward the gate, only to be stopped halfway there.

A small platoon rushed out to stop him. They had seen the whole commotion from that distance away. It was very eye-catching, and a lot of civilians had been pointing.

‘Damn! So close!’

Gritting his teeth, Zach steered away from the gate and rushed into yet another alleyway, getting on the roof again. He easily put distance between himself and the guards, and dropped down when he thought he was far enough away. Running across the roofs was very dangerous, not to mention eye-catching.

‘Maybe there’s another gate,’ he thought frantically.

Some civilians started to point and gawk at him. They had recognized him earlier when he was running from Sir Deltris. Soon the whole city would be aware of his situation.

Zach speed-walked down the most heavily crowded areas while attempting to change his clothes like in a spy movie. He searched his inventory for the next set of uniforms he had stolen, and started exchanging pieces on his current get-up. He thought that it would hopefully buy him some time.

Unfortunately, Lydia was the next one to spot him. She recognized his face rather than his clothes, so Zach took off in another dash.

“For… crying out… loud… Zach…” Lydia muttered through haggard breaths. “I… am… a mage… not an… athlete…”

Realizing that Lydia wasn’t on his tail, Zach navigated back to the Fernsdale Manor. Then he retraced his steps to the shopping district. He walked up to a really chatty baker to ask for directions.

“Funny story about the other exit. In terms of defense capabilities, having two entrances to a city is supposedly a major weakness. The north entrance was supposed to be the only one, but they built the south entrance out of serendipity. You see, the town of Fernsdale was attacked by a massive dungeon toad back in the day-”

“That’s great!” Zach interrupted. “Can you just point me in that direction?”

Once he had extracted the location from the talkative baker, he started making his way there. That’s when he saw Lester, the peddler, conversing with a pair of men. When Lester noticed him, he sent Zach a friendly wave.

Zach smiled and waved back, but then the people he was talking to turned and spotted him too. It was Sir Deltris and Ferney!

“Aww come on,” he groaned before taking off in another mad sprint.

He lost Ferney and Deltris once more, dodged a host of Jamela’s guards buzzing around like flies, and finally felt he was about to make it. The North entrance came into sight.

He ducked behind a wagon, blending in with the other merchants and peddlers and slowly followed them toward the city gate. Before he was about to walk through the exit, something caught his eye up ahead.

A huge figure covered in dozens of wolf pelts loomed over a huddle of guards.

“I told you. I don’t understand your language,” Elmarud told the city guard for the hundredth time.

Zach’s scent wafted over to the werewolf.

Even though he was in human form, his sense of smell was effective enough at such a short distance. Elmarud looked up and recognition sparked in his eyes. Literally.

Recognizing the orange glow, Zach paled.

‘This isn’t good. This isn’t good. This is SO not good,’ he panicked.

Elmarud attempted to push past the guards, but they blocked him.

“S-stop!” one of them said timidly. “Answer the question! Where did you get all these wolf pelts? Did you rob a merchant?”

A canine rumble escaped his human lips and the guards took several involuntary steps back. They pointed their spears but it was useless. Elmarud tore through and charged at Zach.

Zach scrambled with all of his might, and ran back into the city, cursing his rotten luck over and over.

It was much harder to escape from him than from Sir Deltris. Even though he wasn’t in his werewolf form, Elmarud was still a huge, hulking giant. Everyone moved out of the way for him, but Zach.

He was also faster. Compared to the dungeon, he seemed much faster in his human form. Or maybe he was just more maneuverable.

*Ching

[Quest: Running for fun *Completed*]

‘Not now system!’ Zach thought distractedly. ‘And how is this considered fun?’

With no choice left, he summoned his flint dagger from his inventory. Then, remembering the main quest reward, he summoned his new military knife to his other hand. Hopefully nobody had seen that.

He sprinted into another narrow alleyway.

Elmarud lunged at him, huge arms closing around Zach like a giant bear trap.

At that moment, Zach jumped straight up, dealing two slashes simultaneously to both of Elmarud’s arms, then kicked his chest to escape. He tucked into a roll upon landing. Then popped up and sprinted away, not even daring to look back.

Elmarud roared in frustration, but not out of pain. He regenerated quickly.

“Come back here, boy!” cried Elmarud. “You destroyed my dungeon! Let me thank you properly!”

Zach ignored him and clambered up another wall. He stood on the roof and looked down at Elmarud. This trick had worked on Lydia and the guards. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to work on the werewolf too.

The beast-like man pushed his hands into the brick wall like it was butter, and started to climb.

‘Crap!’ he realized. ‘If Elmarud gets on a roof, then I can’t outrun him.”

Every other time Zach had escaped the werewolf, he’d had some semblance of cover. The stone monolith in the dungeon. The trees of the woods. If this time, they both got up on the rooftops, Zach wouldn’t have anything to use to his advantage and the werewolf would catch up to him.

Zach jumped across two buildings then dropped back down to the ground. He sprinted down an avenue, ducking behind moving carts and hiding himself from sight. The beast behind him sniffed the air.

Zach made a beeline for the South entrance.

New priorities had been made with Elmarud in the picture. If the werewolf decided to patrol the North entrance, then the best choice would be to go through the South entrance. The receptionist’s guards were all stationed there, but between an immortal monster and a dozen weak guards, he would choose the latter any day.

Putting distance between himself and Elmarud, Zach came across a stable for horses. He walked around the place, trying to muddy his scent as best he could.

‘That’s probably how he tracked me to Fernsdale in the first place,’ he reasoned, ‘by scent.’

Then he made his way back to the center of Fernsdale and rested in an alleyway.

He racked his brain for a solution as to how he would get past the guards at the city gate. If they decided to close the portcullis on him, he had no way to get through.

On the other hand, couldn’t he just climb over the city wall itself? But then he would need to drop back down to the ground somehow.

Then Zach realized he could use the rope he purchased along with his backpack.

‘Yes! This is exactly why I needed to prepare before I left the city!’

Preparation would be both his doom and his savior.

He made his way toward neither of the entrances. He walked to the wall of the city itself, already preparing his rope, when something caught his eye.

A line of guards blocked his path. They were all staring at him. He turned around to run only to see another line of guards closing in behind him. He looked around frantically but didn’t see any way out. They blocked the alleyways too.

Soon he was surrounded by twenty of Jamela’s guards.

The civilians, realizing something was up, cleared out of the way.

The guards edged closer, spears in hand.

Someone called out, “Stop! Put up your spears!” But he wasn’t gesturing for Zach to stop, but rather, the other guards.

Zach's eyes darted around. He counted the number of stones in his inventory while calculating how to escape.

Abruptly, Sir Deltris walked to the front while arguing with Jamela, the receptionist.

“What do you mean he’s under your protection!” Jamela cried in outrage.

“Exactly what I mean, Miss Fernsdale. Zach is our guest. And that incident you keep mentioning is not entirely his fault. Nor were you in any apparent danger. So stop riling up all your fans.”

Zach froze at that statement. His eyes widened in astonishment as Sir Deltris started to calm down the guards one by one. They each started to put up their spears.

Before Zach could speak, a green mist washed over everyone’s feet and seeped into the ground.

The ground, which had been solid and dry, turned into a thick layer of soggy mud. The guards, Zach, Sir Deltris, and Jamela all sank into it.

Zach struggled to stay standing. A few of the guards couldn’t manage and fell over.

“M-magic?” somebody muttered.

Everyone was temporarily immobilized, their footing both unstable and sticky.

Panting, Lydia finally caught up with everyone. Green orbs of light danced on her fingertips, which she quickly dissipated.

“Would someone… please explain… what the hell is going on!” she said after catching her breath.

[End Chapter 13]