On their way to Aschen, Gustav had made a crucial decision. He wanted to teach Elise what he could. It wasn't much, he wasn't a scholar. No, he was a mage, a terrible one by the standards of his tribe, perhaps above average by human standards. But that was probably the case with most other races. Humans lacked many things, a talent for magic being one of them. The only good thing they had was numbers and, as far-fetched as it may sound, an unhealthy thirst for retribution. That was perhaps one of the many reasons why humans were constantly fighting each other.

That being said, as far as he was concerned, he was a better teacher than most of those employed at the general school Elise currently attended. Besides, if he was her teacher, they could both enter the Margrave's library. The Margrave was a well-read man and so the books in his library were quite modern. This meant that Elise would not lack for information, something quite crucial when it came to entering the academy.

Unfortunately, Elise's mother was a simple maid. Had she been a knight or mage, they might have been able to arrange for Elise to attend one of the public schools reserved for the children of lesser nobles, knights, mages or merchants. Perhaps Tobias or the margrave could do something to improve Elise's and her mother's social standing. He had to dig deep into their past, but he had a feeling it would be fruitful. However, it would take a long time. Time that Elise didn't have. So Elise's talent would surely be wasted in the general school.

Now that he was going to tutor her, he could let her grow and her genius would not be wasted.

He took a deep breath. Never would he allow anyone to experience what he had experienced. He blamed it on the fact that he had been the only Photomancer his tribe had ever seen. His tribe had failed terribly. They had not tried to find a teacher outside his race or even his tribe. They had failed to give him the training he needed to really master his node well. If it hadn't been for Tobias, he would still be stuck in a city where he could only create balls of light.

Besides, if he managed to take Elise as a student, she could form some sort of bond with Jacobina. Neither of them liked going to school. The Margrave's daughter had no friends because she was too different from a human, although she almost looked like one. The only difference being the skin, one of the many characteristics of the effus. Monias had the same problem, even in a city as open-minded as Aschen.

Gustav assumed that the humans simply wanted to consolidate what they had. Humans were creatures of greed and pride, a pride that would make a dragon blush. What would a noble do when his power was threatened by someone who was a much better leader but also a commoner? Either hire him, if the noble had any sense, or follow the old traditions. The nobles would surely follow those traditions for as long as they could.

Gustav shook his head. His mind was elsewhere. He had to concentrate on the present.

"Elise," he said after they had entered the Accociation's building, "did you make friends at school?"

Elise looked at him, her smile disappearing quickly. She shook her head and replied, "No, so far they've kept their distance."

He nodded. It was as he had expected. The general school was mainly attended by humans. There were not many other races there, simply because all those who were not human were often afraid of humans. That was understandable. Humans, though weak, had waged war not only against themselves, but also against anything they considered alien or impure. The Commonwealth was the best example of what humans could do. The Lafrik-born beastkin hated humans deeply, probably more than other races that were not human. A century of enslavement had certainly played a crucial role in creating their hatred.

"Give me a second," Elise said, leaving him alone, much to his annoyance. He sighed ... perhaps he really should have tried a different approach? He had rarely dealt with the Monia, and the ones he had dealt with had been hard to read, hard to lead, and even harder, no almost impossible, to fight.

Elise turned to an unoccupied clerk sitting behind his desk and asked the man, "Is Alex here?"

"Alex?" said the young clerk, a Lapine. His long, rabbit-like ears standing upright. This was in stark contrast to how they had looked before. It had seemed as if he had fallen asleep, and so had his ears, but now they were fully awake.

"Alexandra, Gertrud's niece," Elise added, "she told me to report to her when I had finished my task."

"Ah, the very taciturn and respectful 'Shadow Empress'," said the scribe, "She's still out, but she reported that she'll be back in a few hours. Apparently the drake managed to hurt her a bit. Perhaps a stronger version? But I digress. Alex wants to visit a healer before she returns. Your name was Elise, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Elise replied.

"Wonderful, Elise," the man said, "Alexandra has asked me to help you until she gets back. How many spiders have you killed?"

"Sixteen," said Elise, "but I only got fifteen cores. One of the spiders didn't have one."

"That's unheard of," muttered the clerk, "can you describe the spider?"

"It legs were missing and I just finished it off. I didn't want it to suffer. But I checked to see if it had a core. Didn't have one on whatever the correct word for spider's forehead is," Elise replied.

"I've never heard of anything like that happening ... I don't think it's anything to worry about, but I'll still inform the headmaster about your find," said the clerk. He took out a green bag and closed his eyes. Fifteen silver coins and five bronze coins appeared on the table.

He looked up and continued, "The bounty on the spiders has been increased to one silver mark per spider. A merchant caravan was attacked by them and the merchant is furious. He wants them all dead. That's not going to happen, but a stupid trader is the best source of coin. I gave you half the bounty for the spider without a core because you've done a great job so far. We're quite proud of you, really, the other mercenaries could learn a thing or two from you. Do you want to teach them?"

"I'm only eight years old ... they're about three times my size and a decade or two older. No, I won't. I have far better things to do."

"Gertrud told me that you could get quite a handsome compensation. Still not interested?"

"No, I don't have to worry about money. But maybe in a few years when I'm older. I mean, I wouldn't want a toddler to teach me myself ... But I can try asking my former teacher to be their teacher for a day or two. He wanted to visit us in the future."

"I see. It would probably be quite strange for a child to teach grown men how to fight. We've also tried asking the 'Red Lion'. Hasn't answered yet," the clerk said and sighed, "Gertrud still wants to ask him and I could have sworn that her letter was here ... Or here?"

He rummaged in the various drawers of his desk and finally fished out a letter.

"Mhmm, no wonder he's not answering. The headmaster is still as rude as ever," he said, sighing. "I've never understood why she hasn't changed in all these years. The other Berserkers aren't like her. It sounds strange, but most of them are so polite that the next best priest could probably learn a thing or two from them."

"Could you hand me a pen?" Elise asked.

"Sure, but what do you need it for?" the clerk asked, slightly perplexed.

"I want to write a letter to Heinz I'll send my letter and your letter in the same envelope? Isn't that clever?"

"Really clever," the clerk replied, "could you be so kind as to write a few persuasive words? As you probably know, some mercenaries here need a good teacher to whip them into shape. The 'Red Lion' is probably more than good enough."

He handed her a pen and a white sheet of paper he had fished out of one of the many drawers.

"Maybe I will," Elise replied. She began to write her letter, the pen dancing across the rather well-crafted piece of paper. Three minutes later she was finished. She looked at the clerk and said, "Please give me an envelope. You are not allowed to read my letter!"

"Sure, sure, little devil, sure. Just give me a second. The envelope with his address should be here," he said. "No, it isn't. And it's not here. Where is it?"

"John, you left it in the briefing room," said a young woman, much to the annoyance of the mercenary she was dealing with. But a look that came from John silenced him. It was rather funny to see a rather weak lapine intimidating an adult human. The young woman was also a clerk. She wore a similar outfit. But her doublet was red and black striped rather than yellow and red. Elise knew that this meant that she was a lower-ranking clerk.

"Ah, thank you, Lisa," John replied with a smile, "I owe you one. Cookies? My mother gave me some, but they're with raisins. I hate them."

He focused on Elise and said, "I'll take your letter and put it in the envelope ... okay?"

John smiled, but Elise shook her head. She was vehemently against it. Only Heinz and Heidi were allowed to read her letter.

"A clear no. I see," John muttered, "I should have seen that coming. Can you give me five minutes?"

Elise nodded, and the Dragen added, "Just five minutes. I'm pretty busy."

"Ah ... You're Gustav? Probably, you fit Alex's description pretty well. I didn't realise her foul language was so apt to describe you. But I digress. I almost forgot to tell you that Gertrud was anxious to speak to you. She seemed rather upset when Alexandra told her you were here. Bad blood between you?"

"No comment," Gustav replied, visibly annoyed.

"You don't have to give me the cold shoulder," the clerk whispered. He grabbed the hat he had lying on the table and put it on. John walked away quickly, his rather long legs carrying him through the hall, which was filled with several tables, clerks and mercenaries.

A few moments passed and Gustav sat down on the wooden chair in front of the clerk's table.

"So, Elise," he said, "now that we have some time, I want to ask you something. Do you want to go to school or ... do you want me to be your teacher?"

"I don't really care about school ... I mean, I've been told that I'm pretty smart. And I was told that the exam isn't that hard. Heidi told me something different, but Heidi is very old and the exam might have changed. Reading and studying is fun, but so is going to the forest. My node is still obscured by this red mist and I can't figure out what it does," Elise replied, eyeing a berserker, warriors who used their rage to become stronger. Not something most people dared to do, simply because of the dangers involved.

"Red mist?" Gustav mused. It was rather rare to have something so specific in one's mind. In Gustav's case, there had simply been an invisible wall of what he now knew had been light. He had followed the teachings of his tribe and had killed the wolf to bring down the wall.

"I see," he said, "and you have tried everything?"

"Yes," the little girl replied, eyeing another Dragen in the distance who was kissing an elf.

Why was she so terribly perceptive? It almost seemed as if her eyes were better than a hawk's. Perhaps they were, but that made no sense. And what was this youngling thinking? Kissing someone in the presence of a child and some grizzled old mercenaries? What an impudent fool. The youngling clearly lacked manners. Manners maketh a man.

"I have an idea. I'll teach you five days a week, as usual. However, we'll also do some field trips and try to find a suitable opponent for you. The spiders are too weak. It would take you a few years to break through your barrier," he began.

"Five larger spiders," Elise interrupted, "and as far as I know, they're not that rare. Sure, they usually live in the deeper parts of the forest, but the drake there forced some of the weaker monsters out."

Gustav said sternly, "It would help you diversify your fighting style by fighting different monsters. The world is not only home to demonic spiders, but other monsters as well. If you happen to encounter one of them and only know how to fight spiders, you won't live long enough to blame yourself."

"I understand," Elise replied, "but I have a proposal for 'school'."

She paused, "You said five days a week, didn't you?"

"Yes, five days a week, but shorter lessons. I doubt you'll learn that many new things."

"Three days a week," she replied with great confidence, "six hours a day, and you can decide what you want to teach me. But I want to spend the rest of the week exploring the city and the forest. I have promised a handful of children to go with them to the forest. These poor souls need my help."

"You are a kind soul. But kindness will not help you pass the exam. Four days a week, five hours a day. But you can explore the world for all I care. I'll even give you money so you can buy things. I doubt the pocket money you get is much," he said.

"That is nothing to worry about. I'll get enough money by killing these monsters, you see," she said proudly, taking eighteen silver coins from her deep pocket, "Alexandra told me I had done the jobs as well as an experienced mercenary. As soon as she is back, I and she are going to spar, and she planned on helping me out with my node. But I suppose as my new teacher, you could do the same."

"So you agree?" the Dragen asked Elise.

"Yes. Four days a week, si ... no, five hours a day. You help me find a good sacrifice. Also, I want to get all the books you have on Monias, okay?"

"This can be accomplished," Gustav replied, "the Margrave has quite a few books. But you don't mind another girl joining us, do you?"

"No," said Elise. She paused and eyed old Dragen, "But do I or my mother have to pay you? The Margrave has told us that we don't have to worry about paying the school, but you're obsiously not a school."

"There is no need to pay me," Gustav replied, "and if there were, Tobias - I mean my master - would be quite happy to use his wealth. To train such a promising talent is surely in his interest too."

Tobias would not only be happy, he would probably be pleased. If Gustav was going to tutor Elise he would have a reason to talk to Fiona. Talking was a good way to start. Love was trial and error, and so far Tobias had experienced neither. His young master was growing more and more annoying.

"Wonderful," Gustav said, "Give me a week or so to get everything organised and use your free time to .... have fun, I guess?"

Elise nodded before eyeing a mage who was demonstrating a new spell to one of his friends. Her eyes lit up with excitement and Gustav began to suspect that Elise really was quite an oddball.

She was so different from the Monias that he couldn't help but wonder if she really was a Monia. Even a young Monia usually showed no interest in fighting monsters. They were rather peaceful. But there were some who were different. They were the ones whose ancestral bloodline had awakened.

"Has hers awakened?" he thought.

He stared at her, no, that didn't seem to be the case. She did not have the fearsome aura that most of the awakened Monias radiated.