Today was the day I started raising a hero.

It was necessary, so necessary it might be the most important thing I would ever do. It began, appropriately enough, when I woke before the sun. Naturally. No alarms, no hum of engines, no water trickling through pipes, no hiss of air from the vents, no passing vehicles or sirens or rowdy neighbors. The feeling of being fully rested and at peace on a quiet morning was beyond priceless. That and the lack of any grogginess or pain from sleeping outside on the ground.

If I had tried that in the old world, back before I came here, I would have been a mass of aches and pains and regret. Despite all the stimulants and augments and alarms, my body had been old and nothing could really change that. I’d even taken to reducing my cabin’s gravity while I slept, since the station allowed that. It hadn’t helped much. It had sometimes felt like every day I was more tired than the day before.

Which is what made waking up feeling truly refreshed a really big deal for me, and a good omen for everything that was to come. I decided to just appreciate and luxuriate for a moment with a deep breath of the fresh morning air while gazing at that awe inspiring upwardly curving horizon. It was the perfect balance between chilly outside and warmth under the covers of my blankets, and I had a grand adventure waiting for me. I hadn’t felt so good in centuries! It was all so strangely invigorating that I knew I was ready to go.

“Mia!” I reached over and shook my precious golden girl, but she only murmured sleepily next to me. “Wake up! It’s today already. We gotta get there early, come on.” With a faint cry she sat up, somehow completely wrapped in her bedroll, eyes still mostly closed and an enormous yawn swallowing her face. She looked like a caterpillar, and I told her so.

“Mia doesn’t know what a ‘caterpillar’ is?” She mumbled as she struggled to free herself. I didn’t have an immediate answer, both because she was cute enough to be distracting and also because I was reminded that even though I’d managed to learn the language, that was the barest of beginnings. After all, I had no idea about all kinds of common sense details which was frustrating and embarrassing. Well, all part of the adventure. Whether I liked it or not.

“It’s a silly crawling bug, and you look like one all wrapped up like that. Here, let me help.” She’d really gotten herself tangled, but with my help Mia soon emerged very like a butterfly from its cocoon. It was a very apt comparison to the girl herself.

Or at least, so I hoped it would become.

She had the potential to become what I needed, and I had every intention of guiding her properly. I needed her, or at least the heroic someone she would one day be. Not some children’s novel idea of one either. I knew the kinds of problems that would inevitably come my way if I were left without the right person to hold my leash. As much as I would have loved to run around and enjoy the grand adventure of it all in my own way, it would just end badly and it would be my fault. As it always had been. At least, that’s what people would tell me before my life took a serious downhill turn.

Fortunately there was an easy fix: someone else needed to make the decisions and take the responsibility instead. Heroes were good at that kind of thing, so that was Mia’s job. Mine was just to raise her into one.

I sat there next to her contemplating such things as she slowly woke up, and wondered about the kinds of things I’d have to put her through. She was so young and sweet that it was something of a pity, even as it was vitally necessary. Those happy silver eyes that looked at me with loving affection might one day come to hate the sight of me, so I decided to savor the quiet moments while I could. Finger combing the bright curls of golden hair away from her lovely face and tucking them behind her long ears rewarded me with a still-sleepy hug. She really was the cutest kid.

Ah, that’s right: was.

“What did Auntie Ena tell you about that?” I warned, not at all sure my tone of voice was helping make my case. I hardly disliked being hugged after all, and I could absolutely sympathize with her seeking physical affection after the childhood she’d had. Still.

“There’s a time and a place,” she quoted somewhat sullenly, slim dark arms reluctantly withdrawing. I ruffled her hair and helped her to her feet, after which I gave her the hug she’d been looking for. She struggled for the briefest moment, still grumpy, before melting into it.

“Good. It wasn’t a bad time or place exactly, but hugging people while lying down like that isn’t proper. At least, not for an adult.” I made sure to give her a long measured look after saying that, so she’d understand. I’d have to explain that little lie to her someday, but definitely not any time soon. She was only nine, but in order to fulfill her dream we’d both been given young adult bodies. Matching ones, in fact! It was likely we’d be mistaken for twins. High elf twins. Dark high elf twins was more accurate, but everyone I’d met could be described as a dark elf of some sort or another, which was interesting. Except culai like Brin, who were almost disturbingly pale. Weird, but not particularly relevant to me so whatever.

“Just think about things before you do them, that’s all. Now, let’s get this camp packed up and get into town, okay?”

“Okay!” She said. I smiled at that. It was astonishing how quickly she’d picked up that word.

We’d camped just out of sight of any sentinels on the walls and, just like we’d planned, made it to the gate before the sun came up. Even so the guards were already awake and just opening up as we arrived. I’d expected to need to wait a little while, so it was a pleasant surprise when we were allowed to walk right on in. Lleuli and Brin had both said that nobody bothered to check anything if you looked like an adventurer and showed up first thing in the morning.

Turned out they were right. I hadn’t really been sure what qualified as looking like an adventurer, but with loaded packs, tough travelling clothes, and weapons strapped on our hips, we must have qualified. Just demonstrated that I should really put more trust in our mentors. They’d helped equip us after all. I wasn’t ready to give the issue of our teachers much thought though, because I was still stuck on getting a free pass into town. It just seemed like a really serious flaw in an otherwise rather fortified city’s defenses to me, but what would I know? I was a stranger in a strange land.

The city streets were quiet so early in the morning, though behind closed doors I could hear quite the ruckus of a populace getting ready for the day. It was kinda nice, that sense of a quiet city laid out just for the two of us, but it put me in a weird mood and left me too much time to think about things. Being alone was one thing, but alone with someone else and my own idle thoughts, was another. I just hadn’t been comfortable with that since she—

No. No, no, no. Couldn’t think about that. Had to think about something else. Something, something that could occupy my mind completely, something to overwrite that thought so I didn’t just completely break down. Apple! Had to imagine one, in as much detail as possible. Hand-sized, deep red with those subtle little striations shading to just a little green up near the stem. Crisp skin, that refreshing scent, the juicy crunch... and done. What was I thinking about? Well, whatever. I had better things to be doing.

I didn’t want to drag Mia down being moody or lost in a daze, I had to be focused and competent and set a good example for her, so I picked up the pace just a little and started scanning for our destination. We were heading to the guild to register since Mia was determined to become a hero, something she’d no doubt gotten from that raggedy little story book about some legendary adventurer. It had very much been a child’s dream initially, but then that ridiculous god had become our, well, patron was maybe the right word, and suddenly she’d had the option to become exactly that, and I wasn’t about to let her do it alone.

But, since I was on the topic of doing things alone—

“Keep an eye out for any big white boxy buildings, Mia.” That being almost the entirety of the description we’d been given for our target. Well, and that it was supposed to be just off the town square.

“Okay!” She said as she skipped along beside me, peering hard at every place we passed. I wanted to ruffle her hair again for being so adorable, but I restrained myself. It would do no good to treat her like a kid, especially right after giving her that little scolding earlier about inappropriate hugging. Growing up an unwanted orphan like she had, it was a real shame I couldn’t just smother her in affection. But there was no chance that she would turn out a hero if I did. There was also the matter of her newly adopted parents being very unhappy with me if I spoiled her. Not to mention that what was basically a god had pulled me aside and talked to me about— well, various things.

It would help keep my mind off things if I could play with magic as we walked. I was absolutely itching to do that, and who wouldn’t be in my situation? But even though Lleuli had trained me enough that I could earn the Mage class, I wasn’t officially allowed to do anything until I had a license. Also, technically we were entering this country completely illegally. Also, we were from a previously extinct species.

But, well, a license would solve those problems too.

I was being flippant, even if just to myself, and I knew it. But what else was there for me? Being here, torn from everything I’d ever known by forces I couldn’t understand let alone control, was freaky. I’d fallen asleep in bed, safe and secure at home after a long day at work, then woke up in a bizarre fantasy land as nothing more than some kind of bodiless spirit creature. I would absolutely defy anyone to not be freaked out by that. But at least I did have a body now, and in spite of everything I’d been happy to volunteer to take my favorite little squirt on the heroic adventure of a lifetime. No matter my own troubles, I wasn’t about to let her down.

The building, when I spotted it, was exactly as described and right where we’d been told it would be. Could’ve saved myself the anxiety of looking for it so hard, but oh well. With absolutely no fanfare we ducked inside and I was immediately let down. Just, horribly let down. Had I gotten the wrong building? I poked my head outside and looked at the sign again. No, I had it right. Apparently the guild here was like the very worst kind of government office: slow, stuffy, and everyone seemed cranky. It was dingy, with poor ventilation and lighting, and though not exactly filthy it was clear nobody put any enthusiasm into the cleaning.

Mia looked at me with a little uncertainty so I straightened myself up. I was the cool older sister after all! No way could I comport myself with anything less than dignity, grace, and a calm demeanor. That was the goal anyway. I wasn’t exactly confident that I could pull that off very well, but I’d sure try. I scanned the long, long, long line of people that were ahead of us, and the single unenthusiastic person serving them, and decided I’d try and make the best of it. Lighten things up with a little conversation, maybe learn something.

“Excuse me, is this the end of the line?” I asked the fellow sitting nearest the door who was, in context, perhaps not as scruffy as some of the others further in. It was something just short of astonishing that elves could be scruffy, but I’d lost so many delusions since coming here what was one more? Really, I was just trying to distract myself so I didn’t freak out about how full this place was in spite of it being before dawn. At length he glanced up lazily before doing a double and even triple take, settling on looking me over with eyes I suddenly didn’t want to meet. Which inevitably led me to realize that there were no other women in line. At all. Particularly and most importantly none that were young and looked the way we did.

“Aye,” he said, in a tone of unabashed desire and professional-grade sleaze. I blinked at him and then took my time brushing off the stone bench and settling my pack on the floor. Once I was satisfied with that I swept my hair out of the way, gathered my beloved estoc into my folded arms, and sat pointedly ignoring him with Mia firmly to my other side. I was absolutely not going to subject her to that. Not that I cared for it much myself, to say the least, but I felt like I could handle it.

Or rather — I was the one who’d picked the female golem body, so I had better be able to handle it! While being a cool older brother had appeal, I’d had a feeling that it might lead to a particular type of weirdness with Mia eventually, so I didn’t. Really didn’t want to deal with that. Especially not with Mia. I couldn’t really discount the possibility of weirdness despite such a measure of course, but it was less likely. I’d also promised myself when I woke up in this world that I wouldn’t let petty things knock me off my chosen course any more, so I’d just have to live with the consequences of my own decisions.

Plus, well, I was feeling pretty seriously out of place here in a general sense anyway, which made it all the easier to ignore something so mundane under that pervasive layer of discomfort. The man wasn’t shy with the side eye, but thankfully he didn’t press. This was the line for the adventurer’s guild, so maybe there was a sense of basic etiquette and decorum. Or maybe adventurers generally just learned not to judge by looks alone. Or maybe he was just a coward. I decided to take it as a gift, whatever the truth.

Unfortunately, with an introduction like that, casual conversation was firmly off the table. Mia wasn’t exactly a thrilling conversationalist either, much as I might love her, and the ensuing silence was enough for all my internal complaints to begin voicing themselves. Of which I had a great many. A very great many! After all, this was the adventurer’s guild! I’d been holding all kinds of expectations for the place, even if maybe that was stupid and I shouldn’t have because, after all, what did I actually know?

Apparently nothing is what. I’d imagined a fancy and upscale marble building with lofty ceilings and crisp professional young receptionist ladies behind wrought grilles; a well kept but well used place where the floorboards creaked, the locals stared at the newcomers unabashedly, all served by gruff but loveable staff; perhaps a combination of general store, tavern, and inn staffed by a harried but lovely family who did all the cooking, cleaning, and clerical work— No. A grimy waiting room with grungy men and a grouchy clerk. In short, the reality of a large scale institution and not the fantasy of one.

Eventually even the appeal of hashing over my grievances worn thin and so I encouraged Mia to take out a book to pass the time, before pulling one of my own from my pack. Our mentors had managed to scrounge up a few educational tomes, but we’d set off as soon as we could and I hadn’t managed to read any of them yet. I’d thought they’d make great evening reading, curled up at some rustic inn after a day out slaying goblins and picking herbs. Or whatever it was adventurers here did. I wasn’t completely sure and didn’t want to make any more assumptions with all my other expectations so thoroughly dashed. That said, reading a book relevant to adventuring while waiting in line to register had its own sense of rightness. Even if it wasn’t very romantic.

With noses buried in our books we shuffled down the bench bit by bit as dawn broke and the line got served, but I’d hardly gotten past the first chapter before a shadow appeared. Blocking what little light there’d been from the building’s rather small windows, the shadow carried with it a waft of something just the wrong side of fetid bog. I briefly thanked this body’s complete lack of vomit reflex before casting a quick side glance to check on my companion, who seemed too absorbed to notice anything at the moment. I jostled Mia as subtly as I could in that situation to get her attention, because I had the distinct feeling she needed to see what was about to happen. I then carefully closed my book, braced myself, and looked up.

“Hey there, l’il lady,” the cretin said with a mouth in dire need of a dentist. Well, he didn’t say it so much as chewed each word, but I was too busy trying to keep my face under control to do much sassing. Is he going to hit on me? I had to wonder. It would be a somewhat novel experience, on the one hand. On the other I wouldn’t mind at all if it stayed that way. Forever. I also thought he was probably mistaken about the ‘l’il’ part, since I could tell I’d be taller than him if I stood up. Dark high elves were the tallest race by a wide margin.

Ah, I was supposed to call us sirol, as that was apparently the correct name. Not that I personally cared about the naming convention like Kos did — he seemed to find it gravely insulting to be called an elf. But it was nice to have a proper name for what we were, what I was, because I was obviously better than a regular elf. Not that anyone here would know the difference anyway, since until recently we existed only in ancient history books.

“How ‘bout you gimme your seat,” he continued in what was probably a threatening manner. Ah, here it is! I crowed to myself. My heartbeat quickened, though not out of any fear. There were many things that I might once have found dangerous or intimidating back before, in my old life, that simply weren’t any more. This kind of situation was one of them, and I’d been waiting for it.

I knew, sooner or later, that someone would make a move. Why or in what way wasn’t important, but that we would be tested was beyond certain. I’d been truly looking forward to it in fact! Any situation that involve people would inevitably have a test of some sort and after all the other disappointments, I was pleased that I’d gotten one thing right. I was also glad I’d gotten Mia’s attention first, because she absolutely had to be part of this kind of thing, or else there just wasn’t any way she could be a proper hero.

But, how to deal with him? At only level one in the Fighter class I wasn’t confident in my strength, even though I knew how to fight personally. He looked pretty brawny, so I discounted that as a first option. Playing victim to the crowd was possible, but I thought it might be antithetical to the function of a hero so I put that aside too. The man was already making a fuss while looking and smelling like that, so I didn’t think social shaming was going to work either.

Ah, no. Idea.

“Okay,” I said, offering a hand. “But you’ll have to help me up,” I finished with the sweetest smile I could muster, which was something of a struggle in the face of his absolute stench. Thunder stole across the man’s shaggy brows as he unceremoniously gripped my hand and tugged. To no effect. Judging from his stance he thought he could throw me across the room with just one arm, but to say I was heavier than I looked was such an understatement it was all but a lie. I’d been mildly surprised that, even with only a small fraction of our weight on it, the bench could hold both Mia and myself without so much as a complaint.

Well, in spite of my warnings it was possible that Mia was resting on it fully, but I sure wasn’t. That would be really foolish! I couldn’t be certain, because our patron had made these bodies out of some pretty impressive materials that hadn’t existed in my old life, but I estimated we were each around a thousand kilograms. Maybe more! Maybe even a lot more, I didn’t exactly have a scale to check with. Which was why we were mostly just pretending to sit, a feat that would have been awful in a flesh body, so I felt compelled to yet again give thanks that golems couldn’t get tired. I put up with the tugging, smile still fixed in place, until the third full force effort by the gentleman had left his face blotchy and a particularly rancid whiff of swamp forced me to retrieve my hand.

“Oh my! Well, if you can’t help me up, I’m afraid you’ll just have to find a seat at the end of the line.” I dialed my smile from sweet to murder, and put my faith in that to persuade the fellow to back off; which he did, nearly stumbling as he went. It was nice to know I hadn’t lost my acting chops, because the whole thing was total theater. It had to be a bluff, because though our patron had been worried enough about our health to make these bodies as sturdy as possible, we hadn’t been given any super strength or speed or anything else. Mia wanted to be a hero, and heroes didn’t cheat, apparently. I kinda thought being tireless and effectively unkillable was something of a cheat, but it wasn’t my place to complain or point that out.

I wasn’t the hero, after all.

I took a look at the reaction from the rest of the people in line after my little trick and found them to be generally impressed. The performance had changed the atmosphere from one of a girl getting shown her place in the pecking order, to a man challenging outside his weight class. Heh. Without another word he backed off and then left, perhaps to try another day. Break the script and then control the flow; it was my absolute favorite trick to use. Though if I ever found something that worked better, it would become my favorite. I didn’t want to be prejudiced after all.

I didn’t think the clerk at the desk had looked our way even once the entire time, which either made such events commonplace, or she really didn’t care. I was hedging my bets with an answer of both. Before I could reopen my book, a weighty golden head came briefly to rest on my shoulder with a message.

“Mia thinks you’re amazing!” She said in a child’s imitation of a whisper. I found myself immediately paralyzed, because such naked praise over something like that was honestly way more embarrassing than I expected. I decided to take the attention off myself by making the whole thing a teaching moment with a few pertinent questions.

“Why was it amazing?” I asked in a low tone only she could hear, to shift her praise away from myself and onto specific actions. “Why did I choose to do things that way, and why did it work? Were there other, better options?” I’d humiliated the man after all, and it was possible that would come back to trouble me later. A possibility that I was all too personally familiar with from past experience, which was how I knew that any solution that created future trouble was not the best one. That’s why I needed Mia: if there were some optimal path out there, I was sure she would find it.

Her face scrunched up adorably as she fell into thought, mouth opening a few times as she struggled with my clearly unexpected flurry of questioning. She probably thought I meant she needed to answer immediately but I didn’t actually care. The guy was gone and the damage was done, it was just an exercise that I thought would help her grow a little, so I had to find a nice way to tell her it was homework.

“Think on that awhile and tell me later.” I finished with a pat to her knee, which seemed to satisfy my golden girl as her face went from scrunched intensity to merely thoughtfully vacant. I probably would have begun stewing in my own anxieties after all that, but touching her made me think about the fact that my hand had been soiled by that man. There was nothing for it but to take out a cloth and a little water from my pack to wipe off.

As I was scrubbing at what had no doubt become purely imaginary odors, I noticed that the man who’d just that moment been served at the counter was leaving through a side door instead of back through the main one. It struck me that no one, aside from the cretin I’d chased off, had used the main door to leave. With that realization I decided to keep my book stowed. Instead, as our turn approached, I kept watch and was eventually able to make out a pattern.

There were three doors, or four if I counted the entrance, but only two of them were being used. The guys who carried themselves like they knew what they were doing generally left through the middle door. Losers, and I just couldn’t find a polite way to describe them, left through the door closest to the entrance. But the last door, the one nearest the counter? That one saw no traffic at all. It made me wary. Guilds often had a test in order to join.

Well, I couldn’t say I had any actual experience with how stuff worked for real, but I’d lived a lot of life and read widely back before and no matter what differences there might be between then and now, between books and reality, that at least seemed highly probable. So an interview, a trial by combat, or maybe the test had already begun, with people being sorted by that clerk.

“Next.” I’d been hearing that raspy old voice say that word over and again for so long it didn’t even register with me, lost in thought as I was, until the sleazy guy beside me got up. I took enough note of that to realize that Mia and I were up soon, but then I went back to my thoughts. Because beyond the mysteries of the doors, I’d become bored enough to finally break down and dwell on another bit of strangeness. I just couldn’t understand why it was so busy! Did we come on the wrong day? The wrong time? Maybe it was the busy season? Or something happened recently that caused a surge in applications?

I was fixating and I knew it, because I refused to believe it was normal for there to be an hour long wait, before sunrise, just to sign up at the adventurer’s guild. The line was just as long now as it had been when we’d arrived, too. It was bizarre because there was just no way there were enough people in a seemingly medieval fantasy-like town to justify something like that. It was too inexplicable and I refused to believe it, which just meant I didn’t know nearly enough yet.

It did make me glad I’d decided, in the end, not to go straight for the capital. I didn’t want to think about how busy they might be if this was how things were in the first little podunk town we’d run across after leaving our patron and mentors behind. Though, it was possible the capital’s adventurer branch would have more staff available than one crabby receptionist lady. I was also somewhat concerned that so far everyone had approached the clerk on his own. Whether that was some unspoken rule, or because no one else had come as a group, I didn’t know.

“Next,” came a voice I nearly missed. I’d gotten so involved thinking about all that I nearly missed our turn, in spite of my own mental note. I tapped Mia’s arm, causing her to look up from where she’d been lost yet again reading that adventure book of hers, and we approached the counter together. The worst that might happen is one of us would be asked to sit down again, but fortunately that didn’t happen. In fact it just didn’t seem to matter at all. For some reason I’d built up an expectation for how we would be received, but instead there was nothing. Instead the woman soullessly took us in with a glance before handing us each a form to fill out.

We were twins, Mia and I, with bodies so tall and statuesque they seemed designed to evoke envy. But not merely that, we were of a race thought lost to the world. Mia with her easy joy and bright eyes and hair made of gold that tumbled down around her shoulders in effortless curls and ringlets, brilliant and shining even under the lackluster light. It was apparently a highly unusual color but she’d begged for it, wanting to match the hero from her book. I’d made a more conservative choice, opting for the more common silver, keeping it long enough to reach my ankles, straight, clean, burnished, unstyled and unadorned. We were two beautiful young women, gems among the unpolished line of gruffy men and boys who’d just left their youth behind them. We were built to be eye-catching, to be breathtaking. Of course I felt a little irked to be ignored.

At least the fellows in line seemed more impressed, to judge by their gazes.

I put away my attitude with a silent sigh, since it wasn’t likely to be useful in any way, and opted to take up the offered paper and study it instead. Apparently the idea that it would be a form for us to fill out was just my assumption, since it was covered in pictographic representations of a few key items. A set of glyphic instructions. There were words as well, but it was clear that the guild didn’t expect its applicants to be able to read.

Or not; reading the words made me wonder if it was a test of some kind. Possibly I was an idiot and had misunderstood something, but the pictures and the words were rather contradictory; the former seemed to indicate that I should display my status to the receptionist, but the latter clearly said not to do that. I was supposed to ask for a private interview instead. I actually didn’t know how well Mia could read, but she was busy looking at the pictures so I spoke for both of us while keeping my voice down.

“We’d like to be interviewed in private, please.” From emptiness a glimmer finally appeared in the lady’s eyes and the slightest ghost of a smile touched her lips.

“First ones in a week,” she said so softly even my keen hearing had trouble picking it up. Then she snorted, pulled out two thick wooden tokens and handed them to us before pointing towards the door that I hadn’t seen anyone else leave through. “Show those to Byulla in the back,” she said in a low voice before calling “next,” and waving us off. I was feeling maybe a little peeved about the brusque treatment, but kept it to myself when I glanced over the seemingly never ending line again.

My companion seemed reluctant to leave her study of the glyphs behind, so I handed Mia her token before leaving. It had some pictures on it to keep her entertained, though from glancing at my own it just seemed like a set of symbols that indicated we could read. I really wasn’t sure why someone had decided that made sense, giving glyphic tokens to people who could read, but I wasn’t much for bureaucracy and it wasn’t really relevant anyway so I just shrugged it off.

We passed through the door into a long hallway that seemed to wrap around towards the back of the guild building, which we followed. I stopped us once we seemed to be far enough to make eavesdropping a challenge, because there were a few things to talk about before we moved on much further.

“Mia!” I said, turning to touch my index finger to the tip of her nose. She crossed her eyes trying to look at it, which was so unexpected and cute that it threw me off for a moment. I cleared my throat and started again. “You were looking at the paper the lady gave us. Do you remember what was written on it?”

“Mia doesn’t,” she said after some thought, sounding miserable about it. “Mia was trying to understand the pictures first.” I nodded to myself. That was entirely reasonable. I was used to non-language informational glyphs of that sort, so decoding even unfamiliar ones wasn’t much of a challenge — provided they were designed well at least, as those ones had been. I could understand how someone wholly unfamiliar with the concept would be stymied and decided to cut her a little slack. Being overly critical about her handling of a problem for which she had no context or frame of reference wasn’t going to prepare her for the next time it happened, the only thing it was likely to do was damage her confidence in me and our relationship.

“In the future, when confronted with something you don’t understand, search for any parts about it that you can understand and then work from there. In that case, it was actually a test of literacy.” She looked at me quizzically for a moment but I moved on before she could give the question voice. “Literacy means your ability to read and write.” She seemed satisfied, so I continued.

“It is very important that you can do both, and you should seek to become more literate by reading, asking questions, and writing out your own thoughts. In fact it might be good for you to start a journal. You can write about people, places, requests, market prices.” I listed them off on my fingers as I went. “Stories about your day, things people have said that you think are smart or wise. Those are all good things to record.” Her eyes went round at that, clearly entranced by the idea. I’d have to remember to buy her an empty book and something to write with when I could. I hoped they had something better than quill pens, but I’d have to find out.

“See, literacy changes the way you can interact with the world, it makes what you can do bigger. That’s why they were testing for it.” She nodded. I had no idea when or where she’d learned but presumed that while universal literacy may have been standard practice in the old sirol civilization, that wasn’t the case in the world we’d found ourselves in.

I quizzed her on a few more of the things I’d noticed and thought about in the waiting room. She’d clued in on not a one of them, buried in her book as she’d been. That was also fine. It was my purpose as her teacher, advisor, and protector to notice them, and it was why I was going over them afterwards. She was smart. She’d learn and surpass me one day, I had no doubt about that at all. If I had, I would’ve chosen someone else.

She was understandably upset after failing like that, but failure was necessary. Failure was the best teacher around, and the only true loss was in failing to try again. She just needed a few pats on the back and a little comforting to move on, and that was my job, too.

“No, it’s fine to read your book. Just don’t fail to notice the things you’re able to notice, is all I or anyone else can ask of you. As you grow and learn, the number of those things will increase. Don’t worry about it, just learn from it.” I ruffled her hair and gave her a quick hug, which she returned with terrifying verve. Seemed she really had been feeling out of sorts. Well! Best to give her a little more carrot.

“Then, one last thing before we sign up as official adventurers.” She lit up, just like I knew she would. Not only was the thing she desired imminent, but if I didn’t miss my guess she had come to a few conclusions about my unpleasant and aggressive erstwhile interlocutor: swamp guy. Being able to prove her competence on that issue would go a long way to building confidence and mood. “Do you have any thoughts to share about that man who threatened me earlier?”

“Oh! Mia thinks it was good. That man was just a bully; that’s why he went away when he found out he couldn’t bully sister!” Sister? I blinked to myself. How sweet! So much so that if my perception wasn’t permanently accelerated I would’ve missed the fact that she continued.

“But, but! Meanies like that only pick on people who they think won’t fight back.” She nodded to herself, looking very pleased. Then her eyes widened as though startled and she hastened to add to the thought. “Oh, but Mia doesn’t think sister looks weak or anything! Sister just doesn’t act tough.”

It took a moment to parse through Mia’s somewhat inarticulate ideas, but I knew what she meant. In a state of nature animals would use that kind of harassment to banish unfit elements from the herd, and people were hardly immune from such instincts. Even, it would seem, if they were elven people. For myself, I even approved of the sentiment! I’d never yet heard an argument championing the preservation of such deleterious elements that I found remotely convincing. I took Mia’s advice, too. She had accurately noted that I was never one to put on a show of bravado, and therefore might seem vulnerable or weak to a less than discerning eye. I found that an acceptable explanation at any rate, and an actionable one.

I was unlikely to change my behavior and become an avatar of machismo, but there were other methods to address the problem. Reputation of course, but that would take time and not necessarily have an impact on first encounters. Clothing could be an appropriate tool to handle the problem, but I needed more data on fashion trends and what cultural shibboleths and taboos there might be that I could take advantage of to be menacing. I resolved to investigate my options in that regard as soon as I could.

Which meant not standing around in a deserted hallway, just having a chat. There was so much to do, and it was time to move on.