Regis decided that the sewers were safe enough to stay at and besides Bray, he doubted that anyone else would head down there. It was the perfect place to rest and to get things sorted out. The area round the hidden door still seemed to be untouched in the grime dotted alley. He pushed the small red brick and after the piece of wall slid aside a bit, he grabbed and pushed it wide enough to slip through. Once down the stairs, he noticed the old figure sitting beside the small campfire perking up at his arrival.

“It seems you’re still fine, lad.”

“And so are you,” Regis nodded. “Sorry for interrupting your peace, but I couldn’t find any better place away from prying eyes and I’m dead tired.”

“I can see that. So tell me; where did your night venture take you?”

“I’ve been fighting the undead outside the city walls.”

“Sounds like you had a rough night. Come, the fire is warm and I’ve managed to get a few fishes to cook from the port. It would be a waste to let them rot.”

“Thanks.” The young dark elf said as he sat on a piece of rag not far from the fire.

“I’ve brought some food as well,” He put the sack between them. “They gave me some bread and carrots, along with water and some salt.”

“You have clean salt?” Bray’s old eyes lit up for a moment. “That would come in handy. These fish chunks are quite plain and have a murky taste, so we might as well make them more edible.”

Regis searched for the small leather pouch in the sack, handing it over to the old man. While Bray sprinkled some on the sizzling meat, the youth put the bread, the carrots with the apple on a clean plank. He pulled the waterskin out of the sack and Bray took out a pair of clay cups from one of the crates. A quick drink later they both sighed as they stared into the fire. The old man looked at him, his gaze aloof, yet curious.

“You seem distracted, lad. What bothers you?”

“Not much,” the young elf shrugged. “I’ve just thought about my old world for a moment.”

“Indeed. Being an outlander, all of this must be strange to you. I guess fighting the fallen and seeing all this horror around you must make you wish for your old life. Tell me, what was it like in that world of yours?”

“Not much better than here,” Regis thought about the best way to describe things. “I grew up as second son, so I lived in a small room and only received as much attention as necessary. My father was always too preoccupied with his work and my grandfather only spoke as much as he had to. He knew about magic, you know. Gramps had dozens of books about ancient magic history, spells and the like. When I was little, I wanted to know all there was to it. I wanted to read every book he had, learn every alchemic recipe and spell, and I even dreamt of becoming a loremaster. Sadly though, that’s all they were, books. There was no real power behind them, so I grew out of that phase.”

“And that’s bad?” Bray asked with a puzzled look.

“Not really. I was pretty good at studying, so my family didn’t have to worry about me not getting into the right schools. You know; students that are good enough would have the chance to get a scholarship. That’s a fancy way of saying that their further studies would be paid for by the government. Although I wasn’t good enough to get the scholarship from the school I planned as my first choice, but I did get into the second one.”

“Oh,” Bray turned curious. “That’s quite a strange way of governing. Over here, the poor can only learn the basics of reading and counting. Only the nobles have the coin to learn more. So, what would you have learned, if not being brought here?”

“I wanted to study architecture.” Regis answered in earnest.

“Architecture? That’s not a word I’ve heard before.”

“It’s the study of building techniques, methods, styles and so on.”

“You wanted to be a mason then.”

“I guess that would be its local equal. Architects are paid quite well back home, so it would have been a steady future for me. Not that any of that matter now.”

“As long as you like what you’re doing, even a simple craft is good.”

“I know,” Regis nodded. “I was interested in it ever since I first saw those pictures in the history books about the ancient wonders of our worlds. Mr. Simmons, my college principal even let me study some of the architecture books from his private collection and got me and a few other talented students into a summer course for beginners. He said that I had a knack for it. When he later told me that some of us could get into internships with some big companies, we were ecstatic. But things changed.”

“Did you not get this internship?” The old man asked while turning the meat on the skewers.

“There were many talented students hoping to get one of the slots. Nate and Richie were among them too.”

“They are?”

“The two idiots I killed when we first met.”

“Oh, it’s those two. Why did you kill them anyways? They couldn’t take away your internship now.”

“Long story short; they were bullies of the worst kind. They’ve hated me before, but now that I ‘stole’ their internship slot, they were out for blood. When I looked into their eyes while in the city, I knew what they wanted. I knew that this time, I wouldn’t get away with some bruises or a few cracked ribs. So I ran. I ran away and they chased me into an alley.”

For a moment, the young dark elf’s eyes turned distant and unfocused as the memory made him shudder.

“That’s when the shadows showed up. After fighting those things, the bastards knocked me on the ground. Luckily I was in reach of the gatekeeper’s coin and the next moment I was dragged into this world. Despite the rough landing and those fucking rats, I felt ecstatic when the once useless spells I’ve read about before turned out to be real. It made me want to explore those possibilities once more, but when I’ve heard those voices mention their names in the dark, my vision went red. I did what I had to, or what I thought I had to.”

“Did you?” Bray cut into his words. “You could have just walked away, lad. I’m sure that they wouldn’t have recognized you in your new form, and you could have just vanished in the crowd. And yet you still chose to kill them. I don’t have the right to judge you, but what you did was obviously revenge.”

“I know,” Regis lowered his head. “Fuck. It sound like such a pathetic cliché, but the thought of having a chance to pay back the torture they’ve dealt out without consequences was something I couldn’t refuse. Do you know what’s the worst part of it is?”

“What?” The elderly fellow asked as he looked at him with mixed feelings.

“I felt nothing when they’ve died,” Regis sighed as he stared at the flames. “I thought that I would feel relieved, maybe guilty or something, but there was nothing. I felt scared when I fought those giant rats, but I felt absolutely nothing when I killed those two.”

“Well,” Bray sighed. “Not all we wish for brings us satisfaction. You did what you thought you wanted, or what you thought you had to do, but that doesn’t mean you were ought to feel better about it. Take it from someone who lived a long life. You will face many questions where the answer brings more bad than good. Anyway, you’re here now and you’re safe. That’s what matters. Now let’s eat! I got hungry from all this listening.” The old man tried to lighten the mood as he held a skewer towards Regis.

“Since we’re so big on sharing and all,” The elven youth spoke between two bites. “I have a question for you as well, gramps.”

“Ask away then. It’s not like we have better things to do while eating.”

“So, I was wondering how a kind faced hobo like you would get to have a 20 gold worth bounty on his head.” He asked, earning a scared expression from the elderly man who looked at him as if he was staring at a monster.

“No need to worry, gramps! I’m not interested in turning you in. I just saw your wanted poster on a notice board in the barracks. I’m sure there’s a story behind that too.”

Bray had a stiff expression for a while, but after seeing how the young dark elf kept chewing on the cooked fish without any distraction, his heart calmed back down.

“Yes,” the old man sighed in the end. “There’s quite a tale behind that. It is way longer than yours, so I’ll keep it short for now. I once had a craft of my own, though not as fancy as the one you’ve dreamt of. My father passed it down to me, along with his mark. He said that I would make a good potter and since I had no other talents, it was the best I could do. One day when I was gathering clay near the river, I’ve discovered a small chest buried inside the clay. It must have been there for decades if not centuries and my youthful greed got the best of me.” He told his tale between a few coughs that got washed down with a cup of water.

“I brought the chest back home and after prying it open, I’ve found a magic item and a crystal inside. Not knowing what they were at the time, I brought them to the local noble’s wizard. They looked valuable and I hoped that I would get good coin for them.”

“Bad idea.” Regis mumbled while eating.

“That indeed. When the man saw the contents of the box, he was elated, but when it came to paying my coin, he found it better to kill me with his magic. I was a fool back then, but I wasn’t a complete idiot. He tried to cast a spell, but my knife was faster and he died with my blade in his chest. I knew that what I did would get me killed if I stayed, so I took the mage’s coin pouch and ran for my life. I’ve been on the run ever since, traveling from one place to the other, looking for a safe place to settle down."

The grey haired elder took another sip from his cup as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"It has been decades since that day and nobody had found me. Then the war broke out and I had to leave the village I chose to call home. The guards have better things to do than to chase after me and with the blight of the undead upon us, I’ve tried my all to get to Hunor and leave on a ship. Now I’m here in this god forsaken city and I’m safe as long as I stay out of sight. Not that it matters anymore. I’m so old that even if they catch me, they’ll only be able to imprison me for a few slim years before I pass on.”

“Then why are you hiding here? If they aren’t really looking for you, shouldn’t you spend your old days beneath the sun, doing what you love?”

“I’ve been on the run for too long,” Bray sighed. “I’ve spent so many nights under the stars that I’m sick of running. Spending my last years with my once loved craft would feel…”

“Fulfilling?” Regis asked, earning a nod.

“It would truly be fulfilling. Well, now you know the story of the wanted man, Bray of Mudbrook. Are you still uninterested of turning me in?”

“So I’d get a few coins in exchange of making your last years miserable? I’m not that cold hearted. And besides, I need someone to watch over me while I try figuring out my path forward. Got any advice?”

“Yes,” Bray nodded after a moment of thinking. “I’ve mentioned before that constellations are very important and that still stands. You’ll find that many things will need them, so think carefully about what you spend your Amaranth on while deciding your path, though I believe you already know what hinders you the most.”

“I do,” the young dark elf gave a firm nod between two bites of food. “I’ve got to get rid of that fledgling status first.”

“Indeed. If you are willing to fight the undead and other monsters, then you can earn Amaranth much easier than otherwise. Surely you’ve already gathered what you need for it, but that’s all I can say for now without sticking my nose where I shouldn’t. Remember. Your path is yours alone to tread. Any skill or inheritance can only add chances to it, but you must never let them turn you away from the road you want to follow. Now do what you must. I’ll watch over you while cooking and drying some more meat. Who knows when we get to have more of it?”

“Thank you Bray.” Regis said with a smirk as he leaned against the wall before he began to meditate.

After concentrating on his soul-space, he felt the darkness lift his body for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, he was sitting in front of the shrine in the dark place again. He stood up and touched the tome in front of the statue. His mark lit up as green mist floated into the glass orb held by the statue. At the same time, the familiar character sheet showed up in front of him as the book flipped open.

{Name: Regis ???}

{Title: none}

{Race: Dark elf/Sun elf/ Human}

{Age: 19(fledgling)}

{Amaranth: 4405}

{Caste: vagrant}

{Path: ???}

{Craft: ???}

{Attributes}

Allure: 13 Deftness: 13 Erudition: 14 Faith: 6 Luck: 9 Might: 10 Mind: 12 Physique: 11 Spirit: 12 Willpower: 14

Health/Arcana/Stamina

{23/23}{31/31}{21/21}

{Status effects}

None

The sight of the small yet important growth in his attributes and stats pleased Regis. However, Bray told him that the so called constellations and path was how people got further in this world, so he wasn’t going to stand on ceremony. He turned his attention to the small tag beside his age, trying to wish it away. Glowing blood red letters floated into his vision barely a second later.

{Fledglings are still in their natural growth phase, hence unable to move forward on their attribute paths through the use of constellations. Do you wish to surpass your natural bounds as a fledgling? Forcefully outgrowing your ‘fledgling’ status will equally allot the attribute points you would gain during its course. Removing your status shackles costs 2000 Amaranth. Do you wish to proceed?}

“Yes, I do.” He answered after a moment of thinking.

With the decision made, the glowing green mist in the statue’s orb rushed into the flame of the offering bowl. At first it only seemed to be a colourful attraction, but a moment later a blood boiling heat rushed through his body. A pain unlike anything before appeared in his every cell as creaking and tearing sounds came from his body while he fell on the floor.

The mystical place shattered in front of his eyes as glowing words rushed through his mind. A moment later Bray’s old face and the campfire filled his vision. He couldn’t help but scream from the top of his lungs as he writhed on the floor, scaring the old man who didn’t know what happened to the youth that was peacefully meditating just a moment ago. Regis cried and screamed like a mad man, but a sudden pain struck the back of his head and everything turned dark.