A slight moment of shock and surprise stopped me from answering Larry until I remembered he had mentioned stopping by the mercenary guild to one of the guards last night. The fact that he was just as surprised to see me meant he had probably not talked to Casper before coming here.

"I'm... just checking it out. Looking at future options." I answered truthfully.

"Huh, actually not a bad idea. If Andre gives ya some lessons, this could be a good way for ya to travel. Would save on money too." Larry remarked with eyebrows raised, seemingly impressed.

"Is that you, Larry? Did you just say Andre is training her?" Willis inquired, sounding very surprised.

"Oh, don't mind that. It's just part of a deal she made in return for helping us catch the spirit in town. Speaking of," Larry stepped past me and into the room to face Willis. "I heard ya aren't helping to find it."

"I don't think I would be that helpful. I have awful back pains."

"This isn't a matter for jokes. Ya know what I mean."

"Well, I personally do not appreciate jokes on providing services without payment. You should know that this is a business, not a charity."

"Keeping the city safe is now charity work? Don't ya have funds set aside for that?"

"No," Willis sighed. "Those 'funds' you are thinking of aren't regulatory or even from the guild. They stem from agreements with local benefactors, where they provide the money for us to pay our members to hunt invading spirits. This deal had not existed here in Arenol since even before my father ran this branch."

"Felix will reimburse ya, so can we get to keeping the city safe?"

"Lord Thornton?" Willis scoffed. "I would need the money ahead of time."

"Do ya not trust in your lord?" Larry asked, sounding somewhat concerned.

"No," came the instant reply. "My view of the Thornton line is not exactly positive. Besides, do you even have the authority to make such a promise?"

"When it concerns the protection of the people, I do," Larry stated as he briefly glanced back in my direction.

I was feeling slightly stuck within the doorframe as this conversation played out. While their talk did not really concern me, I also did not have anywhere specific I had to go to excuse myself.

"Well, as long as you can present the money, this wouldn't be any different from a regular client contracting work. Whatever you bring minus the fee will be offered up as payment to those willing to accept. Do be warned, however, that there are relatively safe and simple jobs aplenty right now, so I would suggest taking a look through them to find an appropriately attractive reward."

Larry started scratching the back of his head as he pondered something for a moment before turning toward me once again.

"Do ya got plans right now?"

"Uh, not really. Was just touring the town now that it's day."

"If ya don't mind waiting a bit, then I could make good on my promise while showing you a good place."

"Yeah, sure," I agreed, slightly intrigued. "Sounds good. I'll leave you to it."

Finally free, I closed the door behind me as I returned to the dining room. I sat down at one of the empty tables farthest from the windows as the man of the pair walked back to his seat from the counter with a small stack of papers in hand. The older man seemed to have just finished eating and wiped his mouth on his sleeve before turning in his seat to face me.

"You registered?" he asked, his voice both gruff and hoarse.

"No, not yet at least," I answered, feeling somewhat startled by the sudden and rather intense questioning.

"Show me your palms," he demanded, presenting his own covered in callouses and a scarred line running down his left one.

I stiffened slightly, realizing what he was after, but did not show hesitation as I took off my gloves.

"I only just got into town last night but heard what's been going on," I told him, glad that Larry was in the building to corroborate if it came to it. "I'm actually helping catch it."

The old man seemed to consider me for a moment in silence before the wrinkles in his face creased as he smiled, showing he was missing quite a few teeth.

"Well, I suppose if you only just arrived, then there is no way you could be that spirit. But, since we already got this far, how about settling an old man's paranoia? You'll need to cut your hand eventually anyway if you plan on staying."

The man reached into his oversized coat and drew out a dagger. He drew his fingers across the blade before presenting me the handle by holding it by the tip.

"Sure, I can slice my palm if you want," I told him, meeting his gaze and doing my best to appear relaxed. "but unfortunately, it won't last. I'm an ascended. I have someone here that can attest to that."

The man's eyebrows raised at my statement, but his smile did not waver.

"An ascended." he slowly nodded as he seemed to think the word over. "Not a common sight here. Neither is your attire. You here to visit family, or...?"

"I was kidnapped and lost," I told him truthfully, not missing a beat while also returning his smile. "Now I'm making do with what I can to get home."

"Ah!" He exclaimed as he leaned back, his smile vanishing and his grip on the dagger returning to the handle as he started grumbling. "So that's why you want to register. And I thought I had something."

I breathed an inward sigh of relief at him seemingly losing interest all of a sudden, although I really wanted to know what exactly caused it. I had an inkling of what it could be, though, so I ventured a guess.

"Were you hoping for someone new to the guild to partner up with for jobs? I heard that's common here."

"Huh?" he exclaimed absentmindedly, seemingly thinking about something. "No. Don't care about that."

Wondering if it really was all just because he thought I was a spirit, I looked around at the others in the room and noticed they were all looking this way. They quickly averted their gazes when I saw them and silently hoped for Larry to finish soon to save me from this awkward atmosphere.

"Say," the old man spoke once more. "What are your elements?"

"I'd rather not say," I replied, praying that he drops it.

"No?" He let out a slight chuckle at my refusal. "My gut tells me something is not quite right. And I don't like it when things feel wrong."

Suddenly and without warning, the old man flung the dagger straight at me. Thanks to the small distance between our tables, I just barely managed to bring my hand up in front of my face to catch it barehanded by the blade. I winced as it sunk into my fingers and drew blood, and I quickly dropped it to the floor. I held in my cries of pain and was about to get up and face the old man and whatever he does next, but a loud bang and shout startled me.

"Fergus!" The hulking man behind the counter rose, his fist having slammed the wooden surface in front of him.

Just that seemed to be enough the make the old man, Fergus, raise his hands in surrender, but he kept his gaze on my hand.

"Seems you either don't have a reflex to block with your elements or can't use them to block." He sneered while making sure the others in the room heard him. "Or maybe, you don't have any. What's more likely do you think?"

The wounds on my hand slowly began to visibly close, and once more I barely bled. As the pain subsided, I flexed my fingers before reaching down and picking up the dagger.

"Keep it," Fergus said while slowly lowering his arms. "Something to remember me by."

I was tempted to throw it right back at him, not wanting to keep it after he told me to, but having it on hand could be useful, and I did not want to anger the brother.

That was when Larry entered the room and paused upon seeing the scene. He eyed the dagger in my hand as well as Fergus whom I was facing.

"It's a gift," Fergus told Larry as he seemed to connect the dots that he was the one that I mentioned earlier.

"Are ya alright?" Larry asked me.

"Yeah," I replied, wanting to just put this behind me. "All good."

"Well, I'm done. Let's go?"

I got up, put my gloves back on, adjusted my face covering, and followed Larry out with the dagger in hand.

"So what exactly happened? I heard a shout." He asked, glancing at the dagger as he led the way.

"He wanted me to cut my palm," I replied, keeping it simple to avoid mentioning me refusing to say my elements.

"And the shout?"

"He... was being a bit too aggressive about it, so the big guy behind the counter stepped in."

"Quentin." Larry nodded. "Good bloke."

"So, where are we going?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.

"A store that can cover that up." He motioned to the dagger, which I was feeling self-conscious carrying around bare in the streets. "And get you a belt for your sword, as well as take orders for our equipment."

We eventually arrived at a store that had a wooden sword hanging as a sign, as well as an overhang over the side of the building facing the street. Larry opened the door, and I followed him in.

"Larry! Your back! And in one piece too." A shrill voice greeted. "And a new face. I think?"

I removed my face covering after closing the door behind me to see a rather young-looking man with short blond hair sporting a likewise neatly trimmed beard approaching us. He wore a doublet of assorted browns and black pants.

"This is Valerie," Larry introduced me. "An ascended we met while out of town. She helped us, so we wanted to thank her."

"An absolute pleasure to meet you. My name is Terence, or Terry for short. I run this little shop selling arms and armor, all of which I can assure you is of the highest quality handpicked by me."

I took a look around, and indeed the store was filled with all kinds of weapons and armor, mostly leather, all displayed openly on wooden tables.

"Is there any weapon you don't have here?" I joked as I shook his hand.

"No siege weapons, gem weapons, or explosives, unfortunately, but I can always put in an order overseas if the money is right."

Gem weapons? Like, made of diamonds or something?

That did pique my interest, but I refrained from asking more for now. There were none here, and I did not have the money to order any anyway.

Could be magical weapons. Or maybe just ceremonial ones.

"I'm gonna be ordering a few things." Larry proclaimed as he stepped forward and started looking through the wares. "First things first, though, we need a sheath for that dagger as well as a belt to hang it from."

"Certainly. Are you looking for a custom fit for the sheath?"

"No need. Anything will do." Larry then stopped and turned to face Terry. "But I do want to order a new leather cuirass. For Valerie."