The afternoon was spent in general fitness training. Push-ups, sit-ups, sprints and a good long jog around the field. Despite her performance in the sparring Jane was flagging hard at the end, even compared to the [Healer] and the [Apprentice Earth Mage]. After the training, the orphans returned their weapons and bracers to the armoury and headed back to the orphanage. Jane walked along in silence while the other four chatted.

“Shouldn’t we go be going to the Arms?” She asked suddenly.

“Ah? No, let’s go and get a shower first,” replied Silah. “And Father Athair will usually speak to everyone when we get in from daily activities on queensday.”

Nyika guided Jane to the showers and explained what to do with the laundry. The various [Maid]s and other cleaning related classes take care of it as their participation in the life of the orphanage. Jane slipped out of her sweaty clothes and into the shower cubicle. It was surprisingly modern looking. Or futuristic then? All in shiny metal and white tiles. Jane reached out and turned the knob. She was instantly drenched in freezing cold water. She almost screamed in shock. She waited a few seconds for the water to begin heating up. It didn’t. She let out a stream of expletives and grabbed the soap. She scrubbed herself down as fast as she could and shut the water off. Jane grabbed a towel and dried off. She put her hair up as she obviously didn’t have a hairdryer and dressed in a clean set of clothes.

She headed back to her room to see if Kaimin was there. Jane pushed the door but couldn’t get it all the way open. She held it as far open as possible and slipped into the room. Kaimin was on the bed, half-buried under piles of scrolls and paper. The rest of the room had stuff strewn all over the floor, only Jane’s bed was spared.

“What are you always reading?” Jane asked her roommate.

“Everything! Histories, spell tomes, beginners guides to magic. I want to get at least one spell and get a mage class on tier up. And it’s been weeks and I still haven’t managed!” Kaimin complained.

“I’m sure you’ll get there.” Jane commiserated, “Silah said that Padre would address everyone tonight, when would that be?”

Kaimin leapt up and looked out of the window. She swore and ran out of the room, knocking piles of books over. Jane shook her head and followed her out of the room. As she reached the hallway Kaimin nearly knocked her over.

“Shit shit shit shit, sorry. It’s now!” Kaimin babbled.

“Really? I would never have guessed.” Jane said sarcastically.

Kaimin just grabbed Jane’s hand and half dragged her to the dining hall. They slipped in the back silently. Father Athair looked straight at them and frowned.

“Welcome children, thank most of you for being on time. As always on queensday I have a few things to tell you. Firstly, thank you all for this week's activities. As always it’s thanks to you all that the orphanage continues to run. I know that you all live here but we would have to close if you didn’t work so hard. Secondly, the Guard would like to remind you to avoid the streets in the Selune block, as they will be conducting operations. Thirdly, we have a new ward. Please welcome Akaisha, she is a fighter and has been cleared for a [Dungeon] run. Could you come up please Akaisha?”

As the Father spoke most of the room turned to look at Jane. She endured their stares and whispers with good grace until one voice spoke out, just as Athair finished speaking.

“Isn’t she really ancient? What’s she doing here at her age?” The voice came from towards the front. It was a whiney, weasley voice that Jane instantly disliked.

“That's Culloch,” Kaimin whispered to Jane. “He’s considered a prodigy. He will be the youngest person to hit Tier 3 in the history of the orphanage if he carries on as he has been.”

Jane made her way up to the front to join Father Athair. When she reached him she turned and stared at the wards. She thought an instant about how much to reveal, before deciding that it didn’t really matter. Other than the “reincarnated in a new universe” bit.

“Hello everyone. I am Akaisha Wainwright, as Padre said. I am a bit older than you because I didn’t get to a [Town Crystal] until a bit later, but I’m working on finishing my Tier 1 as soon as possible.”

“What! Not even Tier 2! Are you really slow in the head or do you just suck at whatever you picked?” Culloch asked loudly.

Jane flushed with anger at the young man’s words.

“Listen here you little shit. People say you’re fucking prodigy, well come and prove it! A duel, you and me, we’ll see if you’re so gobby afterwards!” She ranted angrily.

There was a shocked silence in the dining hall that was broken when the priest exclaimed:

“Akaisha! How dare you be so foul-mouthed in front of the children! And duelling may be legal in this city; it certainly isn’t between minors in my care!” He sounded angry, yet he didn’t raise his voice beyond what was needed to project it to the back of the hall.

“Yeah!” added Culloch, “And why would I duel you? I am a prodigy, but a woodworking prodigy. I’m a [Carpenter] not a fighter. Idiot”

Father Athair turned to Culloch.

“You pushed her into an outburst, you will also receive an appropriate punishment. I am very disappointed by the displays from you two. You are two of the older wards here and should act accordingly. Now, everyone get some food. I’ll let you two know when I have decided how you will be chastised.”

Father Athair turned and left the dining hall. Jane and Culloch stared daggers at each other for a few seconds before Jane sighed and remembered that she was an adult. At least mentally if not officially here. She turned and rejoined Kaimin at a table. They ate their bread and soup together. As Jane was finishing her pudding, a strange fruit that everyone called an apple but that tasted like bubblegum, Nyika came to see if she was ready to head over to the Guardsman's Arms.

"Head on over without me and tell them I will be over shortly. I just need to speak to Culloch, smooth things over a bit."

Jane returned to her room planning her next encounter with the arrogant carpenter. She collected the two halves of her sledgehammer and some of Kaimin's clothes. When she was ready she took the hallway to the boy's side. She had asked Kaimin to explain where she would find Culloch before leaving. She halted in front of his door and adjusted her clothes. Kaimin's clothes really. While the nightwear was loose the shirt and trousers were slightly too small for Jane. She adjusted everything, rolling her sleeves up and tucking her shirt slightly under her breasts. While she was definitely not particularly blessed in the chest department she thought that it would be enough for a fourteen-year-old.

Jane pushed open the door without knocking. Culloch was sitting on his bed chatting to two other boys. She spoke before they could react, dropping her voice slightly.

"Culloch, we got off to a bad start. I wanted to change that." Jane said in a husky voice, leaning slightly towards her target. "I'm sure we will get along just fine, don't you think?"

Culloch tried to stammer out something but Jane cut him off before he could finish a word.

"I knew it! And you are supposed to be a genius with wood no? Then maybe you could fix the handle of my hammer for me? Thank you so much, I'm sure it will be perfect!"

Before Culloch could come to his senses Jane had handed him the pieces of her broken sledgehammer and flounced out of the room, shaking her hips. After closing the door she grimaced, leaning against the wall. Maybe that wasn't the best idea, she thought to herself. Fairly cruel even. What's done is done, and she didn't really know how to deal with the situation anyway. Maybe if she could find something to do for him as well Athair would forget about punishment. She hurried back to her room to change back into her own clothes before leaving for the tavern.

She walked through the streets of Rimwall, the setting sun turning the white plaster orange. Despite the changing light she could easily navigate the unfamiliar city. After so many degrees in so many different University cities, she had developed a good sense of direction. As she walked she thought about the last two weeks. Only two weeks! Or tens of billions of years, either one. It was amazing how quickly she had gotten used to this new life. She was surprised that she felt so relaxed despite it all. More than relaxed, she was having fun. She was in her mid-forties, even if she didn't look it, and living in an orphanage. It was the best time she'd had since her parents had passed away. All those years on hard benches and she should have joined the army, or a LARP group.

She found the Arms near the gate, just like Nyika had explained. She could see Silah talking animatedly to Norek through the window. She pushed the door open and was once again impressed by the quality of the phonic insulation, or soundproofing magic, whichever it was. Norek saw her over Silah's head as she pushed the door closed. He greeted her with an enthusiastic wave of his hand and beckoned her over. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and practically dragged her over to in front of the bar.

“Fellow Guardsman, this is her! The terrible villainess who threw our great heroes to the ground!” The men cheered as Norek lifted Jane’s arm up, like a boxer who won a fight. “Because of her evil deeds the sarge and I have been forced to buy you all a beer! All join me in booing her please!”

Cries of Akaisha rang out. Norek slumped against the bar in overdramatic agony. Sergeant Vorn lifted Norek up and put him on his feet.

“All right Norek, that’s enough. Everybody has heard that Akaisha here managed to knock both me and Norek to the ground in a spar. Everyone gets one drink from me, and one drink from Norek. Anything else is on you, and anyone late or drunk on shift tomorrow will be running for a very long time.” The Sargeant rumbled before turning to the tavern owner. “Thirty…” He paused and scanned Jane from head to foot. “Two, thirty-two pints and four halves for the kids.”

The stout, red-faced man behind the bar nodded and started pulling pints. As fast as he could pull them, guardsmen handed them out. When everyone in the room had a mug in hand, including the barman, Vorn turned to face the crowd and raised his beer.

“We are here to keep the peace!”

“For Rimwall!” Everyone but Akaisha chanted back.

“We are here to keep out the monsters!” This time it was Norek who called out.

“For Rimwall!”

“We are here to drink!” Vorn and Norek called out together.

“For Rimwall!” Everyone crashed their mugs together and drank.

When most people had finished their first drink Norek got his round in and they repeated the ritual. After downing his second pint in a single massive gulp Vorn made his excuses and left. As Jane was finishing her second pint, and was starting to feel the effects, a handsome young guardsman with a wicked scar around his right eye greeted her. He told her his name and offered to buy her a round. She tried to refuse but before she actually could Norek had accepted for her. She received a small glass of something that smelled extremely strong. With another cry of “For Rimwall!” they down their shots. It definitely wasn’t as good as Taiyo’s special. She had barely put the glass down before another guardsman pushed the first one out of the way and insisted on getting her a drink. She soon lost count of how many guardsmen she met and drank with, she couldn’t remember a single name. Thankfully Norek stood next to her all night feeding her mugs of water in between shots.

Jane woke up the next morning under a table in the tavern. She could hear snoring coming from the table above her and guessed that it was Norek from the boots. Her head was pounding and the world spun as she tried to pull herself out from under the table. Where was Stellaire with a magic hangover cure when you needed one? She leaned heavily on the table to pull herself to her feet and saw the water jug and clean mugs. She swallowed a mug of water and instantly felt a bit better. She nudged Norek who stopped snoring but didn’t wake up. After a second mug of water, she almost felt like she was back to normal. She revelled in the feeling of her new, younger body, with all the benefits that came with it.

Jane pushed Norek again as the door behind the bar opened. A grinning barman came through with a tray of bread and fruits. He set it down on the table in front of Jane. Turning to Norek he kicked the chair out from under him. Norek was suddenly on his feet, before his chair even hit the ground. His hand flashed to his belt as his head swivelled in all directions, looking for the source of the attack. He settled on the tavern keeper and relaxed. With a curt nod and a gesture towards the tray of breakfast the short man returned to his kitchen. Before he left through the door behind the bar he turned and spoke.

“Eat. Yer late. Tenth hour is in ten.” He said curtly.

Norek swore loudly and started wolfing down the bread. Jane joined him more slowly and still had a mouthful when Norek grabbed her arm and started pulling her to the door. She snagged two of the strange apples before letting herself be dragged out. Once they were in the street Norek let go of Jane’s hand and walked just shy of a run as she struggled to keep up and still eat her apples.

They arrived at the training fields, Norek breathing easily and Jane panting heavily. They were greeted by the thunderous face of sergeant Vorn. Norek smiled sheepishly and started running. Jane grimaced and turned to follow him. They ran until it was time to eat. Norek had lapped Jane numerous times and yet was barely sweating as he headed to the mess hall whereas Jane could hardly put one foot in front of the other to climb the two steps up into the building. She made it through the door and was debating between dropping into a chair and trying to weasel Silah or Chirembo into getting her lunch, and slogging over to get her own. Before she could decide, a huge hand clamped down on her shoulder.

“Not bad, don’t be late again. [Get Back in the Fight].”

At Vorn’s words Jane felt a wave of energy flood through her body, the fatigue and lactic acid gone in an instant.

“Sorry. Thank you, Sergeant.”

Jane ate her thick stew and mashed potato at a table with Silah and the cousins. She let them fill in the silence, only occasionally replying with more than a single grunt. After lunch, she went to join in with the general fitness training. After only a few minutes the scarred man from the previous evening came up to her to ask for a spar. His name was Skram. She turned him down, suggesting that they spar later, possibly after her [Dungeon] dive. After Skram had returned to his training slightly disappointed a queue formed to ask Jane to spar. As if she would change her mind after the twentieth person who asked. After a short while, Vorn himself came over and told everyone to stop asking for a fight and to get back to training.

The five walked back to the orphanage, their muscles protesting from the vigorous workout of that afternoon. It was early evening and the streets were still full of people going about their day, or heading home after work. Most people carried a sack of produce from the market. Most of the market stalls were packing up whatever they had left but a few still called out to passers-by, hoping for one last sale before finishing for the day. Jane realised that everything was a lot cleaner and more well-to-do than she thought. Or at least more than films had made her expect. If she was being honest Rimwall seemed to be cleaner than many cities she had been to before. It wasn’t that there wasn't any detritus lying around, because there was. And some of the buildings were run-down looking. And there was graffiti here and there. But the general atmosphere of the place seemed happier and fresher than back in her old universe, despite the complete lack of street lighting or other “modern” conveniences. She supposed that it probably had something to do with skills. People didn’t have such a drive to invent if a skill or a few levels could allow you to clean far faster, or build better or something. The more Jane thought about it the more she realised that she had really very little idea of what a Skill was, and what they could do. Hers magically made her better with weapons and allowed her some tiny amount of information about the things she [Identify]ed, although with how people reacted to using that it was going to take a while to level.

“Ah, home at last. I am so ready for two days of rest!” shouted Nyika as they reached the front door of the orphanage. “Restday really is bestday!”

Jane groaned loudly before replying.

“Speak for yourself, the Sargeant wants me back tomorrow and the next day for extra training.”

As soon as Jane passed the door she was met by Culloch who thrust her repaired sledgehammer at her and strode off rapidly. Jane caught up to him and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“What do you want now?” he asked as he turned to face her.

“Not now, not here. Keep the hammer and return it to me at dinner where the Padre will see. Then you ask me for a similar sort of favour, something I can do fairly easily.”

“Why, by the gods, would I do that when you can take it and I’m done with you?” he asked angrily.

Jane grinned at him, her eyes sparkling. Culloch took a surprised step back.

“Because we are going to get out of our punishment. Unless you want to do whatever Athair is going to make us do?” she asked with a smirk.

“It wouldn’t be that bad,” Culloch mumbled half under his breath before answering Jane’s question. “But fine, I’ll go along with your stupid plan, at least I get a favour out of it I suppose.”

Jane left Culloch with the hammer and went to shower and change before dinner. Surprisingly her bedroom wasn’t a disaster zone and Kaimin was nowhere to be seen. She still hadn't appeared when it was time to eat so Jane headed to the dining hall alone. She met up with Nyika In the hallway and they headed in together. Kaimin burst through the doors as they were sitting down with their dinners and threw herself into the chair next to Jane, panting from the effort.

“Is everything alright?” Jane asked worriedly.

Kaimin nodded as she struggled to get her breathing under control. Her face was flushed and damp with sweat.

“Was nearly late!” she gasped out.

Everybody at the table chuckled and went back to eating. Jane offered to go and fetch Kaimin’s dinner but the young girl shook her head and stood up. She returned with a bowl of soup and a good-sized chunk of bread. Shortly after Father Athair had sat down with his own dinner Culloch came over with the sledgehammer.

“Here, Akaisha, I fixed this for you.” He nearly shouted, half-turned to look at the top table where the adults were seated. Jane rolled her eyes at how transparent he was being. She saw Athair shake his head and chuckle as his neighbour whispered something. Despite her plan obviously being compromised Jane went ahead with her part.

“Thank you Culloch. Is there anything you need in return, I know that fixing my hammer must have taken you quite some time.” Jane spoke in a normal voice, trying hard not to cringe and roll her eyes at what she was saying.

“Why yes, I do!” Culloch replied in the same overly loud obvious voice, again looking more at the adults than the person he was ostensibly talking to. “I would like you to help me unlock [Weapon: Hammer] and then escort me into the dungeon.”

“Of course. Wait, what?”

“Well, I want to get some wood from the [Rimwall Dungeon] that people rarely bring out, but to get in you need at least a weapon skill. I can’t pay for training until I cap my Tier 2 and earn my own way, and the guard won’t accept non-combat classes.” Culloch explained.

“Okay, that’s reasonable. Thank you for fixing my sledgehammer, we’ll sort training out after Firstday and my first dive.”

As Culloch left Jane looked across at Father Athair. He tipped his glass at her and grinned. Jane lowered her head and raised her glass slightly to concede her defeat. After dinner she headed back to her room with her sledgehammer. Her room was vaguely tidy, surprisingly. She sat on her bed and lay the hammer across her knees to examine it. The new haft was a shiny, varnished oak-like wood. It was slightly longer than the previous handle but other than that felt the same. It was ready for the dive in two days. She just had to survive two more days of training.