My first impression of Mayor Cerus was... mixed. Thanks to Berla we knew the approximate location of his house in the south-east of town, and after just a few minutes of searching we had found it. A two-story building that looked just a tad more impressive than the rest, but not overly so. It was the only one with a nice front garden and a balcony, however.

Before arriving here, I had been worried we might have to deal with guards, or fences, anything that would prevent us from approaching the mayor in the middle of the night, but to my surprise and delight, we were able to stroll right up to his front door, and he even answered it himself. He appeared to be in his early forties and his bare body looked fit for his age.

Upon my request that he put something on, if only for the sake of the young girl with us, he briefly disappeared into another room and came back with a simple gray robe thrown over him.

“Thank you,” I said.

“This better be good,” he said.

He doesn’t look very impressive right now... but who would in the middle of the night?

Still standing in front of his house, I started explaining our situation. “Sir, three weeks ago I received a previously unknown Calling that gave me certain abilities,” I said and the mayor’s ears perked up. “The leaders of Alarna tried to torture everything I know out of me and even threatened to kill me. As you can see, I managed to escape, but soldiers have followed me and my sisters all the way here. We’re asking you to give us asylum in this town. In return, I will share my knowledge with you, instead of them.”

Mayor Cerus looked me up and down. “An unknown Calling? And what would that be?”

He seemed curious, but doubtful. Luckily, our ability was possibly the easiest “Calling” to demonstrate. I took a blue stone out of my pocket and showed it to him, garnering me a questioning look. I then placed it on my other hand, where I had tried my new script earlier, and a ball of water gathered in the air above it.

The mayor was slack jawed even before I took a step back, turned around, and let the water fly at a bush in the garden. I was very glad that I had developed this script and that I had it ready at this moment. Any creation of water out of thin air would’ve been impressive, but the way the water slowly gathered and then shot out made our ability seem truly magical.

While the mayor stared at the freshly watered bush in a daze, I continued. “I’m able to produce water and I understand the scripture sigils. I have no doubt that you understand how valuable this knowledge is, and Alarna is desperate to get it for themselves.”

At me mentioning Alarna, his head snapped to look at me. He then took a step to the side and motioned us to enter his home. “Come in, let’s talk.”

He led us to a large living room, where he let himself fall into an armchair, while we sat down on a comfy couch across from him. Berla seemed on edge, still not sure whether this was a good idea, while Riala seemed in awe at the interior. In particular, she seemed to have taken a liking to the couch, which she bounced up and down on lightly.

After we had sat down, the mayor looked at me with a sharp glint in his eyes, seemingly already recovered from the initial shock. “You’re saying this is your Calling? That would be the first unknown Calling in hundreds of years.”

“I know how unlikely it sounds, but that’s what it is. The priest at the temple didn’t recognize the sign, and when they figured out what I could do, they branded me a criminal and imprisoned me. They even threatened my family, trying to force me to tell them things I didn’t know.” I said.

“Hm. When you say you understand the scripture sigils, what exactly does that mean?” the mayor asked.

We couldn’t make the same mistakes as before. When we were interrogated by the captain and the priest, we had essentially told them the truth, leaving out only that Tomar had a voice in his head. Neither of them had believed us, however. Luckily, we wouldn’t be under the same restrictions here, because nobody knew anything about us. Without any baggage and past actions to explain, I would hopefully be able to make up a believable story, and if the soldiers said something else later, it would be their word against mine.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t know everything about them, but I can read and write them. My main ability is being able to produce water without a water source. And there’s one more thing, beasts fear me.”

The mayor furrowed his brows and looked questioningly at me. “They fear you? How does that work?”

I was trying to pose as something akin to a “Magician.” Fighters would get superhuman strength and agility, in combination with knowledge that would help them during combat, such as tactical and strategic thinking and knowledge. However, they didn’t suddenly have a doctor’s understanding of the human body, or knowledge about every single fighting style in existence. There were limits. I’m not a sigil Researcher, I’m just a magical Fighter.

“Maybe you’ve noticed the air around me. Unlike other people, who can only feel it, I can see it. And beasts have it as well, it just feels a little different. They avoid someone with my Calling like they would avoid other beasts. That’s how we three made it here in one piece.”

“Is that right?” he said, looking at Berla’s missing leg.

“Maybe not quite in one piece...” I said with a sad chuckle. “Unfortunately my sister got separated from us at one point during our journey and was attacked by a beast. Fortunately, I found her just in time and it retreated.”

The mayor leaned back in his chair, presumably contemplating my story. It sounded plausible to me, and he seemed curious at the very least. I would hold back how much of a danger scripts could truly be for the moment, however, in case we would need it.

“I’ll admit, that is a fascinating story,” he said, “and that Calling sounds very interesting, but what is it that you have to offer to me? You want asylum. From Alarna no less. You’re a fugitive, and your sister looks like an agent, so I assume she’s a deserter. You’re asking me to accommodate two criminals. Or is it three? What’s with you, little one, have you killed anyone recently?”

Riala was still distracted and only briefly glanced at the mayor to shake her head, “Nope,” before looking around the room again. For our story to work, she would have to hide her abilities for the time being, and she would have to stay close to me and Tomar, so nobody would realize she had mana before receiving a Calling. However, that was a small price to pay to, hopefully, finally, be safe for a little while. Not to mention that being safe in Cerus would mean that we could research the ritual platform to our heart’s content.

I spoke up again, detailing my proposition. “What I want to offer you is not the knowledge I have now, but what I will learn in the future. I’d like you to invest in me. What I showed you just now was the result of me researching the scripture for just over a week in total, while traveling through the Wildlands with a young girl and an injured woman. I want to know more, and I want to share my knowledge with someone who doesn’t plan to torture or kill me.

“Now you might be thinking ‘What good do these water tricks do me?’, but I ask you to look beyond that. I was delighted to see your ritual platform freely accessible to anyone.”

Once more, the mayor’s ears perked up. “You truly understand what’s written on there?”

“I do. And if you give me a little time to do some research and tests, I guarantee that I will make it worth your while.”

It wasn’t exactly an empty promise. There was no way that understanding the ritual platform script wasn’t going to be useful. It might be possible to determine what Calling someone would get, or make it so they would get a specific one. It might be possible to glean entirely new functions from the platform that would allow new applications for scripts. In addition to that, there was whatever we might be able to do with water in the future, aside from shooting holes in things. And even just having me accompany their workers into the woods could be valuable, as beasts would stay away and I could hand out refreshments. While trying to not appear too desperate, I told the mayor why I thought it would be a good idea to help us. Feels like a job interview...

After several seconds, the mayor finally stood up and walked over, coming to a stop in front of me. “I’ll give you a chance to prove that you can do what you claim. Until then, you may stay here,” he said and stretched out his hand. I took it and stood up to look him in the eyes.

“Mayor Cerus Balart III,” he said, introducing himself.

“Tomar Remor,” I responded in kind.

“Don’t let me regret this. Oh, and what do you call this Calling?”

I hadn’t even thought about that part, and there was only one thing I could think of at that moment. “Sourcerer.”

***

Captain Lera had found tracks that suggested their targets were somewhere in the south-eastern part of town and he did his best to follow them. He was hoping that reinforcements would arrive soon, however, so they could finish this quickly, before they attracted too much attention. If they hadn’t known about a secret passageway into town, and had tried to get in through the gate, the guards would’ve already been suspicious at one random squad of Alarna soldiers wanting to get in. Multiple squads, however, they would’ve definitely reported to the mayor.

Frustrated at his inability to capture Tomar, the captain hurried through the streets with light steps, the remains of his squad right behind him. Even though he was generally an optimistic person, even he was starting to wonder if they would ever get the boy, who somehow managed to escape time and time again.

After taking a turn, the group suddenly saw five people stand in the center of the street, just a few meters from them, and came to an abrupt stop. Captain Lera immediately recognized Mayor Cerus, who was standing at the front, with four guards in a row behind him. Even without a Ruler calling, he seemed to have a kind of regal air about him, dressed in a neat suit and backed by Fighters.

“Good evening, gentleman. May I inquire what brings soldiers from Alarna to our town tonight?” the mayor said.

The captain grimaced. This had been the last man they wanted to run across. There was no good explanation for what they were doing here, however, so he had no choice but to tell the truth.

“Good evening,” Lera said. “My apologies, Mayor Cerus, but we’re searching for a few criminals that fled from Alarna a few days ago, and we tracked them to this part of town. We didn’t want to burden you with our problems.”

“That is very considerate of you, captain. However, you still entered my town without permission and you’re running through its streets in the middle of the night, heavily armed. I must ask you to leave immediately.”

“Please, Mr. Mayor, we ask for your support in this matter. These fugitives are quite dangerous, and I promise you that you don’t want them in this town.”

“Of course we will be happy to assist, and you may leave a description of them at a guard station. Should we find them, we will apprehend and bring them to you. However, for you, it is time to leave,” the mayor said definitively.

The captain gritted his teeth and sheathed his sword. The time and place where they had met the mayor was highly suspicious. There was a decent chance that he had met the three and already apprehended them. However, the captain couldn’t risk a diplomatic incident without permission from the king. For the moment there was nothing he could do but retreat.

“I apologize for our intrusion. We will be on our way, and we appreciate your assistance,” Lera said before turning on his heel and walking north towards the gate.

The mayor’s guards followed them to make sure they actually left, leaving the mayor behind, who started to walk back home, a tired expression on his face.

“Couldn’t they have done this in the morning?” he sighed.