Edward spent the next days refining his aura’s mastery and training the telepathy he had just read about. Since he already had enough techniques to work on, he didn’t trade another rune to exchange for more techniques.

The telepathy spell was working a bit differently than the time acceleration Edward was used to. For this one, he didn’t have to actually say the name out loud, which would have drastically decreased the utility of said spell. Instead, he had to formulate what he wanted, inlay it in his mana, and send it to the person he wanted to talk to. The recipient wouldn’t be able to answer if they didn’t know this spell, however, they would still get the message. The initial stage of the spell was to convey only meaning and emotions, fully constructed sentences came later on.

Once one acquired a sufficient level of mastery, in theory, it was possible to read surface thoughts of nearby persons, if they left themselves unprotected. This was another useful aspect of this spell but Edward doubted he would master it before he needed to flee away or fight against the Vega family. The first aspect of sending a message to someone else was enough for his plan.

There was, however, one massive inconvenience. Edward was isolated inside enemy territory, he didn’t have any trusted partners with whom to train. This severely hampered his progress, understanding the theory was good, but it was useless without practice.

On the other side, his practice was paying off for his aura. He could now enter a meditative state, falling half asleep, while keeping his aura active and overseeing the surroundings. Rather than going to sleep at night, he was even trying this technique to rest. However, until now, he never managed to spend the whole night with this technique. Either he fell asleep at one point, or his attention refocused on his aura, waking him up in the process. Edward wasn’t disappointed since he was able to see his progress, the technique lasting longer and longer through the night.

To train his telepathy and to implement the start of his plan, Edward requested the right to stroll through the city. Naturally, his three bodyguards accompanied him, keeping a good eye on him. Cornelius thought that Edward was probing the security around him to prepare an escape. However, Edward simply headed to the adventurer guild, managing to find back the group of adventurers he had taken a contract with. All of them were at a table, actually talking about him.

“We should have tried to do something, the big families have no right to kidnap someone off the streets!” Aquamarine was protesting.

“You don’t even know if he is innocent. He might be a murderer for all we know!” Brian complained.

“I’m with Brian on this one. We have known him for a very short period of time. We don’t know what he has been involved in. And even if we wanted to act, we wouldn’t be able to do anything against one of the major families. This is out of our league,” Charles added.

Edward interrupted their talk. “I’m glad you still remember me,” he told them with a bright smile.

The group stood up with shocked expressions, staring at Edward surrounded by guards from the different families.

“Are you alright?” Aquamarine asked, concerned by the number of guards escorting him.

“Well, I am…for now,” he answered, not hiding his precarious situation. “I made a deal for the families to ensure my security. So here I am, surrounded by guards ensuring that nothing happens to me.”

Aquamarine and Charles looked at him worryingly while Norte was smiling nonchalantly with his usual phlegm, however, Brian was frowning.

“Don’t bring your problems to us. Why are the families even after you?” he asked Edward.

The latter frowned. Do you have to wave your dislike like a banner every time we meet?

“The Vega family seems to have a beef against me. But mostly, it’s a pretext to obtain my knowledge about runes. All I had to do to escape them, was to inform the other families as well. They are keeping each other in check, not letting one family get hold of me. I even managed to get some benefices in the way since I was the one to propose the deal,” Edward explained.

Brian’s jaw dropped open. “You are telling me you are a freaking runemaster?”

Seeing you so flabbergasted is certainly a pleasant sight to enjoy. “I am, yes.”

Brian wasn’t the only one surprised. “As a runemaster, you are still participating in quests with ordinary adventurers? I thought that runemasters didn’t have to risk their lives in the wilds and could obtain everything they wanted,” Charles asked him.

It may be true for most runemasters, although I feel it is a waste to be dependent on others to go into the wilds, I’m not exactly focused on runes and I’m more interested in the fights and the powers you can obtain through them.

“I have my reasons. Let’s just say, that I don’t want a life where I’m stuck inside all day. There is so much to explore in the world, why limit myself.” Edward boldly proclaimed.

Even the guards escorting him were watching him strangely. Charles looked at him from head to toe, as him he was seeing him for the first time.

“You are quite young. Actually, you are the youngest runemaster I have heard of. This may be why your desire to explore the world is stronger. Still, I must say it is an unusual choice. Most would be more than happy not to have to risk their life while being able to live a comfortable life,” Charles announced.

“Maybe, he didn’t want to get spotted? The families haven’t always acted the best towards independent runemasters…” Aquamarine added, reminding him at the same time that he was still in danger.

“Anyway, I wanted to tell you the news that I’m alive and alright so that you didn’t worry about me. What are you all up to now?” Edward asked, diverting the subject.

He sat at their table, ordering a drink for himself, his bodyguards sat at another table nearby. Edward let the discussion go on for a few minutes, the atmosphere relaxing, before attempting his first communication attempt through telepathy. It was his first attempt so he wasn’t yet sure of what he was doing. He tried to send a simple message to Charles ‘Can you hear me?’.

But it wasn’t Aquamarine’s head that bobbed up instead. “Did you say something?”

Okay, not the result I was expecting. Seems like I still need more practice.

Edward denied having said anything and tried another attempt while seemingly still being part of the discussions with the others. He was doing two things at the same time, keeping a front while trying to communicate through a secret canal in the background with his telepathy. This time he paid particular attention to whom he was sending the message, making sure that only Charles would get it.

He asked the same question. ‘Can you hear me?’ Charles turned his head towards him but didn’t say anything. Edward took that as a yes.

‘If you can hear me, order a brown ale’, Edward sent him through telepathy. Charles was still looking at him but didn’t display any other reaction, nor did he order another drink.

Shit, it looks like I’m able to contact him, but my message must be unclear, he is unable to understand me. Being watched by guards isn’t the best environment to train telepathy for the first time. Never mind, I will come back to the adventurers’ guild anyway. I can try another time. Actually, if I come here frequently to practice it will arise less suspicion since nothing will happen on the surface.

From my actual proficiency, sending detailed instructions will be risky and complicated. Some of it may be lost in the process. It is better if I prepare a separate message with the instructions and just tell them where to pick it up.

I need to contact Leyla. And since I’m on constant monitoring, I can’t do it myself. They will do just fine. All they have to do is to send her my letter.

Those big families think themselves clever, but they will quickly change their minds when every family has access to the same runes they took from me. I have to tell Leyla to make several copies of the runes’ book, but only including the safest ones. I also need to pick a date in advance when all the copies will be delivered to the Gobéliard’s less influential families. The moment those books are released, the big families will stop playing with me and will try to eliminate me instead. I will need to be ready to make my escape by that time. Still, it is better to have them as a diversion. If I don’t do anything they will come after me at one point or the other anyway.

I need to pick a date sufficiently far enough for me to grow stronger. But at the same time, it can’t be too far in time, otherwise, the families will just drain me dry of all my runes. This is a bit tricky, and I also need to give Leyla sufficient time to write copies. I have no time to daily-dally.

The evening was spent quickly, the group seemingly having a harmless discussion while Edward was practicing and improving his telepathy. He chose to use Charles as the only recipient of his attempts. From what happened earlier he wasn’t sure Aquamarine would be able to keep a straight face. As for Brian, with his dislike of Edward, there was no telling if he would simply reveal his attempts to the guards. The other choice left was Norte, but Edward hadn’t been able to discern what he was really thinking. Norte was always calm but he never talked much, it was hard to understand where he stood.

The guards watching Edward grew bored and ordered some drinks for themselves since they were already at the guild’s bar anyway.

Even if I haven’t been able to make them understand what I wanted, it hasn’t been a waste. The guards are getting used to me and I was able to improve my telepathy. At least, I think I did, it’s hard to judge my progress when there is no feedback.

Edward went back to the mayor’s residence where he was almost under arrest. He used the next days to prepare for the Murlocs’ extermination expedition. Since he didn’t know much about those monsters apart from the fact, that they were quite weak, he went to the library to acquire more information. He was sure that Cornelius would have more details information about them than a public library, but he wouldn’t waste one of his runes trading for something that was ordinary knowledge.