Noviel shook Ayra's shoulder.

“Wake up, we go.”

Ayra raised her head and looked confused around.

“It's still night.”

She pronounced that and turned on the other side. Noviel shook her shoulder again.

“Don't make me pour my water-flask over your head.”

That threat was enough to wake Ayra up, but she still protested.

“But it's still night!?”

“Yes.”

Noviel was now pulling the horse away. The rain had stopped, but water continued to sip over the ground. Ayra stood up, watching her with bewildered eyes.

“We haven't had breakfast yet?”

“Yes. You'll get something to chew on the way, now come. We are too close to the camp; they might find us here.”

This was a worrisome thought.

“But we will fight? You will not let them take me? Can we escape?”

Noviel sighed.

“What could we do? What can a fox and a mouse do against a gang of foxes with maybe one wolf? We would both die or be captured. Dress those clothes I've put on the table and throw away the camp equipment.”

A fox and a mouse. Noviel waited whilst Ayra undressed and put on a peasant's dress. NPCs did not know about levels. They did not have the tools to measure magic inside a person, at least not a standardized tool to the level players had, but they were, of course, aware of the benefits and methods of magic accumulation inside the body.

The nun's camp used a simple qualifying measurement with animals as symbols, a classification used throughout the empire and the republic. At the basis were mice, or lovely called baby chicks. This is how humans with almost no experience were labelled. Above them were rats, chickens and roosters. The categories above were cats and foxes, then came dogs, wolves and finally bears. The kingdom called all above foxes veterans. The lower trainees. There were exams, and you had to work hard to pass those. It didn't help to cheat. Some did that and died fast.

For a rogue archer to be able to get a contract, it must have been already promoted as a 'fox' or a veteran. That was the minimum requirement, and that implied about fifteen to twenty levels. Bears were those above level thirty-five.

Now a 'fox' in the republic did not pass exactly the same tests as a 'fox' in the empire or a veteran in the kingdom, but the results were about the same.

Ayra had no answer to Noviel's question. She followed at first bravely behind Noviel.

“Why don't you let me ride?”

Noviel was silent for a few moments.

“You need to walk. You need to train further. You are much too weak.”

Ayra grumbled but did not answer. She was aware of that too, but her feet were aching her.

By the time they arrived at Lilitown, the first sun was just rising above the horizon. They came from the forest from different directions and mixed with a group of peasants that were leading towards the opening gates to enter the town and sell their crops. A small rider group from the nun's camp was not far away from the gate, but they missed them.

Noviel let Ayra go inside with the peasant whilst she chatted a little with the guards. As the guards knew her well, it did not make sense to try to sneak inside the town. It was better to let them see her and chat with them so that everybody saw she was travelling alone. Ayra was going to help the peasant with his cabbage and carrots and stay with him until Noviel would come and take her.

The city was slowly recovering after the shock of losing many farms to dragon fire. Vegetables were now more expensive, and peasants from further away came to sell their goods to the market. Noviel listened to the chit-chat, joked with the guards and passed through the market. She did not dare yet contact Ayra as she was afraid of being followed; she only glanced and was happy to see that Ayra was keeping her hood on to cover her head as she had instructed her.

She went then to an address she'd got from Alice. She watched the decrepit building again and hesitated. A couple of blabbering idiots were at the entry, but another one, a shadowy guy, made her feel uneasy. It was a similar feeling she'd got from Cala.

She wanted to enter, and one of the two guys eyed her.

“Are you looking for something?”

“I was told that I can find Elise here.”

The two exchanged a look.

“And if it were so? What do you want from her?”

“I have a business with her.”

“Business? What kind of business?”

The second guy became interested. He eyed her:

“Maybe we can help you. Tell us what you want, and we'll tell you how this runs. That would save you time and trouble.”

Ayra hesitated. Alice has been very clear: she should look for Elise and ignore the rest. She raised her head and looked the man in the eyes.

“Should I tell Elise this?”

The man took a step back.

“What?”

He shrugged.

“You can tell her what you want. She's at the end of the corridor. If she is there, else you'll have to wait.”

She eyed the shadowy guy when she entered the corridor. He was, in her estimation, a veteran level one, or as the guys in camp would name a fox. She preferred the kingdom's scale only because she hated the empire. Her parents have been killed in a raid that she very much suspected was an empire led raid.

The guy gave her a simple nod, and she felt a tiny pulse of magic passing through her. She had learned to expect these and understand that it was a test. A bit different to the probe she had also learned to master. Alice had exercised with her several times. Alice's test was much more subtle; at first, she could not even recognize it. She felt it only after she explained it many times and put more energy than necessary into her test. So the guy had tested her.

It was like ripples in water. What they were learning in the camp was like splashing waves with your hand. What this person did, and Alice had shown her was at a much finer level. The probe she knew was like throwing your ego forward. It worked only in the immediate proximity and getting a muddled answer with a wide range of approximations, but still a way of knowing your opponent. Much too obvious.

She advanced through the corridor and entered the last room. It was not what she expected it to be. It looked much like a tavern or like the adventurers' guild where she had been with Spartacius. About ten to twelve persons in the room. A couple of eyes acknowledged her but most ignored her.

“Are you looking for something?”

A tall girl stood up from one of the tables and approached her. Veteran level two. A wolf. The girl grinned at her probe, looking down at her as their magic egos clashed. Noviel tried to make some conversation:

“Are those quests over there?”

“Do you have a card?”

At her confused look, the girl sighed.

“Those idiots should not have let you in without a card.”

As the girl grasped her hand Noviel spoke fast before being thrown out:

“I'm looking for Elise!”

“Oh!”

That name worked like magic; the girl freed her hand and took a step back. She pointed at a table:

“You can wait there; a waitress will come and check on you. Don't go to the quests area; those are not for you. Are we clear?”

Noviel nodded. Does this mean Elise will come to her? She hesitated but did not dare ask. She sat at the table, and indeed a waitress came almost immediately to her. It was a young peasant girl, about the same age as Noviel. She greeted Noviel, who answered, then waited. There were a few seconds of a staring contest, each one expecting the other to speak. The waitress broke the silence:

“Do you want something?”

A bit intimidated by the veteran girl and not sure if she could order an 'Elise' from the waitress Noviel just tried to find her words:

“Ahm?”

The waitress smiled more relaxed:

“Breakfast or only drinks?”

Oh, the waitress was here because it was a kind of a tavern.

“What's for breakfast?”

“What do you want?”

Noviel was confused by the answer she received until she realized the waitress was pointing to a black table with white letters on it near the entry, but then the waitress added:

“You look famished. I'll bring you ham and eggs and a potara juice. That'll be thirty copper.”

The price seemed reasonable, and Noviel was grateful that she was spared the way back to read the table. She nodded, and the waitress left. Maybe she should have felt embarrassed by what the waitress had said about her being famished, but she shrugged it off. She was hungry. Just as she wondered what Ayra was doing, a lizardgirl approached her.

“I understand you are looking for Elise?”

Noviel raised her head and looked at her. The pulse gave her the answer: veteran level two or wolf, in other words. The second wolf she was meeting here. She felt her hair raising even as the girl smiled. She did not like the too many teeth smiles of lizardpersons. It looked too much like a wolfish smile. She nodded.

“Yes, I do.”

The lizardgirl narrowed her brows when sensing her magic pulse.

“And what would that be?”

“As I said at the entry, it is only for Elise.”

“Oh”

The lizardgirl grinned and pointed to a door in the back of the room.

“When you are finished with what you are doing here, take that door there and go to the green room. You'll meet her there. By the way, you should leave two copper for the waitress. No more, no less, for one order.”

There was a glint of irony in the way the girl had spoken. Noviel was wondering if she should run for the exit but nevertheless nodded.

“Thank you!”

As soon as the lizardgirl left, the waitress came with her breakfast, and she grinned happily, seeing the huge plate. She immediately paid the thirty-two copper she owed and devoured the food in a hurry. Oh yes, she had been hungry.

She stood for one more moment there drinking her juice and then stood up and went towards the door the lizardgirl had pointed her. For a moment, she feared it was an ambush as another guy stood up almost at the same moment, but he went towards the entry door.

She took a deep breath and went through the door. It was another corridor with a couple of doors to the right. She wondered what door would be to the green room when she saw a green door on her left. She sighed, relieved. That must be it. She knocked, and without waiting for an answer, she pushed the door open and saw there the lizardgirl sitting at a desk. She looked behind and saw the other tall girl entering now the corridor. She felt trapped. She entered the room halfway, and the lizardgirl raised her eyes:

“Now, what do you have for Elise?”

“I'm sorry, but it is only for Elise.”

The lizardgirl sighed:

“Close the door behind you. I am Elise.”

Noviel saw the tall girl entering another room. She closed the door and turned toward Elise. She swallowed:

“Sorry. We haven't met. My aunt Alice had advised me to come to you in case of need.”

The lizardgirl raised a brow, interrupting herself from what she was doing at the desk.

“Alice? Alice, the Archer from Lilitown?”

Noviel nodded:

“Indeed”

“She is your aunt?”

Noviel shrugged.

“Yes.”

“Alice Sevenbrunn?”

“She is not allowed to wear that name anymore. Neither been I. I am Noviel.”

“Noviel Sevenbrunn.”

Noviel shrugged but nodded.

“So what can I do for you, Noviel? May I call you like this?”

“Sure. It is my name.”

“Indeed. As Elise is mine, Elise Schattenwolf.”

A frisson passed through Noviel's veins. Alice hadn't said that. Did she forget, or did she think it was not necessary? She had heard the name and not in a good context. Schattenwolf was a name that you would better avoid mentioning in the good circles of the town. Nor to the guards, for that matter. She swallowed. She would have never come here if she knew Elise's full name. Maybe that is why Alice did not mention it.

Elise seemed to appreciate the effect that her name had on Noviel. She raised a brow.

“So, what do you want from me, Noviel?”

“I have a book that I would like to have appraised and checked against tracking.”

Elise grinned again, her wolfish smile.

“Then I have well-chosen this room.”

She extended her hand with the claws open.

“The book?”

Noviel hesitated but then extracted Ayra's book from her inventory and handled it to Elise.

“Oh, I see!”

Noviel's brows narrowed. What did she mean by that?

Elise's attention turned instantly to the book. She handled it with care, checked it from all sides and then finally opened it. Only after some five minutes of looking at the book and doing various tests did she turn her attention to Noviel.

“What I did until now would cost 30 silver, but I will not charge you that. The book has a value of about one hundred gold. More or less. Rather less, so maybe some ninety gold, depending on where you want to sell it.”

“It is not for sale.”

Elise nodded.

“OK. There is a tracking spell on it" – then she added fast, seeing Noviel's reaction - "There is no danger; this room is shielded. I can have the spell removed, but that would cost two gold. Do you have the money?”

Noviel nodded.

“So, should I go for it?”

“Yes, please!”

Elise grinned, stood up and walked towards a wall. There was a chest on a table near the wall that she opened. She put the book inside the chest and then added several ingredients from the table. Whilst doing her work, she spoke:

“The book has been stolen from an imperial mage. Whilst I will remove the tracking spell, I do not remove the ownership inscription from the imperial library because it is woven inside the book's pages, and removal may deteriorate the formulas. So be careful not to let it in any imperial hands, or you should be ready to answer how you got it.”

Noviel nodded. At first, she wanted to protest that it was not her book, not stolen, but then she abstained.

Elise spoke further.

“We just received a quest about an hour ago. The description is for a girl that looks very much like you. You would fit almost perfectly the description, but for your veteran category. You should be the lowest level novice, not a veteran. So I guess it was not you. I was wondering, who would pay ten gold for the capture of a novice of the lowest level? Do you happen to know about this?”

Noviel raised her eyes and looked at Elisa. There was probably some lie detector spell in the room. She sighed and answered as truthfully as she could:

“I am not the girl they are looking for.”

“So you know what is this about? Because if a novice stole a book this valuable, it would be for sure tracked and chased.”

“The imperial mages should not think that they can force what they desire onto any poor girl just because she wants to study magic. Believe me, they can be pigs.”

Elise did not seem to be impressed.

“Oh, I'm sure of that, but a deal is a deal. Nobody forces you to make it.”

“Right. Until one does it.”

They watched each other eye in eye. Elise grinned and raised her clawed hand:

“Two gold?”

Noviel handed over the gold. Elise examined the coins shortly, grinned satisfied and extracted the book from the chest:

“Tracespell is removed. You can open it and use it wherever you want.”

As Noviel took the book from her hand, Elisa added:

“We have a shop that you may be interested in visiting. It is for special guests, but you can say I allowed it for you... You know what? You want a badge from us. You can use it to pick up quests, too, from the green zone?”

Noviel hesitated. She almost refused, as the way how Elise had formulated it was awkward. Yet, that was the truth; she wanted to check the quests and eventually see that shop.

“Yes, why not?”

She raised her eyes to look at Elise:

“Why are you offering me this?”

“Why not? Because you may not want to be associated with us. Why do I offer this? Alice is a name in this city. Many orphans had received a boon from her when she was here. I do remember.”

“Thanks...”

Noviel did not know this part about Alice.

Five minutes later, with her new badge, she entered the shop. It was the door that the other girl had used in this interior corridor. Who puts a shop inside a building that you can enter only once you pass through a corridor, a tavern and another corridor? And yet, even if the shop was not frequented, nobody else came when Noviel was in there; she found many interesting items: dye to colour your hair, spells to change the colour of your eyes. Well, she deemed those too expensive at three gold. But dye at 2 silver? She bought two for Ayra. False elven ears! 2 silver a pair. She bought a pair. Identify skill: 4 gold. She hesitated. You could buy skills like that? It sounded incredible, but the price was very high. Almost half of her gold for what seemed an almost useless skill. Identify?

“Do I get a discount for this spell?”

The salesclerk approached her:

“It is not for your class. You should not mix classes.”

She still stood at a distance but was now monitoring her more careful.

“Why not?”

The sales clerk shrugged.

“I don't know. They say that if you mix skills from different classes, you may ruin your other skills. One wrong skill, and you forget the good ones. But what do I know? Do you want it? Four gold! Do you have the money?”

Noviel hesitated. She was very tempted. What could that skill mean? Identify? She looked around. There were several other skills scrolls there with prices astronomically high. She looked at one scroll, the three-point stab, fifty gold. She did not dare touch it.

“What does this three-point stab do?”

“Hah”

This time the sales clerk, a lithe elf, came now close to her and looked at the scroll. Looking over her shoulder, Noviel realized something else suddenly. She exclaimed, shocked:

“An undead!?”

The sales clerk turned, smiling at her. In the first second, Noviel wanted to run, then she wanted to stab her, and then she realized that the sales clerk was still smiling at her with a surprised face.

“Yes, true. How did you realize?”

It required all of Noviel's cold blood to answer.

“Your aura. I touched your aura when you came near me.”

She was ready to take her knife and fight for her life, whereas the undead girl seemed to be elated when she heard the answer.

“Oh. Good. That's why I tend to stay further away from new customers. You must have been trained by the nuns! So, nothing else in the way I look, move or speak?”

Noviel shook her head, still not believing this conversation was real.

“No.”

“Ah, good. I do my best!”

The undead elf smiled, turning back towards the scroll:

“So, what do we have here?”

She concentrated on the scroll, completely ignoring Noviel. She could strike her down now; she could cut her head off. She only watched her thin long neck.

“It is a spell that helps you conjure two additional knives to the one you stab with. Your target will be stabbed three times. The magic knives will ignore normal armour. Your thrust is not reduced by the additional magical knives; they get the same push power. Unfortunately, this requires a higher level. You have only level nineteen, and this requires level twenty-eight.”

A skill with a spell? She could learn skills just like that? This was a revolution in the way she understood skills. But why only in this shop? Or are there more such shops? Something else drew Noviel's attention:

“Level?”

The undead girl explained happily:

“Yes, your magic level, as the identification skills reveals. The skill you just wanted to buy?”

“Oh!”

Noviel nodded.

“I'll buy it.”

“Good.” - the sales clerk nodded - “I can give you a discount. I can give it to you with three-fifty as a first time customer, but please be careful how you mix skills!”

This undead girl seemed to be tamed. Not like the undead she'd heard about. She had never heard of undead persons that you could talk with. It was always a fight. That's what she had learned.

The undead girl smiled.

“Anabella!”

This was a surprising move. As she raised her hand, Noviel took it instinctively in hers. A shiver passed through her spine as she shook the cold marble-like hand. Yet it was not as dreadful as she had expected it. She barely mumbled:

“Noviel”

“Come and visit me again sometime. It is so boring here, and I do not have friends in town.”

I wonder why? But Noviel did not express her thought. When she had finished her acquisitions, she took the package from the undead girl and put it in her inventory.