Matt wasn’t sure what was going on. Of course he knew what was happening in general.

The Captain and Levy’s sister, who apparently often landed in trouble, had been taken on board a ship from some famous criminal organization, The Birds Of Prey. From his understanding they mainly traded in illegal goods and slaves, which were illegal too, but here, far from Dust? Some laws were more like guidelines, or so Xar had said.

After they had gotten proof of this, they had scrambled to get information on the ship and where it was headed. Right now, they were in ‘hot pursuit’. Which meant they would be traveling for days, maybe even a week, to catch up.

They had just departed from Trupen station, and apparently they had a more or less reliable source of the different locations the ship was supposed to be visiting. So they were simply going to the third location and would backtrack from there and hope to find the ship.

No, where Matt didn’t know what was going on was for him. Where did he fit into all of this?

Levy had suggested they leave him on Trupen station while they rescued their sister, but that had been shot down. Not because the others didn’t want to, but because it would take precious time to make sure he survived on his own here.

They didn’t know anyone to look after him, no scratch that, they didn’t know anyone trustworthy to leave him with on Trupen station. So in the end he had just continued to tag along.

But now that they were in space and traveling already, they suddenly had a lot of time on their hands, and Matt simply wasn’t sure what would happen to him.

So far he had liked Krovukk and Xar. It felt like Levy had something against him, but he didn’t know what, and the captain was unreadable.

Matt had felt a pang of betrayal when he had overheard them talking about leaving him behind, well it was mostly Levy pushing the idea, but still, Xar and Kro hadn’t pushed back too hard either.

What had he expected? He was just a kid, lost in another world. But he would lie if he said he didn’t hope he could stick with the big blue brute and the furry rat man. They had been fun so far.

He continued to mull things over until he heard footsteps outside his door. The door to his small cabin on the ship opened and there they stood. Kro with Xar on his shoulder.

“Hey kid, got a minute to talk?” Krovukk said with his deep rumbling voice. Matt thought it seemed pretty obvious. He had nothing but time. He was just pacing around, worrying about what would happen to him.

“Uh, yeah of course.” He managed to get out without his voice trembling too much, hoping they wouldn’t notice that he was nervous.

“Well, you know the situation, right?” Kro started, throwing him a questioning look.

“Uh, yeah, their sister was captured as a slave by some criminals, apparently due to an unpaid debt, and we are going to rescue her. Right?” He asked.

“He said we. Look at him, already including himself in our merry band.” Xar said with a happy and proud tone.

“I think we should let the kid decide.” He continued, looking at Krovukk. The big shark-man sighed before he continued to talk to Matt.

“Look, it’s very nice of you to include yourself, but really, this is going to be dangerous, and it doesn’t have anything to do with you. So I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to come with. I mean if you hide on the ship, sure. We could even set you up on the emergency shuttle should we come to fail, then you can still escape. But I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to join in on the action.” He said in a serious tone.

“No, I want to. I know I’m weak and everything, but I can still do… something.” Matt said before he could think things through. But it felt… right. Truth was, he only knew them in the whole wide world, and they were nice. He didn’t want to… there was an uneasy feeling there. The thought of being abandoned, or left behind was something he wanted to avoid. Even more than he had originally thought.

In fact, the more he thought about it, the more it terrified him. The scene in the street came flashing back in his mind. If Kro hadn’t been there, he wasn’t sure what would have happened. He didn’t want to try and survive on his own in this unknown world.

“Kid, have you ever even seen blood? Let alone dismembered limbs? Heads? Sorry to say this but I’m not sure you got what it takes. The hard truth is, you’ll probably slow us down.” Krovukk said. It made sense, but still, it hit hard.

At this moment, Matt really wanted to have a good argument to shoot back. But instead, he did what he had done so many times in his life. He nodded and stayed silent. Taking the unpleasant emotions and shoving them down. And then pushed them down some more.

“Still, we’re gonna get you started on some training kid.” Xar said, clearly trying to cheer him up.

“And you’re lucky, we have some basic spell books lying around. One even has [Light], the most basic tier 0 spell. It’ll let you get a feel for it, see if you have what it takes, mister future [Archmage]” He continued. It would have made him smile at any other time, but right now Matt still felt… meh. It was hard to put into words.

“Look kid.” Krovukk started, and that simple word hit harder than it ever had in his life. He was almost seventeen! That was basically the same as eighteen, and then he would be an adult in truth. Still, Matt held his tongue as Kro continued.

“I’ll make you a deal, if you hit level twenty in any combat class by the time we arrive, I’ll let you join. Sounds fair? I’ll even help you myself.” Xar looked at his big companion with surprise, which didn’t make any sense to Matt.

Level twenty? He didn’t know if that was a lot or not, so he looked to Kro to Xar. It sounded fairly low. Weren’t levels in most video games from 1 to 99? Or even 100? With the first levels being the easiest. So level 20 should be fast.

“Deal.” He finally said. He thought he spotted Xar holding back a smile, but wasn’t sure. Well, even if level twenty was hard, he would do his best and show them he wasn’t useless.

****************************

Krovukk felt a bit dirty at using the kid's ignorance against him. But it was for the best. Of course, everyone knew level twenty was impossible in a week. Hell, lots of people never became level twenty in their life! Well, they were the lazy ones, as anyone who tried at least a bit should overcome that threshold fairly easily, but it would take them time, or extreme circumstances.

None of the members of Dust In Pieces was over level 30 yet. Even their former member hadn’t been level thirty. Krovukk was a bit annoyed that Xar was pulling out her spell books for the kid to study, but he knew they wouldn’t do them any good sealed away in her quarters.

The worst part was that he had thought he had been over it, but apparently not. Losing team members was nothing new, and he knew that death wasn’t the end, but it still hurt every time. Some more than others.

As they were walking away, he noticed the kid was following them. He reminded him of his brother when he was younger. Too naive for this cruel world. His brother hadn’t been as awkward however, but there was a similarity there too.

“What, you want to start training now?” Krovukk asked.

“Well, yeah? I mean I’m not doing much anyway in my room.” The kid mumbled the last part mostly for himself.

“Alright kid, I’ll teach you a basic exercise you can train with, then you come see me when you are ready for the next step, alright?” Xar said as he jumped down from Kro’s shoulder.

He was currently the best at using magic, even if he didn’t have a class. Still, he had studied mana circuits and as such had a good grasp of the basics of spellcasting.

“Alright. So the first thing you need to do is be able to manipulate your mana. It’s like a muscle. The more you use it, the easier it will be. For you? I’m not sure how easy it’s going to be.” Xar said, getting all of the kid’s attention, as he drank in every word.

“But of course, to be able to move your mana, you must first feel your–” He stopped as he could feel mana pouring out of the kid’s right hand.

“Wow, that was fast, good job kid.” Xar said, genuinely surprised. The kid was beaming with pride at the praise.

“If I can ask, how? Most people have a hard time feeling their mana the first time.” Krovukk looked at Xar’s puzzled expression.

“How could I not? Ever since we arrived at the station I felt it pouring into my body like a… a heavy flow.” The kid responded.

“Makes sense. Well, maybe we should go to a better spot. Follow me.” Xar said as he jumped down from his shoulder. Curious, Kro decided to follow after them. There really wasn’t much to do right now.

Very soon, it was clear where Xar was leading them, and Krovukk hesitated. He was about to stop Xar, but in the end, decided not to. He hadn’t been in that room since… well since she left them.

The kid was completely oblivious to his plight, a huge smile on his lips as he continued to move around his mana with a wide grin on his face. If only it was that easy to cast magic.

They entered the room and Krovukk followed after them. It was exactly how he had seen it last. A small shelf with books in a corner, the bed was made, and everything was clean and organized. The only thing that had moved a bit was some crumbled paper that had fallen on the floor.

“So, I can feel you are moving your mana about. Of course this is not enough to cast a spell.” Xar started, he had jumped up on the small desk, looking the kid almost at eye level, who nodded enthusiastically.

“The basis of casting a spell is actually very easy, but inefficient. It uses the first component of a spell which is intent.” Xar said with a teaching tone, which Krovukk had never heard from him.

“Some call it will, intent, it doesn’t matter. You basically want the mana to do something, and it does. For example, if you seize mana with the intent for it to become light, then you hold out your hand like this, and it will give off light.” The small rat man said as a small ball of light hovered above his hand.

“Now you try, some people have an easier time with heat or fire, rather than light, so feel free to try either.” He explained patiently.

The kid was looking intently at his hand, and Krovukk could feel faint traces of mana coming out, but no light. The frown on the kid’s face deepened and he seemed to try and force the mana with his stare.

“Matt, you won’t force the mana to do anything with your eyes. If you try to put force in your look or something, that’s not it. You do exactly that, but on the mana itself. Understand?” That didn’t make any sense to Krovukk, but he wasn’t gifted at all in magic, and had never been interested.

“It’s hard to explain. But once you succeed you’ll understand and it’ll be a lot easier to practice. Come find me once you manage to transform some mana, alright?” Xar said, but Kro wasn’t sure the kid was listening at all. He was still completely concentrated on the task at hand.

Xar jumped up on his shoulder as he started leaving the kid to his practice. When the door was closed behind him, he turned to his friend, not sure what to say.

“I know Kro. I know. But she is gone and won’t be using any of it now, will she?” Xar said with a sad look in his eyes. Kro knew his friend was right, but it still didn’t feel right. The worst part was that he knew the only argument he had was bad.

“I know, but it just feels too soon. I know it’s almost been a year now, but sometimes I feel like she’ll pop from around the corner. Or that somehow, she made it.” He deflated at the same time he said it. He knew it wasn’t a good reason, but emotions weren’t usually logical.

“I miss her too buddy.” Xar said sadly. The small rat man jumped down from his shoulder and went to his room, leaving him all alone in the main hall.

They each had their hobbies to keep them occupied while traveling. They played dice, cards and whatnot, but today everyone was concentrating on their own thing it would seem.

Krovukk went to his room, the biggest one because of his size. He stared at the ingredients he had bought to bake pastries. He had taken an interest in baking recently. Even had the [Baker] class, but right now? He didn’t feel like doing anything.

Instead of simply sitting, he decided he might as well do some weight training to take his mind off things. Walking back out, he went to the small gym they had and saw Levy was already hard at it. The look on his face told him all he needed to know.

Levy was in an intense mood, clearly not in a good place. He knew that Julie’s death had hit him hard, and now his sister was in danger? That couldn’t be easy.

So silently, Krovukk started his own workout routine. Both huffing and puffing in the otherwise silent room.

*******************************

Xar was surprised Matt hadn’t come to see him yet. It had already been more than two hours, and the kid should have at least made some progress, or maybe even been out of mana by now.

Curious, he went to check on him. As he opened the door, he saw Matt sitting on the bed, looking tired. He lit up at the sight of him and jumped off the bed.

“Xar! I made it!” His grin was huge.

“Well done kid!” Xar couldn’t bring himself to tell him it wasn’t supposed to take very long to pass that step. What he had taught him was the very first step in a spell, and the easiest one by far.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Show me.” Xar said with a smile.

The kid closed his eyes, and Xar was surprised by what he saw. The kid must have succeeded fairly fast, because he had clearly continued to train the skill. The amount of light was big for a beginner and the control was even fairly decent. Suddenly it went out as the kid released his control.

“I still have a hard time controlling it. I tried to make a sphere of light like you, but it just won’t stay and hover like it did for you, so I kept trying.” The kid said, looking apologetic.

“Of course not! You are learning the first step of casting a spell. But you can’t guess the next steps by yourself now, can you?” He said with a teasing smile.

“Oh, that makes sense. I just couldn’t make it anywhere close to a ball.” Matt said sheepishly.

“That’s fine. So, the first step of casting a spell is intent, or will as you have seen. Then there is form, amplification and direction. These vary vastly depending on the spell. Some spells don't use direction for example, and some use other techniques, but these are the general ones.” Xar said.

“I’ll show you how to do each one separately, then you’ll have to combine them yourself. If you manage to cast a proper [Light] spell in the next four days, I’d be impressed. You might even reach level 10 if you are lucky.” He said knowingly. The kid had been all too happy to listen to the explanations, but at the part about levels, he turned to look Xar in the eyes with a horrified look on his face.

Matt’s emotions were visible on his face and they were changing fast. He seemed to be thinking about something when finally he asked Xar a question.

“How old are you?” Xar raised an eyebrow but didn’t have any reason not to reply.

“I’m twenty eight.” He said.

“And what level are you?” Matt asked.

“I’m level 24”. Xar said, with a huge grin on his face.

Matt on the other hand, was not looking happy. Either the rat man was lying about his level in a cruel joke, or he had been had.

And looking at Xar’s grin, Matt thought he knew the answer to that question.