Benjamin introduced himself to Kylie. She didn’t know where to look, so she just stared off into the distance whenever she spoke to him. At first Benjamin secretly amused himself by focusing his point of view away from her face to give the illusion she was talking to herself. He found that it was too distracting and fell back into the habit of looking at whoever was addressing him. It didn’t take long for the stew to cook with Kylie helping it along with her magic. Both her and Gram set about eating and exchanging pleasantries. Benjamin, unable to eat, grew bored and decided to explore his new territory. A little experimentation allowed him to remain keyed in on Kylie and Gram’s conversation, but it played second fiddle to his desire to see what secrets he could uncover while he explored the house.

He quickly scanned each room. He hadn’t found anything too interesting until he found himself in the study. While to the naked human eye the room looked rather innocuous, Benjamin’s sight laid the magic work bare. He could see the complex rune work and formations of mana pulsing and glowing. The enchantments were unknown to him, but somehow he was able to identify the fact they were enchantments. The spell work seemed sloppy somehow; inefficient, maybe. There were things he didn’t understand about the flow of mana. He should probably ask Kylie what she had here, but he didn’t want to pick her brain just yet. The bookshelves looked to be the most intricate. The other pieces of furniture drew his attention as well, but any attempt to view inside them met with a polite, yet firm resistance. Benjamin didn’t wish to keep trying to push into the unknown magics. He was quite convinced that any such protections were set for a reason. She had single handedly protected both Gram and her own life with a display of magic control that Benjamin was curious about, but he didn’t want to be too nosy. He shifted his view out into the yard which had been previously conquered. He tried to examine the plants in Kylie’s small garden.

Nothing registered as an object. He was only able to inspect the elements of the garden and found that the plants were in a garden bed. Targeting the plants themselves just had him targeting each garden bed.

“That’s useful,” stated benjamin.

If he had eyes, he was sure they’d be rolling. He might need to talk to Kylie or read a book to identify the plants to see the individual names? He tried to target other plants that were not in any of the garden beds, but was met with similar results. The only minor success he had was targeting a tree with small mustard colored fruits dangling from the ends of many of the branches. It was labeled as a decorative fruit tree.

>

“Great. Just fantastic,” he mumbled.

He quickly grew bored, as he hadn’t been able to gather more than just the most basic information and pushed his vision back inside.

The pair had just finished up their breakfast. Gram was leaning back in his chair. The bowls seemed to glow with a diminishing aura of magic. It must have been some kind of cleaning spell.

“I’ve just received a new ability that I’m really interested in trying out” Kylie said.

Gram nodded at this and sighed.

“I haven’t received any abilities.”

“Really? Nothing at all?” Kylie asked as she shifted in her chair.

“There’s a couple of auras,” Gram said.

Kylie raised an eyebrow.

“Command and Honor, but that’s all I know.” he continued.

Kylie used her magic to clean the last of the cutlery. A few wiggling fingers and a couple unintelligible words caused the last specks of food to be whisked away into a puff of smoke. They chatted for a little while more just sharing small inconsequential words. Kylie drummed her fingers on the table.

“I’m going to use it.” she stated.

There was a moment where the world seemed to freeze. It was followed by a falling sensation. Then, with a pop, the trio found themselves in a room with a large table. Three office chairs sat in place at the end of the table. Kylie seemed to stare off in the distance, her eyes moving as if she was reading something only she could see. She hadn’t noticed Benjamin or Gram. Gram took the chair at the end of the table. Once he was seated he casually turned the chair to the left and right. Gram examined his chair, spinning it slowly with his hands. Satisfied with his findings, Gram sat. Kylie joined them soon after. When everyone was seated Benjamin took some time to show how to adjust the chair heights.

“So, that’s how you look,” said Kylie. “I never expected violet eyes.”

She pulled a lever causing her chair to recline slightly.

“Oh that’s nice.”

“This is your ability?” asked Gram.

“It’s called ‘Conference Call.’ It’s a shared ability between the advisors that can only be used once every three days.” she said.

Benjamin nodded. He was a little surprised by the skill’s name. He supposed that it made sense. Whatever skills were granted would probably pull names from his own experiences. It kind of reminded him of some of the names that his achievements had.

“So what now?” asked Benjamin.

“Let’s talk about property rights.” kylie said.

Gram groaned. Benjamin nodded.

---

Harte followed the twisting streets and arrived at the guildhall. The building had seen better days, but there was still a steady stream of traffic in and out of the doors. A bare sign swung lazily above the door. There was supposed to be a blue shield painted on both sides, and if he were to squint he could probably make it out. It didn’t matter though, he wasn’t here to stare at the sign. The door swung easily as Harte pushed it open. A bell chimed.

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” a femanine voice called out.

Harte continued inside and leaned with his back against the counter. He glanced at the job board. It was far enough away that he wasn’t able to make out anything that had been written on the papers that had been fixed to the board. He could still see that there was an abundance of jobs listed. Small clusters of adventurers sat scattered at tables in the larger room. The room was filled with the occasional laugh and chatter of the few sitting in the hall. Things would get busy later in the night as the adventurers started coming back from their various jobs.

The door behind the receptionist’s desk closed, causing Harte to jump slightly.

“Oh it’s just you,” The woman said as she wiped her hands with a damp cloth.

Harte smiled, “is he in his office?”

The woman crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

“It’s important this time,” he said, still smiling.

“I’d believe you more if you stopped smiling.”

“Fine, fine.”

“Is it another goblin invasion?”

“That’s not-” he stopped himself, “Just tell me if he’s up there.”

The receptionist sighed, dropping her arms.

“He’s up there.”

“Thank you, you’re the best,” said Harte as he walked to the stairs.

Like the rest of the branch the stairs were constructed of wood. They creaked under his feet with each step. Harte would need to talk to Paul about the stairs. It probably wasn’t even something under his control anyway, but it wouldn’t hurt. Harte didn’t quite understand the need to have the building look as run down as it did. He shook the thoughts out of his head once he reached the main hallway. It didn’t take long for Harte to find the right door. He knocked twice.

“Come in,” called a deep male voice.

Harte opened the door and saw paul. The troll was tapping papers together and placed them neatly on his desk. His long ears were weighted down by multiple piercings, a mix of bone and steel. The thick dark body hair typically associated with his race was hidden beneath loose vibrant clothing. A pair of glasses rested on his bare forehead. Upon seeing Harte the troll frowned.

“Oh it’s you,” he said.

“I’ve been getting that today,” said Harte.

Harte closed the door behind him and made his way to one of the chairs that was positioned in front of Paul’s desk.

“It’s not another gryphon is it?” asked Paul.

“Gryphon?” asked Harte as he sat himself down into the selected chair.

“The gryphon-” Paul growled a moment, “Nevermind that. What brings you here?”

Paul leaned forward, arching his fingers with his elbows on the desk.

“I got a call from Kylie,” Harte said.

“Oh? How is she doing?” Paul asked, straightening his back.

“Apparently the shard failed.”

Paul’s body collapsed as his face was drawn into a frown.

“That wasn’t what I wanted to hear.”

“Also, her grandson is now a king,” Harte stated, he fought to keep the cheer from his voice.

“Huh?”

A look of confusion played across Paul’s face.

“The shard failed, successfully,” Harte said, a grin breaking out on his face.

Paul stared blankly at Harte.

“Hold on, I scryed it,” Harte said as he rummaged through his various pockets.

He pulled a scroll from one of his sleeves and passed it to Paul. It was unrolled. Paul put paper weights at each corner. He pulled the glasses down from his forehead and looked at the center of the scroll. It appeared to be a mana map. Paul put his finger

“It’s in standard notation?” asked Paul.

Harte scoffed, “Of course! I’m not some novice apprentice!”

Paul shifted his gaze back to Harte, “We’ll need to talk to K.”

The troll didn’t give Harte a chance to speak. Paul had snatched the scroll off the table, hastily rolling it. Harte sprinted after, trying to keep up with large strides. They were down the stairs in a flash.

Paul positioned himself in front of the job board. His presence alone was enough to quiet the room. He looked at each party, counting in his head.

“Ten- no… Twenty gold per delivery, per party,” his booming voice flooded the nearly empty hall.

A slap, and a groan came from the reception desk. The receptionist had facepalmed.

“Code I. Love you Myra.” stated Paul, almost sheepishly.

Paul opened a door under the staircase and urged Harte to follow. Harte took one look into the main room as the adventurers scrambled from their seats and surged to the desk.

“Form a line!” shouted Myra, “There’s enough for everyone!”

Unlike the stairs to the second floor, the stairs going down were made of stone and spiraled down. Paul closed the door behind him and tried to keep up with the troll. At the bottom of the spiral staircase was a small stone room. The walls, floor and ceiling were made from stone blocks. Each stone block seemed to have been carved into random sizes, yet each was perfectly set. The only give away that these stones were in fact separate stones was the fact each was a different shade from the other. In the center a small orb lit the room as it floated in the air bouncing lazily from wall to wall. Paul dropped the scroll on the ground. It faded from existence.

“It’s code I,” said Paul into the room.

Paul glanced at Harte. Harte stared blankly.

“Important,” clarified Paul.

Harte didn’t answer.

“It’s in the manual.”

Seven chairs started to manifest in the room. Each chair was positioned equidistant from each other around a round table. The surface of the table was an image of the mana map that Paul had casually discarded onto the floor. Paul pulled out a chair and sat on it. The chair grew and seemed to match his posture. Harte took the chair to his right. It had been a while since he had done this. He wished he could make a chair similar to this, perhaps that would be a passion project for the future. The blue orb had started orbiting the table, counter clockwise, with the same lazy speed that it had when it was bouncing from wall to wall.

“And now we wait.” said Paul.

“I think you gave poor Myra a headache.”

“That was her own doing, I accept no responsibility for her own actions,” Paul stated sternly.

“She was cleaning her hands earlier.”

Paul winced and softly said, “The slime quest.”

“I think you’ll have to pay her extra today.”

Paul nodded gravely, “I probably could have done that better.”