They started the following day late after drinking into the night. Hump had to admit, he could get used to this life. Celebrating with his friends, not worrying about money, enjoying the warmth of a good tavern in the city while rain poured down outside. It was enough for him to forget his worries for the night. Yet nights had to end.

For the time being, they decided to remain in Sheercliff, continue their training, and await their quest from the academy. Only time would tell if that plan would change. There were too many unknowns, and the one that made Hump most nervous was Graham’s detection artifact. It would only take one suspicious inquisitor for Hump to be found out. If that happened, there was little doubt in his mind that Countess Daston’s support would expire.

With that in mind, Hump resolved himself to make use of the situation while it lasted. With eighty gold, the five of them had enough coin to substantially improve their equipment, and that wasn’t counting the heartstones they’d yet to sell from Stonebark Forest.

“Three gold each should go toward provisions,” Dylan said. They’d just finished breakfast and were getting ready to go shopping. “Fifteen gold should be more than enough to cover food, utilities, and healing items for our next few quests.”

“Thirteen gold each.” Bud shook his head. “We’ve had enough back luck already, let’s not make it worse.”

“You really are superstitious.” Emilia smiled.

“We should probably keep some of our funds back in reserve too,” Hump said. “A couple of gold each could go a long way if things don’t pan out for us here. Then we can avoid the dreaded number thirteen.”

Celaine laughed. “We’ve also got the heartstones still. Do we spend them or save the money for another time?”

“If you’re worried about money, feel free to think of my share as the emergency fund,” Emilia said. “I’m satisfied with my current equipment for now.”

What she meant by that was that she couldn’t improve her kit with her sixteen gold share. She was of nobility after all. Her kit must be extremely good quality.

“Let’s not start things by relying on you for money,” Bud said.

Hump gave his friend a wide-eyed stare, willing him to keep his mouth shut.

The knight didn’t stop there though. “We’re supposed to be self-sufficient. If we can’t provide for ourselves as a party, then perhaps we should be looking for different work.”

“The gold will still be there if we’re ever desperate,” Dylan added. “Keep it, Emilia. Save it for when we’re truly in need.”

“Thank you”, she said. “It’s there if you need it anyway.”

Hump clenched his jaw, keeping himself from saying anything. Sixteen gold was a lot to turn down, but he had to stop thinking like that. He’d grown up without enough, and that had made him greedy. Now that he didn’t need to worry about how to feed himself, it was time to be more flexible.

They spent a short while coming up with a list of necessities. For the most part, it was potions and single-use items that might keep them alive in an emergency. Hump added Wizardfire to that list, as both he and Emilia would be able to make use of it if such a situation arose.

In terms of gear, Bud and Dylan would come first. The two were dangerously under-equipped compared to the rest of them, and while it hadn’t been too problematic so far, it was only a matter of time before something slipped through Bud’s armour that shouldn’t, or Dylan took a hit that even he couldn’t recover from.

***

The adventurers’ guild campus was as busy as ever. Adventurers crowded the shops and marketplace, buying and selling goods, searching for parties or new members. The monster surge hadn’t just devastated the region, it had put thousands of people out of work. Yet with that had come opportunity. Materials were easier to come by, and the city was fronting some of the cost to ensure their people were properly armoured.

All in all, it meant that monster hunting was suddenly a far more appealing career option. There were many eager young faces looking to provide for their families, with little training or knowledge of what it meant to truly hunt monsters. So many would die for such optimism, but the city needed warriors.

Much to Dylan’s protest, they searched for equipment for him first, finding a suit of fur and leather armour that would improve his defensive capabilities considerably, without impeding his connection with nature. The most impressive part being a body piece made from the hide of a bear species found only in the Fallen Lands. It was pale brown, with fur around the shoulders, and a self-repairing enchantment

Item Index

Primal Bear Chest Piece

Artifact | Nature | Bronze

Description

A chest piece crafted from the hide of the Primal Bear. Highly resistant to physical attacks. Infuse with nature essence to heal damage to the hide.

Origin

Sheercliff Adventurers Campus

“It’s a shame we couldn’t bring back the razorclaw fur for you,” Celaine piece. “It would have made a powerful piece of armour.”

“This suits me better,” Dylan said. “I don’t particularly like the idea of furs that could rip me to shreds if I land on them wrong.”

“Or if he needs to carry one of us unconscious on his shoulders.” Hump grimaced. “That could turn nasty.”

All in all, Dylan’s new equipment came out over budget, so Celaine returned the money he’d lent her for the making of her shadow cat cloak. Still, it paled in comparison to Bud. It turned out, a full set of plate mail was expensive. He had the chest piece from before, but it was the finely pieced together plates of the gauntlets and joints that truly added to the cost. Despite what they’d said that morning, he was still left borrowing half of Emilia’s share to cover the cost. With that though, he would finally be their knight in shining armour. Or at least, once the resizing was complete.

Hump didn’t need much. The artifacts that would truly help him now were beyond his means, so he focused on buying some good equipment for the areas his battle robes didn’t cover. His boots were in dire need of an upgrade, and he bought some bracers to help protect his arms for the times he did end up in melee. They were inscribed with runes that helped to prevent essence loss through the arms. It was subtle, but it would make his spellcasting more efficient.

It was mid-afternoon once they’d finished. Bud and Dylan would need to return in the following few days to collect their new armour, but for the most part they had everything they needed.

They headed for the Daston Estate for what remained of the day, reaching the queue for the carriageway.

Bud nudged him with his elbow.

“What?” Hump asked.

Bud nodded ahead of them. “There’s a huddle of priestesses up ahead. I think that’s her.”

Hump squinted and noticed Luna’s familiar blonde hair. “Erm. Huh.”

“You finally going to man up and ask that priestess out?” Celaine asked.

Hump looked at her, heat rising in his face. “You think I should?”

She looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “She seems nice.”

“Then I will,” Hump said, though as soon as the words came out his mouth, he felt like he’d made a mistake.

“Need me to come over with you?” Bud asked. “I’ll break the ice. Distract the other priestesses so you can talk.”

“How do you intend to do that?” Emilia asked.

“I have my ways,” Bud said.

“As much as I’d like to see that,” Emilia said. “You should just go up and talk to her. Don’t over think it. Believe me, I’ve been courted by enough overly eager young lords who couldn’t get more than a few words out without laughing about something with their friends. Go over there on your own and say hello.”

“Are you really going to listen to her advice over mine?” Bud asked.

Hump frowned at Bud. “Yes. I like to make a point of doing the opposite of anything you say, so absolutely I am.”

Bud chuckled. “Try not to bite your tongue.”

Dylan clasped his shoulder. “Good luck.”

There was no backing down after that. Hump took a breath, then pushed his way through the line, ignoring the angry shouts of those in the line. He felt a foot catch his, and tripped, shoving his way out from a couple of tall, broad men twice his size, and practically falling on his face as he appeared between the gaggle of priestesses.

“Excuse me,” Hump said. He looked over what felt like a dozen unfamiliar faces, all watching his with concerned curiosity, before landing on Luna who looked like she was about to laugh. He cleared his throat. “Hi Luna.”

Now she did laugh, and Hump felt heat rising in his face once more. Gods, couldn’t you have just let me off this one time.

“Hi,” Luna said. “It’s good to see you again, Wizard Hump. What are you doing here?”

“I saw you in line, and wanted to say hello,” Hump said, pointing back to where his party stood, their heads poked out from the queue where they could see. Bud waved, a gormless grin on his face that made Hump scowl. “You said we should catch up, which sounded great, so I was wondering if maybe you’d like to…” Hump froze. His heart hammered, and panic set in. Oh no. Do what? What was there in a city to do?

“…erm, do something?” he finished.

“Something?” Luna’s face broke into an amused smile. “Did you have anything in mind?”

Hump grimaced. “I really should have thought of that before coming over here. My mind’s gone blank.”

The priestesses around her snickered, whispering to each other and Hump’s heart thumped in his ears.

Luna laughed. “You only just returned to Sheercliff, didn’t you? Let me think…” She tapped a finger to her lips. “There’s a street of travelling performers down in the refugee camps. I’ve been meaning to go, and I think you’d like it. What about that?”

Hump perked up. “That sounds great! Tonight?”

The priestess beside her—an older woman—whispered something to her.

“Ah, this week will be difficult actually,” Luna said. “One of my sisters will need to come with me to chaperone. But what do you say to next week today?”

“Next week today! That sounds perfect. Shall I meet you here at the carriageway?”

Luna nodded, a shy smile on her lips. “I’ll look forward to it.”

“Good. Perfect. That’s brilliant. I’ll see you next week then. Erm… until then.” He turned away, walking woodenly back to his party as he heard more snickers from the priestesses behind him.

“How did it go?” Bud asked, a wide grin on his face.

“It was a disaster,” Hump said.

“She said no?” Emilia asked, surprise in her voice.

Hump shook his head. “No, she agreed. Next week today, we’re going to see a show put on for the refugees. It just went much smoother in my head. Gods, I’m an idiot.”

“You did it though,” Celaine said, smiling. “Congratulations.”

Hump looked at her, a bit confused at what to say. In the end, he just said, “Thanks.”

The queue passed quickly, and soon they joined both Marcela and Corvin’s parties for training.

There was no time to waste. Hump felt the urgency to get stronger more than ever, and that meant using the time he had more wisely. With so many spells to learn, he decided on his priorities. He pushed thoughts of Luna to the side, and focused on the job at hand.

He started by warming up with shaping exercises, though he replaced the typical manipulation techniques with the opal ring Countess Daston had given him. It relied on the same basic techniques, requiring him to form shapes and images while properly controlling his essence. Only, every stage of it was made more complex. By the end, he was surprisingly pleased with the effectiveness of it as a training tool, and even after half-an-hour of practice, he was beginning to get the hang of wielding the sands.

Next came his big spells. The training grounds had a stone chamber designed to withstand far more devastating attacks than what Hump was currently capable of. He worked his way through his spells, spending more time on the higher tier ones that he was less familiar with, and taking regular breaks to watch the others spar or practice their own abilities. Once he reached Tier 3, the goal was to cast them perfectly. To perfectly envision the formations and manipulate his essence in a way where there was no wastage. He finished with White Flame, the only Tier 4 spell he could currently cast.

Once he was too tired to continue, he moved onto cantrips. His versatility was still a problem, and many were already familiar to him so all he needed to do was memorise and practice. It didn’t take a huge amount of effort, and they had very practical uses.

He ended with the part he had most been looking forward to. The spell tree, starting with Melt Stone. The first step of learning any new spell, no matter the complexity, was drawing out the formation and learning how it worked. He used his staff to meticulously copy it from his spellbook onto the ground, then extended his hand to the rock he’d prepared in advance.

Hump took a breath, focusing his essence and letting it build in his channels. He extended a hand toward the stone and said, “Melt Stone.”

He felt his essence leave him quickly, yet he achieved nothing but a gentle glow. He could feel the natural intent of the stone fighting back against him. This wasn’t just about his own essence, or producing enough heat to melt it. He was manipulating the make-up of the rock. Willing it to melt, while giving it the energy it needed in the form of heat. It was a challenging concept to wrap his head around. The harder he pushed, the more it became clear why such a simple spell was classed as Tier 1 rather than a cantrip. Overwhelming such firm intent was a challenge with anything, but even more so with an unfamiliar technique.

When the first piece turned a bright red heat, and a droplet ran down the side of the rock, Hump almost let the spell collapse in his excitement. He was exhausted, and all he had to show for it was a slight dip in the stone and a tear shaped droplet. He almost felt embarrassed having Bud help him carry in so many rocks for his practice.

But he’d done it. The formation felt easy. He simply needed to get used to wielding it.

That evening, they met with Vivienne at the inn to find out how the situation with the warlocks had progressed. The interrogation still hadn’t uncovered anything useful, and it was becoming clear that whatever the prisoners knew was irrelevant to Sheercliff.

“Eliana was finally able to get through to the one that attempted to kill Marcela with her mind magic,” Vivienne said. “Apparently, they work in small groups, where only the leader actually knows anything about their goals. Tanek was one of a handful selected to go to Stonebark Forest. It seems his original objective was to escort their leader to the dungeon core.”

“So the attack on Marcela was just bad luck?” Hump asked.

Vivienne nodded. “She was a target of opportunity, as you suggested.”

“Has it been decided yet?” Dylan asked.

“I’ll begin tomorrow,” Vivienne said. “Sir Roderick insisted on being there himself, along with Inquisitor Abraxus. At no point are the warlocks to be left unattended with them, and I’m sure they will keep an equally close eye on me.”

“I still don’t like this,” Dylan said. “You shouldn’t go alone. Let me be there to back you up.”

“Dylan, we had this discussion.”

“I don’t care if you don’t like it,” Dylan said. “I’m coming. It’s dangerous enough as is without needing to worry about some idiot from the Pantheon attempting to sabotage you.”

Vivienne sighed. “Very well. Though it’s not me I’m worried about. You won’t like what you see in there.”

***

The next few days were relatively uneventful. It was nice, other than a budding anxiousness for his meeting with Luna.

He and his party continued to meet with the others at the Daston Estate, training, sparring, and working on improving where they’d previously fallen short. Dylan usually spent the mornings with Vivienne, the two of them working at the prison to figure out what they could about the black stones. Progress was slow, but there was progress, and that alone had been enough to ease up the restrictions placed by the Pantheon. Working with the assistance of Eliana’s mind magic, they had been able to force one of the warlocks to activate the black stone with their essence. It hadn’t transmitted anything, so they were still unable to record an essence signature, but at the very least it seemed like the plan might work.

Hump found himself getting along better than ever with the Chosen. There was still a bit of awkwardness with Corvin—it was clear the young lord didn’t like him, but he had at least accepted him. Marcela’s favour was clear, and it was reciprocated in her party. Len in particular had completely turned around, treating Hump as an equal. And now that he got to know him better, Hump had to admit, while Len was an entitled noble prick, he wasn’t a bad guy and he cared about the people of Sheercliff, and his party.

One morning, a new face arrived at the estate. A man that Hump guessed was around his age, equipped with a warhammer and a heavy, metal heater shield.

“This is Ruben,” Marcela said. “We’re starting try-outs for our new party member. I know it’s soon, but the situation will not wait.”

She introduced them all, and then the day’s training continued as normal for the most part. He was another member of the academy, someone from the year below Marcela, and from the look of him in the training grounds, he was quite skilled. He was a Chosen of Osidium, relying on the strength and durability of earth to bolster his defences and create disruptive terrain. It was interesting to see another earth user at work.

Hump was finishing for lunch when the door to the outer training grounds opened, and Celaine entered. “Hump, you best come quickly. There’s shouting outside. I think it was Dylan.”

Hump frowned. “What?”

“I don’t know what it was about,” she said. “Something’s happened though.”

“Shit,” Hump said. He looked over to Marcela and her party training with one of the golem constructs. “Marcela!” he shouted. “There’s trouble. Can you take a break.”

She glanced over, then barked a command, shutting down the golem and saying something to the rest of her party.

She rushed over to them. “What’s going on?”

Together, they headed to the front of the estate, taking the path through the gardens to where they found Graham and Dylan at the doors. Guards stood around them, instructing them to stand in place. As they arrived, Countess Daston stepped outside.

“What’s going on, Graham?” she asked.

“They took Wizard Vivienne,” he said. “She only just returned to the lab, and the temple guard arrived and arrested her. She wasn’t even given a chance to speak.”

“On what charge?” Countess Daston asked, rage in her voice.

“On lies,” Dylan said. “She’s innocent! You must do something!”

“Treason,” Graham said. “The captured warlocks are dead. She has been held responsible.”