“Um, is this going to be okay?” Thera asked, the confidence she was feeling for the quest waning now that the day had properly come and she was seeing just who she was supposed to be looking after. “We’re protecting him, right? Not delivering him for an execution?”
It was easy to see why anyone might think such a thing given how Verbum was acting. Laying on the ground, he clung to Killi’s leg, seeming more like he was pleading for his life than off on an adventure.
“Please please please don’t make me do this,” He begged, tears in his eyes. “Let them check it out on their own, if they’re rank one then they don’t need me.”
“We need answers fast, so they actually do,” Killi told him calmly, putting up with the outburst far better than any of them hoped. “And you’ll be perfectly safe with them both, I’ve looked into the matter personally.”
“Sure, unless they’re the ones who turn on me! The two of them are monsters, Killi! You’d agree if you could see their status!”
“I’ve already seen the entirety of Ben’s and the relevant sections of Thera’s. You aren’t getting out of this.”
“No! No I won’t go! You can’t make me!”
“Are you really sure about that?” She sighed, wishing she didn’t have to put up with this sort of thing when she was so close to a break.
“I am! I’m standing firm, I’m not going!”
“I see.”
The calmness of her expression was betrayed by her clenching fists, clearly done with his outburst as she turned to focus on Thera.
“If you’d be so kind, could you place him under a sleep spell for now?”
“Uh, what?”
She was basically being asked to commit a crime, placing a spell with any sort of mind effect on a civilian without the authority to do such a thing, but Killi just waved the concern away.
“I’m asking on my authority as the knowledge holder. I’m in charge of his education and he won’t grow if he doesn’t go out. Really, place any spell you need to on him during the outing and I’ll approve it.”
Hearing how calmly she said that just made him scream all of the more, but everyone ignored him as Thera gave in. She had clear misgivings about the fact, but the level of power and authority that anyone who’d achieved the third tier wielded wasn’t to be argued with. If she said to do it then nobody would stop her.
The dark mana flew from Thera’s staff, its density having an instantaneous effect. Verbum’s eyes snapped shut while his teacher carelessly hoisted him up and threw him into the back of their cart, leaving them ready to set off.
“If he gives you too much trouble, don’t hesitate to do it again,” She called out, considering the potential benefits of keeping a dark mage on staff for all of his future lessons as the three of them drove off, making their way through one of the wild gates before Thera raised them up into the air, leisurely heading off to their first destination.
While they were tasked with helping Verbum get to the four locations that needed a deeper level of searching than a typical party could provide, they weren’t exactly pressed for time, making her drive just a little slower for the unsecured passenger in the back and letting Ben handle the trip far better than he usually would as he took the chance to chat with her, treating their unconscious companion like he wasn’t even there.
“Excited?”
“Obviously. This is our first official rank-one quest! How could I not be?”
When they’d gained the rank, both had been expecting far more to come in for them than really had, but in the year since they’d reached the pinnacle of the career, there’d been no calls for either of them, much to Ben’s satisfaction and Thera’s dismay. She would still do any of the harder jobs that came up around Stonewall but it hadn’t come close to scratching the itch of something big. Protecting someone at the third tier though? That would absolutely do it.
“Ha, hopefully it will be quick and easy and then we can finally head home.”
“What, you don’t want to stay longer to read more?”
“Eh, maybe if it was for something different, but as things stand since I’ve read through the top three floors, I don’t really want to spend weeks reading through the first two. Maybe next time we’re by the gate I’ll pop through for a few hours of reading, but right now all I want is to get back to my forge. I’ve got ideas to test and homunculi to abuse.”
He had plenty he wanted to try making, being thoroughly inspired by everything he’d consumed while he’d been there, and the homunculi were tools to help train his crafting as much as they had been to help with his reading. He fully believed they would help him reach greater heights by removing the limit that was his singular body.
I miss them already. He sighed to himself, all of them locked in their crates and waiting for his return. But I am so not risking damaging them by taking them into the woods to encounter who knows what.
“Um, is this going to be okay?” Thera asked, the confidence she was feeling for the quest waning now that the day had properly come and she was seeing just who she was supposed to be looking after. “We’re protecting him, right? Not delivering him for an execution?”
It was easy to see why anyone might think such a thing given how Verbum was acting. Laying on the ground, he clung to Killi’s leg, seeming more like he was pleading for his life than off on an adventure.
“Please please please don’t make me do this,” He begged, tears in his eyes. “Let them check it out on their own, if they’re rank one then they don’t need me.”
“We need answers fast, so they actually do,” Killi told him calmly, putting up with the outburst far better than any of them hoped. “And you’ll be perfectly safe with them both, I’ve looked into the matter personally.”
“Sure, unless they’re the ones who turn on me! The two of them are monsters, Killi! You’d agree if you could see their status!”
“I’ve already seen the entirety of Ben’s and the relevant sections of Thera’s. You aren’t getting out of this.”
“No! No I won’t go! You can’t make me!”
“Are you really sure about that?” She sighed, wishing she didn’t have to put up with this sort of thing when she was so close to a break.
“I am! I’m standing firm, I’m not going!”
“I see.”
The calmness of her expression was betrayed by her clenching fists, clearly done with his outburst as she turned to focus on Thera.
“If you’d be so kind, could you place him under a sleep spell for now?”
“Uh, what?”
She was basically being asked to commit a crime, placing a spell with any sort of mind effect on a civilian without the authority to do such a thing, but Killi just waved the concern away.
“I’m asking on my authority as the knowledge holder. I’m in charge of his education and he won’t grow if he doesn’t go out. Really, place any spell you need to on him during the outing and I’ll approve it.”
Hearing how calmly she said that just made him scream all of the more, but everyone ignored him as Thera gave in. She had clear misgivings about the fact, but the level of power and authority that anyone who’d achieved the third tier wielded wasn’t to be argued with. If she said to do it then nobody would stop her.
The dark mana flew from Thera’s staff, its density having an instantaneous effect. Verbum’s eyes snapped shut while his teacher carelessly hoisted him up and threw him into the back of their cart, leaving them ready to set off.
“If he gives you too much trouble, don’t hesitate to do it again,” She called out, considering the potential benefits of keeping a dark mage on staff for all of his future lessons as the three of them drove off, making their way through one of the wild gates before Thera raised them up into the air, leisurely heading off to their first destination.
While they were tasked with helping Verbum get to the four locations that needed a deeper level of searching than a typical party could provide, they weren’t exactly pressed for time, making her drive just a little slower for the unsecured passenger in the back and letting Ben handle the trip far better than he usually would as he took the chance to chat with her, treating their unconscious companion like he wasn’t even there.
“Excited?”
“Obviously. This is our first official rank-one quest! How could I not be?”
When they’d gained the rank, both had been expecting far more to come in for them than really had, but in the year since they’d reached the pinnacle of the career, there’d been no calls for either of them, much to Ben’s satisfaction and Thera’s dismay. She would still do any of the harder jobs that came up around Stonewall but it hadn’t come close to scratching the itch of something big. Protecting someone at the third tier though? That would absolutely do it.
“Ha, hopefully it will be quick and easy and then we can finally head home.”
“What, you don’t want to stay longer to read more?”
“Eh, maybe if it was for something different, but as things stand since I’ve read through the top three floors, I don’t really want to spend weeks reading through the first two. Maybe next time we’re by the gate I’ll pop through for a few hours of reading, but right now all I want is to get back to my forge. I’ve got ideas to test and homunculi to abuse.”
He had plenty he wanted to try making, being thoroughly inspired by everything he’d consumed while he’d been there, and the homunculi were tools to help train his crafting as much as they had been to help with his reading. He fully believed they would help him reach greater heights by removing the limit that was his singular body.
I miss them already. He sighed to himself, all of them locked in their crates and waiting for his return. But I am so not risking damaging them by taking them into the woods to encounter who knows what.
