Klein hated combat. He felt he was okay at it, but he didn’t enjoy it as much as some of the people he knew did. Now they live for combat. It was like every moment they weren’t fighting, they were losing some years of their life.

  Klein didn’t feel that passion towards it. He just wished to open a business and live the rest of his life peacefully. He had no needs or desires for combat. Of course, saying this to one of those people would instantly land him into an hour long debate about the importance of combat, the necessity of adventuring beyond the safe places of civilisation, and the always looming danger of war.

  He didn’t think war was really that close. The last war had happened centuries ago, and the peace treaties had remained very much intact since then. But when has reason and facts ever changed someone’s mind?

  “It was a good fight,” Rami tapped him on the shoulder as they ascended the stairs to their own seats.

  “You too. You beat me quite nicely there. My eye still hurts,” Klein hid his throbbing eye. It wasn’t actually hurt, but the pain remained.

  “I’m sorry! You came at me so fast and so ‘big-bad-man’ way that I lost control for a second! Next time I’ll try to control myself. I promise!” She rapped the words quickly, barely stitching them in a coherent sentence.

  “I… it’s alright. It was a good fight. See you later,” Klein walked to a random seat, and heard another quick ‘see ya later’ behind him, which almost sounded like ‘cilator’.

  Klein sat on his seat silently. Technically, he could’ve gone. His fight was over. He had lost and he had no reason to attend more of this exam. He didn’t though. He hated combat. But the thing he hated more than combat was losing and not knowing how he could’ve won. He lacked experience, he knew that.

  He sat there looking at the rest of the fights.

  #

  Klein lay on his bed. His exams were over, and he wanted to let go of himself and enjoy this one night, without the worries of tomorrow. Of his business. Of anything. He just didn’t have the motivation to leave his bed.

  He hadn’t had to wait for motivation, because motivation came in the form of knocks on his door. Three. Slow. Knocks.

  Oh no, not him.

  He got up slowly, as if afraid that the bed just might make some noise and alert the person on the other side about his presence. He tip-toed to the wall beside the door, and stuck his ear against the door.

  He heard breathing, but that could very well be his own. Suddenly he felt conscious of his very own breathing, the movement of his body, the beating of his heart, and the ache on his toes from standing on them.

  “I know you are there, Klein! I spied you returning home,” The voice he dreaded yelled from outside.

  Klein grunted, dropped the facade, and opened the door, annoyed. Outside stood the boy he feared to meet. “Why would you spy on me, Carell? You do know that you can simply come to me right?”

  “Sure sure, and I’m sure you’ll open the doors, just like you did now?” Carell Besson was tall, broad shouldered, and a clean-shaven handsome bastard. He had scars on his arms, pitch black hair and eyes, and an amicable yet annoying smirk on his face. Klein so wanted to beat that smirk off of him, but he knew he’d never win against the guy. Not only was he from Hasvik, a born fighter, but he also wore the blue robes of real mages. Yes, Carell Besson was smart, handsome, tall, good at fighting, and also a mage. Also a bit of an asshole.

  Isn’t his family also like the local nobility of Hasvik? Some people really have it all, don’t they?

  Klein was by no means bad looking. He’d even go as far as to say that he looked pretty decent. He had a good smile, he stayed clean, he had nice blonde hair and matching golden eyes. Klein also stood at around 5’10-11. So by no means, was he a bad match.

  But, he was also a Stiffer.

  It always comes down to that.

  “I was naked. What did you want me to do? Greet you like that?” He shamelessly diverted the blame.

  “Sure, let’s go with that. Anyway, you have a minute, right? I wanna talk about something really really important,”

  “Sure, do you wanna come inside?”

  Please say no!

  “No, I’m good. This will take just a moment,”

  Yes!

  “It’s about last night’s Shower. Me and two of my friends are gonna go outside the bounds to hunt for the Shower remnants. The problem is, none of us are that great at divination, and we also need someone to fill in the gap. Do you think you can join us? We’ll split the loot equally! You’ll also get some real life experience!”

  Klein was about to refuse, shut the door on his face, but he halted.

  Something he said made Klein think about everything that happened this morning. He had lost the fight even after going well and beyond his own creativity, all because he didn’t have enough experience fighting. And although he realised that he probably wouldn’t need much of it if his life went on the course he wanted, a small part of him also feared what would happen if it didn’t? What if he had to become an adventurer and step in the dungeons and the forests to gather a living?

  He shuddered thinking of that future, but the pragmatic part of him also thought it was worth consideration.

  If nothing, I’ll earn some quick cash.

  “You do know that I can only cast unstructured divination magic, right?” Klein asked.

  “Yes yes I know about your limited expertise. It’s more than what we can do anyway,” Carell smiled as he said it.

  How can they not even know this…

  Klein sighed and nodded.

  “I can do it.”

  “Thank you! I knew you’d give in if I told you about the money!”

  “Please don’t make me regret it…”

  “Hehehe, I’ll see you tomorrow near the old factory. Do arrive by 1:30 pm. We wanna get it over with before the sun goes down. And oh, also, bring everything you think you’d need. See ya later then, good night!” The boy walked away with that, leaving Klein with a strange feeling in his gut.

  Why does it feel like I signed in for something beyond what I can handle? Why does he even need me? I’m sure he has many other friends too, so why me?

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  Klein slept uneasily that night. Maybe it was the lack of drugs, or something else, but he already regretted agreeing to the deal.

  #

  Klein waited by the old factory for more than twenty minutes. He had arrived on time. Exactly on time. He had deliberately even stopped at a few shops to buy some random snacks, or just to window shop when he realised he’d reach their far too quick. In the end, he was there at dot 1.30 pm. And they weren’t there.

  He had looked around, wondering if they had for some unforeseen childish reasons decided to hide in the factory, and maybe scare him at some point. It wasn’t likely, but he wouldn’t put it past that asshole. But he did not find anyone, although granted he had not searched the factory beyond some shouts and a cursory look.

  At that point he was sure that they were going to be late. He found a public seat and sat there, playing with his slinky as he waited.

  I don’t remember Carell being so clumsy with time.

  Finally after twenty or so minutes, he saw the quickly approaching figure of Carell and two girls he had beside him. Klein stood up, and dusted himself as he went to greet them.

  “I’m so sorry Klein! The two guys I had initially planned to go with cancelled on me at the last minute, and I had to ask favors from some other friends! I’m sorry, I should’ve informed you about it, instead of letting you wait here. You weren’t waiting for long, right?” He almost pleaded, his eyes so apologetic that Klein felt the few wisps of anger wash away.

  He wasn’t that angry to begin with. Twenty minutes, in the grand scheme of things, was not really that long of a time. Not to mention, he even had his slinky to pass time with. He had been trying to manipulate it with his mana shaping, so it wasn’t that terrible of a wait.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m okay. Who are they?” Klein motioned towards the two girls who stood behind him. Both of them wore the academy blue robes. So full mages.

  One of them was a blonde, green eyes that shined brightly, and a fair complexion. Klein had to admit, she was pretty. Really pretty. Even though he hadn’t ever spent too much time pursuing a romantic partner, even he could tell a pretty girl apart from someone who is not.

  But if nothing, her mage robes poured cold water over whatever thoughts he had. She was a full mage, and he was just a Stiffer. There was never any chance for them to get together. Although there had been stories, poems, and songs of such romance, none of them were very realistic. They never worked in real life.

  The other girl was a redhead with a round face. She had brown eyes, skin which glowed like bronze, and beautiful features, but her beauty was overshadowed by the girl beside her.

  “She is Riley McHonna, a classmate and a Weather specialist. She specialises in Weather manipulation, and some divination,” Carell said, as he pointed towards the redhead.

  “And she is Anne Marais, classmate and an explosion specialist. She... just loves explosions,” He pointed towards the blonde, who seemed to have taken it as a chance to take the stage.

  “Hello, I am Anne, from the Noble Marais House. I know I look pretty, but I only allow darker looking boys to date me. I mean you can try, but I don’t think we’ll get anywhere, so don’t even try.

  “Also, what is your name?”

  Klein was stupefied for a second at this introduction. He didn’t think he had stared at her for more than another second of decency, nor had he been sneaking glances. He looked at Carell questioningly, who only gave him a defeated smile.

  How many requests has she received till now to have to open with this?

  Klein realised that he didn’t wanna know. A pretty girl with an attitude, that too from a noble house? Especially one who specialises in explosion magic? Yes, he would rather stay as far as he could from her.

  “Nice to meet you, I am Klein Skyla. I’m a Stiffer, so I guess my speciality is making blankets. Also curtains sometimes, but we realised that that was a far higher business to get into,” Klein replied.

  Riley stirred behind Carell, as if wishing to protest something, but Anne beat her to it. She nodded twice, her hair flying all around her in an unkempt fashion, before saying, “A Stiffer huh. I wonder how you became friends with Carell. But nevermind, curtain boy, we just need someone to fill in the numbers. You will be completely safe beside me,” She puffed her chest, as if the declaration of some form of primal strength, and then walked right past him.

  “Is she… is she okay?” Klein asked Carell. It was Riley who answered.

  “She… we don’t know. We think she has had so many explosions that her brain doesn’t work properly anymore. It is a very sound and reasonable explanation when you get to know her more, also nice to meet you.”

  “That does seem reasonable, I guess,” Klein said, stumped, as he watched the girl go. All the attraction he felt towards her at the start suddenly seemed to have vanished. He was not even gonna try with this one.

  “Well let’s move, we don’t have the whole day to burn. We are late as it is.” They jogged as they caught up to Anne, who had made some considerable progress without them.

  I wonder if she’d have simply completed the task alone, if we didn’t run for her.

  Klein left the silly woman out of his thoughts for now, instead focused on the area around him.

  Starting from the old factory, the city gradually became more and more desolate. More and more empty. The shops lessened until there were only a few shops left, and only a few houses who couldn’t afford to build one in the heart of the city. Pedestrians lessened, and so did the movement of caravans and automobiles.

  And just a little further, the well built road was replaced by a rather old road, with many holes at regular intervals. At this point, there were just a few caravans pushed by horse-like magical beasts–a horse with hands for hooves, and fangs for teeth–and adventurers who walked for adventure, or came back from it.

  Riley cast a spell, the familiar tinge of divination blue coating her hand as a blue glowing arrow formed over her hand. Klein watches it with apparent envy. There was a time he wished he could learn divination. To learn everything around you, and to predict the future. It had appealed to him.

  He crushed that dream when he understood that would never happen for him.

  Soon they followed the pink glowing arrow above Riley’s hand. It led them off the road, and into the deep forests.

  As they moved through the forests, Klein brought out his slinky and started practicing mana shaping on it. He hated to do these exercises, and yet every time he talked to Carell, and realised how further away his friend was from him, he couldn’t help but try to better himself just a little bit more.

  Soon they were upon a boulder-like structure. Only that the rock… was made out of wood. Leaves grew upon the crevices of the boulder, and roots came out of its cracks. It was brown, with spirals and whorls like the bark of a tree.

  “Looks like we found something after all,” Carell casts a spell which lifts the tree like rock from the ground. “It’s surprisingly light!”

  The wooden rock then floats behind him, as the group travels towards the next location, heading deeper and deeper into the forest. Klein worried.

  He felt this weird feeling as they travelled past the trees. They were getting all kinds of remnants far too easily. It shouldn’t be this easy. It was the same feeling which had cursed him through the night. He had managed to shake it off, freshen himself, but it had returned now.

  “Don’t you think it's too easy? Why aren’t there any adventurers around?” He called Carell. The boy was practically beaming with joy, his footsteps almost off the ground.

  “We just have a stroke of luck. The Shower only happened the day before yesterday, and no one usually goes in the next day. It’s possible we just found it all before them. It has happened before, don’t sweat it Klein,” He shrugged away his worries, and the girls seemed to follow him. The redhead too had a big smile on her face, probably from the validation of her divination skills, while the blonde had no care for anything. She just looked happy.

  Klein tried to calm his heart too. They had afterall found a cold flame, which was said to render all flame based magic useless in the area; a transparent root, to make you invisible and increase your regeneration; and even a twice changed rare pink bread! It should be, as they said, a joyous occasion, but he just couldn’t calm the stirring in his gut.

  A short while later, after they had found another calcified plant, the arrow on Riley’s hand flickered and grew big. Really big. Klein had understood that the size of the arrow often represented the value of the treasure, and this time it was practically begging for them to go fetch it.

  “We should hurry!” The others ran after it, and Klein followed reluctantly, every step sending a shiver down his gut. Every step closer felt like knives against his back, piercing him, warning him that he shouldn’t move any further.

  And just as he was about to finally stop, his heart stopped. It literally stopped. And when it started again, Klein shrieked. He couldn’t describe the pain inside of him, the horror in his voice. It felt like someone had literally grabbed his heart, and was pumping it for him. It was crude, it was rough, and it pierced his heart. Klein tussled on the ground with himself as he yelled.

  The next second, three strangers appeared in front of them. They wore face masks, and robes of pure black. For a second both groups looked at each other, as if surprised by their presence. Then, the fight began.

  #