Agreeing on how to continue forward with Carla was surprisingly easy, considering Valar’s secret had been, and still was, a big one. Carla’s primary concern was the team’s safety, and now that she knew he could at least somewhat control the fire, most of her concerns were alleviated.

  “Every adventurer has some secrets they don’t want to share with others,” Carla explained matter-of-factly, sipping on her coffee while she talked. “If I’m completely honest, I think Ciel has even more secrets to hide than you, but I’ve talked with her too. She hasn’t revealed much, but just knowing that our team isn’t in imminent danger helps a lot.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t reveal more, but…”

  “No buts,” Carla grinned. “If you’ve been told to not let your secrets slip by a peak gold and onyx ranker. Listen to their advice.”

  “It just feels scummy…” Valar muttered. “I consider all of you my friends, and I should be able to trust you, but-.”

  “What did I say? No buts! We consider you a friend too, but I’m not going around telling you every secret I have, am I? As long as you aren’t a danger to us, everything is fine!”

  Carla sighed and drained the rest of her cup. “I’ll talk with the others.”

  Getting up from the table, Valar nodded. “Thank you, Carla. I wouldn’t have known how to approach this at all.”

  “That’s what friends are for.”

  It was a good thing that they were ready to leave the isolated rooms of the café so soon after their arrival. As it turned out, private rooms with good enough sound isolation to build a business around were quite expensive…

  “Three silver for an hour's use! Those abyss cursed, money-grubbing vampires!” Carla cursed as they made their way back to The Golden Gryphon, the inn they had had the pleasure of staying at for the past two nights. They got some weird looks from the nobility walking along the street, but she didn’t seem to care. “First the inn, now this! We’ll go broke!”

  “Didn’t we get something like 5 gold from the expedition?” Valar asked in confusion. “That should be plenty for this and more…”

  “I’m not sure you understand the cost of staying at an inn like The Golden Gryphon…” the ice mage seethed. “The two rooms we had cost us a total of 1 gold and 80 silver, and that was for only two nights!”

  Valar stopped in his tracks, his eyes as wide as saucers. “What did you say?”

  “1 gold and 80 silver, you heard right! And that doesn’t even include the food…”

  “Rodrick ate like ten steaks…”

  “That he did.”

  “I think I’m going to be sick…”

  The following week was an exercise in laziness, inaction and relaxation. The team needed a break, and Rodrick was making everyone take it—including Ciel.

  Arthur took the news of the break well enough, drinking like there was no tomorrow from 1st day onwards. Valar wasn’t completely sure on how he did it, but he was pretty sure Arthur managed to visit at least half of the capital's taverns and bars before the end of the week. Still, every morning, he managed to join the others for breakfast, or lunch at the very latest.

  He seemed to be enjoying himself too, attracting all sorts of attention during his drinking adventures. In fact, the issue turned to such a bad one that Rodrick and Valar booked a third room so that Arthur could have a room just for himself and his nightly companions.

  Rodrick’s week—while somewhat similar on the drinking front—was quite different from the golden eyed archer’s break. Instead of touring Rhondell’s taverns, Rodrick focused on restocking and maintaining the team’s equipment in addition to taking care of their finances. Valar accompanied him for a day and a half, interested in seeing what a team leader’s responsibilities looked like.

  After that day and a half, he was sure that he would never become a team leader.

  The long and short of it was that the team leader had a lot of stuff to do.

  Rations, alchemical potions, equipment, survival gear, and the worst of them all… Money!

  “One measly gold left…” Rodrick sighed. After every purchase and payment, the team was left with 1 gold and 10 silver.

  Rations fit for bronze rankers had cost 20 silver, equipment repairs another 62—mostly due to Rodrick's sword. Survival gear for the southern city cost the team a total of 57 silver, and alchemical potions stole a whole gold coin from their hands. After the small cut that was deposited in the team’s bank account in case of extra expenses, the team was left with just over a gold to divide between themselves.

  “Adventuring really is a costly profession,” Valar wondered out loud as they walked back towards their tavern—this one situated squarely in the artist’s district. A silver per night was much better than the 45 silver at The Golden Gryphon. Sure the costly inn had been much, much more comfortable than The Wiley Fox, but enough to cost almost fifty times more? No, definitely not…

  “I really do wonder what got into our heads,” Rodrick grumbled. “Whose idea was it even? To sleep at The Golden Gryphon, I mean?”

  “Arthur.”

  “Should’ve guessed it…”

  The rest of Valar’s week was spent mostly with Carla. They spent their time frequenting the nearby cafés, reading about their respective magics and exploring the city in general. They even visited the docks again—this visit a much more enjoyable one than the prior one.

  “The sea really is beautiful, isn’t it?” Carla’s words were no more than a whisper, just barely audible over the sounds of the tides crashing against the docks.

  “Yeah…” Valar nodded, taking a bite of the fish pasty he had grabbed from a nearby street vendor. “I’m kind of sad that I didn’t get to see it earlier, but I guess this is good enough. I’m seeing it right now, aren’t I?”

  He knew that his tone was nervous, even anxious. I’m trying to prove something to myself, aren’t I?

  “That you are,” Carla chuckled. “And even better, you can come look at it anytime you want.”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “I know… It’s just that it feels lost—the past ten years, I mean.”

  “Are they?” Carla turned her gaze toward the boy, giving him a gentle smile. “Any further discussion should be between the mental health professional Rodrick suggested and yourself, but let me give you a few words of advice from someone who lived a very different life: Everyone would change something if they had the power to turn back time. Even if you had been born into a noble household, nurtured to become a great adventurer from your earliest years and able to experience the greatest luxuries, you would have regrets. Even if you were a dragon or fae lord, at the peak of the world, you would have regrets. As someone who already has lots of things to lose my sleep over, I can only recommend that you try to focus on the future instead, no matter how hard that may be.”

  Valar thought over Carla’s words carefully. Is she right? Am I focusing on the past too much?

  “It’s… hard.”

  “That it is… That it is.”

  Valar wasn’t sure if his sleep was better or worse that night. Instead of the orphanage, his dreams centered around mighty beasts and dragons. His only choices were to get ripped to shreds or to use his fire… He chose his fire every time.

  …

  The team spent the last day of the week together. Valar wasn’t sure if it was for his sake, but if it was, he was grateful for it. Getting one last day together with every team member before they left for Kilras felt nice, and the spa day itself wasn’t bad either…

  “Finally, a single good idea from your mouth,” Ciel groaned, sinking deeper into the pool of warm water. “If only there were more where this one came from…”

  “I’ve got plenty of good ideas,” Arthur snapped.

  “Don’t yell, Arthur,” Carla sighed from her corner of the pool. “The spa is supposed to be relaxing.”

  “She’s insulting me!”

  “Like always…”

  Valar ignored the rest of the bickering, submerging himself in the warm water completely. That hits the spot…

  He had found yet another thing that the orphanage had taken from him: The spa.

  I’m focusing on the past again… He tried to follow Carla’s suggestion, and move his focus towards the future once more. I can visit this spa anytime I want. Only 60 coppers is nothing, so I can literally come every day If I want!

  Valar didn’t know how to swim, but as the pool they had chosen was relatively shallow, he could test the waters without worry. The boy was surprised to find out that he actually quite enjoyed relaxing in the warm waters. His muscles relaxed, his mind calmed and he was able to forget his worries for a brief moment. I’ll definitely be visiting again…

  While the spa had lots of other luxuries available, they didn’t interest the team that much… if you excluded Carla and Arthur.

  “Carla I at least somewhat understand, but what do you need a manicure for?” Ciel grumbled to Arthur. He was relaxing on a comfortable chair, a member of staff painting his nails an opulent shade of gold. “It costs extra to do that, you know?”

  “It’s to make my nails pretty, of course,” Arthur’s relaxed sigh echoed in the room. “And whatever do you mean? Why should Carla get her nails done while I’m stuck with the boring normal ones?”

  “Yeah, I’m with Arthur here,” Carla quipped from her seat. “Why wouldn’t Arthur get a manicure when I’m getting one?”

  “It’s because… because… You guys suck.”

  In the end, everyone ended up getting their nails done. Valar didn’t need much persuading, as he was already halfway interested anyway. Ciel and Rodrick were tougher nuts to crack, but eventually, they gave up too.

  To be clear, Ciel was the last to crack. She was not easy…

  Walking out of the spa after a wonderfully relaxing couple of hours, Valar marveled at his nails. When he had had a selection of colours in front of him, he had opted to take the green matching his life affinity. In his opinion, the color fit him well!

  Carla, perhaps predictably, had gone for ice blue. Safe to say, the colour fit her well–especially if you were looking at her aura. Similarly, Ciel’s black nails were a perfect match to her, well, everything. Be it her hair or her aura, which was a weirdly dark purple bordering on black, black was Ciel’s colour.

  Valar wasn’t sure about Rodrick’s grey nails, however. He wasn’t a fashionista or anything of the sort, but wasn’t grey a bit of a boring colour? It matches his axe, I guess. Still boring.

  As for the last member of their team…

  If the results of their pleasant 6th day afternoon would’ve been judged in a competition of style, Arthur would’ve won, and it wasn’t even close.

  “Excuse me, young man?” Valar sighed as their way back to the inn was interrupted once more, the disruptor in question being a noblewoman of quite obvious wealth. The bronze ranked woman was practically covered in silk and jewelry, but her eyes were on only one source of golden luster. “Could you tell me where you got your nails done?”

  Arthur grinned. “Oh these? I don’t know if I should…”

  The noblewoman’s expression shifted to a thoughtful frown, “Two silver, and you’ll tell me where you got those nails. I simply must know!”

  “I’m not sure…”

  “Five silver!”

  When the woman in her early thirties dug the silver from her purse, Arthur snatched them like a hawk striking at a mole. “The Eternal Youth, a spa deeper in the merchant’s district. Any of the staff are good, but I do recommend picking a metallic colour instead of a matte one. Do remember to say that Arthur sent you!”

  “Thank you so much, young man!” The rest of the team looked on in confusion as the woman skipped away with a smile on her face. She seemed to believe that she had come out on top from the interaction, although that was hard to believe from Valar’s perspective.

  “Did I just see right, or did that lady give Arthur five silver for a spa recommendation?” he mumbled. “I must be dreaming; someone pinch me!”

  Ciel pinched him, then herself. “No, we’re unfortunately not dreaming.”

  Arthur truly was one lucky son of a bitch.

  The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent in merriment, the team choosing to visit the Iron Owl, an obvious favourite. The restaurant nestled in one of the noble district’s alleyways was truly a trove of delicious treasures, and every member of the team found their favorites once more. Carla ate fish while Arthur chose a meat stew. Rodrick and Ciel opted to take the fried chicken, but Valar wasn’t sure what he wanted. After some rumination, he picked the fried vendace.

  As he expected, the dish was mouthwateringly good!

  Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end, and so did their time together. Soon, it was time to head back to their inn, go to sleep and wake up to a new morning. A morning of farewells, no matter how temporary they were…

  “Remember to check your mail at the academy, even if you end up graduating ridiculously fast,” Rodrick reminded Valar for the umpteenth time that morning. “We’ll send our letters to the academy with your name, and we’ll be sure to send our first one the instant we arrive in Kilras. Also, here’s the calling card for the mind health professional I was talking about. Go check her out, will you?”

  Valar took the card from the man’s hand and nodded hesitantly. “I’ll do that once I get my ascension out of the way. Thank you, Rodrick.”

  “Take your time,” Carla patted his shoulder. “Learn some spells, and try to think of a combat style that suits you.”

  Valar did not need more words from her. He could read between the lines.

  “Don’t get poached by some ‘elites’ of the capital,” Ciel complimented her words with an eyeroll. “We’re better than them, whatever they say.”

  “I’ll be sure to avoid their recruitment speeches,” Valar gave the team a weak smile. “Have fun in Kilras. I’ll be sure to follow you there once I’m ready.”

  He really did hope that they would have fun, but… I won’t be there. I’ll be back in school, and not adventuring.

  “I know that expression, Valar,” Carla poked him in the chest. “Don’t ruin your foundation as a mage just because you want some more action, alright?”

  “Alright...”

  The last to speak was Arthur. His words weren’t many, nor were they particularly wise. Still, they were Arthur’s words, and they fit him well.

  “Good luck.”

  Finally, Valar’s smile reached his eyes. “Good luck to you too, Arthur, everyone.”

  Valar’s vision became blurry as he watched the others leave the inn. He waved his last goodbyes, receiving waves and shouts of encouragement in return. Sure, the others were leaving for another city, but Valar wasn’t going to be idle.

  I’ll see you soon… I’ll see you soon.

  ...

  Standing in front of the academy entrance, Valar wasn’t sure what to think. He had built lots of memories in the complex in front of his eyes, but they were a hodgepodge of pleasant and profoundly unpleasant ones. I’m not entirely sure which side of the scale is heavier…

  Sure, he had met wonderful people like Elaine, Julie and Zeke, but that was matched with one bad experience after another. The unending scrutiny, Konrad Wendir, Thomas Dremen…

  Focus on the future, Valar! Those things are in the past, and I need to move forward!

  The fact of the matter was that if Valar wanted the best education, the academy was where he needed to go. Besides, the others were already long gone. The best thing I can do is go in, ascend and learn fast!

  He opened the academy doors, walked in and smiled.

  Next up, Bronze rank!