by J. T. Wright
Night had come quickly after Trent left Arden’s shop. At a loss for where people slept in Bellrise, Trent had ventured outside the town’s walls to make camp a mile away. There were a few farmhouses to be seen nearby, but no one came to complain about the stranger in their fields, leaving Trent to believe his actions were normal.
Fire Manipulation grabbed hold of a string of campfire, holding it still, and Trent closed his hand around it. He chuckled in victory and then settled back. Tucking his mostly empty pack under his head, he stared up at the sky. Watching the stars make their appearance occupied him for almost an hour. He counted the twinkling dots as they appeared until there were too many to keep track of, then sat up with a sigh.
His negotiations with Arden had seemed like a success. Trent came to realize he had a lot to learn about the art of haggling. Had he gotten what he wanted, he and Dreq would be in the Trial now.
But Arden had no Fire Spell to give, any more than he had Basic Spear. Instead, Trent settled for a battered and scorched book, and a small, egg-shaped stone, both of which had proven useless.
The Stone contained the common-ranked Skill, Spear. It wasn’t what Trent needed to increase his Survivalist level, but it was a start. Or it might have been, had Trent been able to learn the Skill. That he couldn’t, no matter how hard he concentrated on the Stone, disturbed him. It frightened him more than any Beast he had ever encountered. Had he reached his limit? Was he destined to be stuck with a Class that never leveled?
The thought panicked Trent enough that he was unable to conjure any excitement over the book, or rather the Spell Tomb. Arden had seemed hesitant to give up the tomb. After peering at the book for an hour, Trent suspected that had been an act. There were three Fire Spells recorded in what was left of the pages, and Trent couldn’t make heads or tails of them.
The pages weren’t even intact, not completely. Arden had said the burns and missing pages were due to a failed experiment at the forge, but a studious person could still pick out the important bits, which was good enough for Trent.
He should have looked at his prize more carefully. When he did, Trent discovered that the book was filled with diagrams and notations, which appeared to be in the Common tongue. If that were true, then Trent didn’t understand the language half as well as he thought he did. He read the words describing the first Spell, Firebolt, over and over until his eyes blurred and his head started to nod, without coming any closer to an epiphany on how to cast the Spell. This was supposed to be the way Mages traditionally learned Spells. True or not, it seemed a method that was beyond him.
Laying belly up beside the fire, soaking up the heat while digesting a generous portion of meat and fruit bought from street vendors, Dreq burped. The pup lifted his head, and his tail began to swish slowly when Trent’s violet eyes turned to him.
“I guess I'll stick to Archery and Mining for tomorrow,” Trent told his sleepy companion. “And if those squiggly lines in the book don’t make sense soon, I'll choose a Mage Class and hope that clears things up. It’s that or ask for help.”
Trent settled back against his pack and, folding his hands on his chest, he closed his eyes. Dreq grumbled and flipped over, moving closer to tuck in beside Trent.
“Book,” Dreq barked softly, resting his head on Trent’s knee. “Book. Help.”
“I don’t want to think about it,” Trent murmured. “I gave Arden two lengths of Elwire for the book and Stone. It will be another two pieces and a hundred pounds of iron ore if he comes up with the Spell or Skill Stones I wanted. How much you want to bet he manages to find them once I get him his payment?”
“Book, help,” Dreq formed the words carefully, convinced Trent misunderstood his intentions. Talking was hard. His muzzle was not the right shape, and somehow, the thoughts in his head never came out the way he meant them to. “Storage.”
“And that’s where it’s going to stay.” Trent picked Dreq up and settled the Dog on his chest. “It’s going to be cold tonight.” A heavy piece of furred hide was produced. Dreq’s mention of Storage reminded Trent of its existence. Dog and boy were soon wrapped up, and Dreq, satisfied with this arrangement, decided explanations could wait until later.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kerry had to train Strength and Constitution according to the charter. It didn’t stop him from trying to raise his other Attributes. There were many ways to increase Strength that also built up Agility. He just had to be smart about it.
Normally, Kerry woke early every morning to run the Academy’s obstacle course. He would make two or three laps daily before anyone else pulled themselves out of bed. It was a practice that had served him well. Although he hadn’t seen much return to his Status, rising before the sun meant he was the first to the Questing Pillar on days without lessons.
When the obstacle course was occupied by Rogues who had dawn drills, like they did today, Kerry settled for running to the edge of the Dungeon’s domain and back. It was six miles round trip, a distance that took almost two hours to cover. Kerry’s Strength made him fast in short bursts. On longer distances, the extra weight of his muscles dragged him to a lumbering jog after a few yards.
A light drizzle mixed with sweat on Kerry’s face as he pushed himself forward. The rain barely cooled him, but he was grateful for the moisture that wet his lips and tongue. Soaked cloth rubbed at his skin in an annoying fashion, though his relatively high Constitution kept it from chafing too much.
Kerry guessed he looked a mess as he stomped through a puddle and splashed mud up his legs. He was grateful the only people nearby to see him were a group of farm kids, too wrapped up in their own games to pay him any mind. It was a local festival day, some sort of harvest celebration if Kerry remembered rightly, and the children were taking full advantage of the holiday.
Now that the necessary chores were done, a group of fifteen had come together to play a version of Beggar Taunt. One blindfolded boy held his arms out and swiped at the air as his friends ran past, giggling and shouting. The runners carried short sticks and took every opportunity to poke at the child designated as the Beggar.
The sticks weren’t a part of the game the way Kerry remembered it when he had played at their age. He wondered if there was a scoring system for touching the Beggar. A point for the back, two for the chest, maybe? Not that he could see much sense in keeping score in Beggar Taunt. The winner would be whoever wasn’t blindfolded.
Kerry had not learned his lesson yesterday. He really must pay attention to where he was going and what he was doing. A helpful puddle reminded him of this as his toes caught on a rock, and he splashed face first in the mud. He stayed put for a minute. When no jeers came from the direction of the children, he was confident he hadn’t been seen.
He rolled onto his back, nothing injured except for his pride, and swiped mud from his face. He let the rain wash the dirt and embarrassment from his skin. He should blame Jace, Holly, and Silas for his predicament, but he couldn’t work up any anger. He had signed the charter without reading it closely. He deserved this.
“Do you fall a lot? You should train Agility, or pick up Steady Footing. Or Acrobatics!”
“Yeah, ‘cause it’s just that easy, right?” Kerry muttered bitterly, “I'll do some somersaults and “bam,” have a new Skill! After that, I'll take my pocket change to the market and pick up Steady Footing. Shouldn’t be more than a couple coppers.”
“Is that all? I would have thought it would be more expensive. The common Skills in the market were going for silver, and I think Steady Footing is better than common.”
“I was being sarcastic! I know that…” Kerry sat up. Turning his head, he found himself looking at a face that wasn’t much older than his own, perhaps a bit younger. It was always hard to tell the age of a person that had Awakened their Status and leveled up a bit, but the violet-eyed youth with the sharp features still had soft cheeks and fair skin.
It was Dreq that helped Kerry connect the voice to Trent. Kerry had never seen
Trent without his cowl and mask, and while his voice had seemed familiar, Kerry hadn’t placed it either. However, there was no mistaking the puppy in Trent’s lap, even if he was sopping wet.
The Dog was whining and trying to squirm away from Trent, who held him firmly in place with his left hand. The nimble fingers of his right hand were trying to tie a strip of cloth around Dreq’s eyes, and Dreq was not happy about it. Kerry would have been impressed by the Dexterity Trent displayed if not for the strangeness of the scene.
Forgetting his own misfortunes, Kerry asked slowly, “What are you doing?”
“We’re getting ready to train,” Trent answered. He squeezed Dreq slightly in agitation, as the Dog shook his head to impede Trent’s efforts. “Quit it! This is for your own good. It’s not a punishment!”
Trent’s words rang falsely to his own ears, but he didn’t let it show on his face. He had been annoyed to wake up and find that Dreq had chewed a corner of their makeshift blanket, ruining the hide. That annoyance may have played a part in his decision to make Dreq wear the blindfold first. They would have tried this training exercise regardless though, so it wasn’t really a punishment.
“Train? You are training your Dog with a blindfold? How?” Trent answered Kerry’s question by pointing in the direction of the children playing not far away. “You’re teaching your Dog to play Beggar Taunt?”
Trent stopped fiddling with the blindfold to give Kerry a serious look. “Play? I think you used the wrong word. I saw a similar exercise once. This one looks even more effective.”
Trent continued to be amazed at the ingenuity of pre-Awakened children. Kerry had called it Beggar Taunt? Trent thought it looked like a great way to build up combat awareness, Agility, and possibly Perception. Sergeant Cullen could learn a thing or two from the kids Trent had seen.
“But how is the Dog going to know what’s happening? It seems a little mean. To him, he'll just be blind while you poke at him.” Kerry bit down on his tongue. He was doing it again. Personal questions and criticisms were not how you started a conversation.
“I'm sure you know what you’re doing!” Kerry nearly shouted. He took a deep breath to calm himself. “He's your Dog after all. Nice weather we’re having, huh?”
Trent stopped tying the cloth around Dreq. He continued holding the puppy in place. He slicked back his hair and then held his hand out palm up to watch small raindrops splatter against it.
“It’s raining,” Trent said softly.
“Yeah, it kind of is,” Kerry said miserably, “and it’s cold.”
“I think I like the rain.” Trent lifted his face to the sky. “It’s refreshing. The cold doesn’t bother me much.”
Ignoring Kerry, whose jaw worked soundlessly as he tried to decide just how well or poorly this conversation was going, Trent lifted Dreq to eye level. “Is it mean to make you wear the blindfold first?”
When Dreq yipped and nodded his head enthusiastically, Trent set him on the ground and said, “Fine! I'll go first and show you how it’s done.”
Trent stood, and Dreq started prancing around happily until the boy’s words sunk in. He watched as Trent took a longer strip of cloth from where it was tucked in his belt and tied it over his eyes. Blindfold in place Trent bent and picked up two branches that he had set aside.
Trent started to push one branch towards Dreq and then hefted it contemplatively. “You can’t hold this very well, can you?” He turned to Kerry. “You’re training now. Do you want to join us? It should be good for Agility, which you need.”
Kerry was studying the back of his hands, which lay in his lap, and it took him a moment to realize Trent was addressing him. He looked up and found a stick pointed at his face. He took it uncertainly. “Ah, sure, could be fun. But Beggar Taunt is meant to be played in a group.”
“There’s two of you. That’s a group.” Trent tilted his head. “We could ask to join the others, but I don’t think it would be fair.”
“Beggar Taunt is never fair,” Kerry said, rising to his feet. He looked over at the circle of screaming children. The kid playing Beggar had switched, which surprised him. In his experience, the weakest, least popular child stayed blindfolded until the others tired of the game, and if by some twist of fate, one of the in crowd ended up wearing the blindfold, their friends helped them reverse the situation soon enough.
“What are the rules?” Kerry asked, noticing Trent holding a long stick of his own. “You touch me, and we switch?”
“No.” Trent walked to the center of the road and stood, his weight on the balls of his feet. “It would be over too quickly that way. You and Dreq attack how you like. We'll switch when… when we feel like it.”
Kerry looked at the puppy, who sneezed at him, then back at Trent. His partner did not generate a great deal of confidence. Then again, he didn’t think he would need any help. He sidestepped to the left moving as quietly as he could, seeking to get behind Trent as the traditional game of Beggar Taunt required. When Trent turned with him, unerringly facing him no matter how he moved, Kerry’s brow tightened.
“You know this doesn’t work if you can see through the blindfold, right?”
“That would be pointless.” Trent touched the strip of bear hide around his eyes, wondering if there were people in the world whose sight could penetrate the thick leather.
Kerry pursed his lips, sure that Trent was cheating. He resolved to overlook it. Rogues cheated; it was a given. Trent would hardly be a respectable backstabber if he played by the rules. What happened next turned Kerry’s worldview on its head.
Dreq, more aware of what Trent was capable of than the lumbering Warrior, had circled to the right when Kerry went left. He gave Kerry more credit than the boy was due, sure the absurd questioning of Trent’s integrity was to cover the Dog’s movement and provide an opportunity. An opportunity Dreq seized.
A streak of black was all Kerry saw as Dreq rushed forward. The Dog’s nose was stretched out, and there was no way for Trent to see him coming. Dreq’s lips parted in victory when he was inches away. When he was a foot beyond, his doggy grin faded, and when Trent’s stick poked him in the tail, sending him rolling into a puddle, it disappeared completely.
Kerry swallowed. Trent lifting his leg at just the right moment couldn’t be explained. The perfect thrust he delivered when his foot came down in a lunge was improbable. The way he swished his stick invitingly as Dreq pulled himself out of the mud was just insulting.
Dreq and Kerry exchanged nods and the game began in earnest. Kerry charged, vowing to teach Trent the Beggar's proper place. Dreq followed close behind, certain Kerry would fail but hoping for an opening he could exploit. Both were doomed to disappointment.
Trent had to step wide to avoid Kerry’s bulk, but his stick tapped the back of the brawny boy’s head as he sailed past. Dreq wasn’t spared either. He hopped to the side, and while he was moving, Trent’s relentless weapon pushed him over before his feet firmly touched the ground.
Kerry lost track of time as he explored a version of Beggar Taunt that had never existed on the streets of Al’drossford. Trent refused to admit that he was supposed to be at a disadvantage. His leg kicked the feet out from under Kerry again and again. His stick poked at every vulnerable spot the boy and Dog offered him.
Kerry wanted to shout, “cheater!” every time Trent made an impossible dodge. Before the words could leave his mouth, Trent would prove he didn’t need eyes to find his target, big or small. He would reach back and snatch Kerry’s branch away while pushing at Dreq with his toe. Armed with both sticks, Trent became a nightmare, and for a time, the Beggar became the chaser. This happened three times and lasted until Trent graciously handed the wooden weapon back to the disarmed Kerry.
In Kerry’s experience, there had been no fun in this game, but with Trent, the young Warrior found a new way of playing. Trent never laughed when Kerry fell, and there were no accidental kicks. Kerry was the one laughing, even as he rubbed the back of his head to relieve th
e sting of a poke. Trent would grin at Kerry’s outbursts but was too busy concentrating on pushing Dreq into puddles to fully join in.
Trent twisted his body to the side, his stick touching the side of Kerry’s neck, while his free hand snatched Kerry’s branch away. Kerry braced himself for another round of what he had come to call, Beggar's Revenge, and was surprised when Trent said, “Hold!”
The rain had ended at some point, and when Kerry collapsed in the grass, panting, it was sweat that soaked him. The ground was dry beneath him and the sky a chipper blue. The sun was more than halfway to noon. How long had they been at this?
“Did your Attributes go up?” Trent’s question was the very kind of personal intrusion Kerry had tried to avoid himself. Checking his Status and seeing a notification that his Agility had gone up, Kerry didn’t mind.
Only Trent wasn’t talking to Kerry, something Kerry discovered when Dreq barked excitedly. They were an odd pair. Trent talked to the Dog like he could understand, and there were times Kerry swore Dreq’s barking sounded like simple words.
