Amdirlain’s PoV - Outlands

  Amdirlain had been watching Cla’nes’s transformation into an Astral Deva when she’d heard Sargel’s use of her name. Initially unsure who’d put so much force into her name, the connection that formed in her mind shocked her, with Sargel and Tingeth speaking beneath a concealment stopped at her awareness. After a needling taunt, Amdirlain released the link to the location where the pair had argued.

  They must surely have put some protections in place, so how did I manage to observe them?

  Nexus appeared beyond the Domain’s border and collapsed from an erratic swirl of energy into a Grecian female with chestnut hair and tanned skin. Aware Amdirlain was observing her, Nexus smiled shyly. “Might I visit ?you?”

  “Come on through,” Amdirlain said warmly, projecting her location in the Domain.

  The Aspect appeared beside her and offered Amdirlain another smile before smoothly sitting cross-legged. “I’ve never been inside a Domain before.”

  “You seem comfortable in that form,” Amdirlain noted. “I find it weird thinking about aspects adopting Human form. I’ve so many memories of you and the others, and you were never in the same shape for longer than seconds.”

  A blush darkened Nexus’s cheeks as she smiled. “I’ve had reasons to practise lately.”

  I won’t pry.

  “I’m glad for you,” Amdirlain said. “Did you help my name form a connection with that meeting?”

  “Yes, we’re not allowed to attack them without orders, but I so want to connect a few million strikes to the faces of her allies. Linking you to utterances of your name when they think themselves stronger seeds uncertainty.”

  “I can’t get rid of them yet, or then I wouldn’t have anyone to challenge me and help me grow stronger,” Amdirlain said. “I’ll need the strength and understanding gained from fighting these foes to ensure I can make ?lasting changes and not superficial noise.”

  “Maker will happily challenge you, but they’re unlikely to provide the last since they sent you back here,” Nexus sighed. “It’s just that your family is worried about you, both inside and outside the forge.”

  “I know.”

  “Why did you taunt the tyrant that way? Do you really want her to accept the duel?”

  “I told her she had a year to accept the offer to buy that much time, but I’m no longer intending to go through with it. I’ve figured out a way to get what I want without her. Now there isn’t any point, as mauling her Avatar wouldn’t cause permanent harm, and it would give her first-hand experience in how I fight.”

  “You’re really planning to go into Hell?” Nexus asked.

  “Yes,” Amdirlain grinned. “Until I’m ready for that trip, I’ll come up with ways to yank her chain.”

  “Oh, hilarious. Are you making puns about Tin’s outfit or Nu’s bounds?”

  I hope Nüwa accepts my offer.

  “Both.”

  Nexus leaned over and kissed Amdirlain’s cheek. “That’s from your brothers. Though they were just babies, even baby gods remember everything around them. The big sister who sang them to sleep rates high.”

  Amdirlain blinked. “It’s weird. At the time I rescued them and M?tēr, I only had fragments of memories about them. Now I remember all of them properly, and we’re cut off.”

  “Well, my role is managing connections,” Nexus tilted her head towards Cla’nes’s slowly rising form. “I’ll leave you to the renewal of this connection.”

  With that, Nexus vanished from the Domain. It was another few minutes before Cla’nes rose from the waters, her once white and silver-flecked fur now liquid silver. Between slow blinks, she regarded Amdirlain and tentatively flexed her arms, the motion causing her white wings to rustle. The wellspring’s energy had provided her with simple silk garments fashioned after Amdirlain’s usual pants and shirt. A familiar enchantment within allowed them to adjust size and self-repair.

  A lesson learned at the East Wind’s Court now benefits all my people.

  “Amdirlain. I dreamt I was floating somewhere quiet,” Cla’nes breathed.

  “Your Soul was in the Wellspring until you chose to help me out,” Amdirlain patted the grass beside her. “Would you care to sit and talk? I’d like to know how you feel.”

  “You know, but you’re seeking to help me ground myself?” Cla’nes rubbed a hand across the side of her face. “No, that’s not even a hypothetical question. You don’t have to ask because you know. I feel a connection between us. How do I feel? My first reaction is I feel lighter and stronger, and my mind feels weird, faster yet slower all at once.”

  “The transformation changes your species to a Celestial one, but you don't have your previous classes.”

  “I’m also no longer slowed by age,” Cla’nes added, flexing her arms again as she floated over to Amdirlain. “All the aches and pains that even magic couldn’t completely erase are gone. How do I sit with wings?”

  “You can either pull them tight, and then sort of settle sideways to the ground so your weight is mostly on your thigh and hip, or Shapeshift.”

  “I can Shapeshift?” Cla’nes grinned playfully. “That would have been very helpful in my life. My life—”

  Amdirlain felt the shift in Cla’nes’s emotions and memories but gave her time to settle through the surprise and momentary confusion.

  “It feels like there are gaps in my memory. Yet how am I even aware there are gaps?”

  “Souls shed memories journeying through the Astral Plane, keeping the core lessons of their life and the memories most important to them until they reincarnate or transform. What I did to help Qil Tris avoid the gods’ curse impacted the shedding of memories, so the gaps are more distinctive.”

  “Can I get my memories back?”

  “There are classes that can help, or ensure you do, depending on how well you do. Though the question is, do you want them back? What would be something you wouldn’t cling to?”

  Cla’nes opened her mouth, only to close it with a sharp click of her teeth. “The memories I lost are the least important things to me, or unpleasant experiences.”

  “Yes. I went through a similar thing,” Amdirlain admitted. “I lost memories and skills in breaking through to being a Primordial. While most I regained, there are places where I feel the damage.”

  “How do you handle it?” Cla’nes shapeshifted into her original white-furred form and sat beside Amdirlain. A few silver highlights along her arms and ears sparkled in the Outlands sunlight.

  “Some lost things will never return. We can live filled with regret or heal and move on,” Amdirlain replied. “In my first life, I didn’t allow myself to heal properly and came to regret it.”

  “How do the other souls from Qil Tris manage?”

  “Most souls that have undergone reincarnation have allowed all their memories to fade, only keeping seeds of wisdom. Given your home’s wariness of deities, I hadn’t fully considered the impact on souls transforming into celestials and still having them.”

  “Then I’m grateful for the memories I have,” Cla’nes said. She jerked slightly and grimaced. “I hadn’t meant it as a criticism; I was just commenting on my state, and asking questions.”

  “With our connection, that is the way I took it,” Amdirlain reassured.

  Cla’nes’s ears twitched in relief. “I doubt you need a spymaster, yet what can I contribute to the Domain?”

  “If you want to be a spymaster still, there are lots of locations and factions across the planes that I need to monitor,” Amdirlain replied.

  Her eyes glowed brighter, and Cla’nes leaned forward. “Would you tell me more?”

  ? ? ? ? ? ?

  (Avatar) Amdirlain’s PoV - Veht? - Town: La?ki

  Amdirlain swept her senses across the town while waiting for the guild receptionist, Zivena, to return. While the town hosted a range of crafters, only a single Artificer and Alchemist were among them. From the limited objects on display in the latter’s shops, ?both had recently received their journeyman rank. Most of the children in the area were acting as helpers and gofers, with only a handful attending structured classes. The few that entered the guild foyer didn’t stare at her elven features or the oddly fashioned recurve bow she carried unstrung with a quiver across her back.

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  As Amdirlain continued to poke her nose into the level of education people possessed, Zivena escorted an older gentleman to the counter. His full head of hair was a white mop that cascaded across his eyes and his wrinkled face. Deep-set grey eyes peeked through unkempt locks that detracted from the neatly pressed blue and grey uniform. It differed slightly from Zivena’s in that the Norse runes in the guild crest at the collar of his shirt were gold, rather than steel. His flowing stride showed that aging hadn’t yet eaten into the physical strengthening provided by his combat classes. While Amdirlain could sense the holy symbol dedicated to Mars beneath his clothing, he had no divinity-related classes.

  Zivena went to Amdirlain’s left, near the job board, and lifted a hatch in the counter, then opened a panel in the front.

  “Jay, I’m Marcin, local Guild Master of the Adventurers’ Guild.” Marcin’s voice was distinctive, with a gravelly rasp. “Why don’t you come through so we can discuss your registration and ways forward?”

  “So it’s not just a matter of paying the registration fee again?”

  “There are other regulations regarding this situation that we’ll need to discuss.” Marcin retrieved an enchanted metal plate the size of an electronic tablet from beneath the counter. “Adventurers don’t pay gate taxes, so we’ve unfortunately had people abusing the system in the past. However, Zivena said you didn’t visit other Human settlements. Did you make use of your card anywhere else?”

  Amdirlain heard the truth detection enchantment that Marcin activated.

  “No, since leaving Eyrarháls, the first people I’d shown it to were guards north of La?ki.”

  “We’re supposed to apply a penalty on top of the new card fee to encourage members to be aware of the rules. However, we can turn some of those to your advantage.”

  I can always get a new card elsewhere, but let’s see how this goes.

  Amdirlain set the small gold of the original fee on the countertop and then slipped through the open section.

  Marcin moved away from the counter and beckoned Zivena to take his place. “Please record the payment while I speak with Jay.”

  “Yes, Guild Master,” Zivena replied.

  He ushered Amdirlain into the first room along the corridor, which was lit by quartz chips set into the ceiling and connected to the building’s wards. Though the wall from the counter side had appeared to be solid stone, it was transparent from this side. On the other three walls, decorative panels made of interlocking pieces of different coloured wood sheathed the stone and a thick carpet padded the floor. A simple oval table, carved from maple, stood in the middle with seats for eight people. Although the table was a tight fit for the room, there would be enough elbow room even when fully occupied.

  Marcin slipped along the table to take a seat that afforded him a view of the foyer. Amdirlain closed the door and took the first seat to the left of the doorway.

  “Now, about your situation. What noble house are you from?”

  “I’m not from a noble house,” Amdirlain replied.

  He sighed and set the tablet aside. “I hope that is the case. You’d not be the first Elf to pretend to have less influence until it suited them. It’s not information we insist you provide to whatever team you join or work with, but it’s easier for all if the guild knows.”

  Amdirlain raised an eyebrow. “Easier for the guild?”

  “The guild’s purpose is to protect all adventurers from the overreach of people who would turn them into soldiers. With people hiding their nobility, it’s sometimes better for an unofficial record to be taken. Then, if your family is worried about you, we don’t get them riding roughshod over others. They ask the guild, we give them answers, and pass messages along.”

  “While I’ll admit that someone from a noble house might have expensive training lavished on them, my skills don’t stem from family influence or wealth.”

  Marcin brushed his hair from his face and regarded Amdirlain sharply. “Very well, since I’ve no evidence otherwise, I’ll take you at your word.”

  “What restrictions did you want to discuss? Or was that just a smokescreen to talk about nonexistent noble ties?” Amdirlain asked.

  “There are processes surrounding the delayed fulfilment of membership obligations. Usually, the situation is more clear-cut and involves someone local to the site where they registered,” Marcin smiled politely.

  “Whereas I was not only not local, but I skipped out and reappeared with equal lack of notice.”

  The slight tension in his smile eased. “Yes, in such a situation, membership normally wouldn’t get reissued. There are some factors in your favour. First, it’s clear from your classes that you weren’t a merchant misusing the membership; second, you came to us instead of the guild needing to locate you. Finally, you also have the advantage of your advanced skills, which make you desirable to the guild. I’ve got some options to allow you to continue, but these are normally punishments.”

  Amdirlain shrugged. “While I broke the rules unknowingly, I’m willing to work with you.”

  “Very well. Option one: You provide unpaid training to members for an agreed number of days each month.”

  “I’m not paid, and they’re not charged?”

  “Correct, a few hours of lessons a month for a year. The guild and those members will benefit. If you teach them well, you’ll gain a reputation and have people seeking you out long after your punishment has ended. Lessons from grandmasters are normally pricey to arrange, so I can put that forward as you compensating the guild for your error in judgment.”

  “I’ve no problem with that, but I’d like to hear the other options.”

  “Another is you’d handle an agreed number of the unwanted jobs each month.” His fingers traced the table’s wood grain, and Amdirlain caught the details from the plates on the job boards.

  Okay, low-paying crap jobs others don’t want to touch that clutter their books.

  “You get them off your board, and the guild is seen to complete annoying work. I take it these are hunting or gathering jobs that the wards stop copper rank members from seeing? Nothing on the board in the copper column looked annoying.”

  “That’s correct.”

  “Then I have a question. Would I get progress towards advancing my rank from doing them?”

  “Yes, since you made an uninformed error and not a deliberate breach of the rules. Option three is you’d help some combat assessments for the guild over the next year.”

  “I vote for all of those,” Amdirlain said.

  “There are other options, and the idea would be to pick one,” Marcin frowned slightly.

  Amdirlain smiled reassuringly. “All three sound like they’d be helpful to the guild and entertaining. Can I balance my work, clearing out unwanted jobs against training and assessments?”

  “If you’re sure, but let me know if you find a particular preference, and we can reorganise things. Whatever combination you take on will need to extend for a year.”

  “It’s fine with me. I assume I’m not permitted to handle the unwanted work solo.”

  “While you’re a copper rank, I’ll need to send someone along,” Marcin confirmed. “They can assess how you handle the jobs, and we can shortcut your advancement.”

  Amdirlain's smile faded. “I’m not looking for special treatment.”

  “Normally, the copper and bronze ranks are held by members with fewer than twenty levels. It’s not so much special treatment as making you available for work we’d need more skilled members to complete, and not tying up a supervisor.”

  “Okay, we’ll see how the jobs go then. Who will I be teaching?”

  “Senior guild members to help them advance their mastery.” The plate he’d been holding vanished into a storage ring.

  “That’s fine, but I’d like to teach some children as well.”

  Marcin’s lips twitched. “Most of our guild members are of an age to be children to an adult Elf. Or are you a runaway protégé?”

  Amdirlain rolled her eyes at the question. “I meant children who hadn’t experienced their Class Vision. If I can give them a solid grounding in skills, it will open more choices.”

  “What you wish to do in your spare time is up to you. The guild holds classes for youngsters, and unpaid volunteers are welcome to help. Would you like a full tour of the complex?”

  “I wouldn’t want to take up your time.”

  “That’s one advantage of being a Guild Master. I can offload most of what I don’t want to handle to someone else,” Marcin said.

  The last door on the left before the stairs led to a connecting passageway around a central courtyard. Its loop took them between the processing hall for monster kills, a training yard, a basic dormitory for eighty people, and an eatery. The cavernous halls for processing monster kills had staff dissecting a Wyvern with a forty-meter wingspan; the dimensional enchantments allowed space for five similarly sized beasts at once.

  The dormitory was located away from the complex’s front street entrance and featured sturdy but functional bunk beds, cloth mattresses, and access to washrooms. Meanwhile, the connected eatery provided a set meal without alcohol at each meal. In the kitchen, a group of cooks and helpers were busy preparing the evening meal. The training yard was a mix of open space, along with posts and targets for static practice.

  Marcin stopped the tour at the small archery range accessed through a grilled gate at the side of the training yard. The targets were just cloth draped over hay bales with leather curtains behind them to stop stray arrows, or those that punched through the bales. Unlike the training yard, which had space for forty people to train together, there were only three targets in a tight row.

  "I wouldn't have expected all this from the front of the building. Why is the main building so tall when most of the facilities lie hidden behind it?"

  “The upper floors of the main building handle administration work for the region. While the guild is heavily involved with the republic, we’re an impartial body with consistent training, so various groups get us to handle their paperwork.” Marcin nodded towards the quarters behind the Adventurers’ Guild. “Some adventurers never really progress far level-wise, so we allow them to live in the dormitory, provided they fulfil several jobs each day. Though we waive that for anyone injured while performing a task.”

  If you’re only gathering wild herbs and killing giant-sized pests for silvers, I guess that makes sense.

  “While I won’t help everyone, if you’d let me know if you have someone worthy of healing who cannot afford it, I’ll meet with them. I know enough spells to rebuild limbs.”

  “That's not a commitment to healing them.”

  “I’ll judge each person for myself. Just because someone believes they’re good doesn’t mean I don’t want to decide for myself if they’re a person I want to aid.”

  “That’s reasonable,” Marcin pointed to the targets. “Why don’t you show me how well you can do? I’ve not seen a Grandmaster show off in some time.”

  “Twenty metres isn’t a challenge.”

  “It’s long range compared to a winding Goblin tunnel, and I’m sure you can come up with your own challenges to meet,” Marcin countered. “There are other target ranges outside the wall, but this is enough for someone to practise their technique. Care to show yours?”

  She looped a string around one end of her unstrung recurve bow and braced it against her foot for show as she smoothly flexed it to string it. Then in rapid succession, Amdirlain snuck five arrows around the centre of the target, the fletching of all just touching. Marcin just lifted his eyebrows as if waiting for more. Her drawing hand blurred, and she added three more rings of arrows, the fletching of each layer just touching the one closer to the centre. Then she changed her stance and repeated the exercise, splintering each of the previous arrows. When she retrieved them, she pulled the second set out and used a single Repair Spell to put the first set back together before drawing them from the target.

  With that done, she strolled back to Marcin, returning the arrows into the quiver that lay at an angle across her lower back without looking.

  “How many times could you do that in a row?”

  “I could do that all day if I wanted. I’ve only got one quiver at present, so I can’t add more rings of arrows,” Amdirlain pouted playfully. “Woe is me.”

  “You’re not as reserved as many elves,” Marcin smiled lightly. “People should start returning to hand in materials or report results shortly. I’ll have someone show you to one of the recommended inns.”

  “Since I’ll be in town awhile, I’d prefer to board.”

  “I’ll ask a receptionist to help; they’ll know what locals might have a room open.”