Chapter 46: Proposals (Patreon)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jVwtT7EaiHk4Tem0V-cd5WfqcDtB3cZuZG-TL9lxt2w/edit?usp=sharing

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Cayden only had a minute after accepting his two new skills before he was interrupted from his tests.

“What dungeons were you planning on delving?” Elise asked.

Cayden looked away from his status and was surprised to see how dark it was. Pelott had cast a skill that caused a dozen small fire orbs to orbit around their group, illuminating their surroundings, while somehow not burning the forest they walked through. Cayden wondered if it was a unique skill or simply a variation on an existing skill – a skill slot devoted purely to illumination seemed wasteful use of a bodyguard’s limited skill slots – yet Cayden couldn’t imagine what other sort of skill a fire mage might have that would create non-burning flames.

Despite the illumination from the bodyguard’s skill, the shadows flickered around them as the flames danced between branches and around trees. Evidently, it was too dark for Elise to read or write in her notebook any longer, and she looked at the princess and Marianne expectantly after asking her question.

“You don’t have to answer that if it’s some secret, though,” Cayden hurried to add when the girls didn’t immediately respond, worried about the gazes the bodyguards leveled at Elise after her question.

But the princess simply waved away Cayden’s statement. “I was just surprised. It is the Howardson dungeon. An open-air dungeon filled with slitherkin. Are you familiar?”

Elise shook her head. “Not with the dungeon, but I know of slitherkin. Snake-like monsters? Ambush hunters?”

“That is correct. It is a dungeon neither of us has delved before, so it was deemed a good challenge for mine and Marianne’s skillsets.”

“Why would you delve, anyway?” Cayden asked a moment later with a frown. “Can’t you just buy all the experience crystals you need? Is there that much need for combat experience?” Only after he finished asking the question did Cayden realize how it might come across as patronizing.

Marianne was making an ugly face in his direction, but luckily the princess didn’t seem offended, though with her overall lack of expression it was hard to tell. “The nobility must be capable of defending the kingdom, and an important part of that comes from delving. Both in terms of understanding and power. It is expected that at least a portion of all nobles’ power comes from experience gained on their own delves.” She paused. “...though that trend had faded somewhat in recent years.”

Marianne huffed. “All true nobles still get some of their experience from delving,” she said, as if daring Cayden to argue the point.

“Er, of course,” he blandly agreed, unwilling to get into what sounded like a political discussion he had no basis to understand. Although he could certainly agree with the sentiment of the privileged noble kids being forced to work for their power.

“Do you have combat classes, then?” Elise asked. “I know that the nobility of old were originally combat classers who got their power through delving and force of arms, but I was under the impression modern nobility mostly focused on social classes.”

If Cayden thought the glares from the bodyguards had been bad before, it was nothing compared to what was directed at Elise after she directly asked about the girls’ classes. Thankfully, they didn’t seem like they would take any action without the princess’ say-so, and Valeria didn’t appear offended.

“That has certainly been the trend, yes. It is tradition, though, that nobility attend the Delver’s Academy for several years prior to turning eighteen. Many switch to social classes afterward, but having a combat class while in the academy is extremely helpful, as I’m sure you can imagine.”

“Delver’s Academy? What’s that?” Cayden asked

Marrianne and the princess paused their walking to stare at him.

“You aren’t training to try and attend?”

“No. I’ve never even heard of it.” He turned to Elise. “Do you know anything about it?”

“A bit,” she responded, waggling her hand in the air. “Mostly about its history. It’s been around for ages, originally set up as a training ground for noble kids. Commoners were allowed in via a set of trials for the first time…something like fifty years ago? There’s nothing much about it in the history books since then, though.”

“It’s the premier training ground for adventurers! Anyone who’s anyone among adventurers wants to attend, especially at your age – I can’t believe you don’t know about it!” Marianne exclaimed, but Cayden just shrugged.

“The adventurer’s guild in Avernon isn’t the largest. It’s never come up before.”

Marianne spluttered, while the princess stared at Cayden speculatively. “Would you like to?” she asked suddenly. “Attend, I mean.”

“...what do you mean?”

“The new semester starts in a week. The royal family has a few guaranteed slots we are allowed to use for vassals, servants, and suchlike. I am asking if you would like one of those slots.”

Cayden looked back at her, speechless. It was all so sudden, so completely and randomly out of the blue. Even after Elises’ and Marianne’s description of the school, he had no idea what an offer like this was worth. But from the look on Marianne’s face, it was significant.

“Why would you offer me that?” he eventually asked.

“You helped to defend us when we were in need, without any desire or expectation of recompense. I am part of the royal family, and such actions should not go unrewarded. First and foremost, this is a reward for your actions against the terravias. But there are other reasons as well.

“You are obviously a promising adventurer based on your apparent age and ability to withstand the terravia’s attack without lasting injury. I will be sharing a room with Marianne when I start at the academy in a week, and so was not planning on using the slot for a vassal. And I would hope this would build a certain amount of goodwill towards me and the throne.” Valeria took a deep breath. “I am not without enemies, as this recent assassination attempt has helpfully reminded me. Someone loyal to me in the academy, especially among the commoner students, would not be amiss.”

Cayden frowned. “I don’t have any plans of being your spy.”

“No, no, nothing like that, especially nothing formalized. As long as, should the situation arise, you act in the same manner as you did today, that would be enough.”

Cayden thought about the proposal. He still knew almost nothing about the academy, but from what little she’d said it sounded perfect. A place purely dedicated to training and delving? He couldn’t imagine the nobles would deign to be taught by anyone but the best. He glanced at Elise.

The princess must have seen his glance because she immediately turned to his friend. “I would like to offer you an invitation as well. It has only been open for the last few years, but the academy recently started a sister program for training adventurer affiliates: enchanters, team managers, and the like. I’m sure they could help you with your enchanting, as I’ve heard the teachers are some of the best in the kingdom.” Elise looked skeptical, but at the princess’ following words her gaze locked onto the girl like a hawk onto prey. “You’d have access to the full academy library, which shares resources with the royal library.”

“I’m in,” Elise said immediately, and Cayden couldn’t stop a slight smile from forming on his face.

The princess held up her hands in a ‘slow-down’ gesture. “You’d have to go through the trial process to get in, unfortunately. Unlike for the main school of the Delver’s Academy, the royal family doesn’t have any guaranteed slots for the affiliate school. But we can provide for the cost of travel and housing while you go through the trial, along with a small stipend for the year. And that applies to you as well.” The last she said as she looked back over to Cayden.

Cayden thought about the offer. It was insane how fast everything was moving – only a few hours earlier, his biggest worry was how he was going to get the smell of the brantings’ acid out of his armor. And now he was considering moving to the capital to join an academy for adventurers.

Was he truly considering it? It seemed like an amazing opportunity that fit with everything he wanted out of life. A chance to grow in power and experience as an adventurer. To be closer to Tiana for when she was eventually able to leave her ‘compound’. And if Elise truly planned on trying her hand at the affiliate school – which if her hungry expression was anything to go by, she did – then there wasn’t anything holding him to Avernon.

He’d made a few acquaintances among the other adventurers, people like Diedrich and some of the other teams he’d regularly trained or delved with, but none of them he would truly consider ‘friends’. At least not in a way that would prevent him from chasing this opportunity.

The only question that remained was: should he accept the princess’ offer?

After all, it sounded as if he could apply for the academy himself even without the princess’ recommendation. There was no guarantee he’d make it, but it would allow him to enjoy his time at the academy untethered by political machinations. While the princess seemed sincere in her desire to simply want someone ‘in her corner’ at the academy, Cayden was sure it wouldn’t be quite so simple. He wasn’t sure how difficult the trial process might be, but it couldn’t be too competitive. Right?

He shook his head. No, as far ahead as he was compared to the other adventurers around his age in Avernon, Avernon was nothing more than a provincial city with a small adventurer’s guild. He’d only seen a few mages in the guildhall in the entire time he’d been a member. The princess had complimented his abilities, but he couldn’t let that go to his head.

He’d accept the free pass into the Delver’s Academy.

But when he finally refocused on the princess, she was turning away with a slight frown on her face, and he realized she’d interpreted his headshake as a rejection, rather than simply as a part of his internal deliberations.

“Ah, princess,” he called, and Valeria turned. “Yes, please. I mean, I’ll do it. And thanks.” Cayden figured there must have been a protocol to thanking a member of royalty, and for a moment he had the insane notion of bowing. But luckily, he avoided that awkward interaction as he had a sudden thought. “On one condition.”

The princess, who had a moment earlier been looking at him in…approval?...smoothed her face back into an impassive mask. “And that is?”

“You tell me about my sister. And pass along a message, if possible.”

The princess stared at Cayden in silence for several seconds, long enough for him to worry he might be about to be attacked by the bodyguards before she nodded. “Of course.”

Cayden breathed a sigh of relief. “Her name is Tiana. She’s still only twelve years old – going to turn thirteen in a few weeks. She left for the capital right after going through her change, though. Do you know her?”

“Ah…” the princess said as her cheeks gained a tinge of pink, making her look even more beautiful. “I am…not the best with names. I do recall seeing a young girl that looked around that age. It was only a single time, but she seemed to be in good health.”

“Can you pass along a message?” Cayden asked.

“She’s not a messenger bird,” Marianne muttered angrily, but the princess waved away her friend’s complaints.

“I can pass one along, but it will likely be quite some time before I will see her again personally. I am expecting to be quite busy after my return to the capital, what with the assassination attempt and starting the new semester at Delver’s.”

“That’s fine,” Cayden replied, motioning for Elise to pull some paper from her backpack. He could send his own message via the post, and would hopefully be able to spend some time with Tiana once her first year was done in a few weeks, but having the redundancy of multiple messages via multiple avenues took a weight off of his mind. He just wanted Tiana to know he cared for her and was there if she needed anything, and this would hopefully do that.

The rest of the walk back to Avernon was, thankfully, much less awkward. Cayden had originally planned, when it was just him and Elise, to camp for the evening in the forest and return on the morrow, but with the fire mage’s lights and their new companions’ urgency after the assassination attempt, he didn’t dare suggest taking an extra day.

As it was, they arrived at the gates of Avernon in the middle of the night. Pelott slipped a few coins into the hands of one of the guards, and they all passed through without fanfare or issue.

“We’ll see you in a few days?” the princess asked a few minutes later as they stood outside of an inn whose owner was friends with Elise’s father. The princess’ entourage would depart the next morning, and Cayden and Elise planned to follow later in the afternoon after they had a chance to pack and take care of everything that needed doing before they left. The semester didn’t start for a week, but the trials for the affiliate school were only two days away.

“In a few days,” Cayden confirmed, accepting the handful of small silver that Jevroy handed to him as the promised payment for their travels. A year ago, that amount being casually pulled out of a pouch would have sent Cayden into fits, but he’d been a professional adventurer for ten months now – he was more used to that type of wealth.

Then with a final wave goodbye, he turned to walk Elise back to her home.

They walked in silence, both of them exhausted from spending so much time interacting with strangers, especially when two of the strangers were constantly on guard and sizing them up as potential threats. And as they walked, Cayden contemplated the future.

Everything was about to change for him. He wasn’t sure what form his new life would take, and frankly he still didn’t fully believe that it was all happening. But the following morning – assuming this wasn’t all some weird fever dream brought on by terravia poison – he’d be leaving Avernon.

Perhaps for good.

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Sorry this is late. Hoping to get another chapter out later today.