Thera went on to explain her connection to the man who attacked them. “When I first came to this town to try to grow my skills by adventuring, things weren’t as bad as they are now. My magic was a drawback but I was able to occasionally form some temporary parties and work on my skills a little bit, but that all changed when Roan got his eye on me. Most of the other adventurers thought he was a piece of shit and he worked solo if you didn’t count the few creatures he had tamed. He also came from a distant nation but his people are perverts who thought that having multiple wives was some sort of status symbol so he was always making a move on the few female adventurers around which included me. It was something I could brush off though until one day he grabbed my hand when I wasn’t paying attention.” She took a small moment to collect herself here, having gotten a bit worked up in her explanation, before continuing.

“From there I did everything right. I told him he couldn’t make contact with me because I have a passive magic, I explained what happened to the guild so they could be aware in case he started acting strange and they told him off, but he didn’t take it seriously and thought I was just trying to brush him off so he kept trying to get my attention that way. Guild employees would see but a lot of them either never encountered someone with charm before or didn’t appreciate how dangerous it could be to a mind so they would just tell him off. They didn’t really start taking the fact that it could be having an effect on his mind seriously until he started brawls with other people and loudly proclaiming it was to win my heart that they believed he was becoming unbalanced and he disappeared after being kicked out of the guild for repeatedly disturbing the other adventures. Of course, at this point the adventurers all think my magic is a curse I’ve placed on him and that they’re at risk too so they steer clear.”

“That fuck!” Falk spat. “I should have cracked the bastard's skull last time he came to the shop instead of just throwing him out.”

Ben was in complete agreement. Causing Thera to be ostracized was too much when the guy went mad from his own stupidity and an inability to acknowledge a basic warning.

“What's done is done. I just don’t get how he could have tamed an alseer, that's a pretty powerful monster and he was only an okay tamer.” she said thoughtfully.

Falk groaned and threw his head in his hands when he heard this. “I have an idea on how it happened. Before I knew what was happening with you he requested I make him a staff that could hold the highest level of enchantment that I could. He must have found an enchanter with a high level of the taming skill and gotten them to apply it. It would explain where he’d vanished to these last few months. I thought he went to his homeland but the bastard must have gone to find an enchanter and the alseer.”

“Everyone relax.” Sonya told them as she felt tensions rise again. “We’ve already made the guards aware that it was Roan who probably attacked you so he won’t get into the town without being questioned. He was already known for his bad personality anyway so there isn’t much to worry about. The bigger issue is Theras cloak. Falk I don’t suppose you’ll be able to make another one before you leave, will you?”

He gave her a shake of his head. “Not only are they hard to make but I would need to get the right fabric as well, otherwise Thera wouldn’t be able to see when it covers her face. I could at least start a temporary one with a worse quality material I have on hand, just in case of an emergency, but I don’t think I could get it done before I leave for my client.” He stopped regretfully before changing to a more thoughtful look. “Of course, it’s not like there’s no one else who could do it. Maybe someone who’s going to be bedridden for a few days and even when he’s better won’t have much else to do since the shop will be closed and his adventuring partner will be occupied.”

“Of course I’ll make it. Show me how and I’ll start immediately.” Ben still felt responsible. If he could at least help a little then he would do it happily.

His teacher gave him a smile. “Good lad. I’ll run to grab some materials then give you a quick lesson.”

“And I need to go back to the clinic now that you’re awake.” Sonya said. “When I get back tonight I’ll work on treating your injuries some more, but you’ll be with us for a couple more days.”

“Hey Sonya I’m sorry to make this request after you’ve been working so much to heal me but if I give you my address could you stop by and give Fredrick some water, or maybe bring him here if it's not too much trouble.” Ben asked as she was walking off.

“Oh gods you have a pet! The poor thing’s going to be terribly dehydrated! I'll go right away!"

“Uh no, wait.” He said awkwardly. “Fredrick is my houseplant.” In that moment he felt like could have heard a pin drop from the sudden silence that filled the room and the panic that had filled Sonya when she thought his pet was probably dying evaporated from her body.

Thera was the first to break the silence. “You named your plant?”

“Yes and cut me some slack, I don’t have any other way to train my connect skill and it’s not like I live with anyone else. Giving it a name made it easier to talk to.”

“You talk to it as well?” Falk asked.

“It responds a bit stronger to me if I communicate with it while connected please give me a break.”

The other three gave each other a look and mercifully decided to let the matter drop. Ben regretted bringing it up at all but it would need to be watered and it was his plant damn it, he had some emotional investment in the thing.

With that done Falk left to grab the materials he would need along with a pile of books Ben could read while he was gone and Sonya left for the clinic after promising to grab Fredrick when she was done, eventually leaving him and Thera alone in the room.

At a certain point after Falk had stood up she had taken the chair in the room and sat in silence. Ben thought she might be wanting to talk about something else so he waited for a few minutes before deciding to just broach the topic himself.

“Something else on your mind Thera?”

She fidgeted for a moment, trying to find the words she wanted to say, before speaking up. “After you’re better I’ll talk to uncle. He shouldn’t make you adventure with me anymore with all this going on.”

She was frowning and wouldn’t meet his gaze, but Ben had a pretty good idea of what was going on through her head at the moment. “I see.” He started. “Do you not like working with me?”

He didn’t really believe it was the reason and she confirmed it a second later with the shake of her head. “That's not it, but Roan’s a violent guy and if he gets into the town you would be putting yourself in danger for no reason by being around me, not to mention that ever since these curse rumors started to go around uncles lost some business since it's pretty obvious to people how often I’m there. If you plan on starting your own shop one day, working with me could be a disadvantage to you.”

“We’ll first of all I would never open a shop in this town, that would feel way too ungrateful to Falk for teaching me. Plus I don’t care what other adventurers think, you’re the only one I really know in that crowd. As for Roan, well I feel like you’re in more danger than I am, I don’t want you to encounter this guy by yourself after all. But more importantly…” He paused to gather his courage for a minute, he was about to say something embarrassing and really hoped he wouldn’t look as stupid as he felt saying it. “I’m still hoping we can become friends.”

“What?” she asked, shocked by the unexpected proclamation.

His ears were already burning but he wanted to explain himself. “Ah see, it’s just, like I said before I don’t really know many people in the world and I think you’re nice, plus I feel like we already get along and now you know I’m not going to be affected by your magic so I would still like to adventure with you if you still want to work with me.” He trailed off, his face burning and not even looking at her. After some silence he was worried that she had run out of the room in disgust and worked up the courage to see her reaction, but she had hid it from him by burying her face in the covers of the bed he was laying in while he made his spiel.

“Um, Thera?” He asked uncomfortably. He honestly felt maybe her running out would have been better than the silence that had fallen. At least that would be an answer.

“Okay.” Came a muffled voice from his sheets.

“Huh?”

“Yes I want to be friends with you too. Gods how can you comfortably say something so embarrassing.” She sounded like she was dying from being so upfront about her feelings.

“I wouldn’t describe how I felt as comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, I just don’t know how one’s even supposed to make friends with people okay? Is it just like you spend enough time with someone and slowly get to know each other only to eventually realize you’ve both become friends?”

She was quiet but still didn’t take her head out of the blankets when she spoke again. “Well, I guess from that definition we’re already friends then.”