The rest of the afternoon had been light, his brother mostly explaining some basic concepts to them. He wanted them all to start learning how to block magic, it was a vital component to higher level fights. It was usually only possible at higher levels, or with special circumstances, but anyone could start practicing. Apparently, it wouldn’t yield many results until they managed to gain better control of their own mana first. Although the training wasn’t strictly necessary. Once a person reached a high enough level, their body would become naturally resistant to other people’s mana. Most people ignored it because of this fact, though his brother reassured them that it would be worthwhile. Strangely, he couldn’t tell them exactly why. That bothered Mash, but he knew his brother wouldn’t hide information unless it was important.

They still had something else they wanted to do that evening and prepared to return to the guild. Despite having been to the guild in the morning, his friends hadn’t let him get the mysterious items appraised without them. Now they were sitting in a small room within the guild, waiting for an appraiser to arrive. Hoping that it would go smoother this time, Mash had let the others be the ones to set up the meeting. It didn’t seem to matter as word had gotten around already. Their team had been marked, and it looked like they were going to be receiving special treatment while here.

So, he was unsurprised by the relative luxury of the room they were in. Bottles of wine adorned a nearby wall, resting atop a small shelf. The table at the center was large, and the room was enchanted for privacy. None of this was normal, and he didn’t know how he felt about it. His friends had mixed reactions to the treatment, Jill and Luke seemed relatively happy with the situation, but Red seemed bothered by it, and Mash felt similarly uncomfortable. None of them touched the wines, but they did take glasses of water which were offered to them before they entered. It was weird to have the guild staff treat them specially, and he learned that it was mostly due to his sponsorship and not his family. He really wanted to talk to Ivarin, about what he deemed as important, because this was a lot bigger than he let on. However, if the opportunity ever arose, he knew that he would probably do the same.

It wasn’t a long wait, but it felt endless. It was the anticipation to find out what the items did, the armor’s ability making them more excited. One was a mask, and he hoped that it wasn’t useful for him. The main reason being that it was probably going to be an attunement item. Picturing it in his mind, though he didn’t really need to do that, he knew that he didn’t want a face tattoo and that wasn’t going to change. The other item interested him though, a mysterious bone fragment from an unknown creature. It was an attunement item too, and he had no clue as to what its function might be. Thankfully he wasn’t made to wait much longer, as he heard the door creak open.

Jack entered, a shorter lady accompanying him. She was about half the size of Jack, which made her short in comparison, but was only a head or two shorter than Mash. Jack was the unusually tall one. She had slightly greying hair, which either meant that she wasn’t a very high level or was very old. Mash was leaning towards the latter, as he felt the woman’s mana eclipse his own, and that was with taking Priscilla into account. That seemed strangely odd to him considering the past few days, since he had met countless people who seemed to be well over level 100. Thinking that it was supposed to be rarer, he didn’t really understand how he kept meeting such high-level people.

The lady took a seat across from them, she passed her eyes over the group. Her eyes were angular, which made her seem like she was glaring at them, but she was also sporting a genuine looking smile. The combination was a little unsettling, but he kept his mouth shut, noticing the deference that Jack was giving her.

“Hello children, I am the guild master, and you may address me as Master Ravnica. Jack has told me about you already, but I see that he left out some important details. Level forty at age fourteen, that is quite the pace you’re going at.”

She sounded how he imagined, a knowing tone of old age coming through her voice. Jack spluttered, choking on his drink when he heard Ravnica’s words. Mash didn’t know when, but Jack had begun drinking wine from one of the bottles.

“Wait fourteen, that means-”

“Yes, we all know what it means, but we are not here to pry into the boy’s past. It was merely something to take note of. I hear you have some items that need to be evaluated.”

Ravnica cut off Jack, and Mash gave her a thankful nod. He didn’t really want to mention his past. Pulling out the two items, he watched to see her reaction. She didn’t give anything away, moving both items slightly closer to her.

She picked up the mask first, and Mash paid particular attention to the way her mana moved through the item. It seemed like an attunement, but the mana didn’t stick to the item, moving past it like water would. The mask was made of a greenish metal and resembled some creature that he couldn’t recognize. It would fit on a human, but the design reminded him more of a lizard. The eye slits were longer than human’s eyes, and the line for the mouth ran from one side to another. It had lines that ran up and down from the mouth, as if to replicate teeth, but it ran along the full length of the even past the eye holes. She put the item back down and slid it over to them in a placating motion. The gesture was unnecessary, but he appreciated it anyways.

“It’s a class growth item. Which, judging from your reactions, only one of you knows about. Let me give you a short explanation. If you attune to the item, or simply wear it during your next class advancement you will get a related class or the option for one. I recommend either giving it to someone who will join your team in the future, or a younger sibling. The earlier one acquires the class the further they will be able to travel along its path.”

Mash thought about who could get it, and he only thought of Jill’s siblings, but that seemed a little wasteful. They were so young that it would be a long time before the item got used.

“Don’t listen to her. The royal family would sell one of their own children for an item of this type and rarity. Plus, it will get you on their good side.”

After hearing Jack’s words, he turned to the rest of the group. Jill seemed more inclined to Jack’s proposal; the money would probably be enough to clear her family’s debts. Red and Luke looked to be thinking more deeply, but Mash had already come up with a solution.

“There is a way we can do both. How about we sell the item to Niviss?”

Despite the princess’s oddities, Mash liked her. She didn’t seem bothered by his appearance, and her curiosity reminded him of his own. On top of that, she was close to his siblings, and he would trust her so long as his siblings did. Luna, in particular, had always been a good judge of character. Luke and Jill were nodding along, but Red seemed to be against the idea.

“I wouldn’t trust the royal family so easily. They have their fair share of horrible deeds. But I do think that Niviss seemed nice enough, if we plan on selling it to them, I want to make sure that she is the one who gets it.”

It wasn’t an actual disagreement, so they moved onto the next item, deciding they would check with Niviss later. It was surprisingly easy to meet with the princess, and he bet that she would still be at his brother’s house. With an idea of what to do with that item, they moved onto the mysterious bone.

While they were talking, Ravnica had already identified the item, but she didn’t slide it over to them like the other. Despite her appearance not changing in the slightest, Mash knew that something was wrong.

“This item you will not be able to keep nor sell, and I will be confiscating it from your possession. Don’t speak of the item to anyone. Not even to me now. If anyone else knows of the item, tell them to be silent as well, or kill them if they refuse. As for compensation, each of you will receive one thousand gold, and be able to select an item from the vaults tomorrow. Their will be some limitations, and Jack here, will be your guide. Be glad that I was the one to identify your items, had it been someone else, we would’ve needed to silence them.”

There was no hesitation in her voice, her expression unchanging even as she told them to kill people to maintain their secret. Now his curiosity was piqued, but she didn’t look like she would give them any information. It seemed like the less they knew the better. Despite his better judgment, he opened his mouth to speak, but changed what he was going to say as he looked into her eyes. Her expression hadn’t changed but her eye’s looked different, as though they were merely painted on, her real gaze making him freeze.

“Nobody knows what the item is, us included.”

“We obviously agree to your terms, thank you for the generosity.”

Reacting to Ravnica’s small change, Jill added to Mash’s response. He nodded vehemently, hoping that they could get through this situation without signing another contract. He was relieved, when Ravnica left with the item. Stopping at the door she gave them one final piece of advice.

“You have experienced some grand things in the short time you have been alive, and I am certain your futures are going to be the same. Take some advice from someone who has lived a lot longer than you. Choose your paths carefully, your futures are some of the brightest I have seen, but the brighter you shine, the more you will need to burn.”

She seemed to be looking past them as she spoke, but she left without saying anything more. Jack left with her, giving them an awkward laugh, before letting them know that he would meet them tomorrow. Just in case, Mash checked with Priscilla to see if Ravnica was a prophet, hoping that she would be able to tell. It was not unexpected, but he was still disappointed to hear Priscilla’s lack of knowledge. They just sat in silence, unsure of what had transpired, of the ominous words that Ravnica had spoken.

“Well, the vault will probably have some cool items.”

Breaking the silent stupor that they were in, Red tried to bring back some casual conversation. She was trying to ignore the guild master’s words.

“That’s all you have to say, are we just going to ignore what happened.”

Clearly unsatisfied, Jill sounded frustrated by the situation.

“Yes, that is exactly what we’re going to do. We do not want a repeat of Krall.”

Luke added in the final point, as if to end the topic. He moved on to discuss what items they could find in the vault, and reluctantly Jill joined him. Soon the three of them had moved on, but Mash sat there silently. They tried to get him to join them, but he couldn’t bring himself to participate.

Mash’s mind was racing with thoughts, with the implications of what his presence meant. This was the second time he had received a warning about his future. Third, if he counted what the snake had done. He considered his friends too, what it meant for him to be around them. Feeling responsible for dragging them into his own fate, he didn’t know what to say, glad for the mask he was wearing. At least his friends couldn’t read his expression while he had it on. Did they realize what he did. Knowing the risk, would they even want to stick together? Did he want them to? What about his siblings?