[29]

The three points in Constitution I acquired since the last time I was in Combat class made an impact. Flaming illusory wounds still licked at my limbs when I made a mistake. However, the mistakes I made were much less frequent because of my vastly increased muscle endurance. My posture just did not tremble and shake like it had the last time. An insane thought whispered that I might enjoy physical fitness class too, but I recognized it for the lunacy it was. Three measly points did not put me on parity with the likes of Reynold or Tedric.

Interestingly, I noticed the ghost images ramped up the difficulty. I assumed this was because my skill in poleaxe increased to F rank. Instead of rote attacks, the training dummy would add an occasional block or double strike into the mix. Those maneuvers almost always resulted in me getting burned, but it was nice to have a goal to push toward.

Nicolai ended up being my wrestling partner again. I worried that after Reynold’s stunt last class, his wrist would still hurt. The cheerful, Jalmese martial student laughed when I asked him how it was feeling. He said the campus infirmary gave him a healing potion after the class ended. Ashmere’s casual wealth continued to amaze me. Before arriving here, I had only ever seen two of the precious potions in my life. Yet, they handed them out regularly for student training.

After class ended, Raxx and I headed toward the outside showers. We made it right outside the sand pit when two male students in red robes approached us.

They both had orange hair, a trait shared by the noble families of Ankest, a country to the southwest. Ankest was a small country we shared a border to the Ruinlands with. They took a more neutral position in regional politics, or so my father had told me.

“Ho there,” one of them said, grinning. The boys were identical twins, with freckled faces and light green eyes. Other than the hair, they looked completely average.

“Hello,” I said, trying to remember if I saw them in class. Izzy gave them a quick inspection that they definitely did not like. They were smart enough not to say anything rude to her.

“I’m Sayer, this is my brother Ostel. We are having a party on our estate on Sixday at our residence—the Churm estate. Wanted to give you an invitation.” Sayer said, leaning in to slap me on the shoulder, then follow it up with a handshake.

His smile was amiable and open, so were his mannerisms, but a foul smell assaulted my sense at his nearness.

Ostel reached over and slapped the opposite shoulder, and they walked off with a friendly wave.

“What is it?” asked the perceptive Raxx.

“Something was off about those two,” I explained.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I have a sort of… sense, I guess when people are meaning mischief. Those two were definitely not on the level.”

“If that is the case, we should definitely go to their party instead of the other one.”

“What? Why would we do that?” I arched an eyebrow at the Harak.

“To get your mind right,” Raxx said, rapping me on the head with his fist. “The only thing better than women and wine, is women, wine, and fighting.” Raxx laughed.

“You are nuts,” I told him, and we left to clean up and meet Joy for lunch.

…

During lunch, I was invited to two more start of the year Sixday parties. Three to four girls approached me in two different group, wearing a mixture of the different colored robes. The first group even had two ascendents from the second year with them. None of them triggered my ability, fortunately.

Raxx, Izzy, and Joy teased me mercilessly about the invites, and enjoyed the situation. Joy made sure that both groups saw her eating worms, and Raxx boisterously told everyone that we would be there. Four different parties at four different noble estates did not seem plausible to me, but Raxx assured me it was very possible, saying he would rent a carriage to ensure that we made each one.

It was not amusing for me. Raxx was right in his diagnosis about something bothering me, but he only had part of the truth. Elaine, who still had not shown up to either class or lunch, worried the abyss out of me, and Angelina backtracking had left me feeling glum. But the biggest cause of pain for me was anxiety at not having a way to solve my problems. Letting unknown enemies come at me, or even worse, my father, with no recourse, was not something I could rely on others for.

“I gotta go piss, don’t die.” Izzy said, but I hardly heard her.

“What’s got your roots showing?” Joy asked, nudging with me a spoon and breaking through my rumination.

Raxx waited to see if I would speak, shoving a piece of meat in his maw but never taking his eyes off me.

“I need an alternative plan.” I said.

“A plan? What happened to the old one?” Joy asked, looking at Raxx, who shrugged.

“I’m worried that whoever came after me will go after my father. I still don’t know who they are or why they did it, and the only solutions I have require more contribution points or money. Ranking up and buying magic items is much more expensive than I thought.” I answered, purposely not discussing the question about my goal for Angelina. If either of my companions noticed my evasion, they said nothing.

“Makes sense,” Joy said after some thought. “What about the points you already have?”

“That’s what I’ve been thinking about,” I said.

“Don’t wait,” Raxx jumped in. “Hoarded coins are useless. Just ask Reynold.”

“My father would disagree with you.” I said.

“Well, attack it from a different angle. Sounds like you are most worried about your father, right? You don’t need to know who or why, just that they might do it. So, in order for you to focus on getting yourself better, use the points, coins, or whatever to protect him.” Joy said.

“But…” I started to ask how. I already knew how, though. “That’s a good idea, Joy! I just happen to know two mercenaries, perfect for the job.”

Doing some quick math, I calculated that about 200 contribution points would pay for Rollo and Saewulf to watch my Da for six months. I would add an extra 50 in to make sure that if they were on assignment already, they could get pulled off it to go to my father in Weston.

“Mercenaries,” Raxx said, nodding. “If you know good quality ones, they can be a blessing. If not… I would not recommend it.”

“Okay, well, you have a plan for your family now. So, what are you going to do about you?” Joy asked.

“Well, I planned on shipping goods to my Dad too.” I said.

“Nope, terrible idea.” Joy said.

“Why?” I asked.

“It’s nice you want to help the family business, but a demon still attacked you. Your priorities are survival here. Survival for you, for your family. From what you’ve said, your dad’s business isn’t going anywhere.” Joy said.

She was right.

“I’m afraid of spending too much to rank up. My skills are already abysmal,” I admitted.

“True, they say ranking up that way is bad, but only if you don’t work on your skills. We have an entire year before we head out for the excursion. Throw yourself into improving as much as you can, and your ability will catch up to the rank. Monster essence down the road is the least of your problems.” Joy said.

“I have to agree, Harald.” Raxx said. “Most people are talking about your nobles that buy a bunch of essence stones, then don’t work on themselves. Rank is not everything, but it strengthens you and gives you more options. Right now, you really need a shot of power.”

His words stung a little, because I could read between the lines. I could not fight, and my only skills of note were reading, math, and contracts. My only real offense were a couple of tricks that I was sure would eventually get figured out, and a launching newt ball.

“Besides,” Raxx continued. “We have the tourney coming up. After what you did to Reynold, I’m guessing you will make a lot of money there.”

“Tourney? Like a tournament?” I asked. Joy shrugged. Guess she never heard of it either.

“Yep, it’s a big deal in the right circles. Nobles come from all over to watch the ascended do battle, and so do many of the Beastmen warlords. It’s a great place to recruit new talent from the military academies and gamble a bunch of money. Ashmere probably makes a ton of gold just hosting it every year.” Raxx said.

“Huh, I wonder why I’ve never heard of it then.” I said.

“It isn’t cheap to attend. You have to be rich with a capital “R” to make it.” Raxx said.

Putting that out of my mind, I moved back to the subject that started the conversation. “All right, you guys, you have convinced me. I’ll spend what I have to protect my father, then rank up. I also need to get a healing potion for emergencies.”

“Why don’t you just make one?” Joy said.

“I don’t know how. My Herbalism and Alchemy are both rank F.”

“Sounds like a good way to bring them up, then. Besides, I know the recipe, I can help.”

“Thank you, Joy.” I said, reaching across the table and giving her a hug she did not want.

A sense of relief came from knowing what to do. Now, I just had to focus on surviving Izzy’s husband's class.