When Regis reached the secret door and headed downstairs, he could hear a rattling noise from the sewer campsite. A few seconds later the dim light revealed an aged and weary face that was filled with relief.

“Thank the saints you’re all right,” the elderly man walked closer and patted him in the shoulder, ushering the youth closer to the small fire. “After I’ve heard the horns last night and you didn’t return after the sun came up, I knew what happened. I hoped that you’ll be able to come back like you’ve said outlanders would.”

“Sorry for making you worried Bray,” Regis apologized as he put down the hefty bundle. “I’ve tried my best, but a 10th level undead showed up and I had no chance against it.”

“A 10th level fallen?” The grey haired elder stuttered with wide eyes.

“Yes, but I’ve managed to take it down with me. Anyway, did anything happen here while I was gone?”

“Well, I’m still fine as you can see,” Bray sighed as he understood that the youth wanted to change the topic of their conversation. “Things were quite bad during the night and early in the morning, but I’ll tell you about that later. I’ve had little chance to get food, so I lived off of the rations you’ve left me. Luckily, no one bothered to cause trouble for an old man with all that was going on.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” the youth nodded. “Listen, I need to go over to the barracks to get my kills recorded and hopefully I’ll get something decent out of it. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Oh don’t worry about me,” Bray waved dismissively with his hand. “I’ve been fine on my own so far, so I should be fine for a few more hours.”

The old man closed the stone door behind the dark elf and the youth hurried over to the barracks. He noticed the increased number of guards that were either on duty, or training like they’ve gone mad. When he neared the desk where the bored scribe sat, several guards and a familiar wizard looked towards him.

“I was starting to get worried about you Regis!” Galen said as he waved him closer. “I’ve heard that you’ve got unlucky during the last battle.”

“I doubt that luck had anything to do with it. That 10th level abomination, on the other hand sure did.”

“Yes,” the man raised the fancy looking sceptre above the youth’s mark. “I imagine it did.”

He waited for a moment to let the sceptre work its magic before he turned to the scribe.

“He killed seven of the 3rd level and five of the 4th. There are also traces of a 5th and a pair of 6th level fallen, along with a pair of 7th level ones,” Galen counted his kills before a wide smile appeared on his face. “He also seems to have taken that 10th level abomination with him as well.”

His words echoed throughout the barracks, making even the guards that were training stop. Everyone stared at the youth with wide eyes, not daring to believe that he actually managed such a feat.

{Your act of answering Hunor’s call for aid the third time as well, did not go unnoticed. Your deeds have been recorded and you have received 860 renown points. You have received 860 reputation points.}

{You have gained a total of 1500 renown on the Amaranthine lands and thus your caste was elevated from vagrant to commoner.}

{You have gained a total of 1500 reputation with the port-city of Hunor and thus your standing was elevated from known to acknowledge.}

{Renown necessary towards caste elevation: 2828}

{Reputation necessary towards Hunor standing elevation: 1828}

“You’ve managed to do what only a few of our people could do,” the wizard said. “Besides the food and the pair of crystals that are yours for the taking, the city lord made separate rules for high level monsters. Killing a 10th level abomination warrants a hefty reward. Once the rations and such had been taken care of, you can pick two crystals from the storage room and then I’ll take you over to Lord Verner.”

“Here’s what you’ve earned,” the scribe cleared his throat. “You’ll get 7 rations with a large waterskin and a Landwaker fruit. You’ve damn sure earned it.”

The soldier behind the scribe put everything in a small cloth sack and handed it over to the young dark elf. Galen led him to the room with the tables that held the skill and spell crystals.

“Can I trade them in for a pair of spells?” Regis asked after looking around and finding nothing of use.

“Of course you can,” the man nodded. “I’m sure that Salvador would love to hear how you’ve killed a 10th level fallen.”

“I’m pretty sure that the two of you killed far more of those in a single attack then I did.” The young dark elf said as the two of them left the barracks.

“True, but we’re official wizards. You’re a neophyte at best. There’s quite a difference between the two. We should hurry up! There’s still the matter of the visit to the city lord.”

“Regis!” The youth heard his name and just as he turned around, an armoured body crashed into him gently, hugging him in a tight embrace.

“I’m so glad that you’re all right,” Norma said as she hugged the young man. “I’m so sorry we couldn’t save you back then! There were so many fallen attacking us and that thing showed up too suddenly and…”

“It’s all right, Norma. No one expected that thing to show up and I don’t blame anyone for what happened either. I’m glad that you’ve got out alive and I’m also sorry for your friends that didn’t make it!”

“You gave us a hell of a fright,” Grego walked closer to pat the youth on the back. “We were surrounded on all sides, but we could still see you taking down that abomination with your last breath. If we had more folks with your grit, we would be nigh unstoppable.”

“Thanks Captain.” The dark elf nodded while the guardswoman released him.

“I know you must have a lot to catch up on,” Galen cleared his throat. “But we need to sort out his earnings and he needs to see the city lord as well.”

“We won’t keep you from your duties, sir wizard. As for you lad; we’ll talk later.”

“Take care!” Regis said as he turned to follow Galen towards the guild building.

The guards returned to the barracks and the youth soon caught up to Galen. Once the door of guild opened, it revealed several robe wearing figures. Most of them sat around one table or another, bending over scrolls and books alike.

“Welcome back Regis!” Salvador greeted him with a wide smile as the youth walked into the building.

“Did you come to trade for spells?”

“He earned two crystals but he decided to trade them in,” Galen said as he walked closer. “He also killed a 10th level abomination.”

“What?” Everyone turned towards the youth with a flabbergasted expression.

Salvador didn’t say a word, just grabbed the fancy looking sceptre from the counter and held it out in front of himself. Regis understood the meaning of the gesture and he held his left hand below the sceptre. After a few moments of silence, Salvador let out a hearty laugh.

“You’ve really done it! How in blazes did you manage to kill a 10th level fallen?”

Regis looked down towards his chest, touching the hole on his armour.

“It ran me through with its two handed sword,” he began to speak after a few moments, pointing at the hole in his armour. “With that thing being so close, I’ve stabbed it in the eye with my bladestaff while shattering the other side of its skull with a spell. And then I died.”

“Damnation!” one of the unknown wizards cursed in her surprise. “You’ve killed a monster like that while dying? I’ve never met anyone willing to do something that crazy!”

“Or anyone who was able to.” Another woman added while golden words burned through the air in front of the dark elf.

{Your act of answering Hunor’s call for aid did not go unnoticed. Your deeds on the battlefield impressed the members of Hunor’s Spell Weaver’s Guild. You have received 1000 reputation points.}

{You have gained a total of 1000 reputation with the Spell Weavers’ Guild of Hunor and thus your standing was elevated from known to acknowledged amongst its members.}

{Reputation necessary towards Hunor’s Spell Weavers’ Guild standing elevation: 3000}

“It’s official,” Salvador raised his voice to overshadow the others. “This is worthy of a celebration. Doris, bring the bottles!”

“No time for drinking,” Galen stopped his friend in his tracks. “We came to get the lad a pair of spells before heading off to see the city lord.”

“Right,” the older man nodded. “There’s that rule about the higher ranked monsters. I’ll bring out the scrolls.”

Regis sat down to wait for Salvador, looking around once again to admire the neat and clean design of the building. One of the wizards present stepped closer and held out his hand for a shake.

“I’m Theodor,” he introduced himself. “The people over there are Doris and Hannah. Again, congratulations for killing that brute, even if it was at a heavy cost.”

“Thanks!” Regis nodded.

“Theodor here is our second best enchanter, the first being Chera, but she’s always at Verner’s manor.”

“You’re an enchanter?” Regis looked at the brown haired man in surprise.

“And you as well, if that staff is any indication.”

“I am,” he admitted, “But I’ve only began to study it a few days ago.”

“Do you at least have the beginner runes?”

“I’ve exchanged a crystal for a beginner booklet with Chera in the lord’s manor.”

“Good,” Theodor nodded. “Those beginner books might be thin, but at least they cover the basics. Here, let me show you another rune as my gift for your success.”

The man pulled out a small piece of leather parchment from his satchel, drawing five small circles on it, connecting them with thin lines. Once he drew a symbol into each circle, the wizard handed over the parchment. It looked similar to a square with all of the corners connected to a symbol in the middle.

“This is a lesser holding enchantment. If you apply it on any sort of container, it will increase its inner space by 1/5th of its original.”

“It’s a bag of holding.” Regis mumbled, earning a nod from the man.

“That’s one way you could call it. I’m sure it will come in handy later on. That is, if you can get the elemental stones for it. It requires one of each of the four basic elements to represent the corner runes with a pure arcana stone being the centre.”

“Thank you,” the dark elf said with a smile. “I’ll try to craft it as soon as I get the chance.”

“Good. We spell weavers have to keep our own safe in this saints forsaken land.”

“All right, enough with those bloody runes,” Salvador said as he stepped beside the table, placing a stack of scrolls on it. “Here are the spells you can choose from. You can read their names and a few words about their function from the outside. Pick two and open them.”

Regis nodded as he picked up the first one, reading its description. Most of the spells were either the same ones he had, or other beginner spells with limited use. After a few minutes, he found the two most useful scrolls and opened them. One of them had the Scribe’s Quill spell while the other one was the Wizard’s Grasp.

Scribe’s Quill would allow him to copy any text or drawing into his own books, using his will and arcana. It didn’t need any ink and the spell could perfectly copy even the most difficult drawings, if it was on a high enough level. Its only true detriment was that it couldn’t be used to create arcane writings, since those needed both a special ink and skill.

Wizard’s Grasp was a simple telekinesis spell that would allow him to move small objects around him in a 5 feet radius. He read through the first scroll several times before he tried to chant the impossible words as he held an empty parchment in his hand. After several tries, he felt his arcana being sapped as mall words began to appear on the empty scroll.

{You have successfully casted the ‘Scribe’s Quill’ spell. This spell is now carved up into your Shardwaker’s mark.}

“Nice.” He said before turning his attention towards the other scroll.

After five or so minutes he managed to move his copied parchment about for a short while, earning another message from the Heart.

{You have successfully casted the ‘Wizard’s Grasp’ spell. This spell is now carved up into your Shardwaker’s mark.}

“Now that you’re done,” Galen stood up from beside the counter. “It’s high time we’ve head out to the city lord’s manor. We can’t waste the day sitting around, right?”

“Yes,” Regis agreed as he turned to the others. “Thank you for everything and fare well!”

He said his goodbyes and followed Galen on a lengthy walk. The man pointed out a few spots around Hunor while mentioning the riots that occurred a few hours ago. Regis listened to his words while he looked towards the distant harbour, seeing several intact ships moored there. When the two of them arrived in front of lord Verner’s manor, the guards only nodded at the wizard before stepping aside. Galen led the youth inside, asking one of the inner guards about the lord’s whereabouts. They had to wait for a few minutes before a servant ushered them in to the meeting room.

“Galen,” the nobleman greeted him. “What made you visit me personally?”

“I’ve come to bring you an outlander youth that killed a 10th level fallen while he himself barely stepped onto the path of neophytes.”

“Oh,” Lord Verner looked at the youth surprised. “You seem familiar.”

“We’ve met a few days ago milord,” Regis gave a small bow. “I was part of the group that saved your son.”

“Yes, the dark elf lad. It seems you always manage to find yourself in the thick of battle.” Verner nodded at the nearby robe wearing woman.

Chera, as the youth recognised him, walked closer to raise a familiar looking sceptre above the youth’s mark. After a few moments, she nodded back at the city lord in acknowledgement.

“He did indeed kill a 10th level entitled knight.”

“Good,” the man patted Regis on the shoulder. “I’m sure Galen already told you that killing any high ranked fallen will grant you a reward. Chera will take you to my personal storage room where you can pick one item for yourself. Now go and make your choice!”

“Thank you, your lordship.” Regis bowed again, following Quentin’s advice of showing courtesy when needed.

The moment he rose back to a proper standing position, golden words burned through the air in front of his eyes.

{Your act of answering Hunor’s call for aid the third time as well, did not go unnoticed. Your deeds have impressed the city lord of Hunor and you have received 500 renown points. You have received 500 reputation points.}

{Renown necessary towards caste elevation: 2328}

{Reputation necessary towards Hunor standing elevation: 1328}

“This way.” Chera led the youth out of the room, back to the hallway.

She walked in silence for a short while, stopping in front of a heavily reinforced iron door. The woman raised her hands while whispering a short chant. Dozens of runes glowed up along the door’s edges before a set of loud clicks could be heard.

“Come in,” she walked into the room.” This is Verner’s personal collection, or at least what was saved from his old residence before they’ve had to flee the fallen horde. Just look around. I’m sure you’ll find something useful for yourself.”

“All right.” Regis nodded as he began to circle around the room, looking at the dozens of items placed on the shelves and tables. Most of them seemed to be trophies of different hunts, rare and fancy looking weapon replicas or the occasional resource samples. Raw gems of different values lay scattered around, singing a low humming tune to echo their steps. The young dark elf stopped walking when he felt a tingling sensation coming from the soulbound staff in his left hand.