A small, blue Bestowment Crystal materialized out of thin air and fell right onto the floor in front of Lucius, startling him.

By the gods! Here it is!

"«Aestimo»."

Item Appraised Successfully

Requrement/s for appraisal:

50 Sensus

Item Name: Bestowment Crystal

Item Class: Consumable

Rarity: Uncommon

Description

A crystal with faint traces of divine power. Can be used to obtain [5] Triforce Points.

"So this is a Bestowment Crystal. How magnificent," Lucius couldn't help but mutter out loud as he rolled the small stone in his palm, his face beaming.

"Got you!"

Lucius snapped out of his reverie just in time to see the small, white rat fly through the air and into Marjorie's glowing hand. After seeing the young woman's angered expression, he quickly hid the Bestowment Crystal under his tunic.

"Easy. I'm not gonna take it back, okay?" Marjorie said as she looked at Lucius with a confused smile before dangling the rat she was holding over her head. "You helped me catch Master Wesker, after all."

"Y-Yes, I just—"

"You must be very happy."

"Wh-What?" Lucius leaned over and saw that the rat was leering at him—its arms crossed as it swayed under Marjorie's grip comically. "Did that rat just speak?"

"Hmph. This is not a rat. Isn't that right, Dad?"

Confused, Lucius was about to ask Marjorie to elaborate when the rat suddenly transformed into a short, elven man. The elf's long, white hair partially covered the faded Mark of Providence on his forehead. Seemingly angry about being caught, the newly-transformed elf's glowing white eyes were fixed at Lucius, still narrowed.

This must be Master Wesker, the true caretaker and keeper of the Library. What a terrible person to have upset...

It was only after seeing the rat transform into one of the most respected people in Antebellum did Marjorie's words start to make sense. Lucius never expected that the rat was actually Majorie's father, much less the rumored reclusive Outworlder presiding over the Antebellum Academy's library.

"You sold me out, man!" Wesker shouted in a shrill, annoyed tone. "El told me a bit about you. I thought you were cool!"

Elrond told him about me? He must trust this one a lot.

"Wh-Why I was just doing as your daughter bid me to, Master Wesker," Lucius said in an attempt to defend himself. "As the saying goes nowadays: M-Monkey see, monkey do, is it not? Haha."

Both Marjorie and Wesker looked at Lucius with narrowed eyes, as if they just heard something strange. Almost simultaneously, they said, "That's not how you use it."

Lucius lifted a brow, genuinely curious as he asked, "How then?"

"Wow, you really are out of the loop, huh? I'm guessing that you just borrowed it recently from 'Earth's Sayings' written by Hugh M.?" Wesker said as he looked at the pile of books on Lucius's table with a smug, yet sagely air about him. "Well first, the context is important. If you want to—"

"Alright, that's enough!" Marjorie shouted, interrupting her father's explanation before whacking him on the shoulder with a book. "What a horrible father you are, leaving your daughter to fill in for you for weeks! WEEKS! And you don't even pay me!"

"H-Honey, I was just doing some important stuff, you know? For the good of the academy!" Wesker said while rubbing his shoulder with a forced smile.

"These are for the good of the academy?" said Marjorie as she pointed at the books that Wesker failed to sneak out of sight—countless recreational books and paraphernalia filled with colorful drawings that Lucius could only describe as...creative.

"I was just gathering material for my next book! I promise I'll be back in a bit, okay honey?"

"Shut up, dad. You don't even sell your work. What's the point of making them anyway?" Marjorie argued as she readjusted her glasses. "You better return to library duty tomorrow or I'll tell Master Katherine about this. I've missed too many classes already!"

Lucius's ears pricked.

Marjorie's a student here too? Could she be a Secundus? No. With her ability—a Tertius already, perhaps?

"H-Honey, please no! If that prude finds out about this, I'll never hear the end of it!"

"Hmph, good. Since you're friends with Grandmaster El, I doubt that he'd be mad about this at all. Her, on the other hand, she'll be furious!"

Wesker put his hand over his face and sighed in defeat. "Alright. You got me, honey. You got time off for three days, okay?"

Marjorie's eyes narrowed. "A month."

"A whole week."

"Three."

"Two. Final offer."

"Heh. Deal."

The two then shook hands in a fashion that quite eerily reminded Lucius of his handshake with Marjorie before. Now he knew where she got her practice from.

After catching her purse that zipped through the air with a chuckle, Marjorie hurried towards the door and said, "I'm out. Since you're here anyway, you can close up on your own. Bye, dad!"

"O-Okay, honey. Enjoy your two weeks off," Wesker said with a wry smile while waving goodbye at Marjorie. "I'll be here...working alone...by myself..."

An awkward silence ensued as Lucius was left alone with Wesker who visibly deflated after her daughter got out of the library.

"You. Kid."

"Yes, Master Wesker?"

"Could you stay and help me out for a bit?"

"Uh, certainly."

...

Lucius walked outside the library with a relieved sigh.

I'm done for the day. I need to check my Triforce Ponts and use them soon, along with the Bestowment Crystal. Ah, I can barely wait! I have to see just how this Leveling System works! Oh, and there is also the matter of allocating my Triforce Points. What to do, what to do?

Helping Wesker with tidying up the library was not as bad as Lucius initially thought.

While the conversation was a bit awkward at times because of both their strange natures, Lucius still thought that Wesker was a pleasure to talk with not only because of his vast knowledge and intellect but also because of the Outworlder's short, throwaway stories about his old realm.

As Wesker talked about his home with a smile, Lucius made sure to shut his mouth and listen attentively, thoroughly enjoying the one-sided conversation that he ended up staying for over an hour past the library's closing time.

A world without any Providences? How bizarre. Earth, was it? What a strange name for a realm.

While Lucius didn't know why Wesker brought up such a subject just to make a conversation, he could somewhat tell from the Outworlder's oft-uncomfortable expression that he was suffering from the same sense of guilt and lingering nostalgia for Earth that he suspected Elrond also carried with him all these years.

Just how much did Elrond tell Wesker about me? Hmm, anyhow, he does not seem like a threat for now. Peaceful. Wise. Is he truly an Outworlder?

Lucius stopped walking and mused for a while, but was interrupted by a shout from behind that made his eardrums ring.

"Lucius, there you are!"

"Tiz. Lively greeting as always," Lucius said as he turned around and faced the rambunctious girl with a sigh.

"I haven't seen you since PCC! We all thought you were dead!" Tissette said before grabbing Lucius by the shoulders and shaking him gently. She then backed up from him a little and looked to the ground as she continued, "Wait, w-were you avoidin' me?

"Tiz, It has only been three days," Lucius said, his face deadpan. "I was not avoiding you."

"Then why haven't you been comin' by lately? W-We didn't do to upset you or anythin', did we?"

Lucius didn't want to admit it, but he felt uneasy just thinking about being around Tissette and the others after Orlen's parting words, and especially after what happened in his first PCC class. Not only was it revealed that he was far lacking compared to them, but it also made him realize the direness of his situation. There was simply too little time to not work on himself.

Thinking so, Lucius said, "After PCC, I just realized that I have much to do if I wanted to stay in this academy. I was attending every academic class since then. And when I am not, sometimes I train. Most of the time, I read. That is all."

"Oh. Academic classes. That explains it. I haven't been one in weeks," Tissette before sticking out her tongue and smiling wryly. "Still though, you could've asked me for help, y'know? Like with your physical training and stuff."

"I realize that, but there is no—"

Lucius caught himself in the middle of a sentence as he remembered something important. Perhaps there was something that Tissette can do to help, after all.

'Never do anything alone if you can help it.' This must be my chance to put your teachings into practice, old man.

"You know what, Tiz? I think there might be something you could help me with."

"Really?"

Lucius nodded. "I would like to take on quests. Whatever grade they are, I'll take them. So long as they do not require me to break the rules and guidelines set by our Grandmaster. Do you know any ways for me to do this inside the academy?"

"Wait, quests?" Tissette frowned. "The quests in here suck, especially the ones given out by students. Why don't we just—"

Lucius's eyebrows tightened. "No rulebreaking."

After his little talk with the Grandmaster, Lucius acknowledged that he was Elrond's guest. It was only proper that he acted like one, lest he wanted to draw the ire of someone who could kill him a thousand times over if he decided that he wasn't feeling bad about the genocide of the Asherii, nor somewhat believe in their prophecy anymore.

"Oh, fine," said Tissette while rolling her eyes. "I know a guy who can give out Student Agent-issued Questgivers. He's pretty cool, I guess. I'll introduce you to him tomorrow before PCM. There's a catch though."

Lucius lifted a brow. "What is this 'catch'?"

"You're goin' to have to hang out with us once in a while," Tissette said, frowning a little bit. "Althea kept on askin' me where you went, y'know."

"Oh, she was?" Lucius asked, understandably skeptical after seeing firsthand what Althea was like.

"Yeah, she says she likes you because you don't talk much. Cute, right?"

A bit strange reason to like someone, is it not?

"Fine. I accept this deal," Lucius said before absently putting his hand forward for a handshake.

"Uh, okay, but I don't think we have to shake hands," Tissette said with a confused smirk.

"Oh. Right."

Before Lucius could pull his hand back in embarrassment, however, Tissette caught and shook it with four of her hands anyway, much to his surprise.

Tissette smirked. "There. Now there's no backin' out, alright? You'll hang out with us?"

"Yes. I will 'hang out' with you and the others," Lucius said while shaking Tissette's hand. It was fortunate that he'd already read up on common modern slangs, otherwise, he would've reacted quite differently to the phrase 'hanging out'.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Great! Let's head over to Ardy's place right now! They'll be watching a show on the lightbox soon and we're gonna be late!" Tissette exclaimed excitedly before dragging Lucius along by the hand she was just shaking.

Lucius frowned as he tried to struggle free from Tissette's hold, but to no avail. "B-But I have plans!"

"Plans, schmans. You're not gonna turn back on a promise you just made seconds ago, are you?"

Lucius grimaced as the girl's words rang true inside his head. Tissette knew right where to hit him and when. For that, he commended the girl with an inward grin.

Tsk. Well played.