“What exact book are you looking for Ellis.”

I write an excerpt from the journal onto a piece of paper and show him. “I need a book to translate this type of script.”

After one look at the words, his smile leaves his face. His eyes and mouth now match.

“Hmmm, no can do Ellis.”

“Why?”

“If you can tell me where you saw this text then I can answer your question.”

“I found this excerpt on a wall inside of a graveyard fracture,” I lied.

“That explains it, the language is called Erebos and I recommend not looking into it any further.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

He stares into my eyes, I’m almost positive he is using a skill on me. I don’t move a muscle but I don’t back down.

He relents, “It's the language used by followers of the God of the Dead, fanatics use it to copy their scripture and send code to each other. They are dangerous people who use terror to get their ways.”

“Were they always like that?”

“I wouldn’t know, except for biased reports from religious zealots, there hasn’t been any contact with the God of the Dead. If you look into the wrong things, you’ll end up on radars that you definitely don’t want to be on.”

I stand up, the Dean cannot help me, and looking into this would put me in danger. That goes my last option of asking a forum if they know what this is.

“Thank you for your time Dean Palmer, I do not need anything else. I shall be going now.”

“One last thing Mr. Vincere, you said that you went into a fracture? You do know that school rules dictate that first-year students cannot go in fractures without faculty supervision.”

“I actually know about that rule, it excludes privately owned fractures or acts of God. I can assure you that any fracture that I ventured into did not break those parameters.”

“But would you like them too?” He replies with a smirk.

“Pardon?”

He stands up from the desk and walks over to the large windows, he looks out into the campus. “The whole point of this Institute is to train the next generation of adults into their place in society.” He gestures over to a student practicing some sword work in the quad.

“Students like him will grow up to be invaluable assets in the future, whether he joins the fight to take back the world or venture into fractures to explore the new one is completely up to the choices he makes in the few years we have him.”

“...”

“Some people won’t have such dangerous tasks, [Alchemists] and [Pharmicists] are trained to be able to use their class to the fullest to help people with their life-saving elixirs and power increasing concoctions.”

“...”

“I know that your potential is great, if your family lineage doesn’t represent that, then your tenacity and quick thinking surely do. Powerful tamers walk down one of two paths, they either want to befriend everything or be the master of everything. What path are you walking Ellis.” He stops his rant and expectantly looks at me. I was half-tempted to leave the office mid-speech.

“Both of those choices sound like they suck. Betrayal can happen even between the closest people and you can't blame them. People have their justifications for their actions. And why would I want to be the master of everything if I can be the master of the person who masters everything?”

“Good, I’ll give you a permit that allows you to enter fractures without repercussion from the school. I recommend any of the government-owned fractures instead of any of the guilds. The guilds don’t have much presence in Bluefield anyways.”

The government-owned fractures are a trap, the entrance fee and the cut they take from your loot may seem less than privately owned fractures or own by a guild; however, they will tax your gross income as well. They can’t tax fractures they don’t own that way; instead, they tax the owner a set amount depending on the rank of the fracture.

Dean Palmer walks over to his desk and pulls out a form, he fills out some information and signs his name at the bottom. He rips a slip of it off and hands it to me.

“That's the proof that you have permission from the school.”

“Thanks? I’ll take my leave now.”

I finally make my way out of the office, and then out of the building. I ask Duchess who has been conveniently on my shoulders this entire time a question.”

“What did you think of the guy? He wasn’t what I expected.”

[Meh.]

“Thanks, Duchess.”

~

At home, I pull out the papers from inside the manilla envelope from WInkleton, the money I can retrieve from a bank, so I check out the deed he got me.

It’s to a property in the city. I go on the internet and search up the address and find out that it's a house right next to the commercial district. It’s a store that was turned into a residential living area since it's technically in a residential zone. It’s two stories and way smaller than the family house but I guess I own it now. On the deed is a sticky note with some contact information, I call it.

*ring ring*

*click*

“Hello, who is this?” It’s Winkleton

“Hello Winkleton, you might recognize me as the person who got revenge for you in the casino.”

“Ah, yes! Can I have your name, I hope the money and property are up to your liking.”

“It’s alright. My name is Ellis, what do I need to do to make sure I actually own this place?”

“If you send me your information, I can handle everything.”

I was a bit skeptical about sending him my personal information, but it sure does beat going to city hall and doing all this myself. I send it to him and await a response.

“Alright, it’s set. I have some friends in high places that sped it all up, I had everything ready I just needed the proper information. The keys have been left with the neighbors, they are trustworthy folk, you can pick them up from them.”

I hang up on him after everything is settled. I hold off on getting my money. I don’t really trust bank accounts since my father's disappearance so I’ll ask Winkleton about it later. For now, I have bigger issues.

~

If I tell my family about how I got the house, they will know that I was doing dangerous and sketchy things instead of going to classes. However, if I never mention the house and they find out, they might think I’m living a second life. I question each of my tamed beasts, but only Duchess speaks up to me.

[Just tell the truth, you are going to do more dangerous things from here out anyway. Might as well condition them early.]

“That kind of thinking is why you have a charisma stat.”

[Is that a compliment?]

I don't answer her and wait for dinner before laying down the news.

~

“... and that's why I know own a house.”

“So this Winkleton fellow just up and gave you a house.” (Simon)

“Yup.” (Me)

“I can’t believe our Ellis is a homeowner at such a young age.” (Lydia)

“...” (Val)

“Did you already check out the property to make sure you didn’t get scammed?” (Simon)

“Why would someone scam their benefactor?” (Lydia)

“I’ve heard of this WInkleton, let's just say that he is not known for being reputable.” (Simon)

“I didn’t check it out, but I was planning to after classes tomorrow.” (Me)

“Speaking of classes, how did you do at your tamers' test.” (Lydia)

“Are we going to gloss over that he was dragged by gangsters and put into a cage underneath a casino, then proceeded to work with the enforcers to take down a man who could have killed him at any point?” (Val)

“I'm sure he had everything under control” (Lydia) I did not have everything under control.

“He did it to save a friend, that's all that matters.” (Simon) I should’ve called Charlie and checked upon him.

“I got first place.” (me)

“Congratulations!” (Simon and Lydia)

The night went on, and my mother was mad that I didn’t say anything sooner. If I did she would have made a congratulatory dinner.

~

The next day I actually went to my classes. I didn’t learn anything new, all the things they are going to teach are now in my lexicon. I skip the tamers class and go towards my new house, on the way I call Charlie.

*ring ring* *ring ring*

*click*

“Hey Charlie, I just wanted to check up on you after that whole casino fiasco.”

“Ellis! The deal has been confirmed! I was going to call you and tell you not to put any money into your bank account, take anything you have out of them as well.”

“Whoa Whoa, slow down there. What are you talking about.”

“My initial deal has spiraled out of control, Ellis. Something big is happening in a few weeks and I have to prepare for it. Your family should be relatively fine since you guys own your house, but if the banks own anything you guys have, sell it or buy it in full. I will not elaborate further.”

“Holy shit Charlie, are you alright?”

“Yeah I’m fine, I have to go.”

He hangs up and I'm left there wondering what the fuck Charlie is talking about.