“I’ve run all the combinations and we really need a structure woodworker and/or a village weaver,” Grandmother told the group. “Do any of you have suggestions? They don’t need to be a master.”

  It was early morning on the first free day, although this free day wasn’t really that free. In the last couple days Grandmother found time to put together a class sign up application on the ship's computers. It was the student's responsibility to make their first and second selections by mid afternoon. There were warnings that if a class was too small it may be canceled and if it was too large, students would be randomly selected to be bumped to their secondary choice.

  Once the classes were assigned, the students and instructors would have the rest of the afternoon and evening to prepare. Ben was a little surprised that Irene was just now bringing up the subject of missing instructors. He thought it was a little late to be doing a count.

  “There ain’t a farmer's spouse in the valley that doesn’t know something about homespun,” Ava, the gardening instructor, announced. “I can get you someone today, but you’re going to have to be more relaxed on the no family rule. Anyone I can convince at this late date is going to have a spouse, a baby in arms and one on the way.”

  “Alright,” Grandmother said. “But the position only includes food and housing for one. As long as they stay in the same housing unit I won’t charge anything for that, but I’m going to deduct from their pay for the food. Six silver for the session or three hundred and sixty Speedwell coins per non-working family member. No charge for one on the way or a nursing child.”

  “I’ll have someone here by supper,” Ava promised.

  “I know a guard in Londontown whose spouse is a woodworker,” Ed said, a little tentatively. “He’s fighting the sickness. They have a young son, about two I think. They are having a hard time and I think she’ll leave him soon.”

  “What is ‘the sickness’?” Ben asked.

  “Heal addiction,” Ed explained. “He was injured badly in the halls and would have died without the heal.”

  “Hmm….” Grandmother murmured. “Hold down the school for me while I’m gone brother?” she said to Ben. “Ed, Todd and I are going to make a quick trip to Londontown. We should be back by evening.”

  Grandmother stepped out of the arrival door and into the transportation room at Londontown. She found Todd watching the hallway beyond through the glass, while Ed stood quietly against a wall. He was blind in the transport room, but he kept one hand on his sword. Grandmother was wearing her trusty leathers, while Ed and Todd both changed to integrated leather armor at the association hall. Todd was armed with his speedwell knife and the simple iron spear with its fancy red tassel, his glass shield was hung on his pack.

  All three of them were carrying packs, since Grandmother never went anywhere in the structure unprepared. If the transport system spit them out in a random hallway on another continent, Grandmother was ready to survive the night, navigate to a green and claim a square.

  “What’s the situation?” Grandmother asked. Recognizing instantly that something was wrong.

  “We’ve come out in a different room, very close to the wildspace end of the back hall. There are a lot of guards milling around the hallway, between us and the square,” Todd responded.

  “Hmm…” Grandmother murmured. “I wonder if it isn’t just us coming into the square?” she mused to herself. “I really feel like a Narrative has been building here for a while. I still can’t grasp exactly what it is. We’ve gotten a little too entangled with events. I think it is time to switch it.” She leaned her staff against the wall and started digging around in her pack. “Keep watch while I change,” she said.

  Grandmother striped off her leathers and put on the light cloth armor she usually only wore in selkie settlements. She added her belt, with her water flask and Speedwell knife over the top. She straightened her amulet over the silk. The amulet was actually a modified Speedwell survey camera. She wanted to get good images of everyone in the square to review back at the ship.

  “Try to get a good look at everyone,” She commented. “We’ll review the recordings when we get back and see if they reveal any discrepancies.” She tightened all the straps on her backpack, then slipped the pack into a gathering bag, which she tightened down again. Since it now contained her leathers and pack, both of which weren’t integrated, it wasn’t super tiny, but it was still impressively small. She attached it to her belt, as a kind of fanny pack.

  “I wish I’d taken the time to learn that identify spell,” Grandmother commented, as she picked up her staff from the wall. “The spell could really be aimed at us discovering someone else here.”

  “Can you learn it now?” Ed asked. He saw how fast they taught the students their first spell to color their magic.

  “It’s tier four,” Grandmother explained. “It won’t be like the light spell,” she said, afraid Ed was thinking of his own experience learning light in front of the training inscription. “It will take an hour or two to learn, with pretty much constant casting.”

  “No one is expecting us,” Ed commented. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a folded, crumpled sheet of vellum. “I still have the notes you gave me,” he said, waving them blindly in front of him.

  “I don’t want to make you sit around blind that long,” Grandmother explained.

  “Oh, that’s fine,” Ed said. Sliding down the wall to sit. “I kind of find it restful. I know I can’t keep watch so it sort of takes the pressure off. I’ll just explore my interface or something. I’ve been reading the User Manual in my spare time.”

  “If you’re sure,” Grandmother said, lightly touching Ed’s hand so he’d know she was taking the vellum from him.

  “Yep,” he said. Grandmother leaned her staff back against the wall and unfolded the paper.

  “Todd, you work on learning it too,” Grandmother said. “Let’s assume it’s an enhancement spell, like night vision. We’ll cast it with the same start and finish symbols. We can stare at the Londontown guards while we try to learn it, so no excuses about keeping a watch.”

  “Alright,” Todd agreed. He leaned his own spear against the wall and accepted the vellum from Grandmother, so he could memorize the sequence.

  “If you run out of patience with us, Ed, just give the word and we’ll head out,” Grandmother commented.

  “I got it,” Todd said an hour and forty five minutes later. He turned to look at Grandmother and then at Ed.

  “You beat me,” Grandmother responded. “I’ll keep trying, tell us what you see.” It was impressive that he learned the spell first. At her tier she should learn it faster. His mastering of it in this short of a period of time was an indication of his determination and drive.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “There’s a series of numbers in structure symbols floating over everyone’s head. Yours read six, four, six six zero four and four six six six zero six six zero four six.” Todd said to Grandmother. “Ed’s read three, three, six six zero four and something really long.”

  “Ah,” Grandmother responded. “The first two are tier and color.” She continued to try to cast, she had too much time invested now to give up. “That third number, six six zero six, is forty two in base ten. It is the human species number. That last number will be our individual number. That’s the same string of numbers that is on the crystal logs.” Todd turned back to study the guards outside the window.

  “Most of these guys out here are tier two and three,” Todd commented. “What is interesting is how many of them have color two and five and not three.”

  “Really?” Ed asked from where he was sprawled out on the floor. Todd thought the retired guard dropped off into a light doze a while ago. “What would that be? Green and red?”

  “Yeah,” Todd responded. “I remember when I was young and came up red in this square I thought my life was over.”

  “That must have been a shock,” Ed said after a moment’s thought. “I was certain I’d be blue because my parents were. I suppose that is true in a way, since they taught me the same first spells they learned as children. I don’t know what I would have done if I came up with a different color.”

  “Huh,” Todd responded. “I never thought about it that way. It must have been cooking that pushed me to red. I learned that from my grandmother when I was very young. She was an upper floor cook.”

  “I got it,” Grandmother said after her latest cast. She studied the Londontown guards visible through the glass, then Todd and Ed as she became familiar with the spell. The numbers were all displayed in Polygon at first, which was a tier four font. If she held her gaze long enough, they transformed into Egyptian, which was tier six. She mentioned it to Todd.

  “It must be because of your tier,” Todd said. “It doesn’t do that for me.” Grandmother wondered if this added functionality was why it took her longer to learn the spell. “I wonder if it is like looking through a camouflage spell. Even if you out tier the caster, they only appear if you look at them long enough.” Todd looked at Grandmother again, peering at the space over her head a little more closely. “The numbers over your head look metallic. Everyone else is plain white.”

  “Metallic?” Grandmother asked. “Like copper?”

  “No like stainless steel,” Todd replied.

  “Interesting,” Grandmother responded. “Well I think we're out of excuses. The number count out here hasn’t changed so I guess we're just going to have to brazen it out. I don’t want to use any cloaking spells.”

  “Someone help me up,” Ed said from the floor. “I don’t want to hit my head.” Todd pulled the older man to his feet with the easy strength of a tier four. Everyone did a final check of their possessions. Todd picked up his spear and Grandmother collected her staff. Grandmother opened the door. Todd stepped boldly out. Ed was right behind him, with the help of a guiding hand from Grandmother on his shoulder. She followed along behind him.

  Every guard in the hall stared at them. Todd proceeded down the hallway to the square. He nodded at the first guard as he passed him.

  “Sir,” the guard said, as he shifted to clear the way.

  “Good day to you,” Todd replied. The last few guards back peddled to get out of the way by stepping into the square. The guards caught in the middle of the hallway all flattened themselves along the wall. Todd stepped out into the square and broke just slightly to the right. Ed came out right behind him and shifted to the left. Three steps out they both paused.

  Grandmother stepped out behind them. Their time learning the new spell in the transportation room allowed the color of her magic to seep into the already purple cloth of her armor. Now as she stood behind the red and blue warriors her armor was so dark it was almost indistinguishable from black. Her gaze swept the square as she turned her body to make sure she got a good image on her Speedwell camera.

  It was market day. The market was full of traders and shoppers. The foot traffic in the square was heavy. Grandmother noted with pleasure that people were being drawn along the front of the shops from the market by the singular attraction of the furniture store in the far corner.

  “Grandmother,” a woman’s voice called. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” Grandmother turned and saw it was Tina or Tiny as she was called, the butcher from Home Square. Grandmother suspected that a lot of her tier four transport room tenders were traveling out to Londontown. It was a little disconcerting to have it confirmed this way.

  “Over by the market,” Todd commented quietly. “There is a three, three that is very interested in us.” Grandmother thought it was probably just another crafter from Home Square, someone that came in with Tina. The butcher was approaching from that direction. Grandmother glanced over the butcher’s shoulder and did a quick scan of everyone near but not in the market.

  “I’m taking a quick break,” Grandmother responded to the butcher. “Did you come to buy a chair? Harry told me you were interested in one.” There off to the side was a large woman, carrying a bundle of skins. The numbers over her head read three, three, forty two and something. As Grandmother studied her, the numbers transformed to Egyptian, only now they read, four, one, sixteen and something. That was a surprising development.

  Since the species number for humans was forty two, Grandmother knew there could be as many as forty two species in the structure. So far she had only found selkie and elves, who were species twenty three and thirty four. This individual of species sixteen was something else.

  “They are sold out, again,” Tiny responded. “I put in a request. Hopefully they will come up with one soon.”

  “Have you figured out how to get it back to Home Square?” Grandmother asked.

  “We hired Harry to set up a caravan,” Tiny explained.

  “We?” Grandmother asked.

  “Well I was just going to pay him to take my chair back, but then word went around in the square and a lot of crafters decided they wanted to try some of their top tier wares in the market here. So we all agreed to split the cost,” the butcher explained.

  “Excellent,” Grandmother proclaimed. “Todd, remind me next time we are in Home Square to see if Harry wants to rent my wheels.”

  “Your wheels?” Todd asked. “Aren’t they our wheels? Technically, Ed here found them.” Grandmother frowned in thought.

  “Maybe,” she admitted. Ed chuckled. “It's great seeing you Tina,” Grandmother said to the butcher. “Have fun shopping. Ed, lead the way.” Their small group moved off, as Ed headed to the training yards.

  “When I studied the woman in the market, her numbers changed to four, one, sixteen in Egyptian,” Grandmother reported.

  “So she isn’t human,” Todd observed. “Are we doing anything about it?” Todd asked.

  “Nope,” Grandmother said. “It’s not our square. Besides, she was selling furs, not devouring babies. Do you see your young warrior?” she asked Ed as they entered the training yards.

  “Over there,” Ed said. He led them over to a training dummy next to the wall where a young warrior was swinging a sword at a training dummy. The tremors in the warrior's hands were so strong he was having trouble holding the sword.

  “Jeremy,” Ed said. “How is it going today?”

  “Hard,” Jeremy said. He gave up the attempt to look like he was training. He buried the tip of sword into the dirt and leaned against it. He used his off hand to wipe the sweat from his brow. “I haven’t seen you around lately,” Jeremy said after his breathing evened out.

  “I took a job outside of the square,” Ed responded.

  “Maybe I should do that,” Jeremy responded. “I could get away from temptation that way.”

  “About that,” Ed said, “an opportunity has opened up with the group I’m with now. It isn’t for a warrior, though. It is for a woodworker. I thought of your spouse.” Jeremy ran a hand down his face. There was an expression of abject misery mixed with just a trace of hope under his hand. It was replaced with something like resignation.

  “She might be interested,” Jeremy admitted, “she has the baby to think of.”

  “Can you introduce us to her, so we can explain the position?” Grandmother asked from just behind Ed. Jeremy noticed Todd and Grandmother for the first time. He frowned as he realized he didn’t know them. There was something familiar about the old woman. The red on Todd’s leather bothered him, or he thought it should bother him. He looked back at Ed. The familiarity of the old warrior calmed his thoughts. He was a man who understood the torment and still went on with life.

  “Why not,” Jeremy said. He straightened up and returned his sword to its scabbard. “I need a break anyway.” Jeremy led the way up the nearest staircase.