Birgit

  Birgit could only stare in shock as Crochel retreated. When Niles had first stepped between them, she had been afraid Niles was going to attack Crochel, and that would have doomed them both. But he’d managed to turn her away using only his words. His words had been rather crude, but very effective. Birgit had thought him just some brute, given his size, but perhaps there was more to him than she initially thought.

  “Are bare arms really such a big thing here?” Niles asked.

  Hilaria snorted, “No, commoners, artisans, and soldiers often bare their arms in warm weather. Nobles probably would too, if more of them had arms as nice as yours. I think you should just go right on dressing like that.”

  “There has never been a dress code for familiars,” Uma pointed out. “And some other-planar entities dress far more scandalously than you are now. Crochel just wanted to cause a fuss.”

  “Still, I should take you shopping now so that she has no cause to create a fuss,” Birgit decided. “We should have time before our next class, and I need to get you clothes by tomorrow, anyway.”

  “We can all go,” Uma suggested excitedly. “I have been meaning to look for a new dress. And we could go to that nice cafe for lunch, my treat.”

  “That sounds perfect,” Hilaria agreed. “We can discuss this weekend's hunt. Now that we have Niles, maybe we should consider something a little more dangerous.”

  Not waiting for Birgit’s agreement, Uma continued, “Let me run back and get Mona, and I will meet you at the main gate.”

  Mona was Uma’s older, gorgon half-sister, a trained warrior and Uma’s bodyguard, and always went with Uma when she traveled off the academy grounds. Before long, the pair met them at the gate, Mona wearing the light leather armor she normally wore on hunts.

  “Mona, this is Niles. He is Birgit’s new guardian familiar, a hu,” Uma introduced, slightly out of breath from her exertion. “Niles, this is my sister, Mona. She is an amazing warrior.”

  “Cool,” Niles said with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you. All my training has been in unarmed combat, so I’d love to get some pointers on the weapons you use here, if you’re willing sometime.”

  Mona looked Niles over appraisingly. “Well, you certainly are big enough. I would not mind a new sparring partner if that is alright with Birgit.”

  “I would appreciate anything you can do to help Niles become more familiar with combat using our weapons.” Birgit said as they exited the academy grounds. “I will need to get him weapons and armor before our hunt as well, so I would appreciate any advice you can give me on what would be best for him.”

  A small town of sorts was located less than a mile outside the academy, between the institution and the capital city proper. Its shops, taverns, and cafes largely catered to the students and staff of the academy. As they made the short walk, Mona and Niles talked about combat, with the gorgon quizzing the big hu on his training and experience. They even had everyone stop briefly so Mona could gauge how Niles responded to attacks with a quick round of sparring. It looked to Birgit like Niles did well, and Mona seemed fairly impressed.

  “I have an extra spear you can borrow for this weekend's hunt to get a feel for the weapon,” Mona offered. “It is fairly easy to learn the basics of its use, and it will give you a good reach advantage over most of the things we might run into, which is very important. If you like it, you will probably want to have one a little longer and heavier made, given your size. I’d also recommend getting a good, stout club as a backup weapon, given that you have no experience with swords or axes. It will be easier to learn to use, not to mention much less expensive. It does lack the killing power of a sword or axe, but given your size, it should still be quite dangerous."

  “As far as armor goes, that will depend on what you can afford. There is usually no need for anything too heavy on a crystal hunt, and often mobility is more important than arm, anyway. Good, tough leather is enough to turn most claws, and I can recommend a good leather shop that makes excellent gear at reasonable prices. A good leather tunic will protect your vitals, and you will certainly want to get a good, stout pair of boots, unless those strange shoes are much tougher than they look. Greaves and bracers are important, too, since they cover the bits that get closest to most of the creatures we run into.”

  As they entered the town, Birgit pulled Niles aside. “I truly intend to get you the best clothing, armor, and weapons I can afford, but right now my funds are quite short, so we will need to be quite frugal this trip.”

  Niles shrugged and, much to Birgit’s relief, did not seem to be bothered by that information. Birgit led them to a tailor shop she was familiar with. It was not the best shop in town, but in addition to custom-made outfits, it also dealt in second-hand clothing. Many of the wealthier students regularly cycled through clothing, sometimes only wearing an outfit a handful of times before trading it in for something new. Hopefully, Niles would not mind wearing used-clothing, it would save them a good deal of money.

  “How may I help you lovely ladies, today?” the shopkeeper asked as soon as they entered the store.

  “I am seeking clothes for my familiar,” Birgit informed the man, motioning to Niles.

  “And I would like to commission a new dress,” Uma added.

  Sensing where the more lucrative sale would be, the shopkeeper turned Birgit and Niles over to an assistant while tending to Uma personally.

  “What sort of clothing are you interested in?” the assistant asked.

  Before Birgit could answer, Niles spoke up. “I need some basic clothes fast, so if you have anything my size already made, that would be great. Nothing fancy, just something cheap and durable that doesn’t hinder my movement. I expect I’ll be going through clothes fairly quickly as a guardian familiar, so I don’t want to spend a lot. I just had a shirt ruined by a lightning bolt last night.”

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  Birgit appreciated Niles saving her from having to sound cheap. So far, he was exceeding her expectations. Hopefully, he would continue to be as helpful if she was unable to find a way to send him home soon. She would have to find some way to reward him.

  The assistant tailor took them right to the used clothes racks and picked out the largest clothing he had. Niles was not picky at all, but it was still difficult to find anything big enough to fit him. Shirts, in particular, were a problem with his broad shoulders and long arms, but they were finally able to find two shirts, two pairs of pants, and a surcoat. Both of the shirts had big stains, but they were in areas that would be mostly covered by the surcoat. One of the pairs of pants had a stain that would show, but it was not that noticeable. The clothing was well made, from quality fabric, but Birgit managed to use the stains to haggle the price down to only four small silver and two large copper. She felt that was an excellent deal, but even that strained her limited funds. As a bonus, the surcoat was even green, so if Birgit could find a brown belt for him, he’d even be wearing Hazzerbog colors.

  Uma was still picking out fabric for a dress, so Mona gave them directions to the leather shop she’d mentioned earlier and a good weapons shop. Planning to meet at the cafe at noon, Birgit set out with Niles and Hilaria. Their first stop was a cobbler’s shop, where they bought Niles a good, sturdy pair of boots. There was nothing fancy about them, but they still cost seven small silvers, which almost drained Birgit's reserves.

  When they got to the leather shop, they quickly discovered that even the cheapest new armor was going to be outside Birgit’s price range. The merchant had a few pieces of used armor, but most of that did not fit. They found a wide, brown belt and a pair of used braces that fit Nile and were within Birgit’s means, but she felt quite bad that Niles would have to go on the hunt mostly unarmored. They had better luck at the weapons shop. Clubs were quite cheap, and Niles picked out a stout oak cudgel a little longer than his forearm and as thick around as Birgit’s wrist. It had a braided leather cord looped around the end that could attach the weapon to Niles' belt or his wrist.

  Still having time before noon, they walked around town, window-shopping for a bit. Everything fascinated Niles, and seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. Hopefully, he would continue to find her world enjoyable enough that he would not be too upset if Birgit failed to find a way to allow him to return home soon. Hilaria seemed to enjoy Niles company quite a bit and showed no fear of the big hu, but she had always been a bit of a free spirit with little fear of anything. The two fell into an easy banter, and between Hilaria’s often irreverent wit and Niles' strange manner of speaking and his oddly skewed perception of things, they were quite entertaining, particularly when the two began to try to copy each other's speech patterns. Birgit even found herself laughing along with them a few times.

  At noon, they met up with Uma and sat down for lunch at the cafe. Birgit ordered for herself and Niles, keeping it modest, so as not to take advantage of Uma’s generosity. Having seen how much Niles ate at breakfast, she ordered him a simple but hearty meal of bread and potato soup, which came with free refills.

  “So, I think we should head all the way into the mountains this weekend for our hunt,” Hilaria suggested. “Now that we have three guardian familiars between us, and Mona, we should be safe enough, and we have hardly been finding anything in the foothills. There are just too many underclassmen hunting there.”

  “That is so far, though,” Uma objected. “We would have to camp out at least one night.”

  “That would not be so bad now,” Hilaria countered. “With three guardian familiars we could each take a watch now, so that would let us all get enough sleep. And we only have one test this Fifthday, so we could head out right after lunch, camp there that night, and then spend all of Marketday hunting. If we camp out a second night, we could even get more hunting in on Restday. That should let us go deep into the mountains and hopefully find a location that has not been harvested recently. I am tired of getting nothing but small, low-quality crystals that are hardly worth our time. Besides, it will be good experience for us. You know that next semester we will be required to go on field study trips far into the wilderness for several days at a time.”

  Birgit knew Hilaria relied on their crystal hunting for her finances as much as she did, so she could certainly understand her desire to find a more lucrative hunting-ground. She had been pushing for them to do that for some time. Still, she had reservations, so she voiced her concerns.

  “I do not know. Niles has never gone crystal hunting before.” She turned to Niles for his input. “Would you feel comfortable going out that far for that long?”

  Niles shrugged. “I’ve done plenty of camping in my life, so that part doesn’t bother me. I really don’t know what to expect beyond that, but I’m willing to give it a try if you want to.”

  Birgit still had worries, but the further out into the wilderness they got, the more likely they were to find good crystals, and she badly needed the money quality crystals would bring in. So, in the end, she agreed to the idea, and they spent the rest of their meal planning out the details. Niles just listened for the most part and ate. He seemed to enjoy his food quite a bit and ended up eating three bowls of the soup and half a loaf of bread. He might have even eaten more, but they had to get back for their next class. Birgit was glad that Niles could eat all he wanted for free at the academy, or she might not be able to afford to keep him fed.

  Mathematics was Birgit’s least favorite class. Magic had always come easily to her, but she was struggling with math, and she had to pass the course to graduate. It seemed like a stupid requirement to her, but there was nothing she could do about it.

  Birgit sat with Niles and Hilaria and was able to follow the professor fairly well at the beginning of the class, but quickly became overwhelmed as the problems he posed became increasingly complex. Niles seemed to be paying more attention to the other students than to the professor, and Birgit assumed he was as lost as she was until he leaned over as the professor started to show them how to solve a particularly complex problem.

  “Forty-two,” he whispered.

  “What?” Birgit hissed.

  “The answer, it’s forty-two,” Niles whispered back.

  Birgit scowled. Was he trying to make a joke? “How can you know that? The professor had barely started solving it.”

  “Lady Birgit,” Professor Lykos called out. “I assume since you have time to chat with your familiar that you have already solved this problem. Please, why don’t you share the answer with the class?”

  All eyes in the class turned to Birgit.

  “Forty-two?” she managed to squeak out.

  “That is…” the professor paused, looking back at the board and then down at his notes. He looked back up with raised eyebrows. “That is correct. Very good, Lady Birgit. I hope you will do as well on tomorrow's test.”

  The professor went on to more example problems, and each time, Niles leaned over and whispered the correct answer to Birgit before the professor was halfway to the solution.

  “How did you know all those answers?” Birgit demanded as soon as they were out of the class.

  Niles shrugged. “It was just algebra. I may not know magic, but I know math.”

  Hilaria laughed. “Ha, he stops lightning, sees magic, and now knows math. I do not know what impresses me more.”

  “I can help you learn math if you will help me learn magic," Niles offered.