The Defiler raced through the labyrinthian districts of Dustreach. His speed made him naught but a blur to the residents, yet Ajax was prepared. With {Sure Foot} and {Endless Vitality}, he launched himself over towering walls and palatial estates of all kinds. Each bounding step illuminated by the walls’ signature green glow.

  Ajax Ironside in The Rose Never Wilts, Grace Helibrin – Sixth Tier [Bardic Songstress], Fifth Tier [Serial Author], Sixth Tier [Grandmaster Calligrapher]. Written in the 382nd Year of the Regin of Changing Tides. Book Case 15, Shelf 10.

  The first thing I did when I woke up the next morning was check my status. Last night, before I’d gone to bed, I did two sessions with Beginner’s Shield Art. Which featured me fending off the Trainer as it used a myriad of weapons getting stronger and more skilled after every blow. The Trainer had started with a cavalryman’s axe, then a halberd, then flanged mace, before it finished the second session with a spear.

  I’d gone to bed as soon as the second session finished and ignored the feeling of a System notification. Luckily, the System recognized I wouldn’t open its message and as I faded into sleep, the feeling of someone pushing against the base of my skull faded.

  Congratulations! Through your efforts you have advanced your skill “Beginner’s Shield Art” to (6/10)!

  …

  Congratulations! Through your efforts you have advanced your skill “Beginner’s Shield Art” to (8/10)!

  Name: Bran

  Class [Grove Guard], LVL 1

  Attributes:

  Strength – 15

  Dexterity – 11

  Constitution – 16

  Endurance – 22

  Wisdom – 6

  Intelligence – 9

  Aura – 6

  Luck – 5

  Class Skills: (1/5)

  Beginner’s Shield Art (8/10)

  General Skills: (1/3)

  The Willow’s Wrath (24/25)

  Mastered Skills:

  None.

  Happy with my progress, I closed my status and gazed through the small circular window above the desk to try and get a sense of the time. Waking up was a lot harder in the city. The walls blocked out the light of dawn until the sun was far higher in the sky. Even then, I’d noticed that light had a hard time getting through the small window to illuminate my room.

  From the bed I couldn’t see the sun, so I got up to check. The sun was already past the tip of the wall. With a curse, I threw on some clothes, left my armor off, and rushed out of the inn. I jumped down the spiral staircase three steps at a time. From behind the bar Widow, flour smeared across the front of her black apron, raised an eyebrow at me and I called out a quick goodbye as I left.

  My back was damp with sweat by the time I reached the front door of the Guild Hall, a couple minutes away from being late. The common room was empty aside from Maggie, Nora, and three other people. Two of which I recognized from the youth program and the other I’d never seen before. Maggie’s bright, energetic eyes met mine, and she waved me over.

  “When do they serve breakfast? I would have eaten, but I woke up late and had to skip breakfast. It’s a shame too, the food where I’m staying is fantastic.” I said and took my seat next to Nora, sweeping sawdust off of the bench.

  “Oh? Where are you staying?” Maggie asked.

  “The Widow’s Mark.” Nora answered for me. Saying the name of the inn like a curse.

  “You’re joking. Bran, tell me you’re joking.” Maggie said. She sounded genuinely concerned.

  “Why would I be joking?” I asked, as confused.

  “Gods above. You aren’t, are you? How are you on funds? Do you have enough for your stay?”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “I’m fine. Why would I need extra coin?” I asked. Compared to what they gave me when I left, the twenty silvers weren’t much at all.

  “Don’t tell me you don’t know.”

  “Know what?”

  Maggie looked at me and bit her lip in thought. There was concern in her eyes, to be sure, but it was fading more and more as the conversation passed.

  “Bran, what are you spending a night there?”

  “Five silvers a night, paid for five when I got here.”

  “Gods Bran, that’s what you pay in the capital, not in some backwater frontier town. No offense Nora.”

  Nora, who looked far more concerned for me, just shrugged. Unbothered by the dig at her hometown.

  “Huh.”

  I was more confused by their concern than anything. Even if I was being overcharged, I saw no reason for them to do more than chuckle at my expense.

  “Just make sure you keeping paying your bills.” Nora said.

  Rather than answer, I just gave her a look that encouraged her to explain why she was so concerned over my choice of inn.

  “When someone can’t pay their bill, Widow takes them into her office, and they’re never heard from again.”

  I gave her another look, then shifted my gaze to Maggie. Maggie looked significantly less worried now that she knew I’d already paid. I didn’t know if they were being serious, and nothing on their faces gave it away.

  Nora dropped the topic shortly after, and the quickness her concern faded told me she was at least partially messing with me. When Mika and Ellen entered the common room together a couple of minutes later, Nora waved them down; and the five of us spent the next little while making small talk.

  Things were still tense between Ellen and me, but she was civil and I could only hope that with time, her attitude towards me would warm some.

  About five minutes into the small talk, the smell of bread wafted into the common room from the kitchen. As time passed, more and more scents joined the bread until I felt like I could read the menu with my nose alone.

  A couple of Guild employees exited the kitchen, each with a tray that held a plethora of bowls and plates.

  Breakfast was a hardy mix of barley porridge and toasted rye bread. I ate slowly as I watched bright-eyed youths and sleepy adventurers file in from the training yard. According to Maggie, in the larger Halls, breakfast was a much bigger community event; people got menus with different meal options, and once everyone ate the remaining food went to the needy.

  However, because the Guild Hall in Woodsedge was still small, breakfast was whatever the [Chef] and [Cooks] made. Even then, what they made was rarely large enough to have leftovers. Yet the Guild still took care to make sure they donated whatever wasn’t eaten.

  As we ate, Nora, Mika, and Ellen chatted amongst each other freely. Occasionally, Maggie or I would butt into the conversation. It was at this point that I realized a downside of joining an already established group of friends. Both Maggie and I were outsiders looking in. If we wanted to become close with them, we’d have to navigate an already established dynamic.

  Once we finished our food, we brought our dishes to the collection station. Narrowly avoiding losing our table to a new group. Seated again, I could tell that Maggie wanted to bring up something serious. Her posture wasn’t as fluid as it usually was, and she held her chin just a touch higher. Even though she was one of the smallest people in the group, the space her presence demanded loomed large over the four of us.

  “Ideally, where do you see yourselves fitting into the combat strategy of the party?” She asked.

  “I think it’s pretty obvious my place is on the frontline, but more specifically, I’m a sentinel.” I said.

  No one denied my claim, and instead I got a round of nods.

  “I’m a frontliner right now. That’ll probably change once I start training with my dad.” Ellen added.

  Her voice was subdued compared to usual, and her leg bounced beneath the table. Across from her, Maggie looked extremely pleased to hear her dad would train Ellen.

  “I’d say I’m pretty solidly in the rear.” Nora said, to no one’s surprise. Everything I’d seen from her so far told me she was an area control [Mage].

  “I should probably be in the back as well.” Mika said. “But I also see myself as the best candidate for combat leader.”

  “Why is that?” I asked.

  I wasn’t against Mika being in command of strategy. I’d seen how he coordinated during the game of siege, and I’d trained mainly in the macro-stratagems of an army. Yet, I still needed to know why he believed himself best suited for the task.

  “When my sculptures are up, I have to control them individually, so I won’t be slinging around other spells. However, when I’m piloting them, I can see through their eyes and my own. I’ll have the best view of everything going on.”

  “And how many of these golems can you pilot at once?” Maggie asked.

  Mika made a face and looked like he might object to them being called golems, but controlled himself.

  “Right now? Around five, depending on the size of the sculptures, but that’ll go up as I refine the spells and runes I use.”

  I looked at Nora and Ellen, who both seemed to have no qualms at all about Mika taking command. In fact, both of them were looking at me to see how I’d answer.

  “I’m fine with you deciding out strategies, but I will refuse any order I believe puts me or the group in unnecessary harm.”

  I tried to word that as kindly as I could. I trusted my new party mates were skilled enough to not get me killed. But I wouldn’t throw away my life on the order of someone I met a few days ago.

  “Seems fair. Everyone else alright with me taking lead?” Mika’s eyes didn’t even stop on Nora or Ellen and rested solely upon Maggie.

  Maggie gave him a considering look before she shifted over to Ellen and I. Vaguely, I could sense something in her aura flare and recede again in time for her to look back at Mika and give a shallow nod.

  “I’m glad that’s settled, but we’ve still got the hard one to decide. Which one of you is going to be the face?”

  Maggie looked like she was bracing herself for a physical blow as she spoke the name of the role.

  “Nora.” Mika and Ellen said on top of one another.

  Maggie’s eyebrows jumped up, and she looked completely taken aback by how quickly they’d answered. When she looked at me, there was still a hint of painful anticipation in her eyes, but it was quieter.

  “What is the face?” I asked instead.

  “Basically, what the name says, the face is the member of the party who handles social interaction and contract negotiation while you’re in the field. Your party’s face is the person you send to deal with the irate [Farmer] whose field you trampled while fighting the boar herd. Things like that.”

  “The face does not receive preferential treatment for our sagas, do they?”

  Part of me worried the face would be someone like Ajax, who in all the tales overshadowed their party completely. Most people didn’t even know his party was called the ‘Crusaders’.

  “They might.” The words looked like they pained Maggie to say. “Depends on the face. The vast majority of the time, they remain purely the member of the party who handles deals while out in the field. But there are rare cases when the face is the most talented. That’s usually when you get cases like Feris the Grand, or Ajax.”

  I looked at Nora and seriously considered her chances of eventually overshadowing me. From what little I’d seen of her, she was a good [Mage]; her spells had given me serious trouble when we sparred. During the games, she’d been more limited in what she could do, but still put down that restrictive mist.

  The real question, however, was if I’d allow myself to be overshadowed. It was my duty to bring glory to the Grace Mother’s faith. I was her weapon; her chosen. She’d pointed me at the outlands and I would not fail her.

  “Never been much of a social butterfly.” I said and cast a glance at the rest of the group. “I’d be fine with Nora being the face.”