Paul’s eyes narrowed at the pair of disciples half-carrying his new Protégé towards him. Phoenix looked ragged and shaken, and he was already unhappy with the events happening since they entered Tulimeir.

  “Little Miss looks like they mana-drained her,” the familiar voice sounded in his mind again, and he mentally hushed the comment.

  He almost growled at the clergy as he asked, “What happened to her?”

  The disciples bnched at the Emerald Caste aura that pressed upon them, an obvious threat should he not like the answer. Lester spoke up first, “My Lady Schor, Warrior, and Traveler simply granted the child some boons to aid in her tasks.”

  They all looked at the disheveled young woman who appeared to have just run a marathon, and Paul gred at Lester again. Kyleen added hastily, “They may have gotten a bit… closer than they usually do with other mortals.”

  Phoenix gnced up at him and expined, “They all did something to my Soul Mark. I’ll expin ter. Can we go sleep now?”

  Her clear exhaustion made Paul soften his stance, and he dismissed the clergy with a wave of his hand. “Thank you for guiding her,” he stated without seeming to mean it and pced a hand on her shoulder to steer her into the building he had been standing in front of. He had been waiting there, knowing that any messenger of the Schor would be able to find him.

  He originally had hoped to clean her up a bit more before taking her to the Alliance of Adventurers to finish signing forms, but he realized that Phoenix needed to sleep off whatever the gods had done to her, and he wanted the information she held.

  The building he took her into was a dormitory for people staying in the fortress city during the blood moon. Normally, it acted as an inexpensive hotel of sorts, but it was currently packed with visitors from the outlying towns and vilges.

  Paul was lucky enough to manage to get her a decent room on one of the upper floors. It was the closest dorm to his own home, but he wasn’t quite ready to take her there yet.

  Pati’s reaction had been a mixture of excitement, exasperation, and consternation, and he wasn’t ready to expose the young Wayfarer to all of that aristocratic nonsense that was his baggage to carry. Not to mention that he wasn’t sure how well she would fare with the small horde of children and older retives that lived there.

  First, he wanted to make sure Phoenix was settled in her role as an Adventurer before introducing her to his own mess. When he opened the door to a small sitting area, her expression visibly brightened, and she practically lunged onto the plush couch.

  Paul chuckled at her antics. The young woman had definitely started to rub off on him after weeks of travel and training, and he felt a lot more comfortable around her now. He wasn’t ready to open up to her about everything –she was just a child, after all– but she had always been honest with him. Even when he tried to pry out her secrets and gave shallow threats, she hadn’t even attempted to lie, instead expining that she would not divulge them, and he respected her for that.

  He gently nudged her over so that he could sit on the couch next to her, the position a clear indication that he wanted to read with her. He had been pleased that she had always been willing to share the ability with him. Paul had even contempted asking to borrow the book to inspect some of his own items but had dismissed the idea, not particurly ready to divulge some of his own secrets.

  She groaned at the effort but still sat up and conjured her book in front of them so that he could catch up in reading. After he read the first two new quests expining the Knowledge Tome and the third expining the Talent upgrade, he looked at her with amusement, “Well, that expins the state you’re in.”

  Phoenix rolled her eyes at him and sarcastically said, “Ha. Ha.” Then, she pulled out the stack of books from Schor, showed them to Paul, and touched the first one against the guide’s pages.

  Item: Magic of Makera: Rituals

  A magical tome detailing the foundational patterns, theories, and techniques of the Magic of Makera encompassing rituals of the world.

  Caste: Crystal.

  Avaibility: Rare.

  Type: Consumable, Knowledge Tome.

  Requirements: Crystal Caste or higher.

  Effect: Imparts basic ritual patterns, theories, and techniques from throughout history.

  Paul frowned at the description and spoke up, “This is not the usual Knowledge Tome for ritual magic.”

  Phoenix looked up at him, “This one is listed as rare. Doesn’t that mean it’s better?”

  He shrugged, “Normally, I would agree, but just because something is harder to find doesn’t mean it’s inherently better than something that’s tried and true.”

  She seemed to think it over for a moment but instead decided to give in to exhaustion and just shrugged, “While I already know a bit of ritual magic from you, my world didn’t have any magical knowledge, as far as I’m aware, so I’m going to use it. Plus, I’ll get a reward just for learning new things. It’s a win-win.”

  Before Paul could warn her about the strain, Phoenix opened the tome and read the activation sentence aloud, “The Schor is a lovely and benevolent goddess that knows exactly how to win the heart of a bibliophile Wayfarer.”

  The book seemed to behave in much the same way that the Aspects had as it began to break apart in her hand.

  “Wait, did she write that knowing I would have to re–” her question halted as a cloud of inky lettering quickly swarmed over her, embedding itself into her flesh like slivers trying to burrow their way under her skin, and he helplessly watched as she gasped in pain.

  Paul grabbed her shoulder to try and keep her steady as he instructed, “Stay awake. It won’t work as well if you pass out again.”

  Phoenix gritted her teeth and nodded. He knew the information was bombarding her mind faster than she would be able to actively process it. He hadn’t enjoyed the few times he had used one as well.

  When it was finally finished, she took a gasp of air, and he realized he was unsure when she had begun holding her breath. He had absently forgotten that Crystal Casters still needed to do that mundane function.

  After she steadied herself once more, she compined, “I was not expecting a book to ever cause me pain,” then she pulled out the next tome and hesitantly touched it to her [Guide Book].

  It read almost exactly the same as the first tome but was for cantrips instead of rituals.

  “This one also seems slightly different than normal, too,” Paul said as he gnced at her, “Are you sure you’re up to another one? You should probably rest,” he asked, starting to worry that whatever the gods had done to her might have compromised her judgment and was pushing her to act hastily.

  Phoenix grimaced, “I’d rather get all the pain over with at once. I’m hoping to sleep for the next week at this rate,” she admitted, then asked him, “What exactly is cantrip magic? I’ve heard the term before, both here and in my original world, so I’m not exactly certain what it actually is.”

  He gave a slight grimace and sourly said, “I’m actually rather… ckluster with cantrips. Rituals I’ve become a practiced hand with, but I’ve always been pretty shoddy with the other types of Mundane magic, as well as crafting in general.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him, and he expined further, “Cantrips are basic spells that require a medium. This is usually a wand, or sometimes a staff, made from a magical material. Even Mundanes can use these to channel and amplify the little magic they have in order to perform certain tasks. Repairing a broken cup, healing a minor scrape, watering a small garden, lighting a hearth,” he listed off, “Little things that help accomplish simple tasks.”

  “That sounds awesome,” she surprised him by saying.

  “They’re useful,” he agreed, “But they won’t help fight monsters or accomplish grander or more complex tasks.”

  “Well, being more useful is my current goal,” she quipped while clutching the book in her hand, “Try to keep me awake,” she warned, then groaned slightly before activating the tome by dryly reading aloud, “Wayfarers all love the goddess Schor and her magnificent brilliance that guides them in a strange new world.”

  Paul tried not to ugh as he kept his grip on her shoulder, taking in another swarm of magic letters before he could have advised her otherwise. He shook his head at the brash impulsivity of it. He only hoped she would remain conscious long enough for him to give her the potion he pulled out of the small dimensional pouch on his belt.

  He was surprised at her resilience as the information finished inserting itself into her mind. Then he handed her the potion before she could grab the next book and commanded, “Drink.” It was a green liquid that he knew she wouldn’t recognize, and he answered the unspoken question, “Stamina potion.”

  Paul had gauged correctly early on that as long as the young woman understood the logic behind a request, she seemed more willing to comply if he requested her to do something as a command. He could sense in her aura that she didn’t particurly care for the controlling nature of the orders, but he could also tell from her demeanor that she disliked social confrontation. If he took control, she would allow it rather than argue.

  It made things easier for him, and he had exploited it. It’s not like he was trying to harm her; in fact, his commands were usually for the exact opposite reason, so he felt no guilt at guiding the Adventurer-in-training with this method. He also suspected it was helping ground her in this new world. Giving her something solid to lean on when everything around her was just like Schor described: strange and new.

  When she finished the potion, she looked markedly better, and she pulled out the next tome that was beled for Artifice.

  “Artifice is like crafting magic items, right?” she asked him.

  He nodded and expined, “It’s considered a subdivision of enchanting. It’s just more involved since various enchantments are applied throughout the crafting process of the item instead of added on after the fact. It generally results in a stronger magical item since the desired effects were considered from the item’s conception.”

  Paul gnced at the final tome still sitting in the young Wayfarer’s p and tilted his head towards that, “I assume that one is enchantments and would recommend using that one first so the information isn’t as disjointed when settling in your mind.”

  She obligingly lifted the tome and touched it to her [Guide Book] to dispy the details, which were also fairly simir to all the others.

  “So, what’s the difference between rituals and enchantments?” she inquired.

  “The short answer is permanence,” he replied bluntly before continuing further, “You remember the ritual you saw me doing earlier to close that Reality Rift?”

  “Yeah,” she nodded, “It was quite the light show.”

  “Well, that ritual is a one-time effect that requires a fairly high up-front cost and has a limited duration.”

  “Wait, you didn’t just destroy the portal?”

  “I closed the portal. Destroying it would have taken much greater effort and likely result in accomplishing the Soul Reaper’s goal of mass destruction to the surrounding nds,” he said with a shake of his head, “Not to mention channeling that much power would likely kill me in the process.”

  “So how long is it closed for?” she asked hesitantly.

  “About a year? Give or take a few weeks,” Paul estimated with a shrug, “The point is that it wasn’t an enchantment. Those are more permanent. Depending on a number of factors, they’ll likely require upkeep. Either through the ambient mana avaible or supplements from Casters or Bits.”

  “Oh, like how my cloak can use a Mana Bit to turn into a shelter for eight hours?” Phoenix pointed out.

  “That’s a perfect example,” he agreed, “There’s also usually a lot more preparation required for enchanting. With permanence comes pnning.”

  The Astromancer nodded along, then flipped open the cover of the tome of enchantments and read aloud again, “If a grumpy Padin is ever mean to a Wayfarer, then Schor will be sure to smite the Padin and give the Wayfarer many hugs.”

  Paul shook his head at the ridiculous activation sentence the goddess had written but recognized the subtle threat. By taking Phoenix on as his Protégé, he would have the gods to answer to should some terrible end befall her.

  Phoenix held her head in her hands with a groan once the book was finished. Even a stamina potion wouldn’t help all of the mental fatigue that she had built up, and Paul knew he would need to stop her from trying to use the martial ones before getting some proper sleep.

  “Is Waynd trying to melt the Little Miss’ mind? This One has never contempted this method to do so with before,” the mechanical voice in the back of his mind spoke up in warning, which he simply acknowledged with an acquiescing thought.

  “Just one more, then some sleep, alright?” he suggested out loud, pcing his hand back on her shoulder as Phoenix nodded wearily.

  She grimaced at the st sentence written in the book of Artifice, then begrudgingly repeated, “Wayfarers are often Chosen by the divine for reasons unknown, but there is always a core belief: hope that they will change the world for the better.”

  Phoenix could barely keep her eyes open after the tome was finished disintegrating into her, but she tried to read the new message her [Guide Book] was dispying for them to view.

  Quest: Books of the Schor

  Objective Complete: Gained Schor’s Soul Mark and used the magic knowledge tomes.

  Objective Reward:

  [Ritual Materials of Makera] has been added to your collection.

  Completion Reward:

  20 [Crystal Mana Bits] have been added to your collection.

  The Astromancer seemed to perk up at the message, “Nice, this should help me practice, right?”

  He chuckled and nodded the affirmative, sharing a bit of her excitement in gaining new starter items. He had grown accustomed to his looting power decades ago, and it had been a surprisingly enjoyable time to experience it all again vicariously through his new Protégé.

  “Can we try some now? I have so many new ideas,” she asked, her exhaustion seemingly forgotten.

  Paul chuckled, then reassured her, “Not today. Sleep.”

  She started to protest, but he held up a hand and said firmly, “Sleep. No more tomes. Just rest. Then I’ll join you tomorrow with more stamina potions for the other tomes.”

  Phoenix pouted but nodded. He helped her stand and make her way to the bedroom to sleep in an actual bed. He made sure to lock the dorm as he left to return to his own home for rest and hopefully avoid more of Pati’s interrogation.