17 - Tulimeir (Patreon)

They arrived in the fortress city of Vallinsarvi the following night and Phoenix was grateful she would finally be able to sleep in an actual bed. Paul was first heading to talk to the city's baroness and AOA commander however, since apparently the presence of an Emerald Caster in this area could set them on edge.

There were a ton of people crowding about the streets, she assumed in preparation to hunker down for the coming blood moon. As she followed closely most of the people she saw were humanoid but not quite human. Some had shimmery metallic-looking tattoos of various colors all over their exposed skin and others had glowing ember eyes with skin that seemed to have markings made of lava peeking through their fur clothing. Both types had long tapered ears like an elf.

They were all various shades of dark tones in both skin and hair, from rich mahogany to ashen grays to dark onyx, causing her pale alabaster skin and auburn hair to stand out in contrast. Even Paul stood out a bit from looks alone with his lighter tan skin and golden blonde hair.

Phoenix gently tugged on her mentor's sleeve and asked him quietly, “What kind of people are they?”

He paused a moment then shook his head in an apology, “Sorry. I forgot to warn you a bit earlier but they are such a common species that it slipped my mind that you might not have them in your world.”

“We only have humans as far as I know,” she informed.

“Well, the shorter ones with the metallic rune markings are the runeforged. They naturally excel at magic spells and crafting,” he explained, tilting his head towards a group that were wielding wands to move belongings into one of the buildings.

“The taller fiery ones are the cinderen, usually attuned to the Earth and Fire elements,” he continued, gesturing towards a group talking in front of a wall filled with informational flyers.

The little tidbit sparked another question she had meant to ask earlier, “How many elements are there?”

He seemed to contemplate for a moment and she wondered if he was mentally counting them but the Adventurer said in his teaching tone, “That seems like a simple question at first but I think what you're really asking is a bit more complex.”

At her obvious confusion he continued to explain, “The simple answer is that there are ten elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Corrosion, Gem, Ice, Lightning, Metal, and Plant. Most people are familiar with those. The more complex answer would point out that those are only half of the… 'flavors' an ability, attunement, or affinity might be. Ability types are usually either Elemental or Magical or, in rarer cases, Divine. The ones I listed are the Elemental subtypes. There are ten more Magical subtypes and three Divine ones.”

Phoenix scrunched her nose, “That does seem more complex but does answer my question better.”

“Most people don't care about the nuances of how we label magic but there are people out there who make it their whole career.”

“Sounds like most people's attitude towards science in my world,” she mumbled to herself then asked, “So what are the ten Magical subtypes?”

“Light and Dark, which behave slightly different from their more natural counterparts,” he explained as they continued weaving through the crowds, “Life and Death, sometimes referred to as Healing and Disease.

“There's Illusion, Song, and Blood,” he listed off, sidestepping a runeforged couple herding a gaggle of excited children, “Your portal and storage falls under Dimension. Covenant, which is like contracts or creature summoning abilities; really, anything that has to do with bonds between things. And the last one some consider a kind of 'catch-all' but it's just Arcane. Raw, unflavoured magic.”

He paused in front of one of the central buildings, “Wait here while I announce us and find a room for the night.”

She nodded and waited patiently against the building, trying to ignore some of the odd looks she was receiving from the crowds moving past.

Her mind wandered back to her abilities and the different types Paul had talked about and wondered if she could find a library or something to learn more about what those ability types meant.

The Wayfarer's thoughts were interrupted by a small runeforged child tugging on her skirt and asking her once they had her attention, “Are you a human too?”

Phoenix stared at the child for a long moment, glancing around to see if there was a parent or guardian nearby, before saying softly, “I used to be.”

“Not many humans around these parts until the blood moon,” the kid seemed to quote, puffing their chest slightly as though playing at being older. Then they asked, “If you're not a human anymore, what did you become?”

Before she could answer, Paul's voice came from beside them, “She became a Caster.”

The child seemed to shrink slightly in the larger man's presence but grinned up at her, “That's awesome. Are you going to be an Adventurer?”

She smiled back down at them, “I'm going to try.”

“Genki!” A feminine voice called over the noise of the crowd.

The young runeforged face blanched slightly as they said hurriedly, “Gotta go! Bye! Good luck becoming an Adventurer!”

“I see you made a friend,” Paul said to her with that slightly amused look in his eyes and tug at the corner of his mouth.

She rolled her eyes at him, “Kids are easier to be friends with.”

He chuckled in response, “The innocent usually are,” he then gestured for her to follow him again, “This way. We'll get some rest then I want to take you to some other fortress towns before we go to the capital.”

Phoenix nodded, pushing herself off the wall, and followed after the Emerald Caster.

It was another few weeks of traveling and constant battling between training sessions. They visited two other fortress towns and multiple landmarks across the icy tundra as the orange moon became darker and Paul estimated only another few weeks until the blood moon triggered its flood.

Paul was judicious in picking the monsters that he let Phoenix battle and simply obliterated anything he deemed too dangerous. It was a trial by fire type of training where pain was the largest motivator for improving. However, her mentor had improved his teaching methods as well, giving her suggestions about what to look for to determine how to approach an enemy and going over her mistakes in more detail afterwards with recommendations on what to do differently.

Phoenix felt much more comfortable with the battles now that her cloak prevented her from freezing to death and she had been through dozens of monster fights. She never refused any of the commands her mentor gave her, trying her best to heed the advice and improve herself. With each passing day and each challenge overcome, her abilities increased.

Now, in the distance was what looked like a band of gray metal that she was told were the walls of the capital. She trudged along behind Paul as they walked north along the rocky road towards the city. She wasn't physically tired but the mental exhaustion of continuous travel and battles was wearing her down and she just wanted a long bath.

“So, Blomsterang is the monarch nation that oversees Tulim, which is the name of the duchy that encompasses the tundra. Blomstra is the monarchy’s capital city while Tulimeir is the name of the capital of the duchy,” she reiterated.

“Correct,” Paul answered without looking back.

“Then there's Vallinsarvi in the forest to the south, Linnake across the northern tip of the gorge to the west, and Suoja near the south end of the mountains to the east that act as the fortress cities during the blood moon,” she continued.

“That's right,” her mentor responded.

“And the AOA works with the Duke and Barons to coordinate local guards and Adventurers during the blood moon to protect these four cities?”

“Yes,” Paul confirmed then added, “Normally, the AOA works completely independently. The locals submit requests or monster sightings that become missions that individual Adventurers or parties can choose to accept.”

“But during the blood moon the AOA directly assigns the missions instead and the local government backs that authority?”

“Everyone helps during a blood moon,” he repeated. Then clarified, “Aside from being easier to coordinate forces and it being the right thing to do, it's a small concession for each side to make every fifteen years to help support the service the AOA provides between each blood moon. Nobody is forced to be an Adventurer after all.”

“They still get paid for the missions they do though, right?” She double checked.

“The reward is posted with each mission and depending on the outcome there may be additional rewards. Such as the encountered monster being more dangerous than initially reported or exceptional performance and decision making for unexpected complications.”

“So it's a job,” she concluded, “A very dangerous freelance job to fight monsters.”

The paladin chuckled, “That's one way to look at it and I won't deny that many do.”

“You know,” she said playfully, “I never really thought I would ever get a job, what with how often I was told I should have been dead already, but I admit that, even in my wildest dreams, a professional monster hunter never made the list of potential first jobs.”

Paul let out a genuine laugh, loud and breath stealing, that she hadn't heard before that made her join in as they continued towards the capital ahead.

When they finally reached the walls, Phoenix was in utter awe of the sheer size of it. The massive metal structure was roughly three dozen meters tall and on top had huge weapons that were aiming in various angles as though to react to any threat at a moment’s notice. She wasn’t positive from this close up but it also looked like some kind of pale smoke was rising from the top too and quickly dissipating into the cold air.

She knew from Paul's earlier explanation that the walls were angled and pivoted at points to form a huge eight pointed star, with the prongs in the cardinal directions being larger than the ordinal ones between to completely encompass the city that was surrounded by kilometers of flat rocky ice except on the north side, opposite of where they stood, where it abutted the ocean.

Currently, they stood at the connection point between the main southern point and the smaller southwestern section where there was a small line leading into the entrance at the base. The guards seemed thorough in checking everyone for potential threats or to direct them to certain locations as the line slowly progressed.

Phoenix was immensely grateful now for Paul’s insistence on saving their last bottle of the golden shower potion for right before reaching the city as she had become a ragged mess of blood, dirt, and snow slush. He, however, had remained immaculately clean.

As it became their turn, Paul showed the guard a small card seemingly carved from green marble with writing engraved on it that Phoenix couldn't read from that distance. He explained that Phoenix was with him and planning to join the AOA and then they were given directions to the office that Paul would need to report into and she would need to fill out paperwork for.

While passing through the insanely dense walls, she could have sworn she felt and heard a slight hum coming from somewhere but it was so faint she wasn’t entirely sure that she wasn’t just imagining things in her anxiety over the crowds. As soon as they exited the long tunnel leading through the colossal wall and into the southern section, which she was informed was the International District, they were intercepted by a short, stocky, and bald man covered in shiny rune tattoos in various shades of blue that stood in stark contrast to his dark midnight skin. He was wearing priestly robes that Phoenix couldn’t place as she didn’t know the symbols for the different churches yet.

The man bowed to them once Paul came to a stop in front of him and the stranger greeted her mentor respectfully, “Lord Wayland, we welcome you back home. It has been too long.”

Paul gave a huff of annoyance as he crossed his arms, “What does your Lady want with me, Priest?”

The stranger straightened and glanced at Phoenix before saying, “She merely wishes to assist in your task of guiding the young Adventurer-to-be here. I will lead her to my Lady’s temple, while you see to your own duties, then I will return her to you.”

The former paladin’s eyes narrowed at the man and his stance became rigid as he shifted slightly to place himself further between Phoenix and the priest. Paul lowered his voice and asked in a dangerous tone, “Your Lady would interfere with the wishes of her siblings?”

“Not interfere; assist, like I said,” the man quickly reiterated, obviously not wanting to anger the Emerald Caster, “I assure you, Lord Wayland, that we share the same goal in this matter.”

“That is doubtful,” he replied curtly then turned to look at Phoenix, “This man is a priest of the goddess Scholar. While I’m not certain of her intentions, she may have some answers for you.”

Phoenix nodded in understanding, the book symbol on his robes making more sense now, and stepped forward to follow the priest. He smiled at her and bowed once more to Paul before leading her down the road that led to the east through the crowded city.

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