Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (95/?) WiP 1 (Patreon)

Hey everyone! Here is the Work in Progress for Chapter 94 I hope you guys enjoy! :D

The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts. Armorer’s Workshop en route to the Dorms. Local Time: 1710 Hours.

Emma

We left Sorecar’s workshop with mixed feelings.

Though it was clear that the slow progress weighed heavier on Ilunor’s shoulders than my own.

“Away on Academy Business until further notice.” I parrotted the armorer’s words, but instead of simply moaning and groaning those exasperated breaths to a crowd of two — that being myself and the EVI — I instead found myself voicing my frustrations to a third party. Someone who, not too long ago, had given me fair warning as to his position in the grand game of the Academy in the very halls we currently found ourselves in.

“We have learned nothing new.” The Vunerian responded with a frustrated breath. “We already know of the apprentice’s plans through your manaless artifices, earthrealmer. The armorer is simply reaffirming what we already know.”

“Eh, it was worth a shot, especially after the library’s rejection.” I replied with a shrug. “In any case, we should still be good to go on that front. There’s ample time next week to make our gambit towards the apprentice and the book. Whether we approach her upfront, or quietly borrow it, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” 

“Your overconfidence will be the death of us eventually, earthrealmer.” The Vunerian responded with a tacit breath. 

“What do you mean? I’m sure there won’t be an issue with—”

“It’s not the apprentice I’m worried about. It was your actions with the library earlier. Your insistence on pushing forth for the caveat of simply loaning the book to the library, thereby risking the integrity of our prior agreements.”

“Hey, it needed to be said, right? The library only really needs the original to look over, not to keep. But the apprentice on the other hand needs the book for the inquisition or whatnot. If we were to permanently take it… well… One — requesting it would be off the table. And two — she’d get in deep trouble. It would be a bad look for Larial, Mal’tory’s apprentice, to be completely empty handed when the inquisition arrives. Heck, it’d make her look like a full on collaborator. So yeah… I’m just putting two and two together and trying to make the best out of the situation.” I offered.

The Vunerian, whilst considering my words, still held that apprehensive expression. 

“You put too much care on others outside of our circle, earthrealmer. And whilst this would be acceptable in most other scenarios… I would rather you not tempt fate when it pertains to matters involving the library.”

“Or more accurately, in matters involving your fate, right?” I countered. 

The Vunerian visibly flinched at that, as if my laid-back attitude on the completion of his questline was something that caused him some pause for concern. 

It was at that moment that I finally came to a halt, just before we could reach the exit to Sorecar’s domain. “Listen, I get it Ilunor. It’s a pretty intense situation, but I’m genuinely just trying my best here. So trust me when I say this — everything will be fine. Besides, we have ample time for what is essentially your questline, Ilunor. So, we’re in no rush.” 

That stray comment seemed to affect him even more, as he not only flinched, but visibly lost color to his cheeks, turning as white as a ghost for a split second.

“Unless, of course, there’s something you need to tell me regarding the specifics of your agreement with the library — the so-called ‘collateral’ you offered that made it so confident that you wouldn’t just run off.” I quickly added, utilizing the Vunerian’s bout of silence as a jumping off point for a question that's been on my mind since that day we lawyered up. “You’ve yet to tell me about the specifics behind your deal with the library, and I know, I know, it’s probably something that you don’t want spread around. But trust me when I say this Ilunor — I have neither the desire nor the rotten character to leak this sort of sensitive information. And since we’re both in this together, I just want to know what exactly the library has on you? As in, what could the library have agreed to that allowed you to more or less leave scott free?”

The Vunerian took my cue to stop and halted just before the periphery of the exit. 

This was one of the rare few moments where he refused to meet my gaze, instead, electing to sidestep it entirely by keeping his eyes shut.

“Our agreement… is a personal matter, Emma.” He offered. “I… cannot, and will not divulge such a sensitive matter.” The deluxe kobold spoke in a way that provoked some genuine concern in me.

Especially following the discovery of literal mind-bombs which were primed to activate when addressing or digging around for certain topics. The library had  promised me it wouldn’t go that route, but I just needed to double-check, especially given how vague the Vunerian was being.

“Is this like… one of those mind-curse things that Mal’tory had put on you before or—”

“No! No… I would’ve never agreed to that even if the library had offered. No. This… is a matter which whilst I have the freedom to divulge, I simply do not wish to divulge.” He quickly interrupted, clarifying and putting that concern to rest.

The library definitely got brownie points for not stooping to that low, at least in my book. 

“Alright so, it’s that sensitive, huh?” I offered, before quickly registering the library’s earlier statements. “This… doesn’t by any chance have something to do with the cryptic message the librarian gave you before we left today did we? Something about how it was reminding you to return by the end of the week as per the agreements, or else… what was it?” I paused, as the EVI brought up the transcripts of that conversation word-for-word. “Something about how you quote ‘seem to be growing greener around the gills by the day’?” 

That statement, repeated verbatim, caused Ilunor’s whole body to shiver in place. 

And for a moment, I swore I could see his scales become paler with dread.

“I’d prefer if we moved on, earthrealmer.” He urged, walking forward and then dropping the privacy screen altogether.

“So long as it’s not something life-threatening, then I guess I’m fine with whatever you have going on, Ilunor.” I offered, trying my best to de-escalate from that conversation.