Chương 33: Chapter 32 - Be Careful What You Wish For

Eli leaned back from Mira with a wary look as Astra chuckled." Calm down Mira! You're frightening the poor man, however will you get him to agree?" Mira scoffed, " I know his type, he wouldn't turn down my offer if I asked for his first born heir. At the very least not if he knew what he stood to gain." Astra rolled her eyes, " Perhaps, but he knows nothing of this world, patience."

She turned towards Eli, "While she would never admit it to you, Mira was very impressed today with your progress on your ocular skill, and she believes you have a great deal of talent. Talent that under the right tutelage could take you very far, farther than most, along the path to power."" Mira just so happens to be not only my own personal guard and confidant, she is also my tutor in both the martial arts and sorcery.

Her personal strength is formidable, yes; however, I would have you know she is not only one of the most powerful mageknights in the duchy, but she is also one of the most powerful in the whole of the Empire." Astra turned a proud look at her master as Mira scoffed, " Her true value lies not in the strength of her sword arm, but rather in the vast experience she has developed over numerous battles and adventures.

Why, any of the academies would trade a mountain of gold to get her on staff as an instructor, well a mountain is a mite excessive, maybe a medium sized hill." Mira huffed in Astra's direction, " My Lady can be prone to exaggeration, but I do have no small talent with a sword and have become familiar with a vast number of skills over the years, and with a little work I think we could turn you into something pretty special." Astra smacked Mira's knee, " Do not be modest, I want him to know your worth Mira."

Astra leaned forward, " Do not let her mislead you, she has participated in countless battles and journeyed the Realm for hundreds of years. The only reason she even agreed to teach me is because she is great friends with grandfather, well, that and she thinks I'm cute. She said the last with a wink, Mira rolled her eyes, " Please, I promised to tutor you because your grandfather has a great eye for talent, those dimples stopped working on me years ago."

Astra laughed with glee, " But you do admit that they work on you!" Mira gave her a fond smile, " Aye my Lady, they work on everyone who doesn't have a lump of stone in their chest. Ignore her foolishness." Eli smiled at the byplay, " I'll pay it no mind," he leaned forward to give Mira a wink, " besides your smile is plenty dazzling in its own right, you could have fooled me, you don't look a day over thirty." Mira scoffed, " You honeyed words won't work on me, whelp.

although a Lady always appreciates a compliment." A serious glint entered her eye as she leaned forward, " No matter the strange nature of it, I rarely find pupils in the early stages of the Initiate tier, much less ones with talent still in their child tier, no matter how strange your class may be. To not only find talent still in the first tier, but also to possess the strength and intelligence of a fully grown adult?" Mira sat back with a happy sigh, the hungry look returning to her face, "That Mr.

Mercer is so serendipitous it almost feels like fate. What do you say?" The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Eli smiled back, " Well I would have to be an idiot to say no right?" Mira tossed a smirk back at Astra before returning her gaze to Eli, " Aye Mr Mercer, just so." Mira rose to her feet, dispelling the privacy dome with a wave of her hand, " Good eve, my Lady, and Mr Mercer." She fixed Eli with another smile, " Be sure to rest well, we begin tomorrow."

Astra rose while draining her tea, " I should probably rest myself as well, I hardly had enough to recover this morning. Wait here a moment." Astra ducked into her tent for a moment before returning with a leather pack in her hands." Here. We finished cleaning and repairing your armor and belongings, I assumed you would appreciate a pack to carry them. You were living fairly rough out there, so I took the liberty of adding a few odds and ends.

Spare toiletries, a few changes of clothes and such, unfortunately we only had spares in my house colors, I hope that's all right?" Eli grinned, " Of course Astra, that's very generous of you, I really appreciate it! I definitely don't mind wearing your house colors," he continued in a stage whisper as he leaned in, " as long as you don't mind the devilish rogue from the woods tarnishing your house's honor by association." Astra laughed it off, " Never, what Lady would ever allow such a thing!""

Seriously please see Private Taylor of First Squad in the morning, he has a skill from his mother to adjust the fit of your clothing, the skill works quickly, but you need to be wearing them for it to work. Also I made sure to put your hides in there, and while they weren't tanned if you have no further use Mr. Cooper handles our logistics and would be willing to buy them off you for some spare coin and put them to use." She yawned before continuing, " Anything else you need? Did you find a bunk for the night?

We should have spare tents?" Eli shook his head, " I'll be all right, I picked up a habit for sleeping in trees anyways, maybe another time. I'll see if I can shake loose a spare blanket from Coop and settle in myself." Astra rolled her eyes, " All right mountain man, suit yourself." She grabbed his arm, drew him close, and folded him in an embrace with a sigh before whispering in his ear, " Thank you again, for everything." Eli breathed deep, before returning the hug, " Anytime Astra, you just need to ask."

She gave him a final squeeze and turned back to her tent with a wave, " Good Eve Eli." Eli took another breath savoring the lingering warm scent for a moment, sunshine and wildflowers, before turning off to find Coop.

Cooper was more than happy to take the hides, trading them for a small handful of coins, some rope, and a soft wool blanket at Eli's request." Aye the Lady is right, the lads can be tough on their gear and we are always looking for extra material to fix straps, patch joints, rewrap handles and the like. If you come across any more or have some time to hunt, be sure to bring it back to Astrid or Sasha, they have plenty of tanning experience, and we would be more than happy to take it off your hands!"

Eli thanked the man, snagged another handful of fruits, inkfruit felt like a strange name until he remembered what it did to his hands earlier, and found himself a nice perch on the edge of the clearing. Eli settled in on the branch, tying himself down with his new rope, nestled under a warm blanket, pillowing his head on a firm pack, it almost felt like the height of luxury after the past week.

As Eli pondered the day's events, he felt a surge of hope, satisfaction, and more than a little excitement in his chest, smiling at how quickly his prospects could shift in a single day. Rescued the damsel in distress, saved a bunch of people, and even got myself a wizened old master to teach me the ways of swords and sorcery, my life feels like some kind of crazy fairy tale.

Well the damsel in distress was more like an armor plated murder machine, and the old master was more like a sadist drill sergeant stuffed into the body of some foxy noblewoman if Astra's stories had any merit. Eli grinned, even better. As Eli yawned and his eyes grew heavy, he heard a familiar chirp from a branch just above him. Eli stretched one eye open before chuckling." Looks like I have a stalker."

He sat up, pulled the last two fruits out of his pack, stripped their peel, and dropped the wedges on the branch by his feet. Eli whispered around a yawn, " Told you I would have a couple more next time. Good night little one, enjoy your snack. He laid back down with a smile as a cobalt blue glint in the darkness flashed down towards the gift, and had time for just one more thought before sleep claimed him. Man Viv, you would love this place.