It’s my mentor

I turn around and stare right into the shadowy void where Kiara’s eyes are supposed to be.

“I’m going to show you to your rooms, Darx.” Kiara says. “Would you mind following me?”

“Sure, no problem.” I say.

As I leave with Kiara and the others of my group, I can’t help but wonder who Harold was talking about. I guess my case is special enough that I could have his attention. But Wendy’s [null field] ability makes her special enough to deserve his attention too. Or Leona, because A rank spellswords are pretty rare as well.

Kiara first leads the girls to their rooms. Leona and Miranda share one room. Shalia and Wendy share another. That means I will be sharing a room with Ryul. Inside we find 2 beds and some furniture, as well as a door that leads to a bathroom.

“You mean there’s a separate bathroom for every one of these rooms?” Ryul asks astonished.

“The royal family has always valued their guest’s privacy.” Kiara says.

Kiara also shows us a desk with some paper and writing utensils on it.

“Feel free to write whatever letters you wish to write. When they are done, you can pass them to me. I’ll make certain they get send."

As Kiara is about to leave, I call out to her and say, “I still have to thank you for earlier. You know, with Kase outside the castle.”

“He had no right to block your passage.” Kiara says. “I merely did what was right. I would have done it for everyone.”

“Yeah, I know.” I say. “But it still meant a lot to me. I mean, if he succeeded in making me miss my awakening, I would have to wait another 6 months. Same for Ryul and Leona and they got such amazing results.”

“Yeah, same for me.” Ryul speaks up. “And I’m sure if you ask Leona, she’ll say the same.”

A soft smile creeps onto Kiara’s lips. “Your thanks are accepted. Now get some rest. Tomorrow you’ll be training.”

After Kiara left, neither Ryul nor I went streight to bed. We simply had too much on our minds. Our awakening results, the girls we’re partnering up with, our mysterious mentor, the queen, the princess, …

When we got reminded of our families, Ryul decided to start writing a letter to his. His father would probably be proud that he got such a high rank. As for me, I am going to write a letter to Mia. She probably expected me to have shown up at her guildhall by now. Instead I am stuck in the castle. She must be worried sick. Unfortunately, the letter I’m writing to her will only be send tomorrow. At least her guildhall is inside the city so it should arrive fast. That’s a relief.

I don’t explain to Mia what kind of result I had. An adventurer card with nothing but question marks is kinda difficult to explain. I also don’t want her to think I failed. Not when everybody here is convinced I didn’t. I do tell her that Harold decided to keep me in the castle for a month with a whole lot of A and B ranks. Then I write to her that it is possible for us to meet, as long as it is in the palace courtyard. I then implore her to come to the castle and meet me here.

After that, I write a similar letter to Oliver and Emma. They will be curious about my results too. As for my mother ... she will want to know my rank, which I can’t tell yet. I think I’m going to wait a few days. Maybe Harold learns something new that can help me better understand. After that, Ryul and I turn to our beds.

Ryul quickly falls asleep, but I have one more thing left on my mind. The girl in my dreams. I was finally able to have a conversation with her. She didn’t seem scary either. I feel like helping her. Who knows how long she must have been chained up like that? But where on earth could she be? The most worrisome thing of all ... will I dream of her again tonight? Will it be the same dream as I usually have? Or will I be able to conversate with her like during my awakening?

My fears were unfounded because I didn’t have any dreams that night. Neither good nor bad. I remember her saying that she could only contact me when the connection was strong. I guess tonight must be one of the times it wasn’t strong enough.

By the time I wake up, Ryul is already bathing. I use the bathroom after he finishes and then we head out for the dining room. We have to ask a couple of maids how to get there, but once we arrive we notice breakfast had already been served. Most of the others had arrived there as well, Leona and Miranda among them. We join our team members and start eating along with them. Soon after, Shalia and Wendy arrive as well. I am quite surprised when I see Wendy’s hair. It didn't look this bright and red yesterday, did it? Then I remember Wendy saying she grew up on the poor side of the city. She probably doesn’t have the chance to bathe every day; so it makes sense she made good use of her bathroom.

As soon as Wendy sits down, she grabs some bread and starts eating from it without putting anything on it.

“Mmmh, so good.” Wendy moans with her mouth full. “I’ve never had bread this tasty before.”

After a while the mentors come in one by one. Kiara was the last. Ryul and I immediately bring out our letters. Miranda does the same, as well as Leona and Wendy. I thought Shalia would have wanted to send any letters as well, but she didn't have any.

After Kiara recieves our letters she takes us to the armory where the royal guard store their equipment.

"If there is any equipment that you are lacking for training, feel free to grab something, anything you need. Do remember that at the end of the month, when you leave the castle, you will have to give it back.” Kiara says. Then she leaves us under the supervision of the quartermaster while she heads out to mail our letters.

Leona quickly goes to the chain mails and puts one on. Then she heads over to the breastplates and checks out a few after which she puts one one. It looks like she knows what she wants. Shalia looks around a bit but as a mage there is few that is appropriate for her. Eventually she decides on the quarterstaff. A bit traditional for a mage, but I guess it can work for her. Ryul is interested in the leather armor and Miranda grabs herself a belt with throwing axes to accompany the axe she brought from home. I am already quite comfortable with sword and armor I brought from home, so I just look around and study the different swords a bit. The only one who seems to have difficulty picking out her gear is Wendy.

“Right, [shield bash].” Wendy says as she is looking at her adventurer card. “That means I’m going to be needing a shield for that.”

Then she looks at the collection of shields in front of her and sees a buckler, heater shield, kite shield, tower shield, round shield, …

Wendy then droops her shoulders and sighs. “There’s so many of them.”

Leona walks past Wendy, grabs a targe shield and hands it to the redhead.

“Here,” Leona says, “This one good for practice. You can always switch to something different later.”

“Thanks.” Wendy says. “Do you also know what armor I could best use?”

Leona then walks with Wendy to the chain mails.

“Take this.” Leona says as she hands Wendy a riveted chainmail shirt, “It won’t protect you from blunt impacts, but you’ll be safe from getting slashed.”

Wendy then start putting on the chain mail by first taking off her clothes, leaving both Ryul and I to see her in her underwear.

“What are you doing?!” Leona asks.

Wendy looks at Leona. “P-putting on the chain mail?”

Leona sighs and explains, “Metal chafes against the skin. You always keep some cloth underneath the chain mail. If you don’t want to ruin your clothes, you should be wearing a gambeson instead. And for the love of the goddess, you shouldn’t change clothes in front of the boys!”

Wendy looks over at me and Ryul. Then the redhead smirks and says, “Why not? I'm sure they won't mind.” Then she continues prancing around in her underwear.

Miranda and Shalia both walked up to us guys and say, “Come on, turn around.”

We both do as they say, but I can’t help snickering.

“Something funny?” The black girl asks me.

“No, it’s just … Neither of you wasted a moment to help protect Wendy’s dignity. I just think it’s cute that you girls stand up for each other like this.”

"Well, us girls got to stick together." Miranda smiles.

When we are permitted to turn back, Wendy is dressed in a gambeson with a chain mail over it and a helmet that fails to keep in her hair in check. As for her weapons, she has both the targe Leona gave her previously and a short sword. Shortly after Kiara arrives and takes us to the courtyard.

When we arrive there, we see the other two groups are already there and practicing. We find an empty spot to use after which Kiara starts her first lesson.