Aelbrecht helps out with some magic textbook

Once back I put my new armor pieces on and train a bit with my guildmates in the guild arena. I actually get used to it quite quickly.

After a duel with Jason, I notice Kiara has been watching. I quickly head over to her and ask what she thinks of my armor upgrades.

“Looks good. I definitely appreciate you being better protected.” Kiara says. Then she points out the missing spaulder on my left shoulder and says, “Too bad you missed a spot.”

“Actually, I didn’t miss it.” I smile. “I just asked the shop owner to customize it a little for me. I can pick it up in a few days.”

Kiara laughs, then she comes in close and whispers, “You should go to your room. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

A surprise? From my girlfriend? Knowing how we have been fooling around with each other these last 2 weeks, I am sort of hoping for a surprise like that. But then again, I shouldn’t think of only that when it comes to Kiara. She is way more than just someone to have sex with. She is a good friend, a trusted partner, someone I enjoy spending time with … But gods, how much I would love to have sex with her.

I quickly head to my rooms and change out of my armor into some casual clothes. After a while I hear a knocking on my door.

“Come in.” I call out, thinking it is Kiara.

But when the door opens, it is Aelbrecht who comes in.

“Ah … guild master.” I say shocked. “Welcome. What brings you here?”

“I heard from Kiara about your adventure.” Aelbrecht says as he enters. “As well as your experience with the harpies.”

I get that as the guild master, he should be aware of what his members are doing. So, I’m not upset at Kiara informing him. But I can’t say I am comfortable at her telling him about the harpies. I’m sure a long-lived mage like him can easily assume what happened.

“While Kiara has informed me about what happened, I would much prefer hearing from you how feel about it all.” Aelbrecht then says.

I take a seat on my bed and offer Aelbrecht a chair to sit on, which he accepts. I start telling him everything, from the start here in Riledo, my experiences with the other guild members on the way to the dwarven lands, as well as our attempt to head back home.

Then I tell them about the harpy attack and my frustration about not being able to fight back.

“They were just up there, out of reach.” I explained. “No matter what I did, I simply could not reach them. But they could easily reach us. I mean, I could have thrown some water spears, but those cost a lot of mana and would easily mis.”

“You wanted to defeat them?” Aelbrecht asks.

“It’s more that I hated being defenseless. I wanted to keep my guild members safe.” I reply. “And also, the caravan and the traders. If defeating the harpies accomplishes that, then I guess yes. I just felt so helpless again them.”

“What happened after you got kidnapped?”

“I … euhm …” I hesitate.

“I assume you got harvested?”

“I … guess you could call it that.”

“How did that make you feel about them?”

When it comes to harpies, the only one that I can really think about is Dove. She’s the only one I actually had a conversation with after all.

“I … find it sad that they are unable to have their own males.” I explain. “I think it would solve so many problems if they could. Too bad their genetics don’t allow it. So, I can see how that makes it difficult for them to repopulate and how it would make them ****.”

“You are not angry at them for harvesting you?” Aelbrecht asks.

“I am certainly quite upset that they tried to **** me to stay there.” I tell my guild master. “I have my own life to live and I don’t need them to steal my freedom from me.”

Then my expression softens.

“I do am worried about the harpy who harvested from me. If she was successful then she is now going to have some children from me, and she’d have to take care of them all by herself. Dove shouldn’t have to go through that all alone.”

I then shake my thoughts of Dove out of my head and steel myself.

“I guess I’ll just have to remind myself that I was not a willing participant.”

“You are quite kind, Darx, and wise too. Most would only bother to see things from their own perspective. Few try to see it from other angles, like from the side of those who wronged them, or even feel bad for those individuals.” Aelbrecht says after hearing me out.

He then reaches into his robes and pulls out a book.

“134 years ago, there was a civil war amongst the demons.” The guild master tells me. “I used that moment to organize an expedition to the ruins of Zrephia. 50 Dark dragon adventurers with me at the helm. We rescued many Zrephian artifacts then. Upon our return home I discovered one of our treasures was a book on magic. I read it and transcribed its knowledge into this book.”

Aelbrecht then holds the book out for me.

“I want you to borrow this. Read it, learn from it, let the Zrephian knowledge help you become better at water magic.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Books like these are both rare and very expensive. Aelbrecht is entrusting me with a true Zrephian artifact? Well, a recreation of it, but still, the information in it is Zrephian. This is totally going to help me become a stronger adventurer.

I take the book from Aelbrecht and thank him.

“Just promise me you won’t use that knowledge for the wrongs things.” Aelbrechts says as he stands up. “And be sure to return that book to me after you have finished learning from it. That is the only one I have and I may need it for future Dark Dragon adventurers.”

After that Aelbrecht leaves and I am left with this treasure.

I quickly start reading and I quickly find out the book has a focus on water magic. It has a few interesting spells in it, like [Mist] and [Wave] and … a [Water Lance]? I have never even heard of a spell like that before! But more importantly for me, this book has information on how to make my water spells cost less mana. So, this book is going to make my spells cheaper to cast? This is …

“Found another lover?” I suddenly hear Kiara’s voice in my ear.

I jump up in surprise. “Kiara!” I say. “Where did you come from?”

“I knocked on your door, but you didn’t open.” Kiara says playfully. “So, I peeked inside and saw you were more interested in that book than you were in me. Should I be jealous?”

Dang. Was I really so focused on reading that I couldn’t hear my surroundings anymore?

“No, of course not. It’s just this book Aelbrecht gave me.”

“I figured. I asked him if he could lend you one of his books.” Kiara says while she he sits on my desk. “I was hoping you’d get better at keeping yourself from getting captured by harpies next time around. But now that you are going to participate in the tournament, these new spells might become useful sooner than expected.”

Indeed. I cannot wait to try out the [water lance] or use it in the arena. I doubt many of my opponents would expect it.

“Anyways.” Kiara says, clearly changing the topic. “I take it you are happy with my surprise?”

I take a look at Kiara and don’t see anything different about her. Could she mean …

“You mean Aelbrecht’s visit?”

“Of course,” Kiara smiles. “Aelbrecht does not often hand out this kind of knowledge. Not even to guild members. First someone like me needs to put in a good word, then he comes to verify.”

I smile at my girlfriend and say, “You are incredible.” I then walk close to her to place my hands on her hips and give her a kiss on her mouth. “With this kind of knowledge, my chance of winning the tournament is going to be much higher.”

“Glad you like it.” Kiara smiles. “I also have another surprise for you.”

“Two surprises in one day?” I ask. “Kiara, you’re spoiling me.”