Blood Shaper

“You might as well get Jaira in here, Dave.” Douglas told the Adventurer’s Guild guildmaster. “We’re going to need an Agreement for secrecy.”

“Really?” The bearded man sitting behind the solid looking desk smiled. “I’m interested already. How fun.” The guildmaster turned his head to the side and shouted, “Jaira!”

A thumping noise came from the wall and the guildmaster turned back to look at Kay. “Hello, new Outworlder. My name is David Caruion, and I am the guildmaster of this branch of the Adventurer’s Guild, for my sins.”

“I’m Kenneth Davis, but I go by Kay.” Kay really wanted to snark at the guys last words. “For my sins”? Really? That was leaving a huge opening for some smack talk or something.

“It’s my pleasure Kay.”

“Dave’s cool.” Douglas leaned in close. “But it’s best to get an Agreement before we tell them anything specific.”

The guildmaster raised one eyebrow. “Losing our decorum already, are we?”

Douglas shrugged and leaned back in his seat. “I hate having to be all stuffy, and with everything this one is bringing with him, I’m just gonna be me. Oh, but you call him Mr. Caruion or Guildmaster.” He told Kay as an aside. “I’ve known him for ages so I can get away with it.”

“Please do.” Mr. Caruion chimed in. “If you’re here it means that you’re probably going to join the Adventurer’s Guild, and formality is an important part of my duties.”

The door behind them opened and a short, muscled woman with golden furred ears atop her head walked in. “Why are you yelling David?”

“Representative Springcall is here with a new Outworlder. He said they need a secrecy agreement.”

The woman raised both her eyebrows as she walked past them and stood behind the desk. “Really? Interesting.”

“That’s what I said!” Mr. Carioun exclaimed happily.

The woman gave Kay a look up and down, but she kept whatever her judgment was to herself. “Hi, I’m Jaira, vice-guildmaster here. You can call me Jaira or Vice-Guildmaster. I’m not as stuffy as this guy, but be respectful if you join, alright?”

“I’m Kay, and yeah, it won’t be a problem.” He replied.

“Good. Now, standard Guild secrecy Agreement?” She asked.

Douglas rotated in his chair to face Kay. “So an Agreement is like an Oath, but less powerful. They make up for that by being much more flexible. There are classes and skills that let you make them, whether they’re just verbal or written ones. Written ones are generally more powerful.”

“Our standard secrecy agreement for the Adventurer’s Guild outlines that we’ll keep any information you tell us in confidence, unless it will hurt the guild or anyone we’re in charge of protecting. Also, we can break it if you start murdering people and things like that. If you become a criminal we’ll tell your info far and wide.”

“Who determines if I’m a criminal?” Kay asked. The Adventurer’s Guild was multi-national right? Who would determine his guilt or lack thereof?

“The guild. There’s a list of crimes that we use to determine if we’ll break the agreement, and we send out people to verify that you’ve committed them before we act.” She replied. She pulled out a large sheet of paper from the desk drawer in front of her. “Here we go.” She placed it on the table in front of him. “Also, you’re making this Agreement with the Adventurer’s Guild as a whole, so any employee with high enough clearance can look at it and know your info, but they’re also bound by it.”

Kay read the paper over a few times. Apparently the auto translation magic worked with written words as well. The document said everything that the vice-guildmaster had said, if worded with slightly more legalese. Kay grabbed the offered pen and signed it, then the guildmaster and vice-guildmaster, and finally Douglas did too.

“You’re signing it?” Jaira asked.

“Yup.” Douglas ended his signature with a flourish. “Now I’m bound by the same terms. It adds a little more assurance for Kay, since I already know what we’re going to discuss.”

“Why didn’t we just do an Agreement back in your office?” Kay asked.

“Because now I’m bound by the same terms as the guild. It basically serves as and extra guarantee, since the Adventurer’s Guild will make it difficult for me to break the Agreement by myself.”

“Alright.” Jaira took the paper and rolled it up. “I’ll store this after we’re done. So what’s up?”

“Kay’s starting class was Novice Blood Mage.” Douglas skipped right to the point.

Jaira tensed in place, while Mr. Caruion just looked impassively at Douglas. “Was?”

“Yeah, he made an Oath never to use Blood Puppetry, so The World took it away and his class changed.” Douglas wiggled his eyebrows. “He’s got the Class Creator title now.”

Jaira whistled. “Damn.”

“Interesting indeed.” The guildmaster’s smile was wide. “Jaira, go get Eleniah.”

“Oh? I wonder if she’ll agree.” Jaira muttered to herself as she walked off.

“Eleniah is my best option for a trainer. I obviously don’t have anyone to train you in Blood Mage paths, so the most experienced teacher we have will hopefully have to do.” Mr. Caruion told them as they waited.

Douglas frowned. “I haven’t heard of her.”

“She hasn’t been in the city long, she tends to wander. She’s only here as a favor to someone higher up in the guild.”

A few minutes of the guildmaster and Douglas chatting later, Jaira walked back into the room with another woman following her.

Kay turned a bit in his seat to look at her as she walked in. The woman was an elf, with the same pointed ears he’d seen on Delilah. That’s where any comparison to Delilah ended, though. This new woman had deeply tanned skin which made Kay think of the few people from the Middle East he’d met in college. Her hair was a deep black, and cut short. It was almost a pixie cut, just a tad longer. Her eyes were a deep, clear blue that contradicted his previous Middle East comparison. What drew Kay’s eyes more than any of that though, was her confidence. She exuded it. This woman had… something. It wasn’t just confidence. He couldn’t really put a finger on it, but whatever it was made her stand out immediately as she walked into the room.

“Mr. Caruion, what can I do for you?” Her voice was calm, but something about it made Kay look deeper at her. It wasn’t the same thing that had made him watch her as she walked in. What’s with this lady?

“This is Kay, he’s a new Outworlder. He’s in need of training, and I thought I’d offer him your services.”

Her brows jumped up. “And why would I accept? No offense, but I’m…”

“You’re a tier five and training a brand new tier one is a bit below you?” Mr. Carioun supplied in an amused voice.

She nodded. “Not in such a rude way, but yeah.”

The guildmaster nodded at his second who unrolled the Agreement.

Eleniah cocked her head to the side, then stepped forward and signed.

“Kay here is a Class Creator.”

“Really?” Eleniah gave Kay an interested look. “That might be worth my time. What branch?”

“Blood Mage.” Kay replied, tired of people talking for him. He really hoped that it wouldn’t be something that would continue. He was from another world, not a child! He explained the details about making an Oath and losing Blood Puppetry.

“And you haven’t had it burned out? That is interesting. And worth my time. Follow me.” She turned and started walking off.

“Just like that?” Kay asked, a little taken aback.

“Yup! The faster we get started training you, the faster you can start making money. I heard that temporary room the BOA has isn’t great.” She waited in the doorway. “Let’s go!”

Kay glanced at Douglas, who nodded. Shrugging back, Kay followed her out the door.

“I’m Eleniah by the way. Eleniah Selthoran.” She told him as he caught up.

“Kenneth Davis. Kay.”

“Nice to meet you. And, time for your first lesson. Do you go by Kay with everyone?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“From now on, just introduce yourself as Kay unless you’re in a formal setting. Most adventurer’s forgo last names entirely, and it’s best not to stand out too much, what with your class being related to a banned one.”

“Yeah, um, about that.” Kay muttered, wondering how to tell her about his class. He was definitely sure that Class Line Progenitor was like Class Creator on steroids, and he didn’t want to go telling people about it after Douglas’ warning earlier. But at the same time, how was he supposed to keep anything secret from the woman that was supposed to be teaching him?

“Don’t tell me right now, wait till we get back.”

“Back where?”

“You’ll see.”

She led him down the stairs and out of the building. She kept silent when he asked her again, and Kay decided to just follow along.

A few minutes away from the Adventurer’s Guild building, closer in to the outer wall sat a small home with it’s own wall around it. “This is the home I’m renting while I’m here in The Rapids.”

“It’s nice.” Kay told her as they walked towards the door.

“Thanks, I think I have good taste.”

Kay chuckled and she smiled back at him. “A sense of humor, good.”

They stopped in the dining room, and Eleniah sat down and put her arms on the table. “So, Kay, let’s make an Agreement.”

“What kind?” He asked.

“Well, we’ve got two choices. You can either get some training from me, at the BOA’s dime, or I can take you on as a student.” Eleniah leaned forward, resting her chin on top of her arms.

“What’s the difference?” Kay pulled out a chair and sat down opposite her.

“Take just the training, and you stay in the BOA’s temporary room until you have enough money, you take my training for a few months while the BOA pays me for it, then in a few months once you’ve reached a good point we go out separate ways.” She lifted up one finger. “Or…” She raised another finger on the opposite hand, “You become my student. That’s more of a long term deal. I take the BOA’s money, because I’m not going to waste free money, but you live here in my house. I become your permanent teacher and you my permanent student until one or both of us decide to break our relationship, or we grow beyond it. I’ll teach you to the best of my ability, and you learn to the best of yours.”

Kay sat there and thought about it. “Why should I pick the second one?”

“Because I’m a fantastic teacher but not a great trainer. Because you’ll get more out of long term teaching from me than you could get on your own after only a few months of training. Because it will get you a person in your corner for as long as you want me to be in your corner.” She made a face. “Well, unless you do something I can’t support. But you’d have to do some pretty evil shit to get there.”

Kay thought and thought, then slumped in his chair with his face in his hands. “I got thrown out of my world and into this one yesterday, and now I’m faced with a question of whether I want to take you on as a permanent teacher.”

“Yeah, life sucks sometimes.” She replied. “And you just have to roll with it.”

Kay looked up at her with a half hearted glare. “You’re very helpful.”

“Thanks.”

Kay sighed and stared at Eleniah. “If you were in my position, would you take the second option?”

“Knowing what I do about myself? Yes. I am an amazing person to have on your side.” She stared straight back at him, her voice serious. “I can and will make you great, in whatever form suits you best. You’d probably be pretty good even if you don’t take me up on it, but I can lead you to actually be great.”

Kay stared at her some more, then sighed deeply. “Fuck it. Take life by the horns. I’ll be your student.”

Eleniah smiled at him. “I hoped you’d say that. Here.” She set down a piece of paper that looked very similar to the one from earlier. “This Agreement is the same as what I just said, plus we’ll be bound not to share each other’s secrets without explicit permission from each other.”

Kay read it over, then signed.

“Great.” She rolled it up and put it away from wherever she’d pulled it from. “Now that I can’t tell anyone unless you let me, what was the thing about your class you were going to say?”

“It isn’t a branch of Blood Mage.”

“Really?”

“I did start with Novice Blood Mage, but it didn’t turn into a different branch when I lost Blood Puppetry. It turned into Novice Blood Manipulator, and I got the title Class Line Progenitor.”

Eleniah gaped at him. Slowly it transformed into a wide smile. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah.”

Eleniah threw back her head and laughed. “Oh! You’re not going to be great, you’re going to be completely amazing!”

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