PreCursive

  “Iin’.” Azarus said idly, cutting into the steak on his pte.

  After we had gotten back from our lunchtime break, Grey and I worked oing my new Profession for the rest of the day. Iween breaks to let my mana recrey had me identifying and breaking down alchemical ingredients and herbs all day. I hadn’t seen the point iedly breaking down herbs when I’d already shown I could do it, and I’d said that to Grey. He had patiently expio me that this was merely practi gettio use the Profession, iing me in the mi where I could resoerials and break them down. I’d knowered a form of trance every time I tried usiherial Melding, but I hadn’t been aware that each time I did it was nearly ten minutes of effort on my part. I guess I could see the utility in speeding up the process, but holy, I think part of it was Grey wanted more Esseo work with as well.

  Ohe sun had started to go down and we’d heard Azarus stomp bato the house, we had mutually decided to stop for the night. Well, mutually after I had browbeaten Grey a little, sidering how much that guy liked to research. I o stop, holy. It’s not that I wasn’t enjoying what we were doing on some level, but goddamn was it exhausting after a while. I hadn’t expected repeatedly exhausting my mana reserves to be so physically exhausting as well. I guess magieeded plenty of effort, just like everything else in life.

  After making our way to the kit, which had by default bee the household’s meeting pce, Grey had started making dinner. On one hand, I felt a little bad about making an elderly disabled man cook for three people. Oher, not only was he good at it, but he seemed to derive a simple joy from it. Even if I don’t think I was a bad yself, I’d let him have it.

  Azarus had ehe kit at around the time Grey had finished, fresh from the bath. Once we’d settled down to eat, versation about my new Profession naturally flowed from there.

  “Iing?” Grey spluttered. “That’s all you have to say? It’s airely new Profession that works by directly maniputiher! It’s more than a little bloody iing!”

  Azarus snorted, direg his fork to point at Grey. “Yeah, and that’s iing like I said. We’ll see how it works with f ter, I suppose. Don’t fet, you were the ohat were so excited about this…Aetherial Melding, yeah?” He said, looking over at me. At my bemused nod, he tinued. “I just think it’s , that’s all.”

  “, he says,” Grey muttered, cutting into his own steak vigorously. “ my well-educated behind. This is damned revolutionary for the Aetherial sces…” He tio mutter to himself under his breath.

  When Grey wasn’t listening, Azarus shot me a smirk. I just shook my head at their antics with a smile and got back to eating. The rest of the table set to eating in mostly panionable silence. Once everyone was fihe versation picked up again.

  “So,” I said to Azarus, tent to have a full belly. “Do you wao try and fe some stuff with you tomorrow then?”

  “Eh, I’d like that, but we ’t,” Azarus answered with a zy shrug. “With all the excitement tely, we fot we had another itment to see to. Remember?”

  I stared at him bnkly for a moment, baffled.

  “Bleddyn.” Azarus reminded me.

  Oh. Oh…shit. The ‘butcher’, who was actually an old-timey barber. The ohat had taught me Fleshcraft. The ohat had only taught me the Profession uhe dition that I would return and learn from him.

  “Well, you know, that’s kind of a problem now,” I said wryly. “sidering I don’t even have a Fleshcraft Profession anymore.”

  “Aye.” Azarus grimaced. “And he’s not going to let go of this. Some kind of matter of honor thing with his people.”

  Grey looked up from his pte. “Ah, the butcher, yes? I believe he’s one of the hill folk? I’ve had dealings with his people before, and it’s not likely to be an issue.” He leaned forward. “In fact, I believe there’s an easy way t him into fiden regards to Nathan's new Profession. After all, he still o test the other Professions fields than what rovide.”

  “Are ya mad?” Azarus blurted out. “I like Bleddyn, I do. But I don’t know if I trust him with any of our secrets.”

  Grey waved off his s with a hand holding a fork. “Normally, I would agree, but the hill folk and I have an uanding. When you go to him, simply ask him to keep a secret at the request of Ghrian Dorcha. No true son of the hills would deny you then. And besides, it’s not as if we’re reading him in on our iions to escape. Merely…requesting his assistah an unusual skill.”

  Azarus and I shared a gnce.

  I leaned forward. “Ghrian Dorcha, huh. What’s that about?”

  “Hmm, ahet that I received during a Grand Aonach of the hill s after I performed a service for them. This was…some time ago indeed, my my. Where do the years go…” Grey trailed off, staring into space for a moment. After a moment, he shook his head. “In any case, you’ll be fine. I suspect your friend Bleddyn will be an asset in our quest to uanding your new Profession, Nathan.”

  I took a deep breath before nodding. “All right, I’ll…take your word for it.” I looked over at Azarus. “So, I guess we’re going into town tomorrow then?”

  Azarus looked between Grey and me for a moment before throwing up his hands in frustration. “Fine. Fine! We’ll do it your bloody way then. Aye, we’ll head into town in the m. Be it on your heads if this blows up in our faces.”

  ……………………………………..

  I had trouble sleeping that night. I don’t know what caused it, but I found myself tossing and turning in my bed for hours. I was exhausted after a long day of testing, but somehow, I couldn’t get my mind quiet enough to rest. All I could do was think about Atherial Melding, for some reason. I was excited.

  Something in me was holy a little giddy about what I had spent the day doing. Thinking ba it, the hours had flown by with Grey because I had truly been enjoying myself. Beyond all the System and Status stuff, beyond the elves and dwarves, making things with magic had really appealed to something deep inside of me. I’d had moments of wonder before about the world I had found myself in, but nothing on this scale. It was mystical in a way that appealed to the memory of my younger self, who would spend hours upon hours reading fantasy books. Sometimes just to block out the world.

  Eventually, I must have passed out, if from nothing but pure fatigue. I must not have slept long, because it felt like only mier I was woken up by a pounding on my door. The pounding tinued for a few moments, but I was too out of it to tell if the person oher side had said anything. Whatever, it robably Azarus, and I knew what he to. Judging by the light ing in through my window, it must have just been after sunrise. Blearily, after a few minutes to wake up, I stumbled out of bed. After getting dressed and spshing my face with water in the washroom, I lurched my way downstairs to a kit.

  Azarus was in there and greeted me with a grunt. For once, I didn’t say anything bad just grunted iurn. I just made myself some tea and helped myself to some of the toast Azarus had left out on the ter. After a quick, silent breakfast, we mutually decided it was time to leave for town, with minimal versation. I guess her of us was in much of a talking mood today.

  Once we got oh to town from Azarus’s house, I started to feel more human, rather than a shambling corpse.

  I broke the silence. “We doing this the way Grey said?”

  Azarus merely grunted in assent.

  The rest of the walk into town was sileween us. It didn’t feel adversarial or awkward or something. It just felt like her of us had anything to say.

  Once we got closer to town, I slipped in behind Azarus and adopted my usual deferential posture among other dwarves. I most likely have bothered, because we didn’t see anyone else on the main thhfare. I guess not everyone wao be out and about at the ass-crack of dawn like Azarus. After a short walk, we reached the butcher shop. This time, Azarus didn’t bother kig in the door like st time, merely opening it like a normal person. Ihe human woman I’d had a few run-ins with wasn’t behind the ter this time. Instead, it was Vandimar, the dwarven owner of the shop. Strangely enough, he was eating his own breakfast at the front ter.

  Our entrance caused the bell above the door to jingle, catg his attention mid-sip from a steaming mug. Hurriedly setting it down, Vandimar smiled tiredly at us.

  “Ah, wele, wely friends.” He said in a low voice. “e in. We haven’t opened quite yet, but most of us are up.”

  Azarus and I approached the ter. I broke the silence first, looking around. “Where’s Rachel?”

  Vandimar grimaced at my question, cupping his hands around his mug. “Ah. Yes. She is…indisposed. I’m afraid that one of the fellows that were involved in Lord Magnus’s…hunt was a retion of hers. He did not survive the enter, I’m afraid. As it is, I’ve given her leave to process the loss. I’d ask you to leave her trief, for now.” He smiled wanly at me. “I was quite distressed to hear of your involvement in that debacle, Mr. Hart. I’m relieved to see you in good health.”

  I let out a long sigh. So, one of those other poor bastards was family to Rachel, then. I…hadn’t even thought to ask what had happeo them after I had gotten out of the forest. Did that make me a bad person? I had just automatically assumed they were dead. Which, apparently at least one of them was. I decided to ask about the other one.

  My question caused Vandimar to raise one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me. “You did not know? You were the only survivor of the…expedition, Mr. Hart.”

  “I didn’t think to ask,” I said quietly, a little ashamed of myself. I may have gohrough hell in there, but those uys were people too, Goddammit. “I retty out of it after everything, and theerday we were busy with something…” I trailed off.

  “I see,” Vandimar said softly. “Do not be ashamed, Mr. Hart. I’m certain it was a traumatizing experience, and we all experierauma differently.”

  I exhaled. That didn’t really excuse it though, as far as I was ed. “The ime you see her, you give her my dolences?”

  “I will do so, Mr. Hart.” Sitting up more on his stool and pushing his pte to the side, Vandimar smiled wider at us. “Now! What I do for you gentlemen?”

  Azarus finally spoke up from where he had been hanging back. “Got to see Bleddyn about something. And…” He dug around in his pocket for something, pulling out a small leather bag. He underhand tossed it across the ter. Vandimar caught it ly and pulled on the drawstring to look inside. He took a long, drawn-out smell of the tents and then ched it closed with a smile.

  “Thank you, Lord Azarus.” Vandimar ined his head. “Once again, you pull through. Bleddyn is in the back. I believe he’s setting up for the day.”

  Azarus grunted and started to make his way behind the ter and through the door. I followed him, after exging o set of aowledging nods with Van. My st sight of him was an uanding smile before the door closed behind me.