The awakened only highway is a sight to see, and a menace to experience. Having the law of the jungle as the only rule other than the lane regulation seems insane, but it kind of works. It’s not for me though, not just because my realm is too low. I can’t imagine having to maintain my movement and perception techniques active for hours or days at a time.

  — Excerpt from Around the Empire in Two Years

  Day 269, 9:45 AM

  “We made it!” Newstar shouted, his relief and elation plain to see.

  While I did try to keep a dignified bearing, I must admit, seeing the sun and blue sky warmed my soul too.

  “Yes, well done,” Lady Frostgrave said, her voice condescending as she appeared behind Newstar. She moved incredibly fast, and yet, I caught a glimpse of it, meaning my mind wasn’t that much behind her abilities.

  Newstar tensed immediately, like a startled cat ready to jump, but collected himself quickly enough not to leap away.

  Everlast bowed, and Newstar and I followed suit.

  “Master, we have made an important discovery.” Everlast beamed. If Newstar was elated by seeing the sun and breathing actual fresh air, she was just as rapturous in her joy at finding a treasure her master needed.

  “We have found an ice-attribute monster core. It’s at least at the sixth realm, but it could be higher. Getting it will require a bit of digging and searching—”

  “I know exactly where it is in relation to us.” I interrupted the overly excited woman. “Once we found such a valuable treasure, I kept track of every inch we moved.”

  Lady Frostgrave smiled, a glint of greed in her eye. She didn’t expect a win on this journey, but she had already experienced several strokes of good fortune.

  “Well done. I will make sure to fetch that core,” she said, then shifted her gaze to Newstar. “Why is he wearing your glacial uniform?”

  Everlast blushed and lowered her gaze.

  “It’s a long story, Master…” she proceeded to explain what had happened while Newstar doffed the dress.

  “It seems I owe you another favor.” Lady Frostgrave shot me a frowning glare. “And you too, young man. What can I do for you?”

  “Lady Frostgrave, I seek information about my parents,” Newstar stuttered after thinking for several long moments. He glanced at Everlast as he spoke, and she gave him an encouraging nod. “And an introduction or a recommendation to one of the highly esteemed orders.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. If your mana was water-aligned, I would have recruited you into our organization and taken you as my ward, even if you are a male.” Lady Frostgrave looked at me, implicitly expanding the invitation, and I nearly cocked my eyebrow.

  I wasn’t the least bit interested. To not only ignore seven of my elements, but to specialize the one I had into a specific subset. Yup, not the least bit interested.

  Lady Frostgrave took the hint. “But sadly, we are not a fit. With dual earth and fire affinity, plus talent for runic seals, I doubt I’ll have difficulty finding you a slot in any major force which doesn’t focus solely on a single element.”

  Suddenly, Lady Frostgrave frowned, and her gaze turned steely.

  “Even the Blazing Castle would take you, but they would try to force you to discard the earth portion of your talent and focus solely on fire. I can make the introduction, if you want.”

  I took a moment to recall that the two factions had more than a friendly rivalry going between them, and that they had engaged in several proxy wars in recent history. Yeah, even if they were a perfect fit, she wouldn’t deliver Newstar to her enemy.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Newstar seemed confused and slightly intimidated, and the valiant had seemingly drifted down the river of memory, so I cleared my throat and spoke.

  “Newstar, being a scribe is an advantage in and of itself, and you should not abandon that path. Plenty of orders, even the most powerful ones, would welcome talented scribes.”

  Lady Frostgrave nodded, slowly. “It’s really a shame you don’t follow the path of water. As for introducing you to our allies, it can’t be considered a favor I’m gracing you with. More likely, they will owe me a favor or a clue about a talented student after my own tastes. As for finding information about your parents, the difficulty of such a task might be incredibly trivial or impossible. There’s no way to know before I start searching.”

  Newstar pressed his lips together while I kept watching them both. Lady Frostgrave certainly wasn’t telling the whole truth, but I didn’t get the feeling she was trying to bargain with a child. It felt more like covering your ass in case something went wrong.

  “How about,” Newstar licked his lips nervously, “How about we say it’s my favor, regardless of how difficult locating my parents is? It should be fair when neither of us knows anything about their situation.”

  I was about to say his suggestion sounded reasonable when I realized who I was talking to. Lady Frostgrave’s strength was so high beyond mine, she could slap me dead before I saw her coming. Well, close enough. I certainly wouldn’t get a chance to dodge, despite my Initial Sense of Danger. So, I closed my mouth and stayed out of the conversation.

  “I guess we can call such a vague favor fair.” Lady Frostgrave squinted at me. “As for you, you have trained my disciples, found a resource I need, and saved my granddaughter. A person of my standing cannot owe so many open favors. You have until we reach Thunderbluff to decide what you want and what I can do for us to reduce this to one open favor. I can bestow you with wealth, weapons, armor, treasure materials, rare medicine…”

  Her offer was generous, tempting, but in the end, there was something I needed more from someone at her level. Something I had already considered.

  I bowed respectfully.

  “Honored elder, you claim the favors you owe me are knowledge I imparted to your disciple and resources for you. While I disagree that this was worth as much as I ask, I would humbly request you to share knowledge with me. For one week, I will ask about any topics which interest me, and you provide answers to the best of your ability.”

  The valiant bristled, the mana freezing around me. Before she could explode, I kept talking.

  “The answers you provide may be ‘I do not know’, ‘I cannot tell you’, ‘That knowledge will hurt you’, and many others. I do not ask you to share everything with me, but I do beseech you to be honest in your responses and the reasons you refuse to share knowledge with me. Even if all your answers are ‘I cannot tell you’, I will consider those two favors you believe you owe me repaid.”

  I looked up and met Lady Frostgrave’s gaze. I didn’t flinch, nor did I show any hint of defiance; mostly because I really wasn’t defiant and had no sinister intention, other than milking those seven days for fifty to seventy years. Maybe more. I will also have to figure out how to go about it without the valiant realizing something is odd. Always asking about a different topic should do, but might not be enough.

  I kept the awkward pose of a half-bow with my gaze locked with the valiant’s for longer than I thought was necessary, but the tension around me thawed, danger melting away.

  “Your request is reasonable and within my power to provide,” Lady Frostgrave said slowly. “I will stay at Thunderbluff for one week longer than I intended, and you will be my guest. Should you have any topics you wish to discuss, I will accompany you and provide the answers. But you must understand, my answers may be beyond you, even if I spent the entire week explaining them. Your realm is much lower than mine. The speed of your thoughts and your ability to comprehend are likewise slower.”

  That was a good warning and a great reminder - I must keep my mental processes a bit slower or at least make them appear that way. If I could talk and think at the speed of someone two whole realms above me, I would reveal a part of my aberrant nature.

  I nodded, trying to suppress my excitement. “Naturally, what gains I can make depend on my ability, like with everything else in life. Thank you for agreeing to this. I will make the greatest possible use of your time and do my best not to disappoint you.”

  Lady Frostgrave smirked. “I don’t doubt it. In fact, I have a feeling you will squeeze every crystal of worth from your conversations with me, but that is a matter for tomorrow. Now, tell me where the core is.”

  I gave her the exact depth and suggested that she should make a spherical hole to find what she was looking for. While I had read The Secrets of the Secret Realms, Introduction to Realm Cores, Treatise on Realm Cores, and other books on the subject, I didn’t know whether she could collapse the realm to use as a regular core, nor whether doing something like that was more useful than simply visiting the realm itself.

  Whatever Lady Frostgrave chose, I probably wouldn’t know, and against my expectations, she didn’t start drilling immediately. Instead, she decided to show restraint and possibly go to find some tools that would help her dig through nearly hundreds of yards of solid rock.

  “Today, you will visit the adventurers’ guild and finalize your missions, and you will rest. Tomorrow, we can start your week-long education.”

  I nodded, excited. Finally, I would have a senior to guide me and feed me information. Hopefully, she will be as helpful as I believed I was for Newstar.