The first thing Lan did was head back to the site of the fight, picking up the poison dagger. Even if he had no intention of ever using the thing, he didn’t want anyone finding and cutting themselves with it accidentally, either. He also found the lightning rod, but it was out of charge.

  Afterwards, Lan went to settle up at the Drunken Cat, where he ran into Arc and the other young adventurers, although looking at them in the light of the rising sun, their clothes stained with blood and dirt, or the light in the eyes of Arc, Evie and the team rogue, the title didn’t fit anymore.

  It was clear that they had taken the goblin hunting job, and looking at their grinning faces, the innkeeper had been wrong about them not hearing the Voice. At least he had been mistaken about all but the tank, who looked as pale as a ghost and looked to be questioning his life choices.

  ‘You were right about the goblins,’ Ark grinned, making the bruise under his eyes stand out.

  ‘They gave us a hard time, but we watched each other’s backs and made it out in one piece.’ Evie mused before noticing the horses. ‘You are leaving already?’ she asked, suddenly sadder.

  ‘I still have a job to turn in,’ Lan smiled. ‘But I am sure we will see each other again. Until then, do me a favour and keep looking out for each other,’ he said as he got up on his horse, and he wondered if this was what Leah and Lock felt when they saw the change in him.

  There was some pride there, but there was something else that he couldn’t put his finger on as he watched the three beam up at him. What was it? Responsibility? Whatever it was, it was helped by the knowledge that they were not on their own.

  Corbit and his daughter stepped outside, signalling that it was time for him to leave. So, with a wave, Lan started down the road.

  As he rode in the young morning light, Lan felt like waking up from a dream. It was back to it for him. Looking for the Tear, getting ready for the All Guilds Campaign, training, and returning to the hunt.

  Reaching into his pocket, Lan looked at the golden orb in his palm. He hoped that those two would be okay.

  {Lan, you can bind this item. Would you like to do so?} the Voice asked.

  ‘I can?’ he looked closer at the orb.

  {Yes, although not in the usual way. But I can do it}

  ‘Let’s do it.’

  [Sun Fire Heart Stone: Bound]

  [Plus 5 to all stats]

  [Ability Gained: Sun Fire Shroud – Convert the attribute points from the effect of this item into a healing flame. Note that after using Sun Fire Shroud, Sun Fire Heart Stone becomes inactive for twenty-four hours.’

  Lan blinked and opened his Tome to make sure he wasn’t seeing things,

  [Attributes.]

  [Strength: 17][+5]

  |Body: 17 [+5]

  |Mind: 17 [+5]

  |Dexterity: 17 [+5]

  |Perception: 17 [+5]

  |Charisma: 17][+5]

  and he wasn’t. He had just gained thirty stat points just like that, and a self-heal of which, even if it just restored his health points, was a major find even if it did mean weakening himself.

  Although he had been happy just for the keepsake, Lan was sure with this, he would be able to keep his promise.

  Suddenly, he got the sense that the Voice had something to say.

  ‘What is it?’

  {I was just wondering if the Gem had the same effect in her world or if it is something altered to fit our own…}

  The reason for the question came to Lan a second later, and he frowned.

  Something like this could be enough of a draw for people to try and take. And guessing what something like this could sell for, Lan was sure people could do some terrible things to try and gain them. Enough to even lose the point of even doing so to chase after Gems that wouldn’t last.

  Lan rode with his thoughts to himself, feeling his mood drop until Tyr sent an impression.

  ‘Well, well, well. Aren’t those some happy looking ho- ah shit.’ The Dwarf horse thief cursed as he realised who he had stopped momentarily after the rest had, their faces dropping even as they went pale.

  ‘Ahh, I hate this so much!’ a skinny young man said as he kicked the dirt. ‘This is all your fault, Bonda.’ He added, shaking a finger at the Dwarf.

  Lan leaned on his knee. ‘So, horse thieves or bandits?’ he grinned.

  By midday, Lan had gained the Animal Handling skill and made sixty silver coins for bringing in the horse thieves.

  ‘Wow, Lan, you work fast. We just put that horse thief job up a moment ago.’ Mai smiled at him. ‘I think Rose will want an apology for making her waste her time making up the job poster,’ she giggled, looking over to the red-haired woman frowning at Lan. With a promise to bring all the receptionists a treat to make amends for his uncharacteristic punctuality, Lan headed off to deal with his next problem.

  ‘I am sorry, Master Cross. There just isn’t much I can do at the moment,’ The broad-faced Horse Master said, looking regrettably at the three Crownbolts. ‘The paperwork and everything is in order, but with the Campaign coming and the restrictions, a Crownbolt is unsellable.’

  ‘Yeah, I had guessed as much.’ Lan sighed, even though one would think that times like a Campaign would be the best time to sell a horse. Crownbolts and the other two types of horse breed famous to Crownguard were not as easily sold as before they could be; an appraiser from a noble house had to inspect the horses first to ensure the breed’s reputation.

  An appraiser who would be too busy with their other duties and getting the army’s horses ready for their part in the Campaign.

  ‘But I can look after them until the Campaign ends. Although we will need weekly payments,’ The man offered, even though it was clear the man knew how little help that would be.

  Unlike most other horses, Crownbolts needed a diet of equal parts fruit to everything else they ate, which was a lot of fruit. They also ate more than other horses, which was the reason Lan didn’t consider keeping them. The other reason was that he had nowhere to keep a horse, let alone three. His village didn’t have a large enough stable, and Lan didn’t like having them so close to Dell.

  ‘If you would like, you can leave them with us, and when they do sell, we can settle up then,’ the Horse Master offered, and Lan had to fight to stop himself from grinning.

  Although that did seem like the best option, Lan had to deal with not only the fees but also the fact that by law, there was a standard of care that all Crownbolts needed and when there was the sales fee and the appraiser fee and that was if he wasn’t penniless before the horses sold.

  ‘How about a little partnership,’ Lan smiled as the idea came to him. ‘If you are willing to take care of the horses for free, I am willing to give you one after they are appraised, and if that is not good enough, I can sweeten the deal,’ he said, showing off his guild tag. ‘If I don’t return in a month after the Campaign, you can keep all three.’ Lan said, feeling no need to bring up the fact that if he didn’t come back, the horses would be the last thing on his mind, not to mention if he didn’t return, there would probably be bigger problems than an overworked appraiser.

  Even still, once the ink was dry and the Horse Master Ozweld seemed happy, Lan shared a much harder farewell with the horses, especially the one he had started to see as his own and left.

  He made it down the street before a stable boy caught up with him and told him that the moment he left, the Crownbolts would not let anyone touch them, with his horse seeming to be the mastermind of the uprising. And so, Lan being there for any handling of the horses was added to the deal.

  By the time Lan reached his home, it was dark again. Even still, his mother was at the door by the time he reached it. All it took was seeing her warm, concerned smile for everything he had been through to come rushing back, and he hugged her.

  ‘Lan? Not that I mind the hug. If anything, I would prefer more, but is everything alright?’ she asked as she cupped his cheek and looked over his face.

  ‘I am fine, just a long job.’ He smiled. ‘I guess I was just missing home.’

  ‘Well, if that is the case,’ his mother smiled before hugging him, lifting him off the ground, and carrying him to the dining table to the clear amusement of his father.

  The next day, Lan fell back into his new routine. Although still two weeks away, the Campaign seemed to dictate the flow of everyone’s life, so shop owners tried a little harder to get people’s attention and haggled with a little less heart. Children were encouraged to play a little more freely while there seemed to be electricity in even the most mundane conversation.

  Lan was sure the excitement would fade into something more subdued, but for the time being, he welcomed it. Lan headed to Cawl’s shop with his training out of the way.

  The moment he stepped through the door, Cali percked up.

  ‘I’m back.’ Lan smiled, beating her to it.

  ‘And you didn’t break my shield arm this time?.’ She grinned, moving to get Cawl.

  ‘Ah, it’s you, Lad.’ Cawl said as he stretched through the door, filling the room. ‘Need some repairs?’

  ‘Not really. Lan said, sounding almost as surprised as Cawl looked.

  ‘Wow, I guess you are starting to get this whole adventurer thing down.’ Cali chimed in, getting a frown from Lan.

  ‘The reason I am here is because of this.’ Lan said before reaching into the chest for Gregor’s axe, and even before it hit the table, he saw Cawl frown at the sight of it.

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  ‘Where did you get a thing like that?’ he asked, and Lan thought he had heard a hint of disapproval in the gruff Voice, the very image of Lan with the axe being enough to upset him.

  ‘I picked it up from a troll that I killed. I wanted to know what you thought about it before deciding what I was going to do with it. So what do you think?’

  ‘Not too highly. I have seen that kind of thing before, Leeto’s handy work. But it’s not just the shoddy craftmanship but that damn skill that is the problem.’ Cawl sighed as he walked over.

  ‘The lightning enchantment?’ Lan asked, handing the axe over.

  ‘No, it’s not lightning. This thing has a Searing Shock enchantment.’ When he just looked at him, Cawl went on. ‘Lightning will lock your body up and even give you a few burns, but Searing Shock attacks your nervous system. Even a scratch will leave you feeling like your soul is on fire. The worst part is it only works on those weaker than the user. It’s an unnecessarily cruel weapon.’

  Hearing that, a small voice in Lan’s head thought about how close he had come to being hit by it before a colder voice reminded him it hadn’t been that close. ‘What do you suggest?’

  ‘Break it down and sell it for scrap metal. The metal is good if nothing else.’ Cawl shrugged. ‘There isn’t much else you can do with it. You aren’t looking to get an axe, too, are you?’ he added, raising an eyebrow at Lan.

  ‘It couldn’t hurt.’ Lan shrugged. ‘My sword-spear and mace work just fine, but after facing the troll, I get the feeling having a heavier backup might come in handy, and when I Wisp Walk, I can carry more weight.’

  ‘Hmm, come back in a few days. I will have something that might work for you.’ Cawl said, picking up the axe and placing it in the corner.

  Lan nodded, happy enough with that, before he turned to Cali, who was grinning at him.

  ‘Don’t worry, I have something planned for you. Just you be patient.’ She said with a wink

  ‘Uh… okay.’ Lan said, knowing he was going to hate whatever it was.

  With that fresh horror on his mind, Lan left.

  Heading down the street, he reminded himself that so far, all of Cali’s gear had worked, some a little too well, but had all worked.

  Weaving through the streets, Lan made it onto the road, which he took to the Guildhall daily when someone burst out of a side street and fell on him. Immediately, Lan made sure that any valuables not in his chest were fine, even as he caught the woman.

  ‘Help, he… he is not breathing!’ Before Lan could ask who, the woman grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the alley, to which he sent Tyr ahead before letting himself be dragged down the side street until Tyr came to a small room with two worried-looking men outside. Inside of it was another woman huddled over a small figure.

  Seeing that, Lan pulled away, leaving the woman behind as he reached the two men and entered.

  ‘What happened?’ Lan asked as he walked over.

  ‘I… I don’t know. He just started holding his neck. Oh by the light.’

  ‘His neck?’ Lan thought out loud, running through his very limited knowledge of what could be the problem as he crouched next to the boy and tried to turn him over. The child clearly did not want to be moved.

  ‘Can one of you go and get a…’ Lan managed as he saw that the two men had moved to block the door. Tyr sent an alert just as Lan saw something fly past his face and felt pain in his cheek.

  Looking down, Lan saw that the boy was really a Tinker who was grinning wildly at him with a needle in his hand.

  ‘What-?’ Lan said as his vision tilted and his body hit the ground.

  ‘No way, they were right. This one’s points haven’t been spent,’ Lan heard through the black void of his mind. ‘We are going to make more on this one than the rest combined.’

  ‘Not a drop into his charisma stat, but just look at him,’ a female voice said. ‘I think we should look at private buyers. I know people in Leeto and Falorin who would kill for this one… literally in the case of Leeto,’ The Voice added, making the others laugh as Lan opened his eyes.

  When he could see straight, he found himself on his knees with the door and windows to the little room blocked while six people, including the Tinker, smiled at him.

  Immediately, Lan tried to Wisp Walk, only for pain to rip through his body as electricity arched from something around his neck, much to the enjoyment of his captors.

  ‘Nice try, but we know all about your little trick, and you aren’t going anywhere.’ the man with long dark hair at the centre of the group said. ‘That little bit of jewelry will make sure of that.’

  Lan looked down for a long moment, not wanting to see what was around his neck. When it sank in, Lan felt a rage he had never known bubble up in him.

  It was a slave collar…

  For a moment that threatened to stretch on to eternity, Lan just sat there. They had placed a slave collar on him. Academically, he knew that was why he couldn’t use his Wisp Walk. But it was far deeper than that. As a Crownguardian, there was no greater insult that one could face. Every man and woman had the right to choose servitude in all but the worst case. But this was a slave collar, a symbol of that choice being taken from you. And that wasn’t just what fueled the hatred that threatened to consume him.

  Through everything he had been through, even when he had all but been a slave, not even Dell had collared him, and after choosing to face death rather than servitude, all for this group of sewer rats to dare to collar him.

  Lan dropped his head, his voice so low that he could not even hear what he said.

  ‘Looks like we broke this one already, the long-haired man laughed. ‘They are all the same, even the peasants of this land, high and mighty until you give them a taste of the real world. Come on, you have to speak up if you want to be heard.’ the man said, crouching close enough that Lan could smell the rot on the man’s breath.

  ‘Say that again.’ he leaned in.

  ‘Close enough.’ Lan whispered before raising his head and driving his forehead into the man’s nose with a sharp crunch. As the man fell back, Lan stepped over him and kicked the Tinker in the face before showing the next man why not tieing his hands behind his back was a bad idea as he side-stepped his punch and used his joined hands as a club that he swung against the man’s jaw making one of the women scream even as the other tripped the control leash, sending lightning running through Lan’s body.

  Lan stumbled back before he was tackled to the ground.

  ‘Bastard!’ the long-haired man shouted as he readied to kick Lan in the face.

  ‘Bastard?’ Lan laughed. ‘You better pray that I never get this collar off because the moment I do, I am coming after you. and when I find you, I am going to tear you apart with my bare hands!’ Lan declared with a fire that made the man pause before kicking him.

  ‘Don’t damage the goods!’ One of the women snapped, making the long-haired man snarl.

  ‘Good thing you are going to be able to pay for kicking me when you sell.’ He grinned with blood staining his teeth.

  Lan stared back with fire in his eyes. There was no way he could let this happen, not like this, not after everything he had been through.

  With a resounding boom, the door flew off its hinges, slamming into one of the slavers, as Drevin, Vulk, and Cassandra stormed into the room with their weapons at the ready.

  Even as they made quick work of the slavers, Lan just blinked, not believing his eyes.

  ‘How?’ Lan asked as Olivia and Vasha crouched next to him while Locke and Sora moved to stand guard.

  ‘A Lady always knows how to find the one with the key to their heart,’ Olivia said, winking at him.

  ‘Your wisp led us to you.’ Vasha said, rolling her eyes as the little ball of light flew around him to ensure he was okay. He couldn’t help but smile at her.

  Olivia frowned at Vasha before she turned that frown on the collar around Lan’s neck. With a motion of her hand, the lock burst and fell away, and Lan felt his link to magic return.

  ‘There, from now on, let me pick your jewelry.’ Despite everything, Lan felt a flush cross his face at her words, which seemed enough for it to finally set in. Lan felt his heart swell; they had come. With the collar on, Lan had all but given up, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

  ‘Thanks, guys, ’ Lan smiled as Vasha helped him onto his feet.

  ‘Don’t mention it.’ Vasha grinned before looking over his shoulder where the others had already subdued the slavers, and looking at their state, it had taken Vulk and the others everything they had not to kill the six.

  ‘What do you want to do with them?’ Locke asked, moving to Lan’s right and just by the look in his eyes. Locke would stand by if Lan wanted just to kill them. Having slavers in the city was something that had gotten under all of their skins, even if it hadn’t been someone they knew.

  ‘I know what I want to do…’ Lan said, indulging in his anger for a moment. ‘But… they said there were others.’

  With a grim look, Locke nodded to the others. ‘Guess they are the interrogator’s problem.’ He said, and Lan reasoned that was worse than just killing them as the slaver’s faces went pale.

  Something that threatened civilians called for the interrogators, which meant they wouldn’t be seeing much in the way of mercy. No doubt they would share the same fate they had planned for him, Lan reasoned, finding it hard to feel bad for them as the others knocked them out.

  Not even ten minutes later, Lan watched the slavers be dragged away, something one of them had said coming back to him. Someone had told them that he hadn’t spent his points yet and about his Wisp Walk.

  Even the trap… maybe he was overthinking it. It had been a good way to trick him, even when looking through Tyr’s eyes.

  ‘Hey, you lost?’ Vasha asked as she tapped him on the forehead. Looking up, Lan found Locke and the others standing behind her, the setting sun shining through the mouth of the alley.

  ‘Ah! Sorry.’ Lan looked away. ‘And thanks again.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it. Half of us owed you one anyway.’ Locke said, looking at the team Lan had saved in the fight with the Razerwolves.

  ‘Plus, there is no way we would ever let scum of the earth slavers mess with one of our friends.’ Vulk grinned, a sentiment the others clearly shared as they met his eyes with a smile and, in the case of Olivia, a wink.

  ‘That means a lot.’ Lan said truly moved by it all, that was until he met Sora’s eye. Eye? Lan thought, moving forward as he noticed the blood-stained bandage around his right eye.

  ‘Your eye?’ Lan asked, stopping short of lifting the bandage to check, while on his part, Sora managed to look appropriately embarrassed by Lan’s open concern and the unamused looks of the others.

  ‘It’s… nothing.’ Sora looked away.

  ‘Pay him no mind, Lan. It only serves him right.’ Vasha huffed as Drevin grunted his agreement. When all he could do was shoot questioning looks around, Vulk came to his aid.

  ‘This little tit charged a Tree Hydra on his own and almost got his head caved in. he is lucky he only lost an eye.’ Vulk said, looking like he wanted to smack Sora, who shrunk as the other sounded their agreement of both his attack and or his tittishness.

  ‘You lost your eye,’ Lan breathed, making Sora shrink even more.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Locke said. ‘Luckily, our healer has a recent enough memory Image to restore Sora’s eye.’

  ‘You can do that?’ Lan asked. He knew healing magic was only restricted by how much mana could be gathered, but restoring a completely lost body part was new to him.

  ‘Hmm, yeah, it’s standard for a hired healer to make memory copies of their patrons.’ Olivia explained.

  ‘Oh, that’s good,’ Lan sighed.

  ‘Although it will cost all the money we made on this job,’ Cassandra said, and everyone remembered why they were frowning at Sora.

  ‘Oh… well, I don’t mind helping out,’ Lan offered, running the potential numbers in his head.

  ‘Thanks, Lan, but we can’t let you do that. It wouldn’t be fair when you are not a part of the party,’ Locke explained before realising what he had said sounded like. Lan stepped back, the words hitting him like a punch even as Locke and others seemed to reel from the statement.

  ‘Uh, right,’ Lan breathed with a weak smile that lasted only a moment before he looked away, unable to meet anyone’s eyes after putting them in an awkward situation.

  After a long moment, where no one looked at each other, Locke spoke up.

  ‘I think we have all earned a drink. You will join us, won’t you, Lan?’

  Lan looked up and realised just how much he had messed up as he saw their forced smiles.

  ‘Of course,’ he smiled weakly back. He hadn’t even considered what he would do in the situation.

  With that, the others turned to leave, Olivia giving his arm a squeeze and a smile before turning to join them.

  Lan didn’t move, still wondering why he had said what he did. He had assumed, and he had messed up, he knew as he watched them leave the alley and turn up the road. Of course, they wouldn’t want him; they just had to save him from a stupid trap that he had wandered into.

  And what was he meant to tell Leah?

  “If you just tell them you want to, I am sure it will go well, ” Leah’s words rang in his head. Lan frowned. Playing back what had just happened. With a start, Lan rushed out of the alley, bursting into the street and sliding to a stop loud enough to make Lock and the others stop and turn to look at him.

  ‘I want to join!’ Lan said a little louder than he needed to. ‘I know I don’t really fit into the team as it is, and the combat class I am going for might make that worse. But if you will have me, I would be honoured to fight alongside you all in the coming Campaign and all the battles we face after,’ Lan said and bowed. He didn’t know why he had brought up his class or lack thereof, but the moment he started talking, he couldn’t stop.

  And he almost started again when none of them spoke.

  Lan waited, not looking up as he strained his ears, waiting for any voice.

  They don’t want me in their party, Lan thought to himself.

  ‘By the Light, you took your damn time in asking,’ Sora shouted with a sigh. ‘I thought my head would pop if you waited a second longer,’ Lan looked up only to find Sora and the others smiling at him.

  ‘What?’ was all he managed.

  ‘Of course, we would be more than happy to have you,’ Locke said as he walked over and patted Lan on the shoulder.

  ‘But… why didn’t you say anything sooner?’ Lan asked as Sora walked up to him and shook him by the shoulders.

  ‘Did you forget we were all there when we found out you are a walking gold mine? We didn’t want you to feel like we only wanted you for your stats, so we all decided to wait until you asked. but we didn’t think you would take this damn long.’ Sora shook him again.

  ‘I was starting to worry there that you didn’t want to be part of the party, but when you agreed with Locke, I was sure of it.’ Vasha sighed, which finally did it as Lan started to laugh.

  ‘I thought the same thing,’ Lan said, making the rest laugh.

  Olivia hugged Lan’s arm. ‘I, for one, never gave up,’ she grinned, but she perked up before Lan could get his mind to work so close to her. ‘Oh! Lan just joined our party. That sounds like the winner of the day if you ask me,’ she grinned wickedly at him, which seemed to give Sora an idea.

  ‘But! h-he also almost got sold into slavery…’ he offered, clearly only trying to cover his own mess up.

  ‘Well, he can’t be the winner and loser, can he… right?’ Cassandra added as they all turned to grin at him one by one.