Whispers in the Night

Alex slowly removed the book from his head, trying not to do any movement to alert whoever was close to him inside and outside the wagon.

He looked to his side and saw Tina sitting on the bench with her new metal sword in hand. The blade was touching the neck of a laying Rel'Tir. The boy had tight clothes covering his chest and looked less pale. Bogath's healing was pretty good, from what Alex could see.

The boy was sweating heavily, and his eyes were bulging, locked with Tina's ones. He just lay there, his life hanging by a thread, and he hadn't the strength to move a single muscle.

"The next time you do something like that to me or to anyone I care about, I'll slit your throat when you sleep. Or when you're eating or decide to read a book," Tina said in a calm and hushed tone that Alex almost couldn't hear. "Starting tomorrow, you'll have a different attitude. You'll be a good companion on our trip. You'll be helpful, and you'll not act like a bitch around me or Valther, alright?" She asked, this time hissing.

The boy shivered visibly with the threat but managed to control himself and nod at her. Alex smirked, still looking in her direction. When she removed the sword from the other elf's neck, she noticed Alex was awake and listening. She immediately turned from a cold killer to an embarrassed, blushed girl again.

She didn't say anything; just sheathed her sword and lay down on her bench, picking a sack of clothes to use as a pillow. Alex smiled at her and concentrated on the voices outside the wagon.

He peeked over the wooden window on the wagon and saw that the voices belonged to Ratamir and Ravi, who talked close enough to the vehicle that Alex could distinguish everything clearly,

"What's the situation?"

"The horses are tired. Too much weight for them to run without rest," Ravi replied, not seeming drunk. Alex glanced at his countdown and realized he had slept for almost ten hours straight! He had just four hours to finish the book or be doomed to one week without knowing how to read.

"Ten minutes, and we can go?" The dwarf asked, but Alex didn't listen to an answer but assumed Ravi had nodded affirmingly. "Good, good. Tell me about the combat today. What's your opinion?"

"My opinion is the same. The boy Valther is out for killing himself and his 'friend.'" Ravi said in a hushed hiss and looked in the wagon's direction. Alex downed his head and kept listening. So that's what he thinks? That I'm dragging Tina to a suicide job? Alex mused while kept hearing,

"You can keep your opinions about their motivations with yourself, my old friend. These two kids want to slay monsters, and so what? You can't save everyone." Ratamir replied in a fatherly tone, "Now answer my question: what is your opinion about them?"

"The boy, Rel'Tir, is strong as a dragon but dumb as a kobold. I'm unsure if he's a coward or insecure, but he showed it today. He's not the sharpest tool, but can be useful if he doesn't keep getting shot,"

"Hummmm…" Ratamir grunted, and Ravi continued,

"The girl… she is dedicated, that I can't deny. She's not strong, fast, and has no natural talent for combat… but she wants to learn and learns fast." Ravi said, and Ratamir sighed,

"Oh, how I miss the old times when he had an actual Hunter Academy. We are losing the potential of Tevia because all the good recruits die at the beginning of the journey,"

"That's why—"

"Don't start this again. They have the liberty to decide, and we need the members," Ratamir interjected, "and the boy?"

"He was good at sparring. A natural. He didn't lose against the other two; he almost hit me once." Did I? Alex cheered internally, "I didn't see him fight the two orcs, my friend. But the result was… impressive. He is calm and calculating and hides something savage inside him." Oh, you have no idea, Alex thought, smiling.

Ratamir kept in silence for a while and completed,

"Anything else?" 

"I don't think so… he was the one who helped the woman to calm herself. I wasn't at my best, you know…"

"I can only imagine," Ratamir replied with a grunt, and Ravi continued,

"But yes, he helped the woman. He's good with words. He can be a good member one day if he doesn't die or if he doesn't break when his friend dies,"

"That will not happen," Ratamir replied, annoyed by the other man's pessimism.

"They have no idea what they joined. They have no idea what's waiting for us in FrontHold," Alex could hear the real worry in the man's voice, totally opposite of how he had seemed disgusted in the capital. The dungeon they were going to seal wasn't just ancient. It was more dangerous than expected.

"So, let's use the time to prepare them." Ratamir put a final tone to his voice, and Ravi didn't protest this time, "try to remain sober. It's good to talk to you from time to time."

"We talk all the time," Ravi replied, smiling,

"I meant really talking."

"I understood," Ravi replied, sounding annoyed at the moment. "The problem is, my friend: I hate talking with myself, and the sober version of myself? He's terrible. I want nothing with him," Alex smiled at the man's joke, but Ratamir didn't. He just stood there, watching his friend go to drink another bottle of wine and wake with the mood of an ancient greedy dragon.

Alex downed on the bench, grabbed his book, and read using the moonlight piercing his wagon.

Between one page and the other, he thought how peculiar the people on the guild were. How Ravi could be a maniac killer, a preoccupied member, a teacher, and a mystery at the same time. Alex hadn't forgiven the man for how he had dealt with Tina and him the other day, but he definitely had a little more respect for him now.

Alex kept reading for more than two hours. The moon was already going away on the horizon, replacing red with yellow. Alex heard the pain grumbles of Rel'Tir and the waking yawn of Tina as he finished reading the book's last page.

Vitorian III hadn't written anything new, but Alex now understood his concept of energy and arcanite light better. The colors of the ores influenced the quantity of energy that resided inside the metal. At the same time, inside each mage, a core absorbed the Arcanite Light, which theoretically also changed colors inside the body.

Quest: [Read the Whole Book] - Concluded

Time to conclude: 2 hours

Reward: A permanent buff in Intelligence,

And then a new message popped instantly before Alex's eyes:

…

Processing information.

…

Analyzing

…

Results:

Strength: Lacking

Endurance: Lacking

Speed: Enhanced

Intelligence: Enhanced

Magic Power: Lacking

Physical Power: Lacking

Faction Power: Maximized

…

Checking Changes

…

Requirements achieved.

Initializing changes to:

Intelligence

…

Changes complete.

Intelligence upgraded from F4 to F6.

Seeing his advance, Alex imagined that he was set for a good day, less he knew the surprises such a day had in store for him.