It's a Deal

Fate watched the brother walk away from atop a one-story building, having used his new Seed Grade Spell to fly through the walls. As he raised from his crouch and hopped back down, he sunk through the ground once more to break his momentum. With a thought, he shot back out, landing on his feet and taking off in the opposite direction from the one the brother went.

He received a few odd glances from the passersby for doing so, but many couldn't be bothered to care about a lowly Apprentice kid messing around.

The crowd wasn't particularly thick at this time of day. There were maybe about three hundred people on this street. Enough to reduce visibility, but not enough that one would be jammed between a bunch of people. Since he kept his eyes on the crowd, he could spot two of the triplets weaving their way through the crowd toward his direction.

Their eyes met between two irate-looking men arguing with each other, the triplets' eyes lighting up as Fate swore quietly. He changed directions, going to his right. He planned to enter a store, and either phase through the back walls or use his Skill to dodge around them and rush back outside.

The two triplets, the one with lighter hair and the one with darker eyes, pouted when they saw Fate try to run. The pout soon turned to a grin as the one with dark eyes vanished. Fate stopped in his tracks, finding the girl in front of him.

"Just give in," she said. "You can't outrun me. I'm a Speed Mage!"

"I outran you earlier," Fate smirked.

"I wasn't thinking about my Skill back then, sheesh. I've only had it for a few weeks, and I've already gotten an earful from my brother for this."

"Just leave me alone, will you? I'm not interested, and there's nothing you can offer me that I can't get myself."

"Not a chance. We let you go, and some other journalist is going to snare you. Then we're out a juicy story!"

"And why do you care so much about the news? Doesn't the Magiweb do your job for you?"

"Those are just recordings and Guard statements. There's no genuine site for news by the people, for the people."

Her sister came up from behind, taking a position to stop Fate should he run. "The Empress is perfect, but her Guards are not," she insisted. "There are plenty of tales of corruption that was only weeded out because the right person spoke up. We want to be those right people."

"Noble, I guess," Fate shrugged. "But that doesn't change what I said earlier. You have nothing to offer me. And knowing those Hedraple jerks, they'd see this interview and send that brute after me again."

"Funny you should say that," said the one with lighter hair. "Their mom owes our cousin a favor, who owes us a favor. We can get them off your back."

"Why didn't you mention this earlier?"

"Because we were going to use the favor to buy equipment for our club. If you want to keep being stubborn, though, we won't have a club anyway."

"Doubtful," Fate said, formulating an escape plan.

"Oh no, you don't," the light-haired triplet said when she noticed his twitch.

She stamped her foot, a wave of gaseous energy spreading out and covering the floor around Fate. It crackled and popped, eroding the stone under his feet. Luckily for these sisters, it didn't harm his boots.

Fate tried to use his Skill. The slight breeze that was ruffling his hair went through it, and yet he stood on the ground as if nothing changed. When he tapped his foot against the ground to investigate, it rebounded off of the dark energy on the floor.

'That's annoying,' he thought.

"You're going to do that interview," the speedster said ominously. "And you're going to get paid for it. There are no other options."

"Just make it easier on all of us and give in," the light-haired one said sweetly. "We'll pay you any way you want."

Fate sighed exasperatedly, stopping his Skill. "Fine, I'll make you a deal. You pay for the Familiar Ceremony for me next week, and I'll do the interview. You don't even need to use that favor."

The ceremony cost a thousand Lights, which included procurement of the wide range of options that would be available along with help from experienced Familiar Masters to bond with your choice. He could easily afford it, but he was still in the mindset of the piss-poor boy from Brergan.

There was no harm in saving where he could.

"Deal!" the dark-eyed girl said.

"We're going to all chip in, right?" said the light-haired girl nervously.

"Of course." The dark-eyed one extended her hand, and Fate shook it. "I'm Tresbeney Febenochi, and that's Semenda. Our brother is Ventraga, and you've already met Deodeky. Your name is Fate, right?"

"It is," Fate replied, and tried to retract his hand. "Find me tomorrow, I'm busy right now."

"Don't try to run," warned Tresbeney, tightening her grip for emphasis. He barely felt it, but it was the thought that counted. She released his hand and walked off, Semenda trailing after with a worried expression.

'That was weird,' Fate thought to himself as he checked the time. He still had about forty minutes before his wand was ready, so he decided to window-shop in some of the other stores on the street. After all, he still had over twenty-five thousand Lights. Maybe he'd find something worthwhile.

He went into the first one that caught his attention, "Harry's Hermit Essentials." It was a rustic storefront that lacked the display windows of many other stores on the street, and when Fate entered he was accosted by the heavy scent of tobacco.

Unlike Dreyden's Devilish Deals, this store was kept neat and tidy, with shelves along the walls and arrayed in rows on the floor. At the back, Fate spotted a middle-aged man with a shaggy head of hair and a long brown beard, toking the pipe in his hands as he held an unfinished wood carving up.

As Fate watched, the block of wood was shaved off meticulously by an invisible force, the discarded scraps arranging themselves neatly in a pile on the floor. The man looked up, taking a deep draw from his pipe before blowing a cloud of smoke out.

"What can I do for you?" the man asked.