Level Up!

  The notification rubbed into my nose, and I quickly batted it away.

  Kili’s house was deep in the East Ward. Cadria’s walls leaned over the humble wooden houses, a hundred meters above our heads, and people had to wait until midday to see the sun for the first time. Firefighting patrols quenched the flames with earth and water spells, but the embers of the Red Hawk Company still smoked in the distance.

  [Mirage] allowed me to walk along the rooftops unnoticed as guards cordoned off an area around the fire. No one even looked in our direction. The fact that a high-level combatant could get away with murder and arson wasn’t a reassuring thought. The city guard would need a Lv.35 Sentinel or something similar just to realize I was hiding in close vicinity. Luckily for me, there were none nearby.

  The moon appeared behind the clouds, and the cold of the night bit my face.

  Kili pointed down to a shabby house on a dirt road whose cobblestones had long since been stolen. One of the windows was illuminated. We landed in the middle of the street without a noise, my [Foresight] scanning the street for unsuspecting onlookers. Everyone seemed to be locked up in their houses.

  I put Kili down and sat on the sidewalk. The girl tried to block my [Foresight] with her scrambling skills, looking for the perfect moment to escape. The Hex wasn’t capping my level, so I detected her without trouble.

  “Don’t even think about it. We have a pending conversation,” I said, catching my breath. “I swear I will encase you in rock if you try it.”

  Kili froze while I tried to sort my thoughts. The rational part of my brain knew I should feel regret from killing Red and his lackeys, but no matter how much I looked inside, there was nothing but a vague sense of relief. I wiped my hands on my breeches, though the blood was already dry.

  Kili’s chest rose and fell, her breath quick and shallow like a terrified animal. Adrenaline still shook her to her core, but I couldn’t tell if she was scared of the fight or of me.

  “I-I’m sorry. I thought I would be able to pay… I was doing it!” she mumbled, her voice quivering like a leaf in the wind.

  “Hey, it’s okay. It’s done,” I said, trying to calm her down.

  Lecturing students never was my strong suit, but Kili needed a wake-up call.

  “We had a saying back at home. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword,” I continued, wondering if the equation would eventually balance out against me. “Do you understand what it means?”

  Kili pondered my words before opening her mouth.

  “I understand,” she said. “Those who decide to steal will have the fate of criminals… but I-I needed money to pay for the entrance test… and clothes and food.”

  My shoulder was starting to sting, and part of me wanted to snap at Kili, but she wasn’t entirely wrong. Back in Farcrest, Elincia had confided to me that she had almost accepted money from loan sharks. She’d needed to feed the kids. Would I have blamed her for receiving the money? Would I reprimand her when the collector came knocking?

  Kili wasn’t all that different.

  I took a deep breath and armed myself with patience. Mister Reyes had told me long ago that there were a lot of different kinds of teachers, including mediators, disciplinarians, entertainers, innovators. I wanted to be trustworthy, the type of teacher kids resort to when they are deep in trouble.

  “You are an Imperial Cadet now, Kili. You have to start acting like one. They will expel you if they figure out you stole from another cadet. Not only that, have you ever considered how Aeliana would feel after losing her circlet? This may be important to her,” I said, raising the nephrite circlet.

  Kili lowered her head.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I know you understand. You are smart, Kili, and resourceful, and I want you in my class. We will keep this a secret, okay? But for the love of John Ronald Reuel fucking Tolkien, you need to get your act together. You are not a kid anymore. The consequences of your actions are more serious than ever before.”

  The girl nodded in silence.

  I adopted a softer tone. “Teaching is a bit different in my country. A teacher’s duty goes beyond the lessons. We are supposed to guide students through their struggles, existential questions, and even private concerns if they decide to seek guidance. If you ever need something, no matter how small you think it is, I’m open to listening and will help you the best I can. Alright?”

  Around the corner, I heard the muffled sound of steps.

  “We should get inside,” Kili said, crossing the street.

  “This is your house?” I asked.

  Kili nodded and knocked on the door with a pattern: two knocks, pause, four knocks. There was a sudden sound, like someone had knocked over a chair. A moment later, the door opened. A young, slender man with a serene expression and the same messy brown hair as Kili stood in the doorway. His eyes were big and round, giving him an almost child-like appearance, although his calm demeanor made him look more like a monk… or a druggie. His clothes were old and worn out to the point that even Shu’s old pillowcase looked like a nightgown in comparison.

  The young man’s eyes jumped from Kili to my wounds. I had mana bands tightly pressed against my injuries, preventing any more bleeding, but my shirt was completely stained. The sight didn’t seem to alarm him.

  “Oh, my,” he said without a change in his unbothered expression. “Come inside, quick. The water is about to boil. I will patch you in a jiffy.”

  Kili’s house was a single room with piles of rags and old clothes covering every square centimeter of the floor. In the corner of the room were two beds hidden behind towers of fabric, an old wardrobe, a chest, and a cupboard. On the opposite wall was a blackened hearth filled to the brim with ash. The only notable piece of furniture was a sturdy work table near the window and a rack of sewing tools on the wall.

  Kili’s brother stumbled over the chair he had knocked over a moment earlier, but he didn’t fall. He walked over to the table, grabbed a piece of old white fabric, and, channeling his mana, cut it into a long bandage with the tip of his finger. Then he threw it into the boiling pot with a few rags and thread.

  I noticed a wooden cutting board with chopped cabbage. He must’ve been preparing dinner.

  “I didn’t expect to see you around, Kili,” the man said, using an old spoon to submerge the bandages in the boiling water. “How is the Academy doing? Is that scary instructor giving you trouble?”

  Kili froze and gave me an apologetic look.

  I glanced back at her with my best disappointed expression.

  “N-no, he isn’t giving me a hard time. Everything is alright,” the girl stuttered.

  “I knew you’d do fine!” he said, pulling the bandages out with the spoon handle. He channeled his mana, and the water dripped back into the pot like he had put the bandage through a press. “Oh, my. Silly me. I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Wren, Lv.22 Mender, by the way. I’m Kili’s older brother. Sit here near the fire. I will need light.”

  I had a pouch full of potions back in my bedroom, but I was too tired to refuse. My Prestige Class gave me a generous regeneration rate, so I wasn’t in any sort of danger. Still, having an open wound wasn’t optimal.

  Kili cleared the path between the piles of old clothes and rags before Wren could stumble again. I couldn’t pinpoint the reason, but he seemed a bit gone. Letting a bloody stranger into the house wasn’t the most reassuring sign of someone’s mental integrity. A normal person would’ve freaked out.

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  “Your friends always seem to get in trouble, Kili. I sometimes wonder if it’s you who gets them in trouble,” Wren said as he sewed the wound on my shoulder. He was very skilled.

  Kili hid her face between her hands, ashamed.

  “What’s your name, friend?” Wren asked.

  “Robert Clarke, my pleasure,” I replied. “And sorry for the intrusion so late.”

  Wren gave me a quizzical look.

  “Robert Clarke, the scary instructor? I thought you’d be more terrifying. Kili is rarely afraid of anything,” he said, laughing at his joke. “Thanks for looking over Kili. She can be a handful, but she has a heart of gold. She’s always trying to help others.”

  If a stranger covered in blood didn’t scare Wren, I couldn’t imagine what did.

  “It’s been a pleasure to teach Kili. She has a lot of potential, but she needs to improve her decision making,” I said with my best teacher’s voice.

  Wren laughed and snorted.

  “That’s Kili for you. She’s always been the talented sibling, but I am the judicious one,” Wren said.

  “That’s not true!” Kili interjected, suddenly free from her paralysis. “Look at you! You only have a cabbage for dinner!”

  Wren shrugged, not missing a stitch.

  “I have had several guests for dinner recently, so my pantry is running low.”

  Like it was prompted, someone knocked on the door. Before Kili could stop him, Wren stumbled his way to the door. Saying he was clumsy with his feet was an understatement. I channeled my mana, expecting Red’s lackeys seeking revenge. However, two ragged little kids appeared in the doorway.

  “Hello, little friends, what are you doing here so late at night?” Wren asked.

  “Do you have something to eat?” the kids asked without a hint of shame.

  Wren stepped back, leaving space for the kids to enter.

  “Soup will take some time. I’m in the middle of something, but you can wait there,” he said.

  The kids snuck into the room, greeted Kili, and sat on the bed.

  “Family?” I asked.

  “Freeloaders,” Kili replied, turning to Wren. “You need to save money, not feed these bottomless snot sacks every time they knock on the door!”

  The kids complained, but Kili's glance shut them up.

  “Well, isn’t it lovely that the five of us are here to keep each other company?” Wren said, tying up the thread and wrapping the bandage around my shoulder. “I have only three bowls, though. We will have to take turns to eat.”

  This was by far one of the strangest teacher-parent conferences I’d ever had, and I hadn’t even started with the part where Kili had nearly sold her freedom to a slaver not an hour earlier.

  Kili was pissed.

  “Wren! We are piss poor! Poorer than a Mender’s mouse! Think of yourself first!”

  “That’s not a gentle word, Kili,” Wren replied, turning to the kids. “You two will come here to fix your shirts when you get your classes, right?”

  The kids nodded.

  “See? Two new customers. I’m a business mastermind,” Wren said, putting the cabbage into the pot and throwing in a handful of barley and another of beans. “Besides, what is better: a hundred pieces of copper or a hundred friends?”

  “A hundred pieces of copper… every time,” Kili grunted.

  As a teacher, I was used to glancing into the private lives of many families, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was intruding. Kids had completely different voices in the safety of their homes, and Kili was a lot more dominant here than she had been back at the academy.

  “There will be times where a hundred pieces of copper will not save you, but a single friend will,” I couldn’t help but point out.

  “See?” Wren said, gesturing with the steaming wooden spoon. “Robert Clarke is a teacher; he knows about this stuff. You’ll do well learning from him.”

  A teacher who had just committed mass manslaughter and arson.

  I closed my eyes, trying not to think of the events of the past hour.

  While we waited for the soup, Wren worked on a shirt. He cut patches out of the old clothes where the fabric was still good enough and sewed them into a new garment, only using his fingers. Magic fluttered around the fabric, leaving no seam where the patches joined. As interesting as the trick was, the result was only as good as the patchwork pieces.

  “Wear this,” Wren said, handing me the shirt. “There’s a fitting room in the corner.”

  The fitting room was an old curtain supported by a wooden frame. I shed the bloody shirt and put on the new one. The fabric was coarse and yellowing, but it smelled like soap and flowers. When I came out, the two kids were sleeping in one of the beds, and Wren served the soup.

  “This needs salt and herbs,” Kili said.

  “I’ll get some when I go to the market,” Wren replied, sitting on the bench by his work table.

  “I gave you money three days ago!” Kili said.

  Wren happily blew the steam from his bowl. On top of the hearth, a small pile of copper coins was gathering dust.

  “I’m not using that money until you tell me where you got it,” he said.

  “I told you I earned it playing cards in the market!” Kili said, exasperated.

  Wren raised an eyebrow but didn’t engage in the argument. He seemed to know Kili was lying. Instead of fighting back, he took a sip of the soup. His expression seemed to relax, like he had been starving not an instant earlier.

  “Let me pay you for the shirt,” I said, sitting on the stool.

  “Oh, don’t mind it, friend. It’s a gift for all the headaches Kili has given you, and those that will eventually come. It’s not much, but it might help you blend with the crowd if you visit the East Ward often,” Wren said.

  Kili’s spoon hit Wren in the center of the forehead. Evidently, she had hit her limit.

  “Take the money, you sorry excuse of an older brother! He’s loaded! He was about to pay Red three hundred pieces of silver for each of us!” Kili exploded.

  Wren took a moment to recover from the hit. A red mark appeared on his forehead, but he didn’t lose his cool. Nothing seemed to disturb him, as if he wasn’t entirely there.

  “I told you not to accept Red’s money, didn’t I? His game is rigged, and when you accept his money, you tacitly agree with everything he represents,” Wren said.

  “The alternative was to live like this!” Kili barked back.

  Wren was unfazed.

  “I’m perfectly happy living like this. Please understand that no amount of money will make me happier if you aren’t here with me, Kili. You are the only thing I have,” he sighed. “Look. Don’t worry about Red; focus on the Academy and becoming the best Imperial Knight you can be. I will fix things with Red… somehow.”

  I watched the exchange in silence. I couldn’t even imagine how Wren would manage to appease Red—if he were still alive. Wren sounded sure of himself. There was no doubt in his voice.

  “Red won’t be a problem anymore,” I said, setting my empty bowl aside.

  Wren’s eyes fell on the bloody shirt and understood the underlying message in my words.

  “Oh, my…”

  I was tired.

  “I’ll be retiring for the night. Kili, you can stay here for the night, but tomorrow we start at dawn,” I said. I was physically and mentally drained. “Thanks for the meal, and thanks for the shirt.”

  Kili avoided my eyes, and Wren walked me to the door. We stepped outside, and he closed the door behind him. The night was chilly, and the smell of smoke still lingered in the air of the East Ward.

  “You are not in a condition to walk to the academy, teacher. You are welcome to stay if you want, although you might end up sleeping on a pile of fabric,” Wren said, hugging himself tightly to keep warm.

  I bowed my head, refusing his invitation.

  “Kili is right. You should accept my payment,” I said, a vapor cloud escaping my lips.

  Wren shook his head.

  “Kili doesn’t understand it yet, but an old shirt in exchange for an Imperial Instructor looking over my little sister sounds like a bargain.”

  “I’m her teacher. I will look after her and try my damn best to make her pass the selection exams whether you give me gifts or not.”

  Wren smiled, his mousey hair almost covering his big brown eyes.

  “Then let the shirt be an acknowledgment of your good deeds, from me to you.”

  “I wouldn’t say killing someone is a good deed,” I sighed. This was definitely the strangest teacher-parent conference I’ve ever attended.

  Wren gave me a compassionate look.

  “Usually, doing good isn’t enough, teacher. Malicious people can create pain and misery much faster than kindhearted people can create good. To make a real difference, doing good isn’t enough; you must also fight evil, eradicate it… but you already know that, don’t you? That’s not what’s bothering you.”

  I almost felt like he was using [Identify] on me. However, not a single speck of mana moved through his body. Wren shivered.

  “I’m upset things didn’t go my way. I tried to solve things peacefully, smartly, but it didn’t matter. I’m upset the world doesn’t work the way I want it to,” I finally admitted.

  Wren turned around and put his hand on the door knob.

  “Then change the world. It’s that easy.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. Wren was right. My fight against Red might have been unavoidable, but I was a teacher. I could prevent more kids from turning into Red—or at least I hoped I could do it. Reducing criminality rates in students was a can of worms on its own, and I wasn’t the best teacher out there. Was it even possible?

  Suddenly, I remembered something Mister Reyes told me years ago: fights are not there to be won, but to be fought.

  “I will start by changing Kili’s world,” I said.

  Wren gave me a quizzical look.

  “If you are not going to accept my money, I can offer you a recommendation letter,” I said. “Would you like a job at the Farcrest Alchemists Guild branch in Cadria? We might not be the greatest supplier of potions, but it’s steady pay.”

  Wren smiled.