The First Mage

I felt somewhat disoriented when I woke up in a mostly dark room. Very little light shone through some cracks between the boards that sealed the windows, and I couldn’t tell whether it originated from the sun or the moon. Glancing around, it took a moment for me to remember where I was. Though Berla’s warm body nestled against mine gave me an immediate sense of coziness.

Not wanting to wake her, I decided to doze for a while longer and evaluate my first attempts at building beds, as well as the sleeping experience. Both visually and functionally, they were a far cry from the comfy beds and couches we had gotten used to at the temple in recent times, but they were quite alright. Essentially, each bed was just a couple of boards held up by four bars, onto which I laid a bunch of soft leaves and whatever clothes I had left over as covers. I hadn’t expected to find leaves that would provide such nice cushioning, but a few of the unknown plants around these woods almost seemed like they were tailor-made specifically for this purpose. For the time being, this at least beat sleeping on the ground outside, and we could always upgrade later.

I was surprised to find myself thinking that the house in general seemed rather well done—even at second glance. I was rarely pleased with my first designs, but this one had worked out really well. It was a solid foundation, and every aspect lended itself to being built or improved upon down the line.

The doors and windows in particular would require some attention, however. While the temporary solution of boarding everything up had been a valiant effort by the others, it was rather inconvenient. To open and close anything, you’d need to carry around the boards, and if you wanted your privacy, you would be stuck in an entirely dark room even during daytime. We would need glass and a proper way to open and close doors and windows.

During construction I instinctively tried to implement what I was familiar with, but creating hinges from wood alone turned out to be rather difficult and I decided to come back to that at a later point. This was possible thanks to the modular design I employed when building the house. Replacing a few frames to add new features would be a simple matter.

Glancing at the boards now, and how they simply closed the gaps, I wondered if alternative designs might be more viable. Sliding doors and windows for example would be much easier to create and they might even give this building a certain flair not seen in other towns. There were more things I had to take care of over the next two days, but I decided I would have to try that. Or maybe I would ask Fae to take a crack at it.

The design should be rather simple, though I guess the surfaces need to be very smooth if they’re to slide properly wood against wood. But maybe she has some experience with different kinds of lumber and how to prepare it... She is a lumberjack after all.

I contemplated this plan for a moment before realizing that I had just thought of Alarna and Cerus as “other” towns, and that I was planning to assign work to people. Not that there was anything inherently wrong about this, but sometimes I was surprised by the ease with which my subconscious was accepting new situations and adapting to them.

Our group had almost doubled in size, and with twelve members it was becoming difficult to think of us as a couple of friends camping in the Wildlands. This point was hammered home by Fae already building a second house and Hayla bossing people around. Things were going to change once more, though it was not yet clear how.

By accepting the request to involve myself in Alarna’s business again and proclaiming that I wouldn’t stand for injustice, I essentially promised our new members three things. I would provide the leadership they were seeking, make sure Alarna was a safe place to live, and that I’d protect those who were still hoping for our return. In practice this could take various forms though.

I could attempt to act as a sort of shadow ruler for example, leading the town in secret, or I could just keep killing any potential tyrants. Trying to establish friendly relations with the king and influencing him was an option as well, though not one that seemed overly promising. Maybe it would be better to try to instigate another revolt and establish a new ruler, or maybe the monarchy should be scrapped altogether.

A myriad of possibilities ran through my mind. It might have been the first time in this world that I felt like we had actual options and the luxury of calmly contemplating them. Despite our remaining problems, there was a sense of freedom emerging. But something was gnawing at me. I was still thinking about how to react to others’ actions. We were lacking a clear vision of where we wanted to go ourselves. It had been like this from the start, and after Cerus, we were driven by the rather vague idea of “improving the lives of all.” That ideal wasn’t something you could actively strive for though. We needed goals that would lead us there.

Taking over Alarna had been a good starting point in theory. At once, we got resources to work with, problems to solve, and lives to improve. Had it worked out, we could’ve expanded the operation from there, spreading our mana wall script and our message that life could be better. This would’ve also given us a good excuse to travel to new places, as we liberated villages from category tens.

Our situation now wasn’t quite as convenient anymore. The ideal was still there, and the rough, long-term plan was the same, but how would we execute it? Would we just travel the world aimlessly, fighting beasts and painting trees in hopes to slowly free the people? It wasn’t the worst idea, but it seemed highly inefficient, slow, and way too time-intensive. I didn’t envision the entire rest of my life as a wandering monster hunter.

I eventually asked myself an important question. What do I even want from this life? I looked down at Berla, sleeping peacefully with her head resting against my chest. And what do I want for them?

The answer came to me rather quickly. I wanted us to be able to do whatever we wanted. Free of too much responsibility and free of others dictating what we could and couldn’t do. Freedom even a Ruler didn’t know, as they would always be held accountable by their citizens. If we wanted to help people, we would need to be able to just go anywhere and do that. If we wanted to lay back and relax, that needed to be possible as well. But these requirements couldn’t be limited to Alarna and its surrounding areas either. What we needed was globe-spanning power and authority. One way to accomplish that was to conquer the world, but maybe there was a different way... One that was more suited for my wants and needs and wouldn’t take a life-time.

My thoughts were interrupted when Berla moved. After stretching her arms a little, her eyes blinked open and met mine as she looked up.

“Hey. You’re finally up,” she said.

“You’re one to talk, I’ve been lying awake for a while,” I teased.

Smirking, she raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t the one who fell asleep on the floor though.”

“Oh... did I? Sorry about that,” I said, smiling wryly. She must’ve hefted me up here.

“It’s fine. Though Riala will be all over you later, she was irritated because she wanted to show you something.” Berla laughed lightly.

“Right.” I remembered, that was the whole reason she followed us into the house. “I hope she’s getting her mana under control.”

Berla paused for a moment. “Hayla came back to check on you as well... She wants to know when you wake up, and also what you want to do next. She wants to prepare everything as your number two...” I couldn’t see her face as she said this, but she sounded thoroughly unhappy. “I’m sorry I blabbed. You’re okay, right?”

“Mhm, all good. And don’t be sorry. It all comes back to me making the mistake of accepting her proposal in the first place. It’s perfectly understandable that you’re annoyed.” As the words left my mouth, I realized Hayla acting this way might not have been the only thing annoying Berla. “I think I need to apologize for not putting a stop to it.”

“Huh?” Berla seemed surprised. “No, that’s not necessary... I understand that you need to keep her somewhat happy. And that she’s taking care of everything was the plan anyway, wasn’t it?”

“Yea, but her actually acting like my fiance wasn’t part of the plan.” I sighed.

“I know. But it’s just for a time. It’ll be fine. And if you don’t break the engagement... it won’t be the end of the world either.”

This was a sentence I hadn’t expected from her. “Maybe not the end of the world, but it wouldn’t be great. I will do what I can.”

“It’s not looking good though. I talked to Riala... She says you decoded the script, but you don’t have any idea how to break it.”

“I really need to teach that girl to keep things to herself...” I mumbled. “She’s right, I don’t know yet. But we still have three months. There must be a way. Don’t worry.” Yet, I thought.

Berla took a deep breath and her mood appeared to brighten spontaneously. “Alright. What about a plan for the future? I am curious what you have in mind for this new settlement we’re apparently building here.”

Maybe she was just acting, but I went along with it. Dwelling on the Hayla problem wasn’t going to improve anyone’s mood, and there was nothing to be done about it now. Though I silently pledged to myself that I wouldn’t let her treat Berla like an unimportant underling. I then went back to my considerations from a couple minutes ago as I responded to her.

“I was actually just thinking about that before you woke up. I think I have an idea.”

“Really? What is it?” she asked curiously.

“Well, we want to help people, and we want to do it anywhere and everywhere, without being bound to anyone’s rules. So we’ll establish ourselves as a group that fights for others all around the world. Essentially, we’re going to take over the jobs of the Fighters everywhere, and we’ll make ourselves indispensable to a point where we’re going to stand above any rulers.”

“That sounds...” She sighed and became silent for several seconds, seemingly having trouble finding the right adjective. Eventually, she said, “It sounds like something you would come up with.”

“You mean ambitious?” I asked, grinning.

“Something like that...”

“Crazy?”

“That too... But I know better than to dismiss it outright. How do you plan to do that exactly?”

I chuckled. When I proposed to take over Alarna before, she was dumbfounded. This new plan was arguably even more unrealistic, but she barely batted an eye. Though I was fairly certain that it could work.

“What I have in mind is an institution that specializes in fighting beasts and injustices, while also providing people with vital services. We’re going to found the Adventurer Guild.”