6th of Season of Air, 57th year of the 32nd imperial era

Newt lay in his fancy bed, which felt like warm, cottony pudding, waiting for his roommate to return to their dimly lit room, still coming to terms with his situation.

How did it come to this? Why would anyone pay a first realm manarium crystal just to spend a night in a fancy inn?

Many things made little sense to him, not the least of which was the dim light, which he had failed to turn off no matter what he tried. Is Dandelion really doing something immoral with Lady Frostgrave?

At that thought, the door opened, and one smiling Dandelion walked in, light shining behind his back. He looked like a hero returning triumphant or an immortal bathed in heavenly radiance.

"Have you done anything immoral?" Newt blurted out the moment the former townlord closed the door.

Dandelion's smile changed, but Newt didn't know what the new smile signified, so he simply turned crimson, regretting his tongue getting ahead of him.

"First, what men and women consensually and consciously do behind closed doors, without exchanging goods or services, is beautiful, not immoral. Second, the 'gentleman never tells' is disgusting nonsense braggers and failures say, you should never say it, and third, no. We discussed magic, the nature of realms, my chosen path, and potential for cooperation."

Dandelion pierced Newt with a flat gaze. "And she understood my words on the first try. She did not throw a tantrum, run outside, nor drink a gallon of tea, which I believed was fancy, but now I understand was provincial trash.

"In short, Valiant Frostgrave decided she wished to show me benevolence to return the favor I have done for her, and we worked out a deal."

Newt noticed something off.

"You didn't say you're friends now."

"I did not. I cannot be her friend until I reach the fifth realm, at the very least, and she will not be able to be my friend once I reach the eighth. Friends need to have comparable strength and preferably similar growth rate. Did I not explain that to you the last time we met?"

Newt furrowed his brows, but remained silent. Some of the things Dandelion had said in Hailstown had gone over his head, and he didn't remember which. In truth, he had forgotten most of what he failed to understand.

Newt considered asking about what deal the two of them had struck. Could there even be a deal, when Dandelion believed they were not equals, but Newt didn't indulge his curiosity. Instead, he asked about their immediate future.

"So, about the mission tomorrow, how did you know to select the one for ice-attributed mages?"

"Well, I did not. Not really." Dandelion explained, taking off his robe, followed by his undergarments. "These beds increase your mana circulation and the rate at which you absorb ambient mana. It is a tiny improvement, but it is an improvement. The more of your skin touches the bedding, the better."

"Does that mean someone else lay here naked?" Newt jumped out of the bed, his face painted with disgust.

"They change the sheets, Newstar." Dandelion deadpanned. "This is a high class establishment charging in manarium; they have spare beddings.

"Anyway, regarding your question. I did not reserve a job, and even if I wanted to, the guild does not allow it. They make the mission unavailable when someone sets off to complete it. I simply memorized everything available and threw the offer, seeing that madam Frostgrave has so many mentees with her." Dandelion paused. "To be honest, I was afraid they were too highborn to consider teaming up with us. Now. will you go back to your bed? You need not take off your underclothes."

They each had their own luxurious bed, and Dandelion had already jumped into his, covering his nudity with a thin cotton blanket. Newt took off his shirt, but kept his underpants before going back to bed.

"Lights off," Dandelion commanded, and the dim, romantic lights went out, startling Newt.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"I tried turning them off, but didn't know how."

"I kindly asked the maid, and she told me," Dandelion said. "Now, regarding tomorrow's mission, the caverns we will visit form a giant maze, or, to be more accurate, an ancient, highly evolved frostworm had burrowed its lair there a long time ago and has long since died. The ice jade deposit I mentioned earlier is actually the dead manabeast's skeleton."

Newt frowned.

"Do not be surprised, frostworms are massive. Their bones grow outside their flesh to form a partial exoskeleton to support their bulk, otherwise they would fall apart in lower realms."

"I wasn't surprised."

"Why the frown, then?" Dandelion asked, and Newt realized that was the first time the former townlord didn't know what he was thinking. For some reason that made him feel better and made Dandelion seem more human.

Newt could have lied, but opted to tell the truth. "I noticed a similarity between these frostworms and my clan. A once powerful existence brought them here, and after it passed away, they became fodder."

The sorrow in Newt's voice was palpable, and Dandelion spoke up for him.

"That was overly harsh. You are not fodder, and neither is your family. I have said it before, but I will say it again: your circumstances are unfortunate, but they forged you as you are. Good comes from bad, and bad comes from good. It is an unending cycle."

Newt said nothing, and Dandelion continued explaining the details of their mission, followed by battle tactics and the nuances of tunnel combat compared to fighting in an open field. The wide tunnels were more or less the same as an open battlefield, but the narrow ones were a completely different beast. By dawn, Newt concluded he needed to buy a solid short-sword, because there were many cases in which he simply could not use his swords. Besides, he could use a short-sword for butchering manabeasts in the future.

"Where can I buy a decent-quality short-sword?"

"Are you finally planning to abandon those silly swords?"

"What? No!" The way Dandelion dismissed and disdained Salamandras' family weapons hurt, even if Newt himself found them impractical on several occasions.

"A pity," Dandelion tsked, further annoying Newt by not explaining what he meant.

"What are you trying to imply?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"No, no, there's something there. Please tell me."

"Your ancestor clearly wanted to use a weapon with reach, but he had already invested too much time into mastering the sword. In the interest of saving time and not wasting his effort, he just made them longer." Dandelion paused, letting the silence linger in the dark. Then, just as Newt was about to speak up, Dandelion kept going.

"He probably tried using a greatsword first, but the weapon didn't suit his physique, so he elected the slimmer twin swords. He chose poorly." Reproach was tangible in Dandelion's voice, and it infuriated Newt.

He was just a third realm mageknight. What right did he have to criticize a seventh realm ancestor, and not any ancestor, but a slayer?

"What do you know?" Newt grumbled, but Dandelion simply chuckled.

"About weapons? More than your entire lineage combined."

Newt recalled the one duel he had with Dandelion and how the man knocked him to the ground before Newt could muster a resistance. There was nearly an entire realm of difference between them back then, and Newt should have been overwhelmingly stronger, but Dandelion floored him in a heartbeat.

Newt remained silent, and Dandelion let him with his thoughts.

"And which weapon should I use?" Newt asked after regaining his balance. Dandelion certainly wasn't making fun of him nor mocking his ancestor, which meant he wanted to advise him regarding weapons. Whatever his reason, hearing him out cost nothing.

"Spear," Dandelion said without hesitation, "but considering your fighting style, where you turn yourself into a granite juggernaut, you might consider something heavier and more forceful, like a glaive or a greatsword. The latter is lacking in reach, but makes up for it with massive damage."

He paused while Newt considered the thought. He had met a spearman at the Hailstown tournament. It seemed like a decent weapon when used against him, but abandoning his ancestral weapon just because Dandelion told him so wasn't happening.

"Regarding where to purchase a decent short-sword," Dandelion broke the silence after enough time had passed that Newt believed the man had dozed off. "The blacksmiths' guild is the best and safest option by far. You can find some used weapons with various merchants, but those are always a gamble."

Dandelion paused for a breath, considering his words before he continued. "A potentially profitable gamble, once you develop a knack for bartering and an eye for metal, but even then it remains a gamble. However, while safest, the blacksmiths' guild's wares are the most expensive, and you are thoroughly poor. You did not even pay me back my five manarium pieces, even though you have some in your boots."

"They are in the sack under my pillow now."

"What rotten habit." Dandelion chuckled. "That's no different from sleeping with socks under your pillow."

Newt was about to argue when he realized the older man was teasing him.

"You are a member. What's the price of a short-sword appropriate for a third realm mageknight?"

"Couple hundred third realm manarium, or equivalent."

Newt's vision swam at the sum. He did not have one thousandth of that amount.

Money, it's always about the money.

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