Chapter 82

I charged into the common room, Muffled Aura concealing the sound of my movement as I wove between a few half-filled tables. My foot planted on a chair before I pushed off, launching myself at the seated wolfkin’s back. The response was so fast and fluid it was hard to follow. One moment Nazim was seated, clawed fingers wrapped around a wooden fork — the next he was on his feet spinning to face me with the fork flat against the table.

The wolfkin caught me midair then spun with the momentum and planted me against the floor far more gently than my surprise attack deserved.

I laughed in amusement. “Hey Nazim!”

“Hello little troublemaker,” the wolfkin responded, releasing me.

Despite his quick response, I was completely uninjured. Jumping up, I took a seat at his table as everyone else returned to their food and conversations — the antics of an excitable child not worth more than a second of silence.

Nazim wore his usual hardened grey leather armour over his furred body. Every time I saw him, it looked a little worse for wear,and I wondered when he would need to replace it. He did have a new addition this time compared to when he last visited. The leather wraps strapped around his forearms were plated with metal with only a few scuffs marring their surface. As always, the claws of his right hand were shaved down to stubs — so that he could properly wield a sword. The left hands claws were filed to be even sharper than normal.

I knew Nazim hailed from the same region as George. The Hunting Wolf sword style that George taught me had been developed by the wolfkin of House Fenrith and was designed for sword, buckler, and claw. I lacked the latter but, in the future, could fix that flaw with a clawed metal glove.

My eyes drifted away from the wolfkin’s clawed hand and up to his yellow eyes.

“It was my smell, wasn’t it?” I asked as Nazim stabbed a sliver of cooked lamb with his fork.

“Everyone else smells like the dust of the road, horses, or oiled leather mixed with their own odours. You smell like clean water, leaves, and a very faint floral scent. Sweat too but not as strong.”

I frowned. Mum had washed my hair a few days ago with something she had made from flowers in her garden. She always complained that my coppery hair was filled with dust from rolling around outside.

Surely the smell should’ve faded by now? I thought. Just how good is Nazim’s sense of smell?

“Yeah,” I muttered in acknowledgement that he was correct. “I need a Skill to hide what I smell like. Know of any good ones?”

“Of course. I’ll tell you when you unlock your Class Path.”

I was about to object when I realised that as a kid, I shouldn’t be walking around sharing that I had four Skill slots available. Whether Nazim realised or not, he didn’t show any sign, continuing to patiently eat his lunch.

“Are you staying for long?” I asked.

Nazim shrugged. “That depends.”

He left it at that, and I settled my hands on the table with my chin on top. I had learned across Nazim’s visits, as he passed through multiple times a season, that the wolfkin could not be moved to answer unless he wanted to. My impatience demanded I do something, but my discipline crushed that desire for the time being. Fighting against one's own body and mind were sometimes the hardest battles — but also the most rewarding.

Nazim pushed his plate away the moment he was finished and turned to face me.

“Do you have the energy to show me your improvement with the blade?”

I grinned and jumped up before heading for the backdoor. Nazim followed behind me, giving Mum a nod when he walked through the kitchen. She returned his acknowledgement. When Nazim had first spent time with me, she had been a little more wary. After the third time where he passed through and spent time sparring with me, she had grown far less concerned. Still, I fully expected she would be glancing out the window to keep an eye on us.

It didn’t stop her from calling after me. “Not too long, Bastian, or your lunch will get cold!”

Nazim didn’t have a practice weapon, nor did he seem willing to give up his blade. Instead, he picked up a stick from our pile of firewood, gave it a few swishes, then set himself. I took the invitation for what it was and began my attack. Fighting Nazim was not the same as fighting George. There were similarities between the two — after all, they used the same sword style. But where George had clearly adapted the style to work with his Affinity and spells, Nazim used a far more primal version.

The wolfkin constantly moved in a circle, always trying to set me up for a swipe from his clawed left hand. It should’ve made him predictable. Instead, every time he circled right and lunged, it caught me on the backfoot. If Nazim had Skills to assist him, he didn’t show them as we clashed across the stony ground. I got the sense from how controlled his movement was that he could move faster than George if he decided to.

Speed was an entirely different kind of threat and my Path of Swordplay loved the variation. Steps flowed in as I danced across the backyard with the wolfkin. He caught me a few times when I didn’t react fast enough to his changes in direction, though he never did more than tap me to let me know of my mistake. I managed to strike him twice, both times by utilising my knowledge of the stones across the backyard — and because the wolfkin refused to move faster than I could.

Mum had finally grown impatient with me and come outside with my lunch — now cold, just like she’d warned. Sitting on the fence that enclosed her garden, I shoveled the cold meat into my mouth like the starving child I was.

Nazim wandered back and forth as I ate, occasionally glancing at me.

“What?” I finally asked.

His yellow eyes glanced at me but said nothing.

“Did I do something wrong?” I pressed.

Nazim shook his head, lips peeled back to show his sharp teeth. Once I might have taken it for a threat. But I knew he only did it when he was uncomfortable.

“You didn’t do something wrong…”

He paused his pacing, gums trembling with discomfort.

“It is you who is wrong,” he hissed out through gritted teeth. “You grow too fast. Too strong for your age. I talk to you and hear the words of an unblooded youth, not a pup still learning to leap.”

I had frozen at his first words. We knew my growth was reaching the point where I would start to stand out. But Nazim was familiar to me, and I hadn’t really considered how it might look between each of his visits as I charged down the Myriad Paths. Gramps was just one yell away, but I didn’t call for him yet.

Instead, my mind drifted back to the first time I had met Nazim. He had seen a scarred child and quietly tried to determine if I was being abused. I didn’t think he would attack me — so I waited.

Nazim stared at me. “If you keep growing like this… someone will snap you up. A Guild. A House. Someone. What will you do?”

I licked my lips, considering how honest I wanted to be. I went with the simplest truth.

“Attend Songleaf.”

“Can you afford it?” Nazim asked, yellow eyes flicking to the outpost as though he could see Gramps through the walls.

“Gramps thinks so,” I hedged.

Nazim nodded slowly. “Then what?”

It was a long way away — over a decade — but that didn’t mean I hadn’t given it any thought. My practice, dedication to my Paths, and plans for Songleaf were all in the service of one goal — adventure and seeing the wider world.

“Adventure,” I stated simply as I tamped down on my childish excitement.

“As part of a Guild?”

I shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe I could start my own. I don’t want to stay in one place. I want to see the world, learn magic, delve Dungeons.”

Nazim gave me a flat look as he spoke. “A dangerous life.”

“But not a boring one,” I countered.

The wolfkin nodded once more. “You’ll need to survive long enough to get there.”

My thoughts went back to the threats I had already faced; the demons lurking out there in the dark, the powerful beasts of the wilds, and the monsters within Dungeons and Rifts. The last on the list, my fellow humanoids. All dangers. All things I would have to contend with on my journey. The idea made me excited rather than afraid.

My emotional response must have showed on my face as Nazim snorted again before growing serious.

“Would you take me on as a retainer?”

I blinked, not sure what he meant. “I’m not a noble.”

“It sounds better than servant though,” he countered.

I couldn’t argue with that.

“Why?” I asked.

Nazim ran his declawed hand through the fur on his head. “I can never go home. My exile will last for the rest of my days, on pain of death. I grow tired of this back and forth across the mountains, guarding a caravan from bandits and beasts. It is a path that leads nowhere. You may be a young pup, but I have watched you long enough to see how far you might go. It seems a better life than the one I am living now, to trade my time to protect you so that I might share in the rewards of your adventures. I can think of worse things to do with my life. Others will gravitate to you, a new pack. I would simply be one of the first.”

I nodded seriously. “Well… you’ll have to ask my Mum.” 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

The wolfkin looked at me for two seconds then burst out laughing. “I suppose I will, young pup. I suppose I will.”

Nazim marched back inside, leaving me sitting alone on the wooden fence. My eyes instantly went to the sky, checking for threats as I considered his offer. What might I accomplish with someone so willing to assist me? The rewards may not come for some time, but I liked to think I was the kind of person to be generous with those who were loyal friends, and Nazim certainly seemed to be trying to be one.

I smiled and hopped down off the post, carrying my empty plate and cutlery inside. In the end, I was still a kid, and it wouldn’t really be up to me.

The discussion took place in Gramps' office. I sat in silence through most of the talk, only speaking when asked to. Nazim made his argument — a well thought out one that appealed to my mother’s desire to see me protected and my grandfather's vision to help me progress along my Paths. The wolfkin explained he would act as bodyguard, sparring partner, and trainer.

I thought he would ask for more, but he seemed content with one aether coin a week plus free meals and a room at the outpost. Mum was the first to acquiesce. Gramps was a harder sell but came around when I didn’t object.

Just like that, my routine changed. Nazim became a fixture in the background. Wherever I was, he wasn’t far away. In the morning, he would get me up and push me harder through my normal workout — only completing his own after I was ensconced in the kitchen with my mother for breakfast. Mum loved the extra time with me. During my academic lessons, Nazim would return to his room. I suspected he was practising his Skills during that time, but I didn’t pry.

The first time I used my Royal Cloak of Shadow in front of him was a priceless moment for me. Nazim had seemed unflappable, taking every little idiosyncrasy in stride. So, the look of surprise on his face when I vanished in the corner of my room amongst the darkness could only be described as perfection. After that, he had agreed to try and help me learn a Skill to mask my scent. My Greater Infiltration Skill Seed might do the trick, but it was more likely to offer such a Skill if I spent time masking my scent in other ways first.

Everything was on track right up until one of Baron Joss’s soldiers marched into the outpost and nailed a poster to the announcement board by the door. Given how bare the board was — though these days it at least had a few jobs listed for any would-be adventurers — the huge piece of brown paper stood out like a sore thumb.

“Hornpeak Inaugural Festival — hosted by Baron Joss,” I said out loud as I read it.

Beneath the words was the planned day for the event — roughly two weeks away — along with a list of competitions. There were some for things like the biggest pumpkin, since most people had at least a small garden, but it was the fighting competitions that featured most prominently. There was even a bracket for those without Class Paths. I remembered what Gramps said and resolved to keep my head down. Though life, as always, made its own plans.