Chapter 194 190 - Master Dumries

Alexandra woke up feeling a bit too aware of the dark room around her. Kam and Nara were still sleeping, while Willow wasn’t there. Either she’d pulled an all-nighter, or she’d already left for the guild. Her enchantment project wasn’t going as well as she had hoped. Despite Alexandra’s reassurances that they could afford to delay the opening by a few days, Willow held herself to higher standards.

Sneaking down the ladder to avoid waking up the others, Alexandra sat in the living room and opened her journal to look at today’s daily quest. But before she could read the quest, another notification distracted her.

Familiar Contract 8 -> 10

She frowned. Skills weren’t supposed to level up while she slept.

“Speck? What’s going on?”

“What?” Speck whispered from within her body.

“Familiar Contract leveled up.”

“Oh. Me. Too,” Speck said. It paused. “I evolved to Gold.”

Alexandra clapped her hands together, wincing at the sound as she remembered the kids sleeping above.

“That’s great,” she whispered. “How are you feeling?”

“I want new rocks.”

“I guess I can take a break today and look for rocks with you.” Alexandra nodded.

“Really?”

She laughed. “Yes. A rank-up is worth celebrating. Do you think it takes us closer to defeating that solar elemental?”

Speck hummed in anticipation. “Yes,” it said. “But you need to rank up too.”

“I disagree.”

Alexandra wanted to upgrade her Uprising achievement. The gap between Bronze and Platinum wasn’t as wide as the chasm that separated Silver from Ruby, so this was her best chance at getting a final upgrade to this achievement before it became impossible.

She had to try before ranking up, which meant she had forty days to make it happen. With the guild opening in twenty, she might have enough to buy one extra uncommon skill before the fight.

“Okay, let me just check my quest, and we’ll go look for rocks.”

Quest Journal

Daily Reset: 06:00

Streak: 180 Days

Next Milestone: 250 Days

Streak Bonuses:

• + 10% All Stats

• + 10% Skill Experience

• + 10% Experience

Daily Quests:

• Curse yourself (0/1)

Stupid quest.

Alexandra self-cast a simple Inflict Weakness.

Curse yourself (1/1) -> Quest Completed: +11 exp, +1 INT

Daily Quest Streak: 180 -> 181

“Let’s go.” Alexandra stood up and froze. “Actually, we need to wait.”

With Willow absent, she should be the one taking Nara to school. Kam could do it, but Alexandra was trying to be more present.

Speck wasn’t happy about it, but there was no way around it. They waited for the right time to wake Nara up and took the girl to the new school. On the way there, Alexandra and Nara talked. They’d gotten closer in the past few weeks, showing that it wasn’t that complicated when you tried.

“Can I bring my friends to the guild after school?” Nara asked as their destination loomed closer.

Alexandra raised an eyebrow. “Sure. I’ll pick you up.”

The trip to the school gate ended with a brief wave and Nara running off to join a cluster of children before Alexandra turned back toward the edge of town.

With Nara settled for the morning, Speck’s restless energy inside her returned in full force.

“Cave,” Speck reminded her, its voice vibrating through her chest. “Dark. Place. Many. Rocks.”

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“Come on, I know you can speak normally,” Alexandra grumbled. “But you’re right, a cave will be more comfortable for you. I’m not stepping foot in the sewers, though. Let’s go to the mountains.”

“Hurry.”

“I’m walking as fast as I can,” Alexandra whispered back. “Be patient. Darkness is patient.”

“Is it?” Speck asked as if it was a serious question. “Sometimes patient. Sometimes hurry. Now, hurry.”

Alexandra rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.

They reached the valley above the cave where she and Speck had first met. Alexandra relied on Speck’s senses to find another entrance that didn’t involve diving from a cliff.

She ducked inside. The morning light faded quickly, replaced by pure darkness where their shared senses took over her perception.

“Will this work?” she asked, stepping over a puddle of stagnant water.

Speck didn’t answer with words. A sudden weight lifted from inside Alexandra’s chest as the elemental manifested. In its new Gold form, Speck’s source felt heavier, not physically, but conceptually. Somehow, it was darker than ever.

It drifted straight toward the wall, hovering inches from a cluster of dark rocks that had detached from the facade.

“Good rocks,” Speck hummed.

Alexandra leaned back against a smooth slab, letting Speck methodically inspect the cave walls.

She left the elemental to its work for the next few hours, occasionally offering a brief comment as Speck collected, discarded, and sorted a rapidly growing pile of minerals. Unlike her familiar, Alexandra had no particular interest in rocks. She spent her time practicing enchanting and looking for ways to upgrade her Destroy Rock skill using Speck’s discarded finds.

They made it back to the school just as the main bell chimed.

Nara was already waiting near the front, flanked by two other children. A taller boy clutched a wooden practice sword, and a girl with oversized goggles perched atop her head.

“Alexandra!” Nara called out, jogging over with her classmates in tow. “This is Mavi and Aelin. I told them we could see the old school.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Alexandra said, offering a practiced smile to the hesitant pair. “Ready to head over?”

Mavi looked her up and down. “Is it really the old school? My dad said that place was closed.”

“Not anymore,” Nara said proudly, walking beside Alexandra as they headed down the street. “But it's not a school anymore. It’s an adventurer guild.”

“What’s an adventurer guild?” Aelin asked.

“It’s a place… for adventures?” Nara tried. “I don’t know.” She looked up at Alexandra.

“That’s about right. When it opens, there will be quests available for people to complete against rewards.”

When the old school came into view, the two kids stopped in their tracks.

The once-abandoned troglodyte building had received a facelift. The dusty facade had been cleaned up of all the grime that had accumulated over the years. From the windows of the first floor, an inconsistent gleam shone in the late-afternoon sunlight.

“Whoa,” Aelin said, pulling her goggles down over her eyes to stare at the entrance. “It’s big!”

“Told you.” Nara grinned, leading them through the open front doors.

Inside, the hall was dark. Alexandra cast a spell to light the place, revealing Willow perched up a ladder leaning on the nearest window. She was working directly onto the glass pane.

“Willow?” Alexandra called out.

Willow looked down, her eyes dark with fatigue, and dropped her arms with a tired sigh.

“Hey,” Willow said, her voice raspy. She glanced over at Nara and the two children, offering a brief wave before stepping down the ladder. “I see you brought guests.”

“They’re Nara’s guests. I’m just tagging along,” Alexandra said, her eyes drifting back to the window. “How are the enchantments coming along?”

Willow rubbed the back of her neck, running a hand through her unkempt hair. “Nara, go play with your friends.”

“Yes!” Nara said, running away with the two other kids.

Willow looked at Alexandra. “Everything was coming together. I even stayed up all night because I thought I finally had it. But just as I was giving the ambient mana a final nudge, a wave of foreign mana washed over me and scared it away.”

Alexandra frowned. “Do you think someone is sabotaging you?”

“I don’t know,” Willow said. “It could be a coincidence. But I need to account for it. It won’t do for my enchantments to break so easily. It was like a wave of darkness snuffing out a candle.” She sighed. “I need a break.”

Deep inside Alexandra’s chest, Speck went still. The usual hum vanished into silence.

Alexandra slowly lowered her gaze, staring down at her own sternum for a quiet moment before looking back up at Willow.

“A wave of darkness?” Alexandra repeated flatly.

“Yes.” Willow’s eyes went wide. “Don’t tell me…”

Alexandra cleared her throat. “Speck, did you do something to the window? Maybe when you evolved?”

“No.”

“Hmmm.”

“Not. Me. Innocent.”

She looked back at Willow, who was staring at her with narrowed, suspicious eyes.

“It was Speck, wasn’t it?” Willow demanded.

“No! Slander!”

“Speck denies everything,” Alexandra said, shaking her head. She leaned in and whispered into Willow’s ear. “It was Speck.”

“Traitor.”

Willow let out a groan. “I guess that’s better than sabotage. I hope I can still complete the lighting on time for the opening. Torak and Zey have already planned everything, and I know you’re looking forward to it…”

Alexandra put a hand on Willow’s shoulder.

“Willow, look at me,” Alexandra said. “It’s fine. The world isn’t going to collapse if the guild opens a few days late. You’re doing incredible work.”

Willow met her gaze and chuckled. “I know. I just want it to be done on time. I’m not your run-of-the-mill enchanter, Alex. I’m a Dumries. I have standards to meet.”

“Then I’m looking forward to seeing your work completed, Master Dumries,” Alexandra said, smiling. “Master Alamarian better watch his back.”

“He’s long dead,” Willow said, deadpan.

Alexandra coughed. “Well…”

“Willow! Alexandra!” Nara shouted from across the room. “I want to show them the third floor!”

Willow shared a look with Alexandra and shrugged.

“Sure thing,” Alexandra said, moving her light to the stairs.