“Mr Asano.”
Clive Standish stood up from where he had been quietly sitting in the common room, under the baleful eye of Madam Landry.
“Jason is fine,” Jason said as he walked past Clive and out the door. The sun had yet to rise, the predawn light washing out all the colour from the world. Jason observed the similarity to how things looked with his ability to see through the dark.
Clive followed Jason outside and down the street.
“Uh, Mr Asano. Jason. This was the agreed-upon time for our meeting.”
“I’ve got some good news for you, Clive,” Jason said, walking down the street. “Our meeting is going to be extra long.”
“Why is that?” Clive asked warily as he followed along.
“I have a contract,” Jason said. “Probably take me a few days. We’ll have a nice, long meeting on the way.”
“On the way where?”
“There are some villages, deep in the delta,” Jason said. “They're being menaced by something called a mangrove snatcher.”
“A large lizard-type creature,” Clive said. “It attacks by ambush after hiding in waterways or burrowing itself into mud or wet earth. Unusual for a monster prone to such tactics, it doesn’t have the ability to hide its own aura. That makes it bad at hunting animals, which are sensitive to auras.”
“So it goes after people?”
“It does,” Clive said. “Any essence user who has reached iron rank will sense its aura, making it a minimal threat to adventurers. To ordinary people, on the other hand, it can be quite the danger.”
“You know your stuff,” Jason said. “You’ve dealt with them before?”
“Oh, goodness, no,” Clive said. “I may ostensibly be a member of the Adventure Society, but I am not an active one.”
“Well, you are this week.”
“What?”
“You’re coming with me,” Jason said.
“No,” Clive said. “No, I’m not.”
Jason pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handing it to Clive, who read it as they walked.
“This is the contract,” Clive said. “What does that have to do with me?”
“Four different villages in the area sent word that the mangrove snatcher came right into the village. Aggressive little prick, apparently. The messengers all came in overnight and the contract was assigned to me. I was told to head out at first light.”
He waved an arm at the sky.
“And here we are,” Jason said. “First light.”
“I realise that being assigned a contract pre-empts our appointment,” Clive said, “but it does not mean that I am going to participate.”
“You might want to take another look at the contract,” Jason said. “Down the bottom.”
Clive looked over the contract again.
“It’s been amended,” he read, disbelievingly. “It’s been assigned to me as well.”
“I don’t know if you’re aware,” Jason said, “but the new branch director has kind of a thing about Adventure Society members who don’t actually go on adventures.”
“You did this!”
“Well, I knew we had that meeting.”
“Did I do something to offend you, Mr Asano?”
“Just call me Jason.”
“What I call you isn’t the issue!”
Jason stopped walking, turning to face Clive.
“Clive— can I call you Clive? Clive, do you know what an outworlder is?”
“I do,” Clive said. “Astral magic is actually my specialty.”
“I know a little astral magic,” Jason said. “Found this skill book when I first… that doesn’t matter. Clive, I’m an outworlder. I was keeping that under my hat, but too many people know now for it to be a real secret.”
Clive goggled at Jason.
“I have so many questions,” he said
“We’ll get to that,” Jason said. “The thing is, I arrived in this world in less than ideal circumstances. Everything was strange, people were trying to kill me and I had no idea where I was or what was going on. So I kind of have a thing about getting ambushed. And then comes you, asking questions, knowing who I am and where to find me. I don’t like it, Clive.”
“I did introduce myself.”
“Clive, have you heard of lying?”
“Of the concept of lying?”
“Yes.”
“Of course I have,” Clive said.
“There you go.”
Clive shook his head.
“Having a conversation with you is like wrestling an eel,” Clive said.
“When did you ever wrestle an eel?” Jason asked sceptically.
“I grew up on an eel farm out on the delta.”
“Really?” Jason said, looking at Clive with new respect. “It must have been a lot of work to get from there to here.”
“I had some good fortune.”
“My friend’s grandfather says the great adventurers are the one who turn luck into fortune.”
“Is your friend’s grandfather someone worth listening to?”
“Never met the man, so I’m not sure,” Jason said. “He runs a school in Vitesse. I’ve haven’t had a chance to visit, yet.”
“Wait, are you talking about Rufus Remore’s grandfather?”
“Well, best get going,” Jason said, setting off again.
“Wait,” Clive said. “We need to go to the Magic Society first. If I’m going to be gone for several days, I need to make arrangements for my other duties. Also, we can pick up some transport. I’m not riding a heidel; I hate those things.”
That got Jason’s attention.
“Me too,” Jason said. “What kind of transport are you talking about?”
“How has no one told me about these?” Jason called out joyously.
They were skimming over the water in an airboat. Instead of a fan at the back, there was a vertical metal ring, around which had been engraved a magical diagram. Propulsion came from air sucked in through the front of the ring and propelled from the rear with great force. Sitting in front of it, the occupants were bombarded by the loud air rushing in. At the front of the boat was Clive’s familiar, a rune tortoise named Onslow. His head was jutting forwards like a dog with its head out a car window.
They left the city from a different gate than Jason had previously, as it gave them better access to the waterways of the delta. Although verdant and filled with wetlands, only some parts were completely navigable by boat. Clive piloted the airboat by holding his hand over a glowing blue cube. With tiny hand gestures, he could speed up, slow down, or turn the boat.
He drove it with confidence, sending them careening over the water. Occasionally they would need to pass through one of the artificial embankment roads that divided up the delta. There were many bridges built into them, so as not to obstruct the waterways. The airboat was just short enough to pass under them, with a wide margin on either side. There were handles on either side of Jason’s padded seat, on which he kept a white-knuckle grip each time Clive sent the boat shooting through the tiny space under a bridge.
“Can you teach me to drive one of these things?” Jason asked. They had to talk loudly to be heard over the rushing air, almost at a shout.
“You can only drive these if you have the right essence ability,” Clive yelled back at Jason. “It usually comes from the magic essence. The same power lets you use magical weapons like wands.”
Jason was learning there was a lot more to the gangly scholar than he had initially presumed. Gone were the too-large robes, replaced with more practical wear for the delta, with sturdy-looking pants, shirt and vest. Jason spotted a bracelet on Clive’s wrist, identical to the one on his own. It was a cord looped through small blue stones, each with a hole in the middle.
Item: [Oasis Bracelet] (iron rank, uncommon)
A bracelet that draws on the power of water quintessence to bestow the blessings of a personal oasis (accessory, bracelet).