“We send everyone to train here,” she said. “Those high magic areas are just the problem. Before you came here, did you ever go out on an expedition without at least a silver-ranker to watch your back?”
“No,” Rufus said darkly, “which led to a recent mistake on my part. Overconfidence led to insufficient caution. It almost cost my people everything.”
“That is precisely the reason we still use this place,” Danielle said. “The low magical density makes the monsters weaker. The dangers smaller; the consequences, less severe. Not to say there aren’t real dangers, but we can send out our iron-rankers to face them alone. No one to rely on but themselves and each other.”
“You let them make their mistakes when those mistakes are less likely to kill them,” Rufus said.
“Exactly.”
“In light of my own hard-learned lesson,” Rufus said, “I cannot see that as anything but an excellent practice. There may be a lesson for the way my own family does things.”
“That’s very flattering,” Danielle said. “You really are a Remore, aren’t you? You’re all obsessed with improving your academy’s training methods.”
“Speaking of training,” Rufus said, “that is the reason I’ve come today. I’ve heard that your family’s training facility includes a mirage chamber. I was hoping to borrow it from time to time during my stay here.”
Danielle gave him an apologetic smile.
“Indeed we do have one,” she said. “Sadly, as much as I would like to accommodate you, I cannot. As I mentioned, the local magical density is quite low. We can only operate our mirage chamber at a bronze-rank level for limited periods, and I can’t take that valuable training time away from my own family.”
“Actually, it isn’t for me,” Rufus said. “I’ve found a person in rather desperate need of training and have taken it upon myself to give him a rush-course.”
She gave him a sideways glance, eyebrows arched.
“From what I hear,” she said, “every aristocratic family in Greenstone has been asking you to guide their young hopefuls. Including ours. I have to wonder how someone managed to catch your eye.”
Rufus let out a self-deprecating laugh.
“I mentioned my mistake,” he said. “It would have gotten me killed if not for a rather unusual man.”
Rufus shook his head.
“I grew up surrounded by adventurers. I was raised not just to be one of them, but to be so good I could teach others. Everyone around me, as long as I can remember, told me I was going to be a great adventurer. It got to the point that I never even doubted it. The only exception was my grandfather. He said you never learn who you are when everything goes right. It’s in your darkest hour that you understand what it is to be an adventurer.”
They stopped walking at the edge of a pond, Rufus looking down at his own reflection.
“In my darkest hour,” Rufus continued, “I met a man who had never even heard of the Adventure Society. One essence, no combat abilities. He didn’t even know how to use spirit coins. But when all seemed lost, he showed me, like my grandfather said, what it means to be an adventurer. When all your training and powers fail you, you have to find something inside yourself you never knew was there. Then you can do things you never thought possible. It’s the difference between a good adventurer and a great one.”
“That’s a valuable lesson,” Danielle said. “It seems your time here wasn’t wasted.”
“It hasn’t been,” Rufus said. “Having received such a valuable lesson, I want to impart what I know, in turn.”
“Well,” Danielle said, “if what you are looking for is some time in our mirage chamber running at iron rank, I can accommodate you. I would appreciate a little reciprocity, however.”
“Oh?”
“I mentioned my son and his final training. The time has come for him to join the Adventure Society, and I’d like you to do his field assessment. I’m sure the society would be happy to accommodate.”
“I won’t show your boy any favouritism, if that’s what you’re looking for,” Rufus said.
Danielle laughed.
“Oh, I’d hardly need you for that,” she said.
“You’re not suggesting the Adventure Society is subject to corruption?” Rufus asked.
“You have to realise, Mr Remore, this isn’t Vitesse. The Adventure Society is a major force in Greenstone, but the isolation means the local branch is more reliant on local powers. Compromises must be made.”
Dark clouds appeared in Rufus’s expression.
“The neutrality of the Adventure Society is one of its central tenets,” he said.
“I agree,” Danielle said. “However, if the core branches want to export their values to remote branches like Greenstone, they need to export sufficient resources along with them. Ideals are well and good in the heart of a kingdom, Mr Remore, but here we are more often overlooked than not. In the provinces, we all have to deal with the realities.”
Rufus looked rather dumbstruck.
“I’m not sure what to say to that.”
“There’s nothing to be said. Welcome to the wilderness.”
“Surely it can’t be that bad.”
“Oh, it’s not,” Danielle said. “Especially with the new branch director. She worked her way up from the bottom, so she knows what it is to fight through the influence of families like mine. Remarkable woman actually, but there is no getting around the fact that the Adventure Society here is reliant on local powers.”
“Is that why the adventurer standards are so low here?” Rufus asked.
“That’s precisely the reason,” Danielle said. “Exceptions have a way of being made for those whose capabilities are not the equal of their connections. Eventually, standards just declined in general. That is why I want my son assessed to your standards. He doesn’t need help; he needs to be challenged.”
“Then I would be happy to assist you,” Rufus said. “Challenge, I can do.”
Jason was standing at the edge of the bridge, having just arrived on the Island. The security guard handed back his permit after checking it.
“Everything’s in order, sir,” the man said. “First time on the Island?”
“It is,” Jason said. “I don’t suppose you could point out the quickest way to the Adventure Society?”
The guard gestured down the boulevard that followed straight out from the bridge.
“Head up this way and you’ll find the transit terminal. Big building, you can’t miss it. That’ll get you where you need to go.”
“Thanks, mate.”
Jason started walking up the street, past houses with gardens and grounds secured behind green brick walls and artfully wrought metal gates.
“Transit terminal,” Jason muttered to himself as he walked along the street. “Do they have magic trams or something?”
Soon Jason came to some kind of local shopping district dominated by eateries and boutique stores. Jason wanted to stop and chase some of the enticing smells, but it was already afternoon. First, he needed to find the Adventure Society, then somewhere to stay before sundown so he could stay on the Island.
The shopping area was dominated by a large building with a sign declaring it the NORTH MARINA TRANSIT TERMINAL. He went inside, finding it to be set out like a train station. He found a large sign that showed the routes; a pair of loop lines going in opposite directions.
According to the map, Jason could reach the Adventure Society from platform B. There didn’t seem to be any place to buy tickets, so Jason took the stairwell marked for platform B, descending to a below-ground level. The stairwell was long, around two storeys worth of switchback stairs before coming out on a platform.
It immediately reminded him of a subway platform in layout. The floor walls and ceiling were combinations of green stone and tile mosaic, with cool, clean light coming from magical stones fixed into the ceiling. There were benches around the walls with people sitting patiently, while others stood.