Eric had been dutifully noting her numbers down, pausing only for a brief second when she uttered what her intelligence was. He’d glanced at the others and then gone back to jotting down numbers until she arrived at luck. It was Stephen who asked incredulously, “You have a fourteen in luck?” She nodded, and they exchanged glances.
Jarom seemed more of a straight shooter, and he retorted brusquely, “Well your physical stats suck, but we can work with those. You have abnormally high mental stats.” She gave a mental sigh of relief that he was letting go of his earlier annoyance, at least for the most part. Or at least enough that he wasn’t going to block her from entering just because she was currently weak.
She smiled and shrugged, deciding to share just a little bit more. “I was a cripple in my world, so my mind was all I had.” They had all winced at this, looking at her with what appeared to be a touch of pity. With a smile, she forged on, trying to change the subject a little bit, “So, is that enough for me to pass muster? I was really hoping to get a library pass from you guys.”
Eric let out a surprised bark of laughter, and the others soon joined in. It was Stephen who said, “You pass. I’ll get you a library pass.”
He stood up to move towards a cupboard at the side when Eric intervened, “Not that one. I’ll give her one of mine.”
Stephen and Eric seemed to be communicating silently as they stared at each other, and she could almost see the speech bubble above Stephen’s head going ‘Are you sure about that?’ Eric glanced at her smiling innocently and nodded, and Stephen seemed to shrug and give up. “Okay.” Meanwhile, Eric had pulled out a silver almost credit card like thing. He wrote her name so prettily on it, and she watched in fascination as he concentrated on the metal, and it was almost like…oh wait, it totally was magic.
Her name had been engraved on the freaking metal, and when he got up and handed her the card, she made sure to brush against his fingers ever so lightly so she could confirm her suspicions. She quickly mentally clicked on the new little pulsing light in her vision.
You have touched Eric Silverstone, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience...
Choose a stat to siphon: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Magic, Charisma, or Luck.
Choose a skill to siphon: Diplomacy, Insight, Metal Magic, Modeling, or Scribe.
Called it! Wait…modeling? She stared blankly at Eric for a moment, trying to picture him putting on fancy clothes and strutting around like a peacock. She guessed he did have the physique for it, but so had just about everyone else she’d met... She minimized the screen, trying to cover her bewilderment by admiring the card she’d been given. She could feel the little bumps on the back where pushing the metal down had made it come out the other side. It was exquisitely done, and there was this really pretty crest on the right side of it. But that was it, just her name and the crest.
She looked up at him hopefully, “So this gets me into the library? It’s so pretty!” He nodded, and she held it to her chest now like it was her treasure as she subconsciously spoke aloud, “This is gonna be so fun!”
Eric was watching her curiously as he asked, “What’s going to be fun?”
Guiltily, she glanced down, mumbling softly, “Oh erm… I might’ve had a run in with a guy yesterday who accused me of not being able to read and chased me out of the library…” Eric snorted, so she looked up in relief, her eyes sparkling like a little anime girl.
“Wait, you’re the girl Lucas was complaining about? The one who poked him in the forehead?” Jarom was full out laughing now as he contemplated her. “How on earth did he let that happen?” She glared at him reproachfully for a second. She wasn’t totally cool with him making fun of her, but an idea came to mind.
Beckoning him closer, she simpered conspiratorially, “I’ll let you in on a secret.” He leaned closer curiously, and with a quick movement, she poked him in the forehead while grinning like a madman. Cheerfully, she explained as a new blinking dot appeared, “It’s the unexpected. Nobody’s afraid of a skinny twig like me, so they don’t guard against it.” Eric and Stephen were howling with laughter, and after a moment of surprised bewilderment, Jarom started convulsing too.
“I stand corrected.” He chortled, now inspecting her with something akin to respect. It was a nice change. He got an evil glint to his eye then, as he told her, “And now I want to see the look on his face when you come back in.”
“Ooooh, I do too!” Stephen chimed in, and Eric nodded as well. All three of them had a suspicious glint in their eyes now, and she wondered if Lucas had gotten on their bad sides in the past. Or maybe he just annoyed them by complaining about her yesterday. Either way, walking in with the three of them would obviously make a much bigger impact than her going in with just the card, so she was all for it!
“I’d be happy to have you all accompany me for my first successful trip inside.” She felt like the evil glint had spread to her too now. Or perhaps it had been there all along, and she was the one who spread it? She gestured at the paper Eric had left on the table and asked, “Do you have anything else you need to know, or can we go now?” She was practically bouncing up and down in her excitement. Books!
“That should be sufficient for now. You’re already staying at The Green Dragon, correct?” She nodded, and he continued, “Then it’s fine. We know where to find you should we need anything else.”
She laughed and retorted, “You’re probably more likely to find me at the library! Or exploring.” She looked thoughtful, then asked, “Uhm… Speaking of exploring, where’s the academy? And do I have to go to classes? If so, when do they start?”
They gaped at her, dumbfounded. For some reason, it hadn’t occurred to them that being new, she had no idea what was going on. Slowly, Stephen asked, “What do you know about Dracona?”
She pondered, then starting ticking things off on her fingers. “It’s run by the king in order to train the new nobility and any promising talent, like travelers with special abilities like me.” She paused, trying to think of something else. “Oh right, and he provides housing to the students.” She ticked off another finger, pausing again, before beaming as she sassed, “And you have to pass the examination to get in, and the deadline is tomorrow!”
They exchanged looks, their eyes giving off the message of ‘is this girl for real?’ Eric murmured, “Looks like there’s still a lot you need to know…” he paused, then seemed to reach a conclusion as he continued, “But maybe it’d be better to have this conversation in the library. There’s a book on the history of the school there that might help you out.”
“Great! Let’s go then!” she responded cheerfully. She knew her knowledge about this world was severely lacking, but books like the one he’d just mentioned were precisely the reason why she was so keen to get into the library. If she could get her hands on real knowledge, she wouldn’t have to feel like an idiot trying to ask about simple things in the future. With as many books as she’d seen being displayed, there was bound to be useful information...if she could find it. Unlike the internet, books didn’t have a search function, sadly. Guess my speed reading skills are about to be put to the test.
When she came back to reality, she realized that Eric was holding the door open and Stephen had stopped next to her, holding his arm out. “Shall we?”
“We shall!” She looped her arm through his, happy to have an easy excuse to get the last little blinking dot she needed from these three.
He led her to the door, seeming to take care to go at a pace she could easily keep up with. She admired his profile, taking note of his sharp features that contrasted nicely with his dark hair and blue eyes. She could feel the solid muscle beneath her fingers, attesting to the fact that he was ripped. “By the way, classes start in four days.”