Start of the first excursion

"So, where are we going?"

After getting dragged out of class by Lizzy and Anne, Tom had changed out of his school uniform and had just left the academy before he finally asked Lizzy what they were doing.

"First we're going to the nearest church, after that who knows?~"

Still keeping up her far from professional attitude, Lizzy looked more at home with the large backpack she walked around with compared to when she wore her barely buttoned instructors uniform at the academy, so Tom figured that this was more of her element.

(Well, she did introduce herself as 'technically an instructor' so I guess that fits alright…)

Sensing he really wouldn't get a straight answer out of Lizzy and that Anne was also as clueless as he was, Tom chose to just silently follow Lizzy to the nearest town.

The town closest to the Laurence mage academy was Melby, a medium-sized trade hub only an hour away from the academy (and half of that by carriage) wealthy students often went there on the weekends to play. Having no spending money to speak of, Tom had only passed through the town on his way to the academy, so he knew very little about it, except for where the church was, as it was a very hard building to miss. With its large bell tower reaching far above the skyline the masonry church was visible from almost everywhere inside the town walls. With Tom following behind Lizzy and Anne who both wore robes, the group blended in pretty well with the surrounding travellers and merchants that were haggling at the central market and going about their daily business.

"Welcome to the Melby church. How can I help you?"

Reaching the church a nun immediately went out to meet Lizzy before politely greeting her, in turn, Lizzy dug a few coins out of her robe and tossed them into the donation box as she addressed the nun.

"Written status' for 3 people."

"Certainly, please follow me."

Along with being a place for baptisms, funerals and general mass, the church also provided services in regards to a person's [status], as the gifts given to the people by the gods could be read by nuns, monks and other clergymen after a small ritual was performed. These written status' were most commonly used to apply for jobs, but they could also serve as identification and proof of a clear criminal record, making the church a central part of society that could be found in some form or another all over the world. Following the nun, Tom and the two women were led into a small room right by the church's entrance, once inside the nun closed and locked the door behind them before she walked over to an engraved marble pedestal in the centre of the room.

"The first one, please place your hand on the [alter] and we can begin."

Walking up to the pedestal first, Lizzy placed her hand on the pedestal as she stood in front of the nun. After a few seconds, the [alter] (as the nun called it) started to glow slightly, then the nun also placed her hand on the [alter], and after a few seconds the glow started to fade again.

"Thank you very much, you can remove your hand now. Please wait a few seconds while I write up your [status]."

Stepping away from the [alter], the nun went over to the corner of the room where a raised deck with a quill and parchment, dipping the quill in the inkwell right by the side, the nun then placed the quill on a piece of blank parchment, after which the quill also started to glow before Lizzy's [status] appeared on the parchment in written form. After Lizzy, Anne also went through the ritual without any problems, but when it was Tom's turn it turned out a bit different.

To write down a person's status, the nun needed to know it first, thus after she was done reading Tom's status she forgot her manners as a look Tom was very familiar with formed on the nun's face.

(... Yep, that's the look of straight-up disgust.)

As a person's [status] showed a person's blessings by the gods, lacking a part of that blessing was something abhorrent to most members of the church. Luckily, Tom had Lizzy to back him up.

"Is there a problem?"

With the usual fox-like smile on her face, Lizzy clad herself in bloodlust as she took a step towards the nun, this finally made the nun remember her manners as she regained her poker face.

"N-not at all, you can remove your hand now. Please wait a few seconds while I write up your [status]."

"Why thanks, next time remember to take your work seriously~"

Offering up the nun some gentle advice, Lizzy continued smiling at the nun.

Only Lizzy's eyes weren't smiling, not even in the slightest.

Leaving the church behind, Lizzy guided the two others to a pub where they sat down at a table in the back. With noon being far from peak hour for the pub, the 3 of them were the only ones there, safe for the bartender which was busy polishing the countless glasses.

"Okay, let's compare numbers so we can form a plan of action."

Sitting down with a large pint of beer in her hand, Lizzy took the time to light up a cigarette before speaking.

"... Sure."

Having some idea of what they were doing, Anne was the first one to answer as she laid out her written [status] on the table.

Anne Stenson

Race: Human

Age: 27

Vitality: 101/101

Strength: 45/45

Dexterity: 110/110

Agility: 45/45

Intelligence: 224/224

Luck: 11

Mana: 15.332/15.332

Skills:

[Memorization 5/10] [Mana control 7/10] [Combat awareness 3/10] [Mana efficiency 6/10] [Shortened casting 3/10] [Restoration 3/10] [Healing magic: school of Laurence 8/10] [Offensive magic: school of Laurence 2/10]

Magic Affinity: Fire

"As you can see, I'm purely a rearguard. While I can use some offensive magic I think it is best I leave it to you, Lizzy."

Although what Anne said was true, she was being extremely modest. With a bit over 15 thousand mana and level 8 healing magic she had learned at the academy she now worked at, Anne was within the top 50 of the healers in the entire kingdom.

"Sure, we'll have you as a rearguard while I take the front with the kiddo here, it should work out fine."

"Wait a second, what are we doing?"

Confused as to what was going on, Tom intervened in the two women's conversation so he could figure out exactly what was happening.

"I am technically working, meanwhile you are training and Anne is here to make sure you come out of all this alive kiddo. Do you know anything about adventurer formations?"

Not having expected to have a pop quiz in a pub of all places, Tom took a second to gather his troughs and collect the tidbits of information he still remembered from back home when he worked at a bar which was frequented by adventurers.

"I just know bits of information, to be honest, but isn't a rearguard just what it says?"

"Basically, Anne will provide support for us from the back while your job will be to keep monsters away from her."

With Lizzy casually dropping a bombshell like that, Tom was understandably confused.

"Waitwaitwait, are we going to fight monsters?"

"What else are we doing outside the academy kiddo, as I said when I started teaching you, I own you kiddo, you have no right to refuse~"

Taking a big swig of her beer right after she said that Lizzy seemed to be done with the conversation, as she had stated earlier, Tom had no right to refuse, and even if he did Tom would lose the best chance at freedom he had.

"Fine…"

"That's the spirit kiddo~"

Apparently pleased at herself, Lizzy took another large swig of her beer before she threw out her written [status].

Then I'll show you my [status] just as a treat~"

Lizzy

Race: Human

Age: 31

Vitality: 304/304

Strength: 192/192

Dexterity: 201/201

Agility: 251/251

Intelligence: 293/293

Luck: 5

Mana: 160/160

Skills:

[Memorization 2/10] [Mana control 9/10] [Combat awareness 8/10] [Mana efficiency 10/10] [Shortened casting 7/10] [Fine motor control 8/10] [Strengthening 7/10] [Pain resistance 1/10] [Self-defence: royal knight academy of Laurence 6/10] [Swordsmanship: royal knight academy of Laurence 5/10] [Offensive magic: royal Laurence intelligence bureau 7/10] [Ruthless -/-]

Magic Affinity: Ice

While Tom had expected Lizzy's [status] to be extraordinary, this was something else. Not even mentioning her maxed out mana efficiency, Lizzy's other [skills] were nothing to scoff at either. With level 7 strengthening combined with numerous other close combat [skills] and level 8 combat awareness she was a force to be reckoned with as long as she could get close to her target.

"As you can see I'm more of a front line fighter than anything else, my limited mana keeps me from just tossing out spells willy nilly at range. Besides, up close and personal is more my style~"

Emptying the rest of her beer, Lizzy wore a satisfied grin on her face she wiped off along with the excess beer foam before turning slightly more serious.

"From here we follow the trade route and travel north, all the way to the grand Forax mountain range, then pass it."

Laying down enough pressure to dissuade Tom from voicing his objections with her eyes alone, Lizzy's normal fox-like grin returned to her face in an attempt to reassure her precious student.

"Don't worry~ It's all going to be fine, now let's make haste while the sun is still high~"

Not that Lizzy's crude excuse for reassurance worked on Tom, as he was scared outright shitless to cross the Forax mountain range. Also known as the barrier of civilisation, the land beyond the Forax mountain range was a treacherous wilderness consisting of swamps and dense forests all filled with monsters stronger than could be found inside the borders of the Laurence kingdom. Over the next couple of days, Tom gradually got used to travelling on foot and camping outside with Lizzy and Anne, but as the group closed in on the Forax mountain range the fellow travellers started to change from merchants to heavily armed adventurers and other expedition parties. As the imposing mountain range gradually became a larger part of the horizon ahead of Tom found himself at increasing odds with this hole excursion and the idea behind it. Was fighting monsters really the only way he could learn to become a mage? Wasn't there some other way to do this, some easier option? Was all this really necessary? Gradually, these thoughts filled the entirety of Tom's head, day by day they became increasingly louder, eventually reaching a level that was impossible to ignore.

Of course his instructor Lizzy quickly started picking up on what she assumed to be her student's hesitancy, but she figured it was something he would work out himself. That is until Lizzy found the precious student of hers waking up screaming from what seemed to have been a nightmare.

"What's up kiddo? Come sit by the fire."

"... I would rather just go home, to be honest."

Clenching his hands in an attempt to stop the shaking, Tom voiced his honest feelings as he got out of his sleeping bag and sat down next to Lizzy.

"So what's on your mind kiddo? You've been plenty motivated to do this so far, what has changed?"

In the time Lizzy had known Tom he hadn't really spoken his mind all that much, but from the way he had been acting Lizzy figured Tom was motivated to take back control of his own life. Suddenly seeing him so scared for what they were doing made Lizzy forget about her usual relaxed attitude and face Tom head-on instead.

"Is it really necessary to just jump right into fighting monsters all of a sudden? Can't we just keep sparing like usual?"

Although he was aware that he sounded childish, Tom honestly voiced the thoughts which had been stirring around inside his head for a while now.

"Sure, we could do that, but I think you will improve faster this way. Besides, I would never expose you to something which was impossible, I honestly believe you're more than ready and capable of facing the monsters that appear on the other side of the mountain range. Are you scared of monsters?"

Figuring that it was no use just prancing around the issue at hand, Lizzy jumped right to the heart of the matter after making sure to encourage Tom first.

"Is that really so surprising? Besides getting beat up I've never even been in a fight before, so facing something like monsters in a fight to the death is something I ever want to experience..."

Although it hurt his pride to admit so, Tom was already shaking just at the thought of fighting the monsters he had heard his mother talk about when she told him stories of her adventuring days. As Tom said, he had never punched someone in his life, or gotten in a fight for that matter. This wasn't because Tom considered himself a pacifist or something along those lines, but because he simply didn't want to fight, there was something about it that made Tom afraid, he felt like he could inadvertently cross some kind of mental barrier that he couldn't return from once crossed.

"Well, being scared to fight monsters is normal, I was like that too when I first started out back in the day…"

Getting a far off look in her eyes, Lizzy almost subconsciously lit herself a cigarette as she leaned back to look at the stars above.

"Were you really scared? Didn't you have that-"

"Yeah I do, but I wasn't born with that title trust me."

Having seen Lizzy's [status], Tom was aware she had the ruthless [title], a special kind of [skill] that didn't level up and had the effect of negating most of a person's fear and sharpened their senses. It was a [title] that most adventurers wanted, but only a handful ended up gaining it. Being granted that [title] was often a course for celebration among adventurers which frequented the bar Tom had worked at, which was why Tom knew about it.

Taking a large huff from her cigarette, Lizzy breathed out a fresh cloud of ice as she took her eyes of the stars above to glance down at her own hand which was clenched around her [catalyst].

"First time I found myself in a fight to the death I was scared shitless and my one leg wouldn't stop shaking for some reason…"

Letting go of her [catalyst], Lizzy started swinging it around by the chain which was tethered to it as she took another breath of smoke to wash away the unpleasant memories.

"I can't promise that this fear will just go away, but I will promise that I'll be right next to you the entire time, if things get out of hand I'll step in."

"... Okay, I'll try to get some more sleep then."

Feeling like he could thrust Lizzy for once, Tom felt the shaking gradually calm down, reaching a bearable level again.

"That's more like it~ Kids your age should make sure to get plenty of rest~"