Chapter 22 part 1

It was early morning, the fog scattered the sparse sunlight as Leylin and Locke, hooded and masked, rode on horseback through the mist. They maintained a steady pace as they left the city and headed south. After a quarter of an hour, they arrived at Liminal estate.

Leylin thought, "A.I chip, start monitoring mode."

[Beep….establishing baseline….monitoring mode started]

He turned to Locke and asked, "Is this the place?"

"Yes, young master, this is the old hag's residence," Locke replied.

The two men rode slowly on the path that led towards the manor. "Locke, do not act out here. This old hag is most likely a 3rd level acolyte. While I am not afraid, I would like to avoid conflict. Do you understand?" Leylin warned his companion.

"Yes, young master," Locke responded dejectedly.

The door opened as they arrived at the manor, and an old man greeted them, "My name is Navar. I am the groundskeeper of the Liminal estate. My mistress is waiting for you, my lords."

Leylin introduced himself and Locke with fake names, "Well met, good sir. My name is Fawkes and this is my companion, Lamora."

Navar led Leylin and Locke to a waiting room and asked them to wait as he went to inform his mistress of their arrival. He returned a little while later and guided them to the Lady's solar, where they were greeted by an old witch, Lorna.

They entered the solar and were greeted by an old witch. "Well met. My name is Lorna." The old witch greeted.

"Well met, My name is Fawkes, and this is Lamora," Leylin answered with a greeting of his own.

"I do have a question. Why would you want to test your aptitude Fawkes?" The witch asked.

"Curiosity," Leylin said. Minimising the information he provided to an unknown mage. He hated this plan but needed a level 3 acolyte to administer the test. He couldn't make appropriate plans without full information. Moreover, Leylin was terrified he wouldn't have any aptitude for magic and would end up limited to being a grand knight. He needed answers.

"Curiosity?" The witch questioned.

Leylin shrugged. Sensing that she wouldn't receive an answer, she decided to drop that line of questioning.

"Would you like tea or something," Lorna asked.

"No need," Fawkes answered curtly.

"Very well, shall we get to it? Then she asked." Lorna asked.

"Yes, please," Fawkes answered.

"Come over. Let's get to it, then. Place your hands on the crystal ball!" Lorna said