Chapter 5.1
Soren found himself almost curiously wondering about things the day after his and Syr’s all to “brief” little tour to other Guilds.
Admittedly he knew she’d made plans to go and do her research on other Guild Halls and it wasn’t like he expected her to make any solid decisions the next day, that’d be unrealistic to expect of anybody for any reason.
But he couldn’t help but say he wasn’t curious. Enough so that even while standing in front of the job bulletin board to look for his next venture, he’d found himself totally losing track of what was available in favor of pondering what Syr was getting up to that morning.
If anything, because his own instincts kept trailing back to it.
It’s something about her… thought the half-Alf. I can’t shake the feeling she’s not just some Sorcerer’s College graduate who decided to go off and start digging into the Ascian’s. It’s clear as the Guardian Lake that idea of hers is genuine. But it’s something else… can’t quite pin it down though…
As he was thinking, his left hand wound up grasping his right forearm, tight enough to press into the compression sleeve. Dómhall just had to go and yammer about Hyperion, did he? Not like the story isn’t a bad one to tell… but it’s the details about it I try to leave out that are the problem. Someone who wants to know about Ascians is absolutely going to want to know just why in the hell me and the other three ran into a Destructor of all things… how it even turned on for one…
“Well, if that isn’t a rare sight! Soren the Sword Saint zoning out in front of the job board!”
Speaking of women involved in my life… Soren sighed as he received a rather hearty smack to the back, one a bit too strong for his comfort.
Greeting Soren as he glanced to the side was what looked to be a Dynor woman. Only a tad shorter than he was, with long, feathery silver hair that was currently left to hang loosely, falling down her slim back like a wide curtain. Skin given a light tan from time in the sun let her green eyes shine even more, giving her striking features more to stand out for. Casual clothes of a layered, grey and black shirt and somewhat loose work pants with sturdy shoes. The only thing that would have shown the woman wasn’t Dynoriath like she appeared would be the metallic headpiece she “wore”, it’s mirrored three-fin structure occasional adjusting by the moment.
The sign someone was an Ars Machina, the living remnants of the Ascian Empire’s technological might.
“Sellen,” Soren gave a dry, playful drawl to his return greeting. “Figured you and the others would’ve been off on another job by now.”
“Everyone needs days to cool off and take care of things. Despite what my team likes to rib about, I’m not some slave driver y’know?” Sellen’s tone was just as playful back, and Soren couldn’t help but contrast her smooth contralto with Syr’s trilling soprano. “Anyway, what’s got you staring so sullenly at the job board today hmm? Nothing catching the eye?”
“Just lost in thought a bit is all,” Soren didn’t protest when Sellen elected to toss an arm across his shoulders. “Had a few things on my mind, and it wound up taking over as I was browsing. What about you? What made you decide taking a break after… what? Four consistently run jobs was a good stopping point.”
“Like I said, I’m no slave driver!” Sellen gave a faux-wounded tone to her voice, Soren giving a countering scoff. “That and you know how the Master gets if we spend too much time working without breaks. Though I wouldn’t have been against a couple more. Buuut…”
“But ol’ Sharzok would’ve given you the what-for if you didn’t, right?” Soren’s chuckling prompted Sellen to look to the side. “Speaking of chewing people out, how badly did Ard and Branmek get it for starting another one of their fights?”
“Reminded them what Sharzok’d make them do if they’d actually broken anything during their little scuffle.”
“Eugh… sewer rat duty. Never a fun thing to be thrown onto.”
“Also remind me to find Zenver first chance I get. Need to remind that little instigator to quit looking for reasons to start fights because he likes backing them.”
“You know it won’t stop him.”
“Eh, not entirely. But for a week at least,” Sellen finally elected to step away from Soren, getting to browsing the job board herself, flicking between listings without any real attention to more than the title. “So, how was Vanira? Those College researchers still a bunch of stiffs?”
Soren snickered. “The ones who hire me are the fun ones. The kinds dragging your butt into dangerous research and the like. Managing magically produced drakes is always something with some risk involved after all. At the least I got to spend a while enjoying their cities. A good change of pace from Clearharbor.”
“You say that like you dislike the hustle and bustle here,” Sellen looked back to Soren with a smarmy grin.
“I’d be lying if I said that. But I didn’t.”
“Did hear from the rowdy ones after I got through lecturing them about what happened after though. Getting all involved with a smuggled in Armaros Drake not even a day after getting back, dragging in a new prospect in the process!”
“I didn’t drag her into it,” protested Soren. “She jumped in herself.”
“So, what were your thoughts eh? She as good as those college grads are talked up as being?”
“Well, I can say I’ve hardly ever seen anyone use more than two elements as smoothly as she did. Whatever talent she’s got as a sorcerer, it’s clear she did a damn good job refining it at the College.”
“Oooohhh, sounds like fun!” Sellen’s eyes gleamed at the idea no doubt rolling through her mind already. “Just using two elements together is considered impressive, and it’s rare as hell for someone who can do more than that… ahhh man, I hope she joins our Guild!”
“Don’t go thinking you’ll be able to just poach her to your team first thing. You’ve already got a damn fine spellcaster with Ard in the group. He ain’t much to sneeze at either.”
“Psssh, killjoy.”
“Well, you two are certainly having fun,” Manas then inserted himself into the situation, the two veterans facing the Keeper as he approached the board. “Seems Miss Fleyldis is one hell of a topic if you’re curious too, Sellen.”
“It pays for a senior to be interested in who her new comrades could be,” Sellen snickered, Manas giving a hum as he inserted his Deck into the board’s terminal, new windows flashing onto it no doubt with a slew of new jobs for the taking. “Ohhh, new lineup already?”
“Well after that incident with the Wyrm there’s been some digging into potential Magic Beast smuggling out of the College,” said Manas. “So, there’s been a few requests to check things out where law enforcement isn’t allowed to go digging their noses around. The usual.”
“Hmm, could be good pickings,” remarked Soren. “Any other interesting news?”
“Well, that’s part of why I’m here. Master Sharzok wanted me to get some of the HRs together. There’s a set of newcomers coming in, so it’s time for the usual.”
“How many this time?” Sellen leaned forward as Manas opened a window on his Deck.
“We’ve got ten who passed through the written portion earlier today,” Manas then gave Soren an amused grin. “And guess whose name showed up on the list?”
“No freakin’ way…” Soren couldn’t help but let an excited grin show as the scrolling list stopped on a certain file. The thing that stuck out was the mug shot of none other than Syr. “Well… this sure as hell isn’t going to be boring.”