Misadventures Incorporated

I was under the impression that our daughter's birth mother would be completely oblivious, but surprisingly, she started stopping by more often near the tail end of the fourth summer. She put our daughter onto an otherwise empty shelf right by the window and added a few extra pillows to pad out her surroundings, just in case she fell. She still laid in the fifth winter, but refrained during the sixth and even dumped all the other eggs by the time the seventh rolled around. By then, she was checking in a few times a day. She dusted the egg once each evening and even sang to it for good measure.

I didn't think it would matter, but surprisingly, the child always responded by raising her ears in her shell. I couldn't help but suspect that she would have a talent for music. Perhaps, she'd even wind up as a bard. Flux hadn't told me too much about her direction, only that I would be needed to ensure her success.

I knew what that really meant.

My role was to protect her from the hunter. But I couldn't help but feel that it was precisely my presence that would draw him in.

It was with that hesitation that I witnessed the moment of her birth.

Her mother finally removed her from her room on the fortieth day of summer. She brought her into her own living space and cradled her overnight. The father had tried to sneak into her room, but she informed him that their daughter would soon hatch, chased him out, and spent the night alone.

And then, early the next morning, it happened.

She struggled at first. She spent the better part of five minutes clawing at her shell. The material was tough, and she seemed to lack the instinct to pierce it, perhaps on account of her mixed blood. I was of half a mind to interfere and help her. But then, it happened.

Mustering up her strength, she thrust a hand through the egg and greeted the world for the very first time.

They named her Claire.

It was apt.

Her hair was brilliant beneath the sunlight, and her eyes were blue as the cloudless sky.

Claire.

I repeated the name under my breath, even knowing that I would never be heard.

I didn't know if I was supposed to cry, or if I was meant to front.

Either way, I couldn't stop the tears from flowing.

___

The Vel'khanese party was one of the few that stayed in the sky even after the sun had fully risen. The locals had scattered once dawn came to an end; there was really no reason to stick around. Rikael was still visible from the ground and few festivities took place in the heavens, only private celebrations hosted atop the many warships dotting the Valencian sky. Claire's companions, however, were too busy enjoying their meals to bother descending. And though she herself had planned to nap with Boris until he finally recalled the competition, she was far too distracted by all the hustle and bustle. Eventually, she wandered into Rubia's lap, where she enjoyed being hand fed.

It took about twenty minutes for Chloe to appear on the horizon. She was completely tuckered out; her uniform was drenched in sweat and her wings were barely flapping, but she still managed to make it back before Marcelle, who was sometimes hot on her heels and sometimes out a few kilometers in a random direction.

"Thank you, Chloe." Arciel stepped off of her flying chair with a smile. "I do believe this marks my victory?"

"Boris didn't want to move," mreeped Claire.

"How unfortunate," said Arciel, as she looked towards the horizon, where Marcelle was still teleporting back and forth. It took another minute or so for the silly sea cow to finally reach the finish line. Yawning, she stopped right in front of Boris and greeted him with a boop while Sylvia joined Claire in Rubia's lap.

"What the heck!" cried the vixen. "Why was Chloe so fast!?"

"I tried my best," wheezed the maid.

"I didn't even know that you could go that fast!" said Sylvia. "Wait, Claire!? How the heck are you back already? I didn't even see you along the way!"

"Boris flew into outer space. It was faster without air resistance."

"That has to be cheating," grumbled the fox.

"Do not worry, Sylvia. She is lying," said Arciel. "Boris has yet to make the journey."

"Really? He hasn't moved at all?"

"I am under the impression he elected to take a nap instead."

"Wait, so does that mean Claire lost?"

"It does." The squid lightly tapped her fan against her chin. "As the winner of this race, would you mind if I requested the two of you a favour?"

"Uhhhh, sure, I guess." Sylvia tilted her head and blinked while Claire narrowed her eyes.

"I never agreed to that."

"Surely you feel some degree of guilt for not participating in the very event that you suggested?"

"You put my stupid lizard up to this, didn't you?"

Arciel laughed as she produced her fan out of thin air and spread it to cover an impish grin. "What is the line again? I haven't the faintest clue as to what it is you are referring to?"

"You know that isn't it." Claire grabbed the queen's cheeks and gave them a tug. "And you know exactly what I'm talking about."

I most certainly do not," affirmed Arciel, as she escaped the tiny talons. "I am simply taking advantage of the circumstance to make it more difficult for you to decline."

"Of course you are." Claire sighed. In retrospect, it was obvious that she would eventually suggest some sort of activity. It was technically Sylvia who'd suggested using mounts, but that was likely just a coincidence. Arciel probably would have raised the idea herself had the fox not stumbled upon it.

"So what do you want us to do?" asked Sylvia.

"I do apologize for detracting from the time you have to celebrate the festivities, but I wish for the two of you to assist with my preparations. Specifically, I would like for us to spend the next four days sparring so that I may prepare for my match."

"Uhhhh, wait, me too?" asked Sylvia, with a blink. "I mean, I get Claire, but…"

"Yes. Unfortunately, there is a limit to the rate of my recovery, and I do believe it would be beneficial to solicit an opinion other than Claire's."

"Oh, in that case, okay!" said the fox.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"I don't mind either," said Claire. "But you didn't have to do all this if you just wanted us to help you train."

"The setup was more for my own entertainment," said Arciel, with a laugh. "Did you, perhaps, break into sweat, thinking that I would make a ridiculous request?"

"Not really. I trust you."

Arciel spent a few moments staring wide-eyed before clearing her throat with a cough. "I was not expecting you to be so forward in expressing your confidence."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Claire, as she pinched the squid's fake nose.

"I do believe it is rather self explanatory, given the manner in which Sylvia is treated."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course not," said Arciel, with a sigh. "In either case, I shall endeavour to put forth my best effort. I have every intention of summarily defeating my opponent."

"Good." Claire flashed a smile of her own as she mreeped.

"...How odd. I seem to be feeling rather chilly all of a sudden. You wouldn't happen to be angry that I bribed your lizard, would you?"

"Of course not." Claire slithered out of Rubia's arms and draped herself over Arciel's shoulders. "How about we head back? We might as well get started."

"Oh dear. I should have known." Already half regretting her decision, a profusely sweating Arciel opened a portal and stepped right through.

___

Most of the Northern Brigade spent the next day engaged in productive tasks. Arciel, Claire, and Sylvia trained nonstop, Chloe attended to her usual duties, and Allegra refined her magic.

Krail and Lana, however, had already been freed from their tasks. With nothing else to do, they decided to venture into the city and enjoy the festivities. Curiously enough, they were not alone. It was not Lana's sister or Krail's family that joined them. Nay, that would have made far too much sense.

Instead, it was Jules who'd accompanied them on their expedition. Together, the three sat in a bar, pumping their stomachs full of spirits. Neither the elf nor the myraen commented on the clam's presence, but even without their input, he was fully aware that he wasn't supposed to be running away from his responsibilities.

Or at least he had, about three hours prior.

Taking a sip from his cup—he wasn't even sure what he was drinking anymore—he looked up at the bar's clock through his bleary eyes. It was already well past midnight. There were only about six hours until his match. It was either that, seven, or four. It didn't really matter either way. He was going to lose regardless.

The worst part of all was that everyone was counting on him, both to secure a victory for Vel'khan, and to seek vengeance on their behalf. His opponent was the slimeball that'd been a pain in their side from day one, the man behind the puppet that'd killed Ace and nearly trounced them in the Langgbjerns. Even through his drunken stupor, Jules still knew that he was effectively obligated to put Ephesus down.

It didn't help that the conniving douchebag was an aspect; Jules' fight was the most uneven of the bunch, the one that most heavily favoured their foes.

Hence why he'd committed to drinking.

There was no real point in putting up a struggle.

"So what are you fucks planning to do after all this is over?" He drained his cup and beckoned for the bartender to fill another. "I swear to god, you better not say you're going right back to your usual lives, or I'm throwing a fucking fit." His words were slurred, but not too difficult to make out. On the sober to blackout drunk scale, he was only teetering the edge of plastered.

"I am," said Lana. "I miss Tessa. And I miss the sea."

"Is it even gonna be the same? With how much stronger you are now, I mean."

Lana nodded. "We were already the strongest. And we still can't go places we couldn't before. It's not like our ships will be any sturdier."

"Yeah, fair enough," muttered the clam. "What about you, Krail?"

"I'm not too sure, to be honest. I would like to return to a life of adventuring, but it seems like it'd be difficult to find a suitable party." The elf frowned as he stirred his drink. The cherry bobbed up and down, shifting every time he prodded it with his tiny, paper umbrella. "It just isn't the same when not everyone is around the same level. The discrepancy wasn't even all that large the last time I tried it. Me and one other guy were around level 150, while the last two were somewhere between 80 and 100. The problem was that the difference in strength made it so that the weaker folk weren't really gaining all that much experience. And while I didn't really mind playing the part of a mentor at first, it soon became a painful chore." He lifted his cup to his lips and drained it, leaving just the umbrella with the cherry impaled on its tip. "I suppose I could just stay up here in Cadria and maybe work with someone like Leutgar, but I'd like to be closer to home. There's not really any point in an adventure if I can't recount it to my family."

"If you want to stay back home, you might as well just work for the government," said Jules. "I'm sure Arciel would be happy to pull a few strings and hook you up. Hell, she might even bullshit up a role that lets you more or less do the same shit you would've done as an adventurer. Especially since, you know, you actually pulled your weight."

"I'm not sure that's what I'd call it exactly. I didn't even end up fighting."

"Yeah, but your acting was on point. You pretty much did your job."

Krail grimaced. "Tell that to Claire. She spent an hour chewing me out for all my mistakes."

"I'm pretty sure it was only five minutes," said Jules.

"It felt like an hour, with how harsh she was."

"Yeah, I'll give you that," he said. "I doubt anyone could tell. I mean sure, people overanalyze shit, but she goes way too damn hard."

"Cadrian nobles don't seem that schemey," said Lana. "They're really straightforward. For nobles, at least."

"You've dealt with nobles before?" asked Krail.

"A few times. Mostly for backroom deals. It's why we never got caught."

"I'm pretty sure the shithead I'm fighting tomorrow was probably the only one who noticed," said Jules, with a grimace.

"It's okay," said Lana. "We'll win the rest. It doesn't matter if you lose."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better? Because I'm not really sure if it did." He finished yet another drink before leaning back in his shell. "And honestly, I dunno if that's even true. The Cadrians are fucking monsters. Have you seen Durham? He was strong enough to give the lot of us a run for our money even before he ascended again. I know Allegra's ridiculously strong, but I can't really see her winning."

"She has a spell for him," said Krail. "Speaking of, you'll probably have no problems as long as you rely on the one she made for you."

"Right…" Jules groaned as he pressed a hand into his face.

"What's wrong?" asked Krail. "You look about as guilty as my daughter did, back when she washed the doormat with her mother's most expensive shampoo."

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong."

"Surely there has to be something if you're acting like that. "

"There isn't," muttered the clam.

One of the waiters stopped by and offered to refill his drink, but he shook his head and rested his elbows on the table. The others looked at him with worry in their eyes, silently but unintentionally nagging away at his conscience. He bit his lips, but he eventually gave in and opened his mouth.

"I never memorized her goddamn spell."

Lana gawked, wide-eyed, while Krail dropped his freshly-refilled cup and spilled its contents all over the table.

"Look, I know it sounds pretty fucking bad, but hear me out. No one really knows what the guy's actually capable of. Sure, he was fighting the same way as Sophia during the qualifiers, but he's definitely got a few tricks up his sleeve, and her spell ain't got jack shit for them. Either way, I'm gonna be up my own ass trying to figure out whatever the hell he's doing and how I'm supposed to counter it, and casting her bullshit's gonna do nothing but make him try harder faster, assuming it works in the first place."

The spell that Allegra had created was a horrifying mix between a typical enchantment and a lingering impairment. It caused his spells to afflict its targets with an effect that caused his target's flesh to explode whenever it was flooded with magic. It was the perfect counter to a monk that relied on firing blasts of arcane mana and would effectively seal his ability to do anything but fight in close quarters. To address that, she'd added a secondary effect that inverted the speed at which the target moved. Any attempts at rapid acceleration would lead to a gradual crawl, while a paced step would result in a burst of acceleration. Worse yet, the debuff would toggle itself on and off at random to better throw the target into disarray.

"You do have a bit of a point there, but you could've at least learned the spell and not used it until you were ready," said Krail.

"No point," he said. "It's too much effort and it'd take me forever to cast even if I spent the whole damn week training. It might've been worth it if she sketched it up last month, but with how much time we have left, I might as well stick to my guns."

"Not unreasonable," said Lana. "But not smart either."

"No fucking shit."

"It's not too late to practice. You might still be able to get it down by morning if you really try."

"Yeah, right," said Jules, with a scoff. "Let's just face it. I'm going down either way, and there's nothing I can do to stop it."

Still grumbling, he planted his face down on the table and didn't raise it again until the sun was high in the sky.