"I see you've picked yourself up a beastkin from the market," The barkeep remarked as he approached her.

She said it in such a way as to be accusatory without actually saying anything that would imply she was displeased with him. All while rubbing the inside of a pint glass.

"Yeah," Alexei replied, "Need help with some ventures, it felt like the best thing to do."

The barkeep looked over his shoulder at the girl.

"Some ventures, I'm sure," She practically scoffed.

Alexei felt his stomach coil in disgust not for the first time that day.

"She's a child, don't be so crass," He spat before shaking his head, "Look, she's not the point. In fact, she's already managed to save my life today."

"Save your life?" The barkeep said incredulously.

"Yes, she saved my life… From an assassin of Delsi," Alexei said, making sure to whisper the last bit so none of the other customers heard.

The barkeep's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing into a steely glare.

"Get the child and meet me in the kitchens," she said, roughly placing the glass she had been cleaning on the countertop before storming out of the room.

Alexei couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty.

The barkeep had been incredibly kind and thoughtful ever since he'd met her, and now he'd brought untold levels of trouble to her doorstep.

"Hey, Neave, come on, we're going into the back," Alexei said, tilting his head toward the door at the far end of the room.

The purple mist came over her eyes and he felt the now common twist of guilt in his belly as she swiftly moved across the room and through the door.

He cast the thought from his mind.

He didn't have time to think about it now, not with the remaining assassin on his heels.

Instead he followed the girl through into the back.

"How dare you!" The barkeep seethed, "I give you shelter and privacy and this is how you repay me, slave girls and assassins! I should have cast you out the first moment I caught a whiff of you!"

Alexei swallowed dryly. She wasn't wrong. He had brought untold danger to her, to her pub and to any of her patrons who happened to be in it at the time the assassin launched an attack against him.

"I can forgive you for the assassin," She went on, "But this girl, Neave you called her? That is something I cannot forgive. Not at all."

Now Alexei had been wrongfooted.

Hardly anyone cared about the rights of beastkin. There were a few fringe groups who were dismayed at the slave trade regarding them, but by and large, most people were fine with the practice of owning slaves.

It was a common practice at the academy, and even more beastkin than initiates died on the front lines fighting against the magic eaters.

"For some reason I expected better of you,"she said, slumping down onto a dirty stool.

"I don't under-" Alexei began.

"No, I don't suppose you would. But then how could you, you dont know the truth," she cut him off.

With a sigh the barkeep removed the flat cap that she permanently wore.

From underneath it two large rabbit-like ears unfurled until they were standing tall atop her head.

"You're… you're a beastkin?!" Alexei gasped.

Her eyes narrowed and her ears drooped slightly, "and that's a piece of information you're going to keep to yourself, or the assassins are going to be the least of your worries."

"Look, I'm sorry, but I'm not intending on mistreating Neave," Alexei protested, "the conditions she was in… this is better."

"Yeah, well, we'll  see about that," the barkeep said, "in the meanwhile, we'll need to deal with your… other… problem."

"The assassins," he said gravely, "Neave managed to take one out, he killed himself with some kind of poison hidden in a tooth before I could get any answers out of him."

"You let the child fight? Aren't you an initiate?" She asked, the rage still simmering under the surface of her tone.

"It wasn't like I ordered her too!" Alexei said, "The assassin snuck up behind me, and her superior senses allowed her to act before I even knew what was happening. She knocked him out in a single punch."

"I'm not surprised, a carnivore type like her would have a high energy output," the barkeep remarked.

Alexei couldn't help but look at her arms at that remark. Rabbits weren't carnivores but she looked like she could snap almost anyone in half if she wanted to.

"I work on it," She said, clearly noticing where he was looking, "And most carnivores would still take me out in a heartbeat if they wanted to. This shouldn't be what we're talking about. Didn't the Academy teach you about the assassins? Their weaknesses?"

In short, they hadn't.

In general, there should have been no need for an assassin and an initiate to ever meet in battle.

Initiates always went to the front lines, there never would have even been a chance for them to have to fight.

Even if that wasn't the case, there was an unspoken rule that while the two disciplines didn't necessarily like one another they would never engage in open combat, because the job the initiates did was just too important.

"It wasn't important, we were more focused on fighting shades," Alexei replied, "Or more accurately trying not to die against shades."

The only advantage they had was the strength of the beastkin, the ability to create water out of hydrogen and oxygen, and the home-field advantage of the pub.

That was until Alexei's power activated, completely unbidden.

Visible only to him a new popup flared into life.

[Analysis complete!]

He blinked, shocked by the sudden appearance of the popup. He'd completely forgotten about the analysis that had only started a few short hours ago.

[New element: Sodium discovered!]

[New combination: Sodium Oxide available!]

[New combination: Sodium Hydride available!]

[New combination: Sodium Hydroxide available!]