"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!]

Latest Chapter
Return of The Proto Lord
After his last encounter with the Proto Lord Alexei had never wanted to hear the hoarse croaking laughter of the creature ever again. Now that he had the hairs on the back of his neck and his arms were all standing to attention and every fiber of his being was telling him to flee, run as far away as he could, and never look back. But he couldn’t do any of that. He had a mission to complete, people to save, and a kingdom to protect. “Show yourself, Proto Lord!” Alexei called out, his staff held defensively in preparation to ward off any attacks, “I’m not the man you faced before, I’ll take you out myself this time.” “So you say,” The Proto Lord wheezed from somewhere in the dark, “And yet you still bring so many users of the Power Divine to fight alongside you. So many snacks for me to feast upon.”That was the final straw for Alexei. With a pulse of arcane power, Alexei slammed his staff down onto the ground. A sphere of light erupted out from where he stood, a magery spell desi
Manifest
Nerves had seeped into the hearts of the men that Alexei and Harold had chosen to take with them into the underground sanctum of the Proto Lord the moment they took their first steps into the tunnel system that the creature had made its home. They all looked to be strong and full of heart, but Alexei could sense it. The fear was electric and it was all he could do not to get caught up in the worry himself. Instead, he drew his staff and allowed it to shift forms into that of a magery wand, perfect to be used in enclosed situations and easier to maneuver with so many bodies around. With a flex of his will, Alexei summoned a ball of light at the tip of the wand and sent it out ahead of the group. It illuminated the dank depths of the tunnel that they were slowly descending into. Once upon a time, Alexei could have imagined the tunnel being used for mining and most likely to serve as a lower down access port to the well that he had originally sensed the malaise of the Proto Lord seep
A New Team
As Alexei explained what the Proto Lord was to Harold and the other members of the Royal Defence Corps he could tell that their willingness to fight such a creature was waning further and further. Alexei could understand. After being told to go to the front line and expecting to die in combat defending the kingdom the shades had all disappeared. That had given them all a second chance at living. Being told that they instead had to fight a being that was well on its way to becoming the next Demon Lord? Something that, just like the shades, could kill you and then perhaps use you to fight the rest of your friends? That wasn’t something that a lot of people were keen on. Harold, though, was a brave man and always had been. “Very well,” He said as Alexei came to the end of his explanation, “If that is the case then this so-called Proto Lord must fall before the Proto part of the wretched thing's name becomes Demon instead.“I will not order anyone to join myself or Alexei in this f
Ancient Evil
Alexei placed his hand onto the Warp Gate and sent a pulse of magery through the system. He’d never actually had to operate one of the things before, but thanks to his more innate relationship with magery it was a bit like opening a book and simply reading from the pages. He placed his palm onto the stone and it fed information directly to him and allowed him to open a temporary link between the gate he was standing next to and the gate that was back in Alandria. It opened with a sputter at first and then, as Alexei made the link between the gates more solid, it blazed into life with a swirling blue glow. “You really are full of surprises now, aren’t you,” Harold said with a shake of his head, he couldn’t believe how different his friend had become compared to the last time he had seen the man. “Just a bit of advanced magery,” Alexei shrugged, “What did you expect me to do when I got kicked out of the Academy, go become a merchant somewhere?”“That probably would have been the sm
Royal Defence Corps
Alexei worked his way through the woods until he was able to catch up with the soldiers of the Royal Defence Corps. These were all men and women who had gone through the training at the Academy and come out the other end, each of them with a Power Divine powerful enough for the previous Demon Lord to want to absorb it. Perfect for fighting against a Proto Lord who hadn’t fully come into the powers that Eldreth was offering them. At first, Alexei wasn’t sure who he should approach, but then he noticed someone who looked just a little bit familiar. Without any doubts, Alexei was sure the man he saw walking in the centre of the column was none other than his old friend from the Academy, Harold. “Harold!” He exclaimed, “Is that you?” The column of marching soldiers froze instantly, like a rabbit caught in the path of an oncoming dragonhorse, before turning on Alexei with their powers at the ready. It took only a moment for Harold to realise who had called out to him. “A… Alexei?!
Good News
“Okay, wish me luck you two,” Alexei said, he was standing in front of a Warp Gate, one that Risa had told him led to a town that was very close to the front. Neave wrapped her arms around him as best she could and he returned it by holding her close. “You better come back safely, yeah?” Risa said, she held his gaze with a stern look. “Hey, if the Shades are running wild then you have my promise that I’ll be jumping right back into that Warp Gate,” Alexei said, “This is a recon mission, nothing more nothing less. Promise.”She gave him a critical eye, “You know, every time you’ve ever said that you’re just going to look at something or do a bit of recon you’ve come super close to dying.” “Yeah, but those times I had no idea what I was going into, this time it’s either going to be one of two things, and only one of those two things could actually be dangerous. Pretty good odds if you ask me,” Alexei said with a grin, though he could tell he was only annoying Risa with his banter.
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