“So, basically! The main reason I came here, well, was to ask you about those eyes, right.”Arthur nodded. He picked up by now that she was interested in his eyes, or rather, she made it more than clear. Though he was still uncertain on how good of a talent having a good sight was.

  She stopped talking, muttering to herself. ‘Is she organizing her thoughts?’ By now, he had also noticed that she wasn't all that good at speaking, especially when explaining things to others. She needed some time to organize her speech.

  Arthur let her, with a note of amusement in his eyes. In the meanwhile, he glanced at the Archive, reading the text which had appeared earlier in a calmer manner. He missed some details about curses and rituals, but they seemed interesting.

  Apparently, different rituals needed different materials, chants and sacrifices, depending both on the God they tried to appeal to, and the effect which was required from the magic.

  For example, the patron God of Teiws, the one known as the Lady of Wisdom and Desire. [‘She’], Arthur noted that the Archive referred to ‘Her’ with honorifics, accepted a large variety of materials as components for rituals.

  Simple rituals for things such as ‘good luck’, or ‘health’, were similar to the mysticism and rituals he had read of in his old world. For example, burning a specific incense, or making a candle scented from a specific flower.

  Rituals could even be applied to medicine, in a more noticeable manner than simple superstition. Apparently, there had been studies showing medicines produced with ritualistic magic proved more successful than normal medicine.

  He wondered if he had also been supplied with some ritualistic medicine, while he was knocked out cold. Feeling around his body, he didn't notice any cold cream, nor did he remember swallowing any pills or bitter tasting liquid.

  According to the Archive, more specific rituals, which appealed to the Lady of Wisdom and Desire, had effects such as being granted knowledge by ‘Her’, or being brought good luck in love, romantical and sexual.

  The Archive didn't mention any of the ingredients, materials or chants required for those rituals though, with the usual excuse of it being too dangerous for Arthur's mind.

  On the other hand, curses were simpler. They only needed basic ingredients, usually to produce a paste to paint, or tattoo, the markings.

  Those marks would then be powered by an initial prayer, and after that, the only ingredient they needed was Ark from the victim's body. Most likely, that was why the effects were so loose, and easy to achieve.

  As he understood it, the God's favour only kick-started the curse, while the victim's Ark and energy kept it going, with effects damaging or hurting them. Truly, that was some nasty form of magic.

  Finally, Irene caught his attention with a cough. She had finished gathering her thoughts and organizing what to say.

  “I guess, er, I think, being honest with you is the best way to say this.” Arthur nodded inwardly, he preferred honesty to being lied to, even if he didn't know what the truth held.

  Though, she didn't look like someone being able to lie, even if she tried to. She seemed way too innocent for that, the type of person that would mess up their own lie and accidentally expose themself.

  “So? What is it?” He asked, tilting his head, maintaining a smile.

  “In short, we want you to work for us. Er, with us. That is, me and Sol.”

  He hadn't heard that name before, Sol, but he felt like he could guess who that was. After all, he had only met another person who visited him, and who talked about his eyes.

  “Sol, that's your mentor, correct?” After Irene nodded, he added, “With ‘working with you’, do you just mean working as a Moonstone evaluator? Since you already brought that up earlier, I'm guessing it's not something as small as that. Am I right?”

  Irene nodded once again, before breathing in relief, seeing Arthur wasn't taking a defensive stance at her offer. Even if she hadn't told him what exactly it entailed, it was promising, so far.

  “Yup, you're right. Well, you can still work as a Moonstone evaluator, we're not stopping you!” She chuckled, before quickly coughing, embarrassed, seeing her joke didn't land on Arthur.

  “Sol wants you to join me, and another cadet, as one of his apprentices. I don't know why you specifically, but I guess he can see a lot more than me.

  “Honestly, I don't really know all the details… All he told me to tell you, is that you'd get a lot of benefits from this. You'd be an honorary cadet, get a room in the academy, and have a lot more freedom. Just like me!

  “Though, you won't be able to leave freely, of course. I think if he accompanies us, it would be fine… Oh, I know, if you join, I'll take you out to eat! There's a really good restaurant on Second Mani Street, but it's a bit pricey… Well, Sol can pay.”

  Arthur stayed silent for a second, before nodding slowly. “I see. He wants me to become a cadet of sorts, is that it?” “Yes! Well, pretty much, that's it!” She answered excitedly, clearly wanting him to join their group. A solemn expression appeared on his face.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Hm… Could you give me some time to think about this? It's, a pretty important decision.”

  The excitement quickly disappeared from her face, seeing him suddenly acting serious.

  “Oh, well… Sure, that's not a problem! Not in the slightest!” Although she answered with a smile, he could see her wrist trembling slightly.

  “Then, um, I'll head out.”

  She ended up staying in the room a bit longer, chatting with Arthur about the books available in the library, and answering some more questions about what daily life in the prison was like.

  Then, she left, telling him she'd be back in a few days, before his eventual discharge, even promising him to bring some books. Apparently, prisoners could only read during their free time, at the library, but cadets could borrow books.

  He didn't know whether this was to avoid the prisoners using the books as weapons, or simply for the fear of theft, but it seemed fair, since it didn't directly limit the availability of books to the prisoners.

  After Irene was gone, he breathed out, before relaxing his body. She was friendly, and enjoyable to talk with, but Arthur couldn't get himself to completely get rid of the tension in his body so long as she was there with him.

  Most likely, it was because of her mentor, Sol. He had only interacted with him extremely briefly, but he knew that man couldn't be trusted. It was something about his eyes, hidden behind shaded glasses, that made him feel like a conniving fox.

  She seemed like a good enough person, though. Even if she was working under him, she was most likely being manipulated, or forced to do so. Sitting up straight and crossing his legs, he went over their conversation in his mind.

  Why did she tell him about the prison and the curse mark, if her goal was for him to agree to join them as an honorary cadet? He glanced at the air, and a text window appeared, with the intention of debating with him over this manner.

  Arthur smiled, this was both entertaining and useful to properly consider the benefits and the drawbacks of that situation.

  [That might have been an attempt to gain your trust, sharing information with you.]

  ‘Maybe, yes. But that's not exactly hidden or important information, right? I could have asked you to tell me about curse marks and ritualistic magic, and I most likely would have found out about the library, eventually.’

  Arthur rebuked the Archive's statement, while rubbing his chin. He awaited another string of text, before offering his next opinion.

  [Almost certainly, however, she wanted to try and coerce you into accepting. Had Arthur Luria not had access to the Archive, offering information would have been a useful way of piquing your interest.]

  He thought for a moment, before nodding. That's right, she had no way of knowing about his Gift, and about the memories his body held. No, on the topic of memories, he had told her he suffered from amnesia.

  Sure, offering information to an amnesiac might be a good way of gaining their trust. However, lying to them and telling them misinformation about their own life would be an even quicker way. Though, she hadn't attempted to do that.

  As he thought, she was most likely too innocent, or too naive, to try something like that. Then, might her offer have been a genuine one?

  [Irene Teufel believes that becoming a honorary cadet would bring you a better life than living as a prisoner and eventually obtaining freedom in that manner. That is almost certain.]

  Arthur glanced at the Archive and tilted his head, interested in its words, and this weird conclusion. ‘Why is that?’ He asked inwardly, causing the text box to be filled up once again.

  [Multiple times during the conversation, she expressed signs of having been a prisoner detained here, as well as showing knowledge which only a prisoner would. For example, the scars caused by the curse mark on her wrist.

  [Additionally, after saying you would obtain more freedom if you joined them, she added that you would become ‘just like her’. There is a high chance that you are not the first apprentice picked by the man named Sol from prisoners.

  [Rather, there is an even higher chance that this is a somewhat usual happening, and prisoners becoming honorary cadets happens often, in the case of talented ones, such as Arthur Luria. Of course, the Gift of the Archivist is to thank for that.]

  ‘I truly am lucky to have such a humble Gift…’ Arthur lampooned inwardly, before letting himself fall down onto the bed's surface, laying down for a bit.

  He still had no idea what joining them would entail, nor what his duties would become. He doubted he could just follow the standard military academy program, whatever that was, considering he would only be an honorary cadet.

  Not only that, even if she was genuine, he didn't have much time to judge his life in the prison. Perhaps in her eyes it would be an upgrade from his current living conditions, but from what he had seen so far, that prison wasn't too unlikeable.

  The food was good, the beds were comfortable enough, the work wasn't too tiring… Well, he couldn't really judge the work, considering he got knocked out cold on the first day. But, he could attempt to become a Moonstone evaluator, maybe getting a higher pay.

  He remembered Ayn mentioning the pay for a Moonstone carver and sculptor, a Staff and a Blade, which were around 85 Euros. Though, since he was in that world, he might as well start thinking in the terms of Irminsul. That is, 85 Wingurs.

  Since Moonstone evaluators were supposedly more seeked after than sculptors and carvers, the pay was likely to be somewhat increased. Though, it was still prison work, in the end. Wait, would he get an even better pay, if he were a cadet?

  ‘It’s not like me to worry about money that much…’ He lampooned to himself, before chuckling quietly. A thought flashed in his mind, he wondered whether Ayn was worried about him, and how he was doing.

  He sat back up, straightening out his back. Suddenly, his expression stiffened, and he felt tired. Maybe it was thanks to all that happened in those two days, but he had little to no time to think about his situation properly.

  He had a lot of worries at the moment, Irene's offer, Ayn's well being without him around, how he would fare in that new world. But he didn't feel homesick in the slightest, nor did he feel nostalgic for his life on Irminsul.

  And for that, he felt guilty. His life wasn't anything incredible, but it wasn't bad, either, when compared to the norm. He was an average person, with slightly above average skills in a specific field.

  An average person, with an average family. He wondered whether his parents were looking for him, or whether they found out he was missing at all. Maybe his body was still in that world, making it look like some accident had happened.

  He covered his eyes with his arm, breathing in a shaky breath. He didn't want to think about that. For now, he wanted to only worry about the worries of ‘Arthur’ the amnesiac, and not ‘Arthur Luria’ of Werners.

  “I think I'll get some shut-eye now. If you have anything to remind me, tell me when I wake up. I want to rest a bit.”

  The Archive stayed silent. Quickly enough, Arthur fell asleep.