Quick "Note" before I let you all read. Due to an injury I sustained a few weeks ago, I have been home all day everyday, with all the distractions that come with it. This has prevented me from being able to write, leaving this as the only chapter I have left. Because of this there will not be an update next week, as I try to get more chapters written. Thank you for understanding.

The atmosphere inside the tavern was even more upbeat than before now that Pasta Bloom had arrived. He worked the room like a socialite, buying table after table of adventures drinks while he drank a clear alcohol from what looked like a mason jar. Eventually he arrived at Art and his friend's table, pulling up a chair and sitting on it backwards.

"So what do we have here? A bunch of fresh adventurers trying to make it rich in the Beast Glades?" Pasta asked with a slurred happy drunken speech.

"Well you're half right, most of us are new adventurers. However I don't think any of us are trying to get rich out here," Art replied, sounding amused by the man.

"Well good, nice to see you had a firm grip on reality," Pasta said then took another swig of alcohol from his jar. "Very few ever get strong enough to be able to go where they need to go to make it rich out here. So how about you introduce yourselves?" Pasta asked as he gestured to Curtis to start, thinking he was the leader.

"I am Curtis Glayder, solid orange stage, fire augmenter."

"I'm sorry, did you say you're a Glayder?" Pasta asked as he leaned in closer, not sure if his drinking started to affect his hearing.

"That's right," Curtis replied.

"Awww fooook," Pasta said as he fell back into his seat. "Y'all are just a bunch of noble brats."

"What makes you think everyone here is a noble?" Lilia replied with annoyance towards his comment. "For your information I'm a Helstea, and we aren't nobles." It wasn't that Lilia was trying to single herself out, she just didn't like how he was generalizing everyone.

"Pff, Helstea's are loaded, more so than some nobles. Rich business families are just as bad," Pasta replied.

"Listen," Arthur said calmly. "I don't know who you are or what your issue with the nobles is, but you shouldn't generalize everyone based on your past experience with a noble family or two."

"Oh really? Those two are the Glayder brats, I know because they are the spitting image of their parents. And if the now former king and queen acted like a bunch of self serving asses, why would there kids be any different? I mean that lil cub is your leader for crying out loud," Pasta said as he gestured towards Curtis. "And what family are you from"? Pasta asked as he looked to Arthur.

"My name is Arthur Leywin, and actually I'm the leader."

"Hmm," Pasta raised his mason jar and looked at it. "Clearly a better than normal batch. Regardless, Leywin, I know that name. Are you a new noble family?" Pasta asked.

"No. I am a commoner from the small village of Ashber, and you did hear me correctly, I am the leader of this group," Arthur replied.

"Well how in the fook did you end up running around with these brats as their leader? Definitely not age, core level maybe?" Pasta guessed.

"How about experience," Arthur answered. "I have three years experience as an adventurer, and I just reached AA."

"No no, that's impossible. No way a kid your age could make it to AA. B maybe, but never AA," Pasta said in disbelief. Arthur then showed is AA adventurer card and showed it to Pasta. "What the bloody fook," Pasta thought out loud as he examined the card. "Clearly they dropped the standards if a little ladder climber like you reach that level."

"Ladder climber?" Feyrith questioned, not knowing the term.

"A nobody that clings to people of power and influence with the hopes of eventually gaining power and recognition of their own. Sometimes going as far as marrying unsuspecting ladies to quickly raise their standing in society," Pasta explained

"How dare you!" Tess spat. "You don't know anything about any of us, let alone Art. Now while we're not perfect, we are not anything like how you clearly see us. And as for Art, he is one of the kindest people I've ever met. He cares nothing about his status, nor does he try to be our friend with the hopes to raise his status. He treats us all the same and will risk his life for us as he would for someone with absolutely nothing."

"Pfff, whatever you say little girl," Pasta replied dismissing Tess' words.

Tess could tell he wasn't listening, and refused to allow the old man to look down on Art. "When Art and I first met, I had been kidnapped by slave traders. Art was separated from his family and was lost in the beast glades when he found them. Instead of just leaving me to take care of himself, he killed five slave traders by himself and rescued me. Then he escorted me back to my kingdom, having no idea who I was except that I was an elf girl named Tess."

Tess was beginning to tremble a bit at this point as the memories were still painful. Arthur put his arm around Tess and pulled her close into a comforting side hug, where she rested her head on his shoulder. Everyone else was in shock upon learning this, and the rest of the party now understood why Art and Tess chose not to speak about how they first met, as it was clearly a traumatic experience. Even Pasta looked as if he was questioning his logic about this group.

"Pasta," Samantha said, getting his attention. "Arthur was the one who pulled me out of Dire."

This last piece of information sealed it for Pasta. "Words are just words depending on who they come from. I'll admit the princesses story was clearly moving, but without knowing her I can't fully believe her interpretation. But I've known Samantha here for several years, and she's earned my trust. If she says I'm wrong about you then I believe her, and maybe I'm wrong about you kids too," Pasta conceded in an apologetic tone.

"Thank you," Arthur replied.

"But I do have to ask, seeing all these nobles together tells me you all go to Xyrus Academy," Pasta focused on Arthur. "How in the blazes did you get in there?" Pasta asked in disbelief.

"I impressed the director. I'm pretty competent in mana manipulation," Arthur replied casually .

"Hmm. I bet you are," Pasta replied suspiciously. "Well if you think they are really your friends then I guess I can cut them some slack. And sorry to yee two elves, I don't know elven nobles so I shouldn't lump you in with them."

"We are all friends here, so speaking negative of one of them is saying it to all of us!" Tess replied as Feyfey nodded.

"Now I recognize you!" Curtis shot out in shock. "I've seen your portraits in the barracks. You're Pasta Bloom, you're a former lance!"

"I prefer retired. Former makes it sound like I was fired, I told the former king and Queen to fook off and that I was retiring," Pasta replied.

"Wait, I thought the Lances were a new title?" Lilia asked.

"No, the lances have always existed, they were just kept a secret. With the discovery of the new continent the leaders of the three races just felt it would be beneficial to make them publicly known," Arthur answered as he recalled the information Elder Virion told him. Almost everyone looked at Arthur bewildered as they wondered if what he said was true.

"Well, it looks like you're well informed lad. Yes it's true the lances always existed, but as for the rest I'm afraid I've been out of the loop for a while," Pasta replied sounding impressed with all Arthur knew.

"I didn't think the lances could retire," Arthur commented.

"Well of course we can retire," Pasta scoffed. "Otherwise each kingdom would at one point or another have a bunch of decrepit old men or women holding such prominent and vital roles. I just wish I could have chosen my own replacement," Pasta said, sounding annoyed at the end.

"Who was your replacement?" Claire asked.

"Bairon Wykes," Pasta replied with his voice full of hate, accidentally releasing a bit of pressure in the process.

Several of the weaker adventurers passed out, while others experienced a shortness of breath, even Arthur couldn't handle the power.

"Sorry about that," Pasta announced after retracting his pressure.

"I take it you don't like Bairon?" Curtis asked.

"Not just him, the whole Wykes family," Pasta replied. "That's why I have an issue with your parents. They knew good and well my hatred for that family, yet they still selected Bairon and ordered me to prepare him to become a lance."

"Why do you hate the Wykes family so much?" Kathyln asked.

"That's personal, and I don't feel like reminiscing about things that far back," Pasta replied sternly.

Arthur was curious why Pasta hated the Wykes family, but he wasn't going to press the issue. Besides he had another question, how strong was he to have his pressure have such a strong effect on everyone, including himself. Arthur decided to check Pasta's core, but when he did he suddenly felt like someone jammed a nail into his head.

"Hahaha," Pasta laughed seemingly out of nowhere. "So what about you Arthur, what's your core level? You look pretty young so I'll guess light red or dark orange," Pasta guesses as he raised his drink.

"Light yellow," Arthur replied casually.

Upon hearing this pasta quickly moved his mason jar and slapped his hand over his mouth as it sounded like he was containing himself choking. "Nearly caused me to spit out my booze," Pasta commented as he moved his hand. "Light yellow?! At your age?! When in the bloody hell did you awaken?"

Arthur just looked away ignoring the question.

"Fine. Let's see now," Pasta started as he worked it out in his head. "You also said you have three years experience as an adventurer and are at AA rank, so I'll guess you were light red or dark orange when you became an adventurer. That puts you at eight to ten at that time. Based on her story about you saving her, she probably hadn't awakened yet. Elves awaken around ten, and you two look close to the same age, so it was before then. All that considered, I'm guessing you awoke as a mage at age five and were immediately put into rigorous training by your parents," Pasta guessed.

Everyone looked with an almost amazed curiosity at Art for his reaction, to what sounded like pretty sound logic that was coming from the drunk former lance, only to see he and Tess chuckling amusingly at the theory.

"Is my theory that far off?" Pasta asked.

"I'm sorry, but I don't particularly like to talk about myself," Arthur replied.

"Hmph, fine then," Pasta replied, sounding as if he had given up. "If you'll excuse me, there are many more adventurers I'd like to visit."

With that Pasta left the young adventurers and went back to working the room. Although he never came back to their table, and none of them really seemed to like him, he never completely left their sight. Unconsciously at least one of them always had an eye on him as he went from table to table. He never stayed at any of the other tables nearly as long as he stayed at theirs, except one.

As the evening carried on a party of elven adventures entered the tavern, resulting in the tavern to become noticeably quieter. That is until Pasta walked up to him. The drunk gave one of them a hug and welcomed them to his tavern, then proceeded to buy their food and drinks.

Curtis eventually worked up the courage and asked Lilia to dance with him, to which she nervously accepted. However as the night carried on many of the people in the tavern started to leave, and the band began to pack up.

"Wait, what are you guys doing?" Curtis asked, not wanting his dancing with Lilia to end.

"It's late, so we're calling it a night," replied the musician that was playing what looked like a piano.

"Could you do just one more song?" Curtis asked.

"Nope, we need to rest too. Besides there aren't many other people here," another musician replied.

Curtis then pulled a bag of gold from his dimensional ring. "How about now?" Curtis asked as he held on five gold coins, one for each of them.

The first musician examined the gold coins and looked to the others. "Only one last song," replied the musician and the others nodded and began to pull out their instruments. "Any requests?"

"How about something slow, and maybe on the romantic side," Curtis requested quietly.

The band members nodded with a smile as some glanced over to Lilia, who didn't hear Curtis' request. One then made a suggestion and the others agreed as Curtis walked back over to Lilia.

As he walked Curtis looked to Arthur, who did notice, and gave him a look and gesture to direct him to ask Tess to dance. Arthur didn't seem to understand the subtlety and gave a confused look back. Curtis just shook his head and refocused on Lilia.

As Curtis arrived at Lilia he put out his right hand just as the song started, and said, "May I have this dance?"

Lilia was extremely nervous, even though she had been dancing with Curtis for a while, those songs were all upbeat and fun with some space in between them. This song however was clearly a more romantic song and would require them to be much closer. Despite her nervousness, Lilia placed her hand in Curtis'. He then kissed the back of her hand and moved closer as he put his left hand on her waist.

The song started and Curtis and Lilia began their dance. Kathyln had seen Curtis' gestures as well, and she understood the meaning. She was about to ask Arthur to dance but Claire, who also understood the message, had just sat down beside him and pulled him in a little closer and began whispering in his ear.

"Curtis was trying to tell you to ask Tess to dance," Claire whispered.

"Are you sure she would even want to dance?" Arthur whispered back.

"I saw the look in her eyes earlier while Curtis and Lilia were dancing, you honestly should have already asked her," Claire replied.

Arthur nodded and looked to Tess beside him. "Tess, would you like to dance?" Arthur asked.

"Wait what?!" Tess replied in shock. She had been watching Curtis and Lilia dancing and wished that Art would ask her, but didn't actually expect him to ask.

Arthur stood up and held out his hand to Tess. "Come on, let's dance." Tess took Art's hand with hearts in her eyes as he led her over and then pulled her close as the two began to dance.

Kathyln glared at Claire for her action, although her face remained neutral, her eyes were like daggers. Claire noticed this but didn't care. In her eyes she was protecting Kathyln as it was clear to her Art only saw her as a friend. From the bar someone else was watching the dancing, specifically Art and Tess. Pasta watched the two young teens dance with a pained smile, as a wave of nostalgia flooded his mind.

The song ended after only a few minutes and the tavern was shutting down for the night. Art and the others started to head for the stairs to go up to their rooms, when Arthur was stopped.

"Leywin," Pasta called out from the bar. "Come over here, I'd like a word with you."

The others stopped and looked to Arthur to see what he was going to do.

"Just head up to the rooms, I'm sure I'll be fine," Arthur said and walked over to the bar. "So what did you want to talk about?" Arthur asked pasta.

"Take a seat," Pasta said as he gestured to a bar stool beside him. Arthur did as he was told, and Pasta placed a shot glass in front of him and filled it from one of his mason jars.

"You realize I'm under age right?" Arthur replied to seeing the shot before him.

"Do I look like a person who gives a shit. You risk your life in a dungeon, you should be able to have a drink," Pasta replied.

Arthur shook his head, picked up the glass and drank it with a single gulp. As the liquor burned his throat on the way down Arthur's suspicion of the liquid was confirmed, Pasta had just given him moonshine.

"Hahaha," Pasta laughed as he saw Arthur take the shot without flinching. "You seem to be more of a man than most of these other adventurers. Not many can take a shot of this without reacting."

"Is that all you wanted? For me to have a drink with you?" Arthur asked.

"I realized we aren't that different," Pasta commented. "I finally remembered where I heard your name before. Arthur Leywin, the hero of Xyrus Academy."

"Oh, so you were a hero of the academy as well?" Arthur scoffed, trying to get pasta to get to the point.

"No, but along with other things, we both crossed the Wykes family in the same way," Pasta replied.

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked.

"I saw you with that elf girl, you love her don't you?" Pasta asked. Arthur didn't respond. "The Bloom house used to be one of the most revered noble families in Sapin. Even though my family had many slaves, I never liked the idea, but back when I was your age I did see a silver lining."

"What kind of silver lining is there to slavery?" Arthur scoffed.

"Even though my parents mostly had human slaves, he did have one elf. Her name was Serena, she was just a year older than me and the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She was my first, last, and only love. I got my parents to make her my personal attendant. Humans weren't 'allowed' to love elves back then, but that didn't stop us. I couldn't take her out or get her gifts, but every time I told my father I was going to train, I took her with me and we had a picnic. It was hard to have a relationship with her since we had to keep it secret, but to us it was worth it," Pasta then took a swig from his jar. "I had a plan for us to be together, I had to become so powerful no one could stop me, in both as a mage and in society standing. To achieve both I had to become a lance, and at the age of twenty-five I had finally done it."

"So where does the Wykes family fit in here?" Arthur asked.

"I'm getting to that, be patient. Anyways, when you become a lance you also get a ton of gold, as well as a home in Xyrus. My plan was to buy Serena from my father, then buy her freedom. The day after I became a lance I went to my father and told him I wanted to buy Serena. Despite how careful we were, my father already knew my intentions with Serena. He told me he wouldn't allow an elf to carry our family name, so he sold her to another family the day prior. It wasn't difficult to figure out who he sold her to, the Wykes family has been known to have a taste for elf girls. I arrived at the Wykes family home with every piece of gold I had to buy her back," Pasta began to squeeze his mason jar in his hand until it shattered. "When I offered to buy her back the head of the family told me she was killed trying to escape from them during the night."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I guess it's not just the current generation of Wykes that are horrible people," Arthur replied sympathetically.

"They've always been rotten to the core. It took every last bit of my restraint not to level that house to the ground. I thanked him for his time, then turned around to leave. Before I passed through the gate another elf slave told me what really happened. The eldest son took Serena to his room and tried to force her to have sex with him."

Arthur immediately had a flashback to Lucas and his threats towards Tess.

"She fought back, refusing to give him her virtue. He then snapped and began burning her slowly to torture her, before he went too far and turned her to ashes." Pasta's body shook as he looked up and an insane smile formed on his face. "I am a deviant mage in sound magic, so when I heard the truth I snapped, and let out a battle cry that caused the whole house to shake. I drew my spear and threw the doors off their hinges. I went through so many guards like they were nothing, even the family silver core mages were powerless to even slow me down. I found the eldest son trying to escape through the back of the house, and I began my revenge. I don't know how familiar you are with sound magic, but it can be the most destructive form when used properly.
He tried to fight me, but I was using sound magic to block him, and with that I shattered bones with ease. Then after he fell to the ground after I shattered his leg, I used my wind magic like a drill, and used it to rip off his manhood."

Arthur now understood why Pasta felt they were so much alike.

"The aftermath for me was eye opening, and made me regret becoming a lance."

"What happened?" Arthur asked, curious to learn more about the lances.

"Normally I wouldn't share this, but you seem to already know a bit about the lances, so I'll fill you in. You know how lances reach that level right?"

"A relic that can get a silver core mage to a white core," Arthur replied.

"That's right, but it does more than that, it also acts as a leash for the mages bonded to them. Using that artifact Curtis' grandfather forced me to get on my knees and apologize to the Wykes family. The apology was bad enough, but he really did it to show he was in control of me. I had to live fifty years under the Glayder families thumb, fifty years before I earned my freedom."

"I don't understand, why fifty years?" Arthur asked.

"Normally a lance can't be released from a relic, but after a set amount of time, a lance can be released and still keep their white core. It's fifty years for humans, even longer for the other two races. But until then we are glorified puppets, yeah we have free will, but the holder of the relics can strip that away at any time they want."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Arthur asked.

"I may be drunk, but I can see a lot in you. I have no doubt that you'll reach light silver before you're an adult, which will no doubt make you a prime candidate to eventually become a lance, I also see that you're in love with that elf princess of yours."

Arthur blushed slightly and looked away.

"If you really love her, if you see a future with her, don't bind yourself to one of those relics. Despite what they say, the council is just representatives looking out for their own kingdom. The Glayder's are petty, if they don't want you with that elf or if another war breaks out, married or not, they can use the relic to force you to do anything they want to her. Kill her, turn her in as a prisoner, you wouldn't be able to fight it as you became a prisoner of your own mind."

"I take it you found yourself in that situation on more than one occasion," Arthur sermised with the hope that pasta was just a paranoid old man.

"Not in the sense of having to hurt anyone I loved. After Serena was killed I never loved again, partly due to the pain, partly to punish my father by killing off our family name when I die since I'm the only son. But I was forced to sit back and watch atrocities, mass slaughters, and even take part in some."

"Like what?"

"There was once a large group of slave traders that would go into elven territory and attack villages to take girls to be sold in Sapin. The elf military started taking action and was catching these traders near the border and executing them as they freed the prisoners. I was sent to protect those traders if they managed to cross the border into Sapin. I of course objected, even refused to support those monsters. It only took the king a few words and I was a puppet. I watched as my hands slaughtered elven soldiers that were just trying to free their own people. I was kept in that state for nearly a month, spilling elf blood every few days. Eventually those villages were abandoned and the slave traders decided not to go deeper into that forest."

Arthur held onto every word. He had considered becoming a lance would give him the power and influence he wanted, but now after hearing the kind of power the Kings held over the lances, he questioned if becoming a lance was even worth it.

"Three," Arthur said.

"I'm sorry?" Pasta asked not knowing what Arthur was talking about.

"Earlier you asked when I awoke, I was three years old. My dad tried to train me for about a year before he decided he was holding me back and that I needed a real mentor. I'll spare you the details, but after I got separated from my parents, rescued Tess, and returned her home, I became the disciple of the former king of Elenior Elder Virion for several years before I was reunited with my family," Arthur said casually.

"Fuck," Pasta commented as he shook his head. "Definitely don't become a lance under Blaine Glayder, the man is obsessed with power. Unlike his father Blaine is a weak mage, his son is stronger, but still not to the level of his grandfather at his age. If you become a lance he could have you, father some babies and give them to him with the hopes of improving his family's power. Kathyln might be considered a prodigy, but she's average compared to you, and to be able to start training at three, they could have a whole generation of silver core mages before they're adults."

"They can't be that bad, can they?" Arthur asked in disbelief.

"Remember I'm old. I watched as Blaine grew up and failed to meet his father's expectations as a mage. How he picked his wife based on how powerful of mages her family produced, just with the hopes of making his family strong again. I wouldn't put it past him to make you a puppet and impregnate his daughter. And seeing as she seems to have a little crush on you, I could easily see her not realizing you're a puppet until it was too late. The problem is that there is a severe lack of honorable nobles in Sapin, they are all only out for themselves and gaining personal power."

"Ok well thank you for making me paranoid about the Glayder family, and telling me the horror stories of becoming a lance. I'm going to sleep now," Arthur said as he jumped down from the bar stool.

"It's not impossible to reach the white core without a relic. It's in no way easy, but considering you have a light yellow core at thirteen, you might be able to make it on your own while you're still relatively young."

"What makes you so certain I can do that?" Arthur asked.

"Like I said I've heard of you. You're a Quadra elemental, so you get stronger quicker than anyone. Most of us with only a single affinity are capable of absorbing more ambient mana than we actually do due to the availability of our element. You on the other hand are capable of absorbing all ambient mana, so your body is absorbing it at full capacity," Pasta looked at Art seriously. "I don't know if you can actually do it, we are told it's impossible to reach a white core without a relic, but we are also told a Quadra elemental is impossible too. You have the greatest potential out of anyone on this continent, well except maybe that elf boy. I don't know if it's the liquor, but I think he's hiding his true power."

Arthur rolled his eyes at that last comment. "Ok, well I'm going to bed." Arthur then started to walk away when he felt something hit his head from behind. Arthur quickly turned around and saw Pasta looking at him.

"Take it," Pasta said pointing down. Arthur looked and saw a brown fur blanket rolled up and tied off. "That's a mountain elephant fur blanket. I overheard your party is heading to Frozen Hell next, that might come in handy."

"Thank you, but are you sure? These are pretty expensive aren't they?" Arthur asked, not wanting to take advantage of the drunk.

"I make more than enough gold, so I like to help the younger adventurers that aren't nobles every once and a while. Also, that's a pretty big blanket, big enough to cover and keep two full grown adults warm," Pasta then gave a drunken smirk. "So maybe you should share some of that space under there with your elf princess."

"There is something seriously wrong with you," Arthur replied as he felt a little embarrassed by the comment.

"Haha, you're just realizing that now?" Pasta replied sounding amused.

"No I realized it earlier. Your speech switches between a drunken slur and clear very quickly, like you're trying to seem drunk while you're not," Arthur replied.

"You've got good instincts kid. I am a little drunk, but not to the degree I appear. It makes people more comfortable around me. Everyone likes the friendly drunk old man, while the retired lance might make them nervous. I've also made some enemies over the years, so acting like this might make them try and make a move on me. Then I can vent my frustrations a bit," Pasta admitted, then gave Arthur a sad smile. "As for my comments about you and the elf girl, well I guess I'm just seeing you living the life Serena and I couldn't have, that we wanted. I'm sorry if I crossed a line, I just can see how much she clearly loves you, and despite how uncertain you sometimes seemed, it looks like you love her too. I just don't want you to make the same mistakes I made."

"What mistakes did you make? From your story it sounds like you were being cautious," Arthur asked.

"We waited. I entertained the idea of stealing her papers from my father and going to buy her freedom then the two of us could run away together, but in the end I dismissed it. I kept telling myself we had time, that we weren't ready to just be on our own. In the end I was really just scared, scared that once we were free that I couldn't make her happy, scared that she would want to go home and I wouldn't be welcome there." Pasta looked to Arthur with a serious gaze. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, I'm just an old man and you're just some kid I met today. But you don't know what tomorrow will bring, and you don't want to live a life with regrets and asking yourself what if. If you know what you want don't waste time, take it and hold on, and never let go."