Summoner’s Tower was the tallest building in Tosa and was situated right on the plaza where the market was held. Trevor hadn’t given it much thought at the time, but leaving when he first arrived had been an experience. It had shocked him to see everything that was different in this world, but in the end he thought it had been good for him.

Trevor thought that if he had exited anywhere else in town, then it wouldn’t have been such a powerful moment. He had explored much of Tosa and could firmly say he believed that. The river would have been peaceful, and the residential district would have had houses that were familiar, but they wouldn’t have the same impact.

From the Summoner’s Tower, he had walked into the busiest place for miles around. People were buying, selling, and bartering, and it showed off nearly every race that made this place their home. Not just the humans, but everyone.

Apparently, going to the tower was making him nostalgic. He stopped in the spot where Klar had knocked him over, and found himself missing the gentle giant of a minotaur. Trevor raised his hand and retrieved the business card he had been given, and smiled when the Language Fish did its job and translated the chicken scratch for him.

“Klarkartar’s Magical Emporium,” he read to himself before turning to overlook the plaza’s stalls.

“Trevor, are you coming?” Adabelle asked from the door.

The young man turned to see that Wayne had already gone in, and the horned woman was looking back at him. He smiled. “Yeah, just thinking about a friend.”

“Don’t take too long, okay?” she requested.

“Oh, no, I’m done,” he replied as he pulled the business card back into his inventory.

The two ascended up the stairs to the tower in quiet contemplation. They had both given each other a lot to think about, though their peace only lasted for as long as the climb did.

At the top was Jackson and Wayne, as expected, but also Rashie and Mr. Tiggles. The shark girl was chasing after the cat, but the animal didn’t seem distressed in the slightest. Five chairs and a luxurious, unused cat bed had been placed around the summoning circle. Once they were noticed, the elf motioned for them to sit.

“Rashie, it’s time,” Wayne said, and the shark girl immediately veered off to sit in the chair next to him. She fidgeted a lot, but seemed ready to pay attention.

“What’s going on?” Adabelle asked.

“I’m making an announcement,” Jackson replied, gesturing for the two to sit again.

Once Adabelle sat, Mr. Tiggles jumped onto her lap and curled up. “Purr,” he said as the woman began absently petting him.

Trevor sat down in a chair between Adabelle and Rashie and waited patiently for the Jackson’s announcement. He had an inkling of what it was going to be, but didn’t want to spoil it if he was wrong.

It took the elf a few moments to start. He stared at the people in the room for a few moments before chuckling and shaking his head. “I suppose the best thing to do is rip the band aid off in one go,” he said to himself. “I am planning on retiring. Soon.”

“What?” Adabelle asked.

“Retiring? You’re no spring chicken but you still have a lot of life left in you, old man,” Wayne stated.

“Yeah, if you’re tired again why don’t you just take more naps?” Rashie asked, bemused.

“Retiring means that he’s not going to be the mayor anymore,” Trevor told her, but held his tongue about what he knew of Jackson’s plans. One thing at a time.

“What?” she asked, jumping so she was standing on her chair. “But Jack’s always been mayor!”

“And I’m naming Adabelle my successor,” Jackson continued.

“What?” Adabelle asked again. Trevor glanced at her, and could see the confusion in her face. She shook it off and asked a much more substantial question. “Wait, why now? And what about learning more about summoning? And the people of Tosa?”

Jackson chuckled. “Now, because everything’s fallen into place,” he said. “I have everything I need, and you’re ready for it. On summoning, you’ve learned plenty, the only thing you need is practice, and the people of Tosa will be just fine with you in charge.”

“Yeah, Addy,” Wayne said, switching gears. “I reckon you’d manage to pull it off quite well. You already do all the work of the mayor without much help. Now you can delegate those tasks without worrying about when Jackson’s going to leave you in the breeze again.”

“I wouldn’t quite put it like-”

“Yeah, yeah! Like whoosh!” Rashie agreed. “Addymanatine as mayor will always be reliable. Plus, Wayne can help with stuff like paperwork.”

“Don’t you go volunteering me, now.”

“I’m voluntelling you,” Rashie said before giggling.

“What did you mean you have everything you need?” Adabelle asked. Trevor noticed she had stopped petting Mr. Tiggles, and the cat had started making biscuits on her lap as he purred loudly.

“Now that, that is a secret for another day,” Jackson said mysteriously.

“No, spill it, Jackson,” she commanded, crossing her arms.

“I will not,” the elf stated, and Adabelle grumbled unhappily. “Besides, I called you two back because I have a quest for you both. Adabelle, you need to meet with the king in Eskretet to announce yourself as the future mayor of Tosa.”

“And if I don’t want the job anymore?” she asked.

“Then that’s unfortunate, because I’ll have to fall back on Wayne.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to end well for anyone,” Wayne said with a dark chuckle. “But we all know you’ll take the job, Addy.”

Adabelle looked ready to fight, but crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair. “Continue.”

“Thank you,” Jackson said graciously with a small bow. “After everyone else is dismissed, we’ll discuss the specifics about what to do when you meet the king and about passing on the mantle. I’ll also need to speak with the Queen of the Feywood, but that comes closer to when you return.”

Trevor couldn’t help but perk up when he heard that. Denden had mentioned that the Queen of the Feywood had told them they couldn’t hurt anyone. Given what he knew of the fairies, the young man had figured that she had only mentioned people and not things, which made them think that taking out wagons was acceptable. If she didn’t want anyone hurt, then visiting her was probably fine.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Fine, we’ll discuss it in private,” Adabelle said as she began rubbing her temples. “You said it was a quest for both of us. I’m going to assume, based on Trevor’s Power, that you need something delivered.”

“Myself, and others in town will be willing to contribute quests and rewards for the transportation of goods to the capital,” the elf stated, turning to the young man. “I know you have only just started venturing out of Tosa, but Adabelle will be with you. I understand if you wouldn’t-“

“No, that’s fine,” Trevor answered quickly. “I, uh, I want to visit Eskretet. I think that could be a lot of fun, and I’m sure Adabelle can handle anything hostile that comes our way.”

Wayne snorted and leaned back in his chair. “Easy trip, easy quest.”

“I want to go with Addy!” Rashie pouted. “The food there is so good, and they have a big lake, and the monsters are stronger.”

“I’m sorry, Rashie,” Jackson said with a soft smile. “But we’re going to need you and Wayne to stay back just in case there’s a dungeon surge.”

“Dungeon surge?” Trevor asked.

“When a dungeon’s been cleared out enough to go dormant, there’s a chance that it springs back all at once,” Wayne sighed as he explained. “Should be that there’s more monsters roaming now than there is, but everything’s quiet, so we’re thinking it’s more likely than not.”

“That sounds like a lot of people could be hurt,” Trevor worried.

“Normally, but that’s what these two are for,” Jackson said as he waved towards the two adventurers.

“If there’s a surge, then I’ll know,” Rashie said confidently as she pointed at her chest with a thumb. “I’ll smell them coming a mile away.”

“That’s impressive.”

“Also, false,” Wayne said. “But that’s what we’ve been checking on when we go out and about. And also why Rashie here’s got too much energy.”

“I wanna chase something!” the shark girl exclaimed before chomping her teeth.

“I’ve made my announcement, so you can go and run around, Rashie,” Jackson said with a light laugh.

“Yesss!” she roared before running off to the stairs. No one spoke as they heard her feet slamming into the stone, echoing through the tower, and the door opening.

“She sure is a little ball of sunshine, isn’t she,” Trevor remarked.

“That’s a nice way of putting it,” Wayne snorted. “But yeah, she’s a good kid.”

“I think I’d like to go have that discussion now,” Adabelle said, picking up Mr. Tiggles as she stood up.

“Very well,” Jackson said as he joined her. “Trevor, tomorrow morning I’ll make sure everyone is gathered in front of the Hero House so that you can easily collect everything before heading off on your journey. Wayne, will you tell him what he needs to know about Eskretet?” Trevor nodded, and the dwarf stood up.

“You got it, Jack,” Wayne said. “C’mon, kid, we’re going shooting.”

“Oh, I’ve never shot a gun before,” Trevor stated.

“Gonna today.”

Jackson raised his hand and summoned the same book he had when Trevor first arrived. The young man stared at it again, but now he was picking out more details. To his surprise, everything lined up so far. On the cover, he wore the backpack that Melvirn had given him, the Language Fish and PathGuider that he had gotten from Thimbleden, and even the Vigor Bottle from Laric.

He was so engrossed with the details that he hardly noticed Adabelle glance back at him before she entered the book’s pages, and Jackson followed. Trevor only snapped back to reality when the book receded into the ground.

“It’s weird, right?” Wayne asked.

“Yeah, very,” Trevor mumbled before speaking up. “What exactly is it?”

The dwarf shrugged. “Dunno, Jack’s always been secretive about the nature of his Power, and I’ve always thought he might have more than one.”

“You can have more than one Power?” Trevor asked, bemused.

“In the olden days you could, apparently. According to the elf, it’s a lost art. He hasn’t been able to replicate it.”

“Dang, that’s a bummer.”

“Yeah, we call that one Bookmark, though we’re not quite sure on most of the details,” Wayne said as he started walking towards the stairs. Trevor followed. “He’s had one with my picture, Addy’s picture, and Rashie’s. Yours now, too.”

Trevor arched an eyebrow. “Can he do anything else with our books?”

“Doesn’t seem to, though I’m not sure,” Wayne replied. “Even if he could, he’s always respected our privacy before at the very least. He’s a good folk. Better than our world deserved.”

As they reached the bottom of tower, they saw that the door was still open and closed it on the way out. The sky was still cloudy, and the breeze was cool and comforting. Wayne started heading towards one of the roads leading out of town, and Trevor quickly fell beside him.

“So, what about Eskretet?” the young man asked.

“Eskretet,” Wayne grunted. “You’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”

“Cool, we both have Star Wars in our worlds.”

That caused the dwarf to snort in amusement. “It’s fine,” he claimed with a wave of his hand. “The culture’s completely different than here in Tosa, though. Suppose I should warn you about that.”

“Warn me?” Trevor asked, confused and now slightly worried.

“You’ll be okay, but the vibe’s different,” Wayne explained. “Like, here you get that small town, everyone knows each other, everything’s hunky dory atmosphere, right?”

“I don’t know if Dory would like you calling her hunky, but I’m with you so far,” Trevor laughed.

“Maybe. She’s a nice lady, she might roll with it,” the dwarf replied. “But you’re not going to get that there. Sure, there’s some camaraderie between people who live there, but it’s big enough that they’re all in different groups amongst themselves. And the nobles there love their duels.”

“Adabelle mentioned something like that,” Trevor stated.

“Yup, that’s how she got her horn split,” Wayne confirmed as they started walking out of the town’s walls. “You gotta be careful about being with Addy. I guarantee you they’ll all remember her, and see you there, and you likely won’t get by unnoticed.”

“Oh, great, so I’m going to have some uppity noble trying to pick fights,” the young man lamented as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s going to be hilarious for everyone except me.”

“Not much of a fighter, huh?”

“Only if you count video games.”

“I don’t.”

“Then no. No, Wayne, I am not.”

“Well, just hide behind her like you’re some kind of serving boy, then,” Wayne chortled. “I suppose the right term is retainer. No one wants to duel the help, after all.”

Trevor tilted his head. “Not a bad call. Adabelle’s already a noble, and she’s already participated in duels, so that could work.”

“Glad I could be of service. Though, aside from the nobles, you just gotta worry about getting your pockets picked.” Wayne paused and gave Trevor a sidelong glance. “Well, maybe not you personally.”

“My pockets are always empty,” the young man stated proudly. “Except for the one that exists inside my head.”

“If I didn’t know the context there, I’d say you were crazy, Trevor.”

Wayne led Trevor onto a side road that was more game trail than actual path, and they emerged into a clearing. There were chairs and tables meant to survive the weather, and scarecrows on stilts with white shirts were placed at various distances away. Several wooden structures were littered throughout, with some of the scarecrows being hidden inside while others were in plain sight. Bullet holes riddled the clearing.

“You made your very own shooting range, huh? This is impressive,” Trevor said.

“It’s just a little something I constructed,” Wayne said before gesturing at the chairs. “Please, take a seat. We got one more thing to talk about before we start shooting.”

“Sure, something else about Eskretet?” he asked, doing as he was told.

“Nope,” Wayne said, sitting across from Trevor. He reached into his beard and pulled out a small pistol that the young man didn’t immediately recognize. What he did recognize was the dangerous aura that the dwarf embodied as he removed the magazine, examined the bullets within, and returned it before setting it down on the table. “Fires off 9mm rounds, hits like a 12 gauge. Powers make things strong like that.”

Trevor didn’t say anything, wondering if all adventurers were capable of instilling wariness at will, and Wayne continued.

“Let’s discuss your relationship with Addy.”