There may also be some inaccuracies, since English is not my native language.
Essentially, TBATE is first translated from English into my native language — and in that process, some details are already altered to make it more understandable for us. Now I'm taking that adapted (and somewhat distorted) version, revising it, rewriting it, and then translating it back into English.
I hope you'll point out any mistakes in the text that I might have missed.
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"Excuse me?" Arthur said, patting a passerby on the shoulder. "Do you know where my friend and I can find a team for a preliminary climb?"
The bearded man, whose golden chain mail made him practically glow, tilted his head to one side and gave us a fierce look. "Get lost."
We had already received several such colorful refusals from other ascendants when a young "gentleman" who looked only a few years older than me (physically, that is) seemed to decide to lend a helping hand.
"Are you serious?" he asked with a cheerful chuckle.
"We're new here," Arthur admitted, scratching his cheek.
"Come on," the man nodded invitingly. "I'm heading there myself."
Leaving the main avenue, the three of us crossed a less crowded street. As we walked, I looked the man over appraisingly: he was wearing a tight-fitting set of dark leather armor, well-made but much less luxurious than some of the other upstarts I had seen, such as the man in gold chain mail. He walked with confidence, knowing exactly where he was going.
"So, which academy are you from?" he asked listlessly. "The chances are slim, but maybe I studied there too."
I shook my head and pulled Arthur by the shoulder. "I didn't study at the academy. My uncle taught me and my friend."
"And you passed the certification? Congratulations," he said with a smile before extending his hand. "By the way, my name is Quinten."
"Grey," Arthur replied, accepting his gesture.
"Lucius," I replied, shaking his hand.
"So, Grey, Lucius, have you had a chance to see the city yet?" Quinten asked, looking up at the buildings towering above us.
"A little. The city is even more amazing than the stories I've heard about it," Arthur replied.
"Well, what did you expect from a city created exclusively for powerful mages?" he smiled. "You should see Summit Estates."
Arthur's eyebrows furrowed. "Estates? You mean houses?"
Quentin nodded. "I've only looked through the gates once, but it's a gated community of villas for the high-blood ascendants."
"And considering how many inns I've seen just walking down the street, I assume the price of these houses is astronomical?" I asked, keeping up the conversation with the guy who was trying to kill us.
"Astronomical is an understatement," the up-and-comer snorted as we turned right into a narrow alley between two buildings. "No, even if you had the money, the real problem is exclusivity. The amount of real estate there is quite limited, and it's rare for the nobility to give up the prestige of owning a house on the second level. They usually only sell them if they're in a difficult situation."
"I see."
Ascendant smiled and put his arms around Arthur and me. "I'm just creating a dream for you so you can try to achieve it."
I smiled. "Thank you."
Then Quinten leaned in, his voice softening. "You should also check out the girls on Blossom Street."
"Huh?" It took Arthur a second to understand what he meant. "Oh... wait, they're Ascendants too, why would they..."
"Ascensions are dangerous." He shrugged. "Many of us-not just our lovely escorts-have been through it and are sick of it. The smarter ones have realized there are easier ways to make money."
"Like luring poor mages trying to become ascendants into dark alleys and robbing them?" I asked innocently.
Quinten blinked before suppressing a laugh. "When did you figure that out?"
I glanced around, ignoring the ascendant leaning casually against the brick column supporting the bridge several stories above us. There was no one in sight except my friendly robber and Arthur.
"Almost immediately," I said, lowering my gaze to meet Quinten's. "I assumed you had a group of other thugs waiting to come to your aid."
He chuckled. "Why would I need a group to deal with two little wogarts?"
Quinten's silhouette blurred as he lunged at me, and a solid stone blade formed around his hand.
Why does everyone always attack me first? There's a guy standing right here with the main character aura, why not attack him?
Stopping my complaining, I reached for the stone blade covering Quinten's hand. Grabbing his wrist with my left hand, I directed the blade so that it would not cause harm, took a step back with my left foot, and struck him in the chin with my right elbow.
With the momentum of his own lunge, I barely had to use any force, at most enveloping myself in aether.
Quinten's head fell back and he collapsed to the ground, his stone blade dissolving.
Fortunately, the robber did not die from my blow; his body was strong enough that he regained consciousness after a few minutes, giving enough time to tie his hands and feet together using his own clothes.
"Had a nice nap?"
The Ascendant groaned before realizing he was half-naked and his limbs were bound. "I don't know what you did, but do you really think leather straps can hold me?"
"No, but they'll give me and my friend enough time to knock you out again if you try anything nasty," I said with an innocent smile.
Quinten nodded awkwardly from his position on the ground. "What do you want?"
"What we wanted from the beginning," I replied. "Where can we find a team for the preliminary ascent?"
The half-naked ascendant shifted from side to side until he was finally able to point his chin in the right direction. "Just follow this road until you reach Vritra Avenue. Turn right and follow the road until you see a tall building with a giant clock on top."
"See, Grey, and you said I didn't know how to hold a conversation. Look how easy it is," I said, looking at Arthur, who was smiling mockingly at me.
"Thanks," I said to our friendly robber as I walked away in the right direction.
Walking along a narrow marble road, which was surprisingly clean—there wasn't a single piece of trash in sight-I headed toward the clock tower, and suddenly saw a barely noticeable shadow flash by.
"Now you can show yourself," I said, without slowing down.
A slender man dressed in dark leather and chain mail jumped down from one of the low buildings to my left.
The famous Haedrig had appeared.
"Why are you following us?" Arthur asked, studying the man, who looked to be about twenty-two or twenty-three years old.
Curly strands of moss-green hair covered most of his face, but I could make out high cheekbones beneath a pair of deep-set brown eyes.
"Peace," he said in a low, raspy voice. The man raised his hands, showing empty palms.
"Ascendant Quinten was telling the truth, you're not with him," Arthur said thoughtfully. "Does the third party want to try their luck?"
"Lucius, do you know anything?" Arthur asked through mental space.
"I don't remember much, but I know that this 'guy' will be useful to us for a long time," I replied and cut off the mental communication.
Haedrig shook his head. "I sensed the use of mana, and at this level, that usually means a fight. I decided that someone was in trouble and came to check."
"That's not an answer to my question," Arthur replied calmly.
"Curiosity got the better of me," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at me. "I was amazed at how your tall friend dealt with that robber, and also that you let him go so easily. Despite his words, you had the right to take his life."
"I don't do that," Arthur said, not even trying to hide his disgust.
Of course, I didn't mind breaking this thief's arms, and the reason I didn't is standing right in front of me.
"That's why I'd like to be on your team when you return to the relictombs." Haedrig confidently held Arthur's gaze, but the fingers of his left hand twitched nervously.
"Sorry to disappoint you, buddy, but we're not going to 'return' to the relictombs. This is our preliminary ascent," I replied.
How tiresome it was to say these words, knowing who was standing in front of me.
He nodded, his curly green bangs bouncing softly around his face. "I heard you. I can help with that-help you find a team that won't kill you."
"What's your name?" I asked, deciding to end this dialogue.
"Haedrig." He held out his hand.
I accepted his gesture and realized how small his hand was. There were faint calluses on his fingers and palms, though I couldn't feel them at all.
"Lucius."
"Grey," Arthur accepted the gesture as well.
A moment later
Smiling slightly, Haedrig turned and scanned the crowd until he spotted us.
"Lucius! Grey! Over here!" he said, raising his hand.
Both girls' eyes widened in surprise when they saw us, while Ezra's eyebrows furrowed aggressively.
Their older brother just looked at the three of them in confusion.
I walked up to Haedrig and looked at him without saying anything.
"Kalon, this is Lucius and Grey, my friends who need to make a preliminary ascent," Haedrig said, pointing to the ascendant in armor. "Lucius, Grey, this is Calon of Blood Granbehl. He has agreed to take us with him."
"So you are familiar with my blood," Kalon nodded.
"The Granbehl family is a distinguished Named Blood from the Dominion of Vechor," Haedrig explained to us.
Kalon turned to me and then to Arthur. "It's nice to meet you, Lucius, Grey. As your friend said, I am Kalon Granbehl, and these two fair-haired future ascendants are my younger sister and brother, Ada and Ezra."
"And I'm Riah of Faline Blood," their lively, short-haired friend said without hesitation. "What a coincidence that we met again so soon!"
"Again?" Kalon asked, looking from me to Arthur and Riah. "Have you all met before?"
"I think we saw each other briefly in the Ascender building in Aramur," Arthur clarified. "Thank you for agreeing to take us with you."
"Oh, it's no big deal! My brother has done this many times since he became an instructor," Ada replied readily, shaking her head, while Kalon looked at her with a mischievous grin.
"You'd better not delay us. Even if it's just a preliminary ascent, the relictombs are dangerous," Ezra warned, stepping forward and comparing his height to Arthur's.
He was about 183 centimeters, slightly shorter than Arthur, who was 186, but Ezra's body was much broader and more massive than Arthur's, and mine too.
Patting Ezra on the shoulder, Kalon said, "You're not in school anymore, little brother. Be careful, this pretty boy might even be stronger than you." Kalon looked at Arthur as he said this, and the cheerful smile slipped from his face for a moment.
"Vogart without training at the academy? I doubt it," Ezra snapped before turning away.
"Well, shall we go?" Haedrig asked, looking at the students in uniform. "Or do the three of you need to put on your armor first?"
"No need," Ezra replied curtly, enveloping his body in mana.
A moment later, a full set of silver armor materialized around Ezra's body, along with a shiny scarlet spear inscribed with pale gold runes.
"You should have seen how happy he was when our father gave it to him for graduation." Kalon raised his eyebrows with a smirk, causing Ada to stifle a surprised chuckle.
Ezra shot his older brother a threatening look, and his neck and cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Riah also had her own set of materializing armor, though it was made of leather and chain mail, which provided speed and flexibility. She wielded a unique weapon-a dagger with a wide, fan-shaped blade held by a hilt encrusted with small gemstones.
Granbehl's younger sister was dressed in a luxurious soft green mage's robe, decorated on the inside with rows of runes; slits on the sides allowed for freedom of movement. The trim was gold, like Kalon's armor, and decorated with the same crown symbolizing their family crest. She had neither a magic wand nor a staff; instead, all ten fingers were adorned with rings connected by small chains attached to silver bracelets on her wrists, each set with a single pink gemstone.
"So, Grey." Riah settled down next to Arthur as our group headed for the exit from the square, catching his eye for a moment and then turning away. "I'm curious to know what your and your friend's assessment results were."
Ada moved closer, and even Ezra slowed his pace, tilting his head toward us to listen.
"I think, apart from 'flexibility in offensive magic,' I scored above average," Arthur replied.
"Oh! That's not bad!" Kalon interjected, looking back at us over his shoulder. "It's hard to get a good score in flexibility if you don't have runes of different elements, so don't beat yourself up about it. What about you, Lucius?"
"Flexibility in offensive magic - below average. Mana manipulation - above average. Athleticism - exceptional. Mental acuity - exceptional." There was no point in hiding it, and even if they wanted to, they would have seen it, so I calmly recounted my results, slightly adjusting my equipment.
All eyes turned to me, so I tilted my head to the right, "What?"
A couple of minutes later
"Is everyone ready?" asked Kalon, distracting me from my thoughts about runes and how they smoothly weave into all areas of Alacryan life. We were standing a few steps away from a massive arch with a white and gold portal.
"Shouldn't we check our supplies?" Hedrig asked seriously.
"Is that necessary? The preliminary ascent usually doesn't take more than a day," Riah replied impatiently, her body practically drawn to the humming gates, which she stared at with wide eyes in anticipation.
"We should treat this like any other ascent," insisted Haedrig, already assessing his rations. "I have enough water for a week and dry rations for two days."
"Haedrig is right. In the relictombs, you have to be prepared for anything," Kalon interjected, pulling a large leather water bag and a bundle of dried meat wrapped in cloth from his spatial ring. "I have enough water for three days and rations for one."
The rest of the team also took out their rations. Not surprisingly, I had the most provisions, not counting the system. Arthur and I had received a huge amount of provisions from the good-natured Alaric. The old drunk had packed a two-week supply of water and a sealed ration for three days for each of us.
"This guy may be a grumpy old drunk, but at least he seems to be acting with the best of intentions," Regis chuckled in our thoughts.
Since we were about to enter the relictombs, we automatically activated mental communication. Arthur hoped that the area would be one I knew so that I could guide him further. I also hoped that the area would be one I knew so that I could continue to rely on the original.
"Great, we're more seriously equipped than for many of the deeper ascents I've been on," said Kalon, looking at Ria with a cheerful face. "And Riah seems to think she's going on a picnic with all the sweets she's brought along."
Riah blushed and cursed under her breath. "Whatever you say. I was going to share..."
"Sure, sure," Kalon chuckled. "You all have simulets, right?"
Each of us took out a polished, rune-inscribed palm-sized simulet that would bind our team together as we passed through the teleportation gate.
Kalon nodded and turned to face the flickering panel of golden-white light that would take us to the first zone.
"Blood honors me, light guides me, Vritra protects me," Kalon said, followed by his brother, sister, and Riah.