Role

Chapter 5

"Be more grateful."

Be more perceptive, is more like it. Bound by my bitterness with the lies
of this world - not least of all from you, Anttiya - I see that it has
been only lies I looked for, and less truth.

The truth is, you have quietly bestowed trust in me. A black rod, simply
held by a member of the Consortium of Magic... I did not believe you, no.
So this felar is suddenly good enough to be bestowed truths, not tests?

That is the way of the world, isn't it? We preserve what empowers us, and we
only empower those who strengthen us, not weaken us. So I am no longer some
fool felar fighting for a shred of the truth veiled throughout Thera. You
know I fight for magic. You know I protect our guild, I protect order.

And we both know it is all threatened.

So, Anttiya, our next mystery. How to defeat the battleragers? The key
is the veil, isn't it? And nothing less than knowing the catalog of the
entirety of magical artifacts in Thera will enable me to learn how to
manipulate it?? Such a thought fills a felar with fury.

The truth is, it is all harder for me. Incantations fumble from my furred
lips, nuances of knowledge elude my mind. But our kind are children of
magic, and I know there is a unique affinity for it within me, awaiting
my discovery.

And when I find it, the veil will be rended open, and the barbarian
village will be scattered with the corpses of the deceived.