Chapter 113: Blockade

"You really told them something like this?!"

Avoiding choking on her drink with only the utmost effort, Nadia stared at Fen with her eyes wide open. Yet, it was hard to tell whether it was ridicule, awe or utter shock that flashed in her pupils.

"Was I wrong? While I hold my utmost respect towards your hard efforts and achievements, I can tell how swiftly I am improving."

Fen shook his head and took a sip of the local wine. While his soul was as far away from longing after empire as it could be, there was no denying that the further north he went, the harder it was to find a proper beer. Maybe it was the influence remaining after years of being one of the major areas in the Fallen Kingdom, 

Putting the mug filled with this strange juice that only pretended to taste like the hop, Fen looked up at the face of his senior. Twisted in a strange grimace that was so ridiculous that it made it impossible for the young man to see through this face. It was clear that Nadia was barely holding in, right on the verge of erupting either with laughter or a long and boring lesson.

"Well, I will give you that. Just today you already improved leaps and bounds, so your potential growth within just a single week would be… But you must prepare for one thing. In the next few days, you will be required to take on a quest from the city."

Suddenly dropping a huge bomb like that, Nadia somehow managed to calm herself down. It was most likely the working of the sweet wine that she drank, far more suitable for the comfortable atmosphere of the republic. 

"I know that so far, you might take the entire academy aspect quite lightly. Even if you made the most out of the lessons, they still had this kind of a rather loose formula, didn't they?"

Smiling from above her cup, Naida relaxed her back on the backrest of her chair. Looking upwards, she seemed to think about some greater matters that for now, Fen was safe from.

"What kind of quest am I supposed to fulfil? Will one be given to me, or should I find my own way of obtaining one?"

Instead of creating walls around the problem, avoiding the topic or letting it go by his ears, Fen instantly attacked. As much as Nadia's words made sense, they didn't really matter in the face of some kind of official grading.

As silly as it could sound, just the last few days were enough for Fen to understand some of the inner workings of the academy. Generally, it was starkly different from what the young man experienced back in the Akhaz city. Instead of strict classes and lessons, one would rather find a mentor and later a group that would allow him to further down whatever interests he or she would have. 

Right now, Fen was still on the first step of the academy ledger, but the announcement of the first grading opportunity would soon change this. Once he could show some kind of results, then the entire organisation would be more inclined to invest back in him. That's why the young man wasn't surprised with the formula of the test at all. After all, in this kind of scenario, what mattered was practical benefits instead of some ambiguous political plays like the tournament back in Akhaz.

'Thinking about it… I never really had the time to slowly recall the memories from those days…'

Suddenly stopping all his thoughts, a single realisation struck Fen's mind. With all the events ever since the appearance of the Inquisition back in his home village turning his life way worse than just frantic, he never had any time to think deeply about the past. And without looking back, laid a great potential of lessons that he could learn for free!

"Most likely, you will be given the option to find something yourself, but in case you fail to achieve that, you will receive a suitable quest from the academy. As for the difficulty of the task…"

Nadia took a sip of her wine before putting her lips into a slightly curved line of a smug smile.

"It's supposed to net between ten silvers and a single golden coin."

Just from the proud expression of the girl, Fen could guess what was making her so happy about what she just said. Because this system of adjusting one's skill to the hardship of the task… was as simple as it was ingenious. 

In such a huge community that the capital city of Gauna was, the inner workings of the market would quickly establish an unwritten but incredibly strictly set of rules and mechanisms. Using the tools provided, everyone that would ever pose any quest would have to follow the strict steps to have the price assigned. 

While the concrete details never graced the library of Fen's knowledge, it was easy to realise that this academy had to receive some enormous founding from the republican treasury. It could some sort of form a fortuitous circle of people paying their taxes and the country providing, with the hands of the academy, for most of the unorthodox needs of its citizens!

"Tell… If I got a deal that basically earns me five silvers a week and it lasts for an indefinite amount of time… Would that kind of request be approved?"

In one instant, Fen decided to strike the iron while it was hot. A few days to the past, he moved with Arla to a certain comfortable house. After striking a deal with the owner of the place, the young man was burdened with the choice that he had to fulfil sooner or later. 

Even though this kind of pricing was completely free from the restraints of the civilian law, as it was something done privately, Fen couldn't help but push his luck a bit to complete two of his current tasks at once!

"Well, that would definitely be accepted… The question is whether you will be able to manage such a task. If it will take some time, you have up to a week to submit the confirmation papers of fulfilling the quest."

Putting down the cup from her hand on the small, wooden structure. Normally, its sole purpose was to let the students practice different angles of attack with cutting weapons, now that it was turned to the side, it transformed into a fancy bench for the young student duo, taking a break from their training.

"That's great! Also… I don't want you to think that I'm in any haste with this thing, but do you maybe know about some better mercenary groups?"

If Nadia looked surprised back when she heard what Fen said to the crowd of the mercenaries offering to include Fen into their groups, then her face now broke through the limits of how vividly a shock could appear on one's face!

"Didn't you just dismiss all the offers you had? Ah, right. I should have some… contacts, but I can't guarantee anything. The groups that you should check out are not of those who allow people just because of the recommendation in their group. After all, with the level of the tasks that they are dealing, everyone's life depends on the rest of the group."

Suddenly losing all of her positive mood, Nadia lowered her face before pointing at the emptiness of the rest of the room. Given how they weren't simply practising Fen's swordsmanship or any other art of using a weapon, there was no need for any other training objects here. Just the walls laced with a material capable of resisting most of the arcanas was enough.

"I think you should go back to training. While your growth is both obvious and real, it won't simply fall down from the skies for you. Before I will even think about arranging the meeting with any of the groups, I need you to form your first catalyst. Given the insane spike of one's abilities once it is obtained, I will feel far more reassured to let you join any of the groups."

Standing up, Nadia pulled Fen to the middle of the training hall. In the very next moment, the young man was once again focusing all his attention at materialising a simple wish. A simple order for his flames to listen. Only after he would accomplish the task of properly establishing his intent, would the young man have the shoot at surfacing his true catalyst. 

At first, it would be most likely just a simple, small item. A knife, a shield, a crystal, a short sword. While there were no defined rules for the entire process, most of its limitations steemed from how weak anyone would be during the first awakening of their true potential. 

Without the energy to support anything greater, a phoenixian would have to keep working on his catalyst by adding more intents, stabilising it and properly growing in power, so that once his power would hit its absolute peak, the entire catalyst would materialise in its highest form.

That was the ultimate goal that Fen was willing to go for any lengths to fulfil, but for now, the thoughts of the young arcanist were focused on obtaining any smallest piece or form of his newly awakened catalyst!

"Good, keep it up!"

Cheering the young man up, Naida continued to pace around him with a strange look on her face. At least, the fingers of her hands that she cupped behind her back, didn't house the sparks of her fires, indicating that she still was in a relatively calm mood.

'Strange…'

Thinking to himself, Fen closed his eyes, focusing all his attention on the incorporeal world around him. While it could be nothing more but a stupid gut-feeling, the young man was actually sure that his intent… was already materialised!

Sadly, no matter how easily he could caress the stable intent of his, nothing that would resemble his catalyst would appear!

"Deim…"

Letting it go, Fen nearly fell down on his knees. This was the problem that he faced for the last two days already. Forming his intent was pretty easy, yet pushing it beyond the border of perfect control and stability… seemed to be impossible. No matter what the young man attempted to do, it wouldn't budge, it wouldn't help him form his catalyst!

It went to the point where Fen would start forming second, then third and even fourth intent all at once, yet with the increase of the numbers, the hardships of controlling them perfectly grew exponentially. In the end, the absolute limit of the different intents that Fen could create and control was as low as two!

"I guess I still need to train some more!"