The Innkeeper

Lex's jaw dropped as he looked up into the sky with squinted eyes. It was only then that he noticed that what he had so far assumed was the 'sun' seemed to be moving in the sky.

The birds were too bright for Lex to observe them directly, but now that he was looking up in the sky, he was able to notice that there was no great ball of fire in the sky. It was only now that Mary's description of a realm had sunk in. This realm or world or large landmass, whatever it was, existed as a single entity as large as Earth's solar system. First of all, that was so much land that Lex found it difficult to comprehend. Secondly, if the entire realm existed as one landmass, how did the season's work? What was the distinction between night and day? What would happen if you kept traveling directly up? Would you hit some kind of ceiling?

What would happen if one of those birds wanted to take a rest, and flew down? Were they just a source of light, or were they extremely hot as well, like the sun? How did the plants survive if this world was dependent on birds for light? Was there a secondary source of light?

Lex suppressed all his curiosity and focused on the matter at hand. His survival was not in question since he would be pulled back if his life was in danger, but that did not mean he was looking forward to being pushed to that brink. The birds were… a matter he would look into later.

It was clear to him now that he lacked certain 'common sense and knowledge' when it came to this realm, so sticking with this kid would be for the best. After all, between these Kraven everyone was at war with, and these birds that gave sunlight… sol-light? Basically, with all the weird stuff going on, he had no idea what to expect.

"My name is Lex," he introduced himself. "My memory may be foggy, but I think we'll do better if we stick together, don't you? My combat skills are not bad, so if we encounter any danger I should be able to take care of it."

The boy quickly went over a few thoughts in his mind, and suddenly realized this for the opportunity that it was. If he could get Lex to follow him, it would show leadership skill in his assessment, and affect his final role.

"The name is Drum," the boy said, putting his short-sword away finally. "Since your memory is affected, I think it might be a good idea if you follow my lead. This is already my third assessment, and I did really well in all the previous ones, so this should be no different."

"What's the plan then, Drum?" Lex asked, neither saying yes nor no to his suggestion. Although Lex himself had the idea of using the kid to cover his gaps in knowledge, taking orders from him felt… icky. Of course, that didn't mean he wouldn't listen to good sense when he heard it.

Besides, the feeling had nothing to do with the kid in question. Rather, Lex had gotten so used to being in charge and then giving orders as the Innkeeper, suddenly taking orders felt wrong to him. That was also part of the reason why Lex was so uncooperative with the uniformed man. Lex had no authority here while that man could do as he pleased, a thought that was off-putting.

Drum didn't seem to notice, and started heading towards the village. "They need to be warned about the snowstorm and everything else. We can just tell them we're students of the academy, that should help convince them that we're telling the truth. And, to answer your earlier question, I don't know much about Kalter Flug so we can also collect some information about them if the villagers know anything."

"Do you have a student ID or something to prove what you're saying? Unless you do, I suggest we own up about taking an assessment, and be truthful about the incoming dangers. More importantly, we need to find the village head, or someone well respected in the village. Explaining the situation to one person will be a lot easier than explaining the story to every person in the village. Once that's done, we can take suggestions from him about how to plan for the upcoming storm. A native of the area would know better than us about how to survive in these conditions."

Drum nodded and accepted Lex's suggestions. As long as he was the one walking in front, and the so-called 'party leader', he was completely fine listening to Lex's suggestions.

As the duo approached the village, they discussed ways in which they could help overcome the incoming issues. That's when Lex realized that he was severely lacking in skills.

Drum boasted some basic woodworking and engineering skills, which should help reinforce some buildings if required, as well as advanced knowledge of formations. Well, advanced for his level. Either way, the only help Lex could provide was manual labor.

While Drums' ego was boosted seeing how he was more skilled than his older counterpart, Lex was actually happy with how things were turning out. The more Drum shined, the less likely he would be selected for some elite squad. All Lex wanted was some decent guidance on cultivation and access to a library. He had no idea how he would gather the energy he needed and would have to do plenty of research.

The duo attracted quite a bit of attention as they neared the village, as two men walking through waist high snow to reach an unremarkable village was not a common sight. A small crowd of what Lex assumed was the patrol or volunteer guards waited for them on the boundary of the village.

"Ahoy strangers, you're pretty far off from civilization. Are ye lost or something?" one of the men yelled towards them.

"Not lost, we're assessment takers for the Academy," Drum yelled back, which seemed to garner a positive response. "Take us to your village elder, we need to have a discussion with him."

The modestly armed villagers happily 'escorted' Lex and Drum to the village leader so that they could talk, and so that they'd be near at hand should the leader decide the two were untrustworthy.

Drum explained the incoming danger, as well as how they knew the information. There was a risk in doing this, for if the villagers didn't believe them, then they would have no recourse. If they had instead lied and just asked for lodging, and weathered the storm while hiding and not informing anyone of the incoming danger, it would have been easier to survive, but it would have also affected how they would be designated.

Drum had explained the grading process to Lex. The assessment would give two results, the first being what profession was most suitable for the student to pursue, and the second being their grade within that profession. For example, Drum explained that he hoped to be designated a formation master. But not all formation masters were the same, as some were better than others. The better your grade within the profession, the more you would be nurtured by the academy. It need not be said that Drum was aiming for the highest level.

Lex didn't care much for trying to pick a specific profession, since he was not familiar with the options. He would just take things as they came, and currently, things were not going according to how Drum wanted.

The villagers believed the two about the incoming storm as well as danger, but Drum had envisioned the village then treating him as some kind of leader afterwards, which would give him a chance to show off his skills. They should have been grateful for the information and impressed by their status as students of the academy. They should have been awed and honored.

Instead, as the villagers were so used to these problems, they already had a system in place of how to react, leaving Lex and Drum with little to contribute. At most, they could help with manual labor. Furthermore, because Drum was fairly young, and Lex only just coming into proper adulthood, they did not give either of them any of the reverence Drum had been expecting.

Drum didn't like being sidelined and was sulking, while Lex had already inquired about where they could stay, and how they could get food. The villagers may have a way to take care of themselves, but that didn't mean that the hospitality they extended would provide the same security. Now Lex had to look out for himself.

Lex also asked about heating, and if they required chopping down trees and logging, but he had underestimated the village. All the houses had central heating, powered by spirit stones, with each house having its own independent supply so they didn't need to worry about power loss during the storm.