Leaving the infirmary, Maynard moved into the hallway and walked back towards the foyer. He winced when he walked, but he could gradually feel his body healing. It seemed that whatever had been done to him when he was brought into the forge sped his healing up dramatically – as long as he was helped by something or someone. With his hand wrapped protectively around his waist, he made his way back to the desk and saw the woman who gave him directions before talking to two red-headed women about the same age as him. One was in a pink dress, the other was in a blue dress, but both were arguing with the receptionist in thick Scottish accents.
“Look, Alice, I ken a little about this place and I’m pretty sure you’ve been drivin’ me wee sister up tae high doh with your shoddy directions. You’re perfectly fine with all your laddies, but as soon as a lass like me or Ico comes in you’re as useful as useful as a lead window. I swear, if I’m late to another lecture because of ye, I’m gonna beat your heid into this here bunker!” The girl in blue slammed her fist into the countertop of the desk that stood between them as her cheeks flushed pink with rage. Her sister stood by, gritting her teeth in anger towards the woman, but she appeared to be less inclined to active wrath than her sister had. She turned and saw Maynard as her sister continued to shout at the woman and gradually backed away to stand next to him.
“You alright?” She asked quietly, her accent nowhere near as pronounced while whispering in comparison to her sister’s shouts. “I realise she’s being a bit much right now, but Alice has been bothering us for days. Woman deserves the chewing out my sister is giving her.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Maynard replied, “Nobody gets that angry for absolutely no reason.”
“She’s protective of me. Says that because she’s an hour older than me that she needs to protect her younger sister. What’s your name?”
Maynard almost responded by giving his name, but at the last second he remembered the warning that he had seen. He was still uncomfortable about even giving away a nickname so close to his real name like Mayn, but there was very little else he could think of. The only thing that head to work with was his personal ability – Ramp, so on the spur of the moment he dropped the p and answered, “Call me Ram,” before giving the girl a lackluster salute with his left hand.
Instantly, her eyes went wide and she flashed her own left wrist in response, revealing the same mark as the one that sat on his arm. Maynard opened his mouth, but the girl put her finger in front of her lips and whispered, “Not here, you can call me Ico though. What are you looking for?”
“I’m trying to get in contact with the occult department at the college as there’s been a little issue at the nearby mine that they should probably be dealing with.”
Ico raised her eyebrow, “A little issue? Is that why you’re all red in the chest?”
Maynard looked down and chuckled at the state his shirt was in, “Yeah, just a bit. Took a nasty blow from… something. I got off better though. Three dead, one crippled and one jumping at shadows. I just got some deep scratches in my chest.”
“Lucky.”
“I’d like to say that it was skill that kept me alive, but no, you’re mostly right.” Ico laughed as Maynard gave her an awkward look before continuing, “Now I’m here and I’m trying to do some gamma missions before I get pulled back to the forge.”
Ico’s eyes lit up, “You’ve already done your alpha and betas? How long have you been on site for?”
“Err… A day?”
“A day? How did you get everything done?”
“I told you, everything went to s*** very quickly after we went into the mine. I assumed that missions would always be that easy on entry, but on exit they would be tough.”
Ico shook her head, “Not at all. We’ve been on site for two days of the week we were given, and we’ve only half done all our missions.”
Maynard shrugged, and then winced as pain shot through his chest, “I had a couple of simple beta missions, but the challenge behind my alpha mission seemed to be surviving more than anything else.”
“I ken that feeling for sure,” Ico replied with a sigh.
“Sorry, what?”
“I know that feeling, I forget sometimes that you southerners might not have much of a grasp of Scots.” Glancing back to her sister, Ico smiled, “I could take you to the occultist department if you want, but nobody is going to be around at this time of night. You’re better off going back to your dorms and getting some rest honestly.”
“My dorms?” Maynard asked.
“Do you not know? Everyone in a position like ours is given an identity that is altered by the renown we earn through missions. The more renown you have, the better people treat you and the more people know you. But you know, it’s basically impossible to have literally no renown. Think of it, literally nobody knowing you exist. So, you start with a small enough amount of renown to get you into the area you need to begin your missions, and from there you’re left to your own devices.”
“So you’re saying I have a dorm room somewhere,” Maynard asked.
“Of course! Your other companions should’ve told you all about this when you arrived for your first mission.”
“My other companions didn’t exactly like me, and the information the de-facto leader gave was a tad brief.”
“Are you saying that this is your first mission too?” Ico asked, her eyes brightening.
“Yeah.”
“Bangin’! My sister’s done a couple of missions, but this is my first one. It’s kinda nice to meet another newbie in this pod. The other Ringbearers we arrived with were all at least two mission veterans.”
“Alright, well once your sister stops ripping holes in the receptionist’s existence I’ll try to find out where my dorms are. Then tomorrow I could help you with your alpha mission if you want? Three heads might be better than two, you know?”
“I’d like that,” Ico replied, “We might be able to help you with your gamma missions too if there’s some overlap.”
“That’s what I was hoping.”
“We’ve been doing research about a specific magic symbol, so we’re spending a lot of time in the library. If you want you can meet us there tomorrow morning.”
“Seems good to me, it’ll give me time to change out of my reds, you know?” Maynard said, pulling on his blood stained shirt.
“You definitely need a change of clothes,” Ico replied with a chuckle.
They continued their chatter for several minutes longer until Ico’s sister finished her verbal dress-down of the receptionist. She stormed over to her sister and gave the receptionist one last venomous stare before walking over to Maynard and Ico with her head held high. She made an exasperated face at her sister before saying, “Whit a bampot. Dame shoud hae niver pit ma birse up. Wha’s the loon?”
“Soother lad,” Ico responded quickly, “A think he’s braw. He’s a Ringbeirer hissel, ye ken, an he’s gaun tae help i’ the morn.”
“Guid,” the girl in blue looked Maynard over before saying, “Well aren’t you a sorry sight for sore eyes?”
“You should see the other guy,” Maynard said with a grin, “Name’s Ram, what do you go by?”
“You can call me Winoa, but amongst other Ringbearers I go by Windscale. Remember that, alright?”
