Chapter 80: Protocols
“Hold!” Sebastian screamed as Valens strolled calmly toward the old master. “Stop!” the doorman yelled as he scurried around his high desk, clutched the edges of the wooden furniture and launched himself off into the hallway, yanking at a singularly stubborn patch of his vest that got caught in a ledge, tore it through to free himself with his face going red.
Valens looked over his shoulder, disappointed by how that chaotic effort only awarded the doorman a few steps into the hallway. Master Archibald himself looked puzzled by this sudden event as well, whose eyes danced between Valens and Sebastian, possibly considering who among these two men demanded his more immediate attention.
“That cough,” Valens said, taking initiative. “The chest pain,” he pointed a finger into the Master’s richly loose robe with its lights twinkling. “The shortness of breath,” he flicked that finger up around the man’s face. “Fatigue and fever, as well, if I’m not wrong?”
“You…” Master Archibald blinked at him. “You’re right.”
“And surely there’s been a sudden loss of weight in these… I’d like to say last few months?” Valens paused as he focused on the frequencies around the Magus. His overreliance on that staff, the persistent cough that rattled the cage of his chest, the pale face with drops of sweat dotting his forehead… He didn’t have to be a Resonant Healer to tell that this man was sick.
But the frequencies of his rhythm were muted when he tried to take a peek at them. Shrouded under a thin layer of mana that coated him like an invisible blanket, which blocked Valens’s sound vision quite effortlessly.
I’ve thought the city had a no-magic rule for people like us? Is there an exemption for Masters that I’m not aware of?
“Master Archibald!” Sebastian finally pulled himself barely enough to reach the pair of them, even though they’d been standing still for some time. He huffed, and coughed, and raised his head to give Valens a most respectable glare. “I’m terribly sorry to let this scoundrel disturb you on your visit! I shall handle him—”
“Hold on, Sebastian,” Master Archibald said, not all too interested in the doorman’s words as he kept his eyes on Valens. “This young man… Is he a new recruit? But just now you’ve told me he’s not someone worthy of my attention, haven’t you?”
“I—” Sebastian sputtered.
“Let us not get too lost in the semantics,” Valens said. He removed the golden ring around his finger and showed it to the Master to get a new appraisal from the man. Anything, really, to save himself from the unnecessary complications. “It was my intention to become a part of the Magi Guild, but someone told me that not only do they have a great waiting list for such cases, but also with my qualifications there’s little hope on the horizon for me to even dream of joining your ranks. So I suppose, this is me clearing a few misunderstandings.”
“Misunderstandings?” Sebastian huffed. He backed off, squinting at Valens now that he was available for the [Identify] skill like a recently unpacked box of goods. His eyes widened when the doorman took in the information. “Arcane Healer? A Level 100 Healer?”