He was a lanky fellow with dark-toned skin, dark, unkempt hair, and a pair of black eyes. The smile spread upon his face made his cheeks dimple ever so slightly. He wore a baggy, long-sleeved linen shirt with a green-colored sash tied around his waist, as well as some trousers and a pair of boots.

Elaine pinpointed the wand from within its holster by his side. He was a mage, like them. The only question remaining was if he was a student attending Glyph as well. No, scratch that. There was another question she had: what motivation was there for him to help her? They didn't even know each other.

The boy shot her a smirk, and subtly mouthed something. "Let me handle this," Elaine read from his lips. 

He then cut his glance back toward the vendor, who was just as puzzled as she was. He fostered a bit of frustration, however—his brow was furrowed and his nose wrinkled. "The same applies to you, kid. If you're not here to buy something, then buzz off."

The boy snickered. "Come now, where are your manners, my good sir? Surely you don't intend on running a business with that attitude. Why, with such a horrid scowl, and the foul manner in which you speak, well, you're not to win the favor of these girls any time soon."

The vendor shrugged. "Don't really got any interest in caring for the likes of folk that can't even fork over three rubies."

"Three rubies? And for what?" The boy recoiled a cringe at the holster in the vendor's hands, shortly before welcoming another humored snicker. "You don't seriously expect me to believe that you're charging them so much for a plain ole wand holster. I've seen noble coats sold for much less."

"Well, then," the vendor said, shoving the holster into his back pocket. "If you're so offended by my offer, then why not just point your little friends here in the direction of a different stall, one with lower prices? A fair bit of warning though, you won't find much better than mine."

Elaine deflated at that. She knew that this vendor, sunder him, was telling the truth. She'd spent over two hours wandering the Shopping District. But she realized in the first thirty minutes alone that she didn't possess nearly as many tokens as she otherwise needed; she hadn't anticipated the prices being so steep. Just another cruel reminder of her commoner heritage.

The stranger laughed to himself. He fetched a dul from his pocket, flicked it with his thumb into the air, and then caught the brown token between two of his fingers. "You've made it apparent, friend, that you're quite the determined businessman. I'm sure there is honor in that, some way, somehow. But I warn you, you're treading in dangerous waters."

The vendor snorted. "Come again?"

"Why, isn't it obvious? How long have you had this shop of yours, huh? No, forgive me. If I might ask, how long have you lived in this town in general? Don't you know where you are? Aren't you aware of the kind of audience this place attracts?" 

The stranger leaned his elbow onto the stall table, tying his other arm behind his back. Quite plainly he had planned something in advance. As to what, well, Elaine kept quiet, more than intrigued as to where he intended on taking this unorthodox argument. 

"Nobles these days are terrifying animals, I swear," the stranger smirked. "Not just because they have the power to seize your entire livelihood with a flick of the wrist. Oh, no. That's far from the worst of it. If you ask me, based on my personal experience, I've come to find that nobleings are the be-all, end-all in this day and age. Trust me, you do not want to cross them. I mean, can you imagine the repercussions? A nobleman's daughter, running into her father's arms sobbing that the meanie vendor in town unfairly overprices his products.

"What position does that leave you in, friend? I'll tell ya. You'll be at the mercy of a miffed noble, struggling to rationalize how someone in their right mind would even think about pestering his daughter." The boy nodded to Elaine. "That one there, she's of third cule. Some might even call her a royal. And here you are, trying to swindle her, and all over a worn-out wand holster. Not the brightest move there, pal. Just saying."

The vendor gulped. "She's of...third cule?"

"Well she did get into Glyph Academy, did she not? Those guys don't let just anyone walk their campus. But you should know that, surely."

Elaine shot an astounded glare at the boy. Was he insane? Anyone with two functioning eyes could see she wasn't a noble, let alone a third cule. That would imply that she was of middle nobility, a daughter of a crownbaron or some rich goldblood who owned a successful business. Someone that important wouldn't be bargaining with a street vendor for a holster.

She glanced at Fearne. The girl had gone stiff, and it looked like she was holding her breath. Elaine couldn't blame her. If this went south—and she suspected it might—then they'd be arrested for impersonating a noble. This sulmo would be the death of both their sorcerer careers. They needed to flee before—

Wait, was the vendor...sweating? The long-faced man, who had up until this point carried an arrogant, snarky demeanor, had now borken out into a cold sweat. He shifted uncomfortably in his spot, fiddling with something she couldn't see underneath the table. Meanwhile, the strange mage was snickering a storm, hands raised behind his head. His stories, they were working. How were they working?

The lies he told sounded like they could have been fabricated by some snot-nosed child trying to avoid a scolding from their parents. Was it this sulmo's confidence? Was that the reason the vendor was now shaking in his boots, wiping droplets of sweat off his scalp? Elaine sideglanced at the mage boy, puzzled. Who is this guy? she thought.

"Alright, alright," the vendor said, taking a step back. "I'll level with ya, brat. I don't need any trouble coming my way. I'm just a humble storekeeper, yeah?" He glanced at Elaine with a taut swing of his head. It was unnerving just how alarmed he looked. "One ruby. I'll drop the price to one ruby, and not a dul less!"

Elaine beamed a smile. "That'll do."

*

* *

Pretty soon, Elaine was sitting on a park bench, her new holster resting in her lap. She giggled. Owning one of these made her feel as if she were a sorcerer in earnest, like she wasn't merely adopting an artificial persona. No, she was a student of Glyph, and would be a Professional Sorcerer someday. She slid her wand into the holster and clipped it to her waist with a snap.

At that moment, the mage boy sitting next to her—who had confirmed that yes, he was also attending Glyph Academy—set free another laugh, slapping his knee as he did. 

"Oh, man! That guy really looked dumbfounded, didn't he!" he joked, elbowing Fearne in her ribs. "I swear to Galio, pulling one over on scammers like that just never gets old."

Elaine scoffed. We technically scammed him too...

They had made their way from the Shopping District to a concrete-tiled open space enclosed by hedges, streetlamps, and pots of multicolored flowers. A surging fountain spat ribboning currents of water into the sky behind the bench they were sitting on, hydrating the area with faint vapor clouds.

Ahead of them, there was a medium-sized food cart that attracted a decent sum of people. Elaine also discerned the sound of jazzy tunes—the strums of a violin, the beating of drums, the whistles of a flute—but she couldn't locate exactly where the band was. On an avenue nearby, maybe?

"We really are appreciative of you helping us out back there, Custas," said Fearne in her soft, pure-as-snow voice. "I don't know what we would have done had you not come along. Well, I guess Elaine wouldn't have gotten her holster."

"Nah! Don't mention it!" the boy named Custas said. 

He took another crunch out of the kebab he was holding—six golden, sphere-shaped snacks skewered to a wooden pole. The steamy scent laced with spice sizzled in Elaine's nostrils. 

"Really, I should be thanking you two. There's a great deal of good in people who treat another to a meal, free of charge," he grinned, pulling off a wheat flour ball with his teeth.

"What I don't get," Elaine said, "is why you decided to help us. I mean, you don't expect us to believe that you're just some random good samaritan that goes around helping broke lowborns like me. Let alone, how did you trick that vendor? Even I could tell the story you told him, me being a noble and all, barely made any sense. Did you cast a spell on him? A charm? But then, how did you do it without using your wand?"

Custas munched happily, eyes closed, humming a foreign tune out his smiling lips.

Elaine frowned. "Are you even listening to me...?"

"Hmm? Say something?"

"I think she was commenting about your outlandish method of tricking the vendor," Fearne clarified. "Truthfully, I'm a bit curious myself. It wasn't that your story was...err...unbelievable, but—"

"No," Elaine chimed in, crossing her arms, "it was. Extremely so."

"Regardless," Fearne exhaled, "I have to ask, how did you pull off convincing him as you did?"

Custas wagged a finger at her. "First rule of trickery: It's not about what you say, it's how you say it. If you wear a strong smile and talk with enough conviction, then it doesn't matter how ridiculous your story sounds. Truth is what you perceive it to be. When others aren't "seeing" what you are, then they have a tendency to start panicking as if they're the insane ones. I guess you could say I have a knack for exploiting that weakness."

"So, essentially you're just really good at lying?" Elaine said.

Custas cracked an amused smirk. "Sure. Let's go with that, it's much simpler. Course, it also helps that I've got this." 

Custas opened his mouth wide, poking out his tongue. Elaine cringed, there were still bits of wheat and fried meat stuck to his tongue...Wait, what was wrong with his tongue? Elaine leaned closer to him, as did Fearne. Engraved into his pinkish tongue was a series of obsidian-colored emblems. 

Three rings spanned from the tip of his tongue to the rear of his throat, connected to one another by thick, oily lines. Contained within each was a more complex-looking symbol that vaguely resembled that of a clover—two of them had three leaves while the one inside the largest circle in the middle had four.

"Now I see," said Fearne. "You were using charmspeak, weren't you?"

"Charmspeak...?" Elaine repeated, dumbfounded. 

It was a type of charm that involved a mage imbuing magic into their words, enhancing their persuasiveness and influence over others. As far as she was aware, that spell could be cast onto any person, just so long as the sorcerer knew what they were doing. But this was the first she'd seen of someone having inscribed the necessary runes on themselves, let alone their tongue.

"Right on the money," Custas nodded. "It wasn't easy, and it hurt like hell. But once I figured out all the little kinks, I can now—"

"Amazing!" Elaine squealed. "So, like, how exactly does it work? Are you actively burning through your Essence supply whenever it's in effect? Can you use it on any person, or does it also work on animals as well? Did you use it on either of us? What does it feel like? Theoretically, if I were to think about—"

"Uh...Elarine, waast tit?" Custas gargled, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Yooor goina tour ot mye tonge!"

Fearne palmed her forehead. "There she goes again."

What? 

Elaine snapped out of it, and realized she had Custas' tongue clenched in her fingers. She stared at him voicelessly stunned, and he stared back, wide-eyed. Five seconds—maybe more—passed before Elaine finally let go. 

"Ah! I'm sorry!" she screamed in embarrassment, scrambling to the opposite end of the bench. "Pretend that didn't happen, alright!"

Custas laughed, cradling his chin. "Well, that was different. For a second, I thought you were gonna yank it out of my head. That would have been...upsetting."

Her blush attacked without remorse. "I'm...I'm really sorry. It's a bad habit of mine."

"Eh, we all have 'em." Custas hopped off the bench, sticking the kebab back into his mouth. "As for why I decided to lend a helping hand, well, I already knew you were students like me. Not anyone just waltzes downtown freely showing off their wands. Not unless you're a Professional Sorcerer or just the worst kind of thief."

Elaine's stare shifted eastward. Narrowing her eyes into a squint, she could just barely make out the murky structure floating with the clouds. This town—Fearne had mentioned it was called Lakestone—wasn't so far away that they couldn't make out the campus if they tried.  She couldn't identify the castle, per se. From this distance, Glyph appeared as a large, rocky platform in the shape of a hemisphere. An island in the sky. 

"I guess we can chalk it up to good ole Luck that I ran into you," Custas continued. "But you guys, you're like me?"

Elaine traded looks with Fearne, and then she raised a brow at him. "Like...you?"

"Yup! You've got good instincts," Custas chuckled. "Maybe they're not as perfect as mine, but they're good nonetheless."

"I'm not following," said Fearne, a finger to her bottom lip.

"Right, right. What I'm trying to say is that, while not applicable to all of our classmates, most of 'em are lazing about on campus right now. They probably figured they don't have to do much since classes don't start until tomorrow. But there's a reason the professors gave us these few extra days off before the semester. It's so we can prepare. Your instincts were telling you to come here and gather equipment, supplies that are sure to make your life in Glyph that much easier, yeah? And so, you'll be at an advantage as compared to someone who decided to waste their time doing a whole lot of nothing."

Elaine stared at him blankly. I just needed a wand holster...

Custas placed a hand over his chest. "My instincts were shouting at me, saying that I had to come here. Didn't know why, but when I saw the two of you, the answer became clear. My instincts were leading me to new friends."

Elaine chuckled at him. "New friends, huh?"

"Sure, why not? I could always use some well-natured pals." Custas snapped a finger. "You guys seem way more interesting than the other blowhard nobles I've had the displeasure of meeting thus far. Sticking with you might be fun."

"I agree," Fearne said, clapping her hands together, borrowing some of Custas' excitement. "Life's better when you share it with people you like."

"Ain't that the truth?" Custas snickered. "I've heard the curriculum at Glyph can be pretty tough. Let's help each other out, and graduate as sorcerers together."

He was a bit...irregular. Was that the best word? Well, it was the best she could propound. Nevertheless, as she smiled at the both of them—Fearne giggling as Custas pumped a fist in the air—she couldn't deny how good it felt to have friends. Actual friends. She'd be weathering a storm soon. At least now, she didn't have to do it alone.