I was relieved that someone, other than Jena knew what had happened to me. A tiny glimmer of hope that maybe he knew how I can go back, bloomed in my heart. It was such a relief to find a human who knew what was going on because I didn’t. But the dread building inside of me was palpable. It over shadowed the relief and tiny hope. Why all the song and dance? Why were Zuruvi and maNyoni ready to poop in their pants? Why all the secrecy? Why the mean looking warriors? Why the weird villagers? I knew entirely too little that I had to just go with my gut feeling. The jovial mage was no friend of mine. I had to trade carefully.

  “Are you the one that summoned me?” I was surprised at both the question I asked and how calm my voice sounded. I had really changed. No big feeling clouding my judgement. No emotional out bursts. Just calm assessment of the situation and cutting right to the important issue. This world was really changing me. At the moment I didn’t know how I felt about that. All I knew was it was really great being able to calmly assess and deal with this situation.

  The happy mage bucked out a laugh, “You don’t beat about the bush. Do you?” He was laughing so hard tears were coming out of his eyes. How can someone fake that? Really this was taking the acting too far! My gut was telling me that despite his apparent friendliness, this was a very dangerous mage. When the mage saw that no one was joining in his humor, he sobered up quickly. He reached for his tea cup and gestured for us to do the saw. We didn’t, we just watched him.

  He wiped his eyes with his forearms, cleared his throat and sighed. “The answer to that question is a little complicated.” He said gravely but I could see the mirth dancing in his eyes. This guy was a sadist! Here we are, quacking in our boots with fear and he is enjoying himself. The feeling of danger I was getting from him, grew exponentially. Thanks to the new emotionally somewhat stable me, I was able to look very calm and unafraid just mildly curious. It seem to put the mage on edge because he stuttered or was it an act?

  “B-b-but yes,” he was saying, “you were summoned. Before I say much, can you, as a show of trust, tell me your class and level? I find it curious that I can’t see it. It seems you have already learnt something that have been lost to the passage of time.” Something lost to the passage of time? I had no idea what he was talking about. I decided to use identify on him too. I should have done that as soon as I saw him but I was busy being scared.

  Mage level ?

  What did identify mean by this? This information didn’t make sense. Was his level a question mark or he didn’t have a level. Anyways knowing his level wasn’t going to help me in any way. Its not like I was in a position to fight anything. The image of the baby hyena from the forest rose in my and I felt sick to my stomach. I quickly shut it down. I needed to focus.

  “So are the rules of introductions different in this world then?” Again I surprised myself. Where did I get the guts to ask the scary mage that? The mage just continued to look at me carefully and with a slight grin. That stupid smile! Even though he was smiling, my gut told me he was completely focused on me and ready to pounce. Zuruvi and maNyoni were utterly ignored, and they remained very still, doing their best not to attract the mage’s attention.

  Then his face light up even more, if that was possible, with comprehension. “Oh how rude of me!” He clapped his hands and gave a slight bow of his head, “My name is Matemai, a water mage level 47.” He smiled, “Nice to meet you.” Level 47. My brain seized for a moment. I didn’t anything about levels but 47 was way bigger than zero and that's all I needed to know. I understood what my gut has been telling me all along. This man was way too powerful.

  Now that he had even his name, in a civilized world I should reciprocate this gesture but this wasn’t civilized. I had been kidnapped, after all. I had asked for his name to buy time. The only thing this mage knew about me was that I was summoned and he seem to think I have a class. He also seem to think I know some “lost secret”. How do I use this knowledge to our advantage?

  “I can’t say its nice to met you. I was kidnapped.” I stated flatly

  “I apologize for that. A misunderstanding and over zealous servants. I sure you have that in your world.” He looked a bit sheepish.

  “Actually, no. People don’t get accidentally kidnapped.” I shook my head. That seem to take the mage aback. What kind of a world was I in? Accidental kidnappings are a thing? Jena had to be trained not to kill other sentient beings? Next you know I will be accidentally murdered. I shook my head. I thought I was done overthinking things. I need to focus.

  “So you can see how I think asking for assurance of safety my companions and me will be a reasonable request before we talk any further?” I looked at him, my emotions well hidden. I was quaking inside. This was it. If he said no, then I know we are done for.

  “That is fair to ask. What kind of assurance do you need.” He didn’t even hesitate a bit. I couldn’t trust his word. He agreed too readily.

  “I want to know that we can live here and go back to our lives with no harm done now and in the future to us and ours.” Look at me covering our bases. I gave myself an internal pat at the back. I was just winging it, though.

  “I was right! You did learn something! Well, said” Matemai said excitedly. So I wasn’t imagining the change in me. Even Matemai can sense it. He clapped his hands once and said “I promise that no harm will be done to you and yours by my hand because of this conversation.”

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  Not good enough, I thought. I knew lawyers in my world. Wording matters and the wording as it was has a lot of holes. For example, he could ask some else to harm me and it wouldn’t considered breaking his oath. Or he could harm us himself because of something else not part of this conversation and still not breaking the oath.

  “Not just by your hand. We want to be left alone by you and your allies” I said. I leaned forward to grab a cup of tea, then changed my mind when I realized my shaking hands would give me away.

  His smile never left his face as he quickly amended his statement. “I promise that no harm will be done to you and yours by my hand or my allies’ hand because of this conversation. Does that work?”

  “You can’t quantify it. No harm should be done to us, full stop. Don’t qualify it. Also you can’t incite anyone to harm us. In fact you have to protect us if that happens.”I countered. I was on a roll. If he was going to agree to everything I say, I might as well make it as water tight as possible.

  “Okay.” Just like that? That was way too easy. “I promise no harm will be done to you and yours by my hand or my allies nor will I incite anyone to harm you. I will promise to protect you and yours from anyone if I cause them to want to harm you.” He looked at me still smiling as if to say, “Is that good enough for you?”

  I looked at Zuruvi and maNyoni to ask them if I left any thing out. Their eyes were opened wide with a mixture of fear and surprise. My back and forward with a powerful mage must have been something they had not expected. They were too awestruck to be of any help to me right now. Just from their story, I think in this world no one questions the mighty. For the hundredth time I wondered, what kind of a world was I in, only to realise how hypocritical of me. Even on earth, the powerful rarely ever negotiate with the powerless. And I was able to hold my own here because the mage probably thinks I am powerful. That gave me a pause. What will happen when he discovers I am not? A bridge to cross when I get to it. I wasn’t finished with the mage yet.

  I looked back at Matemai, “ I think,” I said hesitantly, “that covers it. Now, lets swear on it. I assume you know how to make a binding oath?” For the first time Matemai’s smile faltered but he quickly recovered. I smiled internally. He thought I was easy pickings. Anyone who reads fairy tales knows magical people are like lawyers; they will only keep promises they have to keep.

  “Sure,” he was still smiling but a weariness had entered his eyes. This wasn’t amateur hour anymore. “If we are swearing oaths, then I also have things to add.”

  “That is fair, I guess.” I was apprehensive about this but I reasoned that as long as I didn’t have to give him my soul, I should be able to handle whatever he asks.

  “I will need you to promise to keep this a secret.”

  I was so relieved, I almost smiled. “That’s easy. Who would I tell. I only know 6 people.”

  He blanched at that. “Six? You mean you didn’t come alone?”

  Now that was really funny. For a moment I thought about lying but to what end. “I only know your warriors, you and them.” I said pointing to Zuruvi and maNyoni.

  “That is such a relief. One of you is enough.” Why did he think that, I wondered. I wanted to ask but I wanted him to swear an oath first. We desperately needed protection.

  Matemai wiped imaginary sweat, “Phew!” He said. “For a moment I thought there were 5 more people out there. Okay let get on with the oath.” It took a few more moments to hammer the wording right. Basically, Matemai wanted secrecy about him, me and the conversation. I wanted protection for us. We both wanted honesty. I think if I could figure out how to put in goodwill too, I would have done it but I was happy with this. My gut told me this was the best it could ever get.

  The actual swearing was very anti-climatic. I expected a full ritual with some chanting and maybe some runes. Instead we just spoke some words. The magic came at the end and it wasn’t even impressive. Just after we had both said our oaths, a white mist like smoke rose from the ground for a few seconds. Then I felt a heavy weight settling in my head. It was like a migraine coming on. I waited for a few seconds and then it passed.

  Ding!

  By finding a way to permanently save you and your companions Way-finder has gained 2 XP

  Congratulations

  Way-finder

  level 1;

  4/10 XP

  I was so happy to hear the Ding. In my experience so far the ding never lies. I had done it! We are safe. The fact that this was a permanent solution to my current problem filled me with relief. I had only hoped for a temporary solution to buy time to figure out what to do next. I knew powerful mages can undo oaths so I hadn’t held much hope that this would last. Also some oaths consequences may not be too bad if you break them. One can swear an oath, then break it and not suffer much. But now I didn’t need to worry about that.

  Ding!

  You have successfully negotiated with a powerful mage and gained their support.

  You have gained 1 mental XP

  Do you want to spend this XP now? Yes/No?

  I gained a mental XP! This was very very good. Jena couldn’t figure out how to help me gain mental XP. Since I was in the middle of a conversation with a powerful mage; I decided I needed more wisdom. I quickly spent my one XP on wisdom.

  Ding!

  Wisdom plus 1

  The jovial mage smiled at me knowingly. “I take it you gained XP? This is your first oath?” He asked. Already I could see how Matemai was going to be very useful to me. For one, he knew the systems and judging by his level, he knew it well.

  “Yes, to both.” I smiled back at him. I could afford to smile now. I was out of danger, at least from him.

  “Okay, then. Lets begin. Now that you are sufficiently satisfied that your companions are safe. I would like them,” he indicated to Zuruvi and maNyoni with his head, “to swear an oath of secrecy and then they can be on their way to the village. I rather they don’t know too much. They are non-magical and therefore fragile,” he smiled at them, “no offense meant but you are now my responsibility. I want you safe. The less you know, the safer you are.”

  I was loath to see them go but Matemai was right. For their part, maNyoni and Zuruvi were in a daze through the whole swearing. They mechanically repeated whatever Matemai said, that I was worried they might not quite understand the gravity of what they were doing. But I needed not worried because as soon as they turned to speak to say their goodbye to me their faces brightened. They thanked me so profusely and left with Mhazi, the guard.

  “So, lady. Lets start with your name and tell me everything from the start and don’t leave anything out!” Matemai sat himself comfortably and smiled at me.