Stars Above Chapter 1

“Every gain or positive in your life will come at a cost.  One which will be paid by either you or someone else. It is an indisputable fact of life.  What one takes, another loses.  What time you spend on one pursuit was the time you didn’t spend on another.  Master one skill at the cost of your others remaining left untrained.  Acquire a resource, and that resource is no longer available for anyone else.  You are responsible for the choices you make, and the repercussions of your actions.  As an adventurer, those repercussions are magnified…” the old man stated emphatically as he paced across the front of the classroom.

Like always, the only sound in the room aside from his voice was the consistent tapping his cane made when he shuffled back and forth across the wooden floor.  Unsurprisingly, his tone was laced with the usual unspoken challenge it always carried as if he was daring someone to disagree with him.  No one ever did though, not twice at least.

The students, nearly every one of them, sat enraptured by his tales of what it meant to truly be an adventurer.  Regardless of how awful he tried to make the profession sound, being an adventurer was something they all aspired to one day become.  So, they listened, eagerly listening to every word that came out of the old man’s mouth.

The only exception was Ullie Miller.  As usual, his attention was on the window, blatantly daring to ignore the old man’s lessons.  Although it wasn’t because he didn’t agree with him, it was just that he’d come to recognize the common themes that the old man was constantly recycling.  Themes like duty, responsibility, and sacrifice… along with other such depressing nonsense.

Ullie had long since come to terms with the fact that this class was a waste of his time.  The old man spent day in and day out ranting and raving about how dismal the life of an adventurer was, and how difficult it would be to become one.  He only ever talked about the negatives, never the positives.

But Ullie knew better.  He’d seen it.  The life of an adventurer was one of travel and excitement, trials and victories.  Sure, there was always the lingering possibility of death and loss, but how was that any different than any other profession?  Everybody died someday, but not everyone truly lived.  And adventurers, they were the only ones who could look back on their lives and know that they made a difference.  That’s what adventuring was really all about, and that was what Ullie would have preferred the old man focused on with his lectures.

Yes, Ullie’s career aspirations weren’t all that different than anyone else’s.  He’d chosen this class on adventuring for the same reason everybody else did.  He wanted to be an adventurer.  However, while his goal was the same as theirs, he knew that it took more than what many of them were willing to give.  To be an adventurer, it took hard work, dedication, and more than a little luck.  After all, if it was easy, then everybody would do it.

He believed the old man should spend a little more time encouraging his students to overcome the odds than to accept them as an inevitability.

Looking around the room, Ullie wondered how many of them would still be taking this class next year.  Everyone here was nearing the age where they’d be finding out their threshold.  And when they did, most would probably give up.  But then again, there were likely more than a few who’d be willing to put themselves through the pain of having their channels opened up by the Facilitators.

Returning his attention to the lecture, Ullie stifled the urge to groan in annoyance at the old man telling the story about how he’d once broken his last spear and been forced to kill the Moltecat he was hunting with an improvised landslide… only to then fail to deliver proof of his achievement and fail the quest he’d taken.  It was a familiar tale, and one which highlighted his continued bias against adventuring.  Even knowing that the old man used to be a Silver ranked adventurer, Ullie still found the man’s claims of doom and gloom a little too exaggerated.  It’s like the old man didn’t want anyone following in his footsteps.  Which was crazy, because if there was any profession people really needed, it was adventurers.

With such a high mortality rate, and such an undeniable need for them, the entire world was practically begging for more adventurers.  Turning his head to look out the window and up at the sky, Ullie wondered if maybe all the worlds up there were in such dire need of people willing to face the terrors that threatened them.

“That’s all for today.  Be sure to check the assignment board for your required reading, and remember that your essays on regional dungeon classifications need to be on my desk by next Friday,” the old man said while taking his seat at his desk.

After everyone was done packing up, Ullie dodged through the crowd to head to the front of the classroom.  Unfortunately, his brilliant idea to take advantage of the distraction provided by his classmates leaving didn’t work out nearly as well as he’d hoped it would.  While he did succeed in stealthily placing his paper in the old man’s inbox as he passed, he didn’t avoid the old man seeing him dropping it off.

“Mr. Miller, a word if you please,” the old man demanded loudly, causing the entire room to pause what they were doing so they could take a moment to stare at Ullie… some with sympathy, others with amusement.

Visibly cringing at the sound of the old man’s voice calling him out, Ullie replied tiredly, “Yes, Teacher Otterbaum.”

No longer needing to hide himself, Ullie stood up straight and walked back to the teacher’s desk.  Although, his shoulders did droop a little in defeat seeing that his plan hadn’t succeeded.

‘I shouldn’t have even bothered turning it in.  Not that it matters.  While this might be a little tricky… it’s nothing I can’t handle… as long as I’m careful,’ he thought to himself in warning, while mentally preparing himself for some smooth talking and calculated deception.

The old man waited patiently for the room to clear as Ullie stood in front of his desk.  Doing his best to look like any other harmless and innocent student, Ullie fidgeted with the strap of his satchel to really sell the effect.  From the look on his face to the sag in his shoulders, he did everything he could to look suitably intimidated.

It took almost three whole minutes before they were finally alone, the now empty classroom filling with silence.  Right as Ullie was about to ask what he could do for the old man, Teacher Otterbaum took the initiative.

“Mr. Miller, I see that you’ve decided to turn in your paper more than a week early.  Am I to assume that you won’t be joining us for the rest of this week or the next?” he asked.

Ullie suppressed a wince at the old man’s successful guess.  “No, sir.  I mean, yes sir.  That would be correct.  I’ll be applying for early submission at the academy in River Fork.  My boat leaves tomorrow morning.  If everything goes as planned, I may not be seeing you for some time.  In fact, let me take this opportunity to thank you for all that you’ve done for me.  This past year under your care has been the highlight of my education thus far.  You can rest assured that in my travels I will look back on this time fondly, remembering you as a cornerstone around which my future accomplishments will be built.  The valorous man I’m sure to become will be entirely due to you and your teachings.”

Not even raising an eyebrow in response to Ullie’s flattery, Teach Otterbaum’s eerily calm voice asked, “Do your aunt and uncle know about this?”

Summoning every bit of guile and deceit his fifteen-year-old psyche could muster, Ullie replied, “Of course they do, sir.  I couldn’t have chartered passage with the dockmaster if they didn’t, now could I?”

Teacher Otterbaum leaned back in his chair, his whiskered face exaggerating the width of his smile as the corners of his mustache flared up almost past his cheeks.  “No, you couldn’t I suppose.  Does this mean that you’ve already gone through your awakening?  I haven’t heard the local adventurer’s guild posting any results on the town board.”

Coughing lightly into his hand, Ullie took a second to formulate his reply.  “Not as of yet, sir.  I’ll be doing that first thing when I arrive in River Fork.  I just haven’t had the opportunity to schedule a facilitator with the guild here, so I planned to just do it after I arrived.  An awakening by design is the same everywhere.  You taught us that on day one… am I right?”

Abruptly hopping up from his chair, Teacher Otterbaum’s voice boomed, “Nonsense, Mr. Miller!  An awakening is to be celebrated with one’s family and friends.  You can’t deny your aunt and uncle the opportunity to congratulate you when you succeed, as I’m sure you will.”

Stepping lightly around the desk with dexterity belying his age, Teacher Otterbaum scooped up his cane and hat along the way.

“Come along, I’ve already sent out a request for your guardians to come by.  They should be waiting for us outside as we speak,” he said happily, his long beard dancing like a necromantically reanimated raccoon over his chest as he bounced along.

Completely caught off guard, Ullie stumbled a bit as the old man practically dragged him out of the room by his elbow.

“Uh… Wait… You called them?  When?  How?  I mean, you didn’t have to.  They’re both extremely busy people, as you know.  Aunt Terry is no doubt needed at the clinic, and Uncle Wendel is likely still on duty at the Guardhouse,” Ullie stammered.

While keeping a disturbingly firm grip on Ullie’s arm, Teacher Otterbaum dragged the poor young man through the hallways of the school toward the entrance, all the while chattering away as if Ullie hadn’t said anything.

“Mr. Miller, as you know, I’m somewhat respected in this small town.  As a former Silver Rank adventurer, the charming people I run into go out of their way to discuss whatever monster has been sighted or news they think might interest me while I shop or even while I’m eating.  So, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to you that I happened to hear about you signing up as a short-term laborer on a galley headed for River Fork, now should it?” he asked with no small amount of amusement in his voice.

Seeing Ullie’s face pale at the realization that he might have been found out, the old man’s smile managed to grow even wider.

Answering his own question, Teacher Otterbaum continued, “No, it shouldn’t.  After all, one of our little port’s young men, striking out on his own… that’s big news around here.  So, I thought, why haven’t I heard about it?  And when I discovered that the young man in question was you, Ullie Miller, one of the most enigmatic and difficult students I’ve ever had the misfortune to teach, how could I not take an interest?”

Seeing as how Ullie was too unsettled to respond, Teacher Otterbaum continued dragging him along as they got closer and closer to the front of the school.

“Naturally, I immediately contacted your guardians, intending to congratulate them on your newfound independence and their likely decreased cost of living since they’ll no longer have to shoulder your constant fines for disorderly conduct, vandalism, and other such shenanigans.  When lo and behold… I find out that they were completely unaware of what you intended to do.  Now, I’m not sure exactly why, but it seems they were under the impression that you were staying with the Cleavers since last Tuesday.  Now, of course, I assured them that you had been in class all last week, so everything was most likely fine.  However, just to be safe, they could rest easy knowing that I intended to look into it.”

Ullie, finally concluding that any hope he had of getting out of this without an ass-whooping was almost assuredly gone, sighed in utter defeat.  The only thing holding him up was his arm which was still in the old man’s vice-like grip.

“And look into it I did!  Mrs. Cleaver, Vora above bless her and keep her, was shocked to learn that you’d been staying with her all this time.  Even her son Billton was unaware of the sleepover you were having.  Luckily, they were both agreeable enough to allow me to discuss the matter with you before Mr. Cleaver got involved.  Did you know that he is registered with the auxiliary guard?  From what I understand, he used to be a Bronze ranked adventurer in his youth.  Powerful front-line fighter I’m told,” Teacher Otterbaum added happily, pushing Ullie out the front door of the school and out onto the steps.

Stumbling awkwardly into the guide rail, Ullie winced at the sight of his aunt and uncle both waiting for him.  They looked equally pissed, but luckily neither of them were showing their tell-tale signs that they were nearing their boiling point.  Aunt Terry’s hands were not on her hips and Uncle Wendel’s forehead vein wasn’t pulsing as of yet.

‘I still might have some room to maneuver.  I’ve talked my way out of worse.  Like that time with the Bennington’s cat, the clothesline, and that stupid bucket of offal.  Although I still think referring to that slight misunderstanding as ‘vandalism’ is a bit dramatic.  The cat lived, and aside from a few ruined patches of grass… and the shed… everything turned out fine.  Mrs. Bennington didn’t even press charges… not technically,’ Ullie thought to himself while beginning to formulate a plan.

After launching Ullie like a frisbee toward his guardians, Teacher Otterbaum said, “Now, a little more digging, and some patience, and here we are.  Did you honestly think that no one would notice that you were planning to run away?  You continued to go to class!  Honestly, who does that?  The fact that were present was enough of a warning sign that I should have realized you were planning something!”

Seeing as both his guardians and Teacher Otterbaum were all staring at him accusingly, Ullie knew he needed to say something… quick.

Clutching his satchel strap with both hands, he attempted to smile innocently as he began his rebuttal.  “I understand how you all might see this as another example of me ignoring your wisdom and succumbing to my adolescent urges… but I assure you that what I’ve done was for your benefit as much as my own,” he said sweetly.

Not allowing them time to respond, he turned to Teacher Otterbaum and added, “Sir, I know I can be a difficult student, always skipping class in favor of hunting or spending time at the guild training house, but that doesn’t in any way reflect on the respect and admiration I have for you or your class!  Teacher Otterbaum, you, as a former Silver ranked adventurer, deserve better than a student like me.  One who isn’t willing to give you the attention your well-constructed and riveting lectures deserve.  I merely choose to embrace the subject matter, the noble pursuit of adventuring, more directly and physically than what you could provide in a classroom.”

Lightly hopping down a step to stand in front of his aunt and uncle, Ullie flashed them both his most honest and sincere smile.  “Aunt.  Uncle.  You both have taken on the burden of caring for me and as such have earned an eternal place in my heart.  I know neither of you was ready for a child, but when my parents died, you were there for me.  You’ve always been there for me.  How could I ask you to watch me follow in their footsteps, knowing how you both feel about adventurers?  I simply couldn’t put you through that.”

Stepping back to address them all, he added, “That being said, there is also every possibility that I’ll fail in my awakening.  Perhaps I’ll never be the adventurer you all fear I’ll become.  So, why put us all through the argument you know we’d have had if I’d told you about my plans?  That’s why I chose to attempt an early awakening.  We’ve all been dancing around the subject for months, and we all know that by the time I turned 16 and attempted the mandatory awakening, we’d have been at each other's throats about the possibility of me joining the guild rather than the guard.  Had my awakening not worked out, I’d have been back in less than a month.  You wouldn’t have even known I was gone… It’s not like I would have missed anything.  That is, aside from a few classes that I probably wouldn’t have gone to anyway.”

Seeing as both his aunt and uncle were at least willing to listen to him, Ullie pressed his advantage.  “As you both are no doubt aware, I’m not much of a rule follower but I am a rather fine planner.  Remember when I was trying to train myself to sneak and ended up getting caught borrowing Mrs. Pinecutter’s spare hand-axe?  At first, you both thought I was merely acting out.  But, in reality, I had a plan!  I was going to master that hand-axe and prepare myself for the eventual career I was intending to train for.  You know I always do things for a reason, and I’m in no way a malicious troublemaker.  Everything I do is inevitably in service of a grander purpose!  So, you can be sure, that while it may look like I’ve deceived you and planned to run away, I was, in actuality, just limiting the likely fallout of a pointless argument we may not even have needed to have,” he stated lovingly, attempting to sparkle his eyes with what he hoped looked like love and devotion.

His aunt sighed in defeat while turning to look at her husband, saying, “He only started talking like that after you introduced him to Victor… this is your fault.”

Uncle Wendel’s expression didn’t falter in the least, and his continued stare-down into Ullie’s unblinking eyes began to make the young man’s forehead sweat.

Without turning to address his wife, he replied, “Victor’s a loremaster.  The man’s spent years reading and reciting the epics across two continents before he retired… he can’t help it.”

Offering a harrumph in response, Aunt Terry waved away her husband’s excuse.  “It doesn’t matter, the harm’s done.  The boy’s already been caught up in the idea that his destiny is too big for Port Middleton.  He won’t listen to any argument we can make.  And I don’t feel like talking to the teenage equivalent of a brick wall.”

Looking past her husband, she addressed Teacher Otterbaum, “Thank you for letting us know what Ullie has been up to.  We’re both sorry that you had to get involved.”

Stepping up next to Ullie on the stairs, her hand whipped out like a snake to crack Ullie on the back of the head.  “And Ullie is sorry too.  Aren’t you Ullie?”

Rubbing the back of his head while glaring at her with annoyance, he replied, “Of course I am.”

Turning his head to look at the old man, he added, “I’m truly sorry that your oh-so-helpful intrusion into my business has in any way negatively affected your day.  I can only hope that you’ll somehow still find the time to go join those esteemed gentlemen you spend your afternoons, nights, and weekends drowning your sorrows with at the guild tavern.  Perhaps you’ll take this as an opportunity to branch out, drinking yourself to sleep at any one of the other 10 or 20 drinking establishments that call our fine little port their home.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Ullie saw his uncle’s forehead vein making its appearance.

Quickly changing his expression to one of utterly sincere contrition, Ullie continued, “Not that you are in any way undeserving of your retirement.  What you’ve done for the countries of both Nerune and Yoncha has earned you more than a few free drinks from every one of their citizens.  In fact, when I’m a little older, and wiser, I hope to be able to buy you an ale myself and hear your recounting of your adventuring team’s battle with the roaming dungeon of mythos… I believe it was called ‘The Wounded Dungeon of Antiquity’, am I right?  If facing that monstrosity full of terrors hasn’t earned you your comfortable retirement, then I don’t know what would.  You’re a hero, Teacher Otterbaum.  A credit to both the profession of adventurer and one of this humble port’s most treasured citizens.”

Somewhere in the middle of Ullie’s speech, the old man’s expression had lost its light.  Any amusement he’d had at catching Ullie in his little lie had vanished like smoke, leaving his beard and mustache hanging languidly on down his chest like a shaggy pelt of a dead animal.

Turning away from the group, Teacher Otterbaum walked back into the school muttering, “Young, brash, and stupid.  They never change, and they never listen.  Think it’s all fighting monsters and -”

Ullie winced as the old man slammed the door behind him.

Turning to look at his disapproving aunt and uncle, he forced a smile and said, “That man is a treasure trove of knowledge that we as a port are lucky to have available for our next generation to learn from, am I right?”

While his uncle’s expression remained as stoic as it usually was, the vein on his forehead continued to throb as if it were daring Ullie to say just… one… more… word.

Scoffing loudly, his aunt reached up and snatched Ullie’s ear like it was a mouse trying to flee a trap.  Ignoring the fact that Ullie was hissing in pain, she dragged him off the steps and out onto the port’s main road, pulling him along by virtue of the fact that he was intent on staying attached to his ear lobe.

Growling over her shoulder at Uncle Wendel, she ordered, “Come along, dear.  Let’s get this boy his awakening and find out whether or not we should start contacting priests to begin arranging for his inevitable funeral.”

After five or ten steps, his aunt finally relented and let him go, leaving Ullie to stumble alongside her as he rubbed the side of his head with an exaggerated grimace on his face.

“So, where have you been staying?” his uncle asked quietly.

Nearly jumping in shock as he hadn’t realized his uncle was walking directly behind his right shoulder, Ullie took a moment to master himself.

After straightening his clothes and repositioning his satchel strap, he replied calmly, “The hunting cabin outside of Mr. Clayspinner’s place.  Plenty of game in the hills nearby, and the well is easy to get to.  Had to get the last bit of practice in with my bow and spear before my channels are opened, you know?  Would be stupid not to increase my chances of getting a solid combat starting path.  While there’s no actual evidence that things like that matter, I’d rather err on the side of caution than end up with an affinity for plants or insects or something.”

Grunting in acknowledgment of Ullie’s point, Uncle Wendel didn’t bother continuing the conversation.

Walking in front of both Ullie and Uncle Wendel as if the road were only there to ease her passage through the port, Aunt Terry replied over her shoulder, “Whatever affinity you have or don’t have won’t matter.  If you awaken at all, you can be an adventurer or not.  You know this.  Power and potential don’t matter a bit if you don’t bother to use it correctly.  My brother, your father, was a prodigy with water.  He could have been a court mage or a city’s flowmaster.  He could have been anything.  But, what did he do?  He went off on adventuring with your mother, and look where that got them.  Dead and forgotten at the bottom of the ocean, leaving those of us still living to pick up the pieces.  What a waste…”

Despite hearing the familiar pain in her voice at the loss of her brother, Ullie still felt somewhat annoyed at her brusque dismissal of all that his parents had accomplished.  They and their party had traveled across Vorna’s tears, fought in a demon incursion, full-cleared multiple dungeons, and saved countless lives.  Nearly made it Gold Rank.  What they’d done had mattered.

Muttering to himself, he replied in barely a whisper, “They may be dead… but they’re not forgotten.”