I trailed after the other two as we made our way toward the merchant district. Brookfield was already alive with many stalls open, their vendors shouting, people bartering, everyone blissfully unaware that a Troll had wandered a little too close to town. The only sign of trouble was the increased guard presence; a few patrols moved through the square, eyes sharp.

  “Here, try one of these,” Rob said, tossing a small soft bun my way.

  I caught it awkwardly. He’d already devoured half of his, so I took a bite.

  “Hmmm… ish great,” I muttered around the mouthful as a savoury, meaty filling and a splash of gravy hit my tongue. “What is it?”

  “Meat buns,” Rob said, already reaching for another as a flash of coin was exchanged.

  Both he and Amelia were eating them almost whole.

  I just smiled and followed as they wandered between the stalls, thinking about how much my life had changed, and how much more there was waiting around the corner.

  Each shop was shaded by thick cloth canopies, keeping the sun off the vendors’ wares. It didn’t take long to understand why Amelia had been so eager to come here, there was food everywhere. The moment she caught a whiff of the baked goods, she vanished beneath the sails, already hunting through piles of pastries like she’d been training for it.

  Rob, on the other hand, steered me away from the main stalls toward a massive old tree at the edge of the market. It looked like it had grown to spite the human presence. Its roots seemed to be forcing their way through the cracks as if refusing to yield to anyone’s attempts to tame it. The river curved beside it, a constant thread through the town.

  Beneath the low-hanging branches sat a middle-aged merchant on a red rug, a tattered leather apron hanging from his shoulders. His grey beard was uneven, and his posture suggested he’d slept in that spot more than once. When he spotted Rob, his eyes brightened immediately.

  “Ah, young hero, you’re back!” the merchant called out, his voice warm with a hint of teasing.

  Rob grinned. “Sup, old man. Brought you a new customer.”

  The merchant’s eyes shifted to me. “Another hero in the making, then?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” Rob said before nudging me. “Right, new kid?”

  I gave a small shrug. “Something like that.”

  Spread around the man were pieces of armour, a scatter of weapons, and a handful of wooden toys that looked suspiciously like Rob’s practice gear.

  “Kent makes the best weighted training blades you’ll find,” Rob said.

  “Oh, sir, you flatter me,” Kent replied with a dramatic bow.

  Rob laughed. “Well, you do. Here, Seanie… try this.”

  Seanie? Before I could react to the nickname, he pressed a weighted sword into my hand. My arm dropped immediately. Rob raised an eyebrow, then took it back.

  “Nope. Too heavy… maybe this one.”

  The second blade was less heavy, still not light, but I tightened my grip and tried to look like I had a clue.

  “This one’s great,” I said, far too quickly.

  Rob seemed satisfied and turned to the merchant.

  “Can we grab a shield for the new kid? And a few of the usuals for me… heavier ones this time.”

  Kent grinned and reached beneath the rug, producing a ready-made bundle of practise swords. Clearly, he’d been expecting Rob. The boy weighed the pieces in his hands, nodded, and passed over a few coins on a cord from his belt.

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  The merchant then offered me a small round shield. I tested the weight, lighter, sturdier than the one Doyle had handed me earlier, and gave a quiet, “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome, little heroes!” Kent beamed. “Thanks for stopping by.”

  Rob shot him a grin. “Nah, thank you. See you next week!”

  Kent sighed fondly as we stepped away, muttering to himself.

  Rob hauled his new training gear over one shoulder and pushed back into the bustle of the market. I hurried after him, the shield tucked tight under my arm.

  “How much do I owe you?” I asked.

  He waved it off. “Amelia was right. You earned a bonus taking that hit for her.”

  “Um…” I wasn’t sure what else to say, so I settled on, “Thanks, mate.”

  “No probs,” he said, casual as ever. “Kent’s swords are great. I just… keep breaking them.”

  With the way he trained, it wasn’t surprising. Even from across the room I could feel the thud of every strike he landed on that dummy. Without a proper blessing, swinging a weighted blade with bad timing could snap the wood clean in half.

  I glanced down at the gear in my hands. My fingers tightened around the iron brace holding the shield together. Someone had painted a dragon on it, a messy red smear with wings, but the craftsmanship beneath was solid. Thick enough to take a few hits. Thick enough to survive that Troll’s swing, at least in theory.

  “Thanks, Rob,” I said quietly.

  He gave a small, lopsided grin and kept walking.

  A few steps later Amelia reappeared beside us, clutching a bulging sack that smelled incredible.

  “What are we doing for the rest of the day?” I asked.

  “Well, we know what Amelia’s doing,” Rob said, eyeing the sack of food.

  I snorted. She rolled her eyes, mouth already full to respond.

  “The usual, mate. Training,” Rob added, lifting his bundle of new blades as proof. “What about you?”

  “Hopefully the same,” I replied, still not entirely sure what that would involve.

  “But first,” Amelia said after finally swallowing, “I want to look through the books.”

  Books? My ears perked. I remembered the shelves in the training hall, and Doyle mentioning he’d dig up a few for me. I’d need to talk to him when I could.

  “The cat thing?” Rob asked.

  Amelia nodded.

  My thoughts drifted back to the fight… the troll’s foot under my hand, the red coils flaring to life. It had been different this time. Sharper. Quicker. Nothing like what happened with Nick. And the troll’s reaction… that hadn’t been rage. It had been fear.

  Had the curse changed since I got here? There was far more magic in the air than anything back on Earth. Maybe that was why the episodes felt worse.

  I glanced at the others. Neither of them had seen what I did. Amelia had been focused on the cat, and Rob had already been out cold.

  A quiet breath escaped me. Good. The last thing I needed was for the only two people treating me kindly to panic—or start asking questions I couldn’t answer.

  I pushed the thought aside. They didn’t seem like the type to snitch anyway.

  When we finally returned to the cottage, Doyle was nowhere in sight. So, the three of us headed straight down to the training room. I set my new sword and shield in an empty corner and joined the others at the shelves, curious to see what this place actually held.

  Whatever was in these books had to be more useful than the ramblings in Jerald’s old notebook…

  I paused. That wasn’t fair. His scribbled tale about the Doppler Troll had just saved our lives. If we’d been any closer when it shifted, its surprise attack could’ve ended all three of us. I gave a quiet, grateful nod to the memory of the old man and kept browsing.

  There were manuals on everything… basic spellwork, sword forms, maps, bestiaries. Rob drifted toward the weapons section, while Amelia hovered near me, eyeing the monster texts.

  I pulled out a worn book. Its cover was faded, and I didn’t see any of the rune markings Doyle mentioned earlier. Maybe these were the kinds of books common folk could access, unchained from whatever rules the castle imposed.

  Amelia slid a volume from the shelf and flipped through it. “What kind of troll did you call it again, Sean?”

  “A Doppler Troll.”

  She mouthed the name and began scanning the pages more urgently.

  Rob reappeared beside me, holding out a book of his own. “Here, mate… Blades and Artifacts of the Aspirants. This one helped heaps with my swordcraft.”

  He dropped it into my hands with an encouraging nod.

  “Rob… You can read?” Amelia jabbed.

  Rob frowned, then grumbled in an odd voice, “Book? What is book?”

  Amelia giggled, and the two of them slipped back into their usual bickering.

  I found myself smiling at their back-and-forth before drifting away to browse on my own. My eyes skimmed past spell manuals and dusty tomes until something caught my breath.

  On the shelf… Procuring Blessings.

  A spark of hope flickered in my chest. I grabbed the book quickly and slid it beneath the one Rob had handed me. No need for either of them to see what I was actually taking. My whole situation with blessings was complicated enough… and embarrassing on top of that.

  “See you in a bit,” I said, already backing away.

  A pair of half-distracted “yeah, later” echoed after me as I slipped through the stone door.

  Upstairs, I headed straight for my room. I’d hoped it would be the perfect place to read.

  It was.

  Feet up on the bed, skylight angled just right…

  For the first time in a long while, I felt like I had a space that was truly mine.