It had been a long week for Eripiam, and he was itching to get back to his studies.
Having taken a contract to tutor a young noble in Serendipity in mathematics, he had found the lad to be a rather troublesome student. Eri didn't complain; his parents had a heavy purse, and that was all that mattered. It took a lot of hard work and genuine struggle, but within the course of five days the boy was preforming arithmetic with the best of them, and Eri could leave somewhat contented if somewhat annoyed. Not too annoyed, as his coin pouch felt much, much weightier for his troubles.
Thinking of the coin, he patted his pouch with a look of pure contentment as he walked down the beaten dirt road that led to La'marri. His old teacher and friend Cael had tipped him off to a merchant selling artifacts in Zantaric that would likely be of interest to him, as they were reportedly from Fell. Though Cael was skeptical on the bulk of the merchandise the man peddled, there were a small handful of items she believed to be legitimate and even a couple she'd consider noteworthy. He'd hate to be away from his research for even longer, but functional artifacts from Fell were too good to pass up.
He turned the last bend in the road and set his eyes upon La'marri. Even outside of the village, Eri could feel the air practically thrumming with magic, the ebb and flow of various energy wavelengths giving a familiar yet exciting feeling. The hair on his arms stood on end, and he felt a small chill down his spine as he deciphered all of the fey energies, the sheer immensity of power here almost tangible.
Entering the final few hundred feet before the village, Eri nodded to a few familiar faces. A few passerby engaged him in idle chit-chat and business; how was the trip, do you have any open spots for tutoring, could you help me with a device I'm working on, etc. In somewhat of a rush to get home, Eri gave them all short but polite answers and continued on his way, the feeling of magic in the air growing thick and almost making the village seem alive.
Eri grimaced a bit as he swung his arms to stretch his shoulders. He felt flabby. He hadn't gotten any bounty contracts in over a month, and all of this sitting around and teaching was driving him insane. He wanted to fight something. At the same time, he felt a twinge of shame for feeling this way. Not a violent man, fighting nevertheless appealed to Eri in a way that regular studies couldn't. Testing out the field applications of a spell could yield completely different results than in a controlled setting, and there were many new ideas that Eri had yet to try out.
About halfway to his home, Eri was passing through the center of town when he heard a call for his name. Turning towards the voice, he panicked for a moment when he saw a girl with a dragon in tow. Dragons weren't unheard of in La'marri, or even all that uncommon, but dealing with anybody that had a dragon always warranted caution. He stepped back a few paces, and held up his hand to signify for her to stay where she was.
"I am Eripiam, and who might you be? Somebody in need of my services?"
He hoped that it sounded less pretentious to her than it did in his head, Eri mentally smacking himself for his own presumptuousness. Other than that small thought, he didn't take his mind off of the girl or the dragon, reaching out feelers to detect any arcane activity. She seemed around his age, probably a little younger, and her eyes were startling even from a distance. The dragon seemed tame, and so Eri let his guard down somewhat, waiting for the girl's response.
