The outside of a prison isn''t the most auspicious place to start any adventure; perhaps slightly more auspicious than the inside of one, but then, anyplace would be.


    The guards; not wearing the normal heavy armor of Imperial troops, but still bearing the clockwork crossbows that were the Empire''s weapon of choice, just watched as the girl approached the gate; she was pretty enough; unusually pale, almost grey in color, dark of hair and with a long grey and white dress, and the bundle of pouches on a band from shoulder to hip that practically screamed ''spellcaster''.


    In the south, guards might have taken advantage of such a prisoner; but here, they would simply admire, knowing full well that the warden would throw them into the cells if they dared do anything.


    One of them opened the gate with a nod. "The one in charge of you from here is waiting. Don''t end up back here." He pushed the gate open...


    Terra took a deep breath, and stepped out into the sunlight. She had hopes, but hadn''t really expected to see this place for a decade. She was a criminal. Convicted of untold gold worth of property damage, after a failed attempt to kill her rapist. And yet... she was free. Sort-of. She had her hand clasped over the silver amulet around her neck, and wondered just who had control of it... before looking at the gathered group... and staring.


    One of the figures was familiar. Kylie Eastwatch, a decent enough girl, the vastly superior younger sister of the bastard who... best not think of it for now. She was always in the usual red and bronze colors of the local nobility, but this time there was actually chainmail beneath a robe, and a flail hanging from her hip; she was a priestess of light. A healer. The fact that she was carrying a weapon was... odd. Especially a chained one. She also had the ring to match her necklace; silver, with a tiny blue gem that Terra was dead certain would be carved into an image of a shackle were she to look closely enough.


    The young man beside her was a complete unknown. She''d only met Kylie a few times, and this man beside her was a stranger; tall, thin, with hair as black as her own; and who bore garb that she was immediately jealous of; the black and gold badge of the Imperial Academy of Magic, over a set of green and silver robes that most likely meant -something- she was unaware of. He also had some sort of odd birthmark over his left eye; a blue-ish blotch he was trying and failing to hide with his hair.


    Neither of them seemed so big a deal, however, beside the hulking armored figure in front of them. Her grandfather. The first time he''d met her was at the trial, when he''d appeared seemingly from nowhere to save her; and then later visit her in prison, to assure her that he would get her out of there, one way or another.


    His gaze was... disturbing. Her mother had warned her about it, that he''d used it on her a few times when she''d done something especially bad. His kind had a form of lesser shapeshifting, or illusion magic; or something somewhere in between crossed with some sort of empathy. They could read people, and adjust their face and appearance subtly... to strike fear and horror into their enemies. He always seemed to know what she feared most, and apparently had once appeared to have rows of spider-like eyes when her mother had painted her grandmother''s cat.


    Even now, when he wasn''t actively trying to disturb anyone, they were dark orbs that just oozed menace.


    Terra took a deep breath, and met her grandfather''s gaze. "Sir... what''s going on?"


    The gaze changed. His armored helmet concealed everything but the eyes, but she could still feel the grimace, that the menace had changed to irritation. "They agreed to release you into the custody of their daughter. Apparently, with that little rapist idiot dead, they need to make sure she''s tough enough to handle her future role in the family... and I''ve been assigned to keep her and her stupid little boyfriend alive as she goes ''Adventuring''. We do this for a year, or long enough for her to be considered ''acceptable, and you go free."


    Terra stared... and started laughing. "Oh god. I... my mom always went on about how much you hated all the adventuring nonsense, and only went along for grandma''s sake."


    He shrugged. "And to kill demons. If I can wrap a chain around the throat of some succubus and watch the life drain from her eyes while she struggles, I''ll consider it a good day, even if I have to put up with a bunch of people calling me a hero after. Now. Come along. I won''t stand in your way or you idiots won''t learn anything, but I''d prefer this to be less than a whole damned year. I have things to do."


    Over to the side, Kylie coughed. "Ahem! While of course any advice is appreciated, I believe I am in charge of this particular venture, am I not?"


    Her grandfather turned and looked down at the girl; who shivered and backed away a step; Terra couldn''t see it, but it was likely that he''d put a bit of power on that glare. "Child. You are a priestess of the light. This sets a bottom on just how stupid you could possibly be. While this is an odd set of circumstances, you need to understand that, right now, I am essentially a devil under contract to try to keep you and little idiot over here alive as you try to reach a level of capability that he should be staying in your academy, and you in your temple, until you reach. While you may choose what sort of insipid, foolish nonsense you drag us into, I will stop you in a heartbeat if I choose to... and if you wish to head north, into demon-infested lands, I will knock you unconscious and drag you home. We go south."


    He looked at the boy, and then back at Terra. "The kingdom is far worse about handling things than the Empire; virtually every town and village has some sort of problem or infestation you can deal with. The only places that are fairly clear are places where some adventurer decided to retire."


    Kylie blinked, looking at the boy, then at the devil. "....I... can we at least go to a dungeon? I always dreamed of going into one, they''re in all the books about adventurers..."


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    His gaze abruptly turned back to Kylie, who seemed to hold it together a bit better this time. "......I revise my earlier estimate of your intelligence. Lets start heading south. Come on." He glanced at the sky; seeming irritated at the sun itself; and then turned to the right; marching directly toward the forest, rather than walking along the road. The prison had a wide cleared area around it, longer than crossbow range, to ensure they could shoot down any fleeing prisoners; and her grandfather rapidly set a pace the three younger folk struggled to keep up.


    Kylie struggled to speak, as she marched beside him. "We... have.. a cart. And horses! Supplies! We need to... collect them!"


    "Horses are good for quick sprints. A good, tough, adventurer should be able to outrun them in a long haul. You should also be able to hunt for food, or carry enough on you... or learn enough magic to make some."


    "But... tents! Supplies! Derek''s magical research!"


    This brought him to a halt... and he glanced back at her, then to the boy. "...Magical research. You haven''t graduated yet, and are conducting magical research?"


    The boy seemed far less out of breath, and able to handle things, than either of the two young women. "Yes, sir. I''ve been conducting research on trying to imprint abilities from other, magical, species into humans, permanently, rather than with some sort of transmutation magic. So far all I''ve managed is to bind a bit of blue dragon scale to myself, and, well." He snapped his fingers; a sudden spark of lightning flashes between then. "It''s been of limited use, but shows promise. I was hoping we might get some samples to work on, out in the field. I was the one who wanted to see a dungeon, more than Kylie."


    He looked at the trio... Terra seemed much more interested, and was now staring at the blue splotch on the boy''s face with dawning awareness... and wondering why, if you were going to start with such a thing, you would do it in such an obvious, visible, place.


    "...Fine. That actually seems interesting. I''m not an expert on magic, as such, but the only methods I''ve heard of that achieve that sort of result involve either selective breeding, or magically merging two living individuals... with unpleasant results for all involved. We can retrieve your cart, and your horses. But we immediately head south. No more lingering."


    ***


    It was an exhausted group that loaded up onto the cart for the journey south a few hours later; with the devil marching alongside the cart, seemingly unconcerned. If he got tired, or had any concern for the journey at all, he didn''t show it, as they started on the long journey to leave the relative safety of the Empire; and acquired an additional companion, of sorts; Kylie''s butler, an older gentleman named Parkins, who wore a simple red outfit, and immediately took to driving the cart, ignoring the devil; as the remaining three took up places in the back.


    Once everyone was comfortable; with Kylie in an actual chair mounted into the cart, complete with a cover that could protect her from the rain, while the other two simply sat on packs; Kylie cleared her throat. "Well now. Since we''re on the road properly, and I''ve only met you a few times... let me introduce my betrothed. Derek of the Northern Reach, fifth in line for the North-Reach baronny, and until recently, student of the Imperial Academy. Derek, this, of course, is Terra; I knew she was applying for the academy, and needed a sponsor, but otherwise I only met her because of my... brother."


    Terra gave a short bow, pulling the rims of her skirt as if she were giving a curtsy. "Terra Xius. Sorceress extraordinaire, mistress of fire." And chains. She didn''t want to include that bit. She might be able to tell this necklace to loosen and crawl off of her body, and this woman might be uncomfortable holding her ''leash'' if she knew the leash wasn''t exactly fastened securely.


    Derek nodded. "Of course, of course. We all saw your handiwork back at the Eastwatch manor. I, of course, am a third-level master of the arcane, researcher and spellcaster of various descriptors; I''m not about to start felling armies, but I can summon up a few monsters which... unfortunately vanish at the end of the spell, making them useless to my research."


    Terra blinked. "Third... level? Does the school have ranks like that? Does it mean you attended three years of classes?"


    "Oh, do you not... Well then! I get to be the teacher for once!"


    Kylie smacked Derek on the back of the head, and turned to Terra. "Everybody knows there''s high-magic areas, and normal ones. The Academy has it all neatly divided into levels, because of the circles of magic; if you live in a high-magic area like the grounds of the academy and the temple, just living and breathing there long enough will eventually make you strong enough to use a third-circle magic spell. They call it ''level five'', and have to reach that point to graduate, usually in about six or seven years."


    Derek signed. "Fine, fine. And if you''re already above the first level.. You feel not too far off from us. Can you cast a second-circle spell?"


    Terra shrugged. "I know about seven spells, and I''d say there''s the weak ones, the strong ones, and the really strong ones. The one I used to... well. The one that I tried to kill her brother with was a sort-of living ball of fire that rolls around, setting things alight, and I can make chase people, and the one I drove everyone else out of the house with first filled the whole place with a sort of irritating, choking smoke, somehow."


    Derek nodded. "There we go. The Academy requires anyone like you to get a sponsor to learn there. They have to make a specialized training course for you, sometimes use expensive materials... if someone has reached your level of power, but its mostly embedded in their bones and muscles, it takes quite a bit of work to break all that down and turn them into a proper mage."


    Terra gave a slow nod as well; and glanced out of the cart at her grandfather. "...Do you know what level he is? I know he''s centuries old... if you get more with time, shouldn''t he be like... a hundred?"


    "Higher than myself, certainly, by quite a bit. But... there''s a limit. If you''re too strong for the area, you start to... leak... the magic out. I don''t know what the cut-off point is, but certain archmagi can''t leave their towers or they''ll start to get weaker, and dungeons that get really old usually have monsters with the same problem; if they leave, they can feel the magic draining out of them and usually run back. Its also why the absolute strongest of devils, demons, and angels don''t come to our world, and why when they destroy a dungeon, they usually built schools, or fancy homes for royalty, on the grounds."


    Derek glanced over at her grandfather. "Speaking of which... do you know what sort of devil he is? He seems human enough, and so do you."


    "He''s a chain devil. Kyton. He told me that while he wouldn''t do it, because it was illegal, anyone who had the audacity to pick a fight with him there in the prison.... he can control chains. He could wipe out an army in there."


    Kylie blinked, and looked down at her hip... and then over at the devil. ".... He gave me an enchanted flail. Said it would help if we ever got in a real fight. Can he... make it swing back at me if he wants? Is... is that why he gave me the flail? So.. he can..."


    A deep, gravelly voice suddenly took over. "If I wanted to, I could make your necklace strangle you to death. Its harder on things people are holding, or wearing, but still easy enough for someone with as much experience at it as myself. Don''t worry about it. If I wanted you dead, and my daughter freed, and didn''t care about your laws, it would already have happened."