but we kept walking and entered the training building. The door clicked shut behind me, and when my eyes finally adjusted to the darker room, I took in the different parts of the room and the groups utilizing the resources.
There were two guys beating the crap out of each other with bamboo sticks, followed by another handful of people doing archery, but instead of arrowheads piercing into the target, there were orbs of magic—or so I assumed—flying through the air and blowing up the targets. Pure craziness, yet I couldn’t wait to try it.
Next, a young woman was on her own and creating a swirling vortex of magic that had me so entranced that I almost ran into two guys wrestling on my right. Once I got my wits about me again, I continued my perusal and found a guy all the way in the back. He had no shirt on and was beating the crap out of a punching bag, but of course, it wasn’t an ordinary one.
No, this one was translucent, yet every time his foot or fist made contact with it, there was a bright light that ricocheted off of it. When the flashes became too much for my eyes in the dim room, I glanced down at his back and noticed tribal-style tattoo work along his shoulder blades that continued down the backside of both rib cages.
Then, my gaze traveled further and took in his tapered waist and the fine curves of his lower half before asking Jordan who he was.
“You don’t recognize him?” she asked, and I shook my head. “Look a little harder. Tell me if you sense anything familiar about him.”
The way she said it had me on edge, and as I stared harder, trying to avoid the bright flashes of light, I was able to get a good glimpse of his hair and immediately knew it was Ryland I had been ogling.
“Why does he seem to be everywhere?” I complained, and more importantly, why did my chest tighten at seeing him again?
“Or maybe you just keep searching him out without realizing it. I mean, he is all the way in the back corner. For most people, he would have been easy to overlook.”
“Shut up, Satan.” My eyes tore away from Ryland and searched out the exit. “I’ve seen enough to satisfy my curiosity. Let’s head back to town and do some window shopping until I figure out how to get money around here.”
She followed me to the door and kept talking. “We don’t actually have true currency around here, more like IOUs. Everyone does their part to contribute, and not many have more than anyone else. Except for the council members, because they pretty much work day and night.”
My eyes widened. “So, you’re telling me I can walk into any store we passed and get whatever I want?”
“Not exactly. You take what you need, not what you want. There’s a difference.” Her tone was almost chastising.
“What if I want a snack or something frivolous? Do those types of things not exist around here?” I was so confused. How could there be no currency? It just didn’t make any sense how that system wouldn’t be abused. It would never work on Earth. Humans were greedy beings.
“Don’t overthink it. I promise, you’ll settle in just fine before you know it. How about we start with the bookstore?”
“There’s a bookstore here?” My heart was already pounding. There was nothing I loved more than snuggling up on the couch with a good romance or history novel. Romance because I didn’t get out much, and history because there was no such thing as too much knowledge.
She laughed. “I pointed it out to you earlier, but you were too busy having a panic attack to notice. Come on. We’ll sneak right in, and nobody will even make fun of you when you smell the books.”
I snorted. “Nobody but you.”
My best friend loved to poke fun at my nerdy side—really it only consisted of an obsession with superheroes and books—but I didn’t care. I was proud of who I was and never once in my life tried to impress anyone, which made me realize how ridiculous I’d been by being so freaked out about the stares and whispers from the others on the street.
The people in Arvayta didn’t know me, so I couldn’t blame them for being curious. The only way to make things any better was to show them the real me, and I was going to get