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For a second, Zevemar froze completely. Hercules and Achillis... it had been a long time since last he'd seen them and they weren't much changed. Oh, they were far taller, had rougher hands and their scars and tattoos spoke of them having experienced as much here in Alanla as Zev had at The Spire. But their voices, taunting smiles and casual malice were as familiar as the ache of the opening of an old wound, all the nastier for having been closed for so long.

As that second passed though, new life flooded into Zevemar's limbs and his mind raced. They might have learned little in the intervening years but the Half-Orc had studied from dawn till dusk almost every day. He had defeated all comers during the annual acolyte quarterstaff tournament and had earned the grudging respect of even the most jaded of tutors with his encyclopedic knowledge of magical lore. He was, as Io had just said, a promising young wizard, not the shy green child that these three remembered. There was no need for this encounter to follow the usual script, especially not with the support of the legendarily protective Iolanthe.

With his left hand, Zevemar closed his eyes and quietly made the sign of [abbr=Casting | True Strike]one of his favourite spells[/abbr] behind his back. It was a cantrip, one that just required a grasping motion with one hand to feel the position of the threads of fate. Once you know the shape of the future, you could plan exactly how to punch it in the face, after all. Rather than a rough approximation of what was coming though, he saw a clear picture of Hercules reeling backwards and himself holding his staff in a two handed grip. Opening his eyes, Zevemar locked gazes with Hercules and smiled.

"Glad we found you Hercules, I wanted to talk to you about paying off a debt. With interest."

And with one fluid motion, the wizard stepped back, shifted his weight onto the back foot, took a firm, well spaced grip on his staff and then [abbr=Attack with Portent and Advantage: 13 + 6 = 19/18 + 6 = 24 | HIT]drove it into the other youth's nose like a spear[/abbr]. There was a [abbr=Damage: 3 + 4 = 7]satisfying crunch[/abbr] and yelp from Hercules as he stumbled backwards and Zev adopted the position he'd seen himself in during his vision. As he did, he was hit with a sudden doubt.

"Uh... the debt was all the bullying and the repayment was me hitting you, I'm not sure I made that totally clear..."