by Dakota Krout
Aten whooped, jumping in the air and breaking out into dance. Luckily, Joe was far too deep into his work to notice. There would have been screenshots for everyone otherwise. An hour passed as Joe finished the ritual rings, and just after that point, he put the finishing touches on a four-ringed Student ritual. “Frame, construction, details, magic. Good… gold all over… wait.”
He looked closer at the fourth ring, then made a tiny shadow that picked away a slightly out-of-place mark. Then the pattern shimmered a beautiful gold, and Joe nodded with a relieved expression. “Now for the ink…”
Infused ink was poured into an orb of shadow magic, and that was fitted to his quill to act as an ink hopper. Joe couldn’t risk making uneven lines, and he was really missing ball-point pens right now. With a steady hand, he followed along all the pencil that he had put down, using his control of shadows to form rails for the nib of his quill to fit between. The use of his shadow magic in all aspects of this process allowed the finished process to have machine-like exactness but also stunted the growth of his drawing skill. He didn't care at all.
As the ink dried, he followed along after his work and looked for anywhere the ink had run. Tiny shadow razors removed those spots before they could dry fully, and he sat back to look down at the completed diagram. “Okay… the hard part is done.”
“You’re done?” Aten looked at the rings—specifically the headache-inducing detail Joe had placed on the rings—and reeled back. “What is that?”
“Oh, right! I suppose you’ve never seen the ritual circles themselves, just the holographic energy representations of them.” Joe pointed at the various rings and spoke, glad for the break. “This portion allows me to create a sympathetic link to a blueprint. This activates the ritual. Here lets me add people to the setup. This–”
Joe talked for a minute, and Aten’s face got more and more bleak. “Joe, you do this every single time, to cast one ritual? So, a mage just chucks a fireball, and you’d need like… two hours to make the same effect?”
“Well… if I wanted to cast the fireball as a ritual, yes.” Joe reached for the blueprint and pulled it in close.
“You’re using infused ink, paper, and quills?” Aten looked at everything Joe was using, then behind him at a shelf with neatly labeled and explained reagents. He flipped back to looking at Joe as he pulled out a standard Core, also known as an Uncommon Lesser Core. “Geez, man. That's… overkill, isn’t it?”
“Bare minimum actually. Hey, at least you know what you’re paying for when you reimburse me later.” Joe put the Core in the center of the ritual circles, then touched the blueprint to the Core. The blueprint glowed brightly, the Core dimmed, and Joe grunted as he impressed mana into the process. The Core crumbled, finally on its last use, and Joe made sure that Aten saw. He was running low on Cores and could really go for a guild-sponsored refill.
When the glow dimmed, Aten leaned in and gasped at the holographic building sitting in the center of the ritual circles. It matched perfectly. He pulled open the blueprint and saw that there was nothing on it to indicate any changes. “Joe, you glorious… how many of these rituals can you set up? If I can get you into their vault for an hour, how many…?”
He trailed off, seeing Joe shaking his head. “Each ritual is custom-made for the building when I pull it from a blueprint. It's actually harder than just scanning a building. Look here. This part says ‘wall, wall opening’. Sure, it’s written in trigonometry, but that’s what it says. No shortcuts like that.”
Aten rubbed his well-trimmed beard. “I see. Well… I’ll get this back to… hmmm.”
The Guild Commander walked up the ramp, and as he stepped into the building above… the way down vanished. “Fine then, Joe. Keep your secrets.”
***
None of them saw when, just over an hour later, the person who had ‘stolen’ the plans returned to Ardania. She walked up to the leader of the Architect’s Guild and handed over the plans to the wall, as well as the gold she had been given. “They fell for it.”
“Good work.” He pushed the gold back to her. “When they are tried for treason, we will finally have someone to point at and say, ‘See? Bad idea to go behind our back and do this yourself. You never know when you might accidentally build treason against the Kingdom’.”
Chapter Thirty-eight
“I’m doing a lot of things recently for maybe rewards in the future,” Joe contemplated quietly as he worked to pump mana into his glass. It was more of a ‘constant pressure’ thing, so he took the time to look over his gains from last night and this morning.
Skill increase: Solidified Shadows (Apprentice IX). Oooh. One rank away from the Student ranks! What will happen? Something good? Nothing at all?
Skill increase: Spellbinding (Apprentice IV). Making magical documents comes in all shapes and sizes. You’ve been making lots of them! Good job. You know there is a whole world full of people to meet, right?
Of course, the most exciting one for him was the increase of his Ritual Magic to Expert one. Knowing that there was no way to increase it other than study and practice made each earned rank feel just… so invigorating. It was also thanks to this skill that he had been able to create the ritual so quickly last night. While it had felt like he was doing each step at the same pace, the Journeyman bonus he had gained allowed him to create Student-ranked rituals thirty percent faster.
He wanted to study that effect in closer detail, as there had to be some kind of logical reason for why it happened. Did he physically move faster when making rituals? Some kind of perception boost? Haste? Either way, he wasn’t aware of it when it was happening. Joe shrugged and looked at his stat gains, pleased with what he was seeing. He had stuck with his plans today and had gained a point in everything except luck and charisma. Good start to the day.
Done patting himself on the back for a single-day-streak, he turned back to his glass. He kept pumping mana into it, then holding it in place as the mana fused with the grain of the glass, enhancing and increasing durability. Joe looked at his Magical Material Creation skill, hoping that force of will alone would bring it up another point. The glass finished, dropping to the table with a very non-glass-sounding *thunk*.
“What does increasing the density of the mana matrix do?” Joe growled at his skill. “Make it absorb faster? Absorb more? Both?”
Joe started again, adding the infused glass to his ring and having a new chunk appear on the table. As he surrounded the glass, something in his mind *clicked*. Perhaps it was the fact that he had gained more intelligence, wisdom, or that his mind was always looking for a way to automate things, but… what he was doing with his mana was a lot like what he did when making his Exquisite Shell.
This time, instead of making the mana form as a bubble and holding it there, he stretched his Exquisite Shell into shape around the glass and pumped mana into the space left behind. He wasn’t sure if this would work, but it was worth a shot! When the glass brightened, he knew it had been a success. Though… it was different than usual.
Item created: Natural Imbued Glass. You have found _ERROR_ You have created a type of glass that has absorbed wild mana or a type of mana with an aspect of suppression resistance or wildness. This glass allows mana to flow through it much easier than imbued glass made using a matrix while retaining the damage-resistant properties.
Skill upgrade available: ‘Magical Material Creation’ will change into ‘Natural Magical Material Creation’. This type of material creation does not allow for the choice of mana matrix used, instead making the material gain whatever property best fits. This can result in anything from incredible to incredibly dangerous results. Accept? Yes / No.
Joe was concerned but knew that he could always go re-learn the original skill if this gave him issues. He chose ‘yes’ and watched as his skill changed.
Skill gained: Natural Magical Material Creation (Beginner I). 50-1n% chance for skill use to create a material dangerous to the creator where n = skill level. 1% ch
ance for material created to increase in rarity upon completion. This is a skill usually reserved for NATURE, Mr. Error Generator.
Title upgraded: Baldy II. No facial hair either. You have eyebrows and eyelashes left, but don’t push it. -50% chance to successfully hide when in sunlight.
Joe touched the small beard he had been trying to grow, catching falling hair. He looked at the tufts in his hand and sighed. “Is this really my fault? I’m sorry that people haven't been very experimental here in the last few centuries, but this seems to be intentionally pushing down creativity.”
I can be petty if I want to be. Baldy III: the loss of chest hair.
“Hey!” Joe started to itch as hair trickled down his shirt. “Is that a curse or are you making movie titles?”
No other message came, and Joe decided against antagonizing the world AI any further. He Cleansed himself to remove the itching, took a few deep breaths, and got back to work. There was a thirty-nine percent chance of making something harmful, but… no other choice right now. At the Expert rank, there would be no more harmful stuff, which made sense. Ah well.
Joe made four chunks of natural imbued glass before he got his first… failure. He sat there, staring at the glass in his hands. His mind was blank, his body shaking. Joe was fully terrified. He had no idea how long he sat there before someone tapped him on the shoulder and he dropped the glass. It shattered on the table, and the effect it had on him was broken.
“You… okay there, mate?” A big dude was standing well away from Joe, looking at him awkwardly.
“I was under a fear effect. Thanks for breaking me out of that.” Joe went to stand, and the man pushed him down.
“At least that’s explained, but… stay seated. Ya made a lil’ mess there.” Joe was patted on the arm, and the man moved off. Joe looked down at his wet robe, flushed, and Cleansed himself.
“Yup, harmful material.” Joe suddenly liked his new skill a lot less, no matter that his other glass had been formed almost three times faster than before. No way around it than to get good, though. He made a deal with a server that was walking around. If Joe started acting oddly, the server would knock the glass out of his hands. The server, in turn, would get a nice tip.
Joe started again, and as soon as the glass was completed, he started to laugh. “Yes! I am the best! I can't believe how amazing I am at everything! Look at this glass! Look at it! Muhuhaha!”
The glass shattered as it hit the table. Somehow, the failures didn’t have the resilience of the correctly-made versions. Joe thanked the server, who glanced at the broken glass and shook his head. Five more glass sheets were made before it happened again, but this time, Joe thought he was someone across the room and threw the glass at him, thinking the other was an imposter.
“Whooo, boy.” Joe took out a fresh chunk and nervously wrapped it again. “Next failure means done for the day.”
One… two… twelve success in a row. On the thirteenth, something changed, and Joe prepared himself for the worst.
Item upgraded! Random attribute assigned. Item created: Natural Imbued Glass of Fertility. This glass exudes fertility. All plants and animals in the area of effect will produce offspring 21% more quickly!
“Well…” Joe looked at the glass with interest but also concern. “Let’s make sure this gets into the greenhouse? How big is the area of effect?”
He continued, getting twelve more done before suddenly shouting to the others in the area, “Gather around, gather around! I am here to tell you the tale of Zed the Bard and his great influence on another world!”
*Smack* Joe’s glass broke, and the server pointed into the distance. “Get out.”
“Fair enough.” Joe stood and went to work on his other projects. He continued this way for the next four days, training and perfecting a ritual of Feather Fall in the evenings. Four more points in six stats, and closing in on a thousand one-foot-by-one-foot glass sheets.
He looked at the changes that five days of hard training had netted him, pleased with the results.
Natural Magical Material Creation (Beginner VIII). Grinding, huh? Still an impressive speed, but I suppose you’re actually earning it this time instead of your deity sneaking you boosts.
Ritual Magic (Expert II). Fancy stuff.
Exquisite Shell (Beginner II). Interesting choices were made in learning to make new shapes with this. Some bald disrespect for the craft, some might say.
Cleanse (Student II). You’ve really been making a mess of yourself recently. You realize that usage determines boosts… right?
New ritual created: Feather Fall. What falls faster, a ton of feathers or a one-ton anvil. The anvil, less wind resistance. That won’t matter to you though because, with this active, you can survive three falls that would otherwise deal at least half your remaining health!
Difficult issues solved! Intelligence +1!
Joe had gotten that last message four times, netting an additional four intelligence over the grinding session. “Woo! Got to ninety int!”
“Congrats!” Jess was sitting across from him, and this was the first Joe had noticed her. “Listen, a few things. You’ve totally ignored your team for the last five days, so they went off to do their own thing. Also, you still need to pay them if they aren't doing anything. Aten was looking for you for an update on the food situation and wanted you to know that they have gathered all the soils and miscellaneous stuff that you’ve requested. In that sense, good call on a week of downtime.”
“What would I do without you, Jess?”
“Likely hire someone who costs more and does less,” Jess deadpanned, handing over a clipboard. “This is the invoice for the trappers you sent out. They are here and want payment. I checked, and they came through, but you might not like it. Still gotta pay them. Still no word for sure on the Greater Core you need, but a ‘Terra’ told me that she might be able to make that happen. ‘For money’. She laughed at me as she said that last part, so I hope it means something to you.”
“Only a couple weeks on the payroll and you are invaluable.” Joe smiled at the table. “I should have everything I need for the greenhouse by tonight except the Core. Tell Aten that, and ask if they’ve got a plan on where to put it. Also, any news on other building requirements?”
“Nothing else.” Jess told him where to find the trappers, and he went over after buying her a coffee. The trappers were almost exclusively rogue-type characters, and they seemed leery about standing near the small cage they had. “Everything okay?”
“Gonna need a bonus on this one, sorry to say,” the leader of the small group told Joe bluntly. “Three of us died, and we’ve been hearing stories about groups vanishing after catching really rare creatures.”
“Sounds familiar.” Joe sighed and paid twenty percent more than the previously-agreed rate. He wanted to work with them in the future, so it was important to make good impressions now. When they had the gold in hand, they nodded at the tarp-covered cage and walked away.
Joe got close and threw off the cover. Staring at the creature contained by bars and ritual magic, he rubbed his eyebrows and had to find somewhere to sit.
“Seriously? A squirrel?”
Chapter Thirty-nine
Joe had pressed the button that the colorful Jester had given him and waited next to the cage the entire night. He wasn't sure how else to reach the Zoo’s… assassin. It was very, very strange that a Zoo had a trained killer. Joe continued to create glass, and he made sure to remain awake the entire time. Unless he was in a totally safe location, there was no chance that he was going to sleep after summoning a Jester Assassin that was after him.
So, he sat across from the squirrel, back to the wall, and made imbued glass. The process sped up each time he gained a skill level and also reduced the odds of him making an odd failure. He had also taken to holding the glass precariously to drop and smash the failures before they messed with him too much. This did cause a few mishaps with dropping regular glass, but it was worth it in his
opinion.
Natural Magical Material Creation (Apprentice 0). No extra boost for you at this rank.
As he made his thousandth successful glass square, Joe broke through to the next tier. He hopped to his feet, flush with success. A voice caught him off-guard, “Here I thought that my entrance was undetectable. We should discuss my lack of stealth in the future so I can improve.”
The multi-colored robes the man wore were still garish and distracting, but somehow, Joe hadn't seen him before he spoke. Joe nodded at the man, then waved at the cage. “As agreed, one Rare monster.”
“Interesting.” The assassin looked at the cage. “Very interesting. I have no idea how you managed to contain this creature in simple bars of iron. Creeping Death Squirrels tend to be rather… difficult to contain. I will admit, I thought that I would be getting the most basic of rarity from you. You have cleared your record with us, and here is a small token of our appreciation and hopefully a visual reminder to bring such creatures to us instead of a… pet store.”
Quest complete: Too Many Zoos! You have proven to The Zoo that you aren’t trying to compete with them! Reward: Kill order rescinded. Small non-combat pet (Coffee Elemental).
Brown liquid flowed up Joe’s arm like a snake, resolving into a small creature that smiled at him with huge, brown eyes. It spoke in a tiny, high-pitched voice, “Drink me?”
“Later for sure, but not right now.” The Elemental flowed down and into his ring.
“Ah, that’s your storage device, hmm?” The assassin leered at him. “Good to know. Now, as I was pleasantly pleased by the work you did here… this is a little something from me.”
Item gained: Backstage Pass. This pass will get you into the ‘underground zoo’. Attend at your own risk, and make sure you are dressed your best!
“If you want to see your little friend here in action, come tonight. This little guy… I know exactly who to set this against.” The assassin patted the cage and vanished, cage and all.