by Noah Layton
‘What’s going on?’
The necromancer proceeded with her mutterings. From the markings, a cluster of purple balls of light began to drift up. They moved towards my body and touched my skin.
I couldn’t feel it, but from the way they disappeared when they touched me it was as if they were moving into my body.
My heart beat faster – I was worried about this process that I didn’t know a thing about, but it shouldn’t have been causing my heart to drum the way it was.
Suddenly the last of the lights entered my body, and the purple lights of the symbol beneath me vanished.
The necromancer went silent.
‘Is that it?’ I asked. ‘Did it work?’
‘You tell me.’
I looked at her in confusion, then checked my inventory. There was a new symbol, a ball of purple light, which I pressed.
Power stone - Equip to cast Arcane Blast - Charges x10
‘So I just… Use it?’
‘I would prefer it if you didn’t in here. It is not too powerful a spell, but still able to cause plenty of damage against enemies that you may confront. Casting it in here would cause a considerable mess. I have also gone to the trouble of disenchanting the Fire Blast spell that was originally imbued in it.’
‘Thanks… Any recommendations on how to learn?’
‘By casting it. It is the only way.’
‘Right. And what about recharging the stone?’
‘You are imbued with the ability to cast the spell. That is the gift that I have given you. The only way to gain more charges is to bathe a power stone in a magical well. There are many spells that exist in the world, but all must be taught with scrolls. Wells, on the other hand, are more complicated. Pockets of energy that infuse power stones are scattered across Agraria; the difficulty is finding them. Be on the lookout for any in the future. I would be more than glad to trade magical resources with you again.’
‘I’ll keep you in mind,’ I nodded, and headed for the door.
Chapter Nine
After meeting up with Lara and finding Ariadne and Alorion, who had sobered up nicely considering how rough he had been just a short time ago, the four of us spent the early morning making the trek back to my tribal lands.
We chatted absently along the way about our plans upon returning, but an anxiety was constantly clawing at the back of my mind.
It wasn’t just at the prospect of being jumped by another group of bandits from the forest – no, after the fight with Ga’lash I felt confident about my team’s starting strength against an enemy.
What I was most anxious about was the state of my land. Despite the bandits having been vanquished from the nearby camp just a few miles away, the place was practically defenceless.
My new citizens had weapons, but for a pair of farmers it was likely nowhere near enough.
We picked up the pace, reaching the land just before noon. All was quiet as we traversed the path through the grass on the southern side.
Alorion and the girls checked our inventory and quenched their thirst, as well as that of the horse, while I paced quickly to the shack that I had built with Tormus.
The moment I set eyes on them peacefully tending to their land, a huge weight felt like it had been lifted from my shoulders.
I would go and check up on them, but one thing was bearing on my mind above all; testing out my new spell.
With Alorion by my side I headed back to the treeline, choosing a lone tree that stood away from the others. I remembered what Ga’lash had said about setting fire to the forest; he might’ve been okay with that but I definitely wasn’t, especially so close to my land.
I didn’t think that Arcane Blast would be able to set anything alight, but I had to be sure first.
I opened my inventory and tapped the symbol of the imbued power stone before retrieving it.
Power Stone – Arcane Blast – Charges x10
Incantation: Arcania
‘Arcania,’ I whispered to myself. ‘Okay, let’s give it a shot.’
I pulled it from my inventory, holding the power stone in my left hand. I had no idea how this was going to work.
‘I’m guessing it emanates from the stone?’ I said to Alorion, who could only shrug at me. ‘Well, here goes nothing…’
I clasped the stone in my hand and pointed it ahead of me, aiming at the tree as accurately as possible.
‘Arcania.’
My spell was successfully summoned, but not as I intended; instead of coming from the stone it came from my other hand, which had been hanging by my side.
The grass around my foot ignited with purple embers in a circle roughly three feet in diameter.
I leaped back and stamped on the ground madly for several moments, putting it out as quickly as I could. In the end I had to dig back into my inventory and empty the contents of my water canteen onto the remaining embers, continuing to stamp them out in the process.
I checked my palm from where the purple fire had exploded. There was no sign of any injury.
‘That went well,’ Alorion commented.
‘Funny,’ I remarked. ‘Okay, let’s try again.’
This time I left the stone hanging in my hand by my side and raised my empty hand. Pointing it at the tree, I uttered the incantation again.
A ball of purple fire formed and flew towards the tree. It encased it in purple embers, just as it had done with the grass.
I patted it down quickly, sending Alorion on an errand to retrieve more water in the process.
‘Easy,’ I said after he returned and the fire had been put out. ‘All I have to do is aim and shoot.’
I returned to my inventory to replace the stone, finding that it only had 8 charges remaining instead of 10.
I had just wasted two charges learning how to use the spell correctly. I had no idea when I would find one of the magical wells that the necromancer had told me about. I had to be conservative in using it.
I split from Alorion for a little while and headed across to see Tormus and Eri.
‘Good morning,’ I called out.
‘Morning, master,’ Eri replied. ‘How was your journey?’
‘Uhh… Let’s just say it was eventful. The Coron boy has been taken care of.’
‘I’m glad to hear that,’ Tormus said. ‘Master.’
He gave me a quiet nod which I returned. The matter was finally settled between us, and we would never speak of it again.
‘Did you acquire the tomato seeds?’
‘I did. How are the crops looking?’
‘Let me show you.’
Eri gave me a tour of the changes that they had made over the previous day. She and Tormus had uprooted a reasonable section of corn and planted the tomato seeds that they had organised in neat rows.
This covered roughly half of the space they had cleared, providing enough room for the batch that I had acquired in Ichabod’s Cove.
‘How much space on the lands do you think we should use for this?’
‘You are asking me, master?’
‘Of course. I’m not a farmer. I respect your judgement and expertise.’
‘This is something of a change. I am not used to being able to make such decisions. My previous master was nothing like this.’
‘Well, get used to it. You and Tormus are the authorities on it. Your advice is valuable to me.’
‘Thank you, master. For the time being we will grow tomatoes in this space. This will be a pilot test, just to determine whether they take.’
‘How long does it take a crop of freshly-planted seeds to grow?’
‘In the conditions that we are blessed with now? Two days, presuming they are cared for.’
‘Got it. How much are the tomatoes worth?’
‘Per stack? The last time I checked the current price at market was 20GP.’
‘Twice the previous value of corn. I like it. I’ll bring you the seeds and you can get started on planting the rest.’
‘Wonderful
. Oh, and master?’
‘Yeah?’
‘We are in need of more water. Corn flourishes quickly in warm conditions but tomatoes must be nourished frequently.’
‘I’ll take care of it.’
The corn in this world grew quickly, taking a single day to fully grow in the pre-set sections on the land without seeds needing to be sowed again. The same would likely go for tomatoes; once they were planted they would repeatedly grow on the land until uprooted and replaced with another crop. It didn’t make any sense, but there were a whole lot of things in this world that didn’t make any sense.
Eri was right; this weather was perfect for growing corn, but that was why the price had dropped so suddenly. It was in abundance. I had been shipping it off to the trading post every day, and for all I knew there were other tribes taking advantage of the weather and doing exactly the same.
Tomatoes took two days to bloom but occupied a smaller space per unit and generated more coin. The only issue was that they needed more care, but I had Tormus and Eri for that. As long as I took care of my people, they would take care of the land.
And if I was going to take care of them, we would need to figure out a defence system.
Returning to the tree, I heard Alorion’s voice called out from the other side of the tree.
‘What is it?’
‘Do you notice something?’
I looked around at the totems and the small structures that they had sprouted nearby. Something was off.
‘Has someone moved things around? Everything looks squashed together.’
‘Only you can move structures, master, unless you give permission to somebody else to do so.’
I traversed the clearing with Alorion, scanning each of the totems and their corresponding structures.
A new totem had appeared on the southern side of the tree. It stood solitary and alone, looking out over the grass pastures that I had yet to take advantage of.
My imp and I both confronted it slowly as if it was some alien entity ready to attack. Arriving before it, I saw the carved idol that sat atop it.
It was a small statue of different landscapes mashed together; trees, mountains and hills sat upon a grid.
I touched the idol as I had done with all of the others and examined the new window.
Unlock Map Room – 40GP
‘A map room,’ I read, remembering that Alorion couldn’t see the window. ‘What do you think?’
‘I think it sounds like what it is.’
‘Could it give us some insight into the landscape?’
‘Perhaps.’
Alorion’s memory of past events only went so far, but I didn’t blame him for that. If he could tell me everything then it would be like having a cheat code for unlimited information, and that would give me an edge over every camp and every tribe across the land. I hadn’t shared the thought with him but I suspected that his memory had been reset along with the land when Master Marlo had kicked the bucket, although a few scraps of information remained.
I paid the amount, and the new structure faded into existence.
It was similar to the others, but within lurked a giant table. Things were dark and with no room for torches in the walls, I could only wonder what the hell I was supposed to do.
A small pedestal was situated before the table. I crossed to it and leant against it, only to see a blue light appear.
Before I could register what was going on the light spread across the table. A grid of hundreds of squares appeared, all illuminated by the glowing blue light.
Only one square, the block at the very centre, held any sort of defining features. It was nothing but a tiny pixel.
I leaned over the table and tapped the square. It quickly expanded to fill the table, and at its centre was a small patch of land with a line stemming from it a few inches.
Upon the line were written the words ‘Orakin Tribe’.
‘That’s us,’ Alorion confirmed. ‘And here are the places that you have visited so far.’
Three more locations were apparent on the map – the bandit’s camp, the trading post and Ichabod’s Cove, as well as the sections of forest that I had traversed in getting to these locations. The distance and size was all to scale, and considering how little space they took up I suddenly realised just how huge this place was.
Agraria was the size of a country. The battle that had taken place years before my arrival was essentially a civil war.
‘Okay…’ I said shaking my head of the thought and examining the area. ‘So every time I go to a new place I can view it on the map. That’s helpful. At least I don’t have to create one myself from memory. But what about…’
I retrieved the map that I had looted from the bandits and set it down on the pedestal. I had no idea if this would work or not.
After a moment of quiet as Alorion and I stared at the pedestal in curiosity, a line of light washed over the map like a computer scanner, only much faster. A box appeared before me.
Upload map?
WARNING: Maps may not be accurate.
That was interesting. Any map could be uploaded; even if it was something drawn on the back of a napkin and thrown onto the pedestal, it would appear.
The bandits probably never assumed that their map would be stolen, and they weren’t exactly the smartest bunch in the world. I could only assume that it was accurate due to its self-serving nature.
I would need to take the distances with a pinch of salt, though.
I uploaded the map, and its details flickered to life on the table.
The overlapping details of Ichabod’s Cove were apparent immediately, as well as the other locations. Things weren’t exactly to scale. I deleted the overlapping locations that we were already aware of, selecting them and deleting grids bit by bit, and roughly placed the locations indicated upon it that I hadn’t yet ventured to by dragging them.
‘The Rourke Homestead,’ I read, placing the location around four miles west by my best guess. ‘And Ark Point. That looks like a quarry of some kind based on the illustration. But this Rourke place… Rourke is a family name, which may mean that its owned by somebody. I don’t want to get into a fight with anyone unless they’re starting a fight with us first.’
‘That may change one day, master.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I agree that we must look towards building defences soon, but one day in the future, and it may be far off, but one day we may need to seek to be… Aggressive in our actions.’
‘Is this the crazy-violent part of you speaking again?’
‘Yes and no, Jack. A successful tribe cannot rely only on its defended borders to keep enemies at bay. Sometimes the fight must be taken to them. Warnings and threats must be given in order to let outsiders know just how powerful a tribe is.’
I dwelled on his words for a moment. I had always been the one to respond in the past, rather than to start things. I had been in more than my fair share of fights, be they with fists or with guns, but I was never one to start them.
‘One day,’ I replied. ‘If it needs to happen then it needs to happen. Right now I’m focused on looking after my people and keeping my land safe. We’ve been attacked once already, and while that may have been a one-off by some opportunistic assholes who happened to be camping in the area, we don’t know when it could happen again.’
‘Indeed, master. What defences do you have in mind?’
‘The thought had crossed my mind to build a perimeter, but the amount of wood that would be needed to border the land is way more than we can afford right now. We need to be smart about this.’
‘Is that not what the stone and wood supplies from Ichabod’s Cove are for?’
‘No. We need to localise it.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘When I was a kid we used to be told stories in school during assemblies. I don’t remember a whole lot of them, but one stuck with me.
‘In a peaceful kingdom there is a farmer’s daught
er. She is the most beautiful woman in all the land and she is invited to many banquets across the kingdom by men hoping that they can take her hand in marriage.
‘During one of these parties she feels the touch of silk beneath her feet for the first time, and it captivates her. She says that whichever man can provide the feeling of silk beneath her feet for the rest of her life – that is the man she will marry.
‘The dukes and earls and lords of the land get to work buying extraordinary amounts of silk, and send their minions to work blanketing the land. The streets and the fields are covered with silk, the mills work overtime, people are worked to the bone.
‘The young lady is impressed by the men’s efforts, but as a farmer’s daughter she is used to walking the land, and continues to trace the fields where silk has not yet reached.
‘This goes on for many months, until a simple carpenter gets an idea. He loves the farmer’s daughter just as many other men do, but instead of putting his hands to work he puts his mind to work on solving the problem.
‘He crafts a beautiful pair of silk slippers for the woman, and presents them to her. She is enamoured with her gift, and promises to love the carpenter for all her life. After all of the resources and man hours burned up by the rich men, all it took was a simple solution.’
‘So… You’re going to craft some slippers for our citizens?’
‘Haven’t you heard a single story in your life?’
‘If I have there are a very few that I can remember. That said, I do remember spending my younger years eating insects and throwing faeces at my brothers. It wasn’t exactly an educational upbringing.’
‘My point is,’ I continued, choosing to brush past the shit-throwing comment, ‘that what we really need to protect right now is our citizens. Anyone who might attack will want our resources. We’re just something that gets in the way. They won’t destroy our crops, because that’s what they’re going to come here for. They’ll take us out first, so we need to give ourselves the upper hand.
‘I’m not worried about you and I and the girls. We’re safe with our weapons in the tree at the moment, and you’re safe in the forest, but Tormus and Eri have shown themselves to be both loyal and useful. They need a strong home. That’s what the bricks are for.’