by Taj McCoy El
He took a deep breath. “So, to help you understand, let me pose a question for you. Tell me Margaret, should I fight and lose my life for a paladin who will be resurrected in a few hours or should I stay alive to fight Ba'alquion and save all of Majesta?
“You may not die permanently, but I can. My family can. My whole world can! Could anyone with a heart weigh it any other way? This is the only argument I can make. And I hope it will settle this.”
Margaret still wouldn’t look directly at him. She chewed on a biscuit silently.
Mayah took this chance to say, “I figured that was what happened, but I’ve been in more realms than Margaret has. That’s usually a rule of the citizens that live there. Don’t hurt or help the paladins in their own affairs.”
Margaret’s silence continued. She brushed some crumbs off of her jacket and continued to stare towards the empty fireplace.
“Margaret, why are you’re being so rude? Cloutus just explained that he would die if he left this building to come to our aid. Would you want him to die? No coming back for him, just gone?”
Margaret shrugged.
Did she just shrug me off?
Mayah stood up in front of Margaret. “Let’s put this another way. If you had to choose between saving the world or saving a friend who would respawn in a few hours and then dying permanently after you saved them, which would you choose?”
Margaret still said nothing, her eyes finally turning to Mayah.
“Margaret, you really need to answer, because if this is how you treat friends, I need to know now before things get hairy between us.”
Margaret looked at Mayah and said, “Fine, I would have chosen to wait for my friend to be reborn.”
“Finally, an answer.” Mayah threw her hands up. “Can you,” she pointed a finger at Margaret, “imagine actually being forced into that situation? Having to watch your friend die in a host of horrible ways and balancing that against the future of the world? Let’s not forget that I’m pretty sure Cloutus thinks of you as more than a friend.”
It was Cloutus’s turn to stare at nothing and fidget with his teacup.
“So, I’m gonna need you to either deal with the reality of the situation and chill the shaz out or go be a ninny someplace else.” She put her hands on her hips. “And I’m supposed to be the child here. Oh… my… God!!!” She flopped back down into her seat and took a few deep breaths.
“Now, I’m gonna ask Cloutus some questions and you two can work something out after we leave. Do you have a problem with that?”
Margaret looked at her hands, “No.”
“Okay then.” She turned to Cloutus, took another deep breath and finally said, “What I would like to propose is the creation of portable runeagrams that people could use to store their goods. Follow my thoughts for a moment. Imagine packing up a castle and moving it in a backpack. Storing grain for decades and never having to lose a kernel to mice or rot. We could even make a service that would move whole entire houses in a crystal the size of your fingertip. Please tell me you understand what I’m saying.”
“I understand the concept, but who would want something like that?”
“For starters, the guy at the magical and general supply store. He was complaining about how so many creatures were being brought in ruined from lack of preservation. I assume that the bags don’t have the same level of stasis as the runiverse does. You would probably lose a hand if they did.”
“So, you’re telling me that this tech that only Necromancers use could be used throughout Majesta?” He sat back in his chair and considered it. “The first thing we should do is make our model and patent it.”
“Majesta has patents?”
“Yes, we do. And I would advise you keep quiet until we design the runeagram or buy the plans.”
“Do you have a control box I could study?” And by study, I mean take apart and glean from all angles. Please say yes, please say yes….
“I happen to have the plans from when they created this runeagram.”
“May I borrow them for the night?”
“Sure, I guess.”
Mayah jumped up and spun in a happy little dance. Cloutus really didn’t know how to handle that.
“Also, Cloutus I’ve made some delivery parcels that open tokens.” She took out a sheet of paper and a quill and made the runes of the retrieval magic, enchanting it and handed it to Cloutus.
He grasped instantly what it was. He grabbed a token from his pocket and sealed it in the paper. He tossed the paper by the fireplace where a creature the size of a medium dog now lay. It had a head like a basketball with teeth, scaly, ugly …and lots of teeth. Its eyes were on two, thick stalks that hung off both sides of its head. There were two forelegs like a canine with a foot-long, barbed tentacle protruding out at each shoulder. Its back legs were more of a cross between a cricket and tentacles. Mayah decided she really would not want to meet one of these in a dark place, or a light place either, for that matter.
“That is one ugly beastie.” She walked over to it and ID’d it as a fengore.
“They live in the Fens of Kalagrast, a horrible place,” Cloutus said. “But they make excellent watchdogs. After Margaret levels up some more, she’ll be able to use a skill called Sustain. For just a small portion of her mana she’ll be able to keep a doll alive remotely from her. It will also not affect the number of dolls she can call. There are a lot of possibilities with that skill.”
“Good to know, wouldn’t you say so Margaret?”
“Hmmph…”
Her “hmmmph” didn’t have the same intensity it had before. That was at least something in the way of progress. But it was time to leave and get things done. It was gonna be a long night and she needed to hurry on.
“One last thing. Cloutus do you have a message book?”
“Of course, I do.”
Mayah pulled her book out. “Will you sign mine and vice versa? I for one…” she said loudly as she looked towards Margaret, “would love to stay in touch with you.”
“Most certainly. It also seems as if we’ll have some business to manage.”
“Yes, we most certainly will,” she said to Cloutus before returning her stare to Margaret. “It would be amazing if we had someone who was versed in sales and supplies helping us.”
Grax pulled out his book as the autograph session began and he collected Cloutus’s signature as well.
“Okay you two, play nice. I expect to hear good things when you show up, Margaret.” She shook Cloutus’s hand and gave Margaret a hug. As she did she whispered, “Stop being a baby and fix this.”
Margaret reply with a, “Hrrm…”
Well, that’s better than a hmmph. Maybe…
Grax and Mayah walked back into the training village.
“What else are we doing?” he asked.
“Class Skill books.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about those.”
“Any idea which one you want?”
“Honestly, I haven’t even looked. So, this should be fun.”
“Awesome, I get to drag your dead weight again….” she rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.
“But it’s fluffy dead weight.” Grax stood up and rubbed his hands up and down his torso. “So much pets, much fluffy, such amaze…”
“How would you like a fluffy kick to your posterior?”
“Probably about as much as you’d like losing the leg that you tried to do it with.”
“As if…”
“I know exactly what your weakness is.”
“Really, what?” she asked.
He held his paws in a begging motion and made his eyes go as large and pleading as they could.
No… Not the beg-eyes. “Kawaiiii……” and Grax leapt between her legs lightly tapping both of her legs just above the knees.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t use my daggers,” he laughed out loud, his head rolling back and a hand on his stomach.
“Fine, but it won’t happen again.”
> “Keep telling yourself that, ya hoser.”
They chuckled and continued walking when Grax asked, “Do you think Margaret’s gonna make up with Cloutus?”
“Who knows. But if she doesn’t, she gonna have to make up with me. You and I know the NPCs have limitations; it’s just something she needs to deal with. Better now than when we get into a really bad situation where we need them on our side. But shaz, the realism makes it ultra-hard for someone’s first immersive.”
“Yeah, totally agree. Besides, the NPCs are nice here. They feed you and give you belly rubs.”
“The NPCs give you belly rubs?”
“Yeah. I have a few homes I visit regularly.”
“You are such a mooch.”
“That’s what my uncle says. I just chalk it up to enjoying the finer things in life.”
As they approached the bookstore, Mayah could see Ibn behind the counter.
“We’re here; let’s get this all sorted.”
Mayah walked towards the counter calling, “Good afternoon, Ibn.”
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite customers!” He stood and came around the counter. “Let me guess, Class Skill books.”
“Right you are, my good friend.”
“Let me unlock the cases for you.”
They walked back to the glass cases and looked at the titles. There was a class for summoner, mage, Mercenary, bard, thief rogue, cleric and host of others, the funniest one of course, still being Paladin.
‘Paladin, what’s your class?’
‘Paladin.’
‘Yes, I know you’re a paladin…’ hehe… So meta.
Ibn finished unlocking the cases, “Is there anything else you need?”
“We should be okay. We know where to find you if we have any questions.”
“So be it,” he said, bowing as he returned to the front of the shop.
She grabbed the book for Engineer and read the cover right away. It would give her the ability to design in any material. Gives the paladin a bonus when creating items. I sure could use that. She looked around for a bit just to make sure she wasn’t missing any hidden jewels and went to Grax who was holding two books.
“Ahhh… I can’t decide. Rogue is awesome. It gives a bonus to attack strength, but Thief gives an amazing bonus to stealth.”
“You’re gonna just have to decide. You can probably pick up stealth or attack skills along the way.”
“I know, but which do I want?”
“Here’s a way to decide. If you could only pick one, but the other would disappear forever, which would you rather have?”
His head cocked to the side and his tail swished anxiously back and forth. “I guess I would have to go with attack power. I guess rogue is the one for me.” He put the Thief book back on the shelf. It looked like it hurt to remove his paw from it. He pet it lovingly one last time and turned to her. “Okay, I’m ready.”
As they paid for the books, Ibn gave Grax a strange look when he used Skinflint. “Have you been teaching your friends how to properly conduct business?”
“Wouldn’t be much of a friend if I didn’t.”
“I hope we live long enough for you to try and sell me something. I’ll show you how Skinflint really works,” he said with a smile.
“Okay now I’m scared,” she laughed.
“You should be,” he laughed but there was no joy in his icy eyes. His laughter continued long after the atmosphere became awkward.
“Stop it, Ibn.” Mayah was wilting under the maniacal laughter and joyless eyes promising financial revenge.
“What? Did I do something wrong?” he asked innocently winking at her
“Only if you count scaring a young lady as wrong.”
He tapped his finger to his lips and looked up and then to the left. “No, I don’t think I do.”
“Oh hush, Ibn.” She laughed at his theatrics and turned to Grax. “You ready to get some class, you mangy cat?”
“Mangy…? Who are you calling mangy?”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” She opened her book. The pages flipped by and she gained the information on every material in Majesta from different mortars to crystals, metals, woods, animal sinew, and ice. There was also information that she could change her class at level twenty or any level that was a multiple of ten after that if she didn’t like her first choice, but all class points you spent up until that point would disappear. You could also add a second class fifty levels after your got your first Class Skill. Assuming you had your original class, you could add another every 50 levels. They would never fully develop as your first Class Skill would. But they would supplement your knowledge and growth, and hopefully increase your power.
Finally, there was a section on specialization. It read, “You may now choose a specialization: Specialization will be based on a trade or magical ability. As such, you may now obtain a third magical ability and other trades and choose between them for your specialization slot. Once chosen, your specialization will be permanent.”
Runes will definitely be my specialization. But I get to pick another magical ability. That is totally a plus.
The book slammed shut and turned to dust. Mayah and Grax slowly looked at each other and simultaneously said, “Magic skills!”
They heard Ibn behind them laughing. “Thought you were getting away easy, didn’t you?”
After a few minutes, they both found what they wanted. Grax got the teleportation skill and Mayah got a skill called Rage of Pyrmos. Named after the Majestan god of fire, it granted the user 10 seconds of enhanced strength, movement, attack and defense. It had a few downsides though. Namely the fact that it makes you into a raging berserker who will hit anyone near you. On the plus side, damage was reduced by 20% and attack goes up by 5% in rage mode.
“So,” Mayah asked Grax, “what are you going to make your specialization? Shadow Step or teleportation?”
“I think I should ask John that one.”
“I’m going with runes.”
“Makes sense for you.”
“Okay, wanna get your weapons enchanted?”
“You know I do.”
“Well, what are you waiting for?”
They settled up with Ibn Daw and made their way to the park. They found the place where they practiced previously and Mayah sat with her back to a tree.
“Gimme a sec… I’m gonna add my specialization.” She opened her menu and went to her new engineer class tab.
Engineer (class)
Level 1 - Novice
Class Skills
DraftingLevel 0
You can draw rough plans, which other, more gifted craftsmen can understand like a crayon drawing from a kindergartener.
Components Level 0
Yes, you put those pieces together, but will they stay that way? Would you like some paste and glitter?
Simulation Level 0
Let’s see what happens when you build a five-year-old’s crayon drawing with some string and a bit of tape. I’m not hoping for much.
Class Skill points: 100
Specialization:n/a
She chuckled at the descriptions and tapped specialization. A list of her three magic skills and all of her trades popped up. She selected runes and a message in red appeared.
Specialization
Do you wish to permanently select specialization as Runes? Once selected, this cannot be changed.
Y/N?
She selected yes and saw her engineering skill tree jump into view. It had three branches: Drafting, Components, and Simulation. Drafting applied to all of the drawing and measuring of a particular item. Components allowed her to add more pieces to anything she was making. The first level only gave her three components to work with. Simulation would let her test out her designs to see how they would function. At level one, her simulations would run at 50% accuracy.
The first level branch skills were a little plain sounding. Analyze was under drafting, Conjoin was under components, and Conjecture was similarly
under simulation. Presently they were all locked and awaiting purchase, costing 25 points apiece. The best choice on the first-tier branch skills was Analyze.
It allowed her to see, to some degree, the function, design and mechanics of any object. If she wanted to gain full knowledge of an object, she had to take the item apart. That would let her understand all of its parts, if not what they did. Once she figured out how it would work, she could repair, recreate, replicate plans for an item. The only downfall was a major one. Anything she didn’t learn while dismantling the object might be damaged, thereby making the item nonfunctional. She might lose an item and learn nothing by trying to take it apart. The ability to rebuild the object from the plans would come from her mechanic and blacksmith trades.
So, I could tear something apart learn to draw the plans and then replicate it. I think I need to see that control box now. She bit her finger tips. Wait for me my precious… there’s still so much to do… sigh…
She quickly bought the whole first tier and looked at the next tier with prices of thirty points. The items were all the same, just level two. Her drafting, components and simulations all jumped to level one. She closed her window, closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, feeling the weight of Majesta on her shoulders. So much to do, so little time.
“Okay, Grax, gimme your weapons.” Grax placed his katanas and daggers on the ground in front of her.
“Ice for the katanas and Acid (D) for the daggers, right?”
“Whatever you think is best.”
She nodded. Her hand went into her bag and pulled out her engraver’s kit. She also pulled out a stiletto. “I wanna check the enchantment I have in mind first. Don’t want to destroy your katanas.”
“That would be bad.” Now he looked a little unsure as to the fate of his blades.
She drew three Spike (W) runes on one side and three Hold (E) runes on the other, finishing by making a circle around the point of the knife. Beginning her enchantment, she selected Arm and the runes began to glow. She dumped her stamina into her mana covering any unexpected overages as her mana hit the halfway mark. The enchantment ended and she beheld her work.
Ding!!!