A Mage Prepared

by Thomas Whipple

  Ignoring most the bones to quicken the search, I just check where any clothing is. I should probably feel something for whomever it was that fell victim to the stone tortoise, but the bones are too old for me to worry about it much. Instead, I am quite ecstatic because I actually find a few things that are useful to me. The knife is a god send but I also find a book and a staff.

  Hunters Iron Knife: A sturdy all purpose knife commonly used by hunters. Item class: Common. Durability 47/50. Base Dmg 5-7.

  Spell Book: Summon Familiar: Summons a familiar for the first time. Familiar can be summoned and dismissed at the will of the mage. Familiar chosen is the one that resonates the most with the mage. Class: Mage only. Level 6+.

  Unknown Staff: Your Identify skill is not high enough.

  The staff is useful still, but without knowing what it can do it isn't much better than my old one. The spell book answers a couple of things I was wondering about magic, and will be nice if I can ever use it. Now, the knife is what I have needed the most since I got here. Skinning everything with a rock is not fun. Done in the lair I decide to make good use of the new knife I acquired and head back to the tortoise body.

  When I get back to the tortoise corpse nothing has changed, so I get started. I use one of the scratches on a leg from a falling tree to get the knife under the scales and cut a large piece of the skin and scales off. I lay that down and start cutting chunks out of the meaty part of the leg, setting them on the skin I cut free. Once done I stand up with my new sack O' meat. I put the knife back in my waist band and carry the rest of my spoils back to the river.

  Along the way I look at the health bar in the upper right of my vision. Just the glancing blows I took removed a 4th of my HP. Feels like it too, cause I am bruised badly, twisted an ankle causing me to limp a little and I think I have a mildly cracked rib. Right now though, just the knife made it well worth it.

  Back at the river I am met with Timbre, looking into the forest and dancing from paw to paw like she needs to use the bathroom. When she sees me coming out from between the trees she lets out a "woof" and runs up to me. She leans against me putting pressure on my twisted ankle, but I catch myself and start leaning on her. Judging from her little sprint over to me I think she is recovered from her injuries.

  We head down to the river where we both get a drink and I start the fire. Using sticks as skewers I cut the Tortoise meat into smaller chunks and then set them over the fire. While I am doing this Timbre walks over to me and sniffs the rest of the tortoise meat I have set to the side. After sniffing it she gives a short growl and walks up to me. Turning to her as she approaches I am caught off guard when she licks me across the cheek and can't defend myself. Then, she plops down next to me and closes her eyes.

  "Whatever."

  Now that I have all the meat cooking over the fire, I can finally check my messages.

  Woodcraft has reached lvl 3.

  Congratulations! You have slain a creature more than 10 levels above yourself, without help, and before reaching level 10. You gain the title Dark Horse.

  LEVEL UP! You have increased your level by 3. You are now level 5. As a Void Human you get 6 points to apply to your Stats. You currently have 18 undistributed SP. You can distribute these from your status page. Continue to increase your level to follow the path of true power. Fight for the RIGHT to survive!

  Congratulations! You have met your first milestone in your development, and can now select a base class. Your level will be on hold and any gains to your character after this point will be deferred for one day. At the end of one day if you have not selected a base class, one will be automatically assigned to you. You can access the class selection menu from your status page.

  Congratulations! After avenging her pack, Timbre has decided to become your Beast Companion. Beast Companions are not subservient and if mistreated may leave.

  Identify has reached lvl 3.

  "Wow, that is a lot of messages."

  First I check out the new title to see if it does anything for me.

  Title: Dark Horse

  You have slain a creature more than 10 levels above yourself, without help, and before reaching level 10. +5% damage to anything of higher level than oneself.

  "Nothing wrong with that" I say, before moving on to classes. I leave my Stat Points alone for now so that I can see what will happen with my class. The space next to Class that says None is now flashing. Focusing on the blinking space brings up the class options.

  Fighter: This basic class is for those that use physical techniques to fight and includes subclasses such as Knight, Archer, Thief and more. This class slightly increases physical damage and defense. Automatically assigns +1 STR and +1 AGI per level.

  Grants skill: Heavy Blow.

  Prerequisites: Hit something, Duh! But you don't really care do you ;)

  Mage: This basic class is for those that use magical techniques to fight and includes subclasses such as Pyromancer, Barrier Mage, Cleric and more. This class slightly increases magical damage and defense. Automatically assigns +1 INT and +1 WIS per level.

  Unlocks Neutral Magic, Grants spell: Mana Bolt.

  Prerequisites: Mana Perception and Mana Manipulation. Good job 

  Which class do you wish to choose?

  What is with the snark in the messages? But finally it is happening. I WILL GET TO USE MAGIC! Ok, calm down, don't mess it up.

  "I choose mage."

  Class: Mage confirmed?

  "Yes."

  After that the class selection messages disappear with an influx of knowledge about my new spell and basics about mana. It isn't a conscious kind of knowledge, more instinctual than anything. When I come back to myself I look next to Class in the status page and it says Mage. I just stare at it for a minute, absolutely delighted. Then a nudge from Timbre reminds me that I am cooking. Checking the meat to find it done, I take it off the fire and put some on a rock I set there for Timbre to eat from and blow on my skewers until I can eat it right off the sticks. Now that I chose a class I have more messages to check.

  Congratulations! You selected the class: Mage. You have unlocked Neutral Magic. You have gained the spell Mana Bolt. You can check the Grimoire to view your spells.

  LEVEL UP! You have increased your level by 1. You are now level 6. As a Void Human you get 6 points to apply to your Stats. As you are a Mage +1 INT +1 WIS are allocated. You currently have 22 undistributed SP. You can distribute these from your status page. Continue to increase your level to follow the path of true power. Fight for the RIGHT to survive!

  Having seen those messages I go back to the status page. Sure enough, I can view the Grimoire with my one measly spell. What I notice about it is that it has two other things associated with it. The first thing is Realm, and says "none" for my Mana Bolt spell. Last is Category, saying Neutral, for the spell. I will have to find someone to explain this to me, or figure it out on my own. I hope I can find someone because otherwise I could make some mistakes with my status that might be difficult to recover from. Focusing on the different things in the Grimoire nothing happens until I get to the Neutral Category.

  Magic Category: Neutral, Resonance 100%.

  There's resonance again. I could have guessed what my resonance would be for that considering my title, but what about other things. Going back to the status page I focus on my skills and abilities again to see if I can get the resonance for them as well. It now appears at the end of the description except for the 2 abilities I have with a MAX level. This makes me think It has something to do with its growth. Mana Perception, Mana Manipulation, and Identify all have a 100% for the resonance. Does this mean Identify is a magical skill? I guess that makes sense. Staff Mastery is at 90% while Woodcraft is 76% resonance.

  Now that I have determined I can view more information, I wonder what caused it. It could be my level increase or the fact that I have a class now. It might even be that my Identify skill increased its level. With no more information at the moment I check the desc
ription of Mana Bolt in the Grimoire.

  Mana Bolt: A bolt of pure compressed mana is fired at your target. Range: 40 feet. Cost: 10 MP. Base Dmg: 10-15.

  Done speculating on my Grimoire, I close it. Then I distribute my points, doing so to match my new class. I place 4 into VIT to bring it to 15 and the rest evenly between INT and WIS, bringing them to 23 and 22 respectively. Done with the technical stuff for now, it is time to test Mana Bolt. Knowing what to do, I hold up my hand toward the river and send mana to it. Using the instinctive knowledge that came when I chose my class I mentally activate the spell. In front of my hand quickly forms a cone of energy. It is clear with a light blue color. A second after activating the spell, it darts off at the speed of an arrow and creates a small explosion where it hits the water.

  Satisfied with myself I look over and see Timbre staring at me. "Cool, right?" No answer comes from her and she lies down again. "Everybody is a critic" I say before looking over to the staff. I am wondering if it would effect spell casting, but ultimately discard the idea of testing it after a second of thought. Who knows what side effects it could cause, or if I can unintentionally damage it by using it improperly.

  Next to the staff I see the book and remember what it is. I had written it off in my mind earlier because I couldn't use it yet. Now though, I can. Picking it up I look at the cover, it has a rune on it that looks like two perfect circles joined side by side. Kind of like a sideways number eight or an infinity symbol. Considering the spell though, I can't help but think of it as two circles joined as one. All the sudden the rune lights up and I get a message.

  Do you wish to learn the spell Summon Familiar?

  Thinking yes in my mind the message disappears and the cover flips open. It's like when I got my class and the information entered my mind. Like I have and eidetic memory all the sudden I take in the information on each page, storing it in the back of my mind. The pages turn themselves as I absorb the information while not being able to turn away. The sensation of paralysis is uncomfortable and I have to push the rising panic down. A minute or two later it is over and the back cover closes.

  The rune on the back is the same as the front and slowly the glowing dies down. When the glowing stops the book in my hands appears to be a washed out gray color now compared to the rich brown of the leather it had before. When I move my hand the whole thing crumbles to dust and slips through my fingers. Spell books are one time use it seems. Considering what the experience was like, it is obvious there is magic in the process of learning from it which must destroy the book during use.

  You have successfully learned the spell Summon Familiar.

  After getting confirmation that I learned the spell, I immediately open my Grimoire to see the description.

  Summon Familiar: Uses mana to connect the soul of the user to their familiar counterpart. This bond is permanent and can't be broken. Cost reduced by Neutral magic lvl. To level the familiar, user must have familiar summoned. First time cost: 200MP. Cost after first summoning: 50 MP.

  Now I am glad I put those points into INT since I wouldn't have been able to use this if I hadn't. From that knot of information in the back of my mind that is this spell, I can also tell it will take much longer to cast than the second it took for Mana Bolt. But the description doesn't mention any cast times. Taking a minute to think it over I realize that I do know why. Part of the class information I gained tells me that cast times are determined by a number of things. WIS, Spell level, and the level of Mana Manipulation all factor into the time it takes to cast a spell.

  It has been dark for a while now and Timbre and I are done eating so we head back to the cave we call home. There might be some side effects to using a spell that is going to bind something to my soul, and I don't want to be stuck out in the open late at night. Home sweet home, Timbre waits for me to sit then takes her spot against my side. Closing my eyes for a second I take a deep breath and begin the spell.

  The information from the spell in my mind unfolds and I weave the mana into forms that are projected on the stone floor in front of me. Slowly a glowing blue circle appears on the floor where I am projecting the mana weaves. Brighter and brighter the circle gets, and I can see numerous symbols form around it. When the last of the weaves is projected a link is formed and I feed more mana through it to the circle till there is a flash of light and the mana link cuts off.

  Congratulations! You have summoned your familiar for the first time, a female Thunderbird chick lvl 1.

  What is the name of your familiar?

  Looking where the magical circle had been, there is a bright yellow chick about twice the size of a baby chicken. It has yellow eyes above a slightly curved beak that are so light in color that they are almost white. I can see all this, just barely, by the light that the fading magical circle is emitting in the dark cave.

  "I am going to call you Thia. Is that ok?" I ask the chick in front of me. It looks at me and makes a "Cheep" sound before the message disappears. I am starting to get a headache and am pretty tired after using so much mana all at once. But before doing anything else I use Identify on Thia.

  Thia: Female Thunderbird chick, lvl 1. HP: 100%.

  Noticing Timbre staring at Thia, I decide to introduce them. "Thia, I am Vol and next to me here is Timbre. Timbre, this is Thia." Thia does that little wobbly walk that chicks do right up to Timbre and lets out another "cheep." Timbre sniffs Thia before making a "Chuff" sound that ruffles the chick's downy feathers a bit and lies down again. Next thing I know Thia jumps up onto Timbre's head and settles down to sleep for the night. Worried there might be an issue, I watch Timbre's reaction. Her ears twitch and her eyes open for a second to look up. Then her eyes close again and she goes to sleep.

  There is another message waiting for me so I open it before going to sleep.

  You have gained the ability Familiar Bond tier 1.

  Familiar Bond tier 1

  The bond between a mage and his familiar. This allows the mage and familiar to communicate telepathically and to sense each others location. Causes the mage and familiar to share some traits. Increasing the tier of this ability will improve the effectiveness. Can only be improved using talent points from the familiar.

  Knowing to look for it now, I check to see if I can feel out the bond. I can, but it is faint. I get a general idea of which direction Thia is and a general sense of contentment from her, probably because she is asleep. Following the queue from my companions, I lie down and go to sleep too.

  Chapter 5

  Azzaria Whitefeather is hunting in the woods one day when something unusual happens. A roar echoes far in the distance. It is a long way out, but with the enhanced hearing of a high elf she is able to pick it up. This in itself is not odd, what isn't normal is the pain she can hear in that roar. Stone tortoises make their lairs in that direction. They are solitary and territorial creatures, so they don't roam far from their homes. This means they only encounter the easy prey that is the only other life in that area.

  That means that the only times that sound is heard is when the stronger hunting parties are out hunting them for crafting materials. Stone tortoise hides and scales go for good money because of the extra protection they provide. The shells are exceptionally sought after, since you can make multiple shields with great blocking capabilities. But none of those parties have made a trip recently, so what is causing the tortoise's distress?

  Since Azzaria is sometimes a scout for the town guard she decides to check it out. A Ranger subclass herself, she is good at moving through the woods quickly and scouting. As she moves quietly through the woods she ignores the hares and wolves so she won't have to carry it. She plans on doing the hunting on the way back. After hours of trekking through the forest and running short search patterns every once and awhile she comes across signs of a stone tortoise. Following the signs back to the lair of the stone tortoise, she looks for the latest signs of its movement.

  It is late afternoon when she finds the remains of the Stone to
rtoise. admitting to herself the ingenious method of killing it, she also can tell how crazy the idea was. She estimates that even a relatively low level person could kill it when it is sufficiently immobilized as this one was. Scouting the area she finds tracks of someone, but it is getting too late to continue on without knowing for how far. Having made the decision to camp, she heads back to the lair to camp there, since being near to it should keep anything away from her at night.

  First thing in the morning she will head out on the trail of whomever it was that killed the stone tortoise. At first she thought it might be a group invading their territory, but the way the tortoise was killed hinted at one person or a small group. Not worried for the safety of her village, she is still curious as to who it was. First thing in the morning she will continue the pursuit. Maybe earlier....

  *******

  Waking up a little late in the morning, I can't help but feel optimistic after the way things turned out yesterday. Feeling refreshed, and all remnants of the headache from last night gone, I get up and do the stretching that is becoming routine. Leaning my back against the wall of the cave I unwrap the cooked meat from last night. Looking over to Timbre and Thia I see they are both awake and looking at me expectantly.

  "OK girls, I got your food right here."

  I lay a few chunks of meat on leaves in front of Timbre and one in front of Thia. Timbre starts in on the meat, but Thia is having trouble. "Do you need smaller pieces Thia?" Taking back the meat for a moment I cut it into thin narrow strips, before putting it back. While my companions feed, I start to eat my own portion of breakfast. When everyone is done eating Thia takes her position on Timbre's head again, and I start moving out of the cave. At the entrance I move the blind I made for the door out of the way for everyone to exit, and stand up.