by Edward Brody
You’ve received an alliance invitation from the faction:
The Mage’s Guild
Aligning with a faction can give faction specific perks and open hidden quests that are unavailable to non-faction members. Once you are a member of a faction, negative action against that faction can result in harsh consequences.
You can side with as many factions as you want, but be careful of who you align with. If you align with two separate factions that enter a war or have conflicting goals, you may find yourself in a difficult situation!
Do you wish to align with this faction?
Accept/Decline
I looked down towards his belt. “The belt is magic?”
Darion snickered. “No, but it signifies your power and status. A novice mage in the faction is given a green belt, a proficient mage wears yellow, and only master mages can wear red. If you see a mage wearing a red belt, then rest assured he can turn any fighter—” He flicked his wrist out towards the room. “—to dust.”
“You’re overly confident, Darion,” the commander said. “Magic is powerful, but a master fighter can stand toe-to-toe with the best mages.”
Darion took a deep breath. “We can agree to disagree about that.” Once again he honed in on me. “And you’re not required to sell your soul to Highcastle in order to join the Mage’s Faction.”
I perked up. “No commitments? Sounds too good to be true.”
Darion shook his head. “I didn’t say no commitment. By joining the Mage’s Faction, you agree that you’ll only use your magic for good and honest reasons. For example, you can’t use your magic to manipulate a merchant to sell you goods for a lower price, or paralyze a woman to have your way with her. No necromancy, no witchcraft, no blood magic, no dark magic, and no senseless harm and killing of people who don’t deserve it.”
“But you just turned that dude to stone,” Ozzy said.
Darion snorted. “He wasn’t harmed. It was all in good fun and for good purpose.” He held up a finger. “And one other thing: We don’t allow members of the Mage’s Faction to compete in the Arena. We don’t want to have our organization represented in a light that promotes mindless violence. Members are welcome to attend the gathering, and we do assist with shielding attendees from magic attacks, but no participation in the actual fights.” He turned to the commander. “Besides the fact that our power would be quite the problem for most competitors.”
The commander straightened his shoulders, raised his chin, and took a deep breath. “Most.”
I lowered my head and gave a slight nod. The offer that Darion placed on the table was quite enticing, and the fact that I didn’t have to swear an oath to Highcastle to join was a great bonus. But, I had just joined the Arena, and while I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to beat Meijir, I still had aspirations to get my name on the list of champions. If I couldn’t do it in tier 1, I would try in tier 2 or tier 3 if I felt that I had the chance. Not to mention, vowing to use magic only for ‘good’ was a pretty broad commitment that I wasn’t sure if I was prepared to make at such an early level.
“I appreciate the offer,” I said. I looked up to Darion and then turned to the commander. “Both of you.” I shook my head slowly. “But I’m not ready for the vows either of you require.”
You’ve declined an alliance with the faction: The Fighter’s Guild of Highcastle
You’ve declined an alliance with the faction: The Mage’s Guild
Darion sighed. “Okay, then. I’m sure you’ll realize the value you’re missing out on at some point. You know where the Mage’s Hall is located, right? Quite close to the Arena.”
I nodded.
“I wish you luck until then, Gunnar.” Darion looked up to Bryce. “And nice to see you, commander. Send my best wishes to the King next time you’re in his company.”
“I will,” the commander said with a nod.
Darion turned and exited the barracks.
“Hey, uhh… I’d like join the Fighter’s Faction,” Ozzy said.
“Oh?” The commander perked up. “Well, we’d love to have you, Ozzy.”
Ozzy turned to me as if he were looking for some sort of assurance that he was making a good call. I was torn a little at the idea of Ozzy joining the Fighter’s Guild due to the oath that he’d have to swear to Highcastle, but unlike me, he wasn’t already aligned with the elves of Mist Vale. It was a slight conflict of interest to have him in another faction, but we also had dark elves in our group and other members who were part of no faction at all.
After some thought, it felt like a good risk for Ozzy to take. He had yet to learn any magic branches, so having some guidance to learning more fighting skills was great. Since fighting skills could be replicated, there was also the possibility that he could teach members of the guild any skills he learned if they happened to fit their kit.
I gave Ozzy a slight nod.
Ozzy turned back to the commander. “Yeah, definitely. It sounds like a good fit for me.”
“Great,” the commander said. “Return to the barracks tomorrow morning, and we’ll swear you in and get your training started.” He looked at Aaron and me. “If either of you decide the Fighter’s Faction is a fit, then just return to the barracks.”
Aaron nodded and simultaneously smirked as if the idea of him joining the Fighter’s Guild was completely ridiculous.
“Thanks again, commander,” I repeated. “We’re going to go train before it gets too late.”
The commander gave a slight nod and bumped his fist against his chestpiece. “Take care Gunnar, Ozzy, Sizzler.”
Chapter Thirteen
1/26/0001
“Behind you, Aaron!” I shouted.
Aaron yanked his spear out of the dead animal’s corpse and spun around just in time for a pair of long, sharp antlers to thrust at his legs and lift him up towards the sky.
“Shit!” Aaron shouted as he slammed his spear down into the animal’s back and was thrown into a forward flip over its body.
The animal—something that was labeled a “drope” when I inspected it, was something between a deer and an antelope. Its body was a lean, muscular tan with a thick, white and black speckled stripe down its back. Two long, straight antlers topped its head.
I reached my hand out, sending an Arcane Missile at the drope as it stumbled from the spear, and Aaron flopped on the ground hard.
When the Arcane Missile struck the drope on its flank, it was pushed sideways and tumbled to the ground. It kicked its hooves out in an attempt to stand, but before it could find its footing, Ozzy ran to its side and slammed his hammer hard against its neck, killing it instantly.
You have gained 400 XP!
“Shit,” I cursed as I sheathed my sword, leaned over and caught my breath. “That was intense.”
After leaving Highcastle, we had headed back towards Edgewood but tried to avoid the roads—taking a scenic route in an attempt to find MOBs to grind. We randomly stumbled across a pack of the twenty or so dropes who were all leaning over to drink out of a muddy puddle of water that had formed in the plains. The levels of the dropes ranged anywhere from level 8 to level 15, so it seemed like a good opportunity for us to grind a little XP without getting into anything too deep.
Luckily, the dropes were also fairly stupid, so when we pulled one drope, only four or five of them joined the fight at a time, while the rest of them kept their attention on the watering hole. Keeping Aaron alive through it all was the hardest part, but after four pulls, there were twenty or so animal bodies littering the ground, and we were all exhausted.
“You okay, Aaron?” I asked.
Aaron breathed hard as he lay on the ground with his arms spread wide. He didn’t answer for a few seconds but finally blurted out, “Level 9, bitches.”
I chuckled. “Congratulations, man.”
“Congrats dude,” Ozzy said.
I looked up at all the corpses surrounding around us. “One of us has to learn skinning. That XP was good, but we’re
missing out on a lot of potential loot here.”
Aaron lifted himself off the ground and started brushing the grass off his body. “I’ve got enough to deal with. You guys can learn skinning or whatever.”
Ozzy grabbed one of the drope bodies by the antler and pulled its head up to get a closer look at its face. “I’ll see if Jax can teach me some skinning whenever I get the chance. It does seem like a lot that’s going to waste.”
I sighed and looked up to clouds. There was very little light left in the sky. “Let’s head back, yeah? Not our most productive day, but at least we got a few things done.”
When we pulled Betsy up to Edgewood Village, the night had fallen, and there was already a campfire lit in the center clearance between all the buildings. Rina and Jax were both sitting in front of the fire, and near Aaron’s home a large area of land had been cleared of trees. A massive pile of wood sat to the side of Aaron’s shop.
“Holy cow,” Aaron said loudly as we stopped. He hopped off the horse. “You sure put in work, didn’t you?”
“Yep! Chopping trees all day,” Jax said.
“I can’t believe you did so much in a day,” Aaron awed.
“I’m a Forester,” Jax explained. “I hate killing the forest’s beauties, but I can’t say I’m bad at it.”
Ozzy and I both joined Aaron on the ground, and Aaron started tying Betsy off to a tree.
The door to the shop opened, and Gerard stepped outside carrying a handful of pelts and potions. “Oh, hey guys! Welcome back!” He tilted his head towards the new building. “Just moving things over like you told me, Gunnar.”
I turned and could see that the finishing touches had been completed on the new building.
“Gunnar!” Jax called.
“Yeah?”
Jax reached out and tossed a key towards me. “For the new building,” he explained. “Gerard has the other.”
I had the inclination to look inside the new building, but given that the outside was identical to the older building beside it, I didn’t think there’d be too much difference. Instead, I just moved to sit in front of the fire. “Let us know if you need any help, Gerard,” I said as he struggled to open the new building’s door with both his hands full.
“No worries! I’ve got everything!” he called. He fumbled with the handle a few seconds, but eventually pulled the door open and slipped inside.
“How’d everything go?” Jax asked. “Did you find the reagents?”
I scoffed as I pulled up a seat beside Jax. “Well, things didn’t go exactly as planned. We got the reagent locations, but we ended up spending most of our time at the Arena.”
“The Arena?” Jax pulled his head back and raised an eyebrow. “I thought we weren’t going to be wasting our time?”
“Gunnar and I both fought in the Arena,” Ozzy said as he sat down in front of the fire with the rest of us.
“What?” Jax seemed surprised. “You both competed at the Highcastle Arena?”
“Yeah,” I explained. “And both of us won. I found out that the King meets with anyone who earns a championship in Highcastle’s name, so I figured it was good opportunity.”
Jax tilted his head. “Opportunity for what?”
“Stopping the Bloodletters,” I said. “If I can meet with the King, maybe I can explain everything to him. Maybe I can get him to put a stop to Dryden before he goes after Highcastle and the rest of us.”
Jax looked down and shook his head. “Some of the best fighters in Eden’s Gate compete in the Arena. You’re…” Jax sighed and snapped his lips. “Your forgetting that we just need to get stronger, take out the Dark Hand, and worry about Dryden later.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” I explained, “but if there’s a chance that we could increase our survival odds by getting the King involved, why not take that chance?”
“And you said you won, right?” Keysia said suddenly, pulling a seat up beside Ozzy. Her tone was as supportive as possible.
Ozzy slapped his hand on the log he was sitting on. “You should’ve seen Gunnar. He absolutely destroyed this guy who was way bigger than him. Dude looked like a viking.”
Keysia smiled wide and gazed at me with sparkling eyes. “Really? I wish I could’ve see it.”
“‘Destroyed’ isn’t the word I’d have used. The guy was a couple levels lower than me actually, but I did win the fight.” I pointed a finger to Ozzy. “Big guy’s match was much more one-sided.”
“So you’re just going to focus on getting a championship?” Jax asked. “I suppose you’ll be fighting in the Arena daily until then?”
“No.” I shook my head. “The top ranked fighter in our tier is too good, too fast. I don’t know if it’s possible for me to beat him, but right now he’s out of my league.” I reached down to the ground, picked up a small rock and tossed it in the campfire, causing speckles of smoldering ash to float into the sky. “Tomorrow, I’ll head to Nestle Rock to look for treasure on my map and Bloodmoss. I’ll still compete in the Arena, I guess—the gold and XP for winning is good. But, I’ll need to find better loot and get some skill gains if I ever want to stand a chance at a championship, even if I have to wait ‘til tier 2.”
Jax nodded. “At least you’re being level-headed about it.”
Aaron cleared his voice loudly as he joined the circle on a solitary log. “Don’t try to drag me on your dumb-ass treasure hunt tomorrow either. I admit, today wasn’t too bad, but I need to get back to crafting, and I want to be around when the stable constructions starts.”
I snorted. “Don’t worry, Aaron. I think I had enough of the Sizzler for one day.”
Aaron snapped his lips. “Oh, please... How can anyone get enough of me? And you—” Aaron cut himself off with a pause, snapped his lips, and scanned us while a devilish grin formed across his face. “Oh yeah.” He reached his hand into his bag, pulled out his sack of joojak leaves, and shook it up and down in front of him. “I almost forgot I bought us a little treat.”
Rina’s eyes went wide. “Is that joojak?”
“So you’ve heard of it then?” Aaron asked.
Rina nodded. “I haven’t had it in many years—since before I was a captive of Dryden—but it grows on the other side of the Serpent Sea. It’s technically illegal in most cities over there, but it’s openly accepted in some parts.”
“So, it’s good?” Aaron asked anxiously.
“Worth its weight in gold to some,” Rina said.
Aaron turned his head to Jax and then Keysia. “And you two?”
“The forest guardians love it,” Jax said. He reached up and scratched the back of his head. “I can’t lie. I’ve partaken in a few sessions with the keemus.”
Ozzy started snickering. “You did drugs with those little furballs in Addenfall?”
Jax shrugged. “Some people would call it more of an herb.”
“Oh no,” I groaned. “Let’s not get into the herb vs flower vs—”
“Well, how do you use it?!” Aaron interrupted.
“There’s several ways,” Jax said. “I supposed the easiest way is…” He held out his hand to Aaron. “Just pass it over here.”
Aaron threw the sack of joojak to Jax, and Jax turned around, and picked up a large green leaf that had fallen to the forest floor. He placed the leaf on his lap, and pulled a handful of the joojak leaves from the bag. With both hands, she started crushing the joojak in his palms and allowed the resulting matter to fall onto the leaf. When it had all been crushed, he rolled the leaf up and pinched off the ends so that he had a long, bulging cylinder. When he held up the resulting roll, it reminded me of a fat green cigarette, so I knew the intention was to smoke it.
“Oh shit,” Aaron cooed, rubbing his hands together and licking his lips. “That’s dope as hell! Light it up, Jax! Light it up!”
Jax chuckled and leaned over to the campfire, but just as he was about to stick the end of it in the fire, he looked up at me. “Maybe we should have our fire mage do the honors?” He to
ssed the joojak roll to me.
“Arcane Blade,” I corrected. I looked down at the roll then held it up to my nose. I suspected it to smell bad, but it actually had a sweet, fruity smell.
“C’mon Gunnar!” Aaron said. “Hurry up.”
“Alright,” I groaned and held the end of the roll out with one hand and focused on casting Fireblast with the other. I had used Fireblast enough times to feel the fire swell in my hands a split second before releasing, so I just had to start the beginnings of Fireblast a couple times and release my focus to create enough heat to light the end of the roll.
The end of the joojak roll started glowing and released a sweet, smokey scent as it started to burn. After it was lit, I leaned over to hand it to Aaron.
Aaron swiped it out of my hands and grinned to the others before placing the roll in his mouth. He started puffing on the roll hard, pulled it out of his mouth, and blew a thick cloud of fruity smoke into the air.
“Whoa…” Aaron said. His face went blank and he blinked a few times. “Wow! You’ve got to try this!”
Aaron leaned over and held the roll out towards me.
I held out a refusing palm. “I don’t know about that stuff, man.” I thought back to my encounter with kroka, and just the thought of kroka made me want to summon Sora and rush to Highcastle to find the creepy guy with sharp teeth. Kroka had—with a doubt—saved my life in the Sands, but I wasn’t quite myself when I was on it, and the side effects afterwards were intense. If I were going to go on a treasure hunt the next day, trying joojak that night seemed like a bad idea.
Aaron coughed and rolled his eyes before pivoting and handing the joojak over to Jax.
Jax willingly accepted the roll, puffed it a few times, then passed it to Rina and Ozzy who also started smoking.