by Dakota Krout
Skill increase: Resurrection (Novice II). You have done a deed that humans were never meant to do! Bringing back the dead is known as the territory of the divine or the work of the vilest of necromancers looking for soul slaves. Be careful when and where you use this spell, for various religions of the available deities may see this spell as sacrilege or heresy. As a Champion of a deity, other champions may slay you for increased favor and experience from their own deity!
Know this! The spell ‘Resurrection’ is a daily use spell, and as it is a spell granted by a deity, it has special requirements for increasing in rank. As the power involved is not something that is truly understandable by a mortal, you cannot gain knowledge of the spell through study or deepening your understanding of it. Instead–until the beginner ranks–to increase the rank of the spell you simply need to use it the same amount of times as its current rank. As an example, to get to Novice III simply use the spell two more times.
Quest gained: No, I’m right! (Continuous). You have learned that Champions of deities may kill each other for bonus favor and experience. You are not excluded from this! Kill or be killed! Champions slain: 0/??.
Oh look, yet another potential enemy he would need to watch out for. Lovely. Joe sighed and walked over to Jaxon. “Give me a minute, and I’ll work on healing you up. That spell drains every drop of mana that I have so… just wait a few. There’s no real information provided by the tooltip; it just tells me a full day for cooldown, and the mana just shows ‘all of it’. So. Not super helpful.”
After Joe was able to regenerate his mana to a useful level, he cast Mend a handful of times and brought Jaxon back to full health. The Monk looked far happier and even had his somewhat disturbing smile back on his face. “Ah! Many thanks, Cleric. That was some mighty fine casting!”
“Not an issue.” Joe smiled at him tiredly. “Shall we get back to town? I’m pretty worn.”
“That sounds good.” Bard stood and stretched. “Ah could use a bi’ o’ healing mahself if’n ya don’ mind. Jax, do hittin’ the same spot give ya a boost to damage?”
“Yes, it does!” The Monk seemed a bit surprised that Bard had put that together. “You’re smarter than you seem! It is a stacking modifier so if I hit the same spot I put stacks of ‘torsion’ on my enemies. When I want to, I can activate my main class skill ‘adjust’, and it uses all the stacks to twist the area that I’ve been hitting. The more hearty my target, the more times I need to stack the skill in order to do damage. A rabbit? Once. Wolf? About four times. That bear was quite meaty!” He laughed at the end of his speech, though the others felt a bit uneasy at his enthusiasm.
“That sounds pretty painful…” Joe trailed off as the Monk gave him a ‘look’.
“Just like with all medicine, you can either hurt or heal with it. Is death by fireball overly fun? Do your spikes not leave holes in your target? I’ll tell you frankly, that paw to the chest followed by teeth to my neck did not feel particularly pleasing!”
Bard looked over at Joe and shrugged. “Man’s go’ a point.”
“That he does,” Joe agreed readily. “I’m just glad he’s on our side!”
“You should be!” Jaxon bobbed his head seriously. “I’m wonderful!”
~ Chapter Seven ~
Joe returned to his warehouse, and he sighed happily as he walked through the door and got to work. Thinking back on the information that had led him to this point, he had to grimace a bit. There was a section in the Mage’s College library that had been opened to him, but most of the information had been considered taboo for several hundred years. On one hand, it meant he had the entire section to himself. On the other hand, it also meant there was no one to help him find the information he was looking for so finding any information pertinent to his situation had been an incredible grind; he had gone through so many dusty tomes that he had leveled his reading skill all the way to Apprentice rank one.
Through the course of his studying, he had been able to find some information about his brand of magic that he had long suspected: rituals were designed to be utility spells. They were grand works of magic that were supposed to have powerful long-term effects on the world. Rituals were not supposed to be used for attacking, which is why attack-type rituals were so incredibly short-lived, expensive, and single-use. So Joe had decided to create a powerful utility ritual and see the difference it could make for him.
Joe frowned at the complicated ritual diagram that he had been working on for the last three days. It had taken quite a bit of study, but he had been able to narrow down the requirements needed for this powerful work of magic. What he was trying to make was a ritual that would create a ‘Feather Fall’ effect directly on his body. He was glad he had gone out and gotten some fresh air, but if he wanted to put some of his most advanced skills to use… this was something that he needed to have. Thinking of jumping through the sky and softly landing enticed him greatly. Joe looked over the ritual diagram once more and grunted; he was either going to need to buy a whole slew of mana potions or get a few people in here to share the mana load with him.
Since mana potions had only recently come on the market, there was an incredible backlog of orders for them. Even attempting to bribe the exhausted alchemists he had been able to find had not worked. They simply stared at his money and ever so slowly shook their heads. On a happy note–for them–they were making a killing selling their potions. They were working extreme overtime but being paid a premium for their wares. Ah, supply and demand. So wonderful for productive people.
Sadly, the scarcity of potions meant that he would need to drag at least four other people into his plans to make himself powerful enough. Would they be okay with that? Even more concerning was the fact that there really wasn’t anyone he trusted enough to join him in his workshop. If Joe still had hair on his head, he would be pulling it off in clumps right now! This circular logic wasn’t getting him anywhere. Maybe… a non-disclosure agreement? He winced as he thought of having to use a mana contract; it reminded him far too much of the previous Archmage and his paranoia. It also might be the only thing that kept his class hidden.
Although… did he even need to keep his class hidden at this point? The Mage’s College was on good terms with him, and rituals were not forbidden anymore. Joe scratched at his chin, deep in thought. Paranoia versus practicality; he sighed, sad that there was simply no real way to tell what would be best. Keeping it hidden seemed to be doing more harm than good to him at this point by slowing down his progress. Right then and there, Joe decided that it would be better to simply trust people and give them the benefit of the doubt. He only hyperventilated a little at that thought.
He needed to give himself more time before making his selections for people to join his… cabal? Too many political connotations. Ritual club? Joe chuckled at that and rolled his eyes. Would coven be the right word? They weren’t witches, but coven had more than one meaning, and a ‘secret group of associates’ fit his needs fairly well. That was for the future, though; until he found a few people who met his requirements, he had plenty of other things to do. The biggest among them was finding a way to boost his survivability as well as completing quests. He decided to make a special trip to the Mage’s College. Joe opened the door to his warehouse, intent on accomplishing his goals, but the total darkness on the other side stopped him abruptly. Right. It was just a bit past midnight right now.
Suddenly feeling the sleep deprivation that had been creeping up on him, Joe rubbed at his eyes and yawned. To bed first, then the College! He went over to the pile of fabrics he had been using as a bed and paused. He had been using that as a bed? No wonder his charisma had been dropping so fast; he was living like an animal! Joe sighed and made the trip to a nearby inn as he didn’t feel like walking all the way back to the guild at this time of the night. After renting a room, he fell into the deepest sleep he had managed in quite a while. When the sun eventually poked over the horizon and beams of light stabbed his eyes until he woke up, a no
tification appeared.
After sleeping in a clean and safe environment on a comfortable surface, you are well-rested! 10% skill and experience gained for four hours. 10% stamina and mana regeneration for six hours.
Joe almost flew out of bed, not wanting to waste a moment of the increased skill gain. This was just another reason to buy a bed! He hurried downstairs, took breakfast to go, and rushed toward the College. Unlike Joe, the person sitting behind the desk in the entryway of the College had apparently not slept at all and was far crankier than any customer service individual should have been. Joe had an extra fruit tart from breakfast and successfully bribed the Mage to move at more than a snail's pace when answering questions.
“I’m looking for a couple of things this morning,” Joe told the man, who stared at him through half-open and barely focusing eyes as raspberry jam began to stain his teeth. “I was wondering if you had any information on how to gauge the rarity of skills or classes, where I can go to learn how to make paper and ink that can hold mana, and finally, where I can find a book on making Mage armor.”
The Mage blinked and reached a hand to his aching head. “Ugh, pick one. I haven’t slept for almost two days now. I’m not making you a map of the building.”
“Um.” Joe scrambled to decide which would be the best for his purposes. “The paper and ink?” He would just ask someone else for the other things when he got there, but he wanted to learn while he still received a bonus for it.
“Down this hallway, take the first right turn five times then look for the door that has a sign that says ‘contract preparation one-oh-one’.” The man looked at him and growled at Joe’s skeptical stare. “Yes, five right turns. The building uses spatial magic, and it messes with what you think of as normal. Expand your mind, plebeian.”
Joe nodded and walked down the hall. “See if I give you my food again,” he muttered very quietly. After taking the fourth right turn, he looked around to see if he was back in an area he had been before, but somehow, it seemed that he was in an entirely new part of the building. Joe kept following the directions, and sure enough, found the door he was looking for. He knocked, but there was no answer. He shrugged and opened the door anyway, a bit surprised to see that there were a few people in the room working on various things.
“Oh?” A head poked up from behind a shelf, and the person seemed ecstatic to see him. “A new student? Did you mean to come here?”
“I…” Joe decided to give a partial answer, “I’m here to learn how to make ink and paper that can contain mana?”
“Then you are in the right place!” The man walked out from behind the shelf, revealing a monstrously tall and thin man. Joe had assumed he was standing on a ladder or something when he had been peeking out. “I’m Master Slender; I teach Contract Preparation one-oh-one. We don’t have very many students these days; most Mages are far more interested in tossing around fireballs. Have you registered for the course?”
“Not exactly, I’m-” Joe tried to explain what he wanted.
“Not an issue, we can do that right now.” The man took three steps and crossed the room in its entirety. He pulled a crystalline rose from his desk and then stepped toward Joe. He held the crystal out, and Joe hesitantly reached out for it. Watching the man move around was seriously disconcerting, like watching a praying mantis stalk dinner. Joe steeled himself and touched the rose, a notification appearing instantly.
Would you like to enroll in the course ‘Contract Preparation 101’? The fee for this course is 50 gold (-90% from deal with College, your cost for the course is 5 gold), plus cost of materials. Yes / No
He certainly had the money for that. Joe accepted and the crystal flashed blue. Master Slender nodded and motioned him toward a seat. “This class is not an overly long one, depending on your willingness to learn. To pass, all you need to do is show a proficiency in each of the three skills needed for the creation of magical documents. This is the preparation of ink, paper, and quill. A quill is the medium by which we contain the mana within the ink, the magic-filled ink is how we imbue mana into the paper, and the paper itself must be treated to withstand the destructive stressing forces created by structured mana. Any questions so far?”
The lesson began with learning to mix and create regular ink, followed by cutting and shaping quills, as well as how to find flaws in them. Next was how to determine what kinds of paper could handle mana, and then how you could produce such paper on your own. Typically, purchasing prepared paper would be the best course of action until he began making magical documents above the student ranks in terms of difficulty. Then he would need to begin making his own, as the cost of buying prepared versions was prohibitive.
“That's all we have time for today, as I need to get back to work.” Master Slender patted Joe on the back. “I’m impressed with your dedication! At this rate, you will be passing the course in a week!” A few people groaned as they heard this lie, and Slender winked at them knowingly.
“Is there any chance that you have a book on this subject I could study,” Joe inquired hopefully, “so I can be prepared for our next lesson?”
“You actually want to study?” The teacher paused as he thought for a moment. “Hmm. No. I want to show you the next steps in person so that you don’t get confused. Our next lesson is going to be about turning the standard equipment and skills into the magical equivalent. Be prepared for an all-day event. Though what we just went through was supposed to take four full days of classes, so I am honestly surprised at your aptitude.”
“What?” Joe looked at the blinking icon at the corner of his vision that he had been ignoring. “I hadn’t even noticed…” He opened the notification and a slew of skill gains and increases condensed into their most recent level.
Being trained by a Master of a craft has greatly increased your speed of comprehension!
Skill gained: Quill preparation and maintenance. (Beginner 0). Sharp quills mean sharp and accurate writing or drawing! Each rank of this skill increases quill durability by 2%.
Skill gained: Ink preparation. (Beginner 0). Creating the correct color and consistency of ink is paramount to creating beautiful works of literature. Each rank of this skill increases ink purity by 2% and decreases time to create desired ink by 2%.
Skill gained: Paper making and selection. (Beginner 0). Just because the paper is available doesn’t mean it is worth using! Each rank of this skill increases paper durability by 2% when it is used or created by you.
Skill increased: Scribe (Beginner VII). Learning how to prepare and maintain the tools of this craft have resulted in a skill increase!
“Three skills instantly to the beginner ranks, and a skill increase to my scribe skill?” Joe was incredulous at the absurd rate of skill increase.
“There are great benefits to being taught by a Master. There is a reason we have centers of learning instead of just making our own way through all aspects of life.” Slender smiled crookedly before shooing Joe out of the room.
~ Chapter Eight ~
After taking a few minutes to stop himself from getting too frustrated for his lack of critical thinking, Joe remembered that he had come here to learn another Mage spell and make progress on one of his quests. He went back to the entrance of the building and was relieved to find that a new person was sitting at the desk. He walked over and asked where he could go to be taught a new spell. After Joe gave his name to the clerk, he was ushered back to a room similar to… Cel walked in. So the same room as when he had been given the puzzle cube.
“Good…” Cel glanced consideringly at an hourglass on the table, “…morning, Joe! If just barely. I was told you finally came here to be taught a spell? You want to learn it properly, hmmm?”
Joe rolled his eyes at the casual sneer in Cel’s voice. “Hey there, Cel. As always, I am overjoyed to see you once more. Yes, I do want to learn a new spell, but I am unsure what would be best right now. I found out very recently that being taught has some great benefits.”
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nbsp; Cel nodded at this statement. “There are great benefits in the form of being able to use the spells and skills sooner, but… well, learning them on your own is also admirable. Doing your own research on a subject can only help your progress in the long run. From understanding comes knowledge, and from knowledge comes skill.”
Joe’s eyes almost bled, he rolled them so hard. “How very wise and Sage of you. Practicing your lectures for new Mages on me, are you?”
Cel’s cheeks went a bit pink. His next words were far more hurried, “Anyway, what sort of spell work are you wanting to learn?”
Pausing for a moment, Joe had to shrug. “As much as I’d love to learn everything right off the bat, I guess some defensive spells would be nice…?”
“Hmm. Well, beyond your Mage Armor, what defensive spells do you know?” Cel pondered thoughtfully.
“Why does everyone keep assuming I know how to use Mage Armor?” Joe looked at the Mage quizzically. “All I am actually doing is dodging or jumping away from attacks coming at me.”
“…What?” Cel seemed confused which, in turn, made Joe confused. “My Master told me that you survived an area of effect spell from him even after it blasted you onto a roof from street level. How do you survive that without Mage Armor?”
“Oh, that.” Joe shuddered as he remembered the street suddenly being filled with volcanic flame and concussive force. “No, I didn’t get directly hit with that spell. I jumped out of the way, and a bit of the after effect caught me.”
No response came for a long moment. “…Right. Sure. Let’s pretend you don’t know how to use Mage Armor. I will charge you to learn it if you force me to ‘teach’ it to you.” Cel’s eyes were narrowed, probably sore from being rolled so many times in such a short time.