by Jamey Sultan
Name: ???
Race: ???
Level: ???
Class: ???
James had never seen a nametag without any information before. That would probably make her some kind of rogue or other information-gathering class. Perhaps a spy. Either way, he didn’t have enough information to work with, so staying quiet would probably be his best bet. Time stretched on as neither of them spoke, staring intently at each other.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
James’ eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
Twenty minutes.
Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m James.” He introduced himself, holding out his hand for her to shake.
“James.” She stared at his hand for a second, but ignored it, leaving James sitting on the bed with one hand stretched out awkwardly.
He held it out for another couple of uncomfortable seconds, but realized that she wasn’t going to shake it. With a sigh, he dropped his hand back down. “Can I help you?”
“You tell me.”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Why am I in here?”
“Why do you think you’re here?”
“No idea.” James knew better than to admit anything. He had seen enough cop shows to understand that this was an interrogation, and that anything he said would only hurt his case. With his limited knowledge of this world, he would probably end up giving away something he shouldn’t.
They continued staring.
Another five minutes passed. It didn’t look like she was going to move at all.
Was she going to sit there all day? That would be uncomfortable. It might be better than the boredom though. Still, maybe she could get him a book or something to pass the time.
Ten more minutes.
“Hey. Would you be able to get me my pouch?” James asked. “I’m very bored and have a book in there that I would like to read.”
She ignored his question and continued to stare.
James was starting to go from feeling uncomfortable to feeling annoyed. What was her problem? I haven’t done anything wrong.
Finally, after almost an hour, James burst out, “If you have a question to ask then ask it! I don’t even know why I’m here. First, I get caught by a bunch of slavers, but I get free and save one of your people, but then you all lock me up without even a trial. Fine. But you know what, I don’t deserve this. I helped Arik. That’s another thing. Arik doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment either. He helped us escape from a bunch of Goblins. We would have died if he hadn’t taken us though those tunnels. Even then, he almost didn’t do it. He made us promise not to tell anyone, so what’s the issue? It’s not like I can talk about it, anyway.” James paused to take a breath and realized what he had done. He had been rambling and ended up revealing much more than he had planned.
The mysterious Dwarf stood up. “Thank you, James.” She turned to leave.
The guard followed, dragging the chair out of the room after her.
“Wait, can I please get my book or something?” James called after her. “I told you what you wanted to know.” But the door closed with no response.
James screamed in frustration, pounding on the door. “Let me out!” he shouted, pounding on the door until his fists bled.
As the adrenaline faded, James could feel pain beginning to bubble up in his hands. He looked down at them and felt a lump in his throat. He had been moving constantly since he had appeared in this world and now, with time to rest, all the emotions he’d been holding down bubbled to the surface. Alone and broken, James sobbed. It was all too much for him. He didn’t know how long he cried, but by the time he was finished, he felt much better. He couldn’t give in to hopelessness. No matter what happened, he would be okay.
Resolved, James decided to spend his time in this jail cell as productively as he could. He needed to train his skills.
James sat cross-legged on the cot and closed his eyes, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. This time, instead of solely focusing on his Mana channels, James tried to understand his body on a deeper level. Using his knowledge of anatomy, he delved into himself and followed the pathways of his blood vessels and internal organs. When James focused on his entire body, the experience he got for the meditation skill drastically increased and the skill shot up in levels.
You have gained 17 Skill Ranks in Meditation.
You are now Skill Rank 25.
Congratulations! You have reached Journeyman rank in Meditation.
As a Journeyman, you may choose one of the following bonus abilities
Of Body and Mind
No longer does meditation only affect your mind. With your knowledge of anatomy, you can use your meditation to heal your body as well. The amount you heal increases based on your Anatomy and Meditation skill levels (Requires Skill: Anatomy).
Passive Meditation
You understand the inner flow of Mana through your body. The Meditation skill becomes a passive skill, increasing the flow of Mana through your body and drastically improving your Mana recovery rate.
Spiritual Awakening
Unlocks the Spirit stat
James cracked his neck and stood up, rubbing the sore spots on his butt. He had no idea how long he had been meditating, but as he looked over the potential upgrades, he knew it was worth it. The first upgrade would help him heal much faster, allowing the skill to affect his health in the same way it affected his mana. If he understood it correctly, the next Ability would boost his Mana regeneration rate an insane amount. The final option, Spiritual Awakening, was more nebulous. James had no idea what the spirit stat did, and he wasn’t in a good position to find out. He wished Nana were here to help.
The smartest option would be to close the window and pick his Ability when he had more knowledge, but when he tried, he got a new prompt.
Do you want to forgo your Journeyman bonus for the Meditation skill? This is a permanent choice.
He quickly cancelled. There was no way James wanted to give up a bonus this good. Instead, he decided to choose the most useful skill for him right then. If he were in a better position, he might have taken a chance on Spiritual Awakening, or if he had his Mana, he would have chosen Passive Meditation, but since he would never be able to use spells again, he decided to choose Of Body and Mind.
Journeyman Meditation Bonus
Of Body and Mind:
With your knowledge of anatomy, you understand that everything is connected. Mana and blood coexist, flowing through your body in parallel. By feeling the flow of energy through your body, your meditation skill will boost health regeneration as well as Mana regeneration.
James pulled up his meditation skill to see what the boost was.
Meditation (Level 25):
+ 3.4 Mana regenerated per minute.
+ 3.4 health regenerated per minute
Amazing!
It looked like the amount of health that he would regenerate every minute was equal to his skill level in Anatomy. Eager to try out his new skill, James concentrated. Sinking into a trance, he watched his hands heal, bones sinking back into place and tendons reattaching at an impossible speed. When his body had finished healing, he was hit with a wave of exhaustion, much more than anything he had ever experienced before. He sunk back onto the cot and fell asleep almost instantly.
Chapter 34
The next day passed uneventfully as James continued working on any skills that he could work on in his cell. To train his climbing skill, he mantled around the room, using the stones as climbing holds. Leveling was much slower than when he was using the skills against actual enemies, but he still managed to gain a few levels in each.
You have gained 3 Skill Ranks in Climbing.
You are now Skill Rank 12.
You have gained 1 Skill Rank in Meditation.
You are now Skill Rank 26.
James also tried to level up his Stealth skill, but after about an hour of stealthily pacing around the room with
no experience gain, he gave up. But by the end of the day James was happy with the progress he had made, and he hadn’t been nearly as bored as the previous day. That night as he lay in bed falling asleep, James wondered when he would even be let out of the cage. He didn’t know the rules in here-maybe they would leave him to rot forever. Or maybe not. With those dark thoughts running through his mind, James fell asleep.
Later that night, he woke up to the sound of heavy boots outside his door. A series of guards filed into his room, standing at attention. They were followed by the most richly-dressed Dwarf he had ever seen, wearing a rich red robe accented with gold trim.
Name: Florius Amesry
Race: Dwarf
Level: ???
Class: Grand Chancellor
When Florius got close enough, James realized that the Dwarf had fine tendrils of gold thread woven through his beard to match the gold accents on his robe. Based on the smooth confidence with which he walked, James could tell that the Dwarf was either royalty or incredibly important. With a class like Grand Chancellor, James guessed that it was the latter. He would have to play this right if he didn’t want to upset someone who looked like he could make James’ life very hard.
Remembering his conversation with the mysterious figure the day before, James wondered how best to deal with the Grand Chancellor. He had already told the Dwarves how his group had gotten to the Iron City, so he wasn’t sure exactly what Florius was here for. Still, he should probably be polite to the person who had him in jail, even if he didn’t really want to. In the end, James decided to introduce himself, but when he stood up and held his hand out to the Grand Chancellor, one of the guards stepped forward and drew his sword.
Waving his hand, Florius stopped the guard and addressed James, voice dripping with distaste. “Do you know why I’m here?”
“To let me go?” James said hopefully.
A brief look of surprise flashed across the Grand Chancellor’s face. “How could you… no, never mind.”
It was James’ turn to look surprised. “Wait, you’re letting me go?” A small flash of hope wormed its way into his heart. He’d been worried that they were planning on keeping him here forever.
The Grand Chancellor ground his teeth in annoyance. “Yes, but do you know why I specifically am here?”
“You’re in charge of letting people out?” James asked.
“You think that the Grand Chancellor, right hand to the king, comes all the way down to this…place,” he looked around distastefully, “just so that I can give you a sweet roll and let you out of prison?” His eyes flashed with anger. “No. I’m here because I disagree with my King’s decision to allow you to roam the city while we decide how to deal with you. Letting a Human, and even worse, an Elf, free with the knowledge that you have is foolhardy. But I live to serve, so here we are.” Florius leaned in so close that their noses almost touched, and James could feel his hot breath on his face. “Just be warned that I will be watching you very closely. One slip up and you may just… disappear.” The Grand Chancellor strode out of the room, leaving a very conflicted James in his wake. It would probably be a good idea to get out of the city as fast as he could.
Soon after Florius left, there was another knock on the door. This time, his guest was a younger Dwarf, carrying all of James’ possessions.
Name: Danforth Sand
Race: Dwarf
Level: 19
Class: Servant
James wasn’t sure how to tell a Dwarf’s age, but Danforth’s beard was much shorter than any of the other Dwarves that he had seen so far. For a servant, it looked like he was treated well. He wore a red tunic with a golden fox printed on the back.
“Hey there. I’m Danforth.” The Dwarf gave him a shy smile. “I’m here as your guide.”
Danforth handed James his gear and turned around to allow him to change back into his leathers. Once James was dressed and equipped, the Dwarf escorted James out of the room and into a long hallway filled with doors just like his. Each door had a cell number carved into the rock next to it. James had been in cell 1,328. The two continued walking through a maze of identical hallways while James chatted with his guide.
“What’s going to happen to my companions?” James asked.
“They’re fine. We’re actually heading to them in a bit.”
“Where are we headed now?”
“To clean you up. You smell worse than an orc’s backside.” The Dwarf chuckled. “With how dirty you are, I’m not sure they’d even let you enter the outer ring.”
“That would be much appreciated.” He smiled at Danforth, “lead the way.”
The pair walked in silence for a bit before James asked something else he’d been wondering about. “So, What’s the symbol on your shirt?” James gestured at the golden fox emblem on the back of the Servant’s tunic.
“Oh, this?” He smiled proudly. “It’s the sigil of house Stricken. It shows everyone that I’m a member.”
“You’re a noble?” James asked, surprised that the nobles would use family members as servants. Maybe it was an outer family and inner family deal, where the outer family served the inner family?
Danforth looked confused for a second before realizing what James meant. Immediately he shook his head in denial. “No, in our culture the people who live with you are considered part of your house, but I don’t have noble blood and could never inherit the throne.”
“Gotcha. So how does the throne get passed down?”
“The throne goes to the youngest child at the time of the King’s death.” Danforth explained.
“Really?” James raised an eyebrow. “Why the youngest? In my… country, the eldest always inherits.”
Danforth raised a curious eyebrow. “Why? The eldest child gets the least prepared parents. The youngest children make for more balanced leaders. And they live longer.”
“Interesting,” James said. He’d never thought about it that way. “Wouldn’t that make the kids more likely to assassinate their parents if they thought they were going to lose the throne?”
Danforth shook his head quickly, “Don’t say stuff like that.”
“Right. Sorry.”
There was an awkward paused before James asked, “So how far away are we?”
“We’re almost out of the prison. We’re going to come out in the outskirts and head straight to a bathhouse, then I can show you around the city.”
“So why do they call this place the Iron City?” James asked. He had been wondering for a while but hadn’t thought to ask anyone.
“It used to be an iron mine off of the Old City, but when…”
Danforth stopped talking as they came to a heavily guarded thick iron door. He spoke a few words to one of the guards, who nodded and opened the door for the two to pass. But when James stepped up to the door, another guard blocked it. “Watch yourself, Human,” he growled, spitting on the ground. Without another word, he stepped back.
James exited the jail into a series of much wider tunnels, filled with a hodgepodge of living spaces, tents and bags of meager possessions scattered among ramshackle stalls filled with dirty looking Dwarves. When they saw James, some of the Dwarves made rude gestures, spitting on the ground, while others ignored him.
“Do Dwarves not like Humans?” James asked when he caught up to Danforth.
Danforth rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “I probably should have warned you.”
“About?”
“I may not have been entirely honest with you earlier. I’m not just here as a guide. I’m also here as an escort to make sure you stay safe. Some Dwarves have… issues… with Humans.”
“Why?”
“They resent you for not helping us during the desolation.”
“The desolation?” James thought, trying to remember if he’d heard the term before. “Is that related to why this is the only Dwarven city left?”
Danforth nodded sadly. “Our cities were once spread across the Crimson Mountains, but we
were attacked. Orcs came from the other side of the mountains, from the Howling Wastes. Now our people are a fragment of what they once were.”
“How could they have taken over so much? From what I’ve seen, you Dwarves are powerful.”
Danforth shook his head, lowering his voice and whispered, “The Tei’zir.”
“What are the — “ James started to ask, but before he could finish, Danforth clapped a hand over his mouth, drawing admonishing stares from passersby.
“Quiet.” The Dwarf hissed.
“Sorry. What are the… they?”
“Have you not heard the story of the Elder Races?” Danforth asked James.
“The Elder Races?”
“Hang on.” Danforth smiled. “This is my favorite story.” As if reciting from memory, he spoke.
“In the beginning there was nothing. From that nothing emerged two opposing forces, Chaos and Order. The conflict between the forces of Chaos and Order has been going on since long before time began, and still rages today. Over the course of the war, the Angels, scions of Order, created the First Elders. The creation of the Kieva marked the start of time itself, while the Hiken were given the power of the written word. Their script has been lost to time, forgotten but for a few blessed fragments. In direct opposition to the forces of Order, the Demons created them. We do not speak their name, but we all know it, and it strikes fear into our hearts.”