“Why would that bother him?”
“I used stone in my title, and one of his books was called The Stone. Supposedly I only used the word to create [Drama]. A crime more offensive than say… claiming I write [Young Adult] content while cutting off a man’s dick and shoving it down his throat. The Father is one of those assholes that harp about the rules and then violates them at every turn. That dirty motherfucker tried to turn me into a [Troll], but he lacked the [Piety] to finish the prayer.”
“Piety?”
“The Father claims it’s his form of Ku, but don’t believe that. Personally, I don’t think he’s discovered his Ku yet, or his stories would have more focus. Either that or his Ku is something dangerous like [Ego]. Hard to say without his confirmation.”
“So he was trying to turn you into a troll? Not a [Ghost Writer]?” At my words, Dave looked up sharply at me.
“He can scry. Has a mirror of some sort which views things within the last twenty-four hours. The mirror is sentient, so he can ask it who mentioned the G.W. Understand?”
“I understand, but that’s not right. So he tried to turn you into a troll and failed?”
“Yeah. He settled on banning me. Didn’t matter, I’d already booked passage on a ship across the Deep Dive Lake, and here I am.”
“And that scene earlier, with Connie and Baul?”
“Saw that did ya? I used to talk to Baul a lot before that bitch Connie showed up. She ran her mouth about the Goddess of Games, an argument long since settled and caused a rife. Tried to become a Matriarch of Ro or some shit, but have you seen her? She must have rolled a zero for her charisma. I do not understand how Baul beds that thing, I’d rather fuck a goblin.”
“Hah! Why bother fighting with her over it?”
“It was her book, probably originally meant for Fi Fanta’s realm, but here she is blasting it here, trying to make us all believe her. I’m pissed at her because she’s been telling people I’ve been brainwashed by the Father’s teachings, that he’s indoctrinated me. Connie is a nobody and will remain a nobody. Other [Author]’s have refused her too; only Baul stands up for her. I think the new pussy smell entrances him. Seriously, I doubt anyone has touched that thing. Connie might be Baul’s fiancé, but I’m the one he tried to fuck.”
“Well if it’s any consolation, I’d do you before Connie too. She is so ugly; I bet portraits of her hung themselves.”
Dave opened his mouth to speak and then just laughed. “C’mon then, Lila is waiting for you.” He brought me to a set of stairs that led down into a cellar. “Down there is the alchemy workshop. Mind your feet on the way down; she cultivates specific types of mushrooms that are hard to grow.”
I nodded and headed down with a little trepidation. A small antechamber greeted me at the bottom of the stairs, and the walls were made of cobbled stone. Mushrooms grew out of the cracks between the stacked stones. The door in front of me opened into a brightly lit work area. The alchemy workshop was larger than I’d expected.
Glass containers of all sizes rested on the shelves and in them were various components. It was a treasure trove of ingredients and probably worth more than all the gold I had on me.
At an oversized workbench, in the middle of the room, Delilah chopped ingredients and put them to the side. She waved her knife indicating I should come forward. Her hands never stopped moving while I approached.
“You look like hell.”
“Gnoks. They attacked me from an alley near here. Some big guy was with them, but he never left the alley. And another Gnok with a yellow belt sword thing.”
“You sure?” Delilah asked while sucking in her breath.
“Yeah. He was taller than me and called the other one Spymon.”
“Pipestacks! Nomar rarely leaves the Kongdom.”
“Pipestacks?” I asked.
“Sorry, my father used to tell me nothing good comes from cursing. If the Father sent Nomar here, then they are after an [Author]—they let you live?”
“They didn’t; I can fake my death.”
“So they wanted you? Curious, wonder why? No offense, but you don’t look like much. Although, your Ku has embraced the flame, and those tattoos you’ve hidden on your arms indicate you might have an inner dragon. Impressive, but still not enough to draw them out in the open.” Delilah squinted at me and shifted the ingredients to a mortar and pestle. She did not look down as she ground the materials to a paste. The stone on stone instruments whispered ancient sounds as if the act of grinding awoke something in them.
“I don’t think that’s it. Banhammer is a dick and keeps killing me. Are, mm, is that magic?”
“Hmm, Banhammer is here too? Then you aren’t their primary target. Most likely Bustin Cloan was sent here ahead of them—” she looked at my confused expression. “Spymon is Bustin’s code name, and he is the Father’s head Spy Master, always snooping in other communities trying to gain intel to burn them to the ground. In the morning, I’ll report it to the Captain of the Guard.”
“Never understood spies. During a famine, we had this man in our town that reported farmers for hoarding food for their families. The man felt no remorse for his actions, like this Bustin guy. Doesn’t care how many lives he ruined as long as he was protected. People like him are scum.”
“What happened to this man?” Delilah asked, but she kept moving around her workshop and pulling down more ingredients.
“The community shunned him. Poisoned his fields, sold him seed at exorbitant prices, and nearly killed him and his family by shutting them out. Until one day, he is forced to sell one of his sons off to make ends meet. A man like that will end up outliving everyone because he is too cowardly to die.” Right, father? I almost snarled.
“Bustin was captured by cannibals as a kid. Along with his parents. They made him choose which parent they would eat first. His response was, take them both, provided they spare him. The cannibals laughed, but he convinced them. Told them he was small and had little meat on him. Offered to act as a lure to bring them more meat. Relenting, the cannibals trained him as a scout and then a spy. Provided he brought them food; he could live. He did as they asked.”
“How do you know this? And that is messed up.”
“My mother was an alchemist before me; she was one of his victims. Eventually, the cannibals were wiped out by the Father, and the village wanted to execute Bustin too. However, the weasel offered his services to the Father. I knew the moment that bastard agree that he was not the benevolent benefactor he claimed to be. Allowing Bustin to keep breathing shows that the Father is a monster more ruthless than the Spy Master.”
“Oh…” I had no response, because while my father betrayed many people, none of them died. At least as far as I knew.
“Onto alchemy, these tools are not magic, but the profession of [Alchemy] touches upon creation Ku. You are sensing this connection, which is good because it means you have a propensity for [Alchemy].” Delilah said and changed the subject. “I have an ability to sense heat; it helps judge when a temperature is just right. The issue I have is I lack a magical flame to adjust heat quickly. To lower the heat, I have to adjust the amount of peat, remove coals, or whatever flammable material I am using. It’s not a quick process, and in that time it is easy to fail.”
“So you want me to do what?”
“That cauldron there, sitting on that stone block. We will work on your magic and see how much control you have. I need you to react when I say to react. If all goes well, you will gain the Alchemist trade skill, and I won’t charge you. It comes with some utility abilities, so don’t dismiss out of hand. Plus I will give you some of the potions we make.”
“Can I take on other trade skills?”
“You can learn all of them provided you find someone to teach you, and they don’t charge you five hundred gold for it. If you take it as a profession after you learn it, you can only change that at the registrar’s office, most towns have one.”
[OTM: You may also change Professions at your E
nd of Day Summary, but only once a week. A registrar can change it, but the price doubles each time you do it within a seven-day period.]
There was not a downside in helping her. The [Sense Heat] ability sounded useful. Kin talked about using the skill, which sold me on it. I wouldn’t say no to more of those [Healing Potions] too.
Not one for idle chatter, I sat down at the cauldron. Delilah had already filled it with water.
“Put your hands—hmm, four hands… Maybe put all four, two to a side, against the cauldron, like you are going to pick it up. Then I want you to push your mana out of your hands and warm it up. When I tell you—I want you to reabsorb the heat, hold steady, or increase it. Ingredients all have different optimal temperatures. Heat does not dissipate quickly, but it can escalate fast. This means you need to increase the heat steadily and hold it when you feel the heat will drift to the temperature you need.”
“Um, what?”
“If you paddle a boat to a dock too fast, you will rebound away, yes? So you learn to paddle just enough to get the boat to drift next to the dock so you can tie it down. Or if you ever cooked any meat, you know that it keeps cooking even after you remove it from the flame. You must learn to push the heat to a point before reigning it back, so the residual heat carries you to the point you want to maintain.”
“Got it,” I told her, and the analogies were surprisingly helpful. Mana coursed through my body, and my palms tingled. After training with Blaze Bot 8, I knew how to pull on my internal energy for basic special attacks. Drawing from my [Inner Dragon] was almost the same. The difference is the fire seared my palms as the metal warmed up.
“Shit tits,” I hissed.
“Stop,” She told me and pointed with her knife. “On that shelf there. You see the green jar on the third shelf all the way to the left? Grab some of that lotion and smear it onto your palms and then try again. It is burn cream and should prevent you from getting hurt. Use it sparingly; I don’t have a lot of it.”
The little jar looked like a baby food container, I should know, my brother was a Gerber baby. The first ten years of my life, baby food was all that my parent’s let me eat.
I dipped a finger into the cool substance and rubbed it into my palm. The pain from my burns dissipated almost immediately. Once I had all four hands taken care of, I put my hands back on the pot and tried again. This time, there was no searing sensation.
“Good. You can increase the heat a little faster. Good. Now slow down because we are almost at temperature.” Delilah walked over wiping her hands on her brown wool apron. “Okay, hold—don’t increase or decrease the heat. Just keep it steady. The hardest part of learning magic is mastering control. It is easy to increase or decrease but channeling at a steady pace requires a lot of mental focus.”
She wasn’t wrong. I felt the heat in my body fluctuating which affected the amount I poured into the cauldron. Before long, sweat beaded my forehead my body shook. It was like I sat on an imaginary chair and tried to hold that position indefinitely. It was impossible.
“Take a break, but reabsorb your expended heat first. Don’t deplete your fire.”
“Yes, ma’am,” My voice cracked. I was nervous about drawing the heat from my surroundings, and nothing prepared me for the vacuum I created. Everything around me released its shimmering heat, and I visibly saw it entering my body. My core filled faster than it had drained. Not even the ambient heat of solid objects could not resist the vacuum, and a layer of ice formed on the water inside the cauldron.
“Stop!” Delilah commanded in a calm voice, and I snapped out of my panic and stopped absorbing. “That is interesting. Was not aware you could pull ambient heat. Unexpected…” The alchemist muttered to herself and hooked a finger over her nose. Her eyes snapped back and locked onto mine. “But this is good! [Ice Resistance Potion] requires freezing temperatures, which is nearly impossible to maintain in this region. Yes, the ingredients are cheap too. Yes, yes. We should try that first.”
Coughing hesitantly, I tried to get Delilah’s attention.
“Oh sorry, heat this until its boiling. We are going to try something. Once it’s boiling maintain that temperature, don’t increase it.”
“Got it.”
“Now, this is important. When I tell you, take the heat out of the water as fast as your ability allows, but only the water. If it turns to ice, stop immediately. I don’t want the ice to expand and destroy my equipment.”
The alchemist went around grabbing materials off the shelf and dumping them into the boiling water. Occasionally she stirred waiting for something to happen. Almost like magic, the water turned blue, which is when she grew tense, like a hawk getting ready to swoop down on prey. “Now, freeze it.”
Reversing heat flow was not as easy as it looked, I cut off the heat and felt some of it still pouring out of me. It shifted at a slow pace and then I felt the vacuum once more, only it was focused on turning the water to ice. No matter how much heat I absorbed, it never froze. The liquid sparkled, but even at sub-zero temperatures, it remained a liquid.
“Nicely done.” She grabbed a rack of small potion bottles and then used some siphoning device to fill each of them. There were three full racks before she emptied the cauldron. “Well, that was an unexpected windfall. Take these three extra potions. These are rare and very expensive, so don’t just use them on a whim.”
[Acquired 3x Ice Immunity Potions.
Item: Ice Immunity Potion
Details: Potion made in frigid environments.
Item Type: Consumable - Epic
Durability: Fragile
Effect: The imbiber is immune to all ice and frost damage (Effect Duration: 30 seconds.)
Limitation: Can only use once per day.]
“I thought you said resistance, not immunity?”
“Resistances fall into a scale of effect. Ice resistance is tough because there are only so many ways to flash freeze something. Not even an Ice Mage can do what you did. Sapping heat from something is much more effective than trying to freeze it. Your ability changed the potion from [Rare] to [Epic]. Refill that and keep practicing. I’m almost ready for tonight’s main event.”
There was a well in the corner, so I grabbed a bucket and filled the Cauldron. Practicing with the water improved my control, and it felt I could do this all night.
I was dead wrong. Hours later, when she called it a night, I nearly fainted. The demoness Delilah had forced fire potions down my throat to keep my mana up, during the long process, and she may have spiked it with energy potions.
Awareness surfaced when I stumbled into my room at the inn. I had no idea how I arrived here, and I did not even look through my prompts. Exhaustion gnawed at my consciousness like a hungry beast. Goodnight stars, goodnight door, goodnight bed, good—darkness embraced me.
Chapter 17
End of Day One
Location: Summary Room
A room with white walls, white ceiling, and a white floor surrounded me. There were no doors or windows or any blemish at all. It was a three-meter cube of nothingness. I stood in the center, and my fogged mind tried to understand what was happening. Was I dreaming? Awake?
In front of me, a glowing ball appeared and unpeeled itself until it was flat, but not quite a square. It grew until it filled up my line of sight and I realized this was not a dream, nor was I awake. The flat surface grew until it formed into a system window with information scrolling by and several tabs for my character sheets.
[Today’s Summary
One Time Message: Daily summaries will appear the moment you close your eyes for a long sleep. You only get one a day, and it resets at midnight, and you need at least 8 hours of play before you’ll get the summary. Once finished, your long rest will continue, and you are locked out until midnight has passed once more.
Days – Each in-game day is 24 hours. In-game time is compressed 4 to 1, meaning for every 4 hours spent inside, only 1 hour passed outside in the real world. You need to play for 2 hours real
time (8 in-game hours) to get credit for your in-game activities.
Sleep – By default, the system will put you to sleep immediately after the summary is over. In your settings, you can opt out of sleeping in-game. Once the summary completes, your avatar will rest, and the system will log you out. If you sync a device to our system, we will notify you when your avatar is ready to wake up naturally or if your sleep is interrupted.
Warning: If your sleep is interrupted during your summary, you will need to wait until the following day to make the rest of the changes or level up.]
Shit tits, what the flame was happening? I remembered my exhaustion, and the inability to think straight. That exhaustion evaporated, and the jarring awareness hurt me mentally.
I tapped the summary screen before me, and a series of tiles appeared, outlining the different sections to explore. Only the [Experience] button allowed me to interact with it, so I tapped it, and another window came up. The original menu moved off to the left, the tiles shrunk to icons or tabs.
“Good evening. I will give you a quick tutorial on the summary procedures. First, experience or XP is like currency, and you can choose how to spend it. The system tallies your actions, kills, and accomplishments throughout the day and provides you with the Experience (XP) to spend as you choose. If you are curious, you can request an itemization of your actions, and you can contest it, but don’t waste your time. You have a greater chance of surviving your illnesses—goddamn you are fucked up.”
“Excuse me? Yeah, I’m damaged, but even you are not without flaws.” I did not expect an answer, and it surprised me that the machine knew my health issues.
“Yes, I am,” the voice quipped with such conviction I didn’t know what to say.
“Oh. Well, carry on then.” What was I talking to?
The system was quiet for several moments before it talked again. “You cannot level more than once a day, and the max level is twenty. If you put in enough experience to jump twenty levels, you will still need to wait twenty days to reach max level.”
The Land of Trademark Online Page 11