Magic School

by Phoenix Grey

  Adventurer's Guild Quest: Defeat The Bower Boys

  Outlaw James Bower has brought his despicable Bower Boys to Squall's End. They've been robbing people along the various roads leading into the city. These menaces need to be dealt with...permanently. Find them, kill them, and bring James Bower's severed head to The Adventurer’s Guild as proof that the deed is done.

  Designation: D

  Type: Bounty

  Difficulty: Very Hard

  Requirements: Character Level 40

  One-Handed or Two-Handed Weapons Skill Level 47

  Agility 44

  Deadline: 7 days

  Success: Kill all 6 members of The Bower Boys

  Failure: Cancel quest

  Reward: 8 gold, 8 silver

  Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?

  The designation had been lowered from a C to a D. The requirements and reward had been reduced as well. It looked like one of the Bower Boys had eaten it when some band of brave Adventurers decided to take the quest last. These guys must be pretty hardcore. The same quest had been posted at The Adventurers Guild ever since Azure had joined. He'd seen the quest disappear and reappear a few times, but no one had made a dent in it yet.

  Azure was distracted by a notification that popped up.

  Congratulations! Quest: Captured by Kobolds has been completed.

  You entered the kobold den unafraid and rescued a damsel in distress. Lord Blakemore will be forever grateful for the return of his beloved servant. You have been awarded 420XP.

  No other rewards? Where's the money? Azure looked toward his friends in alarm. Mel had placed a stack of coins in front of Uden, and he was currently collecting them. As soon as the half-imp had the loot in hand, he stepped off to the side where Azure joined him. Lonnell and Janine remained in line, picking up more quests.

  “Here.” Uden offered Azure his share. Since the coin didn’t divide equally between four, he kept the extra for himself.

  “Did you pick up another quest?” Azure asked

  “No. I’m going to Hawking’s with you once we trade our loot in at the market.”

  “Oh? 5 gold isn’t going to get you very far. You have to buy the Elvish language book first. And if you want to save money and take an entire semester of land magic, then it’s going to be over 10 gold.”

  “Land magic, bleck. That shit’s boring. I want necromancy. And besides, I already know Elvish, so that’s one less expense,” the words fell from Uden’s mouth with distaste.

  Azure smirked. “No necromancy for you. Not from Hawking’s, at least. From what I understand, necromancy is only taught in The Deathlands.”

  The half-imp quirked his head back. “Well, isn’t that a load of crap.” He paused for a moment. “Still, land magic is just about the last type of magic I’m interested in learning.”

  “That’s too bad. You have to take a land magic class at Hawking’s first before they’ll let you learn anything else.” It was a bullshit policy, but it was still there.

  “I knew that. Best to get it out of the way now so that I can start learning the stuff I’m actually interested in.” Uden kept his eye on Lonnell, who was now rolling up his quest paper and placing it in his Bag of Holding as he approached.

  “Which is?”

  “Fire or battle magic.” He dished out his brother’s share of the coin as soon as he arrived.

  “You should consider enchanting. It’s been incredibly useful to me so far.”

  “Which is apparent by the fact that you did not once use it when we were in the dungeon. Enchanting is for pussies,” Uden told him pointedly.

  “You learned how to imbue arrows, and you don’t even use a bow.” Azure scowled at him.

  The half-imp shrugged. “I bought whatever Ruthren had for sale when I had the coin.”

  “Speaking of which...” He shifted his weight. “Before you died, he had acquired a necromancer spell for you. Steal, it was. Looked right up your ally.”

  “Well, shit. I wonder where he’s at now...and if he’s sold it already.” Uden frowned.

  “Probably. That was a while ago. And he came to your burial, so I can only assume he didn’t bother saving it back.”

  “Have you seen him around lately?” The half-imp held onto hope.

  “I’m afraid not. Not since coming here. He came over on the ship with us,” Lonnell informed him.

  “Well, I suppose I can’t be mad if he sold the spell. Being dead and all...” He perked up a bit. “I suppose it doesn’t matter anyway. I plan to become a Grand Master Mage someday. That means a trip to The Deathlands will eventually be in order.”

  “A trip to all of the magic schools.” Azure thought about how each school only carried novice spells unless they specialized in that type of magic. “You can stay parked here for a while, though. This is the only place you can master land magic. Whether you care for it or not, that would probably be your smartest course of action before moving on to another school.”

  “I’ll be sticking around for a while. At least until I master all of the novice spells. Besides, I have to make sure this asshole gets settled down before I leave.” The half-imp threw an arm over his brother’s shoulder.

  “I suppose we’re all about good to go now?” Janine walked up with Jasmeen by her side.

  Uden handed her the rest of the coins while Azure addressed her. “I thought she was staying with The Adventurers Guild.” He regarded the servant.

  “I just took the Miscellaneous quest to return her home,” the dwarf informed them.

  “I wonder why I wasn’t offered that one?” Lonnell knitted his brow.

  “I insisted that it should be Miss Cossey,” Jasmeen said, standing a bit too close to Janine.

  “I thought you only took Monster quests,” Azure commented.

  “How could I refuse this poor woman?” Janine patted Jasmeen’s hand where it rested on her arm.

  “You two look like the oddest lesbian couple ever,” Uden didn’t bother to mince words.

  Janine scowled at him, and Azure chuckled.

  “Well, we should probably all get going. Daylight is burning.” Lonnell’s gaze traveled to the door.

  “True.” Uden sighed. “Though closer than most things around here, Hawking’s is still a pretty good walk.”

  “We won’t have to walk,” Azure told him.

  “Why won’t we have to walk? Do you have Teleportation Prisms or something?” Uden gave him a queer look.

  He smiled. “I think your opinion on enchanting will be changing very soon.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  THE REALM – Day 88

  Janine and Jasmeen parted ways with the men, heading out of Squall's End, while the rest of the party went to the town square to sell their loot. Azure received 3 gold, 6 silver, and 1 copper for his share, which didn't seem like a whole lot considering how much money he'd made from his previous Bounty quests. Of course, Uden banked since he'd collected the most kills next to Janine. That's why everything felt so unbalanced. Without slaying a bunch of foes, there hadn't been much for Azure to loot.

  Once they were done at the town square, Lonnell left them to begin his new quest, and Azure dragged Uden to the smithy to have his Loot Automizer Pendant repaired. Garion seemed to be intrigued by yet cautious of the half-imp, keeping one eye on him while he fixed Azure's pendant. It made the blacksmith work a bit more slowly, which agitated Azure, but at least they weren't on a time crunch today.

  When that was done, they headed to the entrance of Squall's End. Once they were a little bit outside, Azure summoned Flicker.

  “See. Enchanting isn't useless after all,” he told Uden with a smile.

  “I never said it was useless. I said it was for pussies,” the half-imp quickly corrected him. “Too bad you can't summon more than one at once. It would make things much easier for when the four of us go questing together.”

  Azure approached the horse, wond
ering if he should make her lie down for them. Admittedly, he hadn't practiced mounting her like he had planned. Now he was in an embarrassing situation. What would be worse, trying to mount her while she was standing and have the half-imp laugh at him, or having her lie down...and still have Uden laugh at him? There was probably no winning this one.

  “That's why you should learn this spell, too.” Azure grabbed Flicker by the mane and tried to swing his hips over her back. Sheer fear of being made fun of caused him to put more energy behind the action than he probably would have otherwise. The effort was lost, though. He couldn't get his leg over.

  Surprisingly, the half-imp didn't even chuckle. Azure did his best to ignore his presence and tried again to the same effect.

  “Have you ever ridden it before?” Uden asked incredulously.

  “Yes, I have.” Azure turned to him with a sigh, surrendering to the fact that he sucked at this. “But I usually make her lie down first.”

  That got a small laugh from the half-imp.

  “Would you like to try?” Azure gestured to Flicker's back. No doubt, Uden would quickly show him up.

  “Nope.” He shook his head. “This is far too entertaining. By all means, keep going.”

  Azure's entire body slumped for a moment. Of course, the half-imp was going to have a field day with this. “I'll take whatever pointers you have.”

  He held his palms up. “I've got nothing. Maybe use some more momentum...like a running jump...from the side.”

  Azure narrowed his eyes. “Do you mean to tell me that you’ve never ridden a horse before?”

  “Only once,” Uden confessed. “And not without a saddle. I know little about horses besides how to steal them.”

  He quirked his head back. “How do you know how to steal them if you can’t even ride them?”

  “Open the pen. Slap them on the ass to scare them out. Got to be careful doing that, though. I got kicked once.” The half-imp rubbed an invisible wound on his left thigh.

  Azure rolled his eyes. “Of course, you did.”

  Maybe approaching from the side was a better strategy. He could throw his torso over, then hopefully crawl up the rest of the way.

  Deciding that it didn’t hurt to try, Azure gave it a go. He was barely able to get over Flicker’s back, but he had the same problem he had experienced on the ground. His leg just couldn’t gain the height needed to mount her. After his third attempt and failure, Azure’s frustration was too high.

  “You try.” He gestured angrily at the horse.

  Watching Uden try and fail was kind of amusing. Well, at least the first time. Showing more flexibility than Azure, he was able to kick his leg over the second time around and sit upright.

  “See, that wasn’t so hard.” The half-imp smirked down at his friend. “I suppose I could leave you here now if I wanted to.” He gazed forward into the distance.

  Seconds later, Uden was hitting the dirt hard after Azure gave Flicker the mental command to buck him off. Now he was the one smiling.

  “What in the fuck is wrong with that beast?!” The half-imp glared at Flicker.

  “There’s nothing wrong with her. I’m done with this though. We’re just wasting time.” He didn’t bother helping Uden up. The guy was an asshole, and Azure fully believed that he would have left him behind. Again. Instead, Azure commanded Flicker to lie down so he could easily mount her. Then he made her stand again. “Here. I’ll help you up.” Azure offered Uden his hand.

  Getting them both on the horse seemed even more challenging than just getting one of them on. And once Uden was finally on Flicker, things got even more awkward as the two men were pressed together back to front.

  “I don’t like this,” Azure mumbled as he commanded the horse to start walking.

  “I think it’s rather comfortable,” Uden whispered into his ear with playful seduction, reaching his arms around Azure’s waist.

  “Do you have to hold onto me like that?” He threw back.

  “I lied about it being comfortable. Now that we’re moving, I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to work. I’m already starting to slip.” His grip tightened, the humor leaving his voice.

  A few more steps, and they both went over the side of the horse thanks to Uden refusing to let go when he fell.

  The enchantment broke, Flicker disappeared, and Azure simply laid there on the side of the road, staring up at the cloudy sky, cursing the heavens.

  “I think you’ll have to get your own horse,” he told the half-imp when he was finally able to motivate himself to move.

  “Probably a good idea,” Uden agreed, groaning as he pulled himself up from the ground. “So I guess this means we’re walking after all.”

  “Guess so.”

  They dusted themselves off and trekked the distance, taking their time now that they were both bruised up from falling so much. Azure foraged along the way, something that Uden seemed much less interested in. Alchemy components were few and far between along the main road thanks to having mostly been picked clean already. Still, the little bit of Foraging that Azure was able to do was enough to level up the skill.

  Congratulations! The skill: Foraging has reached Level 12. Plants collected through foraging have a variety of uses. You can sell them, consume them, or use them to create potions through alchemy.

  They reached Hawking’s a little before noon, and Azure introduced Uden to the moody receptionist. He wasn’t able to get an appointment with Mareike until the following day, but Elise would be available to recruit the half-imp after a few hours, so they waited. With nothing better to do, Azure gave Uden a tour of what he’d seen of the school so far, showing him the store and the library before introducing him to Cheryl.

  Her ears perked up as they approached, and she took a step away from her desk. A panicked bleat escaped her throat, and she suddenly dashed off, running for the door. All who were in the library turned in their direction.

  “What was that about?” Azure asked.

  Uden sighed. “She’s a forestborne.”

  He jerked his head back slightly. “I’m surprised you knew.”

  “She also knows what I am.” The half-imp gave him a sideways look.

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Deerkin like her are often prey for monsters. They have an innate ability to sense creatures with dark affinities. More than likely, she sensed the imp in me and took flight, seeing me as a predator to her species.”

  “Oh.” Azure blinked a few times. “Well, that could be a problem.”

  “Too bad they don't have her manning the store instead. Then I could rob the place blind.” He smirked.

  “Uden!” Azure chastised him. “I thought you were serious about becoming a Grand Master Mage. That will never happen if you get kicked out of magic school.”

  “There are other magic schools besides Hawking's.” The half-imp shrugged. “I can learn the basics of magic at any of them. Getting kicked out at one probably won't make them bar me from attending another.”

  “You never know. Regardless, it's not worth it.”

  They browsed the bookshelves for a while until Miss Ogden marched in. Cheryl stood at the entrance, pointing around the corner at them as if she feared that Uden would attack at any moment. The two exchanged words, and then Miss Ogden approached.

  “This doesn't look good,” Azure muttered under his breath before she got to them.

  Ignoring him completely, she looked directly at Uden and barked, “Credentials.”

  “I’m not sure what Cheryl told you, but he’s no threat.” Azure stood up for his friend.

  It was like he wasn’t even there.

  “Credentials,” she said again before pushing her glasses up onto her nose. For not having any reason, Miss Ogden looked angry.

  “Of course,” Uden told her politely, and Azure could only assume that they partied up immediately afterward. “I assure you that I'm mostly human.”


  “You look human.” She raked him with her gaze before taking a step closer. The half-imp stiffened as the receptionist leaned in to sniff him. “Smell human.” Finally, she reached out and grabbed his arm, pressing her fingers into his skin. “Feel human.”

  If the situation wasn’t so serious, Azure might have chuckled. This was awkward as fuck.

  “Mostly human.” Miss Ogden nodded before turning back to Cheryl. “Cheryl, it’s okay. He won’t attack you here.” She gave Uden a quick pointed look as if asking more than saying.

  “I just came to attend magic school. Nothing more.” The half-imp held his palms up in surrender.

  Despite the receptionist confirming that Uden wasn’t a threat, the deerkin refused to enter the room. She’d look at Uden, then shake her head as if even seeing him hurt, disappear back behind the wall, only for her head to peek around it again moments later.

  Miss Ogden sighed. “I’m so sorry about this.”

  “It’s quite all right,” Uden told her. “I’m sure that I’m just as uncommon to her as she is to me.”

  “She’ll come around with time, I’m sure.” The receptionist patted the half-imp on the shoulder. “But for now, would you mind leaving the library. You are not a student here yet, and I really can’t afford to be away from my desk for long. Once you enroll, we’ll work on setting up a mediation of some sort to get her used to you.”

  “I understand, and that would be much appreciated.” Uden smiled.

  Cheryl gave them a wide berth as they departed from the library—so wide that she left the school until they were gone, then she slipped back in like a cat trying to sneak around a corner. While Azure wanted to feel bad for her irrational fear of Uden, he couldn’t help but be amused by it. She reminded him of nature shows he had seen where a prey animal knew it was being stalked by a predator. Except Uden wasn’t stalking her at all.

  As if trumping his thoughts, the half-imp murmured, “I bet she’d taste delicious.”