Al and Erick descended the rooftop on their own, but Guildmaster Zago caught up with them on the street. Two other mage guild members flanked the older incani, one a brozescale dragonkin, the other a white-blue wrought in the shape of a dragonkin.

“Hold up.” Guildmaster Zago stepped away from her entourage, saying, “You… You did good magic, today.” She looked like she wanted to keep talking, but she didn’t.

“Thank you. You too.”

“No. That’s...” She seemed to steel herself. Her words came like disease out of a lanced wound, all a jumble and all at once. “Don’t go into Ar’Kendrithyst. Don’t let your daughter go into Ar’Kendrithyst. Bulgan… Bulgan did this. These shadows? He did this. When Mog kicked him out of the guild, Silverite exiled him. He retreated to Kal’Duresh, but within the day they caught him talking to shadows. He was then exiled for consorting with shadows, which led to… There are movements that you are not aware of…” She paused in thought, like she wasn’t sure how much she needed to say. “Bulgan wants to kill you and Jane, very much. I don’t know the full extent of his plots, but he used his contacts inside Spur to bring the shadowcats inside the walls. There is evidence that he is the one who planted magical corruption in the sewers in order to prepare oozes for the arrival of two level 0 humans out of the Crystal Forest, and I’m still not sure how that happened exactly. But since everyone always starts killing monsters in the sewers, it seemed to him to be a safe bet. The two children who tried to mug you when you first arrived were some of his contacts… Until they were involved in the attack on the Sewerhouse.”

Al stood by, fury hidden under a calm facade. Erick barely felt anything over Zago’s words, until the attack on the sewerhouse came up. Then he felt his stomach twist. The rest of her words began to sink in. Erick barely remembered a ‘Bulgan’. He was the giant incani who kicked Jane into a wall and would have punched Erick’s head off, if Mog hadn’t intervened, wasn’t he? Didn’t Jane mention that he was a Scion of Strength with over 6000 HP? Level 50 something? If today’s shadow incursion was because of him, that did not bode well, because if Zago knew about this, then the rest of Spur’s leadership knew about this, and with all these people knowing all these things, something about the battle would have looked different. There would have been people trying to kill Bulgan, or… Something. Was Bulgan in hiding?

Was Killzone waiting on that roof for Bulgan to show?

Was Bulgan waiting down at the battle, to kill Jane?

No. Probably not. From Zago’s story, it seemed like Bulgan wanted to be responsible, but not hold the sword himself, for some reason.

If the problem of Bulgan had been solved, then Erick fully believed that Zago would never have said a single word to Erick about anything, therefore Bulgan was still alive. And he wanted Jane and Erick dead. And Zago needed to tell Erick about all of this, for some reason? Maybe as a gesture of good faith? Something to do with the ‘planar’ designation?

And Guildmaster Zago kept talking.

“Everyone in the attack on the Sewerhouse is now dead. The shadows still living in Spur will be purged by the end of the day; you can count on Killzone and Merit’s soldiers and guards to complete that task. Mog has been systematically destroying the poison Bulgan has allowed into our city, so that’s taken care of, too. But Bulgan himself is nowhere to be seen. He’s not in Spur. He’s not in Kal’Duresh. He’s certainly not in Frontier.” Zago paused. She breathed. She said, “It is my opinion that he has become a Shade in the Dead City.”

Al cursed in some unknown language, full of hard sounds and emotion. The bronzescale and wrought who had been flanking Zago reacted to Zago’s theory with perked eyebrows and stunned expressions. This must be news to them, too.

Zago continued, “The upper echelons of Spur were made aware of Bulgan’s moves after he was denounced as non-incani, but until that first shadowcat showed itself, none of us believed that he would move this far against the people of Spur. I hope I am wrong about him becoming a Shade, but… With the extent of the shadowcat incursion revealed today, I feel I am right.” She breathed. She looked away. “The Quiet War is poison. Sometimes that poison is medicine, making us stronger by providing an enemy, but sometimes it’s just poison.” She paused again. She said, “I have penned a full report on Bulgan’s possible activities and will be amending it today with what I now know. As a show of good faith, would you like a copy?”

She waited for Erick to say something.

He said, “Okay. Thanks for telling me all this. I’ll probably come by the guild tomorrow to see about those basic classes, maybe take a few more odd jobs. I might get a copy then. Thank you for the offer.”

She stared at him. He almost smiled at her, but then thought better. He kept his face neutral. Eventually, Zago nodded and walked away, her minders trailing behind her. Erick held his tongue as she walked well out of sight. When he was sure she was gone, he resumed normal breathing.

Al’s anger overflowed. “Those fucking delinquents! I watched them grow up! I watched all of them grow up! Those oozes killed a trio of rookies who grew up with Savral! FUCKING—” Al smashed a fist into a nearby wall, cracking stone, huffing loud, then huffing softly. He removed his hand from the wall. A smear of blood was left on the grey-brown wall, and on his hand. He breathed out, calmer than before. “Damn… kids… dammit.” He flashed magic at the broken stone and it flowed together, removing evidence that Al had almost punched through the stone. Then he looked down at Erick, and said, “Are… Are you okay?”

Erick thought for a moment. He said, “Not really. But… it is what it is… I need to go get Jane.”

“Yes. I… I need to go get Savral, too.”

Al walked off in what was probably the right direction. Erick followed.

A violet glow heralded a shadowolf poking its head out from behind a small wall.

Al flashed. The wolf disintegrated.

The pair of them walked past where the shadow used to exist. The wolf was a settling pile of ash.

So that just happened.

They eventually made their way to the command courtyard. All around were people in adventuring armor, standing in three lines and talking to each other as the lines progressed toward six people in robes. The six people were paired off into groups of two, one of them holding a green truth crystal while the other wrote on papers on a small table in front of them. When an adventurer got to the front of the line, they showed Script boxes to the pair and the person with the green crystal— Oop. Pink crystal. There’s an argument starting. Now the guards are stepping in— The adventurer is backing off.

Green crystal. Normal operations resumed.

And there’s Jane and Savral!

“There’s Savral and his team.” Al said, “And Jane.”

Erick didn’t know what he expected from Savral’s team, but he certainly did not expect a bird person, a not-human with a mask, and an orcol priest in armor and robes. The orcol was ‘normal’ enough, but a bird-person? That was new. Erick and Al walked right up to them, ignoring the frowns and groans from the people further down the line.

Jane saw him and her eyes lit up. “Dad! Holy fuck!” She almost stepped out of line but Savral pulled her back in, and she let him. “Right. Can’t leave the line but, Dad! That was amazing!”

“This is him? I mean. Obviously.” The masked person said, her white hair— Nope. Her white feathers, glinting in the sunlight. “Human and all. And reaction from Jane. Very rudimentary math there.” She nudged the other feathered person. “You’re up.”

Al moved close to Savral and spoke in whispered tones while the line moved forward one person at a time. Normally, Erick would have focused on Al talking to Savral, but the white feathered person had nudged the sand-colored bird person at Erick, and the sand-feathered person looked like she was holding back something important to say. The woman, girl maybe, wore a practical pair of shorts, to allow her bird-like legs free movement, and a short t-shirt tunic, to allow her winged arms free movement. Her hands were like the fingers of a bat, at the joint right before her long feathers appeared. She clutched a no-nonsense wooden battlestaff in those funky hands.

Her face was human, and it was full of worry.

“Uh.” Erick held out his right hand. “Hello. I’m Erick Flatt. What’s happening?”

Like a dam broke, her words poured out, “Howdidyoudothat?I’mgoingfor[Nature’sFury]butthatlookedlikesuchabetterversionthatyouhavewreckedmyplans!Idon’tknowwhattodonowandJanesaidthatTHATwasabasicspell?Impossible!Pleaseyouhavetotellmehowyoudid—”

“Okay okay!” Erick said, “Uh. Wait." He heard 'basic spell' somewhere in all that. He looked at Jane. "Did you tell people?"

Jane moved forward with the line, saying, “That was pretty fuckin’ flashy, Dad. Everyone started theorizing around me. I don’t know how it started, but people figured it out, because… I kinda lost my poker face. So that’s that.” Then she frowned. She accused, “And you showed people in the command tent! Blame yourself.”

“Right… I did do that.” Erick frowned. He said, “So does everyone have names, or?”

“Ikawa Kali," said the sand-bird person, half shy, half so intensely focused Erick was almost weirded out.

“Gorgush Ammer,” said the bald, green orcol in priest robes and plate mail, almost like Savral’s. He was barely taller than Savral, but he was already massively muscular, with a spear strapped to his back.

“Lanore Oleo,” said the masked, white-feathered person, all nonchalant. Her clothes were normal adventuring stuff, but light weight versions. Mostly cloth with a bit of leather. She had no visible weapons, but then again neither did Savral.

Or Jane. The three of them must use [Conjure Weapon].

The line moved forward. Savral was three people from the front.

Ikawa quickly asked, “What was that spell you did?”

Erick looked from Savral, to Al, to Jane, and decided to just answer the question. He brought out the spell description and willed the blue box toward Ikawa. She focused on the spell, so much that Lanore had to edge her forward when the line moved. Lanore read the spell over Ikawa’s shoulder, but just enough to read it. She did not study it like—

Sand Harpy! That’s what she is!

He knew he had heard Savral mention harpies before—

Wait. Was Lanore the harpy, maybe? She doesn’t look like a harpy…

And then it was Jane’s turn at the front of the line. Savral had finished while Erick wasn’t looking.

Jane willed over a dozen blue boxes into a straight line in the air. She spoke to the wrought writing on the table, beside the dragonkin holding the green stone, “Jane Flatt. 28 kills, ranked from highest to lowest kill participation box.”

The wrought at the desk glanced at the green stone then studied the boxes, writing down some crucial parts of what they were seeing. Then they said, “Your participation has been logged. Next.”

Jane quickly moved out of line. Erick followed her to the side of the command courtyard. In the shade of a building, Savral, Al, Jane, and Erick, waited for the rest of Savral’s team.

“You look a bit stunned, Dad.” Jane explained to him, “The Mage Guild is going to clean up the fight and divvy up the rads and such based on what you contributed to the fight.”

“I got that.” Erick went with the conversation, even though the precision he saw before him was not the reason he was ‘a bit stunned’. “This is so organized, and right after a battle? I expected… I don’t know.”

Savral said, “Something like this hasn’t happened since I was a kid but the people in charge remember how it goes. They’ll be done with this part today. Cleanup in the next two.”

Lanore joined them in the shadow of the building, saying, “They said rads or gold will be available in a ten-day. How true is that?”

Al said, “More like three days. They told you ten days to keep the rush from coming right away.”

“Nice!” Lanore’s eyes brightened, her white feather-hair rising. “I’m going tomorrow.”

“You’ll just piss them off,” Savral said. “I’m going in seven days.”

“Hmm… Maybe I’ll go in seven days, too.”

When the final person in Savral’s team exited the line, Jane, Lanore, and Gogrush wanted to celebrate at a tavern. But Savral said, “We’re going to the Sewerhouse and I’m cooking, but go buy beer. And meat. A lot of people will have leveled today; so hurry.”

Jane eyed Erick, whispering to him, “How much did you level today?”

Erick saw a bunch of blue boxes hovering just outside his vision, waiting for confirmation. He did not answer Jane’s question, and she looked a bit put out by that.

As Gogrush and Lanore called for her to join them, Jane said to Erick, “See you at the sewerhouse. We have lots to discuss.”

Erick couldn’t hide his reaction to that. So he covered for whatever was happening with his face, by saying, “Yes, we do, Jane. Lots and lots. Don’t wander off into Ar’Kendrithyst, okay?”

Jane cocked her head in confusion. Lanore and Gogrush were already down the street. Jane paused, then nodded, and rushed to catch up to Savral’s teammates. Well. Two of Savral’s teammates. The remaining one walked with Al, Savral, and Erick, back to the Sewerhouse, clutching her battlestaff in one wing-claw, looking like she wanted to say something the whole way, but not working up enough courage to actually speak.

- - - -

Erick excused himself upstairs to his and Jane’s apartment. He collapsed face-first onto the living room couch. After a minute of eyes-closed quiet, he opened his eyes and took notice of the blue boxes hovering around him. There were… too many level ups. He almost puked, again. He did not like killing things.

Oh, he could eat meat, for sure. Who doesn’t love a barbecue?

… Maybe he should change his stance on not killing things.

Erick Flatt

Human, age 48

Level 19, Class: None

Exp: 272312/676500

Class: -/-

Points: 22

HP

90/90

150 per day

MP

576/576

600 per day

Strength

9

+0

[9]

Vitality

15

+0

[15]

Willpower

20

+0

[20]

Focus

20

+0

[20]

Favored Spell waiting!

Favored Spell waiting!

Freakin’ level 19.

Erick had thought, rather recently, that 14400 experience to next level was the start of the mountain. Looking at 400000 to level 20 put his previous thoughts into perspective. Damn, but the Fibonacci sequence was brutal. How did people get to high level—

People got to high level by killing monsters.

But how did monsters get to high level? The same way?

That didn’t track. There were way more monsters than people. Erick didn’t see any monstrous spells at the battle, besides the shadowy nature of them all, so they didn’t level based on skills, did they? Erick was missing something foundational—

Wait. Duh. They killed people—

No. That wasn’t it.

Hmm. Well...

Slimes spawned in high concentrations of mana. Were slimes the basis of the monstrous growth cycle, like plankton in the ocean? Did monsters gain levels by eating other monsters? That sort of tracked. That might be the exact answer... But there would need to be millions of slimes everywhere for a ‘plankton theory’ to be true. Erick had not seen those millions out in the desert, so maybe the ‘plankton theory’ was wrong. Erick would have to ask Al. He probably knew the answer.

… Zago definitely knew. He could save his question for her to try and build a rapport, or something.

It’s likely that anyone could answer Erick’s question. A simple fact like the monstrous growth cycle seemed like something that everyone should know, especially of they’re in the business of killing monsters. The only ones who didn’t know must be children, and Erick.

Oh, look at that. Concentration lost its ‘exp’ notification line. A few others were pretty close, too.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Concentration X

Multiply your base MP regen by 3

Requirements: 20 Focus

Discipline 9

Multiply your base MP by 2.88

Requirements: 20 Willpower

Exp: 4531/5500

Clarity 8

Reduces spell costs by 40%

Exp: 2157/3400

Mana Shaping 5

Alter spell AOE in better, subtle ways, 10 MP + spellcost

Alter spell AOE in better, moderate ways, 30 MP + spellcost

Aurify Unlocked

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Exp: 140/800

Aurify 1

Transform an AOE spell into a semi-permanent effect surrounding yourself, based upon the parameters of the Aurified spell. Increase an instantaneous spell to a 1 second duration in order to create an aura.

Able to support 1 aura at a time.

Exp: 0/10000

Mana Altering 1

Bludgeoning, Slashing, or Piercing Damage

Exp: 0/100

Meditation 9

You are at Rest while Meditating.

Normal movement, moderate actions. May attack or defend in small ways.

Damage might not break Rest.

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Exp: 616/5500

Cleanse 6, instant, short range, 10 MP.

Purge an area equal to the level of the spell in meters of all Toxins, Disease, Filth, and Corruption.

Exp: 50/1300

Mend 7, instant, touch, 10 MP

Touch a non-magical uncomplicated large object and restore it to its prime.

Exp: 1510/2100

Ward 7, instant, short range, 24 hours,

Create a Small Ward that can have Minor Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 10 MP + Z

Create a Small Ward that can have Small Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 15 MP + Z

Create a Special Ward. Variable Cost

Create a Medium Ward that can have Small Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 20 MP + Z

Create a Medium Ward that can have Medium Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 25 MP + Z

Personal Ward: Any Ward of any type can be made Personal, to move with you. Original Cost x2

Create a Large Ward that can have Medium Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 30 MP + Z

Minor Effects: Bug Ward, Temperature Ward, Alarm Ward

Small Effects: Visual Disruption, Audio Disruption, Weather Ward

Medium Effects: Area Hostile Visual Disruption, Area Hostile Audio Disruption

Special Ward: Eschew all other effects in order to shape, color, and illuminate a ward however you can. Skill at mana manipulation determines final outcome.

Exp: 874/2100

Force Beam 2, instant, medium range, 25 MP

A piercing, slicing beam of hardened mana that deals 25 + ½ WIL damage for 2 seconds

Exp: 175/200

Force Shrapnel 2, instant, short cone, 5 MP

Sharpened forward blast of mana that deals 5 + ½ WIL damage in a cone

Exp: 5/200

Blink 2, instant, 25 MP

Instantly move from your location to another within , max range 10m per level of Blink

Exp: 25/200

Call Lightning 6, 1 minute per level, super long range, 500 MP

Prepare the sky to strike an area or object of your choice for . If used in an active lightning storm, Call Lightning’s duration is as long as the natural storm. Every lightning bolt called reduces the duration of Call Lightning by 1 minute, or a natural storm by .

Exp: 100/1300

Stoneshape 1, 1 minute per level, medium range, 10 MP

Slowly move minor amounts of stone and sand around you for 1 minute per level of Stoneshape.

Exp: 0/100

Erick kinda wanted to cast another two [Call Lightning]s, just so Discipline would cap out right now, but that would likely attract some unwanted attention.

Eh. He could sit on the roof and Aurify [Force Shrapnel] for a while. With [Meditation] active. And Mana Shape it, and Mana Alter it to something else. Bludgeoning, for now? That would be a good chunk of levels, right there. Hmm.

He had a long way to go to be a real mage, even if Killzone called him one in that weird way.

Killzone was kinda hot, in that southern charm sort of way. And in that Orcol sort of way.

Damn, but why are orcol so… so the way they are?

Ah. Erick already knew the answer to this. Right.

Aloethag, the Goddess of Beauty and Brutality, formerly known as Aloeth, Goddess of Beauty.

Erick rested his eyes until he heard more people than he recognized. Then he sat up. There was a staircase running around outside his windows, leading up to the roof.

And there’s Jane!

Jane slid open the terrace glass door, calling out to Erick to come up to the roof. He went. Al was already up there, transforming part of the space into a barbecue pit and the rest into an outdoor seating area. He had wound a pair of staircases up both sides of the Sewerhouse for ease of public access, and people were already showing up. Jane, Gogrush, and Lanore had brought an entire half of a cow from Market Street, two kegs, and more people, all with their own food. Lanore tapped the first keg as Jane brought out the mugs, and the party started.

This is a great way to end the day of a battle.

Savral lived at the grill, tossing meat patties on heat [Ward]ed iron slates, checking every so often to see that the half a cow was cooking nicely in the pit. He added spices and basted the cow and cooked up even more meat. Beer was handed out like water. People talked about the battle. More strangers showed. More food came in more containers. Al had to extend the side of the building to support more people.

As the sun edged lower in the sky some people got out their instruments and started playing music. Loud and happy. But the sun was still up there, still blazing hot.

Several dozen people all demanded some cloud cover via Erick’s [Call Lightning].

He obliged. Of course. Jane and Al both rushed to say that it might not be a good idea. Bah! What did they know? Well… Probably the law and various other things. But! Clouds! The party watched as the sky filled with crackling white clouds.

But nothing else happened. He wasn’t going to actually throw some lightning. Some people asked for it, but there’s no way that Erick would do such a thing. So nothing happened but some nice shade.

…Aside from the sudden arrival of the city guard, the simultaneous placement of maybe 30 [Ward]s all around the party and nearby streets —and a few thousand more [Ward]s that Erick could not see— all of different colors, several dozen people shouting variations of ‘what the fuck!’, and other assorted events.

Nothing happened but some lazy clouds up above, blocking out sunlight over a good 3/4ths of Spur.

Toward the end of 6 minutes of alternating silence and a call to see some lightning, raindrops began to fall across the city.

The cheer that rose from the party was enough to rock the neighborhood. Everyone asked him to keep casting, even the guards who were half ready to throw him into a cell and let Silverite sort him out.

It took a minute to work up the mana to cast it again, but he did. A gentle rain descended from the growing dark cloud. Small flashes of light and rolling thunders accented the shadowed sky. The party got real quiet. Quiet enough to hear Savral complain about the food getting wet, but in a joking way. Lanore still punched him for it, though. Ikawa just stared at the sky the whole time, feeling the raindrops on her face. More than one person did that, actually, now that Erick looked around.

Oh. Discipline leveled to X. That was cool. 600 base mana felt pretty good.

When the spell ended the cloud lingered until it rained itself out, which only took about a minute. Soon enough, the sun returned to dominate the clear skies over Spur. And then came the people who called themselves farmers, asking Erick if he could come out to the fields tomorrow and do that again.

They’d pay him, of course. How often could he do that? Could he make it last longer?

Erick spent the rest of the party talking to farmers.

It was the farmers who convinced him to buy [Grow]. He was already on the fence about that one, thanks to Jane theorizing about how he could make vegetables from Earth. But then the farmers confirmed Jane’s theorycrafting, and other possibilities. They, and Erick, wondered if he could make a tier 2 spell with [Call Lightning] and [Grow]. Something that could extend the growing season by months, instead of just the time when the underground watertable was at its highest.

Grow 1, instant, touch or close range, 5 MP

Cultivate a single plant, or induce plant growth in a sphere of diameter equal to spell level in meters.

Exp: 0/100

Maybe he would become a farmer.

He turned to Jane, “Hey, Jane! Maybe I will become a farmer!”

“That’s nice, Dad. Make me some potatoes.”