Duncan’s next month at the Academy felt pretty mundane. He was able to get some financial coaching from the mage who taught economics and realm planning to noble children and decided to invest his surplus gold as a result. He left five hundred gold on account with the Adventurers Guild and put the rest of his money into the hands of Elliot’s firm to invest in property that would regain value in the years ahead and/or which could be used in the short term as orphanages. He also asked them to keep an eye out for a place he could purchase near a high-level dungeon with humanoid monsters and not too many other people around.

He sat in on some language classes, hoping it would help his Understand Languages Technique advance. He picked up a smattering of Dwarven, Mawmik (the language of the Lizard people), Cunwa (the common tongue of the humans who lived far to the East), and even Draconic, which he was pretty sure a human throat wasn’t supposed to handle.

Mrs. Shadburn had arranged for a security guard for the orphanage – an experienced warrior who, for some reason she hadn’t explained, was no longer able to adventure or soldier. Duncan met him at the orphanage when he went there to discuss the orphanage’s other needs with Mrs. Shadburn. The guard was a robust fellow, a Level 53 Warrior who’d gone slightly to fat as he aged. He was missing his right leg from the knee down, and had a wooden peg attached to the stump with some sort of harness.

“You the sponsor, then?” the guard had greeted Duncan on his arrival.

“I’m Duncan, yes,” Duncan replied. “Pleased to meet you.”

“I’m Hector. Mrs. Shadburn says you wanted a good guard to keep the bairns safe.”

“I do. I’ve killed half a dozen high-level undead around here in the past few days. I’m going to have the doorways reinforced so you can keep them out, but I need to work out an evacuation plan with Mrs. Shadburn too,” Duncan said.

“You’re awfully young to be sponsoring an orphanage. Mrs. Shadburn says you’re not a noble’s get? At your level, you could be a hundred though, with the slowdown in aging. Dunno how anyone could reach a hundred looking that young…”

Duncan grinned at the man’s refreshing openness and the casual use of a hundred to refer to age and levels in consecutive sentences. “I’m just an adventurer with a lucky set of affinities and a good Technique build. And I’m only eighteen. While we’re asking probing questions, why did you never get your leg healed?”

“It is healed, as far as healing spells are concerned. If I’d been able to get to a good healer when I first lost it, maybe they could have re-attached it or regrown it, but I was in a prisoner camp until it healed like this. It’s been twenty years; I’ve grown used to it. I can move fast enough to keep up with the bairns, if that’s your concern.”

“Do you mind if I try to heal it?” Duncan asked. “I have a non-standard healing Technique.”

Hector shrugged. “Won’t hurt me none for you to try.” He sat on the step and unbuckled some straps, then removed the peg harness. The stump was uneven and scarred.

Duncan touched the stump and activated his Regenerate Other and Destrin’s Restoration Techniques. There was a weird sensation, like he was pushing against a barrier, then it yielded, and a flood of mana left him. The leg was fully restored in an instant. Duncan checked his soulgem. Woah, that heal took ten thousand mana.

“Gods! I thought it was impossible.” Tears began to roll down Hector’s face. “Thank you, young Duncan. You cannot know what this means to me.”

“I’m glad I could help.” Duncan patted Hector on the shoulder awkwardly. “I’m going in to see Mrs. Shadburn now.”

He spent an hour with Mrs. Shadburn going over the orphanage’s immediate needs. He left her ten gold to pay for reinforced doors that could be barred from inside and for other necessities. She would hire a dedicated cook and upgrade the food from gruel to something more palatable.

On the way out, Duncan saw Hector again. “How did you heal this? Every healer I’ve spoken to over the years has said it can’t be done. I know dozens of amputees, and they’ve all been told the same thing,” Hector said.

“I use the Regenerate Other Technique. I’m told it’s a terrible healing Technique and no one uses it. It takes my own regeneration and applies it to the person I’m healing. I have a second Technique that speeds up the process. But it’s very mana intensive. It took ten thousand mana to restore your leg,” Duncan explained.

“I know a dozen men who’d give you their life savings to regenerate a limb,” said Hector. “This… this is life-changing. It feels like I have a future again.”

“I have no need for gold, and certainly not for anyone’s life savings,” said Duncan. “I can only spend that much mana a couple of times a day, though. If you want to arrange for your companions to meet me one at a time each morning at six bells, I will heal one a day. Do you know of a convenient place for them to meet me? I can fly in the city, so anywhere’s convenient for me.”

And so, he began visiting the disabled veterans club each morning, and on evenings when he wasn’t delving the Sawiskin dungeon, healing one person each visit, until his Regenerate Other Technique advanced, and he was able to heal two each visit.

He continued to delve the Sawiskin dungeon once or twice a week and delved the training dungeon with his roommates and Paul every week on the night before seventh day, which was their rest day at the academy. He had planned to take it easy on advancing his Techniques but delving just felt good. The more time he spent in high-level dungeons, the less food and sleep he needed – the dense ambient mana sustained him. He ran into a few more rare monsters, but nothing stood out as special. He didn’t advance any of what he considered his primary Techniques, but he did see some progress on his newest Techniques.

His roommates made slow but steady progress themselves. David and Amelia advanced to level twenty-eight and Cassandra advanced to twenty-nine, as did Paul.

The Lich went into hiding, or spent time recovering from its defeat – there were no sightings of high level undead anywhere in the city. The three guards Duncan had on rotating shifts at the orphanage had no threats to deal with, to everyone’s relief.

The day before the Academy of Steel hosted its annual midsummer ball (delayed two weeks due to the undead attack), Duncan visited the orphanage after picking up the fancy clothes he was to wear from the tailor. Little orphan Bente was waiting for him at the door, chatting with Hector.

“Hello, Bente,” said Duncan. “Hector.”

“Morning, Duncan,” said Hector.

Bente took Duncan’s hand and led him into the building, where she sat him down in the parlor where guests waited, and said, “The dead wizard is coming back to hurt you. He really doesn’t like you.”

“How do you know that, Bente?” Duncan asked.

“I just do,” she said. “I knew where to find you the first time. I know he’s coming back. He doesn’t like me, either.”

“Why doesn’t he like you? Everyone likes you,” said Duncan.

“Because I can see things. The dead king told him to get me,” the little girl said. “But you stopped him from getting me, so now he’s getting you first.”

Duncan identified Bente. She was a Level 6 Mage. Is that normal? Do children normally get Techniques? I didn’t get my first one until I was seventeen. “Do you know how to use your soulgem? Can you look inside your soulspace and see a bunch of writing?”

“Yes, but I can’t read some of the words. We just started learning. I’m pretty good, Mrs. Higgins says.” Mrs. Higgins was one of the teachers Mrs. Shadburn had hired for the orphanage.

“Can you show me what it says? Just think about sharing it with me.”

Bente put on a face of fierce concentration, and Duncan could see her soulgem information.

Name:

Bente

Class:

Mage

Level:

6

Profession:

Strength:

11

Intelligence:

80

Dexterity:

30

Wisdom:

60

Agility:

24

Endurance:

20

Concurrent Active Techniques:

1

Health:

1000

Health Regen:

38

Stamina:

260

Stam Regen:

375

Mana:

3000

Mana Regen:

3040

Affinities:

Body

Weak

Air

Strong

Mind

Moderate

Fire

Weak

Spirit

Outstanding

Water

Moderate

Divine

Outstanding

Earth

Moderate

Healing

Strong

Lightning

Moderate

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

Rank

Precognition

6

Skills

Rank

Woah, she’s like me, except with Divine. I guess that precognition is how she knows what’s going to happen with the Lich, and how to find help that could fight it. So, step one – protect Bente from the Lich. Step two – see if she can help me find the Lich’s phylactery.

“That’s great, Bente. Now, only show that to people you trust and only if there’s a real need for them to see it. Do you know when or where the dead wizard will attack me?” Bente shook her head. “Okay. Will you be safe when he comes for me?” Bente nodded solemnly.

“Right, then,” Duncan said. “After he attacks me, I will try to find you someplace safer to stay, as well.” And maybe some Technique Stones, since I know your affinities. He made a mental note to talk to Elliot about buying a residence in Lanport where Bente could stay with a dedicated staff. His delving over the month had produced another six hundred gold or so, and he felt confident that should get him something suitable.

In the meantime, he had a ball to attend the following day at the Academy and no way to avoid it. Maybe I can delve the Sawiskin dungeon overnight, so I don’t worry about all the social interaction I’ll have to go through tomorrow. My own progress has been pretty good, really.

Name:

Duncan

Class:

Warrior

Level:

105 (+5)

Profession:

Adventurer

Strength:

282 (+10)

Intelligence:

73

Dexterity:

260 (+9)

Wisdom:

60

Agility:

264 (+11)

Endurance:

283 (+9)

Concurrent Active Techniques:

3

Health:

26660 (+1180)

Health Regen:

16800/hour (+800)

Stamina:

3880 (+140)

Stam Regen:

42000/hour (+2000)

Mana:

20702 (+875)

Mana Regen:

6860/hour (+200)

Mana Reserved:

421

Cultivation:

Mid Earth

Affinities:

Body

Outstanding

Death

Weak

Mind

Strong

Lava

Weak

Spirit

Outstanding

Gravity

Weak

Fire

Weak

Poison

Negligible

Air

Weak

Blade

Outstanding

Water

Weak

Ice

Weak

Earth

Moderate

Decay

Weak

Stone

Moderate

Soul

Moderate

Lightning

Weak

Corrosion

Negligible

Gemstone

Moderate

Space

Outstanding

Nature

Negligible

Healing

Outstanding

Life

Weak

Shadow

Moderate

Metal

Moderate

Blood

Negligible

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive (limit reached)

Rank

Blade Echo

8

Tempered Blade

8

Fold Space

6

Regeneration

7

Blink

6

Coagulation

6

Mind Spike

6

Hardened Skin

6

Destrin's Restoration

5

Tranquil Mind

4

Flying Sword

4

Spiritual Shield

3

Bladestorm

3

Personal Space Pocket

5

Remove Affliction

4

Ignore Pain

5

Regenerate Other

2 (+1)

Shadow Sight

4

Cage of Blades

2 (+1)

Assessment

4

Extract Resources

2 (+1)

Blade Sense

3 (+1)

Understand Languages

2 (+1)

Skills

Rank

1H swords

7

Plate armor

4

2H swords

5

Mail armor

2

1H axes

3

Leather armor

3

2H axes

3

Anatomy

2

Shields

5

Survival

2

Spears

4

Skinning

1

Daggers

3

Meditation

3

Bows

3

Swimming

1

Tracking

1

Riding

1