It would take Josef a couple of days to arrange for Church guards to meet them in Harrish, Mero, and Tavoli, so Duncan had a little time to arrange for a day’s absence from the Academy. But first, he visited Pelleas.

There was no line at the appraisal office, as usual, so Duncan walked right in. “Productive week?” Pelleas asked.

“Got kicked around a fair bit. Killed three liches tonight, though, so that was nice,” Duncan said.

“Three!? What happened?”

“Remember that orphan with the precognition? She told me the undead were coming for her, so I took her to the big temple near the keep. Bente convinced the archdeacon there that the threat was real, so he sounded the alarm, and they were ready when the undead arrived a few minutes later. Three liches, six spectral assassins, and a bunch of plague belchers and bone knights. It was a good fight, but I ran out of mana near the end. It’s the limiting factor for me in fights where I have to heal and Mind Spike a lot. No loot from that fight, but I did go to the Hidden Forest dungeon overnight last night.”

Duncan put the cat parts on the counter, then the rest of the loot from the dungeon. “Pelt, teeth, and claws from a Lesser Night Hunter,” said Pelleas.

“Lesser!” Duncan interjected. “Meaning there’s a scarier version of that thing? Wow. I really don’t think something like that should be called lesser. Maybe great and greater instead of lesser and greater…”

“The guild can offer five gold for the cat parts, but I recommend you save them and sell them directly to a crafter,” Pelleas continued. “The gem on the collar… is a Mind Affinity stone. Of course it is. The guild values it at over a thousand gold and I am not authorized to make you an offer on it. That will bring you to Outstanding Body, Mind, and Spirit. That feels momentous. The armor and weapons are junk – the swords have an enchantment to keep them sharp – the guild can offer fifty silver for the lot.”

“Not a very productive dungeon – other than the Affinity stone, I mean,” said Duncan. “I also ran into a giant lizard thing that may have been a greater forest drake. I couldn’t hurt it, not more than a scratch, and it had several Decay Techniques that forced me to heal a lot. I had to run away.”

“We elves occasionally run into those in the depths of the primordial forests of the world. We leave them alone, too. Their scales make even better armor than what you have, and they’re a gold mine of alchemical and enchanting materials, but they’re simply too hard to kill,” said Pelleas.

“Right. Well, the cat fight showed me that I’m lacking a good perception Technique. Blade sense will eventually let me know where people or monsters with bladed weapons are, but I have no way of detecting invisible cat monsters, for example. So I guess I need an item that will let me detect invisible creatures. And I’d like to get some good resistance items that don’t interfere with my healing efficiency necklace.”

“Very well. Let’s take a look at the guild’s item list.” Pelleas pulled out an enchanted scroll from under the desk. “Items that let you detect invisible creatures tend to be things you wear on your face or eyes. You will likely have to swap out your helmet when you need to use the power.”

“Could I not remove only the faceplate of my truesteel helm if I were to find an eyeglass item? Or wear a monocle under my dragonskin helm if there’s room?” asked Duncan.

“Possibly. You would already have an item (the helm) using the mana that passes through your head. You may have the metaphysical strength to have two items on the same spot – it will depend on the mana they reserve as well – their metaphysical weight, so to speak,” Pelleas explained. “There are several monocles and spectacles listed. They differentiate between physically present but invisible, and invisible because they’re not physically present – spirits, and such. I don’t see anything that reveals everything invisible. Further, they seem to be broken into Divination Affinity, Mind Affinity, Spirit Affinity, and Light Affinity.”

“So, detecting minds, detecting spirits, and actually seeing what’s physically present but hiding through light magic, then? And Divination is everything.” said Duncan.

“Essentially, yes. There’s a Crown of the Enlightened that shows you spirits within a range determined by your Spirit Affinity. Three hundred gold. Spectacles of Sight – no, they’re Light affinity. Monocle of Revealing – Mind Affinity, two hundred and twenty-five gold, only reveals invisible creatures in your line of sight – the Crown will show you spirits anywhere in range whether you’re looking at them or not, so it’s a more powerful item. Oh, this is neat. Earring of Impending Doom. Pinches your ear when you’re about to be attacked by an unseen assailant. Divination and Soul Affinities. How far in advance of the attack it warns you dictated by divination affinity. If your Soul Affinity is used, you get warned when the attacker forms the intent to strike.”

“Things I didn’t know I needed! How much is the earring?” said Duncan. “I’ll take the Crown and the monocle – if I’m fighting spirits, a physical helmet won’t be as important, and the monocle might let me keep my helmet on.”

“The earring is a hundred and twelve gold. Divination and Soul magic are both rare, and if you have Divination, you generally have better options than this.”

“I’ll take it, too,” said Duncan. “I antagonized a noble earlier who seems to be the type to send an assassin after me, and it would be useful for sleeping in Dungeons, too.” He pulled out six hundred and thirty-seven gold from his storage to pay for the items – he no longer kept all his gold on account with the guild, having invested most of it with Elliot Lainer, so he had to pay for items out of pocket now. I suppose it makes me feel the cost more when I have to hand over the gold.

“All three items should be here next week,” Pelleas said, as he marked the scroll with the purchases.

“Thank you,” said Duncan. “I’m escorting Bente and the archdeacon to the Villanovan Confederacy in a day or two, so I may not see you until then, depending how long the trip takes. We’re using the teleportation gates, and I’m not sure how that works, if there’s a wait time, or whatever. And I don’t know if I’ll have to talk to anyone at Tavoli, so I might be gone a couple of days.”

“Enjoy the trip! Oh, before you go, the Technique stones you ordered for your friends arrived.” Pelleas handed them over. “And here’s that list of the high-level dungeons within an hour’s flight of a teleportation gate that I think you’d find useful.”

Duncan thanked Pelleas and returned to the Academy. He decided to use the Mind Affinity Stone and then meditate the rest of the night. The last time he’d absorbed an Affinity Stone, his mana had become agitated and had eventually formed a dense cloudlike core in his belly. His mana still flowed normally through his body, so he wasn’t worried, exactly, but he wished he understood what was going on.

Sitting in the Academy garden, Duncan absorbed the stone. For a moment, it felt like he was falling, then a burning sensation overtook his limbs. He started meditating and trying to visualize his mana. It felt like the mana was burning the pathways it took through his body. From his core or dantian or whatever, burning strands of mana reached out to his heart, his lungs, kidneys, stomach, and liver. Then his eyes and ears started burning, and his arms and legs, then even his brain felt like it was on fire.

The sensation continued for an indeterminate amount of time, then gradually settled. Through it all Duncan focused on his breathing and pushing mana through his body. Same as last time. Just keep it moving. Once everything had settled, Duncan took stock. He felt good, though he was covered in grime again. Not as bad as the first time I had a breakthrough at least!

It had been a while since he’d checked his soulgem, and he was pleased with what it displayed.

Name:

Duncan

Class:

Warrior

Level:

116 (+8)

Profession:

Adventurer

Strength:

305 (+16)

Intelligence:

73

Dexterity:

280 (+15)

Wisdom:

60

Agility:

296 (+16)

Endurance:

305 (+15)

Concurrent Active Techniques:

3

Health:

29300 (+1900)

Health Regen:

18560/hour (+1280)

Stamina:

4210 (+230)

Stam Regen:

46400/hour (+3200)

Mana:

25860 (+4632)

Mana Regen:

7300/hour (+320)

Mana Reserved:

501

Cultivation:

Late Earth +

Affinities:

Body

Outstanding

Death

Weak

Mind

Outstanding +

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

Strong +

Lightning

Weak

Corrosion

Negligible

Gemstone

Moderate

Space

Outstanding

Nature

Negligible

Healing

Outstanding

Life

Weak

Shadow

Moderate

Metal

Moderate

Blood

Negligible

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

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

6 (+1)

Tranquil Mind

4

Flying Sword

6 (+1)

Spiritual Shield

3

Bladestorm

4 (+1)

Personal Space Pocket

6 (+1)

Remove Affliction

4

Ignore Pain

5

Regenerate Other

3 (+1)

Shadow Sight

4

Cage of Blades

3

Assessment

4

Extract Resources

2

Blade Sense

4 (+1)

Leech Mana

3 (+2)

Understand Languages

2

Skills

Rank

1H swords

8 (+1)

Plate armor

4

2H swords

6 (+1)

Mail armor

3

1H axes

3

Leather armor

3

2H axes

3

Anatomy

2

Shields

5

Survival

2

Spears

4

Skinning

1

Daggers

3

Meditation

4 (+1)

Bows

3

Swimming

1

Tracking

1

Riding

1

Elven language

2 (+1)

Knowledge: Monster

1 (+1)

Well. Outstanding Mind Affinity now, and that’s improved my mana pool significantly. Cultivation level has changed again. I have no idea what that means. Soul Affinity has changed. Is that due to the cultivation change? Or the Affinity stone? Is the cultivation change due to the Affinity stone? This soulgem isn’t as helpful as I’d like. Destrin’s Restoration is up – that’s a mana efficiency gain. How did Flying Sword advance again so soon? I don’t understand that gain. Personal Space Pocket advanced again – I’ll need to test that to see what’s changed. Leech Mana gained two ranks. I guess that makes sense – I use it in every fight as much as I can, and it was low rank and an outstanding affinity so rapid early gains are normal. Nice to see the skill advancements. Hey, wait – the limit reached notification for my active and passive techniques is gone. Does that mean I can add more techniques? Is that what cultivation does? That’s… awesome. Level one sixteen. I’m definitely continuing to show a hundred and five while I’m in Lanport.

Feeling a little overwhelmed even after meditating, Duncan bathed to remove the grime covering him and headed to bed for a few hours of sleep.