Completing “Magi's Magick Vol. 1” took a final hour of reading, and with it done Logan felt a wave of energy and knowledge flow from his feet to his head. A window came up to confirm his accomplishment.

“You have finished reading ‘Magi's Magick Vol. 1’ and have gained knowledge of several spells. The following have been learnt or have had their tier of mastery increased:

1st: Aqua, Flame****, Frost**, Gaia, Infuse, Lightning***, Necromantic**, Wind.

2nd: Summon _ Elemental, Zombify.”

Working as both a reaffirmation of his currently known spells and showing what he had learnt, the window explained Logan's current knowledge of spells. While he couldn't cast 2nd level spells, Logan could still learn them for later use, the Summon _ Elemental spell being of most importance due to his recent acquisition of the clasp of the summoner trinket.

His Flame spell now had an extra 30% damage added onto it for being tier 4, meaning it would deal closer to 18+ damage, even more with grasp. Confident that a grasp or two could bring down a hobgoblin, Logan was raring to test out his newfound power. The variety of elements at his disposal also doubled, now adding water, wind, and earth to his repertoire.

They all had the same damage as one another, though Aqua made enemies drenched in water, Gaia could make his foes sick and unable to act after failing a Constitution save, Wind tripping and pushing his foes to the floor similar to Force after failing a Strength save. The last spell of note was Infuse.

Not outwardly powerful, but added to a fast attacking ally the spell could overcome the damage of others. The duration wasn't the best, but with higher tiers that could increase, as well as the damage potential, at least that is what Logan theorized. The “minuscule damage” led Logan to believe it probably added around 2 to 6 damage per hit and depending on how many enemies or how long a fight lasted, it could be very useful. “That would be a valuable spell for fighting trolls, to keep their regeneration down”, Logan thought.

With his tome complete, Logan checked his main quest, seeing it had updated to say he had done the learning spells objective. With only one objective left, Logan was free to do as he wished without any major goals, aside from money, though that felt like a pipe dream at this point. He could start travelling north to the capital, but if the next quest had him do something in a different direction he didn't want to be left out to dry. The same hazy feeling in his head occurred once more as he tried to remember his reasonings for going north.

While both Logan and Marcus benefitted little from additional Strength, Logan could make some necklaces for both of them on the off chance they needed to tout denser muscles. Taking 10 of their goblin ears from the communal bag, Logan spent the next two hours using Trinket Craft again. During that time Marcus used his skill to heal them both to full HP.

Using some thread and thin rope leftover from previous creations, Logan pierced the ears and dangled 5 on each thread, making a mangy necklace out of the lowest form of monster. Scribing arcane letters on each goblin ear lobe, Logan infused spellforce into the creations to bring out the dumb force of the green pests. No amazing results were found, producing two shoddy gobbo-ear necklaces.

Using Clean to wipe away any smell or dirt from the necklaces, Logan handed one to Marcus as he equipped one onto himself. As the two put on their new trinkets they both could hear a commotion outside, cheers and a group of marching feet.

Standing up and moving to the window, they opened up the wooden panels to see that the raiding party against the troll had returned. If they had 10 or more members, only 5 had returned. Battered, bruised, and incredibly tired looking, the survivors weren't overly joyous over their victory, though their pay of 20 silver a head might cheer them up.

Scanning over the remainders, Logan saw two Fighters of level 4, one Knight of level 5, two Sorcerers of level 3 and a Devout of level 2. The casters were all out of MP, and they were all low on HP. “Close victory it seems. Maybe we should have helped in the end”, Logan worried, thinking he might have been able to save some lives.

“That Knight is most likely getting the regeneration tonic, looks to be the leader. The others will mostly be getting paid the silver”, Marcus evaluated, looking on beside his partner.

“Shame about the loss of life, can't help but wonder if we could have saved some of them”, Logan added.

“You can't think that way. If we did help them, they might have thought us poachers or hated us for the aid either way. We still aided them by taking out that goblin camp on the way, stragglers could have easily killed one or two of them on the return visit.”

“I guess we did what we could without making it worse then”, Logan accepted. His worries didn't disappear though, knowing he had 3 Flame spells left and Marcus with 5 MP for Heal remaining.

Leaving the window, the two sat back at their beds, planning for their next action. The pair could continue levelling as much as they could in the next two days, Logan was confident he could hit level 7 if not 8 depending on how the encounters went.

Logan could grind up his skills, Backstab was easy to use against goblins and wolves, though Marcus gaining XP would be a pain if he did so. Spell Absorption could be mastered against bastarns, though it did carry a risk of failing. Still, Marcus had plenty of MP left. SKoLs would progress with whatever they did, though Trinket Craft could be very valuable down the road for creating high tier items.

With all the money that Logan had saved, 31+ silver in all plus more in components, he could purchase more tomes to read. He also wanted to learn Tailoring to craft something with the pelts he had been hoarding, so either a tome or teacher would help with that. With the damage that Logan was taking from weaker foes, higher-level ones could cause a lot of issues down the line if he stuck with level 1 armour.

He could spend a majority of his money on the “Roguish Intentions” tome too, at 25 silver he knew it had to contain some valued knowledge, but without knowing what it unlocked he could be worse off or disappointed.

If he knew the recipe for the ring of the magi Logan would farm for those components and try to make a higher tier version. Intelligence was his lifeblood, and with enough of it, he could have a mick that dealt more damage than his dagger. The Force mick would now deal 7 damage per hit, which was on par with his dagger, without knowing the calculations for swift blade damage.

Time passed, Logan ruminating on the next path to take. He did discuss with Marcus, at least on what points he could without revealing the System or his quick levelling. Marcus was in favour of hunting more monsters for trinkets, as well as Logan learning Tailoring as it would aid them both in defence.

Resolving to follow his companion's advice, and realising that the skill could make cloth armour, Logan decided on buying a tome for Tailoring. Since it would take the rest of the day, Logan instructed Marcus to sell off 2 uses of Heal to make some money for himself, hiding the fact he had a total of 5 MP.

Splitting up for a while, Logan headed back to the library. Much cleaner than his last visit, though mostly due to his actions, the library seemed to have a new lease on life. Opening the creaky door to the inside, he saw that Bobcu was up and about, organising the shelves instead of sleeping at his counter. With a pep in his step, he turned to face the Spellthief who entered his domain.

“Ah, Logan. Welcome back, are you here for those other books you asked me to hold onto?” the old librarian asked.

“No, no, actually I am looking for something else. Do you know if you have any Tailoring books in stock?”

“Picking up a new career? Or are you preparing for fatherhood? Heh hah. Either way, yes, I can take you over to that section”, Bobcu responded, a hearty laugh coming from his frail frame.

Leading Logan to the class section, Bobcu scanned over the rows until he came across the crafting skills portion. Picking up a smaller book in comparison to “Magi's Magick Vol. 1”, he handed it to Logan.

“This is ‘Tinsel and Tat’ an introductory book into the craft of Tailoring. Most people start with this before getting too advanced.”

Looking over the book, which was locked like the others, the synopsis gave a general gist of the skill. It could be used for both cloth and light armour, as well as some other clothing pieces or even containers. “Cloth” was an armour type for casters, with little to no chance of miscasting, “Light” contained a mix of leather and harder material clothing better suited to Logan’s Rogue-like setup.

“That particular book is 8 silver, sir”, Bobcu continued.

“Good price, I'll take it”, Logan accepted, taking the book with him to the counter, Bobcu walking beside him. Wanting to unload a multitude of copper coins, Logan paid in small numerations, stacking 8 towers of 10 copper coins. Bobcu didn't seem to mind much, possibly just happy at another sale, or being able to fill his counter with change.

“I hope it's a good read, I don't want my most valued customer thinking I sell sleep text.”

“Sleep text?”

“Yeah, you know, stuff to just put you to sleep, boring stuff.”

“Well, I do read at night, but don't worry, they are all intriguing books.”

“Good, good. Well, have a great time reading, Logan.”

“Thanks, will do. Have a good night, Bobcu.”

With a new book in his possession, Logan left the library and headed on his way back to the Dogslop Inn. On his way back, Logan waved to the Movas as he passed and met up with Marcus outside of the adventurers' hall, the Devout offering his services to the raiding party remnants. Whilst there he also learnt that the party ended up at 13 members before leaving, meaning 8 had died in combat. With their tasks complete, the two travelled back to the inn.

Waving to Coach, who returned it in kind, Logan and Marcus went to their room where Marcus was given “Magi's Magick Vol. 1” to read over, possibly being able to learn some of the spells within it for later. At the same time, Logan started reading over “Tinsel and Tat”, however as he did, he realised a window was ignored when he had finished his previous book, probably buried under all the other windows and pushed to the side. Opening it up, he was surprised once more.

“I better read normal books too, cheaper ones, to help speed up this process when I am not studying tomes”, Logan planned, gleeful that he could finish books that take over 8 hours in less time. Though he suddenly realised he was getting too comfortable again, his original plan was to leave this world. His father was probably worried sick with him being missing for 5 days, and this new world still had dangers he had yet to face. Strangely that fog in his brain rolled in once more, pressuring him into preparing ahead.

Resolving to read this book after seeing Marcus deep in his own study, the pair spent the rest of the evening and night expanding their minds after a day of toughening their bodies and widening their pockets.

As it came to midnight, Logan had finished his book, though Marcus was a slower reader than his ally and still had a way to go in his book. Logan's Reading skill progressed to 35% as another skill unlocked within him.

“Most of this seems similar to Trinket Craft, the other crafting skills are probably along the same lines too. At least it isn't too complicated”, Logan deduced. Along with the skill, the tome had unlocked several recipes for cloth and light armour, mostly generic base armour all the way to level 5, one of them the perfect fit for Logan's current needs.

“Lupine Uniform - Level 5: A full set of armour made from wolf pelts, perfect for keeping warm in the winter as well as protecting against ice damage. This armour is comprised of a pelt tunic with an attached cloak that has a wolf-head hood that can be pulled over like a cowl, thick pelt trousers and wolf claw boots. It is often stylised with tailcoats of wolf claws.”

Starting at a +7 defence rating, the armour also promised damage reduction and ice reduction, though the higher tiers would offer much higher bonuses to all three. Asking his system, Logan finally got an answer, after an overly long period that only carried negative reactions.

Damage reduction reduced damage by the number stated, so taking 5 damage with 2 damage reduction, noted as Dam Red, meant Logan would only take 3 damage. Ice reduction worked on the same principle, Ice Red 3 against 5 ice damage would mean Logan only took 2 ice damage.

Reduction was separate from resistance, as resistance was a % decrease after all other calculations. Damage resistance, noted as Dam Res, of 50% would take 6 damage down to 3, decimals in damage or healing rounded to the closest whole number with halves rounding up. Reduction was calculated first, so Dam Red 2 and Dam Res 50% would take a 5 damage hit down to 2 damage total.

At lower levels, Dam Red was crucial as numbers were lower, but Dam Res became more and more prominent at higher levels where damage numbers went into several digits. The hobgoblin he had faced a few days prior had some form of Dam Red, due to taking little damage from Pon's arrows.

The owls of the night began their hooting, the drunkards their wooing, so the pair of adventurers decided it best to shut their window and then shut their eyes for some well-deserved rest.

Starting the day with breakfast, Logan splashed out some extra money, 5 copper for himself and then Marcus, ordering a full-Tinte breakfast. Two sausages, scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, and garnishes of herbs. The smell wafted an aroma of luxury in the inn, the pair salivating at the meal before them. Digging in like animals, Logan and Marcus dined like kings in comparison to their recent morning meals.

Fully satisfied with their order, Coach received a raving round of praise from the duo, a smile wide on the innkeeper's face.

“Not had a meal like that in a while, thanks for the treat, Logan”, Marcus praised.

“It's alright, we've done a lot these past 2 days, and more to come. Think of it as a celebratory meal for our accomplishments”, Logan explained, rubbing his full stomach.

“A short rest while you sew, then heading out for quests today?”

“Yeah, I got an idea for a set of armour for myself, you can get yours either tonight or tomorrow”, Logan answered, standing from the table they sat at.

“All good to me, you're more in need of it than me right now.”

Logan took a quick trip into town to buy up tools for tailoring, as well as some additional components needed for the crafting of his armour. He bought a set of beginner Tailoring tools for 1 silver and 8 copper, and components for 2 silver and 7 copper, making sure to Haggle for all.

For the next three hours, Logan crafted his set of armour, cutting the pelts, using advanced tanning techniques with spellforce to quickly cure them along with Clean to speed it up, and forming the materials into wearable clothing. With the aid of magic, the whole crafting time was sped up, leagues ahead of what a mundane crafter could do, what would take weeks took only hours. Marcus continued reading his book, which he still wasn't able to finish. At the end of it all, Logan made a set of shoddy armour, his first handmade protection against monsters.

At seven times the defence rating, even though he still did not know what it did, Logan felt it was a worthy investment and wanted to make a few more sets before he left Tinte. It took all of his pelts to do so however, the 4 shoddy and 1 common in the communal bag. Logan would need to hunt five more wolves before he could craft another. With the Spellthief at 11,214/15,000 XP and the Devout at 2,860/3,000 XP, five wolves would not level Logan, but it would level up Marcus.

Logan wondered if NPCs had an instinct that they levelled up as they did with the equipment they could use at their set levels. If so, would Marcus revel at the instant he gained a level, possibly much faster than he had gained his second? More aspects of this world to test, and with the System not giving much information in its newborn state, all Logan could do was experiment.

Thankfully, even though NPCs were able to distinguish what they or their allies could use, they didn't have an actual concept of levels, at least any attached to gear. It wouldn't be too weird for Logan to be wearing level 5 gear but some adventurers may advise him to wear something at level 1 as it better suited him. One of the many liberties allowed to the PC against a world he was an anomaly within. Logan put on his new armour, keeping his previous outfit as a backup.

Before settling up their crafting, Logan wanted to test something. He sent Marcus out of the room to check what food they could get at the Inn, only to look over his ally’s equipment. With his main quest window open, Logan took all of the money from Marcus’s pouch to see if it would change. Sadly, it seemed that money he had no intention of keeping wouldn't count towards the gold objective. Putting the money back, he forgot about any temporary robberies.

With the day heading to noon, the pair set off to the adventurers' hall, new gear in tow and a plan in mind. The duo wanted to pick up a quest that was feasible for a Wizard and Devout of rank 1 and 2. Today the hall seemed devoid of life, only 3 other adventurers were sat around, possibly others were in mourning of the lost lives to the troll hunt yesterday. Logan felt the warmth from his wolf armour, thankful the wind was a bit chilly today to compensate.

As Logan and Marcus scanned the quest board, the Spellthief was inspected by an onlooking Wizard without his knowledge once again. Glowing azure eyes hid under the raised hood over Darius's head. Instead of a smirk from his investigation, his mouth had a sour frown appear across it. Looking down to his black-gem pocket watch, the colour from his eyes sapped into the dark mineral once again.

Like before a number rotated on the surface of the gem, revealing the number 5 instead of the previous 2 it had read before. His now-mundane eyes then moved over to Marcus, chanting a few words atop the 1st-floor balcony meant no one heard his spell, though it ended with “Score”. His eyes were coated over in a yellow film as green numbers and symbols scrolled across his iris.

A tight grip held the bannister railing, Darius showing signs of unease at what he was seeing. Pushing off from the wooden frame, Darius moved off to a side room, closing the door behind him. Reaching into his robe pocket, he pulled out another golden pocket watch, flicking it open revealed a clear gem, enspelling the words “Waves of sound, carry my words. Play”, at which point the device started to shake.

“So, you're the one master spoke of. I shall have to let- mmrhh mphh!” a recording played, the last words of Marc Lor captured within a small device. Sounds of combat, falling clothes, and the running of Logan can be heard, though without any video it was hard to tell. Darius held tight onto the pocket watch, slight cracks showing. Eyes full of anger, Darius was left to his own devices.

Logan and Marcus had selected their quest, a local alchemist wanted to test the possibilities of lupine eyes in potions. The particular items were not listed as components, so Logan had no issue giving them up, it seemed like experimentation based on theories. Requesting 4 eyes in total, Logan could easily pass off being able to take them down due to having 3 spell slots, though it might be a bit surprising due to brown wolves having a higher level.

With a Devout by his side, he hoped to lessen the impact of completing this quest, alongside them having new gear, they would try to put on a show of having a difficult time in hunting. Letting Chestan at the podium and Rubené at the counter know of their quest, the farming Spellthief and excited Devout headed off to their next quest. Though, in the background, atop the 1st-floor balcony, an enraged Wizard watched their departure.

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