With a pep in their step, revitalized from the rest at the inn alongside good eating, Logan and Marcus were able to get their shopping done quickly. The shopping list itself was rather long, as Marcus was needing some upgrades to his gear, alongside the sheer quantity of coins at their disposal.

Marcus sold off all his old gear to upgrade to level 4 equipment, as well as picking up some tools to aid in stealth and climbing similar to Logan, to not be left behind as much during the stalking periods in forests. Logan similarly sold his older daggers, barring Spellthief’s Edge, to pick up new variants and sold some older tools for ones that gave higher bonuses. The more important purchases were:

“2x Ashin Dagger - Level 8, Common: Forged by expert vampire smiths, this black dagger has red pulsing veins across its blade and pierces deep for how short it is. +4 attack rating, 9-12 damage.”

“Journeyman Tools: Alchemy, Herbalism, Skinning, Tailoring, Trinket Craft. - Level 15: Tools that aid in the chances of acquiring higher tier materials and items.”

“Footpad's Gear - Level 15: Pairs of black combat boots and fingerless gloves that aid in dampening one's footsteps as well as their tinkering. Whilst wearing these items you count your Agility as 9 higher when utilizing the Stealth skill.”

“Cragsman's Ensemble - Level 15: A full set of gear for climbing to the top of most surfaces, from trees to rock walls. Whilst utilizing this gear you count your Strength and Agility as 8 higher when utilizing the Climb skill.”

“Eagle’s Eyeglass - Level 15: This intricate monocular, crafted with gold and parts of an eagle's eye, refracts light and imagery through weaving mana and glass prisms. When used, this allows the user to spy at a distance of up to 30 miles.”

After selling off the spare gear, and buying up new gear, Logan spent 87 silver in total, making a small dent into his now 887 silver. Though that reserve was going to take a major dive when they visited the local library.

With a lighter load, though they wouldn’t really know with using the inventory, the pair made their way to what they thought was going to be a library but turned out to be more of a book shop as libraries seemed to have been an older construct of society, free and communal reading no longer existing. Though thinking on it, the “library” of Tinte didn’t allow you to read or rent books, so calling it a library wasn’t entirely correct.

Whilst making their way to the book shop, Logan perused his status to double-check what the alert was about Identification, thinking it just went up another tier. Though, as was becoming more common as they continued in their adventures, this window had new information to grant to Logan.

“Alert! Identification has reached the maximum mastery for tier 4, progress has been halted until additional tasks have been completed. Experience past tier 4 will not be counted until you have accomplished the tasks required to unlock its progression.”

“Well, that’s awfully vague. What tasks? System, got any ideas?” the Spellthief asked in his head.

“We are unsure on what this information is pertaining to, though it is highly likely that either a quest or item is required to acquire higher than tier 4 in this skill.”

“I guess that skill will just be stagnant for a while, unless I can find something about it at the book shop.”

The book shop in front of them, a large red brick building with glass windows, boasted a large wealth. Even the doors were immaculate, with intricately carved wood and trimmings of gold. Placing a hand on the door caused it to shimmer purple as several arcane circles appeared all over it, a faint purple mist flowing over Logan’s hand. Nothing outwardly hostile occurred, so Logan assumed it to just be some form of alert mechanism or for security.

Opening the door to the shop, Logan was treated to the sight of 30’ tall bookcases that reached all the way to the ceiling, several aisles sectioned into different areas of teaching from basic class skills, spells for casters, to theoretical books focusing on new-age thinking. In front of the first two rows of bookshelves stood two dormant golem-like constructs, made of a dark-red rock, though their amber eyes were dull to show that they were inactive.

A dinging noise rang out from the door as it swerved open, akin to a magical bell to alert the shopkeeper that someone had entered. With the first two rows of bookshelves making a pseudo-hallway to the counter, Logan could easily see the shopkeeper at the far end look towards the door. Giving a wave to the customers, the pair approached.

The man was quite old, possible in his late 60s or maybe 70s, though his posture was immaculate. A wristband made of bones had a crawling mass of white veins wrapped around the man’s wrist, possibly a trinket to boost his strength. Dressed in a formal gown of grey and white hues, the man’s hair was lush with a solid dark-brown colour beyond his years, Logan noticing a hair clip on the man’s head. Energetic blue eyes looked the pair up and down.

“Welcome, welcome. Don’t recall either of your faces. New to Gauntlet?” he asked with a slightly croaky voice.

“Yeah, we arrived yesterday, doing some supply shopping before we get our reassessments done at the G-Hall”, Logan responded.

“O-ho, I wish luck in a higher ranking for you both. If reassessments they be, you must be journeymen, a quarter-man of your stature would pack a punch I wager.”

“Here’s hoping. We were wondering if you had some recommendations for us?”

The older gentlemen scanned over the pair for a while, humming to himself as he did so. Logan could see the man’s blue eyes coated in several grey letters and numbers, had he cast a spell without a chant?

“From the looks of you, Grasp expert, and the other would make a good fisticuffs healer, am I right?”

“Was that silentcasting, sir? I heard rumours of magi being able to use magic without words, but not witnessed it myself”, Marcus inquired, eyes wide with excitement as usual.

“That it is young one. I can recommend a series of books for advanced casting techniques if it interests you.”

“Casting without having to speak would be a valuable skill indeed, I’ve had my spells interrupted a few times when people hit me”, Logan planned in his head.

Describing the types of books they were after, which ended with a very long list, the pair and the shopkeeper who introduced himself as Reykeg landed on a final price for their reading material.

“Magi's Magick Vol 2 (50 silver) - One step above beginner-level magic, this volume of Magi's Magick teaches the following to spellcasters that are able.

1st: Growth, Rain, Score.

2nd: Earthen Eruption, Flame Cloak, Haste, Lightning Cascade, Skin of Ice.

3rd: Air Blast, Aqua II, Flame II, Frost II, Gaia II, Lightning II, Necromantic II, Wind II.

Alterations: Grasp, Wall, Skystrike."

“Spells in a Hurry Vol 1 (1 gold) - The first tome in the series that teaches some of the advanced techniques required to perform spells with fewer words within their incantations.

Teaches the skill: Quickcasting at tier 1."

“Healer's Compendium Vol 1 (25 silver) - A compendium of spells dedicated to the Devouts of the world.

1st: Heal, Identify Condition, Sew.

2nd: Enhance (Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma), Restore Condition.

Alterations: Shot."

“Silent Step Vol 1 (1 gold) - An in-depth tome that details the finer points of stealthy manoeuvres and techniques.

Teaches: Grants mastery in the Stealth skill.”

“History of Oracles Ver 9 (50 silver) - A history book describing all known oracles to date, the ninth revision of the series written around 20 years ago.”

“Lexicon of Ava (10 silver) - A lexicon that functions as a translation guide and instruction book for the Ava language, spoken by humans.”

“Lexicon of Shrieky (50 silver) - A lexicon that translates the Ava tongue into Shrieky, allowing humans to understand and converse with gashriek.”

“Lexicon of Saelong (3 gold) - A rare tome that translates the complex roars, snarls, growls, and sounds of the saeber race into the ava language. This allows humans to understand, but not speak, Saelong.”

A wealth of knowledge at their fingertips, that required a massive wealth of its own. Totalling 685 silver, Logan was both surprised and kind of expecting such a high price. He had plans to obtain other books, but this would have to do for now. Keeping enough money in reserve in case he had to spend any on an emergency.

It took some time to count out the coins, making stacks of ten at a time, but they eventually reached the required amount.

“Quite the spree, fresh home from adventuring I wager. If you’re in the mood to spend shy of seven gold again, feel free to come by”, Reykeg offered with a wide smile. A click of his fingers unlocking the books for perusal.

“It may be a while before we spend so much, but if something comes up we’ll make sure to have your shop in mind”, Logan returned.

Placing the books in their bags, the pair left the book shop. Logan was displeased he found no book relating to Identification, but it wasn’t a dealbreaker for him. The Ava Lexicon would also instruct him on the measurements, slang, and different vocabulary of the Avanarians, as he continued to fumble on his words during conversations.

With a bit of time before their assessments, Logan and Marcus got quick haircuts and shaves to look their best for the assessors. During the said cut, Marcus was reading over a smaller book he had purchased from the book shop, looking at the title Logan was able to see it to be an informational booklet on the different types of adventurers. They talked back and forth during their hairstyling as the Devout read on.

There wasn’t much time to get too detailed, but it seemed that each class had a further specialization within it. Reading off some from Wizards and Sorcerers, the two classes contained quite a few “expert” terms including enhancement, Grasp, summoning, and affliction. Logan would have fallen into the first two camps, as others saw his martial prowess as him using magic to aid him in melee combat, or his ample use of the Grasp alteration leading to the second.

Now all prim and proper, Logan stroked his clean face that only had the single scar as an abrasion across his fingers. With the hair out of his eyes, he was clearly able to see Marcus pay the stylists, whose use of scissors, razors, and minor spellforce weaving made them quite capable.

As the time ticked down, the pair finally made their way back to the G-Hall, items shuffling about in the inventory to make their journey a bit lighter. Marcus was able to take his coins out without any issue, as long as he kept close enough to Logan, as well as place items into it as his leisure.

Even though their first visit revealed the G-Hall to be much more active than the hall in Tinte, them arriving in the late-morning, close to 10am, alongside reassessments being undertaken rose that number sharply. Once again, Logan was floored by the number of adventurers he was unable to identify, showing the danger he would face if he ever got on the wrong side of the law. The thought also reminded him to hand in his hunting mission for Dena Mor afterwards.

Following the crowd of adventurers going through the doors at the back, Logan and Marcus were flanked by all types, from clanking full-plate Knights to shuffling leather-garbed Rogues. Splitting up from the crowds, everyone took their seats on the pews that lined the much larger open-air arena at the back. The arena was massive when compared to the one in Tinte, a good 200 or so feet in length with 100 feet in width.

Mostly formed of hard dirt, the arena had a few portions that featured stonework flooring, training dummies, as well as other acrobatic tools to test the adventurers. Getting an estimate on the numbers, Logan counted just under a hundred adventurers before he gave up. It wasn’t long until the assessors entered the arena grounds.

Two magi strode in side-by-side, wearing dark purple robes with symbols of lightning and ice across them. With them was a knightly man whose long black hair had been tied into a ponytail and hidden under his armour. Picking out a green rock each, the assessors placed them to their necks, to which they seemingly magnetised to their skin.

With a booming voice, the man spoke loudly, possibly aided by the rock. “Welcome adventurers, we have ten assessments and six reassessments today. We hope you find new comrades and wish all the well to those being assessed, that they are seen to hold the potential to become amazing allies.”

The magi began waving their hands over the arena, chanting under their hoods as they cast spells. Dirt hardened and morphed into stone, the dummies lit up with a greenish glow, and the walls of the arena gained purple barriers all around. Casting the spells took a good 5 minutes, but Logan was in awe all during the display. The extra precautions and changes to the arena probably warranted the higher cost of the assessment.

With their routines finished, the man spoke aloud once again. “Drio Morn, please enter the arena.”

At the mention of their name, a level 1 Fighter stood from the pews and made his way into the arena, the barrier letting his body through. The tests given to him were similar to that of Tinte, running, jumping and vaulting, attacking dummies, and then ending with a display of a skill which again was Power Strike. Though, unlike Tinte, the testing took 30 minutes instead of 20.

“Drio Morn has been assessed as a rank 1 Fighter. He is a savant with Strength and Intelligence, a worthy leader if ever I saw one. Other capabilities include great Charisma, above-average Agility and Constitution, with an average Wisdom”

Logan translated this to STR 12, AGI 10, CON 10, INT 12, WIS 9, CHA 11. It was quite an array of attributes. Keeping an eye open for anything out of the ordinary, Logan observed the following assessments.

Before him, Logan watched three Fighters alongside two Knights, and one Rogue, Wizard, Sorcerer, and Devout get their assessments. With ten attribute arrays on show, Logan was dismayed when he saw a Knight have no attribute above a 10, and three of them being an 8. Any theory that people had a minimum number across the board was dashed when he compared people with 16 total points over the minimum of 8 in their array against those who had a low 5 total points over 8. So much was down to luck in the beginning stages. Logan was incredibly lucky to have started off at 18 points, or maybe it was down to his ability to assign his own attributes.

To speed up the assessments, it seemed like the first was to test the arena and after that, they would take the newcomers in groups of 3. Instead of taking up to 8 hours, the assessments would end up closer to 5 hours.

The adventurers on the pews made notes of the newcomers to the hall, a few words here or there being audible enough for Logan to gauge that these starting attributes were highly sought after. Starting skills were just as important, as not everyone had the same beginning skill. Fighters either had Power Strike or Stunning Blow it seemed, though the pool of the other classes wasn’t large enough to make a major note on their skills.

After the initial assessments were all complete the assessors moved on to the reassessments. Three reassessments were before Logan, a level 5 Fighter became a Level 7, a level 6 Knight became a level 8, a level 3 Rogue became a level 4. With such a gap in level for the first two, Logan surmised that it was difficult for NPCs to assess their own growth in power. It was also possible they were hiding their increase in level to choose certain quests or parties, but Logan couldn’t be sure of either case.

“Logan Hall, Wizard. Your reassessment will now begin”, the male assessor spoke with a booming voice.

Making his way down the stairs that lined the pews Logan could feel several gazes following his movements. He had only wished he could tell if someone was using Identification or similar magic on him, all he had was his own spatial awareness ticking off from the eyes scanning his frame.

Passing the protective barriers, Logan felt the strangely-liquid wall cling to his body as it allowed him passage. Standing in front of the assessors he could now see the mages’ eyes glowing with yellow and green colours as they inspected him.

“Logan, your documents note your last hall was attacked by goblins and lost your previous information. As such we will need to investigate all of your capabilities. You noted a wide variety of spells, we will need to see two first-level spells alongside your summon and another second-level spell, you may use alterations as you wish”, the male assessor instructed.

Nodding, Logan began the long process of jumping, various uses of acrobatics, pushups, sprinting, and the like. Ending off he displayed both a Gaia Wall and a Flame Grasp, though it seemed at his rank the alterations were not too surprising. Next, he summoned Celsius onto the arena, being aided by the two magi assessors to bring him to life in 3 minutes, who showed off some of his own capabilities to the staff. Ending the assessment with a Dimensional Jaunt to the other side, Logan jogged back to the assessors.

As it was more common to quickcast at his level, Logan only spoke the name of the spell and the alterations. This seemed to give him some bonus points with those watching his performance.

The trio discussed amongst themselves for a while, noting that Logan’s damage output was around the medium area for a Wizard. His low number of slots called into account possible blood or brain defects, even possibly a curse that worried Logan somewhat. Looking around as he waited, Logan spotted several expressions across the other adventurers from pleased to moderately mediocre.

Before long the male assessor spoke aloud, “Logan Hall has been reassessed. He has been marked as a rank 8 Wizard. A wider range of spells comes with the deficit of low-end slot management. His martial capabilities match that of a Grasp expert.”

A smattering of applause was heard amongst the crowd, though Logan was unsure if it was due to the assessor finishing their speech or the note that the Spellthief was a good Grasp expert. Being handed his scroll Logan paid the 10 silver fee that was ten times higher than the fee of Tinte. Moving back to the pews, Logan could hear the conversations of the other adventures clearer.

“Grasp experts are hard to come by nowadays, think he is a good pick?”

“High damage, Grasp is. Could be worth the trouble.”

“That serpentine foe up north would love a wringing of his flaming hands.”

The conversations continued, mostly positive in the way that they wanted to use Logan’s powers, but negative in the fact it would be to “use” his powers. No one spoke about how good Logan would do as a permanent member of a party, just for singular missions. Trying to ignore the more sombre part of this display, Logan looked toward the arena once more to observe Marcus’s reassessment.

“Marcus Eren, Devout. Your reassessment will now begin.”

Filled with determination and wanting to show how far he had come, Marcus gave the assessment his all. He did better at the displays of Strength, but worse at Agility than that of Logan, though when it came down to the show of magic Marcus had quite the different outcome.

Bringing out a weary adventurer, a level 5 Fighter, Marcus was instructed to use his Heal spell on the man. Summoning up all his confidence, Marcus displayed an amazing Heal Grasp of 30 points. The hurt adventurer alongside the assessors all became wide-eyed with gasps audible even from the pews.

Stammering and stepping towards the Devout, the assessors barraged him with questions, Marcus’s face lighting up like the sun from what they were saying. Turning to the crowd, the male assessor spoke once more.

“Dear adventurers! A momentous event has occurred! This man, once noted as average has ascended past his previous weakness and has displayed amazing magical capabilities. Advancing from rank 2 to 4, his healing is closer to that of a rank 5 or 6! Praise be to Pondress, the protectress of the above has surely blessed her faithful”, the man’s voice echoed and quaked slightly as he spoke.

Looking down, holding his two hands together to form the two orb sides of Pondress, many of the adventurers did the same. Silent prayers were spoken as Logan looked towards Marcus, the Devout’s smile wide with a teary-eyed gaze around. Locking eyes with Logan, the Spellthief gave a noticeable nod to his friend.

“Good job, Marcus.”

--- *** ---