The first thing John did was spend a day creating life stones. He was badly in need of money for ritual components. The primer had been clear that the quality of the components used could degrade the ritual just as easily as they could empower it. The general rule of thumb was that components couldn’t degrade or improve a ritual beyond two steps. Thus, a Poor ritual could never rise above Good, no matter how much money you spent on good materials. However, this also meant an Exquisite ritual could be degraded as far as Exceptional by poor quality materials. John didn’t want to degrade the Ritual of the Space Grove if he could help it, and that meant he needed money.

The day after he made the mana stones, John got to work on the ritual itself. The ritual was complicated, beyond even the Ritual of Purity which he’d almost flubbed. However, the blueprint was an excellent and almost perfect guide. More, every time he drew a line correctly the overlay turned a soft green color, but if he was off by even a little it turned a bright red. Thanks to that, the work might have gone quite quickly, but John stubbornly measured and examined every inch of his work, comparing entire sections to the primer and doing his best to understand the why of the ritual as well. Slowly it came together and by the end of the first day his efforts bore fruit.

[Due to constant use of your mana you have gained +1 Intelligence]

[Due to continuous regeneration of mana you have gained +1 Wisdom]

[Mathematics has Ranked Up due to continued use. Novice à Apprentice]

[125 Leveling Points banked.]

[Ritual Magic has Ranked Up due to continued use. Novice à Apprentice]

[125 Leveling Points banked.]

By the end of the third day John had finished all but the topside of the structure and gained another point in both intelligence and wisdom for his troubles. Getting on top of the structure provided about the same difficulty that drawing on the overhanging parts had, which was to say almost none at all. John simply borrowed dirt from the berm about the ditch and created a ramp up to the top. From there he continued to work, until finally, at the end of the fourth day, the ritual markings were complete.

The first thing he did on the fifth day was put the berm back in place around the ditch. The second thing he did was inspect the shrine.

[Name: Gateway of Worlds]

[Quality: Good]

[Description: Made of Nebula Marble this megalithic structure is a wonderful play on the classic Henge. Though its stones were formed in place and not carried from the far reaches of the continent, there was still a fair amount of effort put into its construction. At the center of the Henge is a magic tree that, with time, may just become one of the wonders of the world. This site is also a shrine dedicated to Thuana, Ira, and Ledos, ware to any who might do it harm, their wrath will be swift and just.]

[Shrine Benefits:]

Functions as a Portal Anchor Contains the Ritual of the Space Grove (Inactive)

John focused on the second benefit and it expanded.

[Name: Ritual of the Space Grove (Inactive)]

[Quality: Exceptional]

[Description: Though the blueprints for this ritual were nearly flawless, they were inscribed by an amateur on substandard materials, degrading the final quality. Due to being carved into a megalith by someone with Megalith Mastery all benefits of this ritual are increased by 25%. All space attuned plants within the area of the ritual will be strengthened, becoming heartier and growing faster; this may lead to an increase in the quality of grown plants.]

[Activation Cost: Two (2) Items of Space, Two (2) items of Life, 1,357,170 Life Mana, 1,357,170 Space Mana, 1,357,170 Time Mana, 1,357,170 Water Mana.]

The mana costs were… high seemed such a small word, astronomic probably fit better. The mana costs were astronomic. It took John an entire day to make 80,000 mana. That meant it would take over 17 days per mana type just to power the ritual, for a total of 68 days spent just making stones. He simply didn’t have the time, and forget buying enough stones to power the ritual. John wasn’t even sure there were that many mana stones in circulation.

With a heavy sigh he walked back into the henge. Opening a hole in the wall around the tree he wandered into the enclosure and began to carefully water the sapling. It’d barely grown at all, the only sign of its advancement being the third leaf it’d sprouted recently. John hoped the slow growth signified it was going to be high quality, but he feared that Prismatic Trees just had a slow growth cycle.

“What do I do?” He asked it.

There was no response from the tree, however a popup appeared almost immediately.

[Deific Quest: The Guardians]

[Description: You need a large amount of mana to enact a large ritual and don’t have the mana (or money) to power it. This is a not uncommon occurrence. Fortunately, there are ways around the problem. The god Ledos is willing to lend you the power for the ritual in exchange for allowing the Knights Magi the right to oversee and guard the Gateway of Worlds.]

[Reward: The mana to power the Ritual of the Space Grove.]

[Failure: None]

“What does it mean by ‘Oversee and Guard’? I’m not giving up my rights to the tree just for a bunch of mana. If you want control over it there are going to be rules and stipulations, ones that are fair and not one-sided.” John crossed his arms and glared at nothing.

[Deific Quest “The Guardians” Failed.]

[System Contract Offered by Ledos, God of Magic and Knowledge]

Primary Stipulation:

John will retain ownership of The Gateway of Worlds and the tree around which it is based. John will not be coerced nor tricked into giving up his claim by Ledos nor those working for or in Ledos’ name.

John’s Commitments:

Allow unfettered access to the Gateway of Worlds to the Knights Magi. Allow the Knights Magi to collect a toll of one silver per person on those entering and exiting the Gateway of Worlds. 25% of the toll so collected will be paid directly to the order of the Knights Magi. 20% of the toll will be donated in John’s name to the Church of Ledos. 20% of the toll will be donated in John’s name to the Church of Ira. 20% of the toll will be donated in John’s name to the Church of Thuana. 05% of the toll will be held by the Knights Magi for improvements, repairs, and other necessities of the Gateway of Worlds (as decided by the stationed commander). 05% of the toll will be paid to the Eternal Empire as taxes 05% of the toll will be paid directly to John. The toll will be equal for all comers regardless of age, rank, race, or religion. John will be exempt from the toll. John will continue as the primary groundskeeper for the Gateway of Worlds.

Ledos’ Commitments:

Ledos will supply all mana costs for any ritual or enchantment enacted to enhance, aid, or otherwise benefit the occupants (including sapients, plants, and animals) of the Gateway of Worlds. The Knights Magi will protect and oversee the Gateway of Worlds. This protection may extend to the groundskeeper and his assistants at the discretion of the stationed commander. The Knights Magi will not interfere with lawful business conducted at, near, or within the Gateway of Worlds, except to enforce the collection of a toll of one silver per person upon those passing through. 25% of the toll so collected will be paid directly to the order of the Knights Magi. 20% of the toll will be donated in John’s name to the Church of Ledos. 20% of the toll will be donated in John’s name to the Church of Ira. 20% of the toll will be donated in John’s name to the Church of Thuana. 05% of the toll will be held by the Knights Magi for improvements, repairs, and other necessities of the Gateway of Worlds (as decided by the stationed commander). 05% of the toll will be paid to the Eternal Empire as taxes 05% of the toll will be paid directly to John. The toll will be equal for all comers regardless of age, rank, race, or religion. John will be exempt from the toll.

Both parties will be held to the spirit of the contract. Should either party break the terms of this agreement they will be subject to discipline by the system equal in severity to the breach. After a period of one year has passed (or at any time upon which both parties agree) this contract may be terminated or renegotiated.

[Accept Contract?]

[Y/N]

John read over the contract. It was simple and straight forward, containing none of the legal jargon that John would have expected in such a thing. He ran his fingers through his beard as he thought. The bit about the toll was a little confusing at first, then he thought it over. Deific help in this world came either as devotion, or as a business transaction. If he was paying donations (forced or otherwise) to three separate churches wouldn’t that mean he’d be getting reciprocal benefits?

The idea of having a garrison of friendly knights nearby was also quite appealing. Currently John had no way to protect himself, or his farm. He’d been trying not to think about it but if the tree turned out as he hoped, someone would almost certainly try to strong arm him into giving it up. Having protection was no small thing. Them also being in charge of tolls on any potential gateway solved the problem of him having to collect such on his own, or hire people to do it for him.

John continued to examine the contract for several minutes, weighing the pros and cons. What finally decided him was that it was that it came with an exit clause. If he really couldn’t live with it then after a year he could terminate it. With a nod he accepted the contract.

[Contract Complete!]

The mana problem settled, John looked to what was next on the list. Two items each of Life and Space. He’d made 16 gold from Mana Stones, so now was the time to use it. Opening the auction interface, he began examining the listings. There were more than a few things that seemed to be life oriented, and as before the spatial items were easy to find, but very expensive.

After a couple of hours of dithering he settled on two things, a Potion of Healing (Which was Great quality and cost five gold), and a Golden Ginseng root (which cost two gold and only had a quality of Good). He then turned his eyes to the spatial items, of which he’d found very few of note. However, with only nine gold left he had very few options. Sighing he resigned himself to lowering the quality of the ritual, and purchased an eighth of a pound of Void Stone for five and a half gold, then a Potion of Displacement (Poor quality), for another three gold.

John took the items from his inventory and placed them at the cardinal points just inside the standing stones. He then tried pushing mana into the ritual. Instantly he felt a large rush of mana push his own feeble tendril aside and flood into the structure. The items fuzzed away to mist that was instantly pulled into the runework which now shown with a dazzling display of colors. Violet for space, green for life, blue for water, and the ever-shifting oil-on-water opalescence of time.

Walking outside the circle, John turned back and inspected the structure, once more opening the information on the Ritual of the Space Grove.

[Name: Ritual of the Space Grove (Active)]

[Quality: Great]

[Description: Though the blueprints for this ritual were nearly flawless, they were inscribed by an amateur on substandard materials and substandard reagents were offered to empower it, leading to a large degradation of the ritual. Due to being carved into a megalith by someone with Megalith Mastery all benefits of this ritual are increased by 25%. All space attuned plants within the area of the ritual will be strengthened, becoming heartier and growing faster; this may lead to an increase in the quality of grown plants.]

[Active Duration: 1 Month]

He ran his fingers through his beard as he looked at the quality ranking. It wasn’t as bad as it could be, he’d been expecting a drop all the way to good. Still, it was a blow to not have the skills or money to take full advantage. Perhaps, in the future, he could replace it with something better. For now, he had what he had. Shaking his head, he walked back to the farm, and wandered down to the cellar where he sat down and started making a life stone.