Quest Complete!

Skill Learned: Bless (Beginner)

Skill Learned: Healing Wind (Beginner)

Bless - Level 1 (Beginner)

Deity: Eirene

Imbue a creature with divine light, causing their physical attacks to deal additional holy damage. Duration, mana cost and damage bonus increase with levels.

Cast Time: Instant

Cost: 35 Mana

Range: Touch

Duration: 5 minutes

Holy Damage Bonus: 2-4

Restriction: This skill is lost if the favor of Eirene is lost.

Healing Wind - Level 1 (Beginner)

Surround a creature with a healing wind of divine energy, slowly restoring their health overtime. Mana cost, amount healed, and duration increase with levels.

Cast Time: Instant

Cost: 21 Mana

Range: 5 meters

Duration: 30s

Amount Healed: 3 health/5s

“That’s.... That’s it?” Aegis stood up, staring at the statue of Eirene dumbfounded once he’d finished his prayer. “I just prayed, she said a few words to me about following her path and bringing peace to the world, and then… I got two new skills?” Aegis turned to look at Lina who was watching from a few steps behind him. Lina shrugged.

“Some class quests are hard, some are really easy.” Lina explained. “That’s a really rare skill though, I don’t think I’ve seen that before.” Lina commented as she fidgeted through her menu.

“What do you mean, which skill?” He asked, looking confused.

“Bless… There are enchantment buff spells that do most elemental types, but holy is hard to get. I’ve only ever seen it on high level paladins. I guess because of how you’ve been playing as an Eirene priest, you got it under special circumstances.” Lina commented.

“Wait, you can see my skills?” Aegis asked worriedly.

“Y-yes, because we’re m-m-m-... because of the contract. Don’t worry, I won’t share anything, I promise!” She insisted. Aegis looked at her carefully for a moment, seeing her sincerity, and in truth he knew it was his fault he was in this situation. He could do nothing but shrug.

“Okay. Well, either way it looks like a great skill for our group, I’ll have to level it up. The only thing I have left to do here is learn Enchanting and hope it’ll make me a lot of money.” Aegis replied.

“I know where the enchanting master is, I’ll take you.” Lina smiled as the two made their way out of the garden, around a currently ongoing wedding ceremony. The awkward atmosphere between the two lingered and they didn’t speak another word that wasn’t necessary. They climbed on the wagon and rode it back to the crafting district, and Lina parked it right out front of a large tower with a purple shingled roof, it was by and far one of the tallest structures in the city, second only to the castle towers.

Aegis watched other players walking in and out of the building, mainly wearing robes and wielding staves, it looked like a gathering spot for magic users. He hopped off the wagon and walked up to the stone staircase that led to the front doors of the tower, they were flanked on either side by large statues of open tomes. Before stepping through the doorway he looked back to see Lina sitting alone on the wagon, looking around absentmindedly.

“Do you want to come inside with me?” Aegis asked, feeling guilty for having her waiting around. She looked at him for a moment before breaking eye contact.

“O-okay.” She nodded, putting the reins down and walking in behind him, though keeping a few steps back. When they entered the Enchanter’s Tower, Aegis was hit by a wave of heavy perfumed scents. The interior was covered in decorative drapes of bright colors hanging along the walls, and there were various enchanting stations spread out across the circular chamber, with a single spiral staircase in the back leading to the floor above. Some of the stations were occupied, but there were plenty vacant, giving Aegis the impression that Enchanting wasn’t the most popular profession. There was a front desk with a tall beautiful elf with swirling brown hair that went down to her waist and big brown eyes, and she seemed to watch Aegis intently from the moment he stepped inside. [Ma’hinasha - Level 60]. As Aegis approached her, he was momentarily cut off by a broom sweeping across the floor, floating by itself. He paused and let it sweep by him just to watch it work, then continued around it towards the front desk.

“Welcome, Aegis.” Ma’hinasha smiled as he approached, Lina closely behind him. “I see you have the talent of Divine Magic. Do you wish for me to show you how to wield that magic into the great art that is Enchanting?”

“Yes please.” Aegis bowed politely.

“Very well. The process is not complicated, no different than casting a spell on a creature, the only difference is the target.” Ma’hinasha explained. On her desk was a crate off to the side, inside was a collection of clear glass balls, just small enough to fit into her palm. She picked one up and placed it carefully into a small divot on the desk in front of her. “Try placing your hands on the orb and casting your minor healing spell.” She instructed him. Easy enough, Aegis complied.

“Minor Heal.” Aegis casted it. The radiant light formed on his fingertips and transferred into the orb. Once the spell was finished, the once empty transparent orb now contained a swirling ball of holy light that sparkled from within.

Name: Lesser Enchanting Orb: Healing

Type: Enchantment

Slot: Weapon

Description: Restores 0.5 Health when landing an attack with a weapon.

Skill learned: Enchanting (Beginner)

“Well done, you’re a natural.” Ma’hinasha smiled. “The first step to enchanting is to transfer your magic into an enchantment orb. These are able to absorb magic in a unique way that allows you to infuse that magic into a piece of equipment. The orbs are forged out of a rare type of mana crystal, typically requiring the efforts of a very skilled blacksmith.” She explained as she took a small dagger out from behind the desk and placed it beside the orb.

“Infusing your magic into an orb is only the first step in the process. Once you have captured your magic, you can infuse the enchantment into a piece of equipment by holding the orb in one hand, and the target of enchantment in the other hand, and shouting out the word ‘Enchant’. Try adding your healing enchantment to this dagger.” She continued. Lina watched intently from behind as Aegis followed the instructions, placing his left hand on the orb and his right hand on the dagger.

“Enchant.” Aegis said, and in an instant the glass orb cracked open, releasing the light magic within. It transferred through the air via a stream of glowing white light and finished by wrapping itself around the dagger. Once it had completed, the glass orb dissipated and the dagger gave off a faint white glow.

“Well done. As a beginner Enchanter you will struggle greatly in trying to add multiple enchantments to a single item. The most likely result will be that one will override the other. However as you become more skilled, as an intermediate, you may be able to manage two enchantments, and three if you become advanced. Perhaps even more, depending on how well you train your craft.” Ma’hinasha explained to him further. “These Lesser Enchanting Orbs are available from my tower, but they’ll only absorb magics up to level 30, if you wish you capture stronger magic, you’ll need to find a way to obtain more powerful Enchanting Orbs. The power of your enchantment will be based on your spell’s skill level, and your Enchantment level. Do you have any further questions?” She smiled as she took the dagger away, causing it to vanish.

“Nope, pretty straight forward.” Aegis replied as he looked at the crate of orbs. “How much are those orbs?”

“250 gold each.” She replied. Aegis looked up to the roof and let out an elongated sigh. “How is anyone supposed to level enchanting with prices like that?”

“I apologize, mana crystals are difficult to come by. More difficult still is finding a blacksmith skilled enough to forge them into Enchantment Orbs.” She apologized. Aegis looked to Lina hoping for some salvation, but she shrugged apologetically.

“Most guilds invest in a single enchanter to level up their skill, usually the guild leader or a high ranking officer, because it is costly. That, or high level players start leveling it once they have saved up enough. That’s why low level enchanted gear is worth so much - not many high level players bother with wasting their enchants on low level equipment because it's hard to make their money back from it.” Lina explained. The longer she spoke, the lower Aegis head hung.

“Well this was a huge waste of time. Guess I’ve got to grind more if I want the land deed.” Aegis slouched his way towards the exit of the tower. Seeing him so depressed, Lina squinted her eyes around the room while following behind him.

“There… well, hmm.” She mumbled to herself.

“Don’t try to get my hopes up.” Aegis brushed off her mumbling as he stepped out of the door, making his way down the steps to the wagon. When he’d climbed up, he looked back expecting to see Lina somewhere, but she hadn’t come out yet. He watched his party interface to see that her stamina and mana had suddenly depleted down a significant amount, then a few moments later she stepped out the tower doors looking very anxious, power walking. She jumped up onto the wagon and grabbed the reins.

“What’s wrong?” Aegis asked, seeing her strange behaviour.

“We need to find someplace private, fast.” She whispered with urgency as she flicked the reins.

“What happened? What’d you do?” Aegis asked, but she didn’t reply. She focused in on an Inn lining the road just outside the crafting district, it had a large wooden sign swinging on chains above the cobblestone streets. Written was the name 'The Foaming Kegs', and the sign was in the shape of a barrel. There was a large empty plot of dirt next to the Inn where a few horses and wagons were parked and hitched, Lina wasted no time to steer the wagon off the road and onto the dirt plot. She hopped off and hitched the horse before Aegis even realized they were stopping there.

“C’mon.” Lina motioned to him, but she spotted 2 Kalmoore guards rushing down the cobblestreets towards them, coming from the direction of the tower. “Shadowstep.” She whispered as she ducked into the shadow of the Inn’s outer walls. At this point, Aegis was cluing in to what she had done as the Guards stopped and glanced around the area before moving on. His party indicator told him that she’d shadowstepped inside the Inn through an open upstairs window.

“What room did you jump in?” Aegis asked through his party communications.

“206.” She replied. “It’s empty.”

“Be right up.” Aegis hopped off the wagon and headed into the Inn. The lower floor was a tavern filled to the brim with patrons, a strong musky scent of ale hit him upon entry along with the sound of bad music being played on a lute, barely overtaking the sound of jovial laughter and chanting from the patrons. This late at night, it looked as if the place was at capacity, and there were all manner of players and NPCs drinking and talking.

Aegis’ ignored it all and looked for an NPC that looked like they worked at the tavern, eventually spotting an Orc NPC behind the counter serving mugs of ale. As he walked up he saw a passed out drunk player on the bar and curiously wondered how exactly intoxication functioned in the game, but him being underage in the real world discouraged his curiosity from going further, that as well as his pressing situation.

“Can I get room 206 for the night?” Aegis asked, trying to sound as natural as possible to the circumstances.

“Aye.” The orc grunted at him, holding out his hand. “2 gold pieces.” Aegis watched his funds get lower as he pulled the coins out, and in return the Bartender handed him a rusty iron key with a 206 engraved on the head.

“Got the key, coming up.” Aegis said through the party interface, glancing around to find a staircase up to the second floor. It wasn’t long before he found the room and opened it to see Lina waiting inside. He shut the door behind himself.

It was a small room with a single bed, a desk and chair, a bookshelf, and a single unlit lantern resting on a small bedside table. Once the door was closed, the sounds from downstairs were completely gone, the room was silent as if it was isolated from the rest of the tavern, but sounds from outside the open window could still be heard.

“What exactly is happening?” Aegis asked as Lina quickly shut and locked the window.

“W-well, I figured, since thieves can’t learn enchanting, a thief has probably never tried to, you know, just steal the Lesser Enchanting Orbs. Since we’re m-m-married, you can access my inventory when we’re close by, you should look.” Lina shyly shrugged. Aegis raised his eyebrow at her for a second before he pressed her icon on his party interface, and eventually found his way to the marriage contract interface where it let him see her inventory and her skills. When he opened her inventory, he saw that within it she had 1000 Lesser Enchantment Orbs - they were all marked as stolen.

“Are you insane?!” Aegis said excitedly. “What happens if you get caught?”

“W-well, I’ll get put into prison to serve out my sentence. Most players just don’t log in until the sentence wears off… for this amount, It’d be, maybe, 2 Months? So 2 weeks in the real world.” Lina shrugged nervously.

“We have to get rid of them then, that’s… that’s worth 250 thousand in gold! Can you sell it somehow?” Aegis asked frantically.

“N-no, it’s marked as stolen. But, the stolen mark shouldn’t transfer when you enchant it onto an item. So as long as no one finds us before you use all the orbs, we should be okay. With your experience buffs… you can level enchanting and your spell skills really fast.”

“Which skill do you think will be worth the most for enchanting?” Aegis asked her as he nervously looked out the window to see if any guards were approaching.

“Uhm… only three of your spells work for enchanting, Bless, Minor Heal, and Healing Wind, you can see by looking at them in your enchanting interface… because bless does damage, a lot of low levels would buy it… but, your bless skill is only level 1, so is your enchanting.”

“Got it, so level them up first, then start putting the higher level stuff on the equipment.” Aegis nodded at her excitedly.

“We’ll have to be fast, the guards will put a bounty on me when they don't find me after twelve hours, and once they do that, players will start looking for me, most likely the ruling guild of this region. If a sage uses the scrying skill on me, they'll be here fast.” Lina explained.

“Okay, okay, got it.” Aegis took an orb out of her inventory. “Bless!” He said while it was in his hands. The spell transferred into the orb, offering a 1 damage bonus to whatever weapon he put the enchant on.

Level Up!: Enchanting reached level 2!

“Bless is a buff spell, they are notorious for being both easy and tedious to level. You get experience for just casting it in any circumstance, so to counteract that, it requires a lot of casts to level it up…” Lina explained.

“You mean, I should just cast it as much as possible?” Aegis replied, Lina nodded. “Bless. Bless.” He casted it on himself, then touched Lina’s shoulder to cast it on her.

Level Up!: Bless reached level 2!

“Good! The experience bonuses are really powerful!” Lina cheered. “You can focus on leveling and enchanting, and I’ll keep watch.” She said as she moved to the door and pressed her ear up against it. Aegis nodded, but just as he tried to bless himself again, the spell failed because of him already having the buff active.

“It’s going to level up too slow if I have to only bless us over and over again…” Aegis commented. “I have an idea, sort of… Will you be safe waiting here for a bit?” Aegis asked.

“Yes, I should be okay, I'm pretty good at avoiding guards...” She replied as she pulled away from the door.

“If something goes wrong, ditch the orbs in my inventory and run away, I don’t want you to get in trouble for this, got it?” Aegis commanded her as he stepped out of the room, she nodded shyly as the door shut behind him. Aegis made his way back downstairs to the tavern.

“Time to spread germs.” Aegis shivered to himself as he descended the stairs to arrive back on the crowded tavern floor. It was so crowded between the tables that Aegis was able to ‘accidentally’ start bumping into people and casting Bless on them, whispering the spell under his breath. He targeted the drunkest of patrons first, not sure how they’d react, but seeing his mana regeneration was keeping up with his rate of Blessing, he got bolder and started asking people politely if he could bless them.

Some players had questions about what it did, others outright refused, but he eventually got a little bit of a system going where he’d re-Bless people every 5 minutes and never run out of targets. One angry looking minotaur player, clearly intoxicated, took his Bless as an opportunity to start a brawl with another player, using Aegis’ bonus holy damage on his fists to win the fight, but the Minotaur was quickly thrown out of the Inn afterwards.

Every hour, Aegis did a quick check in on Lina to make sure everything was alright. He didn’t want to push his luck, but he wanted to make the most out of the opportunity to use those orbs on the weapons he’d crafted.

After a few hours, dawn broke and the tavern activity died down, while simultaneously Aegis started having trouble keeping up with the amount of targets. He’d gotten Bless up to level 10 but the mana cost had gotten too high for him to keep casting it repeatedly, in addition the longer duration made it unrealistic to keep using it on the same people over and over, and he eventually made his way back up to the tavern.

“Everything is okay still?” Aegis asked as he shut the door behind himself, seeing Lina had popped open her interface and was studying for her last exam.

“Yup.” She nodded.

“Okay, time to lessen your burden.” Aegis replied as he pulled an orb out of her inventory, and the enchanting began. It was a long, boring, tedious process. Aegis used the first few orbs as throwaways to level the skills further, but because of his rank of Bless, he was forced to wait for his mana regeneration repeatedly and ended up sitting at the desk doing a bit of studying with Lina as well. A few cycles of switching between enchanting and studying, and Lina suddenly fell asleep on the bed, confusing Aegis.

“Lina?” He whispered after noticing she’d stopped moving, eyes closed as she lay above the covers. He got no reply, so snapped his fingers at her. Still no reaction. Part of him was genuinely confused about what was happening, another part didn’t want to wake her up, so he decided against his curiosity and just let her sleep. He continued on enchanting as the day in the game world went on, and by the time Lina finally awoke in the late afternoon, Aegis was patiently sitting in the chair, fidgeting with his interface and studying.

“Did I fall asleep?” Lina sat up and stretched.

“Yup. How’d that happen, by the way?” Aegis asked her as he closed his interface.

“Oh, I have a Dreamstate Simbox… I must’ve fallen asleep in the real world. I’m probably sleeping right now. Even though the Simbox let’s my mind stay active while my body sleeps, the part of my mind in the simulation still needs to sleep for a certain amount of time to compensate.” Lina explained.

“Ah. That makes sense.” Aegis nodded as Lina opened up her interface to check her inventory. She saw that all the orbs were gone, Aegis’ Bless was level 12 and his enchanting was level 21. His inventory was filled with equipment that had his enchantments on them. The weapons had bless, and the armor had healing wind that increased health regeneration by small amounts. She even saw that Aegis had enchanted his own equipment.

“You were working hard!” She smiled as she stood up off the bed. “Now we can’t get arrested!”

"I put enchants on your daggers too. I didn't enchant your armor though, I didn't think you'd like me taking it off while you were sleeping." Aegis said jokingly.

"Oh, I don't mind." Lina smiled to be polite, only realizing what she was implying after the fact. "I-I m-mean..." she said under her breath, her face went down and her shyness returned. "L-lets go sell the weapons." She tried to change the subject.

“Yup! Time to make some gold.” Aegis grinned as he made for the door.

“Guaaaaaaaaaaah, are you kidding me? They get married, spend an entire night in a single bed tavern room, and no action?” Hae-won shouted angrily at Tommy, the two were eating lunch together at a table in the office, outside of their Simboxes. One of the display screens was showing Aegis’ stream with 52 viewers. Hae-won swallowed the food in her mouth and hit her ear implant, calling Shinji who was still editing in a Simbox. “Shinji this kid is bullshit, he didn’t even try to put the moves on her. What kind of boring first date is that?!” Hae-won complained.

“Are you kidding me? Min-maxing and illegally power leveling together? That’s a dream date.” Shinji retorted.

“Puah, loser.” Hae-won angrily closed the call.

“I’ve seen a few players use tricks to level enchanting fast, but damn those kids are ballsy.” Tommy commented.

“Boring.” Hae-won groaned back at him.