Chapter 36

Spellbook

The group made their way back to the Delver’s Guild. Janus wondered why so many people stared at them along the way until he remembered just how much blood he was covered in, not to mention Rowan. Tara’s armor was completely unmarred. She explained it was a benefit of her class. Janus was jealous. His writs would get garnished for a while to pay for his robe. The robe that had just been destroyed again.

“What do we need to do to get our writ turned in?” asked Janus.

“It’s a simple process. The foreman already signed off on the writ. We just have to hand it in to the clerks. When you sign up for the guild, they also open an account for you. You can make deposits and withdrawals with your delver I.D.” Rowan explained.

“And don’t let any of those merchants convince you to make payments on anything. You’ll be paying almost twice as much for everything.” Said Tara.

Janus followed the others to the central desk in the guild. Rowan handed in the writ. One clerk explained that it may take a few days to verify, but their funds will be available when the writ clears.

“Alright, well. We can pull a new job in a few days, aye?” Rowan yawned. “I think we could all use a bit of time to relax after that one.”

Janus wasn’t about to disagree with him. He bid his goodbyes to the others and started up the stairs. Hashilli might be home, too. If so, Janus could spend the rest of the evening practicing cantrips.

I still have that [Deepstone Crystal] in my room. I wonder if I can find someone to buy it? My robe needs to be repaired again and I need a new [Focus].

Janus relaxed in the living room. Hashilli never really decorated the place beyond picking up some furniture. Everything in the room had a function and nothing was purely decorative. Janus wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. His father had always covered the walls in posters and placed knickknacks on every surface.

As luck would have it, Hashilli arrived only a few minutes later. The man sat down across from Janus.

“Back already? I thought you’d be gone for a few more days,” Said Hashilli.

“Things got a bit complicated.” Janus shrugged. “We had to cut our trip off early.”

Hashilli’s eyes narrowed. “Did you hear about the quest?”

“Oh… right. Well, that was us.”

“You guys triggered the quest? I’m surprised you got out alive. Two delver parties died attempting to complete the last one.”

“Well, we tried to complete it. If it weren’t for another party from Eagle Station, we probably wouldn’t have made it out. Stars, if we had just left as soon as we triggered the quest, everything would have been fine.” Janus sighed. “I’m ready for some low stakes jobs. What about you? Anything new?”

“I think Pella and Devon are taking some time to adjust to me. I’m not upset or anything, but they didn’t know you were still alive. They told me a bit about your time with Dario.”

“Oh? I’m happy working with Tara and Rowan. It just sort of happened, though…. I mean, I wasn’t sure if Devon was alive. It doesn’t matter. Everything worked out. I’m just glad we’re all safe.”

“I am sure that I’ve already proven myself to them. From what I hear, you weren’t very focused on the [Enhancer] class, anyway.”

“Yeah, I need to do some research on class evolution. I haven’t even really learned another [Enhancer] skill. I guess [Spell Augmentation] sort of falls under [Enhancer] magic.”

With a thought, Janus viewed his character sheet.

Status Name Janus Alamy Class Enhancer Level 35 Guild Delver's Guild Life 678 / 678 Mana 1022 / 1022 Stamina 764 / 764 Stat Total Base Class Skill Item Strength 62 35 0 27 0 Endurance 57 35 0 22 0 Dexterity 37 35 0 2 0 Intelligence 164 35 70 59 0 Wisdom 143 35 35 68 5 Skill Level Bonus Bravery 5 5 Wis / Lvl Writing 8 1 Wis / 5 Lvl Sprinting 10 1 End / 5 Lvl *Spell Weaving 11 20 Int/Wis + 1 Int, 1 Wis / Lvl *Pow. Enhancement 7 20 Int/Str + 1 Int, 1 Str / Lvl *Spell Augmentation 1 20 End + 1 Int / Lvl Mana Burn 20 1 Wis / 5 Lvl Staff Fighter 2 1 Dex / Lvl Lesser Healing 7 1 Wis / Lvl Empty --- ---

“I’m curious to see what option the System presents you with, if any,” said Hashilli.

“Yeah. I want something more direct. Enhancement magic is powerful, but I feel like I’m stuck on the sidelines. I need to experiment with [Spell Augmentation].”

Hashilli’s eyes lit up. “Then let us experiment! You still haven’t fully mastered the [Flametip] cantrip. Let’s start with that.”

Janus spent the evening mastering every cantrip that Hashilli knew. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much. Having only ten skill slots meant each cantrip was potentially taking the place of something more useful. Hashilli recognized this, but he was loath to part with any of his magic.

In the morning, Janus would attempt to use [Spell Augmentation] on his copy of [Flametip] before Hashilli left. The other [Enhancer] wanted to see Janus’ first attempt at augmenting a spell.

Before sleeping, Janus packed away his bloodied robe and took a bath. The rooms in the Delver’s Guild each had heated tubs. Hashilli had shown him what runes to activate to start the water flow.

He hadn’t taken a bath in a long, long time. The houses in Crow Station tended to only have showers. Given a choice, Janus would have probably chosen a shower, but at least soaking in the bath was comfortable.

-

The morning was not going well. Hashilli had to leave after only a few hours of Janus attempting to use [Spell Augmentation]. So far, he had made no progress. He could easily recreate the [Flametip] cantrip, but no matter how he tried to shift the mana, the spell would simply fall apart.

Sighing, Janus added another line of notes to his journal. He was keeping track of every attempt and whether it produced any results. Thus far, nothing interesting had happened.

Maybe the spell is too basic?

Regardless of the thought, Janus decided that he needed to move around. He was going a little crazy, staring at the flame on his fingertip.

He had already made up his mind to get the [Deepstone Crystal] appraised. And, to be certain that he was given a fair price estimation, Janus wanted to visit every shop he could.

His first stop would be the shops in the Delver’s Guild commons.

The only shops that could help out at all were the ones that provided enchanting services. Most of the others weren’t interested in the stone at all. Stones like the [Deepstone Crystal] were important in creating enchanted items. Unfortunately, most offers felt like lowballs.

After Janus’ experience with the tailor who insisted that he use a payment plan, he wasn’t sure who to trust.

His best offer came from a shop with an ostentatious glowing sign out front reading, “Bruno’s Enchanting.”

“Alright, kid. Let me give it to you straight. I haven’t seen this kind of stone before, but my equipment tells me it’s at least grade four.” The latest shopkeeper explained. “If you leave it with me overnight, maybe I can give you a more accurate appraisal. For now, though, I can offer you a golden bear.”

Janus paused to think. A golden bear was worth ten silver eagles. That was ten times more than Janus had earned from the writ he had just completed with Rowan and Tara.

“Sorry if I’m being difficult, but how do I know I can trust you if I leave the crystal here overnight?” asked Janus.

The shopkeeper grinned. He was a burly man with thick facial hair. Each end of his mustache was carefully curled. “How about this? I’ll give you five silver eagles as collateral. Come back tomorrow and I’ll have a new price ready for you. If I appraise it higher than five silver eagles, you can sell it to me for the difference.”

“I guess that sounds fair. I haven’t been so lucky with some of the other shops here….”

“Ah! I hate to hear it. But I take my business seriously! Delvers rely on my enchantments to survive down in those tunnels. I swear it on my name and my business. I am not trying to swindle you.”

Janus could hardly argue with the collateral, so he bid the cheerful merchant goodbye.

I guess I shouldn’t use this money until tomorrow….

Rowan had never told him when they were going to meet up again for a new job. They knew Hashilli’s number, though, and should be able to get a hold of him.

His thoughts turned back towards [Spell Augmentation].

Maybe I should try it on something more substantial, like the arrow point spell.

Continuing to brainstorm, Janus turned towards the stairs, heading down into the tunnel complex. His plan was to test out his more powerful spells in the sparring area, just in case.

First, Janus decided, he would examine his arrow point array thoroughly. The specifics still made little sense to him. Basically, every spell he replicated, he did so by simply mimicking the flow of mana from the original spell. He was still a far cry from true understanding.

After an hour of scrutinizing his arrow point array spell, Janus could really feel the lack of a [Focus]. His mana was regenerating at nearly half the rate he had gotten used to. He really should have asked if Bruno had a [Focus] he could use as collateral instead of money.

He was barely paying attention to the mana point array when something caught his eye. The mana slowly coalesced into the circular array. First, a small blue circle appeared in the air, facing whatever direction Janus wanted the projectiles to come from. Second, a small ring of runes slowly appeared around the circle. Third, he directed mana through the array, and projectiles started to form.

Enchanters work with runes to make magic items. Maybe I’ll visit Bruno sooner rather than later.