*Knock*

*Knock*

“John are you alright? Its nearly noon.”

From his position on the floor, John heard the voice of Recia from the other side of the door.

In the months that had passed in the home of Nifriden, the woman had become much more casual with John. They would even occasionally share jokes and would take trips into the city for some relaxation. Truthfully, John counted her as a good friend now.

*Click*

The door slowly swung open. The face of Recia showed itself with an expression of mild concern for her unusually absent friend.

With a small grin, John waved up to her from his place on the floor.

“Hey Recia, good morning!”

Rather than returning the greeting, Recia only let out a strangled gasp. Her face morphed from concern to wide eyed shock.

“John! What happened to you!”

“I’m not sure what you mean…?”

With that he focused his vision onto the hand he had held up in greeting. It was dark red, stained the color of dried blood.

Not just the color matched though, it was dried blood.

‘Well maybe my rank up took more of a toll on me than I thought.’

Looking back up to Recia, he broke the silence that had been swelling for a few moments too long.

“Recia, go get Nifriden. I need to speak with.”

She nodded absently. Stumbling away from the door, he could hear her footsteps as she went down the stairs.

With his elbows propping him up in a semi-seated position, John let his head fall back with a huff.

‘I can already feel the headache coming on.’

***

“Y-You what!”

The loud and stuttered query came from his Elven host. John had just finished telling him how he had invested his free points the night before. Recia was out running an errand.

“I was really excited to use them, especially after the months of waiting.”

The Elf opened and closed his mouth for a few seconds. John was rapidly sensing that Nifriden had another emotion than shock brewing in his mind.

“YOU ABSOLUTE BUFFOON!”

It seemed that the emotion in question was irritation.

“What are you talki-“

The Elf cut him off before he could finish. The serious look in his eyes was enough to silence the Human.

“I can’t even fathom what went through your head! It seems that some people just remain stupid no matter how much intelligence or wisdom is crammed in their skull.

“You didn’t even think to consult me first before wasting the equivalent of a kingdom’s treasury?”

“Well, I um-“

“No! Of course not. I am shamed to have you as a student!”

John recoiled as Nifriden’s hands flailed up. He knew that the Elf was just a naturally dramatic person, so he didn’t take the scolding too hard.

The part that John took hard was the fact that he was right. He should have consulted the man he now called master.

As his master’s rant went on, John became increasingly introspective.

‘I thought that higher ranks meant I was infallible as a decision maker. Not so much it seems.’

His overconfidence was the cause of a potentially grievous mistake.

“- I mean really John? You wasted points on endurance at rank one? How much of a idiotic decision was that? Do you even kn-“

“I apologize master.”

John spoke the words with his face to the floor; it was the most respectful response he could come up with at the moment to show his remorse to the alchemist. By the surprised look on the Elven face, it certainly took the wind out of his sails.

John had called Nifriden ‘master’ once to his face. Even then, it was in a public situation, where appearances needed to be kept up.

The two had discussed at length the differences of their cultures. Nifriden knew how much John disliked the term.

The apology was enough to end Nifriden’s tirade.

“… Hahh, John, I shouldn’t be yelling at you like this, you’ll be chastising yourself enough when you realize just what you missed out on.”

John gave a pained smile.

“I think I get the gist of it already...”

“Oh don’t worry, it’ll fester.”

The two shared a long look

““Hahaha!””

Bursting into laughter seemed like an unexpected turn, but the tension could only last so long. John was coated in dried blood, probably other fluids too, and it all struck him as hilarious. The yelling and discomfort, stress and guilt. For some inexplicable reason, it constituted some pretty stellar comedy to John’s standards.

“Oh, man. We look like idiots right now, don’t we?”

“Oh, indeed we do, apprentice.”

“Hmph, the name is John.”

“Hah! You sulk like a child!”

“At least I’m not a senile old man like you!”

Nifriden rolled his eyes at that one.

They settled into a comfortable silence in Nifriden’s basement laboratory. John began to dwell on other events of the previous night.

A certain meeting with one Orchid Longroot came to mind.

“Hey Nifriden.”

“Hmm, yes?”

“I think I should also tell you about the other thing that happened last night.”

“Yes, I believe you should. I doubt I can trust you with much at the moment.”

The jab was made in good humor, as could be discerned from the expression from Nifriden.

“Yeah, well, you see… I kinda fell? Into the dream realm when I passed out last night.”

The Elf tilted his head curiously.

“Its not too terribly uncommon, especially the night of a rank-up.”

“Well, that wasn’t the really weird part.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“I kinda ran into a friend of yours…”

The alarm on the Elf’s face was palpable.

***

The two were still sat in Nifriden’s laboratory. John had finished the retelling of his encounter. Nifriden had a hard to discern look on his face.

“So let me see if I got this right.

“Not only did you fall into the realm of dreams as you slept, but you also ran into a woman I knew quite well. You proceeded to talk with her in her home about all manner of things, the most concerning of which being my current location.

“Do you agree with my understanding of the situation?”

‘I think I may have crapped the bed here.’

“Uh, yeah. That about sums it up.”

Nifriden face held concern, perhaps even worry. Who was Orchid to him? What was their story?

“So, Nifriden, is this going to be an issue? You seem pretty shaken up over this.”

The Elf was taken out of his musings by the question.

“Well, John, you would need to understand the issue with having a Halfling as a friend.

“Their cultures is as foreign to the other races as yours is to me at times. It all stems from the duality of their nature, they are not quite like other races as I’m sure you’ve read. When the majority of your population dwells in the dream realm at any given time, your culture naturally becomes rather alien to the rest of the mortal world. If you add that to their immortality and magical prowess? Then you get a culture founded on ideals that just don’t apply to Humans, even Elves can find some of their quirks to be odd at times.”

“Orchid didn’t seem that bad though…”

“Ah, well, Orchid is a special case. She understands and can interact with mortals much better than most Halflings.”

John nodded his understanding.

“And why would it be an issue for her to find you?”

The alchemist grimaced.

“She is more aware than most, but she is still a Halfling at her core, and one of the most paramount values in her society is the concept of one’s word and the repayment of favors.”

“-And let me guess, you owe her?”

“Hahh- sadly, that does aptly describe my situation.”

John didn’t quite understand the big deal though, the idea of ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ was pretty common. Among friends, it should be expected even.

“So, you just let her think you were dead? Aren’t you guys, y’know, friends? Seems pretty pathetic from my point of view.”

The Elf smirked at the bluntness he anticipated from his apprentice.

“It’s a bit higher stakes than you may assume John.”

“How so?”

“They just don’t hold favors close to their hearts; their culture has ritualized the concept. I cannot refuse what ever it is she asks of me. She risked her life for me John, their law dictates the necessity of me doing a task for her with similar risk to my person.”

John started to pick up on the seriousness in the words of his host.

“And you can’t just refuse? She’s your friend, surely she doesn’t want you to put yourself at risk like that!”

“If only it were that simple… The Halflings, the laws that their race follows cannot be broken without great efforts being taken. When you give your word to a Halfling, or they you, the words are supported by very old, and very powerful magics.

“In the passion of my youth, I made such an oath to repay her deed. Now that she knows of my location and that I still draw breath, she is compelled by both her own values as well as the magic of her race to seek me out give me an appropriate task.”

“She can’t just choose not to?”

“Maybe a few centuries ago, but now? No. The compulsion grows stronger with time. I’m afraid that my retirement is being forcefully terminated…”

“How long until she gets here then?”

“Anywhere from a few weeks to years. The time flows differently between the realms. If she still kept the same anchor point, then arranging for travel by ship will take weeks, added on to how the time may flow.”

“Hmm, and you can’t just run away?”

“Now that she knows I’m among the living, she will be compelled to track me down no matter what force stands in her way. I won’t do that to her.”

A fondness John previously didn’t notice could be felt from the Elf. Orchid seemed to truly be a dear friend to him.

The Human and Elf didn’t have much to say by now, but they had much to consider. They both lapsed into contemplation over what Orchid’s arrival may mean.

***

The remainder of the day was spent like many of them had been in the last few months.

John was seated in his little corner of the laboratory, working on his rune-writing skills.

By now, John was making some fairly impressive constructs.

Even using cheap and easy to find materials, he could create cups that drew moisture from the air and were always full of water when mana was supplied, a few arrows that exploded rather exquisitely when they were charged and struck an object at the proper force, and a floating broom that could be controlled rather easily via pre programmed scripts to carry a passenger.

But those were all things that already existed on Cuerus. None of them were original, they were examples that Nifriden had given him to attempt replication. There wasn’t a whole lot of inspiration for what to make.

He was fairly sure it came down to a basic principle.

Need.

Any inspiration he got came from the mild whimsy he felt when he reflected on his past.

As such, the original things John created shared a common theme of thievery and violence. By now, he had a collection of enchanted objects that could aid in hiding one’s appearance, smell, and sound. Violently inclined inventions were a knife that never dulled, a circlet that allowed for a small level of extra-sensory proximity perception, and a particularly nasty weapon that consisted of a rod magically attached to a swarm of small blades.

His low-quality materials limited him greatly in complexity. He could fit very few effects onto an iron or steel rod. Added to that issue, was the problem he faced in how quickly the effects wore off. Most of his inventions were now destroyed by the constant ebb and flow of ambient mana dismantling the finely made runes. The problem became dangerous when it altered a portion of script to perform a different function than he intended.

Recia had been very startled when his cup of endless water started to repel moisture, specifically the water in the cup she was drinking from. Her soaked face still brought chuckles to John even now.

‘And there!’

John was currently putting the finishing touches on his most recent idea. A recreation of a Bunsen burner.

In the alchemy lessons that Nifriden gave to John, they often required an insane level of precision where heating was concerned. It was a mentally fatiguing process that he absolutely despised. So, he made a device with an area to shoot flame and a small knob that controlled the intensity of the flame. Besides the bit where the flame went, it was all made out of an alchemically treated wood that held mana fairly well.

Most enchanting materials came from mundane objects that had been altered via alchemy. Luckily for John, an exuberant instructor and an astounding ability to recall information let him progress rather well as a budding alchemist. He hoped to be able to create his own materials soon enough.

With his new level of intelligence, the struggles he had previously dealt with were now child’s play to him. As he finished the last rune, he took a moment to pull up his status screen.

Johnathan Cribb

Human

Level:

3

Strength:

Rank 1

Agility:

Rank 1

Intelligence:

Rank 7

Endurance:

Rank 3

Charisma:

Rank 2

Wisdom:

Rank 6

Luck:

Rank 2

Class:

[CHOOSE]

He was surprised to see his level raise even higher, but quickly realized it came from his free attribute ranks. Nonetheless, it was a pleasing sight to see he wasn’t too far behind the likes of Nifriden and Vulgad.

‘I need to start doing some physical training to get my strength and agility up.’

The two attributes were basically free for the next rank as long as he applied himself well. Which made him all the more regretful of wasting his points on endurance.

What drew his attention next was the [Choose] option by the Class portion of the screen.

‘This time, I’m going to talk to Nifriden!’

***

Drawing the passionate Elf away from his experimentation was a struggle in itself. Every time he said ‘just a minute’ it usually stretched into thirty of them.

Having had been waiting for nearly an hour, John made expert timing in asking Nifriden for his attention.

By sensing what part of the alchemic process the experiment was on, John knew when the precise moment where the concoction was stable enough to be left unattended. It thusly eliminated the excuse on the alchemist’s part.

Did John overcomplicate the whole process? Yes, most would say he had, but when one had an intelligence attribute as high as he did, it became shockingly easy to overanalyze mundane activities and simple actions.

“Nifriden. I could use your help.”

Elven shoulders stiffened.

“Oh, well John, if you can wai-”

“Nope, your work will be fine if you don’t watch it for a moment or two.”

Defeated, the elder who was younger shuffled to the younger who was older.

Nifriden hated to have his flow interrupted, but John was confident in the new subject matter putting some cheer back into the magic nut.

“I need to talk to you about choosing my class.”

The assumption on John’s part was quickly affirmed with the perking of Elven ears.

“What did you need to know?”

“I get that our class selection is based on our skills and attributes, but I wanted to know if there were any other tips you can give me before I select?”

The universal thinking pose: a hand stroking the chin on a face harboring a furrowed brow. It was fitting that Nifriden pulled off the look so well.

“Well, my biggest one is to sort the options into only the rarest choices, no matter what it may be, rarer is always better. Beyond sorting… pick the one you subjectively like the most. Liking your class is integral in mastering your class.”

“I see…”

And John did understand. He could recall his conversation with Vulgad when they reached the first town in their journey.

The higher the rarity of the class, the easier it was to get rank-ups. It would be a waste to only choose a rare class when someone like John could take a unique one.

Without further ado, he mentally called on the system.

‘System, let me choose a class.’

Before his very eyes, a list began to form, the names on it were a blur as more and more were added.

‘System! Only show unique options!’

The visual nausea ended as abruptly as it started, only three options were shown out of what had before been probably thousands.

Looking up to speak to his mentor, he was shocked to see that there was nothing else around him, it appeared he was in an inky black void, eerily similar to that of his previous prison…

‘Now John, don’t panic, you know better than that.’

Focusing back on his screen, he did his best to keep his mind off of the lack of stimuli around him.

‘It’s probably so I don’t ask for help. It should be my decision, so the system isolated me.’

The combination of higher intelligence and a specific skill against mental impairments were extremely helpful in rationalizing his current situation.

With that, he really took a good look at the list of classes.

Available Classes (Unique Only)

Runic Enchanter

Runic Battlemage

Runic Specter

‘System, give me a description on all three.’

Available Classes (Unique Only)

Runic Enchanter

A Runic Enchanter is capable of using the unique properties of runescript to dictate the flow and usage of mana within physical objects.

Key Concept: Creativity

Runic Battlemage

A Runic Battlemage is capable of using runescript to damage enemies, create or reinforce defenses, and many more feats of magical ability both on and off the battlefield.

Key Concept: Precision

Runic Specter

A Runic Spectre is a being that has traded their physical form to become a incorporeal being of living runescript. The being is not a user of runescript, it has become runescript.

Key Concept: Ascension

‘Hmm… Decisions, decisions.’