AN: As promised, a short chapter to keep you sated while this story finishes its hiatus. :)

Chapter 86: Well Met

The world of ARS, and all its wonders, Scott loved them greatly. His old life was one of service and duty, but there were few truly wonderful and inspiring moments. Most days in his new life inspired him to wonder, to thank the goddess who brought him to this magical land.

At the moment, however, the flames of war burned bright. He needed to answer the call to battle. Scott had already bid farewell to Herbert and his lady love. Now he stood before the salvation mirror at the grand central cathedral. It was a cathedral to all of the gods of ARS, though Scott generally only prayed to one specific deity. Those prayers usually involved lewd thoughts, but then he was given a certain bit of leeway on such matters.

"I need to do some upgrading. It's been a while," said Scott. He gazed into the mirror and saved his soul, so to speak. His eyes lit-up when he saw his status.

Scott Jacobs

Race: Lunarii | Class: Twilight Master

Age: 18 | Max Lifespan: Ageless

Level: 12 | Title: The Reborn

Attack: 141[143]=>[219-225] | Defense: 141[147]=>[232-250]

Strength: 101[103] | Agility: 100[105] | Vitality: 100

Intellect: 100 | Charisma: 100 | Attunement: 100

[--]

"So, that's what the helmet adds, huh?" Scott took off the helmet that Herbert had made, and looked again. It added a bit to strength, agility, attack, and defense. Neither increased by a large margin, but the fact that multiple stats increased meant that it was a fine piece of work.

Between the helmet and the bracers that Ero made, Scott's attack and defense increase by over ten and seven points respectively. Strength and agility increased by two and three points. Sadly, he was not aware of any specific special options beyond the stat increases.

Next, he checked his skill levels. If he was lucky, he would be able to make a few specialization upgrades.

Class Skills

Unarmed Combat: 40

Twilight Sorcery: 37

Primordial Magic: 1

Sense Life: 38

Arcane Lore: 27

Arcane Mastery: 39

Light Armor: 38

Analyze: 40

[--][/align]

[Miscellaneous Skills]

Survival Lore: 35

Boomerang Mastery: 1

[--]

"Sweet! Analyze and Unarmed Combat hit forty," said Scott. He still needed to train primordial magic and Boomerang mastery, but they would have to wait. His other magical skills did not quite reach forty in the latest round of training, and would not be able to upgrade them further.

"Ah, Arcane Lore is above twenty-five, too," he said after looking at his skills once more.

He frowned slightly, however. "Damn. If I'd known that Arcane Mastery was going to stop at thirty-nine, I would have spent another dozen hours or so hours training. Too late now, probably."

The same issue was largely true of his Light Armor and Twilight Sorcery skills. They were close, but still a few days' worth of training away from reaching forty. It did take a lot longer outside of the tutorial space, or so it felt.

On the bright side he also noted that should he survive the upcoming event, most of his skills would probably be above forty. It would be a time of heavy upgrades, a celebration of victory.

Scott looked through his options, then selected his upgrades. He took one final look at his upgrade list before shutting it down.

[Notations]

Unarmed Combat Specializations [3]

[Improved Health Regeneration I]

[Improved Defense I]

[Improved Attack I]

Twilight Sorcery Specializations [2]

[Celestial Mastery II]

Arcane Lore[2]

[Know Spell I]

[Inspect Enchantment I]

Sense Life Specializations [2]

[Sense Nature I]

[Sense Unnatural I]

Arcane Mastery Specializations [2]

[Increased Attunement Efficiency II]

Light Armor Specializations [2]

[Reduce Armor Burden: Light Leather II]

Analyze Specializations [1]

[Compare Similar Items II]

[Item Lore I]

Survival Lore Specializations [1]

[Improved Environmental Observation II]

[--]

Scott had chosen to take the Improved Attack and Inspect Enchantment skill upgrades. Much like the improved defense upgrade, improved attack increased his attack power by ten percent when he fought unarmed. The inspect enchantment upgrade would allow him to discern information regarding seals and enchanted items. Magical traps might also be discovered when his survival lore was taken into account. Skills often worked together synergistically to create hybrid abilities.

His upgrade for Analyze was Item Lore. Now he could discern more information about a given item by noticing its features. It was not a detailed account, not at the current upgrade level. Still, he would at least know whether or not an item was decently useful.

"Alright, now I just need to check my spell slots, and I'm done," he said. Scott drew up his spells slots on the mirror then blinked. "The hell?"

Current Spell Slots in use [1]: [Starlight Flare]

Current Spells Allowed for Allotment [2]: [Summon Fiance]

"What happened to all my other stuff?" Sure, they were all garbage items and half-understood attempts at creating something. Still, he was able to put a few things into his slots before.

As fortunate would have it, there was an explanation. Scott clicked on a glowing link below his current spell allotment.

Due to routine quarterly system maintenance, all incomplete spells have been removed from your listing. If you wish to file a complaint, you may do so. A complaint will restore the incomplete spells to your list.

Alternatively, you may accept compensation in the form of a low grade twenty-four hour boost to experience and contribution acquisition boost. The contribution point boost will be granted toward the kingdom currently set as [Valkovia]. This is a standard practice during system maintenance, and should be considered the equivalent of normally occurring roleplay bonus.

Scott blinked slowly, and then snorted. "Fuck those garbage spells. I'll take the boost."

It was not like he could not simply recreate the useful ones anyway. Also, with his knew found understanding of sorcery, he would have eventually wanted to remove them from his list anyway.

"I should create some sort of grimoire in the future, though," said Scott. He did not care about any of the missing spells, to be honest. They were poorly crafted and barely useful. Future incomplete spells might be a different story, however. He would not want to have to choose between an experience boost, and regaining his missing spell creation attempts.

He rubbed his chin for a moment. Quarterly maintenance as an excuse to give roleplaying awards was an interesting thought. It made him wonder what other sorts of rewards he might be able to acquire. Thoughts of rewards also made him consider something else. "I haven't received any sort of awards since I left the tutorial."

At his level, it was possible that he had merely missed out on easy awards. They did not grant him anything, but they were fun to look at when he was bored. The one where he accidentally killed himself with his first lightning spell creation attempt was particularly fun to view.

Scott finished his business with the mirror then headed toward the rally point for the mobilization force. Upon arrival, he was surprised to see that only a few dozen people were in the area. "This is it?"

A familiar voice called out to him. Scott turned and waved toward Greelak. "Hey Greelak. What's going on?"

"Nothin' much, man. Just joining the expedition. Howz 'bout you?" asked Greelak. The massive orc walked over to Scott. He carried several weapons strapped to his body, and a minigun in his arms.

"Was coming to join up as well," said Scott.

Greelak grinned at him. "Good. I closed up shop for this."

"Just lookin' for a fight, or you looking for Crankshaft?" asked Scott, curiously.

"Both, my man. I'm doin' both," said Greelak.

They chatted briefly, before another voice cut through the air. It was also a familiar one to Scott. "Hello, moon brother."

"Angru? Is that you?" asked Scott with a laugh. The blood tracker, Angru the possessed, had come to join the expedition as well.

The wolfman trotted over to the group then nodded to Greelak. The orc nodded to him in kind. Scott introduced them to each other. Greelak and Angru shook hands then started to chat like old friends.

When the topic of Rhea and Herbert came up, Scott explained that they had other business to attend to at the moment. He would be the group's representative in the fight to come.

Over time a few more people wandered over to the odd little group. They were either friends of Greelak or of Angru.

Scott chatted freely with everyone, and even explained the reason for his new helmet. Angru and Greelak both approved of using the skull of an enemy for a hat.

Eventually, an enforcer came over to the group. "Greetings. Are you here to join the expedition?"

"Yes," said Scott. Several others voiced their agreement as well.

"Excellent. We'll need to get everyone processed. The processing tent is almost ready. Till then, if you have earned meritorious awards for your contribution, you can use it over at the provisions tent," said the enforcer before waving his hand and walking away.

A few members of the group, Scott included, walked over to the provisions tent. There was a short line to wait in, but the wait passed quickly while the various men of even more varied races chatted freely. There were orcs, and blood trackers, elves and even a squilanti in line. Strangely, there were few humans. As it turned out, the few people Scott thought to be human turned out to be Lunarian.

It was weird to him. Where were the humans? Didn't they care about their city and the surrounding areas?

He received the answer after someone else voiced the question. Scott listened in as a Lunarian paladin explained. "The majority of the local humans, and most of the other citizens in town, usually join the main militia unit. Expeditionary and subjugation forces are usually comprised of mercenaries and foreigners," said the absurdly handsome blond man.

"Ah, send out the rabble to pacify the area, and then send in the militia to hold it?" asked the orc who'd originally asked the question.

"Exactly," said the paladin. "Though I'd prefer to think of us as the front line forces."

"Hell yeah. Give me the front line any day," cried the orc. Several others joined in on the shout.

It was not long before the paladin spied Scott. His eyes widened slightly. He spoke up. "Well met, brother!"

The paladin stepped out of line, and Scott did the same. He was uncertain of the custom, but he did not want to offend a man who was supposed to be his countryman. "Well met, brother," said Scott with equal vigor. The men clasped wrists then nodded.

The others chuckled a little, but soon three more Lunarians slipped out of line to join in on the greetings. Hair, each the color of a star at different stages of life. Golden like the sun above for the paladin. Red, like the evening star or one that was close to the end of its life, for the summoners. Blue, the star that burns hotter than the others, for sorcerers.

"Would you look at that," said one of the orcs. "All three lights."

Scott and the others clasped arms and made the customary greeting. Lunarians were typically well received in the area. It became immediately obvious why.

He watched each of the others, three paladins and a summoner. Despite their differences in profession and hair color they each held themselves with strength, and yet a humble sort of grace.

Scott followed them to the back of the line, as it would be unworthy to insist on taking their old spots when they had in fact vacated them on purpose.

While they waited in line once more, the five Lunarians chatted amiably. Many questions that Scott never voiced were asked and answered by others. Apparently, a gathering of three types of Lunarian was a rarity outside of an actual Lunarian offensive.

The paladins asked questions of the summoner and of Scott. Neither seemed to know much about the other. Lunarians were a structured people and existed in a hierarchy based on talent and hair color. There was such a thing as a black haired Lunarian. However, they were simply civilians who had not awakened their true potential. Most Lunarians were born with one of the three primary colors for hair. If so, they were separated at birth and trained in the arts of their people.

Nothing prevented the child from learning outside skills, and such knowledge was encouraged. However, they would be required to train in the ancient ways of their people.

An orc asked an interesting question. "Why are you called Lunarians, when your hair is the color of stars?"

The summoner answered with a smile. "We are the people of the moon. The night sky shines with the wisdom of the past. Each star, to us, represents one who has gone before. The color of the stars is the color of our history. Just as the moon exists with the stars, so do we exist."

"Nice," said the orc brusquely. "I like it."

The summoner nodded to him then turned back to his brethren. However, another person waiting in line asked, "So what about that other hair color?"

"Other hair color?" asked one of the paladins. "Do you mean, black or white? The former is for civilians. The latter happens to those who choose profession outside of the three lights, such as priests."

"Yeah. I don't mean that. There's that one that's like a weird mix of the others but with silvery hair as the base, right?" asked a blood tracker.

"Ah, the legendary Lunarian of platinum hair," said the paladin. He smiled at the wolfman then shook his head. "It's something we all aspire to be one day, but I have not heard of anyone achieving it in well over two thousand years. Definitely not in the scant few decades I've been alive."

A wha-ping sound echoed inside Scott's head. He looked around in confusion, but saw nothing that would have made that sound.

"I heard that a summoner almost unlocked the power, though," said the paladin. He looked to the summoner for confirmation.

"Not that I've heard. Though, I did hear that Grandmaster Arthur Grey was supposed to be close to that point," said the summoner. All four Lunarians looked to Scott.

He blinked at them as another wha-ping echoed inside his head. "Sorry, I've never heard that."

The others sighed in unison then nodded. The summoner sighed loudest. "Yes, I suppose it makes sense. If anyone was close to becoming Hyperion the whole world would know it."

The wha-ping sound echoed inside Scott's head once more. Whatever it was, it seemed to occur when certain things were mentioned.

"True. I mean; when's the last time that you heard of anyone ascending to godhood?" asked one of the paladins. "That'd be big news, right?"

Just like that, Scott realized something important. The words Hyperion and godhood continued to haunt his consciousness for the rest of the time that he waited in line. Another thought occurred to him as well, one he had overlooked. If the Lunarians were supposed to be an ageless race, how come he had seen members of that race who looked old? A certain priest came to mind.

Many things needed to be researched when he returned from the subjugation mission. He even knew a few things to pay attention to specifically. The ancient legends of the Lunarian people would be forefront among them.