Chuck wasn't sure the city lived up to the name Brightwater. The river that wound its way through the small hills that made up the land the city stood on, was murky and smelled foul. The city itself didn't smell much better. The heat baked the shallow covered sewage canals along with the accumulated body odor of so many people pressed into the large city. Chuck had no idea how many people lived in the capital but it had to be well over a hundred thousand if he had to guess.

From what the others told him the area around the city was ideal for cultivation. Low rolling hills with fertile dirt made it easy to feed the masses. Not that Chuck cared much for the logistics of a large city.

The group arrived at a two-story stone building. It was coated in a garish dark red plaster that was cracked and broken off in sections. A sign over the door read Lost Lamb. Chuck sighed quietly as he followed the others inside.

The inside reminded Chuck of a seedy strip club. Maybe it was the low lighting, or most likely the topless women that walked around and served customers. Chuck didn't think this place was very sanitary and wasn't looking forward to the food as much anymore.

The food turned out to be delicious, and the beer was decent. Mellas and Bargo already went off with their companions. Erwin had been offered companionship as well but turned the women down. Chuck did so as well, not in the mood, despite what his teenage libido said.

"So, Chuck you give any thoughts about joining the Tower?"

Chuck wondered where this question came from, it wasn't exactly the kind of place to have a conversation about your future. "No, although, I may need to meet with someone from the Tower or someone that can help me with the unknown terms in my book."

Erwin nodded, "Yeah, I thought as much."

The others returned a few hours later and Chuck headed to a room. It cost him four silver to rent a private room for the night but he was fine with that.

Erwin watched Chuck head upstairs to go to bed. He hoped the kid wouldn't hate them for this but it was for the best. The kid had a bright future but he needed to join the Tower to realize that future. Erwin and the others were just holding him back.

"Alright, time to go," he said, tossing a few silver on the table and standing up.

"What about Chuck?" Bargo asked.

Erwin gave a small shake of his head.

"You sure boss?" Mellas added.

"We're keeping him from his potential, and he's grown too fond of us to realize it."

Erwin knew the kid looked up to him and the other two. That made walking out the door the hardest thing Erwin had to do in his life. His instincts told him it was the right thing, despite what he felt. He was no role model, what he was was a thief, murderer, and sword for hire. This made the choice a little easier for him and he kept telling himself the kid would be fine. They would probably meet again someday.

Chuck woke up with a sore back from the shitty bed and a headache from the alcohol the night before. It wasn't a full-blown hangover and a quick heal eased the pains.

After getting dressed and grabbing his gear he headed down to the bar to see if Erwin and the others were up.

The bar was empty except for a few topless women old enough to be his mother, lounging on couches and waiting for customers. A few eyed him hungrily and he chose to make a hasty exit from the establishment. The others were either out and about or still sleeping.

He wasn't in the mood for company again this morning, not that he had the coin to spend on it. He found out during their trip that Erwin had covered his expenses at the Broken Knee and the Lost Lamb was a far cry from the quality of the Broken Knee both in aesthetics and women.

Chuck noted the street and general location of the building before he walked through the city.

He wasn't sure what to do. Erwin seemed intent on having him enroll as a mage with the Tower but he didn't want to be drafted for war. He still wasn't sure where to even start looking for this corruption. The Creator had been vague about that.

Even this early in the day the city was alive with activity. People going about their lives unaware of what lurked out in the wilds or beyond the city. He doubted most would ever leave the confines of Brightwater, most content to live out their lives inside.

Chuck couldn't blame them, he had been the same way when he lived on Earth. Safety and security, and don't deviate too much from a standard routine.

Now he found that laughable. There was so much to explore and do in Halcion, why limit yourself?

Of course, there were tons to do back on earth but a lot of it felt cheapened by commercialization. He had visited a few scenic and wild places back on Earth. Even those had their kiosks and little shops to sell you clothing and knick nacks, everyone, trying to make a buck.

This world was different, sure it had its towns and people were mostly the same. But there was an untouched wildness about it that just called to him.

Chuck broke from his contemplation to see where he was. Somehow he had ended up near the Tower. Although, near was loosely used in this context. He was still a few streets away but the massive structure loomed over the surrounding building. Its darker stone contrasting the lighter colored stone used in most of the structures within Brightwater.

He decided to head over, not to join but to see if he could get some information.

Chuck walked up to an ornate wooden gate. The thing looked fragile but Chuck suspected it wasn't meant for security. You would have to be pretty dumb or suicidal to attack the mage's seat of power in Nur.

A bored-looking guard stopped him, "State your business."

"I was looking for someone that might be able to help explain a few things about magical theory to me."

"Are you a member?" the man asked, his tone changing to that of respect.

"Um... no, but-," the man cut him off. "If you're not a member then be on your way," the man said, his tone returned to one of boredom.

"But," Chuck replied.

The man tipped his spear towards him, "Last warning," the man added, his boredom replaced by anticipation.

Chuck backed away from the gate and he swore he heard the man let out a disappointed sigh.

He decided to look elsewhere. Mages must buy items around here so he went looking for a store.

It took him a while to find a store that might be able to assist. He moved the heavy curtain aside, which acted as a barrier to keep the dust out of the building. The actual door was made from a solid chunk of stone and left open. It was similar to some other buildings he had seen. Other doors ranged from wood to woven grass depending on what the owner could afford. A few were made of bamboo-like stalks, similar to what the bandits employed in their spears.

This particular store had a sign hanging over the door with the picture of an open book with the words Seeker's Tomes below that.

Chuck figured it was a good place to start. Upon entering he noticed the place was well lit by magical light as opposed to candles or torches. It made sense, no point having open flame next to potentially priceless merchandise. The inside of the building was spacious, Bookshelves lined all of the walls, packed full with tomes of all sizes. A few pedestals with what looked like glass cases were spaced evenly throughout the room, holding rarer items.

Chuck could feel the magic radiating from the glass when he walked past. He figured it was some sort of defensive magic. He was also curious about the glass. It was the first use of glass he had come across in this world. Most windows being louvered in the southern reaches, eventually, that transitioned to either leather or heavy fabric to keep the weather out in the cities of the plains. 'It must not get very cold here,' Chuck thought.

A distinguished man with greying temples and spectacles greeted him. "Welcome to Seeker's tomes, what can I help you seek today?"

"Do you only sell books here?"

"No, we sell books, scrolls, skills and can assist with other pursuits of knowledge if the price is right."

'Excellent,' Chuck thought.

"Good, then perhaps you can assist me. I am new to Nur, and while I have learned the language and writing I am stuck on some of the more esoteric knowledge from a book I purchased."

The man stroked his chin, "hmm, may I see the book in question?"

"Sure," Chuck rummaged through his back producing the magical theory book. He handed it to the man.

"Ah yes, basic magical theory. A fine book for anyone looking to expand their knowledge in the arts. Are you looking to join the Tower?"

Chuck shrugged.

"No matter, I can have an assistant help you. The cost is two silver an hour."

Chuck winced a bit at the price but paid for two hours. He was led into a room where a younger man wearing a robe waited.

The man gestured to the robed person, "this is one of my assistants, Harlo, and I am Seeker if it wasn't obvious. Harlo, this gentleman has paid for two hours, please assist him in his research. If you get stuck on anything please come get me right away."

"As you wish teacher. Please-," the man paused to get his name.

"Chuck," He replied.

"Please, have a seat, Chuck, and we will get started."

The coin had been well worth it. Harlo had been able to explain the words and what they meant. Chuck learned a lot from the man.

"So you're saying that the better you understand an element the stronger your spells could be?" Chuck asked in confusion.

"Yes, and no. I assume you have a basic spell if you are in here studying magical knowledge?"

"Yeah, ice arrow."

"Perfect, that will be an easy one to explain. So you know how ice is just accumulated water correct?" the man said, excited to explain the magical theory.

"Yes?" Chuck replied questioningly, not sure where the man was going with this.

"Well if you understand that ice is just frozen water you can modify the spell. Instead of forming the ice from your mana you can form it from any source of water. The deeper your understanding of the natural laws the better your control of spells becomes and the less mana you use. That's not all though.

Spells made with mana vs spells made from raw elements behave differently. Take for example the elemental shield, a wonderful if common spell capable of blocking one hundred percent of "elemental" spells," the man added, taking a breath.

"Elemental only refers to spells created from elemental mana. The shield would not be able to stop your ice arrow spell at all if it was formed from water."

"But... that makes no sense, it says elemental in the description."

"Yes, a play on words from the original creator of the spell, to give them an upper hand if someone else had the spell as well. To defend against your spell, now formed of natural ice you would need something like mage armor."

That explained why the grease got through that mage's shield but the fire stopped.

"So you're saying the composition of the spell completely changes. Let me guess it is only propelled by magic at that point?"

"Exactly, you understand, that is so refreshing," The man looked out the door before returning and whispering, "very few truly understand, even my teacher doesn't get the more esoteric parts of my arguments."

He returned to a normal volume after sitting back down, "are you sure you don't want to join the Tower? With your grasp on these subjects, I am sure you would excel."

"I don't want to be drafted into the army," Chuck added.

"Ha, that's all, have no fear. There hasn't been a war in Nur large enough to call upon the tower in over a hundred years."

"I... I'll think about it. How much time do we have left?"

"About twenty minutes."

Chuck pulled out the journal, "Any possibility you can read this?"

Harlo flipped through the book, each page creasing his forehead more. Fascinating, the words are unknown to me but that's not a surprise. What's surprising is these formulas, they are way beyond anything I have ever seen. Honestly, I wouldn't know where to start," he said, handing the journal back.

"Thanks for your help anyway."

"My pleasure, and if you ever wish to sell that journal I would be willing to purchase it."

Chuck smiled, "If it was mine to sell I would."

Chuck left the building with quite a bit to think about. He could now read the magical theory book fully. That only brought more questions. Chuck had asked Harlo about the possibility of hitting a limit on skills or skills causing harm if you tried to learn them.

He said there was no limit that he knew of. As for skills causing harm, he knew of a few people crippled by attempting to learn magic beyond their capacity, but those were people with low intuition or willpower that tried to dive into epic tier spells. Without a foundational understanding to channel the knowledge, their minds broke.

Harlo assured him that if he had over fourteen points in either of those attributes he would be fine.

Chuck hadn't cringed at this fact, no he had cringed at his luck. If that strange spell had been of the legendary variety he may have ended up a vegetable instead of having his brain fried. Then again he didn't know the cutoff for legendary spells either. He chose not to ask, not wanting the curious man to ask too many pointed questions. The meeting left him with a lot to think about.

Chuck felt sure enough now to restart his skill training. It helped that his blessing was off cooldown so if he was wrong at least he wouldn't be wrong for long. The unknown spell was still blanked out and he left it alone. Now that he had some knowledge under his belt he decided tonight he was going to dive into the necklace again.

He had asked Seeker if he had skills for learning a language before leaving the shop. The man indeed did have two skill books. One for Nurese, and the other for Vitorian. Unfortunately, the man didn't have the epic level skill called babble. Apparently, that skill book allowed you to learn one language per level and it had five levels.

Chuck asked why he didn't earn a skill by learning Nurese the hard way. The man wanted another two silver to answer his question. Chuck declined the offer and decided to head back to the Lost Lamb.