"The day I purchased this pile of old bricks… The day I magically expanded each floor to their current size and shape… The day I brought over my first Gnomish prosti-- Nevermind that. I don't think the third floor has ever been this clean and organized."

Agmus Mak stares out over the grand room like a conqueror discovering a fresh and fertile country. Behind him, the boy is carrying away the final crate to his "room," the second floor. At one end of the grand room is a hallway that acts as a spiraling stairway throughout the tower. If a person were not authorized to go to a certain floor, they would magically skip them and go straight to one they could enter.

Since the boy's room is actually a slightly scaled down version of the third floor, a lot of the things Mak didn't want or need ended up there for storage. The old man also gave him his expressed permissionto use whatever he finds, unless he finds a large box containing an odd collection of leather straps, assorted whipping implements, and candles. This he would have to return to Mak straight away and ask no questions.

The red velvet couch that has been the holding area for any cards they came across also happened to have some siblings. Including the recliner, there's also two love seats, a six-foot-square footstool, and a day bed that Mak couldn't wait to make use of. That one he moved under a large window that had to be scourged with magic in order for light to come through. The post sunrise light pouring in helps brighten the rejuvenated room.

Mak reaches into the air, his hand up to his wrist disappearing into nothingness, groping about to no avail. Perplexed, Mak pulls out and stares at his empty hand.

"We're out of food… I suppose I can teleport us to the nearest village, not that I want to go anywhere near that dirt hole. Wait… You didn't equip any more cards yet, did you?"

He turns to the boy who stops before taking another step down the stairs. With a shake of his head he simply continues completing his task while Mak goes over to the couch of cards.

"Yes, yes! I have a great idea! I'm almost certain I saved it, too. At least one of them, anyway. Oh! And those two can go into Rogue as well as Armist, but we'll use Rogue for now. We can always blank them... I own so many blank cards…"

He shuffles through packs, as well as some special books with pages of tulle-- a sheer, mother of pearl-colored material made from silk. These pages have four pockets, two by two, designed to hold and display four essence cards per page.

Whenever a card attracts Mak's interest, he sets them aside in a square, black leather box with several cards already waiting within.

"Summon… summon… counter… tier four… tier five… this one… this one… no..."

At last, he comes across the cards he wanted in the first place and the boy walks in just in time.

" Here!" Mak exclaims, practically flying out of his seat. "Equip these, go outside, and do some hunting. When you come back I should at least have the stove ready for cooking and we can just eat here on the third floor! I'm a genius!"

The boy looks at the first card of the stack and his eyebrows scrunch in frustration.

Novice Skill, Short Bow IV Xperia: 100% (maxed) Tier 1 Action Armist, Archer, Rogue

-Able to competently wield a short bow

-Increase accuracy and damage of short bow attacks by 20%

He turns the card around to show the haughty Mak, a questioning look on his face. For the first time, the younger man doesn't follow an instruction right away and Mak is concerned.

"What? What's wrong with my choice? All you have to do is equip it, grab your bo-- oh… I see. I don't think I even own a bow. Well, give me those ones back and I'll see if we can use something else. Follow me."

The boy walks a step slower than Mak back to the couch as he goes through the cards again. The boy equips the ones he doesn't have any reason to object in the slots where he is instructed to.

Novice Skill, Short Blade IV Xperia: 100% (maxed) Tier 1 Action Armist, Archer, Rogue

-Able to competently wield blades no longer than twelve inches

-Increase accuracy and damage of small blade attacks by 20%

Novice Skill, Butcher IV Xperia: 100% (maxed) Tier 1 Support Armist, Archer, Rogue

-Requirement: Any Level Skill, Any Blade

-Able to utilize a blade to loot meat from animals/monsters 90% of the time

-Chance of obtaining double drop: 20%

-Max meat rarity 4*

Novice Skill, (Beast) Tracking IV Xperia: 100% (maxed) Tier 1 Action Armist, Archer, Rogue, Brawler

-Able to identify, mark, and trail (Beast)-type animals/monsters up to 4 levels higher than you

-Marks last for 4 days

Novice Skill, Harvest IV Xperia: 100% (maxed) Tier 1 Action Archer, Healer

-Able to identify and collect edible plants and plants that may be used for Novice crafting

-Max plant rarity: 4*

Terrain Knowledge II Xperia: 100% (maxed) Tier 1 Boon Armist, Archer, Rogue, Brawler

-Increase mobility by 10% in selected environments:

+Woodlands, Urban

"Put Blades and Butcher in Rogue, slots two and three. Tracking in Archer one and Terrain Knowledge in five. Harvest needs to go in Healer five. I suppose you should get a heal spell since you'll be out there by yourself… Here, just equip this to Healer one and these to Caster five and one. "

Basic Spell, Heal Wounds IV Xperia: 100% (maxed) Tier 1Action Healer

-Cost: 14MP

-Range: Touch

Incanto: "Regain a fragment of life"

-Heal target for 18HP

Minor Mana Increase IV Xperia: 100% (maxed) Tier 1 Boon Caster, Healer

-Increase Mana by 50%

-Decrease Mana use by 10% (rounded down) for Tier 1 Spells

His first magical spell ends up being one for healing, but reading the description he ponders on the third line. The boy looks up at Agmus Mak and opens his mouth to speak. Before the boy can utter a single word, the old man growls in frustration.

"Blast the useless gods! I forgot that you can't speak! How are you supposed to recite the incanto?"

Mouth still agape, the boy raises an eyebrow in confusion. A thin, tired voice crawls unsteadily out of him, "I can speak."

As if the boy had suddenly burst into rainbow colored flames, Mak jumps back in wonder, "Dragon shit! Why haven't you done so before? I've been droning on and on since we got here and all you've ever done were your little gestures!"

The boy shrugs, continuing to stare up at him. Based on what Mak said, though, the incanto is something he's meant to say to invoke the spell. This made the next card easier to grasp and the anticipation to use it greater.

Basic Spell, Frozen Arrow II Xperia: 100% (maxed) Tier 1 Action Caster

-Cost: 10/15/20MP

-Range: 50 Feet

-Incanto: "Loose a single/pair of/sharpened trio of icy shard/s"

-Each arrow deals 10 (ice, pierce) damage and remains for 1 minute or until dismissed

A playful smile slides on the boy's face and Mak continues to assess him, stroking his beard. The older man clears his throat, "Do… you have a name?"

The boy just looks up at him, maintaining his simple smile.

"Well, I guess I can name you, if you would prefer that. I mean, since I cannot read your mind and you seem to have shut up again. How about… River."

The boy thinks about it for a moment. It's certainly better than his old name and that was given to him as well. He didn't have a surname or family name so the new name has nothing to conflict with.

His smile turns into a grin and a nod seals the deal.

"Excellent. Now," Agmus Mak waves him off, "You can probably find some knives in the kitchen, but make sure you at least grab one of the bags from the orange chest. I enchanted them with spatial magic and they'll hold quite a bit. Good luck, River."

Mak stares at the spot where the boy once stood. A grin similar to one he wore about a week ago spreads across his face. His voice is low, like dragging a body slowly through gravel, "You're turning out better than I ever dreamed… The one to do it all. The one to shoulder all of the burden with indifference, yet total commitment. The… chosen one… And all you cost me was five platinum."

"Loose, a pair of icy shards."

The words seem to echo through the trees, followed by wet, crunching sounds. River drops his outstretched hand and strolls over to the dead, adolescent boar. It only had 25HP, but the fledgling player learned quickly that placement of attacks do matter. Whether it be a slash from one of the kitchen cleavers or puncturing with the forearm long icicles, where the attack lands can mean increased damage in the form of a [Critical Strike] and subsequently a higher economy of effort and lower MP consumption.

This knowledge came with the cards, but solidified with experience. At first he tried to stick with the unenchanted, yet impressive, high-steel meat cleaver and save his 40MP for his healing spell, but healing during combat was tricky. Hitting creatures from afar and finishing them off in melee range as necessary proved a safer, more efficient system.

He had personally leveled up twice by this recent kill and was near the third already. All of his essences are maxed out so they wouldn't get any stronger. His stats went up by 1 for each level and his health, mana, and stamina increased by 5.

Not knowing whether this is a good thing or not, River is just happy to be out and about, not having to clean in the tower. He doesn't mind the work, finding it simply fascinating, like excavating for lost treasure at every turn.

With the increase in levels and the Stamina boon cards, the main culprit for the sweat beading on River's forehead is the afternoon sun and not fatigue. He already collected at least a week's worth of various meats, leafy greens, root vegetables, and miscellaneous herbs. He also saved some assorted loot items, vaguely aware that some people valued the random things and didn't want to just leave them behind to be lost to time. With all these bits and bobs the magical bag fills up quickly.

When River finally gets the notice that the bag is full, he had leveled up once more and traveled fairly far from the tower. One of the unlisted bonus effects from Terrain Knowledge, however, is a kind of gut instict of the places he had recently been according to the types of areas previously chosen on the card. So, even though he should feel utterly lost, River still has a feint idea of where the surprisingly short tower would be found.

The warm rays stretch deep past the treetops, burying into the patches of grass below. The smell of flowers blooming, aching for attention isn't as heavy as it was a week or so ago when it was mid Spring. It would be a perfectly peaceful scene if not for the absence of song birds and chirping insects. In their stead, an intrusive sound distracts from off in the distance.

River tilts his ear to it. Somewhere in these woods someone is having a rather heated discussion. No… Arguement?

Battle?

He's heard these sounds before in the slave pits. Some of the heartier slaves would be used in fabricated combat scenarios for the enjoyment of others. Sometimes they were even used to test out new essences, the main warning to those renting them being that the slaves live through the ordeal.

He never got a chance to watch the fighting, not that he ever had more than a fleeting interest in doing so, but it could still be heard all the way to the main caging area. Many of the children were frightened by it, comforted by women who were not their mothers or silenced by men who were not their fathers.

These dark memories keep River company as he meanders toward the sounds, careful not to attract any attention to himself. There's no rush, no driving urge to beat some imaginary timer, just a sudden curiosity that he wanted to scratch.

There are, maybe, three distinct voices. There may have been five at some point, but two of them stopped a minute or so ago at around the same time. One of the voices, a nasally grunting and gibbering sound might actually be coming from multiple, different sources, but making the same kind of noises.

Within moments, the truth to his suspicions are within sight. Just beyond a row of bushes and thick trees are two groups. One group are short, green, and fairly humanoid except for long elven ears, pale yellow eyes, and rows of short, sharp teeth. Three of them wield thick sticks with rocks tied into them, rudimentary clubs.

The others are… complicated?