“This is Krane, just a heads up to all carts, we will be landing in about an hour, please be sure to secure yourself and the any of the cargo. Also, if any of my cargo falls, ‘James’,” Krane said in a scouring voice, “I’ll throw you off the caravan in the middle of the mountains. Do you know how much that Empyrean Cheese cost me, I can’t believe all six rolls flew…,” Krane started to berate before a whisper could be heard from another person. “Oh, sorry about that everyone, lost my train of thought. Just make sure everything to strapped down.” The three sat huddled next to the heat radiating talisman and watched as the clouds slowly drifted pass the cart. Trent poked at the crystal attached to the center wooden spine that was holding the cart together. After a few quick jabs, a notification window popped up giving him a selection of choices.

System: Activate call orb Y/N

Pressing yes, a light on the orb radiate a light in a circular pattern and an even larger UI popped up in Trent’s display.

System: Call System activated

Cart 1

Cart 2

Cart 3

Cart 4

Cart 5

Cart 6

Cart 7

Cart 8

Other

Cancel

A slight buzz started from the orb as Trent pressed Cart 1. “Make it quick, I got a lot of inventory to account for before we land” Krane said in a rushed voice.

“I just wanted to know, why we’re landing so early?” Trent asked

“Not to bury the lead or anything, but why are we thirty thousand feet in the air,” Break yelled, huddled next to the talisman.

“I guess you Sentience were not here for the explanation, I forget you guys blank out for long periods. The answer is pretty simple, we are in the air is because I’m splurging on extra fuel to get us to Illistrium a day early. You're probably asking why do we need to get their a day early. Some dumbass, not naming any names.”

“James?” Break said in a knowing tone.

Krane let out an audible sigh, “Yeah, he was off by a few days, and I’m late for the annual Spell Progression. Let me guess, what’s a Spell Progression?”

“I wasn't going to ask, but since you brought it up.” Break let out.

“It’s a competition held each year by the grand council to test applicants wanting to join one of the major magic guilds.”

“Sounds cool,” Trent said.

“It is by far the biggest holiday for wizards, witches, warlocks, necromancers, and any other magic users. This is the one time of year where siphons are poured irregardlessly on pretty much anything that will give an applicant an advantage in the exams. I should have had a week to get ready, but thanks to someone, I need to get my stall ready by tomorrow, so strap on, and be ready to land.”

“I don’t see any buckles,” Emmy said rummaging around the mostly empty cart. “Besides the few crates strapped to the front, the only other thing we have is this rope.”

“That will have to do,” Trent said, tying one end of the rope to a notch. “We only have about six feet of rope, so I guess we can just hang on to the rope just in case something does happen.”

“Whoa, check this out,” Break said pointing at an astronomical floating crystal with five chains jutting out from the sides. Four of them protrude out from each face of the crystal, while the last chain hung underneath. The chains flowed towards the city, each one connected to large buildings scattered equal parts away from each other making a square with a single building in the middle. The cart tilted upwards, the three grabbing onto the rope as the cart rapidly lunged downwards like a rollercoaster at the end of its climb. Break had the air knocked out of him as the cart hit the ground sending him smashing against the wooden floor, the boards creaked but did not buckle under the force.

The three slowly got up as the cart started to move at a steady pace down a cobbled road. “Standard procedure everyone,” Krane said, his voice echoing from the orb. “The three Sentients, join me at cart one, we need to get you guys registered.” Slowly easing out of the cart, the three scan the large cobbled runway filled with magical creatures and machines as they made the small walk up to Krane. “Here they are,” Krane said, talking to a man in full white robes with golden trims flowing across.

The man walked up to the group, his hands out motioning for them to stop. Quickly scanning them, he cast a spell engulfing them in a white light. “Names,” he said nonchalantly.

“Uh… I’m Break, this is Emmy, and this is Trent.”

“Three Sentients,” the man said into a small orb attached to his chest. “You guys have been registered into the system, Sentients have free roam around the city, your UI’s have been updated with the city’s map, including the city’s rules and regulations.”

“You guys go ahead and give the city a look around, it’s going to take a while for me to get all my cargo inspected. I’ll be staying at an inn at the edge of the city if you're looking for me, it’s fairly cheap with pretty good accommodation.”

“Well take you up on that,” Trent said, his UI map updating with a green dot, indicating Krane’s specified location.

“So where do we go?” Break asked.

“Try hitting up the trades corridor, plenty of merchants from all across Perintah, and if you need to restock on supplies that the place to go.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Trent said.

The three walked out onto a large busting road with an array of carriages drawn by an assortment of beasts and mechanical monstrosities crisscrossing down the many alleyways. The side of each road held a merchant stall or building advertising many of their wares and services. Break could smell a distinguishing odor of arcane dust as he gazed across many of the stall casting spells, some making magical fires to cook, other casting arcana to identify, infuse, and disassemble magical items.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t take credits,” a portly man said, his merchant's table lined with a slew of magical wands and artifacts. Trent looked over at the commotion, his eyes catching on a man wearing a distinguishing set of armor used in PVP.

“What do you mean you don’t take credits?” the man yelled, his eyes glaring down at the man.

A woman trailing the man walked up the table, her armor just as shiny. “No one is even going to buy this overpriced crap, and we're offering a lot of credits.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t take credits,” the man reiterated, his palms out in a regretful demeanor.

“Whatever,” the woman said, walking away from the table.

“Wait babe, I’ll buy it, just give me a second.” Opening his trade screen the man took out a card and loaded it with a million credits. “This could cover it,” he said, laying it on the counter. Laying it on the counter, he took a blue shimmering wand and headed back towards the woman.

Thief, the man yelled, his fingers pointing towards the young man wandering off with his item.

“We should do something,” Trent said, his body ready to dash off, but before he could make a move a large explosion landed in front of the man. Traffic suddenly stopped as many people gave a wide berth towards the large dust cloud.

Five mages dressed in blue and white robe silently surrounded the man, their staff held out in a threatening manner. Slamming their staff towards the ground, they created a multilayered pentagon encompassing him. A sixth man walked out from the haze of dust dressed in a pure azure robe which glimmered in the afternoon sun. Strutting his way up towards the edge of the pentagon, the mage summoned a bench and trudged up to the stairs.

In a placid voice, the mage said, “You, state your name.”

“What is this,” the man yelled, drawing his sword and slashed at the golden walls of the pentagon.

The mage nodded his head towards the guards, the pentagon shrunk by one layer and a burst of light shot out from the floor causing the man to scream in pain.

“State your name,” the mage repeated.

“Kraze,” the man replied.

“You, Kraze, have been accused of thievery, how do you plea?”

“What is this, let me out.”

The pentagon shrunk again, this time an even brighter ray of light shot up causing him to fall to his knees huddle in pain.

“Not guilty,” Kraze said, the light stopping as he answered.

“Merchant, Dan, he has pleaded not guilty, please state the reason of your accusation.”

The portly man sheepishly walked up towards the bench, “the man there”, pointing towards Kraze, stole one my wands without paying, he is currently holding it.

“I see, Kraze, how do you respond.”

“I gave him a fair amount, it's on his stall.”

“I told him I didn't take credits, but he took the wands and gave me a card of credits anyways.”

“Alright, I have made my decision, by the law of the city, you have been found guilty, and will receive a fitting punishment for a Sentient. Your punish will be death, and banishment from the city for a total of three days.” Giving another nod of his head the mage all started to walk towards the man, the pentagon getting smaller with each step until the final size was big enough for only one person to fit. A beam of concentrated light shot out from the floor quickly scorching Kraze, his body disintegrating into nothing. The wand clattered onto the floor, and was quickly snatched up by the merchant, thanking the mages he walked back towards his stall. As quickly as they had come, the mages vanished causing the roads and alleyway to go back into rumbling traffic and merchant chants.

“Uhh… so let’s not do anything stupid like that,” Break said, looking at the two.

“I wholeheartedly agree with you,” Trent replied.

“Guys, look at this,” Emmy said, her eyes gazing at a poster which read “Annual Spell Progression.” In the middle of the poster was a symbol that periodically changed, each time transforming the poster’s shade of color.

Taking a step forward, Break took screenshots of each symbol while also writing down each color poster had switched too. Looking around, Break saw a man with a bandolier of wands walking down the street yelling out many different magical items he was currently selling. “Hey, excuse me, could you tell me what all these symbols mean?”

“You know, I would have been dumbstruck by that question if I had not been asked the other times today, must be a crazy influx of new people coming into town,” the man said adjusting this many wears. “Explaining all the symbols would take too long, and besides this is the peak selling hour, unless you guys are interested in buying one of my items.”

“If we buy something, will you tell us about the symbols?” Break asked.

“Of course.”

“Ok, what are you selling?”

“I’m so glad you asked,” the man said walking towards a side alley. “Follow me, the side street is a bit less crowded, and it would be a lot easier for me to talk not having to yell over all the other vendors.”

“Fishy?” Emmy whispered towards Break.

“Just a hint.”

After entering the alley the man pulled out a metallic wand, the sides of which glowed as he muttered a spell. Emmy, sensing a brew of hostilities, place her index finger and thumb together and summon her bow. Drawing back the arrow, the man looked at her in a plot of confusion and fear.

“What are you doing?” the man yelled, his eye wide from the gleaming metal tip.

“What are you doing?” Emmy replied back.

“Whoa, Emmy relax,” Trent said, grabbing at the tip of the arrow and aiming towards the ground.

“I’m sorry, my friend here has been a bit jumpy today, please don’t mind her.”

“Well keep her in check, If you guy weren't prospective buyers, I would have called the judges,” the man harrumphed. Finishing his spell the man conjured four ethereal chairs along with a small table sitting flushed with the alley’s side walls taking up about a fourth of the walking space. “Please have a seat, my name is Greb, let me be the first to welcome you to the great city of Illustrum,” Greb said as a small display of fireworks popped overhead. “So, what’s the amount we’re working with?”

“We need to make sure we have enough for the inn, I think we can afford,” Trent began to say before an iron fist slammed him in the gut.

“Emmy, keep him occupied? If I let him barter, I'm positive we would end up with a trinket that would have no use to us.”

Emmy glared down at Break, her arms crossed in a knowing fashion. “Yeah, your right.”

“Hey wait,” Trent began, before being silenced by Emmy.

“Ok, let’s get the real deal going.”

“Sure thing,” Greb said, placing a few items on the table. Picking up a wand, he handed it towards Break. “Can’t go wrong with a decent wand, what type of mage are you?”

“Uhh, I’m not a mage.”

“Hey, no problem, I got stuff for just about anyone. Do you plan to join the Spell Progression tomorrow? Wait, what am I saying, you don’t even know the guilds let alone know what the Spell Progression is.”

“I have a general idea of what it is. If you could enlighten me on the finer details, that might help me make a better decision on purchasing an item,” Break said examining a necklace with green studded jewels.

“So the Spell Progression are basically an entry exam for the major guilds, each one focusing on different types of magic. The first four guilds are open for anyone to enter.”

“Even if your not a mage?” Break interrupted.

“Some of the guilds rely more on crafting or information gathering, anyone that piques the interest of the guild masters will be eligible to join, even if they don’t know magic. Keep in mind each guild is different and the required to partake in each exam is different, some may ask that you know a minimum amount of magic. The fifth guild, known as Eluthum, it’s only eligible for the current member of the other guilds, and not only that, but you have to be nominated by your guild master. Not much is known about Eluthum, but its the tippy top of the magical mountain, and pretty much every master mage has come from Eluthum.”

“Tell us about the other four guilds, what type of magic do they focus on?” Emmy asked.

“You interested in participating?”

“I might, but I’m more curious at this point.”

“Might as well kill two birds with one magic missile. I’m sure you got a good look at the town enforcers, those guys are from the Delphic Guild,” Greb said making a magical image of a floating mouse, its eyes glowing with a vibrant blue flame. “They mainly focus on countermagic, and data analytics, they also enforce the town’s laws and regulations.”

“Interesting,” Break said, adding this information to his notes.

“Next we have Chrome,” Greb said, waving his hand across the image and changing it into an hourglass in the shape of potion bottles. “Their guild focuses on support and healing magic, their main job in town is upkeep and restoration. I don’t know what all that entails, but I’m sure it’s more than just trash duty, especially since they have the lowest entry rate.”

“What do you mean?” Trent asked.

“Usually every exam has about four to five people that pass, but Chrome only has about one...”

“That’s low, but not unreasonable,” Break said, cutting off Greb.

“You didn't let me finish, usually only one person passes every four years.

“Why is that?” Trent asked.

“The exams of course. The exams are always a bit different every year, but from what I can tell, everyone who comes out of Chrome’s exam leaves as a broken shell. It takes someone with a fortitude of a dragon to even stand close to Chrome’s guild master. I’m giving myself the chills just thinking about it, let's move on,” Greb said, changing the floating symbol. “The next guild is Arcanum,” motioning to the image of two dwarven hammers striking a diamond-shaped mana crystal from both sides. “They are known for secondary magic, and are in charge of the city’s defense system.”

“What’s secondary magic?” Break asked.

“Crafted magic, magic that stored or imbued inside an object for later use.”

“So like a wand.” Emmy said.

“No, not exactly. Any of you know magic?”

“Me.”

Pulling a wand from his bandolier, he handed it towards Emmy. “This is a basic wand, no enchantment or modification.” Casting another spell, Greb opened a rift along the wall the size of a door. Inside the rift was an interdimensional space stretching for ten feet before ending at a target dummy. “I want you to cast a spell at the dummy.”

Emmy thought about using a basic water spell as the feeling of mana flowed around the body before being deposited into the wand. With a quick burst, the wand let loose a dart of water that flew towards the dummy and made a small hole in its chest.

“That was awesome,” Trent let out.

Emmy felt flush, the tingle of magic still vibrating in her fingers. “Now try this one,” Greb said, unbuckling another wand. The wand was made a dark wood, the hint smell of suet and honey wafted into the air as Greb handed the wand over to Emmy. Grabbing the wand, Emmy felt a force pulsing like a slow heartbeat.

“What is this?”

“That is an Ashe Baron wand, made from the Ashe Baron tree that only grows on active volcanoes. Go ahead, try shooting the target again.” Taking aim, Emmy once again channeled her mana, this time the wands consumed her magical aura like a ravenous beast. Like setting off a cannon, a large bowling ball sized sphere of water slammed into the dummy leaving a fine watery mist covering the interdimensional room. Dropping the wand, Emmy fell to one knee, her hand grabbing the table before she completely toppled to the floor. Trent rushed over, grabbing her from the back he sat her in one of the chairs.

“Whoops, looks like that was a bit much for you,” Greb said, holstering the wand back into the bandolier.

“I want it,” Emmy said, her voice coming out in a raspy but determinate tone.

“Whoa slow down there, we haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet.” Pulling out another wand, he held it up to the group. “This is an enchanted wand a secondary source of magic. While the last two wands you used were powerful, they were not secondary magic, but instead amplification wand. Well, most wands are amplification, meaning that they take any spell and multiplies the power. In the case of the Ashe Baron, that wands have about a three-fold amplification, but at the cost of using four times the mana.”

“Why would anyone use a wand that makes your spells cost more?” Trent asked.

“Why many people, in a scenario where your in a fight with a horde of enemies, you have one spell that can do a wide area attack, but that spell takes about thirty seconds to cast, would it not be more advantageous to cast that spell using the wand to maybe take down a majority of the enemies, or would you rather risk saving a bit of mana and taking another thirty seconds to cast it a second time. Thirty seconds is a long time to be casting a spell in battle, anything could happen, you could get easily get surrounded, or even take an arrow to the face.”

“I see your point.”

“Now take this baby for instance,” handing the enchanted wand to Trent.

“But I can’t use magic.”

“Ahh, see that’s where secondary magic comes in. Point the wand at the target and just think about hitting it.” Holding the wand towards a freshly incorporated dummy, Trent focused at the torso. A crackling sound reverberated within the summoned space echoing out a puff of smoke. Taking a few seconds to adjust his vision due to the blinding flash of light, Trent saw a red glowing dummy, the interior of which smoldered and burned.

“Wow, that’s amazing, can I use this as much as I want.”

“Don’t be crazy, depending on the type of secondary magic imbued in the wand it may have a limited use or have a certain recharge time. That wand right there has about four uses before it needs to be recharged by a mage with at least tier five lightning magic.”

“I’m sure there's a hefty fee for recharging a wand,” Break noted.

“Actually the fee is very reasonable since it’s set by the guilds. You can usually calculate the amount they charge you base on the tier of magic, and the amount of mana it takes to re-imbue an item.”

“You guys interested in buying one of these things?”

“What about the last guild,” Trent said.

“Uh, I hope at least you guys would purchase something by now.” Holding his hands up, Greb once again changed the image to a circle with a square inside, and inside the square a triangle. “This is Xerum, they are known for blowing things up and are the town offensive line. They specialize in large area spells as well as concentrated attack. As much as they annoy me setting off explosives every other day, they are a great deterrent to anyone wanting to attack the city. So I went through my spiel, time to drop some siphons. The lady looked quite interested in one of the wands.”

“How much are you asking for that wand,” Break said, pointing towards the Ashe Baron.

“Considering I need to unload these by tomorrow, how about ten thousand.”

“Hmm… that’s a remarkably good deal, do you have anything else that we might be interested in? The wand is good, but our only mage is a bit low tier to be using such a powerful wand.”

“You do make a good point, maybe I could interest you in an amulet, I got a variety that increases mana regeneration, highly valuable since it lets you increase your siphon amount per day.

“That actually sounds quite useful, how much are we talking?”

“I only have one that increases regeneration by two percent, but I I can easily let it for three hundred thousands siphons.”

“Huh, yeah, two percent might not be too much of use for us since Emmy still a beginner mage.”

“Wait, don't you want to even haggle? Tell you what how about two eighty.”

“Let me talk it over.” The three walked a few feet away from the stall, Break made a long sigh before leaning on the stone wall. “Guy we have six thousand, and that’s not counting the amount we need for supplies and the inn.”

“We could just risk logging out on the street,” Trent said.

“And have our stuff stolen, pass,” Break replied. “

“Hear me out, all the NPCs are new to player logging out, they might not know it takes an hour for our bodies to vanish if we're not in a safe zone. If we all stand in a circle, it could just look like we're talking amongst ourselves.”

“Emmy, tell him how stupid that idea is.”

“Yeah, I’m going to have to agree, that is a stupid idea.”

“That was my only idea to save money, anyone else got anything?”

“Why not just ask him for something cheaper,” Emmy said.

“OK, sure.” Walking back towards the table, Break took a seat on the ethereal chair. “After some discussion, we have decided that the amulet is a bit pricey for us, do you have anything in the bauble variety.”

“I have a few rings that grant a minor increase in mana.”

“And how much would they be?”

“My cheapest one is twelve hundred siphon, but I don’t know how much a +2 mana ring will do, most people would prob just break it down for the crafting materials.”

“Actually that’s exactly what we're looking for, well take it.”

“Yeah, but you sure you don’t want like a tier one wand, the girl could surely make great use of it.”

“No, I think the ring will do just fine if we do have any other need for a magical item I'll be sure to seek you out first.”

“Alright, at least take this oracle stone, if you need any other items, just give me a call, rain or shine, day or night.”

Paying for the ring the three walked back out onto the bustling city street. “I feel kinda bad wasting his time like that,” Trent said.

“If we ever get more siphons you’re free to buy as many items as you want from him,” Break said, tossing him the ring.

“Here Emmy, your the only one that can use it,” Trent said handing her the ring. “We'll find something better to replace it, for now, it's better than nothing.”

Walking into the inn, the three were greeted by a rowdy band of people lining the tables of the common room and dining hall. Making their way towards the innkeeper a loud bellow shot across the room. “Good you guys made it,” Krane said.

“Did you guys register for the Spell Progression?”

“You have to register?” Break asked.

“Only if you want to be in tomorrow's competition.”

“Shoot, we better hurry,” Break said, already pacing towards the door.

“Hold up, I have a bit of a favor to ask, I got a kid wanting to join, but we were a bit busy unloading supplies and I wanted to see if you guy would be able to take him along to get registered. I don’t want him to go roaming off on his own, the last thing I want is him causing a ruckus and having me deal with the fallout, so do me this favor.”

“Sounds simple enough,” Trent said.

“Grail,” Krane said, his voice cutting through the noise of the inn. A portly boy of about fourteen ran up to the group, with a look of readiness.

“Yes sir.”

“Grail, these kind people have taken on the responsibility to escort you to the registration hall, I want you to mind your manners.”

“Yes sir,” Grail said, giving a quick salute.

“Isn’t he a bit young to be participating?” Break asked.

“It’s open to any age, and besides it’s not like you can get hurt, they have powerful magic to prevent anything short of death. And by some holy miracle, he does win, I’m in for a big payout.”

“Payout?” Break repeated.

“Yeah, if you’re chosen to join one of the guilds, depending on each guild, you're rewarded with a few powerful magical items, and a payout of a couple hundred thousand siphons.”

“Hell, what are we waiting for,” Break said husting out the door.