“He is such a nerd,” Jen had discovered a new application for her onboard, and laughed to herself as she took a “screenshot” of Sam laid out on his workbench with drool all over the table. Jen had been bringing food and drink to Sam for over three weeks. “I don’t even think he is aware of time passing or of the food he’s been eating and drinking. He is one driven old man,” she thought as she dropped off dinner.

A few hours later Sam was looking around lost. he felt dried spit on his face, and it took him a few moments to realize where he even was. His body ached and his mind felt wrung out, but he’d done it. “Kelly, I’ve been using quadruple focus with meditation for days, weeks? but digging through the thousands of lines of code will be worth it if these mana enchantment tattoos work with these legacy enchantments. So many of the lines, I’ve had to push my mana around the concepts and directions to understand, and so many lines…Those two spells are way more powerful and complex than anything I’ve ever decrypted and turned into enchantments before. Who would have thought that meditation could allow such focus and elevation of the mind, damn!” Sam thought as he glanced at all his System messages that he had ignored, surprised at how much XP he earned for decrypting the technique scrolls and spells, and his Words of Understanding skill reached level 51 breaking into the journeyman ranks. Sam slowly picked himself up and headed to his bedroom for some real sleep.

It didn’t surprise Jen when Sam slept almost 2 days straight. “Hey sleepyhead! Did the smell of breakfast wake you up finally!” she said, and smiled at Sam as he came into the kitchen famished. “You look recharged, and I saw that you got a shit load of experience points. I’m guessing you figured something out?” Jen asked Sam, as she put some food on the table for him.

“Thank you, Jen. I know you’ve been handling absolutely everything again. I really appreciate the incredible support you’ve been giving me.” Sam said sincerely, as he started to dig into his food.

“It’s only because I expect you to come up with some major powerful shit for us, and don’t forget my drones you need to invent!” she replied, turning towards the sink to hide her embarrassment at the compliment. Jen then turned quickly remembering a system message Sam had forwarded her and asked, “What was that message about an enchanter’s book you received when entering the journeyman ranks for Words of Understanding?”

Sam nodded and replied, “Yeah, that was kind of weird. It was related to a gambling quest I received.

Jen looked a little jealous. “Oh yea, I do remember seeing see an odd quest you forwarded me, but I was busy and ignored it. Just a second while I pull it up.”

System Message:

The Greater the Risk, the Greater the Reward!

==

Gambling Quest: Make it to Journeyman in Words of Understanding!

==

Requirements: Reach Journeyman in Words of Understanding within 48 hours– odds of failing 45%

Select your Fortune:

A. Accept reward of 3 ability points for every ability point gambled, maximum bet of 3

B. Accept reward of 5 ability points plus euphoria for every ability point gambled, maximum bet of 3.

C. Accept reward of enchanter’s book for gambling 5 ability points.

D. Accept reward of enchanter’s book plus euphoria for gambling 3 ability points.

E. Decline Quest and continue your life as a yellow-bellied chicken!

==

Sam selected “C,” and the quest was accepted.

==

Jen complained, “That is so unfair!”

Sam looked pleased with himself, “I’ve been getting a lot of good gambling-quests lately. I’ve been putting all my winnings back into any ability points I lost on other bets and all the surplus winnings into my luck stat. My luck stat is now 25. What’s your luck stat?”

Jen gave him a concerned look. “Still pretty low, but be careful, gambling can be a dangerous habit.”

Sam nodded, “I agree, it’s like investing. You never invest money you can’t afford to lose. Additionally, you have to start out investing small, but the more you make, the more you can invest without worrying about losing everything. Of course, I never accept any quest that includes euphoria.”

Jen frowned as she thought about it, and said, “You’re right I guess, I should probably start increasing my luck stat at level ups. So where is the enchanter’s book?”

Sam pointed at his temple, and said, “It’s in my head. I thought I was going to receive a book from the System store, but the reward was downloaded directly into my brain. I can still feel the lingering headache it caused. It was strange because it integrated with my enchantment app and added a few new enchantments. It also linked my enchantment app with my inventory skill. It’s like what I’ve learned is instantly recalled to my brain, and I don’t have to do a query or a sort function to search for the best enchantment when working.”

Jen was green with envy, but she was truly happy for Sam’s success, and said, “Dang I’m jealous. I can’t find any information about my psych skills that we can afford from the System store. I would love to get some sort of psych skill book. Anyways, back to business, how are your enchantments going?”

“I was able to finish turning the legacy spells into enchantments, and modify them to use variable amounts of mana. It was much more difficult than I thought it would be, even after I received the enchanter’s book,” Sam said with his mouth full of food.

“You’re such an arrogant idiot. Did you really think it would be easy turning two high-powered legacy spells like those into enchantments? Those spells cost a literal fortune,” Jen said as she was sitting down to eat. “But you did do it!” she smiled at him showing her support for his accomplishments.

“I’ve done part of it anyway. I need to tattoo both of them onto my arms and practice how to cast all the variations the enchantments will allow. You’re right: they are more powerful than you or I thought. Reading through the code on the spells, I learned there are a LOT of options when casting. I’m really excited to see exactly how they work, but I am pretty sure the lightning spell can strike just one target or multiple targets in a designated area, and it can be originated from anywhere. The lightning does not have to come from my body or even anywhere close to me. It can come from the sky, the ground, the side, etc.… That really makes it more useful if there is no signature trail back to our location when it is cast!

“Wow! You could make someone think they were surrounded by striking them from different directions!” replied Jen.

“Exactly, and the healing spell has some crazy options too, but I’m going to have to practice with both to really be able to maximize their potential. Last, the raw power of the spells is really only limited by the amount of mana that can be pumped into them.” Sam said with excitement.

Trying not to pressure Sam right back into his workshop, Jen asked, “Do you need a break or want to do something else for a little while before you dive back in and start tattooing, or what.”

Sam looked guilty as he faced Jen. “No, but the real question is, do you need a break from handling everything?” not wanting to take advantage of her.

Jen laughed, “Go run back to your workshop! Long Bi and Ji Bi are handling the store just fine. I’m having a great time hanging out and training with Tamako. I’ve really found it fun and challenging mixing my psych skills with my Ninja skills.”

“I don’t need to be told twice,” Sam replied, feeling reassured that Jen was doing just fine. He actually missed spending time with Jen, but he felt they would be heading out of the city together in just a few days to train his new spells anyways.