Vol. 1 - Chapter 40 - Completing Gabrils Quest

.

.

.

Fayrene watched with curious eyes as Mathias was concentrating on activating the spell 'Arcane Intellect' while she was thinking to himself.

'I'll better not disturb him. I can't even teach him my way because I simply can do it after thinking about it. It just comes naturally for me, but Mat is different. He isn't really magically blessed, but he works hard to learn things which might make him a greater arcanist them me who can't do things effortlessly.'

She watched patiently while Mathias kept gathering his mana on his Parietal Lobe and Occipital Lobe, where slowly, a new sensation followed by his senses being improved.

Delaying his process, expecting something similar to a trip, he felt nothing of that sort and proceeded with the last step of the spell, concentrating all his mana on the Frontal Lobe where it was said to be the location of the third eye.

He had his eyes closed and could see what happened outside, but Fayrene watched the new change happening in Mathias with the apparition of a white-purple-shaped eye, like a rune, straight where his forehead was.

'He did it! He should teach me those methods so when I take my first disciples, I know how to approach those who lack in aptitude.'

.

Mathias felt his mind refreshed, where all sorts of thoughts were in his mind, yet he could manage all of them.

[Congratulations, you have learned the spell 'Arcane Intellect', in doing so learning the three basic spells, 'Arcane Missile', 'Arcane Barrier', 'Arcane Intellect' opening the passive 'Arcane Mastery']

.

[Arcane Intellect]

Rating: Epic(Growth)

Infuses the user with brilliance, drawing into the potential of the arcanist, increasing intelligence by 20% and spell power by 15%

Skill Consumption: 500 MP (Will change according to the user Mana Core and resources)

Skill Buff Time: 30 minutes

Skill Cooldown: 60 minutes

.

.

[Arcane Mastery]

Rating: Rare (Growth)

Increases magic power by 10%, reduces casting time by 10%, and increases the intelligence by 2%

Type: Passive

.

.

'Indeed. It was this combination of those three locations. I wonder where the combination of the Temporal with the rest of the lobe would lead me? A new dimension? Hah, I am still too inexperienced for that.'

'There's something hot on my forehead. What is that?' pondered Mathias as he touched his forehead, right where not too long the white-purple eye was located.

Opening his eyes that were shining arcane lights, the first thing seeing was Fayrene clapping her hands at him.

"You did it, Mat. With this spell, you learned all the basic spells of the master."

"Indeed, but there is one more spell that is shown to me, 'Evocation'. By the time we leave for Empar Forest, I'll have that settled. Hopefully."

"I believe in you, dear. I will be there to support you if you struggle with any spell."

Nodding his head, he turned to look at the clock that showed already 20:47 for the two. Not even being aware of how fast time flew inside the game, he asked Fayrene if she wanted to do something together.

"Let's play chess, Fayrene. I want to test the ability of the spell."

"Wouldn't that be cheating?" inquired Fayrene with a joking tone, where Mathias just chuckled, reminding her.

"You can cheat too. I don't see where is the problem."

"Hehe, you know you can't beat me after you taught me that game." chuckled Fayrene as she walked to take the chessboard Mathias crafted, followed by the pieces accurately carved, with black and white ropes being strapped on the specific pieces, while Mathias just shrugged his shoulders.

"It is okay. Do you see me whining about losing? Anyway, let's move the table to the fireplace. I'll bring the chairs." said Mathias, where the couple moved together with the table, and Mathias later brought the chairs from the front shop.

The two lovers sat at the table and prepared their pieces not long after starting the match.

Minutes passed, and Fayrene, who had a notebook recording all the movements of the two, looked at Mathias while saying to him.

"Check-Mate, dear."

"Pass the notebook. I want to see what mistakes I have made." said Mathias calmly, not flustered or upset that he lost to Fayrene at something he taught her.

Fayrene smiled lovingly at Mathias and passed the notebook, where the latter carefully read it before nodding his head, saying.

"Another one."

"Agreed."

.

Like this, the couple played about 5 matches, with only 1 match being won by Mathias until they got enough and decided to wrap things up and prepare for sleep, mostly Fayrene.

Retreating with the Magic Tome in hand, he kissed Fayrene on her forehead as she went to sleep and took his time to read about the spell, 'Evocation' at the candle lights. The spell was something similar to 'Mana Hunger', only that from the Archmage words, it had a drawback.

"So this one consumes your energy to channel the spell. Meaning, it eats your own stamina, I guess. It might sound like a bad spell when thinking from the perspective of a player, but it's just my bias after suffering that defeat in Empar Forest."

"When you have no resources, so to speak, you will have to use even your stamina to fill it back. High risk, high reward I guess."

As Mathias was talking to himself, he closed the magic tome and moved to do something else, such as sketch another canvas, this one is for Jeanne. His quil moved swiftly on the canvas, with the 'Arcane Intellect' buff and his newly acquired dexterity, the image of a small angel and a small devil touching their hands together appeared on the paper.

[You created a decent piece of art. Dexterity increased by 1 point]

"I guess even Morpheus likes it. Thanks for the support, and wish me good luck. I hope she would like it because buying things for her wouldn't work."

Placing his hands at work, he created the outline of the two characters with the available threads, white and red. Slowly while everyone was sleeping, with the exception of the players inside the game, Mathias would be accompanied by Vlad, who would ask him random things, telling him about his adventures with the old man and how he reacted after telling him of his hardship.

.

The day slowly came inside the game, but it was when he would have to log off and prepare for the next day of work. Placing everything in his inventory and returning the magic tome back to Fayrene, kissing her once again on her forehead, he logged out.

Eating something before going to sleep, he updated his novel afterwards, he looked into the comments his readers left, before he stumbled on some idiots who made him cancel the website, no longer bothered reading the rest of the comments of readers.

"It's not like I am paid to read some of you idiots as you try eating shit."

Checking his email and later the forum, he noticed that it was quite chaotic, with all sorts of threads of people excited to get inside the game. Closing that website and looking at the clock showing 12:15, he took his plates back to the kitchen and returned back to the laptop, watching some historical videos, before drawing the line, getting to sleep.

.

A new day of work came, and nothing was out of the ordinary, just your average working day. Maybe a difference was that Mathias felt much more refreshed being able to sleep for one more hour in addition to what he was doing in the past.

Moving along with the passing of time once he entered back for his game time, Mathias went toward the Cathedral and started cleaning the building.

Once he got there, he couldn't spot Jeanne and some priests mentioning that she took a leave because of personal reasons, which were evident to him because she was laking divine energy.

Hours passed, and looking around himself, he could see that he just had a bit more to clean in the praying hall.

"It seems this is my last day of cleaning the church." mentioned Mathias, who had his long hair tied down, with the cleaning tools in hand.

The priests by now got used to him, seeing him all day long cleaning around the Cathedral with more carefulness compared to them. It was until some hours later that he gained the notification about his ongoing quest.

[Congratulations, you have cleared the quest 'Covering the chores of Gabrils'. To receive the rewards, return to Gabrils and report to him.]

"Finally. I'll never put my hands on brushes and mops to clean around inside here. It is enough. I do it for a living. No need to get crazy about it." commented Mathias as he looked around the cleaned praying hall with a half-smile, slightly satisfied but also frustrated with this quest.

Getting all the cleaning tools back to their respective room, it was a smooth process, however as he got to walk toward the exit of the Cathedral, he saw how the initial priests who didn't want to allow him inside in that Sunday, started to walk in their direction and encircle him.

"Well, well. Who we have here, the outlander peasant who is so good at bootlicking and cleaning the floor with his tongue that it even leaves me impressed."

Hearing that, Mathias just ignored him, pushing past him, but he was grabbed by the shoulder and stopped.

"Did I tell you to leave? Aren't we good friends?"

[You have suffered 100 holy damage.]

The moment Mathias was hit by that person in the stomach, his gaze instantly darkened and with his eyes starting to release arcane lights, he inquired with a cold voice.

"You want revenge?"

"You bet, I do. After I have been humiliated so much that day, only because of an insignificant outlander like you."

Not caring about that comment, he instantly brought Ragnius in his hands and also changed into [Midnight], which out of the ordinary, began to release dark smoke and also the dark green lights, which seemed similar to ghosts. Bringing the blade of Ragnius at the priest's neck, he remarked coldly.

"Bastard, if you wish to kill me so badly, you choose the wrong target. I don't even care if I kill you and have the Goddess get angry with me for my transgression. Even if I might fail to kill you this try, you will have to fear me all your life because I will be like a devil watching you from the shadows waiting for my time to strike you down and whoever might block my revenge."

Taking note of Mathias comment, the other priests looked a bit afraid, placing their hands on the ringleader, saying to him. "Brother, let's cut it off. Even if I am from a Count family, this doesn't mean I will be forgiven and not be banished. Worse, this outlander might be that crazy to target even our families. You know, they don't die."

"I think the same, brother. Let's not find trouble with the outlanders. You know how crazy they are that they don't even care about laws."

Mathias gazed at the ringleader, a level 100 priest Markos, and asked sarcastically.

"So, what will you do? Back off and leave me alone, forget all your problems with me or choose death?"

Gritting his teeth, the priest backed away, cursing with a low voice, as he moved to another part of the Cathedral. "Crazy bastard."

Being left alone, he took a deep breath, calming himself, bringing all his gear back in the inventory, and only after that did he exit the Cathedral, climbing the stairs down, after returning a bow to the front statue of Rebecca, welcoming all the parishioners.

Minutes later, he found himself in front of Gabrils shack, knocking on the door that was responded rather quickly by someone. Opening the door was Gabrils in some rag clothes, similar to what he was wearing when he started the game, who instantly beamed with a smile.

"Little Mathias, what a surprise. I thought it was that pesky old man, nagging me again for getting myself done by Yatan Church."

"Greetings Gabrils, how have you been lately?"

"Recuperating. By tomorrow I should be able to return to my simple duties. How about you, I guess you finished doing my tasks and returned for your rewards?"

"Not really. My intent was that at first but become of some parasites I no longer care about the rewards you might offer me."

"Ohh, what happened, little Mathias? Did someone inside the Cathedral upset you?" asked Gabrils as he welcomed Mathias inside his small shack that was still messy.

"Don't worry, I will not whine about my problems. Just that I wonder how some disgusting people managed to get to the level of priests?"

Gabrils heard that and pondered a bit before asking Mathias in a severe voice. "Were you annoyed by that group of dogs, led by Mak or whatever shit shitty name was? If so, don't bother too much. Soon they will be banished from the Cathedral. The old man is just drying their families of their money to expand the Church inside Saharan."

When Mathias heard that, he looked surprised by the plans of the Archbishop, which made him feel a bit better knowing that such parasite scum holding titles of 'Priests' wouldn't be able to push around their status.

"I see, the old man is really shrewd. He should dry those bastards for all their money. Later I'll take care of them."

"You'll get into a mess if you kill those dogs. They are from noble families. While not as important as the Duke Houses, some noble houses are wealthy, accumulating money for generations, now placing their younger generation into positions of power. Hah, I'll stop here because we will get into politics. Even though I am that old man's successor, I still hate doing politics."

Like this, the two began talking about casual stuff, Mathias telling the paladin about his endeavours in cleaning the church, climbing the dome and how the old man reacted as he was cleaning.

"Ahh, Jeanne really is cheeky nowadays. He placed you into a hurdle with the old man, but it will be fine. Jeanne didn't know that we were no longer supposed to not clean the high dome"

"It is fine. I can handle myself, she isn't to blame at all."

"Anyway, I heard you hit it well with Jeanne from the other boys who saw you together exiting the Cathedral and even getting to his office. Take care of Jeanne in the future. Tsk, I am still used to referring to Jeanne like when he was younger and came to the church, but now because of that curse, my head is all messed up."

"Ahem. Gabrils don't be like that old man. He said something like that too."

"Hehe, Jeanne is like my little sister, so I need to watch out with whoever she meets. What if some Yatan bastards start getting closer to her and corrupt her? She has a bright future ahead after embracing her new identity. Here, let me tell some things about her so you can have a smoother path to her."

Gabrils took a bottle of heavy liquor and two glasses, pouring some for himself and Mathias, later starting to talk about Jeanne and things she liked, from the fact she was talkative and how he could manage her to lower the nagging that might come in his way. To stories, she loved when younger. He shared like an older brother the things he found noteworthy, and in such a manner, the glasses were getting emptier.

"Gabrils, do you still remember that you send me to Fayrene?"

"The little magician girl that got her arm burned?" asked Gabrils, quickly remembering about Fayrene and how he sent Mathias to her to learn magic.

"Indeed, it has been three months since then. Thank you for your help, I can't even think of a way to repay you for that gesture. I even progressed, and we got into a relationship."

"Ohhhh, I didn't take you for a smooth talker that you got that little magician in your arms. How is she doing, especially her arm? She never came back to check on me since I healed her."

"Hah, her scars healed well. But she is still scared about how others would look at her. I have to approach this subject slowly with her, making baby steps in healing her trauma."

"Sigh, Mathias, I did everything I could to heal her, but because of a certain thing with her wound, I could recover everything in her arm."

"I understand you, Gabrils. There are still so many healing elixirs that can heal her arm. I will get something to treat her scars in the future."

"There might be some after all these legends and myths. Anyway, looking at your face, it seems to be pondering how Jeanne would react if she knew you are in a relation with someone else?"

"That… She probably might reject me. Even though I heard Saharan allows multiple marriages for men. This is still something new for me as an outlander. We have different cultures."

"Haha, just be open with her and tell her what you feel. Taking by what you have told me about her learning to walk on heels, the Hippodrome and those underground rats lurking in Titan, she might like you. Usually, she would ignore everyone that would approach her."

Listening to Gabrils mention that, he felt as if a stone was removed from his chest and downing another shot of liquor.

"I guess I'll have to find out what she actually thinks about me. But not now. I am still working on a gift for her."

"I see. A reminder to you, Mathias, if you make Jeanne wait too long and she starts suffering because of you, I might have to teach a lesson, beat some sense into you."

"Brother Gabrils, tomorrow I will go on a hunt inside Empar Forest. After I return from my adventure, I will bring my gift to her and ask her."

"Empar Forest? Where are you planning to go, Gravelmark?"

"Indeed, this is my plan, I want to see the starting point of the Saharan River."

"I never checked it out myself. But you have to journey out quite some days to reach it. There are also wild beasts lurking around, not that dangerous, but nevertheless, could still put you to trouble if you are not careful in your current state."

"Right, I still have to give you my blessing after hearing about your troubles. What big brother am I to not help you out?"

With a breath smelling of alcohol, he touched Mathias's hand and covering him in a white veil of light. He said a prayer, and suddenly right before Mathias's eyes, a new notification was brought out.

[You have been blessed by High Paladin Gabrils, getting your stats boosted by 20% for a duration of 2 weeks.]

"Bah, this is all I could do for you, little brother. Don't get yourself killed there, and if you have time, come visit me and drink something with me because I am surrounded by celibate priests who don't want to touch a drop of alcohol. Only the old man is my drinking partner, but it is not enjoyable with him."

Mathias chuckled, nodding his head, and after the sun started to lose in light, he moved back home, seeing Fayrene writing something at the counter, and when he got to her, he noticed she was copying his work.

"Welcome home, dear. I had nothing to do, so I decided to move faster and copy what you've written for the book. This one will be mine, and the other one is for His Majesty."

Smiling at her, he said with a joking tone. "Make some room for me. I got to start writing. We can't disappoint His Majesty, right?"

*Giggling* "Come, I got some sheets of paper ready just in case."