{{ Authors note: During the stat conversation in the previous chapter, I was supposed to explain Wisdom and I forgot!!

I put inside this spoiler box to save space: Please read:

Spoiler : Intelligence/Wisdom/Mana

1 level = 5 mana.

1 Intelligence = 10 mana.

10 Wisdom = 1 mana.

100 wisdom = 1% increase of experience from battles.

A level 1 starts with 1 intelligence - that means 1 level (5mana) and 1intelligence (10mana) for a total of 15 mana.

I would like to remind people that health works the same way but with HP.

HP is not 'Health'

1 level = 5 health.

1 HP = 10 Health.

50 HP therefore is 500 health. Include the fact the person is at least level 1 and that becomes 505+ Health.

Chapter 5: Champions Road Part II

Tobi, you're a genius. He told himself with pure joy.

Laughing at the Queen standing alone in the center of his new chess table, Tobi wondered if he could improve on it.

He doubted it; his skill wasn't that good yet.

"How does it feel, Niamh? Being on the demonic team? Suits you, right?"

Looking across to the white team, Tobi felt a little guilty. Whilst the likeness of Niamh was good - he had done a poor job of recreating his sister.

When he'd first started making the black chess pieces, he'd thought he would always want to play with the demonic characters. Now it had Niamh as their queen, he wasn't so sure.

His feelings regarding both queens were mixed. He was both happy and yet somehow displeased by his actions.

Shrugging, he decided to leave them as they were. The last thing he wanted to do was spend another day trying to create new Queen pieces. Even with his constant rise in Dexterity and the occasional level in Elven Sculpting, the job had been exceptionally difficult.

There was still one problem left before he could play the game though, and it wasn't a need for a chess partner.

All the pieces were the exact same colour!

More specifically, they were all uncoloured wood. Each one shiny and brown without polish.

Without the knowledge on how to dye wood, he decided it was time to visit Jasper and show him the fruits of his labour.

After cleaning up shop and putting everything back in order, Tobi went to make a basket of sweet-cakes. Just like with the last meal he made, he did it manually. The taste wasn't as good as he kept making mistakes, but he was getting better at it and he hoped it would eventually lead to some stat gains.

Basket of sweet-cakes in one hand and a neatly packed Chess-Set (box and all) in the other, Tobi wandered next door in high spirits.

"Hey! Jasper! You around?"

The sly little mans head appeared from the back room, "Tobi? What do I owe the pleasure?"

"I come bearing gifts."

Narrowing his eyes, Jasper stepped out into the shop, "And what is it these gifts pay for?"

Laughing, Tobi placed the basket on the counter. "I will admit, not my best batch. Still, they are plenty tasty and I only want information on how to dye wood."

Sniffing the basket and lifting the lid to take a peak, Jasper nodded and grabbed a bunch of vials from under the counter and place them in front of Tobi.

"OK... Guess that answers that question. For the purchase, I offer you a look inside this box."

Jasper looked at the box suspiciously, "It's probably empty."

Unable to resist a small laugh escaping, Tobi quickly lifted the lid and instantly shut it again.

"OK, not empty. Why would I be interested in what is inside?"

"I made them with Elven Carpentry."

Jasper raised an eye-brow, "You actually managed to learn it? Then why couldn't I...?" The second question faded off as a mumble but Tobi still caught it.

"Probably because you already have the carving trade. Who knows? Anyway, I will even show you how Elven Carpentry works if you give me enough dye to do what I need to do."

"How much dye is that? You might need to dye your entire shop for all I know."

"Just enough to dye what is inside the box. Then it will be complete."

Jasper nodded and made a gesture with his head for Tobi to open the box. After lifting it open, Jasper inspected the pieces. Each piece lay inside a little groove cut out specifically for the purpose.

After careful examination with his eyes, he pulled out the most interesting piece; The King of the Demons.

Tobi felt that piece was a cheat. He had basically stole the design off the back of someone's shirt he'd seen at Uni.

He didn't know the name of the creature, but it basically looked like fire came out of it's hands, feet and back of the neck. The Demon King sat proudly on a grand throne and had horns that curved backward on top of his head.

The other King he felt less bad about; it was basically a generic Paladin looking character without helmet sat on a throne. He'd originally planned a God, but what the hell does God look like?

"What is this creature?"

"I don't know. Creature of nightmares? I just wanted to make one team unholy and the other holy. That's how they ended up."

"Teams?" Jasper replied, his curiosity finally showing.

"That's why I need dye. To separate the two teams - and for the board. I will show you when it is done if you like."

Jasper nodded, "What colours do you need?"

"White and black. Any other colour designs aren't necessary, but if you have ideas and are willing to throw the dye in for free then I will listen to suggestions."

Jasper looked doubtful to anything that involved the word 'free'.

Grabbing several vials of black dye and several vials of white, he pulled out two deep-dish bowls and some small brushes.

"If you want the dye to stick properly, you will need this too." Jasper explained as he pulled out another vial. It appeared to be some form of polish or varnish. "I will do the white team as white is a harder dye to apply. I will show you, then you copy with the black."

Tobi nodded and pulled out all the holy pieces for Jasper to work on.

---

As Tobi put the last Black piece into the bowl of dye, Tobi wondered how either colour was any more difficult than the other. He was basically dipping the pieces into a bowl of dye and after a few minutes taking them out again. Once he took them out, he brushed them over with more dye and ensured there was no patches. Finally, they put them to the side to dry.

"When they're dry, we will add the varnish."

Tobi nodded and reached into the box. After lifting out the piece of wood that had been holding the chess pieces, he flipped it over. The other side was lined with perfectly form squares in rows of eight-by-eight.

"What's this?"

"The board." Tobi replied and started dotting every other square with a black mark. "These squares need to be black, the others can stay as they are but ideally they should be dyed white too."

Jasper looked from the pieces and back to the board. "OK, you have my interest. Let's do a proper job of it."

Tobi smiled and nodded as the pair began work on the board.

---

"I don't think I am going to have enough varnish for this, do me a favour and run to Roken's Alchemy shop will you?"

Tobi nodded and waited.

"You can pay, varnish wasn't in our agreement."

Tobi rolled his eyes and laughed.

The Alchemist was one of only two general stores that wasn't located in the trade district. In short, that meant he had to travel across town to the shop.

He'd made it about half way when his mood dampened.

Was it him, or were people looking at him funny?

Noting that people on both sides of the road were giving him shifty looks, Tobi suddenly felt self conscious.

As he passed the church, he decided to stop one of the Priests and ask what the deal was.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Yeah, and I didn't see you give me the same shifty look. What is going on? For that matter, it doesn't make sense that nobody comes to my bakery anymore either."

"Your bakery is closed."

"Didn't stop them knocking last time I closed. Nobody has stopped by since I shut up shop..."

The Priest looked around and Tobi copied. People were whispering and talking on all sides but all heads turned away under Tobi's glare.

"Look, it's because of Ranall...and other things. But mostly Ranall. You shut up shop for no reason, you go out chopping wood with Joe and pay for the mercenaries, you visit Ranall, spend the night singing, wailing, whistling, shouting and banging around in your shop...and then, finally; Ranall disappears. Well, I happen to know he snuck out of town, but people gossip. How do you think it looks?"

Pausing for a moment as countless thoughts, reasons and excuses passed through his mind, Tobi looked back at the Priest, "What does Joe have to do with it?"

"Eh?"

"Why does going into the woods and chopping trees generate interest in my behaviour. You should know as well as anyone else how bad the woods can get. Why would Joe and the mercenaries draw gossip? It's normal."

The Priest looked at Tobi like he was a lost little sheep or something. Pity seemed to light up his eyes, "Are you truly unaware?"

"Of?"

"Joe. He isn't just a lumberjack. Sure - he keeps up appearances well and nobody can prove anything. Take any crime committed in this town though and you can bet your sweet-cakes that Joe is involved somehow."

"So people think I hired Joe to get rid of Ranall?"

"And why wouldn't they? Ranall goes missing and you show up wearing his brooch? What would you think?"

Tobi looked down at the brooch on his shirt. "That Ranall gave it to them! If I did something like that, would I really walk around with the evidence on show?"

Turning on his heel, Tobi made once more for the Alchemist store. At some point along the way, he took off the brooch and slipped it into his back pocket.

Bunch of dumb, back-water, gossiping, no-good...

He was still mentally cursing when he entered the Alchemist store.

"Tobi. Long time."

Tobi looked around but he couldn't see the small man anywhere. The day he'd met him he thought Roken was a Dwarf....or Gnome. Turned out he was just short.

"Ha! Not used to looking up to find me, eh?"

Tobi looked up and seen him sat on top of a potions cabinet.

"What are you doing up there?"

"Until you walked in, I was about to do an experiment. Stand back behind the counter will you?"

Tobi did as he was instructed.

Carefully moving a large jar of liquid from the side of him, Roken propped it in front of his head and casually threw it forward.

Watching as the jar seemed to float momentarily through the air before plummeting to its doom, Tobi wondered what the hell the little nutter was doing.

As a blast erupted from the center of the room, Tobi dived for cover behind the counter.

"Tsk. Another failure."

Tobi poked his head above the counter and checked the damage. There was none.

"What the hell?"

"If it worked, it would have blown a small crater in the floor."

"And you can't do that outside?"

"Outside isn't protected by a special made barrier, is it? Had the Enchanter make it specially for this experiment. It is fine though, I have a second enchantment to keep the blast contained in a small area."

"Wait...if it works, it breaks the enchantment and makes crater - but if it fails, it doesn't make any damage and the enchantment holds?"

"Yes." The little man beamed back and hopped lightly from the high cabinet.

Wouldn't that mean that, if it works, the room will probably blow up alongside the fallen barrier...enchantment...thing?

Tobi watched the small man in amazement. He knew the guy was slightly tapped in the head, but now he just seemed straight up nutts.

"What brings you here anyway, Tobi. Planning to get Joe to off me too?"

Tobi's eyes shot open but the little man just laughed and waved a hand.

"I don't believe it, don't worry. You don't have the ability to kill a rat, let alone that stubborn fool of a thief."

ha, shows what you know - and whose a thief?

"Well? What is it?"

Puzzled, it took Tobi a moment to catch up, "Ah! Varnish. For Jasper."

"Tell Jasper I haven't had time to make any more yet. Really, how much can a man need? I gave him my entire stock last week."

"...I see. I will go and tell him." Tobi replied frowning. As soon as he left the store, he ran a fast as he could all the way back to the store.

You have gained 1 endurance

Yeah, now it's unlocked I am sure I would you piece of...

Pushing his thoughts aside, Tobi barged the door open and tried to get his breaths under control.

"Ah! You got back too quick...I was almost finished."

Looking down at the counter, all of his pieces were varnish and a light decoration was mostly painted around the edge of his chess board. The various shades of green, yellow, brown and gold blended into a nice pattern. Somehow, it looked kind of Celtic in design: A colourful tribal pattern he'd not seen anywhere in Aevitas before. Neither in books nor anything else.

"It's nice." Tobi noted after admiring it for a moment.

"Yeah. I stole the design though. A traveler had me paint something similar on her shield."

"You can paint metal?"

"Pft. No. The shield was wooden. Most are. Not everyone can afford a fancy metal one."

Tobi shrugged, how was he suppose to know?

After Jasper finished painting the board, Tobi explained the rules of chess whilst waiting for it to dry. Thanks to the world being Aevitas, they didn't have to wait very long at all.

Once it was finally finished, Tobi set the board up.

Unfinished Chess Set has been modified.

Would you like to change its name?

"Yes."

Please spell and name the item

"C O M P L E T E -space- C H E S S -space- S E T. Chess Set."

Complete Chess Set has been added to your recipes.

Elven Carpentry has leveled up.

Elven Carpentry is now Beginner Level 12.

Dexterity has improved by 1.

You have learned sub-skill of carpentry profession: Dye/Dying.

+1 intelligence.

Dying your work will grant experience to carpentry.

Dying your work may cause unknown appeal and value effects on the work.

Dying your work may cause other unknown effects in regards to stats and status.

Smiling, Tobi looked up to see a wide-eyed Jasper.

"You invented and created this from nothing?"

"Yes. Well...kinda." Tobi replied, not wanting to take credit from who really invented it in the real world. Whoever that may be.

"That explains so much of your peculiar behaviour. An image from the gods."

"Image from...Oh...I see...I guess you could say that." Tobi replied, imagining he was referring to 'The Muse(s)' - Goddesses of inspiration.

This world probably had gods like that too.

After Jasper took a quick glance at where Ranalls brooch had been earlier, he gave Tobi an odd look.

"Erm. I think I will pass on the game today. I have things to do. Come by some other time though, yeah? You might have to remind me of the rules though."

"Sure.." Tobi replied with obvious suspicion. Packing away the pieces and feeling the constant stare of Jasper, Tobi backed out slowly and walked out of the store.

Weird coot. Wasn't bothered when I wore it but was bothered when I took it off? I think its time I left this town. First though...

Passing by the Church again and seeing the Priest he collared earlier hide, Tobi's frown creased further.

Hearing a loud boom as he passed the Alchemy store, Tobi's mood threatened to brighten a little.

Ignoring all distractions, he walked into the mage guild next door. His visit was long overdue.

----

The large double doors of the Mage Guild led into a strangely small room; you could barely even consider it a reception area. The only 'things' inside were three doors and a very wizardly looking man in blue robes with matching pointy hat and long white beard.

"Welcome."

Tobi nodded at the man and walked in. The doors automatically closed with an audible boom behind him.

Thinking the whole thing was rather eccentric, Tobi asked where to go for magical training.

"Pick a door and have your fate decided."

Looking at each of the doors, Tobi moved until he was between all three. There didn't appear to be any difference between them, they just belonged on a different wall each.

Tobi's only hesitation was due to the way the man said his fate would be decided. The tone of voice had Tobi believing his fate might actually rest on the chose.

Narrowing his eyes at the wizard and cursing the developers, Tobi asked him if all the doors led to the same room.

His otherwise expressionless face shifted enough for Tobi to notice his lips form a thin line.

Due to the facial hair, Tobi couldn't tell if it was a good or bad expression he was hiding.

"You are going to be the one inside the room I enter aren't you?"

At that comment, Tobi could tell the man was resisting the urge to smile.

"How did you know?"

Tobi rolled his eyes, "It is a little cliche, but I give you points for your acting. You had me fooled. More important though, how is it done? I thought teleporting was impossible."

The man nodded, "It isn't teleporting. Your deductions are impressive but it is all relatively simply and the act doesn't end there. My wife is in the next room using a concealing spell. I use spouse teleport granted by the gods to teleport to her."

"I thought you couldn't teleport to your spouse inside a building?" Tobi asked. Byron had been married to Mel and explained that much back when he stayed at the GM HQ.

"No..." The mans hat threatened to fall off his head as he shook it repeatedly, "You can't teleport to your spouse if they are in a building and you are not. You also can't if you are in two different parts of the same city. If you are in the same building though, it is quite convenient for avoiding stairs." At the last comment, he seemed to chuckle a bit.

"So what about the doors?"

"Dimension magic. That kind of magic disappeared a long time ago, but this building is very old. It is the only building in town that existed before the wars.

Back then, this was not a town but the capital of an entire country."

Tobi seemed to remember something like that but couldn't quite remember where he heard it.

"Oh well, you might as well just come in."

Without another word the man walked toward the door on Tobi's right. Curious to the result, Tobi quickly walked through the door dead ahead.

He tried to pass through the door at the same point and time as the wizard did in the other door.

-The result was not as expected.

Tobi walked out of the door on the right and the wizard walked out of the central door.

"I forgot that did that..." the wizard laughed. Without warning he jumped backwards and disappeared. Tobi laughed and went back through the door.

Appearing behind the man, he followed him through a lavishly decorated room full of fancy rugs, painted walls and yet devoid of all furniture. Remembering that the mans wife was somewhere in the room, Tobi inspected the floor as far as the eye could make out distinctions.

He suspected the woman would be waiting at the far end in the center. For his parlor trick to work, that would be her ideal location.

Unable to see if she was there or not, Tobi looked at the approximate location he would call 'the best spot'.

"Hello."

A good looking and young woman appeared, seemingly from thin air, "How did you know? Detection magic? It was detection magic wasn't it?"

Her husband in turn chuckled and took off his hat. The protruding white hair, beard and all other facial hair came off with it. He proceeded to take off the fake wizarding robes too. Without the disguise, he looked to be as young as his wife.

Neither of them could have yet reached their thirties.

"What made you wear such clothes in the first place if they serve no real purpose?" Tobi asked completely forgetting about the woman's question.

"Travelers seemed to believe wizards should wear clothes like these. We decided to entertain and amuse them. After the Travelers left though, only Deedee and I kept up the appearances. Regular folk like us don't usually waste time with such pointless decoration."

Tobi nodded. It went against the ideal fantasy setting he'd thought Skea-Tech created, but this world was running out of things to surprise him.

"So what do Mages wear?" Tobi asked looking at their casual clothes.

"Anything we like. It is true that certain clothes can affect our magic though. Leather dampens our magic and metals can cause it to go astray or backfire. Cloth is best, but any cloth is fine. It doesn't have to be some greatly designed robe. That's why we believe mages are the best. We are always prepared for battle. We don't need to run somewhere and get dressed in the best armour. We also don't have to equip a quiver of arrows or a bow. We don't have to get close with daggers and swords. Mages-"

"-are the best." Tobi interrupted, "I agree. You basically listed every reason that I am here."

The pair smiled back and nodded at each other.

"Galven was only half right in what he said though. There are special made clothes that enhance our magic. We don't know why, but they always make it in the fashion from older times. More specifically, robes and hats.

I think it is because the ancient robes still carry strong, magical properties...those that wear them don't want to look stupid for wearing them and so encourage others to wear similar."

The thought process made sense so Tobi just agreed with her thinking.

"Before we begin, you might want to put your parcel down." Galven recommended.

Looking down at his chess set, Tobi realized there was a reason no furniture existed in the room. This was where they practiced magic, obviously. To hell if he was going to leave it in here where it might get blown up!

"Galven, you haven't even introduced us yet."

Looking at Tobi, Galven paled. "Er..."

Tobi caught up with the situation and smiled, "I am Tobi, you are Galven and his wife, Deedee. Pleasure to meet you both."

He'd learned their names already through their conversations.

Pleasantries and greetings were usually awkward in Tobi's experience so glossing over them seemed favourable.

"Er, out of curiosity - what is it you are carrying anyway?" Deedee asked sheepishly.

"It's a chess set. A game - of sorts. I don't want to leave it where it can get damaged though is there somewhere I can put it?"

Tobi looked around for somewhere to put his chess set and wondered why he brought it in the first place. His home was right next door to Jasper's, he could have easily dropped it off before coming.

"I am more interested in the Chess Game thing," Deedee called as she walked over, "may we have a look at it? We have been teaching magic to people for quite a few years. It's rare something interesting comes along for us."

Tobi shrugged, there was plenty time to learn magic and he'd been itching for a game for a long time.

Fortunately, the pair seemed to be a quick study. He only needed to explain the game and rules once and they seemed to grasp it entirely.

Probably a bonus of having high intelligence and wisdom.

After setting up the board, Tobi explained the winner stays on rule. As the game was his, he will go first but they can flip a coin if they both wish to go first.

"It's OK, Galven can go first. I'd like to measure my opponent."

"Hoho! Counting my loss already, eh?"

"You really think you can beat the one who taught you how on the first try?"

Galven shrugged, "The rules seem fair. They favour both sides."

Tobi nodded, "Whites go first so it could be argued they have the advantage. As the challenger, you decide which side you wish to be."

"I will be ... Black. I like the look of their King."

Tobi nodded.

----

As Deedee rolled around the floor laughing, the red faced Galven told her to hush up and try to do better herself.

He hadn't really planned it, but he started in a typical fashion when playing against a novice and defeated Galven in 4 moves. Even if you are clever enough to play the game, it doesn't mean you have the experience to perform well.

You have unlocked Logic

For defeating your opponent in a game of chess: +1 intelligence.

For defeating your opponent in a game of chess: +1 wisdom

Surprised that the game had awarded him any stats at all, Tobi stared at both notification boxes.

- He was also surprised the system gave him the right kind of stats.

Hadn't he spent a year without the system acknowledging his efforts enough to give him stats - yet now it happily gave him three at once?

Galven had also froze and seemed to be staring into space.

"Galven? What is it?" Deedee asked in a worried tone.

"Window...gods window." Turning to look at his wife, his face slowly lit up, "You will never guess!"

"Then don't make me you oaf! What does it say?"

"I got Logic! This chess-game gave me Logic! It says:

You have faced an opponent in a strategic battle of logic and wits. Despite being crushed with humiliating efficiency, perhaps this will help you in your future.

Logic has been unlocked. Plus one logic. "

NPC's have stat windows and system notifications too? Wait, Jasper didn't seem surprised when I started spelling the chess set name. He seemed to know it what it meant to spell it out. How come I didn't think of it at the time?

Both mages seemed to celebrate but Tobi was just bewildered by their over-enthusiastic attitudes;

What's so great about logic?

"Open Window: Logic."

Logic:Logic is the most coveted stat in all of Aevitas and considered the hardest one to unlock.

To unlock logic, most of the known world are under the impression you must have a battle and win.

To unlock this stat, many nobles host mock battles in an attempt to unlock it; even then it is rarely achieved.

Logic affects many aspects of life in Aevitas yet rarely takes a direct role in life and therefore does not unlock easily.

This stat either directly or indirectly affects and/or supports everything that is done within the world including at least some abilities of any given class.

Open Advanced Logic Window for more detailed information.

He'd just finished reading the window and closed it when both mages turned to him in reverence.

"Where did you learn this game?" They asked in unison.

Of course, the truth was that he learned it in the real world...he couldn't tell them that though;

"I am the creator. This game did not exist in the world until I made it."

As far as Aevitas was concerned, it was the truth.

"Incredible." Deedee panted - and she really did seem to pant out the word, "Play me next!"

Tobi obliged but his earlier excitement had dimmed a little. The two crazy mages were ruining the mood.

As the game dragged on, Tobi snapped out of his daze. She'd really run him round the bases!

Refusing to lose to someone playing their first game, Tobi pulled out everything he had. The game ended seven moves later.

You have gained 2 logic.

You have gained 1 intelligence.

You have gained 2 wisdom.

What the hell... these stat gains are crazy.

The woman seemed to be staring into space too as Galven stared at her excitedly. When the two suddenly done a repeat squeal performance of learning logic. She also noted that she'd gained a stat in wisdom. Apparently for someone with her high wisdom, it was an incredible feat. Both resumed staring at him wide-eyed, Tobi rolled his eyes.

Tobi on the other hand wasn't surprised she gained some wisdom. In fact, he was more surprised she hadn't gained an intelligence stat. Hadn't Lorry said that trying new things will increase the chance of stat increases?

Something like that anyway...

"Another game?" Tobi asked.

An overly eager Galven rushed to be his opponent.

---

Tobi didn't know how long he'd been beating them both at chess, but they were both getting good enough to give him a hard time. The games were getting long enough for DeeDee to slip out, get refreshments and cook a meal for three before returning in time to see Galven get beat.

When at last the two had given up for the evening, it was too late to do any magical teaching. The pair were completely worn out and constantly yawning.

Guess they really pushed themselves to keep playing

Tobi on the other hand wouldn't need sleep for another day or two. If he pushed himself, he could probably last three but that would really push his mental stress to the limit. At the end of the day, the brain needed to relax as much as the body. His body may be 'fake' but his mind certainly wasn't.

"I will call it a night, but we can play again some other time. After you teach me what I came here for in the first place."

Blushing at their inconsiderate behaviour, the pair agreed.

As Galven escorted him out he seemed to be struggling with something.

"Spit it out Galven, what's on your mind?"

"It's just... I would like to buy a chess set from you."

Surprised, Tobi looked at the set in his hand. "It takes time to make and this is my only one. I don't think anyone else knows how to make it yet. Jasper has seen it so he probably-"

"-No." Galven interrupted, "If you can make it yourself, we would rather have one made by you personally. How much do they cost?"

"To make? The wood I collected myself. Had I sold the wood, maybe 1silver for the ones used - not including the ones I ruined trying to make it. The dye is another silver. Any ornate details like on my board will cost a little extra. Then it's just a cost of my time and effort. What would seem suitable?"

Galven looked at Tobi in a way similar to the Priest that afternoon. Or had it now become yesterday? Either way, it was full of pity.

"You don't charge someone based on the cost of materials..."

"What do you mean?" Tobi asked with the ever too familiar frown. He'd always charge for materials first and then his effort as a little extra on top. He'd earned plenty that way and remained too cheap for others to undercut his prices.

"Listen. You see two swords for sale on a stall. One is Steel, the other is Iron. Which costs more?"

"Steel." Tobi replied confidently.

"Right. The one who made the Iron-sword is a master blacksmith. The one who made the steel is a novice. Which costs more?"

"Probably Iron, but I'd be tempted to still buy the steel one."

"Quite so. Now - the durability on the steel sword is 10, the durabilty on the iron is 90. The sharpness of the Steel is 15, the iron is 35. The damage of the steel sword is 14-25, the damage of the iron is 35-45. Which one is worth more now?"

"I am not a master carver though." Tobi pointed out.

"That's not the point. For one clever enough to make this game and ... never mind. The point is - you charge for what it gives. Not the cost of material. Do you have any idea how much people would pay just to learn Logic? Let alone have a game that teaches it to anyone for free."

Tobi shrugged, "5Gold?"

"5 Gold he says. Try priceless. In time these games will be everywhere and everyone will have logic, but right now it is rare and everybody will want it. This game will be the most popular in the world. Mages right now are less than 10% of the population in Anderon. What do you suppose will happen when this game of chess is released?"

Considering the amount of times he had intelligence, logic and wisdom increases - Tobi expected a surplus of mages were on the horizon.

"By your face, it appears you understand. Let's put it this way - for a game crafted by a master, there will be no benefit difference to that made by a novice. That alone will make this game a popular product to be made and sold. The only change in prices will be you. A genuine chess set made by the creator of the game. Your chess sets will be worth the most."

"I see. So what should I charge?"

"Honestly, I don't want to pay tooth and nail. I would like to pay as little as 10 Gold, but if I were in your shoes - I would charge 50gold for even my poorest pieces of work. The better the design of pieces, like the faces on the set you made for yourself...the more I would charge."

Tobi nodded and thanked him for the information. As thanks for the information, he promised to make them a basic set but the maximum he would allow them to pay was 5 Gold. Everybody else, he would charge whatever he felt like.

The chess set has been acknowledged by residents of Aevitas. Any set created by you will come bearing proof of your craft.

You have earned a new title: Inventor

You have earned a new title: Inventor of Chess

You have brought fame to your starting Town and been awarded an identifiable title:

Tobi of Brackley.

Residents of Brackley will praise your name the more widespread your game of chess becomes.

"Huh?" Lifting up his chest set, Tobi called 'inspect'.

Complete Chess SetThis chess set is The Original chess set and was crafted by its designer.

This chess set has the mark of it's creator:

>> Crafted by Tobi of Brackley

This chess set can be renamed by it's creator.

"Cool. Rename Chess Set."

Please spell and name your chess set.

"[...] Angels and Demons Chess Set of Tobi of Brackley."

--- [Author omitted the spelling part and the window that followed.]---

"Open User Window"

Name: Tobi

Level1Health: 545/545Mana: 941/941Energy: 35/100Satiety: 39/100

TITLESInventor

Inventor of Chess

Tobi of Brackley

[td100]STATS[/tds]Distributable Points0Health Points54Intelligence93Strength18Wisdom67Attack2Dexterity63Agility1Defence1???-???-???-???-???-???-Logic53???-???-Endurance15???-???-

[td100]Additional Information[/tds]RaceHumanGenderMaleAlignmentNeutralClassNoneAffinityArcaneAllegianceUndeclared

----

Smiling as he cooked some fresh bread, sweet-cakes and honey tarts in his kitchen, Tobi's mood was enough to sing songs. Had he not needed to eat desperately for his satiety, he might've started work on Galven's chess set.

Not that he could of even if he was full; Even his energy was shot. Whilst cooking manually and avoiding system assist, his energy depleted rather quickly. To make up for it, he was making a high energy drink to gulp down whilst cooking. What he really needed was meaty foods. Unfortunately, he'd neglected his kitchen the past week and his meats had gone off. All he had left were the bakery stores so breads and cakes were his only option.

Contemplating methods of raising Endurance, Tobi figured it would simply require running and the like. Thinking on it, he wanted to unlock speed too. If nothing else, he wanted to know which slot of question marks it would take up in his stat list.

When I go round tomorrow, I will ask them what stats are available and if they know ways to unlock them. I should have asked Lorry the same thing yesterday when he mentioned speed.

Pushing his thoughts aside, Tobi pulled out the bread and sweet-cakes. The honey tarts were almost cool enough to eat but the bread was the more filling food source. Honeyed tarts did help with energy levels though so he munched on one just the same.

He wasn't sure why, but after receiving so many stat gains, he felt like he was in a race against time. There was something coming, he could feel it. He just had to be ready when it got there.

Food and drink finished, Tobi took a look at his wood pile out back. Five logs. He knew as much but he was still in a good mood and wanted to do a little more Elven Carpentry.

Preparing his work station along with honey tea, honey tarts and bread - Tobi sat and ate whilst deciding which pieces to make. Only one of the logs was large enough for the board itself. If he wanted to include slots in the bottom for the piece, he couldn't afford any mistakes. The board itself was probably the easiest piece though. The hard part was getting perfectly straight lines. Last time he made the board he'd figured the solution to that rather easily.

Just like in life - he used a make-shift ruler.

Deciding the board would be first, Tobi set to work.

---

As dawn came through the window, Tobi took a last look at the pieces he'd managed to make. Unlike his own set, each piece was a general standard. No ornate carving or faces - just bog-standard pieces. Thanks to that, he hadn't made any mistakes and managed to get the pawns for both sides created along with the base. Now he just needed the Rooks, Bishops, Knights, Queens and Kings.

The downside had been a lack of Dexterity increase. As the pieces had been on the bland and easy side, the whole creation so far had only given him 3. Sadly, he couldn't check what percentage his stat was at until the next stat increase.

Elven Carpentry on the other hand had risen to Beginner 14 for an extra 2 Dexterity on top of the 3 he'd gained during crafting. Elven Carpentry also shown him his percentage, which currently said 71%

Working it out in his head, he'd crafted a total of 48 chess pieces (successfully) and 2 chess boards. Being only level 14 seemed like a rip off for the effort involved. It wasn't even system assisted either...not that he could even if he'd wanted to. You had to whistle, hum or sing - so system assist was impossible.

Imagining a bard using system assist to sing made him smirk a little. Humour aside though, it was time to head back to the Mage Guild.

Guild... there is only like; two people there.

Grabbing his chess set off the counter, Tobi set off for the Mage Guild once more. He'd been tempted to leave it behind to ensure he was taught magic and collect it later but he didn't want to be parted from it.

Noticing the morning air had turned chilly as he locked up, he thanked the lucky stars he'd started in Brackley. Or rather - that humans started in Anderon. As far as Aevitas was concerned, its winter was close to non-existent in this region. In Lybernia to the East, there was rumour people didn't even know what snow was.

How that made sense in geological terms Tobi didn't know, but that's how things were.

With the empty streets to greet him, Tobi felt a portion of relief. He hadn't realized it, but he'd been unsettlingly bothered by the peoples stares. Now he walked alone, the relief shown him how bothered he'd actually been.

It had been a long time since Tobi felt connected to his feelings to this degree so rather than worry over them, he revelled in them. It was all thanks to chess - like he'd been woken up from a sleepless dream, he was finally returning to life...in a manner of speaking.

As the Mage Guild came into view, Tobi smiled and quickened his pace. He was really looking forward to his magic lessons. Maybe even more than some more games of chess! There had never been anything that interested Tobi more than chess. At least, not in his living memory.

Raising his hands to knock, the doors opened on their own.

Guess that means they're up. Tobi thought as he walked in. Galven didn't seem to be there so he just went right on through.

"Tobi!"

"Morning Deedee. How are you?"

"Suprised to see you here. That's how I am."

"Eh?"

Hearing Tobi's name, Galven came rushing in, "Tobi!"

Looking from one to the other, Tobi asked what was going on and took an involuntary step backward.

"The guards arrived here last night after you left. They'd checked your store and found it empty. Someone told them you came here so they came looking for you. We told them you left for Camlann but we didn't know if they believed us. They hung around for a while to see if you left. We'd have kept watch but-"

Tobi held up a hand to stop him, "Don't worry, I know you were too tired for that. More importantly, why did you cover for me at all and why were the guards looking for me?"

"Told you he didn't do it." Galven hissed at Deedee.

She looked back at Tobi apologetically, "Well, it's not like we knew you to be sure. We only met yesterday."

Tobi nodded, "That doesn't answer either question though."

"They found some innkeeper dead on the road to Gilleous. They seemed to think you had something to do with it."

"Ranall? And why cover for me?"

In his mind, Tobi was trying to remember where Gilleous was. It had been a long time since he seen the map in the GM HQ. If memory served, it was a coastal town/city very similar to Brackley; former capital of a country east of Brackley before Anderon became one kingdom.

"That was me," Galven admitted, "I acted on impulse, I won't deny it. You didn't seem to be the murdering sort and I ..."

"...?"

"I don't know. I just did it. What do you want me to say? I didn't think you strong enough to kill the innkeeper? I never met the guy. Deedee and I came here three years ago - maybe a little longer. Just before the Travelers arrived in this world. Anyway, mages were on the decline and we didn't have the manpower to have mages governing every Mage Guild. Deedee and I weren't quite at the level for running our own Guild Hall- yet here we are. In our time here, we haven't made many friends. We spend our time couped up in here or in the library upstairs."

"Galven, you're rambling again." Deedee informed him.

Tobi had to agree.

With a sigh, Galven put it into simple terms, "The man that worked out the trick to the doors yesterday was no killer. That's what I thought. Not a cold blooded one anyway. If you did it, it was definitely self-defense. So I acted on my instinct and lied to the guard. Not that I thought it would do you much good."

"Where did you go after here?" Deedee asked.

Tobi told them both everything he'd done after leaving step-by-step.

"And they didn't catch you?"

Tobi shrugged, "I am here aren't I?"

Blushing a little, Tobi began to realize how proud mages were when it came to using their minds. He'd noticed it yesterday, but anything that could be labelled as even remotely stupid had them turn into tomatoes.

"So what now?" Tobi asked still hoping for some magical lessons.

The pair looked at each other with worried eyes before turning to Tobi, "No choice." they replied in unison.

---

Tobi shook his head for the umpteenth time since his morning meeting with the magical duo.

Their so called 'no choice' solution had been to dress him up in one of Galvens costumes. They planned to sneak him out of town and south to Cohol. After speaking to some orb, the plan was for him to meet a mage by the name of Vallen in Cohol.

Tobi had been especially interested in their communication 'device'. As far as he'd known, whispering tools were Traveler only objects - but then, he hadn't known NPC's had their own stat windows and stuff either.

The difference between player and NPC was turning out to be extremely little. It was easier to count the differences than the similarities.

Difference 1: NPC's have to use the toilet and if they can they sleep once per 24 hours - like normal people would.

Difference 2: NPC's stay dead if you kill them. They don't ressurect after 4 days ...

Difference 3: NPC women could become pregnant and have children by 'normal' methods.

Beyond that, Tobi wasn't sure that NPC's had any other differences at all.

The communication device on the other hand was something worth learning about. A 'Channel Orb' they had called it.

Once upon a time -which in Aevitas usually equatted to 500 years ago, before the legendary great war that turned Anderon into a single cuontry- there had been 3 types of channel orb: Purple, Red and Cyan-blue.

Red were known as 'Personal Channel Orbs' and no longer existed as far as Galven and Deedee were aware.

Blue were and remain to be 'All Channel Obs'. Unlike their name suggests, it actually meant that Blue Orbs communicated with every other blue orb in the world simultaneously. There was zero privacy with them so they were never used. Their original design had been so all Lords could talk to their Kings. When two different Kingdoms had the same idea though, they found that they could listen in on each other and they stopped being made. They still exist though.

Purple Orbs are still in use and remain to be the only Orb with knowledge on how to be made. They are referred to as 'Partner Orbs' and always come in twos. Each Purple Orb has a single partner and they can only commune with each other. All partner orbs are created as pairs and will not work if you try to make them in singles or multiples of three and more.

Galven had jokingly said that Purple Orbs don't believe in bigamy which resulted in a light punch from Deedee.

Using the Purple Orb they kept in their library, they repeatedly tried calling Vallen for hours. When at last they got through Tobi got to see it work for himself. A kindly looking man in his middle ages (judging by face alone) was reluctantly willing to take him in and hide his identity.

Galven and Deedee had both vouched for Tobi, which seemed to be enough for their superior.

With plans in place, Tobi asked once more if he couldn't have magical lessons before they left. Again he was told there was no time to waste.

"Well I can't leave yet anyway."

"Why?" They replied in unison. Their knack for doing that was getting less amusing.

"There is a man who will visit me either tomorrow or the day after. I can't leave without talking to him first."

"Who is the man? Did he have something to do with that innkeeper? Are-"

Tobi held up a hand to stop him talking. Galven really had a way of running off at the mouth.

"He is my keeper. Er... Guardian. When I arrived here, I had no money, no trade and no means to support myself. He gave me money to start up business and he checks up on me every four days or so. It used to be every four days like clockwork but these days it is a little more random. I can't leave without letting him know where I am going. I owe him too much."

Stroking his 'fake-bearded' chin, Galven gave it deep thought.

"Can you leave him a message somehow?" Deedee asked.

Tobi considered it for a while but he couldn't see how. The first solution he thought of was writing in Elven, but someone might be able to read it. The second was write in real world English, but he didn't know if that was possible. He also didn't know if Lorry could even speak English.

As the three sat in silence, Tobi tried countless scenarios in his head. On top of everything else, it made him realize that he had books and other items locked in his chest at home. He wanted them back too.

"Galven, do you have a large piece of wood and a map of Anderon?" Tobi asked with a smile.

"No, but I can get them." Galven jumped up and immediately left to get what Tobi had asked for.

"What's your plan?" Deedee asked.

Tobi's smile grew even bigger. If this worked, he would be a genius for life and Aevitas should give it to him as a Title.

----

"Done!" Tobi sighed with relief.

Deedee and Galven had been amazed by his Elven Carpentry but he refused to tell them how it worked. He told them his great-grandmother had been an Elf and it had been passed down in the family. They both looked doubtful but Tobi didn't really care. He trusted the pair, but he had no intention of revealing his knowledge of Arcane magic until he knew what ramifications it would have.

"I don't get it." Deedee admitted as she looked at the wood.

Tobi looked down and wondered if it was too complicated. Lorry was a smart man though, so he hoped for the best.

The board was titled at the top in Elven: Lorry. Danger. Traveling.

Underneath was a crudely drawn outline of Anderons general shape inside a square. There were no towns, cities or any other features carved onto it, just the shape of the country border.

Below the country was an arrow pointing down to eight rows of eight squares. Basically, a picture of a chessboard surface.

The board was the exact same size -or close enough to make no difference- as the square drawn around the country above it.

In the bottom right square was the letter 'K' in black dye. Two squares above the black K was a white 'Kn', left of that was a white K. One up and Two left of the K, Tobi had written B, also in white.

At the bottom, Tobi used Elven once more and wrote: K = King. Kn = Knight. B = Bishop. Whites turn.

"In chess, this pattern would be called an archetypal Bishop and Knight check-mate. Now - if you were playing this game and you are white, what would your next move be? It is currenly white's turn."

"I would move the Bishop next to the King and win." Galven answered. Deedee nodded.

"OK, in your mind, imagine the map drawn above to be over chess board. Can you imagine it?"

"Yes..." They both mumbled in doubtful concentration.

"Where on the map did the Bishop move to?"

As they both painted the mental imagine, they both leaned back in shock; "Cohol!"

Tobi laughed, "Now I just hope my friend figures it out."

"Aren't you worried someone else will figure it out?" Galven asked. Now he knew the trick to it, it seemed kind of simple.

"In this world, there are 4 people who know how to play chess. 3 of them are here." Well, I did explain the rules to Jasper but I don't think he counts.

Smiling, the pair nodded at the plan.

For putting forth a well thought-out plan, +5wisdom. +3 intelligence.

If the plan succeeds, other stats may be attained.

Joining them in their smiles, Tobi closed off the window and re-equiped his disguise.

----

Due to the store being closely watched, both Galven and Deedee had said it was pointless to hang the sign on his door. After careful thought, Tobi came up with the obvious solution: He hung it up on the alley door to the GM HQ.

After rigging the sign to the door so that it would flap and knock if the door opened, Tobi made his way toward the city gates with Deedee.

Unfortunately, one mage had to remain at the Guild at all times. Although Galven wanted to be the one to travel with Tobi for safety reasons, Deedee refused. The safer option was her for both Galven and Tobi.

Deedee was the stronger mage. If Tobi turned out to be a bad guy, she had a better chance of winning and/or escaping. If Tobi was indeed a good guy, she had the better abilities for defending him.

Galven didn't like it but he couldn't argue with her.

Tobi didn't much mind either way, but he had to admit that she was indeed the better one at playing chess. I f he had to choose, it would always be the better chess player. If that person was also his better chance for survival, there was no contest. In Tobi's mind, she was the ideal bodyguard in the absence of Lorry.

When they arrived at the towns gates, Deedee voiced her concerns for deceiving the guards, "What we need is a distraction." She added as an afterthought.

"Hmm." The first thought that came to Tobi's mind at the word 'distraction' was throwing a stone in the opposite direction. Somehow he didn't think that would work.

Thinking back on his spells so far to see if they could be of any use, Tobi smiled, "Have you ever heard of a Lions Roar?"

"Yes. A Traveler once came to use wanting to learn wind magic. He'd been a martial artist but he seemed able so we agreed. After learning the basics, he tried to add wind magic to his Lions Roar."

Raising an eye-brow, Tobi asked what happened.

"The idiots voice nearly deafened me and the wind magic tore our rugs to ribbons. We charged him for the repairs."

Tobi tried to hold back a smile as he imagined the scene.

"My Lions Roar works a little differently. I discovered it by accident, but I don't think my voice needs to be all that loud. Shall we give it a try?"

Tobi had been remembering his experiment on the log back in the shop. Calling out 'boom' hadn't been that loud, but the resounding boom and splintering of the log had been enough to rattle his ear-drums.

Deedee shrugged and took a step towards his back. She clearly didn't want to be in front of a Lions Roar after her previous experience.

Gathering up about half of his mana, Tobi channeled it to his throat and let out an almost inaudible cough. He directed the cough to a shop door across the street.

The action was supposed to be an experiment before the real deal; what he hadn't accounted for was the change in his mana. With his Intelligence now at 98 and his wisdom 72, his mana supply was no longer a mere 505 and was closing in on the 1,000 mark.

500 mana worth of Lions Roar shot silently and invisibly across the cobbled road.

Deedee raised an eyebrow waiting for Tobi to cast his Lions Roar.

The resounding boom of a door blown clean from its hinges blew the both of them backward and off their feet.

What the hell?

Tobi shook his head back and forth in an attempt to shake off the dizziness and ringing in his ears. He could see Deedee shouting something at him but couldn't make out what she was saying.

"...WORKED. LET'S GO!"

Realizing what was happening, he jumped up and quickly followed her out of the gates whilst the guards rushed to the shop.

He tried to get one quick last peek at the damage as they fled the scene.

***

Back to Main Page

***

Authors comments:

I had a lot of problems with this section/chapter.

I expected to be finished about 4 hours ago but I realized that I had made some errors in my edits in chapter 4

(for example the wisdom and mana explanation I gave at the start of this chapter - see spoiler)

I know a lot of you are waiting for the fight scenes, level ups and battles -along with return of players and such- but for now, all I can ask is that you bear with Tobi for the time being.

I plan to continue bashing out chapters as fast as I can in order to get to those chapters to you.

For the time being at least, my focus is on quick releases rather than length. I might not done one quite this fast again though, was a little difficult. ^_^

Hope you all liked the teaser for Tobi's abilities.

-Aspirer

>>Quick thanks to David for noticing I called Galven, Jasper <3 <<