Chapter 21: A Peaceful Evening.

What a nice garden. Tobi thought, marveling at how much time and effort must have gone into it. He didn’t expect Darien care for such things but it was a welcome change of scenery from the city.

Stretching from the doorway were perfectly white stones leading down the garden. They’d been positioned in such a way that they resembled the trunk of a tree. To emphasize on that, the stones branches out to various parts of the garden before meeting up with more stones that created a white border. Flower beds filled with amazingly colorful flowers lined the fence line beyond the border of stones. At the end of each branch of the ‘tree’, a different setting had been created. Toward the end corners of the garden was where he fixed his attention though. On the right was a rockery with a little pool of water. To the left was a swinging bench that Tobi wanted to test straight away.

“Pretty.” Selene whispered as she joined him.

“Yeah. Let’s bring a table out and eat out here. I will bring out the logs we bought too and make the staffs over there.”

Nodding with agreement, she went back inside and called for the Talin to bring the bags outside. He’d somehow turned into their chaperone and ended up carrying all of their shopping. He didn’t seem to mind but Tobi did feel a little guilty about it.

Dragging a table outside with Selene’s help, the Talin followed close behind.

“I think that’s the first patch of grass I see in this man-village.” The Talin noted as he looked at the garden with admiration.

“It’s called a city, not a man village. And this is called a garden.”

“Garden.” The Talin repeated with a smile and stepped out of the door, “Where do you want bags?”

“Ask Selene, I am going to make some food, do you want any?”

“You know how to cook?”

Ignoring the comment, Tobi moved toward the basement door where he assumed Darien would keep the preserved foods. That’s where people kept their good stuff back in Brackley—things like fridges and freezers didn’t exist so it was one of the coolest places to keep it.

Oh, pretty well stocked. Guess I will go all out.

Remembering the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich he’d once tried to make, Tobi decided to make the same again. This time however he was going to see if he could make it good enough to give buffs to stats.

With a goal in mind, Tobi tried everything he could think of to make it work. Before long, he had three lightly toasted baguettes with side plates of homemade sauce, sliced ham, sliced pork, tomatoes, mushrooms and a large bowl of chopped lettuce.

Taking them all back to the garden like a circus clown doing a balancing act, he placed them on the table and told them to help themselves. After Tobi packed a little bit of everything on his—including all three types of sauce he’d made, Selene did the same.

“Too much is left for me to fit on the bread.” The Talin frowned looking at everything leftover.

“If-hine” Tobi replied with mouth full of food, “Sorry...it’s fine, you don’t have to eat it all. Just put what you want on the baguette and leave the rest. Or eat it all...doesn’t matter.”

Guess he isn’t keen on lettuce or tomatoes… Tobi mused as he watched the Talin prepare his baguette. He hadn’t succeeded in getting stat buffs but he figured he might need to get Advanced cooking before he was able.

Finishing his food and sitting in a part of the garden still blessed with direct sunlight, Tobi closed his eyes and lifted his head toward the sky. Wishing all days could be like the one he’d had—minus the talk show in the Sanctuary—he raised his arms out wide and enjoyed the feel of the sun.

Removing his robe to enjoy the sun further, he heard the Talin laugh.

“...What?”

“You look happy.”

“I am. Selene is back, I have a new friend, I learned how to make staffs and the day is exceptionally good. I wish I could have more days like today.”

Selene nodded, but nobody tried to delude themselves on how often such days would come around.

“OK, enough chatter. Time to get to work. I am going to experiment with staff carving. Talin, could you bring the wood over here please? I doubt I could lift it all if I am honest with you.”

“I will get to work on the gear too. I left the sewing materials inside though so I will be right back.”

Nodding at Selene and thanking the Talin for the wood, Tobi searched through for the piece he planned to experiment with first. Not many of the logs could actually be classified as ‘logs’ but the identification window all claimed that they were. The piece he had in mind was little more than a 15 inch stick.

Experiment one: Making a wand.

---

Lorry

Rushing through the corridors of Skea-Tech, Yoon Dong-ha cursed his superiors with all the names he could think of. Not only had they told him to stop having contact with Tobi and taken him off protection detail, they’d done so out of spite. If that wasn’t enough, they even attempted to hide the fact they’d lost him.

Turning into the Game Moderators department and telling Bo Tong to turn on his capsule, Dong-ha practically ripped off his jacket before throwing it on a bench at the side of the room. He was normally more composed but his annoyance was still on the rise with no sign of calming down. He needed to release his anger and there was only one place he could do that.

Logging into Aevitas and cursing again, Lorry ran for the GM building on the other side of town. He was still wearing the Golden GM suit that was to be worn when he was on official business and needed to change.

Removing his gear before he even entered the building, he was practically naked by the time he reached his office. Opening the chest and dragging out his gear, he dumped the golden clothes inside unceremoniously before locking it shut again.

Rushing back outside and giving only a cursory glance to the mage guild nearby, Lorry ran for the city gates. Not even a day back in Brackley and he was already being sent back to Cohol. If he ever came across the idiots that lost Tobi, superiors or not, he'd definitely kill them.

Skidding to a stop as he reached the gates, Lorry wondered what could be happening. He'd never seen the Royal Guard outside of Camlann before. There were only four of them, but to see them in Brackley of all places...

With a score of soldiers stood at their backs wearing armor that put the city guard to shame, Lorry moved to the side of the road. It would be faster to let them pass than try to get around them all.

"Lorry the Merciless?"

Huh?

"You're under arrest for—"

"—I am sorry guys but I am in a bit of a hurry right now, can you let me go and just arrest me later?"

As several men started to circle around with weapons drawn, Lorry sighed and drew his own weapons, "I will take that as a no."

---

Tobi

Holding the small wand in his hand, Tobi grabbed the end between his finger and thumb. Turning the wand downward so the handle pointed back at him, he placed his index finger at the center of the base and gathered his mana. Sending a stream of it through his finger and down the center of his wand, he was finally able to test if his theory was right; test if they really needed glyphs from an enchanter to be activated.

Item Created: Basic Arcane Wand.

Wands have the ability to direct magic and increases accuracy of spells to an almost pinpoint location. Vastly improves distance a spell can travel before losing power or dissipating.

Although powerful in their own right, wands are considered inferior to their staff counterparts.

“Cool...Inspect wand.”

Basic Arcane WandType:WandDurability:13 / 13Attack:15This wand was created as an experiment by a talented Carpenter with a basic understanding of Staffs.

No additional thought or efforts went into the making of this wand so no additional benefits will be given by this wand.

The channel of magic coursing through the core is perfectly straight and stable, so at least the spells will do what you want them too.

Restrictions:

Ability to use magic.

“Tobi, the first piece is half done. I need your book of glyphs.”

Throwing the wand on top of his robes, Tobi pulled the book of glyphs from his bag and walked over to the table Selene was working at. He didn’t know what kind of hide she was using to make the Talin’s armour, but it looked decent. Thinking of the small brawl he’d had with Scrim’s men, it looked far more protective than his robe.

“My lady.” Tobi called with a mock bow as he passed the small book over.

“Funny. I don’t know how many glyphs this stuff can take, how many do you think we should do?”

Considering he didn’t have a clue either, his only response at first was a shrug, “The basic staff I made was able to take two glyphs. I’d say that was like, level one or tier one of wood. What level or tier would you give this stuff?”

“Like I said, I have never worked with an enchanter, I don’t know what the limitations are. As far as tailor goes, this would be intermediate leather. It comes from Crag Boars found near the borders of Anderon and Lybernia.”

“Can probably do quite a few then. Let’s stick with three and be on the safe side. I don’t know what will happen if we try to overload it on glyphs.”

Accepting Tobi’s judgement, Selene nodded and asked the Talin what kind of benefits he’d like from the gear.

“Will just be nice to wear more than my underwear. I not mind. Hmm.”

“What kind of problems do scouts face?” Tobi asked, “Maybe that will help decide what kind of glyphs to use.”

“Always defense. We can’t wear good armor because it makes us slow. We always wear weak leather that is broke easy.”

Looking to Selene who nodded instantly without need for words, she instantly turned to the page with the defense glyph.

Grabbing one of the leftover tomatoes and munching on it whilst waiting for Selene to stitch the symbol into the armor, he wondered why it the glyph had to be stitched in. He was about to ask Selene that very question but thought better of it; she’d already told him at least twice that she had never worked with an enchanter before.

It didn’t take long for her to finish and she instantly began stitching the same glyph a second time. For the third glyph, she chose the glyph labelled as life.

“Why did you stitch defense twice?”

“A kiss if you can guess.” Selene answered with a mischievous smile.

“That my reward or yours?” Tobi replied with a smile of his own. Thinking about it more seriously though, the answer was pretty obvious, “One is for the durability, the other is for the stat gains?”

Smiling even wider, Selene stood up and leaned closer to Tobi. Kissing her lightly with amusement, he acted as though it wasn’t anything special and turned his attention back to the armor.

Make the armor more durable. He told himself as he poured some mana into the glyph.

The glyph started to glow in response but soon faded again as if nothing had happened.

“Did it work?”

“I think so…” Selene replied as clueless as he was, “Do the other two. For the life one, make it boost his health points.”

Nodding, Tobi turned first to the second defense glyph, “I don’t know what I am supposed to think to make it into health points.”

“I doubt my method for drawing out the abilities of the armor will work for you. Maybe it is like your magic and they just do what you imagine them to do.”

Confused, he asked her what she meant.

“Defense made the staff more durable, right? Maybe what you have to do is find a definition or meaning in the word to draw out what ability you want. Kleetz’s mage is an Enchanter, right? Maybe that’s what he does. I have been thinking about it and that would make the most sense.

You draw defense glyph and think shield when you activate it. When someone tries to strike you with anything, the glyph takes the blow like a shield. You just have to tie your intention to the meaning of the glyph. Get it?”

I think so… Tobi replied in his head meaning to say it out loud, So, if I used a heat glyph and thought of fire, I could make fire from it?

“Tobi?”

“Yes, sorry. I think I get it. Let’s try.”

Thinking of skin so tough that it couldn’t be pierced by a sword, Tobi activated the second defense glyph. For the life glyph, he thought of a racing heartbeat. Hoping that both worked, he asked Selene when they’d know the outcome.

“When it is finished we’ll know.”

Curbing his patience, Tobi took his book back and went back to his pile of wood. Selene had completed so much of her leather top and all he’d done was finish a 15 inch wand that looked like it belonged in a Harry Potter movie. He didn’t even get why staffs and wands were needed when he could fire magic from any part of his body.

Well, beside the stat gains anyway. That’s all they are good for.

Taking the wand back out of his belt, Tobi thought of the time he’d almost blown his own hand off in Samson’s Martial Hall. If he’d had a wand back then, maybe he wouldn’t have hurt himself at all. Gathering a little mana and thinking of Arcane strike, Tobi swiped at a passing butterfly with the wand.

Despite the fact he only used a little mana and not really having intended to hit the butterfly, the moment it connected with the wand it shot backward through the air. When the second part of the spell activated, the butterfly blew up into thousands of dust particle.

Oops. Sorry little butterfly.

Glancing back at Selene and hoping she hadn’t witnessed what he did, he let out a sigh of relief and watched the dust particles fall. He knew how women could get about butterfly’s so he was pretty glad she didn’t see him do it.

Well, I could have said it was just a moth. Nobody likes moths.

Turning the wand over in his hand, Tobi frowned. When he’d used the spell in the wagon on the way to Bubele’s place, he sent the man flying off to the side but the explosion of the second part of the spell had been directly ahead himself. Essentially, both parts of the spell had happened directly in front of his body.

With the wand however, he swiped the butterfly off to the side and the second part of the spell followed in the same direction.

Is that what it meant by giving spells accuracy?

---

Calamity

Grunting as a Crag Boar knocked her flying, Calamity cursed for the fifth time since she’d crossed their path.

Rolling up from the dirt and reducing the damage from the impact of landing, she readied herself for the next attack. A single Crag Boar of this level was no problem, but she’d somehow stumbled onto what the system called ‘A Sounder’—a group of at least thirty.

Side-stepping a charging female and slashing at it’s sides, she gained no satisfaction from the squeal it made in pain. The worst part of Crag Boars were their quick regenerative abilities and the damage she’d caused was minimal.

“Bring it on you pork-chop, I haven’t had bacon for ages.”

She knew it was pointless to try and goad the beasts but shouting nonsense stopped her admitting defeat. Her health had already dropped to half and she’d only killed three. The crafty buggers were rotating fighters and whittling down her health.

Come on, Lu...you’ve been in worse situations than this and lived. Think.

There was no point charging at them because they were faster than her and would run away. At the same time as running away, several others would charge her from behind. It was complete guerrilla warfare. Hit and run. She couldn’t retreat for the same reason. When she tried to do either, they activated a dash skill and…

Li~ight bulb.

Turning and fleeing on the spot, she listened for the tell-tale ‘whoosh’ sound that followed an activation of dash. As soon as she heard it, she knew a boar was on a direct collision course for her back.

Spinning on the spot, she planting the hilt of her sword into the ground and angled it at the charging boar. Planting her foot at the base of the hilt just in time, the conclusion was inevitable.

Too fast to swerve out of the way, the boar stumbled and turned just enough to skewer itself side-on.

“Stubborn little bastard.” Calamity muttered as the damn thing still refused to die. It’s health had dropped to half on impact but it still lived. “Guess you will just have to bleed to death.” She added as she pulled the sword free and turned to face the next contender.

“Four down, shitloads to go.”

---

Tobi

“Done!” Selene called out happily as she held up the leather armor she’d been working on.

“Show me!” Tobi replied as he dropped the staff he was working on and rushed over, “Inspect.”

Crag Boar Leather TopType:ArmorDurability:90/ 90Defense:75Crafted by a Tailor of exceptional talent. With the help of an Enchanter, this top has exceeded the limitations normally found on this kind of equipment.

Created as a gift for a Talin with no name; may it forever keep him safe.

+20 HP.

+45 Defense

+45 Agility

Restrictions:

Level 55

50 Defense

80 Strength

50 Agility

This item bears the mark of its creator: Selene the White Priestess.

“That is...too cool.”

“Cool?” Selene and the Talin echoed together.

“Er...in simple terms, it is a Travelers term that means awesome. It’s amazing. I guess that means the enchantments worked, right?”

Nodding with a smile on her face, Selene turned the top around and admired it a little longer, “I hope the pants turn out this well too.”

“Oh wow, it even has pockets for knives and stuff.” Tobi noted as he looked at the top rather than the stats it gave.

“And arrows on the back…” Selene added as she turned it around to show a quiver-like addition to the design. He didn’t know how to describe the quiver exactly—it was like a spine guard with a hole at the top.

“It looks bulky and yet...maneuverable. I don’t know how you can make something like that so quickly.”

Too pleased with herself to respond, she passed the top to the Talin who put it on instantly and started stroking it.

“How do you like it?” Tobi asked unable to wait any longer.

“Even with no pants, I am already better geared than I ever been before.”

Watching him continue to run his fingers down the front of the top, Tobi’s only concern was the lack of arms. It would be too restrictive to add arms to it, but he couldn’t help but think it left him too exposed. Hoping he’d find a solution to it at some point, he decided to definitely find him a weapon next. First though, he had to finish making his own weapon.

Returning to the malformed staff he’d created, Tobi turned it over in wonder. He’d played with it a little too much during his experimentation, but it had been worth it. Whilst singing to the wood to carve it, he tried twisting it to see what would happen. To his surprise, it actually twisted a bit. He did the same thing whilst trying to bend it and even stretch it. The final product was a work of art.

Scratching the glyphs mana and life into the lower part of the staff, he decided to risk a third one and added defense. He wanted to make it more durable. Unlike the ash wood he used to make Selene’s staff, he was experimenting with a higher tier of wood. He added the third glyph in hope the birchwood was like Crag Boar Hide and able to handle it.

Activating all three glyphs and breathing a sigh of relief as nothing had yet gone wrong, he wondered how he was going to activate the staff; it was too long to hold at both ends.

You have finally taken your first step as an Enchanter.

Enchanter has reached level 1.

Oh. Finally. Before that though…

Placing the staff on his right foot and putting his right hand on top of it, he gathered mana in his foot and tried to channel it through the staff to his hand. Keeping the flow of mana continuous as it travelled up the staff, he focused on making it go straight. As the mana went up however, it seemed as though the mana turned where the staff twisted.

Thinking of ‘the core’ mentioned in the wands description, Tobi let the mana flow on the path it found easier to follow. When the mana finally reached his hand, he cut off the flow and tried to sense what happened to the remaining mana in the staff. As best he could tell it was still there; Pretty soon however, whatever he had been sensing disappeared.

Skill with staff carving has increased..

“Inspect staff.”

Proud Birch-wood StaffType:Wizarding StaffDurability:60 / 60Attack:40This staff was crafted by a beginner staff Carver.

Despite the crafter's lack of experience, the carver was able to bring out close to the maximum of the birch-wood's ability.

The carver has left his loving impression on this staff and it’s hidden beauty.

This staff is full of pride and has been blessed with a core of power by the crafter.

You would be wise not to offend this staff.

Infused with a glyph of defense: Repairs have a chance to keep maximum durability.

+10 HP stats to wielder.

+10 yard spell range.

This staff can hold up to 50 mana in reserve for the wielders use.

Restrictions:

Must believe the staff is beautiful.

Must have at least 1,000 base mana.

Knowledge of Staffs has increased. You are now level 2.

Proud of his staff but still failing to see the usefulness of ‘Knowledge of Staffs’, Tobi closed the boxes and hugged the staff.

“Careful, you will make me jealous.”

Looking toward Selene in surprise, Tobi heard a little ‘hehe’ escape his mouth and felt his cheeks begin to burn instantly. Turning away from her a little so she wouldn’t see, he turned his mind back to Enchanter. The one thing he really wanted to know about it was what stat gains it gave.

“Open User Window.”

Name: Tobi

Level8Health: 760/760Mana: 1297/1439Energy: 71/100Satiety: 78/100

TITLESInventor

Inventor of Chess

Tobi of Brackley

Prophet

Gods’ Chosen

[td100]STATS[/tds]Distributable Points0 (80 used)Health Points61(+10)Intelligence138Strength74Wisdom90Attack55Dexterity91Agility69Defence43Leadership31Piety130Charm26Charisma31Logic81Stamina104Nobility53???-???-Endurance101???-???-

[td100]Additional Information[/tds]RaceHumanGenderMaleAlignmentGood; HeroicClassNoneAffinityArcane; Divine;AllegianceUndeclared

Professions [+Others+]Cooking: Intermediate 10 (+60 Health Points)

Elven Carpentry: Intermediate 1 (+51 Dexterity)

Lumberjack: Beginner 28 (+28 Strength)

Alchemy: Beginner 1 (+1 Intelligence)

Herbology: Beginner 20 (+20 Intelligence)

Enchanter: Beginner 1 (+1 Intelligence)

++Others++

Linguistics Beginner 32

- Known Languages: Elven, Malanchite, Talin, [Human]

Swimming: Beginner 5

Knowledge of Staffs: Beginner 2

Huh? +10 HP?

Wondering where the additional 10 HP was coming from, Tobi looked at the staff, Duh. 10 HP is from the staff. So wait...if I had my robe on still, it would be +10 int, too? And my defense would be +45 and piety +20?

Staring at his stats and starting to wonder how some of them worked, Tobi looked at his intelligence and mana. He knew it was 10 mana per intelligence, so that meant the 138 int was 1,380 mana...then the 15 from being level 1 plus 5 more per level that followed. So 35 more on top of the 15. That only made 1,430 though.

“Selene, what affects mana besides level and intelligence?”

“Wisdom.” Selene called back absentmindedly.

Oh yeah. 1 Mana per 10 wisdom, duh. I wonder if there is a glyph for wisdom.

“Besides the mana bonus, what is wisdom good for? I forgot.”

“What do you mean?” Selene replied stopping what she was doing and frowning a little.

Realizing he was speaking like a Traveler, Tobi rephrased his question, “Doesn’t wisdom affect your mana in more ways than just adding a little to mana your pool?”

Selene shrugged and returned back to sewing, “It isn’t known but people claim that it helps your mana regenerate quicker. Others claim that condenses your mana pool to make spells stronger. We don’t really know what affects it has with any certainty.”

Suddenly stopping her task and frowning at the sky, Tobi asked what was wrong.

“Remember when I told you the story of going to see you at the Plucked Duck in Brackley—back when you were living there?”

Vaguely recalling stories but not the specifics, Tobi pretending that he did, “What about it?”

“I was with a Traveler called Claire. I overheard a conversation she was having with her friend. Her friend had just hit 100 wisdom and she received a message through God’s Window. If I remember right, she said something about more experience from fights/”

100 Wisdom gives better experience gains? 100 is quite the milestone though… “Oh well, doesn’t matter I guess. I was just curious. I have never really paid much attention so I was just trying to figure a few things out.”

As Selene turned back to her task, he looked to his health instead.

Applying the same logic as before, it was 15 Health that he started with, 35 more for the 7 levels that followed, 610 from the HP gains of cooking and 100 from the 10 HP granted by his staff.

I wonder if my stats are good for my level…I wish Lorry was around.

---

Darien

“A copper for your thoughts?”

Narrowing his eyes as he looked out across the city from the roof of his home, Darien silently cursed his momentary lapse of caution. He’d kept his guard up for a decade only to let it drop when he was so close to achieving his lifelong ambition.

“Your ability to sneak up on people is improving Lee, but you still need more practice.” He replied without turning back.

Lee’s silence pricked at Darien but still he refused to turn around, “I was thinking about my life until now. Tell me, Lee; have you ever been to the inner city?”

“I have been all the way to the walls surrounding the Castle.”

Darien nodded as his eyes turned ever-so-slightly toward the statue of Selest at the center of the city, “When I was a child, I believed this city was built on a hill. Did you know that the city is built on almost perfectly level ground?”

The question was met by silence.

“It was because of the city’s design. The buildings on the edge of the city near the outer walls are smaller than those at its center. Each building gets gradually bigger as you go deeper into the city. I used to imagine what it is like to live at the top of the hill—only to find that it isn’t a hill at all. Funny, don’t you think?”

Tensing as he heard Lee move somewhere behind him, Darien subtly reached into his sleeve for a dagger that waited there.

“This city is actually pretty incredible when you think about it,” Darien continued as he played for time, “If you combine history records with religion; this city was actually home to the very first Lybernian’s. Pretty obvious really when you consider where the Kings Castle is built. Do you know what is at the center of this city, Lee?”

Again there was only silence for a response.

“At the center of this city is a pit. It is so deep that even the dwarves were not able to determine its depths. In the middle of the pit is a single column of Earth that rises from the abyss like a pillar of hope. There is only one way to that little island of rock: A bridge made of stone that has no business being there. The statue we can see of the Mother Selest is at the end of that bridge and the castle is built behind her.

When you think about it, that’s why it makes sense for Chadú to put his people here. They had the perfect protection from everything. All they would have to defend is a single bridge crossing to their little island.”

Slowly sliding the dagger out of his sleeve where Lee couldn’t see, he finally sighed and gave up the pretense.

“If you have come to kill me, you will find that you aren’t quite up to the task.”

Hearing a snort of derision some distance behind, Darien hesitated.

“You always did underestimate me, Darien. I am sorry, but I think it’s time your rule was over.”

***

Back to Main Page

***

Authors Notes::

Spoiler :

I made a lot of changes to this chapter and wrote it so many different ways that I started to forget what I took out and what I didn't. For that reason, I left it alone a while and came back to read it again later. I think I have made all the necessary changes, but not 100%.

Additional Comment:

Been a tough week >.>

Almost forgot: Thanks to everyone that has been supporting this fiction. Waking up the other day to find it on the Best Rated [Top 50] list was a nice surprise. Certainly a highlight of my week.

~Aspirer <3