Richard was waiting for me outside the room as I got changed. He said that the others are getting us some transport and that we should meet them at the guild’s entrance. Richard was not wearing the blue robes I saw him in last. Today he was wearing a black robe with a grey steel cuirass. I assume it’s steel, but you can never really tell for sure without checking the item.

Lex, the rogue from my support team had a full set of leathers made from metallic snakeskin. Looking at his armour you would think it was made from dark steel. Lex called it his snakeplate. Terrible name, I always thought snakemail had a better ring to it.

Richard leads the way, and I’m happy to follow. Still have no clue on the layout of this place. Being dropped off right in the middle of the guild hall probably did not help, but I am an explorer at heart and enjoy seeing new sights.

Making sure Richard stayed in my field of view, I open my status and look at my spell list.

Spells:

Identify (0)

Mana Marble (1)

Summon Campfire (0)

Summon Weapon (1)

Well, I was not expecting that. I received Identify but for some reason I never gained fireball. Instead, I have Summon Campfire? The dream of throwing balls of burning death is feeling more and more out of my grasp.

Is it because I’m a Summoner? Maybe I can’t learn any destructive spells at all with this class. I can’t really describe how I am feeling. One part of me is interested in seeing what the new spell does. The other part of me wants to break something. Lucky there is nothing kickable nearby… apart from Richard.

“Checking on your new spell?” He must have sensed my thoughts.

“Yeah… You mentioned something about spells changing before. Can you tell me a little more on that?”

“Did not get the spell you were expecting? That can be quite common, especially for spells that don’t typically fall in your class expertise.”

“So, a conjuror would have trouble learning a healing spell?”

“Yes! Conjurors specialise in converting mana into supplies. They also do well in fire and earth magic, but not as well as a Firemage or Earthmancer. Learning healing would be almost impossible, for any of these three classes.”

We walked out a door that opened into a little oasis of greenery. A stone path travelled down the middle of an impressive garden, benches were placed on the side of the path, and there were a few sitting areas around tables made of smooth stone. People are sitting at tables sharing food or moving from place to place.

“Take my class for example. I’m a Lightbringer, and like the name implies, I can create and use light in different ways. If I were to learn from a spell book of um, let’s say, Darkbolt. It might change into something more in line with my class. Instead of Darkbolt, it might become Banish darkness or something completely unpredictable.”

“Hmm instead of fireball, I learned Summon Campfire.”

Richard pulls out his pen and notebook “Fascinating! What does the spell description tell you?”

Curious about that myself I focus on the spell.

Summon Campfire

Rank: 0

Cost: 30 MP

Effect: 6% (base 5)

Description:

Summon a campfire that will increase regeneration and recovery of health, stamina, and mana.

Campfire will last for 10 hours or until dismissed.

Richard notes down my words as I read out the description.

“A recovery spell from a damaging spell. I can’t wait to discuss this with the head librarian when we get back! I am glad my guild encouraged my transfer here.”

“You’re not part of Ex-terra?”

“No. I am a member of an affiliated human guild named “Blye cycle” from another tower. They put out a request for a low-level healer to join their new team. I heard that Ex-terra has an impressive library and decided to come check it out. I did not expect to meet a newly summoned with an unrecorded class.”

Leaving the garden, we walk down a stairway.

“How long have you been here now?”

“Three months next Third-day.”

“You must have progressed in the tower quite a bit, in that time.”

“Surprisingly no. Master Gushiken has been very protective of his descended and only allowed us to go to floor five until our group was complete. Now you are here I hope the group has some more freedom… Ah here we are!”

Reaching the bottom of the stairs we walk out into a large outdoor area with lots of red paper lanterns everywhere. In front of us were Japanese style shrines, several large red pillars lined the path and connected high above to each other, all supporting more glowing lanterns. Looks like a corridor of giant red doorways, an impressive sight.

The path ended in an open courtyard paved with stone. Tents, stalls, and all manner of temporary buildings were grouped together. Inside, people are selling food, masks, and an assortment of knick-knacks. The place had the feel of an open market with different races bartering, socialising, and eating.

Richard walked through it all to a wide smooth paved road. Traveling along the road are levitating vehicles of all sizes. They looked more like more like wagons, carts, and carriages than cars. Most of them had open tops, looked boxy and were made from wood. It reminded me of Earths busy streets, except the traffic here was all floating off the ground.

“Richard, Reigner! Over here!” Looking to the voices I see Yui waving to us from a carriage at the side of the road. The carriage was painted a mix of grey and dark blue. I could see a person sitting at the front of the carriage outside of the passenger area with a series of sticks in front of him.

Walking over I see Miko sitting inside, next to Yui.

Yui opened the door and I follow Richard inside.

The interior was a dark green and I sink into the soft fluffy seat cushions as I sit down. It was like being hugged by clouds.

Across from me, Yui closed the door and pressed a button on the wall next to her. “We are ready.”

A male voice replied from the wall behind me “Okay, we will be at the tower in about forty minutes.”

Yui sinks back into the cushions across from me. “Sorry for leaving so suddenly. When I saw you distract Sara, we decided to leave before she came back. Good work on that by the way!” She nudges Miko next to her “Maybe Reigner should be the tank of the group.”

Miko huffed and looked at me “That looked more like CC than tanking, to me.”

CC or crowd control is an old Earth term used in multiplayer roleplaying games. I can remember trying to introduce the lingo to my support group, but it never stuck. Not that it mattered, I fought by myself for ninety five percent of the time. The only time the others would bother pulling out their weapons was during an ambush. Hearing the slang being spoken here makes me smile a little.

“Really Miko? I am surprised you could see anything from the ground, with Reigner’s pants covering your head” Richard said from next to me.

“Oh… about that” Miko pulls some tattered blue cloth from behind her. “Here… your pants.”

Is this girl really trying to hand me the ruined pants she ripped off me?

“Uh, no thanks… You can throw them away… That reminds me, once we split whatever we earn from the tower I want to buy some new clothes. I don’t want the guild providing everything.”

Richard perked up next to me “Has the guild not given you an induction? You can sell mana to the quartermaster for guild credit, if you have a mana transfer spell.”

“People buy mana?”

“Just about everything in the city needs mana to run, including this levicart. Many casters choose not to climb the tower, and just spend all day providing mana to the city.” Richard scratches his chin. “It works out to be about one copper for every ten mana but that can fluctuate depending on demand and who is buying.”

Yui waves her hand. “That’s great but can we talk about the group for a moment? This is Reigner’s first time so we should explain our formation.”

“Well, it’s pretty straight forward, I take agro and let things hit my shield, Yui attacks from melee, Rich keeps us breathing, and Reigner can attack from range.”

Yui glares at Miko “That is simplifying things but should be fine for now. Floor one is cake for us anyway so we can practice before going up tomorrow.” She turns to look at me “That reminds me. Were you able to learn the spell?”

“I learned a spell, but it was not fireball.”

“It’s incredible! He gained a recovery spell that increases the team’s regeneration. From a fireball spell!” Richard pulls out his notebook “listen to-“

“Wait! Reigner, you don’t have a ranged spell?” Yui looks to Miko for a moment before turning back to me. “Can you use a bow?”

“I can, but not very well. Besides I want to rely on magic not weapons”

“What if it’s a magic bow?” The look in Yui’s face is one of determination. Did she forget our bet in the training room already? Surely not. Her face still bears the mark from our spar this morning. Hmm. Maybe that slap did more damage than we thought and shook her brain a little.

“I get it, you want some range damage for your team. Let me think on it and I’ll have an answer for you by the time we reach the tower.”

Closing my eyes and resting my head back against the cushions, I let the others talk to each other while I review my spells.

I have Mana Marble, Summon Weapon, Identify, and Summon Campfire. Of these spells only Summon Weapon can be used to deal damage. Most mage classes have some kind of range attack. Firebolt, Dark bolt, Ice spear, and lightning bolt. All impressive spells with cool names.

Since unlocking magic, I really don’t want to go back to using mundane or external weapons to fight. Thinking more about my class. Summoned weapons come from my magic. You could argue that technically, using a summoned weapon might be considered the same as using magic. What if I were to summon a sword or axe and throw it? That would be like summoning a fireball, right? Only it won’t set things on fire.

Okay, I can concede that throwing a summoned weapon can be the same as using a fireball spell. Now I just need a name for it. Spear and bolt are used a lot in spell names. How about, Wooden Spear? Spear Shot!... Magic Spear Lance? Hmm no.

Woodbolt? That sounds a bit better but not all my summoned weapons are made from wood. What about Spear-bolt?. I can replace spear with whatever I summon. I like it. The bolt makes it sound like a ranged spell too. Sword-bolt, Axe-bolt, Shield-bolt… I won’t be throwing shields, that is just ridiculous.

“Oh Gods! What are you reading?” Opening my eyes, I see that Miko is staring at Richard. Her eyes are wide, and ears flat against her head.

Looking over to my left I see Richard with a book open in his lap. Getting a glance at the cover, it’s the book he tried pushing on me last night.

“This is one of the first cross species fiction ever created. It’s a love story so grand I find myself coming back to it every few months.”

Miko is reaching out slowly to the book. “It’s not fiction. Where did you get it? There should be no copies of it in the Guild!”

“I brought this from home. I was surprised to see that there were no copies in the library. Would you like to read it? Once I’m done I’ll lend it to you.”

“Oh let me look!” Yui reaches over and grabs it out of Richard’s lap at the same time Miko shouts “No!” but Yui holds it away from her while she looks at the cover.

“Down the rabbit hole? Weird title… Who is the auth- Jace wrote this?” Yui spins her head to look at Miko and starts laughing “I have got to read this! Why was it removed from the library?”

Miko grabs hold of book and a tug war happens between her and Yui. “Miko! I want to read!”

“No way! No way! No way!” Miko manages to pull it from her and rips the book it two before throwing it out the carriage window.

“My book!” Richard leans out the window, looking behind the carriage for a moment before sitting back down. He looks at Miko, tears forming at the corners of his eyes and asks quietly, “Why?”.

Miko ignores him and stares out the window.

“Jace is Miko’s father.” Yui said.

“Do you mean to say, Jace Brown, the author of Down The Rabbit Hole, is the father of Miko?” Richard rubs his face with the palms of his hands and looks towards Miko “Wait a moment. You said it’s not fiction… oh god… does that make you-“

“Shut up!” Miko punches Richard’s leg “Not another word!”

Richard audibly gulped and sat up straight. He rubbed his leg where Miko hit him and stared out the window.

Miko turns to me and smiles “Reigner, do you need a range weapon? I have a crossbow you can use for today.”

Smiling to the team, apart from Richard who was still looking out the window “No need. I have worked out a great ranged attack. I think you will be quite impressed” I raise my hand, summon a dagger, and flip it from hand to hand.

Richard perked up and turned to face me “You managed to evolve one of your spells into a ranged attack?”

Chuckling “yeah, you could say that. I can summon any weapon I have skill in” I flourish the knife, twirling it through the fingers of my left hand “and with that-“

He pulls his notebook out. “You are able to summon a weapon with momentum and send it flying towards a target?”

“Something like that. I’m going to summon a weapon” I check to make sure I have everyone’s attention “and throw it.”

“Throw it…” mumbles Miko. Everyone in the carriage is lost for words at my creativity and can’t take their eyes off me. I see Yui’s face open and close like she constantly wants to say something only for her to change her mind the next second.

“Yeap, I’m pretty good at throwing things” I demonstrate by flinging the dagger from my left hand towards my right hand. Only the dagger doesn’t make it to my right hand. The carriage rocked hard to the left and my summoned weapon went spinning out of the window.

Everyone continues to just glare at me. I see Richard has put the notebook away at least.

“Okay, what happened just now should not be a reflection on my throwing skill.” No response from the others “There was a bump!”

The carriage slowed down to a stop and loud shouting could be heard outside. I look out the window, our driver is leaning out of his seat while pointing aggressively to another carriage.

“You’re lucky didn’t take your damn eye! Maybe that’ll teach you to watch where you driving!”

The carriage he was pointing to was bright red with white stripes. A gnome was yelling something incomprehensible while pointing to a dagger that was imbedded at head height in his chair.

“Bah! You’re too short. Run into my levi again and I’ll make sure it’ll be more than daggers coming to you!”

Sitting back into the soft cushions I scratch the side of my jaw. Feels like my beard could use a trim, it’s been quite a while since I last had a haircut. Checking my hair, it does feel longer than I would like.

The sound of slow clapping breaks me from my thoughts, Miko stops and gives a wry grin. “Nice throw, maybe wait until we are inside the tower before you start tossing weapons around.”