In general, having someone gift me a set of weapons and some armor would make them rank pretty highly in my book. Especially considering my class, having a larger number of options when it came to weapons and armor was pretty much what my skillset was built for.

In a way, then, it was impressive that Suds gift failed to endear me to the man.

“That’s not… You’re not actually going to have me wear that, are you?” The weapons were one thing -- silly though they were, they were at least functional. The “armor,” if it could even be called that, was something else entirely.

For all his cleaning prowess, the chamber head failed to wipe the shit-eating grin from his face. “You bet! I can see you like it, yeah? Well, go on. All yours to bind!”

I sighed. For a moment, I considered telling the man off, but ridiculous or not, it was a gift I could use. Probably. I neared the table and picked up the twin weapons, feeling their balance in my hands. Low though it was, my Small Blades skill perked up as I held them, letting me know they were weighted perfectly.

The only issue was… “Did you really have to give me kitchen knives as weapons?” I stared at the weapons for a moment longer, analyzing them.

Chop and Dice (Matched pair)

These mundane kitchen knives have been crafted and weighted for battle. The two form a matched set, essentially allowing them to count as a single weapon. Forged in mana-rich flames, the weapons act as a ready conduit for any fire-based mana or skills.

For all the flavor text, they mostly looked like your average kitchen knives, if a bit fancier. The handles were a touch atypical, the grip slimmed down in the middle and covered in a cloth-like material that made it resemble a pommel more. While fully silvery, the knife-heads themselves had the suggestion of flames in the pattern of the metal. I was willing to admit they’d actually be pretty cool… if I were just supposed to be using them to cook things. The fact that they were battle kitchen knives just made them feel silly no matter how nice they looked.

“Ahh, don’t give me that. You’ll be the most popular kid in your cooking class. And before you get all ruffled, think of it from my perspective: You’re missing short range attacks in your toolkit, and one of your highest weapon skills is Small Blades. Plus, we need to match everything to a profession, and Fire Magic is one of your highest schools of magic. So? Voila! Cooking!”

It was, regrettably, almost sensible. Almost. I likely would have forgiven him if not for the armor.

Also, I can’t imagine a better way to make someone “ruffled” than to tell them to not “get all ruffled.” I’m a little ruffled now.

With a sigh, I activated Bind Weapon, focusing on the twin weapons. To Suds’ credit, whatever odd pairing he’d managed to set them up with worked with my skill. Despite technically being two weapons, the twin daggers settled into my skill, disappearing together. Although, I supposed it wasn’t that different from a bow and arrow counting as a single weapon too.

“Not wearing the armor. Let’s be honest. That’s not even armor.” I gazed reproachfully down at what was mainly just an apron. There were pants, at least, but like most aprons, it was largely backless. It was a piece I would have expected to see at some odd cooking themed gala or perhaps a cosplay convention -- certainly not on a battlefield. In matching with the “fire” theme, the fabric was a striking red.

Suds nodded. “Not really armor, no. But you need a light armor set for when you want to use your Dexterity to the max, and why not be a little striking as you do it? You being memorable and sticking out is part of fulfilling your side of the deal. Plus, between all of your stats, you should have perfect skin and more-defined back muscles than 80% of your classmates. If I were your age again, I’d sure as hell be showing off.”

I stared down the old man, not backing down.

“Look, it’s-”

I stared.

“Come on, don’t give me tha-”

I stared.

Suds at last threw his hands up in the air. “Bah. Fine. No fun. I’ll have them add a backpiece to it. Shoulder blades are staying exposed though. Not going to have you looking like a sheltered priestess prude. And before you give me any flack, how’s this: Next class point you get, I’ll get you something you can use as a spear.”

I mulled it over for a second, nodding. I have been missing using a real, physical spear. Plus, it’s the only melee weapon my enhancements work on right now until I level up Arcane Armaments.

And… hell, I do have pretty solid shoulder blades right now, right?

With the promise of a more reasonable weapon the next time I got a class point, I decided to spend the rest of the day cantrip training. Passively, my new hairclip was already training Darken Small Object, but considering how recently I’d gotten the spell, it was hardly going to be my next to hit level 10.

To that end, I switched between Flameploof and Conjure Water. While the latter had already hit 10, my Water Magic skill was still sitting at 8. It appeared to level more slowly than the cantrip, which I supposed made a bit of sense: Your average Initiate water mage probably had trained up more than a single water spell.

The exception, as it turned out, was my fire magic. After a solid two hours of idle daydreaming while I summoned flames on autopilot, I was met with dual level up notifications.

Flameploof has reached level 10!

Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate stage in Flameploof.

Based on your skill usage, you have been granted a skill augment for achieving a new skill rank.

Augment of Continuity

Flameploof can now be cast as a continuous flame.

Nice. Nothing super flashy -- ignoring the fact that the spell summoned a flame -- but I’d take it. Apparently using the skill over and over again to heat things up had made it evolve to a continuous version. I wondered if I’d actually used it like a tinderbox to light larger fires how it would have gotten augmented instead.

Oddly enough, though, unlike was true for water magic, my leveling speed between Flameploof and Fire Magic was apparently perfectly balanced. Yes, Flameploof leveled up faster, but Fire Magic also gained experience whenever I used my fire enhancements. Considering how much jet step was a go-to skill of mine, as well as the many times I’d used my flame armor or fire arrows, I’d apparently made up the difference.

As such, I had one more set of notifications awaiting me.

Fire Magic has reached level 10!

Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate stage in Fire Magic.

You have gained the standard augment for your skill.

Augment of Backlash Resistance

Gain a greater resistance to all the byproducts of your own fire magic (flame, heat, smoke, etc).

Class Quest Completed: Raise a magic class to level 10 (Repeatable)

+1 Class Point

+2500xp

Nice. Nabbed a class point, and I get to grab a new cantrip from the Archmage.

The point, I would use once my class space unlocked to bring Bind Weapon up to 3/5. I’d let Suds know, and hopefully that spear he’d promised me would be forthcoming. As for the cantrip…

Not going to be able to think about much else until I grab it. Might as well see if the Archmage is busy?

“I’m busy,” the Archmage intoned without looking over. “List out your levels in all your spells and magic classes. No questions.”

The teleportation from the base of the mage’s tower up to his study was as jarring as it normally was, and his rapid demand only made it more so.

Can already feel myself getting a headache too. Does he burn some weird sort of incense, or why does it feel so cloying in here all the time?

Regardless, it wasn’t wise to keep the man waiting. I complied, pulling up my character sheet and rattling them all off.

“Slow,” he responded. “And poorly balanced. You’re neglecting your Advanced Mana Manipulation. And your mind magic. The mental spell is your only invisible spell: Cast it while you’re out in public. And if your wisdom is over 25, you should be able to be leveling those much faster. Work harder.”

I could feel my face scrunch up at that. Not all of us get to spend all day at the top of a tower, you know. I have other stuff to do! Plus, there were mana detection skills, right? How would people feel if they saw me casting mental magic in the middle of a conversation?

I opened my mouth to object, only for my vision to suddenly shift.

The study had vanished, replaced with the base of the tower where I’d been less than a minute before.

“Wasn’t I supposed to get a new-” Before I could finish that thought, I realized that my hands weren’t empty. I glanced down, finding a thick tome along with a thin, string-like bracelet.

Mana Obfuscation Bracelet (Masterwork)

Prevents others from detecting the wearer’s mana when they cast spells.

A note has been appended to this object:

This is a loan. I expect this back (or else).

- Xander’Callis

Huh. It’s like he read my mind about the mind magic stuff. With a start, I realized he actually might have. He was an archmage, after all. I wasn’t certain of the legality of it all, but I could only imagine his skill in mental magic was considerably higher than mine. Well. Hopefully not. Always kind of creepy, but, at least it works out this time?

I had a feeling that the bracelet was something wildly expensive, and I resolved to keep it safe. I put it along with my other three bracelets, starting to feel a bit silly with how many I was wracking up.

I turned my attention to the spellbook next, hoping for something with a bit more punch than the cantrips I’d been using so far.

Spellbook of Summon Pebble

Teaches the spell Summon Pebble.

Summon Pebble

Summons a pebble.

I- Really?

I sighed, picturing myself leveling the skill up.

Somehow, I failed to be thrilled.

The remainder of the day passed fairly predictably. I read the spellbook, earning myself another class quest completion as I learned a new school of magic. I did the standard rundown through my class skills with earth mana, most of which seemed based around the weight and solidity of earth.

Weapon wise, my earth enhancements gave my blows some extra oomph and weight. I was particularly curious to battle-test the enhancement on my arrows, looking forward to their extra stopping power.

Armor wise, I gained some extra defense against physical blows, and a high level of resistance to slashing damage.

Boot wise, my feet became encased in earth, heavily weighing me down. It was similar to the vine boots, in a way, except with my Strength, I was still ambulatory, able to lift them from the ground. I imagined it’d be nice if I wanted to sink through water or walk through a sandstorm, but otherwise, I doubted I’d use it much.

The sight enhancement was perhaps the most exciting to me.

Earth Sight

Grants the user a strong sense of any movement or tremors beneath the earth. Also allows for visual detection of any pockets of varying density within the ground, useful for detecting stationary burrowing enemies, traps, and ore veins.

It would have felt fairly niche if not for the fact that things kept attacking me from underground. There was the root debacle with Elphaea. Then the kexids. A training golem back in Drawgin which had tripped me with root attacks. And most recently, my good friend Slippy the snake.

I’m going to like this one, I think.

I now had two new class points, the second of which I’d throw into Bind Armor, bringing it to par with its weapon counterpart. I popped my head into Suds’ office to let him know, and -- miraculously -- he’d managed to get a rush job out on the battle-apron, presenting me with a much more reasonable version.

It was so fast, in fact, that I wondered if he’d already had it ready to go, expecting me to put up a fuss. Did he purposefully have the back too exposed to make me feel like I’d gotten a win in by making him change it?

Well, not worth the fight either way. Regardless, he hadn’t expected me to grab two more class points quite as quickly as I did. He promised me he’d have a suitable spear ready for me as soon as he could, although he wouldn’t tell me what sort of spear I’d be getting. I was a touch suspicious, but then again, I was getting it all for free, so I wasn’t going to put up too much of a fuss.

And with that, the last major task of my day was completed. When my class space opened I applied the two points. Got eaten by a fish. Drank some conjured booze. And lastly went to bed.

I slept, as usual, a perfect, blissful, dreamless sleep.

That ended incredibly abruptly.

Spluttering, I gasped as a veritable gallon of ice-cold water crashed down onto me, drenching me from head to toe. It was a mistake, as I ended up swallowing a good mouthful of it.

It tasted chemically and floral.

When my brain woke up and my wits returned to me, I found my dearest grandfather standing at the foot of the bed.

“Rise and shine kiddo! Time for your first day of school!”

Stat & Level Updates:

Flameploof 9 → 10 Fire Magic 9 → 10 Earth Magic 0 → 1 Summon Pebble 0 → 1 Bind Weapon 2/5 → 3/5 Bind Armor 2/5 → 3/5 Class Points +2

Character Sheet:

Name: Tess

Age: 26

Race: Human

Class: Arcane Arsenal

Level: 11

Prestige: 1222

Health: 300/300

Mana: 325/325

Stamina: 240/240

Constitution: 28 (+2)

Strength: 26

Endurance: 26

Dexterity: 21 (+1)

Intelligence: 31 (+2)

Wisdom: 27 (+2)

Perception: 28

Charisma: 21

Luck: 27

Skills:

Skills

Weapon & Armor

Archery: 10

Spears: 10

Medium Armor: 5

Small Blades: 4

Swords: 3

Axes: 3

Hammers: 2

Staffs: 2

Unarmed Combat: 2

Heavy Armor: 1

Movement

Dodge: 3

Magic

Life Magic: 6

Water Magic: 7

Fire Magic: 7

Light Magic: 6

Mental Magic: 1

Ritual Magic: 1

Demonic Summoning: 2

Spells

Conjure Water: 10

Minor Healing: 7

Flameploof: 8

Illumination: 7

Sense Minds: 1

Resistances

Trauma Suppression: 13

Mental Resistance: 7

Poison Resistance: 6

Bleed Resistance: 4

Pain Resistance: 4

Heat Resistance: 2

Detection

God's Eye: 8

Detect Trap: 7

Detect Secret: 6

Craft

Construction: 6

Woodworking: 7

Jewelry Making: 5

Mining: 5

Alchemy: 1

Social

Conversation: 5

Etiquette: 5

Trade: 3

Flirt: 2

Dancing: 2

Deception: 1

General

Drinking: 7 (+5)

Gambling: 1

Reading: 1

Class Skills

Weaponmaster

Bind Weapon: 3/5

Arcane Armament: 2/5

Overload Weapon: 1/5

Armorist

Bind Armor: 3/5

Arcane Armory: 5/5

Resist Magic: 2/5

Augmenter

Mana Feet: 1/1

Arcane Vision: 1/1