Chapter 5

Silma appeared in the room the moment Aranos told her it was safe to do so and demanded that he remove the illusion cloaking her.  I will scout the city, then return before the dawn, she told him silently.  I’m not sleeping with horses, though, pack leader.  I’ll sleep here during the day and scout at night.

Aranos hadn’t argued with her; the fenrin’s Stealth Skill was high enough that she should be able to move around freely in the darkness, and she took up far too much space in the room, anyway.  Instead of worrying about her, he settled down in a corner of the room, took out his mana crystal and the truesilver stand he’d built to hold it, and dropped into the depths of his mindscape.  He had a lot of work to do that night, and it started with some training.

He opened his eyes and found himself seated in the warm, soft grass of his forest glen.  He basked in the quiet and solitude for several moments – the tavern below had gotten steadily louder as the night progressed, but the presence of the armed and armored party had kept the clientele nonviolent, if a bit rowdy.  The scent of pine filled his nose; the buzz of insects and chirping of distant, unseen birds eased his cares and concerns.  This was a place of solace, and part of him just wanted to sit there and de-stress, but he needed to get started.

He turned his focus to the torrential river of his mana, his mind flowing through the patterns at the center that had once been carefully tended spirals of energy.  Now that he’d found a deeper understanding of his mana and how it worked, he didn’t need those perfect, fractal spirals anymore, but he’d been maintaining them out of habit more than anything else.  Left to its own devices, the Primary mana he took in from the world would be unaspected and unusable for most of his purposes, and his hourglass-shaped spirals had been a way to separate the unique energies. 

However, he knew that they were basically obsolete at this point. He was sure that he could keep his mana separate now by nothing more than an act of will.  At some point, he’d probably have to unmake that pattern to advance his Mana Control – but he wasn’t quite ready for that, yet.  Instead, he flitted through the patterns and made sure they were stable and coherent, channeling power as effectively as possible, then activated his Mana Vampire Perk and began to suck power from the mana crystal he’d set up as quickly as he possibly could.

He hadn’t done this training since expanding his mindscape to include the deeper depths of his Enhanced mana – and since his Evolution into a high arcane – and he suddenly understood why this method wasn’t going to improve his Stats anymore.  Before the change, this kind of mana flow had been difficult to control; he could drain about five hundred SP per second from the crystal, and that had been enough to seriously overtax his mana channels and mental control.  Now, though, it was nearly effortless; the mana flowed into him, through his spirals, and back out as simply as if he’d been pouring it from a glass. 

He sighed in frustration; this definitely wasn’t going to help his Mana Control or Mana Mastery Skills, which was the whole point of the exercise.  He needed to channel a larger amount of power than this, something that would challenge his ability to control it.  Right now, the simple fact was that even his Mana Vampire Perk didn’t bring in power fast enough to overtax his Evolved body.  He needed a way to move more power, much more quickly.

As he stared at the river of Enhanced mana roaring through him, he realized that he had exactly that.  His Enhanced mana was fueled by the pools of energy that represented his Stats, all of which were linked through his Charisma pool.  Technically, he could channel all of those energies through his Charisma pool and into his mana spirals; even a small portion of it should seriously overtax them and force him to work to control it.  In fact, the issue that he could see was how easy it would be to overdo it and end up with Mana Burn, an extremely unpleasant debuff that had rendered him an idiot for ten minutes or so last time he’d had it. 

He dropped the flow of mana from the crystal; it would still be useful for creating Spells of Primary aspects, but he wouldn’t be using it for training again, it seemed.  Instead, he dove below his mindscape, down into the river of mana, allowing himself to be carried along by the torrent of energy.  He followed it down deeper into himself, sinking at last into the blazing pool of Charisma at his very core.  This was where he and the world connected; Charisma controlled his interaction with Ka and ultimately fed each of his Stats and aspects.  Brilliant lines of power radiated away from the edges of the pool, eventually connecting with the wellsprings of his other Stats, and he drew on the ones leading to his Physical Stats and his Perception.  He left his Wisdom and Intelligence alone; those he would need for his Spell crafting, but if he were just trying to train his Skills, he could use those as well.

He grabbed a single strand of that radiant power and guided it into the river of his Enhanced mana.  The extra energy made navigating that flood far simpler, and he scooped up tendrils of Mind, Soul, Spatial, Vital, and Spirit mana without difficulty.  He very cautiously and gently guided those strands into his hanging spirals, using his Soul aspect to shift them all into unaspected mana that would feed the pattern.  He allowed the combined energy to very gently contact his patterns, then let them flow into the construct he’d made.

Power roared into his hourglasses, instantly threatening to shatter them.  Aranos grabbed the patterns with a sense of desperation; they were spinning far too slowly to handle this much energy, and he willed them to begin moving faster.  It was a delicate task made nearly impossible by the power flooding through them; each spiral was timed to rotate perfectly with its neighbors, and accelerating just one of them at a time actually made things worse.  He reached for more of the spirals, but he realized quickly it was an all-or-nothing effort.  He’d have to handle all thirteen hourglasses at once or drop the extra power boost to them – and effectively give up training his Mana Control and Manipulation for the time being.

He dropped his conscious attempts to manipulate the pattern; he simply couldn’t deliberately focus on all of the spirals at once.  Instead, he took a mental step back and took in the construct as a whole.  He didn’t try to speed up the spirals, he simply observed the overflow of power and tried to get an instinctive feel for what would let the hourglasses handle the massive influx of energy.  The pattern felt wrong to him; it really wasn’t meant to handle power like this, and without thinking, he allowed it to adjust to the new flows.  His subconscious mind nudged, shifted, pulled, and changed the patterns, while his conscious mind simply observed the results. 

Nearly an hour passed until the new flow of energy stabilized.  His neatly organized hourglasses no longer rested in an orderly fashion; they were skewed and angled, nestled against one another in an incredibly compact shape.  Each spiral connected with others, but not necessarily the ones closest to it.  Instead, the connections seemed haphazard, but he could see that they allowed the power to flow faster and more freely – and allowed him to make adjustments without disrupting the entire construct.  It was a much more complex and finely layered structure, there was no doubt, and it was handling the increased power load without disruption.

He gradually increased the power flowing into the new pattern, drawing it out and recycling it back into his Charisma pool deep within.  Silently, he exulted; he’d finally found a way to train his Mana Skills without needing crystals or other accoutrements.  He could do this anytime he felt like it, although right now it took far too much concentration for him to attempt any time except while meditating.  Even so, it was a step forward, one he knew he needed to take if he ever wanted to get his Mana Skills to the Master level.

He withdrew from his spirals, allowing the flow to maintain itself, and settled in to work on his Spells.  A couple of them were close to ranking up, and he really wanted to work on his Energy Web Spell.  The design he’d come up for it originally – that of a cloud of small, unaspected hooks like Velcro, grabbing at the limbs of an enemy – wasn’t really very effective anymore.  The creatures he was facing were too strong, too fast, and often too resistant to magic for the Spell to have much effect, and he had an idea of how he might be able to improve it.

He called up the mental vision of his Spell, but instead of summoning a shroud of unaspected mana, he reached deeper, into his Enhanced aspects, and grabbed streams of Spatial and Void magic.  He wove the power into a complex pattern, then imagined it spreading out to fill the same space as his Energy Web.  He felt the ripple in the air as hundreds of tiny, almost invisible spheres of Spatial and Void mana collapsed into wells of intense gravity, pulling anything within toward them with a force far greater than what the unaspected mana had been able to generate.  He sensed the gentle pull of the Web, drawing creatures into it; he heard the whisper of air rushing between the infinitesimal spheres of gravity.

He released the vision and restarted it, this time imagining a raging ursusz charging into the Web.  The gigantic, ursine creature could normally tear through his Energy Web with ease, only being slowed a bit in the process.  When it struck his gravity field, though, its heedless charge crawled to a halt.  The monster thrashed, writhed, and tore helplessly at the air, but its movements slowed as they were caught inexorably in the tiny globes of dense gravity.  He could hear its roars of anger as it tried to escape, smelled the scents of rage and terror as it realized it was helpless, and tasted its musky odor in the air. 

Once he had the image securely in his mind, he began to channel SP into it, tapping the mana crystal for energy and supplementing it wtih a trace of Spatial mana drawn from the recirculating flow he’d created.  He poured power gently into the image, repeating it over and over with different, powerful enemies he’d faced being trapped in his newly upgraded Web.  As the vision slowly solidified, he began to add extra mana to it, starting with Fire.  He poured heat into the Web, hoping to fill the spaces between the tiny orbs of power with tendrils of flame, but to his surprise, the fiery energy was sucked into the invisible spheres, vanishing almost instantly. 

Even so, the massive, rotting vyrka he’d envisioned in his Spell thrashed as its flesh started to scorch and blister, sloughing off of it as if it were being rapidly cooked.  It struggled to escape in vain; soon enough, it fell still as its skin blackened and smoked.  Aranos could feel the heat radiating from the Web, but he couldn’t see any sign of flames or fire; were they simply being contained by the intense gravity, unable to escape but still pouring out heat?  He didn’t know, but usually Fire mana didn’t send heat out that far.  It tended to be more localized, and his flame Spells rarely burned anything more than a foot away from the actual fire created.

Frowning, he sent his mind out into the Web, sinking into its structure.  He could feel heat pulsing from the tiny orbs, but the energy of it felt odd.  It didn’t have the blazing, chaotic power of Fire mana; this energy seemed simpler, more distilled, as if it weren’t doing anything but transferring heat directly to its target without the light, crackle, and waste of Fire energy.  He peered more closely at one of the spheres, examining the individual strands of mana attached there, and he realized with a start that the Fire mana he’d poured into the Spell had bonded with some of the Spatial mana flitting entropically inside the globe.  The intense gravity had forced the two energies together, releasing pulsing waves of heat that seemed to act like microwaves, delivering thermal energy directly to anything nearby.

I’ll bet that’s a new Evolved aspect, he realized with mounting excitement as he examined the entwined Fire and Spatial strands.  I wonder what else I can get to bind with Spatial mana?

As it turned out, the answer was simple: every Elemental aspect would combine with Spatial energy if it was simply compressed enough.  Air mana poured into the construct created a blast of radiation that seemed to bypass most creatures’ defenses but didn’t do a lot of LP damage.  Water energy melded with Spatial mana to form the opposite of the Fire and Spatial blending; it sucked heat directly from the air, covering everything in a fine layer of frost and freezing creatures solid.  Earth mana dumped into the Spell looked like it absorbed nearby kinetic energy, making the Web even more effective as it drained what little power the victims had to fight against the intense gravity.

He dumped SP into the Spell for a full hour as he experimented with his new mana types.  Eventually, the Spell shivered into existence, and he eagerly read the notifications that popped up:

Evolved Aspects Discovered!
Aspect: Thermal
Thermal mana is a combination of the Spatial and Fire aspects and is far superior to Fire in heating any target.

Associated Stats: Dex, Agil

Requirements: Dex or Agil 75+ (50+), Spatial and Fire aspects unlocked, Mana Manipulation Expert+.

Using Thermal Mana: Thermal mana directly projects heat to its target without wasting energy as light or sound.  It is invisible to normal sight but can be sensed by certain creatures or Abilities.  Because of its highly efficient nature, Thermal mana ignores any Fire or heat resistance of 50% or lower and reduces higher resistance or immunity to one-half its effectiveness.  Replacing a Fire-based Spell with Thermal mana increases the base damage by 50%.

Damage: You can only use Thermal SP equal to the sum of your Agil and Dex Stats per hour without harm.  Exceeding this limit drains these Stats: you lose 1 point of the higher of Agil or Dex for every 1% of your max SP of additional Thermal mana you use.  This damage heals at a rate of 10% per hour of rest or meditation.

+500 XP

Aspect: Radiation
The Radiation aspect is an Evolved form of mana, consisting of the Spatial and Air aspects.  It is generally poor at dealing direct damage to targets but can damage a living creature’s Stats.

Associated Stats: Dex, Agil

Requirements: Dex or Agil 75+ (50+), Spatial and Air aspects unlocked, Mana Manipulation Expert+.

Using Radiation Mana: Radiation mana is invisible to normal sight, although certain very rare creatures or Abilities can detect it.  Radiation energy only damages living creatures and will not harm non-living or undead targets.  However, it can pass through most natural and physical defenses with ease: a creature’s Defense rating is reduced by the caster’s Int Stat versus radiation mana.  This applies to both natural and crafted armors.  Magical defenses are instead reduced by half the caster’s Int Stat, unless they are specifically designed to hold out Spatial or Radiation mana. 

Damage: You can only use Radiation SP equal to the sum of your Agil and Dex Stats per hour without harm.  Exceeding this limit drains these Stats: you lose 1 point of the higher of Agil or Dex for every 1% of your max SP of additional Radiation mana you use.  This damage heals at a rate of 10% per hour of rest or meditation.

Radiation Damage: Radiation mana does only 50% of normal LP damage to a living target.  However, it can damage a creature’s Physical Stats: every 20 points of Radiation damage a creature suffers also randomly reduces one of their Physical Stats by 1 point.  A single Spell or effect can damage multiple Stats; 100 points of Radiation damage, for example, will inflict 5 random points of damage to the target’s Physical Stats, and the Stat damaged each time is determined individually.

+500 XP

Aspect: Arctic
Arctic mana is a blending of Spatial and Water energies that drains heat from its vicinity and inflicts extreme cold damage on targets.

Associated Stats: Dex, Agil

Requirements: Dex or Agil 75+ (50+), Spatial and Water aspects unlocked, Mana Manipulation Expert+.

Using Arctic Mana: Arctic mana is the antithesis of the Fire aspect.  Ash will extinguish a Fire, but Arctic mana will drain the heat from it and destroy it utterly.  Arctic mana does cold damage to its targets but is so effective at this that it ignores any resistance to cold or Ice damage of 50% or lower.  Higher resistances or immunities are instead reduced to half their normal effectiveness.  Arctic mana also ignores all barriers unless these completely enclose the target, blocking it fully from the source of the Arctic effect.

Damage: You can only use Arctic SP equal to the sum of your Agil and Dex Stats per hour without harm.  Exceeding this limit drains these Stats: you lose 1 point of the higher of Agil or Dex for every 1% of your max SP of additional Arctic mana you use.  This damage heals at a rate of 10% per hour of rest or meditation.

Arctic and Fire-based mana: Arctic mana directly counters Fire-based Spells, Abilities, and effects.  Any natural Fire-based effect subjected to Arctic mana is instantly snuffed out: fire is extinguished, lava turns to stone, etc.  Magical Fire-based Spells or Abilities, including those from the Radiant, Lava, or Thermal aspects are either partially or totally nullified.  1 SP of Arctic mana counters 1 SP of Enhanced or Evolved Fire-based mana or 10 SP of Primary or Composite Fire-based mana. 

+500 XP

Aspect: Damping
Damping mana shields a target from external energies.  It is an Evolved aspect composed of Spatial and Earth energies.

Associated Stats: Dex, Agil

Requirements: Dex or Agil 75+ (50+), Spatial and Earth aspects unlocked, Mana Manipulation Expert+.

Using Damping Mana: Damping mana is primarily a defensive aspect.  Solid objects can be made of Damping mana, but these do only 50% of normal damage when used as weapons.  Shields or barriers formed of Damping mana are 50% more effective at stopping attacks, both physical and magical.   

Damage: You can only use Damping SP equal to the sum of your Agil and Dex Stats per hour without harm.  Exceeding this limit drains these Stats: you lose 1 point of the higher of Agil or Dex for every 1% of your max SP of additional Damping mana you use.  This damage heals at a rate of 10% per hour of rest or meditation.

Damping Mana Barriers: Damping mana absorbs most forms of energy on contact, including kinetic energy, heat, electricity, and radiation.  A Damping shield or barrier ignores armor-piercing effects or Abilities, including those that would normally ignore physical armor or defenses, except those based in Mind or Spirit mana. 

+500 XP

Spell Evolution!
Energy Web has become Enhanced Spatial Web^!
Rank: Student 8
Trap enemies in a field of intense gravity and do Enhanced damage each second.

Effect: Fills a 30’ x 30’ area with tiny spheres of intense gravity that slow or stop all creatures within, and draw nearby ones into it.  Reduces the movement and attack speed of any creature caught within to 0%.  For every point of Str the creature has over the caster’s [(Int/2) + Spell level], this speed is increased by 1%, to a maximum of 50% at [(Int/2) + 50 + Spell level] Str.  Any creature within 5’ of the edge of the Web must make an Opposed Check or be drawn into it: the victim’s [Str + Class level] versus the caster’s [Int + Spell Level + Mana Manipulation]. 
Duration: 40 s
Cost: 430 SP, 45 Gravitational SP

Enhanced: The caster can choose to inflict Thermal, Radiation, or Arctic damage to all creatures entrapped within, doing 12 – 18 LP damage per second, or 6 – 9 LP Radiation damage per second (213 – 320 / 106 – 160).  This damage increases by 1% per Spell level.  The caster can also add Damping mana to the Web, increasing the effective Strength needed to escape it by 50% (0.75 x Int + 1.5 x Spell level).

Cost: +120 Elemental SP, +20 Spatial SP

Oh, what a tangled web I weave, I guarantee you’ll never leave

Now that’s a holding Spell, Aranos thought with satisfaction.  Not only was it stronger now than it had been, thanks to his discovery of Damping mana, he could create a Web that would hold a group of creatures with over 130 Strength without damaging them, which might be useful if they ran afoul of city guards or something similar.  Of course, he could add damage to the Spell, and that damage was nearly double what the previous version had done, but it probably wouldn’t kill really powerful creatures.  That was fine; the point of the Web had always been to trap or slow powerful enemies and kill weaker ones.

He read back over his new Evolved aspects with satisfaction; not only would they be useful, the XP from them pushed him pretty close to the edge of the next level.  Now that he’d unlocked them, he needed to start practicing replacing his Primary aspects in Spells with them.  If he could unleash a Thermal Blast or Ravaging Burst, for example, it would be a lot more powerful and effective than a Fire-based one. 

Energy Blast was one of his simplest spells, and it was the first aspected one he’d ever created.  At its heart, it was nothing but a glorified flame-thrower; his initial version had sent a blast of flames out to about thirty feet, and he hadn’t really improved it much since then except by using it with other energy types.  It was the perfect template to practice using his new aspects with.

Sadly, Thermal, Arctic, and Radiation mana all had the same issue that Fire by itself had.  When he unleashed a Thermal Blast, the energy spread from his hand in a cone, dissipating quickly into the air.  It generated intense heat in a cone about 20’ long and 10’ wide at the mouth, but beyond that it had simply lost too much energy to do real damage.  Radiation mana had the same problem, only it lost its effectiveness even faster, at about 15’, and Arctic mana was worst of all: it simply spread out in a circle that encompassed him in its radius, as well as everything within 10’ of him.

He stopped and considered the problem before him.  When he’d had this problem with Fire mana, he’d used an Air channel to contain the mana and guide it so that it had a decent range.  That wouldn’t work here, he didn’t think; all of these energy types would flow right through Air mana, and besides, Air mana only had an effective range of about thirty or forty feet itself before it lost cohesion.  He needed something that could contain Evolved mana.

No, he silently corrected.  I need something that will contain Spatial mana.  The Primary aspect isn’t the issue; Spatial mana is the one that tends to ignore barriers and boundaries.  So, what do I have that will contain Spatial mana?

The answer was fairly obvious.  Soul and Spatial mana were the two components of his Dimensional Spells, and that aspect was nothing more than Spatial mana bound tightly into a lattice of Soul energy.  He restarted his mental image, this time imagining a cylindrical matrix of soul mana extending outward from his palm, six inches in diameter and filled with Thermal energy.  The invisible blast of heat shot into the flesh of the single amarok he pictured in his mind, and the wolf-like creature erupted in flames, its body blackening and scorching instantly.

As he replayed the image, he experimented with the lattice of Soul energy and the power filling the tube.  He found that it was most effective when it was about an inch in diameter; larger than that, and he’d get the same amount of energy delivered but over a wider space.  Smaller than that, and he had less power striking the target.  As he played with the vision, he imagined using his Primary aspects, instead, and to his delight they shot down the mana tube just as easily as his Evolved ones did, allowing him to use Fire or Air mana to hit a target at the very edge of his vision – although this took a lot of Soul energy, and it didn’t work at all with Light, Void, or Darkness mana. 

As the Spell slowly formed in his mind, he started trying to add multiple mana types to the blast.  Normally, that wouldn’t work – the aspects would interfere with one another and make both types much less effective – but with the Soul mana construct he’d formed, he found he could mix more than one type of mana by expanding the binding cylinder.   He unleashed blasts of Thermal and Arctic energy carefully separated from one another, gouts of Lava that flowed side-by-side with shards of Ice, and torrents of Kinetic force wrapped around a core of Gravitational energy.  He could unleash up to three aspects at once, but that seemed to be the limit; beyond that, he simply couldn’t control the flow of a fourth well enough to keep the construct intact. 

He imagined Lily taking a blast of combined Thermal, Arctic, and Restorative manas to her chest, vanishing in a flash of energy, but it wasn’t particularly satisfying.  He didn’t really hate the woman; he’d be perfectly happy if she simply walked away from their strife and never looked back.  Keryth and Zoridos were similarly unsatisfying victims; while he’d been enraged at each once, he’d already extracted retribution from them, and doing it again felt hollow and unfulfilling.

Golloron was a better target for his wrath, but part of Aranos still respected the ancient Elder.  He hated what Golloron was doing and had done, hated the methods he’d chosen to protect his city and deal with the Shadow, but he understood why the man would do it.  That was the insidious nature of temptation; it asked something that seemed so small and reasonable and offered something potent in return, and it was incredibly easy to just accept that small sacrifice for a large gain.  Golloron was serving the Darkness, but Aranos knew the man didn’t see it that way.  Golloron wasn’t really the one responsible for everything that was happening.   There was a hidden hand behind everything, one that influenced or directly guided all others, and it didn’t take long for Aranos to put a face to it.

The image of Morx, God of Nightmares, the Nightcrawler, swam into Aranos’ view.  Here was an entity Aranos could vent his wrath on.  The dark god’s long, slim, white fingers touched every scheme that Aranos had foiled; his oval, featureless face had whispered into the dreams and nightmares of all of Aranos’ foes.  The Sorcerer didn’t know that for certain, but he could feel it.  Morx had given Aranos an offer of power and authority, but the Sorcerer had recognized it for the servitude it was and turned it down.  The god vowed vengeance on the mortal who’d refused him, and Aranos suspected that everything since then had just been the movements of Morx’ pawns in the game the two now played.

Anger rose in him as he unleashed a blast of force, heat, and cold that slammed into the black-cloaked avatar of the god – and washed harmlessly away.  Aranos tried again, smashing every aspect he could think of into the dark form, but Morx’ image shrugged them off without effort.  Aranos’ power was ineffective against the might of the evil deity.

No, he ground his teeth as he reached into himself and gathered more energy.  No, I will find a way to make him pay! He drove the trio of Evolved energies at the figure to no avail, but rather than letting the invisible beam drop, Aranos pushed it harder.  He grabbed a flow from his deeper Enhanced rivers and drove it into the flow of power, and the misty glow of Vital mana suddenly lashed out at the god.  Still, Morx stood unharmed.  I just need more power, Aranos gritted as his anger swelled into fury.  More!

He dove into his mana and wrenched it up by force, shattering the circular flow he’d created.  Power ripped through him and surged out the now foot-wide tube of Soul energy.  Torrents of Fire, shards of Stone, and lashes of Air mixed with swirling, prismatic strands of Spirit and silver spears of Mind mana, all driven by his will.  The fury poured through him, and he felt a flicker of golden fire rise up from below, ripping through him and surging down the construct of Soul mana.  The myriad energies were sucked into that line of golden fire, and when it struck the dark god, his disaffected posture vanished.

Morx roared as golden flames burned into his body, surging along his thin limbs and scorching away the cloak shielding his true form.  The Nightcrawler unveiled was truly the thing of nightmares; beneath the cloak, his flesh churned and writhed as screaming, tortured faces tried to push free from his skin and were dragged back into some unseen depths.  Images of pain and torment raced across his flesh like animated tattoos, shifting to depict every awful thing Aranos could imagine – and some he couldn’t. 

The fire raged across the Lord of Nightmares, searing his unholy skin.  Morx shrieked in pain as the power consumed him, driven by Aranos’ will and his rage.  The god lashed out with eldritch forces that Aranos ignored; every iota of his being wanted to see this creature dead, and he would have it done, here and now, even if only in his mind.  The god screamed one, last, vile imprecation as the golden fire consumed him, and suddenly his spindly form collapsed to ash, just as the Spell shivered into place.

Aranos sunk to the ground in exhaustion; his mana rivers were nearly empty, and he didn’t even want to know what he’d done to his body.  A pair of notifications blinked in his vision, though, and he wearily pulled them up:

Spell Evolution!
Spell Channeled Blast has become Maelstrom Blast*!
Rank: Adept 9
Channel a blast of multi-aspected mana at a single enemy, doing continual damage.

Effect: Fire a line of 1 – 3 different aspects you have unlocked at any target in sight range.  The Spell does 24 – 32 LP of damage per second (496 – 694); this damage is split evenly between all types used for the Spell and increases by 5% per Spell level

Channeled: Once cast, continues to do full damage per second for 50% of SP cost. 

Evolved: This Spell allows the caster to combine aspects that might otherwise nullify one another.  Using antithetical aspects decreases damage by 25% but increases armor and barrier penetration by 50%.

Cost: 240 Primary SP or 24 Enhanced SP split among all types used, 5 Soul SP per 20’ of range to the target.

When I play with fire, everyone gets burned…

Ascended Spell Created: Soulfire Blast!
Rank: Novice 1
Fire a massive blast of power at a single target, doing incredible damage.

Effect: Choose a single target within sight range.  You fire a foot-wide blast of energy at the target that ignores all barriers, armor, shielding, and defenses.  The target suffers LP damage equal to 90% of your current SP, plus additional damage equal to your total remaining Enhanced SP of all types multiplied by 10.  Magic resistance does not affect this Blast, and damage resistance doesn’t reduce the damage taken. 

Special: Caster must be in a state of extreme emotion – anger, fear, hatred, etc. – and the target must represent an overwhelming danger the caster cannot defeat normally.

Cost: 90% of current SP, 50% of max LP, all current Enhanced SP (Enhanced SP regenerates in 1 hour).

You’ll burn for me!  You’ll all burn for me!

+500 XP

That’s a heck of an attack Spell, Aranos thought, staring at the description.  Assuming I’m at full capacity, that’s – about 45,000 LP.  He whistled in disbelief; that was enough damage to kill any single creature he’d seen so far, including Zoridos…and certainly Lily.  Although it wouldn’t work on her, since I usually defeat her on my own.  It would have worked on Zoridos, though, and I’ll bet it would have killed him, at least temporarily.

While his energy restored itself, he trained his Skills, then finished by expanding his city’s boundaries.  He’d managed to add a level of Mana Control and two of Mana Mastery, but he’d tried doing a slightly different version of Skill training for the rest of the night. Rather than focus on the Skills he had books for – all of which were at the Adept level and wouldn’t go up much – Aranos spent the night training some of his less-used Skills.  It had taken some imagination to create a crowd to practice giving speeches to or a merchant to Bargain with, and he’d struggled to come up with the concept of an angry crowd wanting to burn him as a witch that allowed him to practice Diplomacy.  None of the Skills had gotten more than a single point except for Scribing – it hadn’t taken much effort to practice writing, and he’d gotten two levels from that – but it showed him that he could train those Skills, at the very least.

To Aranos’ surprise, the morning arrived without incident or disturbance.  He’d half-expected the city’s guards to bust into the inn and try to arrest them in the middle of the night, or for at least the young server to make an appearance, but apparently either she’d been dissuaded by Malcolm or some other, bigger spender had caught her eye.  Aranos felt the tiniest twinge of disappointment – not that he would have done anything, since he’d never been a fan of one-night stands, but it kind of stung that she’d forgotten him so quickly – but it passed soon enough.

As the first light of the sun began creeping over the horizon, Geltheriel woke, and the two made their way downstairs to the common room, which was relatively empty.  Only two of the tables were occupied, each with what looked to Aranos like common laborers grabbing a bite before starting their day.

“Morning,” Malcolm told them softly as they entered.  “You’re up early.  Nice night?”

“Very much so,” Aranos grinned, ignoring Geltheriel’s eye roll.  He’d told her about the deception he’d used to explain why he wasn’t staying at the College, and she’d been fine playing along, since she didn’t much care what anyone in the city thought of her, anyway.  “What’s for breakfast?”

“Oatmeal or ham and eggs,” the man replied quietly.  “Ale or coffee to drink.”

“Coffee?” Aranos repeated.  “You have coffee?”

“Of course,” the man shrugged.  “It’s plentiful enough.  Where have you been that you can’t get coffee?”

“Out of town,” Aranos said eagerly.  “I’ll take oatmeal and coffee, if you don’t mind.”

“Oatmeal and water for me, please,” Geltheriel smiled.

“Yep.  Coffee’s a copper, by the way.”  Aranos slid the man a coin, and Malcolm picked it up with a grunt.  “It’ll be up soon.  Go find a table, and I’ll bring it to you.”

“No servers this early in the morning?” Aranos asked.

“Not worth the expense,” Malcolm shrugged.  “Evening’s our busiest time, which is why I’ve got Jenna and Marian both on staff then.”  The man chuckled.  “Jenna was pretty taken with you, by the way.  You should have seen how disappointed she was when I told her that the two of you were sharing a room together.”

“She’ll get over it,” Geltheriel said evenly.  “I’m sure she already has, in fact.”

“Most likely so.  She’s fickle like that.  Low Wisdom, I think, although I’ve never asked to see her status.”

“It sounds that way,” Geltheriel agreed, turning to Aranos.  “Let’s go sit, Oran, and let Malcolm do his job.”

The two found a quiet table and chatted quietly, pausing only when Malcolm brought their order over.  Aranos took a long sip of the black, bitter coffee and sighed in satisfaction.  To his surprise, a notification popped up in his status:

Buff Added: Caffeine Enhanced

Effect: +1 Int, +1 Cha, -1 Wis
Duration: 1 hour

Life begins after coffee…

Geltheriel wrinkled her nose at the scent wafting from the ceramic mug.  “What’s that?” she asked a bit distastefully.

“Coffee,” he replied, taking another sip.

She rolled her eyes at him.  “Yes, I heard what it was called, since my ears are perfectly functional.  What is it, precisely?”

“It’s kind of like extra-strong tea,” he shrugged.  “It’s good to help you wake up in the morning.”

“You meditated for sufficient time.  Aren’t you rested?”

“Well, yeah, but – I like coffee,” he answered lamely.

She wrinkled her nose.  “It smells like the backside of an ursusz.  How can you drink that?  Doesn’t it taste awful?”

“Yes, it actually does,” he admitted, taking another sip.  “Totally worth it, though.”

He looked up as Hector and Meridian walked into the room, spoke briefly with Malcolm, then came and sat down with the pair of disguised elves.  “Morning,” the Warrior grunted at the Sorcerer.

“It seems to be, yes,” Aranos grinned. 

“Don’t mind him,” Meridian said cheerily.  “Poor, old Hector had a bit more ale than was good for him last night.  His Endurance is over 50, so he thought he could drink an entire keg all by himself.”  She laughed at the disgruntled Warrior.  “Turns out, he should have stopped at half a keg.”

“Yeah, yeah, tease the suffering man,” Hector shook his head, wincing as he did.  “Turns out, there’s a Hung Over debuff in this world.”

Geltheriel’s mouth twisted at that. “There is, yes.   It’s not very pleasant.  My sympathies, Hector.”  She glanced at Meridian.  “The debuff can be healed with a simple Spell, though…”

“But it won’t be,” Meridian countered.  “At least, not yet.  I told the idiot he was being drunk and stupid last night, and he didn’t listen.  I’ll heal it before he leaves for the Adventurers’ Guild.  Don’t want the debuff getting him killed or anything.”

“That’s fair,” Aranos grinned.  “Was it worth it, Hector?”

“It absolutely was,” the man grinned in return.  “It was like the entire tavern was one big frat party.  Bad music, greasy food, and lots and lots of beer.  Oh, and your little waitress friend kept asking about you.”

“Really?” Geltheriel snorted.  “I assumed someone else would have caught her fancy.”

“You didn’t really see the competition, sweetie,” Meridian’s mouth twisted.  “Lots of sweaty laborers, a few poor merchants, and one pervy old scholar who kept grabbing her butt.”  Her face darkened.  “He won’t do that again anytime soon.”

“Oh?” Aranos asked.

Hector chuckled.  “He made the mistake of trying to do it in front of Meridian,” he said.  “She hit him with a paralysis Spell, told him off, then smacked him in the nuts with that hammer of hers, hard enough that even I felt it.  Not that he didn’t have it coming, of course.”

“I don’t know if there’s a castrated debuff, but if there is, he had it,” Meridian agreed.  “In any case, yeah, she kept talking about you.  Asked how serious the two of you were, and whether or not I thought she stood a chance.”

“And?” Geltheriel asked archly.

“I told her that I’d seen you cut a giant lizard in half and that it was probably best for her to move on,” Meridian laughed.  “Sorry, Oran, but I don’t think you’re getting any from that girl.”

“Not with me in the room, at least,” Geltheriel corrected.  “What you do when I’m not there is none of my concern…although I think Silma might take similar issue during the daytime.”  The Shadedancer sighed.  “I think she’s right, Oran.  I don’t think you’re going to get a chance to sleep with that girl.”

“So, Hector,” Aranos said, deliberately changing the subject and noticing the triumphant look that the two women shared.  “Did you talk with Neela?”

“Oh, yeah, I did,” the man nodded, wincing again as he did so.  “Seriously, it’s one Spell, baby.  Can’t you just…?”  He looked at Meridian’s face and sighed.  “Fine.  Okay, so Neela.  Yeah, she said it’s no problem, and you can meet her at the College this morning, no earlier than an hour after dawn.  I guess that’s when she gets started for the day.”

“Do you know where the College is?” he asked.

“It’s off the Guild Square,” Meridian offered.  “That’s two blocks north of here.  I don’t know which building it is, but you can probably ask directions once you’re in the area.”

Aranos sighed and rose to his feet, tossing down the last of the coffee and wincing as it burned his tongue.  “I might as well head up that way.  Maybe I can sell some of the hides and stuff we took; I think McBane said there are peddlers up there.”

“There’s a fur merchant,” Meridian assured him.  “That’s where we always sold the hides we took.  He’s got a little store two doors west of the Adventurers’ Guild, on the western side of the square.  His name’s Baldwin, by the way.  He was always pretty fair with us.”

“Thanks, I’ll look into it,” Aranos nodded, glancing at Geltheriel.  “Anything you need me to get while I’m there?”

“No, I prefer to do my own shopping, as you know.”  Her face grew thoughtful.  “Although you’ve never actually bought me anything, so I don’t know how you’d do.  Perhaps you should get me something to show how well you know me.”  Seeing Aranos’ sudden look of surprise and mild terror, she laughed.  “I’m kidding,” she assured him.  “It’s fine; I have plenty of money if I need anything.”

Aranos nodded, concealing a sigh of relief, and headed out of the tavern, stopping to get his bearings for a moment.  At the same time, he reached out and repeated the air shield trick he’d done last night, this time weaving the wind into solid barriers around his backpack and coin pouch.  It wouldn’t be foolproof – a dedicated thief could get through the barriers with a sharp enough knife – but he was pretty sure he’d feel the attempt.  He held his Void Paralysis Spell ready just in case; if someone attacked him, the safest thing would be to immobilize them and move on, since he didn’t want to kill anyone and wasn’t sure that involving the guards would be a good idea.

Even this early, the Guild Square was busy.  The Square was a huge, empty space that could have occupied a full city block, surrounded by imposing stone buildings on every side with smaller, wooden structures sandwiched between them.  The open space was packed with tents, carts, and wooden stalls laid out in a rough grid formation that created twisting, labyrinthine passages.  Anyone trying to get somewhere through that would have to pass dozens of vendors, meaning dozens of opportunities for the merchants within to part a fool from their money.  The sounds of hawkers calling out their wares and customers arguing with merchants filled the square with a babble of noise that was both distracting and disconcerting, even this early in the morning.

Aranos felt something bump into his money pouch, and he reacted instantly, lashing out with his Void Paralysis Spell.  He heard a childlike voice utter a quick curse before the Spell wrapped around his target, and he glanced over to see a young girl of about nine or ten standing motionless beside him, her eyes wide and panicked.

He sighed.  “That wasn’t very smart, young lady,” he told the cringing, helpless urchin, noting her ragged clothing, dirty skin, and gaunt, hungry look.  Her black hair was short, ragged, and looked like it had been hacked with a dull knife, and her feet were bare and heavily callused.  “I mean, do you think someone would wear their money pouch so openly if they didn’t have protection for it?”  He dismissed the Spell, and the girl collapsed onto her rear end on the cobblestones.

“Please – please don’t beat me, sir,” she squeaked, scrambling away from him but freezing when he held up a hand.

“I don’t intend to hurt you, so long as you do something for me in return,” he replied, trying not to frighten her but not wanting to seem soft, either.

The girl’s eyes grew wider, and he saw tears forming in them.  “Please sir, not that.  I can show you where there are girls that will…they’re older…”

“God, no, nothing like that!” he said hastily as a wave of revulsion passed over him.  “I’m new to the city, and I need a guide.  I was hoping you’d act as mine, and in return, I’ll pay you for the job…and feed you.”

“A tout?” the girl said hopefully.  “I can do that, sir!  I know every haunt in the city – well, not the High Ward or Palace, but every other haunt.  Where do you want to go?”

“I’ve got furs and hides to sell, and I was recommended to Baldwin here in the Square,” he began, but he stopped as he caught the quick grimace on the girl’s face.  “You don’t think that’s a good idea?”

“It’s not really my place, sir,” the girl hesitated.

“You know the city better than I do – I’m sorry, what’s your name?”

“Retta, sir.”

“Retta, if you know a reason I shouldn’t go to Baldwin, please tell me.”

“Well, sir, the Adventurers’ Guild has a setup with Baldwin.  They send all the Travelers and new blood to him, and in return, he gives them a cut of the extra bits.  He skins you both ways, sir, buying and selling to make up the loss.”

“Okay, so who would you recommend?”

“Well, there’s a woman named Portia, she’s got a stall here in the Square, and she’ll give you fair bits for your prizes, or set a fair price if you’re buying.  She’s trying to get enough credit so she can get a real place here in the Square, so she’s gotta be on the upright or the guards’ll pinch her.”

Aranos looked at the girl a bit suspiciously.  “And does she pay you to bring people her way?”

“A copper a bird, sir,” the girl nodded.  “Same she gives to all touts.”

Smart business model, he thought appreciatively.  She’s basically paying for new customers and trying to get her name out there at the same time.

“Do you know of anyone in the same situation who sells arms and armor?” he asked slowly as an idea occurred to him.  “Someone who prides themselves on being honest and selling high quality merchandise but hasn’t made a name for themselves yet?”

“Yes sir,” Retta nodded.  “Roland, he just got the steel license.”  Seeing Aranos’ lack of comprehension, she explained.  “The king, he don’t want just any bird tossing steel around, sir.  That’s a good way for throats to end up cut, and the guards get real nasty if there’s too much blood in the gutters.  So, the king says that you’ve gotta have a license to hawk steel, and if you don’t, they haul you off and toss you in their guesthouse.”

Aranos assumed that meant prison.  The girl’s speech was colorful but not particularly difficult to follow.  “Okay, I’ll want to talk to Roland later.  Let’s go see Portia, first.”  He tossed Retta a copper link.  “Will that be enough for you to be my guide for the day?”

“Yes, sir,” she said enthusiastically, examining the coin closely.  “Retta’s your girl, sir.  I’ll keep you on the upright and let the filchers know that you’re shiny, so they won’t try to pinch your stuff.”

“Thanks,” he smiled at her.  “My stuff’s protected, but it’s better to know that no one will try to steal it.  Lead the way, Retta!”

The little urchin was quick and agile, and she seemed to know the Guild Square intimately.  Aranos would have probably wandered for an hour or more before finding Portia’s stall, but the grimy child led him between stalls, around the back of tents, and down a short path, stopping in front of a tent with a long, wooden counter in front.  A tall, serious-looking woman with short, dark brown hair, large, calloused hands and a scarred face stood behind the counter, calling out to passersby. 

“Furs,” she said loudly, her voice surprisingly mellow considering her rough appearance.  “Furs and leather goods!”  Aranos examined the woman a bit more carefully; she was dressed in a leather shirt and fur vest, with soft leather trousers.  The clothing looked finely made, and his Appraisal Skill told him the quality was Excellent, just a step below Masterwork. 

“Good morning,” he told her, stepping up to the counter.  “I’ve got some furs and hides to sell.”

The woman looked at Aranos and her face twisted.  “Depends on the hides,” she admitted sourly.  “Right now, I’ve got more doe leather and rabbit fur than I can shake a stick at.”

“What about ursusz hide?” he asked, pulling one of the huge, shaggy pelts from his pack and laying it on the table.  “Or kondinya scales?”

“Ursusz?” the woman repeated in a puzzled voice, leaning forward to examine the thick fur.  “Ah, you mean night-bear!  This is a damn fine hide.”  She looked up at the Sorcerer.  “You kill it?”

“My party and I did,” he acknowledged.  “I Harvested it, though.”

“Student-level Harvesting; not bad, but it could have been better.  You should work to become an Adept, then I could give you more for the hide.”  She slid her hands over the kondinya hide.  “Rock-lizards.  Solid hide, good for making light armor.  An Adept Harvested this one, though, right?”

“Yeah, one of my companions.  She’s better at it than I am.”

“She is, no question,” the woman nodded.  “How much are you wanting for the night-bear?”

“It’s worth a silver link,” he shrugged as he Appraised the item.

“It is, but I’ll make you a deal.  You bring me more like this, and I’ll give you an extra 10% on anything you sell me.” 

“Ten percent?  That’s a decent amount for simple furs and hides,” Aranos observed.

“True, but I can make hides like this into things that even the nobles will want,” she chuckled.  “Trust me, I’ll make it all back and then some.”

“That’s honest of you to admit,” he laughed, taking off his pack and pulling out various hides.  “I’ll make you another deal.  I’ve got all sorts of things here – munjuin, saskitch, anisi, even a few rafuin furs.”

She looked through the hides, her eyes widening.  “You’ve got odd names for these things, you know,” she muttered.  “But you’ve got damn good hides.  I’ve never even seen an Obsidian Terror hide before.  Anything made from this will bounce magic right back on the caster.” 

“They are good hides, and rather than sell them, I’m willing to give them to you.”

“Give them to me?” she asked suspiciously, dropping the piece of anisi chitin she was holding and staring at him suspiciously.  “These things are worth a decent amount of money.  Golds, to be sure, and you want to give them to me?  What’s the catch?”

“The catch is that I’m establishing a new noble House in another city, and I want to be your partner,” he grinned.  “I give you hides that my people and I take, you sell them as finished goods, and we’ll split the profits 50/50.  You become associated with a noble House, even if it’s a new one, and I get another source of long-term income.”

The woman stared at the hides, biting her lip.  “I might consider it,” she said slowly.  “But only if you advanced me 5 gold links.”  She looked up at him.  “You want these to sell, and sell well?  I need to get out of this stall and into a real shop.  There’s a place on the northern side of the Square I’ve been looking at, right next to a chandlery that sells adventuring supplies, and 5 gold links will get me the place lock, stock and barrel, plus give me enough to set up a real shop.  I’m Expert-ranked in Leatherworking; with the right setup, I can produce Masterwork items.”

“How would you pay me back?”

“You’d keep my half of the profits, minus a bit so I can eat, until we’re square.  After that, we split it 50/50, just like you said.”  She touched the hides again and grinned.  “With hides like this, I’ll bet you’d be paid back in less than a month and we’d both be making profits.”

“Especially once word gets out that Baldwin’s overcharging and underpaying,” Aranos added.  “Which it will, once I chat with some other Travelers.”  He nodded.  “Let me write something up, and I’ll be back later today with the document and the money.  Sound good?”

“If the document looks clean, you’ve got yourself a partner,” the woman grinned, extending her hand and gripping Aranos’ forearm.  “What’s your name, by the way?”

“Aranos,” he told her with a smile, quickly building the dome of air around them to block out sound.  “Aranos, Lord Evenshade, the Grand Liberator.”  Her face went from sly to astonished as he shifted his Title briefly before putting it back to Master of Elements.  “I’ll ask you to keep that to yourself, though.  I’m going by Oran here in Stoneleague.  Titles like that bring enemies.”

“Y—yes, milord,” the woman stammered.  “Of – of course!  For the Liberator…anything!”

Ah, gotta love having high Charisma and reputation, he thought silently.  “I’ll have those documents for you this afternoon,” he told the woman, then turned back to Retta.  “Let’s get you something to eat, Retta.  Then, I’ll need you to show me to the Mages’ College.  I’ve got an appointment I really want to keep.”

Chapter 6

Aranos stepped through the tall, golden gates onto the marble path that led toward the main building of the Mages’ College.  Thanks to his Metallurgy Skill and experience, he recognized the metal as auril, which he supposed made sense; it would absorb and radiate mana poured into it, so a fledgling Wizard – or an angry experienced one – couldn’t damage the gate and tall, metal fence with their Spells.  The marble path was short, only about ten feet, with small, grassy sections to either side and led to a tall, imposing building of marble and granite.  The College looked to be about five stories tall and perhaps fifty feet on each side, but Aranos knew that where magic was involved, exterior appearances could be deceiving.

Because of that, he wasn’t surprised when he stepped through the huge, double doors leading into the building and found himself standing in a small foyer, maybe twenty feet on each side, dominated by a massive desk with three young people in white robes standing behind it.  One of them, a man with light blonde hair and a goatee, noticed Aranos and smiled as the Sorcerer walked up to him.

“Welcome to the Mages’ College,” the young man said brightly.  “How may I assist you?”

“I have an appointment to meet with a Traveler named Neela this morning,” Aranos said.

“And your name, sir?”

“Oran, Master of Elements,” Aranos replied with a smile.

“An impressive Title, sir,” the man nodded.  “Please have a seat while Student Neela is summoned.”

Aranos looked where the man was pointing and walked over to the far wall to sit on a lightly padded stone bench.  The seat wasn’t particularly comfortable, but fortunately, he didn’t have to wait very long.

A door that Aranos hadn’t even seen, one disguised to look like part of the wall, opened across from him, and a tiny, slim woman with large eyes and long, straight brown hair hurried out.  She was dressed in a light gray robe that seemed to tangle around her legs as she walked, and she stumbled once as she scurried over toward him, probably the sign of a low Agility – or nerves, he supposed.

“Oran?” she asked, her eyes wide and unblinking.  “Hi, I’m Neela!  Hector told me all about you!  It’s so amazing to meet you…”

“It’s good to meet you too, Neela,” Aranos cut her off.  The woman spoke rapidly in a soft voice, her words almost tumbling out, and he wasn’t sure that she’d remember that there were things she probably shouldn’t say out loud.  “Is there somewhere we can talk?”

“My Student chambers,” she nodded.  She glanced at the man behind the desk.  “I’ll vouch for Oran.  He’s a spellcaster of sufficient ability to be allowed entrance.”

“If not, we’ll know soon enough, Student Neela,” the man chuckled.  “I’ve noted that you’ve vouched for him.  You understand, Oran, that you are a guest of this College and as such are expected to behave properly?”

“Define properly,” Aranos hedged cautiously.  “I want to know the rules before I agree to them.”

“Smart of you,” the man agreed.  “As a guest of Student Neela, you’re expected to remain with her at all times.  You’re expected to be respectful to any member of the College and to follow the directions of any full Wizard.  Respect all property of the College and touch nothing without permission.”

“How will I know which are full Wizards?” Aranos asked.  “And what if two Wizards give me differing directions?”

“Full wizards wear black robes with collars and sleeves denoting their College and rank,” the man shrugged.  “Obey the one with the most stripes on their sleeve.”

“That seems straightforward enough,” the Sorcerer nodded.  “Thanks for the explanation.”

“You’re welcome,” the man smiled.  “Enjoy your stay.”

Neela touched the hidden door and it opened with a click.  “The doors are warded so that only a member of the College can open them,” she explained.  “To anyone else, they’re just walls.” 

The room beyond the antechamber was large, spacious, and filled with noise.  Aranos paused for a moment, taking in the surroundings; the room had high, vaulted ceilings lit by brightly glowing globes of light mana.  The walls were stone and covered with tapestries depicting Wizards casting various magical effects, with a door set into the wall below each of the displays.  A larger set of double doors graced the wall opposite the side they’d entered from. 

The rest of the room was filled with long, rectangular tables, uncomfortable-looking couches, and wooden benches.  Almost all of these were occupied by humans dressed in robes that looked similar to Neela’s but in various shades and hues.  He spotted a handful of black robes and quite a few of the white ones he’d seen on the people in the antechamber, but the majority wore single-colored robes of various shades.  People with robes of similar hues seemed to be clustered together, eating, talking, and occasionally laughing.

“Welcome to the Mages’ College!” Neela said brightly, gesturing expansively at the chaos spread out before them.  “This is where the Wizards of Stoneleague live, learn, and train.”

“Kind of looks like a university student center,” Aranos chuckled.  “I take it the different robe colors signify what kind of magic you’re studying?”

“Exactly!  Gray is the color of the College of Air.  You can see that my robe is fairly light, meaning I’m a student; the darker the robe, the more advanced you are until you become a full Wizard and get to wear black.”

“What about the white robes?” Aranos asked, gesturing at the nearest cluster of figures in white.  “What do those mean?”

“Unaspected Wizards.  They haven’t chosen a specialty yet, so they don’t get to join a specific College.  They live here, in the Hall of the Unformed – well, they live in dormitories through those double doors you see over there.  Their classrooms are that way, too.”

He looked around.  “I don’t see anyone with shades of white, though.  How do you tell how advanced an unaspected student is?”

“You can’t, and unaspected students don’t get to become full Wizards.  They have to choose an aspect if they want to eventually be made full members.”  She shrugged.  “I guess that some don’t; they learn everything the College will teach them about unaspected mana and leave to make their own ways.  Whatever works for them, but everyone knows that unspecialized Wizards are less powerful overall, so I don’t know why they don’t just choose.”

Aranos bit his tongue; it wasn’t his place to say anything about the College or how things worked here.  The House of Stars had a similar attitude toward unaspected Wizards, after all; they still let them progress in the House, but they treated them like second-class citizens.  He knew that specialist Wizards got large bonuses to working with their specializations and that unaspected Wizards could never use the most powerful Spells of any given aspect.  He supposed that in a group like this, it made more sense to encourage everyone to specialize.  After all, with enough Wizards, every aspect would be represented, and the entire Guild would be more powerful overall. 

“The other doors lead to the various Colleges,” she continued, not noticing his silence.  “You can tell which is which by the tapestries marking them.”

It took Aranos a moment to realize that each tapestry seemed to represent a different aspect of magic.  The elemental aspects were easy enough to pick out – each tapestry simply showed a Wizard casting a Spell of that type.  The light and void images were of a Wizard holding a ball of light and one of darkness, respectively, while the life aspect was marked with a Wizard standing in a field of flowers.  The rest, though, simply showed a robed Wizard with a single rune emblazoned on them somewhere conspicuous.

“Do the runed tapestries mark the Enhanced aspect Colleges?” he asked as he recognized one of the runes as the symbol for the mind. 

“Yeah, but they won’t tell us which is which,” she sighed.  “It doesn’t matter; you can only get through the doors by using the correct mana type, so if you can’t use Mind mana, for example, you can’t enter the School of the Unseen.”  She shook her head.  “Speaking of passing through doors, let’s get you inside so I can show you my College.”

“I thought we were inside,” he observed, puzzled.

“Not quite yet,” she laughed as she led him forward, where a low, wooden railing divided the area they were in from the rest of the room.  As they neared the room, Aranos felt a tingle of energy ripple against his skin like an ethereal breeze, and he reached out with his Sense Mana Skill without thinking. 

That was a mistake.  The entire place was awash in magical energy; it radiated from everything and everyone in a nearly blinding display of power.  A stab of pain lanced through his skull, fortunately muted by his Fortitude Skill, and he quickly stopped trying to sense the power in front of him.  Instead, he reached out a delicate mana probe, stretching forth a questing tendril of invisible energy.

His probe encountered the warding Spell at the same moment that Neela reached out and touched it, making it flash opaque for an instant.  “This is a basic ward to keep out non-spellcasters,” she explained.  “It’s easy enough to bypass; you just have to channel a single SP into it, and it’ll let you through for the next five seconds…”

“Easy enough for some,” Aranos heard a voice mutter, and he turned to see a disconsolate looking young woman slumped on the ground, her back leaning against the barrier.  She was dressed in a white tunic with matching trousers and had short, dirty blonde hair in a pixie cut.  She looked to be about sixteen or so, and her expression had that sullen, dissatisfied look that Aranos knew his face had always held when he was that age. 

“Oh, hi Avalyn,” Neela said in a soft voice.  “Are you stuck outside again?”

“Hi, Neela,” the girl sighed.  “Yes, I can’t get this stupid barrier to work.  Do you mind…?”

“I’ll get an instructor,” Neela nodded, glancing at Aranos.  “Do you mind waiting here while I find one?”

“Why do you need an instructor?” he asked curiously.  “Is there something wrong with the ward?”  His senses ranged across the spellform; as Neela said, it was fairly simple.  It was a barrier of unaspected mana, but it was interwoven with Mind mana.  Applying a single SP to the barrier would temporarily link the caster to the Mind mana, which would then slide the barrier out of the way for that person.  It wasn’t complex, but it looked fully functional.

“No, there’s something wrong with me, if you have to know,” the girl snapped.  “I can’t make the thing work, and only the instructors can open it for me.”

Aranos frowned; any spellcaster should be able to push out a single point of mana.  He could see the anger and shame mingled on the girl’s face, though, so he didn’t press.  “Well, I can open it for you, if you want,” he shrugged.

Neela shook her head.  “If you add SP to it, it’ll only work for you, Oran.  The instructors know how to…”

Aranos ignored the woman and reached out with his Mana Vampire Perk, touching the Spell’s weaving.  He sent a simple probe of mind mana out to the girl and channeled it into the attunement portion of the Spell.  Instantly, the barrier vanished for her, and she tumbled through it with a surprised squawk, landing gracelessly on her back on the other side of the ward.  “There you go,” he smiled, adding a large chunk of SP and tying that probe between her and the weaving.  “That should hold you for a couple days, at least.”

The girl stared up at him and rose slowly to her feet.  “What do you mean, a couple days?”

“I tied you into the Spell,” he explained.  “I didn’t use enough SP to make it last for more than a day or two, but for a while, you should be able to get through the barrier freely.”

The young woman looked at him suspiciously and stepped cautiously back across the barrier, waited for several seconds, and walked back through without resistance.  Her eyes widened.  “How did you…”  Her gaze narrowed suspiciously.  “Wait, what’s the catch?  Why are you helping me?”

“Because I could?  There’s really nothing more to it than that.  I was here, I could help, so I did.”

“Well – thanks,” she said grudgingly.  “Bye, Neela.  Hope you guys enjoy your tour.”

Aranos quickly attuned himself to the barrier and stepped through, with Neela following behind him.  “How did you do that?” she asked in a slightly awed voice.  “I’ve only ever seen the full Wizards be able to let someone in before.”  Her face clouded.  “You might not want to let anyone else know you can, though.  I don’t know how the College would feel about an outsider being able to bypass one of its wards so easily.”

“It isn’t much of a ward – it’s unaspected mana, which is brittle, so anyone with a decent Strength score could just break through – but I hadn’t planned on telling anyone,” he chuckled.  “I suppose the girl might, but I doubt it.”  His face twisted in a grimace.  “Why can’t she get through the ward?  It’s a simple enough thing, really.”

Neela sighed as she led him through the crowded hall.  “Avalyn is – struggling.  She’s only been here for a week, but she can’t seem to learn any of the basic Spells any Wizard should know, and she can’t even project her mana.  None of the exercises help her.  I don’t think she’s going to be here very much longer; if she doesn’t make some progress, they’re going to kick her out.”

Aranos felt a stab of sympathy for the young woman but shook it off.  It was a shame, but it wasn’t anything he could fix.  He wasn’t a Wizard, so he certainly couldn’t train anyone to be a Wizard.  In fact, he’d probably fare about as well with those training exercises as Avalyn would have…

He stopped, frozen, as a thought struck him.  Neela paused and turned back to glance at him, her face puzzled.  “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah – yeah, I’m fine,” he sighed.  “I just think I might have a way to help her.  Maybe we can find her after we chat again?”

“She’ll probably be in classes,” Neela pointed out.  “We can look, though. If you can help her, it would certainly make a lot of people happy.  Her family’s wealthy, and they’re probably paying the College a pretty penny to teach her.”

She led him to the gray-painted door that pierced the wall below a tapestry of a female Wizard summoning a huge tornado.  “This door leads to the College of Air, obviously,” she said, touching the door, which clicked open.  “You have to channel a touch of air mana to unlock it, but once it’s unlocked, pretty much anyone can come in.”

Aranos followed her through the door and felt a familiar lurching sensation in his stomach.  He put a hand out to the nearest wall and took a moment to steady himself; they’d just teleported, and his sense of balance never agreed with that.  At least he wasn’t throwing up, as he sometimes did when teleporting into Eredain, probably because they’d gone through a portal rather than using a teleport Spell.  Portals were easier on him, for whatever reason.  Once he’d regained his equilibrium, he straightened and looked around, taking in the surroundings. 

They were standing in the center of a large, circular room completely enclosed in glass.  Beyond the glass, he could see blue sky and the occasional cloud; they were either at the top of a very tall tower or floating in the air somewhere.  Or it’s a really good illusion, he reminded himself.  That was possible, too, but it really didn’t matter to him, so he didn’t bother to check with his mana senses.  It looked like they were on the lowest level; he could see higher levels above him, through transparent glass floors, and he blushed as he realized that everyone on the floor above him was wearing a robe, and many were wearing nothing underneath it.

“That’s awkward,” he muttered, and Neela followed his glance up.  He expected her to react, but she simply shrugged. 

“I’ve gotten used to it,” she said.  “I just always wear pants and a shirt under my robes.  Some people don’t care – and I think some people get a kick out of knowing someone might be looking.”

“Weird,” Aranos sighed.  “So, where did we portal to?”

“Well, obviously, it’s the College of Air,” she laughed.  “If you’re asking where it is, though – no idea.  Somewhere high, I guess.”

Aranos chuckled.  “Yeah, I could see that.  So, you want to be an Air Mage?”

“Sort of,” she shrugged.  “I actually want to be a Storm Wizard.”

“How’s that coming along?” he asked, looking around.  The center of this main floor had a giant crystal sculpted into the shape of a funnel cloud; he reached out with his mana senses and confirmed that it was an air mana crystal.  To his surprise, though there were a dozen or so students lounging around the room, all dressed in gray robes like Neela’s, none were near the crystal, training.  The rest of the floor was occupied with benches, tables, and lots of plants; all of these, Aranos noted, were firmly attached to the floor.  He guessed that in a school of Air Wizards, sudden gusts of wind were probably an occupational hazard. 

“Pretty well,” she smiled.  “I’ve just unlocked lightning mana – did you know that it’s a combination of fire and life manas? – and I’m working on mastering lightning bolt.  It’s a tough Spell; lightning mana is really hard to aim unless you’ve got high Mana Manipulation.  My instructor says once I can destroy three targets with lightning without missing, I’ll be ready to move on.”

Aranos nodded; lightning mana was inherently unstable, although his Mana Mastery Skill was high enough now that he didn’t have any issues with it.  “What’s your Mana Manipulation Skill?”

“High Student ranks,” she sighed.  “I’m working on it, but it’s hard to raise it, because you have to cast Spells over and over again.”

“Or you could train it with the air crystal,” he told her absently.  She looked at him, confused, and he frowned.  “Don’t you use that air mana crystal to train your Mana Control and Manipulation?”

“No, I’ve never heard of that,” she said slowly.  “I know that Adept-ranked Apprentices have some sort of training where they spend time studying the crystal, but not Students…”

“I can teach you, if you’d like,” he smiled at her.  “We just have to go stand by the crystal.  I was wondering why nobody was using it; I guess they don’t teach you that until later, here.”

He led her down to the crystal and stopped about five feet from it.  “You don’t want to get closer than this,” he warned her.  “Trust me, trying this while standing too close can be bad for your mana channels.”  He turned to face the crystal and held out both hands, reaching an invisible tendril of mana to touch the crystal and drawing its energy into his core.  As he did, he cycled the energy back out through another tendril, returning it to the crystal.

“If you have the Sense Mana Skill or a Spell that shows you magic, watch what I’m doing,” he told her, waiting as she frowned at him and her eyes widened.

“You’re regenerating SP directly from the crystal,” she whispered.  “I know that being near a crystal boosts my regen, but I didn’t know you could draw from one like that!”

“You can, but it takes practice.  It’s easier for me because of my Class.  For a Wizard, I’m told that the best way to do this is to start casting a Spell but stop before it’s actually formed.  Hold that as long as you can, then let it out.  Give it a try.”

She frowned at him but held up her hands and closed her eyes, her lips moving and arcane words tumbling from her mouth.  He watched with his mana senses as she gathered power into her left hand and saw it starting to form over her right, but suddenly it stopped and hovered just beneath her skin.  Energy kept pouring into her left hand, though, and her eyes opened wide as the power started to fill her.

“Now, let that energy just kind of trickle out of your right hand,” he instructed.  “You don’t have to cast a Spell, but if it helps, cast something small and Channeled.”

Her lips started moving again, and suddenly he saw mana misting from her hand and felt a faint breeze wafting from her.  The energy was pouring out of her, and he could see her adjusting it to match the flow of mana she was pulling in.

“That’s pretty much it,” he told her.  “Just concentrate on keeping the energy flowing in your mana channels and cycling through your core.  Do it for an hour or two, and you should get a boost to Intelligence, Wisdom, Mana Control, and Mana Manipulation.  It’s a good way to power up fast.”

“I can’t believe no one is being taught this,” she said in an amazed voice.  “It’s so simple – can any Wizard do it using their specialty mana?”

“As far as I know,” he shrugged.  “The elves teach this to their beginning students, and they do it daily; they have signup sheets and lines to get a chance to train for an hour.”

“I’m so doing this each day,” she said in an amazed voice before reluctantly lowering her hands and releasing the Spell.  “It’s really easy!”

“As you get more advanced, you’ll have to pull more SP to get a bonus,” he warned her.  “I could do this all day and never get anything from it anymore unless I was almost touching the crystal and meditating; even then, it would only boost my mana Skills, not my Stats.”

“How high is your Intelligence?” she asked curiously.  “I mean, if you don’t mind; I know it’s personal…”

“Creeping up on 200,” he shrugged.  “I’ve got a few more levels before I hit that, though.”

“Two hundred?” she gasped.  “I just passed fifty!  How did you…have you been training like that the whole time?”

“I have my own mana crystal to use, but yeah, I have,” he acknowledged.  “Every day.  If you draw as much as you can handle, to the point where you can’t take any more and it almost hurts, you’ll gain three points of Intelligence and Wisdom every two days, assuming that your Wisdom is over 50, too.  If you do what we just did, you’ll gain half that, three points every four days.  Either way, though, you should hit Adept level in Mana Control and Manipulation in a week.”

“That’s amazing,” she breathed.  “Although my Wisdom isn’t that high.  My instructor says that Intelligence is more important for developing Mana Manipulation, so I should focus on that first.”

“Oh, do they rank you by your Manipulation level?” he asked.  “The elves do it based on Control.”

“Mana Manipulation lets you cast more powerful Spells, though,” she pointed out.

“True, but Mana Control lets you cast more of them for a lower SP cost,” he shrugged.  “It’s just a different way to look at it, but the worst thing that can happen to a Wizard is to run out of SP in combat, right?  It doesn’t matter how good your Spells are if you don’t have the mana to cast them.”  He shook his head.  “I’m sure your instructors have a good reason to teach you the way they are, though.  They’re probably just saving Mana Control and Wisdom training for later.”

“I suppose,” she frowned.  “Anyways, I was supposed to help you, and so far, you’ve only helped me.  What can I do for you?”

“Should we talk here?” he asked, glancing around at the seemingly incurious students.  “I mean, if your chambers are more private…”

“They are, but they’re also about twenty stories up,” she bit her lip.  “We’re all given a Flight Spell on our first day, and we’re supposed to use it to travel the Wind Tower – that’s what this place is called, by the way.  I’d really rather not walk up all those stairs.”

“I have a Flight Spell, too,” he assured her.  “Lead the way, and I’ll follow.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.  “Aeromancer Flight Spells are usually faster than non-specialized ones, and I’m not good at going slow, just yet.”

“I should be fine.  My Spell’s pretty fast.  If I’m having trouble, though, just stop somewhere in my sight and wait for me to catch up.”

“Okay,” she nodded, closing her eyes.  Her hands made strange passes in the air and her lips moved as she muttered unintelligibly.  A moment later, he felt a rush of air mana surround her and she lifted into the air.  “Go ahead and cast yours.  I’ll wait for you.”

Aranos grabbed strands of air, spatial, and void mana and wove them around himself.  Immediately, he rose from the ground, hovering in place.  She stared at him, her mouth open, and he grinned.  “My Class gives me a boost to casting speed,” he told her.  “I just don’t have as many Spells as you will when you’re at my level.”

She muttered something under her breath but nodded.  “Okay, follow me, and try to stay close.”  She rose up into the air, sending a wash of wind back down behind her, rising faster than a person could possibly have run – but not much faster.  Aranos followed her easily, dropping into a spot just off to her right side and a bit behind her.  She glanced back at him and saw that he was keeping up, then grinned.

“Okay, let’s see what you can do,” she chuckled, and suddenly she accelerated, now moving about the speed of a running horse.  Aranos increased his speed to match hers and stayed with her; he could fly much faster than this, if he wanted, but he didn’t see the need.  In fact, he slowed slightly, allowing her to very slowly pull ahead, then stopped a dozen feet behind her.  She looked back, and he saw a look of triumph flash across her face.  Aranos sighed; it seemed like such a petty thing to be proud of, but he supposed that the woman was supposed to be an air specialist.  Giving her that small victory probably made her feel better, and he really did need her help.

He trailed along as she zoomed upward, glad as he did that as she said, she wore pants and a shirt under her robe.  The garment flapped in the breeze, and it would have been very awkward trying to follow her if he couldn’t look in her general direction.  She finally banked when they’d gone up about twenty stories, turning and zipping down a hallway that was made of smoky, opaque glass.  She landed at last before a closed door, and he floated down next to her, canceling his Spell.  “These are my quarters,” she told him, touching the door.  It unlocked with a click, and he followed her into a small, 10’ by 10’ room.  The wall opposite the door was transparent glass and looked out into the sky, but the other walls were the same smoky quartz as the outer passage, which he supposed gave her some privacy, at least.  The room had a simple desk, a bed, a nightstand, and a wardrobe that stood open and was filled with robes, shirts, and trousers. 

Neela giggled as she walked in and sat down on the bed.  “This feels weird,” she said.  “It’s like I’m back in college and inviting a boy into my dorm room.  I feel a little naughty!”

Aranos laughed as he reached out with his High Mastery, weaving his dome of silent air around them.  “I should have brought a six pack and an SD card with my mix playlist, then,” he joked.  “We could have the entire experience.”

She giggled again, then frowned at the walls.  “Hey, what did you do?  Is that an Air Spell?”

“Just a little something to muffle sound so we can talk,” he assured her.  “You can sense it?”

“Well, yeah.  I mean, I’ve got Air and Fire Mastery – you can’t be in the Air College without Air Mastery, after all – and anyone with a Mastery Skill can sense that aspect when they reach the Student level.  What Masteries do you have?”

“None, actually.  My Class doesn’t use them.  Hey, if you have Air and Fire, have you learned any Radiant Spells?”

“A few,” she nodded.  “Most of my Spells are Air-based, obviously, but I’ve got a couple Fire ones – just enough to get the Mastery Skill so I could start using Lightning – and I’ve got a handful of Radiant ones.  They’re useful, because they let me train my Air and Fire Masteries at once.”

He nodded.  “That is useful.”  He shifted, glancing around cautiously.   “I assume Hector told you my real name?”

“Yeah,” she nodded.  “He said you needed access to the College.  I’m happy to help; I saw the announcement about Antas.  The Wizards were in an uproar about it; they wanted to send a delegation to the city and ask for permission to get into the Library, but they decided the High Road was too dangerous.”

“For a small group of Wizards with no melee support?  Yeah, that would have been bad,” Aranos laughed.  “They’d have been eaten by the first munjuin they met.”  Her face looked confused, so he explained.  “Giant black lizard that reflects magic back at the caster.  Use a lightning bolt on one, and you’ll get it right back in your face.”

“I’ve never heard of those,” she admitted.  “Our instructors don’t really let us go out to adventure, though.  We have to be Adepts to get permission to join a party.”

“Well, practice what I just showed you, and you’ll be an Adept in a week or so,” he smiled at her, sitting down on the desk chair.

“So, what can I do for you?” she asked curiously. 

“I need access to the library,” he told her.  “Or, I suppose, to someone in the College who’s an expert in Dimensional magic; the more expert they are, the better.”

She frowned.  “I can probably get you into the library, but only into the Student section,” she told him.  “I can’t access the other sections.  As far as the Dimensional magic, is that something like Spatial mana?”

He nodded.  “It’s a combination of Spatial and Soul mana, yes.  It’s what lets you teleport from place to place.  I know how to open a portal, but only to a location where I’ve got an anchor…”  Seeing her uncomprehending look, he stopped.  “I take it you haven’t learned much about Spatial magic, then?”

“Just that it’s dangerous and hard to learn.  Students aren’t allowed to even attempt to use Enhanced aspects like that.  There’s a College of Spatial magic, but you have to be a full Wizard and have certain Stats and Skills to even petition to join it.  I can’t get you in there, but…”  She paused.  “You say that you can use Spatial magic, though?  That might work – I mean, if you were a full Wizard, they would have to let you, but even if you’re not…”  She bit her lip.

“Technically, I’m not a Wizard at all; I took a different Class,” he reminded her. “What does it take to be a full Wizard?”

“An Advanced Class, Expert Mana Manipulation, and an Adept rank in one of the Spell Masteries,” she answered immediately.  “I’m getting closer; I’m at level eight, but my Mana Manipulation has a long way to go – although not as long now that you showed me that trick.  Hopefully, once I hit Adept, I’ll be able to join a party and get XP faster, until eventually I’m ready for my Advanced Class.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said cautiously.  “I take it Storm Wizard is the Advanced Class you want?”

“Yeah.  I love being able to fly, but I want to control the wind, create thunderstorms, and blast people with lightning bolts.”  She sighed.  “That’ll be so cool…”

Aranos laughed.  “Sounds fun,” he agreed.  “You know, technically I have an Advanced Class and Expert Mana Manipulation, if that helps get me in.  I can use every Primary and most of the Enhanced aspects, as well.  I don’t know what will be important to convince a Spatial Wizard to talk to me, so…”

Neela stared at him.  “Wait, what?” she spluttered.  “How do you have an Advanced Class?  And wait – you can use more than one Enhanced aspect?  Even two is really rare; most Wizards spend their lives mastering one!”

“I’m not a Wizard, remember?” he reminded her.  “And I haven’t mastered anything.  Remember how I said I don’t use Spell Masteries?  I just have to learn to feel the mana type I want, and once I do, I can use it.  More or less; it’s a bit more complicated than that.”

“That feels like a broken Class,” she said with a touch of complaint in her voice.

“Maybe a little,” he laughed.  “But how many Spells do you have?  Altogether?”

“I’ve got twenty-two,” she said promptly.  “Three Fire, six Radiant, five unaspected, and eight Air.”

“Well, I’ve got thirty-four,” he told her.  “How hard would it be for you to get that many Spells?”

“Um, not very, I guess.  I could probably get them from the library if I really wanted.  I automatically get to pick one Air Spell and one other Spell every time I level up, too.”

“I’m about three times your level,” he told her.  “When you’re my level, you’ll probably have sixty or more Spells you can cast.  I’ve got thirty-four, and I had to work hard to get those.  Plus, by the time you’re my level, you’ll have huge bonuses to your Air Spells that I won’t have, and you can get more of those just by buying a scroll and learning the Spell.”

“It’s a bit harder than that,” she corrected.  “You usually need Spell Masteries, minimum Stats, and minimum Mana Manipulation or Control to learn a Spell, depending on how powerful it is.  Still, by the time I’m your level – three times?  Really? – anyway, by that time, I doubt I’ll have too much trouble learning anything I want.”

“Exactly.  Eventually, you’ll be more adaptable and flexible than I am.  I have to constantly update my existing Spells to keep them useful, but you can just learn a new, more powerful Spell when you outgrow one.  There’s a balance to it, really.”

“That makes sense,” she nodded.  “Still, it’s pretty cool that you can use all those aspects.”  She frowned.  “Wait, if you’re an Expert in Mana Manipulation…you could train me, right?”

Aranos laughed.  “What do you think I just did earlier?” he asked her.  “That’s the training method.  The game helped you pick it up so quickly because you were learning from an Expert.  You might even get bonuses to your advancement because of it, but I don’t know that for sure.”

“Oh, I am so trying that out later,” she muttered.  She looked up at him.  “There’s one thing we could try.  I could take you to see the Dean.  She might be able to get you access to the Spatial School; at the very least, she could ask them to meet with you.  There’s no guarantee she’d see us, though.”

“I’m willing to try,” he shrugged.  “The worst she can say is no, right?”

“No, the worst she can say is that I’m expelled from the College and that neither of us is welcome here anymore – but she wouldn’t do that just for asking to meet with her,” Neela corrected.  “Give me a moment.”  She closed her eyes and muttered under her breath, her hands moving in odd patterns as she cast a Spell.  Aranos watched with his eyes and his magical senses; he could see the spellform she was creating, sense how her words and gestures added to the magical structure and defined it.  It was a Spell of Air, to be sure, but it had other elements, as well, including Sonic mana. 

A moment later, she opened her eyes.  “Can you open a hole in your barrier?” she asked with a hint of exasperation.  “It’s interfering with my Spell.”

“No problem,” he nodded, reaching out and pulling the weave aside to open a small window.  Immediately, he felt a breeze pass through the hole in his shield and rush out of the room, and he let the window in the barrier slip shut once more.  “Did that do it?”

“It did, thanks,” she nodded with a smile.  “I just cast a messaging Spell and sent it to the College’s Director – sort of like the Dean’s assistant.  He’ll send one back with a reply.  Normally, it would be a flat no – the Dean doesn’t see students unless it’s important – but I told him what you told me.  That might be enough to get her interested.” 

She shrugged.  “It’s the best I can do.  While we wait…is there anything else you’d like to show me?”  Her grin was a bit predatory, and Aranos had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“Yeah,” he chuckled.  “I’ve got something awesome that I think you’d really love to see.  Let me just join you on the bed to show you.”  He walked over and sat down, and he saw a quick flash of uncertainty pass across her face.  Still, she scooted a bit closer to him. 

“Okay, so let me show you what I want to teach you,” he said quietly, leaning toward her.  She leaned back momentarily before leaning even closer, placing her face a few inches from his.  “It’s…it’s…this really awesome meditation Skill,” he breathed, placing his lips right next to her ear.  “You’re going to love it!”

“Jerk!” she laughed, smacking his arm, although he saw a quick flash of relief in her eyes.  He had a feeling that Neela hadn’t invited all that many boys into her room in college, after all, and she’d been a bit nervous about the whole situation.  That didn’t bother him – it wasn’t like he’d had girls up to his room very often.  Or really, hardly at all.  “I invite you into my room, you make it all private, and all you want to do is meditate?  What’s a girl to think?”

“A girl Wizard might think that a Skill that lets you train your mana while you’re meditating, boosts your SP regen significantly, and even lets you train other Skills while you’re doing it is way better than – that other thing,” he laughed.

“It can do all that?” she asked.  “Okay, you’re forgiven.  What do I do?”

It took Neela almost an hour to get the Instinctive Meditation Skill.  He showed her how to grow her mindscape and train her with the air crystal even more effectively, and he explained how she could grow her Spells faster by practicing them in the mindscape – which would also mean growing her Mastery Skills. When they rose from her mindscape, which looked like a field of wildflowers with heavy storm clouds threatening overhead, she pulled up her notifications with a gasp.  “That’s amazing,” she breathed.  “I got 2 points each to Intelligence and Wisdom, Aranos.  I even got 2 levels in both Mana Control and Manipulation!  That’s more than I’d get in a week of my normal exercises!”

He shrugged.  “You can get more if you use the Air crystal downstairs, but people might ask questions if you’re sitting in front of it with your eyes closed for an hour.  It’s up to you.”

She frowned.  “Speaking of asking questions, the Director should have gotten back to me by now.  I wonder what the hold-up is?”

“Umm – would he be replying with the same Spell you used?” Aranos asked, belatedly reaching out and unraveling his Air shield.  “If so, my shield…”

Neela winced.  “Dammit,” she sighed.  “Yeah, the barrier was holding the Spell out.  I’ve got three messages – and the Director sounds pissed.  Come on, let’s go.”

“Oh, we got permission to see the Dean?”

“Not just permission.  I got a demand to bring you to her as soon as possible.”  She shook her head.  “I think I’m in trouble.”

They zoomed straight up through the center of the tower, and even at the speed Neela was flying, it took thirty seconds to reach the top floor.  They set down on the crystalline surface, and Aranos followed the Wizard to a wall made of the same smoky glass used to obscure the private rooms below.  The wall seemed almost perfectly unblemished, but Aranos’ Tracking Skill showed him that a path had been worn into the crystal floor between the entrance hole and a spot on the wall, and his Perception highlighted the tiny crevices of a carefully hidden door that Neela led him to.

“There’s a door to the Director’s office in this wall,” she murmured.  “It’ll just take me a second to find the right spot – oh, yeah, here it is.”  The Wizard tapped on the concealed door, which swung soundlessly open with a rush of air.  “Just – please be polite.  They’re probably already angry as it is.”

They stepped into a large room made entirely of the smoky glass, save for the ceiling, which was transparent and showed a crystal blue sky above.  A long, low desk occupied one corner of the room, behind which sat a short, slim man with an overly long nose and narrow face that gave him a decidedly rat-like appearance.  He was dressed in a black robe with five gray stripes on the sleeves, just above the cuff, and his sparse, gray hair stuck out in multiple directions.  He was bent over the desk, scribbling furiously, his expression disgruntled as he wrote with enough force to blot the paper.  He made a disgusted noise, crumpled the sheet, and pulled out another one.

“Director Brewster,” Neela said, moving forward and bowing her head respectfully.

“Yes?” the man asked in a deep, gruff voice that belied his tiny frame.  “What is it?”

“I’m Student Neela, sir.  You summoned me and my friend, Oran…”

The man’s eyes shot up from his papers and fastened on the girl, burning with anger.  “I summoned you an hour ago, child!” he snapped, his face reddening.  “I was just writing up your disciplinary action as we speak!  What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I’m sorry, Director,” she bowed again.  “We were Meditating, and I didn’t get your messages until we came out of it.  We came as soon as I got them.”

The man grunted.  “Meditating?” he asked dubiously, glancing over at Aranos.  “That must have been some Meditation session.”  He shook his head.  “I’ll figure out your punishment later.  This is the Traveler you mentioned?”

“Yes, sir.  This is Oran.  He wanted to meet…”

“I heard your message, girl,” the man cut her off, rising to his feet and walking over to Aranos.  “The Student tells me you’re Expert ranked in Mana Control and Manipulation.  Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir,” Aranos nodded with a smile, deciding that a bit of courtesy might go a long way with the unhappy man. 

The Director snorted.  “Well, if you want to see Dean Rocherres, you’ll need to prove it.”

“I’d be happy to.  How would you like me to do that?”

The Director walked over to a cabinet behind his desk, put on a pair of gloves, and pulled out a smooth, irregular stone that radiated Air mana powerfully.  “Anyone with an Expert rank in either of those Skills should know the technique for Mana Channeling,” he said.  “This mana crystal has been Enchanted to glow when it’s being expertly channeled.  Make it glow for me.” 

As Aranos walked forward, the man held up a hand.  “Fair warning,” he said, “when you touch this crystal, it will start to drain your SP.  If your Mana Control Skill is below the Expert level, you won’t be able to stop it, and you’ll end up with Mana Depletion.  If you do stop it, then the flow will reverse, and if you don’t have Expert Mana Manipulation, you’ll get Mana Burn before it lets you go.”  His eyebrows rose.  “Still sure you want to try?”

Aranos held his hand out wordlessly.  The man shrugged and deposited the double-fist-sized stone in Aranos’ palm.  Instantly, Aranos felt the Enchantment latch onto him, pulling at his mana and trying to drain the SP from him.  On a whim, he tried to open his hand, but the Enchantment held him firmly in place.  Useful Enchantment.  I’ll have to study it before I hand this back.

He closed his eyes, placed his other hand on the stone, and reached out with his magical senses to the glowing crystal.  He didn’t really want to drain mana from it; it radiated nothing but Air mana, and draining too much of that would unbalance his mana spirals.  It was a simple enough matter to hold onto his own energy, keeping the stone from draining it, but as soon as he stabilized his mana, energy began to pour into him from the crystal.  Well, looks like I’m doing this whether I want to or not.

He pulled hard on the mana crystal, draining Air mana as quickly as he could.  As he did, he guided it into his spirals, allowing it to flow into the channels he’d made to contain his Air aspect.  At the same time, he channeled a strand of Air mana down his other arm and back into the crystal, recirculating the energy.  He carefully controlled the flow of energy; the last time he did this, the crystal got so hot, it nearly cooked his hands.

While he channeled the energy from the crystal, he extended a mana probe toward it, examining the Enchantment attached to it.  It was surprisingly simple, really no different from a Spell used to hold a door shut against intruders.  The Enchantment sent a loop of energy into his hand, binding it in place.  A second Enchantment linked to that one, this one reading the flow out of and into the crystal and cutting the binding if the two rates reached a certain point.  He kept examining it, aware that the crystal was glowing brightly and that the binding had been released, until a notification started blinking in his vision.  He opened his eyes and handed the crystal back to the dean with a smile.

“That was – mildly impressive,” the man acknowledged with a grunt, staring at the crystal before walking over and putting it back in the cabinet.  “I’ve rarely seen someone make it glow that brightly.  You must have a pretty high SP regen.”

“High enough,” Aranos shrugged, not admitting that he could have drained the crystal much faster if he’d wanted.  “I rarely run out of SP.”

“Have a seat,” the man swept his hand at the wall opposite him, and Aranos and Neela turned to see a thinly padded bench.  They moved toward it, but the Director stopped them.  “Not you, Student.  The Dean’s only interested in your friend.  You’re going to show me this excellent Meditation technique of yours that made it impossible for you to hear my messages.  If you can Meditate while I attempt to distract you, then I’ll accept your excuse.  Otherwise, you’ll be scrubbing the outside of the tower for the next week.”

He gestured for the woman to follow him, and she looked back helplessly at Aranos, who gave her a reassuring smile.  He knew from experience that it was hard to rouse someone from Instinctive Meditation; he’d once almost Meditated through a massive assault on the place the party was sleeping and had only been roused by Silma’s telepathic summons.

“Don’t worry, Traveler,” the Director smiled.  “One way or another, the Student will be available to guide you back to the exit once you’re done with your interview.  The Dean will call you when she’s ready for you.”  The pair disappeared through a door that Aranos hadn’t noticed, and he settled in to wait. 

He hadn’t been waiting long when a door on the wall next to the Director’s desk slid open with a rush of wind and a crisp, female voice barked, “Enter.”

Chapter 7

Aranos stood and walked through the open door into a large room that looked like a semicircular office.  The floor was covered with a thick carpet instead of being smooth glass, and the far wall looked out over a range of snowcapped mountains, with the brilliant late morning sunlight bathing the left side of the peaks, indicating that they were facing south.  Two small trees that Aranos’ Herbalism Skill recognized as vilyarn, renowned for their ability to purify air and the crisp, icy scent of their flowers, stood in the corners next to the massive window.  A huge desk dominated the center of the room, while three hard-looking, wooden chairs rested in front of it.

The woman behind the desk gazed at Aranos with piercing, blue eyes deeply set into a lined face.  She was an old woman, her hair white and wispy, her shoulders bent with age, but her gaze was clear and bright, and she radiated an aura of power into the room that took Aranos’ breath away.  Looking into her gaze felt like staring into a thunderstorm; he could sense the danger lurking behind those icy eyes, the coiled strength just begging to be unleashed – say, by an impolite Traveler who thinks too much of himself and isn’t very cautious. 

“You’re the Traveler Student Neela was talking about?” the woman asked crisply, seeming to stare directly through him.  “The one called Oran?”  Like the Director, the Dean wore a black robe, although hers seemed to be a finer weave and had six gray stripes instead of five.  He quickly took a moment to inspect the woman:

Dean Lucie Rocherres
Human
Unwounded

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied respectfully, bowing his head toward the woman.  “Thank you for taking the time to see me.”

The woman’s mouth was set in a thin line, but he saw a brief flash of approval in her gaze.  This was a person who’d earned respect, but he had a feeling she was also one who demanded it.  That was fine with Aranos; he had no intention of ruffling her feathers.  “You may sit,” she told him, motioning to one of the chairs. 

Aranos sat down immediately, folding his hands in his lap and sitting quietly.  “I would question you about your delay, but honestly, I’m not interested,” the Dean spoke briskly.  “I am more curious about the bold claims Student Neela made about you.”  She rested her elbows on her desk and tented her fingers.  “I’m given to understand that you’ve mastered Dimensional mana, meaning you have command of both your Spatial and Soul aspects.  Is this correct?”

“Not mastered, ma’am.  I can use it, though, yes,” he replied.

“Show me,” she demanded.  “Open a portal into the outer chamber.”

“If it’s somewhere I can’t see, there’s a decent chance it won’t work,” he replied apologetically.  “I might end up opening it anywhere nearby.  I can create one that links two spots in this room, though – or one that opens outside somewhere.”

“Outside, then,” she said impatiently.  “Open a portal.”

Aranos obediently gathered strands of Soul and Spatial mana, weaving them together into a disk taller than he was as he cast his Dimensional Hop Spell.  He poured power into the disk, guiding its terminus down to the peak of the closest mountain.  A swirl of misty, gray light suddenly appeared in front of him, twisting and spinning until the mists cleared, revealing the windswept, snow-covered mountain peak. 

The Dean rose from her chair, staring into the window-like portal, her jaw clenched firmly.  A few seconds later, the Spell elapsed, and the portal snapped shut.  The woman gazed at the spot in the air for a few more seconds before sitting back down in her chair.  “Well, it seems that you were telling the truth,” she said after a few long moments.  “And you wish to join the School of the Fathomless?” 

“I’m sorry, ma’am, the what?”

“The School of the Fathomless is the College for Spatial magic, young man.  They are also one of the smallest of the Upper Schools and are constantly seeking new members.”  She leaned back with a sigh.  “As you are certainly aware, the requirements to unlock Spatial mana do not come easily to Wizards.  The needed Dexterity is certainly no issue, but we rarely train our Agility.  Only the School of Nature’s Path is smaller and is comprised entirely of those who have chosen a battle specialization for their Advanced Class, allowing them to effectively train their Endurance or Strength.”

She turned and looked out of the window at the distant peaks.  “If you would wish entry to the School of the Fathomless, I am certain it could be arranged.  Do you have an Advanced Class?”  He nodded.  “You are Expert-ranked in both Mana Control and Manipulation, and you obviously have the needed Mastery Skills, or you would not be able to wield Enhanced mana.  You technically qualify to join as a full Wizard, Oran, skipping over what for most would be years of training and service.”

Aranos frowned.  While that was a tempting offer, one of the rules of the House of Stars was that he couldn’t join any other organization, and he wasn’t willing to give up his membership there.  At the same time, he really did need to advance the Cleansing Quest, and if this was the best way to do it…

“Can I think about it?” he asked cautiously.  “Could I talk to the Dean of that School and find out more, perhaps?”

“That’s a reasonable request,” she nodded.  “I’ll speak with Dean Janeczek myself and arrange it.  I’m certain he’ll be willing to meet with you.”  She rose to her feet, and he did the same.  “In the meantime, please return to Director Brewster’s office.  Student Neela will return to escort you back to the exit.”

He didn’t have to wait long for Neela to return, and the disgruntled look on the Director’s face told Aranos everything he needed to know.  “Your Meditation Skill has improved significantly, Student,” he grumbled at her.  “Keep up the good work.  I’ll let this slide this time, but if you’re going to be that deep in Meditation, you’ll need to make sure you’re in safe surroundings with someone there to keep an eye on you.”

“I will, Director,” the woman smiled at him.  “Thank you.”

The trip back to the exit was fast, and Aranos briefly detailed his encounter with the Dean as they flew; he didn’t bother pretending he couldn’t keep up with her this time, and she was too engrossed in his story to notice.  “That’s a pretty amazing offer,” she whistled at last.  “There are two types of Colleges, here: Upper and Lower.  The Lower schools teach Primary aspects, and the Upper schools teach Enhanced ones.  Wizards of the Upper Schools are the elite of the elite in the College; they get lots of privileges and authority over other Wizards.”

“I’ll think about it,” he hedged.  “I’ll be back in the morning, and hopefully I’ll be able to meet with the Dean of the Spatial School then.”

Retta was waiting for him when he exited, seated on the ground, a few copper coins scattered on the ground around her as people obviously thought she was begging.  He frowned down at the untouched coins.  “Retta, why aren’t you picking those up?”

“Can’t, sir,” she shook her head.  “I’m not a Scrounger, I’m a Filcher.  I take those, sir, the Scroungers will find me and make me pay ‘em, plus some.  Can’t afford that.”

Aranos quickly translated as best he could.  “So, since you’re not an official beggar, you can’t take those, or the real beggars will get angry?” he asked.  “What if I take them?”

“They still might be miffed, sir, but they won’t lay hands to a lampman.  They might take it out on me.”

Aranos’ eyes narrowed.  “Then I’d be very unhappy,” he said loudly, assuming that someone was watching – and listening.  Otherwise, Retta wouldn’t be worried.  He glanced around and saw a ragged, seemingly crippled beggar standing perhaps fifty feet away, and he made sure to raise his voice loudly enough for the man to hear him – even as his Tracking Skill picked up the man’s trail and his Scent wafted to Aranos in the breeze.  “I have ways to find people, Retta, and if anyone hurt you because of something I did, well…they wouldn’t survive that, do you understand?”

Retta swallowed.  “Y – yes, sir,” she nodded.  “You wanting me to take you to Roland, now?”

“Actually,” he said, bending over and scooping up the coins lying on the ground.  “I just want you to show me to the Adventurers’ Guild, if you don’t mind.  I’m feeling a bit frustrated, and I think a Quest might help with that.”

“Of course, sir,” she scampered to her feet.  “It’s across the Square.  Just follow me, and I’ll get you there fast.”  Once again, Aranos followed the urchin as she slipped through the crowd, between the stalls, and around carts.  Once or twice, she drew the ire of a nearby merchant, but each of them took one look at Aranos’ face and quieted down. 

The Adventurers’ Guild was a smaller, far less imposing building than the Mages’ College.  It was all gray stone, two stories tall and narrow, with thin windows and a single wooden door banded in iron. The door opened easily as Aranos walked inside and found himself in the common room of a large tavern; the Guild building appeared to stretch back deceptively far, making it larger than it seemed from the front. 

“Greetings,” an older woman with short, black hair going slightly grey walked up to Aranos, dressed in leather armor banded with small steel plates.  “Have you business with the Adventurers’ Guild?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said awkwardly, looking around.  The room was filled with members of various Classes, judging from their armor and weapons, all sitting around tables and talking quietly.  “I’m looking to pick up a Quest, something I can complete fairly quickly.”

“Are you a member of the Guild?” the woman asked.

“No, sorry.  Is that a problem?”

“Not for me,” the woman chuckled, her bright, blue eyes twinkling.  “For you, though, it means there are some Quests you can’t take.  We only entrust Guild members with the more vital Quests – and more valuable ones.  Do you need a party?”

“No, I’m fine,” Aranos returned his focus to the woman.  “Is there a Quest board or something?”

“Or something,” the woman laughed.  “Come with me, Traveler.”

“Is it that obvious?” Aranos grinned.

“Any child growing up in Stoneleague would know how the Guild works.  You don’t, so either you grew up in the wilderness – in which case, I imagine you’d be a bit more socially awkward – or you’re a Traveler.”  The woman led him through the tavern, into an area where more Adventurers were standing around or waiting in lines.  “This is the Questing Hall,” she told him.  “What Class and level are you?”

He glanced at her.  “Both Classes, or just my Advanced one?”

She stopped and looked at him curiously.  “You have an Advanced Class?  What level?”

“Nine,” he shrugged.  “Fifteen in my Base Class.  I’m a Wizard, of sorts.”

“Level 9 in an Advanced Class,” she repeated slowly.  “Traveler, before I direct you to the proper Quest-giver, fair warning.  Quest difficulty is based on your true strength, so while we can’t truly tell what level you are, if you’re lying, the Quest-giver will know right away.  If they assign something that should be a difficulty of B and it shows up as S or SS, they’ll withdraw the Quest, and you won’t be welcome here any longer.”

“That seems fair,” he agreed.  “So, which line do I join?”

The woman sighed.  “None of them.  Come with me.”  She led him past the gathered Adventurers, receiving some curious looks in the process, and into a back office with an elderly man sitting at a table.  She knocked on the open door and cleared her throat.  “Guildmaster Ryder?” she said a bit diffidently.

“Yes?” the man spoke in a voice with a deep timbre that belied his wizened state.  “What is it, Marie?”

“This Traveler is looking for a one-off Quest.  He claims to be an arcane spellcaster, Base Class 15, Advanced Class 9.”

“He does, does he?” the Guildmaster chuckled, glancing up at Aranos.  “Traveler, are you aware that if I offer you a Quest and realize that you’re lying to us, not only will you lose the Quest, I’ll likely kill you for wasting my time?  Are you sure you want to proceed?”

“Very sure,” Aranos smiled easily at the man.  “I’m looking for something my Bonded Companion and I can do in a single day, preferably something combat-oriented and level appropriate.  I’m very close to leveling up my Advanced Class, and I want to see what happens when I reach level 10.”

“Nothing,” the Guildmaster snorted.  “An Advanced Class Evolves at level 15.  You’ve got some time.”  He glanced up at the woman.  “You can go, Marie.  Either he’s telling the truth or he’s not, and whichever it is, I’ll deal with it.”

“Yes, Guildmaster,” the woman bowed.

“Oh, and close the door, if you would,” the man added.  When the door closed, the Guildmaster gestured to a chair, and Aranos sat down.

“Very well, let’s get this over with,” the old man sighed.  “Most of the Quests I could offer you are, unfortunately, reserved for Guild members only.  However, I have two that someone of your supposed level would qualify for.  One is a fetch Quest where the item in question is rather heavily guarded but not really valuable enough to merit sending a member to get it, and the other is a Bounty Quest that is probably nonrepeatable so wouldn’t be of much interest to our Guild members.  That one will likely take several days, though.”

Aranos frowned in thought.  Fetch Quests simply involved getting something and bringing it back, and quite often, the reward was based on the value of the item in question.  Sometimes, that was because the Quest giver was willing to pay more for a valuable item; other times, it was because the needed item could be found in a trove with other, equally valuable items that could be sold for profit.  If the item being fetched wasn’t valuable, then the reward would be pretty low and probably not worth the risk if it was as heavily guarded as the old man said.

Bounty Quests on the other hand were straightforward and simple: kill a specific creature and bring back proof of the deed, usually a hide or something similar.  Normally, Bounty Quests didn’t offer as much reward as other Quests did, but they were usually repeatable, encouraging Adventurers to winnow the numbers of some type of creature that was becoming a nuisance or even a danger.  It could be a steady source of XP and income, and some parties focused primarily on Bounty Quests.  If this one wasn’t repeatable, though, not many bounty hunters would bother with it, meaning the Guildmaster might have been sitting on it for a while, but the rewards could be worth it.

“What’s the Bounty Quest?” he asked after a moment. 

“It’s simple enough,” the man shrugged.  “A couple weeks ago, some creature came down out of the North Horned Mountains and destroyed two entire farming villages southeast of the city.  The King sent a company of guards led by Rangers to hunt it down, and the entire company vanished.  Since then, nothing’s been seen of whatever did it, so this hasn’t been a priority, but the crown wants the thing hunted down and dealt with.  Because we don’t know what it is, the King’s asking for its head as proof.”

“And you think it’ll take days?” Aranos asked curiously.  “Why?”

“Because no one ever found the company that chased after it, meaning it’s probably holed up in the mountains somewhere,” Ryder explained.  “It can’t be too far, or it wouldn’t be hunting into our lands, but it has to be far enough that regular patrols won’t find it.  Thus, a couple days’ journey in each direction.”

Aranos nodded; it might be a couple days’ journey for most, but with his Flight Spell, Zone of Speed, Leadership bonuses, and Silma’s natural movement rate – well, the two of them could probably travel as fast as a decent car, at least on open ground.  A two-day hike for most might be a couple hours for the pair of them.

“I’ll take the Bounty Quest, then,” he nodded to the old man. 

“Your funeral,” the Guildmaster shrugged, placing one hand on a long knife that rested at his belt.  As soon as the man finished speaking, a notification popped up in Aranos’ vision:

Quest Offered: The Hunt is Called!
Guildmaster Ryder of the Adventurers’ Guild has asked you to hunt down the creature that attacked Stoneleague’s villages and destroy it.

Objective: Find the creature, kill it, and return with its head.

Difficulty: B

Reward: 3,000 XP, 15 gold links, increased reputation with Stoneleague, increased reputation with the Adventurers’ Guild, increased reputation with King Hugin.

Failure Condition: Fail to locate the creature before it strikes again or abandon the hunt. 

Failure Penalty: Decreased reputation with King Hugin, decreased reputation with the Adventurers’ Guild.

Bounty Quest: If there are more than one of this creature type in the area, you can repeat this Quest until all such creatures are slain or driven away.

Do you accept? (Yes/No)

“That’s less reward than I’d expected,” Aranos admitted.  “For something so high level and non-repeatable…”

“If the creature was hitting us constantly, the reward would be higher – but then someone in the Guild would have taken it,” Ryder shrugged.  “It’s probably a few days’ slog through the mountains there and back, and that’s always a pain.  If you’d rather have the fetch Quest…”

“No, this is fine,” Aranos quickly accepted, and Ryder got a faraway look on his face. 

“Huh,” he said softly.  “B Difficulty for you.  It sounds like you were telling the truth.  Still, it’s probably most of a week’s work for a tiny reward.  You sure you want to...?” 

“I am,” Aranos nodded.  He smiled slyly as a thought occurred to him.  “Is there any kind of a bonus if I get it done faster than that?”

The Guildmaster looked curiously at Aranos and frowned.  “Not from the King, no; as I said, this isn’t a priority.  However, for someone with your levels, I’ll sweeten the deal.  You complete this in, say, 48 hours and I’ll toss in a Guild membership.  I’ll waive the normal fees and exams and such, and I’ll assign you Quests directly.  What do you think?”

“I’m already in another Guild, one that forbids me to be a member of any other, sorry,” Aranos shrugged.  “However, if I can get this done today – say by sundown – would you consider offering me some of your Guild-restricted Quests?  Maybe just the more time-sensitive ones, since it seems that you don’t have many people high-level enough to complete them anyway?”

The Guildmaster frowned, rubbing his mustache, then sighed.  “You must have one hell of a Charisma Stat, young man, because that sounds far too reasonable to me – probably since there’s no way you’ll be able to do it.  Fine, I agree; you finish that Quest by sundown, and I’ll offer you any high-level, time-sensitive Quests I’ve got.”  The man shook his head.  “You’re gonna need a Ranger, though.  That trail’s two weeks cold, and no magic will sniff it out – the Mages’ College has tried.”

“I’ll be fine,” the Sorcerer assured him.  “My Soulbound Companion can Track just about anything.”  He rose from his chair.  “I’d better get going, though.  Where are the villages that were attacked?”

“Here,” the man replied, pulling out a map and making three small circles on it, all to the southeast of Stoneleague.  Looking at the map, Aranos could see that the city was nestled just south of one mountain range – probably the range Ryder had called the Horned Mountains – and east of another.  A river ran just south of the city and flowed to the east in one direction and branched south in the other, draining the mountain runoff through a thick forest, down into what looked like an area of jungles, and finally emptying into a sea far to the south.  He glanced at his own map and saw that it had updated to include everything on the Guildmaster’s map, including the three small circles. 

“Those villages are between one and two hours’ travel by horse,” the old man added.  “You’re right that you should get a move on.  I make it about ten hours until sundown.”

Aranos thanked the Guildmaster and left the room, where he found Marie waiting for him, a startled expression on her face.  She looked past him and saw the Guildmaster still sitting at his desk, and understanding spread across her face.  “So, you weren’t lying, Traveler,” she said slowly.

“Nope,” he shook his head.  “My name’s Oran, by the way.”

“Oran, Master of Elements,” she nodded, obviously Inspecting him.  “Sorry for doubting you.  It’s just – most of the Travelers are still working on getting an Advanced Class, and you’re more than halfway to your Evolved one.”

He shrugged.  “I’ve gotten lucky with some good Quests.  Speaking of which, I’ve got to get started on this one; I’m on a bit of a time crunch.  Can you guide me back to the front?”

“Of course,” she nodded, walking away from the door and slowing so he could walk beside her.  “Bounty Quest or fetch Quest?”

“You knew the choices I’d have?” he asked, surprised.  “I didn’t think they’d be common knowledge.”

“I’m about the same level as you, Oran,” she laughed.  “Did you think the Guild would have someone low-level guarding the front door?  I have the same choices you did, plus some extras you didn’t, but I’m working on putting together the right party for one of them.  We natives are a lot more cautious about the Quests we take, since if we die…that’s it.  No coming back to life for us.  So, which one?”

“Bounty Quest,” he smiled as they crossed the noisy tavern.  “I get a bonus if I complete it quickly, though.”  He stopped at the front door.  “Thanks, Marie, and I hope I’ll be seeing you before the end of the day.”

“With that Quest?  Three days, minimum.”

“Care to make a bet?” he grinned.  “Say, one gold link?”

“Too rich for my blood,” she laughed.  “How about I buy you a drink if you make it back here today, instead?  If not, you buy me one when you return.”

“Deal,” he nodded.  “See you in a few hours!”

Retta led him back through the Square and down some side streets to the Black Blade.  When he beckoned her to come inside with him, though, she balked.

“Begging your pardon, sir, but that won’t be a good idea.  Old Malcom, what owns the Blade, he’ll not be happy to see a Filcher in his kip.  It’s worth my hide to step foot in there, same for all us Filchers.”

“If you’re with me, you’ll be fine,” he assured her.  “I told you I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you for what I’ve done, and that includes Malcolm.”  She protested, but he took her by her filthy hand and led her into the darkened tavern. 

Malcolm’s eyes narrowed as he saw the girl being dragged inside by Aranos, and his face darkened.  “This little one steal from you, Master Oran?” the man growled.  “You filch from my customers, girl, and you know what’ll happen to you…”

“She tried, failed, and she’s been acting as a guide for me today,” Aranos shrugged.  “The thing is, I grabbed a Quest at the Adventurers’ Guild, and I need to head out of the city…but I paid her to work all day.  I was hoping you could put her to work while I’m gone.”

“She’s done what you wanted and didn’t just run, first chance she got?” Malcolm scoffed.  “These little ones don’t have a sense of honor or duty, Oran.  I send her off on an errand, and she’ll vanish into the city.”

“And what would happen if you did that, Retta?” Aranos asked her mildly.

The girl shivered.  “You – you’d find me, sir, wouldn’t you?  You said you can find people…”

“I can tell you that today, Malcolm’s had a total of fourteen customers, that one of them had a bad limp, and that one was slightly wounded – but not the one with the limp,” Aranos told her as his Tracking Skill kicked in and showed him the room.  Malcolm’s eyes widened at that, but Aranos continued on.  “I can also tell you that the beggar that was watching you earlier left the Square just after you took me to the Adventurers’ Guild and is now somewhere southwest of us, close to the river.”

“A beggar?” Malcolm asked curiously.

“One of the Scroungers, sir,” Retta clarified.  “While I was waiting for the mister, here, people took me for a Scrounger and tossed bits at me.  I didn’t nab ‘em, but the mister, he did.”

Malcolm sighed.  “Well, that settles that.  I can’t send you out of my place today, girl.”  He looked up at Aranos.  “Those beggars are well organized, Oran, and they don’t like anyone else muscling into their territory.  They’ll think you set the girl up to beg and took the money yourself, and they’ll beat her for going along with it if they catch her.”  He shook his head.  “You’ll have to stay here for a couple days, at least.  I can’t send a child out to face that.”  He glared at the girl.  “You filch from my kip, though, light-hand, and I’ll sack you up and toss you to the Scroungers myself, after I fetch you a kick or two to make sure the lesson’s learned.  Are we on the upright?”

The girl swallowed hard, her eyes round with fear.  “Y—yes sir,” she stammered.  “I’m on the upright, sir.  Your kip’s shiny as the sun, I promise.”

Malcolm nodded.  “That means she won’t touch anything here that doesn’t belong to her,” he translated.  “And since the only things she owns are those rags and that purse she thinks she’s got hidden, that means she won’t touch a thing without my say-so.”

“I figured,” Aranos nodded.  “I’ve got to go grab something from my room, then I’m heading out for my Quest.”  He looked at Retta.  “Listen to Malcolm as if he’d paid you instead of me.  If you’re good, then I’ll need your services again tomorrow, and I’ll make sure you sleep indoors, eat well, and are safe as long as you’re working for me.  Deal?”

“Spit and shake, sir,” she nodded.  “I’m on the upright for you.  No filching, no grifting, and no flying, I swear.”

“Good,” he nodded, hoping that meant she wasn’t going to try to steal from him, con Malcolm’s customers, or run away when his back was turned.

Silma was eager to get out of the city, but she wasn’t happy about the method Aranos was suggesting.  I hate being a horse, she said flatly.  Why can’t I be something else?

Because a bear would bring just as much attention as you would normally, he soothed her.  Look, if you think you can move through the city, in Stealth, in broad daylight, and out the gate without being spotted, I won’t have to use the Spell.  Can you?

No, she admitted with a grunt.  Those guards are better than they let on.  Several of them nearly spotted me last night.  I might make it to the gate, but not through it.  She sighed.  Fine, pack leader. But it comes off the moment we’re out of sight of the walls!

Absolutely, he agreed, laying the Illusory Cloak on her and waiting until she teleported back to the stables. 

The trip to the Lower Gate was uneventful, and the gate guards didn’t even glance twice at Aranos as he and Silma left the city.  As Meridian had told them, the land this side of the city was much more inhabited, with sprawling farms, large homesteads, and villages scattered about, supported by the fields and herds of animals.  Aranos and Silma walked at a normal pace until they were out of sight of the gates, then left the packed dirt road and made for the nearest trees as soon as they could.  Silma breathed an audible sigh of relief once she was back in her normal form, and Aranos nearly did the same as he felt the welcoming energies of the forest fill his body.  This sort of terrain was almost like home to the pair, and once Aranos cast his Massless Flight Spell, the two of them made excellent time and reached the nearest destroyed village in only twenty minutes.

Aranos slowed and hovered just inside the trees closest to the shattered ruins of the village, allowing Silma to creep forward and scout the village in Stealth.  Aranos’ Stealth Skill was still Untrained and in the Student ranks – and it was designed for natural surroundings so wasn’t as useful in places like the village.  The fenrin slipped through the buildings like a shadow, and Aranos closed his eyes and immersed himself in her senses as she did.

The village was utterly destroyed, no question.  There wasn’t a single building standing; no two walls remained touching one another, and every structure looked as if it had been flattened by giant fists.  The stone wall surrounding the village well was tumbled, and from the smell of the well, something had fouled it.  Although there were no bodies remaining, Aranos could see the signs of them through Silma’s eyes; people had run about, chaotically and almost madly.  Something large had scooped them up, and only pieces of them had landed back on the ground.

The earth was trampled badly.  It had rained at least once in the past couple weeks, which had washed out some of the tracks, and he could see where the troops from the city had come in and marched all over, probably collecting remains for burial.  They’d left using the main road…but the creature hadn’t.

Whatever had attacked the village was big, heavier than an ursusz and longer.  It had four legs, all of which ended in four-toed feet with long talons, and it moved with a bounding sort of gait that made Aranos think of a giant rabbit or gazelle.  However, it had also had wings, and from the way some of the crushed remains of the houses had been swirled around, those wings were large.  The creature had flown into the village – he could see where it had initially landed – and it had left the village by air.

Best of all, the rain hadn’t completely washed away the creature’s scent.  It was a dry, dusty, reptilian odor that reminded Aranos of the snakes he’d handled a few times as a kid in school, and it was all over the village.  It led off to the south, toward what Aranos assumed was the next village on the map, but he didn’t care about where it had gone.  He cared about where it had come from; the scent trail led from the village to the north, toward the distant mountains, and that’s where he needed to go.

He sent a mental message to Silma, and the celestial wolf immediately raced off to the north, following the scent, while he flew high overhead.  He usually stayed close to the ground when flying with party members, but with Silma, it wasn’t necessary, since he could talk to her telepathically.  Besides, he could see more from up here, and he was less likely to draw attention from below, since he’d probably just look like a dot.

They sped northward, out of the forest and into the hills, which also meant into more cultivated areas.  More than one farmer or cowherd rushed off in fear as Silma tore past them, but although the fenrin certainly could have taken a cow or two – and now that she knew these were there, Aranos had a feeling some rancher would be missing a couple head come morning – she didn’t even glance twice at them.  While they were prey, Aranos knew they weren’t her current prey.  They were hunting something far more dangerous, and that also made it far more interesting in Silma’s mind.

The hills began to rise more steeply, and as they did, Aranos felt the nourishing energies of the land start to waver.  There was Blight somewhere ahead of them, and while it was still distant, he could feel it draining the energies of the earth and changing them into a form more suitable for its own purposes.  Their pace slowed a bit as Silma was forced to leap over boulders and scramble up rocky faces.  She was still moving faster than a horse could gallop, but she wasn’t as fast as a car anymore.  Still, her sharp claws bit easily into the stony earth, and while she was slowed slightly, she moved with surety and ease.

As they moved steadily closer to the looming peaks, the sense of Blight grew stronger and the vital energies of the land waned.  By the time the foothills swelled into true mountains, the earth was gray, dusty, and filled with the dark energy of the Blight.  The scrub grass and low trees were replaced with purple-leafed thornbushes and twisted boles that were slowly being choked by strangling vines with knife-like foliage.  Once they received the notification that they’d entered the Blightlands, Silma was forced to pick her pace more carefully, her senses alert for lurking predators even as she clambered over boulder fields and leaped yawning crevasses.  Aranos guided her around the sides of mountains and through canyons, but that meant he had to fly closer to the ground to Track their quarry, limiting his view of the surrounding area and forcing him to stay equally alert for attacks.  They were moving at a speed a bit less than a horse’s gallop, now, and he had a feeling they’d be slowing even more as the terrain grew steeper ahead.

They continued for two more hours into the mountains, stopping for a few minutes to let Silma’s Stamina replenish a bit.  The fenrin could run for days if she had to, but that was through a forest or across open grassland, not clambering along the sides of Blighted mountains, using trails meant for goats and trying to avoid sliding into a crevasse or plunging from a cliff.  The effort was tiring, and Aranos was happy to give the wolf a chance to catch her breath.

As she rested, he rose back into the air and circled the area.  They had stopped in a small valley nestled between two peaks, where a stream plunged into an evil-looking pool of black water, and the surrounding walls of stone sheltered them from the pervasive cold of the range.  As he rose, though, the winds buffeted him, and he smelled ice and snow on those breezes; the mountains beyond the next line must have been higher, high enough at least to keep a crown of snow all year long.  Even more interestingly, the scent of pine and fir wafted into his nostrils, as well.  Somewhere ahead was a Claimed Land, a place that still held out the Blight.

They continued on, racing to the northeast now, moving fast to avoid any possible encounters.  Most creatures of Darkness tended to hide from the sun when possible, and few among the Shadowborn could keep up with the celestial wolf for long anyway, so they managed to move swiftly and without incident.  Aranos’ eyes picked up myriad tracks and traces of all sorts of deadly creatures, but he could also see other tracks, ones that looked to be made by humanoid creatures of some sort.  He didn’t bother trying to follow them, simply noting their presence, at least until his Skill picked up something that couldn’t be ignored.

He and Silma both halted as they noticed the trail at the same time.  A band of humans had come through here, at least a dozen of them, no more than a couple weeks ago.  Most of the humans were heavily armored and practically tromped along the stony trail Silma was following, obviously making no effort to conceal their passage or movement at all.  Three of them, though, were much lighter on their feet and moved carefully in front of the others, their passage barely leaving a trace on the rough ground.  It was the company of guards and their Ranger escort from Stoneleague, he realized.  They’d come from the southeast, obviously following a different track than he and Silma were, and the two paths intercepted here.  They continued in the direction he and Silma were heading – but there was no sign of their return passage. 

He knew that there wouldn’t be.  As his nose picked up the scent of the humans, another, stronger odor wafted into his nostrils.  It was the coppery stench of blood, mixed with the foul odor of entrails and viscera, and it was coming from somewhere up ahead.  He and Silma moved more cautiously, their senses attuned to the slightest discrepancy; whatever had taken down this company might still be lying in wait, after all.

They needn’t have bothered.  He didn’t need his Tracking Skill to spot the site where the company had been struck; anyone with eyes could have found it.  The torn and shattered remains of tents, the old ashes of a campfire buried deep to reduce its visibility, and the scattered, gnawed-on bones tossed about the clearing nestled in the valley between two peaks would have told him that a large force had been slaughtered here, if not as clearly as his Skill narrated it.  The humans had encamped here, probably to wait out the night.  They’d set a perimeter, sent one of the Rangers out to scout around, and settled in to endure a night in the Blightlands. 

At some point in the night, the creature they’d been hunting found them.  He could see where it fell from the sky; from the look of it, its impact had knocked down or even killed a few of the soldiers right away.  It set upon them, then, chasing them down with its bounding gait, even hunting and snatching up the three Rangers when they attempted to flee.  The humans had fought, but they’d been caught unaware and slaughtered brutally.  Very few remains were left behind, and those were just various severed limbs.  Sighing, Aranos gathered anything that looked valuable or recognizable – bits of armor, jewelry, the handful of possessions he found beneath the crumpled tents, and even a bloodstained journal of one of the Rangers that he pocketed to read through later. 

There was one thing that Aranos was expecting but that he didn’t find.  The battle had lasted for a while; the soldiers had formed up in a shield wall, from all appearances, and judging by the broken pikes and shattered crossbow bolts, they’d brought weapons that were designed for formation combat against a large opponent.  And yet, Aranos couldn’t find a single sign that the monster had been wounded.  Despite its reptilian smell, not a solitary scale had been dislodged and left on the ground.  Even with the heavy, piercing weapons, not a speck of the monster’s blood had been shed.  That meant that either the creature healed so quickly that its blood and hide never made it to the earth – which was very unlikely – or the soldiers had been utterly unable to damage it.

Well, that can’t be good, he thought grimly.

He gathered the gruesome remains along with the ruined tents and placed them in a pile in the center of the clearing, then reached down into the earth with his High Mastery Ability.  The stones of the mountainside yielded to his will, softening beneath the caress of his mana probe and flowing up and over the remnants of the lost company.  A moment later, nothing could be seen but a mound of smooth, polished stone that was obviously out of place, here.  Aranos was tempted to Redeem the spot, as well, but there wasn’t enough of an upside to it; he’d make himself vulnerable for several minutes and not really gain anything in the process.  The mass grave was sealed away, as protected as he could reasonably make it, and he doubted many creatures would try tearing into solid stone to access a few dozen bones with most of the meat already devoured off them.

He and Silma resumed their journey swiftly but more cautiously.  The scent of blood and offal receded behind them, but the clean, fresh odor of green forests grew stronger.  They crested the side of a mountain and looked ahead; the next peak soared above them, its top shrouded in a layer of ice and snow, but its base was blanketed with a skirt of greenery.  They hurried forward and reached the base of the mountain.  As they did, a notification popped up in Aranos’ vision:

New Region Discovered: Skollheld Heill
Claimed Land: Shadowed creatures gain 2 RP/day

They’d entered a Realm of the Light, and since it was one buried deep in the mountains, Aranos was fairly certain he knew what race claimed it.  His thoughts were soon verified when a tiny anomaly caught his eye as he swept across the mountainside, a hint of irregularity that his high Perception just barely picked up.  There was a straight line when everything else was curved and jagged, a hint of order in the chaos of the mountainside.  He swooped down for a closer look, and his eyes narrowed.  His guess seemed to have been correct.

The tracks belonged to a group of six creatures, and Aranos could see that they walked upright, not on all fours.  From the length of their stride, he guessed they were a bit shorter than Meridian, but the depth of one footfall in a patch of soft earth showed him they were also significantly heavier, maybe heavier than Hector or Phil.  They traveled in a line, staying mostly on the stony ground, traveling higher in the mountains than he and Silma were but not seeming to be slowed by the uneven ground or cold in the slightest.  Most telling of all, the creatures leaving this trail were booted, with wide feet and soles that left a faint pattern of scratches on the stone, as if they’d been cleated or spiked to increase their grip in snow and ice.  Dwarves, he guessed silently.  I’ll bet we’re in one of the Dwarven Nations.  That means we’ve got to keep an eye out for their patrols, as well.

He soared back down to Silma, racing below him, and passed on what he’d seen to her.  Her attitude was about what he’d expected.  These aren’t our prey, pack leader, so they’re not really a concern, are they?

No, not really, except to be aware that there are things moving around in these mountains, and we can’t assume any of them will be friendly, since we’re invaders in their territory.

Of course there’s danger about.  We will stay alert but continue to move swiftly, since it’s unlikely many things can match our speed.

They continued on, plunging deeper into the range, and Aranos saw far more signs of the dwarves passing about. After he’d picked up about twenty or so trails, his Tracking Skill was telling him that most of the dwarves he’d seen were congregated a couple miles to the northwest, almost perpendicular to the direction they were heading, but others were scattered through the mountains in every direction.  These peaks were obviously the dwarves’ home, and while he hoped to meet them, he doubted they’d be particularly excited to see a strange human in their realm.

Twenty more minutes passed, and Aranos called the pair to a halt.  His Tracking Skill was telling him that their quarry was somewhere ahead, on the side of the next mountain, although where exactly he couldn’t say.  His Skill allowed him to pinpoint a general location for his quarry from this distance, but he’d need to get closer to narrow its exact position down.  They both slipped into Stealth and hugged the treeline, moving cautiously and silently along the base of the mountain. 

As they drew nearer, he saw more signs of the creature’s passage; it had knocked down small trees, disrupted rocks, and torn gouges out of the stony earth as it moved about this area.  From the plethora of tracks, Aranos assumed it either frequented the place often or had some sort of den or nest on the mountain.  When he spotted the gash in the stone farther up the slope that descended into darkness, he had a feeling it was the latter.

They crept closer to the opening in the rock, and Aranos confirmed that the creature’s trail led into the mountain here but hadn’t come back out since.  The slash in the rock was tall but not very wide; Silma could fit through it, but she wouldn’t have a lot of room to spare.  The creature’s scent wafted from the cave entrance, almost overpowering this close to it, and Aranos had to fight not to snort and rub his nose to rid it of the dry, dusty odor. 

Aranos stopped and pondered his next step.  As he saw it, he had two options.  He could go into the cave and hopefully take the creature within by surprise, or he could lure it out and attack it here.  There were pros and cons to both approaches.  The gash in the stone was tall but not particularly wide, and while Silma could pass through it, there wasn’t a lot of space for her to maneuver.  If the den within didn’t widen out, it might be hard for Aranos to target their quarry without risking hitting the fenrin.  Plus, if the creature had young or eggs in the den, it would fight much more aggressively to defend them.

At the same time, if he lured the beast out, it could take to the air and attack while on the wing.  While it hadn’t done that at the village, that might have been because it saw the villagers as food rather than a threat.  It probably wouldn’t consider the massive celestial wolf the same way, and if it was aloft, Aranos would have to deal with it almost entirely on his own unless he could ground it quickly. 

He decided he needed more information, and he silently asked Silma to scout the cave, since her Stealth was much better than his.  The wolf slunk up to the entrance, her senses tuned to catch the slightest sound or faintest movement.  Entering the lair of an apex predator was always dangerous, and Silma knew that at an instinctive level.  She crept forward, careful not to let the light coming in from the cave opening silhouette her, slipping through the opening and moving to one side as swiftly as she could.

As Aranos had feared, the cleft in the mountainside was deep but not particularly large.  Through Silma’s eyes, he could see that whatever beast had made this place its den had widened it somewhat; he spotted the claw marks on the walls where it had carved through the stone in a few narrower spots.  The reptilian smell lay thick and heavy on the air, filling Silma’s sensitive nose, mixed with the scent of musty, mineral-laden water.  She could hear the soft rasping of the creature’s breath mingling with a faint trickle of falling water from farther ahead, past where the tunnel curved and started to descend.

As she slipped around the bend in the tunnel, she froze; a dark mass lay curled at the bottom of a hollowed-out pit ahead of her.  To Aranos, it looked like a small crack in the mountain above had allowed snowmelt to trickle downward, eventually carving out a small pool at the bottom of this natural tunnel.  The creature had then widened that hole into a nest of sorts, one just big enough for it to curl up in and still leave space for the black pool of water.

The monster was curled into a ball, so Aranos couldn’t make out most of its features.  It looked to be long and narrow, covered with scales that all appeared various shades of grey in Silma’s Night Vision, with a pair of scaly wings folded onto its back so tightly that they barely rose above its skin at all.  It had buried its head in the middle of its body and wrapped itself in its long, whiplike tail, but Aranos guessed that uncurled, it would probably be about twice as long as Silma, not counting the tail. 

Okay, come back out, girl, the Sorcerer sent silently to his Companion.  We aren’t fighting that thing in there, that’s for sure.   In those narrow confines, Aranos’ Spells would be close to useless, as would much of Silma’s nimbleness and speed.  He needed it to come out to play; however, first, he needed to make some preparations. 

While Silma backed just as slowly out of the cave, he checked his Arcane Armor and, using his high arcane True Charisma Ability, he shifted fifteen points of Charisma into his Int and Wis Stats, bumping both temporarily to 200.  When Silma emerged, he cast his Greater Empowerment, spreading the Stat boost out among her Strength, Agility, and Endurance Stats, sending each over 100.  He tossed a Gravity Web up into the sky above them and used his High Mastery to lift stone spikes out from the walls, floor, and ceiling of the part of the tunnel he could see, making the entire passage a forest of gleaming, stone spears.

Taking a deep breath, Aranos stood just outside the entrance to the cave and cast his next Spell, summoning entwined strands of Void, Life, and Air mana and pouring them out of his outstretched hand.  A gray mass of billowing vapors spilled forth from his palm and swirled into the cave, slowly creeping into the cleft and sinking into the darkness of the creature’s lair.  His Deadly Vapors Spell had been specifically designed for this purpose, to fill a creature’s den with clouds of death mana that would damage them and drive them forth.  However, since it drew heavily on Void mana, Aranos took damage both by casting and channeling it, which meant that it was literally devouring him to maintain the Spell.

The Spell poured forth for several seconds while it seeped down into the den.  Aranos waited silently; by this point, the small den had to be filled with the life-draining mists, and the creature was hopefully taking damage.  Maybe it’s hibernating or something, he thought hopefully.  That could be why it didn’t come back to attack the villages anymore.  I know that some reptiles sleep for a long time after a big meal…

His hopes of killing off the creature without a fight were dashed when a roar erupted from the cave, one so loud that Aranos felt an actual breeze whip past his right ear.  He heard splashing and grunting from deep in the cave – the beast was probably uncoiling itself and preparing to exit.  Another roar blasted past him, and he saw a blinking, red notification that warned him he’d been partially deafened by the intensity of the sound. 

His good ear still heard it when the giant reptile encountered his stone spears, though.  The sound echoed from the depths of the cavern, not the cries of a wounded beast but the squeal of rock grinding against metal.  The sound of shattering stone rang from the cleft in a frenzied staccato, and as the cacophony swelled in volume, Aranos dropped his Spell and launched himself sideways away from the opening, clearing the entrance just as the massive creature burst forth with a roar, shaking its head and snapping at the air around it.

Aranos got a much better look at the beast in the sunlight.  It had a long, sinuous body that almost looked like a cross between a lizard, a snake – and maybe a rabbit, with four short, muscular legs that looked more mammalian in design than reptilian.  Its head was broad and dominated by a gargantuan mouth that seemed to open wider than should have been possible for a living creature, exposing concentric rows of gleaming, needle-like fangs that looked like they’d have no problems shredding Aranos in seconds.  Its scales gleamed in a mosaic of silver, gold, bronze, and black that shone glossily in the sun’s rays.  That was all he got to see, though, before the creature’s great wings snapped out, spreading twenty foot in each direction – and catching Aranos square in the chest.

His armor caught the impact, but he was still hurled backward and off the side of the mountain.  He halted his airborne tumble with his Flight Spell and took a second to right himself before turning to see the creature take two bounding leaps down the mountainside and launch itself into the sky.  Its wide wings caught the breeze flowing around the mountain peak and lifted it effortlessly into the air just before Silma could dart forth to worry at its hindquarters – but a moment later, its ascent slowed, and it began to thrash and squirm as Aranos’ Gravity Web wrapped it in tangles of dense mana.

The Sorcerer readied a Composite Bullet, targeting the creature’s head as it whipped about ferociously.  Before he could fire, though, the beast shot free of the Web and rose into the sky – somehow, it had simply shrugged off the Spell.  That could be trouble, he thought grimly.  If it’s immune to magic…

He adjusted his aim and let fly his Composite Bullet; the tiny projectile of elemental mana streaked forth and slammed into the monster’s side, detonating against its gleaming scales and leaving only a scorch mark on its hide.  Aranos summoned the mana for another Bullet as the monster wheeled to face him; its mouth opened wide, exposing its huge, lily-white throat, and Aranos shot the Bullet directly into that gaping maw.  At the same time, he summoned his Mage Shield with his other hand; the beast looked awfully draconic, and dragons usually had breath weapons…

The Bullet slammed into the back of the monster’s throat and burst in a fountain of silvery liquid, and Aranos silently exulted.  The creature wasn’t necessarily immune to magic, but its scales seemed to resist it.  His celebration was cut off as the beast roared again, the noise erupting from its open mouth in a visible shockwave of sound that slammed into his Shield and raged around him, sounding like the roar of a jet engine even behind his Shield.  He winced and instinctively clapped his hands to his ears, surprised that he didn’t have a Deafened debuff from the sheer volume of the roar.  That was a breath weapon all right; a sonic one.

Pack leader, look out! Silma’s voice rang in his mind, and Aranos refocused to see the giant lizard swooping toward him, its mouth gaping wide.  Startled, he darted into the air, his Massless Flight giving him excellent maneuverability.  The monster’s charge carried it beneath him, and he had to fight to stabilize himself against the rush of wind its passage created. 

Keep moving, idiot, he berated himself as he raced away from the monster, giving himself some space.  This is an air-to-air battle; the guy standing still always loses one of those.  Pretend you’re dogfighting in one of those fighter sim games.  He swept around in a wide circle until he could see the creature again, then put on a burst of speed to carry him into the air.  He’d played tons of air combat simulation games – well, not tons, but enough to know that at the beginning of a battle, it was better to be higher than your opponent.  Altitude could be traded for speed, and speed was key in a battle like this. 

The monster was beating its wings, trying to gain altitude, as well, but its massive body made it slower and less maneuverable than he was.  He raced past it as it opened its mouth and roared again, trying to track him with its breath weapon, but he banked sharply and raised his hands, calling up twin streams of fire and life mana as he did.  Tiny balls of lightning shot from his hands, three per second from each hand, raining down on the back of the creature.  It screamed in rage and thrashed as the marble-sized globes of electricity burst into snapping arcs of power; apparently, its metallic scales weren’t so great at repelling lightning mana.

He cut off the barrage as the creature spun in midair, whipping its tail at him.  The thirty-foot-long appendage was slender and had a line of short, jagged spikes running along both edges; Aranos got a good look as the tail slammed into his chest with a loud crack and launched him backward through the air, taking a respectable chunk off his Arcane Armor.  The creature’s wings beat as it wheeled back toward him, but it seemed to stagger as the figure of a huge, silver wolf appeared on its back.  Silma’s glowing fangs ripped and tore at the beast’s wings, cracking scales but not inflicting much damage.  The wolf lifted her head and howled, and a ripple of golden light erupted from her, slamming into the creature and knocking it several feet lower in the sky.  The monster thrashed and brought its tail up to dislodge its passenger too late; the fenrin vanished and reappeared on the ground before the whiplike blow could strike.

Silma hadn’t done much damage, but she’d certainly distracted the monster long enough for Aranos to recover, and he soared back over it, this time raining pellets of void mana.  The inky black energy sank through the metallic scales, and the beast screamed again as the Spell tore at its LP.  It whipped its head around and roared at Aranos, but he dropped down below its body, using its own bulk as a shield, then ascended rapidly in a parabolic arc on the other side – but not before leaving a sphere of crackling lightning in his wake. 

He narrowly dodged another attack by the flailing tail and summoned a stroke of lightning from the Ball Lightning Spell hanging below the beast.  The arc of electricity slammed into the monster, freezing its muscles for a moment, and Aranos used that moment to fling seven globes of lightning in a hexagonal pattern centered on the now-gliding monster.

Electricity exploded in a maelstrom around the lizard, arcs of power drawn to its metallic hide and tearing into the flesh beneath.  The creature shuddered and lost even more altitude, but it managed to whip its head around and unleash another sonic blast at the Sorcerer.  Aranos’ Shield held most of the energy at bay but shattered as it did so, allowing a small blast of sonic mana to knock him spinning through the air. 

He quickly righted himself and put on extra speed, gaining more altitude as another blast of sound smashed through the air where he’d just been.  He was fighting instinctively, here, and he needed to have a plan to beat this thing.  His attacks had hurt it, but not badly, as a quick Inspection of the creature revealed:

Oroloke
Unwounded

His Enhanced Inspection Skill revealed the name or race of whatever creature he used it on and its general LP status.  The oroloke – which seemed to be the thing’s name – was Unwounded, meaning he’d taken less than 10% of its LP from it so far.  He spiraled higher and pulled another lightning bolt from his Ball Lightning.  The creature lost a bit more height as its muscles seized up for an instant, giving Aranos some breathing room and a chance to think.

Airborne, the oroloke’s main weapon was its roar, and its secondary weapon seemed to be its tail.  That made sense; against a creature as small as Aranos, its claws and teeth wouldn’t be much use unless it could stun him or knock him to the ground.  On the ground, those claws and bite would be more effective; that meant he’d do better to keep the thing in the sky.  That rules out using Void Paralysis on its wings, he thought grimly. 

While it seemed to be vulnerable to lightning mana, those Spells weren’t really damaging it.  The secondary effect of temporarily paralyzing its muscles was working, but the actual LP damage was low.  His Void mana had damaged it, but it also damaged him – and he had a feeling the oroloke had a lot more LP than he did.  He needed to try something else, something that might have a better chance of getting through that armor and punching into the flesh beneath. 

He swooped back down and began to circle the oroloke, unleashing rains of different mana types at its armored hide.  He blasted it with twin barrages of blazing hot Radiant mana and steaming cold Ice, hoping to weaken its scales.  He bathed it in a blast of Thermal mana, hoping that the searing heat would either scorch the creature by heating its skin or even fuse its scales together.  He even tried to irradiate it with Radiation mana, which was supposed to ignore physical defenses, but to no avail.

He had the greatest success with his Kinetic Bullet; the hypersonic, Spirit-enhanced projectile managed to punch through the monster’s armor and explode in its flesh, finally dropping the creature from Unwounded to Slightly Wounded, but that wasn’t a winning strategy.  Aranos could only use so much Spatial and Spirit mana before it started to damage him, and he estimated that he’d reach that point long before bringing down the creature.  He could shift regular SP into those Enhanced types, of course, but that would eat through his pool at a prodigious rate. 

The monster hadn’t simply floated lazily about and allowed him to rain damage on it, either.  He’d been hard-pressed to dodge its whiplike tail, and its sonic weapon shattered a second Mage Shield, spinning him through the air.  Silma had to rescue him again, appearing on the monster’s back and distracting it while he regained his equilibrium and lost altitude.  His armor was taking a beating, and he couldn’t cast Mage Shield all day; it took Mind, Soul, and Spirit mana to craft, and he was starting to run low on all three.  I’ve got one more Mage Shield before I start to have to cannibalize my regular mana, and that’s it.

As frustration and a hint of desperation crept into his mind, he forced himself to relax his thoughts and let them drift, focusing only on defense and avoiding the creature’s attacks.  Obviously, the oroloke had some sort of enhanced metal scales that reflected all magic.  No, they’re not reflecting, he corrected.  They’re redirecting the energy, channeling it and keeping it away from the flesh beneath.  He needed a counter for that, but there wasn’t really a counter for Metal mana.  It was a combination of earth and life, and the polar opposite would be Vacuum, which was Air and Void but couldn’t easily be used for attacks…

His eyes narrowed; while there wasn’t a direct opposite of Metal mana, there was a counter for Earth, and it was one that he’d honestly never used before in combat.  He swooped around the beast’s lashing tail, dove under it, and raised his left hand, channeling twin strands of entwined Earth and Void mana, using a burst of Soul mana to channel them directly into the creature’s stomach.  

A torrent of fine grit shot from his hand and bathed the monster’s underside as he channeled Dust mana for the first time in battle.  The tiny particles ripped into the metallic scales, and instantly they lost their glossy luster.  Several cracked, and three simply fell free under his makeshift sandblaster.  Dust was the antithesis of Earth, the bane of solidity; it would unmake stone, wear down mountains – and apparently, eat through metal.

He arced back into the air as the creature’s head dipped down and unleashed a sonic blast in the space beneath it.  He reached out and wrapped one wing in a layer of energy-sapping Void mana.  Instantly, that wing froze, standing straight up in the air.  The oroloke flapped wildly with its remaining wing as it spun in the air, spiraling down faster and faster until it slammed into the mountainside with a resounding crash, the impact shooting its LP state from Slightly Wounded down to Wounded, meaning it had just dropped below 75% of its health.its LP state from Slightly Wounded down to Wounded, meaning it had just dropped below 75% of its health. Aranos hadn’t originally wanted to put the oroloke on the ground, but now that the armor on its underside was weakened and damaged, that was the best place for it to be. Silma , he sent to the waiting fenrin, its stomach is unarmored now!

The wolf didn’t hesitate; her form blurred and suddenly appeared beside the oroloke, ripping at the pitted, cracked scales of its underbelly. The creature screeched and whipped its head around to unleash a blast of sonic energy at the smaller fenrin, but Silma vanished and appeared on its opposite side, her fangs continuing their savage work. Streams of silver fluid poured from the ghastly wounds she was opening, and the monster screamed in pain and whirled to face her. She dodged back as its teeth snapped at her, slipped around a huge, swiping talon, and ripped a new wound in the oroloke’s tender underside. It opened its jaws wide, and Silma vanished as it unleashed a blast of sonic mana at her once again

Aranos waited for his moment; as the oroloke’s head was turned away, he took advantage of the creature’s distraction.  He swooped down to the ground on the same side as the creature’s trapped wing and leveled his hands, unleashing twin barrages of fire and ice.  He carefully targeted the Spells, aiming them to burst beneath the creature rather than against its still-armored side.  Gouts of fire and shards of ice tore into its belly, ripping open jagged wounds, and the oroloke whipped about to face its attacker.  Aranos darted into the air and swerved sideways as the monster unleashed its roar, wheeling too quickly for it to track, and continued his twin barrages for a few more seconds before arcing up into the air to avoid the creature’s tail.

Silma reappeared beside the creature, ripping into its underbelly, and Aranos spared a moment to Inspect it once more.  It was Badly Wounded; that meant its health was between 50% and 25%.  As its tail whipped toward Silma, she vanished and reappeared several feet away, and Aranos used the moment to hurl a Ravaging Burst of Air mana that exploded beneath the creature, lifting it off the ground temporarily and shattering the last of the armor beneath its stomach. 

At the same moment, the grayish haze holding the oroloke’s wing in place vanished, and the wing swept downward just as Silma appeared beneath it, battering the fenrin and knocking her sprawling.  The creature lashed out with a claw, tearing through the wolf’s armor and opening up four long, deep gashes along her side, but rather than follow up the attack, it bounded downhill and launched itself into the air – right over Aranos’ head.

The Sorcerer whipped his hand up, activating his Precise Aim Ability and channeling a Kinetic Bullet.  His eyes and hand tracked for several seconds as it flew past, and at last he unleashed the Bullet, using his Multishot Ability to clone it from one into five.  All five of the missiles struck in a two-inch radius, plunging through the oroloke’s shattered armor and sinking deep into its body before erupting.  The creature shrieked, a single long, piteous wail, as a gout of silver blood fountained from the gaping wound.  Its wings faltered, and its soaring ascent turned into a lifeless plummet as it slammed into the mountainside, crushing a stand of small trees before sliding to a halt, limp and lifeless.

Aranos raced over to Silma and pulled some of his bandages from his pack; he didn’t have much in the way of healing magic, but his Master ranked Herbalism Skill was almost as good as magic.  He carefully dabbed healing ointment onto the wounds, ignoring the fenrin’s winces of pain as the blood flowing from the wounds immediately slowed to a trickle and stopped entirely. He covered the wounds with his bandages, watching in his Party Leader screen as her LP bar stabilized and began to slowly rise. 

My thanks, pack leader, she sighed gratefully.  The creature’s claws were sharper than a blade.

I have a feeling they’re the same metal as its scales, he nodded.  And I’m pretty sure those scales will makesome great armor, assuming I can cut them loose.  I’m going to go Harvest the thing while you heal, then we can head back to the city so I can complete this Quest.

He turned and walked toward the huge body, summoning metal mana and fashioning into a long, thin deepsteel blade.  He had a feeling he would need the extra-hard material to get through the oroloke’s hide, much less to cut off its head to return to the Guildmaster.  He knelt before the creature’s stomach and slipped the knife into its skin; here, at least, there was very little resistance, and he proceeded to slowly and carefully make the incisions that would hopefully allow him to take as much of the monster’s hide as possible.

He labored for about fifteen minutes when his Tracking Skill started screaming at him; something was approaching, and it was something he’d Tracked before but hadn’t bothered to follow.  He rose to stand as Silma loped over to stand beside him, her ears back and her head low as she stared into the treeline below them.

Something’s hiding there, pack leader, she growled in his mind.  I can smell it.

Aranos could, too; he caught the scent of stone, sulfur, and oiled metal.  “You might as well come out,” he called, raising a hand and readying an ice barrage; fire might spread uncontrolled on this rather arid mountainside, and he didn’t want to burn half the mountain down.  “We know you’re there.  Who are you and what do you want?”

“We should ask you the same thing, human,” a guttural, harshly accented voice growled.  “Who are you, and why did you steal our smarsolm?”